During the Sui and Tang Dynasties of China, the world was full of strife, wars continued, and heroes emerged one after another. The traditional storytelling "The Romance of the Tang Dynasty" and the novel "Said the Tang Dynasty" in all aspects of the heroic characters were vivid and vivid on the paper, leaving a deep impression on future generations. Speaking of a "negative" character, he is the discredited hero Su Dingfang. Today, let's talk about the real Su Dingfang in history. Share with your friends.
1. Su Dingfang in literary works
In the novels "The Romance of Sui and Tang Dynasties" and "Said Tang Dynasty", Su Dingfang appeared as a villain, a villain who behaved despicably and shamelessly. During the battle in Yanshan, he shot Luo Yi with dark arrows, and used despicable means to trap Luo Cheng outside the Zijin Pass. In order to gain the trust of the Li and Tang Dynasty, he was able to increase his rank and rank after surrendering, and killed Shen Faxing, the king of Liang who came to reinforce Liu Heida. . In the romance novels, the Su and Luo families have a deep feud, and the grievances have been entangled for three generations. The Su family has always been against the Tang Dynasty and appeared as the villain. Su Dingfang was finally cut open to death. Is he really like that? Su Dingfang in the official history is by no means like this. On the contrary, he was the number one hero of the early Tang Dynasty, and his achievements were no less than that of Li Jing and Li Ji, the famous generals of the early Tang Dynasty.
2. What do the above literary works say in the official history?
In the official history, Luo Yi was the general manager of Youzhou and guarded Youzhou. He once assisted the prince Li Jiancheng in exterminating Dou Jiande's old department Liu Heida and pacified Hebei. He was a member of the Prince's Group. He was killed after he failed because he opposed Li Shimin's proclamation of emperor. There is no such thing as Su Dingfang's assassination of Luo Yi.
Without Luo Cheng, his character prototype should be Luo Shixin, a general in Tang Junzhong, almost as famous as Qin Qiong, who once guarded Mingzhou, was defeated and killed due to heavy snowfall.
Nor did they kill Liang Wang, Shen Faxing, Su and Luo, who were deeply feuding, and fought against the Tang Dynasty.
Was cut open to death and so on. These are the words of writers, in order to increase the drama of literature and attract readers.
3. What kind of person was Su Dingfang in the official history?
Su Dingfang, who was born in Jizhou, was famous for his bravery and skill in battle when he was young. Together with his father, Su Yong, they formed an army of several thousand people to protect the country and the people. In the 12th year of the Sui Dynasty (616), the rebel army of Shandong Zhang Jinzheng, who had harmed one side, was annihilated and joined the Hebei rebel army Dou Jiande. After the defeat, he went home to farm and lived in seclusion in the mountains.
In the early years of Zhenguan, Su Dingfang was requisitioned by the Tang Dynasty, and accompanied Li Jing in the northern expedition of the Eastern Turks, attacking Yinshan at night. In the second year of Xianqing (657), Su Dingfang Leigong was promoted to the chief general of the army and began to take charge of the army alone. The territory of the Tang Dynasty expanded westward to the Aral Sea in Central Asia, the border reached Persia, and extended eastward to the southern part of the Korean Peninsula. He successively served as General Zuo Xiaowei and General Zuo Wuwei, and was named Duke Xing. He died in the second year of Qianfeng (667).
4. How did Su Dingfang get smeared?
With his ability and merit, how could Su Dingfang be smeared like this? Specifically, he did three things, which are in line with the novel's author's villain's three views, taking the blame for Tang Taizong, contradicting Si Cheng Yaojin, and befriending Xu Jingzong. As a result, in literary works, a capricious and cruel "Su Dingfang" appeared.
(1) Take the blame for Tang Taizong
In the third year of Zhenguan (629), with Li Jing as the marching commander of Dingxiang Road and Su Dingfang as the vanguard officer, he fought against the Eastern Turks. Tang Taizong ordered Tang Jian as a messenger to go to the enemy camp to negotiate with Jieli Khan. Li Jing suddenly sent troops to make a surprise attack, and Tang Jian did not know the information about the Tang army's attack. It was not until Su Dingfang's magic weapon came down from the sky that Tang Jian woke up like a dream and only returned it with himself. Since then, he has resented Li Jing, Su Dingfang and others.
In the historical data, there are records of court officials such as Wen Yanbo, a censor, and Xiao Yu, the right servant of the Shangshu, who impeached Li Jing for "the army has no discipline, and the prisoners have strange treasures scattered in the hands of disorderly soldiers". The leader of the bandit ran away, and Li Jing, the coach, was responsible.
