Chapter 8 Lecture 6 Kang Wang Zhao Gou

When the Northern Song Dynasty fell, Zhao Gou, the ninth son of Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty, took the throne and changed it to Yuan Jianyan, which marked the beginning of the Southern Song Dynasty.Zhao Gou is Song Gaozong.Speaking of Emperor Gaozong of the Song Dynasty, perhaps the image that pops up in everyone's mind is selfish and cowardly, loyal and evil, favoring treacherous officials, killing Yue Fei, not thinking of his father and brother suffering in the north, preferring to settle in half of the country, and not thinking of restoring the Central Plains.Why is he like this?Didn't he know that his father and brother were suffering in the northern kingdom, and that it was his duty as a king to restore the inheritance of his ancestors in the Central Plains?Tracing back to the source, these are all related to his experience.

Zhao Gou's mother is Concubine Wei Xian. This title was not obtained until Zhao Gou was 19 years old. Song Huizong was the emperor of calligraphy and painting, the emperor of romance, and had many concubines.Among them, Concubine Concubine Liu and Concubine Liu are the most beautiful, Concubine Zheng and Concubine Qiao are also beautiful, gentle and affectionate, and they are all good at playing piano, chess, calligraphy and painting.And Concubine Wei Xian was born as a court lady, not to mention her humble status, her appearance is also very average, she has no talent, if she really wants to find something special, she is probably more gentle and understanding.However, none of the concubines who were with the emperor dared not be gentle and understanding.So in Huizong's eyes, this is not a strong point.

It was purely a coincidence that Concubine Wei Xian gave birth to Zhao Gou.Concubine Wei Xian has a very good relationship with Concubine Qiao. They both worked as maids in the palace back then, and they are like sisters.When they were not well-off, the two agreed to "be precious before forgetting each other", and whoever is well-off should not forget to support each other, which is a bit like a friendship with Jinlan.Concubine Qiao was quickly favored by the emperor, so she recommended Concubine Wei Xian, asking if the emperor could pamper her.The emperor looked at Concubine Wei Xian, not interested, but he couldn't hold back Concubine Qiao, so he favored her.As a result, Concubine Wei Xian, in the words of the common people, had a strong belly, and she gave birth to a dragon seed all at once, and it was a boy, that is, Zhao Gou.

When Zhao Gou was very young, there was a picture that was fixed in his mind: Every time the sun sets and holds the lanterns, his mother always stands in the courtyard of the palace to enjoy the flowers, her eyes seem to be fixed on the flowers, but in fact she is Looking at the other side of the palace wall, she had a sad face and a melancholy look, and her frowning brows never eased even when she was old.After growing up, Zhao Gou gradually understood that his mother had been waiting for his father year after year, but he never came. One thing stimulated the young Zhao Gou very much, and left a deep shadow in his young mind.When Zhao Gou was 6 years old, Concubine Wei Xian celebrated her birthday. Because she was not favored, no one, including Concubine Wei herself, thought of celebrating it, so they didn't make any preparations. The palace was deserted as usual.Unexpectedly, Emperor Huizong came suddenly that day, which caused chaos in the palace, and everyone was in a hurry and at a loss.When the emperor walked in, Concubine Wei Xian didn't go to pick him up, but was stunned on the spot, dumbfounded.Or the emperor made a joke, saying, Mrs. Wei, don't you recognize me?Concubine Wei Xian just woke up like a dream, and hurriedly ordered the palace servants to pick her up and prepare the banquet.Everyone was very happy, the palace changed from the dullness of the past, and was filled with a festive atmosphere.Zhao Gou was also very happy. His mother stood there every day admiring the flowers, and finally came the "result".

Unexpectedly, after the banquet was served, Song Huizong's words made the hearts of Zhao Gou's mother and son drop from boiling point to freezing point.He said that if Mrs. Qiao hadn't reminded me, I would have forgotten that today is your birthday.The mother and son looked at each other silently, without any laughter, and just ate in silence.Halfway through the meal, the palace servants came to report that Wang Guifei was in labor.When Huizong heard this, he stood up and was about to leave.Zhao Gou stepped forward and grabbed his father's dragon robe, saying that today is his mother's birthday, can't father be with his mother for a while longer?At this time, Huizong had already stepped over the threshold with one foot. He turned his head and patted Zhao Gou's head, saying that I will come as soon as I go, and you two are waiting for me.That day the royal concubine gave birth to a princess, not a prince, but Huizong never came back.

