The three heroes of the late Southern Song Dynasty: Wen Tianxiang, Lu Xiufu, and Zhang Shijie are all remarkable. Compared with Wen Tianxiang and Lu Xiufu, Zhang Shijie is more special, he defected from the Mongolia Empire, but he is loyal to the Southern Song Dynasty, stronger than many people.
Zhang Shijie interprets what it means to be a loyal person. Serving in the Mongolia Empire, Zhang Shijie was worthy of Zhang Hongfan's father, Zhang Rou. After Zhang Shijie defected to the Southern Song Dynasty, he was also a loyal minister and righteous man, knowing that he would not do it, and fought for the Southern Song Dynasty until the last moment.
Subconsciously, Zhang Shijie was born in the Southern Song Dynasty and was an official in the Southern Song Dynasty, but this is not the case. Zhang Shijie is a native of the Kingdom of Jin, and followed his clansman Zhang Rou to the Mongolia Empire, and he has been serving under Zhang Rou and has made many achievements.
Who is Zhang Rou? Among the marquis of the Han army of Mongolia, Zhang Rou was the first and Shi Tianze was the second. Kublai Khan commented: "Shi Tianze's merits are not as prominent as Zhang Rou", Zhang Rou's son Zhang Hongfan was even more famous, and he perished in the Southern Song Dynasty.
So, why did Zhang Shijie defect to the Southern Song Dynasty? Is it bad to follow Zhang Rou? Zhang Shijie misjudged the situation, and in order to survive, he chose to leave Lianghuai, but he was worthy of Zhang Rou.
In 1245, Zhang Rou sat in Huainan and was the deputy commander in charge of the war against the Southern Song Dynasty, and the commander was Chahan. In the Battle of Sizhou, Zhang Rou defeated the main force of the Song army and stabilized the Lianghuai defense line. At this time, his subordinate Jiagu Xianzu made a mistake and was reprimanded by Zhang Rou.
Jiagu Xian's ancestors sued, falsely accusing Zhang Rou of rebellion, and saying that he supported the army and respected himself and looked down on the Mongolian army. Empress Naima Zhen was furious, and immediately called Zhang Rou to Mobei and Lin and asked him to explain clearly.
Zhang Rou is a famous general with outstanding achievements, why did Naima really do this? Could it be that she believed the words of Jiagu Xianzu? The answer is no, Zhang Rou has a heavy army, and Naima Zhen deliberately beat him in order to establish his prestige.
In 1241, the Great Khan of Ögedai died of illness, and Naima Zhen was the regent, who wanted to canonize his eldest son, Guiyou. However, the edict of the Great Khan of Ogedai was the succession of the emperor's grandson, the martyrdom, so Naima really needed time to cultivate the team, establish prestige, and pave the way for your nobles, and Zhang Rou ran into the muzzle of the gun.
Naima really wanted to beat Zhang Rou, but Zhang Shijie mistakenly thought that Naima really wanted to liquidate the Zhang family, so he fled from Lianghuai and defected to the Southern Song Dynasty. Soon after Zhang Shijie came to the Southern Song Dynasty, Naima Zhen released Zhang Rou and asked him to continue to defend Huainan and fight against the Song army.
Zhang Rou was still in Mobei, and Zhang Shijie defected to the Southern Song Dynasty, which would undoubtedly make Zhang Rou passive. Therefore, after Zhang Shijie defected to the Southern Song Dynasty, he didn't like to take the lead, claiming to be a "guilty person who fled south", and did not want his identity to be exposed so as not to affect Zhang Rou.
Zhang Rou came back, and Zhang Shijie also felt that he had no face to go back, so he simply stayed in the Southern Song Dynasty and served under Lu Wende. Even so, Zhang Shijie never mentioned his deeds in Mongolia, and did not talk about his relationship with Zhang Rou, lest Mongolia be suspicious of Zhang Rou, after all, he was at fault first.
As a general of the Mongolia Empire, Zhang Shijie was worthy of Zhang Rou, although he fled in danger, but also tried to keep Zhang Rou, try to hide his identity and the real reason for defecting to the Southern Song Dynasty, Zhang Shijie has tried his best.
After defecting to the Southern Song Dynasty, Zhang Shijie had nothing to do in terms of fighting, and his military level was very average, but he insisted on resisting the Yuan army and refused Zhang Hongfan's persuasion to surrender 8 times, which is worthy of admiration.
