In 1048, emperor Renzong of the Northern Song Dynasty celebrated the eighth year of the calendar, and Emperor Renzong, who reigned for 25 years, ordered the next year to change the yuan to "Emperor You" because of the "rain for disaster". However, Emperor Renzong, who hoped for the emperor's blessing, faced not only the tiger's gaze of the Khitan Liao and the encroachment of the Western Xia Party, but also faced a serious crisis in the southwest frontier.
Nong Zhigao was anti-Song
In the same year that Emperor Renzong announced the change of yuan, Nong Zhigao, a tribal leader in Guangyuan Prefecture (present-day Guangyuan County, Vietnam), occupied Ande Prefecture (安德州, in modern Hanoi, Vietnam) (in present-day Hanoi, Vietnam), established the "Southern Kingdom of Heaven", and changed the name to Yuan Jingrui.
Nong Zhigao was the most powerful leader of the four surnames of Wei, Huang, Zhou and Nong in Guangyuan Prefecture. It is said that this tribal leader of the ethnic minority, born in 1025 AD, "tasted the jinshi and did not enter the first place", was a martial artist who was skilled in riding archery and kendo. His father, Nong Quanfu, established the so-called "Immortal Kingdom" in 1029 AD, and called himself "Emperor Zhaosheng", and made his wife Anon "Empress Mingde" and Fengnong Zhigao the "King of Nanya". This so-called "immortal kingdom" was adjacent to the northern Song Dynasty, which had just established itself as a state (present-day Vietnam). Jiaotong absolutely does not allow his "lying next to the bed" to have this "immortal country" sleep soundly. So, soon the design killed Nong Quanfu. Of course, there is also a saying that Nong Zhigao was born to his mother who remarried a merchant after The death of Nong Quanfu, but only pretended to be a descendant of the "Nong" surname. However, regardless of Nong Zhigao's origins, at the age of 14, he and his mother regrouped their people, occupied the prefecture adjacent to Guangyuan, and established the so-called "Great LiGuo" regime. However, this small regime also did not exist for long, and it was captured by the Jiaotong army. However, this time, Nong Zhigao, who was captured by the toe, was not killed. The Jiaotong Kingdom will not only release it, but also "make Nongzhi Gaozhi Guangyuan Prefecture".
Illustration: Portrait of Nong Zhigao
Although he obtained a formally appointed position from the Jiaotong Kingdom and returned to his ancestral hometown of Guangyuan Prefecture, Nong Zhigao, he still secretly accumulated strength and intended to make a comeback. In 1048, Nong Zhigao led his people to attack Ande Prefecture (安德州, in modern Ande Township, Jingxi County), and established the "Southern Heavenly Kingdom" based on it. However, this time, Nong Zhigao learned the lessons of the past and realized that he was powerless to resist toeing alone. Therefore, he prepared gold and silver and tamed elephants, paid tribute to the Northern Song court, and asked the Song Dynasty to grant official positions. For Nong Zhigao, the Northern Song court considered him rebellious and untrustworthy. Therefore, he did not accept his tribute, nor did he grant him an official position. Therefore, Nong Zhigao, who was embarrassed and angry, began to actively prepare for anti-Song affairs.
In order to prepare the anti-Song plan, Nong Zhigao used Huang Wei and Huang Shimi of Guangzhou as his advisers, and his confidants Nong Jianhou and Nong Zhizhong as his advisers. After years of preparation and consultation, Nong Zhigao formulated a plan to concentrate his forces on attacking the Song Dynasty's Southern Guangxi Road, then capture Yongzhou and Guangzhou, and then divide the claimed king. In 1052, the 4th year of the Song Dynasty, Nong Zhi Gao burned down his gathering place in order to trick his people. He declared to the outside world, "The gathering of life is now plagued by heavenly fire, and there is no way to survive, and it is poor." When the state of Yongzhou was plucked, according to Guangzhou, it was the king, otherwise the soldiers died." At the instigation of Nong Zhigao and the despair after the destruction of the property, the nong clan had to join the rebel army of Nong Zhigao.