The status of Zhao Gou's mother and son is very low in the palace, and they have little influence in the royal family.Zhao Gou grew up in such an environment, which must have had an impact on his future life experience.At the very least, we can analyze that he should be emotionally distant from his father and brother. According to the "History of the Song Dynasty", Zhao Gou "has a clear understanding of his talents, erudite memorization, recites more than a thousand words a day when he reads, and draws his bow to one stone and five buckets".It means that Zhao Gou is not only very knowledgeable, but also can draw a strong bow with one stone and five fights, and each of his two arms can lift 110 catties. This is the highest standard for selecting officers of the Imperial Guard in the Song Dynasty.It can be seen from this that Zhao Gou was born with supernatural power. According to today's evaluation standards, he is at the level of an athlete.As a young master and lamb in the common people's mouth, it is not easy to be able to practice super martial arts after growing up in the palace and being taught by women.Zhao Gou's calligraphy is also quite exquisite, especially good at running script.Because he has a father who considers himself an artist, if he wants to please his father and attract his father's attention, he has to be good at this.Zhao Gou can be said to have both civil and military skills, unlike Pingshu or Unofficial History, who has nothing but cowardice and escape. At the age of 15, Zhao Gou was promoted to King Kang, but he still persisted in practicing martial arts, calligraphy and painting diligently, waiting for the opportunity to succeed.

Four years later, the opportunity finally came.As we said earlier, in 1126 A.D. (the first year of Song Qinzong Jingkang), the Jin army went all the way south and approached the city of Bianliang.The Song Dynasty proposed a peace agreement, and finally reached the conditions of paying 5 million taels of gold, 50 million taels of silver, and 10,000 cattle and horses, ceding the three towns of Taiyuan, Hejian, and Zhongshan, and sending the prime minister and prince to Jinying as hostages.Faced with such humiliating terms, Song Qinzong accepted them all, and immediately began to collect gold, silver, cattle and horses, preparing to send them to the people of Jin.In terms of hostages, the prime minister can say that Zhang Bangchang, the young prime minister, can be sent as an envoy, but who will the prince send?It is not easy for the emperor to appoint which prince to go.Therefore, Qinzong held a meeting of the royal family and called over a dozen of his younger brothers, saying that now Jin Guo proposed to take the prince as a hostage, and you are all princes, who is willing to go?Upon hearing this, the audience fell silent, and no one wanted to go.Song Qinzong was very disappointed, saying that you are all my brothers and sisters, and now that the country is in trouble, none of the virtuous brothers is willing to share my worries?Before the words fell, someone shouted outside the hall, Your Majesty, the minister is willing to go.Seeing a person walking in with strides, Qin Zong fixed his eyes, and it was Kang Wang Zhao Gou who was only 19 years old.Song Qinzong was very happy and very moved. He stepped down from the throne, took Zhao Gou's hand and said, Jin is the country of tigers and wolves. Think about it, are you really willing to go?After all, he looked at Zhao Gou expectantly.Zhao Gou said, as a royal family, when the country is in trouble, I should stand up, why die for the sake of the country?Song Qinzong was even more moved after hearing this, and said, well, you go back to the palace to say goodbye to your family first, and set off the next day.

After Zhao Gou went home and said goodbye to his wife, he went into the palace to see his mother.The palace people reported that Concubine Wei had gone to the emperor's bedroom, and Zhao Gou hurriedly followed.As soon as he entered the door, he saw his mother kneeling on the ground, crying bitterly while hugging the Supreme Emperor's leg, and the jewelry on her head fell to the ground.The Supreme Emperor looked embarrassed and a little impatient.Huizong said, Brother Jiu is courageous and insightful, you should be proud of having such a son, he is willing to serve the country loyally, why don't you let him go?Concubine Wei said, I only have such a son, if he dies, I will not be able to live.In other words, Your Majesty, you have 31 sons, and he is only one-thirtieth to you, even if he dies, you don't feel sorry for him.The Taishanghuang said, how about this, I will now promote you as a concubine, and your bedroom can be placed next to the bedroom of the lonely family.If Zhao Gou can come back safely, he will be made a tutor and a military governor.But Concubine Wei still kept crying while hugging the Taishanghuang's leg.Zhao Gou walked over, bowed to his father, and helped his mother up again, saying that the child was voluntary, and I am very happy to be loyal to the country. Mother, don't cry, and don't embarrass father.Song Huizong was very happy when he heard this, and the embarrassing situation can be regarded as lifted.Zhao Gou saluted Huizong again, saying that his son might not be able to come back after leaving, and asked his father to take care of himself, and then he left.

