Song Xiaozong was the second emperor of the Southern Song Dynasty and was regarded as the most effective emperor of the Southern Song Dynasty.
In June 1162, Emperor Xiaozong of Song inherited the throne from Emperor Gaozong of Song. The next month, he thought that Yue Fei was rehabilitated, and gradually used the ministers of the main war faction who had been suppressed and degraded to support them. Song Xiaozong devoted himself to the Northern Expedition to the Central Plains, recovered the rivers and mountains, continuously strengthened the construction of military strength, promoted a number of young generals, and improved the combat effectiveness of the Southern Song Army. To this end, Song Xiaozong himself actively learned to ride and shoot.
Song Xiaozong
Therefore, people say that Song Xiaozong was a "prince of restoration".
However, in order to realize the great cause of revitalizing the Southern Song Dynasty, it is far from enough to have a "prince of restoration", but a large number of "ministers of restoration" must be there. In the Song Dynasty, was there a "minister of restoration"?
Let's first take stock of the important ministers of the Song Dynasty.
The first mention should be Zhang Jun, who is very famous.
Zhang Jun
Zhang Jun was a descendant of Zhang Liang, the founding hero of the Western Han Dynasty, and ranked among the famous ministers of the Southern Song Dynasty, and was an official to the rank of chancellor. Zhang Jun was born as a soldier, but he joined the army and participated in and commanded many important military operations, such as quelling the rebellion of the generals Miao Fu and Liu Zhengyan of the Forbidden Army, and urging Yue Fei to quell the Yang Mi uprising, which had a certain prestige among the generals. However, Zhang Jun also fought many defeats, especially in the Battle of Fuping and the Huaixi Military Revolution.
Zhang Jun's qi was very small, because of the contradiction with Zhao Ding, he tried every means to slander him, and promoted Qin Ju to replace Zhao Ding's position. During Qin Ju's reign, he suppressed the main war faction represented by Yue Fei and vigorously advocated cutting off the land and seeking peace, which made the government and the public filled with the mood of surrendering to the lord and peace.
Qin Juniper
After Emperor Xiaozong of Song succeeded to the throne, he attached great importance to Zhang Jun, the only surviving leader of the main war faction, and was made the Duke of Wei, and the capital supervised the Northern Expedition of the Huai River. However, Zhang Jun's military command ability was really limited, and the Song army's Northern Expedition lasted only one month, and was defeated by the Jin army in the Battle of Fu Li. In this battle, the essence of Zhang Junzhi's great talent was exposed, which greatly disappointed Song Xiaozong. Zhang Jun's confidence was also knocked out and he became a master and faction.
Obviously, Zhang Jun is far from being called a "minister of restoration".
The second is Yu Yunwen.
Yu Yunwen was a rising star of the Southern Song Dynasty after Yue Fei was killed, and like Zhang Jun, he was also a jinshi and belonged to the scholar leading the army. The results of Yu Yunwen's troops were far better than Zhang Jun's.
Yu Yunwen
In 1161, Emperor Yan Liang of the Jin Dynasty personally led the main force of the Jin army across the Huai River in an attempt to occupy the Yangtze River and completely defeat the Southern Song Dynasty. Yu Yunwen was sent by the imperial court to quarry (in present-day Ma'anshan, Anhui) to be a master, and when he saw that there was a loophole in the defense line of the Yangtze River and the Low Morale of the Song Army, he took the initiative to shoulder the heavy burden and led more than 10,000 Song troops to fight a decisive battle with 150,000 Jin troops, and won the victory in the Battle of Quarrying.
It should be said that Song Xiaozong saw Yu Yunwen's excellent military command ability and appointed him as a privy council member and a counselor and governor, entering the core of power. Soon, Emperor Xiaozong of Song sent Yu Yunwen to serve as a senior scholar of the Imperial Palace and an envoy to Sichuan Xuanfu, and to carefully manage in Sichuan and make full preparations for the Northern Expedition. Song Xiaozong knew very well that the Northern Expedition was not a one-time thing, and it must consume a lot of time and energy to carry out the preliminary work. Otherwise, the defeat of Fu Ren will repeat itself.
Song Xiaozong's idea was certainly not wrong, but he forgot one thing: Yu Yunwen was already 51 years old at the time of the quarry battle. When he served as the envoy of Sichuan Xuanfu, he was already more than 60 years old. As he grew older, Yu Yunwen acted more and more cautiously. Emperor Xiaozong of Song repeatedly urged him to go north, but he refused because he was not well prepared. In 1174, Yu Yunwen died of illness, and died before he could get out of school, causing the hero to burst into tears.
Yu Yunwen did not have enough time to complete the work of "Minister of Restoration".
Song Dynasty army
Similar to Yu Yunwen is Wu Xuan. Wu Xuan's military command ability was not under Yu Yunwen, and he had long been guarding the Sichuan-Shaanxi area, resisting the Western Xia in the early stage and resisting the Jin army in the later stage, forming a solid barrier to protect the safety of Sichuan, the country of Tianfu. Unfortunately, Wu Xuan was older than Yu Yunwen and died on June 6, 1167.
When Zhang Jun, Wu Xun, Yu Yunwen, and other generals of the main war faction are old and retire, the imperial court will inevitably become the world of the main peace faction. Shi Hao, Tang Sihui, and other prime ministers trusted by Emperor Xiaozong of Song held the government for a long time, advocating peace with the Jin State and not thinking about the Northern Expedition. Looking at the imperial court, wherever there are any "ministers of restoration", everyone is a "minister of surrender".
In fact, even if Song Xiaozong had "restored ministers" who were heroic and good at war, such as Yue Fei and Han Shizhong, would he be able to succeed in the Northern Expedition? not necessarily.
During the reign of Emperor Xiaozong of Song, the Jin Kingdom entered the era of Jin Shizong. Jin Shizong was a very capable emperor, diligent in government affairs, during his 29-year reign, the economy and culture of the Jin Kingdom have been restored and developed to a certain extent, reaching its peak, known in history as the "rule of Dading". Kim Sejong not only successfully resisted many attacks by the Song army, but also sent troops to Western Xia and Goryeo, making these two countries submit to the Jin state.
Golden State
As mentioned above, it was doomed that Song Xiaozong's Northern Expedition would not succeed.