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Chapter 509 Our Great Song Dynasty: Shame Knows No Bounds (History of the Northern Song Dynasty)
But even though we've already reached this level of humiliation, this is still not the shame of Jingkang, because our Great Song Dynasty can continue to break through the lowest limits of humiliation!

Li Nian said, "It's a pity that the soldiers and civilians of Taiyuan were resisting the Jin people. When the imperial edict from the Zhao Song court was sent to Taiyuan, the soldiers and civilians of Taiyuan refused to obey the edict and vowed to defend the city to the death and continue to resist. When the food in the city ran out, they ate tree bark and grass. When those were all eaten, they killed horses to fill their stomachs!"

"It is said that when they were killing warhorses to feed themselves, the soldiers under Wang Bing advised him: 'General, how can you command without warhorses?' Wang Bing was the garrison commander of Taiyuan at that time."

Wang Bing replied, "What use are a thousand fine horses if Taiyuan falls?"

"Under the continuous blockade by the Jin people and with almost no reinforcements, Wang Bing led the soldiers and civilians of Taiyuan to hold out for more than eight months until they ran out of food and their armor was damaged beyond repair, and Taiyuan was finally captured by the Jin people."

"But until their deaths, Wang Bing and the others persisted in resisting the Jin people. Now that the city had fallen, they would fight to the death against the Jin people within the city. Unfortunately, they had no food, no medicine, and no reinforcements, so how could they possibly defeat the Jin people?"

"In the end, surrounded by the Jin army and facing their attempts to persuade him to surrender, Wang Bing committed suicide, and dozens of soldiers and civilians from Taiyuan who had fought alongside him also took their own lives."

There is another account of Wang Bing's death, which says that he drowned himself in the Fen River while carrying a portrait of Emperor Taizong of Song, Zhao Guangyi, in the Yuanmiao Temple.

"After Wang Bing died, Wanyan Zonghan was furious and trampled Wang Bing's body with his horse, and then ordered his soldiers to chop the body into mincemeat."

In another version of the story, Wang Bing's body was not chopped up, but was stolen by the soldiers and civilians of Taiyuan that night.

Li Nian believes the first explanation is more plausible. Wang Bing led the people of Taiyuan in resisting the Jin people for so long that the Jin people must have hated him to the bone. Given the Jin people's barbarity and cruelty, they would certainly have done something like chopping Wang Bing's body into pieces to vent their anger.

If the Jurchens did not damage Wang Bing's body, it means that they respected this worthy opponent and would have given him a proper burial.

It's highly unlikely that the people and soldiers of Taiyuan would have the opportunity to steal Wang Bing's body.

This is probably because people feel regret and sorrow over the fact that Wang Bing was loyal and righteous in life, but his body was not properly preserved after death, so they want to give the hero a better ending.

Heroes should not die without a complete body, nor should their remains be left unburied!
Meng Tian sighed, "What excellent soldiers and civilians! It's a pity they encountered people like Zhao Huan. Zhao Ji and Zhao Huan are not worthy of such soldiers and civilians!"

The Song Dynasty also had loyal ministers and generals, but unfortunately, these people who were truly dedicated to the country often met with bad ends in the Song Dynasty.

It was the Song Dynasty that wronged them, not the other way around.

Feng Jie said, "It is utterly shameful. The situation in Taiyuan is so critical, yet the soldiers and civilians of Taiyuan are still resisting the Jin people. The situation in Bianjing is quite good, yet Zhao Huan and others cannot muster the will to resist the Jin people and instead want to make peace with them!"

In comparison, the First Emperor and others looked down on the Song Dynasty even more. The central court of the Song Dynasty, with its emperors and prime ministers, was not as good as the local soldiers and civilians.

They even say, "Only those who are called out in the Donghua Gate are true men." These people who are called out in the Donghua Gate have less integrity than the martial artists and commoners they look down on.

These people usually act as extremely loyal ministers, their loyalty is as clear as the sun and moon, and their righteousness is as clear as heaven and earth. But when the time comes, their true colors are revealed all at once.

Wang Ben said, "Taiyuan held out for so long, didn't the Song Dynasty ever think of providing assistance?"

