Recently, many people have been very interested in the historical figure of Nong Zhigao, and many have also asked, who is this Nong Zhigao? What kind of story does he have? Below is a brief introduction to who Nong Zhigao is and what his life has been like. Don’t miss out if you are interested in this person. Let’s learn and analyze it quickly.
Nong Zhigao was a local administrative unit established by the Tang and Song dynasties in ethnic minority areas during the reign of Emperor Renzong of the Northern Song Dynasty. The central government appointed leaders of various ethnic groups as local administrative officials, and it was hereditary and autonomous in nature. Nong Dong was a native of Guangyuan Prefecture (now Guangyuan City, Gaoping Province, Vietnam) and was part of the Zhuang ethnic group. His ancestors were tribal chiefs. His father, Nong Quanfu (also known as Cunfu), was the governor of Tangyou Prefecture (now located in Fusui County and Chongzuo City, Guangxi) during the Northern Song Dynasty. In the twelfth month of 1038, Nong Quanfu launched the “Nong Dong” uprising to resist the rule of Annam in Jiaozhi (now Vietnam, then a vassal state of the Northern Song Dynasty). He established the “Changsheng Kingdom” in Guangyuan Prefecture, proclaimed himself as the “Emperor Zhaosheng”, and appointed his wife Arnong as the “Empress Mingde”. His eldest son Nong Zhicong was appointed as the Prince of Nanya. In less than a year, Nong Quanfu and his son were defeated and killed in battle. “Empress” Arnong led her 14-year-old son Nong Zhigao to live in Lei Huodong between Guangyuan and Tangyou provinces.
Although Nong Quanfu passed away, his influence as the “Emperor Zhaosheng” still lingers, and his followers still cherish him. Nongzhi, an expert with great ambitions and a strong heart, combined with the guidance and encouragement of his resourceful mother, began to gather his father’s old tribe and clan members to accumulate strength. After two years of accumulation, Nong Zhigao also grew into a half sized gang. He realized that his wings were full and led a rebellion with his mother, capturing Tangyou Prefecture in one fell swoop. In 1041 (the first year of Qingli reign of Emperor Renzong of Song), he established the “Dali Kingdom”. King Annan intervened again and sent troops to attack and capture Nong Zhigao in Ba Tang Youzhou. Upon seeing Nong’s intelligence, height, and extraordinary appearance, King Annan developed a favorable impression of the young man and pardoned him, appointing him as the governor of Guangyuan Prefecture; Later, he was given the Great Seal and appointed as the Grand Protector. Although Annan did not kill himself and entrusted him with a heavy responsibility, Nong Zhigao still held a deep grudge against him for “killing his father and destroying the country”. He did not understand and hated these troublemakers who meddled in other people’s affairs. In 1048, at the age of 23, Nong Zhigao rose up again to rebel against Annam; Due to natural disasters, Xuan failed and had to surrender to Annan again.
Nongzhi persevered despite setbacks, becoming more and more determined. After a period of recuperation, he rose up again in September of the following year and marched north, attacking Ande Prefecture (now Ande Town, northwest of Jingxi County, Guangxi) in one fell swoop, establishing the “Southern Heavenly Kingdom” regime with the era name “Jingrui”, and attacking Yongzhou (now Nanning City, western Guangxi) from the east. King Annan saw that Nong Zhigao had repeatedly rebelled, so he raised troops to attack, but this time he was unable to take advantage. Nong Zhigao rebelled in southern Xinjiang and founded a country, which alarmed the Northern Song court. Emperor Renzong of Song issued an edict to suppress the bandits. Nong Zhigao captured Qi Yun, the commander of Song Yongzhou, and asked him about the national conditions of the Song Dynasty. Qi Yun provided a detailed introduction to the prosperity of the Great Song Dynasty and urged him to submit to the court. Zhigao then released Qi Yun back and submitted a request to the court for internal attachment, declaring himself a vassal and paying tribute, willing to serve the Great Song Dynasty. The Song court ignored him because he belonged to Annam and was worried about affecting good neighborly relations. Nong Zhigao returned to Song Xincheng and presented elephant training, gold, silver, and gold letters, repeatedly expressing loyalty and sincerity, and earnestly pleading with his subordinates. However, the court still ignored them. Nong Zhi’s hot face pressed against his cold buttocks, feeling embarrassed and angry, and he decided to rise up in rebellion against the Great Song Dynasty. Under the planning of Gao Can, Nong Zhigao repeatedly sent people to exchange worn-out clothes and other things with Song border residents for food, falsely claiming that there was a shortage of food in the cave. The troops could not bear the hunger and fled, deceiving the officials of Yongzhou. The government was indeed deceived, causing them to lose their vigilance and vigilance. Nong Zhigao, along with his mother, Gao Can, and others, planned day and night to capture the land of Guangnan for his own survival, and at the same time devised a good strategy to confuse the masses and launch an uprising. On a night in April of the fourth year of Song Huangyou (1052), Nong Zhigao set fire to his own residence and then gathered his troops to deceive them, saying, “All our savings in life have been burned down by a heavenly fire. Now we are empty handed and have no way to make a living. The only way to survive now is to attack Yongzhou, occupy Guangzhou, and declare ourselves king. Otherwise, everyone will surely die!” The troops, who were unaware of this, were immediately aroused and willing to follow the leader to survive and fight the world. Taking advantage of the hot iron, Nong Zhigao led 5000 troops along the Yujiang River to break through Hengshan Fortress (now Tiandong County, Guangxi) on the same day; On the first day of May, Yongzhou was captured again. Upon entering Yongzhou, Nong Zhigao proclaimed himself Zun Jianzheng, with the country name “Danao”, and proclaimed himself Emperor Renhui, with the reign name Qili. He established the Nong people’s regime in southern Xinjiang and openly opposed the Great Song Dynasty. Nong Zhigao immediately led the two armies of water and land from Yongzhou downstream, further advancing eastward and targeting Guangzhou, the capital of Guangnan East Road. The Nong army was unstoppable all the way, and in less than twenty days, they managed to conquer nine cities along the Yangtze River, including Heng, Gui, Gong, etc., advancing from western Guangxi to central Guangdong. On May 22nd, Nong Zhigao led an army of 20000 to besiege Guangzhou. Nong Zhigao besieged for nearly two months but failed to capture Jiancheng, so he had to withdraw the siege and head north. In October, he returned to Yongzhou after wandering around.
