There is an ancient adage:"A gentleman takes revenge and sharpens a sword for ten years"Patience and tenacity are our attitudes. However, the Chinese advocate peace and non-violence first, and will not easily hang revenge on their hearts, unless it hurts the bottom line of dignity, like that of the Song Dynasty"Shame on Jingkang"。
So, in the face of such a great shame, how did the people with lofty ideals in the Southern Song Dynasty interpret the concept of revenge?
Back in 1127, thousands of years ago, the Jin soldiers smashed the heart of the Northern Song Dynasty - Tokyo. Although Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty hastily settled on his son, he failed to prevent the fall of the national capital and his own unfortunate fate.
Three thousand prosperous, once empty, Huizong and his son, together with the Zhao royal family, harem beauties and important ministers of the court, all became prisoners of the Jin Dynasty, and the glory of the Northern Song Dynasty has since faded.
Some people may wonder why there are many kings in the past dynasties, and there were emperors in the Ming Dynasty who were humiliated"Shame on Jingkang"Uniquely"Shame"Unforgettable? This was not only the fall of the city, but also the loss of royal dignity, which was full of inhuman torture that could not be looked back on.
The women of the ancient royal family were as noble as the queen, but they had to suffer the humiliation of the sheep ceremony, wearing sheepskins, ropes around their necks, and letting the Jin people pull them, which was a great shame for the Song people who upheld Confucian ethics.
What is even more distressing is that almost none of the more than 3,000 harem beauties and aristocratic relatives were spared the plundering of the Jin people, reduced to slavery or forced to fall into the dust. Even the queen could not be immune from this catastrophe of the destruction of the country and the family.
The "shame" in Jingkang's shame is not a simple literal meaning, but a national shame deeply imprinted in General Yue Fei's heart, "Jingkang's shame, still unsnowed, the courtiers hate, when will it be destroyed", this is his call for national dignity.
The subjects of the Southern Song Dynasty were eager to wash away their shame, but the cowardly royal family had no courage to face it, and even a hero like Yue Fei could not show it. It was not until Zhao Yun, the fifth king of the Southern Song Dynasty, ascended the throne that the determination of revenge began to brew and became a turning point in history.
Although Zhao Yun, who is a descendant of the royal family, is separated from Zhao Kuangyin by ten generations, his royal glory has become a thing of the past, and his identity is like a commoner. However, his heart burned with burning ambition, the shadow of Jingkang's shame haunted day and night, and the thirst for revenge burned like a blazing fire.
Fate seems to favor this aspiring young man, in 1224, Song Ningzong died, the queen and the minister Shi Miyuan took a fancy to Zhao Yun's no background, and chose him as the new emperor, so as to easily manipulate it.
In the early days, Zhao Yun was limited by the authority of the Queen Mother and the shadow of the powerful ministers, and it was difficult to display his ambitions for ten years. It wasn't until the death of the minister in 1234 that he ushered in the real stage.
His first step was to fulfill his long-hidden vow of revenge.
He had colluded closely with the growing Mongol powers, aiming for the fall of the Jin dynasty. Now that he has great power, he decisively joined forces with the Mongols, dispatched heavy troops, and formed a joint offensive of the two great powers of Song and Mongolia.
According to the records of the History of the Song Dynasty and the History of the Jin, the Jin Dynasty had a huge population of seven million and an army of hundreds of thousands. However, under the onslaught of the Song-Mongol coalition forces, the Jin dynasty suffered a crushing defeat, and the population was almost wiped out, leaving only 100,000 remnants scattered around seeking refuge.
The dialectic of history reveals that excessive hostility will eventually be reversed, and hatred will blind reason, replaced by endless anger, as if Mu Mou's rhetoric 'wants to turn hatred into sword blood'.
After taking revenge and settling grievances, the Song people were once immersed in the joy of victory, thinking that peace and prosperity were coming, even Zhao Yun was no exception, indulging in pleasure, but thus missed the critical moment of improving national strength.
However, the vigilance did not last, and the Mongol tiger followed the jackal, and the prosperity of the Southern Song Dynasty became their target. The Mongols quickly changed their faces, captured Xiangyang, stormed the Diaoyu City, and finally ruthlessly ended the glory of the Southern Song Dynasty.
This is a tragic historical drama that makes people sigh. Seen in the "History of the Song Dynasty" and the "History of the Jin", the lessons are deep.