First of all, unlike the Han and Tang dynasties, the Northern Song Dynasty had congenital deficiencies: the eloquent Chai Rong died young, and Zhao Kuangyin used a "Chenqiao Mutiny" to take the country of the Later Zhou Dynasty.
It was too fast and easy to win the country, so that those heroes and generals of the Northern Song Dynasty did not have the opportunity and time to establish meritorious deeds that attracted the attention of the world, and of course they were not so famous.
For example, the two most meritorious generals in the early Song Dynasty - Cao Bin and Pan Mei, although they leveled the Southern Han Dynasty and the Southern Tang Dynasty, but the latter has a faint monarch in charge, and the second is a nameless general, the only one who can get on the stage Lin Huzi was still killed by Zhao Kuangyin with a counter-strategy, it can be said that the two won by crushing the foundation laid by Chai Rong, which is not very brilliant, plus Pan Mei killed Yang Ye, and Cao Bin was defeated at Qigou Pass, which is a serious stain, and it is difficult for the two to be classified as famous generals.
Secondly, because Zhao Kuangyin was not in the right position, in order to prevent other martial artists from following his example and engaging in another mutiny to seize the throne, "a glass of wine released the military power", the military power of the leading general was replaced with glory and wealth, and the military system was reformed.
So you will see why Yang Ye defeated Lianglang Mountain, the main reason is the coercion of the superintendent Wang Yu: "The prince is invincible, and now he sees that the enemy is teasing and not fighting, do you have to have other ambitions?" One sentence forced Yang Ye, who was originally a general, to a dead end.
Even if the general does not send a supervising army, the emperor will also drive the expedition in person, the four expeditions of the Northern Han Dynasty in the early Song Dynasty, there are three times that the emperor personally marches, two are Zhao Da, and the last time is Zhao Er, which is to prevent the military generals from taking charge of the army.
The basic national policy of the Song Dynasty of "emphasizing literature and suppressing martial arts" determined that military generals were naturally suppressed, small merits were not awarded, and great merits were reduced.
As a result, the suppressed military generals in the Northern Song Dynasty, which was a literati politics, were selectively ignored both in terms of propaganda and in the establishment of later generations.
Third, the Song army must march and deploy the formation according to the "formation map" granted by the emperor.
The so-called "array" is the battle formation arranged by the ancient army according to the terrain conditions and the strength of the enemy when it was put into battle.
In fact, the formation map was not the first of Zhao Er's creation, as early as the Spring and Autumn Period, "Zuo Chuan" recorded that in the fifth year of the Duke of Huan, Zheng Zhuang Gong adopted a new type of formation in the march - Yuli Array; In the "Art of War" of Sun Bin during the Warring States Period, there were eight formations, such as a square formation, a circular formation, a sparse formation, a cone formation, and a goose-shaped formation; Later, Zhuge Liang created the famous Eight Arrays on this basis.
Since then, the famous generals of all dynasties have paid great attention to the formation, and in the Song Dynasty, the formation map has become an artifact of the Song Dynasty, that is, from then on, the formation has become the shackles of the generals.
It was Zhao Kuangyin who first started this trend, for example, in the fourth year of Jianlong, Zhao Kuangyin ordered Li Chuyun to recover Jinghu. Before Li Chuyun set off, Zhao Kuangyin "awarded him with success". For example, in the second year of Qiande, the Song army launched a battle to destroy Shu, and before the war, he pulled Liu Guangyi, the commander of the Eastern Route Army, to the map and "gave him a strategy". Liu Guangyi meticulously implemented the plan and won easily.
Zhao Kuangyin was born as a military general, his command talent is not bad, and he has been proven correct by remote control several times; And Zhao Kuangyin is also well versed in the truth of "the one who can and the king does not win", so although he "gave him a strategy", he still gave the generals a lot of autonomy, such as the seventh year of Kaibao, when the Song Dynasty destroyed the Southern Tang Dynasty, he said to the commander Cao Bin: "The affairs of the south, once the secretary is commissioned, do not storm the people." And gave him Shang Fang's sword - "Below the deputy general, those who don't need to die will be killed." ”
But Zhao Er is different, although he is also a military general, his military career is not long, and it is difficult to take charge alone. It's a pity that he feels good about himself, and always feels that he is a wise commander who is not born in the world, and he does not have the heart and command ability of his brother, but he inherits the nature of his brother's chief of staff.
