vrcanaries Chapter 378 Zong Ze's Passing Away
Chapter 378 Zong Ze's Passing Away
“But he still hoped that Zhao Gou would agree to his request and agree to cross the river to the north to fight against the Jin people.”
"But no matter how much Zong Ze appealed, he couldn't quell Zhao Gou's desire to maintain a precarious peace in a corner of the country."
"If we're going to pin our hopes on Zhao Gou and the Song court, we might as well pin them on Zhu Yuanzhang!"
"Although it's been over a hundred years since his birth, in those hundred years, not a single emperor has managed to maintain his position to the end. Just think how absurd that is!"
"However, there's a legend here that you can listen to as an interesting anecdote."
"It is said that during the Battle of Yamen, 100,000 soldiers and civilians perished together, but a soldier surnamed Chen was the only one who survived. He was a soldier under Zhang Shijie."
"Afterwards, he returned to his hometown, married, and had children. More than ten years later, he had a grandson named Zhu Chongba, who decades later recovered the Central Plains and established another dynasty."
"In a way, isn't this about recovering lost territory for the Song Dynasty, even though the emperor has changed his surname again!"
Zhu Bajie of the Ming Dynasty: ?????????? )?!
Emperor Zhao Kuangyin of the Song Dynasty: ...
Big Han Liu Zhuzhu: Really?! That's quite a coincidence, is it really that outrageous?
Emperor Qin Shi Huang: During the entire Song Dynasty, he failed to unify the country... Not only did he fail to unify the country, he also failed to recover lost territories!
Li Erfeng of the Tang Dynasty: Zong Ze is indeed a pity. Alas, it's not just him; Yue Fei and Xin Qiji were the same... They were truly rotten!
Cheng Yaojin of the Tang Dynasty: Luckily, I wasn't born in the Southern Song Dynasty, or I would be furious every day!
Emperor Shenzong of the Song Dynasty, Zhao Xu: ...This is truly a disgrace to the entire dynasty! Whoever wants this worthless grandson can have him!
……
Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty
At this moment, Zhu Yuan, beaming with pride, laughed loudly: "Hahaha, I've heard my maternal grandfather say that if we relied on the Song Dynasty, those loyal ministers wouldn't have died in despair!"
Upon hearing this, Empress Ma smiled slightly, then fell silent, sighing inwardly.
The most regrettable thing is that he did not die on the battlefield, but passed away with regret.
Upon seeing this, Zhu Yuanzhang sighed, thinking to himself, "Heaven knows what the Song Dynasty was thinking."
……
Back to the live broadcast room.
Lin Ke continued, "Zong Ze's unfortunate passing caused the Song army's recently victorious situation to collapse."
"In particular, Du Chong, who succeeded him in guarding Kaifeng, was extremely incompetent. The situation in Kaifeng, which Zong Ze had painstakingly stabilized, collapsed entirely under his interference."
"Sometimes, it really puzzles me. How come the Song court has so many ministers like this? They just give the Jurchens points, and if they're going to cause trouble, they'll cause trouble for their own people!"
"What, you really can't stand to see the Southern Song Dynasty recover its lost territories? Are you really so loyal to the Jin Dynasty?"
People in Wanchao: ?(o_ov)?…
Lin Ke's words were like a sharp knife, carrying a chilling edge, piercing the hearts of the Song Dynasty's emperor and his ministers.
To be honest, they cannot entirely blame the Jurchens for their audacity in invading Song territory.
Indeed, between the Song and Jin dynasties, the Song dynasty had far too many problems: treacherous officials were in power, and the emperor was incompetent.
Thinking about the future of the Southern Song Dynasty, the Song emperors and their ministers felt as if their hearts were being choked, and they instantly felt suffocated!
Before they could even lament, Lin Ke's voice continued.
"Shortly after Zong Ze's death, the Jurchens swept in again. Without Zong Ze in charge, Kaifeng was left with only a cowardly and self-serving man, and the previously stable situation became chaotic again."
"First of all, Kaifeng's city defenses suffered a major problem, turning it from a city with 100% defensive strength into a dilapidated city."
"Just how incompetent is Du Chong, who succeeded Zong Ze, to have turned such an impregnable city into this state in such a short time? Even if he copied someone else's work, it shouldn't have been this fast!"
"But this guy not only doesn't know how to copy homework, he's even more vicious. He actually had the audacity to think of breaching the Yellow River dike and flooding the Jin army behind it!!"
"But the Yellow River is never something you can do whatever you want with. If you're not careful, the riverbed will change course, drowning countless people!"
"And that's exactly what happened; hundreds of thousands of local people died, and the resulting plague infection numbers doubled!!!"