The next day, Song Qinzong took all the civil and military officials to see Zhao Gou off.At the time of parting, Zhao Gou told Song Qinzong: "If the court has the opportunity to send troops, don't think of a prince."When the prime minister Zhang Bangchang who was on a mission with him heard this, he cried in fright on the spot.Zhao Gou turned his head, looked at Zhang Bangchang coldly, and said, Mr. Xiang, what do you mean by this?It is natural for a man to serve the country. I am just 19 years old, and I am not afraid of young people. You are so old, and your hair and beard are all white. Why are you crying?Hearing this, Zhang Bangchang couldn't help but smile shyly, and followed Zhao Gou to Jinying helplessly.

The people of the Kingdom of Jin knew that the Song Dynasty emphasized culture over military affairs, and they fought several battles with the Song army. They knew very well what happened to the generals who led the army in the Song Dynasty.The prime minister must be a civil servant, and the prince is only 19 years old. He is a kid who grew up in the palace. He must have never seen the big world, so he wanted to scare them.So the warriors of the Kingdom of Jin lined up in two rows at the entrance of the big tent, with their knives out of their sheaths, their arrows on their strings, their eyebrows glaring and murderous.

Arriving at the camp of the Jin army, Zhao Gou walked forward with his head held high, Zhang Bangchang followed tremblingly, wishing to hide from the generals of the state of Jin to see.According to historical records, it is said that "in the middle of the ten-day day of Jin Shuai's never-to-be-leaved army, the emperor was free." In it, the four words "leisure" were used to describe Zhao Gou.The Chinese name of the commander-in-chief of the Kingdom of Jin, Wanyan Woli, was Wanyan Zongwang, and Woli was not a Jurchen language.Wuli did not leave Zhao Gou in the army for more than ten days. Zhao Gou should read books and practice martial arts every day, as if nothing had happened.Zhang Bangchang cried every day, couldn't eat, and couldn't sleep well. Seeing Zhao Gou reading leisurely all day long, Wu Li couldn't be more surprised. He pretended to be casually strolling into the tent, squinted at Zhao Gou, and asked him what book he was reading. "Sun Tzu's Art of War", Wu Libu laughed up to the sky when he heard it, saying that it is useless for you Song Dynasty people to learn any art of war, and generals like you are nothing but ghosts under our sword.Zhao Gou asked back, is it?Then his fingers could not leave a treasured bow behind him and said, is this bow yours?Not to mention, it's mine. This is a precious bow made of iron, and no one in Dajin can pull it apart except me.Zhao Gou said he wanted to try it, and Wu Libu handed the bow to Zhao Gou casually, saying that you should be careful not to cut off your fingers.Zhao Gou mounted the arrow with a calm expression, drew the bow to the full, and suddenly aimed at Wo Libu, who was so frightened that Wo Libu hurried out of the tent.Without changing his expression, Zhao Gou raised his bow and shot an arrow through the big tent. Wu Li couldn't help but see that such a 19-year-old kid could pull the iron-bodied bow, he was very surprised, but also faintly dissatisfied, and said, "Do you dare to compete with me in archery?"Zhao Gou readily agreed.Wuli could not set up an archery target, saying that each of us would shoot three arrows and see who could shoot accurately.Wu Libu shoots first, his first arrow is one inch above the bullseye, the second arrow hits the bullseye, the third arrow is one inch below the bullseye, and the three arrows are in a line.After shooting, he handed the bow to Zhao Gou, with a triumphant look on his hands.Zhao Gou smiled slightly, drew the bow and drew the string, and fired three arrows in a row, arranged in the shape of "pin" around the bull's-eye. When Zhao Gou was a hostage in Jinying, soldiers and horses from all walks of life in the Song Dynasty gathered in the capital.Someone proposed to take advantage of the unstable foothold of the people of the Kingdom of Jin to attack the Jin camp at night and beat them to a big defeat, and ordered Song general Yao Pingzhong to lead the army to attack the camp.Attacking the camp was originally done as concealed as possible, but the sergeants who attacked the camp thought that the possibility of returning was almost zero, so they said goodbye to their families one after another.As a result, the attack on the