Diqin Designer

Chapter 516 Loyal to the Country, Yet Ultimately Murdered (End of Northern Song Dynasty History)

"Zhao Gou, Qin Hui, and others had long wanted to negotiate peace with the Jin people. When they heard that as long as Yue Fei was killed, the Jin people would negotiate peace with them, how could they not agree?"

"They don't care if the marshal lives, if we can recover lost territory, or if we can intimidate the Jurchens. All they want is to make peace with the Jurchens!"

"In April of the eleventh year of Shaoxing, the three great anti-Jin generals, Marshal Yue, Han Shizhong, and Zhang Jun, were transferred from the army by Zhao Gou, Qin Hui, and others to serve in the Privy Council in Lin'an. Han and Zhang were appointed as Privy Councilors, and Marshal Yue was appointed as Deputy Privy Councilor. In terms of position, the marshals and the others were promoted."

Meng Tian pointed out, "The promotion is a pretense; their real intention is to transfer them away from the army so they can negotiate peace with the Jin. And being away from the army will make it easier for them to target Yue Fei!"

Li Nian nodded and said, "That's right. After receiving Zhao Gou's order, the marshal left the army for Lin'an without hesitation. Even so, some people in later generations said that the marshal wanted to turn Yue Family Army into his private army, and speculated about the marshal's loyalty to the emperor and his country."

If the marshal really wanted to turn Yue Family Army into a private army, or had other ideas, Zhao Gou, Qin Hui, and others could have made him withdraw from the army or leave the army at will.

The Yue Family Army was the strongest army in the Southern Song Dynasty at the time. Given the influence of the marshal on the Yue Family Army, if he had any thoughts of becoming a warlord, not to mention rebelling, it would not have been difficult for him to rely on the Yue Family Army to protect himself.

In reality, the marshal was loyal and had no such ulterior motives, which is why he was bullied by Zhao Gou, Qin Hui, and others.

In other words, if the marshal had other ideas and was not so loyal to the emperor, he could have survived.

It is not easy for those who are truly loyal to the emperor and serve the country to live, while those selfish and treacherous people live very well. Good people do not live long, while evil people live a prosperous life.

Of course, a marshal with other thoughts would not be the marshal revered by countless people!

"After the Marshal was transferred away from Yue Fei's army, Qin Hui and others immediately set about framing Han Shizhong and the Marshal. Han Shizhong was reminded by the Marshal and escaped this calamity."

"Of course, Han Shizhong was spared because Qin Hui and the others' main target was not him. However, if they could also kill Han Shizhong, it would make their Jurchen father even happier, since Han Shizhong was also a great general of the Song Dynasty who resisted the Jurchens!"

"Han Shizhong may have escaped, but the Marshal cannot. The Jurchens have specifically named the Marshal and demanded his death. How could Zhao Gou and Qin Hui, those big shots of the Jurchens, not carry out their orders faithfully?"

"Qin Hui had his cronies impeach the marshal in the court, and the reasons they gave for the impeachment were extremely shameless and ridiculous, slandering the marshal for lingering and not advancing when he came to aid Huaixi, advocating abandoning Chuzhou and retreating to the Yangtze River."

Meng Tian said, "If Zhao Gou, Qin Hui and others were leading the army, they would definitely linger and abandon the city. But Yue Fei, who fought hard against the Jin army all the way and was just one step away from recapturing Bianjing, lingered and advocated abandoning the city... It's just the thief crying 'stop thief!'"

Only scoundrels like Zhao Gou and Qin Hui would actually do such a thing, yet these scoundrels use things that Marshal Yue would never do to slander him.

"The claim by Qin Hui and others that Yue Fei lingered during the relief of Huaixi is actually false. After receiving the order, Marshal Yue Fei immediately led his troops out without deliberately lingering. However, the location where Yue Fei's army was stationed was far from the Huaixi battlefield, making it impossible for them to arrive immediately. Moreover, it was springtime, the roads were muddy, and some of the places Yue Fei's army had to pass through were occupied by the Jin people."

"Unless every soldier in Yue Fei's army had wings and could fly, it would have been impossible for them to arrive 'in time' according to Qin Hui and his ilk's standards. Furthermore, upon learning of Yue Fei's army's arrival, the Jin army voluntarily withdrew!"

"This is how Qin Hui and his accomplices deliberately fabricated charges to frame Marshal Yue, so that they could later kill him."

