In the last years of the Jin Kingdom, the Mongol army was pressing, the Southern Song Dynasty was eyeing the border, and a once powerful dynasty was on the verge of extinction. At this time of life and death, the whole country of Jin has shown a shocking survival instinct and tenacious will. From emperors to generals, from soldiers to civilians, they used all means to perpetuate the last glimmer of hope for the country. Kill wives and cut meat to fill military rations, boil human bones as oil to ward off enemy soldiers, and send beautiful women to charm enemy soldiers in order to seek a glimmer of life...... These unbelievable acts really happened in those bloody and desperate years. However, can these extreme struggles change the fate of the Jin Kingdom? Faced with a strong enemy, what choice did the last ruler of the Jin Kingdom make? At the moment when the empire was about to collapse, what kind of suffering did ordinary people experience? Let's step into that thrilling history and explore the last struggle of the Jin Kingdom before its demise.
I. The political situation in the last years of the Jin Kingdom
The political situation in the last years of the Jin Kingdom can be described as stormy, with internal and external troubles intertwined, and the situation is precarious. During this period, the Jin State faced great challenges from three aspects: the rise and threat of the Mongols, the anticipation of the Southern Song Dynasty, and the internal turmoil and decline of the Jin State.
The rise of Mongolia is undoubtedly the greatest threat to the Jin state. After 1206, when Temujin unified the Mongol tribes and established the Mongol Khanate, the Mongols' power grew rapidly. In 1211, Genghis Khan led his army to attack the Jin Kingdom, which kicked off the Mengjin War. For more than 20 years, the Mongol army continued to move south and launched fierce attacks on the Jin state. In 1232, the Mongol army, under the leadership of Torrey, defeated more than 100,000 Jin troops in the Battle of Guanghua, and defeated 150,000 Jin troops at Sanfeng Mountain in Junzhou the following year. These two battles almost destroyed the elite troops of the Jin State, and greatly weakened the military strength of the Jin State.
At the same time, the Southern Song Dynasty also eyed the Jin Kingdom. The Jin and Song dynasties were hostile to each other for a long time, and the two sides fought many times. Although the Jin Kingdom once had the upper hand, the situation gradually reversed with the rise of the Mongols. The Southern Song Dynasty took advantage of the war between the Jin State and the Mongols to expand northward and regain lost territory. Jin Guo had to divide his troops to deal with it, and he was exhausted by the enemy on his back.
What is more serious is that there has also been serious turmoil and decay within the Jin country. The long-term war has depleted the national strength of the Jin State, resulting in a withering economy and a poor livelihood for the people. Ethnic contradictions have also become increasingly acute, and the Han people have continued to hold armed uprisings, among which the Red Jacket Army uprising is the most powerful. These uprisings dealt a heavy blow to the rule of the Jin dynasty and further weakened the power of the Jin state.
Faced with such a dire situation, the rulers of the Kingdom of Jin took a series of measures to try to save the defeat. After Jin Aizong ascended the throne, he tried to implement reforms, but with little success. He also sent envoys to the Southern Song Dynasty many times, hoping to form an alliance to jointly resist Mongolia, but the Southern Song Dynasty refused.
At the end of 1232, the situation in the Kingdom of Jin deteriorated further. The Mongol envoy sent an envoy to the Southern Song Dynasty and proposed a joint extermination of Jin, which the Southern Song Dynasty readily agreed. In the first month of the following year, the Jin general Cui Li surrendered to Mongolia after launching a mutiny in Bianjing, and more than 500 concubines and clans of the Jin Dynasty were escorted to Qingcheng. Jin Aizong was forced to flee to Guide (present-day Shangqiu, Henan).
In this situation of internal and external difficulties, Jin Aizong made a key decision: retreat to Caizhou. This city, located in present-day Runan County, Henan Province, became the last fortress of the Jin Kingdom. Jin Aizong concentrated all available military forces here, preparing for the last resistance.
However, even at such a critical moment, there are still divisions within the country. Some generals, such as Wu Xian, Wu Tianxi and others, even proposed to welcome Jin Aizong to Sichuan in order to make a comeback. They even raised an army to attack the Southern Song Dynasty in a vain attempt to seize Sichuan as a base. This plan was eventually crushed by the Southern Song Dynasty general Meng Hui, depriving the Jin State of its last chance to transfer.
