A 16-minute short film "The Last Transfer of Datang Mobei" has exploded on the Internet in recent years, and this short film can be called an epic work of history, suspense, costumes, war, blood, humanity, feelings and other elements.
Because the history involved in "The Last Transfer of the Great Tang Dynasty" is rarely recorded in the history books, and there are many various statements on the Internet, some viewers are shocked after watching the film, but it is inevitable that many question marks will arise in their hearts. Is this short film a true reflection of history?
This article will combine the information of all parties to conduct an in-depth interpretation of "The Last Transfer of Datang Mobei".
The story is set in 790 AD, the sixth year of the reign of Emperor Dezong of Tang, between the Anxi Capital Protectorate and the Beiting Capital Protectorate.
There are three places in the title that need to be explained.
Why the Desert North and not the West? The general understanding of the desert north and the western region should be two places, in fact, this is the film side of the region of the vague treatment of the method, in other words, "this story is purely fictional, if similar, pure coincidence", similar techniques in the film there are also many.
Why the last time? Because this is 790 AD, it is indeed the last, and I will talk about it later.
Why is the modern term transfer? Because it is produced by financial institutions.
The first three sentences of the film introduce the background of the film's plot.
During the Anshi Rebellion, the Northern Tang Garrison was transferred back to Chang'an to quell the rebellion.
Before the Anshi Rebellion, there were three very good generals in the Hexi Corridor and the Western Regions, Ge Shuhan, Gao Xianzhi, and Feng Changqing, and the three of them basically subdued all the hostile forces around them. Shortly after the Battle of Hengluo, the Anshi Rebellion broke out, and the three men and most of the elite troops of Hexi, Anxi, and Beiting were transferred to the east to quell the rebellion, leaving the Tang Dynasty's strength in this area empty.
The remaining thousands of soldiers were trapped in 400,000 enemy troops and lost contact with Chang'an.
The statement of thousands seems to be somewhat inaccurate, and the remaining strength of the Anxi Capital Protectorate after the transfer of elite troops to the east is about nine thousand, and the remaining strength of the Beiting Capital Protectorate is more than 10,000, a total of more than 20,000. Of course, if "thousands" refers to data from 790 AD, that's not a big problem.
The enemy army is Tubo, but also vague treatment, the number of 400,000 is not exaggerated, the climate of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau was not the same as more than a thousand years later, warm and humid population is large, the peak of tubo troops is more than 500,000.
Tubo and Tang had suffered heavy losses after fighting for more than a hundred years, and could not defeat the three brothers, Gao, and Feng at all, and when they were seeking peace, the Anshi Rebellion broke out, so they took advantage of the void to occupy the Hexi Corridor, and the connection between the Anxi Capital Protectorate and the Beiting Capital Protectorate and Chang'an was cut off and never fought again.
Twenty-five years later, only the last two cities remain in the north of the desert.
According to the backwards of 790 AD, twenty-five years ago should have been 766 AD, when the famous general Guo Ziyi shangquan requested the imperial court to send people to patrol the Hexi Corridor and the four towns of Anxi, and his nephew Guo Xin was ordered to go and serve as the empress of the four towns of Anxi, and from then on, together with Cao Lingzhong, the protector of the Capital of Beiting, he guarded the western region.
The only two remaining cities seem to be somewhat inaccurate, according to the records of the Tang dynasty monk Wukong (one of the prototypes of Sun Wukong in the Journey to the West), when he returned to China in 789 AD, he arrived in the four towns of Anxi to meet with the local Tang generals. A year later, Tingzhou (廷州) of the Northern Ting capital and Khotan (于阗) of the Protectorate of Anxi were captured, so in 790 AD the Tang Dynasty should still have the four cities of Guizi, Shule, Yanqi and Xizhou in the Western Regions.
At the beginning of the story, a beggar discovers a battlefield where a fierce battle has just taken place, and he finds a few bags of coins excitedly, "Rich, it's all mine", which is a foreshadowing.
