Chapter 14 Zhao Gou, who took the opportunity to rise to power

The Jin people captured Zhao Ji, Emperor Zhao Heng and almost all members of the royal family, leaving Zhang Bangchang to be the puppet emperor in Tokyo. In various romance novels, Zhang Bangchang was the first treacherous official to appear in the early Southern Song Dynasty. He colluded with foreign countries and betrayed the country for glory.Even, in order to realize the facial makeup of the characters, he is described as a scumbag who is more cunning than a bandit, crueler than a perverted murderer, and commits all kinds of rape and robbery. And if you analyze the historical data objectively, you will find that this dear man is actually just a timid and timid little man, cowardly by nature, nothing more.

This little man's lifelong survival rule is to hide when he can, and push when he can.It's a pity that after pushing and pushing, God made a joke with him and pushed him to the cusp of an era. Zhang Bangchang was a native of Zhangjiawan, Dongguang (now Dalongwan, Fucheng County, Hebei).Born as a Jinshi, he successively served as Shangshu Youcheng, Youcheng Zhongshu Shilang Shaozai, Dazai and Menxia Shilang, etc. In the year of the Jingkang change, he was the official residence of Shaozai, and he was appointed as the envoy, and accompanied Zhao Gou, the king of Kang, to Jinying as an envoy.In Jinying, his timid and cowardly performance left a deep impression on Jin Shuaiwobuli.

The Jin army was about to withdraw, and Zhang Bangchang became the best candidate for the puppet emperor in Wulibu's heart. For this throne, Zhang Bangchang's own attitude is: resolutely refuse. However, in the face of his refusals several times, Wuli couldn't get angry, and warned Zhang Bangchang viciously that if he didn't obey, he would send troops to bloody the city of Tokyo from now on. For this reason, Zhang Bangchang bit the bullet and became the emperor. As a condition for ascending the throne, the first thing he asked the Jinren to do was "not to destroy Zhao's Mausoleum Temple, remove the gold and silver, keep the buildings and sculls, borrow the Eastern Capital for three years, beg for teachers, concede the title of emperor, and reward with gold and silver." ", and succeeded in getting the gold man to exempt one million guan of money, two hundred thousand taels of silver, and two hundred thousand bolts of silk from the old coins.

As soon as the golden man left, he took off his imperial robe and removed his imperial title. He neither worked in the main hall nor called himself Zhen. Listen to politics behind the curtain. It can be said that Zhang Bangchang is neither a traitor nor a traitor. He heard the news that Zhao Gou was hiding in Jeju, and immediately sent someone to present the imperial seal, and respectfully invited Zhao Gou to return to Tokyo to inherit the throne. Zhao Gou's answer was: You can become emperor, but you don't have to go back to Tokyo. On April 21st of the second year of Jingkang (1127), Zhao Gou canonized Zhang Bangchang as the county king. He set off from Jeju instead of Tokyo, but went to Nanjing Yingtianfu (now Shangqiu City, Henan).

Liu Hao's former army had already stationed in Dingtao County (now Dingtao County, Shandong) of Guangji Army from Caozhou (now Heze County, Shandong Province), and received Zhao Gou's order: the five armies under the former Marshal's Mansion were reorganized, and Zhang Jun was appointed as the commander of the Central Army. Liu Hao served as the deputy commander of the Central Army, and the five armies quickly assembled and moved closer to Ying Tianfu. Apparently, Zhao Gou chose Yingtianfu, Nanjing as the base of his base. What is the purpose of choosing to be enthroned here? some.Zhao Gou thinks: This was originally Songzhou, and before Taizu Zhao Kuangyin proclaimed himself emperor, he served as the Guide Jiedu envoy of the Later Zhou Dynasty here, and the title of the Song Dynasty came from Songzhou. Fire reborn.

But the real situation is: he has been scared out of his wits by the golden man, and he never dares to set foot in Tokyo again. On the first day of May, the 21-year-old Zhao Gou got his wish and held an enthronement ceremony in Yingtianfu, Nanjing, worshiping heaven and earth, and ascending the throne.Yuan Jianyan was changed, and Zhao Heng, who was captured, was respected far away as the Holy Emperor of Xiaociyuan, and he pardoned the world.It is called "Jianyan Reconstruction" or "Jianyan Zhongxing" in history. However, Zhao Gou is not worthy of being called the "Lord of Zhongxing" at all. Not only is he not in the same breath as Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu, but he is also far behind Li Keyong and his son in the Tang Dynasty after the establishment of "Borrowing the Soul".

