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[When Yue Fei launched his fourth northern expedition, the tremors were felt deep within the Jin Kingdom.
It was not just another border clash. It was the kind of campaign that unsettled a court and made seasoned generals uneasy.
Afterward, Han Chang, a Jin general who had once nearly defected, spoke with startling bluntness:
"Today's southern army carries the courage and edge our army once had. And today our army carries the cowardice the southern army once bore. Fortunately, the south does not yet realize this."
That single sentence cut straight to the bone.
It was likely one of the reasons Wanyan Wuzhu chose to invade the south again just half a year later.
He needed to reinforce a narrative, to press certain impressions firmly into the minds of the Song scholar officials.
His choice of target revealed everything.
He avoided Yue Fei's Xianghan defense zone. He bypassed Han Shizhong and his eastern Huai garrison. Instead, he marched directly toward Zhang Jun in western Huai.
The clash that followed between Song and Jin was swift and violent. Wanyan Wuzhu struck suddenly, exploiting weaknesses in western Huai's defenses and driving the flames of war all the way to the banks of the Yangtze.
For a moment, the situation looked dire.
But the Southern Song forces responded quickly. Yue Fei dispatched troops to Shuzhou. Han Shizhong sent reinforcements from Chuzhou. Zhang Jun, from western Huai headquarters, advanced alongside Liu Qi and Yang Yizhong, pushing back against the invaders.
For a brief stretch, it looked promising.
Liu Qi, a veteran hardened by years of war, urged caution. The Jin forces were cunning. Better to advance step by step, consolidate gains, and recover lost ground steadily.
Zhang Jun, however, believed the reports from his scouts. They claimed the Jin army had already withdrawn in full. Eager for quick glory, he brushed Liu Qi aside, sent him back to Taiping Prefecture, and reported to Zhao Gou that "the barbarians have crossed the Huai, and the road ahead lacks provisions."
Then, taking Yang Yizhong, the emperor's trusted confidant, he moved forward, clearly hoping to seize credit for himself.
"I wish to go with Grand Commander Yang to Haozhou," he declared, "to display our strength along the Huai and pacify the people of Haoliang."
According to Jin records, Wanyan Wuzhu had launched this campaign despite significant opposition. Yue Fei's northern advances and the activities of Hebei volunteer forces had already strained Jin logistics. Supplies were thin.
After the Battle of Zhegao in western Huai, Jin troops had begun a measured withdrawal. There was no sign of a desperate last stand.
And yet, Zhang Jun and Yang Yizhong rushed forward with light forces.
They walked straight into the trap Wanyan Wuzhu had prepared at Haozhou.
Sixty thousand soldiers were lost.
In truth, the western Huai campaign resembled less a war of conquest and more a calculated act of intimidation. Once it ended, Wanyan Wuzhu quickly released the Southern Song envoy he had previously detained and sent back a draft peace proposal, the first such document proactively issued by Jin.
After Zhao Gou replied, presenting himself as sincere and taking advantage of Zhang Jun's own memorial requesting to relinquish command after defeat, he stripped both Yue Fei and Han Shizhong of their military authority.
When word reached Wanyan Wuzhu, he and his subordinates raised cups in celebration.
"The peace agreement is secure," they said.
In his second reply, Wanyan Wuzhu made a curious note. Some clauses, he wrote, were unsuitable for written form and would be conveyed orally by the envoy. Matters not fully expressed in writing would be explained in detail face to face.
What exactly was agreed upon verbally is lost to history. But the implications are not hard to imagine.
Wanyan Wuzhu understood Zhao Gou very well. In his correspondence, he openly cursed him without restraint. And Zhao Gou? He was not enraged. On the contrary, he seemed almost relieved. In his reply, he repeatedly referred to Song as the subordinate state and Jin as the superior state. He blamed Yue Fei's northern campaigns on disobedient frontline generals, distancing himself from any responsibility.
So did Wanyan Gou know what opportunity he was abandoning?
Of course he did.
He simply did not care. The people of Henan and the starving refugees of Hebei brought him no benefit. Peace in a corner of the south, stability for his own throne, that was enough.