What's even worse is that he is even more suspicious of military generals, and he once publicly declared: "External worries are nothing but side matters, and they can be prevented; But the evil has no form, if it is an internal trouble, it is deeply terrifying! ”
And how can we make the generals on the front line bow down and be honest and obedient? Array diagram is undoubtedly the best tool. In October of the year when Zhao Er succeeded to the throne, he "awarded the generals with a formation map", which was the first time in the history books that the emperor of the Song Dynasty remotely commanded the front-line generals with a formation map. In the fourth year of Yongxi, Zhao Er summoned the geniuses of the Great Song Dynasty and made the "Pingrong Wanquan Array" together. Then summoned Pan Mei, Tian Chongjin, Cui Han and other generals, and explained to them the gist of his masterpiece - "generals outside are still under the king's orders".
Since then, the Song Dynasty has formally established the ancestral family law of "drawing formations, regulating temples to win, giving discipline, remote control is cheap, and the commander is complied with", forming the basic national policy of "will be from the emperor".
In this way, how can the generals who lead the troops still have room to change and play freely in the face of the enemy, and the so-called famous generals have become the marionettes of the emperor of the Song Dynasty. For example, during the Second Northern Expedition to Youyun, Cao Bin, the commander of the Eastern Route Army, had already realized the danger of the grain route being cut off halfway and was ready to return to Xiongzhou to get grain, but Zhao Guangyi acted according to the established strategy, retreated and advanced, and was finally taken by Yelu Huge.
Of course, there are also people who see the drawbacks of the formation map, and do not strictly follow the formation map, such as the battle of Mancheng, the right dragon general Zhao Yanjin persuaded the coach Liu Yanhan not to listen to the emperor, changed the eight formations to the second formation, and fought a big victory.
But the problem is that this will put the Song Dynasty generals in a dilemma, even if they know that the formation plan is wrong, but if they don't fight according to the formation map, who can guarantee that they will win?
Fight according to the picture, and you can have an excuse if you lose; If you don't follow the formation plan but lose the battle, is it strange that the emperor doesn't use you as a scapegoat? Over time, there were fewer and fewer generals in the Song Dynasty who dared to act cheaply, but there were more and more conformist formation slaves, and it was not surprising that there were no famous generals.
Fourth, the Northern Song Dynasty and Ming Dynasty covered up the brilliance of military generals.
The Song Dynasty implemented civil politics, and there were many famous ministers, such as Zhao Pu, Wang Anshi, Kou Zhun, Han Qi, Sima Guang, Fan Zhongyan, Lu Duan, Wen Yanbo, etc., in terms of the quantity and quality of famous ministers, it is estimated that there is no dynasty in history that can be compared with the Northern Song Dynasty.
In the face of their popularity and achievements, the already small light of the generals of the Northern Song Dynasty became even more dim. Therefore, there is a saying that "the Northern Song Dynasty is a young general, and the Southern Song Dynasty is a young famous minister".
As for why Di Qing became the only seedling among the famous generals of the Northern Song Dynasty and was respected by the world, there are two reasons:
First, Di Qing's exploits deserve to be called a famous general.
Di Qing is a native of Shanxi, he likes to dance with guns and sticks since he was a child, and when he was sixteen years old, because of the mistake of fighting for his brother, he "caught the crime and entered Beijing, and became famous and red", tattooed words on his face, and sent him to the army.
When the heavens descend on the Si people, they must first suffer their minds, which is not a bad thing for Di Qing. After he joined the army, because of his strong martial arts, he was directly assigned to Yumazhi and became a cavalryman in the forbidden army.
Later, Di Qing bowed his horse because of his fine riding and shooting, and was selected as a loose straight. In the early years of Baoyuan, Li Yuanhao of Western Xia launched a rebellion, and the Song court recruited people with lofty ideals to garrison the frontier.
At that time, the front-line armies were defeated by the Western Xia many times, and their morale was low, and it was difficult to fight again. After Di Qing arrived, he rectified military discipline, and every time he fought, he wore a cape and a copper mask, and charged ahead, which greatly boosted morale.