At this point, the fate of the Jin country has been irretrievable. The Mongol army and the combined forces of the Southern Song Dynasty began to lay siege to Caizhou, and Jin Aizong and his remnants put up a final resistance in this isolated city. The series of events that followed will become one of the most tragic and tragic chapters in Chinese history.
II. The last resistance of the Golden Mourning Sect
After Jin Aizong retreated to Caizhou, he faced an unprecedentedly grim situation. As the last emperor of the Jin Kingdom, he was determined to make the last stubborn resistance in this lonely city. Kim adopted a series of military defensive measures, while also making a last-ditch diplomatic effort to try to turn the tide.
First, Jin Aizong ordered to strengthen the fortifications of Caizhou. He ordered the craftsmen to build the walls day and night, fortify the gates, and install a large number of trebuchets and crossbows on the walls. In order to prevent the enemy from digging tunnels to attack the city, Jin Aizong also ordered a deep ditch to be dug around the perimeter of the city wall and filled the ditch with water. These measures greatly strengthened Caizhou's defense capability and prepared it for the next protracted war.
Secondly, Jin Aizong actively recruited troops and supplies. He issued an edict on the conscription of horses, stipulating that anyone who offered horses could be given the rank of horse according to the number of horses. This policy paid off significantly, and more than 1,000 horses were soon recruited. At the same time, Jin Aizong also sent envoys to various places to recruit troops, and finally recruited more than 10,000 elite soldiers. In order to boost morale, Jin Aizong held a grand military parade at the Jianshan Pavilion in Caizhou on the fifth day of the eighth month of the sixth year of Shaoding (1233), showing the soldiers the military power that the Jin State still possessed.
In terms of material reserves, Jin Aizong also made careful arrangements. He ordered all the grain, salt, tea and other materials in the city to be gathered and managed and distributed by the imperial court. In order to prolong the storage time of the grain, Jin Aizong also ordered that part of the grain be made into dry food. In addition, he organized people to reclaim wasteland in the city and grow vegetables and grains to supplement the food source.
In terms of military deployment, Jin Aizong adopted a strategy of layered defense. He placed his most elite troops on the city walls and was responsible for directly resisting enemy attacks. Reserves were deployed in the city, ready to reinforce the weak areas. At the same time, Jin Aizong also formed a small cavalry unit, which was responsible for launching surprise attacks from the flanks and harassing the enemy army when the enemy army attacked the city.
In addition to military defensive measures, Kim Aizong did not abandon diplomatic efforts. He sent envoys to the Southern Song Dynasty several times in an attempt to persuade the Song dynasty to form an alliance with the Jin state to jointly resist the Mongols. Jin Aizong pointed out to the Southern Song Dynasty that the ambition of the Mongols was not only to destroy the Jin State, but if the Jin State was destroyed, the Southern Song Dynasty would also be doomed. He put forward the argument that "the lips are dead and the teeth are cold", hoping to arouse the vigilance of the Southern Song Dynasty.
However, the Southern Song rulers' hatred of the Jin State had become deep-rooted, and the Mongol temptation led them to not only reject the Jin Aizong's offer of an alliance, but instead formed an alliance with the Mongols to jointly besiege Caizhou. Faced with this situation, Jin Aizong had to abandon diplomatic efforts and prepare for the upcoming siege battle.
During this period, Jin Aizong showed extraordinary determination and courage. He was personally involved in the planning and supervision of the defense, often touring the walls and paying his respects to the soldiers. In order to boost morale, Jin Aizong even ordered some of his daily necessities to be distributed to the soldiers, expressing his determination to share weal and woe with them.
However, as time went on, Caizhou's situation became more and more difficult. The combined forces of the Mongols and the Southern Song Dynasty continued to increase their troops, and the siege became tighter and tighter. Food and supplies began to run short of food and supplies in the city, and disease began to spread. Faced with this situation, Jin Aizong took some extreme measures. He ordered the slaughter of horses in the city for food, and even allowed soldiers to eat leather and bark.
Despite the increasingly dire situation, Kim Aizong still resisted. He personally climbed the city walls many times, commanded battles, and boosted morale. In one of the fierce battles, Kim even operated a trebuchet himself, throwing stones at enemy positions. This behavior greatly boosted the morale of the defenders, who persisted in fighting despite extremely difficult circumstances.
