Chapter 42 2. Both the way of general and the way of accompanying the king

Yue Fei didn't lack a bit of leadership ability when he was a commander-in-chief. If he didn't have this ability, the slogan "It's easy to shake the mountains and it's hard to shake the Yue family's army" would be in vain.At its peak, the Yue Family Army numbered about 100,000, and was divided into 12 armies, including the Youyi Army, the Tabai Army, the Xuanfeng Army, the Shengjie Army, the Breaking Enemy Army, the Shui Army, and the Beiwei Army.Among them, the Beiwei army is the absolute elite of the Yue family army, which can be described as the mainstay. This army is led by Yue Fei's eldest son, Yue Yun (the adopted son in "Song History·Yue Yun Biography").Give your son the best things, aren't you protecting the calf?Actually otherwise, leading the Beiwei army is hard work.You won't be rewarded if you win the battle, because your army is elite, and you deserve it for winning the battle;

Yue Yun is a rare young hero. He joined the army at the age of twelve and fought with Uncle Zhang Xian. People in the army were called "Winning Officials".During the Northern Expedition, he made many outstanding achievements, but he didn't get his share every time. Yue Fei gave the credit to other generals, "The capture of Suizhou, and Dengzhou, Xianghanping, the merit is the first, and Fei does not say anything. .Yang Moping is also the first in merit, but he is not up to it."No matter how much contribution Yue Yun made, his name was never listed in the credit book.In the end, the generals were embarrassed, and they all complained about Yue Yun.Who can compare with Yue Yun in terms of military achievements and martial arts? Why doesn't he have any credit?Because he is the son of the commander in chief, he should receive special treatment and set an example for all the generals. With such selfless spirit, Yue Fei made the Yue family army invincible.

Yue Fei disciplined his son strictly and treated his mother with kindness and filial piety.In the early years of Shaoxing, there was a war in the north, and many people fled to the south to escape.One of them, Yao Yue, was originally from Jingzhao, but he fled to Sichuan to escape during the war.Yue Fei was the Xuan Fu envoy at that time, and selected a group of local scholars. Yao Yue ranked first. He was originally a Jinshi, and wars broke out before he took office.Yao Yue knew that Yue Fei was a dutiful son, so he started to speculate, and he speculated very cleverly. He had to admire the flexible mind of the scholar, who directly hit Yue Fei's moral principles.

Yao Yue told Yue Fei that my surname is actually Yue, but my mother's surname is Yao, so I am called Yao Yue.Yue Fei's mother, the Yao family, isn't "Yao Yue" referring to Yue Fei's mother and son?Yue Fei was overjoyed when he heard this. As mentioned earlier, the emotional realm of "great joy" in classical Chinese is not ordinary happiness, so he directly brought Yao Yue under his command as an official.Later, when Yue Fei was killed, Yao Yue changed himself in order to protect himself, saying that he was not a follower of Yue Fei, and asked Qin Hui to change the name of Yuezhou, one of the bases of the Yue family army.

"Three Dynasties Beimenghui" records that Yue Fei broke up with Wang Yan, the eight-character army, and returned to the old leader Zongze. Soon Zongze passed away and was replaced by Du Chong. Later, he surrendered to the puppet Qi. Fu Qing.Fu Qing is quite capable of fighting and has made many meritorious service. Yue Fei loves talents and is thirsty, so he was awarded the command of the former army.Fu Qing was a little bit flustered, let go of his talents, and regarded the village chief as an improper cadre, and felt that he and Yue Fei belonged to the same rank. Although your official position is higher than mine, we are on the same level in our hearts.Fu Qing is bragging to everyone that the Yue family's military strength is shining, and it mainly depends on me!When money was tight, he asked the leader for money, but Yue Fei calmly gave it, without any embarrassment.Fu Qing was used to laxity and didn't like Yue Fei's rigorous style of running the army, so he defected to Liu Guangshi, who had loose military discipline.In November of the fourth year of Jianyan (1130), he was killed by Yue Fei for unknown reasons.Fu Qing's story shows that Yue Fei can satisfy the vanity of his subordinates. The problem is that killing him is an internal contradiction, and now he belongs to Liu Guangshi. He beat the dog to see his master, which indirectly offended Lao Liu.