Both courts, in their own way, were complicit. Their exchanges were drenched in calculation. The Shaoxing Peace Treaty followed almost naturally.
On December 20, Wanyan Wuzhu's third document arrived, urging that certain agreed matters remained unfinished and must be completed.
Nine days later, on December 29, Wanyan Gou wrote a personal annotation in his own hand:
"Yue Fei is specially granted death."
Soon after Zhao Gou's second reply was dispatched, Yue Fei was arrested on charges of treason and imprisoned in the Court of Judicial Review.
For six months he endured confinement and torture. Qin Hui and Wan Qi Xie constructed accusation after accusation, pressing him relentlessly.
In the end, the only words Yue Fei left on his confession were eight characters:
"Heaven's eye watches all, heaven's eye watches all."
His son Yue Yun and his subordinate Zhang Xian were sentenced to beheading. Yang Yizhong was ordered to supervise the executions.
Many modern scholars argue that Yue Fei's death was the joint work of Qin Hui and Wanyan Gou, a coordinated effort between emperor and prime minister. A political killing, plain and simple.
To this day, iron statues of Qin Hui and other collaborators kneel in chains before Yue Wang Temple. Generations spit upon them. Zhao Gou's actions remain etched in the historical record. The poem The River All Red is still recited in mourning for General Yue.
While Yue Fei was imprisoned, Han Shizhong, also stripped of command, confronted Qin Hui in court. Qin Hui admitted that Yue Yun and Zhang Xian had not confessed. But, he said coolly, "the matter perhaps exists."
Han Shizhong's reply rang through the hall.
"With three words, 'perhaps exists,' how can you answer to the realm?"
The cycle of the Song dynasty proved tragically short. Two decades later, when Jin broke the treaty and invaded again, Zhao Gou repeated the pattern of Emperor Huizong of Song and Emperor Qinzong of Song. A crown prince was pushed forward to shoulder the disaster. Zhao Gou stepped back into comfortable retirement.]
Zhao Kuangyin stood before a stone table, staring blankly.
Zhao Pu watched as the emperor's hand rose and fell, as if he wished to strike something, yet ultimately withdrew it back into his sleeve with a sigh.
On the light screen appeared the words:
[Server Chat Log]
[IronPing: "Twelve orders at Zhuxian, the Central Plains lost for two hundred years."
HammerCurse: From Jin records, it was clear that Wanyan Wushu's campaign had begun under strained logistics. After the battle of Zhelao, Jin forces had already begun withdrawing from Huai-xi. They had no real intention of pressing further south.
NerdVoid: It was Zhang Jun and Yang Yizhong's reckless advance that delivered sixty thousand Song troops straight into Jin encirclement. This was the true military disaster.
SpamQuarter: Zhao Gou proves that a throne does not fear ambition; it fears a King who wants to be a dog.
Li Shimin: "Absurd beyond belief."
Liu Bei: "The height of shamelessness."]
Zhao Kuangyin finally spoke, his voice eerily calm.
"Zeping. Go to the imperial guards. Pick two men who can draw a three-dan bow."
The imperial guards of the palace were regarded as the finest among Song forces. Strength and physical fitness were only the most basic requirements. Under such conditions, finding one or two men capable of drawing a powerful bow should not have been difficult.
Zhao Pu hesitated, troubled.
"And then what, Your Majesty?"
Zhao Kuangyin's expression finally changed. His jaw tightened, teeth grinding.
"Then, send them to the Prince of Jin's residence. Denounce his conduct to his face. Whip him. Do not stop until I arrive in person."
Zhao Pu clasped his hands helplessly and turned to leave, carrying out the order.
Zhao Kuangyin stared silently at the stone table before him.
Beside him stood Liu Han, watching as the emperor raised his hand, lowered it, and finally slipped it back into his sleeve with a long sigh.
On the glowing screen before them flickered the words of The River All Red.
Zhao Kuangyin shook his head. For a fleeting moment, he regretted that when his younger brother's assassination attempt had failed, he had not struck more decisively.
"To execute loyal men on the grounds that it 'perhaps exists,'" he muttered, teeth clenched, "what heaven's eye could Southern Song claim afterward?"