The white head is the name of merit. The old mountain pine bamboo is old, blocking the return journey. I want to pay my heart to Yaoqin. Who listens to the few voices and broken strings? ——Yue Fei, "Little Heavy Mountain, Last Night's Cold Worm Can't Stop Singing"
Yue Fei was a famous general of the Southern Song Dynasty, ranking first among the four generals of Zhongxing, he loved the country and the people and the army, and only lamented that he could not get a good end. In ancient military history, Yue Fei was a model for governing the army, and his Yue family army was still a model for a while. Because he is good at governing the army, the Yue family army has very strong combat effectiveness and can be a hundred. Even the Jin people had to sigh, it was easy to shake the mountain, and it was difficult to shake the Yue family army!
His method of governing the army was not only impressed by the generals at that time, but also imitated by later famous generals, such as Qi Jiguang, who followed Yue Fei's example and trained the Qi family army. Its war talent naturally does not need to be said, from several Northern Expeditions, we can see one or two, the first Northern Expedition defeated the pseudo-Qi Li Cheng, and recovered the city occupied by the pseudo-Qi. The Second Northern Expedition recovered all of Shangzhou and parts of Yuzhou around Shaanxi, and the Fourth Northern Expedition defeated Yan Wushu and won the great victories of Chencheng and Shunchang.
Yue Fei had always opposed compromise and surrender, believing that the cause of resisting Jin could be successful, and in fact winning many major battles was enough to prove that he had the ability to resist Jin. Although he may not be able to completely defeat the Jin State, at least he can resist, but unfortunately there are a group of people, including the emperor, who want to negotiate peace. In the face of such a realm, he can only use poetry to express his helplessness, the mountains and rivers are rare, even if the strings are broken, who will listen?
The emperor and Qin Ju wanted to negotiate peace, but Yue Fei only wanted to resist Jin, and in order to stop Yue Fei, Qin Ju came up with a vicious move. In the eleventh year of Shaoxing (1141), Zhang Jun extorted a confession from Zhang Xian's words and deeds, and fabricated a rebellion in order to collect Yue Fei's writings. On October 13 of the same year, Yue Fei was thrown into prison at Dali Temple, after his eldest son Yue Yun had also been imprisoned. Yue Fei naturally would not be beaten into a confession, Wan Qianbi exhausted all means, and they did not reveal a word.
In order to prove his innocence, Yue Fei even went on a hunger strike and fought, but he still relied on Yue Lei's care to survive. In desperation, Qin Ju and the others had another plan, and on December 29 of the eleventh year of Shaoxing (January 27, 1142), Zhao Zhuo ordered Yue Fei to be killed. Not long after, Yue Fei died in prison, at the age of 39, and Yue Yun and Zhang Xian were also beheaded. There are only eight words on his confession: Tianri Zhaozhao, Tianri Zhaozhao! So after Yue Fei's death, how did Qin Ju and Song Gaozong treat his wife and children?
Yue Fei never took concubines, and he had only two wives in his life, the first of which was Liu Shi. She gave birth to two sons, Yue Yun and Yue Lei, to Yue Fei, and later because Yue Fei was in the army, Liu Shi remarried twice. Therefore, this Liu clan is actually not his wife, Li Wa was remarried later, and had three sons: Lin, Zhen, and Xia (Ting). Although it was known that Yue Fei had been wrongfully killed, at that time, Qin Ju and Zhao Zhuo regarded him as a sinner, so the Qi family would also be implicated.
However, only Yue Yun died with Yue Fei, and the rest were mostly exiled, and Yue Lei was exiled to Yunnan. And Li Wa and the child she gave birth to were exiled to Cen Nan, and the former weak Li Wa was very strong for more than twenty years, and she supported a piece of the Yue family. Until the thirty-second year of Shaoxing (1162), Emperor Xiaozong of Song ascended the throne and rehabilitated Yue Fei. In the previous year, in late 1161, Li Wa and others were able to return from different places, and Yue Lei died before he could be rehabilitated.
Song Xiaozong also knew that the imperial court owed something to the Yue family, and the yue fei who could make up for it was nothing more than his reputation and family after his death. The name naturally had to be given, and the family naturally had to be comforted, so most of Yue Fei's sons got official positions. After Li Wa was rehabilitated, she was given the title of Lady of Chu Guo, and Lin, Zhen, and Xia (Thunder) were respectively given marquises. As for Yue Fei's daughter, it is quite controversial that a Yue An niang recorded in the zhengshi was married to Gao Zuo, and the aftermath is unknown.
Reference: History of the Song Dynasty