During the four years of the border, he jumped on his horse and raised his whip, fought 25 battles before and after, and was shot by stray arrows eight times. Broke the Jintang City, occupied Youzhou, destroyed Suixiang, Maonu, Shangluo and other tribes, burned tens of thousands of stones and grain and grass in Western Xia, and captured 10,000 people. He also built forts and strangled the enemy's vital points, and the Western Xia army was invincible, and no one dared to stop it.
At this time, although Di Qing had a certain reputation, he was born poor, had a crime, and had tattoos on his face, and he still had a long way to go before he was recognized by the court.
In the first year of Kangding, Yin Zhu, a great writer of the Northern Song Dynasty, served as the judge of Jingyuan and Qinfeng, and Di Qing asked to see him as an indicator.
When Fan Zhongyan and others saw Di Qing, they also felt that he was a genius, treated him as a guest, and awarded him "Zuo's Spring and Autumn". Di Qing changed his interests from then on, began to read, and finally studied and mastered the deeds and art of war of the generals since the Qin and Han dynasties, so he became more proficient in warfare and became more famous.
The good combat record, coupled with the insight into the art of war, made Di Qing's status in the army higher and higher, which attracted the attention of Song Renzong, and he wanted to summon this idol in the army.
Unfortunately, the Western Xia army invaded Weizhou, and Di Qing could not meet him. Song Renzong, who was thoughtful, sent a painter to the border pass, depicted his image, and often praised him in the palace.
The soldiers at the border pass were all envious, so the morale of the army was greatly boosted.
In May of the fourth year of Qingli, Li Yuanhao was proclaimed minister. Di Qing was promoted to the deputy head of Zhending Road, and then promoted to the deputy commander of the Ma Bu Army.
In June of the fourth year of Huangyou, Di Qing entered the court and was promoted to the position of deputy privy councilor. In the same year, Nong Zhigao, the indigenous leader of Yuanzhou, Guangxi, rebelled, and Di Qing ushered in the best opportunity of his life to make contributions. At that time, the rebels had captured Yongzhou, established the "Great Southern Kingdom", and broke eight prefectures along the river to besiege Guangzhou. The Song army, which had quelled the rebellion, made several expeditions, but all returned with a feather. So Di Qing took the initiative to ask for battle again, "The minister asked to lead hundreds of foreign cavalry, and the imperial court banned the army, and took the head of the thief and dedicated it to the palace." Renzong was moved by his pride and practiced it personally.
However, in what capacity Di Qing led the army made it difficult for the monarch and ministers, and most of the courtiers thought that Di Qing was not enough to lead the army alone, and he needed to have civil officials to serve in the main position. Only the prime minister, Pang Ji, strongly supported Di Qing to lead the troops alone, and explained the importance of the general not being controlled by civilian officials. Renzong finally listened to Pang Ji's advice and appointed Di Qing as the envoy of the southern court of Xuanhui and the control of the thieves in Guangnan, which was one of the few military generals in the history of the Song Dynasty who went on an expedition without being controlled by Wenchen.
So, Di Qing led an army of 200,000 to join Sun Wei and Yu Jing, and soon arrived at the front line in Pennsylvania. At that time, the Song army was hit by successive defeats, and the people's hearts were panicked and the army's morale fluctuated. There are even some generals who put their own interests first and ignore military orders in vain. Just like Chen Shu, in order to grab merit, he attacked without authorization, resulting in the defeat of the Song army at Kunlun Pass, and Yuan Yong and other generals abandoned the battle and fled.
The so-called "orders are not even, and the army is defeated like a mountain", the day after Di Qing arrived at the front line, he tied up Chen Shu, and together with more than 30 generals such as Yuan Yong, he pushed out the camp gate and beheaded the public. Sun Wei and Yu Jing looked at each other in amazement, and the generals present trembled and did not dare to say a word.
Subsequently, Di Qing ordered that the generals should not go into battle to paralyze the enemy, and secretly hoarded a large amount of grain and grass materials. Nong Zhigao was really confused, thinking that the Song army would not attack again in the short term, so he relaxed his vigilance. Di Qing seized this opportunity, divided his troops into three ways, and took advantage of the moonlight to take Kunlun Pass in one fell swoop on the Midyear Festival. This is the famous "night attack on Kunlun" in history.