It is also "Three Dynasties Beimenghui", which records the story of Yue Fei killing his uncle.When Yue Fei was in Huizhou, his uncle Yao was bullying others, and many people sued his uncle.Yue Fei didn't have a good idea after thinking about it, so he told his mother to find an opportunity to have a good talk with his uncle, don't do that, the influence will be bad.It is estimated that the work in this area was not done well. One day Yue Fei was walking with his uncle, and his uncle suddenly kicked his horse forward dozens of steps and shot back with a bow.Yue Fei didn't pay attention, maybe his uncle trembled nervously, and the arrow hit the saddle.This kind of behavior is called playing big swords with the king of hell-it's too long to die.Yue Fei went up and down and killed his uncle.When I came back, I talked to my mother, and my mother said, how did the trouble come to this point?Yue Fei explained that if the arrow went up a little further, I would be the one who died.If you don't kill your uncle today, you will surely kill your uncle in the future.

The story of killing his uncle shows that Yue Fei is extremely principled, which may be one of the main reasons for his tragedy.There is no need to talk about the big political directions such as "going straight to Huanglong Mansion", "welcoming the Second Saint and returning to court", etc., one can see the important position of principles in Yue Fei's heart just from the trivial things.The highest state of the way of life in the officialdom is the outer circle and the inner square. On the surface, it is exquisite, but in fact there is an insurmountable bottom line deep in the heart.Cunning officials will give up their principles for their own political goals, and even resort to all kinds of despicable means to realize their political ambitions.At the moment of success, all shady actions will become a model of conspiracy, and will not be criticized.Yue Fei has been adhering to his own principles all his life, which is contrary to the will of the great leaders.Facing Fu Qing and his uncle, he would choose to kill him, but facing the emperor, he could only play with his temper, and was finally killed.

Yue Fei's ability to train the 100,000 Yue family army to be obedient shows that he is not without iron skills and leadership skills. It is true that he performed perfectly when he was a leader, fair and upright, clear rewards and punishments, clear love and hate, no corruption, no bribes, Do not engage in petty tricks.The military discipline is strict, the soldiers love and love, starve to death without looting, freeze to death without demolishing houses, if you want to make a difference with such a leader, you will definitely be able to make a great fortune.However, in the process of getting along with the emperor as the "second in command", Yue Fei was in a passive state with no rules.

There are at least three reasons for Yue Fei’s tragedy: First, external reasons. After a long period of war between the Southern Song Dynasty and the Kingdom of Jin, the military strength continued to develop and change. It's almost exhausted, the soldiers are tired, especially the decision-makers in the Southern Song Dynasty are tired of war, which provides a good soil for peace talks. The general environment of the peace talks between the Song and Jin Dynasties led to the neglect of the main combat faction. Generals only had the opportunity to appear in wartime, and in peacetime they could only stand aside and wait for dispatch.Secondly, it is the result of the internal struggle between the main war faction and the main peace faction.Both war and war are political strategy issues, and the purpose of the two is the same, hoping to safeguard the interests of the country.The highest state of martial arts is to go to the end, the highest state of war is to surrender without fighting, and the ultimate goal is peace.War is a continuation of politics. If the problem can be solved through negotiation, it saves the use of war means.

Politicians throughout the ages have calculated gains and losses better than any accountant, and they must have calculated the benefits of war and peace very clearly.During the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the national power declined rapidly due to the crusade against the Xiongnu. The Northern Song Dynasty’s national power was exhausted due to the long-term war with Xixia. The food supplies, weapons and equipment, and the consumption of soldiers in the war involved all aspects of a country’s operations. cut.There is a complementary relationship between war and peace, and real peace can only be negotiated when it is backed by strong force.As far as the current situation in the Southern Song Dynasty is concerned, there is nothing wrong with the main peace and the main battle.The Southern Song Dynasty needed battles such as the Great Victory of Shunchang and the Battle of Zhuxian Town to beat the Kingdom of Jin, and it also needed to extend an olive branch to show sincerity.