Li Nian said, "We did consider sending reinforcements, but they have already ceded Taiyuan to the Jin people. If we were to support Taiyuan, we would offend the Jin people. How could the Song dynasty dare to truly offend the Jin people?"

The Song Dynasty court often exhibited a contradictory behavior, frequently switching between different goals. They often wanted to do certain things, but due to their own cowardice, they dared not carry them out to the end.

Things like accepting Zhang Jue, and ceding the three towns to the Jurchens and then wanting to renege on the agreement...

The politics of the Song Dynasty also had this situation. For example, Zhao Huan would switch between the pro-war faction and the peace faction. He would first agree to the pro-war faction, but once he suffered a defeat, he would immediately switch to the peace faction.

After the peace faction came to power, they regretted ceding territory and paying reparations to the Jin dynasty. They wanted to do something underhanded, but they didn't dare to actually do it or go all the way.

The Song Dynasty was like a cowardly, fickle, and arrogant villain!

If the petty people of the Song Dynasty were to gain power, they would immediately become extremely arrogant, thinking that their predecessors were not worth praising and their successors were not worth mentioning, and that their own Song Dynasty was the best in all of history.

"Therefore, the people and soldiers of Taiyuan resisted the Jin army for so long without any support."

Wang Ben took a deep breath and said, "If the Song Dynasty doesn't perish, it will be an injustice to Heaven!"

A country that allows its strategic strongholds to be besieged by the enemy for more than eight months and dares not do anything deserves to perish.

"After looting the gold and silver and ceding the three towns to the Jurchens, Zhao Huan and his men also sent a prince and a prime minister to the Jurchens as requested by them."

"This prince was Zhao Gou, the ninth son of the great calligrapher. He personally requested Zhao Huan to send him to the Jin camp as a hostage. The prime minister was Zhang Bangchang, who was also a member of the peace faction."

"If Zhao Gou really took the initiative to go to the Jin camp as a hostage, then he still had some courage at that time. Unfortunately, that was all the courage he had. After arriving at the Jin camp, he was most likely terrified by the Jin people and turned from Zhao Gou into Wanyan Gou, and Zhao Jiu into Zhao Jiu Mei."

The name "Wanyan Gou" reveals that Zhao Gou was a coward who feared the Jin like a tiger, and would probably do something like "using the resources of the Song Dynasty to please the Jin father."

What does it matter whether the Zhao Song dynasty suffers losses or not? We don't have the Zhao surname; we have the Wanyan surname, which comes from our fathers, the Jurchens.

"When Li Gang opposed the Jin people's conditions, he pointed out to Zhao Huan, Li Bangyan and others that if they could delay for a few more days, the armies from all over the country would arrive to support the emperor. At that time, there would be no need to fulfill the Jin people's conditions, and the Jin people would withdraw their troops. As Li Gang said, Zhao Huan and others were eager to offer tribute to the Jin people!"

"After obtaining what they wanted, the Jin people saw that Song troops from various places were arriving one after another to come to the aid of the emperor. They knew that if they stayed any longer, they would put themselves in danger. So they took the opportunity to retreat."

Despite the Song dynasty paying tribute to the Liao dynasty for so many years, the Liao dynasty received less than the amount the Jin dynasty plundered in a single wave.

"When the Jin army was retreating, Li Gang and Zhong Shidao both intended to have the Song army follow the Jin army and attack them when they were halfway across the Yellow River. However, they were suppressed by the peace faction. The peace faction had a large flag erected on the banks of the Yellow River and strictly ordered the Song army not to bypass the flag to chase the Jin army. Anyone who violated this order would be executed."

They just stood there, staring blankly as the Jin army left. At this time, the Song army that arrived in Bianliang was far superior to the Jin army in terms of numbers, and also included the elite Western Army.

Such a good opportunity to strike at the Jin people and annihilate the Jin army's elite forces was let go by the peace-seeking faction!

If we don't take this opportunity to strike the Jurchens and inflict some losses on them, they will surely come back again.

