Zhu Chao accompanied me to watch short videos

In 1359, Chen Youliang proclaimed himself emperor and named his country Han, which is known in history as Chen Han. At this time, Zhang Dingbian was already the most powerful general under Chen Youliang. He continued to loyally follow Chen Youliang in his campaigns and made great contributions.

At that time, everyone in Chen Youliang's regime was in danger. Anyone with the slightest dissenting opinion would be quickly killed. The entire Chen Han army was shrouded in white terror.

However, Zhang Dingbian remained unmoved and always followed Chen Youliang, and Chen Youliang never doubted Zhang Dingbian's loyalty to him, because the two had been through life and death for many years and had long been connected.

In 1363 AD, a decisive battle broke out between Chen Youliang's Chen Han and Zhu Yuanzhang's Ming Dynasty in the Poyang Lake area.

Chen Youliang had a strong army and went to fight. However, facing Zhu Yuanzhang, Chen Youliang was obviously no match at all. As the decisive battle began, Chen Youliang gradually lost the upper hand. Facing an unfavorable situation, Zhang Dingbian led the warships directly to Zhu Yuanzhang's flagship, hoping to take Zhu Yuanzhang's head among the millions of troops.

At this time, Zhang Dingbian was "full of courage", and he transformed into Zhao Yun in "Romance of the Three Kingdoms". He fought alone, but became more and more courageous and unstoppable. The soldiers were also infected by his courage and tried their best.

His warships broke out of the siege, defeated Zhu Yuanzhang's generals along the way, killed three of Zhu Yuanzhang's generals one after another, and forced their way through a bloody path, heading straight for Zhu Yuanzhang.

At this time, Zhu Yuanzhang saw Zhang Dingbian's warships rushing towards him and panicked, and hurriedly ordered the ships to dodge.

As the ship ran aground due to the failure to turn the rudder in time, Zhu Yuanzhang was helpless. No warships came to rescue him and he was about to be captured. As Zhang Dingbian was getting closer and closer to Zhu Yuanzhang, his famous general Chang Yuchun suddenly shot an arrow and hit Zhang Dingbian.

After being shot, Zhang Dingbian was unable to command the battle and withdrew. After that, Zhu Yuanzhang's navy was unstoppable, which temporarily relieved Chen Youliang's pressure and forced Zhu Yuanzhang to give up the pursuit. In this battle, Zhang Dingbian played the role of Zhao Zilong, but Zhu Yuanzhang was not Cao Cao and did not have the rule of "no shooting".

Later, Zhu Yuanzhang was furious, and his famous generals such as Xu Da and Chang Yuchun explained that this battle was limited by human power, and the power of one person is ultimately limited. He had no way to turn the tide, but Zhang Dingbian's achievements were enough to go down in history.

As the war progressed, Chen Youliang was unlucky. During the battle between the two armies, he was shot in the head and died. The army was without a commander and fled. Facing the hopeless situation, Chen Youliang was defeated and killed, and Zhang Dingbian was powerless to save the situation.

In order to keep Chen Youliang's bloodline alive, Zhang Dingbian led his army to break through the siege, retrieved Chen Youliang's body, and escorted Chen Youliang's son Chen Li to escape to Wuchang, where he proclaimed himself emperor. Zhu Yuanzhang personally led his army to besiege Wuchang, intending to destroy the remnants of Chen Youliang.

Faced with the approaching army, Zhang Dingbian's sworn brother Zhang Bixin was defeated and captured. As he was isolated and helpless, it was impossible for him to defend Wuchang.

After Zhang Dingbian asked Chen Li to make peace with Zhu Yuanzhang and saved the Chen family, Zhu Yuanzhang summoned Zhang Dingbian to serve him many times, but he refused. He remained loyal to his good friend Chen Youliang throughout his life.

It is impossible to verify where Zhang Dingbian went afterwards. According to legend, as the country was finally unified, Zhang Dingbian put aside his years of murderous aura and converted to Buddhism, but the only thing that did not change was his chivalrous heart.

He called himself "Master Mujiang" and built Linyuan Temple on Lingyuan Mountain in Quannan. He led monks to cultivate Zen fields, cure diseases and save lives, and benefit the people.

An anecdote from his later years further highlights Zhang Dingbian's bravery and invincibility. In 1377, Zhang Dingbian, who was nearly 60 years old, was doing morning exercises on Xixia Mountain when a strong wind suddenly blew up.

He raised his head and saw a tiger rushing towards him. After Zhang Dingbian dodged in panic, he twisted his body and thrust the knife into the tiger's throat. In an instant, the tiger's blood flowed and its brains splattered.

From the first year of Hongwu (1368) to the fifteenth year of Yongle (1417), Zhang Dingbian practiced in seclusion in the mountains for decades. He saw off his old rivals Zhu Yuanzhang, Xu Da, and Chang Yuchun, and finally died at the age of 99.

When the news of his origin recorded in local Fujian historical documents spread, the local villagers shed tears, and many people even went to the temple in groups to kowtow, as if they had lost a loved one.