Nong Zhigao lost the Kunlun Pass and panicked and ordered the whole army to fight. Sun Jie, the vanguard general of the Song army, died in a bloody battle with the enemy, and the momentum of the thief army revived, and Sun Wei and other generals were so frightened that their faces were bloodless.
At this time, Di Qing personally led the cavalry on the left and right wings, attacked its unpreparedness, defeated the enemy, chased for fifty miles, beheaded 10,000 people, killed more than 50 enemy leaders and officials at all levels, and Nong Zhigao set fire to the city at night.
After dawn, Di Qing led his troops into the city, seized tens of thousands of gold silks and thousands of livestock, and then cut off the head of the enemy head to show the public under the city of Yongzhou, and collected the corpses of the enemy, and built a Beijing view in the north corner of the city.
After this battle, Di Qing's fame moved the world, and his prestige was "like the sky". Renzong even tried his best to override public opinion and appointed him as a privy envoy.
Note that it was the privy envoy who held such an important position by the military attaché, which was unprecedented in the Northern Song Dynasty, which showed the prestige of Di Qing at that time.
Second, Di Qing's ending is sighing.
Although Renzong has a lot of faith in Di Qing, he can't stand the instigation of a group of civil servants, after Di Qing became a privy envoy, he was degraded by the literati as a "red guy" (with a red tattoo on his face), and his privy council was contemptuously called "red card", and even a generation of famous ministers Ouyang Xiu also repeatedly asked Di Qing to be dismissed from his privy envoy position, the reason is "to eliminate the trouble of the country", the subtext is that Di Qing has the intention of rebellion.
Renzong said to the ministers: "Di Qing is a great loyal minister! Prime Minister Wen Yanbo replied: "Isn't Taizu a loyal minister of Zhou Shizong?" In one sentence, it stabbed the emperor's heart. It doesn't matter if a loyal minister is a loyal minister or not, it is the original sin for a military general to hold military power.
When Di Qing learned about it, he questioned Wen Yanbo with this sentence, and Wen Yanbo coldly spit out a sentence: "Without him, the court is suspicious." The words shook Di Qing back a few steps. After fighting for half a life, he endured humiliation with dirt and humiliation, but in exchange for a sentence of suspicion from the court.
Although Renzong did not take these words to heart, and ignored Wenchen's recital of Di Qing's dismissal, he couldn't stand the crowd's attention.
In the first year of Jiayou, the Beijing master sent a big flood, and Di Qing's family moved to Xiangguo Temple to live, but in the middle of the night, he commanded the soldiers to fight the fire in the main hall, because he wore a light yellow jacket, and the rumors spread throughout the city in an instant: "Di Shu's envoy wore yellow clothes and ascended the hall to command the soldiers!" ”
Ouyang Xiu even went to "On the Flood Disaster", saying that there were two reasons for the flood: the emperor did not appoint a prince, and Di Qingwu was in charge of the Privy Council.
In the first year of Jiayou, Renzong finally couldn't bear the pressure, dismissed Di Qing as a privy envoy, and left Beijing to know Chenzhou.
After Di Qing arrived in Chenzhou, the doctors of the Song Dynasty were still not at ease, and "sent the envoys to ask questions twice a month", which was called Fuwen, but it was actually surveillance. In history, in those days in Chenzhou, Di Qing was afraid and miserable, and in less than half a year, he died of illness at the age of 49.
Song Ting suppressed the warriors, and guessed that the defense was hundred, what could the husband say!
After Di Qing's death, the ministers finally breathed a sigh of relief, so Di Qing after his death was courteous and respected, and posthumously presented the Chinese book order, nicknamed "Wu Xiang".
To be fair, Di Qing's military exploits are still slightly inferior to the famous generals of other dynasties, but because the generals of the Song Dynasty are too dish, the Qing Dynasty historian Aixin Jueluo Zhaoqi said in "Xiaoting Miscellaneous Records": "There is a Song generation, and there are few military ministers, but Di Wuxiang has made meritorious contributions to Guangnan and has a little color." ”
Coupled with Di Qing's sympathetic experience, there is a saying that "there are no famous generals in the Northern Song Dynasty, only Di Wuxiang".