In 1127 AD, the Northern Song Dynasty fell. Immediately, the ninth imperial prince, Zhao Gou, ascended the throne in Shangqiu amidst widespread anticipation, inheriting the Song imperial line and r...
The emperor felt that since the Xining period, there had been fierce party struggles. The old party, such as Sima Guang, had been so arrogant that they had led the country astray. Although Cai Jing and Wang Fu of the new party had used public power for personal gain, Wang Jinggong's policy was really in line with the current problems and could not be changed. So he held a banquet at the Baihe River embankment and decided on the "Eight Great Masters of Tang and Song Dynasties". Because the scholar Dongpo of this dynasty was outstanding in literary reputation and was the best among all, he ordered his grandson Dan to make a comment. Dan presented Su Shi's handwritten "Preface to the Red Cliff", and the emperor was very happy. He showed it to all the ministers and gave Su Shi a beautiful posthumous title. He ordered Ma Xingzu to paint "Baihe Suburban Tour" and personally wrote the postscript to the Red Cliff and gave it to Dan. He also commented on the merits and demerits of the old and new parties with the crowd, and inscribed "Travels to Baochan Mountain" after "Preface to the Red Cliff", saying: "The former Su and the latter Wang were each leaders in their own ways. Although they have all passed away, they are still much better than those who "returned to the land of Xixia and became slaves of Wei Qing". From now on, we should judge by conduct instead of party. So we abolished all the bans on the Yuanyou party and adopted the politics of the new party."
In May, the imperial camp was reorganized, Henan was ordered to raise garrisons, and the Nanyang army was withdrawn to support Li Yanxian. The Jin leader Wu Mai asked for a large number of troops, fearing that Henan might rebel, and proposed to send a military supervisor. The emperor rejected it, saying, "Great waves wash away sand, and fierce fire tests gold. In times of crisis, there are always people who are greedy for life and afraid of death, but there must also be people who can coordinate and win the army like Li Boji, and those who have white hair and can organize the army like Zong Rulin. You can just sit back and wait for victory, why are you so suspicious?"
In August, Kong Yanzhou rebelled, and the river defenses were opened. Jin pretended to be refugees and sneaked across the river. He defeated Zhang Rong and captured Nanjing. Zhang Suo, the governor of Jingdong, burned his palace and died, which shocked Huaidian. When he heard that Suo had died for his country, he was silent for a long time. His attendants were worried about him. Someone asked him the reason. The emperor said: I have only known Suo for a short time, and it is difficult for me to remember his voice and appearance, so I feel guilty. He heard again that Wuzhu led his army to attack Dongjing. At that time, Zong Ze, who was left behind, was seriously ill and could not get up. Shizhong rushed to rescue him and was ambushed and trapped in Changsha. The court discussed replacing Zong Ze with Du Chong to command the military in Henan. On the ninth day of the first lunar month, he took Madam Wu to climb a mountain on Double Ninth Festival and ordered everyone to select poems to respond to. Hu Hongxiu wrote "Fortunately, there is no trouble at the border, and I dance drunkenly with my king", and Wanqi Xie satirized him with "There is one less person with a dogwood branch". The emperor knew what the two meant, and responded with "I pity the chrysanthemums in my hometown from afar, which should bloom beside the battlefield", saying: "I am not a good person, but I have the intention of "looking at the sword under the lamp while drunk", you can watch it."
In October, Du Chong secretly communicated with the Jin people, so Wuzhu left Talan to besiege Changsha and led 50,000 troops to besiege Nanyang. He wrote to the emperor: "I have missed you for a long time since we parted in Xiacai. I am now leading 100,000 cavalry to welcome you. Don't make your father and brother wait for a long time in Wuguo City." The emperor replied: "Three miles away, come!" Let Chen Gui be the general of the city defense, and everyone from the prime minister down to the prime minister went up to the city. The Jin army attacked several times but could not enter. They killed and wounded a lot, and killed Yin Shuke's legitimate son, Gu Ying. In November, ambushed and killed dozens of Jin Wanhu Chizhanhui and Meng'an Mouke, and the morale was greatly reduced. Wuzhu lamented: "Three miles away, what is the difference between a world and a distance?"
On the eighth day of the first lunar month, Chong's son Song came to report the Yanling incident. Yihao offered a suggestion: "Has the emperor not heard of the old events of Emperor Guangwu's campaign in Kunyang?" The emperor thought Wushu was incapable, so he took advantage of the Jin army's unpreparedness and personally led 300 Red Heart troops to break out of the city and head straight for Yanling. He first looked for Yue Fei, then summoned Li Qiong. The two generals followed his orders and went straight into the city, summoned all the generals, captured Du Chong, counted his crimes with a jade axe, and executed him.