One hit and one pull, let the other party know the court's determination.Killing a great general as a condition of negotiation is definitely not the best policy.What if Yue Fei is killed and Jin Guo continues to attack?Isn't it self-destructing the Great Wall?In the end, it was Yue Fei's own problem.Based on these three points, Yue Fei's tragedy is inevitable, and the last one is the focus of this section. The frequency and relationship between Yue Fei and Song Gaozong's meetings can be roughly divided into two stages, with the seventh year of Shaoxing (1137) as the watershed.Previously, because of Yue Fei's continuous military exploits, he was rewarded by the imperial court. Song Gaozong expressed his affection for such an excellent general.In the beginning, when Yue Fei was a low-level military attache, he was dismissed from his official position when he went beyond his post. He was like a dark horse that was not favored by others.Yue Fei attracted the attention of many parties, not only Zhang Jun, the commander of the flower-legged army mentioned earlier, but also the emperor himself, all attached great importance to this general star. Emperor Gaozong of the Song Dynasty bestowed Yue Fei with a gold belt armor, gave Yue Yun a war robe and military equipment, and gave a banner of "Jing Zhong Yue Fei", and asked Yue Fei to fly this banner every time he marched and fought.Yue Fei Ping Dongting Lake Yang Yao, under the envoy of Zhenning Chongxin Army Jiedu, added 500 households in Shiyi, sealed 200 households in Shishi, and entered Wuchang County as the Founding Marquis. After working for several lifetimes, I still can't get to this position. The relationship between the monarch and his ministers was relatively harmonious seven years ago in Shaoxing, and the leader took the initiative to show his favor to Yue Fei, giving money, officials and honors.Song Gaozong has always been judged as fatuous and incompetent, which is a one-sided statement.In addition to using money and power to win over Yue Fei, Song Gaozong also put a high moral hat on Yue Fei. In terms of managing subordinates, blindly giving material wealth may not be able to win people's hearts, but may raise white-eyed wolves. There are countless such examples.Yue Fei is a man of great military exploits, has no special hobbies, and has never made any major mistakes. In short, the emperor can't find a handle on him, which requires some effort in leadership.There is no handle, Song Gaozong found moral strength and used this to kidnap Yue Fei. The seventh year of Shaoxing was a crucial year for the relationship between the monarch and his ministers. After more than ten years of fighting against the Jin Dynasty, the combat effectiveness of the Southern Song Dynasty and the Jin Kingdom tended to be balanced.The main combat faction in the Song court initially had the upper hand. There was no other way, Jin Guo pursued and fought fiercely, and the Southern Song Dynasty had no choice but to stand up and resist.When the combat power of the two sides is balanced, it is possible to return to the negotiating table.In the political environment, the peace faction gradually gained the upper hand.In February of the seventh year of Shaoxing, Yue Fei came to see him, and the two monarchs and ministers formed the famous "good horse couple". Song Gaozong asked, do you have a good horse? Yue Fei replied that there were two good horses, but unfortunately they died one after another.Now the mount is a rough horse, panting and wheezing after running for a while. "A good horse is right" is Song Gaozong testing Yue Fei's attitude towards the negotiation.It is pure nonsense to say that Yue Fei is completely politically incompetent, and this answer shows that Yue Fei has certain political experience.He didn't directly express his position. According to his old man's temper, one is one, two is two, don't talk nonsense with grandpa.Now that the military forces of the Song and Jin countries have reached a balance point, Yue Fei sensed the political changes, so he took a slanted approach to the question raised by Song Gaozong, using "good horse" as a metaphor for the main battle, and "bad horse" as a metaphor for the main battle. And, in order to indirectly express their position. After Song Gaozong heard this, he praised him very much, and he was promoted to Taiwei and became the Minister of National Defense.He also subordinated Wang De and Li Qiong of Liu Guangshi's Huaixi Army to Yue Fei's troops, and said that "in matters of ZTE, one should appoint a minister."Song Gaozong's series of actions showed his hesitation in thinking about