Tang Taizong relieved Li Jing of the siege, saying: "Sui general Shi Wansui broke Datou Khan, he did not reward his merits, and he was killed for his crimes. I am not the case. I should pardon the crime of the public, record the honor of the public, and seal Li Jing as Zuoguang. Doctor Lu, reward thousands of silk and satin, and add five hundred households." Li Jing is safe, Su Dingfang can only be unlucky, but after all, the problem is caused by Tang Taizong himself, Su Dingfang is the culprit, only if it does not rise or fall, it counts. Explained to the Civil Service Group. Since then, Su Dingfang has been "marginalized" and has been silent for 25 years in the ordinary days.
(2) Contradicting boss Cheng Yaojin
After Li Zhi ascended the throne, in order to expand the territory of the Tang Dynasty and select elite generals, many civil officials who disliked Su Dingfang at that time died, and Tang Jian was also in bed. Su Dingfang finally became the "treasure" in the eyes of Tang Gaozong Li Zhi.
In the first year of Xianqing, Cheng Yaojin served as the chief commander to conquer the Western Turks, and the deputy commander Wang Wendu reported to Cheng Zhijie: "Although the thieves are gone, the army is dead and wounded. , which means everything.”
According to Wang Wendu's proposal, he had to influence the Tang army's attack. Cheng Yaojin did not agree on the spot. Wang Wendu even ordered to return to the camp without authorization. , pointed at the opponent's nose and cursed: "I want to be a thief when I leave a teacher, but now I am self-defeating, sitting in a trap, and if I encounter a thief, I will lose. If you are so cowardly, how can you make merit!" At the same time, Su Dingfang suggested: "Please ask for a prisoner. Wendu, fly the watch to hear it."
Regarding Su Dingfang's following crimes, Cheng Yaojin neither punished him face to face, nor did he follow Su Dingfang's advice, but moved to Dadu City, and then the massacre of Dadu City occurred.
Massacres, looting, and unauthorized changes to the battle plan resulted in the unsuccessful return of the Western Expedition. After the class, Cheng Yaojin was released from office, Wang Wendu was sentenced to death in prison, and Garen was demoted to a commoner. And Su Dingfang was temporarily in charge of the military affairs of the Western Expedition because of his merits.
(3) Make friends with the traitor Xu Jingzong
Su Dingfang was victorious in successive battles, destroying the Three Kingdoms before and after, and made outstanding achievements. However, in the eyes of his colleagues, he was still a vulgar person. This is of course the old grudge against the civil service group in the early days of conquest of the Turks, and the "new grudge" of the political ally with Xu Jingzong in the later period. Two factors played a role.
Xu Jingzong was the son of Xu Shanxin, Minister of Officials of the Sui Dynasty. "Young Shan belongs to literature". Because of his outstanding literary talent, he was accepted by Li Shimin, Emperor Taizong of Tang, as one of the eighteen scholars under his account after he returned to the Tang Dynasty. In the period of Emperor Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty, Xu Jingzong began to study national history concurrently. But his character is too bad, and people who have a bad relationship with him will never have a good word in his history. Xu Jingzong made up the history of the country indiscriminately in the court, which caused dissatisfaction among the ministers, because he was good at catering to his wishes, and he had the merit of empress Wu, but others could not do anything about him.
At that time, there were two political groups, Li Tang and Wu Zhou. There was a social atmosphere of choosing sides and standing in line. It was easy to be classified as a villain who supported Wu Zhou. The works produced in that era had these characteristics. . Although Su Dingfang made great achievements for the Tang Dynasty to protect the country and the people and open up the territory, he still could not get the understanding of the courtiers.
Epilogue
With the decline of the Tang Dynasty and the prosperity of the Song Dynasty, the social ethos of promoting literature and suppressing martial arts spread, and Su Dingfang, a splendid warrior and a brilliant general, did not publicize in the Song Dynasty. In the Ming and Qing dynasties, "The Romance of the Sui and Tang Dynasties" and "The Complete Biography of the Xing Tang Dynasty" were all the rage. The rise of this heroic style of the Sui and Tang Dynasties made Su Dingfang "powerless". Among the many heroes of Sui and Tang Dynasties, Cheng Yaojin, known for his "three-axe stunt", has a positive image that is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. It is far from Cheng Yaojin, who had no success in the history of his apprenticeships and killed him to make money. Su Dingfang, who followed Cheng Yaojin on the expedition, became a "dead ghost" to act as a shield.
Although the times and the public were unfair to him, the official history still left clues for him to clear his grievances. After Tang Dezong commended his painting Lingyan Pavilion, he was honored by the kings of all dynasties. Good general.
History is history after all. No matter how smeared or misunderstood a person is in Romance, history can make a fair and objective evaluation.
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