This scene should be that the small troops escorting the military expenses of the Anxi Capital Protectorate encountered the enemy, and almost all the troops were destroyed in the fierce battle.
A veteran who had passed out was awakened, he quickly subdued the beggar, and since there was only one horse left, in order to reduce the burden on the horse, the veteran "forcibly recruited" the beggar to help him carry the military expenses.
Ancient copper coins are very heavy, consistent money is less than three kilograms of weight, the military expenditure in the film is at least hundreds of guan, adding up to at least three hundred kilograms, but not light.
Some netizens questioned that the military expenditure of datang should be silk. It can only be said that after twenty-five years of isolation, silk is already a rare thing, can not assume the role of money, can not be like virtual currency unlimited split, moreover, this is a commercial film.
The beggar was unwilling and dared not speak out, and could only hide a copper coin in his hand to talk about masturbation (no vain doing anything), which was the second foreshadowing.
Suspense and reversals come. The veteran encountered a small roadside shop, said that there was no money, as long as two bowls of water to drink (there was dry food to bring), because the beggar was negligent for a while, the money bag fell to the ground, attracted the attention of a group of Hu people in the store, the veteran saw the situation and quickly pulled the beggar away.
The Hu people chased after them, and it turned out to be The merchants of the Tang Dynasty, who brought dry food and drinking water to the veterans and beggars.
Since the Hexi Corridor and most of the western region had fallen, the Tang caravan could only wear Hu people's clothes to protect themselves for safety.
The businessman sighed: "I haven't seen the soldiers of Datang for many years", and he asked again: "Is it that our People and Horses of Datang are coming back?" ”
The veteran was speechless, the businessman was clear, he puned: "This road is getting harder and harder to walk."
There are many pictures in "The Last Transfer of Datang Mobei" that are very good, and the veterans have a great feeling when they see the caravan leave.
The beggar kept saying to the veteran on the road: "Take this money and go, buy dozens of acres of land, please a few beautiful wives, drink every day, eat meat every day..." The veteran is not moved, this is the foreshadowing three.
If the hundreds of military expenses transported by veterans and beggars are converted to the twenty-first century, it may be equivalent to one and a half million yuan, and it is absolutely enough to build a few rooms in remote areas to marry a daughter-in-law, of course, this money is indeed a little less when the military expenditure is used, so the beggar wants to persuade the veterans.
Sandstorms struck, horses were killed, and the rest of the road could only be done by veterans and beggars, who did not want to die, and the two of them could not transport hundreds of kilograms of military expenses.
The veteran ordered to move on, and he took out the general order and told the beggar the truth: this was the military expense sent to Xizhou City by Kamezi City.
There seem to be two places here where there seems to be an error, the name of Guizi and Xizhou is written incorrectly, for the same reason as above, blurred.
However, the "edict" at the beginning of the military order is really wrong, because Guizi is the seat of the Anxi Capital Protectorate, and the garrison of the Western Prefecture is the Beiting Capital Protectorate, and the two sides are equal-level relations, and Anxi and beiting cannot use the "edict" when talking.
Foreshadowing four, the veteran ordered: climb, but also climb to Xizhou City.
Some netizens questioned that it seems inappropriate for veterans to throw down their own armor in order to lose weight, because that pair of armor is also very expensive, and it can only be said that A is protecting himself, and military expenses are public.
In the middle of the night, the beggar was about to escape with the money, and the veteran soldier caught him, and accidentally found the beggar's waist card, which turned out to be a soldier of the Xuanwei Army.
The beggar only then explained the truth, he was the only one who escaped from the city in the final battle, and the comrades-in-arms desperately covered him to let him bring the family letter back, but the family letter was soaked in rain and sweat and the words were gone, and he did not know where to send it, he could only wander.
The question is, which city is this beggar a soldier? There were two choices, one was the Beiting Capital Protectorate Ofting Prefecture, and the other was Khotan, one of the four towns of Anxi, the time difference between the two cities was not too much, but the remnants of Tingzhou retreated to Xizhou City, and Khotan was completely destroyed, so the beggar should be Khotan's soldiers.