"This is why, during Zong Ze's time, the Song army was able to drive the Jin army into retreat, but now, during Du Chong's time, they are powerless to resist the southward-bound Jin army."
"Not only was the area around Kaifeng in dire straits, but also the Huaibei and Henan regions lost a great deal of territory."
"For a time, the morale of the Southern Song army and people in resisting the Jin dynasty was low. If Zong Ze were still alive, such a change in the situation would never have happened. Unfortunately, there are no ifs. Emperor Zhao Gou and his ministers did not feel that the Jingkang Incident was a disgrace at all!"
Liu Zhuzhu, the Great Han: I'll see when he puts his own life in danger, then he'll remember this is a disgrace!
A bystander in the Ming Dynasty exclaimed: "Has Du Chong lost his mind?! This thing can actually stop things?! It's like killing a thousand enemies while losing twice as much as you!"
First Emperor: ...He's insane... He actually tried to destroy the Jin people with a flood! Doesn't he fear it will backfire?!
Cheng Yaojin of the Tang Dynasty: This is truly an eye-opener! I've never seen such a ruler and his minister...
Zhu Zhanji of the Ming Dynasty: The Southern Song Dynasty had many famous generals, but it was a pity that it lacked a wise ruler!
Emperor Zhao Kuangyin of the Song Dynasty: Damn it… who let this scoundrel become an official… Pah…?
……
People from other times and spaces who heard this couldn't help but worry, for the people of the Southern Song Dynasty were truly miserable!
Not only were they unlucky enough to be stuck with the cowardly Song court officials who begged for peace, but they also had to endure the Jurchens and Mongols!
Meanwhile, there have been man-made disasters, so these past hundred years haven't necessarily been peaceful!
……
The other live stream room:
Lin Ke continued, "After capturing Shandong, the Jin army marched towards Emperor Gaozong's main camp."
"In the third year of Jianyan, Nianhan besieged Xuzhou, which was then an isolated city, with tens of thousands of troops. The situation was critical, and they could not defeat the Jin army. They were defeated several times."
"So they closed the city and refused to defend it, but their food supplies were almost exhausted and many people starved to death. This lasted for more than 20 days. Wang Fu, the current prefect of Xuzhou, fought a final street battle with the Jin people until he had no soldiers left. He returned home, changed into his court robes, and bowed to the south."
"When the Jurchens saw this, they wanted to persuade him to surrender, but he refused to surrender and his entire family of one hundred was killed."
"And isn't Wang Fu's behavior a microcosm of the situation during the Southern Song Dynasty?"
"After capturing Xuzhou, the Jin army sent Wulin, Taiyu, Ma Wu and others to lead 5,000 light cavalry to raid Yangzhou, a thousand miles away, which is where Zhao Gou was having fun."
Jurchens: Just wait, we've captured Emperor Gaozong alive, let's see if the Song Dynasty can continue!
"The Jin people wanted to take Song Gaozong Zhao Gou by surprise, but as soon as they crossed the Huai River and were still on their way, Song Gaozong, who had caught wind of the situation, had already fled."
"However, we must say, Zhao Gou truly lived up to his reputation as a descendant of Zhao Guangyi, the legendary charioteer of Gaoliang River; he was incredibly fast!"
"We all know that it's better to run away alone than to run away in a group. That's why Zhao Gou had previously issued an edict that, with autumn approaching, the Empress Dowager, the Empress, and other members of the royal family should go to Hangzhou first."
"I stayed in Yangzhou under the pretext of defending against the enemy, which may have been a legitimate reason for myself."
"So on February 3, Emperor Gaozong of Song, Zhao Gou, fled during the day, and the Jin army arrived at night. When the Jin army learned that Zhao Gou had fled, they pursued him to the Guazhou ferry."
"They made a swift decision, immediately withdrawing their forces and advancing deep into enemy territory alone, but they still failed to capture Zhao Gou."
Emperor Zhao Kuangyin of the Song Dynasty: Damn it, who would have thought he could run away like this!?
Zhu Baba of the Ming Dynasty: When it comes to running away, we really couldn't outrun you Song Dynasty. Maybe only the Tang Dynasty can compare, after all, the emperor fled nine times!
Li Erfeng of the Tang Dynasty: ...So what if you run away? It's real skill to be able to get back after running away!!!
Sang Hongyang of the Great Han Dynasty: Zhao Gou lived to be over eighty years old, so these few Jin people are no problem! Being able to run and survive is quite an achievement!
A minor official in the Qin Dynasty: They lived so long! It's a pity that those who were quite capable before them all died young!
Emperor Shenzong of Song, Zhao Xu: I didn't say anything when he died young. My eldest son was good at ruining the country. I didn't say anything either. Can he be more miserable than me?
……