Since ancient times, the masters of ZTE and the founding kings of the country have all been brave and brave, and galloped on the battlefield. Take Song Taizu Zhao Kuangyin as an example.And Zhao Gou relied on the accumulation of his ancestors, so he didn't have to worry about his uncles and brothers fighting for the throne like Zhu Youlang of Nanming Dynasty, nor did he encounter such powerful rebels as Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong. Very lucky emperor. At the beginning of his accession to the throne, the members of the imperial court were initially created. Zhao Gou first reused Huang Qianshan and Wang Boyan, who had formed a deep relationship on the way to escape, and worshiped Huang Qianshan as the Minister of Zhongshu, and Wang Boyan as a member of the Privy Council. Li Gang, who was very tall, was appointed as the right servant of the Shangshu and the assistant minister of the Zhongshu, ranking first among the ministers.

Li Gang, courtesy name Boji, native of Shaowu, has a fierce temperament, strong bones, and hates evil like a vengeance. When the Jin people went south for the first time, he once put forward the "Five Strategies for Yu Rong", and repeatedly opposed the peace talks between the imperial court and the Jin people, shouting: "The territory of the ancestors should be guarded to the death, and the size should not be compared with others." The Jin people went south for the second time, and Zai Zhijun advocated moving the capital to avoid the enemy.Li Gang said: "There is no city in the world as strong as the capital, and the capital is the ancestral temple and the land where hundreds of officials and people depend. How can we abandon it and flee? Today's plan is to rectify the army and horses, consolidate the hearts of the people, and stand firm for help." And volunteered: "Your Majesty, if you don't think your ministers are cowardly, please hand over the army to me. I am willing to repay it with death." What?" "Today's strategy is to straighten the army and horses, consolidate the hearts of the people, and stick to each other, so as to be the teacher of the king." "Your Majesty does not treat his ministers as cowardly, but he is willing to rule the army, and is willing to die.")

From then on, both the government and the public knew that Li Gang was an enterprising main fighter, and when Li Gang was mentioned, all loyal people gave their thumbs up. However, Yan Qi, the prime minister, was afraid of using Li Gang as a meeting to anger the Jin people, and whispered in Zhao Gou's ear: "Since Zhang Bangchang is very popular with the Jin people, although he has been officially ranked as the third prince and the king of the county, I think he can continue to be promoted." He is an official of Tongping, so strengthen the degree of courtesy to him; Li Gangsu is hated by the Jin people, so he should not be appointed as a prime minister." Let’s make peace with each other, and increase its etiquette; Li Gang is hated by the Jin people, although he has already been appointed, it is advisable to let it go before he arrives.”)

Zhao Gou remained silent, and after a long while, he said quietly: "According to what you said, I am ascending to the throne of God. I am afraid that Jin people are not happy to see it. Should I also abdicate?" I'm afraid Jin people don't like it.") Yan Qi was at a loss for words. When the new official took office, Li Gang opened the door to Zhao Gou and said: "In the past, Emperor Ming of Tang planned to appoint Yao Chong as chancellor. Yao Chong had ten things to say. These ten things pointed out the current problems. Today I also plan to have ten things to tell your majesty." If your majesty thinks it can be implemented, please approve it; if it cannot be implemented, please forgive me for not being able to accept the position of prime minister." Listen to the sky with ten things, your majesty will judge those who are feasible, and give them to implement, and the minister dares to accept orders.”)

Then he put forward ten urgent matters, such as discussing state affairs, discussing patrols, discussing amnesty orders, discussing rebellion, and discussing war defense.He pointed out that when the line of defense along the Yellow River was lost, if you want to fight but not enough, if you want to make peace but not, you can only self-government first, take defense as the policy, defend first and then fight, and negotiate peace after victory. It can be said that Li Gang's superb political vision and political ability have been fully demonstrated in the coping strategies of the "ten events".For this reason, Zhu Xi praised sincerely in "Zhu Zi Yu Lei": "When Nanjing was first established, there was no discipline in the imperial court. It was not until Li Gang came and focused on rectification that it became a scale." ("When Nanjing was founded, there was no discipline. Since Li Gong came in, rectified it, and made it look like a court!") In addition, Li Gang also strongly recommended Zong Ze as the left-behind in Tokyo and governor of Kaifeng, responsible for guarding the capital; he recommended Zhang Suo as the appeasement envoy of Hebei West Road to recover the fallen prefectures and counties in Hebei. On the surface, Zhao Gou praised the series of policies and measures proposed by Li Gang, but secretly, he and Huang Qianshan, Wang Boyan and others actively planned to escape to the south.