On the sixth day of April of that year, Nong Zhigao led 5,000 men and horses down the Yu River to the east and captured Hengshanzhai (横山寨, in present-day Pingma Town, Tiandong County, Guangxi), the main servant of Hengshanzhaizhai, Zhang Rixin, the right attendant of Hengshanzhaizhai, Gao Shiqin, the inspector of Zuo Ban Dian in Yongzhou, and Wu Xiang in Hengzhou, who was on the right side of the patrol, and was killed in this battle. The defeat of Hengshanzhai not only shook the southern part of Liangguang, but Emperor Renzong, who was sitting in the center, was also surprised, and immediately ordered Jiangnan, Fujian and other roads (the road was the local administrative division of the Song Dynasty) to mobilize troops to prepare to suppress Nong Zhigao. As a result, the Song Dynasty's army had not yet assembled, and Nong Zhigao attacked Yongzhou in early May, and the Song Zhizhi Prefecture Northern Workshop made Chen Gong, Wang Qianyou of the Tongjue Temple, Zhang Li, the envoy of the Guangxi Capital, Zhang Li, and thousands of Song Dynasty officers and soldiers killed together. After the capture of Yongzhou, Nong Zhigao established the "Great Southern Kingdom", proclaimed himself "Emperor Renhui", and changed the Yuan Qi calendar. Then imitated the Song Dynasty, a complete bureaucratic system was established.
Then, Nong Zhigao used Yongzhou as a base and began to attack the city in the Lingnan region. Because the Song Dynasty did not have many troops stationed in the prefectures and counties of Lingnan, the armament was thin. Therefore, when Nong Zhigao led his troops to attack, it was almost overwhelming. Wherever he passed, Nong Zhigao sent troops to kill the officials and burn the treasury. In the process, except for Cao Xiao of Fengzhou Zhizhou and Zhao Shidan of Kangzhou Zhizhou, who had led troops to resist, they were killed in battle. The rest of the state capitals went without a fight, abandoning the city and fleeing. Beginning on the ninth day of May, Nong Zhigao successively captured dozens of counties in Jiuzhou, including Heng (present-day Heng County, Guangxi), Gui (present-day Gui County, Guangxi), Xun (present-day Guiping, Guangxi), Kang (present-day Deqing, Guangxi), and Duan (present-day Zhaoqing, Guangdong). But the military and civilians in Guangzhou resisted desperately. By May 22, Nong Zhigao's rebels had advanced to the city of Guangzhou. The military and civilians of Guangzhou faced Nong Zhigao's army and chose to resist desperately. Of course, in addition to the soldiers and civilians of Guangzhou who were stubbornly defending the infant city, there were other Song Dynasty Haojie who rebelled against Nong Zhigao. For example, Panyu County Ling recruited Haojie and Xiangding on the sea and burned Nong Zhigao's warships. Nong Zhigao, who was running from afar, originally wanted to fight a quick battle, but he did not expect to besiege Guangzhou for more than 50 days. Only in July can it be withdrawn from Guangzhou.
When Nong Zhigao returned to Yongzhou, he successively attacked He (present-day He County, Guangxi), Zhao (present-day Pingle County, Guangxi), and Bin (present-day Binyang, Guangxi) and other prefectures. It is particularly heinous that when Nong Zhigao captured Zhaozhou, he blocked thousands of people who had taken refuge in the valley from the war in the valley and burned them alive.
Di Qing's Southern Expedition
When Nong Zhigao burned and plundered Liangguang, the Northern Song Dynasty also actively mobilized men and horses to prepare to suppress this rebel army.
From the second day of the first month of June, the Northern Song Dynasty sent the Guangnan East-West Road to pacify Yang Bi and lead an army to rescue Guangzhou. Later, he accepted and sent Guangxi Jingjing to pacify Yu Jing, and Jinghu South Road and Jiangnan West Road to pacify Sun Huan and lead an army to attack Nong Zhigao. However, these two people, in addition to the success of blocking Nong Zhigao in Guangzhou City, could not further attack Nong Zhigao. In October, nong Zhigao captured Pennsylvania and occupied Yongzhou again. The long-term teachers and elders were ineffective, so emperor Renzong was clothed and fed for him. The entire Northern Song Dynasty court was also in a situation where there was nothing to do, and some people even proposed to use 30,000 taels of money to ask the Jiaoguo to send troops to suppress Nong Zhigao.
