faint Jun Qin Hui, Yue Fei died unjustly.
For a long time, who is the real culprit behind Yue Fei's death has caused a long-lasting controversy. The core of this controversy is mainly between Song Gaozong and Qin Hui.
So, was Yue Fei's death a direct order from Gaozong, or was Qin Hui's false accusation successful? Now, let's take a brief look at this question together.
The truth of Yue Fei's death has been debated, with one view that it was Song Gaozong's decision that led to Yue Fei's end. So, let's first understand the nature of this case.
According to expert research, Yue Fei's case was at the highest level at that time"Edict of Prison", that is, this is a case that was dealt with by the emperor himself, unlike ordinary criminal cases.
More importantly, the final outcome of this case could only be determined by the emperor's personal edict.
Miscellaneous Records of the Government and the Opposition since the Establishment of Yan" records in detail the beginning and end of Yue Fei's case, including the verdict, charges, punishment results, etc., and indisputably proves that Yue Fei's case is"Edict of Prison"。
Therefore, if you want to truly understand the truth of Yue Fei's case, you must have an in-depth understanding of Song Gaozong's change of mentality at that time.
Regarding Song Gaozong's killing of Yue Fei, there has been controversy in the historiography. However, in general, the main reasons are as follows.
The recognition of the throne has caused concern, and some believe that it is related to the deaths of Gaozong and Yue Fei. The background is that after the disgrace of Jingkang, the two emperors were captured, which was a great shame for the country.
Therefore, there were many courtiers at that time who advocated the return of the second emperor, and Yue Fei was also one of the important supporters.
During the Song Dynasty, although the imperial court attached great importance to civil officials and despised military generals, the surrounding countries were eyeing each other and forming a trend of surrounding. For the emperor, this view of the civil officials may just be a headache.
However, if a military general is like Yue Fei and has military power, the army is extremely loyal to him, and even formed"Yue Jiajun", and also harbored the idea of welcoming back the second emperor, for the emperor, the problem became very serious and needed to be dealt with properly.
Although welcoming back the Second Emperor was a shameful thing for the Song Dynasty, it was not the case for Song Gaozong. After all, Song Gaozong succeeded to the throne under the imminent order, and for him, the throne of the Ninety-Five Emperor is by no means easy to obtain, even if the other party is his flesh and blood relatives.
However, the closer people are to the throne, the weaker the flesh and blood becomes. Therefore, Song Gaozong opposed the return of the second emperor.
Yue Fei is not an ignorant junior as people generally believe, and he has a deep understanding of politics. In from"Welcome to the two saints"The fact that the point of view changed to welcome the coffin of Huizong and his wife and the royal relatives such as the Empress Dowager Wei is enough to prove Yue Fei's political wisdom.
In fact, the Song and Jin countries had many negotiations on this matter, and Song Gaozong even issued an edict to build the palace of Renzong, which may have made him not there"Welcome back the two saints"He was particularly vigilant against Yue Fei.
Therefore, although the return of the second emperor to Beijing caused damage to Song Gaozong's interests, Yue Fei's attitude was not enough to be a reason for Song Gaozong to kill him.
Yue Fei had overstepped his duties in the matter of establishing a prince, which was not allowed in the Song Dynasty at that time. Although the throne is a major event in the imperial court, it is more affected by the emperor's personal feelings, so it is not only an overstepping of his position for the emperor, but also an arrogance.
In addition, Song Gaozong was originally an insecure person, and Yue Fei's behavior was too ambitious in his opinion, which led to the creation of murderous intent.
In addition, according to the above, Yue Fei controlled half of the army of the Song Dynasty at that time, and he had an upright personality and dared to express his views directly on the heir to the throne, which was undoubtedly a threat to the emperor.
The Zhao and Song dynasties have always paid attention to preventing excessive power in the hands of military generals, so Song Gaozong regarded Yue Fei, who was highly meritorious and powerful, as a potential threat to imperial power, and even after collecting military power, he still did not intend to let him go, and wanted to kill a hundred people.
This reason is more practical than the remarks of the Second Emperor.
3. What is more noteworthy is that Song Gaozong's biological mother, Empress Dowager Wei, was also taken captive. Later, Song Gaozong deeply missed his biological mother, Empress Dowager Wei, and Jin Ren put forward the condition that "if you want to kill Empress Dowager Wei, you must kill Yue Fei".
Before the Shaoxing Peace Conference, Jin Wushu put forward the condition that "Yue Fei must be killed before peace talks". Filial piety to the mother is the traditional virtue of the Chinese nation, and peace is a major national matter, both of which are extremely important to Song Gaozong.
Therefore, when someone later proposed to overturn the case for Yue Fei, Song Gaozong chose to ignore it, which shows that his attitude towards Yue Fei's case is unwavering.
Although Qin Hui was a favorite minister of Song Gaozong at that time, "favored minister" was not the same as "power minister", and he did not control the real power of Song Gaozong. Therefore, it is very unlikely that Qin Hui will use exaggeration to eradicate dissidents.
For example, Hu Quan, a minister who opposed peace, Qin Hui was disgusted by him, but he was not easily killed by Qin Hui. The reason for this is because Song Gaozong ordered Hu Quan to be "sent to Zhaozhou for management".
For a petty official like Hu Quan, Qin Hui can't easily deal with it, let alone Yue Fei, who has a higher status?
The Yue Fei case was known as the "Imperial Prison", and in the Song Dynasty, there was a set of strict judicial procedures for such a major case, especially in the Dali Temple in the Song Dynasty, where there were detailed regulations from trial to verdict.
Even if Qin Hui and others played a certain role in it, the decisive power was still in the hands of Song Gaozong, and no matter how powerful Qin Hui was, he could not openly tamper with the edict to kill the minister.
In the Yue Fei case, Qin Hui and Song Gaozong both have their own considerations, some people think that Qin Hui is the final decision-maker, and some people think that Song Gaozong is. But if we look at it from both sides, we will find that they are actually using each other to achieve their own ends.
Qin Hui hoped to take the opportunity to kill chickens and set an example to warn his ministers and control the government and military power; Song Gaozong, on the other hand, was to reach peace talks to show his merits as a courtier.
Therefore, their relationship is "intertwined and curved", so Yue Fei's death is inevitable.