During the Northern Song Dynasty, Yujin Garden (one of the four major gardens in Tokyo during the Song Dynasty) became the place where the Great Song Emperor Zhao Ji received the envoys of the Liao State. And on this day, He Guan, who was the captain at that time, was ordered to accompany the Liao envoy to shoot arrows.
He Guan shot an arrow first, and the arrow hit the target accurately, attracting warm applause from the people around him. However, on his second attempt, he missed the bull's-eye.
The envoy of the Liao State asked in a mocking tone, "Isn't Taiwei's archery skills very good?" He Guan smiled slightly and replied: "It's not that I'm not good at archery, it's just that you are a guest, and I should let you give you an arrow out of courtesy." ”
After speaking, he picked up his bow and arrow, and hit the bull's-eye with an arrow again, leaving the Liao envoy speechless. After hearing this, Song Huizong was overjoyed and personally gave wine to show his reward for He Guan.
He Guan, the word Zhongyuan, was born in 1065 A.D. Kaifeng Xiangfu (now Kaifeng Xiangfu District). He joined the military when he was a teenager, although he was still young, but he had excellent riding and archery skills, especially good at archery, and was known as the leader in the army and attracted much attention.
Soon after, with his outstanding martial arts talents, He Guan stood out in the martial arts selection and took up the position of Hedong Road (present-day Yongji, Shanxi). Han Jin, the envoy of Hedong Jingluo, was full of praise for his talent, and once said: "You are a genius, and my position today will belong to you sooner or later." ”
With his outstanding talent and the appreciation of his superiors, He Guan rose through the ranks of his official career, and was soon promoted to the inspection of the Volcano (now Hequ County, Shanxi) army. However, at that time, the situation on the Song-Liao border was turbulent, and the Liao State often invaded, and the clear spring water in Jiahutong was a place where the Liao people often crossed the border to get water.
In order to protect the water source of the border, He Guan personally demarcated the border and set up an earthen fort near the spring to look out for the enemy. The Liao army was outraged by this, and crossed the border to invade the Great Song Dynasty, and the troops came to the city.
In the face of the clamor of the Liao army, He Guan resolutely took out his bow and arrows, aimed and shot, and fired three arrows in a row, repelling the enemy army. The Liao soldiers saw that He Guan's archery was exquisite, and thought that his three arrows were shot in the same position, and even pierced a large stone.
However, He Guan's archery technique is really skillful, and the three arrows are shot at different positions, but they achieve the same effect.
He Guan was known as the "archer" on the border of the Northern Song Dynasty because of his magic arrow skills and strong strength. When the Liao people mentioned this incident many years later, they were still amazed by the fact that the arrow was not missing, and he was able to shoot the arrow deep into the rocks.
When Taishi Xiao of Da Liao met with He Guan and mentioned this matter, He Guan laughed and claimed to be the He Inspector of the year, and his archery skills were like gods. Taishi Xiao deeply admired this and saluted He Guan.
In an encounter, He Guan rode a horse to meet the pursuers, and with his superb archery skills, he shocked the enemy and caused the enemy to flee in terror. His heroic performance was appreciated by Zhang Kangguo, and he was recommended to the Privy Council.
He Guan was summoned by Huizong to give a detailed report on the situation on the northwest border. With his heroic performance on the battlefield, he was promoted many times, and served as Tidian Hedong Prison, Lingwei Prefecture Assassin History, Zhicang Prefecture and other positions.
He Guan was promoted to the introduction of envoys (responsible for offering gifts) because of his meritorious service in governing Cangzhou, and during this period, the emperor ordered him to escort 300,000 stone grain and grass to the three states.
All this shows that He Guan is not only brave, but also wise, not just a stunned young man. In 1114 AD, He Guan served as the governor of Minzhou (present-day Minxian County, Gansu Province) and was ordered by the imperial court to recruit archers there.
During the Northern Song Dynasty, archers were not a single army, but a specially established civilian armed force in the northwest to defend against the invasion of ethnic minorities. These archers are engaged in agriculture in peacetime, and will pick up ** in wartime to defend their homeland.
However, the climate in Minzhou is arid and people's livelihood is difficult, so it is difficult to recruit a large number of talents. Therefore, the imperial court followed He Guan's suggestion and ordered him to mobilize the people in the Huangshui Valley to build water conservancy, dig water diversion channels, irrigate thousands of hectares of remote land, improve the quality of local cultivated land, and make the people no longer hungry and willing to sign up for government recruitment.
Through He Guan's efforts, he successfully recruited 7,400 young archers, which was the most successful recruitment in the northwest region at that time. He Guan was then promoted to the rank of Guard Infantry Du Yu Hou and became the head of the Infantry Division, commanding the Beijing Forbidden Army.
In 1125 AD, the Jin army divided into two routes, all the way south, preparing to attack the Great Song Dynasty. The Jin army of the East Road, under the leadership of General Wanyan Zongwang, advanced straight to the Yellow River, planning to pass through the Yellow River and go straight to Tokyo.
During the Northern Song Dynasty, there was a very famous bridge on the Yellow River called the Junzhou Yellow River Bridge. The construction of the bridge began in November of the 4th year of Zhenghe (1114 AD) and was completed in the following year, the 5th year of Zhenghe (1115 AD).
The newly completed Junzhou Bridge connects Junzhou, Hebei Province and Huazhou, Henan Province, and is an important passage on the Yellow River, and is the gateway to the north of Beijing, and its strategic position is irreplaceable.
In order to defend Tokyo, the first task is to defend the Junju Bridge.