In the first month of the third year, Yue Fei led the army to attack Talan. The battle was not going well, and the commander Xu Qing and others were killed in battle. The emperor then crossed the river first and ordered Wanqi Xie to raise the dragon flag and follow him. The three armies advanced vigorously. Shizhong saw the dragon flag and also came out. Han and Yue joined their flags and defeated them in one battle, and beheaded their son-in-law Hubalu. In the eleventh year, Jing Mo advised: "At this time, return to the old capital to pacify the world." The emperor agreed and ordered Han and Yue to attack Wuzhu, and he led 3,000 troops back to the old capital.
On the 15th day of the first lunar month, he returned to Tokyo and met Zong Ze. He asked about state affairs and pointed to the sky and swore in public, "If I do not restore the two rivers, destroy the Jin Kingdom, sweep away the land, and unite the world, I will have no desire to live and no complete body to die." He comforted him with the poem "Qing Yu An" (The Green Jade Case), "I have searched for him among the crowd for thousands of times. Suddenly I turned around and he was there, in the dimming lights." Before his death, Zong Ze left a poem "To My Son" and called across the river three times before passing away. The emperor cried: "You have saved the world from collapse and stopped the raging waves. You have devoted yourself to the cause. You did not let the Marquis of Wu take all the credit. I posthumously awarded him the title of Zhongwu."
In February, Han and Yue attacked Wuzhu, and Li Yanxian and Zhang Jun also led their troops to defeat him, thus lifting the siege of Nanyang. On the 25th, the emperor gathered his generals in Heyin, because the army was full of comrades-in-arms, but their hearts were to report to the country and protect the people, so why would they have to be secretive? Therefore, he imitated the ancient customs of the Qin and Han dynasties, eliminated family ties, and carried forward the oath of Taoyuan. He ordered 36 commanders to swear an oath in front of the palace, and seven generals to supervise them. He also re-established the system of commanders' secret reports, so that military information could be directly reported to the emperor, and thus the upper and lower levels were connected, thus eliminating the malpractices of the Five Dynasties. Han Shizhong was promoted to Shaobao and given the title of Jiedu of Two Towns; Li Yanxian was awarded a flag to encourage him because of his great contributions and hard work since the Jingkang period, and he was indeed a "pillar of the middle stream". Zhang Jun was transferred to Sichuan and Shu, Chen Gui was appointed as the Minister of War, and Nanyang was abolished as the secondary capital and returned to Bianjing.
In March, the army in the south of the Yangtze River rioted, and Yue Fei was ordered to suppress it. In April, the heir to the throne died, Li Gang was dismissed, and Jin Lü Yihao was left in the southeast. Jin made Liu Yu of the pseudo-Qi the emperor, and sent envoys to cede the two rivers to the two emperors to negotiate peace. The emperor refused, and issued an edict to blame himself, and also said that the style of the scholars should not be broken, and the purple robes should not kneel when seeing the emperor. Queen Xing died, and the Jin people returned the two princesses Shenyou and Foyou.
In May, the quota of soldiers and horses in the imperial camp was formulated. Hu Yin was appointed to Guanxi, and Qu Duan was stripped of his position and transferred to the deputy commander of the imperial camp for his words "Instead of building a business in Guanzhong, he came to the lake to fish." He visited Shaolin and was awarded the plaque "Boxing from Shaolin" for his meritorious service in helping the army. He met Lu Haowen and promoted the original school. The emperor lived a simple life and raised fish and planted mulberry trees in the harem.
In June, Li Cheng, the Marshal of the Pseudo-Qi, invaded Yanggu. Yang Yizhong defeated him at Jishui River and recovered Yanggu. Yue Fei captured and beheaded the Marshal Kong Yanzhou and recovered Yanzhou. Zhang Rong captured Liu Lin, the Crown Prince of the Pseudo-Qi, and sent him to Bianjing. The Emperor visited him at the Great Xiangguo Temple and discussed the matter of Shuibo. He praised him for his loyalty, bravery and love for the people and promoted him to Jiedushi. In July, the Emperor opened the imperial examination and granted Yue Fei and Qu Duan the palace examination. Duan passed the examination and Fei became a Jinshi. In November, the people requested to establish a queen, but the Emperor did not allow it because he missed Queen Xing. The Imperial Censor Li Guang requested to execute Yang Yizhong for interfering in the affairs of the royal family. On November 20, he inspected the Yellow River.
On the first day of December, Yu Yunwen was sent to spy on the strength of the Jin navy on the north bank. Zhang Rong was ordered to lead the Liangshan navy through Bian and into the Yellow River. Rong and his men came without rest at night, singing and fighting, saying, "Grandpa was born in Liangshanpo, and was born to kill people. He has killed the fire and the unrighteous man, and killed the bird general of the Jin people. The hero can't read poetry and books, and only lives in Liangshanpo. Once he enters the Yellow River, he will run rampant between heaven and earth." After burning all the Jin navy, the emperor sighed and said: Daojun is frivolous, and he turned the hero into a thief. He gave Rong the flag of "Doing Justice for Heaven". On the 26th, he asked about politics at the Imperial College, and expounded the theory of resisting the Jin Dynasty and the principle of tolerance for the country. Hu Quan was appointed as the editor of the imperial newspaper, and national bonds were issued to raise military funds.
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