Yanmen Pass is located in the northwest, and the Yang brothers are famous for their frontier exploits. Although the iron cavalry of war no longer roared, and the beacon fire had subsided, there were still only clouds in the sky today.
The Yang family generals, a heroic family in the Northern Song Dynasty, resisted foreign enemies with a heroic and fearless spirit and made great achievements.
Although their stories are not as thrilling as the Seven Lang and Eight Tigers Entering Youzhou and the Twelve Widows Conquering the West, the heroic deeds of Yang Zongbao, Yang Huaiyu, Yang Shihan, Yang Jinbao and others are all true portrayals of history.
The three generations of the Yang family are Yang Ye, Yang Yanzhao and Yang Wenguang, and since Yang Wenguang, records about them have become scarce.
However, the question of whether the descendants of this loyal martyr family have gone has always been a question that people have wanted for a long time.
First of all, let's understand the lineage of the three generations of the Yang family. Three generations of their family were outstanding generals and made great contributions to the border security of the Northern Song Dynasty.
The founding patriarch of the Yang family is the eldest son of Yang Xin, a strong party in Xinqin County, Linzhou during the Five Dynasties. After the establishment of the Later Zhou Dynasty, Yang Xin proclaimed himself the history of the Linzhou Assassin, which was approved by Guo Wei, the Taizu of the Zhou Dynasty.
After Yang Xin's death, his second son, Yang Chongxun, inherited the position of Linzhou Assassin, but since his elder brother Yang Ye was in the Northern Han, they also belonged to the Northern Han. Yang Ye followed Liu Chong, the ancestor of the Northern Han Dynasty, since he was a child, and was known for his bravery and good fighting, and was known as "invincible".
Although there is no relevant record of Yang Ye's experience in the Northern Han Dynasty, a record in the "History of Liao" shows that the Liao general Yelu Xianzhen once asked Yang Ye more than 30 years later: "You have been fighting with our country for so long, how can you dare to meet today?" ”
This shows that Yang Ye's main opponent in his early years was the Liao army, and he had rich experience in border warfare.
This can be confirmed from the "History of the Song Dynasty", when Yang Ye defected to the Song Dynasty, Song Taizong was very happy, because he was very familiar with the frontier affairs, so he appointed him as the Daizhou and Sanjiao garrison soldiers and horses.
After defecting to the Song Dynasty, Yang Ye defeated the Liao army in the Battle of Yanmen Pass, and shocked the Khitan for a while.
However, in the subsequent Yongxi Northern Expedition, Yang Ye had to lead his army to battle because he was forced by the prison army Wang Yu, and was finally defeated at Chenjia Valley Pass and captured by the Liao army.
Yang Ye resolutely refused to surrender and died after three days of hunger strike.
Yang Ye died heroically, and his son Yang Yanzhao lived up to expectations and became an outstanding famous general. In fact, Yang Ye has seven sons, not just Yang Yanzhao.
The History of the Song Dynasty clearly records that Yang Ye's seven sons were Yanzhao, Yanpu, Yanxun, Yanyu, Yanhuan, Yangui and Yanbin, of which Yang Yanyu died heroically in the Northern Expedition, and the other six sons were also rewarded after Yang Ye's death.
However, among these sons, Yang Yanzhao is the most well-known. He served as a pioneer as early as the Northern Expedition and fought bravely under the city of Shuozhou.
After Yang Ye's death, Yang Yanzhao continued to guard the border passes, resisted the Liao army, and used ice to stop the Liao army, defeated the Liao army many times, and shocked the frontier.
The third generation of the Yang family is Yang Wenguang, the son of Yang Yanzhao. In history, Yang Wenguang is the son of Yang Yanzhao, not the son of Yang Zongbao like in the commentary, and there is no such person as Yang Zongbao in history.
Yang Wenguang was also an outstanding general, having served under Fan Zhongyan in his early years, and later followed Di Qing to quell Nong Zhigao's rebellion, and also fought and won against the Western Xia Dangxiang army.
The story of the Yang family general has been rarely recorded since Yang Wenguang, but there are still some records of the descendants of Yang Ye's younger brother Yang Chongxun. Ouyang Xiu, the author of the epitaph "Epitaph of Yang Jun, Deputy Envoy of the Library", once wrote an article about Yang Qi.
