As we all know, Yue Fei was a famous general in the Southern Song Dynasty against Jin, who led the Yuejia army to defeat the Jin soldiers repeatedly and almost recovered Bianjing. However, when he was about to achieve a decisive victory, Song Gaozong recalled him with twelve gold medals in a row.
The matter did not end here, under Qin Hui's conspiracy, his father-in-law was killed on "trumped-up" charges.
Many people think that this is a conspiracy created by Qin Hui, but in fact, Yue Fei's tragedy not only reveals the power struggle within the Southern Song court, but also reflects the deep contradictions between loyal and powerful ministers in feudal society......
The young Yue Fei is determined to serve the country
Yue Feizi Pengju, born in Tangyin, Henan Province at the end of the Northern Song Dynasty, showed extraordinary intelligence and bravery at an early age. Unfortunately, his father died in the war, and the family fell into disarray, and his mother, Yao, took on the responsibility of teaching her son.
Under the guidance of his mother, Yue Fei studied the art of war diligently, practiced martial arts diligently, was determined to serve the country and was loyal and patriotic, laying a solid foundation for his future military career.
In 1122 AD, Yue Fei joined the troops of the anti-Jin general Zong Ze to begin his anti-Jin career, and quickly rose to prominence in the army because of his outstanding intelligence and bravery, and quickly won the trust of his superiors and colleagues. Zong Ze once praised him as "this person can be used, and he will become a great weapon".
After the Jingkang Revolution, the Jin soldiers broke through Bianjing, Song Huizong and Song Qinzong were captured, and the Northern Song Dynasty declared its demise. After the establishment of the Southern Song Dynasty, Zhao Gou ascended the throne and set the capital Lin'an, due to the southern invasion of the Jin soldiers and internal turmoil, the situation in the early Southern Song Dynasty was extremely grim.
In this context, Yue Fei stepped forward to take on the important task of resisting the Jin army, and was also determined to recover the lost territory and restore the glory of the Song Dynasty.
Yue Fei paid the most attention to military discipline and advocated loyalty and patriotism, and the Yuejia army at that time was strictly disciplined and extremely combative, and was the backbone of the Southern Song Dynasty's resistance to Jin.
Yue Fei himself was also a brave soldier on the battlefield, deeply loved by the soldiers, and won widespread support among the people. In the early days of the Southern Song Dynasty, Yue Fei led the Yuejia army to engage in many fierce battles with the Jin soldiers, and won a series of important victories.
Of course, this time was not the peak of Yue Fei, in 1134 Yue Fei led the army north to start the Northern Expedition, with infantry to defeat the Jin State's abduction horses, Tiefutu, etc., to recover the northern Xiangyang, Yingzhou and other lost land, greatly boosted the morale of the Southern Song Dynasty army and people.
In 1140, Yue Fei defeated the Jin army again at Yuncheng, further consolidating the defense line of the Southern Song Dynasty. A year later, Yue Fei led Yue's army to attack Zhuxian Town, which was only one step away from Bianjing, and it can be said that the anti-Jin situation was very good.
However, just as Yue Fei was preparing to take advantage of the victory to pursue and recover Bianjing, Song Gaozong suddenly issued twelve gold medals in a row and ordered Yue Fei to return to the court.
This sudden order made Yue Fei extremely shocked and disappointed, but as a loyal minister, he could only withdraw his troops according to the order, and in desperation, he let out a sigh of emotion: "Ten years of hard work have been dissipated. ”
The urgency and helplessness of the twelve gold medals
What is the reason behind Yue Fei's return to the dynasty, some people say that it is the conspiracy of the Lord and the faction headed by Qin Hui.
Qin Hui, as the prime minister of the Southern Song Dynasty, is the core figure of the main peace faction, in fact, he has another layer of identity. Qin Hui was once captured by the Jin State, and later served as an official in the Southern Song Dynasty as an "undercover agent" and held a high position, in other words, he was the voice of the Jin State in the Southern Song Dynasty.