As the siege continued, the situation inside Caizhou became worse and worse. Food was almost exhausted, diseases were rampant, and the number of dead and wounded increased dramatically. In this extreme case, some heinous behaviors begin to appear. Some soldiers began to kill their wives and cut their flesh to feed the army, and some even boiled human bones to make oil to light the lamp. Although these actions are shocking, they also reflect the tenacious will of the military and civilians of the Kingdom of Jin in a desperate situation.
III. The tragic scene of Caizhou City
The siege of Caizhou lasted for several months, and the situation inside the city deteriorated day by day. As time passed, the lonely city became a hellish sight, and the horrors of what happened were chilling.
First of all, food shortages have become the most pressing problem. In the early stages of the siege, Jin Aizong ordered the city's grain to be managed and distributed in one place, but as time went on, these reserves were quickly depleted. The inhabitants and soldiers of the city began to consume a variety of unconventional foods. At first, they devoured all the cattle, horses, donkeys, mules, and other livestock in the city. When the animals were eaten, people began to catch rats, snakes and insects to feed their hunger. Even tree bark and grass roots have become a source of food.
There is an account of a soldier patrolling the city walls when he spotted a mouse, and he immediately pounced on it, grabbed it, tore open the rat's stomach with his hands, and ate it alive. This kind of scene was already commonplace in Caizhou City at that time.
As hunger intensified, something even more terrible began to happen. Some people began to secretly dig up fresh corpses and cut the flesh to eat. Other soldiers killed their wives and children and cut off their flesh to serve as rations. Although this behavior was outrageous, it became a means of survival for some people under extreme circumstances at that time.
According to the Jin History, there was a general named Wanyan Heda, who, after running out of food, killed his wife and son, cut off their flesh and distributed it to his subordinates. This act, while brutal, was seen as a sign of loyalty and sacrifice under the circumstances.
In addition to food shortages, the spread of disease has also become a major problem. Due to chronic malnutrition and poor sanitation, various diseases are rampant in the city. Infectious diseases such as dysentery and typhoid fever spread rapidly, and a large number of people died every day. Corpses were piled up in the streets, no one had the strength to deal with them, and the whole city was filled with the smell of rancidity.
In order to cope with this situation, Jin Aizong ordered the bodies of the dead in the city to be burned intensively. However, due to the lack of adequate fuel, people started using some unconventional methods. It has been recorded that some people began boiling human bones to extract bone oil for lighting and cooking. Although this practice was outrageous, it became a helpless move under the extreme circumstances of the time.
In this harsh environment, both the light and dark sides of humanity are pushed to the extreme. Some people have become extremely selfish and cruel in order to survive, and even have the practice of killing people and eating meat. But at the same time, there were many who showed admirable loyalty and courage.
There is a story that has been passed down to this day: a general named Zhang Shijie, after running out of food, he distributed his rations to his subordinates, and he fed his hunger with tree bark and grass roots. When his soldiers learned of this, they expressed their willingness to advance and retreat with the general. This spirit greatly boosted the morale of the soldiers defending the city.
Over time, the population of the city decreased dramatically. It is estimated that at the beginning of the siege, there were hundreds of thousands of people in the city of Caizhou. By the end of the siege, however, fewer than 10,000 soldiers were able to participate in the battle. A large number of people died of starvation, disease and fighting.
In this case, Jin Aizong still insisted on resisting. He personally climbed the city walls many times and fought side by side with the soldiers. At one time, under the fierce attack of the enemy troops, the defenders on the city walls almost collapsed. Jin Aizong personally picked up a bow and arrows and stood at the forefront to shoot the enemy. This was a great morale boost, and the defenders reorganized their lines and successfully repelled the enemy attack.
However, as time went on, the defenses of Caizhou City became more and more difficult to maintain. There were fewer and fewer defenders on the walls, and many of the defenses were damaged due to lack of maintenance. The enemy's offensive also became more and more intense, using a variety of advanced siege equipment.
In this case, Jin Aizong made a surprising decision. He ordered the most beautiful woman in the city to be chosen, dressed as a fairy, and to stand on the city wall and sing and dance. The purpose of this move was to confuse the enemy army, but also to boost morale. It is said that when these "fairies" appeared on the city walls, the enemy army was really attracted and stopped the attack for a while. This gave the defenders some respite and became a peculiar episode in the midst of this bitter battle.
