Yuezhou, Zhao Gou got off the boat and entered the city gate. Seeing that all the houses in the city were burned to the ground and there were no pedestrians on the streets, I couldn't help crying. Said: "I am the parents of the people, and I cannot protect the people, so this is what happened!"
After saying that, he hit his forehead with his hand, his eyes full of shame.
Wang Kui, the political advisor, said hurriedly: "Your Majesty left Du Chong to guard Jiankang and Zhou Wang to guard Pingjiang. He has made arrangements in advance. He did not abandon Jiangsu and Zhejiang lightly. However, Du Chong and Zhou Wang are unable to do their job, so this is what happened."
Zhao Gou nodded with tears in his eyes and walked forward silently, arriving at the Yuezhou government office.
After entering the government office, I tidied up a little and ordered the chief minister to report.
Fan Zongyin, who was involved in political affairs and minister of the Privy Council, stepped forward and said: "After entering Yuezhou, I received good news about the liberation of Wang Xiaolie, the envoy of the South Beijing Road, and the Jingmen Army Commander. The Jinlu who were wreaking havoc in Jiangxi and Hunan were pursuing the Queen Mother Longyou. The troops of Lisu and Yeluma's five divisions wanted to march north from Jingmen Army to Xiangyang. Wang Xiaolie led his troops to the Jingmen Army to help relieve the submarines and defend them. The two armies fought fiercely with the Jin Army many times and won a great victory! Four thousand Jin soldiers were killed, 1,200 Jin soldiers were captured, and 19,300 Jin soldiers were signed. The Jin general Yelu Mawu was captured! Ba Lisu fled with only more than 4,000 people——"
"What?!" Zhao Gou stood up suddenly. Look at the ministers on the left and right, their faces full of disbelief. This time the Jin army went south to search the mountains and seas, and she was forced to flee into the sea. Queen Mother Longyou was almost caught up by the Jin army several times, and she was in a state of embarrassment. Ba Lisu's army crossed dozens of states. The Song troops they encountered on the road either avoided fighting or were defeated. Who would have thought that after just a month or two, there would be such a big victory.
After standing for a while, Zhao Gou's mood gradually calmed down. He slowly sat back down and asked in a deep voice: "Is this good news true?"
Fan Zongyin said: "There are official documents from Fuzhou, Hanyang Army, and Ezhou, saying that the remnant Jinlu army went north from Huangpi to Macheng. Such a great victory is the first time since the Jin people went south! Wang Xiaolie and Xie Qian Even if you have the courage, you won’t dare to lie!”
"Really won?" Zhao Gou looked at the civil and military ministers, still unable to believe the news.
Wang Gui stepped forward and saluted: "Your Majesty, the Jin people are cruel. Even if they can be proud for a while, they will be punished by God! Wu Shu was blocked by Han Shizhong at Huang Tiandang, and Ba Lisu was defeated by Wang Xiao at Jingmen. Isn't this destiny for me?"
Zhao Ding and other officials congratulated him together.
Zhao Gou nodded: "A few days ago, I watched the sky at night. Inside the Ziwei Yuan, there were red clouds in the sky, and white air penetrated them. It was a good omen. At that time, I was still doubtful. Did I agree to this? The Jin people were cruel for a while. There will eventually be a general in the world who can defeat them!"
Fan Zongyin said: "In the battle at Huang Tiandang, Han Shizhong was still able to escape due to Wushu, even though he risked his life. The Jingmen army was different. Wang Xiaolie and Ba Lisu fought for several days without a single defeat! It's just that the Jin people were all cavalry, so they could escape very quickly. It's too fast and you can't catch up. This is the first big victory for this dynasty. We should reward the soldiers who participated in the battle to stimulate the morale of the army! As long as we win a few more games, why be afraid of the Jinren!"
Zhao Gou nodded. Said: "Wang Xiaolie is the envoy of the Southwest Road of Beijing, now for defense. Xiang and Deng are far away in the west of Beijing, and the court cannot reach it, so they entrust him to Wang Xiaolie. Wang Xiaolie can be promoted to the envoy of observation, and he will still be the envoy of southwest Beijing. An envoy was appointed to control the road, and he knew the Xiangyang Prefecture, and also controlled the troops and horses on the Jinghu North Road."
Fan Zongyin held the scepter and said: "I respectfully obey the imperial edict!"
Zhao Goudao said: "Take a thousand taels of gold, a gold belt, and a fine armor from the inner treasury and give them to Wang Xiaolie. By the way, I remember that Wang Xiaolie's father was the general magistrate of a certain state, and he led troops to serve the king, but Let’s praise them together.”
Fan Zongyin said: "Wang Xiaolie's father is Wang Rudai, who was born as a Jinshi. When he was a general judge, he returned to his hometown Dingyou because he raised troops to serve the king."
Wang Xiaolie annihilated Yang Jin, occupied large areas of Ru, Tang, Deng and Xiangyang Prefectures, and successfully rescued Shaanzhou at the beginning of the year. His life experience has long been remembered by these ministers. Although many people look down on Wang Xiaolie's background, they dare not underestimate his strength.
Of course, Zhao Gou's appointment as an official to Wang Xiaolie cannot be taken seriously. The current Jingxi Road is not in the hands of the Song Dynasty at all, and Jinghu North Road is only stationed by officials from a few states, and the officials awarded are all empty promises. Just like controlling the soldiers and horses on Jinghu North Road, it sounds like a very big official, but in fact there are not many soldiers that can be controlled by Wang Xiaolie.
In fact, the Song Dynasty granted many similar officials. Only ministers who are truly sent by the court have real power, and the others are just in name. Especially Wang Xiaolie, whose background as a warlord has not yet been certified by the court, so he is just a false name.
