In 1162, Emperor Xiaozong of Song succeeded to the throne. From Zhao Guangyi to Zhao Shuo, the throne was passed on in the Zhao Guangyi lineage for more than a hundred years, and finally returned to the hands of the Zhao Kuangyin lineage. Zhao Yun was a descendant of Zhao Defang, the son of Zhao Kuangyin. Song Xiaozong lived in the folk when he was young, so he was very familiar with the suffering of the people. Song Xiaozong was also the most effective emperor of the Southern Song Dynasty. During the reign of Emperor Xiaozong of Song, the national strength of the Southern Song Dynasty flourished, and the people lived and worked in peace and contentment. Emperor Xiaozong of Song also straightened out the administration of officials and vigorously developed the military strength of the Southern Song Dynasty. The decadent winds of the Southern Song Dynasty in the late Song Dynasty were swept away. Emperor Xiaozong of Song also used the famous Southern Song generals Yu Yunwen and Zhang Jun. However, even the most accomplished emperor of the Southern Song Dynasty still did not complete the dream of recovering his homeland. The Longxing Northern Expedition, which had high hopes, finally came to a hasty end. In November 1164, the Southern Song Dynasty negotiated peace with the Jin Dynasty, which meant the failure of the Northern Expedition painstakingly run by Song Xiaozong. Why didn't the Most Accomplished Monarch of the Southern Song Dynasty succeed in the Northern Expedition?
The first is that during the Song Xiaozong period, the lords and factions still had great power. We are all very clear that the biggest lord and leader of the Southern Song Dynasty was actually Emperor Gaozong of Song. Although the Shaoxing Peace Conference was discussed by Qin Ju, he was actually carrying out Zhao Shuo's plan. Before The Northern Expedition of Emperor Xiaozong of Song, Zhao Shuo was well alive, but Zhao Shuo did not want to continue to worry about state affairs. Although Zhao Zhuo did not want to worry about state affairs, it did not mean that he did not care about major national affairs at all. Moreover, his will had a great influence on Song Xiaozong.
Song Xiaozong
In 1127, Zhao Zhuo declared himself emperor at Shangqiu, and then fled south and finally to Hangzhou. In order to avoid the Jin army, Zhao Zhuo even ran across the sea. The perennial escape gave the generals around him the opportunity, and when Miao Liu mutinied, Zhao Zhuo was deposed and his son Zhao Xu was made emperor. Later, Zhang Jun and others cleared the side of the emperor and calmed down the Mutiny of Miao Liu. Zhao Xu fell ill during the turmoil and later died of fright, which worsened. Zhao Zhuo himself was frightened during the escape and lost his fertility. Therefore, because Zhao Zhuo had no descendants to inherit the throne, he had to find a person to replace him, that is, Zhao Xuan. In other words, Zhao Zhuo is Zhao Yun's recommender. Because of this kindness, Zhao Xuan had to listen to Zhao Xuan's words.
As the largest lord and faction, Zhao Zhuo naturally did not want Song Xiaozong to go north. When Song Xiaozong and Zhao Shuo were talking about the Northern Expedition to regain lost ground, Zhao Shuo was very angry and said, "I will talk about the Northern Expedition when I die!" It was precisely because the Southern Song Dynasty had been pursuing the principle of mastery and peace for many years, so many ministers of the Southern Song Dynasty were full of the idea of crossing the Huai River and ruling by rowing the river. For example, Song Xiaozong's teacher Shi Hao is one of them. Shi Hao was not a capitulationist, and he also hoped that the Southern Song Dynasty would be able to recover the lost territory in the Northern Expedition. However, due to the long-term pervasive idea of the weakness of the Song army in the Southern Song Dynasty, Shi Hao did not think that sending troops could defeat the Jin State. Therefore, Shi Hao suggested that Song Xiaozong continue to develop the economy, exert great efforts to govern, and wait until the time is ripe before the Northern Expedition. And the ministers with Shi Hao's thinking were the majority in the Southern Song Dynasty. This kind of thinking was actually the main reason why Zhao Zhuo had to recall Yue Fei in the first place. Because he didn't think that Yue Fei could defeat jinguo, Yue Fei just wanted to support the army in the north and respect himself.
