In 1301, Wang Li, a former Southern Song Dynasty pacification envoy and diaoyu city keeper who had surrendered to the Yuan Dynasty and had been an official in the Yuan Dynasty for 22 years, was executed by order of Emperor Yuan Chengzong.
After all, the famous general with a mixed reputation could not escape the knife that the Mongol nobles had long wanted to give him.
Why did Wang Li not escape the fate of being killed after 22 years of surrender and without any power? This article will briefly talk about this matter.
In 1279, the Southern Song Dynasty Diaoyu City defender Wang Li surrendered to the Yuan Dynasty (after the sacrifice of the city, in addition to Wang Li, more than thirty guards committed suicide and martyrdom).
Previously, in the territory of the former Southern Song Dynasty, Diaoyu City was the only city that was still insisting on resisting the Yuan, and since its establishment, this city had been resisting the Mongolian Yuan army for 36 years.
The fourth Great Mongol Khan Möngke (grandson of Genghis Khan and eldest son of Tuolei, posthumously recognized as Emperor Yuanxianzong) died under Diaoyu City.
It is said that before his death, Möngke left a last word: "If you want to slaughter this city, you should slaughter it." ”
Wang Lixiancheng surrendered as a last resort, and the Diaoyu City at that time was truly becoming an isolated city, and it was only a matter of time before it was breached.
If Diaoyu City was attacked by the Yuan army, according to Meng Ge's last words, the fate of the remnants of the army and civilians in the city can be imagined.
Therefore, Wang Li tried to surrender to the Yuan Dynasty on the condition that Diaoyu City had already determined that it could not be defended.
However, this condition was not easily accepted by the generals of the Yuan Dynasty who besieged the city.
Before and after the surrender of DiaoyuCheng, the Yuan Dynasty established two privy councils, the Dongchuan Xing Privy Council and the Xichuan Xing Privy Council, respectively, to attack Sichuan Shu and the surrounding areas.
Responsible for the siege of Diaoyu City was the Privy Council of Dongchuanxing, and the head of the Privy Council of Dongchuanxing was Hedan, the sixth son of Emperor Yuantai.
At first, when the Mongol Great Khan was transferred from the hands of the Wokoutai lineage to the hands of Möngke of the Tuolei lineage, Hedan was only a son of the Wokoutai and was not so keen on keeping the Khan's position in the Wokoutai lineage, but instead supported Möngke, and after Möngke succeeded him as Great Khan, he was reused by Möngke.
Therefore, Hedan was one of Möngke's trusted loyal generals, and with this origin, if the army under the Privy Council of Dongchuanxing, which he was in charge of, attacked Diaoyu City, it would absolutely follow Möngke's last words and slaughter Diaoyu City.
If Wang Li wanted to save the lives of the soldiers and civilians in Diaoyu City, he could not surrender to the Yuan Dynasty army outside the city.
Perhaps God had mercy on the soldiers and civilians of Diaoyu City, and several of Wang Li's subordinates who had earlier been sent to Chengdu to investigate the movements of the Yuan army fell into the hands of Li Dehui, the deputy envoy of the Privy Council of the Yuan Dynasty Xichuan in Chengdu.
Li Dehui was a Han Chinese who did not like tucheng's set very much, and he had the support of the Yuan Dynasty Anxi King Huan Ge thorn (the third son of Kublai Khan of the Yuan Dynasty), who was in charge of the Privy Council of Nishikawa.
Li Dehui intervened in the surrender of Diaoyu City, and understood the pressure of the Privy Council generals of Dongchuanxing, promising Wang Li to save the lives of the soldiers and civilians of Diaoyu City.
As a result, Wang Li surrendered to the Privy Council of the Yuan Dynasty Nishikawa, which is recorded in the Biography of Yuan Shi Li Dehui:
The Eastern House was harmed, and everyone knew: "... Imari, Jue (Zhang Jue, the third keeper of Diaoyu City) Ya School, Xi Sniping and not believing, especially to the public. The merit of making a struggle with me, prolonging life and engraving the ear, may not be sincere. Dehui said: "... I am not a meritorious person, but I am sincerely afraid of the public and other indignant obedience, falsely accused of resisting the first dynasty, profiting from it, and being happy to slaughter the city. I live for the nation and this people, and I am angry! "That is, shan jia ji jiang, bo chengxia, Hu Li out of the landing." Gather their people, and dismiss their officials, and unite the people to stand on their own feet, and draw things at home.
In this way, after Wang Lixian surrendered, he retained the lives of all the soldiers and civilians in the city, but it was mixed up in the struggle between the nobles of the Yuan Dynasty.
Attacking Diaoyu City is the task of the Privy Council of Dongchuanxing, and it seems that it is about to succeed, but it has been robbed of the credit by the Privy Council of Xichuanxing, and the Privy Council of Dongchuanxing can bear it?
The Privy Council of Dongchuanxing immediately wrote to Kublai Khan, the ancestor of the Yuan Dynasty, demanding that Wang Li be killed to avenge Möngke Khan, which was approved by Kublai Khan.
The Privy Council of Dongchuanxing wanted to kill Wang Li, and the Privy Council of Nishikawayuki, who had benefited from Wang Li's surrender, wanted to keep him.
