CHAPTER 16: CHAPTER JIANG HONG
“My wrath bristles through my helmet, the rain stops as I
stand by the rail
I look up towards the sky and let loose a passionate roar.
At the age of thirty, my deeds are nothing but dust, my
journey has taken me over eight thousand.
So do not sit by idly, for young men will grow old in
regret.
The Humiliation of Jingkang still lingers,
When will the pain of the Emperor's subjects ever end?
Let us ride our chariots through the Helan Pass.
There we shall feast on barbarian flesh and drink the blood
of the Xiongnu.
Let us begin anew to recover our old empire, before paying
tribute to the Emperor.” (# poem copied )
Everybody was surprised for a moment, who could have
expected Zhang Yang to actually read from the black board about Man Jiang Hong
(humiliation of Jiang Hong). Zhang Yang’s voice was slightly hoarse, very
masculine, magnetic and also full of penetrating force that the old professor
kept nodding all the time. If the glory of his recitation was to be commented,
then undoubtedly the child was very good, Yue Fei’s agitation and momentum were
manifested in his statements.
“Professor, looking from Yue Fei’s point of view only, this
“Man Jianghong” is worthy of eternal fame, but from the ideological point of
view, “Man Jhonghang” also has a great limitation …”
Zhang Yang’s expression suddenly changed, calm, frank and
confident. The crowd came around.
“How do you say that?”
Suddenly, the
professor looked imposing, and he felt the beginning of the steady change on
the wretched boy, those pairs of eyes flashing wisdom and confident radiance.
Throughout his life, he had only seen this type of eyes twice, but recently, he
has been seeing it several times in a row. Coincidently, the other one was also
sitting on the exact position of Zhang yang.
“Undeniably, this is a famous masterpiece, it can be
affirmed in our vast poetry. There is no such profound social impact as the poetry,
and nothing has never been as exciting as these phrases, inspiring people to
fight the enemy on the battlefield of strength.” This poetry expressed Yue Fei
to serve the court with a sincere heart, open heartedness and courage, very
touching, and the words such as rivers and lakes, twists and turns
reverberating, this is like a stone inscription.
“Well, go on!”
The old professor nodded, while the other students were
amazed for a moment. Actually they were not fond of “Man Jiang Hong”, but Zhang
Yang incredibly praised the poetry so highly that they all were looking forward
to see why Zhang Yang does not support this eternity fame.
“In fact … I like this poetry, my favorite part is about the
heroism of Yue Fei, that horse (like in a chess piece) riding the Hun’s spirit,
however, this poetry has a lot of limitations about YueFei. First, he is only
fighting, but do not dare to open up a new territory on the divided soil, he
just wanted to drive away the outsiders from JianShan of the great Song (Song
is a feudal state in the Zhou dynasty .. not a melodious voice with music lol ).
While on the other hand he did not consider to seize the outsider’s territory
and include it into the great Song’s territory.
This includes a line of verse to clean Jianshan to illustrate his idea.
And of course, this is only the first …”
“What about the second?”
The old professor nodded, eyes tightly fixed on Zhang Yang.
Needless to say, Zhang Yang pointed out Yue Fei’s thinking limitations. Back
then Yue Fei only wanted to stabilize the great Song’s JianShan, but did not
want to expand the layout of the Song. As a matter of fact, no matter if it was
the Huns or the other races invading in the Song Dynasty, they all have become
Chinese people now.
“Secondly, Yue Fei, to be loyal to the soverign and devoted
to the country at that time and at those circumstances was indeed praise
worthy, however, this also caused his ignorant character. When encountering the
choice between loyalty and patriotism, he chose to be a loyal monarch. In his
eyes, loyalty was more important compared to patriotism, the humiliation of
JingKang, still haven’t wiped away the hate and regrets even when it’s over. This
is the part which consequently explains the way of thinking of general Yue.
Certainly, this was caused by the environment and the circumstances in those
days, after all, the emperor symbolized the country at that time and loyalty to
the king meant loyalty to the country…”
“I do not know, when each of you fellow students face this
kind of choice, will you be loyal to the king or loyal to the country?” Zhang
Yang paused all of a sudden and looked around all the way.
Everyone was silent, although they had thought about it, but
never from this point where they had to overthrow the patriotic thought of Yue
fei. From the modern point of view, undoubtedly, Zhang yang’s argument was more
reasonable. When the country is in danger, this basically does not even need to
be considered whether to devote yourself to a political party or the country,
anyone would choose the country. A regime may collapse, but a country must not
perish, the truth understood by everyone (idiom).
“You student, do you think the other great soldiers from the
northern Song dynasty (960-1127) are capable to place on a par with Yue Fei
(1103-1142)? The old professor nodded and asked.
“To compare the soldiers of Northern Song with general
YueFei is too much …” Zhang Yang suddenly felt his brain gush out countless
Noethern Song characters.
“Well, explain it” The old professor smiled.