Emperor Huizong and Emperor Huan were scoundrels, and none of the Song officials who advocated peace were human either. "After the Jin army crossed the Yellow River and retreated, Zhong Shidao proposed to gather a large army and station it on both banks of the Yellow River to prevent the Jin from crossing the river again."

The Jin people have gained so much from the Song Dynasty without suffering much loss, so there is a high probability that they will come again next time!

Even the Jurchens knew they couldn't just plunder the Song Dynasty, which was a weak, wealthy, and easily bullied nation.

In a normal dynasty, Zhong Shidao's proposal would probably have been approved, but the Song Dynasty was different.

"Initially, Zhao Huan accepted Zhong Shidao's proposal and was prepared to implement it, but the peace faction interfered. They argued that stationing troops on both sides of the Yellow River was very costly, and if the Jin army did not arrive, wouldn't this expenditure be wasted? Therefore, they submitted a memorial to Zhao Huan, which prevented him from adopting Zhong Shidao's proposal!"

Upon hearing this reason, the First Emperor and the others felt an urge to draw their swords and chop down these bastards.

This is simply unbearable. This is helping beasts, not human beings at all. Listen to this, is this how a human being speaks?
Upon hearing this, even Wang Wan, who was known for his excellent self-cultivation, couldn't help but curse, "Those people are not human; how are their words any different from those of livestock?"

How much did it cost to station a large army on both sides of the Yellow River? It's more than what you bunch of bastards paid when you begged for peace with the Jin people.

Now you're so stingy with money. Why didn't you feel any sting when you paid the Jin people five million taels of gold, fifty million taels of silver, ten thousand cattle and horses, and one million bolts of silk?

Even if Bianjing (Kaifeng) couldn't actually produce that much wealth, it must have been several million or even tens of millions of taels.

So they can't afford to spend money on their own army's garrison, but they can afford to pay reparations to the Jin people!
Moreover, how can you be so sure that the Jin people won't come?
It's always better to be prepared for something like this. We can't just wait until the Jurchens attack again and then rush to prepare. Otherwise, we'll be besieged by the Jurchens again and have to pay them reparations and cede territory.
These Song officials were most likely addicted to paying reparations and ceding territory to the Jin!
Feng Quji succinctly revealed the reason: "They are guarding against military men. They are worried that a large army stationed near Bianliang will threaten their position!"

“The Jurchens can come again, and we can pay them reparations, but the military leaders cannot gain power. In their minds, even if the Jurchens come again, they will only demand some money and land, and will not threaten their power and status. After the Jurchens get the money and land and leave satisfied, they will still be high-ranking officials in the Song court.”

"But it is different if military men become powerful. If military men become powerful, they will be stripped of their status and power, and the old days of military men causing chaos in the government during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period will be repeated."

Li Nian nodded and said, "I think so too. These Zhao Song ministers have no country in their hearts; they are only after their own selfish interests. We can pay reparations and cede territory to the Jin, but we must never allow military men to become a force to be reckoned with!"

"After his proposal was rejected, Zhong Shidao fell ill with anger and eventually died. Li Gang was also transferred to Hebei as the Pacification Commissioner of Hedong, and later banished to Jiangxi. This actually saved Li Gang from disaster when the Jin army marched south again!"

"The pro-war faction in the Song Dynasty lost its backbone, which made the Song court even more vulnerable when the Jin army invaded the south for the second time."

This was only the first time the Jurchens invaded the south, and the Song Dynasty was already so humiliated. What kind of disgrace would the second invasion bring?

The few truly wise people were all driven away by the Zhao Song court. These people were good for nothing, but they were number one at causing trouble.

"After the Jin troops retreated and the situation was temporarily calmed, the great calligrapher returned to Bianjing."

Meng Tian said, "Does this fellow even have the nerve to come back?"

Li Nian said, "It is said that Zhao Huan sent someone to bring him back, but if the great calligrapher himself did not want to return, who could force him?"

To put it bluntly, Zhao Ji saw that the sky had cleared, the rain had stopped, the Jin people had eaten and drunk their fill and retreated, and Bianjing was out of danger but safe. He, Zhao Ji, could return to the capital and continue to enjoy himself.

