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

Chapter 440 Loyalty to the Country

"And the four words 'serve the country with utmost loyalty' seemed to carry a powerful force, deeply moving He Zhu, the Imperial Censor present."

"The current court is solely focused on seeking peace. How many officials truly have no desires whatsoever, only hoping to recover the Central Plains and strike at the heart of the Jurchen stronghold?"

"Such a loyal minister should not have met such a tragic end, but He Zhu understood very well that Yue Fei was intolerable to Qin Hui and others, but how could they possibly harm a loyal minister!"

"So, after He Zhu verified Yue Fei's injustice, he went to Qin Hui and told him the whole truth. Qin Hui looked at him with a 'What the hell are you doing?!'"

"In fact, He Zhu and Qin Hui had a certain relationship. He had previously impeached Yue Fei at Qin Hui's behest. Of course, it wasn't just him; many of Qin Hui's political enemies were also impeached by him."

"But even this very person from Qin Hui's camp, after witnessing Yue Fei's unwavering loyalty to his country, was captivated by his personal character and declared Yue Fei innocent."

"But he forgot that the key point of Yue Fei's case was not whether Yue Fei had any intention of treason, but that Zhao Gou wanted to punish him."

"So He Zhu got the answer from Qin Hui: this is the emperor's will. Even so, He Zhu still insisted: Why slaughter a great general when the powerful enemy has not been defeated?"

"But ultimately, when the ruler commands the subject to die, the subject has no choice but to die. He Zhu's efforts were all in vain, even though he later tried to plead for Yue Fei and spare his life."

"However, Zhao Gou insisted on his own way, and was even exiled later for opposing peace negotiations."

"At that time, Qin Hui was speechless when He Zhu asked him a question. He did not expect that He Zhu would be persuaded by Yue Fei's personal charm to plead for him."

"This was truly a case of trying to steal a chicken but losing the rice instead; his friend instantly became his mortal enemy. So Qin Hui was unwilling to give up and immediately chose another villain, Wan Qixie, as the presiding judge."

"As for He Zhu, shortly after speaking up for Yue Fei, he was sent to the Jin Kingdom to negotiate the border demarcation issue."

The optimist Su Dongpo: Since you already had the intention to eliminate it, why bother giving these grand excuses?!

Zhu Yuanzhang, the founder of the Ming Dynasty, was hypocritical. He didn't want to take responsibility for unjustly killing loyal officials, so he made up a reason for himself!

A romantic scholar from the Tang Dynasty: This He Zhu still has some conscience, it's just a pity that the Yue Fei case was the emperor's will, and no one can save him!

A farming expert from the Ming Dynasty: If that's the case, we might as well not have saved Zhao Gou in the first place! He's just causing trouble every single day!!!

......

Southern Song Dynasty

At this time, in Yue Fei's camp, the soldiers rushed forward and arrested Wang Jun as soon as they learned that he had betrayed the marshal. Many of them were so angry that they took the opportunity to secretly punch him a few times!

As for Wang Gui, he had already knelt before Yue Fei to plead guilty long ago. Everyone knew that the real culprits were the high-ranking emperor and the treacherous minister Qin Hui.

Yue Fei sighed, "Fortunately, the treacherous officials in the court have been eliminated, as long as..."

The unspoken words of Yue Fei were understood by all the generals: as long as we are not afraid of trouble and do not beg for peace, there will be no major problems!

.......

During the reign of Emperor Taizong of Tang Dynasty

Li Shimin felt a surge of anger when he thought of Zhao Gou, and snorted coldly: "I really don't understand. Even if he is afraid of Yue Fei, the Jin people haven't said they won't fight unless there's peace talks!"

"Breaking a peace treaty isn't unprecedented; what if we need to use military officers?"

Upon hearing this, Cheng Yaojin nonchalantly remarked, "This guy must be intolerant of others. He even wanted to kill Han Shizhong, who saved his life, let alone Yue Fei!"

Although the words were rough, the principle was sound. Everyone present agreed with Cheng Yaojin's words. They never expected that the Song Dynasty, which replaced their Tang Dynasty, would value civil officials over military ones and be so wary of military generals.

........

The live broadcast continues.