At the critical moment when Wang Li was immediately killed, The Prince of Anxi came forward to save Wang Li and helped Wang Li obtain an official position, which is recorded in the Yuan Shi Shi Shi Ben Ji:
Dongchuan Xingyuan then said that lijiu resisted wang shi, and tried to rebuke Xianzong and kill him. The Privy Council, on the basis of its affairs, killed his wife before the case was filed, and when he had his property, he ordered him to kill him and pay him on his family's credit. Since the king of Anxi li surrendered to the end of the book, and said that the dongchuan court minister was angry at Li Dehui's surrender, he falsely accused Li Li. The Privy Councillors also preceded the prelude. The emperor was furious: "Qing regards human life as a joke!" The former envoys planned to kill Li Li for a long time, and now they regret it. The secretary of state and others who kill people in vain are to be punished. "Rebuke it. The king of Hui'anxi came again, and his words were not killed. That is, he was summoned to enter the temple, and was ordered to be a pacification envoy of Tongchuan Road and to know the affairs of the state.
At this point, Wang Li saved his life, and also became an official protected by the power of the Yuan Dynasty's Anxi King, and he was labeled as the King of Anxi, and it seemed that he could smoothly spend the second half of his life.
However, Wang Li was protected by the forces of the Anxi King, and was destined to be implicated by the forces of the Anxi King.
At the beginning of the establishment of the Yuan Dynasty, and during the attack on the Southern Song Dynasty, the Anxi King Huan Ge was allowed to open the Anxi Wang Xiang Mansion, and obtained a large amount of power granted by Kublai Khan:
The Anxi Wang Xiangfu "controlled the Privy Council of the Eastern and Western Provinces of the Song Dynasty, replaced the functions of the Shaanxi And Sichuan Provinces, and also led the military and political affairs of Shaanxi, Gansu, and Sichuan, and all military and political matters were often decided by the Kaesong Royal Palace." ”
Such power made King Anxi almost become the emperor of the northwest and southwest regions.
After the world was first decided, Kublai Khan was not very confident about King Anxi, and began to suppress the power of King Anxi one after another, and this suppression continued until the reign of Emperor Yuanchengzong.
Emperor Yuanchengzong was the second emperor of the Yuan Dynasty, the third son of Kublai Khan's second son, Zhenjin Zhenjin, and became the imperial grandson of the Yuan Dynasty after Zhenjin's death.
At first, Zhenjin did not wait for the throne to die depressed, because of the internal political struggles of the Yuan Dynasty, which were fueled by the power of the Anxi King.
Therefore, after Emperor Yuanchengzong succeeded to the throne, whether out of personal grievances or out of the necessity of power struggle, he adhered to the political behavior of resolutely suppressing the forces of King Anxi.
Only one year after Wang Li surrendered diaoyu City, the first King of Anxi died of an assassination.
Kublai Khan took the opportunity to depose the Anxi King Xiangfu and split the sphere of influence under the jurisdiction of the Anxi King into Sichuan, Shaanxi, Gansu and other provinces, and the Power of the Anxi King began to decline.
However, Kublai Khan kept his previous promise to Busy Brother Thorn and did not continue to pursue the crime of Wang Li, who was trying his best to protect Before He died, Kublai Khan did not want to kill Wang Li, so no one wanted to kill.
Therefore, after the assassination of the first Anxi King Huange, the protective umbrella behind Wang Li was not as good as before, but he could still survive.
In 1294, Kublai Khan died and Emperor Yuanchengzong succeeded to the throne, and Kublai Khan's promises during his lifetime began to expire.
Although Wang Li was powerless in the Yuan Dynasty, killing Wang Li could please a considerable number of Mongol nobles (mainly the subordinates promoted by Möngke Khan during his lifetime), and could also continue to suppress the power of the King of Anxi (the successor to the King of Anxi was Ananda, the son of The Busy Brother).
However, wang Li has been honestly and responsibly for more than ten years since he surrendered to the Yuan Dynasty, and killing him is of course a show of hands, but if the emperor wants to kill people, it is best to have a good excuse.
Yuan Chengzong waited for seven years, and in 1301 AD, he finally waited for an excuse, when there were a large number of rebellions against the Yuan Dynasty in the southwest region.
Coincidentally, at this time, Wang Li, who was already over fifty years old, wrote to Emperor Yuan Chengzong and asked for his resignation.
Emperor Yuanchengzong immediately associated the rebellion in the southwest with Wang Li's resignation.
Although Wang Li had not been a defender in Diaoyu City for a long time, Diaoyu City had withstood the continuous attacks of the Mongol army for decades.
The generals in Diaoyu City, no matter how old they are, are undoubtedly heroes in the hearts of the people in the southwest region.
As the last defender of Diaoyu City, Wang Li had considerable influence in the southwest region.
There was a rebellion in the southwest region, and Wang Li immediately resigned, what did he want to do? If Wang Li is allowed to find an opportunity to return to the southwest region, what will happen?
No matter what reason Wang Li resigned, Yuan Chengzong did not mind thinking in the worst direction.
Therefore, Emperor Yuanchengzong immediately ordered Wang Li to be killed, and the forces of the Anxi King at this time could no longer provide protection for Wang Li.
In the end, Wang Li, who surrendered to the Yuan Dynasty at the age of 28, finally was killed by the Yuan Dynasty after 22 years of surviving.
In the thirteenth century, the merits of the Battle of Diaoyu City were clear and clear, but the merits of Wang Li, the last defender of Diaoyu City, are still debated.
Failing to martyr the country, making Wang Li despised, saving the lives of the entire city's soldiers and civilians, and seemingly being able to get praise, what is it? Welcome to leave a message in the comment area to discuss.
Reference: Original History