Du Zeng

Du Zeng

Du Zeng (?)? He was born in Xinye (now Xinye, Henan Province), the distant cousin of general Du Rui of nanzhonglang, and a general of Jin Dynasty. He was originally Sima of Nanman under Sima Xin, king of Xinye. He was brave and fought bravely.

In the sixth year of Yongjia (312), Hu Kang, the former Minister of Sima Xin, assembled troops and appointed Du Zeng as the acting prefect of jingling. Hu Kang trusted Du Zeng very much. In the first year of Jianxing (313), Du Zeng united with Wang Chong, the leader of Jingzhou bandits, to attack Hu Kang. Du Zeng took advantage of Hu Kang's dispatch of all elite troops and the emptiness of the city to kill Hu Kang and take over his troops. He called himself nanzhonglang general and jingling prefect.

Jianxing three years (315 years), occupied the Hanshui, mianshui area. In the second year of Taixing (319), Zhou's visit defeated Du Zeng. His subordinates Ma Jun and Su Wen captured him and surrendered to Zhou's visit. Du Zeng was killed.

Life of the characters

peerless or matchless bravery or valour

When he was a boy, he was brave enough to swim in water in armor. In his early years, he joined the army in Zhennan, where he served as Sima Xin, king of Xinye. Later, he successively served as Huarong County Magistrate and Nanman Sima. Whenever there is a war, Du has always been the champion of the third army.

Kill Hu Kang

In the sixth year of Yongjia (312), when the Yongjia rebellion happened, Hu Kang, the former general of Sima Xin, the king of Xinye, gathered troops in Jingling (in the area of Hubei Province today), called himself Duke of Chu, and appointed Du Zeng as the acting governor of jingling. Hu Kang was suspicious and suspicious, so he killed dozens of his brave men. Du Zeng was upset and secretly tried to murder Hu Kang, so he humbly flattered Hu Kang. Hu Kang didn't know his intention and trusted him very much. In the first year of Jianxing (313), Wang Chong, the leader of Jingzhou bandits, called himself the governor of Jingzhou. Wang Chong's subordinates were very powerful and sent troops to plunder Hu Kang's territory for many times. Hu Kang was worried about this and asked Du Zeng for advice. Du Zeng advised him to fight back, but Hu Kang obeyed. Du Zeng asked the craftsmen to polish the weapons in Hu Kang's tent, and then secretly led Wang Chong's army to attack Hu Kang. Hu Kang sent all his elite troops out of the city to stop Wang Chong, but the city was empty. Du Zeng took the opportunity to kill Hu Kang and took over his troops. He called himself nanzhonglang general and Ren jingling prefect. Du once asked to marry the daughter of Liu Wu, the prefect of Nanjun County, but Liu Wu refused and killed his family.

Occupy the Han Dynasty

In September of the first year of Jianxing (313), Wang Gong, who joined the army of Jingzhou governor Tao Kan, came back from Wang Dun and went to jingling. Pretending to be Tao Kan's order, he appointed Du Zeng as the commander of the forward Dadu. He attacked Wang Chong and killed Wang Chong, and all his troops surrendered. Tao Kan recruited Du Zeng, but Du Zeng did not come. Afraid of being convicted of falsely claiming Tao Kan's orders, Wang Gong rebelled against Du Zeng and attacked Tao Kan. In October, Tao Kan's army was defeated, and Tao Kan only escaped. In the third year of Jianxing (315), Sima ye, the emperor of Jin Dynasty, appointed the fifth Yi as General Annan, supervisor of the four prefectures of Jingliang and Yining, and governor of Jingzhou. The fifth Yi traveled from Wuguan. Du Zeng went to Xiangyang to meet the fifth Yi and married his nephew's daughter, so he gathered 10000 troops and occupied the Hanshui and mianshui areas with the fifth Yi.

Defeat Tao Kan

Before long, Tao Kan defeated Du Zhen and took advantage of his victory to attack Du Zeng. He had the idea of belittling Du Zeng. Sima Lutian of taokan admonished him: "in any battle, we should first understand the generals of both sides. Now your ministry can't compare with Tu Zeng. You can't despise him and think that you can force him. " Tao Kan didn't listen to advice and marched to surround Du Zeng in the stone city. Du Zeng's army had many cavalry. He secretly opened the gate of the city and used cavalry to break through taokan's army. Then he attacked taokan from behind taokan's army. Taokan's army was defeated and hundreds of people drowned. Du Zeng was about to enter Shunyang, dismounted, saluted Tao Kan, and left. At that time, Xun song served as the commander in chief of the Jiangbei military in Jingzhou, and was stationed in Wancheng. Du once led the army to encircle him. Xun song had little food, so he went to Xiangcheng's prefect Shi LAN and nanzhonglang's general Zhou to ask for help. Zhou Xun sent his son Zhou Fu to lead 3000 soldiers to rescue Xun song with Shi LAN. Du Zeng fled. Du Zeng wrote a letter to Xun song again, asking to fight against the bandits in Danshui county and serve the imperial court. Xun song agreed to his request. Tao Kan wrote to Xun song: "Du Zeng was vicious and cunning. His soldiers were all jackals, just like the owl who ate his mother. If this person does not die, the land of Jingzhou will not be peaceful. You should remember my words! " Because there were few soldiers in Wancheng army, Xun song wanted to borrow Du Zeng's strength as foreign aid, so he didn't listen to Tao Kan's advice. As expected, Du Zeng rebelled again, leading more than 2000 exiled people to encircle Xiangyang. For several days, he did not attack and withdrew. Qian Feng, Wang Dun's favorite, slandered Tao Kan many times because he was jealous of his contributions. Tao Kan returned to Jiangling to explain to Wang dun. Wang Dunkou kept Tao Kan. Later, Wang Dun demoted him to serve as the governor of Guangzhou, and sent his cousin Wang Zhen to serve as the governor of Jingzhou. Zheng pan, an official of Jingzhou, and others were demoted because Tao Kan had just eliminated the bandits, and everyone was indignant. Because Wang was suspicious of being violent and difficult to work with, Zheng pan and others led 3000 troops to Yunkou to meet Du Zeng westward. Wang was attacked by Zheng pan and others, and went to Jiang'an county. Du Zeng, Zheng pan and others went north to meet the fifth Yi to resist Wang. He led his troops to attack Du Zeng and was defeated by Du Zeng.