The veteran soldier chatted with the beggar, he was a soldier stationed in The Guizi of the Anxi Capital Protectorate, so he must have known more information from the upper echelons than Khotanese soldiers.
The veteran said that General Guo (Guo Xin) had repeatedly failed to send people back to Chang'an, and once he finally got in touch, he did not expect that even the year number had changed.
What is said here is that in 781 AD, in the second year of Tang Dezong's jianzhong, Guo Xin and Cao Lingzhong sent people to detour back to Chang'an, who had a good relationship with Hui, and the reigning Tang Dezong knew that the Anxi Du Protectorate and the Beiting Du Protectorate, which had been missing for fifteen years, were still fighting. However, at this time, the Tang Dynasty, which had just recovered from a serious illness, was unable to send reinforcements, and Tang Dezong could only give the two generals all the titles they could give, Cao Lingzhong was given the name Li Yuanzhong, and was given the title of Beiting Dadu Protector and Beiting Jiedushi Envoy, Guo Xin was the Anxi Dadu Protector and Anxi Four Towns Jiedu Observation Envoy (later Jiedu Envoy), and the subordinate officers and soldiers were all promoted to the seventh rank.
Guo Ziyi, who was already seriously ill and bedridden, was still alive, and when he heard that his nephew was still alive and had been in Anxi for fifteen years, he couldn't help but burst into tears.
The veteran also said: Now that you count it, it should be eleven years since jianzhong.
In fact, the era name of Jianzhong only took four years, and because Anxi and Chang'an were cut off from each other, they did not know that the year number had been changed again, so some cultural relics unearthed in Anxi occasionally saw years that were not in the Central Plains.
The biggest controversy came, the veteran took a copper coin and told the beggar that it was cast with the words "Datang Jianzhong", and many merchants and civilians were willing to provide us with grain and grass, just because there was "Datang" on it.
Although this money is small, even if you can change one more cart of grain and grass, one more knife and one arrow, you can tell the enemy that here, it is my Datang.
The veterans were right, at that time, the Tang merchants and local residents in the western region helped the garrison a lot, and they were willing to use the coins minted by the Anxi Capital Protectorate itself, which provided a solid material foundation for the survival of the lone army.
However, whether the Datang Jianzhong coin really exists has always been controversial, and the local excavated cultural relics do have coins minted by the Anxi Capital Protectorate, but there are only four kinds: the Great Calendar Yuanbao, the Jianzhong Tongbao, the Yuanzi, and the Chinese copper coin, so the Tang Jianzhong coin may be just a beautiful legend.
The veteran encouraged the beggars, and when they arrived in Xizhou City, they sent you a fast horse, and you also helped the brothers in Xizhou City to send a family letter. Foreshadowing five.
Another very perfect picture, of veterans and beggars, spears and drawstrings, forming geometric figures that represent the difficulty of advancing and the courage not to fall.
The scene of the battle came, and the veteran and the beggar encountered several bandits in front of the dunes, three cavalry and two infantry, two against five.
The veteran cut the beggar's rope with one knife and handed him a knife, and at this moment, the two Anxi soldiers would fight side by side.
Veteran's name: Ninth Cavalry Team of The Xuange Battalion of the Wuwei Army of the Tang Dynasty, Guo Yuanzheng.
The beggar finally said his name and number, Xuanwei Jun, Lu XIV.
Guo Yuanzheng's number should be accurate, but Khotan's troop number is not recorded, and the screenwriter of the film borrowed the Xuanwei Army number of the Hexi Corridor here, which is harmless.
As a result of the battle, Guo Yuanzheng and Lu Fourteen, two veteran soldiers, were not old and killed five bandits, but Guo Yuanzheng was unfortunately killed by the knife in order to save Lu Xiv.
Some netizens questioned why the bandits obviously came riding three horses, so why none of them were gone after the battle?
The picture has an explanation, but the speed is too fast to notice, the first horse was swept away and broke the horse's leg, the second horse was stabbed to the point, and the third horse was frightened and fled.