Lin Ke continued, "Compared to someone like He Zhu, who still has a conscience, Wan Qixie, whom Qin Hui later chose, was a truly wicked person!"

"In his early years, when he was promoted to the position of Judicial Commissioner of Hubei, Yue Fei was serving as the Pacification Commissioner of Jinghu, and Yue Fei knew about his affairs."

"Everyone thought he was of low character and despised him greatly, which is why Wan Qixie wrote it down in his little notebook, and that's how he found his opportunity!!"

"Moreover, while Qin Hui was consolidating military power in the court, this person was constantly jumping around, slandering court officials to Zhao Gou. In short, this person is an extremely wicked villain!!!"

"Since he's a vicious person, he'll stop at nothing to achieve his goals."

"So, after becoming the presiding judge in Yue Fei's case, he immediately took out Wang Jun's false accusation and placed it in front of Yue Fei, shouting: 'What has the country done to wrong you that you allow three people to rebel?!'"

"Listen to these words, his heart is truly black, especially compared to Yue Fei's oath to the heavens, 'I have not failed the country,' these men are determined to make Yue Fei admit to this crime!"

"But Wan Qixie then changed the subject, criticizing Yue Fei for inscribing on the wall of Tianzhu Temple when he visited: 'How can a poor family bear wealth and honor?' Does this mean he's going to rebel?!"

"I'm not trying to be rude, but the Qing Dynasty's literary inquisitions even had the character 'Ming' in their names. How did you interpret this word as an indication of rebellion?!"

"Even we know that this is blatant slander, let alone Yue Fei at the time!"

Upon hearing this, everyone knew that this group was blatantly framing them, and they felt no guilt whatsoever, because their backer was the emperor of the Southern Song Dynasty.

Immediately afterwards, Lin Ke's voice continued:

Seeing this, Yue Fei understood that things had come to this point; these men had orchestrated this whole ordeal to kill him.

"Thinking of how he fought for the country for more than ten years, only to be framed like this now, I was overcome with grief and sighed: 'Now I know that I have fallen into the hands of the traitor Qin Hui...'"

"Yue Fei knew that no matter what he used to defend himself or what evidence he presented to prove his innocence, it would be in vain. So no matter how the jailers treated him, he remained silent."

"Afterwards, Wan Qixie subjected him to a series of cruel tortures. He wanted to force Yue Fei to confess his crimes through harsh means, but the more he tried, the less Yue Fei would comply with his wishes."

"Yue Fei even went on a hunger strike to protest the crimes they had imposed on him."

"Yue Fei was imprisoned, and on such a charge. Even if he was no longer an official in the court, the common people would still hear the news that Yue Fei had been unjustly imprisoned."

"At that time, from princes and ministers to ordinary people, there were many loyal and righteous people who, disregarding the autocracy of Emperor Gaozong of Song and Qin Hui, tried every means to rescue Yue Fei."

"It is obvious that Yue Fei once resisted the Jin and launched a northern expedition. Zhao Gou could not see his loyalty and merits, but the common people and even the princes and ministers knew it in their hearts."

"And I also understand that Yue Fei's case was a miscarriage of justice!"

"However, for people like Chen Dong and Ouyang Che, once Zhao Gou is determined to take drastic measures, no one can save them."

"Even if people kept submitting petitions, the result was either losing their lives or being demoted and exiled."

"For example, Zhao Gou's uncle, Zhao Shinao, had previously been escorted by Yue Fei to Luoyang to sweep the imperial tombs, and had a very good impression of Yue Fei's loyalty to the emperor and his patriotism."

"Upon learning of Yue Fei's imprisonment, he advised Zhao Gou: 'Disaster has befallen loyalty and righteousness... Your Majesty is willing to risk the lives of your entire family of one hundred to guarantee that Yue Fei has absolutely no intention of rebellion!!!'"

"For example, the scholar Zhi Jia, the commoner Liu Yunsheng, and the commoner Fan Chengzhi from Nan Jianzhou all submitted petitions to redress the injustice done to Yue Fei."

"Even Xue Renfu, the Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, He Yanyou, the Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, and Li Ruopu, who participated in the trial, believed that Yue Fei was innocent and pleaded for him in an attempt to save his life."