IV. The last moments of the Jin Dynasty
As the defenses of Caizhou City became weaker and weaker, the final moments of the Jin Dynasty finally came. After a months-long siege, the Mongol army and the combined forces of the Southern Song Dynasty finally launched a final general assault.
On December 23, 1233, as soon as the sky was dark, the Mongol army began a fierce attack. They used a large number of siege equipment, including trebuchets, ladders, and siege towers. The defenders on the city walls put up a hard fight, but due to chronic hunger and fatigue, their combat effectiveness was much less than before.
In this final battle, Jin Aizong personally ascended the city wall to direct the battle. Dressed in golden armor and armed with a long sword, he stood in the most dangerous places to inspire the soldiers. It is said that when a Mongol soldier climbed the city wall, Jin Aizong personally slashed it with a sword. This scene greatly boosted the morale of the defenders, who persevered in the fight despite extreme exhaustion.
However, in the face of the fierce offensive of the enemy army, there was still a gap in the city's defenses. First of all, a section of the eastern part of the city wall was breached, and a large number of Mongol soldiers poured into the city. Subsequently, the southern gate was also breached. Faced with this situation, Jin Aizong ordered the troops to retreat to the inner city and continue to resist.
In the inner city, the Golden Mourning Sect organized the final defense. He gathered the remaining elite troops together and prepared them for street fighting. At the same time, he ordered all the treasures and important documents in the palace to be burned to prevent them from falling into the hands of the enemy.
Just then, an unexpected event happened. A general named Zhang Rou led a small force to break through the encirclement and rushed in front of Jin Aizong. It turned out that Zhang Rou was persuaded to surrender by order of the Mongol Great Khan. He described the situation in the outside world to Jin Aizong, saying that if Jin Aizong was willing to surrender, the Mongol Great Khan would give him preferential treatment.
Faced with this proposal, Jin Aizong fell into a brief silence. Subsequently, he rejected Zhang Rou's persuasion to surrender, saying that as the king of a country, he would rather die in battle than surrender. He ordered Zhang Rou to leave immediately, or else he would be beheaded.
After Zhang Rou left, Jin Aizong summoned the remaining ministers of civil and military affairs to discuss the final countermeasures. It was suggested that a breakthrough would be made in the dark, but Kim believed that doing so would only lead to more casualties. In the end, Kim Aijong made a shocking decision: he decided to self-immolate and die, with the dignity of Jeong Dae-jin.
That night, Jin Aizong ordered a large amount of firewood and oil to be piled up in the palace. He personally wrote his final edict, recounting the rise and fall of the Jin dynasty and expressing his apologies to his subjects. Subsequently, he put on the emperor's official court dress and wore a crown that symbolized imperial power.
In these final moments, Jin Aizong showed amazing composure. He summoned the remaining ministers and generals and bid them farewell. It is said that at that time, an old minister wept bitterly and asked to accompany the emperor to his death. Jin Aizong comforted the old minister and told him to live well and pass on the history of the Jin Dynasty.
At midnight, Jin Aizong boarded the fire prepared in advance. He bowed one last time to the four directions, and then ordered the fire to be lit. The raging flames soon engulfed the last emperor of the Jin Dynasty, marking the official end of the Jin Dynasty, which had lasted for more than a century.
The news of Jin Aizong's self-immolation soon spread throughout Caizhou City. Many loyal and righteous men followed suit and chose to commit suicide. It is recorded that hundreds of officials and generals were martyred at that time. The city was in flames for a while, and the crying shook the sky, and the scene was extremely tragic.
Early the next morning, the Mongol army entered the inner city and found that Jin Aizong had burned himself to death. They searched the entire palace and found only a pile of ashes and some unburned metal objects. The commander of the Mongol army, Tachar, was also said to have been moved by this scene, praising Jin Aizong as a courageous opponent.
With the martyrdom of Jin Aizong, the resistance of Caizhou City also came to an end. The Mongol army soon took control of the entire city and began large-scale plundering and massacres. It is estimated that at least 100,000 people were killed in the city of Caizhou in this final battle.
However, even after the fall of the Jin Dynasty, there were still some remnants of the Jin Dynasty who continued to resist. The most famous of these was a force led by the prime minister Wu Qimai, who continued to engage with the Mongol army in the Shandong region for several years. Although they could not escape the fate of defeat in the end, their stubborn resistance spirit drew a tragic end to the history of the Jin Dynasty.