Emperor Renzong of Song had a headache for Nong Zhigao, so he convened a court of ministers to discuss strategies for suppressing the rebellion. Di Qing, a famous general and deputy envoy of the Imperial Secretariat, volunteered for the expedition, and Emperor Renzong appointed Di Qing as the commander-in-chief, fully responsible for the military affairs in Pingnan; At the same time, at the request of Di Qing, 15000 elite cavalry who had been in battle for a long time were drawn from the northwest battlefield and assigned to Di Qing. Yang Wenguang, a young general of the Yang family, was also in the southern expedition.
In early January of the following year, Di Qing led his army to the front line in Guangxi. He used the strategy of confusing the enemy and pretended to be “the Yuanxiao (Filled round balls made of glutinous rice-flour for Lantern Festival) feast for three days” to deceive Nong Zhigao. On the 16th night, he led his army to fly over the natural danger Kunlun Pass (at the foot of Kunlun Mountain at the junction of Yongning District and Binyang County in Nanning today, steep rocks, known as natural danger, are an important pass in southern China), and arrived at Guirenpu, 30 miles east of the city, to wait for the enemy.
Nong Zhigao was completely confused and calculated by Di Qing, and as a result, he relaxed his vigilance and lost his guard, losing the dangerous pass. On the seventeenth day, as soon as the sky lit up, Nong Zhigao heard that the official army had crossed the dangerous pass of Kunlun Pass and was about to approach the city. He was shocked and quickly ordered everyone to leave the city to resist the enemy. Nong Zhigao formed his troops into a three sharp formation to confront the enemy. The soldiers of the Nong army are agile, brave, agile, and skilled in battle, with extremely strong individual combat capabilities; The soldiers holding large shields, javelins, and wearing red military uniforms looked like a raging fire from afar, exuding great momentum. Sun Jie, the vanguard officer of the front line of the official army, led his troops to charge towards the front line and died in the chaos. The front line suffered a slight defeat. The morale of the Nong army was greatly boosted, becoming increasingly fierce. The soldiers of the pre Song army were greatly frightened and somewhat afraid to fight. At the critical moment, Di Qing waved the white command flag and commanded the elite cavalry to launch an attack. He also wore a bronze mask and jumped his horse and sword to personally lead the iron cavalry to launch an assault from the rear of the enemy, spreading his left and right wings and charging into the enemy’s formation for battle. Di Qing commanded the elite cavalry to strike from the left wing to the right, charge from the right wing to the left, open and close vertically and horizontally, and attack each other. The soldiers of the Nong army had never seen such a formation before, and the infantry could not withstand the sway of the iron cavalry, causing them to be dizzy and disoriented for a moment, and the formation was in chaos. At this moment, the reserve troops of the official army also took advantage of the situation to charge forward, but the Nong army could not resist and scattered in all directions. Di Qing led his army to chase and kill fifty miles, capturing and beheading over 2200 people.
Nong Zhigao took advantage of the twilight and ran back to Yongzhou. Without daring to linger, he set fire to the city of Yongzhou and withdrew from the city overnight, retreating to Dali Kingdom. Yang Wenguang was ordered to lead his troops in pursuit, but they continued to chase until they reached Hejiangkou on the Dali border without a trace, so they had to withdraw their troops. Di Qing entered Yongzhou City, hunted down and killed the remaining members of Nong Zhigao, dealt with the aftermath, and left his generals to guard Guangxi while leading his own army. Ten months later, Nong Zhigao’s mother, younger brother Zhiguang, and two sons Jizong and Jifeng were captured and escorted to the capital. At first, in order to use the descendants of the Nong family as hostages to lure out Nong Zhigao, the court did not kill them, but instead provided them with delicious food and drink; A year and a half later, rumors spread that Nong Zhigao had died, so they were executed in the bustling city. In 1055, Nong Zhigao was killed by the King of Dali, and his head was sent to the capital city of Bianliang by letter; It is said that his whereabouts are unknown.
Since the rebellion against the Song Dynasty, Nong Zhigao has been dominating both Guangdong and Guangxi, almost invincible; But he was defeated by Di Qing’s battle and fled to a foreign land. Nong Zhigao built the Dali Kingdom from the beginning until his defeat at Guirenpu, lasting for twelve years; From raising an army to rebel against the Song Dynasty and proclaiming himself emperor to fleeing to Dali after defeat, it took nine months.
Nong Zhigao is a young hero and an outstanding leader of the Nong people. Others have small ambitions, courage, insight, sharpness, a rebellious spirit, and imperial thoughts. At a young age, he bravely raised an army to resist the Jiaozhi people in retaliation for killing his father, and founded a country to declare himself emperor; Despite facing failure, he persevered and never gave up. Fu dared to rise up in rebellion against the contemptuous Song Dynasty, declared himself emperor and founded the country for the third time, and repeatedly defeated the official army, crossing the Guangnan region. Although he was ultimately defeated by the famous general Di Qing, his experience of founding the country and proclaiming himself emperor was not in vain, and his short life was not in vain.
