Live History Broadcast: Opening Ceremony Spoilers - Our Ancestor Was Enraged

Chapter 443 Zhao Gou Seeks Peace

At this moment, in the Southern Song Dynasty, Zhao Gou's face turned red, and suddenly he saw Emperor Taizu's comments floating in front of his eyes!

His heart skipped a beat, and he realized with all his might:

Now, his reputation is getting worse and worse!

Now that everyone knows he conspired with Qin Hui to frame Yue Fei, does he still have any prestige in the world?

If he weren't the only one of Zhao bloodline outside the capital, he would never have been able to claim the throne. Moreover, there are rumors circulating among the people that his ascension to the throne was illegitimate. It seems he is destined to take a path contrary to history!

If Lin Ke knew that Zhao Gou had made such a comment, she would definitely laugh at him for still having a reputation. Wasn't this already common knowledge?!

……

"The peace treaty reached by the Song army not only meant that the soldiers who fought so hard sacrificed their lives in vain, but also made the Song Dynasty even inferior to the Jin Dynasty!"

"Look at your neighbor, the Great Tang Dynasty. At its peak, surrounding small countries paid tribute to the Great Tang. Even in its decline, it never behaved so shamelessly!"

"Look at the Ming Dynasty next door. During the Yongle era, all countries paid tribute to it. Even when the Ming Dynasty declined, it never submitted to other countries."

"Sigh, we're all emperors, so why don't others want to be subordinates, but you, Zhao Gou, are so eager to be one?!"

"What's worse is that, in order to show his sincerity, Zhao Gou dealt ruthlessly with all those who wrote letters directly opposing the Song army's peace talks."

"Take Shao Long, the prefect of Shangzhou, for example. He was poisoned by Qin Hui because he opposed the cession of Shangzhou and other places."

"What the Song Dynasty could get besides the title of 'junior brother' was the coffin of Emperor Huizong of Song, Zhao Ji, and the birth mother of Emperor Gaozong of Song, Zhao Gou, Lady Wei, and others. They could go home."

"Since Emperor Qinzong of Song was still not back, Zhao Gou was quite relieved. Therefore, he immediately presented the Jin people with a pledge:"

Your subject Gou said, "Having received your gracious favor and been granted permission to serve as a vassal state, I vow that my descendants will forever uphold the duties of a subject..."

"This oath is very much in line with the servile and subservient nature of Zhao Gou and Zhao Huan towards the Jurchens. It even includes a curse and an oath that if he breaks it, the gods in heaven will send him to the Western Paradise. It can only be said that there is no limit to how shameless it can be!"

"In the Shaoxing Peace Treaty, the Jin people made a special provision that the prime minister could not be dismissed without cause. The prime minister in this case was Qin Hui. In other words, Zhao Gou could not dismiss Qin Hui from his post at will. It was as if the Jin people were backing Qin Hui up!"

"On the other hand, after Qin Hui eliminated Yue Fei, he gained the confidence of the Jurchens and became even more arrogant. He eliminated dissidents and launched numerous literary inquisitions. For example, in the selection and appointment of officials, just how powerful was Qin Hui as prime minister?!"

"If he wants to use someone, then even if Emperor Gaozong doesn't like him, he can't touch him. Although Zhao Gou was very dissatisfied with this, there was nothing he could do. Who told his great-father, the Jurchens, not to protect his younger brother Wanyan Gou, but instead to protect the loyal minister of the Jurchens, Qin Hui!"

"Zhang Jun originally thought that after the deaths of Han Shizhong and Yue Fei, military power would fall entirely into his hands, but how could Qin Hui allow him to have his way? So, at a court meeting one day, Qin Hui impeached Zhang Jun for plotting treason."

"In the end, it all boils down to this: Zhang Jun betrayed the other two of the three generals, and Qin Hui was unhappy with this trait, so he resorted to the same old trick. However, he was much luckier than the other two, at least his life was not in danger!"

"Zhao Gou and his ilk thought that by satisfying the Jurchens' demands, they could rest easy. Little did they know that the Jurchens' southward advance might be delayed, but it certainly wouldn't be absent!"

"But what about the Song Dynasty at that time? Not only were strategic locations like Heshanyuan gone, but several capable generals were also lost. The situation then would not be as good as before! How can this not be a pity!"

A bystander from the Ming Dynasty: I know you feel sorry, but don't feel sorry yet. Wasn't this situation entirely Zhao Gou's own doing?

Liu Zhuzhu, the Great Han Emperor: I knew it! The Jin people would definitely march south. The peace treaty would only hurt the Song Dynasty. They lost money and people. They'd be the ones who got sucked out!

Emperor Zhao Kuangyin of the Song Dynasty: ...Speechless...This bastard...

First Emperor: ...The emperor of the later Song Dynasty was such a coward, with absolutely no tolerance for others!

Cheng Yaojin of the Tang Dynasty: It's not that we have bad intentions, we just want to see Zhao Gou suffer. How come this guy is driven to the brink and someone still saves him?!

A minor official of the Qin Dynasty: It's a pity that he was in his prime at the time, and there was still a long time before he kicked the bucket!

……

At this moment, those who heard that the Jurchens would once again march south had a question mark slowly forming in their minds: Could this be Zhao Gou's intended goal?

Is this the situation he and Qin Hui conspired to harm their own people, a situation he was happy to see?

They simply don't understand that if you don't cut your losses in time, you'll only get deeper into a losing proposition!

……

After a short while, Lin Ke continued, "As mentioned before, Qin Hui was very powerful; even Zhao Gou had to give way to him."

"The two are like dogs fighting each other. Without common interests, even those who are in cahoots can turn against each other in an instant."

"As for Zhao Gou, he was feared by the military and generals who held power, let alone Qin Hui, who was second only to the emperor and above ten thousand others. In particular, he had no power to dismiss the prime minister."

"It is said that when Zhao Gou met Qin Hui, although he acted no differently than usual, addressing Qin Hui as 'my dear minister,' he actually carried a short knife on his person just in case."

Wan Chaozhong's people: ...laugh...a smile hiding a dagger? ? ?

"However, Qin Hui was so arrogant that no one wanted to take his life. Shi Quan, a junior officer of the Palace Guard, attempted to assassinate him at Wangxian Bridge in Hangzhou, but unfortunately, he only managed to cut the sedan chair."

"Shi Quan was ultimately killed by Qin Hui, but he did succeed. From then on, Qin Hui was always on edge, fearing that someone would try to assassinate him, and he would always bring guards with him when he went out."

“Living under such tension and fear, no matter how despicable Qin Hui was, it would still affect his health. So from then on, his health deteriorated, to the point that he needed to be helped to court.”

"However, Qin Hui was sickly and weak. Apart from those loyal and righteous people, Zhao Gou was the happiest. Thinking about it, God was really good to him. If it weren't for the external troubles, he might not have been able to sit on the throne."

"The SSR cards of military and civil officials came one after another, and then there were people like Xin Qiji. Even if there was a mutiny or an enemy attack, he was lucky enough to escape and they still couldn't catch him."

"Now that he has outlived our greatest threat, if he could have continued to uphold his belief in resisting the Jin and taking it upon himself to recover the Central Plains and strike at the heart of the Jin, wouldn't he have added a glorious chapter to the annals of history?!"

"Unfortunately, his personality was not strong enough to support him in resisting the Jin, so he could only follow behind the Jin people and call them 'elder brother'."

Jin Ren: He's just a little brother! A little brother who gets beaten up!