The military general you don t know is Ren Dijian, the marshal of the vinegar festival

Mondo Culture Updated on 2024-02-07

In the glorious Tang Dynasty, a military commander entertained the staff members of the army. However, a soldier in charge of pouring wine mistakenly mistook a pot of vinegar for fine wine, causing one judge to mistakenly eat a full stomach full of vinegar. Unexpectedly, this vinegar-related story spread among the army and left an eternal story for future generations.

Li Jingluo is the commander of the Tang Tiande Army, and there is a judge next to him named Ren Dijian. This was the first official position held by Ren Di Jian Jinshi and his successor. Ren Dijian was born in a family of eunuchs, and his family has been an official for generations. His great-grandfather Ren Yaxiang served as the prime minister in the early Tang Dynasty, and his father Ren Peng served as the assassin of Lingzhou. Despite his illustrious background, Ren Dijian was not contaminated with the extravagance of the children of the family, and his personality was pure.

In the past, the Tiande Army held a grand military banquet. Ren Dijian was beside a wine soldier, who mistook vinegar for wine. The little soldier poured it for Ren Di Jian, but as soon as Di Jian sniffed it, he knew that the little soldier had made a mistake. So, Ren Dijian did not hesitate, made a mistake, and drank all the vinegar pots. For no other reason, Ren Di thought about Li Jingluo, who was strict in governing the army, or severely punished for the mistakes of the soldiers, so he stepped forward to cover up for the soldiers.

At that time, at the banquet, all the soldiers drank fine wine, and only Ren Di Jian drank vinegar for pleasure. Ren Di Jane excused himself for not having enough alcohol in exchange for spirits. However, afterwards, Ren Dijian coughed up blood. When this matter spread, all the officers and men of the army were moved, and they deeply felt that Ren Dijian had a big mind and the style of an elder. Li Jingluo was also very emotional, and commuted his sentence and punishment to show his respect.

In the twentieth year of Zhenyuan (804), Li Jingluo passed away, and the generals and soldiers in the army jointly played and unanimously elected Ren Dijian as the commander. However, when the prison guards learned of this, they took Ren Dijian into custody without authorization. When the news came out, the soldiers were deeply shocked, and the crowd was furious, and they gathered to make a noise, and Ren Dijian broke out of the window. Isn't such a blatant provocation of the authority of the prison army, and the provocation of a mass commotion, an attempt to gather a mass rebellion? The overseer then brought the matter to the court. When Tang Dezong heard the news, he sent an envoy to investigate the truth. After learning the truth, Dezong issued an edict appointing Ren Dijian to replace Li Jingluo, and concurrently served as the military envoy of Fengzhou and Tiande. Since then, Ren Dijian's career has been smooth sailing.

In the fifth year of Yuanhe (810), Zhang Maozhao, the envoy of Yiwu Jiedu, applied to the imperial court to step down, and connected four chapters, which Tang Xianzong approved. Subsequently, Ren Dijian was appointed as the Sima of the Yiwu March. However, after Zhang Maozhao resigned, on October 11 of the same year, Yang Boyu launched a rebellion, and Ren Dijian was imprisoned again. Despite this, Ren Dijian, with his outstanding virtue and prestige, won the support of the soldiers. So, the soldiers plotted to get rid of the traitors. Only three days later, the whole army made a concerted effort and successfully put down the Yang rebellion. Ren Dijian was able to return to his post.

Since the Anshi Rebellion, the Tang Dynasty has been in decline, falling into the dilemma of feudal towns, foreign invasions, and eunuch dictatorship. Internal and external troubles are still frequent, and the army of the feudal town will take the opportunity to rebel, making the situation of secession more and more serious. Zhang Zuoyuan also joined the rebellion, and soon after, Ren Dijian was imprisoned again. Ren Dijian asked the rebels for permission to resign, and then led the army to fight back, successfully killing the rebel leader Zhang. With the will of the army, Ren Dijian, with the support of the generals, was once again in charge of military affairs.

The previously mentioned jiedu made Zhang Maozhao leave many thorny problems after leaving office. According to the "Old Tang Book", Zhang Maozhao's extravagant life led to the depletion of public and private financial resources: "Extravagance is not modest, and public and private are exhausted." "Although the people were disgruntled in the face of such a festival envoy, they were afraid of their authority, and dared not speak out.

Zhang Maozhao spent extravagantly during his tenure, and the military treasury was seriously underfunded, so that the military supply reserves were exhausted. After Ren Dijian took over, he intended to appease the army, but due to lack of financial resources, he was unable to reward the soldiers. So, he could only prepare brown rice, eat and live with the soldiers, and spent a month in the barracks.

Ren Dijian, as an official of the imperial court, was willing to put down his body and share weal and sorrow with the soldiers, eating and living together, which deeply moved the soldiers of the county. Therefore, despite the financial constraints in the army, the people were determined to hold their territory, and they would not allow the marching Sima to spend their days with the people. Everyone sincerely invited Ren Dijian to return to the official residence to sleep.

After hearing the news, Tang Xianzong specially ordered to reward the soldiers of Yizhou and Dingzhou with 100,000 horses of silk, and appointed Ren Dijian as the envoy of the Yiwu Festival. Ren Dijian's jealousy of military officials in his early years has become a good story praised by the world. After he was promoted to the envoy of the festival, the world called him "the handsome of the vinegar festival".

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