Zhu Chao accompanied me to watch short videos

Chapter 354: One Mistake Harmed More Than Six Senior Officials

[Because of a mistake, his reputation was ruined. The famous general Ma Sui was careless and caused the death of more than 60 officials in the court. Historical trivia and historical figures]

He was hunted down by An Lushan because of the An-Shi Rebellion, and he started to make achievements six years later, at the age of 6. He won many battles with his extraordinary military tactics, and at the age of 50, he fought more than 55 battles in a row and beheaded tens of thousands of people.

However, this famous general of the Tang Dynasty who had made great military achievements cost the lives of more than 60 important officials of the court due to a mistake. From then on, he lost his military power and his political career fell into difficulties.

It is said that Ma Su's ancestor was Zhao She, a famous general of the State of Zhao during the Warring States Period. He was named Lord Mafu for his military exploits, and his descendants took "Ma" as their surname. Ma Su's grandfather was the governor of Kaizhou, and eventually became the chief of the left and right guards, and was posthumously awarded the title of Minister of Works; his father also served as a general, among other positions. Therefore, Ma Su had a very good family background.

Ma Su was born in 726 AD. He was fond of studying military books and strategies, and was calm, brave and wise. He won many battles in his life, and there are many records in history books.

Ma Su was very good at training soldiers, and paid special attention to details. For example, at that time, soldiers' armor was all of the same size, but he asked craftsmen to make three different sizes of armor to suit soldiers of different statures, thus greatly improving the combat effectiveness of the army.

For example, he and his craftsmen developed chariots. These chariots were usually used to carry equipment and supplies, but once a sudden war broke out, they could be quickly assembled into temporary city walls to increase defense.

In addition to paying attention to details, Ma Su would open up a site and conduct strict formation training every time he set up camp. Therefore, the troops he led had strong combat effectiveness.

Before Ma Su led troops for the Tang Dynasty, he was still escaping from pursuit.

In 755 AD, the Anshi Rebellion broke out. The 29-year-old Ma Su, unwilling to go along with An Lushan, persuaded the government troops to surrender to the court. As a result, the rebellion was leaked and Jia Xun was strangled to death by An Lushan's men. Although Ma Su luckily escaped, An Lushan sent people to hunt him down everywhere. He had to change his hiding places frequently, and at the same time he was always looking for an opportunity to join the court.

After 6 years of twists and turns, he was finally appreciated by Li Baoyu, the governor of Zelu, and served as the Wei of Zhaocheng under his command.

After that, Ma Su handled the situation well, whether it was dealing with the rampant behavior of the Huihe army or suppressing the rebellion launched by Pugu Huai'en. As a result, he was recommended by Li Baoyu and promoted many times. When he was in office, he governed well and enabled the local people to live a stable life.

After hearing about Ma Su's ability, Emperor Dezong of Tang summoned him and appointed him as the governor of Shangzhou and the chief censor. In 776 AD, Li Lingyao, a general in Bianzhou, rebelled. Emperor Dezong failed to appease him, so he sent people to attack him. As a result, Li Lingyao secretly colluded with Tian Yue, the governor of Weizhou, to defeat him.

So Emperor Dezong of Tang sent 50-year-old Ma Su and Huaixi Jiedushi Li Zhongchen to attack together. Li Zhongchen was frightened and ready to retreat before he even saw the rebels, but fortunately Ma Su stopped him and won the first battle.

Afterwards, Li Lingyao selected 8000 elite soldiers to form a "Hungry Wolf Army", but was defeated by Ma Su alone. Tian Yue then sent Tian Yue to lead 2 troops to rescue Li Lingyao. For a while, they were invincible, and many government troops including Li Zhongchen were defeated one after another. Li Zhongchen had no choice but to ask Ma Su for help.

Ma Su led only 4000 troops to attack unexpectedly. Tian Yue was caught off guard and his entire army was annihilated. Only he escaped on horseback. After Li Lingyao learned of the battle report, he also begged for Bianzhou to surrender. At this point, Ma Su put down the rebellion and gave the credit to Li Zhongchen. Afterwards, he returned to Heyang to train troops for three years.

After escaping, Tian Yue took over Tian Chengsi's command, pretending to surrender to the court and waiting for an opportunity to fight again. Ma Su saw through Tian Yue's trick and suggested that the court take precautions in advance.

As a result, Tian Yue rebelled, and Emperor Dezong of Tang hurriedly ordered Ma Su to lead his troops. This battle became the most classic military action in Ma Su's life. At that time, the army had to pass through dangerous terrain, and if they passed through rashly, they would inevitably be ambushed.

Therefore, Ma Su took advantage of Tian Yue's arrogance and wrote a letter to him to express his willingness to negotiate. Tian Yue thought that Ma Su did not dare to start a war, so he agreed to the request for peace talks.

Ma Su thus arrived in Handan smoothly. Tian Yue then sent an envoy to propose peace talks, but the envoy was killed by Ma Su as soon as he arrived. Tian Yue found out that he had been tricked and immediately set up a tight defense.