All the ministers were discussing this great victory, and they all believed that after the battle of Jingmen Army, the Jin Army would not dare to cross the river again in the coming year.
This great victory made Zhao Gou feel much more relaxed. This time, he was chased by Jin Jun and almost couldn't escape. It was really impressive. Almost none of the ministers and generals arranged before the war actually worked.
For future generations, it is difficult to understand Zhao Gou clearly. Some people think that Zhao Gou's traitorous pursuit of peace must be useless. For example, the famous Song historian Wang Zengyu's "Debauchery and Unprincipled Song Gaozong", the name determines Zhao Gou's character. There is also a group that continues the Song Dynasty's own views. It is believed that Gaozong crossed to the south and opposed Jin from the north to the south, creating a new heyday and making him a great emperor. Of course, more people have both impressions of Zhao Gou. On the one hand, he disdains seeking peace with the North, but on the other hand, he thinks he is scheming and a ruthless person. There are even some people who do not start from history, but only rely on their own imagination, coupled with the descriptions of emperors in some film and television works, and imagine Zhao Gou as an old treacherous man with endless plans.
In fact, Zhao Gou is an ordinary person with many shortcomings and many advantages. First of all, Zhao Gou was a capitulator, which directly determined the politics of Gaozong Dynasty. Qin Hui's success and the cold reception by the generals and ministers of the main war faction all originated from this. Secondly, in the turbulent era at the turn of the Song Dynasty, Zhao Gou finally stabilized politics, which was not without merit.
Generally speaking, Zhao Gou was not a diligent and caring emperor, and was more interested in pleasure than handling political affairs. On the other hand, Zhao Gou is not particularly selfish and indifferent to the people. In addition to the reuse of Huang Qianshan and Wang Boyan at the beginning, which caused chaos in the government, after the Miao Liu rebellion, they learned their lessons and reused Lu Yihao, Zhu Shengfei and others, which stabilized the government in time. There is both a bloody suppression of the rebellious people and a genuine sympathy for the hardship of the people. Unless there is a fundamental conflict with them, they will rarely kill courtiers.
This is an ordinary person. As Wang Zengyu said, it is obvious that he is too dissolute and immoral, but Zhao Gou cannot reach that level. But imagine him as a great emperor, everything he does is full of profound meaning, and it's the same. In many things, Zhao Gou followed the trend. Zhao Gou was sympathetic. When he first entered the city, he saw that the Jin army had seriously damaged the city, and he sincerely blamed himself. Zhao Gou is not stubborn either. Once he realizes that he needs to change his mind about something, Zhao Gou will not insist on changing his mind. He likes beautiful women and pleasure, and is not very interested in political affairs.
Zhao Gou was not as good as people in the Southern Song Dynasty said, nor was he as bad as some people said later. It's just that in the great era at the turn of the Song Dynasty, neither Zhao Gou's talent nor his character were enough to support the Song Dynasty. Especially in this era, Zhao Gou has no great ambitions.
Later generations discussed Yue Fei's murder. Some people said that the main responsibility lay with Qin Hui, while others said that the main responsibility lay with Zhao Gou. When discussing, no matter which point of view, Zhao Gou's ability was always exaggerated intentionally or unintentionally.
As the emperor, no matter what the specific process is, Zhao Gou must bear the main responsibility. In every sense of the word, this is true. Although he bears the main responsibility, the real Zhao Gou is not as cunning and cunning as later generations analyzed.
Speaking of Yue Fei's death, future generations will analyze various reasons. Among them, these are the most mentioned ones. The first is that Yue Fei's ambition is to restore the Central Plains and welcome back the Two Saints. The Second Saint welcomes back, what should Zhao Gou do? Second, Yue Fei suggested that Zhao Gou establish the crown prince early. As a general in charge of the army, Yue Fei violated a taboo. Third, Yue Fei's military power was too great and he became the most powerful force in the Song Dynasty. Zhao Gou was afraid of threatening his throne. Fourth, Yue Fei's character is too sincere and he doesn't know how to be diplomatic. I like to resign when things don't go my way. Fifth, Yue Fei's Northern Expedition. On the surface, the Song Army seemed to have an advantage, but in fact, the Song Army was already in danger. At that time, the only way out for the Song Dynasty was to negotiate peace, but Yue Fei opposed peace negotiation. The explanations are varied and eloquent.
Among these analyses, some people always want to emphasize how Zhao Gou, as the emperor, did what he did. Faced with this, he will definitely think like this and what to do. Faced with that one, he would definitely think so and what to do. The analysis is as vivid as if it were real.
What happened to being an emperor? At this time, Zhao Gou has been reduced to a bereaved dog many times. What scene has he not seen before? Being so cautious, Zhao Gou could not wait until the time for peace talks. In fact, when the Song army was truly at its peak, Zhao Gou didn't mind the Northern Expedition. It's just that when the prospect of war was unclear and surrender and peace were within easy reach, he just chose to surrender. The analysis of Zhao Gou by later generations is not directed at Zhao Gou as a person, but rather as a person who kneads the emperors in history into one person to replace Zhao Gou. It sounds reasonable, but it is far from the truth. ,'
Zhao Gou is an ordinary person. Even if he becomes the emperor, he is still an ordinary person. It's just that in this great era, an ordinary person should not be the emperor. If you are forced to become an emperor, you should not be an ordinary person.
In this turbulent era, due to various coincidences, Zhao Zu became the only descendant of Song Huizong who was not captured by the Jin army, and became the emperor with no choice. To this emperor, the soldiers and civilians of the Song Dynasty showed their loyalty, their bravery, and their fearlessness. But Zhao Gou failed this era and his subjects.
Why did Yue Fei die? The first is because Zhao Gou is an unqualified emperor, and the second is because Qin Hui. Also, contrary to what some people say, the army at this time is also not a qualified army.
