This is a popular science chapter, because there is also the plot of Yan Zhenqing and Yan Gaoqing later, so it is necessary to talk about the "Manuscript of the Sacrifice of Nephews" that made Yan Zhenqing famous in history.

Yan Zhenqing's brother Yan Gaoqing's family guarded Changshan (now Zhengding County, Shijiazhuang), and finally Changshan City was broken, and his nephew Yan Jiming was beheaded, and more than 30 members of Yan Gaoqing's family were finally killed by the rebels, to be precise, they were tortured and killed.

After the city was broken, Yan Gaoqing swore to death and refused to bow his head, and was cut off by the rebels and still roared, and was finally dismembered and died. Two years later, the Tang army regained the lost territory, and Yan Zhenqing had the opportunity to ask someone to find the skull of his nephew.

Of course, this is the outline of the story, and it is also the bright side of the story. If it's just to see the excitement, then you can go here.

However, many times, the back side of the story is often where the cruelty of reality lies.

I'll give you an example, Aramco's soldiers went to Ukraine to fight at the behest of the government, but they broke two legs, were fitted with prosthetic limbs, and were sent back to Aramco.

At the airport, he was warmly welcomed, surrounded by numerous journalists, and was even awarded a medal.

This is the bright side of the story, if it's a movie and the camera ends here, then it's going to be an inspirational story. People will make up for the follow-up, and the rest of the "hero's" life will be happy.

However, after being on the news, it is highly likely that no one will remember him anymore. It is also likely that his medal is just a prop to be taken away after the photoshoot.

After returning home, the "hero" had no unemployment benefits, no insurance money, and after his wife knew that his legs were lame, he ran away with someone, and the house was taken away by the property because he couldn't pay taxes.

It's just that at that time, no one cared about what happened to him, and what was waiting for him was either to live on the streets or commit suicide by drinking bullets.

This is the back side of the story.

So, the story behind the story, is worth seeing. It tends to be colder, more brutal, and more realistic.

It's also more instructive.

It's far away, back to the "Manuscript of the Sacrifice of Nephews".

Why did Yan Zhenqing write this? Or rather, why has this one been handed down? This is an issue that is easy to overlook, but one that is particularly critical.

Without going around the bush, I'll just say the answer.

Yan Zhenqing wrote this, in addition to solemnly paying tribute to family members. Loudly proclaiming family loyalty, and quietly scolding some people, is the main reason, and the reason why it can be handed down.

Of course, what I'm talking about here is only Yan Zhenqing's intention, not that he shouldn't do it.

became a hero, was robbed of credit and was suppressed, of course, you have to shout it out in your own way, this is understandable. What I want to say is, don't think of the ancients as stupid, everyone has their own motives and considerations for doing things.

When they need to endure it, they can definitely bear it.

Profit-driven is itself just a human instinct. The benefits here can be broadened to include fame, self-motivation, self-satisfaction, self-worth construction, and so on.

So, what happened to Yan Zhenqing's family?

This is not easy to explain, it is written in the history books, if you are interested, you can take a look, if I summarize it here, it is from the end of Tianbao, Yan Zhenqing's family has been pitted.

The routine here is really deeper than the sea, so it is necessary to grasp the details of the Hebei side.

First of all, we must emphasize one point: in the Tang Dynasty, the Hu-Han contradiction was far from the mainstream, including in Hebei. If you think that the Hu people are from An Lushan, the Han people will inevitably support Li Tang (to be precise, Jige), then you are putting the cart before the horse.

Then let's talk about the "unity soldiers" in Hebei, the influence of this group is much more far-reaching than that of the Hu people in the border town, and its influence lasted until the early years of the Northern Song Dynasty.

Finally, I would like to mention that Hebei is very large, very large, and it is so large that within Hebei, it has to be divided into blocks, and different regions may have completely different folk customs and political tendencies.

After figuring out these three points, you can start to sort out the pulse of Hebei in the last years of Tianbao.

Whether it is An Lushan, Shi Siming, or Yan Zhenqing's brothers, they are not local forces in Hebei.

Many readers think that Yan Zhenqing is from Hebei, but in fact, no, to be exact, they have no friendship with Hebei.

This is very important and helps to understand the direction of the story of Hebei in the last years of Tianbao.

For the locals of Hebei, all of the above-mentioned positions are completely opposite, and they are all outsiders. So don't accuse Hebei of being a rebel force, for them, Yan Zhenqing is actually not fundamentally different from An Lushan.

None of them represent the interests of the locals in Hebei.

If you can't understand this, then you can't understand the chaos in the three towns of Hebei and Heshuo in the Middle and Tang Dynasties.

The Anshi Rebellion did not suddenly conjure, nor did it dissipate suddenly, and the impact has actually been continuing.

Therefore, if you are a Guanzhong person in the prosperous Tang Dynasty, of course, you can point your nose and scold Hebei for being a thief everywhere. But if you are a Hebei native of the Tang Dynasty, the situation is a little different.