At that time, Ma Su had to first attack Tian Yue's garrison commander Yang Zhaoguang to prevent being attacked from both sides. Tian Yue then sent 1 soldiers to support him, preparing to strengthen the resistance and consume the Tang army.

Ma Su separated a group of soldiers and issued a death order, requiring the soldiers to fight to the death with no way to retreat. In the end, he successfully repelled Tian Yue's reinforcements.

Yang Chaoguang could only resist alone, but was attacked by fire, defeated and killed. The Tang army beheaded and captured more than 5800 people. The Tang army continued to advance, and Tian Yue had to fight with all his troops.

The 55-year-old Ma Su personally led his troops to fight more than 100 times, and eventually beheaded more than 1 enemies and seized 30 dan of grain, equivalent to 3600 million jin.

After the war, Ma Su showed his excellent qualities as a general. He sank the soldiers on the river before the battle, and remained silent on the front line after the battle, and divided all his family property. When Emperor Dezong of Tang heard about it, he praised it and took out 5 strings of money from the treasury to return to Ma Su.

However, the battle with Tian Yue was not over yet. Tian Yue's scattered soldiers echoed with other rebel forces, still adopting the strategy of holding on and not fighting, looking for opportunities.

In order to avoid being pinned down by the enemy, Ma Su prepared to fight quickly and build a pontoon bridge to cross the river, overcome other obstacles, and attack Tian Yue's lair. In the following days, Ma Su deliberately created opportunities for the enemy. He knew that Tian Yue would not leave the camp, but he challenged him every day outside the camp, just to let Tian Yue figure out his pattern of action.

As expected, Tian Yue thought that Ma Su would come to challenge again the next day, so he sent 1 troops to ambush around the camp, and then led 4 troops to quietly cross the river, pass through the floating bridge built by Ma Su, and go around to the rear of the Tang army to form a pincer attack. This move was exactly what Ma Su wanted.

It turned out that Ma Su had already ordered people to hide near the pontoon bridge with fire. As a result, the pontoon bridge was burned down after Tian Yue's army passed through.

Tian Yue was unaware of this and he took advantage of the wind to set fire, thinking that he would be able to avenge his previous defeat. However, the raging fire suddenly died out.

It turned out that Ma Su had already cleared the surrounding thorns and weeds. Seeing that Tian Yue's army had traveled a long distance and was exhausted, Ma Su immediately took advantage of the situation and attacked.

The enemy's 4 troops were instantly routed. Tian Yue, who wanted to escape the same way, found that the floating bridge had been reduced to ashes. Countless people jumped into the river and drowned. More than 2 people, including generals, were beheaded. According to historical records, the corpses were piled up for more than 30 miles.

Unfortunately, Tian Yue managed to escape again and was helped by other rebel generals. Emperor Dezong then sent Li Huaiguang to lead 1.5 soldiers to reinforce Ma Su.

However, Li Huaiguang was brave but not wise. After arriving, he did not rest and forcibly started a war with the rebels, and was eventually defeated. Afterwards, Tian Yue took the opportunity to dig up the river bank and flood the Tang army.

Ma Su was forced to withdraw his troops, and the rebellion ended in failure. Tian Yue and others each proclaimed themselves kings, forming a conspiracy with the king of Wu, intending to overthrow the chaos of the Tang Dynasty.

Although there were some regrets in suppressing the rebellion, it did not affect Ma Su's military achievements. He solved the rebellion in Hezhong in just 27 days after this battle, which was very important for the Tang Dynasty at that time.

However, Ma Su's next mistake directly ruined his political career.

At that time, Ma Su was also one of the targets in the eyes of Tubo. Tubo was preparing to form a false alliance to create conflicts between Tang Dezong and Ma Su. Ma Su, considering the current situation of the Tang Dynasty, believed in Tubo's hypocrisy and tried his best to assure the court of the other party's sincerity in the alliance.

As a result, Ma Su's negligence led to the Pingliang Alliance Incident, in which more than 60 officials and many soldiers sent by the Tang Dynasty to form an alliance with Tubo were ambushed and suffered heavy losses.

Because of this serious mistake, Ma Su was eventually deprived of his military power by Emperor Dezong of Tang and was forced to become a spectator in the political arena.

On August 795, 8 AD, Ma Su died of illness in his private residence in Chang'an at the age of 17. Emperor Dezong of Tang stopped attending court for four days, posthumously awarded him the title of Taiwei, and appointed him as the governor of military affairs.

[Why is Sun Wukong a monkey? Why is his last name Sun? Does he have a prototype in history? Historical trivia and historical figures]

He is known as the Great Sage Equaling Heaven, possesses extraordinary skills and the ability to transform into seventy-two forms. He escorted Monk Tang on his journey to the West through eighty-one trials and tribulations, and he eventually became the Fighting Buddha.

However, the mythical figure Sun Wukong actually has two prototypes in history. So who is the historical prototype of Sun Wukong? Where does his surname "Sun" come from? Including why his appearance is set as a monkey? These questions are worth in-depth discussion.