Caught and killed

In August of the fifth year of Jianxing (317), Zheng pan and others resisted Wang Zhen together. Because of the different hearts, they retired to hengsang and planned to take refuge with Du Zeng again. Wang Dun sent Zhao you, the prefect of Wuchang, and Zhu GUI, the prefect of Xiangyang, to attack. Zheng pan and others were afraid and asked to surrender. Du Zeng also asked himself to attack the army of Xiangyang fifth Yi to redeem his crime. Du Zeng and others led the army to Yangkou. Wang Zhen sent Zhu Qian back to the army. As soon as Zhu Qian reached the barrier, he was surrounded by Du Zeng's army. Du once captured the north gate of the city. Zhu Ji was injured and fled. He went to zengshan to join Wang Zhen. He died of serious injury. On August 28, Zhao you, Zhu GUI and Lingjiang General Huang Jun fought with Du Zeng in nuguan lake. Zhao you and others were defeated and died. Du Zeng took advantage of his victory to reach miankou, which was famous in the Yangtze River and mianshui area. Wang Dun sent Zhou Xun, the governor of Yuzhang, to attack Du Zeng's army. Zhou Xun had 8000 soldiers and went to zhuanyang. Du Zeng's army was full of vigour. During Zhou's visit, he asked General Li Heng to guard the left wing of the army and Xu Chao to guard the right wing of the army. He was in charge of the Chinese army. Du Zeng first attacked the left wing and the right wing. Zhou Xun sent an arrow at the back of the array to reassure the soldiers. He ordered the soldiers to say, "if one wing is defeated, there will be three drums; if both wings are defeated, there will be six drums." Zhao you's son, Zhao Yin, led his father's men. The remaining soldiers were on the left wing and fought bravely. After the defeat, they gathered and rode to report to Zhou Fu. Zhou Xun was angry and scolded him to continue to attack. Zhao Yin cried and went back to fight. From the fierce fighting in the morning to Shenshi in the afternoon, both sides of Zhou's army were defeated. Zhou selected 800 elite soldiers to pour wine and drink in person, so that they could not act rashly and attack again when they heard the drums. Du Zeng's army was less than 30 steps ahead. Zhou Xun beat the drum himself, and all the soldiers jumped to the enemy. Du Zeng's army was defeated and more than 1000 people were killed. Zhou Xun chased all night, and the generals asked to wait for tomorrow. Zhou Xun said: "Du Zeng was brave and good at fighting. In the past, we waited for work with ease, so we won the enemy. Now it's time to chase him when he's in decline, so that he can be annihilated. " So they beat their drums and marched in to calm the Han and Mian rivers. Du Zeng ran away to protect Wudang. In the second year of Taixing (319), Zhou Xun once again attacked Du Zeng, but after many battles, he could not win. Zhou Xun sent people to follow the mountain and attack Du Zeng. Du Zeng's army broke up. His subordinates Ma Jun and Su Wen captured him and surrendered to Zhou Xun. Zhou Xiang wanted to send Du Zeng to Wuchang, but Zhu GUI's son Zhu Chang and Zhao you's son Zhao Yin wanted to kill Du Zeng to avenge their father, so they killed Du Zeng. Zhu Chang and Zhao Yin chopped up Du Zeng's meat and ate it.

Historical evaluation

Tao Kan: "Du Zeng was fierce and cunning, and all his soldiers were jackals. It can be said that his family's Owl ate his mother's things. Zhu Ji: "Zeng, a crafty thief, is willing to give in."; Zhou's interview: "Zeng is brave and can fight."; Fang Xuanling's book of Jin: ① "less brave and can swim in the water." (2) "where there is a battle, the bravest is the leader of the three armies." Sima Guang's Zi Zhi Tong Jian: "Zeng Yong was the champion of the three armies, and he was able to swim in the water by Jia."

Historical records

Book of Jin, volume 100, biography 70, Zizhitongjian, Volume 88, Zizhitongjian, volume 89, Zizhitongjian, Volume 90, Zizhitongjian, volume 91

Family members

Du Rui, a distant cousin of Du Zeng, is the same great grandfather as Du Zeng, a general of nanzhonglang in Jin Dynasty. Dushi, the son of brother duzeng, married General Annan and the daughter of the fifth Yi of Jingzhou governor.

Chinese PinYin : Du Ceng