Illustration: Di Qing of the Northern Song Dynasty
It is said that "the country is in turmoil and thinks of a good general", and the deputy envoy of the Privy Council, who has just entered the temple, took the initiative to ask Foran to march on the south after repeatedly making great achievements in the Western Xia War. Di Qing asked Emperor Renzong for war, saying that "the subjects rise up and fight, and there is no way to repay the country without war, and they are willing to have hundreds of cavalry fallen, and they will be forbidden to be pawns, and when the thieves are the head of the thieves." Emperor Renzong could then appoint Di Qing as an envoy to Xuanhui's Southern Courtyard and Xuanfu Jinghu South north and south roads, and to control the banditry in Guangnan. All the generals of Guangnan and their men and horses were under the control of Di Qing. Then, Di Qing commanded more than 20,000 infantry and cavalry, and at the beginning of the fifth year of the emperor's reign, he left Kunlun Pass and went straight to Yongzhou.
Di Qing marched towards Guangnan again and again, and after the arrival of the large army in Hunan, he issued an order to the guangnan armies that they should not go out to fight without a general. However, Chongyi, the governor of Guangxi, made Chen Shu take advantage of Di Qing's arrival and lead an attack without authorization, only to be defeated by Nong Zhigao at Kunlun Pass. In addition, Jiang Kai, Zhang Zhong and others were also defeated one after another, so it seriously affected the morale of the Song army. Therefore, when Di Qing led his troops to meet with Sun Qi, Yu Jing, and others and entered the city of Pennsylvania, the first thing Di Qing had to do was to solemnize military discipline. Therefore, Chen Shu and others who had gone to war without authorization tied up the Yuanmen and beheaded them for public display. At the same time, in order to boost morale, Di Qing used some small "tricks". Di Qing took the deployment to a temple, praying that if Zhengnan could win, then the hundred copper coins he had thrown out were literally facing upwards. When Di Qing threw out the copper coin, it was all written up. As a result, the whole army rejoiced and thundered, believing that there were gods and spirits to help the south, and morale was greatly boosted.
Of course, these tricks can boost morale, but if you want to eliminate Nong Zhigao, you need to strategize and win a decisive victory. When Di Qing's army met with the quang nam armies, it was the first day of the first lunar month in China, the Chinese Spring Festival. Therefore, Di Qing ordered the whole army to rest for ten days to celebrate the New Year. Nong Zhigao, who had been monitoring the movements of the Song army, received a report from Tanma and thought that Di Qing was also a mediocre person. In fact, this was just Di Qing's "darkness Chen Cang" strategy. After announcing the so-called order to celebrate the New Year, Di Qing left only a small number of troops and continued to spend the day and wine. Di Qing led the main force that had prepared rations for 10 days, and quietly opened the camp gate and attacked Kunlun Pass. Di Qing personally led the vanguard troops, Sun Chu was in the center, and Yu Jing was behind the palace. Just when Di Qing's army was braving heavy rain and traveling day and night. Nong Zhigao was already confused by Di Qing's illusion of celebrating the Spring Festival in the camp, and in addition to leaving a small number of troops and spies to continue to monitor the Song army, he also announced that the three armies were on holiday. For Nong Zhigao, the most fatal thing was that he did not send troops to guard Kunlun Pass, which was used as a barrier in Yongzhou.