camp spread to everyone in Kaifeng City.The Kingdom of Jin has placed a lot of secret operations in Kaifeng City, and upon hearing the news, he has already prepared countermeasures.Sure enough, the Song army robbed the camp and suffered a disastrous defeat. Almost the entire army was wiped out, and the commander-in-chief was also missing. After the robbing of the camp, the Jin people were very angry and came to question Zhao Gou and Zhang Bangchang.According to the historical records of the Southern Song Dynasty: "Bangchang cried in fear, but the emperor did not move, and he was not different from the divorce, so please ask King Su." It is said that Zhang Bangchang was so frightened that he cried, but Zhao Gou looked indifferent.Wo Li was not surprised, and asked Zhao Gou if he was a prince, and Zhao Gou said of course he was.Wo Li didn't feel that Song Chao was lying to him, thinking that Zhao Gou must be the prince pretending to be a general.So he told the Song Dynasty, I don't want this person, you send Huizong's fifth son Suwang Zhao Shu over as a hostage.Zhao Gou escaped from death because he was not afraid of death, and returned to Songying.Su Wang became a hostage and stayed in Jinying, and finally died in Beiguo with his father and brother. As soon as Zhao Gou came back, the Supreme Emperor and his elder brother were very happy, and Jin made Zhao Gou Taifu and Jiedushi.Although Jiedushi is a false title, his rank is quite high, equivalent to today's admiral, and he enjoys the treatment of a senior military commander.Zhao Gou was only 19 years old and held a high official position. He was granted the title of Taifu by Wen and Jiedu by Wu, and suddenly became a new star among the royal family. Jin Jun captured King Su and withdrew his troops.After that, the Song Dynasty did not cut off the three towns.The Kingdom of Jin was furious and reprimanded the Song Dynasty for not keeping promises. He planned to show the Song Dynasty some color, so he sent his troops south again.In the Song Dynasty, local finances were lacking, and the combat effectiveness of the army was very poor. It was unable to counterattack or defend.The Jin army broke through the border of the Song Dynasty and came straight to Tokyo.Song Qinzong had nothing to do, so he had to negotiate a peace.This was the case in the Song Dynasty. As soon as the Jin people withdrew their troops, their waists became hardened immediately. If they did not cut off the three towns, they would not ask for money;In order to show grandeur, why should a prince be sent to negotiate a peace, who should be sent?It can only be Zhao Gou, because no one else dares to go.So Song Qinzong summoned Zhao Gou again and said, "You see the Jin army has come here again, and the country is in danger again. Brother, would you like to work hard again?"Zhao Gou thought to himself, anyway, I have experienced it once, and I have seen all kinds of Jin people, so I agreed again. This time, Zhao Gou went on an envoy with Wang Yun, Shangshu of the Ministry of Punishment.Traveling to Cizhou, the local guard Zhizhou Zongze heard the news and came to meet the two at the gate of a small temple outside the city.Zong Ze said that the gold thief is cunning, and it is really inappropriate for His Highness to proceed this time.King Su was detained as soon as he left, and has never been heard from since.The gold thief has ulterior motives, and obviously wants to detain you, Your Highness.Zhao Gou also understood at this time: a prince had already been taken as a hostage, and he was taken across the Yellow River, and it was impossible to come back. Going by himself would indeed be death in vain.This time is not like the first time, it may be useless to go, Zhao Gou fell into deep thought. Just when Zhao Gou was silent, many people gradually gathered around, wanting to hear what Master Zhizhou had said to the prince, they surrounded Zhao Gou and Wang Yun's team tightly.Wang Yun may be eager to complete the mission, and wants to convey the emperor's intentions quickly, and then he can return to the court and reunite with his family.Therefore, Wang Yun scolded the common people, saying that the imperial court has its own rules, and you people stop the official sedan chair of the envoy, and let me get out of the way.Wang Yun once advocated the method of fortifying the walls and clearing the fields to resist the Jin army. He stripped down all the houses outside the city, and many ordinary people were forcibly demolished.At this moment, someone