In our impression, the Northern Song Dynasty was popular among literati in charge of the army, but only a few people such as Fan Zhongyun performed well, and the Southern Song Dynasty changed its military system because of the great changes in the world, although it was still a guard against military generals, but the phenomenon of literati commanding the army became less. What everyone does not know is that in the most critical moment of the Southern Song Dynasty, it was a literati who stepped forward to save the crumbling Southern Song Dynasty, and he was Yu Yunwen.
In the southeast, the traitors are in power
As the most economically developed dynasty in China's history, with a high degree of scientific and technological development and foreign trade opening up, the Southern Song Dynasty has been criticized for its military diplomacy. In the long process of resisting foreign invasions, the Southern Song Dynasty court was always passively beaten, and eventually it was difficult to escape the doom of annihilation.
However, the heroic resistance of the soldiers and civilians of the Southern Song Dynasty is remarkable, and it can be sung and wept, not only famous generals, but also created many miracles in world history. In 1141, after the Shaoxing Peace Conference, the powerful minister Qin Ju began to take charge of the imperial government, from the appointment and retention of the ruling ministers to the appointment and dismissal of local governors, mainly depending on Qin Juniper.
He first forced the privy councillor Zhang Jun to resign, and was the minister who made the court no longer able to compete with him, and then promoted the soft and easy to control. Nevertheless, Qin Ju was still worried that his rights were threatened, and the ministers of the DPRK were often dismissed in January or half a year. In order to prevent some ministers from making suggestions to Emperor Gaozong, Qin Ju also appointed his cronies to console Cambodia, and after the power and public opinion were fully grasped, Qin Ju spent his energy on corruption and scavenging.
He opened his doors and accepted bribes, and became rich against the country, and according to records: foreign treasures, death is still at the door, like dirty officials, evil and incorruptible people, so the stolen officials are arbitrary, and the people are more and more difficult. At that time, the treasury of the Southern Song Dynasty was empty and financially strapped, and the family wealth that Qin Juniper had accumulated through various means was several times more than the Zuozang Treasury, the main treasury of the Southern Song Dynasty. The Qin clan in the Southern Song Dynasty was richer and more powerful than cai jing, the chancellor of the Northern Song Dynasty.
Zhu Xi even said: There is no one who is not a Qin, and Emperor Gaozong cannot be moved. According to the Records of the Southern Song Dynasty, when Emperor Gaozong of Song begged the Jin people for peace, the Jin people made an extremely domineering and unreasonable demand, "Do not go to the prime minister without guilt." Qin Ju was a symbol of the Song-Jin peace, and if he was deposed, it would mean that the Song Dynasty tore up the peace agreement.
Therefore, Qin Juniper controlled the government for more than ten years, and the common people hated it deeply, so that after Qin Juniper's death in 1155 AD, the world drank wine and celebrated. However, Emperor Gaozong had some worries, the Agent of the Jin people in song was dead, so could the peace between the Song and Jin countries still be maintained?
To this end, Emperor Gaozong decided to appoint Qin Juniper's henchmen Shen Cai and Tang Sihui as his vassals, thus demonstrating the Southern Song Dynasty's desire to continue to seek peace.
When war breaks out, take responsibility in times of crisis
Qin Juniper's death was a fortunate event for the Southern Song Dynasty, but as the Song dynasty Lü Zhong said in the chronicle: Although a juniper died, a hundred junipers still exist.
The government of the DPRK has withered, and the situation of corruption in the administration of officials has not changed. Although Emperor Gaozong continued to make peace with Jin, he knew in his heart that it was only a matter of time before Song Jin went to war again. At this time, Emperor Gaozong was childless, and he had to put Jianchu on the agenda.
In 1160, Emperor Gaozong of Song formally issued an edict, making Zhao Wei, a descendant of Taizu, the crown prince, crowned jianwang, and renamed Zhao Wei, who had been in the palace for 30 years. Emperor Gaozong of Song had not confirmed the identity of the crown prince for more than 30 years, so why did he make a decision at this time?
This has a very important background, that is, the emperor of the Jin Kingdom, Guanyan Liang, is about to invade the Song. Yan Liang, who launched a coup d'état in 1149 AD and established himself as emperor, was deeply influenced by Han culture and thought, and had a strong concept of conquest, believing that only by realizing the unification of the north and the south could the Jin Dynasty be called orthodox. Now, he knows that the opportunity is ripe, and it is imperative to invade the south.
In September 1161, Yan Liang led an army of one million to the south. In just three months, the Huai and Northern Song armies collapsed without a fight, and Yan Liang's trip was like a broken bamboo, no one could beat him, but he never imagined that someone was about to change the fate of his southern invasion.
Yu Yunwen was a scholar of the Southern Song Dynasty at the time, and on the sixth day of the first month of November, he was ordered to come to the quarry to comfort the troops, and he did not think that this time he would shoulder the fate of the entire Southern Song Dynasty. Yu Yunwen's command of the troops this time was purely accidental, and he caught up, just as the army of the quarry was not commanded, he had to temporarily top it.
Faced with the danger that the Jin army was about to cross the river and the quarry still had no commander, Yu Yunwen stepped forward and took the initiative to take the command of jiang defense. At present, the situation is very critical, the Song Army's river defense troops only have 18,000 people, how to fight against the 170,000 troops of the Jin Army on the opposite side?
Once the Jin people crossed the river, it was possible to lead to the collapse of the whole situation, and the Southern Song Dynasty was in danger. Although he was a man of letters, Yu Yunwen rationally analyzed the advantages and disadvantages of the military strength of the two sides, and Yu Yunwen quickly mobilized and organized troops to resist the attack of the Jin army and formulated a battle plan.
In view of the weakness of the Jin army's inability to fight water battles and the lack of a strong river crossing vessel, Yu Yunwen used the well-equipped and combat-strong water army as the main force to fight in Jiangzhou, attacking the weak with a strong blow, causing the Jin army ships to be destroyed and unable to dock, and finally turning the tide and defeating the Jin army, which led to hundreds of thousands of Jin troops only looking at the river and sighing, and the military's heart began to waver.
Yan Liang did not expect that he would be defeated at the hands of a literati, and after being indignant, the news came from the rear that Yan Yong had established himself as emperor in Liaoyang. There were strong soldiers in the front and civil unrest in the back, and at this time, Guan Yanliang made a surprising decision, ordering the Jin army to cross the river within three days, otherwise they would be executed. On November 27, Yan Liang was killed by his subordinates, and the entire Jin army withdrew north.
In today's Beijing, there is still a ruins, Jin Zhongdu. It was here in December 1161 that the newly enthroned Jin Shizong ascended the throne, and the first thing he did when he ascended the throne was to negotiate peace with the Southern Song Dynasty.
Now the initiative of the situation was in the hands of the Southern Song Dynasty, but at this time, Emperor Gaozong could no longer withstand the fright, and the confrontation with Jin put him in a dilemma and was physically and mentally exhausted. The following year, he left the throne to his chosen heir, Zhao Xuan, and he was at ease as the hedonistic Emperor Taishang.
The scale of the quarrying battle was not too large in Chinese history, and Yu Yunwen did not use any amazing strategies, and even defeated the Jin army mainly because of the internal chaos of the Jin people, but it is commendable that in the face of the danger of national subjugation, he dared to stand up and take responsibility.