In Chinese history, there is a famous event called the "Zhao Gou Rebellion". It is a story that takes place during the Song Dynasty and mainly revolves around the struggle between Song Gaozong Zhao Gou and his half-brother.
Things have to start from the end of the Northern Song Dynasty. At that time, during the reign of Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty, the national power was weakening day by day, and the Jin Kingdom in the north took the opportunity to invade, captured Kaifeng, the capital of Kyoto, and captured Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty and the empress. This news was undoubtedly a huge blow to the whole of China, and at this time, in some places in the south, there was still a force against Jin, that is, the Southern Song army led by Yue Fei.
At this time, a man named Zhao Gou appeared. He was the son of Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty and the rightful heir to the throne. But because he had left the capital before he was captured, he did not directly participate in the fight against the Jin army. However, he did not give up his rights because of this, but began to plan for his political career.
Zhao Gou knew that in order to obtain the position of emperor, he must have enough supporters. So he began to look for strength that could help him. One of them was Qin Hui, the prime minister at the time. Qin Hui was a close friend of his father when he was alive and an important advisor to him. Through Qin Hui's help, Zhao Gou gradually accumulated a certain amount of political power.
After the release of Song Qinzong, the situation changed. At this time, the people of the Jin Kingdom put forward a condition to send the two young princes to the Jin Kingdom as hostages. One of them is none other than Zhao Gou. It was undoubtedly a test of life and death for him, but he decided to go anyway.
After arriving in the Jin Kingdom, Zhao Gou found that he was not their target, and their real purpose was to seize the Southern Song Dynasty. This shocked Zhao Gou and made him understand that he had to return to the south in order to protect the interests of the country.
After returning to the Southern Song Dynasty, Zhao Gou immediately began to compete with his brother. He knew that only by controlling the imperial court could he truly grasp power. So, he used his political connections to launch a series of political conspiracies and successfully eliminated his opponents one by one.
Finally, after a series of efforts, Zhao Gou finally ascended the throne and became the second emperor of the Southern Song Dynasty - Song Gaozong. But his rise to power was not all smooth sailing, and there were many unknown secrets and schemes hidden behind it.
This is the historical story of the "Zhao Gou Rebellion". It reflects the unscrupulous struggle for power in the context of that era. Although these struggles are now long gone, the lessons they left behind are still worth pondering.