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Preface
"Freeze to death without demolishing houses, starve to death without plundering. ”
This is the rule set by Yue Fei, a famous anti-gold general in the Southern Song Dynasty, for the Yue family army, which has an advanced nature that transcends the limitations of the times.
In that era when everyone regarded the people as mustard, Yue Fei governed the army strictly, rectified military discipline, guarded the living space of the people at the bottom, and also defended the crumbling country of the Southern Song Dynasty.
But such a general who has always maintained his heart of loyalty to the country has not died well.
Because of a trumped-up crime, Yue Fei was framed by traitors and imprisoned in the Southern Song Dynasty prison.
Everyone in the world knows that Yue Fei was wronged, but what few people know is that 9 of the 12 generals in the Yue family's army testified after the "Complaint".
It is not uncommon for traitors to frame, and the backstabbing of the generals under his command is the most chilling.
How did the charge of rebellion come to Yue Fei? Can the testimony of a lieutenant general prove that he really had the intention of rebellion?
The crime of treason, unjustly died in prison
Yue Fei, a famous anti-gold general in the Southern Song Dynasty, did not have a smooth sailing in the army, from the first time he entered the military camp to really make meritorious contributions, he experienced many twists and turns.
But from beginning to end, he has never changed his heart of serving the country loyally.
In 1129, Du Chong, the prime minister of the early Southern Song Dynasty, had no literati popularity, let alone the loyalty and integrity of scholars.
In the face of the strong threat of the Jin army, he did not choose to die for his country, but surrendered to the enemy.
The Jin army's invasion of the south not only seriously threatened the rule of the Southern Song Dynasty, but also made it difficult for millions of ordinary people to make a living with heavy burdens.
Although Yue Fei is a martial artist, he has the ambition to rule the country and level the world.
He couldn't bear to see the Great Song Dynasty regime ruined, and he didn't want to see the people's misery, so he resolutely formed the left-behind army in Tokyo and started his anti-gold campaign.
This is the beginning of the Yue family's army, this team is not an army under the orthodox establishment, and it is actually not much different from a plate of loose sand at the beginning.
The soldiers and horses under the rule of the Song Dynasty, the rebels who fought against the Jin army among the people, and the recruits from all walks of life all contributed their own strength in the ranks.
Yue's army is the general name of the army led by Yue Fei, but it is not officially recognized by the imperial court.
Naming the army after the commander's surname is a military general tradition in the Song Dynasty, and all peasant rebel armies that belong to Yue Fei can be called Yue's army.
From the formation and development process of the army, it can be seen that Yue Fei does have the ability to command the Yue family's army, but this ability is not absolute.
In addition to the descendant troops, a large number of soldiers and horses in the Yuejia army are from scattered backgrounds and need to be trained urgently, and it is difficult for different parts to be truly united.
Recovering the lost territory, expelling the Jin army, washing away the shame, and defending the Great Song Dynasty have always been the most lofty ideals in Yue Fei's heart.
The Yue family army under his leadership has always been fighting for this ideal.
From 1133 onwards, Yue Fei led the Yuejia army in the Northern Expedition many times.
Although the origins of many soldiers in the Yue family army were very complicated, Yue Fei was very strict in governing the army, and he also established strict military discipline for those soldiers who were originally free and loose.
The army attaches great importance to the protection of the people at the bottom, no matter how critical their situation is, Yue Fei does not allow the soldiers to break into the houses without permission, let alone rob the private property of the people at the bottom.
Under the strict art of governing the army, the fighting ability of the Yuejia army became stronger and stronger, and it was also deeply trusted and loved by the people at the bottom.
As long as the common people who have been victimized by the Jin people see the word Yue flying high on the military flag, they will have a huge sense of security in their hearts.
The prestige of Yue's army among the people is getting higher and higher, and Yue Fei's commanding ability is getting stronger and stronger.
But in the feudal era, the monarch was eager to say the privilege of saying the same, and Yue Fei's existence was bound to become a threat to the then monarch Song Gaozong.
Some treacherous ministers with ill intentions, and the contradiction between Yue Fei is also getting bigger and bigger.
For example, Zhang Jun, who used to be Yue Fei's boss, later became more and more jealous of Yue Fei during the Northern Expedition.
When reinforcing Huaixi in 1140, Yue Fei did not directly fight the Jin army, and the lack of food at the front was one of the main reasons.
