First of all, the main sources of data are the emperor's records in the "Book of Jin", the personal biographies of the parties involved, and the "Zizhi Tongjian".
I will not write about the "three thousand righteous followers" and "more than a thousand cavalry" mentioned in other lower-level historical materials, so I will use these two.
(1) The second year of Yongjia (308)
"Zi Zhi Tong Jian" "Zhang Gui also sent the supervising officer Beigong Chun to guard the capital" and "Beigong Chun recruited more than a hundred warriors to show up suddenly, and the army was defeated."
There are only these two sentences in the original record.
It can be judged from here that the number of Liangzhou reinforcements is 100+ (in fact, the warriors recruited by Beigong are not necessarily from Liangzhou...)
The situation of this battle is as described in the book:
From the analysis of historical records, Wang Mi's army should have been based in the south and east of the city, because the place names only appeared three times, the first time at Jinyang Gate (south of the city), the second time at Jianchun Gate (east of the city), and the third time at Jinyang Gate (south of the city), and the third time at Qili Jian (east of the city).
The history books are unclear about the battle process, and there are too many missing points. However, it has been confirmed by many parties and a general analysis can vaguely reveal a few points:
①The first battle was at Jinyang Gate in the south of the city. Beigong Chun led more than a hundred people to break out of the formation, and "Mi's army was defeated" (the leader was not necessarily Wang Mi).
②The second battle a few days later was at Jianchun Gate. The history books do not say whether there was a fight. Only Wang Mi burned down Jianchun Gate and left. I think there is a high probability that there was a fight.
③After burning Jianchun Gate, Wang Mi retreated to the east (east) and was overtaken by the imperial army at Qili Jian, and was defeated again.
④Based on these records, Wang Mi was not defeated in a single battle with more than a hundred people as many people thought. In fact, there was more than one battle. However, the historical data of the Jin Dynasty were seriously blank, incomplete, and unclear. I think there were at least two battles. After seeing that there was no hope of victory, he gave up and turned in. He was then pursued by the Forbidden Army Wang Bingbu and was severely defeated at Qilijian in the east of Luoyang City.
Let’s look at the direction of the Huns.
In January 308, Liu Yuan said, "King Yuan of the Han Dynasty sent Fujun General Cong and other ten generals to the south to occupy Taihang, and assisted Han General Shi Le and other ten generals to march eastward to Zhao and Wei." This was to prevent the Jin army from encircling Wei and rescuing Zhao, so it blocked Taihang in advance. Xingkou, concentrate on attacking Pingyang and Hedong counties.
"Beigong Chun and others fought with Liu Cong of the Han Dynasty in Hedong and were defeated" - "Zizhi Tongjian".
The "Hedong" here is most likely Hedong County, which also corresponds to the previous article where Liu Yuan sent Liu Cong to send troops to occupy Taihang.
Liu Cong had a lot of troops, and the Huns had a large number of cavalry. Beigong's pure troops could not be small.
It is simply impossible to have 100+ or 1000+ troops, at least thousands.
(2) Yongjia three years (309)
In August of that year, the Xiongnu went south to Luoyang and were defeated in Hongnong.
In October, he went to Luoyang for the second time. "Beigong Chun and other Night Commander warriors with more than a thousand soldiers attacked the Han wall and killed its conquest general Hu Yanhao."
In fact, it is not said here whether these more than a thousand people are Liangzhou soldiers. Let’s assume that they are. The number of people present is: 1000+
But it did not say how many Liangzhou soldiers were in Luoyang in 309.
Let’s look at a few more historical materials:
"The Biography of Zhang Gui": "During the expulsion, Zhang Lang sent 5,000 voluntary soldiers, the tribute plan of the county and the country, and the utensils and weapons to the capital. The officials were ordered to deduce the details of the establishment of the state and the virtues of the Qing Dynasty, and the honor of Jia Dun: "Highly talented and learned, he writes classics and history; he martyrs himself in danger and kills himself as a king; he is loyal and admonishes, but prevents trouble, but he is dedicated to relieve trouble; he is powerful, wise and courageous, and eliminates difficulties at the right time; he misleads his master by false accusations, and hurts the loyal and worthy. Look and smell. All the elders in the state celebrate each other. Guanglu, Fu Zhi, and Taichang Zhiyu sent letters to Gui, informing the capital of the hunger and deprivation. Gui immediately sent Du Xun, who joined the army, to offer 500 horses and 30,000 pieces of blankets. The emperor sent envoys to pay homage to the General of Zhenxi, the Commander-in-Chief of Longyou's military forces, the title of Overlord of the City, the General of Chariots and Cavalry, and the three divisions of Kaifu Piru and Yitong. "
When did Emperor Huai of Jin add General Zhang Gui to Zhenxi? In October of the fourth year of Yongjia (310 years).
"Zi Zhi Tong Jian": "The imperial edict added Zhang Gui to the west general and the governor of Longyou's military. Guanglu doctor Fu Zhi and Taichang Zhi Yu sent Gui a letter to inform the capital that the capital was hungry. Gui sent Du Xun to join the army to offer five horses One hundred pieces, thirty thousand pieces of cloth."
In other words, before October 310, at least 5,000 Liangzhou "rebels" had come to Luoyang.
Along with them came official recommendation letters from Liangzhou talents.
These five thousand rebels most likely came in 309 and returned after fighting the Huns.
Zhang Gui most likely sent the letter of recommendation in 309.
The battle was completed in 309, and he might go back in the first half of 310 at the latest.
In October of that year, the emperor sent an envoy to Liangzhou and made Zhang Gui the general of Zhenxi. This was basically the situation.
Why do you say that?
"The Biography of Zhang Gui": "The plan was not yet arrived, but Wang Mi then forced Luoyang. Gui sent generals Zhang Fei, Beigong Chun, Guo Fu and others with five thousand elite cavalry to defend the capital."
As mentioned earlier, in October 310, the emperor sent an envoy to Liangzhou to confer the title. Before they arrived, the Huns came to Luoyang again (311).
So Zhang Gui sent another "Five Thousand Elite Cavalry" to aid the capital.
It is unlikely that he will send two waves of reinforcements to Luoyang at the same time. After all, the situation in Liangzhou is also very complicated.
In summary--
For the first time (308), Bei Gongchun even went to Hedong to fight against the Huns Liu Cong and defeated him.
The strength of the troops this year cannot be only 100+, but probably several thousand.
It's not clear when he left.
The second time (309) was most likely the "Five Thousand Volunteers". It is unclear when they left, probably at the end of 309 or the first half of 310.
The third time (311), "Five Thousand Fine Cavalry".
above.
