What happened to "The King of Yan swept the North"?

Written by Gao Junming

Among the people in Cangzhou, there has been a legend of "The King of Yan swept the north" for hundreds of years. In fact, the "King of Yan's Sweep to the North" is related to the Battle of Jingnan in the early Ming Dynasty. The Battle of Jingnan, also known as the Jingnan Rebellion, was a coup that broke out shortly after the death of Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty. Zhu Yuanzhang, the founder of the Ming Dynasty, assigned his children and grandchildren to various places as vassal kings, and the power of the vassal kings grew day by day. Due to the premature death of the crown prince Zhu Biao, the grandson of the emperor Zhu Yun, the grandson of the emperor, Zhu Yun, Shantao Blu, Qiao? ㄎ Mu Di = ㄎ Mu private school, 譭子糯蟪, planned to 胩? ⒒ Pu Yingwei 炔町∫锣袢梞?涚?子仁烞?芡蔔 In Kaifeng, they deposed him as a commoner, detained the acting king Zhu Gui in Datong, imprisoned Qi Wang Zhu _ in the capital, and Xiang Wang Zhu Bai burned himself to death. At the same time, troops were also deployed around Peking and in the city. In the name of border defense, the elite guards of Yan King Zhu Di, the fourth son of Ming Taizu, were transferred out of the fortress to garrison outside the fortress, preparing to eliminate King Yan. Emperor Jianwen secretly ordered the capture of Zhu Di, but failed. In addition, the measures to reduce the vassal status seriously threatened the interests of the vassal king. Zhu Di raised an army to resist in 1399 (the first year of Jianwen), and then sent his troops southward, known in history as the "Battle of Jingnan".

1. The so-called "King of Yan swept the north" as the people said was actually the Battle of Jingnan

By comparing official historical records and folklore, the so-called "King of Yan swept the north" "In fact, it is the Battle of Jingnan in official history. Because it is more colloquial and accepted by the people than the Battle of Jingnan, it has replaced the "Battle of Jingnan" and has been widely circulated. The war lasted for three years (1399.8-1402.7). During the stalemate stage, the government army and the Yan army launched a fierce tug-of-war between Peiping and Jinan, which brought serious disasters to the aborigines in Hebei and Shandong. The two most brutal battles that affected the Cangzhou area were the Battle of Jinan and the Battle of Dongchang that took place in 1400 AD. In April of that year, the Yan army defeated the government army at Baigou River, and took advantage of the victory to pursue southward to Dezhou. In the battle to attack Jinan, it suffered heavy losses from the government defenders. The city was besieged for three months and the Yan army was defeated. Returning is for the battle of Jinan. "Yanshan New Chronicles" published in the fifth year of the Republic of China recorded: "The Yan army fought in Dezhou, attacked Jinan, and appeared in all directions, but the south of Tianjin and the north of Jinan suffered the most." In October of that year, the Yan army attacked Cangzhou (Today's Jiuzhou) was captured in just two days. After that, the Yan army went south to Dongchang Mansion in Shandong Province, fought a decisive battle with the government troops, and returned with a huge defeat. This was the most disastrous defeat since King Yan launched his army, and it is known as the Battle of Dongchang in history. Among them, the Battle of Cangzhou brought disaster to the Cangzhou area. "Yanshan New Chronicle" records: "Jianwen stationed Sheng Yong in Dezhou, Wu Jie and Ping An guarded Dingzhou, Xu Kai and Tao Ming built Cangzhou, and they were at each other's horns to see the swallows. The king of Yan, Yide and Ding, had their cities firmly guarded, and it was difficult to attack them suddenly. The earthen city of Cangzhou had been in ruins for a long time, and it was difficult to build due to the cold and snowy weather. Taking advantage of its unpreparedness, he rushed to attack it, and it was in danger of collapse. ? Then they captured the city and captured Kai and others alive. The rest of the people surrendered, and Yan general Tan Yuan was killed. Cangcheng was destroyed and later moved to Changlu. " (Translation: Emperor Jianwen ordered Sheng Yong to garrison in Dezhou. Wu Jie and Ping An were stationed in Dingzhou, while Xu Kai and Tao Ming built the city walls of Cangzhou. They were working against each other to spy on King Yan's army. King Yan believed that the walls of Dezhou and Dingzhou were strong and well-defended, and only Cangzhou's could not be captured quickly. The city wall was made of earth and had decayed and collapsed for a long time. Moreover, it was very cold and snowy, so it was difficult to build the city wall. Therefore, we decided to take advantage of the unpreparedness of the Cangzhou defenders and rush to capture Cangzhou. Is this really a landslide? King Yan's army captured Cangzhou City and captured him alive. After Xu Kai was defeated, the rest of the defenders surrendered, and the Yan army general Tan Yuan killed all the surrendered defenders. As a result, Cangzhou City was destroyed and later moved to Changlu (now Cangzhou City). In the Battle of Cangzhou, the Yan army faced off. The bloody massacre of local people exceeded the Battle of Jinan.