Guo Yuanzheng did not have any dying nonsense and rhetoric before his death, which was more realistic than many film and television dramas, after all, it was such a heavy knife wound. He struggled to hand over the military order to Lu XIV, an action that said it all, more tragic than words.
Lu XIV sorted out the military expenses and went on the road again, his words echoed the beginning of the foreshadowing, but also left a little suspense for the audience, Guo Yuanzheng is dead, will he run away?
Lu XIV continued to echo the foreshadowing three in front of him, as if to show that he must have rolled up the military expenses and escaped.
The small suspense was cracked, and Lu XIV tried his best to climb to Xizhou City, echoing the foreshadowing four, climbing, and also climbing to Xizhou City.
When Lu XIV woke up, a white-haired general came to see him.
This white-haired general is considered by some netizens to be Guo Xin, of course not, Guo Xin is the protector of The Great Capital of Anxi, at this moment in Guizi City, of course, it is not the Beiting Metropolitan Protector Li Yuanzhong (Cao Lingzhong), he has died of illness four years ago, this general is the successor to the Beiting Metropolitan Protector Yang Raidugu.
Lu XIV reported by Guo Yuanzheng's serial number, and this "impersonation" proved that Guo Yuanzheng's unit had completed the task of transporting military expenses.
The plot echoes the second foreshadowing, Lu Xisi took out a copper coin he had hidden before and handed it to Yang Xianggu's hand: nothing was bad.
Lu XIV walked out of the big tent, and the generals and soldiers outside the tent surrounded him, and the officers took off their helmets to reveal their pale hair.
These people have been trapped in the Western Regions for twenty-five years, and if they were in their twenties when they served, they were already in their fifties at this time, and they had already lived a long life in ancient times, and what is even more precious is that they have been fighting for twenty-five years.
A lonely city of thousands of miles, full of white-haired soldiers.
The Xizhou Army really gave Lu Xiv a fast horse, echoing the foreshadowing five, presumably, he must also have installed the Xizhou Army's family letter.
Outside Xizhou City, Lu XIV saw a long line of torches singing military songs as they marched forward.
Some netizens suspected that this was Lu XIV's illusion, and he saw the reinforcements of Datang.
In fact, this should be the last attack of the Beiting Metropolitan Protectorate, and it is also their last battle.
In 790, when the Beiting Dadu Protectorate fell, Yang Xianggu led 2,000 remnants of his troops to retreat to Xizhou (present-day Turpan), at this time he had several choices, one was to take a detour back to the Central Plains, the other was to sit in Xizhou and sit still, and the third was to defect to Guo Xin, the protectorate of The Capital of Anxi in Guizi (present-day Kucha).
However, Yang Xianggu chose to unite with the Hui army to counterattack Tingzhou and try to restore the Beiting Metropolitan Protectorate.
The counter-offensive requires the preparation of grain, grass and weapons, so the advertisement designed a story of Guizi crossing more than a thousand miles to transport military expenses to Xizhou, although it is a cup of water, it is a charcoal in the snow, and it represents the last joint effort of the two major protectorates of Anxi and Beiting.
At the end of the film, this scene that Lu XIV saw was the last attack of the Beiting Dadu Protectorate, unfortunately, they and the Hui army were defeated by Tubo, Yang Xianggu tried to return to Xizhou, but unexpectedly was trapped and killed by the anti-water Hui army in the middle of the way, and the Beiting Dadu Protectorate became history.
After another eighteen years, the last city of the Anxi Capital, Guizi, fell, and Guo Xin, who was more than a year old, died in battle, and from then on the western region and the Central Plains were isolated for thousands of years, and did not return to China until the Qianlong period.
The history of the 20,000 remnants of the Anxi Capital Protectorate and the Beiting Capital Protectorate trapped in the Western Regions for more than 40 years proves four words: mission, faith.
Although "The Last Transfer of Datang Mobei" is a short film, its rigorous creative attitude and sophisticated production standards make the short film of only sixteen minutes an epic work.