Yue Fei is a staunch supporter of the anti-Jin movement, so he sees it as a thorn in his side and wants to get rid of it quickly, even from the perspective of personal interests, the contradictions between the two sides are irreconcilable, to the extent that "either you die or I die".
In short, as long as the threat of the Jin State is not eliminated for a day, his position and interests in the Southern Song Dynasty will be very stable. Therefore, he suggested to Song Gaozong that Yue Fei be recalled on the grounds that "the lonely army is deep and it is not suitable to stay for a long time", and the Northern Expedition fell short.
At the instigation of Qin Hui, Song Gaozong would issue twelve gold medals in a row in one day. Many people may not know what the "12 gold medals" mean?
During the Southern Song Dynasty, one gold medal was enough to represent the emperor's orders and attitudes, while twelve gold medals were unprecedented urgency and toughness.
Although Yue Fei was reluctant after receiving the order, he could only choose to obey, and the lost territory that had just been recovered by the class division on the way back to the dynasty was occupied by the Jin soldiers.
Qin Hui's conspiracy did not stop at recalling Yue Fei, he knew that the other party was the backbone of the anti-Jin resistance, and in order to ensure the threat of the Jin State and his own interests, he must remove this obstacle.
After Yue Fei returned to Lin'an, Qin Hui quickly accused him of rebellion on "trumped-up" charges, and bribed his subordinates Zhang Xian, Wang Gui and others to force him to commit perjury.
In order to ensure the smooth progress of the matter, Qin Hui also controlled the trial officials to falsify evidence, and finally Yue Fei was sentenced to death. In the face of Qin Hui's conspiracy, Yue Fei was speechless, and Song Gaozong was also instigated by Qin Hui, and finally issued an edict to kill Yue Fei.
In 1142, Yue Fei was given to die at the Lin'an Fengbo Pavilion at the age of 39, and his eldest son Yue Yun and his subordinate Zhang Xian were also killed.
After the news of Yue Fei's death spread, the soldiers and civilians of the Southern Song Dynasty were all grieved, and the soldiers of the Yue family army lost their leaders and team spirits, and their hopes of resisting Jin were shattered. After losing Yue Fei, the Southern Song court had to rely on humiliating peace negotiations with the Jin State in exchange for a brief period of peace.
Qin Hui continued to pursue the policy of peace with the Jin state, and the Southern Song court survived in humiliation. It was not until the period of Song Xiaozong that Yue Fei's grievances were rehabilitated, and he was posthumously named the king of Hubei and built a temple to worship, and later generations built Yue Fei Temple in Hangzhou to commemorate him.
Yue Fei's loyal and brave deeds and noble character have been praised by later generations, and have become a symbol of the Chinese nation's heroic resistance to the enemy and loyalty to the country, while Qin Hui was regarded as a representative of traitors by later generations, and his image was nailed to the pillar of shame in the long river of history.
Even now, thousands of tourists visit Yue Fei Temple every year to pay homage to this national hero and whip the bronze statue of Qin Hui to show their contempt for the traitorous villain.
Song Gaozong Zhao Gou's psychology - self-preservation and helplessness
Then again, Yue Fei's murder deprived the Southern Song Dynasty of its most determined and powerful anti-Jin general, and had a profound impact on the political and military situation of the Southern Song Dynasty.
Yue Fei's death was not only his personal tragedy, but also a major loss to the Southern Song Dynasty's anti-Jin cause, and the hope of the Northern Expedition was almost completely shattered.
Qin Hui's peace policy did bring relative stability to the Southern Song Dynasty in the short term, but it also seriously weakened the national strength and morale of the Southern Song Dynasty, and the generals and soldiers were angry and disappointed by the imperial court's decision, and the military morale was discouraged.
