Yangsi is regarded as a "god" everywhere. There are many legends about "General yangsi". Is there really a "yangsi" in history? What's his life record? What has he done that deserves respect? This paper tries to uncover this secret with limited historical materials. I. Basic Survey Through investigation, it is preliminarily known that temples dedicated to General yangsi and towns, villages, roads, docks and sites named after yangsi are distributed in Hunan, Hubei, Anhui, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Fujian, Shanghai, Tianjin, Guangdong, Chongqing, Sichuan, Shaanxi, Guizhou, Gansu and Yunnan 15 provinces and cities and Hunan, Hubei and Yunnan. Most of the statues of yangsi made in the sacrificial ceremony are military commanders wearing golden helmets, golden armor, holding sharp axes, or sitting or standing. According to the legend of yangsi, he can drive away dragons and monsters, quell floods and storms, and ensure the safety of people and ships on the river bank. All places offering sacrifices to yangsi are treated as "gods", which are called "Water God", "Lake God", "King of Smooth Waves", "King of Smooth Waves" and "King of Zhenjiang" ... Most of them are regarded as one of the main gods worshipped by boatmen and businessmen. Secondly, yangsi did exist in the early Ming Dynasty, but from some legends and sites, he vaguely revealed that yangsi was a real person. He is a general who leads troops to fight, especially good at water warfare. He also repairs water conservancy and dredges rivers at ordinary times, which is very popular among the masses. There is a place called "Yang Siying" by the Dadu River east of Fulin Town, Hanyuan County, Sichuan Province. Like Liu Jiaying, Jianjiaying, Chen Jiaying, Moujiaying, Wangsiying, Feng Ying and Zhao Ying in other parts of Sichuan, most of them are the remains of military camps in the early Ming Dynasty. These battalions were named after surnames or leaders, so "Yang Siying" was named after his leader yangsi. According to Hanyuan County Records, yangsi was a general in the early Ming Dynasty, so there was a "yangsi" in the early Ming Dynasty. There are two other major statements about General yangsi. 1. Many places say it's Yang in the late Song Dynasty. Yang Yao is a native of Longyang (now Hanshou, Hunan). He was the leader of the peasant uprising in the Southern Song Dynasty. His activities are mainly in the Yangtze River valley and Dongting Lake in northern Hunan, but he has never been to Sichuan or Hanzhong in Shaanxi. It was only six years from the four-year uprising (1 130) to the killing in 1 135. Although there was a war of ploughing and water fighting, the water conservancy project for benefiting the people could not be completed in a short time. In the third year of Shaoxing (1 133), Yang Yao was promoted to the leader of the rebel army, and it was even more impossible to build more water conservancy projects to benefit the people in the fierce war. Therefore, yangsi can't be Yang of the peasant uprising in the Southern Song Dynasty. 2. yangsi Temple in Shaanxi said that yangsi was Yang Yicong in Shaanxi. Yang, born in Fengxiang Tianxing, joined the army at the age of 35. He is a subordinate of Wu Jun and Wu Lin, the famous warriors against gold. He mainly provided logistical support for the army, and his water conservancy work was quite effective, which was deeply loved by the people. After his death, people dubbed him "King of Pingshui". Dadao died in the fifth year (1 169) at the age of 78, which spread the history of the Song Dynasty. However, Yang lived only in the middle and upper reaches of the Hanshui River before his death, and no traces of his activities were found in Hunan and Sichuan, so it is not credible to identify yangsi as Yang. People in southern Shaanxi confuse two people into one person, which is a wrong change in folk worship. Second, where is yangsi from? Where does yangsi come from? There are the following opinions. 