recognized Wang Yun, and he yelled angrily, when he demolished our house, he said it was to resist the Jin army. Ying Yihe, what is this called?The common people have been disturbed by the flames of war for a long time, and they are tired of running around, and they have long held back their grievances.Wang Yun's scolding ignited the grievances in the hearts of the people, and they cursed Wang Yun one after another.The people rushed up while cursing, dragged Wang Yun off his horse and beat him.Zong Ze despised Wang Yun's character very much. He watched from the side and said nothing. Zhao Gou knew that it was hard to offend, so he didn't say anything.After a while, Wang Yun was beaten to death by the people.Seeing this scene, Zhao Gou thought that if he insisted on going to negotiate a peace, he might become the second Wang Yun, so why not stay here for a few days and wait and see what happens. The death of Wang Yun deeply stimulated Zhao Gou.Leaving aside whether Wang Yun deserved to die or not, he is a majestic Minister of the Ministry of Punishment, even if he deserved to die, he should not die in such a way.The imperial court has its own laws and regulations, and if he does something wrong, the imperial court will naturally deal with it according to the law.This is good, a group of ordinary people came up, beat and kicked, and the court ordered the officials to beat them to death.This left another shadow in Zhao Gou's 19-year-old heart: the common people are terrible.This also affected many of his future behaviors. For example, he did not believe in the rebel army in Hebei area, and he did not believe in the troops organized by ordinary people spontaneously. As we mentioned earlier, Jin Junwan invaded the Song Dynasty for the second time and set up camp on the bank of the Yellow River.At night, the Jin army tied the sheep to a wooden stake, and borrowed the leg of the sheep to beat the war drum all night.The next day, I saw that the 140,000 Song troops guarding the river retreated without a fight. The Jin army calmly crossed the Yellow River in small boats and attacked until the city of Kaifeng.Although Zhao Gou didn't see this scene in person, he had heard about it.Hundreds of thousands of troops scattered without even stopping, which shows that the army is unreliable.By the common people?The common people beat Shangshu of the Ministry of Justice to death, so the common people cannot be trusted.By the imperial court?When the court officials saw the Jin army coming to attack, they ran away with their big feet first, so how could they be expected to lead the army to resist.In Zhao Gou's view, resisting the Kingdom of Jin is a very risky and uncertain thing, and there is no force to rely on.In addition, Zhao Gou stayed in the golden camp for so many days, shot a few arrows and stunned the golden man, and returned safely.So he felt that the Han people were prejudiced against the Jin people, and they always thought that the Jin people were all barbarians, and they couldn't understand what they were talking to; in fact, the Jin people were also very reasonable, and they could treat the Jin people with courtesy, right? Violence can be controlled.At this time, this concept may have already formed in Zhao Gou's mind. As the Jin army approached, Cizhou became increasingly dangerous.Zhao Gou left Cizhou, but he didn't know where he was going, and he felt a bit wandering.At this most critical time, Wang Boyan, the governor of Xiangzhou, brought soldiers and horses to welcome him to Xiangzhou, which was tantamount to extending his hand to Zhao Gou.Zhao Gou was very grateful and obeyed Wang Boyan's words from then on.Wang Boyan became the first person to influence Song Gaozong, and was considered the first traitor in the Southern Song Dynasty. Historians commented on the two Songs, saying that "the Northern Song Dynasty lacked generals, and the Southern Song Dynasty lacked prime ministers."There are many famous figures in the Northern Song Dynasty, including Fan Zhongyan, Wang Anshi, Ouyang Xiu, Kou Zhun, etc., but there is a lack of famous generals, and the only one who can get it is probably Di Qing, who was born as a soldier.Due to years of wars in the Southern Song Dynasty, there were many famous generals, but there was a lack of virtuous ministers. Instead, there were many treacherous ministers one after another, the most famous of which was of course Qin Hui.These traitors who have harmed the country and the people will be mentioned one by one later.