“Zhao Kuangyin, although he is the creation of the Northern
Song dynasty, valuable for the imperial throne, but actually it was the general
of Zhou Dynasty (951-960) of the Five Dynasties (907-960) who ascended the
palace with meritorious military service even before the one by one inspection,
and commander ban. Chenqiaobingbian (the military revolt of 960 that led Zhao
Kuangyin to found the Song Dynasty) captured the later Zhou regime to establish
the reigning Song Dynasty. It took him more than two years to suppress the
internal counterforces followed by the reunification of the National military
operation to take over the first south after the north, the first easy effort
after the difficult strategic approach. More than ten years, the battle of Jing
nan, Hou shu, Southern Han and other separatist regimes was suppressed.
Meanwhile, a series of measures were adopted to reform the military, political,
financial, imperial and other systems to strengthen the centralization of his
reign of seventeen years. The temple of Taizu (great ancestor) nianhao(reign
title) was established. During the reign, it basically ended the situation of
separatist regime of the Five Dynasties and Ten kingdom, and played an active
role in the recovery and exhibition of social economy. Though he was the ruler
of the country, still we have no choice but to say that he was an excellent
general!”
“Continue!” the old professor’s eyes light up, he never
expected Zhang Yang to actually answer about the founding emperor of the
Northern Song Dynasty with thorough understanding. It was rare and praiseworthy
that he actually was capable to remember clearly, and yet, Zhang Yang wasn’t
satisfied with this answer. The student’s eyes were also full of disbelief even
to the extent that many of them wanted Zhang yang to continue, but of course,
there were also some people who ZhangYang to make a fool out of himself.
“Cao Bin, Ji Guohua, truly a person of Lingshou. He was a
close relative of the imperial harem of the later Zhou Dynasty and served as
the supervisor of Jinzhou military force accumulating the recommendation of the
government officials. After the establishment of the Northern Song Dynasty, he
moved-in squire to the central province and committed to the purpose for two
years, by going to the field headquarters as a supervisor to participate in the
battle of the extermination of Shu but not through massacre and then obtained Song’s
Kuangyin’s praise and honor, granted the south court to Xuan Hui and make
righteous army with the Jiedushi (governors). For seven years, he received
assignments to limit the armed forces to wipe out Nan Tang (one of the Five
Dynasties) and restrain them but The Song’s soldiers was not be allowed to
recklessly massacre and plunder to avoid sufferings and great damage to
Jiangning, the capital of Nan Tang. After returning, soon he was appointed as senator,
Song Tai Zong ascended the throne of Zhao, plus passed judgment on the matter
of Feng Luguo Yi’s trust. The Yongxi campaign, for three years, Song TaiZong
divided the forces into three groups to attack Liao (dynasty). Cao Bin took the
Youzhou road preceding the field headquarter and deployed the armed force in a
horse stance. The main force of Song’s army, Zhou were certainly powerful but
due to the incompetence in command, they could not restrain the department and
was crushingly defeated, therefore, the other two division was forced to
retreat. As a result, he was blamed as the top general. The following year, the
Wuning army jiedushi, Song ZhenZong ascended the throne and summoned the
senator. After suffering from two years of illness, he died at 69 years of
age.”
“If Ciao Bin had not gone for the war and not been defeated
like that, then, he could be considered as a famous general, … it’s a pity …”
Zhang Yang sighed.
“Yang Yanzhao, real name Yan Lang, along with his fatherYangYe
went on an expedition. The Yongxi(984 - 997) era, on the three years of
Northern Expedition, a proportion of the army of Yangye attacked Shuo and the
other states, and 29 years old Yanzhao acted as the vanguard on the battle with
ShuoZuo city. After drifting and and even more fierce close combats, finally
penetrated through the ShuoZhou city wall. After the death of his father, he
took up the responsibility of resisting Liao in Yanbian of Heibei province. And
after the Northern Expedition, YanZhao protected his state, BaoZhou and other
places against the Liao Army intrusion. Just like his father Yang Ye, Yangzhao
was also wise and brave in battles, had the ability to get along with the
soldiers sharing both good times and the hard times, and at the time of
encounter with the enemy, he would always charge at the front but never took
any credit for himself and the soldiers deeply admired him. He defended the
border for many years and had a mighty reputation among the Qidan people.
(#Qidan = an ancient nationality in China) The Qidan people feared and used to
call him ‘Yang Liu Lang’. After his death, many people looked at his coffin and
wept, and even the enemy, the Qidan people, also mourned and paid tribute. He
had three sons: Chuan Yong, De Zheng and Wen Guang.”
“He and his father Yang Ye are the famous Song Dynasty
family of warriors, which left people no choice but to respect the Northern
Song Dynasty generals!” Zhang Yang added a comment.
“Carry on”.
The old professor and the classroom full of students had a
shocked expression in their eyes. Zhang yang, no matter what, the number of
Northern Song Dynasty and the generals of the military are perfectly clear,
even the old professor himself could not guarantee to clearly express the
detailed history of these generals in such way.