Zhang Shijie's military ability, Wen Tianxiang bluntly said that he couldn't do it, but he insisted. In the battle of Jiaoshan, Zhang Shijie connected the warship with iron cables, laid wooden planks, and was burned by the Yuan army. In the Battle of Yashan, Zhang Shijie was the same, he also gave up the land camp and was completely annihilated by the Yuan army.
In terms of military affairs, Zhang Shijie was indeed very bad, but he was loyal to the Southern Song Dynasty, which embarrassed many ministers from the Southern Song Dynasty. When the Yuan army marched south, how did the ministers and generals of the Southern Song Dynasty behave? There were many who insisted on resisting the war, but there were also many who surrendered voluntarily, and even fled without authorization and abandoned the imperial court.
In 1276, the Yuan army approached the city, the officials fled one after another, and the prime minister Chen Yizhong only cared about himself. said that he would leave with the Queen Mother to protect the court, but who knew that Chen Yizhong would leave first, and it was important to protect himself. Later, Zhang Shijie supported King Yi and continued to resist, but Chen Yizhong never came back on the grounds of exploring the way to Jiaozhi.
Empress Dowager Xie Daoqing had no choice but to issue an edict to reprimand the ministers, and posted it in the court: "I have been in the Song Dynasty for three hundred years, and I have not treated you scholars and doctors badly, but now the enemy is current, but no one has a good plan, and they have surrendered." Alive, how you face the world; Dead, how to face the first emperor. ”
Kublai Khan criticized the generals who surrendered to the Yuan Dynasty at the banquet: "Jia Rudao is hateful, but the lord of the Song Dynasty has not treated you badly, why don't you surrender if you don't resist?" It's no wonder that Jia Rudao looks down on you. ”
The imperial court is in danger, the Song army from all walks of life is defeated, who will be the king? Except for Wen Tianxiang, Li Tingzhi, and Zhang Shijie, there is no one else. Zhang Shijie was defeated by the Yuan army in Jiaoshan and suffered heavy losses, but he said that he would fight against the water, relying on the strong city wall of the Beijing division, and fighting to the death with the Yuan army.
After Emperor Xie Daoqing and Emperor Song Gong surrendered, Zhang Shijie also refused to "obey the edict" and was unwilling to submit to Mongolia, but took King Wei and King Yi to break through and set up a separate imperial court to continue to resist the Yuan army. Zhang Shijie and Lu Xiufu moved to Lingnan, either on the run or on the way to escape, embarrassed, but never gave up resistance.
In 1279, in the Battle of Yashan, the commander of the Yuan army was Zhang Hongfan, that is, Zhang Rou's son. When Zhang Shijie defected to the Southern Song Dynasty from Lianghuai, Zhang Hongfan was only 8 years old. Zhang Shijie often enters Zhang Rou's mansion and is very familiar with Zhang Hongfan, witnessing his childhood growth.
Zhang Hongfan hoped that Zhang Shijie would return to the Yuan Dynasty and was willing to vouch for him, and Zhang Shijie also knew that he would definitely get high-ranking officials by surrendering to the Yuan Dynasty, because Kublai Khan always wanted Zhang Shijie to work for himself, so as to win people's hearts.
If you return to the Yuan Dynasty, you will be glorious and rich, and you will be graceful and descendant; Persisted in resistance, the whole army was annihilated, and blood was spilled on the ocean. Zhang Shijie chose the latter, he burned down the walled city on the shore, all the soldiers and civilians moved to the ship, put on a decisive battle posture, and was burned by Zhang Hongfan.
In the Battle of Yashan, Lu Xiufu committed suicide by throwing himself into the sea with the little emperor on his back, and the Southern Song Dynasty perished. Zhang Shijie led more than a dozen warships to break through and take the Empress Dowager Yang with him, intending to continue to search for the descendants of the Zhao family and make a comeback. However, after learning of the death of the little emperor, Empress Dowager Yang was disheartened and threw herself into the sea, and Zhang Shijie fell into despair.
At this time, if Zhang Shijie is willing to follow Zhang Hongfan, he can also survive and enjoy the glory and wealth. However, Zhang Shijie did not compromise, a hurricane was set off at sea, Zhang Shijie walked on the bow of the ship, the ship sank into the sea, and Zhang Shijie ended his life.
Zhang Shijie is really a loyal and righteous man, he is worthy of Zhang Rou, and he is also a loyal minister of the Southern Song Dynasty. In Cai Dongfan's view, Zhang Shijie is a loyal minister similar to Zhuge Liang, Zhang Shijie's ability is not as good as that of Wuhou, but they are all loyal ministers and righteous men through the ages.