But this behavior fell in Zhang Jun's eyes, and it became a handle to take Yue Fei.
He insisted that the lack of food and grass was only Yue Fei's excuse, and that delaying the march because of this excuse was Yue Fei's great crime.
He described the charge as if it had been conclusively proven.
Someone suggested that Yue Fei defend himself and Yue Jiajun, but Yue Fei thought that he had a clear conscience and there was no need to say more about the false issue.
His integrity looks very admirable, but in fact, it laid a hidden danger for him to suffer injustice later.
In the second year, the turning point in Yue Fei's life came.
Song Gaozong first made the so-called coordination between Yue Fei, Han Shizhong and Zhang Jun, promoted the latter two to the privy envoy, and appointed Yue Fei as the privy deputy envoy.
He then dismissed Yue Fei from his post and sent his cronies to different parts of the country.
The reason why the emperor did this was obviously to prepare for the next attack.
It can also be seen from this series of actions that the real mastermind who framed Yue Fei was not the so-called traitor, but the emperor himself.
The reason why Qin Hui and the others were lawless and arrogant was obviously because they had the support of Song Gaozong behind them.
In Song Gaozong's plan, Yue Fei must be eliminated, even if Qin Hui does not come forward for him, there will definitely be other people in the court who are willing to be his minions.
Zhang Jun already had a grudge against Yue Fei, so he had been trying his best to find a person with two hearts in the Yue family's army, but he didn't expect that this person really let him find it.
It is precisely because some people in the Yue family's army are impure, coupled with the traitorous ministers, who added fuel and vinegar to Yue Fei, and charged Yue Fei with trumped-up charges, that a generation of famous generals will finally die tragically in prison.
For a military general who is eager to defend his home and country, it is simply the biggest regret in life.
However, it is worth mentioning that when the generals in the Yue family's army first complained, they were not directed at Yue Fei, but his henchman Zhang Xian.
Sue the generals and implicate the coach
In fact, before Yue Fei was finally framed, he had been impeached by the imperial court officials many times, and the reasons for impeachment were varied.
Yue Fei, who fought for the imperial court, was a little chilled, and he was unwilling to take the dirty water forcibly splashed by others, so he took the initiative to present a recital to the emperor and asked to be relieved of his official position.
The pure one is self-purifying, and the turbid one is turbid, he thinks that as long as he stays away from the court, his clean name will not be tarnished.
But he has been regarded by the emperor as a thorn in the eye and a thorn in the flesh, how can he retreat so easily?
After the above resignation, Yue Fei was dismissed from his official position and went to Lushan to live idlely.
But Qin Hui, Zhang Jun and others still refused to let him go, and wanted to find someone in the Yue family's army, the deputy commander Wang Jun, who could be used by them.
Under coercion and temptation, Wang Jun and Yue Fei separated and began to join a vicious political conspiracy.
They did not point the finger at Yue Fei, but at Zhang Xian.
Wang Jun submitted the "Complaint to the Head", which reads:
After Yue Fei was dismissed, Zhang Xian's heart has always been dissatisfied, and he has been recruiting a large army during this time, trying to rebel and coerce the imperial court to return military power to Yue Fei.
Although the target of the complaint is only Zhang Xian, in the content of the complaint, Zhang Xian rebelled for Yue Fei.
So in the end, the knife of rebellion will still fall on Yue Fei's head.
And this is exactly what the traitors want, and of course, this is what the emperor wants to see.
Song Gaozong wanted to kill someone, but he had to find a valid reason before killing someone.
So Qin Hui and Zhang Jun handed him a knife and sent the steps called "General Rebellion" to his feet.
Not only did they buy off Wang Jun, but they also found several other people represented by Wang Gui in the Yuejia army to "testify" together.
The generals of the 12th Army of the Yue Family's Army, 9 of whom confirmed the matter of the "Complaint of the Head", Yue Fei, who had no intention of political struggle, naturally had no way to escape.
Ironically, after Yue Fei was imprisoned, the officials in charge of the case did not find any conclusive evidence to prove his rebellion.
According to the provisions of the laws of the Great Song Dynasty, the charge of rebellion should not be imposed on Yue Fei.
However, whether there is a crime or not, whether it can be convicted, in that dark age, it is not the evidence that is seen, but the mind of the ruler.
On January 27, 1142, the day of Yue's execution, he was routinely required to sign a confession before he died.
