On the first day of April in 1127 AD, the Northern Song Dynasty, which was in its prime, collapsed and hastily withdrew from the stage of history. To be precise, it was Zhao Huan, the Emperor of Song Qinzong, who fired Li Gang, the former defensive commander of Kaifeng City, at a critical moment, and directly assisted the Jin State, thus allowing the Jin people to easily attack Kaifeng City, resulting in the occurrence of the "Shame of Jingkang" and announcing the demise of the Northern Song Dynasty.
Then, if Song Qinzong did not fire Li Gang, would he be able to avoid the occurrence of the "shame of Jing Kang"? Not necessarily, but if you don't self-destruct the Great Wall and fire Li Gang, you will definitely be able to prolong the Northern Song Dynasty. Because, when the Jin army first attacked Kaifeng, it was Li Gang who organized the military and civilian defense of the city and finally repelled the Jin army, and the reason why the Jin army attacked Kaifeng for the second time was due to Li Gang's dismissal.
Li Gang
Then, why did Song Qinzong hate Li Gang so much that he would rather lose Jiangshan than tolerate him? To clarify this problem, let's first start with Li Gang.
With Li Gangzhi's sage, Bi Li was worried about Jing Kang and Jianyan, Mo or Scratch, why did the Second Emperor go north, and Song Zhi was the partial peace of the southern crossing? - Detachment
Li Gang (27 July 1083 – 5 February 1140), courtesy name Boji, was a native of Wuxi, Changzhou, whose ancestral home was Shaowu, Fujian. Qu Dajun, a famous minister of resistance against Jin and a national hero and poet of the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, once compared him to Zhuge Liang.
In 1112 AD, Li Gangjin and the first, from then on entered the career. When the Jin people first invaded the south, Li Gang had insight into the wolf ambitions of the Jin people to destroy the Great Song, so on the grounds that "the ancestral territory should be defended by death, it is not allowed to be sized and people", and urged Song Qinzong to abandon the illusion of cutting off the land and discussing peace, and resolutely resist jin by force. He believed that the most urgent task at the moment was to rectify the forbidden army in the capital, unite the residents of the city, defend the city of Kaifeng with the same enemy, and at the same time order the soldiers and horses of the world to serve the king, so that if they attacked inside and outside, they could withdraw the golden soldiers.
Under the circumstance that Emperor Huizong of Song, Cai Jing, Tong Guan, and other important officials fled to the south, and Dazai Bai Shizhong and Li Bangyan were overwhelmed, Song Qinzong, who was besieged in an embattled situation, had no choice but to appoint Li Gang as the right hand man of Shangshu, with full responsibility for governing the army and defending the enemy.
Li Gangshusheng became a general and did not fail in his mission. Li Gang, who was in danger, led the soldiers and civilians in Kaifeng City to quickly deploy a defensive line. When the Jin army attacked the city, Li Gang was even more fearless, personally climbing the city tower to supervise the battle, and the morale of the Kaifeng soldiers and civilians under the encouragement of Li Gang was greatly boosted, and the Jin soldiers who besieged the city were severely damaged.
The Jin army's attack was blocked and could not break the city, but the Northern Song Dynasty's various Qin wang divisions successively arrived in Kaifeng, and the situation at this time was very unfavorable to the Jin army that was deep alone. The commander of the Jin army, Emperor Yanzong, had no choice but to do anything, and after the Song court promised to cede the three towns of Hebei (which were not actually ceded), he withdrew his army down the slope and returned north, and the defense of Kaifeng was won under the leadership of Li Gang.
Li Gang proposed to adopt the strategy of "attacking if it can be attacked" when the Jin army retreated, but it was vetoed by Song Qinzong, thus missing the opportunity to annihilate the main force of the Jin army, and returning the Jin army to the mountain, leaving endless troubles.
Gang Xiang please, as in the story of The Yuanyuan, send troops to escort, and warn the generals, and if you can strike, you will strike at them. It was a hundred thousand soldiers who marched in parallel, and the soldiers were ordered to act enthusiastically. ...... The prime minister blamed Gang for sending the soldiers under the city to pursue the enemy, fearing that the pawns were at a loss, and rushing to recruit the generals to return. The generals had already pursued the Jin people to the punishment and Zhao, and they had to return the orders of the master, and they all strangled their wrists. Bi Gang fought hard and pursued, and the soldiers disintegrated. - "History of Song"
After the victory of the defense of Kaifeng, Song Qinzong misjudged the situation, believing that the Jin would not invade the south again. Therefore, he began to act eagerly on Li Gang.
