Chapter 920 Dayi! A professional at destroying nations! (Introduction chapter, you can skip)

Dayi was a figure during the Yao Emperor period and the husband of Chang'e. He was famous for shooting down nine suns, which resolved the disaster of ten suns rising simultaneously. He also eliminated the six major evils including Yali, Zaochi and Jiuying.

Houyi was the leader of Youqiong clan during the Xia Dynasty, also known as "Yi Yi". He was famous for his archery skills, but was eventually killed by the minister Hanyue due to his debauchery and neglect of state power.

Houyi and Dayi, these two heroes with similar names but unique characteristics, occupy an important position in Chinese mythology and legends.

Although their stories may have been confused in later times, in the original legends they were completely different individuals.

Dayi, also known as Yi, is an archery hero in ancient legends. He is not only widely circulated among the people, but also repeatedly mentioned in historical documents.

During the reign of Emperor Yao, there were ten suns in the sky, causing all things to wither and all lives to be destroyed. Dayi bravely accepted Emperor Yao's dispatch and shot down nine of the suns with his magic arrows, leaving only one sun in the sky.

This feat saved the world, allowing all things to revive and life to continue.

Dayi's wife was the beautiful Chang'e, and their love story has become a tale that has been passed down through the ages. Dayi was therefore revered as the hero who shot down the sun.

Houyi was a figure in the Xia Dynasty. He was said to be the leader of Youqiong clan of the Dongyi tribe in the Xia Dynasty. He won the title "Yi" for his superb archery skills.

There are many records about Hou Yi in history, but Hou Yi was brave but not good at governing. He handed over the state affairs to the prime minister Han Zhuo.

Hanyue took advantage of Houyi's absence to launch a rebellion, killed Houyi, and took possession of Houyi's wife. He seized power in Xia and the minister Bo Mi fled.

Han Xuan ordered his son "Jiao" to lead the army to destroy the Zhen clan and kill Xiang'an who was hiding there. Xiang'an's wife escaped through a hole in the wall and soon gave birth to a posthumous son Shaokang.

When Shaokang grew up, he joined forces with Bo Mi and with the help of various tribes, he eliminated Hanyue and regained power in the Xia Dynasty, ending the 40-year "lordless" period in the Central Plains. This period is known in history as "Shaokang's Restoration". Shaokang was the sixth monarch of the Xia Dynasty.

We often say "Houyi shot down the sun", which is strictly speaking incorrect. Both "Classic of Mountains and Seas" and "Huainanzi" indicate that it was Dayi, not Houyi, who shot down the sun. It was only confused when the story was spread later.

In Qu Yuan's poem "Heavenly Questions", there are sentences such as "How did Yi raise the sun? How did the crows shed their wings?" and "The Emperor sent down Yi to reform the Xia people." These sentences actually integrate the history and legends of these two people.

In ancient China, there was actually no name "Dayi", only "Yi".

The so-called "Dayi" and "Houyi" are just names given by later generations to distinguish the two.

“Ding! Saint-level attributes summon the third person, the God of War that Destroys Nations - Tang Dynasty Su Lie, Command 101, Force 103, Politics 71, Intelligence 85.”

Professional in destroying nations—Su Lie and Su Dingfang!

Su Lie resisted the aggression like a ferocious tiger. He was unbridled and victorious in every attack. His army marched tens of millions of miles, and no ghosts or gods could hide his form, and no wind or frost could change his color. He swept Baekje with his spear and split Wuhai with his cavalry.

The leaders of the three kingdoms he conquered were all captured alive; the people west of the Pamir Mountains were conquered, and his merit in conquering other kingdoms was that he framed Li and Huo but did not pursue them; his strategic tactics were that he looked down upon Peng and Han.

Its fierce and heroic spirit will shine through the ages and dominate the generations!
He destroyed three kingdoms by himself and annihilated eighty thousand enemies with one thousand men. He was worshipped as a god by the enemy countries, but was slandered by his own people for a thousand years.

