The series of stories of Yang Jiajian can be called extremely widely circulated and well-known. The Yang family is loyal and martyr, and their deeds are touching to the heart, and they are still synonymous with loyal and good generals. And their fate is very tragic and tragic, from the old Ling Gong Yang Jiye, almost every generation of men, eventually sacrificed their lives for the country, as the Eastern Han Ma Yuan said, the eldest husband died in battle, Ma Ge wrapped the body and returned. When the story of the Yang family general is nearing the end, people see that the Yang family boy is almost dead, only twelve widows are left, and they still have to lead the army to go out, I believe that no one will not be moved.
On the other hand, there are always dark corners under the sun. While the loyalists of the Yang family were fighting bloody battles on the front line, the traitors above the court were jealous of Xian's ability and secretly made bad things. For example, Pan Renmei, who communiqués a personal vendetta and makes people itch very much. Moreover, these traitors also won the trust of the emperor, so that the loyalists were always unable to display their talents, and they repeatedly failed.
Why is it that such a pillar of the country and the guardian deity of border passes as the Yang family always cannot fight the traitors? Why were the emperors of the Song Dynasty so confused and always partial to the adulterers? Why is it that except for the Yang family, there is no one in the Great Song Dynasty who can defend the frontier and repulse the Fan soldiers?
The history books record that Yang Ye had seven sons, which is also the prototype of the "Seven Langs and Eight Tigers". However, among his many sons, only the eldest son, Yang Yanzhao, is the most famous, and the deeds of the rest have little information to inquire about.
After Yang Ye's death, his son Yang Yanzhao continued his legacy and continued to be active on the anti-Liao front. Various commentaries and novels say that Yang Yanzhao is the sixth son of Yang Jiye, known as "Yang Liulang", in fact, the history books generally say that Yang Yanzhao is the eldest son, or the second son.
Yang Yanzhao's original name was Yang Yanlang, and later changed his name to Yang Yanzhao. Yang Yanzhao liked the military at an early age and often played games of war. Yang Ye once said: "This son is most like me, and I will take him with me when I go out on expeditions." Therefore, Yang Yanzhao participated in many battles with his father in his early years and performed well.
In 999, the Liao army invaded and attacked Suicheng (遂城, in modern Xushui County, Hebei). Yang Yanzhao was guarding Suicheng, and on the one hand he arranged to defend the city, on the other hand, he sent people for help, but the Song army was afraid of the enemy like a tiger and did not dare to rescue. Yang Yanzhao had only three thousand soldiers in his hands, and he mobilized the people of the city to assist in the defense. It has been insisting for more than a month. It was early winter and it wasn't very cold. However, one day the temperature suddenly plummeted, and Yang Yanzhao took advantage of this opportunity to order the residents of the city to draw water to water the city wall. Overnight, the walls of the city became an "ice wall", strong and smooth. The Liao army was difficult to attack, so it had to bypass Suicheng and attack other places. Yang Yanzhao took the opportunity to go out of the city to cover up and kill, and the Liao army was defeated.
In the winter of the following year, the Liao army went south to invade the Song Dynasty. Yang Yanzhao decided to ambush the invading enemy by luring the enemy deeper, ambushed the elite at Yangshan Mountain west of Suicheng, and ordered a small number of cavalry to lure the enemy. The Liao army pursued and killed the Song cavalry, and the Song army cavalry fought and walked. Arriving at the Yangshan encirclement, the Song army ambushed the army, the Liao army was defeated, and the main general of the Liao army was also beheaded by Yang Yanzhao. Later, in order to commemorate this victory, the local residents renamed Yangshan "Yangshan".
At this time, although Yang Yanzhao had made outstanding achievements in battle, he was still only a low-level general, and the troops under his command were only a few thousand. It was not until 1004 AD that Yang Yanzhao's army expanded to 10,000 people.