Emperor Qinzong of Song forced Li Gang to lead reinforcements to relieve the siege of Taiyuan, but he also imposed many restrictions on Li Gang, so that although Li Gang had the name of a unified soldier, he actually had no right to mobilize the army. Li Gang's reasonable proposal to strike hard at the Jin army with the tactic of "digging out the heart" was also wrongly rejected by Song Qinzong, which eventually led to the failure of the rescue operation to Taiyuan. Subsequently, Li Gang was demoted to Ningjiang by Emperor Qinzong of Song on the charge of "monopolizing on war and losing his master and spending money".
Soon, he was the chief of the battle, lost his master and lost his money, dropped his post and promoted the Ming Dao Palace in Bozhou, and was entrusted with the deputy envoy of the Baojing Army, and the Jianchang Army was resettled; and then he was in Ningjiang. - "History of Song"
In August 1126, the Jin army invaded the south again and soon surrounded Kaifeng. Emperor Qinzong of Song repented of his desperation and urgently appointed Li Gang as a senior scholar of the Imperial Palace, leaving him fully responsible for the defense of kaifeng.
After Li Gang received his appointment on the way to degrade Ningjiang, he immediately led the Qinwang army in Hunan to Kaifeng to rescue. Unfortunately, the whip was out of reach, and as soon as it reached the halfway point, the news of the loss of Kaifeng City came, and the Northern Song Dynasty was officially declared dead.
As Li Gangzhixian said, if the rulers of the Northern Song Dynasty did not interfere with him, then the tragedy of Jing Kang's shame could have been avoided. But unfortunately, Zhao Huan, the Emperor of Song Qinzong, did not understand this truth, and when he was in the face of the great enemy, he abolished his martial arts to become the enemy, which violated the norm and was the way to kill himself.
So, why did Song Qinzong do this? To know the reasons for this, it is necessary for us to first understand the Song Qinzong Zhao Huan and his people.
Emperor Qinzong of Song (赵桓, 赵亶), the last emperor of the Northern Song Dynasty, was the eldest son of Emperor Huizong of Song. Reigned for one year and two months. He is indecisive, capricious and lacks judgment on political issues.
In October 1125, the Jin army invaded the Northern Song Dynasty in the south and pushed directly into kaifeng, the capital of the Northern Song Dynasty. When Emperor Huizong of Song learned the news, he was frightened on the spot and could no longer manage the government, so he had to give up the throne to the crown prince Zhao Huan.
Zhao Huan initially refused to become emperor, but in the end he could not resist the insistence of the ministers, so he had to take the throne in danger and began his one-year and two-month career as emperor.
At the beginning of his reign, Song Qinzong once showed extraordinary boldness. He resolutely used Li Gang and did not hesitate to deal with Cai Jing, Tong Guan, and six other thieves who had brought calamity to the country and the people. This wave of Song Qinzong's operations suddenly attracted countless fans, and people in Kaifeng City rushed to tell each other and praised his meritocracy.
Unfortunately, Song Qinzong's boldness was only a flash in the pan, and he soon revealed his characteristics of being indecisive, capricious, and lacking judgment on political issues. We all know that dealing with a crisis requires decisive, determined, strategic leaders, and Song Qinzong is clearly not a suitable candidate.
Song Qinzong may have been able to become the ruler of the Taiping Dynasty, but he was definitely not the king who could turn the tide of chaos from the fallen. Therefore, when Song Huizong was facing a crisis in the country, he himself was killed and retreated, and it was a very irresponsible act to push Zhao Huan, who had no experience in governing the country, to the forefront, and the later disposition of Li Gang by Song Qinzong proved this.
Li Gang has extremely high prestige and appeal among the military and people of Kaifeng. In the course of the defense of Kaifeng, Song Qinzong listened to the words of the lord and the faction, and once dismissed Li Gang from his post, but he did not expect that this annoyed the students and the soldiers and civilians in Kaifeng City.
Although chen dong, a student of the imperial court, did not know Li Gangsu, he admired Li Gang's action of being ordered to defend Kaifeng, and when he heard that Li Gang had been deposed, he immediately wrote a letter and petitioned outside the Xuande Gate of the Imperial Palace to demand that the imperial court restore Li Gang to his official position.