The Southern Song Dynasty's military defensive strategy was tantamount to abandoning the recovery of lost territory in the north and focusing on consolidating the southern defense line. Compared with the scene of Yue Fei's Northern Expedition, the Southern Song Dynasty could have subdued a large area of lost territory in the north, but now it can only be in a corner of peace.
As the king of a country, Song Gaozong Zhao Gou, doesn't he understand the pros and cons? Obviously, he understood, otherwise he would not have become the emperor, since he understood, why would he kill Yue Fei?
At that time, some of the main battle factions in the court advocated continuing to resist Jin and regain lost territory, while the main peace faction led by Qin Hui advocated peace negotiations and gave up the land north of the Huai River.
Song Gaozong vacillated between the two factions, belonging to the category of "wall grass", but eventually fell to the main and faction for his own interests. What is the "interest" referred to here can be simply understood as the succession to the throne.
Why did Song Gaozong kill Yue Fei, who made great achievements for the Southern Song Dynasty? The reasons for this are complex.
First of all, Yue Fei advocated the Northern Expedition, the purpose of which was to subdue the mountains and rivers, but it also welcomed back the captured Song Huizong and Song Qinzong, the latter of which made Song Gaozong feel threatened.
Zhao Gou's throne is not inherited by order, but by the civil and military officials, from the inheritance system is not compliant, once the two old emperors return to the dynasty, Zhao Gou's throne will face a huge challenge.
Secondly, Yue Fei's military achievements and prestige were extremely high, which made Zhao Gou worry that he would become an uncontrollable minister, and might even stand on his own feet in the north.
Zhao Gou knew the history of Zhao Kuangyin's seizure of power in the Later Zhou Dynasty through the "Chenqiao Mutiny", and he was both dependent and fearful of the generals with heavy troops.
If Yue Fei continued to achieve victory, his influence in the military and civilian population would be even stronger, and Zhao Gou could not ignore this potential threat. At Qin Hui's instigation, Zhao Gou finally decided to get rid of Yue Fei in order to preserve his throne.
There are some novels, film and television dramas that give good explanations on this point, for example, in one picture, Song Gaozong said eight words in front of his spiritual seat after killing Yue Fei, that is, "Fei Qing is disloyal, not I am unknown".
What does this mean? It's not that Yue Fei is not loyal enough, it's not that Zhao Gou doesn't know his loyalty, it's just a pity that the general trend and interests make it, even if Yue Fei has made great achievements for the Southern Song Dynasty, but because he touched the interests of Song Gaozong, he must die.
Therefore, although Yue Fei was killed by Qin Hui on "trumped-up" charges, which is a major tragedy in the history of the Southern Song Dynasty, it also reveals the complex power struggles in feudal society, and how many such periods have occurred in history.
During the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Qizhen, the "god of war", was captured by the Wara army, and his younger brother Zhu Qiyu ascended the throne as emperor, and won the battle to defend Beijing with Yu Qian, so that the Ming Dynasty could continue.
Many years later, Zhu Qizhen returned to the Ming Dynasty, and Zhu Qiyu did not kill him out of brotherly love, but also laid the groundwork for later.
"When I was arrested, you didn't save me, but stole my throne, which is a hurdle that can't be passed on anyone."
After Zhu Qiyu's death, Zhu Qizhen launched a rebellion to seize the door, and the hero Yu Qian was killed afterwards. As a hero of the Ming Dynasty, is Yu Qian guilty?
Obviously, no, but his behavior affected the interests of others, so that it caused the tragedy later, why wasn't Yue Fei like this?
Of course, history books are written by victors, but history does not judge heroes by success or failure.
Yue Fei's heroic deeds have become a model in the hearts of the people of later generations, he represents a heroic general, but also represents a kind of loyalty, bravery and fearlessness, while Qin Hui has become synonymous with traitors and villains and is spurned by the world.
In modern society, Yue Fei's spirit still inspires countless people, and a true hero must not only have outstanding talents, but also have selfless dedication and firm faith.
What do you think differently about this?