2. After Zhu Di became emperor, he "ordered his troops to return to the north to retaliate against the villagers" has no historical basis.

The folk saying that "the King of Yan swept the north" has been circulating since Zhu Di became emperor. Since then, it has a history of six hundred years. Over the past six hundred years, this saying has been passed down from generation to generation from common people, and has been written into many family genealogies and many local chronicles. Especially in the gazetteers compiled in various places in the past few years, many have written about the disasters and pain brought to the local areas by "The King of Yan's Sweep to the North". Page 14 of the 1991 edition of "Yanshan County Chronicle": "In June of the fourth year of Jianwen (1402), King Yan came to the throne and ordered his army to return to the north to retaliate against the villagers. The county was littered with corpses and rubble. It was known in history as 'The King of Yan swept the north'. "The idea of ??"ordering the army to return to the north to retaliate against the villagers" is not found in the county annals of Yanshan, Cangxian, Qingxian, Nanpi, and Qingyun compiled in the Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China.

This statement first appeared in the "Cangzhou Place Names Chronicle" compiled and printed by the Cangzhou District Place Names Office in 1983: "Jingnan's division, because of its unjustifiable name, Yan King Zhu Di also killed and surrendered in Cangzhou (today's Jiuzhou, Cangxian County). Thousands of people, localities and people resisted in stages, and his army was repeatedly frustrated in the area from Jinan to Cangzhou. Zhu Di finally won and conquered Nanjing. He became emperor and became the emperor of the Ming Dynasty. As a result of the rebellion, Cangzhou was "covered with corpses during the day, and gleaming with green phosphorus at night. The tragedy was unbearable to witness." The villagers called this incident the King of Yan's Sweep to the North. According to the "Cangzhou Chronicle" published in the eighth year of Qianlong's reign in the Qing Dynasty (AD 1743). ", "Yanshan County Chronicle" was published in the seventh year of Tongzhi of the Qing Dynasty (1868 AD), "Yanshan New Chronicle" was published in the fifth year of the Republic of China (1916 AD), "Qing County Chronicle" was published in the 20th year of the Republic of China (1931 AD), and "Yanshan County Chronicle" was published in the 20th year of the Republic of China (1931 AD). In the 22nd year (AD 1933), "Cangxian Chronicle" and other chronicles were published, but no words about "ordering the army to return north to retaliate against the villagers" were found. For example, the 1916 edition of Jia Enfu's "New Chronicles of Yanshan" also followed the folk saying that "the King of Yan swept the north", but there was no unpublished statement about "ordering the army to return to the north to retaliate against the villagers". His "Military Affairs Chapter" says: "The residents of Cangyan rose up to fight against the Yan army. The Yan army hated them and devastated their land. The tragic military disaster in Jinan was the only one seen in ancient times. The king of Yan was established in the second year of Yongle. Relocate the people to implement it. So far, the natives have led the saying, "The King of Yan is sweeping the north"?" Speaking of "Yanshan New Chronicles", we have to mention Mr. Jia Enfu. Jia Enfu (1865-1948), also known as Peiqing, was a famous educator and local chronicler in modern China. A native of Jiajin Village, Changjin Township, Yanshan County, Hebei Province. Together with Jiang Yaokui and Cui Lanxi, they are known as the "Three Masters of Yannan"; Mr. Jia Peiqing is good at local chronicles. He devoted most of his life's energy to this, and compiled many high-quality local chronicles throughout his life. His view of local chronicles was highly praised by later generations, and his rigorous attitude in compiling local chronicles was praised by the world. Some scholars say that the matter of "King Yan's sweep of the north" was taboo among