"One advance and one retreat are very light in the program and very heavy in the imperial court." Fortunately, His Majesty reversed his previous orders, reinstated his old post, and paid for the affairs of the master in order to settle the heart of the outside world. Your Majesty does not believe in the words of his subjects, please ask all the people of the country, and all the people of the country will know that the program is available, and Bang Yan and so on can be rebuked. When using the house, do not judge it! --History of the Song Dynasty
After hearing the news, the military and people of Kaifeng responded to the news and spontaneously joined the petition team, and tens of thousands of people gathered outside the Xuande Gate at once. Due to the repeated delays of the imperial court, the petitioning crowd, in anger, began to chase down the officials and kill and injure the internal servants.
Wang Zonghao, a general of the Janissaries, judged that the situation was at risk of getting out of control at any time, and hurried into the palace to persuade Song Qinzong to accept the petition. When Emperor Qinzong of Song was forced to do so, he had no choice but to restore Li Gangshang Shu to his official position and put him in charge of the defense of the capital.
When Song Qinzong announced Li Gang's reinstatement, he shed tears. It is said that boys have tears and do not flick, let alone the tears of the emperor! According to the situation at that time, Song Qinzong could not have shed tears because he was moved, because for him, there was no need to be moved by Li Gang's reinstatement. Of course, he did not have any reason to be sad about Li Gang's reinstatement, and the only thing that could make him cry was that he was forced to reinstate Li Gang, so he shed tears of fear, helplessness and grievance.
"Gang into the view, weeping and praying to death." Emperor Yi weeping," ——" History of song
Li Gang's prestige and great appeal among the military and the people made Song Qinzong feel uneasy. In this incident, Song Qinzong was completely reduced to a supporting role and became a puppet to be manipulated, which made Song Qinzong, who had a strong desire for power, feel frustrated, and at the same time, the military and civilian forced the palace action also made him feel afraid. At this time, Song Qinzong had regarded Li Gang as the greatest threat.
When the Jin army invaded the Northern Song Dynasty in the south, Emperor Huizong of Song, who was at a loss for words, hurriedly threw down the pot and wrote that "the crown prince can be the emperor's throne, and give the sect leader Daojun a retreat to Longde Palace", and then abandoned the country and fled south. And a hundred unwilling crown princes Zhao Huan (Song Qinzong) were thus "" put on the throne.
At the beginning of Song Qinzong's ascension to the throne, he gave Emperor Huizong a dismount. On the grounds that public opinion was difficult to violate, he executed or exiled six people in Song Huizong's think tank, including Cai Jing and Tong Guan, making Song Huizong the commander of the light pole. However, this also made the relationship between the father and son of Hui and Qin begin to be delicate from then on.
After Emperor Huizong of Song retreated from the top of power above ten thousand people to the second line, he was still full of attachment to power and was not willing to withdraw from the political stage. Therefore, he frequently issued orders in his capacity as emperor taishang, and also gave li gang a jade belt, a goldfish, and an elephant, and said: "Qing assisted the emperor and defended the clan society, and if he could reconcile father and son, there would be no doubt that he would obstruct it, and he would be famous for all generations." The loyal Li Gang was touched by this remark, and after that, he was bent on promoting the relationship between the father and son of Hui and Qin, and unconsciously became involved in the dispute between the two palaces.
Since ancient times, it has been taboo to intervene in the affairs of the royal family. Li Gang was an old vassal of Emperor Huizong of Song and the current military commander defending the capital, holding military power and taking care of his position. This made Song Qinzong, who had just succeeded to the throne and felt that his foundation was unstable, doubt Li Gang's attitude, and since then there has been a gap between the monarchs and his subjects.
Under the leadership of Li Gang, the military and people of Kaifeng fought against the enemy and eventually defeated the Jin army and won the victory in the defense of Kaifeng. And Li Gang also relied on his outstanding performance in this defensive battle to make his personal reputation reach its peak, which not only made Song Qinzong feel like he was on his back, but also made the lords and factions led by Li Bangyan and Geng Nanzhong jealous and hateful, and they would want to get rid of it quickly.
