Biography
Name: Zhang Shijie
Country: China
Ethnicity: Han Chinese
Era: Late Song Dynasty
Birthplace: Fanyang, Zhuozhou
Died in 1279 AD
Status: One of the three masters of the late Song Dynasty
Knighthood: Duke of Yue
Official position: Taifu, Privy Councillor
Zhang Shijie was a famous anti-Yuan general and national hero at the end of the Song Dynasty, and together with Wen Tianxiang and Lu Xiufu, he was known as the "Three Jies of the Late Song Dynasty". In the last years of the Southern Song Dynasty, when the wind and rain were drifting, he vowed not to lower the Yuan, and successively supported the second emperor of the Southern Song Dynasty.
Zhang Shijie was a native of Fanyang, Zhuozhou, and when he was young, he was Zhang Rou's retinue to guard Qizhou, and later because of breaking the law, he fled to Song Prefecture and later joined the army. At first, no one knew his name, but Ruan Sicong was talented, so he introduced him to Lu Wende, so he was promoted to the rank of colonel. Since then, he has made many meritorious contributions, all the way to the command of all armies in Wuding, Huangzhou. When attacking Andong Prefecture, because of his merits in rescuing Ezhou with Gundam, he was transferred to the tenth rank of official position. When Jia Rudao entered Huangzhou to resist the Yuan, he recaptured what had been looted by the enemy army, and added an official to the sanitation officer, successively serving as the Zhigao Postal Army and Andong Prefecture.
After Lü Wenhuan surrendered to the Yuan army with Xiangyang, Zhang Shijie was ordered to garrison Ezhou. Zhang Shijie struggled to resist the attack of the Yuan army, leaving a deep impression on the Yuan army, and the Yuan army sent people to surrender him, but Zhang Shijie did not obey.
When the Yuan army vigorously attacked the capital of the Southern Song Dynasty, the imperial court recruited generals to rescue them, and most of the troops did not obey and arrived, only Zhang Shijie led the troops forward. Therefore, Song Duzong looked at Zhang Shijie differently and repeatedly added officials to him. In this way, Zhang Shijie was promoted all the way in a few months, and he was promoted to baokang army and the general governor of the capital.
The three masters of the late Song Dynasty
Although Zhang Shijie's troops were defeated during the battle against the Yuan army, they were still well valued by the imperial court. In the same year, Shenglong, Shen, and Wei Sixiang all commanded envoys, and then they were promoted to envoys along the river, and they were reappointed as deputy envoys, concurrently aware of the Jiangyin Army, and added officials to inspect the school and major security.
When the Yuan army forced Lin'an, Zhang Shijie escorted the three palaces of the emperor, empress, and empress dowager into the sea, and Wen Tianxiang, who was also a famous general against the Yuan and a national hero, fought a battle against the water, and was finally defeated and captured by the Yuan army. Chen Yizhong, the chancellor at the time, sent people to ask for peace with the Yuan army, but was stopped by Zhang Shijie, who insisted on resisting the Yuan. Although he was defeated by the Yuan army many times later, the situation was difficult, but Zhang Shijie never gave up his intention to fight too much for the Yuan Dynasty. He later honored Zhao Fu and Zhao Fu as emperors, insisting on maintaining the rule of the Southern Song Dynasty.
Zhang Shijie, Lu Xiufu and others escorted the Second Emperor of the Late Song Dynasty to flee south, and later fought a fierce battle with the Yuan army at the time of Yashan. Cliff Mountain is easy to defend and difficult to attack, and Zhang Shijie and other generals led the army to resist to the death. At that time, the Yuan army cut off the supply line of the Song army, and Zhang Shijie's troops were at sea, and they were struggling to maintain it. Song Jun nibbled on dry food for more than ten days, thirsty, and held seawater down to drink, the seawater tasted salty, and when he drank it, he vomited and vomited, and Song Jun was extremely sleepy.
Lu Xiufu lost the emperor and threw himself into the sea
After it was really impossible to maintain, Zhang Shijie could only break through with the Song army. The Song army was sleepy and tired, the Yuan army had enough rest, and the most tragic thing was that the enemy was outnumbered, and this battle was naturally a big defeat for Zhang Shijie. When Lu Xiufu saw the defeat of the Song army, he knew that he was unable to return to heaven. In order to protect the emperor from the humiliation of the Yuan army, he carried the young emperor on his back, carried the jade seal of the country, and resolutely threw himself into the sea to commit suicide.
After Zhang Shijie learned that Lu Xiufu had committed suicide behind the emperor's back, he knew that he had no reason to resist anymore. However, he insisted on resisting the Yuan all his life, and naturally would not surrender to the Yuan Dynasty, and then he also committed suicide by throwing himself into the sea.
Many of the people who can persist until this time are not for the sake of high-ranking officials and riches, fame and fortune, but for the great righteousness of the nation. Therefore, after the news of the emperor's surrender to the sea came out, most of the Song army chose to throw themselves into the sea and die. At that time, it can be said that floating corpses were everywhere, and it was very tragic.