The Song Dynasty was known as the Weak Song Dynasty, and during the two Song and three hundred years, it was often necessary to spend money to buy peace. Of course, the Song Dynasty was not without capable generals, such as Di Qing, a famous general in the Northern Song Dynasty, is one of the outstanding representatives. But why did Di Qing end up with unpaid ambitions and depression? 
Di Qingzi Hanchen, born in 1008, his hometown is in today's Fenyang, Shanxi, and is famous for producing Fenjiu. There are two key words about Di Qing. One is that his appearance is off the charts. According to historical records, Di Qing will always wear a bronze mask with a blue face and fangs when he goes to the battlefield, looking hideous and terrifying like a monster, and he is also brave and fearless and invincible after entering the field, scaring the enemy army into a ghost. Why wear this mask? The main reason is that Di Qing is too handsome. People are handsome, and they are of course pleasing to the eye when they look at them in ordinary times, but on the battlefield, this kind of beautiful face cannot give the enemy enough deterrent, and it is easy to suffer. Therefore, Di Qing learned from the practice of King Lanling, wore a mask to fight, and became the "mask general" of the Song Dynasty. Di Qing's other key word is very inspirational. Born as a civilian, he made great achievements in the war between the western and Pingnan wars, and later became a privy envoy, that is, the highest military and political officer under the emperor. This is definitely a miracle in the Song Dynasty, which emphasized literature and suppressed martial arts. 
Why was Di Qing able to counterattack from an ordinary soldier to become the highest commander in the barracks? In addition to his own hard work, he is also closely related to the nobles he meets. Di Qing has met many nobles in his life, and Fan Yong and Fan Zhongyan should have helped him the most. Fan Yong is the one who saved Di Qing from fire and water. In that year, Di Qing started as an ordinary cavalryman in the royal honor guard, was selected into the classes in front of the palace, and became the emperor's guard cavalry. But one year, Di Qing violated military law and was sentenced to death. On the line of life and death, thanks to Fan Yong from Henan Mansion, Di Qing was lucky to escape. Later, due to Li Yuanhao's constant harassment of Bianjing in the Song Dynasty in the Western Xia, Di Qing, who was famous in the army for his bravery, finally got the opportunity to go into battle and became the commander of Qingjian City in Yanzhou. And Fan Zhongyan is the one who baptized Di Qing's soul. Because of Di Qing's outstanding performance, his superiors Yin Zhu recommended him to Han Qi and Fan Zhongyan, the prime ministers of the Great Song Dynasty, saying that Di Qing was a good general. Fan Zhongyan admired Di Qing very much, gave him a copy of "Zuo's Spring and Autumn", and encouraged him to understand a little history in order to achieve great things. Di Qing took Fan Zhongyan's words to heart, and after he went back, he studied carefully, studied the art of war of generals since the Qin and Han dynasties, and his ability soared to the sky. 
Opportunities are reserved for those who are prepared. In 1052 AD, Nong Zhigao, the leader of the ethnic minority, captured the city of Yongzhou (now Nanning, Guangxi) and established himself as emperor. Subsequently, Nong Zhigao successively broke through nine cities along the river, repeatedly defeated the official army, and besieged Guangzhou for 57 days, which was very arrogant. The Song court immediately sent Yang Jin, Cao Xiu and others to fight against them, but they fought more than ten major battles without success, and the whole army was wiped out. In desperation, Song Renzong asked the courtiers to recommend people who had the ability to lead troops to rebel. Prime Minister Pang Ji replied: "To exterminate Nong Zhigao, Di Qing must be killed!" At the same time, Song Renzong also received Di Qing's initiative to write a letter, asking to lead soldiers and horses to conquer the thieves. Song Renzong was very happy, and immediately named Di Qing as the envoy of Xuanhui South Courtyard and the Xuanfu envoy of Jinghu South and North Road, and bought wine and candied for Di Qing. Di Qing did not disappoint Song Renzong. When we arrived at Kunlun Pass, it was the fifteenth day of the first lunar month (Lantern Festival). Taking advantage of the lively scene of the Shangyuan Festival, Di Qing arranged a three-day dinner, saying that he was going to entertain officers and soldiers. But on the second day of the dinner, Di Qing suddenly said that he was not feeling well and went back to rest first. Then, Di Qing's guards let out a message, saying that Di Qing was not lightly ill. By the early morning of the next day, Di Qing had already broken through Kunlun Pass. It turned out that Di Qing deliberately released smoke bombs to let Nong Zhigao's side relax his vigilance, so as to catch him off guard. As Di Qing expected, the Song army did not encounter strong resistance along the way, and drove straight into the Kunlun Pass, annihilated the enemy army, and made great achievements. 
Although Di Qing is so brave and good at fighting, he can be called the "Dinghai Divine Needle" of the Northern Song Dynasty, but in the Song Dynasty, where literature was heavy and light on martial arts, he was often looked down upon, and strange rumors related to Di Qing emerged in endlessly. For example, some people say that Di Qing's dog has horns on its head and is a monster; For example, some people say that there are light monsters in Di Qing's house, and the demonic spirit is overwhelming; For example, some people say that Di Qing wears light yellow clothes and commits a big ......tabooAlthough Song Renzong never doubted Di Qing's loyalty and courage, he couldn't stop the crowd from pouring gold and destroying his bones. In the end, Song Renzong still removed Di Qing from the position of privy envoy and demoted him to Chenzhou. In Chenzhou, Di Qing would be interrogated by the ** sent by the imperial court every half a month, asking him to prove that he had no rebellion against the imperial court. Di Qing was frightened and nervous about these interrogations. Coupled with the injuries left by the perennial battlefield, Di Qing's body soon collapsed, and half a year later, he developed a poisonous sore on his face and died at the age of 49. Di Qing will die depressed, the most fundamental reason is the Song Dynasty's policy of emphasizing literature and suppressing military force, and the literati can't stand a military attache like Di Qing on an equal footing with them, and they are bent on bringing him down. If the Song Dynasty was a hard-nosed dynasty, generals like Di Qing would definitely have more use and make more contributions to consolidating the Song Dynasty. Di Qing's death is a typical epitome of the Song Dynasty's national policy of emphasizing literature over military force, and it is also a tragedy of this era. What do you think of Di Qing? Feel free to leave a message. 