1. Teacher Yang Yi from Huaiyuan, Sichuan said: yangsi was originally named "Yangji" and was born in Hongwu, Ming Dynasty. It is also said that Yang Shengan and others in Xindu are their descendants. In the Republic of China, the ancestor of the new capital of Yang family tree was named, and there was no "Yangji" in his lineage. Although they share the same surname "Yang", they all moved from Xiaogan Township in Macheng at the end of the Yuan Dynasty. Even so, it is not certain that it is Yang's ancestor. 2. There is "yangsi said that he lives in Yangjiaping Village, Sizhou, Hubei" in the Nuo opera in Dejiang, Guizhou. "Sizhou" is today's Cengong County, Guizhou Province, where "Sizhou" is mistaken for "Shizhou" and should be today's "Enshi" in Hubei Province. Although there are stories about temples and "yangsi" in both places, there is no mention that yangsi is a local. 3. yangsi Palace in jian shan, Dewey Town, Fujian Province said: "yangsi Palace" was built by later generations. Whether this "descendant" is yangsi's descendant or ethnic group is uncertain. Whether yangsi is a Tuwei ethnic group in Fujian, the answer is unlikely to be "yes". According to the legend of Meijia Village, Hu Dan Township, Gaochun County, Jiangsu Province, yangsi lived in seclusion in the place where Surabaya entered Hongze Lake, where he once drove away the dragon. Yangsi's seclusion here shows that yangsi is unlikely to be born here. 5. yangsi Temple in Danshuikeng Scenic Area, Dashui Village, Gaogang Town, Guangdong Province said: yangsi is from Changsha, Hunan. There are several yangsi temples in and around Changsha, Hunan. They all say that yangsi is from Ansha Town, Changsha City. Word of mouth and legend are: a river originates from Tianhua Mountain, and there is a mountain at the confluence of Linfeng Port and Jinjing River. Yangsi lived in the mountains before his debut, and later became famous for "eliminating evil dragons in water". Therefore, yangsi is probably from Changsha. Third, General yangsi's life story is 1, and he followed Hongwu for four years before he entered Sichuan (137 1). Zhu Yuanzhang ruled Sichuan. He called the former Daxia regime "official village" and divided the villagers in the official village into "military village", "civilian village" and self-cultivated people, Moujiaying and Sichuan. Most of these "battalions" are subjects of the former Daxia regime, and a few are soldiers left by Zhu Yuanzhang's clique to lead the chariot administration. Such as Liao Gui of Liaotun in Mingshan County. So what is the essence of Yang Siying's yangsi? Yangsi in Yang Siying belongs to the subjects of the Daxia regime. One of the most striking features of the subjects of the Ming Dynasty's Great Summer Regime was that most of them either came from Xiaogan Township, Macheng, Hubei, or moved to Sichuan via Xiaogan Township, Macheng, Hubei. Yangsi entered Sichuan through Xiaogan Township in Macheng. Today, the whole city of Macheng and the eastern part of Hong 'an belonged to Macheng County at the end of Yuan Dynasty. The northern part of Macheng County is the Dabie Mountains. On the mountain, there were many shanzhai in ancient times, many of which were named Zhai. According to relevant experts' research, most of these thatched cottages were "military camps" built at the end of Yuan Dynasty. At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, this was the outpost of the Northern Red Scarf Army Uprising Army, and it was normal to build many military camps. Among them, there is a military camp in Xiaozhai Village, Chengmagang Town, Macheng City today. This military camp is called "yangsi Village". Coincidentally, there is an "Huangyangying" in Baizhang, wangcang county, Sichuan, and an "Huangyangzhai" in the northeast of Hong 'an today, on Jiuyan Mountain in Tiantai Mountain Scenic Area (formerly Macheng County). It can be said that yangsi participated in the Red Scarf Uprising and was a vanguard, stationed in the north of Macheng County. We can easily find traces of yangsi's activities before he entered Sichuan. Zou Pusheng, the leader of the Red Scarf Army, once handed over tens of thousands of rebels recruited by Macheng to Ming Yuzhen. Presumably, yangsi had returned to Ming Yuzhen by this time. Ming Yuzhen was immediately sent to Mianyang (now Xiantao, Hubei Province) to guard this area, which is a water network area between the Hanshui River and the Yangtze River, just giving full play to Ming Yuzhen and Yang Si's expertise in water warfare. Judging from the distribution of temples in yangsi, the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, Hanshui River, Xiangjiang River, Ganjiang River, and lake water network areas should all be places where yangsi or his Ministry had been active at that time. Yuan 17 (1357), Ming was ordered to go to Sichuan to collect grain, and then invaded Sichuan. Yangsi should also lead Sichuan. 