Looking back on Zhang Dingbian's life, he grew from a poor fisherman to a powerful general who dominated the world, and finally retired to Buddhism and lived a long life. He can be said to be one of the most legendary figures of that era.

As the most powerful general in the late Yuan Dynasty, he not only fought in the north and south, and built an empire for Chen Youliang with almost no defeat, but also almost took Zhu Yuanzhang's head among thousands of troops, and almost changed his fate.

He was able to take it or leave it, and followed Chen Youliang's loyalty, just like Guan Yu followed Liu Bei in the past. He gave up his official position and sacrificed his life for his friend, without hesitation and for the rest of his life.

Although we often say "the winner is the king and the loser is the bandit", the demise of Chen Han made him gradually forgotten as the losing side, but in the era of war and heroes at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, Zhang Dingbian is undoubtedly a hero worth remembering.

[Read the last loyal ministers and generals of the Ming Dynasty in one go. Historical knowledge of the Ming Dynasty]

He was a loyal and capable general of the Ming Dynasty, and the last hope to save the Ming Dynasty. He captured Gao Yingxiang alive and defeated Li Zicheng, which saved the Ming Dynasty from danger. However, due to the emperor's reckless behavior, he was eventually defeated and died, and the Ming Dynasty also perished. He was the last fierce man of the Ming Dynasty - Sun Chuanting.

Sun Chuanting, also known by his courtesy name Baigu, was from Daizhou, Shanxi Province. In history books, Sun Chuanting was described as both handsome and talented.

He was not only handsome, tall and mighty, but also a top student since childhood, often ranked among the top in various examinations, and was also proficient in riding and shooting, belonging to the type of people who were both civil and military. In 1619, the 26-year-old Sun Chuanting went to Beijing for the first time to take the imperial examination and successfully passed the examination, ranking 41st among the top three.

It is worth mentioning that the person before him was a young man from Guangdong named Yuan Chonghuan. In this way, the two tough guys met unexpectedly in the examination room and started their extraordinary lives from here.

Soon after, Sun Chuanting was sent to Yongcheng and Shangqiu in Henan as county magistrate. During his tenure, he eliminated gangsters and evil, appeased the people, and did a great job.

In just two years, he rose from the local to the central government with his outstanding political achievements, and was promoted to Langzhong of the Ministry of Personnel, a fifth-rank official. That year, Sun Chuanting was only in his early 30s. At this age, he was a fifth-rank official in the Ministry of Personnel, and his future was bright.

However, not long after working in his new job in the Ministry of Personnel, Sun Chuanting chose to retire early.

At that time, Wei Zhongxian controlled the government and the eunuch party was in full swing. This also led to the fact that if you wanted to get into the Ming officialdom at that time, you had to lick the feet of Eunuch Wei. As a result, the Ming officialdom was once dominated by the trend of recognizing eunuchs as fathers and careers. Gu Bingqian, who was once the Minister of Rites, was the most shameless and unfilial.

He was 18 years older than Wei Zhongxian at the time. When he was 70 years old, he actually asked his son to recognize Wei Zhongxian as his grandfather, which was a disguised way of recognizing Wei Zhongxian as his father. It was unheard of for him to recognize a eunuch as his father just to get promoted.

Sun Chuanting was a man of integrity and uprightness, so he naturally did not want to lick the feet of Eunuch Wei. So he decisively chose to return to his hometown in Shanxi to retire, and he was idle for 10 years.

If it were a peaceful and prosperous time, he could have lived comfortably as a rich man after returning home, but the situation in the Ming Dynasty was already deteriorating.

With peasant uprisings at home and invasions from the Later Jin Dynasty, Shanxi became a battlefield for the peasant army, the Later Jin army and the Ming army. Faced with such a chaotic situation, Sun Chuanting was eager to make a career.

In 1634 and 1635, the Later Jin invaded Shanxi twice. Sun Chuanting organized troops to resist the Later Jin army at his own expense and achieved good results. It was precisely because of these two outstanding performances that the troubled Emperor Chongzhen saw Sun Chuanting's ability.

Therefore, in 1636, Emperor Chongzhen made an exception and appointed Sun Chuanting as the governor of Shaanxi, a second-rank official. The Ming court approved the appointment almost unanimously, with no one opposing it, because this position is comparable to the "President of South Korea" today, and whoever takes it will be unlucky.

Of the six governors before Sun Chuanting, five were dismissed from office, and the other was directly exiled to supervision. This made it impossible for anyone to be the governor of Shaanxi again.

But for Sun Chuanting at that time, he urgently needed an opportunity to prove himself, so he resolutely decided to go. However, Chongzhen was a thief and stingy person, who wanted the horse to run but did not want the horse to eat grass.

Faced with Sun Chuanting's request for military pay, Emperor Chongzhen kept crying poor. After some wrangling, Chongzhen still had to save face and couldn't let his subordinate take office without any troops, so he gave Sun Chuanting 6 taels of silver as start-up capital, and let Sun Chuanting figure out the rest of the money and soldiers himself.

Although it was a bit like a blank check, it also gave him a privilege, allowing him to recruit soldiers and raise military funds on his own.