V. The historical impact of the Battle of Caizhou
As the final battle of the Jin Dynasty's demise, the Battle of Caizhou had a far-reaching impact, not only marking the end of a dynasty, but also an important turning point in Chinese history. The outcome and process of this battle had a multifaceted impact on later generations, involving many fields such as politics, military, and culture.
First, the outcome of the Battle of Caizhou completely changed the political landscape of China. The fall of the Jin dynasty meant the end of the Jurchen regime, which had ruled northern China for nearly 130 years. This is not only the change of a dynasty, but also the change of national rule. The Mongols replaced the Jurchens as rulers of northern China, a change that had a profound impact on China's ethnic composition and cultural blending.
After the Battle of Caizhou, the Mongols quickly unified northern China and began to set their sights on the Southern Song Dynasty. Only 37 years later, the Mongols completed the unification of all of China and established the Yuan Dynasty. It was the first dynasty since the Qin Dynasty to be established by non-Han Chinese to unify China. The Battle of Caizhou can be said to be an important turning point in this historical process.
Secondly, the Battle of Caizhou also had a profound impact on military strategy and tactics. The siege, which lasted for several months, demonstrated the defenders' ability to persevere in extremely difficult conditions, as well as the patience and strategy of the besieging side. The siege warfare skills demonstrated by the Mongol army in this battle have become an important case study for later military strategists.
In particular, it is worth mentioning that some unconventional tactics adopted by Jin Aizong in the Battle of Caizhou, such as ordering beautiful women to pretend to be fairies singing and dancing on the city wall to confuse the enemy army, although they ultimately failed to change the situation of the battle, the use of this psychological tactics provided new ideas for later generations of military strategists.
At the cultural level, the Battle of Caizhou also left a deep imprint. The demise of the Jin dynasty meant the demise of a distinct culture. In the process of ruling northern China, the Jurchens have formed a unique cultural form that integrates Han culture and Jurchen culture. After the Battle of Caizhou, although this cultural form did not disappear completely, its development was greatly weakened.
However, the tenacity and unyielding spirit of the Jin Dynasty soldiers and civilians during the Battle of Caizhou left a deep imprint on Chinese culture. The self-immolation of Jin Aizong and the martyrdom of the minister have become the themes often depicted in the writings of later literati. This unyielding spirit has also become an important part of traditional Chinese culture.
On the economic front, after the Battle of Caizhou, northern China underwent a massive economic restructuring. The economic system formed during the reign of the Jin dynasty was broken, and the Mongols established a new economic order. This change had a profound impact on agricultural production, handicraft development, and commercial trade in northern China.
In terms of commercial trade in particular, the Mongol unification of China facilitated trade in Eurasia, which can be traced back to some extent to the Mongol control of northern China after the Battle of Caizhou.
The Battle of Caizhou also had an impact on China's urban development. As an important military fortress, Caizhou suffered severe damage after the war. The once-bustling city was in decline. However, in the years that followed, Caizhou gradually regained its vitality and became an important commercial center again during the Yuan Dynasty. This kind of war-induced urban rise and fall has become a typical case in the history of China's urban development.
In terms of historical records, the Battle of Caizhou also left a wealth of historical materials. The official histories such as "History of Jin" and "History of Yuan" have detailed records of this battle. At the same time, this battle has also become a common theme in later literary works. Poets extolling the last resistance of the Jin dynasty and novelists depicting the brutality of war have enriched China's literary treasury.
It is worth noting that the impact of the Battle of Caizhou was not limited to China. As a key battle for the Mongol Empire's conquest of China, the outcome of this battle directly affected the Mongol Empire's subsequent external expansion. It can be said that without the victory of the Battle of Caizhou, the Mongol Empire's later expeditions to Europe and the Middle East might not have taken place, or would have taken a different form.
In addition, the military skills and strategic thinking displayed in the Battle of Caizhou also attracted the attention of other countries. For example, when defending against the Mongol invasion, Japan referred to some of the Jin Dynasty's defensive strategies in the Battle of Caizhou.
Overall, the Battle of Caizhou was a historical event with an impact that went far beyond the scope of a military operation. It not only changed China's political map, but also had a profound impact on many fields such as military, culture, and economy. The outcome of this battle has largely shaped the subsequent history of China, and even had a certain impact on the development of world history.