historians in the Ming Dynasty, so there is no written record. The "New Chronicles of Yanshan" of the Republic of China does have records that Li Liuxi, a private citizen, wrote "Yi Min Lu" during the Yongle period and was eventually lost. But after the fall of the Ming Dynasty, there was no taboo on the matter. Why should Fang Zhi keep talking about it anymore? There is even a record in the "Cangzhou Chronicles" of the eighth year of Qianlong's reign in the Qing Dynasty that the Yan army killed three thousand Cangzhou surrendered soldiers. If there was "ordering the army to return north to retaliate against the villagers", there is no reason not to record it. Secondly, the "Cangzhou Gazetteer" contains "(Zhu Di) was still angry and ordered his army to return north", which contradicts Qianlong's "Cangzhou Chronicle". Qianlong's "Cangzhou Chronicle" records: "(Tan Yuan killed three thousand surrendered soldiers) Chengzu was angry. Yuan said: 'These Cao Cao are all strong men, and it will be a trouble for the future.' Chengzu said: 'As you said, you should kill all the enemies. Can it be done? "Yuan retreated in shame ("History of Ming Dynasty: Biography of Tan Yuan")" (Translation: Tan Yuan killed three thousand Cangzhou surrender troops, and Chengzu was furious. Tan Yuan explained: "These people are brave and heroic people." If you let them go, they will become a trouble in the future." Chengzu said; "If it is true that you should kill all the enemies, can the enemies really kill them all?" Tan Yuan retreated in shame.) It can be seen that King Zhu Di of Yan, The later Emperor Chengzu of the Ming Dynasty was already furious about Tan Yuan's killing of 3,000 surrendered troops after the Battle of Cangzhou. However, Zhu Di, who had conquered Nanjing two years later and proclaimed himself emperor, "was still angry and ordered his troops to return north." Wouldn't it be too illogical to retaliate against the people in Cangzhou and surrounding areas? In addition, we can infer from common sense that after Zhu Di overthrew Emperor Jianwen, his role changed, from the leader of Yan King to the emperor who owned the world. What he needs is peace in the world, and the rapid restoration of production and living order among the subjects of the world, so as to provide a steady stream of material guarantees for the rule of the dynasty. Therefore, it is impossible for Zhu Di, who became the emperor, to retaliate against the people in Shandong and Hebei again. If King Yan really wanted to sweep the north, he should go to Jinan first to carry out the massacre. Because Tie Xuan pretended to surrender there, Zhu Di was deceived into riding into the city alone. He was almost killed by a hidden weapon at the city gate. Fortunately, he escaped because he ran fast. Later, when advancing southward, the Yan army had to bypass Jinan. However, there is no record of Zhu Di's revenge and massacre of Jinan in any history books. Besides, Zhu Di has always been opposed to the killing of prisoners of war after the war. He has severely reprimanded his subordinates several times for killing prisoners of war, and once asked his generals, "What's the use of gaining no man's land?" So killing people after becoming emperor would never have been done by Zhu Di, the wise king and hero who once pushed the Ming Dynasty to glory. Moreover, Zhu Di, who ascended the throne, has won his orthodox status, and he also needs to use people's orthodox ideas to maintain his imperial power, so it is impossible for him to massacre those people who have resisted him in the past because of their orthodox ideas.

In the local chronicles from the Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China, there is no saying that "the army was ordered to return north to retaliate against the villagers". This is a new theory proposed by the compilers of local chronicles in the 1980s and 1990s. It may be referred to Some folk legends have been removed, turning serious local chronicles into folk tales. Once published, falsehoods will be spread and harm future generations. This is really not the academic attitude that historians should hold.