2. After entering Sichuan (including Chongqing), there is a yangsi Temple near Shuanghe Village, Beiping Township, Chengkou County, Chongqing. There is not only this temple, but also "Yang Siyan" and "yangsi Plank Road" carved by Yang Si on the rocks. This plank road is not on the traditional Guanma Avenue, but directly connected with the ancient road located on the same mountain in Yangsiyan, Gao Lan, Shaanxi. Yangsi's "digging" of this plank road in remote mountainous areas should be related to pacifying Li Xixi's Green Towel Army when he entered Sichuan at the beginning of the earthquake in Ming Dynasty. 2) There is a "Yangsi Village" in Huangjing, Gulin County, Luzhou. There are a "Yang Si Temple", a "Yangsiyan" and a "Yangsizhai" in the village. This "four", "temple", "thinking" and "thinking" should be regarded as a wrong change to the word "thinking". In other words, "Yangsizhai" is "yangsi Village". Huangjing area is mountainous. When yangsi came here with his troops, he would naturally call his camp "yangsi Village". 3) In Xiushan Village, Yu Xiu Township, Xingwen County, Yibin, South Sichuan, there is a stone carving "The mountain is high and the water is long", which is said to have been written by General yangsi. Many local Miao people said that their ancestors were moved by the army in Xiaogan Township, Macheng. General yangsi's activities in this area should be consistent with Ming Yuzhen's plan to attack soldiers in Yunnan and Guiyuan at the beginning of his entry into Sichuan. By analyzing the distribution of yangsi Temple in Sichuan, except for the middle and lower reaches of Jialing River, General yangsi's activities range in the Yangtze River, the upper reaches of Minjiang River (including Dadu River and Qingyi River), Tuojiang River and Wujiang River Basin, and his location is generally in southern Sichuan and western Sichuan. Of course, it is not excluded that General yangsi has been to the upper reaches of Hanshui River in southern Shaanxi during his stay in Sichuan. In addition to many yangsi temples in the Hanshui River Basin, the old records of Mianxian County said: "Sacrificing the general of the water god is the Yang Gong of the founding of the country." The title of "founding Hou" was mostly before Yuan Dynasty, and there was no record of "founding Hou" in the orthodox court of Ming and Qing Dynasties. Therefore, it can only be unorthodox to Ming Yuzhen who is sealed when he calls himself emperor. Ming Yu Zhen's "Daxia regime" was a short-lived and peaceful court, and its title was not recorded in the official history, and it was rarely used in unofficial history. There is no historical data about Hou's title, and the old records of Mianxian County are also made up. During the war between Sichuan and Shaanxi, yangsi was still building water conservancy and dredging rivers. There is an artificial river called "yangsi Weir" in Shaheyuan, jinniu district, which is directly connected with Shahe. It is a spillway and one of the water sources for people's life and production in Chengdu, and it is still playing a role today. What yangsi did in Sichuan and Shaanxi will naturally be loved by people everywhere. 