As soon as Sun Chuanting arrived in Shaanxi, he found that this job was really difficult.

At that time, the entire Shaanxi province was completely out of control, with bandits everywhere. Except for a few large cities such as Xi'an, which were still controlled by the imperial court, other areas had become training bases for rebels. Facing the chaotic army, Sun Chuanting knew the truth that "no food, no soldiers".

Whoever has more food and more money will win the support of the people. Only with the support of the people can the army have the strength to fight. The principle is simple, but it is difficult to do. What the Ming Dynasty lacked was the support of the people.

Sun Chuanting began to train the troops when he first took office. On the one hand, he recruited 3000 elite soldiers and prepared for war, which greatly improved the combat effectiveness of the Ming army; on the other hand, he vigorously cleaned up the military farms that had been encroached upon by powerful landlords.

Thanks to Sun Chuanting's reorganization in Shaanxi, the Ming army soon became brand new.

Soon, Sun Chuanting presented Chongzhen with a big gift. In the Battle of Heishui Valley, facing the rebel leader Gao Yingxiang, Sun Chuanting finally captured Gao Yingxiang alive and became famous in one battle. As Gao Yingxiang was escorted to the capital and executed, the strongest force of the peasant army collapsed.

Afterwards, Sun Chuanting swept through more than a dozen rebel groups in Shaanxi, basically ensuring the safety of Guanzhong region just over a year after taking office. He also joined forces with Hong Chengchou to defeat Li Zicheng, forcing the new King of Rebellion to flee into the mountains with his remaining 18 riders.

Since then, Sun Chuanting gradually emerged in the chaotic world of the late Ming Dynasty and became famous. Chongzhen's investment of 6 taels has increased dozens of times in Sun Chuanting's hands.

However, just when the situation was looking good, Sun Chuanting was imprisoned by Chongzhen not long after. In 1638, the Qing army entered the pass and plundered.

Chongzhen ordered Sun Chuanting, Hong Chengchou and other anti-bandit troops to enter Beijing to fight against the Qing army. At that time, Yang Sichang, the Minister of War, was very opposed to it, and he tried his best to "keep the bandits alive, become enemies, and leave only one person behind."

Chongzhen refused to listen to the advice and refused decisively. In the end, this wave of chaos directly led to the resurgence of the peasant army led by Li Zicheng, which was already facing collapse.

Afterwards, Sun Chuanting was ostracized because of his discord with Yang Sichang. His repeated requests to meet with Emperor Chongzhen to discuss military and national affairs were not taken seriously, which made Sun Chuanting somewhat disheartened.

It just so happened that he had become deaf due to a cold, so he asked to resign. Under the influence of Yang Sichang, the already suspicious Chongzhen thought he was quitting his post, so he arrested him and put him in jail. After that, Sun Chuanting stayed in jail for three full years.

During the three years he was imprisoned, Li Zicheng, Zhang Xianzhong and others rose again, and the peasant army gradually grew larger and larger, becoming a prairie fire. The situation outside the Great Wall also took a sharp turn for the worse, and the Battle of Songjin between the Ming and Qing dynasties had already begun.

At this time, the Ming Dynasty was in danger due to internal and external troubles. Faced with the deteriorating situation, Chongzhen thought of Sun Chuanting, who had once fought so well in the Shaanxi battlefield.

One day, Chongzhen summoned Sun Chuanting and asked him how many soldiers he needed to suppress the peasant army. Sun Chuanting had been in prison for many years and did not know the situation outside, so he said, "I only need 5000 elite soldiers."

Li Zicheng, who was once beaten to a pulp by Sun Chuanting, is now a completely different person. When Sun Chuanting took office, he found that he had inherited a mess that could not be any worse.

Since the 5000 officers and soldiers given by Chongzhen were corrupt and incompetent, and most of the original Qin army officers and soldiers were lost in the Battle of Songjin and other battles, Sun Chuanting had almost no one to use. On the other hand, Li Zicheng, who was once beaten to only 18 cavalrymen, now had hundreds of thousands of soldiers and was very powerful.

After understanding the enemy and our own situation, Sun Chuanting believed that the most urgent task was to increase manpower and food supplies, so he asked Emperor Chongzhen to train 2 soldiers and provide a million in food supplies.

Faced with this request, the stingy Chongzhen was very unhappy and thought: "Didn't you say that 5000 people were enough? Why are you raising the price now?"

However, although Chongzhen was dissatisfied, he still approved his request due to the worsening domestic situation. However, the condition was that Sun Chuanting led his troops out of Tongguan to encircle and suppress Li Zicheng one month after receiving the military pay.

At that time, there were only three armies left in the Ming Dynasty that were still powerful: the first was Wu Sangui's army in Liaodong, which was relatively elite, but had difficulty dealing with the Qing Dynasty and it was impossible to transfer it to the interior;

The second was Zuo Liangyu's army in Wuchang, which, although numerous, did not obey orders at all; the third was Sun Chuanting's Shaanxi Army, which, after his reorganization, still had the strength to fight.