Before scolding An Lushan, you have to consider some very realistic issues.

You have a lot of land in your family, but your taxes are also heavy. A lot of grain was taken away by the imperial court.

Of course, grain can be sold. However, the imperial court is not a simple role, and the strategy of limiting the price of grain and other daily necessities is actually implemented in Hebei.

Hebei people sell grain cheaply, buy other things, except for the Changlu salt field close at hand, there is no shortage of salt, everything else is expensive, and Hebei businessmen are not allowed to go to Chang'an to do business! It is not allowed to establish a large commercial port in Hebei.

In other words, you are a big landlord in Hebei, and you can't live a decent life.

At this time, will you support An Lushan, who hopes to show the "value of the united front", or Yan Zhenqing, who is angry with the imperial court?

No matter what Yan Zhenqing's personal ethics were, he had to implement the policies of the Tang court, and in the eyes of the local people in Hebei, he was no different from other local officials.

After all, Yan Zhenqing can't afford not to collect taxes! In other words, there are other people who collect taxes, and they don't go through the accounts of the local yamen at all.

So when I read "The Manuscript of the Sacrifice of My Nephew", there is a kind of anger that I want to say but don't say it directly. Yan Zhenqing understands, but he can't say it explicitly.

Life is often just helpless.

At the beginning, Yan Gaoqing raised his arms and shouted, and seventeen counties responded, and the number of coalition troops was as high as 200,000. There is not much left of the territory controlled by the Anshi rebels.

But after Shi Siming returned to Hebei, he swept away Hebei in a very short period of time. In terms of the number of people, there are many more people in Yan Gaoqing's hands than Shi Siming!

No one really thinks it's just a matter of command, right?

In fact, this is the "bad guys" among the masses in Hebei. Of course, those people have their own ideas, and they don't think they're bad.

Yan Zhenqing is a native of Guanzhong, and his home is near Chang'an, so he has no way to retreat. But he has no way out, many people in the Hebei government are locals, and they have a way out!

Under the circumstance that the geographical views were particularly clear at that time, why did a large group of Hebei people follow a Guanzhong person and be loyal to the imperial court and fight the Anshi rebels?

In modern times, there are still village fights, you go and ask, those people in the fighting villages, believe it or not?

History books, you can't just look at the general outline. In just a few strokes, there are often one thrilling and tragic story after another.

And behind the story, there are often more stories that cannot be told explicitly.

In the last years of Tianbao, the people's hearts in Hebei were not based on the Guanzhong court, but "peaceful independence"!

In other words, the public opinion of Hebei at that time neither wanted to follow An Lushan, nor did they want to continue to be ridden on the head by the imperial court to!

They didn't have the intention of attacking Chang'an, so they just didn't want to pay taxes to the imperial court! It's that simple!

Everything else, no matter what, just don't toss.

Recognizing this, you can understand what was going on in the three towns of Tang Heshuo in the middle and late periods, and you can also understand why Tang Ting finally compromised with the remnants of the Anshi rebels.

All the "weird" problems that cannot be explained can be perfectly explained.

Yan Zhenqing also knew that his family was like that, he couldn't get justice after being cheated, and he still had to look forward, so he wrote the "Manuscript for the Sacrifice of Nephews".

What is the situation in Hebei, the party Yan Zhenqing naturally knows it, in addition to resentment, it is more helpless.

After showing the value of the united front, the children of the family in Hebei entered Chang'an in the middle and late Tang Dynasty, and then unexpectedly and unsurprisingly broke away from the grassroots level of Hebei and moved to the vicinity of Luoyang.

Then the era of the festival envoys began.

An Lushan's rebellion is a "mistake", so is it right for Tang Ting to desperately squeeze the people of Hebei?

The counterinsurgency of the imperial court belongs to "justice", so why are the people of Hebei not pursuing their own "fairness"?

If you don't stab the Tang Dynasty, you can be bullied by Hebei people!

Right and wrong, who can define right and wrong?

If you look at it purely from the perspective of today's people, the so-called "loyalty" of Yan Zhenqing's family seems meaningless, and it is purely a blind toss.

But we still can't say that.

Because if we can't empathize with the ancients, we can't understand history, let alone learn lessons from history. The ancients had their own positions, they had their own limitations, and only by substituting them could we know the gains and losses and helplessness at that time.

The decaying Tang Dynasty does not have to be saved, but the integrity and spirit displayed by the people who fought for it at that time are worth learning from future generations. This is a valuable spiritual treasure.

That's why we study history.

The people of the Tang Dynasty saw the history of the Shang, Zhou, Spring and Autumn periods, the Warring States period, the Qin and Han dynasties.

And our descendants will also regard everything we have as history. We ourselves are making and interpreting history.

Empathizing with the ancients is also pitying oneself. Those who do not forget the past and the future will not be able to see the future choices if they cannot see the gains and losses of the past.

So, historical things, you really can't laugh and laugh past.

You laugh at the ancients today and don't understand, but don't you know that the descendants of a hundred years later won't laugh at you for being stupid?