"As for Marshal Yue's advocacy of abandoning Chuzhou, it refers to what Marshal Yue said to Zhang Jun when they inspected the Chuzhou defense line. Qin Hui and others used this to accuse the Marshal of undermining the morale of their own army and of having disloyal intentions!"

Meng Tian said speechlessly, "Qin Hui accused Yue Fei of undermining the morale of his own army and having disloyal intentions? What about Zhao Gou and him, who strongly advocated for peace talks with the Jin?"

Li Nian replied, "How can that be the same? Wanyan Gou and Wanyan Hui were the emperor and prime minister, respectively. Their proposal to negotiate peace was for the good of the country and the people. How could it shake the morale of the army?"

They are shameless and have no bottom line. They want to pin things they actually did on Marshal Yue, who didn't even do those things.

"Moreover, in fact, Marshal Yue never said these words to Zhang Jun, nor did he advocate abandoning Chuzhou. Although Zhang Jun was one of the 'Four Generals of the Restoration' of the Southern Song Dynasty, he had already defected to Qin Hui at that time, and he was cooperating with Qin Hui to frame the Marshal."

"With Zhao Gou's deliberate leniency and Qin Hui and others' deliberate framing, Marshal Yue was dismissed from his position as Deputy Privy Councilor and given the sinecure of 'Wanshou Temple Commissioner.' The Marshal resigned and returned to his old residence in Jiangzhou."

Wang Ben sighed, "It's no use resigning and returning home now. Even if Zhao Gou, Qin Hui, and others want to kill him, he will still be murdered if he returns home."

From the moment Zhao Gou, Qin Hui, and others decided to murder Marshal Yue, only death awaited him.

Because Marshal Yue is loyal, he would not choose any other path that would allow him to survive!
Li Nian sighed and continued, "At this time, the marshal has neither troops nor power, making it easier for Zhao Gou, Qin Hui and others to plot against him."

"In order to fabricate charges against the marshal, Qin Hui, Zhang Jun and others targeted Yue Fei's army, bribed Yue Fei's generals, and then arrested the marshal's trusted generals in Yue Fei's army, so as to fabricate the claim that the marshal had the intention to rebel."

"But no matter how Qin Hui, Zhang Jun and others threatened, bribed, or tortured him, Marshal Zhang Xian, a trusted general, was unwilling to frame the Marshal. But since Zhang Xian himself was unwilling, Qin Hui and others could 'help' Zhang Xian to 'be willing'. Since they couldn't get concrete evidence, they would fabricate some false evidence."

"Not long after Marshal Yue returned to Jiangzhou, he received another imperial edict from the Song court, ordering him to return to Lin'an. But this time, returning to Lin'an was a dead end for Marshal Yue."

The First Emperor then asked, "Does Yue Fei know what he will face upon returning to Lin'an?"

Li Nian said, "With the Marshal's wisdom, how could he not know? But he still resolutely returned to Lin'an."

Upon hearing this, the First Emperor praised, "He is truly a loyal minister who served his country with utmost devotion. Knowing that there was no way out, he still bravely faced death."

After praising him, the First Emperor lamented, "It's a pity that he didn't meet a wise ruler. Zhao Gou was not worthy of such loyal and capable ministers!"

"After returning to Lin'an, Marshal Yue was imprisoned in the Dali Temple prison. His son Yue Yun and his general Zhang Xian had already been imprisoned. The Song court sent people to interrogate Marshal Yue. At first, the Song officials who interrogated the marshal were not Qin Hui's henchmen. During the interrogation, the marshal was innocent and upright, and was not afraid. He even showed the officials interrogating him the tattoo on his back!"

"Upon seeing the four characters 'Serve the Country with Utmost Loyalty' on the marshal's back, the interrogating officials were also moved. After confirming the marshal's innocence, the presiding judge, He Zhu, truthfully reported to Zhao Gou, Qin Hui, and others, requesting the marshal's release. However, Zhao Gou, Qin Hui, and others were plotting to murder the marshal; how could they possibly release him?"

"Qin Hui replaced He Zhu with his henchman Wan Qixie as the presiding judge. Despite the deliberate framing and torture by Wan Qixie and others, the marshal remained unyielding."