When it comes to Su Dingfang, most people think of him as the treacherous villain in the Romance of Sui and Tang Dynasties who plotted and murdered Luo Yi and Luo Cheng. However, in real history, Su Lie almost always declared the demise of a country every time he went on an expedition.

During his first overseas campaign, he led a mere 500 men to raid the Khan's lair, captured all the royal relatives, and forced the Khan to flee with only a few dozen men. Not long after, he was captured by the Tang army, and his country was destroyed.

You should know that Su Dingfang was attacking the Eastern Turks under the rule of Jie Li Khan at that time. Although it was a split, the territory of the Eastern Turks stretched from the Altai Mountains in the west to the Greater Khingan Range in the east, and its strength was still strong.

But even so, Eastern Turkestan not only became the first country destroyed by Su Dingfang, but was destroyed in one battle!
The Tang army came out of Yinshan Mountain and went straight to Qikou. Jie Li Khan personally led an army of 100,000 to meet the attack.

While the two sides were confronting each other, Li Jing sent Su Dingfang to explore the way at night. That night, the fog was thick and the wind was cold. The steaming dew wet the soldiers' armor.

Seeing the weather, Su Dingfang came up with a bold plan in his mind: a decapitation operation.

Taking advantage of the cover of night and fog, he led 200 cavalrymen and charged northward towards the yamen. Jie Li Khan, awakened from his dream, fled in a hurry with his wife and dozens of followers without even putting on his clothes. The rest of the generals and close ministers had no time to escape and were all captured by Su Dingfang.

The Turkic command system was destroyed in this way, and the 100,000-strong army was leaderless and in chaos.

Not long after, Li Jing arrived with the main force, and the Turks were defeated. More than 10,000 Turks were beheaded, and more than 100,000 men and women and hundreds of thousands of livestock were captured.

After Jie Li Khan fled, he gathered 10,000 remaining soldiers and tried to continue to resist, but the chieftains of the various Turkic tribes realized that the situation was hopeless and they all abandoned him and surrendered to the Tang Dynasty.

After experiencing the pleasure of destroying a country, he could not stop. Several years later, he went to invade another country, annihilated an enemy army of 100,000 with only 10,000 men, and captured the king of the enemy country alive, thus destroying the country as well.

Later, he fought against Tubo, annihilated 80,000 with only 1,000 men, and killed the enemy's main general. Since then, he has been worshipped as a god by the Tubo people.

A year after Su Dingfang defeated Duman and Tubo, he led his army and navy to attack and destroy the vassal state of Baekje on the Korean Peninsula, capturing the king of Baekje alive, completing the "three kills" of his journey to destroy the country.

In the last few years of his life, he was transferred to the Tang-Tibet border to continue guarding the border for the Tang Dynasty.

Therefore, many people who knew him in later generations joked that Su Dingfang only knew how to fight wars to destroy countries!
Su Dingfang fought eight foreign wars in his life and never suffered a single defeat, laying a solid foundation for the prosperity of the Tang Dynasty.

However, due to his background, he could not avoid exclusion and neglect throughout his life, which resulted in most of his achievements being made after he was over 60 years old.

Since ancient times, generals are like beauties, who are not allowed to see white hair in the world. However, Su Dingfang, with a head full of white hair and an old body that would have allowed others to return home long ago, traveled across the entire China from west to east.

He attacked the Turks in the west and conquered Tibet, and the Western Regions and plateaus became the fertile land he conquered; in the east, he destroyed Baekje and launched an expedition to Goryeo, and the raging waves of the sea were the neighing of his old horse.

What gets old is only the skin, but the blood in the chest remains hot forever.

He died on the frontier until his death, wiping out his last breath for the Tang Dynasty!
Even if his image has been tarnished, even if his achievements have been buried by historians, there will still be people who will remember, the silver-haired general who crossed the Pamir Mountains, stepped on the plateau, destroyed the Turks, conquered Baekje, traveled thousands of miles, and was invincible in the world, the old veteran who spent his whole life interpreting the glory of a soldier!

(End of this chapter)