It is difficult for people today to imagine what kind of emotions Yue Fei would have at that time and what kind of mood he would have.
He may be bitter at the emperor's mediocrity and the instability of the Southern Song Dynasty's regime; he may be resentful of the traitorous ministers in power, and he may be resentful of being poisoned by traitorous ministers.
But Yue Fei, who wrote "Man Jianghong", probably won't regret his past.
After all, serving the country has always been his lifelong wish.
After Yue Fei was killed, his eldest son Yue Yun and his subordinate Zhang Xian were also beheaded, and his family members and staff were implicated.
The Yue family army has since fallen apart and will never regain its former glory.
The war will be rehabilitated, and the reason is clear
Although Yue Fei was unjustly killed, his crime of rebellion was not recognized by the people of the world, and although the voice proving Yue Fei's reversal of the case was not loud, it could not be ignored.
For example, Han Shizhong, who is also a famous anti-Jin general, has a bad personal relationship with Yue Fei, but he has his own fair standards for dealing with people, so he is also suspicious of the court's disposition.
He once asked Qin Hui whether Yue Fei's treason was true.
Qin Hui naturally knew the answer to this question, but it was impossible for him to tell Han Shizhong, who had clear grievances, the truth.
So he said three words that were widely mentioned later, and there was no need.
Something that is unwarranted does not mean that there is none, nor does it have to be, but that there may be.
In other words, the crime on Yue Fei's body is actually a suspected crime in essence.
This statement made Han Shizhong feel ridiculous and ridiculous, and he refuted Qin Hui to his face, pointing out that there were three words that were not necessary, and they could not convince everyone in the world.
Although some people spoke for Yue Fei, the voices of these people were suppressed, and after Yue Fei's death, the official evaluation of him in the Southern Song Dynasty was generally negative.
There was a convergence of interests between the literati and the imperial court in the Song Dynasty, so under the influence of the atmosphere and attitude of the imperial court, the literati group also had a lot of complaints about Yue Fei's conduct and behavior.
Coupled with the fact that Qin Hui and others deliberately destroyed and destroyed the relevant historical materials that recorded Yue Fei's deeds, this led to the ups and downs of Yue Fei's evaluation and status.
At least before Song Xiaozong rehabilitated Yue Fei, the dirty water that Qin Hui and others splashed on him was not completely washed off.
In 1161, the Jin State sent envoys to congratulate Song Gaozong on his birthday, but the envoys' attitude was very arrogant throughout the whole process, and they did not show due respect when facing the Southern Song emperor.
The officials of the Southern Song Dynasty were keenly aware that it was very likely that the Jin State would change its previous attitude towards peace and invade the south again.
Therefore, in order to motivate the loyal and brave people in the world, some courtiers proposed to restore the reputation of Yue Fei, a famous anti-Jin general.
But if you really want to rehabilitate Yue Fei, it means that Song Gaozong needs to admit his mistakes, and even issue an edict to himself in the face of the world.
Such an approach required great courage, so when the courtiers proposed it, he did not explicitly make a substantive move.
It wasn't until September of this year that the Jin army was really ready to move, and its ambitions were difficult to hide, that Song Gaozong had to issue an edict to restore the freedom of Yue Fei's family first.
After he gave the throne to Song Xiaozong, the new emperor completely reversed the matter and truly redressed Yue Fei's grievances.
It is hard to imagine that if this event of great historical significance had not occurred, what future generations would have said about Yue Fei.
Fortunately, the real Yue Fei is still the famous general who "cleaned up the old mountains and rivers".
epilogue
The intentions of Zhang Jun and Qin Hui and others were not sinister, they coerced Yue Fei's subordinate Wang Jun to come forward to complain, and also divided the Yue family army through coercion, temptation and discord, causing Yue Fei to be stabbed in the back by his generals.
From beginning to end, Han Shizhong said the most fair.
How can the people of the world be convinced? This criminal theory cannot stop the world's leisurely mouth.
Resources
"For Yue Fei, what we lack is precisely common sense" Guangming Network
"Unwarranted" Yue Fei's Unjust Case (II), Observation and Reflection, No. 2001.10
"Yue Fei: Iron-blooded Pill Heart Forges Loyal Soul (3)" Sichuan Provincial Local Chronicles Work Office
Yue Fei and the Political and Military Studies of the Early Southern Song Dynasty by Wang Zengyu
"The Biography of Yue Fei" by Deng Guangming
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