"While the marshal was imprisoned and tortured, the Song Dynasty reached a peace agreement with the Jin Dynasty. The Song Dynasty submitted to the Jin Dynasty and became a vassal state. All the land north of the Huai River was given to the Jin, including large areas of land such as Tangzhou and Dengzhou that had been recovered by Yue Fei's army. The Song Dynasty also paid tribute to the Jin Dynasty with 250,000 taels of silver and 250,000 bolts of silk every year. Both sides returned some people, such as Consort Wei, the birth mother of Zhao Gou." It is truly ironic that Yue Fei, the anti-Jin general feared by the Jin, was being severely tortured in prison, while outside the prison, Zhao Gou, Qin Hui, and others were negotiating peace with the Jin.

These people would be very happy after reaching a peace agreement, and would consider it a great achievement, celebrating that they have finally reached a peace agreement with their "Golden Man father".

"Peace negotiations have been reached, and the Marshal must die! But Qin Hui and his cronies couldn't find any crimes committed by the Marshal, so they fabricated several charges against him, such as the Marshal having disloyal intentions, deliberately delaying the advance to aid Huaixi and watching friendly forces suffer casualties, thus missing the opportunity to fight, and disrespecting Zhao Gou..."

Feng Jie sighed, "If Yue Fei had truly harbored treacherous intentions, he might not have died!"

When the emperor wants to falsely accuse you of having too much military power and plotting a rebellion, you'd better actually have enough military power, or you'll suffer a terrible fate.

"Everyone in the Song court knew that the marshal had been framed, and many loyal and upright officials pleaded for justice. Outside the Song court, many upright people also stood up. But having just reached a peace agreement with the Jin, how could Zhao Gou, Qin Hui, and others allow these people to undermine the peace agreement?"

"Officials who vouched for the Marshal's innocence were dismissed from their posts and banished from Lin'an; scholars who petitioned for the Marshal's release were executed or exiled! Han Shizhong also questioned Qin Hui about the Marshal's case, to which Qin Hui replied, 'Although the letter between Fei Ziyun and Zhang Xian is unclear, the matter is fabricated!'"

Meng Tian laughed in anger, saying, "Arrested on trumped-up charges! What a fine example of 'arrested on trumped-up charges'! To execute a loyal and patriotic general on a mere fabricated charge! Zhao Gou and Qin Hui shall be infamous for eternity!"

"On the 29th day of the 12th month of the 11th year of the Shaoxing reign, Zhao Gou ordered the execution of Marshal Yue, his son Yue Yun, and his general Zhang Xian. It is said that the Marshal's confession contained only the eight characters 'Heaven and earth bear witness, heaven and earth bear witness!'"

When the news of the marshal's execution spread, many people of the Song Dynasty wept bitterly, while the Jin Dynasty rejoiced and held a banquet to celebrate.

Although I already knew that Yue Fei would be executed, I still felt saddened and regretful when I heard that he was murdered by Zhao Gou and Qin Hui, those treacherous dogs.

Meng Tian said, "Of course they are happy, their most feared enemy has been eliminated!"

"In historical records, it is often believed that Qin Hui and others framed the marshal, but how could Qin Hui and others have framed the marshal without Zhao Gou's permission? In my opinion, Zhao Gou should bear the primary responsibility for the murder of the marshal, and Qin Hui should bear secondary responsibility!"

"To place the blame on Qin Hui simply because Zhao Gou is the emperor, and to dare not mention Zhao Gou himself, is truly shameless!"

"Although the marshal is dead, his spirit of loyalty to the country has been passed down and will be remembered for generations to come. He is admired by future generations. Although Qin Hui is alive for a time, his despicable act of betraying the country will be infamous for ten thousand years and will be despised by future generations!"

"Later, during the reign of Emperor Chenghua of the Ming Dynasty, Zhou Mu, the Zhejiang Provincial Governor, rebuilt the tomb of Marshal Yue Fei and cast statues of Qin Hui and his wife Wang kneeling in front of the marshal's tomb using cast iron."

Upon hearing these words, the First Emperor and the others all looked at Li Nian with extremely serious expressions. This was something that had exceeded their expectations and shocked them!
They knew perfectly well why Li Nian brought this up: she was warning them not to think they could act recklessly just because they had power. If they did the same things as Qin Hui and others, they would be cast into statues and made to kneel, to be humiliated for thousands of years.

Li Nian seemed oblivious to the gazes of the First Emperor and others, and continued, "Because Qin Hui was so infamous, his kneeling statue was repeatedly damaged and recast many times."