Li Gang was unaware of the thoughts of Song Qinzong, Geng Nanzhong, and others. He was still concerned about border defense, and he took precautions to mobilize troops for autumn defense, and Song Qinzong, at the instigation of the lord and the faction, began to attack.
Li Gangsong asked for the addition of two lieutenants, but Song Qinzong vetoed it on the grounds that "the minister has exclusive power and cannot be immersed for a long time". In the Northern Song Dynasty, the "dictatorship of ministers" was a very serious matter, and the purpose of Zhao Kuangyin's implementation of the "right to release the military with a cup of wine" was to cut the military power of the "monopoly" ministers. Now, Song Qinzong once again threw out the phrase "the dictatorship of the chancellor", making it clear that he was going to cut Li Gang's military power.
Sure enough, the Jin army had just withdrawn in February, and Song Qinzong began to fire his knife at Li Gang in May. He forced Li Gang to lead the troops and horses to relieve the siege of Taiyuan, but he did not give him the power to control the army, that is to say, although Li Gang had the name of commanding the army, he actually did not have the right to mobilize the army.
Li Gang had no choice but to resign, but Song Qinzong was still unwilling to give up, and he expelled Li Gang from the capital and demoted him to Ningjiang on the charge of "monopolizing the war and losing his master and spending money".
Although Song Qinzong was short-sighted in strategy, he was an out-and-out power controller. However, Li Ganggong did not know it, and still did things in a high profile, which eventually made Song Qinzong suffer from obsessive-compulsive disorder and could not wait to demote him out of the capital.
There is no love for no reason, and there is no hate for no reason. Song Qinzong and Li Gangjun also had a honeymoon period, that is, when the Jin people first invaded the south, when Song Qinzong was going to flee south, but under the strong persuasion of Li Gang, he finally decided to stay in Kaifeng and gave Li Gang absolute authority, so that he could mobilize all resources to defend Kaifeng. In the end, Li Gang also lived up to his trust and won the victory in the defense of Kaifeng.
In the process, the military and civilians of Kaifeng spontaneously gathered tens of thousands of people because of Li Gang's dismissal and went to the Xuande Gate to force the palace to exert pressure, demanding that Song Qinzong reinstate Li Gang. At this time, Li Gang's prestige and appeal among the military and the people began to make Song Qinzong fearful.
Li Gang originally wanted to reconcile the relations between the Hui and Qin palaces. However, because Li Gang was an old vassal of Emperor Huizong, and Emperor Huizong showed a attachment to power. Can't help but make Song Qinzong a little jealous, and began to have a gap with Li Gang.
The most crucial thing is that Li Gang, who has made great contributions in the defense of Kaifeng, has already made great contributions to the lord. This made the power control Song Qinzong feel like a man on his back, and he wanted to get rid of it quickly.
Therefore, after jin bing retreated, Song Qinzong began to settle accounts after the autumn. He used the excuse to degrade Li Gang and leave the capital, and the honeymoon period between them was over.
However, Song Qinzong was worried about it, and he did not consider the question of what To do after li gang was fired, and Jin Bing would come again. When the Jin soldiers once again attacked the city of Kaifeng, Song Qinzong, who was faced with the destruction of the city and was captured, repented and used Li Gang again, but it was too late. Before Li Gang arrived in the capital, Emperor Qinzong of Song had been captured and the Northern Song Dynasty was destroyed.
Jin Bing came again, Shang Wu and discussed the non-non- and the non-commissioned, except for the senior government of the Gang Dynasty, who led the Kaifeng Government Affairs. Gangxing was ordered to lead the division of king Qin of Hunan to aid, but the capital was lost before it arrived. - "History of Song"
Therefore, Li Gang's prestige among the military and the people was too high, his involvement in the dispute between the two palaces, and his meritorious service were the three reasons why he was fired by Song Qinzong.
And Song Qinzong fired Li Gang at the node before the Jin soldiers invaded again, and the reason was that people cried and laughed. Originally, Song Qinzong firmly believed that the Jin people would abide by the peace agreement and would not invade again, so he was relieved to fire Li Gang. However, the Jin people did not play their cards according to the convention, and brazenly did not abide by the peace agreement to invade the south again, which Song Qinzong never expected. In the end, he fired Li Gang and inadvertently "assisted" the Jin people, allowing the Jin soldiers to quickly attack kaifeng city, and he also personally ended the Northern Song Dynasty.