the main battle and the main peace.On the one hand, he employed Qin Hui from the main peace faction and excluded the officials from the main combat faction. He wanted to make peace with Jin Guo, but he was worried about what to do if the peace negotiation failed, so he made two plans; Although there are 50,000 horses in hand, they are really weak. If the peace negotiation fails, they will have to rely on Yue Fei, Han Shizhong and the Jinren. The development of the situation was better than expected. "Fei Fangtu made a big effort, and he met Qin Hui to make peace, so he didn't use virtue and Qiongbing to fly."Yue Fei heard that the emperor gave him the army, and he was just happy for two and a half days. Qin Hui's reconciliation showed signs of success, so the reorganization of the Huaixi Army was in vain.Almost at the same time, Yue Fei's mother passed away. At this critical juncture, morals and ethics such as Ding You's mourning must not be as important as the safety of the country.The emperor shot a feint at Yue Fei, and Yue Fei held his breath. At that time, the Prime Minister Zhang Jun asked him about the Huaixi Army. He released Liu Guangshi's military power and let his subordinate Wang De be the commander. Can Lu Zhi, Minister of the Ministry of Officials, supervise the army?Yue Fei said a sentence that was deeply tabooed by the court: "Virtue and Qiongsu are equal, and once they are superior, they will fight. Lu Shangshu is not trained in the military, so I am afraid that he will not be able to convince the public." A pun, first offended Lu Shangshu, the organization sent him to supervise the army to reconcile the two generals. It was the court's trust in him. Maybe Lu Shangshu didn't want to go, but he hasn't taken office yet. Marshal Yue will make a final decision for him.Secondly, Yue Fei violated a taboo in official circles, and he will lose his words if he speaks too much.Liu Guangshi's two generals, Wang De and Li Qiong, were on par, and they refused to obey each other. Although Liu Guangshi was good at hiding behind in battle, he was the only one who could shock them.Now that Wang De is righted and Li Qiong is on the sidelines, it will inevitably lead to the two generals fighting, and the most serious consequence of the senior generals' fighting is mutiny. There are many secret words in the officialdom, like playing a Zen machine, the edge of the machine cannot be touched, and you have to ponder it over and over again to know it.One of the principles pursued by the officialdom is to practice Tai Chi as long as possible.For major personnel arrangements, it is enough to say that "there is no way out after the mountain is heavy and the river is full of doubts". There is no need to express too many prejudgmental opinions.Most old fritters who have been in the officialdom will know this trick, and Yue Fei will also, just like the previous "good horses". For another example, during the reign of Zhengde in the Ming Dynasty, King Ning Zhu Chenhao rebelled. The news spread to the central government, and Emperor Zhengde held an emergency meeting.Senior officials such as Yang Tinghe, Chief Assistant of the Cabinet, Wang Qiong, Secretary of the Ministry of War, Cui Yuan, Prince Consort, all attended.When they met on the road, Cui Yuan asked Wang Qiong why the emperor was in a hurry to hold a meeting.Wang Qiong asked Yang Tinghe next to him, "Old Yang, what are you talking about?"Yang Tinghe said in shock, how would I know?Wang Qiong smiled and said don't pretend, the whole country knows it.Of course the chief minister of the cabinet knew about King Ning's rebellion, but before the news was confirmed by the emperor, there was no need to express opinions blindly. So Yang Tinghe said that in the early years, Emperor Xuande Zhu Zhanji was worried about Zhao Wang Zhu Gaoxu, and sent his son-in-law Yuan Tai to announce the decree and remove the guards of his palace. Maybe this is the reason!The princes of this dynasty rebelled, taking the example of Zhu Gaoxu's rebellion during Xuanzong's period as an allusion. Yang Tinghe's four dynasties, Chenghua, Hongzhi, Zhengde, and Jiajing, stood firm, and their intelligence, learning, and thinking reactions were at the top.Marshal Yue does not have to express his opinion on this matter, and it might be a good choice to directly refuse.There is no need to be so predictive in publishing. The power of prophecy lies in that if it fails to speak the truth, at best it will be inaccurate.Unfortunately, what Yue Fei said was right, and it cast another layer of frost on the already delicate relationship between him and the emperor.