Editing Zhang Xiaojing

{{Era|Individuals}}
{{Quote|Wronged.|Zhang Xiaojing, shooting Yang Guozhong off his horse, 756|Assassin's Creed: Dynasty|The Hidden Ones (Part 5)}}
[[File:ACD - Zhang Xiaojing.png|thumb|250px|Zhang Xiaojing]]
'''Zhang Xiaojing''' (张小敬) was a [[Tang dynasty|Tang]] [[horseman|cavalryman]]<ref name="Dynasty 37">''[[Assassin's Creed: Dynasty]]'' – [[The Hidden Ones (Part 5)]]</ref> of the [[Army of Heavenly Warriors]] that was created in 755 to put down the [[An Lushan Rebellion]].<ref name="Dynasty 16">''[[Assassin's Creed: Dynasty]]'' – [[Beacon Fire (Part 9)]]</ref> A survivor of the [[Defence of Tong Pass]], he was one of many soldiers who bore witness to the wrongful executions of their commanders [[Gao Xianzhi]] and [[Feng Changqing]] and the numerous other corrupt infractions by Prime Minister [[Yang Guozhong]]'s [[Golden Turtles|clique]] which sabotaged their resistance against Lushan. He is famous as the soldier who set off the [[Mawei Station mutiny]] on 15 July 756{{Fact|26 March 2023}} by shooting the [[arrow]] yhat unseated Guozhong from his horse.

==Biography==
===A chain of injustices===
Commanded by General [[Gao Xianzhi]], the Army of Heavenly Warriors proceeded with haste to defend the eastern capital of [[Luoyang]], but it quickly crumpled against the battle-hardened<ref name="Dynasty 16" /> troops of the [[Yeluohe]]. Tens of thousands of the young, inexperienced men of the Tang army fled in panic all the way to the strategic and heavily fortified [[Tong Pass]], where Xianzhi decided to dig in. Although Tang forces was able to hold this position, the army supervisor, [[Bian Lingcheng]], urged Xianzhi to leave the safety of the pass to launch an immediate counter-attack. Xianzhi balked at what would be an obvious strategic blunder: the defence of Tong Pass had been but a Pyrrhic victory, and Tong Pass was the last defence for the capital of [[Chang'an]]. In the altercation that followed, the humiliated Lingcheng scrambled back to Prime Minister [[Yang Guozhong]] vowing vengeance.<ref name="Dynasty 20">''[[Assassin's Creed: Dynasty]]'' – [[Golden Turtles (Part 4)]]</ref>

Lingcheng followed through with his threat months later in 756. Having accused Xianzhi and his lieutenant [[Feng Changqing]] of trumped up charges to Guozhong,<ref name="Dynasty 26">''[[Assassin's Creed: Dynasty]]'' – [[The Last Stand of Justice (Part 2)]]</ref> he returned with an edict from the imperial court sentencing the two to death by decapitation.<ref name="Dynasty 29">''[[Assassin's Creed: Dynasty]]'' – [[The Last Stand of Justice (Part 5)]]</ref> Xianzhi submitted to Lingcheng's executioners, but in a final show of defiance, he raised his [[sword]] into the air instructing his troops to shout either "Facts" or "Wronged" to his charges. All of Tong Pass rose in uproar chanting "Wronged!" as Xianzhi was beheaded.<ref name="Dynasty 30">''[[Assassin's Creed: Dynasty]]'' – [[The Last Stand of Justice (Part 6)]]</ref>

The executions of Gao Xianzhi and Feng Changqing sabotaged the Tang's hope of relieving the beleaguered loyalist resistance in [[Hebei]],<ref name="Dynasty 29" /><ref name="Dynasty 31">''[[Assassin's Creed: Dynasty]]'' – [[The Last Stand of Justice (Part 7)]]</ref> Their replacement [[Geshu Han]] fell victim to the same corrupt schemes, as Guozhong forced him to leave Tong Pass for a suicidal attack against the Yeluohe that cost an estimated 200,000 Tang lives.<ref name="Dynasty 35">''[[Assassin's Creed: Dynasty]]'' – [[The Hidden Ones (Part 3)]]</ref> The Fall of Tong Pass completely exposed Chang'an to An Lushan's forces,<ref name="Dynasty 35" /> and in July 756, [[Li Longji|Emperor Xuanzong]] and his court decided to abandon the capital to seek refuge in the southwest region of [[Shu]].<ref name="Dynasty 36">''[[Assassin's Creed: Dynasty]]'' – [[The Hidden Ones (Part 4)]]</ref> Chang'an was left to the mercy of An Lushan,<ref name="Dynasty 37" /> who was notorious for his wholesale massacres of the cities he captured.<ref name="Dynasty 17">''[[Assassin's Creed: Dynasty]]'' – [[Golden Turtles (Part 1)]]</ref><ref name="Dynasty 18">''[[Assassin's Creed: Dynasty]]'' – [[Golden Turtles (Part 2)]]</ref> 

===Igniting the mutiny===
By this point, Guozhong's hand in this catastrophic chain-of-events was widely known, and surviving troops from the Army of Heavenly Warriors harboured deep resentment against the injustices he wrought at Tong Pass, never forgetting the last words of their respected commander Gao Xianzhi.<ref name="Dynasty 37" /> These survivors, among them Zhang Xiaojing, merged with the armed escort for the imperial court's flight from Chang'an.<ref name="Dynasty 36" /> On 15 July,{{Fact|26 March 2023}} while the entourage was resting at [[Mawei Station]], Guozhong and his clique—in truth a secret society known as the [[Golden Turtles]]—convened in a forest clearing outside the complex. In the midst of their proceedings, they were suddenly ambushed by a group of [[Assassins]] led by the [[Li E]]. The Assassins killed almost all the Golden Turtles in the first few moments, dispatching their [[Feathered Forest]] guards in the next.<ref name="Dynasty 37" />

Guozhong, alone, survived the initial onslaught and fled on horseback back to the station. Along the way, he screamed at resting soldiers he passed by to save him against assassins, but they only stared back in bewilderment as they slowly processed what was happening. Bewilderment morphed into realization that ignited the hatred simmering in their hearts since the executions of Changqing and Xianzhi. Zhang Xiaojing was the first to act on the opportunity his comrades had craved for months. He let loose the [[arrow]] that shot Guozhong off his horse, uttering only a single word, "Wronged".<ref name="Dynasty 37" />

His action triggered the [[Mawei Station mutiny|mutiny]] that spread from not the remainders of the Heavenly Warriors<ref name="Dynasty 37" /> but to the elite royal guard, the [[Army of Dragon Warriors]], as well.<ref name="Dynasty Special 1">''[[Assassin's Creed: Dynasty]]'' – [[The Flower Banquet (Special)]]</ref> Chants of "wronged!" picked up tempo and rapidly engulfed the entire station, as the soldiers closed in on the helpless Guozhong from all sides with swords drawn and furiously hacked and stabbed him to death, thereby avenging their commanders. Locked into their catharsis, they continued to vent themselves on his body long after he had been deceased.<ref name="Dynasty 37" />

==Gallery==
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ACD - Zhang Xiaojing shooting the arrow.png
</gallery>

==Appearances==
*''[[Assassin's Creed: Dynasty]]''

==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{ACD}}
[[zh:张小敬]]
[[Category:Individuals]]
[[Category:Chinese]]
[[Category:Han Chinese]]
[[Category:Soldiers]]