Recently, the game "Black Myth: Wukong" has become very popular in China and has also attracted widespread attention abroad. The number of people online at the same time has reached millions, which has also stimulated the interest of foreign players in traditional Chinese culture.

However, before this, many foreign netizens misunderstood that Sun Wukong came from the Japanese anime "Dragon Ball". But what they don't know is that Sun Wukong is not only a mythical figure in Chinese classics, but also has a prototype in the long history of China.

The character of Sun Wukong comes from Journey to the West, one of the four great Chinese novels. Journey to the West is a long novel about gods and demons written by Wu Chengen, a novelist in the Ming Dynasty.

The novel is based on the historical event of Xuanzang's journey to the West to obtain Buddhist scriptures, and tells the story of Sun Wukong subduing demons and monsters, and escorting Tang Monk on his journey to the West through many dangers.

People have always been very interested in the prototype of Sun Wukong. There are indeed relevant figures in official history, but the prototype of Sun Wukong is not one person, but a combination and creation of two historical figures. They are Shi Pantuo during the reign of Emperor Taizong of Tang, Li Shimin, and Che Fengchao during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, Li Longji.

Let's talk about Che Fengchao first. Che Fengchao was a noble of the Tuoba clan of the Northern Wei Dynasty. He was a man of great talent. During the Tianbao period of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, he was ordered to accompany the diplomatic mission to Kapisa.

However, Che Fengchao did not have the indestructible body of Sun Wukong, and he fell ill as soon as he arrived in Gandhara due to the hardships of the journey. Due to his serious illness, Che Fengchao was unable to return to China with the delegation, so he stayed in Gandhara.

After recovering from his illness, he became a monk, learned Chinese, traveled around India, and visited many Buddhist sites.

After four years of traveling, he decided to return to Tang. On the way, he was stranded in the northwest frontier due to war, and lived in Qiuci for 4 years before returning to China. Che Fengchao became the last monk in the Tang Dynasty to seek Buddhist scriptures. At this time, Emperor Dezong of Tang was in power.

After Che Fengchao returned to China, Emperor Dezong of Tang bestowed on him the Buddhist name "Wukong".

He then began to promote Buddhism and participated in the translation of Buddhist scriptures. He finally passed away in 812 AD at the age of 60. He made important contributions to cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries throughout his life. There is also the Wukong Tower in memory of Wukong on Mount Saga, kilometers away from Xi'an.

We can see that Che Fengchao and Sun Wukong both had the experience of traveling to the West to seek Buddhist scriptures. In addition to the Buddhist name "Wukong", Che Fengchao was identified as one of the prototypes of Sun Wukong.

However, Che Fengchao's time of traveling west does not completely match that in Journey to the West. Wu Chengen only borrowed Che Fengchao's experience and Buddhist name, but why did he set Sun Wukong in monkey-man form?

In literary works such as fantasy novels, a unique and eye-catching protagonist can greatly increase the appeal of the work. Wu Chengen's inspiration for setting Sun Wukong as a monkey man may have come from another figure in the Tang Dynasty - Shi Pantuo.

Shi Pantuo was from Gansu and was a Hu person. During the reign of Emperor Taizong of Tang, when Master Xuanzang was preaching in Guazhou on his way to the west, Shi Pantuo was deeply moved as one of the audience. He worshipped Xuanzang as his teacher and helped Xuanzang cross the Hulu River at night and pass through Yumen Pass.

After a difficult journey of more than 2000 miles, they entered XJ. However, the master-disciple relationship between the two was not strong.

After Shi Pantuo arrived in XJ, he began to regret his decision and tried to kill Xuanzang for money, but was discovered by Xuanzang and the two eventually parted ways. However, due to the prosperity of Buddhism, the story of Shi Pantuo and Master Xuanzang's journey to the West to seek Buddhist scriptures became widely known.

In the game "Black Myth: Wukong", there is a scene called "Xuanzang's Journey to the West", and similar scenes also exist in the real world. This picture was discovered by the staff of the Dunhuang Cultural Relics Research Institute in 1953. After investigation, it was found that this picture was drawn in the Western Xia period 800 years ago and was named "Xuanzang's Journey to the West".

There is a person standing with a horse in the picture, who is Shi Pantuo who assisted Xuanzang in his journey to the west. In the painting, Shi Pantuo has a hairy face, exposed fangs and nostrils pointing upwards, which clearly shows that he is a monkey.

In traditional Chinese culture, monkeys are seen as a symbol of wit and dexterity. When Wu Chengen designed the image of Sun Wukong, he most likely combined the experiences of Che Fengchao and Shi Pantuo, as well as the appearance of Shi Pantuo in "Xuanzang's Journey to the West".

In addition to the image characteristics of Sun Wukong, people are also curious about why Wu Chengen named him "Sun". In ancient times, people often called monkeys "Hu Sun" because of their agility and liveliness.

In Journey to the West, Wu Cheng'en explained through Patriarch Bodhi that "Sun" is taken from the homonym of "monkey", and in Taoist culture, the word "Sun" represents new life and masculinity, implying continuation, which is closely related to the fact that Sun Wukong can inherit the magic skills of Patriarch Bodhi.