In the ancient history of our country, war has always run through the change of every feudal dynasty, and even in the peaceful period of feudal dynasty rule, various peasant uprisings have emerged from time to time.
Once there is a war, there is a corresponding soldier book, which is not only a summary of the previous generation's war, but also the most important material for future generations of soldiers to learn and learn from the military experience of the previous generation, and sometimes even plays the role of a textbook or a classic reading in the army, whether it is training or combat, it is inseparable from it.
According to the statistics of the "Catalogue of Military Books of Past Dynasties", there are 1304 military books in China's past dynasties, and there are still 288 that have been preserved so far. Among these many military books, "Sun Tzu's Art of War" has the greatest influence, has always been regarded as a "holy book of military studies", and has become a must-read book for generals who command troops to fight wars.
However, among the peasant rebels of the late Ming and Qing dynasties, there was also a so-called "secret book" of soldiers, which is not a military book that we are familiar with, but it is familiar to all of us and has read it, which is the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms".
Liu Luan of the Qing Dynasty wrote of such a thing in his notebook "Five Stones": "Zhang Xianzhong's cunning, the Japanese people said the "Three Kingdoms" and "Water Margin" books, all ambush attacks on Xianyizhi. Its old camp manager Yang Xingwu tasted kong shangda like this. ”
What is said here is the story of Zhang Xianzhong, the leader of the peasant rebel army at the end of the Ming Dynasty, who in his half-life combat career, every day people would tell him books such as "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and "Water Margin", with the purpose of learning ambush, attack and other tactics from it.
It is no accident that books such as "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and "Water Margin" have been valued by the peasant army. In particular, "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", as the pioneering work of military literature, the wonderful depiction of war in it can indeed bring people wisdom enlightenment.
"Romance of the Three Kingdoms" wrote about more than 40 wars of all sizes, including the battle of Guandu, the Battle of Chibi, the Battle of Yiling and other magnificent major battles, as well as fierce small and medium-sized battles such as the Battle of Puyang and the Battle of Jieting, as well as the brave generals fighting each other with knives and guns.
The "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" not only wrote about major strategic decisions, but also wrote about a wealth of tactical applications, including fire attacks, flooding, ambushes, camp robberies, sieges, reinforcements, water battles, land battles, car battles, horse battles, attacks, and even espionage and counter-espionage wars.
The "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", which contains such a rich content of war, will naturally be valued by those who employ soldiers, especially the generals of the peasant rebel army with a low level of education, who cannot read classic military books such as "Sun Tzu's Art of War", and the specific and vivid examples of the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" are much more cordial and practical to them.
This was the case with the peasant rebel army at the end of the Ming Dynasty, so what about the peasant rebel army in the Qing Dynasty?
According to zhang Dejian of the Qing Dynasty, in the "Compilation of Thieves' Feelings", "What is the basis for the results of the thief's tricks?" Cover by two or three thieves, collect military information in the history of the official wild, imitate it, often effective, and the treasure is the secret that is not passed on. It takes "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and "Water Margin" as especially many. ”
The "thieves" mentioned here refer to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom peasant rebel army led by Hong Xiuquan in the late Qing Dynasty, who also learned the art of war from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
At the end of the Qing Dynasty, Huang Ren also recorded in more detail in his "Novel Small Talk": "Zhang Xianzhong, Li Zicheng, and zhang Ge and Hong Xiuquan in the recent past, all of them were in harmony at the beginning, and Qiang had no discipline. After that, he attacked the city strategically, ambushed and fortified, and gradually became a monstrous giant. It is said that the war case in the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" is the only secret book in the account. ”
In addition to the use of military tactics, the Romance of the Three Kingdoms also had a certain impact on the spiritual world of the leaders of the peasant rebel army.
Li Dingguo was an extremely important figure in the great cause of the anti-Qing Resistance at the end of the Ming Dynasty, and he was originally an important general under Zhang Xianzhong's troops, brave and upright, and outstanding in battle.
After Zhang Xianzhong's death, the rebels promoted Zhang Xianzhong's descendants to be the leader. However, Sun Kewang was arrogant, and only Li Dingguo could compete with him.
At that time, a storyteller, Jin Gongzhi, saw this and hoped that Li Dingguo, who was "honest and undecupied" and talented, could do a great cause, so he often said "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" for the illiterate Li Dingguo.
Jin Gongzhi often rebuked Sun Kewang as Dong Zhuo and Cao Cao, and hoped that Li Dingguo would become Zhuge Liang, and Li Dingguo was greatly moved, saying: "Kong Ming did not dare to hope, and Guan, Zhang, and Bo Yue (Jiang Wei) did not dare not be discouraged."
From then on, Li Dingguo gradually became at odds with Sun Kewang, "The eldest husband eventually failed to emulate Dong Zhuo and Cao Cao, and he was infamous for eternity."
Later, Sun Kewang and Li Dingguo led the remnants of the rebel army to surrender to the Southern Ming Yongli regime and jointly resist the Qing, sun Kewang continued to exert his monopoly on power, and later simply surrendered to the Qing.
However, Li Dingguo swore to be loyal to the country, never returned, repeatedly inflicted heavy damage on the Qing army, and finally martyred the country with his body, becoming a respected anti-Qing hero.
The late Qing dynasty bibliophile Chen Kangqi's "Yanxia Xiangshenglu" and the opera writer Li Tiangen's "Record of fire" all record this incident, and they all believe that Li Dingguo was the result of the influence of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
When Mr. Luo Guanzhong wrote "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", I am afraid that he did not expect that this popular novel he created would play such a huge role!
This article is referenced from: "Three Kingdoms Idle Tan"