For the sake of Tokyo's safety, the Great Song Dynasty decided to send more than 27,000 elite soldiers of the Sanya Forbidden Army to the Yellow River to meet the battle. However, Zhao Ji's addiction to calligraphy and painting led to his negligence in political affairs, timidity, and favor traitorous ministers.
On December 22 of the seventh year of Xuanhe, Liang Fangping, a eunuch of the Song Qin sect, led more than 7,000 cavalry of the forbidden army to garrison the Tiancheng Bridge (North Bridge) in Junzhou. A few days later, the imperial court sent an additional 20,000 forbidden soldiers to He Guan and stationed them at the Shenggong Bridge (South Bridge) in Huazhou.
The two forbidden armies in the north and south echoed each other from afar, and jointly ensured the stability of the Yellow River defense line. However, in the face of the well-trained and well-equipped Jin army, the strength of more than 20,000 people was like a mantis arm blocking the car, and the only thing they could rely on was the natural defense line of the Yellow River.
During the Northern Song Dynasty, the imperial court was corrupt, and there was a serious phenomenon of empty salaries and fraudulent claims in the forbidden army in the capital. Although the number of soldiers under the command of He Guan was 20,000, they were actually only a few thousand, and their combat capability was relatively weak.
He Guan was deeply dissatisfied with such a military deployment, and he once asked Prime Minister Bai Shizhong to make a proposal, but it was not adopted. He Guan knew that he could not hold the south bank of the Yellow River with his current troops, so he resigned from the post of guard general many times, but was finally forcibly appointed by the Song court as the deputy envoy of the Hebei system in Hedong.
In the first month of the first year of Jingkang (1126 AD), the forward troops of the Jin army on the east road approached Liyang, and the soldiers of the infantry division led by He Guan saw the Jin soldiers on the opposite bank neighing and waving their flags, while the soldiers on the north bank had been defeated without a fight and fled one after another.
When the news came, He Guan's soldiers immediately lost the courage to fight and fled in a hurry. He Guan felt very sad about this, he knew that he had a great responsibility, but in the face of such a situation, he could not do anything.
He Guan was not afraid of danger and immediately ordered his men to burn down the bridge. The Song army received an order and quickly set the "Shenggong Bridge" on fire. Above the Yellow River, in the rolling waves, a fire dragon more than 2,000 meters long rose into the sky, raging flames and billowing smoke rose into the sky, illuminating this ancient river.
However, there were still thousands of Song soldiers on the north bank of the "Tiancheng Bridge" who had not crossed the river. They were flanked from front to back, some of them trampled each other in panic, and many soldiers and horses were squeezed into the Yellow River and drowned.
Although a few Song soldiers were lucky enough to escape, they were soon beheaded by the iron cavalry of the Jin people.
The soldiers on the south bank had already fled, and Ho Guan could not support himself alone, so he had to flee back to Tokyo on horseback. When the vanguard of the Jin army arrived, there was not a single soldier on the south bank to defend it, and the Yellow River was in danger of being defeated, and the Jin army was very surprised by this.
The Jin army, which remained on the north bank, found a dozen small boats without hurry, and it took three full days to send all the troops to the south bank of the Yellow River. It was these crucial three days that made the Great Song miss the best opportunity to win.
The Jin army swung south, unstoppable, and approached Tokyo. The Jin soldiers approached, and He Guan hurried back to Tokyo and asked to see Song Qinzong. However, the Song court put all the responsibility for the defeat on He Guan, and Song Qinzong refused to even see him, and directly ordered him to guard the western corner of the Beijing Division.
He Guan was deeply ashamed of the rout of the Yellow River in his heart, and was determined to die to make his will clear, and to be ashamed before the snow. He took his eldest son He Ji and led the army to fight fiercely with the Jin army in the west of the city for three days, and finally died of serious injuries and died for the country at the age of 62.
When He Ji was killing the enemy, his left arm was pierced by the bow and arrow of the golden soldier. He endured the pain and drew arrows, continued to kill the enemy, and finally died a heroic death. His subordinates Han Zong, Lei Yanxing and others also followed him and fought bravely together until they were all killed.
After He Guan died in battle, Song Qinzong praised his merits, ordered the ministers to mourn, and rewarded his family with gold and silk and other things, and gave him a grand funeral. However, someone in the DPRK and China wrote a letter to re-mention the fact that He Guan fled without a fight in the Yellow River.
So, Song Qinzong issued another decree to posthumously reduce He Guan's official position. The eunuch Liang Fangping, who was the first to escape, was also executed by Song Qinzong in February of the first year of Jingkang. In November of the first year of Jingkang (January 9, 1127 AD), Wanyan Zongwang and Wanyan Zonghan led the Jin army to break through the city of Tokyo, Huiqin Erzong was captured, the Northern Song Dynasty perished, and suffered the humiliation of the ages, which is known as "the shame of Jingkang" in history.
After the establishment of the Southern Song Dynasty, He Guan's youngest son, He Moss, wrote to Song Gaozong, avenging his father's grievances and asking for his father's rehabilitation.
At the end of the Northern Song Dynasty, the government was corrupt, the armament was lax, the upper class was mediocre and incompetent, and the lower class was lazy and afraid of death. Even with extraordinary talent, it is difficult to turn things around in such a context.
He Guan, a sharpshooter born at the wrong time, his tragedy stems from the current situation. He was ambitious, wise and brave, and was a rare general in the Northern Song Dynasty. However, due to bad luck, it was difficult to find the master, and he was hindered everywhere, not only could he not realize his ambitions, but also because of the mistakes of his superiors, he was charged with absconding in fear of crime, and regretted it for life.