In 1004, the Liao Emperor and Empress Xiao led a large army to invade the Song Dynasty in a large way. The Liao army reached The Liao army reached The prefecture of Liao (澶州, in modern Puyang, Henan) on the north bank of the Yellow River. The Monarchs and courtiers of the Song Dynasty were all shocked, intending to move the capital to avoid the front. The chancellor Kou Zhun resolutely advocated resistance and forcibly persuaded Emperor Zhenzong of Song to personally march. Yang Yanzhao, as an experienced general, also wrote a book to state the strategy for breaking the Liao. Emperor Zhenzong of Song agreed to personally march, and after reaching the front, the morale of the Song army was greatly boosted, while the Liao army was repeatedly at a disadvantage. The situation began to develop in favor of the Song Dynasty. However, Song Zhenzong was afraid of the Liao soldiers, and did not dare to seriously resist, and he also ignored the strategy of defeating the enemy proposed by Yang Yanzhao and other generals, but insisted on peace. Most of the ministers were reluctant to resist. This passive war-avoidance attitude of the Song Dynasty's monarchs eventually led to the signing of the "Alliance of Liaoyuan" between the Liao and Song Dynasties.
The covenant stipulates that the Liao and Song dynasties are brotherly countries, and the two sides will not invade each other with the Baigou River as the boundary. The Song Dynasty sent 100,000 taels of silver and 200,000 pieces of silk to the Liao State every year. Open a field at the border to trade between the markets.
Judging from the content of the treaty, the Song Dynasty withdrew its troops from the Liao state at a relatively small economic cost (compared with the Song Dynasty's fiscal revenue, the amount of coins was indeed not much), and obtained a promise from the Liao state not to invade the south. Although it is not a lot to pay, it is indeed a humiliating treaty. Yang Yanzhao was very dissatisfied with this treaty, so he led more than 10,000 troops to pursue while the Liao army was retreating south, entering the Border of Song and Liao, and attacking the ancient city in the territory of the Liao State and returning.
Kou Zhun, the chancellor of the main war faction, was very appreciative of Yang Yanzhao, and after the "Alliance of Yuanyuan", yang Yanzhao served as the main military leader of gaoyang guanlu in the Song Dynasty and was responsible for the defense of Hebei. Yang Yanzhao fought bravely, and he must be a pioneer in every battle, and was deeply loved by the native soldiers.
Because of his repeated defeats of Liao invasions, the Khitans feared him. Call him "Yang Liulang". The so-called "Liu Lang" refers to the stars in the sky, and the Khitan people regard Yang Yanzhao as a star under the stars, not that Yang Yanzhao is yang Ye's sixth son.
Later, Kou Zhun was relieved of his post as chancellor, and Emperor Zhenzong of Song used Wang Qinruo ( 王钦若 ) of the lord and faction as prime minister. If Wang Qinruo continued to suppress the main war faction, Yang Yanzhao's life was also quite unsatisfactory. In 1014, Yang Yanzhao died of illness at the age of fifty-seven.
In the novels, it is said that Yang Yanzhao's son is Yang Zongbao and Yang Zongmian, some novels say that Yang Zongbao's son is Yang Wenguang, while some novels believe that Yang Wenguang is Yang Zongbao's younger brother, Yang Yanzhao's younger son. In fact, Yang Yanzhao had three sons: Yang Chuanyong, Yang Dezheng, and Yang Wenguang. The deeds of the first two were not prominent, and Yang Wenguang followed Fan Zhongyan to fight against the Western Xia and made meritorious achievements.
Judging from the records of the history books, the difference between the various legends of the Yang family and the actual history is indeed not small. The generals of the Yang family were indeed important generals in the Northern Song Dynasty's border pass against the Liao state, but whether it was Yang Ye or Yang Yanzhao, their actual positions were not high, and their role in the border was not as great as in the novel.
Those bridge sections where the Yang family has repeatedly sued Pan Renmei for many years are only the interpretation of the novel opera. Since there is no so-called "Pan Yang case", then the story of Kou Zhun's case of protecting the Yang family does not exist, and even Kou Zhun himself may not have seen Yang Yanzhao.
Because Yang Yanzhao's position was not high, and he spent most of his life guarding the imperial guard at the border, there is no record of the traitors in the DPRK repeatedly framing Yang Yanzhao. In the Song Dynasty, there were many things that The Wenchen suppressed and persecuted military generals, and Wang Qinruo, the chancellor of Emperor Zhenzong of Song, did intend to suppress the main war faction, but this was not aimed at Yang Yanzhao personally. Or it can be said that Yang Yanzhao's status is not worth the traitors in the dprk to deliberately frame. As for the kinship between the Yang family's generations, we have also explained that it is quite different from the story in the novel.