As for the reason for the damage, Li Nian didn't say, but the First Emperor and others knew it: out of their love and respect for Yue Fei and their deep hatred for treacherous officials like Qin Hui.

"The kneeling statue originally only featured Qin Hui and his wife, Lady Wang, but later Wan Qixie and Zhang Jun were added. The people have discerning eyes; they have their own judgment on who is treacherous and who is loyal. But I, Li, believe it is not enough; the kneeling statue is still missing Zhao Gou."

The reason why no kneeling statue of Zhao Gou was erected was actually quite simple: Zhao Gou was the emperor, and even if officials in the Ming and Qing dynasties knew that he was a scoundrel, they dared not cast a kneeling statue of him.

Even if Zhao Gou was a scoundrel, his status as a monarch was undeniable. Casting a kneeling statue of him would make the Ming and Qing emperors, who were also monarchs, think.
They might think: If you can cast a kneeling statue of Emperor Gaozong of Song today, can you cast a kneeling statue of us someday?
The First Emperor had obviously thought of this as well, but he only glanced at Li Nian and said nothing. He knew very well that this kid was just saying these things on purpose.

Li Nian sneered and continued, "Later generations have tried to whitewash Zhao Gou and Qin Hui, believing that their killing of Marshal Yue was justified and that Marshal Yue was indeed wrong."

"Their rhetoric to whitewash Qin Hui is mostly based on the claim that it was Zhao Gou who wanted to kill Marshal Yue, and Qin Hui was merely an executor. As a minister under Zhao Gou, what could Qin Hui do? He could only follow Zhao Gou's orders!"

"But this kind of rhetoric is similar to whitewashing Li Hongzhang in the late Qing Dynasty. They all say they were forced by circumstances. But Li Hongzhang could refuse to sign those treasonous treaties, and Qin Hui could refuse Zhao Gou's orders. Since they signed the treaties and committed acts of treason, they have to bear the infamy!"

"Given Qin Hui's intelligence, did he not know what he was doing? No, he knew, and he knew very well. Therefore, the argument that Zhao Gou was the mastermind and he was merely an accomplice cannot absolve him of his crimes."

"Furthermore, Qin Hui committed many acts that brought disaster to the country and its people, not just the murder of the marshal. He was relied upon by Zhao Gou and wielded immense power, committing numerous crimes of treason and harm to the country. Could all of these have been instigated by Zhao Gou?"

"As for Zhao Gou, those who try to whitewash him often say that the marshal wanted to welcome back Zhao Ji and Zhao Huan, and Zhao Gou was worried that his throne would be unstable after his father and brother returned."

"But Zhao Ji was already dead at that time. Although Zhao Huan was alive, his prestige had greatly diminished, and he had no troops in the Song court. Therefore, his return would not pose much of a threat to Zhao Gou."

"Of course, given Zhao Gou's cowardice and shamelessness, he might actually have had such thoughts. But even if the marshal really wanted to welcome back Zhao Ji and Zhao Huan, it was not a reason for Zhao Gou to murder him. Moreover, the idea of ​​'welcoming back the two emperors' was something Zhao Gou himself uttered."

"Welcome back the two emperors" was the political slogan of the Song Dynasty at that time. Even Zhao Gou himself was shouting it. Moreover, this matter had not yet happened. The lost territories had not been recovered, let alone "straight to the heart of the enemy and welcome back the two emperors".

When Marshal Yue said this to his subordinates, he was simply expressing his ambition to defeat the Jin people.

"To disregard the fate of the nation for one's own selfish gain, to abandon one's homeland and refuse to see one's father and brothers—is such a person fit to be a ruler?"

It's one thing to "not welcome back one's father and brothers," but to refuse to reclaim lost territory for one's own selfish interests is to be called a traitor to the world, not a ruler of the world.

"Furthermore, there's the claim that Marshal Yue was involved in Zhao Gou's selection of the heir apparent, and that Marshal Yue disobeyed military orders..."

These people who try to whitewash Zhao Gou are mostly on his side, believing themselves to be the emperor.

"In fact, Zhao Gou's reason for murdering Marshal Yue was very simple and cannot be whitewashed. Zhao Gou was selfish, cowardly and shameless. He only cared about himself and not the country or the people. In order to protect his own power, he wanted to betray the country to the Jin people, so he murdered the marshal."

There weren't many complicated reasons; Zhao Gou was simply acting in his own self-interest!
(End of this chapter)