Yang Qi is the grandson of Yang Chongxun, the son of Yang Guangyan, the envoy of Linzhou soldiers and horses, and the position is the deputy envoy of the reserve library, although his position is not too prominent, but his son Yang Qi is an outstanding figure, the official to the Longtu Pavilion straight bachelor, has been highly praised by Ouyang Xiu, Wang Anshi, Su Zhe and others.
However, after all, this branch of Yang Ji belongs to the side branch of the Yang family general. In some other records, Yang Yanzhao also has a very powerful descendant in this lineage, that is, the Yang clan of Banzhou, the Tusi regime in the southwest.
They were divided in the southwest for hundreds of years, through the Song, Yuan, and Ming dynasties. The Banshu Yang clan was a very important family in the Southwest Tusi regime.
Banzhou, which was invaded by Nanzhao during the Tang Yizong period, was a big trouble until the Tang Dynasty, when Yang Duan, a native of Taiyuan, responded to the edict to defeat Nanzhao and pacify the war, thus becoming the Tusi of Banzhou and forming a hereditary Tusi regime.
In the Northern Song Dynasty, the Banzhou Yang clan passed to the fifth generation Yang Shi, and he returned to the Song Dynasty, and the Song Dynasty set up Banzhou and Zunyi armies, but still with the Yang clan as the leader.
According to the records of Song Jingyouchu, Yang Zhao's eldest son Yang Chongguang sent an envoy to Guangxi, not Yang Wenguang, Zeng Gong's "Longping Collection" recorded Yang Yanzhao's three sons Chuanyong, Dezheng, and Wenguang, and Yang Chongguang may have changed his name later.
When Yang Chongguang chatted with Yang Zhao, the lord of Banzhou, he unexpectedly found that the two families had the same root and origin, and they were both descendants of the Yang family of Yue Gongfang. Yang Zhao had no children under his knees, so Yang Chongguang passed his eldest son Yang Gui to him.
After Yang Zhao passed away, Yang Gui inherited the position of the lord of Banzhou, and since then the Yang family of Banzhou has become a descendant of Yang Ye. Song Lian, a great Confucian in the Ming Dynasty, recorded this history in detail in the "Yang Family Biography": ancestor Yang Xin, great-grandfather Yang Ye, grandfather Yang Yanzhao, and father Yang Chongguang.
Yang Chongguang found a kinship with Yang Zhao of Banzhou on the way to the south, and because Yang Zhao had no children, he passed Yang Gui to him. Since then, the Banzhou Yang family has gone through the Song, Yuan, and Ming dynasties, and has always been the lord of Banzhou.
However, there has been controversy about whether Yang Gui is a descendant of Yang Ye, the general of the Yang family. It was not until the Wanli period that Banzhou was passed to Yang Yinglong, the twenty-ninth Tusi, that he had the ambition of usurping the throne and raised an army.
Emperor Wanli sent more than 200,000 troops from the Eighth Route Army to assemble in Banzhou, which lasted three months and finally pacified Banzhou. Yang Yinglong eventually hanged himself, and 69 people, including his son Yang Chaodong and younger brother Yang Zhaolong, were captured and escorted to Beijing, where they were sentenced to death in the downtown area.
At this point, the hereditary rule of the Banju Yang clan for more than 700 years came to an end. Although Yang Gui's background has been controversial, the historical heritage of the Banzhou Yang family has lasted for hundreds of years.
Luhujian Village: The descendants of the Yang family generals and the preservation place of the Yang family guns. The history scroll of the Yang family next to the ancestral hall of the Yang family records the military generals and famous ministers of the past dynasties. The frontispiece is Yang Cunzhong, the eighth generation of Yang Ye, a famous general of the Southern Song Dynasty, who defeated the Jin army in the Battle of Zhegao.
Some people question that he is not a descendant of Yang Ye, but the historical materials of the Yang family in Banzhou are rich, from the "History of the Yuan" to the "History of the Ming Dynasty" and then to the unearthed "Yang Wen Shinto Tablet", which proves that they are from Taiyuan.
The Banzhou Yang family has been the master of Banzhou for more than 700 years, and their information is richer than that of the Yang family.