His Genyue Garden was only completed a few years ago; it can't be built and then left unused.

"After the Jin army retreated, Zhao Huan dealt with six traitors, including Cai Jing and Tong Guan. Li Yan was given death by imperial decree, Tong Guan was first demoted and then killed, Wang Fu was killed, Liang Shicheng was killed on his way to exile, Zhu Mian was beheaded during his exile, and Cai Jing was exiled and died on the way."

"It is said that Cai Jing was starved to death. His infamy spread throughout the land, and when people learned that he was Cai Jing, they refused to sell him anything, causing him to starve to death!"

Upon hearing that Cai Jing, that scoundrel, was finally dead, and possibly starved to death, Meng Tian immediately laughed and said, "This man was extravagant and wasteful in life. He used hundreds of quails for a single bowl of soup and spent thousands of strings of cash on a single serving of crab roe buns. Starving to death is probably the best way for him to die!"

Such a person should be starved or frozen to death, so that he can experience the feeling of hunger and cold that causes families to be torn apart and people to be displaced because of him.

Unfortunately, there were only six thieves; the real ringleader above them was not dealt with.

All six thieves deserve to die, but that man deserves to die even more; he deserves to be torn to pieces.

The six thieves will become six thieves, committing those calamities that harm the country and the people, all because that person is supporting them from behind, or even working for that person.

"After the Jin army withdrew, the Song Dynasty returned to its normal state. Songs were sung and dances were performed as usual. People went to the gardens to enjoy themselves and pursued immortality as they did. It was as if the Jin army's siege was just a dream, and our Great Song Dynasty was still a prosperous age, still filled with singing and dancing!"

"But while the Song dynasty had forgotten all the unpleasantness of the past and was enjoying peace and prosperity again, the Jin people had not forgotten that the Song dynasty was the fattest sheep they had ever seen. They hadn't been satisfied with just one raid; this sheep still had a lot of meat left."

"The Jin army withdrew in February of the first year of Jingkang, but in August of the same year, they once again marched south, led by Wanyan Zongwang and Wanyan Zonghan, and launched an attack on the Song Dynasty in two routes, east and west."

It's obvious to anyone with a brain that the Jurchens would never let the Song dynasty, such a fat sheep, go.

Only people like Zhao Huan naively believed that the Jurchens would not march south.

"The reason given by the Jin people for launching this attack is quite interesting, similar to that of Zhang Jue. This time, the Jin sent envoys to the Song Dynasty. One of the envoys was named Xiao Zhonggong, and the other was named Yelü Yudu. The Yelü family was the royal family of the Liao Dynasty, while the Xiao family was a royal family of the Liao Dynasty."

"The Liao emperors were of the Yelü clan, and the empresses were almost all of the Xiao clan. Zhao Huan and others believed that these two were originally nobles of the Liao dynasty and must hate the Jurchens who destroyed the Liao dynasty. They could use them as inside agents."

This is yet another manifestation of the Zhao Song dynasty's weakness, indecisiveness, and penchant for underhanded tactics.

He lacked both the courage and perseverance to resist the Jin dynasty to the end, yet he liked to secretly stir up trouble, but often his efforts failed, giving others an excuse to do so.

If you've got the guts, then fight the Jurchens to the bitter end!
"But with the Liao people, the Song dynasty had long lost its credibility, and Zhao Huan and others didn't understand one thing: it's true that the Liao people hated the Jin people, but they hated and despised the Song dynasty even more!"

"When the Jin people destroyed the Liao, the Liao people sought help from the Song Dynasty. Regarding the Song Dynasty's plan to ally with the Jin to destroy the Liao, the Liao people warned the Song Dynasty that the Jin people were a tiger and a wolf, and that they should not seek to deal with a tiger. The Liao Dynasty was the Song Dynasty's bulwark against the Jin people. If the Liao Dynasty was destroyed, the Song Dynasty would also be vulnerable."

"But the Song dynasty thought that allying with the Jin to destroy the Liao was a brilliant plan, and they were so engrossed in the fact that they could reclaim the enormous credit for the Yan and Yun regions after destroying the Liao that they refused to listen."

(End of this chapter)