“Di Qing, a character from the Han Dynasty, born to a farm
household, was a military general of the Northern dynasty. After he joined the
army, he was elected to hold the position of the protection squad of Emperor
Renzong of Song. At the beginning he was appointed as the commander of
YangZhou, in the defense of the war against the western Xia and known for his
bravery and outstanding military exploits. He had a high reputation among the
soldiers. He had always been guarding against the generals of the Song Ting,
who were not allowed in the assembly and only in the Privy Council for four
years. Compared to him, Yue Fei was even more unsuccessful, depressed in the
later years and finally … “
“Here, we also want to remember an almost forgotten name,
Pan mei …, a novel called ‘Pan Renmei’, the Northern Song Dynasty generals,
ling zi zhong, a big celebrity. After the beginning, the official to the
province Pan Mei were on good terms with the emperor Taizu of Song, Zhao
Kuangyin. After subjected to the commander position Pan Mei fought the north
and south war and played a positive role in the process of eradication of ten
countries in Northern Song Dynasty. The Yongxi campaign with three division of
armies, in the Northern Expedition of Liao dynasty, Pan mei was deployed Yang
Ye to the west road in the direction of Ke jie. Soon after, because of utter
defeat of the east army led by Cao bin by Qi gou Guan, Pan mei was subjected to
imperial withdrawal and shield the four states of civil migration. In the
process of withdrawal of the troops, Yang Ye was forced to meet the enemy, set
an inevitable defeat and no reinforcements, resulted in YangYe annihilation,
captured and killed. At the end Pan mei was demoted by three ranks, reduced to
the inspection Taobao. He stayed in Chunhua for two years and a few months
later died …”
“If he hadn’t retreat in the middle of the battle and
compelled Yang Ye to die, then he wouldn’t have been forgotten in history…!!”
“Of course, there are a number of famous soldiers in the
Song Dynasty. I’m afraid that it would take several days and nights to speak of
them one by one. As a matter of fact the history of Song Dynasty and the Ming
Dynasty is almost the same, desolate feeling arises spontaneously ………. ….. …………………………,
poor Song Dynasty is chaotic ………
alas, exasperating, pathetic and sad …..”
……………………
Zhang Yang was speaking frankly with confidence, his heavy
voice added that some Northern Song generals are mostly unsuccessful, and the
classroom was filled with a depressed atmosphere. Some students looked at Zhang
Yang with an expression quite different from how they were in the beginning. Just
now Zhang yang was capable of a clear description of most of the famous names of
Northern Song Dynasty and the final finishing touches on the comments can be
seen. Zhang yang is definitely not a tactless and impulsive person.
“Where’s my wallet?”
Seeing everyone dumbfounded and in a deep thinking, Zhang
Yang hurriedly lowered his head and asked.
“ … I don’t have it right now …” The girl stayed put foe a while and looked at Zhang
Yang’s wretched appearance.
“Ah! That’s miserable …” Zhang yang with a long face.
“What’s the matter?” Asked the girl curiously.
“I haven’t eaten bread for four days ..”
“………………………”
“Teacher, can I come in?”
Zhang Yang had just sat down when a young man appeared
standing in the classroom doorway, holding a few books in his hand, and his
expression looked very simple and honest. The old professor saw this young man
and suddenly his eyes light up, pleased and nodded his head, he’d thought that
the young man wouldn’t come.
“Excuse me, this is my seat.” The young man went straight to
Zhang Yang’s side , a pair of eyes looked firmly at Zhang Yang and the simple
honest face suddenly became different with
a demonic look.
“Ah, ……………… I allow you …..” Zhang Yang quickly stood up,
looked towards the old professor and said “Teacher, I want to go to the toilet.”
“Go on.” The professor was writing something on the blackboard
on the back of the classroom.
In fact, Zhang Yang was just using toilet as an excuse,
since his wallet was not here, it was meaningless to stay and he had no
interest in literature.
“Do you have money?” Suddenly ZhangYang whispered in the
girl’s ear.
“……Yes … I …….” The girl felt the hot breath blown to her
ear, and immediately her face turned red.
“Lend me ten bucks, and when you get me my wallet, deduct
ten bucks from there.”
“Oh.”
“Thank You …”
\
Zhang Yang took the money from the girl’s hand and ran out of
the classroom. Right now, he did not want anything, he just wanted to eat, even
if it is a lunch.
He devoured a lunch box in less than three minutes and wiped
his mouth after done eating. This big pile of rice tasted particularly good
after a few days of eating bread.
After eating the meal, Zhang Yang actually had nothing to
do, it was a little early to go back to the dormitory. And also cannot stay in
the dormitory for the whole day, as the book was continuously tortured for more
than four days by Zhang yang and there is nothing worth looking at. He had no
money to go out to use the internet.
Finally, he decided to go to the library as the book has
been unable to meet Zhang Yang’s curiosity.
Thank you for the chapter
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