Illustration: The original picture of the cavalry armor in the Northern Song Dynasty's "General Outline of the Martial Classics"
After Di Qing's army had crossed the dangerous Kunlun Pass by night, Nong Zhigao could not gather his main force and fight a decisive battle at Quy Nhon Pu (present-day Santang Street, Santang Town, Xingning District, Nanning City), more than 10 kilometers from Yongzhou. Relative to Nong Zhigao's army, the "sign army" with javelin shields was only ranked in front, and the weak were in the front. During combat, shields and javelins cooperate with each other to form a castle-like signage array. The Song army, which had been fighting the Dang xiang iron horse for a long time on the Western Xia front, was not only well-equipped, but also had an orderly formation. Di Qing took Zhang Yu as the vanguard of the Right Bandian Andian, such as Jia Kui, the deputy envoy of Jing, as the left general of the former army, and Sun Jie, the deputy envoy of the Left Tibetan Treasury of Xijing, as the right general of the former army, and led the cavalry and infantry to jointly attack Nong Zhigao's army. However, shortly after the start of the war, Sun Jie, whom Di Qing relied heavily on, was unfortunately killed, and the Northern Song army was a little overwhelmed for a while, and the morale of Nong Zhigao's army was high. At the critical moment, Jia Kui led his men to occupy a high ground, and then launched a condescending attack, cutting Nong Zhigao's troops into two sections. Di Qing also waved a white flag and commanded the cavalry to attack Nong Zhigao's army from the left and right flanks. Nong Zhigao's army was an untrained rabble, and it was impossible to resist the combined attack of infantry and horses in the plains. What's more, Di Qing's cavalry also carefully prepared a special weapon "Iron Company" for Nong Zhigao's "sign army". This weapon, which is imitated according to the farm tools used by farmers to fight, after hitting the shield, the iron bar is folded downwards, which can hit the enemy behind the large shield, and the shield's protective ability instantly loses its effect. Accompanied by the sound of "Tie Lian Jia" hitting the shield of Nong Zhigao's army," it was the scream of the sign army that was beaten to the point of blood. Suddenly, Nong Zhigao's army was dead, and the original castle-like sign array had become crooked and incomplete. Nong Zhigao's entire army began to rout, and the Song army took advantage of the situation to cover up. It is said that the Song army killed more than 2,200 nong zhigao's army, captured more than 500 people, and the captured armor was piled up. More importantly, 57 of Nong Zhigao's trusted Huang Shimi, Nong Jianhou, Nong Zhizhong, and other henchmen were killed in this battle.
After this battle, Nong Zhigao was no longer able to fight against the Northern Song Dynasty. He could only lead his relatives and some of his henchmen to abandon Yongzhou and flee to Dali, where he was attached to Nong XiaQing of Temozhai. And use this as a base to recruit troops and horses, study the method of fighting against cavalry, and hope that one day they will continue to cut the land and become king. However, the Northern Song court did not give him this opportunity. The new Governor of Yongzhou, Xiao Zhu, led his troops to continue the liquidation and suppression, and captured alive a general of Nong Zhigao's army to know the relevant facts of Nong Zhigao. In December of the fifth year of the emperor's reign (1054 AD), under the auspices of Yu Jing of Guizhou Zhizhou, Yang Yuanqing, Chen Chong, and others led troops from six prefectures attacked Temo village, and Captured Nong Zhigao's mother Anon and brother Nong Zhiguang, and his second son Nong Jifeng and Nong Jiming, Nong Zhigao was only spared. By 1055, Nong Zhigao had died in the kingdom of Dali. At this point, the Nong Zhigao rebellion, which lasted for several years and spread to more than two places, was completely over.
Illustration: Original gilet
Post-war aftermath
After the suppression of Nong Zhigao, emperor Renzong, who was overjoyed, not only added officials to Di Qing and others.
Di Qing led his troops north to Guizhou and wrote the "Inscription of the Three Generals of Pingman", which recorded the names of the generals at all levels who suppressed Nong Zhigao. Yu Jing also wrote the "Monument to the Great Song Dynasty", which recorded the general process of using troops this time, and praised the commander Di Qing. In the second year of Hehe (1055 AD), Tao Bi of Zhizhou, Yongzhou, in praise of the "Three Generals of Pingman", built the "Three Gong Pavilions" (later changed to "Three Gong Ancestral Halls" in Xianpo (in present-day Nanning People's Park) in The Prefecture Ofe, and later added su Xuan, Wang Shouren, and Mang Jitu to the name of "Six Gong Ancestral Hall"). In 1917, the two Guangdong patrols made Lu Rongting dismantle it and build the Zhenning Fort.
In order not to prevent the rebellion from happening again, the Song Dynasty stationed 4,000 people in Yongzhou and 10,000 troops throughout Guangxi.