Shi Hao, as a teacher of Emperor Xiaozong of Song, was the former chancellor of the Northern Expedition. If Shi Hao did not actively cooperate with the Northern Expedition, the entire Northern Expedition would actually mean a failure. And that's true. For example, Wu Xuan had already invaded Guanzhong, but Shi Hao must persuade Wu Xuan to come back. During the Northern Expedition, Shi Hao also repeatedly interfered with Song Xiaozong's decision-making. After the failure of the Northern Expedition, he united many lords and sent ministers to ask Song Xiaozong to conclude a new contract with the Jin State as soon as possible. The Northern Expedition of the Song Army was not an easy task, and if the Southern Song Dynasty could not be united in good faith, the Northern Expedition was doomed to be unsuccessful.
In addition to the two factions of the court, the military generals were also not in harmony. The two Northern Expedition generals appointed by Emperor Xiaozong of Song were Li Xianzhong and Shao Hongyuan. Li Xianzhong has no problem, this person is a Guanzhong person. When the Jin army went south, more than 200 members of Li Xianzhong's family were killed by the Jin army. Therefore, Li Xianzhong and Jin Jun had a feud with each other. And Li Xianzhong was also very brave in battle. In the early days of the Northern Expedition of the Song Army, the Jin Army was not defensive at all, so at the beginning the Song Army achieved many great victories. However, there were problems within the Song army. Shao Hongyuan was a careful eye, very jealous of Li Xianzhong's battle achievements. After Li Xianzhong conquered Lingbi, he helped Shao Hongyuan take Hongxian County. Li Xianzhong was rewarded by Emperor Xiaozong of Song for this. But this kind of praise was particularly glaring to Shao Hongyuan.
After the initial chaos, the Jin army began to launch a counterattack against the Song army. At this time, Shao Hongyuan's careful eyes became the Achilles heel. When the Jin army besieged Suzhou, where Li Xianzhong was stationed, Shao Hongyuan preferred to watch Li Xianzhong's entire army perish rather than go to the rescue. In the end, because of the defeat of Li Xianzhong's army, the Longxing Northern Expedition ended in failure. General discord has always been a big taboo in offensive warfare, especially when facing a rapid force such as the Jinguo cavalry, the two Song armies could easily be broken by each other if they could not cooperate with each other. Although Shao Hongyuan's careful eyes were the subjective reason for the defeat of the Song army, from the perspective of Song Xiaozong, his failure to balance the relationship between the two generals was also his own mistake.
As the emperor of the Southern Song Dynasty, Song Xiaozong should have enough understanding of the generals he sent. Song Xiaozong's unilateral reward for Li Xianzhong's behavior would definitely make Shao Hongyuan's eyes red with caution. The inability to handle the relationship between the generals was definitely the mistake of Song Xiaozong, the top administrator. Historically, although Song Xiaozong was the most capable emperor of the Southern Song Dynasty. However, it was still too far away from Emperor Wu of Han and Emperor Taizong of Tang. Song Xiaozong was even less knowledgeable than Emperor Suzong of Tang. Emperor Wu of Han's two generals, Wei Qing and Huo Fuyi, always cooperated with each other, and eventually won many battles in Mobei and Hexi. Li Ji and Li Jing under Emperor Taizong of Tang also cooperated with each other to contain the Eastern Turks and win the final victory. Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi under Tang Suzong also cooperated with tacit understanding. But it is clear that Song Xiaozong has problems in selecting people. With the obstruction of the lords and factions, the poor use of personnel, and the large number of cavalry in the Jin state, the Song army could only swallow the bitter fruit of defeat in the end.
The Longxing Northern Expedition can be said to be the most likely to succeed in the Northern Expedition after Yue Fei. Because at this time, the national strength of the Southern Song Dynasty was at its peak, and there were also the assistants of Zhang Jun and Yu Yunwen. If Song Xiaozong could arrange the generals to fight on the front line, the army would fight steadily, and then Wu Xuan would be contained on the western front, there was a great chance that the Jin army would be driven north of the Yellow River. However, this is the only chance. Shortly after the failure of the Longxing Northern Expedition, Yu Yunwen died of illness. Emperor Xiaozong of Song never had the opportunity to go north to the Central Plains and regain lost territory. When Meng Jue stepped into the Central Plains again at the end of the Southern Song Dynasty, the entire Central Plains had already changed their faces. At this time, the Southern Song Dynasty did not have the strength to defend such a large area of land in the Central Plains.
Author: Our special invited author lonely cold light
References: History of the Song Dynasty, Research Collection of the History of the Southern Song Dynasty, Imperial and Song Dynasties