3. The theory that "the King of Yan swept the stele" is really conjecture

The 1992 edition of "Mengcun County Chronicle" says: "In June of the fourth year of Jianwen (1402), King Yan After he ascended the throne, he ordered his army to return to the north to retaliate against the villagers. One hundred people could not escape, and the corpses were scattered all over the fields. It was commonly known as "Sweeping Monuments of the King of Yan" (also known as "Sweeping the North"). This is also recorded in "Hongdong Ancient Locust Tree". : There is a popular rumor among the people that the King of Yan launched the "Jingnan" campaign, and the banner was to go to Nanjing to sweep the merit monument of Nanjing City, which is the ancestral monument of the royal family, so it is also called the "Jingnan Campaign". King Yan swept the monument." This is quite consistent with the fact that "The King of Yan paid a visit to the ancestral mausoleum" when the Yan army attacked Sizhou, Fengyang Prefecture, and the fact that after entering Nanjing, the King of Yan first paid homage to the Xiaoling Tomb. consistent. The word "sweeping tombstones" roughly means visiting graves and sweeping tombstones. This term is far less inspiring and righteous than "Qingjunzi" and "Jingnan", and it is difficult to become a slogan for an army or to summarize a war. This vocabulary does not appear in Ming history classics or various local chronicles before the Republic of China. In Beijing Mandarin, the word "bei" is pronounced as Yinping, which is one tone, while the word "bei" is pronounced as rising tone, which is three tones. The pronunciation of these two characters are different. Possibly confusing. Only in the dialect of eastern Cangzhou, these two characters have three tones, and there is no difference in pronunciation. It is very likely that the word "sweeping monument" was coined by contemporary local chroniclers due to confusion in folk pronunciation, which is not credible.

4. "The King of Yan's Sweep to the North" has nothing to do with the Battle of Mobei in the early Ming Dynasty

Some scholars believe that the war in which Zhu Di seized the throne was historically known as "Jing" "The Battle of Difficulty", and "King Yan's Sweep to the North" refers to Zhu Di's several wars against the remaining Mongolian forces. He himself eventually died in the Northern Campaign. The people confuse the Northern Expedition of the Mongolian and Yuan Dynasties with the "Jingnan" of the Southern Expedition of Emperor Jianwen. The author believes that this statement is even more absurd. The Battle of Jingnan took place from 1399 to 1402 before Zhu Di ascended the throne. The Battle of Mobei took place in 1409, the seventh year of Yongle, 1414, the twelfth year, 1422, the twentieth year, and 1423, the twenty-first year, after Zhu Di ascended the throne. The five personal expeditions in 1424, the 22nd year of the Ming Dynasty, were a war against the three remaining tribes of the Northern Yuan Dynasty, the Tatar, Oara and Ulyanha tribes entrenched in Mobei. The two happened at different times. One was before Zhu Di ascended the throne, and the other was after he became emperor. It is impossible to call it "King Yan's sweep of the north"; the duration of the war is different. The Battle of Mobei spanned 15 years. The former has unorthodox The latter was a just war fought by Zhu Di personally to safeguard national unity; the two wars took place in different places. The former suffered heavy damage from the plains in Hebei and Shandong, while the latter was thousands of miles away from the North China Plain. They work at sunrise and rest at sunset. The people who have been farmers for generations only care about their own one-third of an acre of land and their own food and clothing. They will never care about the Mobei War that has nothing to do with them. The people have no reason to care about what happened thousands of miles away. The Mobei War was passed down orally to future generations, and the "King of Yan swept the north" indicates that Chengzu's expedition to the north was actually the result of unfounded conjecture. The King of Yan, Zhu Di, sent his troops south from Peiping to attack the capital of the Ming Dynasty, which is now Nanjing. Therefore, it was actually called "sweeping the south". The reason why there is the term "sweeping the north", I believe, is because the common people of the generation in Hebei and Shandong used their own views. Taking space as the main body, compared with Nanjing, the disaster caused to the north by the Jingnan Campaign was called "The King of Yan swept the north".

In recent decades, peace and stability have prevailed in the countryside. The compilation of place name information and county annals compiled by local governments in the 1980s and 1990s are almost a masterpiece of folklore and government agencies. To sum up, the two interacted with each other. Compared with the "New Chronicles of Yanshan" written by Jia Enfu, a master of local chronicles, there is a huge difference. The relevant records of "The King of Yan's Sweep to the North" lack factual basis, which can't help but make people sigh!

5. The relocation of Cangzhou’s prefecture was due to the "King of Yan's sweep of the north"

There are two theories about when Cangzhou's prefecture moved from Qingchi to Changlu. One theory is that it was at the end of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty and the beginning of Yongle. This theory is based on the "Notes on the Creation of the City of Cangzhou" written by Li Xian, a great scholar of the Ming Dynasty: "At the end of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty, it was moved to Changlu Town, which is here, and it has been almost a hundred years... .....