3. After the formation of "Yang Siying", yangsi, the general of Hongwu, was on the trail for four years. Zhu Yuanzhang was "called" to the official village of the Daxia regime in the Ming Dynasty, and yangsi was "called" to the military camp of the combination of agriculture and war on the Dadu River (Houhanyuan County, now the former site has sunk underwater). Due to the incomplete information, there is no exact time limit for General yangsi's kindness. It is possible that the kindness mentioned above in Sichuan and Shaanxi should exist at any time. According to the records of yangsi Temple in Sanguan Village, huaiyuan town City, chongzhou city, the biography of General yangsi written by Yang Yi, a teacher in Huaiyuan, said: "This water army made great achievements in the counter-insurgency war between China and North Korea in Yongle (now Vietnam)." The Ming government did launch a war against Annan. According to "6 1 The Second Annam of Foreign Countries in Ming Dynasty", in the sixth year of Yongle (1408), "Mu Sheng was appointed as a general to conquer foreign countries, and 40,000 troops in Yunnan were conquered." According to Liao's genealogy in Liaotun, Mingshan County, Sichuan Province, Liao entered Sichuan's second ancestor, Mingshan Wei, and began to sign toes in the ninth year of Yongle (14 1 1). Liao's genealogy confirmed that Sichuan did send troops to fight, as described in Ming History. Yang Siying yangsi, a junior officer, is likely to go out with Liao Ying. According to "Biography of Korea in Ming Dynasty 6 1 Foreign Countries", there was no major war with North Korea during Yongle period, and there was some friction with North Korea during Hongwu period, but there was no major war. It is obviously impossible to transfer troops from Sichuan to the north during this period. However, it is worth discussing that there is a "Yangsi Town" in Wuqing County, Tianjin, a "yangsi Road" in the town, and a primary school named "yangsi" in Ninghe County. IV. The Last Days of General yangsi About General yangsi, only yangsi Temple in Houfanzi Town, zhouzhi county, Shaanxi Province mentioned his death. According to local legend, Yang Si led his troops to Houfanzi. Because of the drought, the emperor ordered yangsi to look for water. After yangsi found the water, he verbally reported to the emperor: "The water is always flowing." The emperor listened and said, "How to solve the drinking water problem of hundreds of thousands of soldiers?" He ordered the execution of yangsi. Later, the emperor learned that this was actually "water-needed" rather than "fine water", and the amount of water-needed was large enough to meet the drinking needs of the army. He mistakenly "killed" yangsi, so he had to order the construction of temples in various places to offer sacrifices to yangsi. This "manslaughter" is also in line with Zhu Yuanzhang's motive of killing heroes in the early Ming Dynasty, but Zhu Yuanzhang is unlikely to kill yangsi. He is likely to die under Judy, because Yang Siling led the troops here and probably participated in the battle against the Yan army. Houfanzi Town, zhouzhi county, Shaanxi Province, is the only place mentioned in many legends about yangsi's death, with high credibility. It is estimated that yangsi was about 70 years old when he died. It is because of the emperor's will that the local people can build the "yangsi Temple" to worship yangsi in accordance with the "law". Where was yangsi buried after his death? Teacher Yang Hong said: Buried in "Banzhu Mountain". Banzhushan is located in Sanguan Village, Huaiyuan. Legend has it that yangsi married three wives, the first of whom was buried behind the yangsi Temple in Sanguan Village, and the third was buried in the places named Xiaoxi and Yangxi to the south of yangsi Temple. "Xiaoxi" means "little wife" and "Yang" means "Yang Si's wife". This is also the only statement about the burial place of yangsi at present. However, yangsi's grave was not found in the wild. There is a plaque in the "yangsi Temple" in Sanguan Village, which reads "Old yangsi Temple". The existence of this plaque shows that the yangsi Temple here has an unusual history. V. Basic Views General yangsi followed Ming and moved to various areas of the Yangtze River basin, specializing in water warfare and water conservancy projects. Later, it was incorporated into farming and resettlement by the Ming government. During this period, many contributions have been made, but they have not been promoted and reused. This position has always been a middle-level official. General yangsi's deeds are not official. Most of the temples he worships are "one door, one hall and one wing", but they still enjoy the folk fragrance for hundreds of years.