In October of the sixth year of Tianshun (1462), the Cangzhou new city built by Jia Zhong, the magistrate of Cangzhou, was completed. In the early Ming Dynasty, Wang Ao and Ma Ang were both from Cangzhou. They had the power of employment and were highly valued and trusted by the emperor. Ma Ang and Wang Ao invited Li Xian, the Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs at that time, wrote "Cangzhou's Creation of the City" to commemorate it; another theory is based on "History of the Ming Dynasty and Geography": Cangzhou "moved to Changlu in May of the second year of Hongwu, that is, it is now ruled." "History of the Ming Dynasty, The Benji of Taizu" and "History of the Ming Dynasty, The Benji of Chengzu" record that in September of the second year of Hongwu (AD 1369), Ming general Chang Yuchun returned to Peiping (the capital of the Yuan Dynasty). That is to say, the Yuan Dynasty fell and the north was initially determined. Specifically, the state government offices were not yet functioning step by step. In the second year of Hongwu (1369 AD), would the imperial court devote manpower and financial resources to move a state city? Is this necessary? The only reason that is consistent with the migration of state governance is that after Cangzhou City was severely damaged, it could no longer be the seat of the state governance and was forced to move. Therefore, the issue of Cangzhou state governance migration in the second year of Hongwu (1369 AD) did not exist. Why are there such different records of migration in Cangzhou? Records in the history books of the past dynasties inevitably contain fallacies and distortions due to the limitations of historians due to various conditions. The migration issue of Cangzhou Prefectural Government is precisely the writing of the chroniclers. The reason why they wrote this is because there is a major political secret behind it that is not allowed to be stated. This secret is the Battle of Jingnan. After Zhu Di came to the throne, he had to deal with this period. The disgraceful history must be kept secret. In addition, the tragedy of Fang Xiaoru, who was implicated in ten clans, which literati would dare to smash the stone with an egg. When compiling relevant cultural and historical materials, he would not hesitate to conceal historical facts if anything that hinders the political interests of his rulers. Deleting and not writing or showing off one's work.

"History of the Ming Dynasty" was first compiled in the 18th year of Kangxi's reign (1679). In the fourth year of Qianlong's reign (1739), Zhang Tingyu, a bachelor of Baohedian, and others wrote it on the basis of the "Manuscript of the History of the Ming Dynasty" written during the Kangxi period. It took 95 years from the opening of the history museum in the second year of Shunzhi (1645), making it the longest official history book in Chinese history. The "History of the Ming Dynasty" was drafted more than 300 years after the Jingnan Campaign. During this period, the authenticity of the historical materials and the replacement of compilers. The authenticity of the "migrated to Changlu in May of the second year of Hongwu" recorded in it is questionable. In the year 1402 (1402) of Emperor Huizong Zhu Yun of the Ming Dynasty, Emperor Chengzu of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Di, who ascended the throne through the Jingnan Campaign, abolished the Jianwen reign title and renamed it Hongwu thirty-five years later. It was changed to the reign title one year later. Yongle. In September 1400, Huizong ordered General Sheng Yong to lead the army in the Northern Expedition. Deputy General Wu Jie marched into Dingzhou, and Commander Xu Kai and others stationed in Cangzhou. In October, the Yan army broke through Cangzhou and captured Xu Kai. The new city of Cangzhou was completed in the sixth year of Tianshun (1462), which was only a few decades before the state was moved. Li Xian, the official minister, must have heard about this matter. He said, "At the end of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty, it was moved to Changlu Town." The level of credibility should be greater. During the four years of the Jingnan Campaign, the war was chaotic, the king's flag changed on the city wall, and the prefectural government should also cease to exist. After Zhu Di ascended the throne in July 1402, the world was initially settled, and it was only reasonable to move to the prefecture for governance. Therefore, the end of Hongwu mentioned by Li Xian should be the 35th year of Hongwu (1402).

The term "King Yan swept the north" has been circulated among the people in Cangzhou for six hundred years. It was a very tragic war in which more than 60,000 soldiers and civilians in Cangzhou were killed. The ancient city was completely destroyed, and the surrounding people fled to death, leaving no one inhabited. Later, immigrants were not allowed to move here, and the state government was moved to the bank of the canal. The words "The King of Yan swept the North" are almost never seen in official history, but in unofficial history and folklore, they appear very frequently, and they are a legend often talked about by the elderly. Peeling away the cocoons and removing the false while retaining the true is the attitude we should have towards history. If it is specious and false and spreads falsehoods, it will only distort the facts and cannot restore the true face of history.