In the eleventh year of Shaoxing, the Jin Dynasty once again proposed peace with the Song Dynasty. The Song Dynasty court headed by Qin Hui began to suppress the generals with heavy troops, and Yue Fei was the first to bear the brunt. After months of frame-ups and torture to extr

In the eleventh year of Shaoxing (1141), the Jin Dynasty once again proposed peace with the Song Dynasty. The Song court headed by Qin Hui began to vigorously suppress the generals who held heavy troops, Yue Fei was the first to bear the brunt.

In November, the peace was reached. After several months of false accusations and torture to extract confessions, on December 29, the eleventh year of Shaoxing (January 27, 1142), Wanqixi sentenced Yue Fei to death on trumped-up charges. Yue Fei's eldest son Yue Yun was sentenced to three years in prison, and Yue Fei's subordinate Zhang Xian was hanged.

Qin Hui was not satisfied with the verdict and suggested Emperor Gaozong of the Song Dynasty Zhao Gou Qingzhuan be punished. On the same day, Zhao Gou approved: Yue Fei was specially granted death, and Zhang Xian and Yue Yun also implemented it in accordance with military law. All three of them were sentenced to death, and the fate of Yue Fei and the others was decided.

Somewhat unexpectedly, the people who executed Yue Fei, his son, and Zhang Xian were actually descendants of the loyal and brave Yang family generals , and they were also considered famous generals who had experienced hundreds of battles. This person is Yang Cunzhong , and his grandfather's grandfather is the well-known Yang Ye.

Yang Cunzhong perfectly inherited the excellent genes of the Yang family's military generals. He has been alert and strong since he was a child. When he grew up, he was not only tall and tall, but also highly skilled in martial arts. He was also familiar with the art of war.

In the last years of Xuanhe, Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty, bandits were rife in Shandong, Hebei and other places, and Yang Cunzhong was recruited to join the army. In the first year of Jingkang's reign, Yang Cunzhong followed Zhang Jun to the Qinwang in Beijing. Zhao Gou, who was still King Kang at that time, summoned him. From then on, Yang Cunzhong gained Zhao Gou's trust and guarded Zhao Gou's sleeping tent day and night.

Yang Cunzhong

After Zhao Gou succeeded to the throne, with the support of those capitulationists, he planned to abandon the Central Plains and could not escape, and began a life of wandering. On the way to escape, Zhao Gou doted on the eunuchs such as Kang Lu, which caused them to be arrogant and domineering, occupying people's houses and killing innocent people indiscriminately.

This caused dissatisfaction among many people. There was a general named Miao Fu who accompanied the army. He said angrily: "The emperor has been wandering here, and those people dare to do this." His subordinate Zhang Kui also angered the sergeant: "If you can kill Wang Yuan and With those eunuchs, everyone can live a good life, so how can the imperial court accuse us? "

In March of the third year of Jianyan, Miao Fu conspired with Liu Zhengyan to rebel, launch a mutiny, and put Zhao Gou under house arrest. They hunted and killed the eunuchs and killed Wang Yuan who had colluded with the eunuchs. At this point, Miao and Liu were still dissatisfied, and even wanted to force Zhao Gou to abdicate and let the two-year-old crown prince Zhao Min succeed.

Dozens of days later, generals from various places who got the news sent troops to help the king, including Yang Cunzhong who followed Zhang Jun in sending troops. After the mutiny subsided, Yang Cunzhong was named the training envoy of the Guizhou regiment, and was soon promoted to the commander of the Imperial Right Army.

Since we talked about the Miao-Liu rebellion, let me talk about the impact of this mutiny. Although the mutiny did not cause much damage to Zhao Gou, it even had some good effects. It not only dealt a blow to those who surrendered, but also made the Song Dynasty court determined to rectify politics and formulate some rectification measures.

But it is more of a negative impact, and the negative impact is mainly due to Zhao Gou's personal reasons.

This incident had a huge psychological shadow on the Zhao organization, and it also laid the root of the tragic fate of generals such as Yue Fei, Han Shizhong. After the Miao-Liu Incident, Zhao Gou did not trust military commanders until his death, which led to a serious emphasis on civil servants over military officers.

Song Gaozong Zhao Gou stills

During Zhao Gou's house arrest, his orthodox status was questioned by Miao and Liu, which made Zhao Gou even more repulsive to the Northern Expedition, fearing that his throne would be threatened after he welcomed back the second emperor of Huiqin.. The emperor of the Song Dynasty had this kind of mentality, and the golden man could probably wake up from his dreams with laughter.

Although Zhao Gou never trusted military generals, Yang Cunzhong was an exception. He even gave him this name. Yang Cunzhong's real name was Yang Yizhong.

In the same year, Yang Cunzhong accompanied Zhang Jun and others to defeat the Jin people, once again made great achievements, and was transferred to Wenzhou Defense Envoy and Commander of the Imperial Army. In the spring of the second year of Shaoxing (1132), Emperor Gaozong Zhao Gou made him the commander of the Shenwu Central Army, and Prime Minister Lu Yihao personally gave him the order. Zhang Jun didn't want him to leave, and Yang Cunzhong firmly refused. Gaozong had no choice but to let the eunuchs pressure him to take office.

At that time, the Shenwu Army had less than 5,000 people, half of whom were old, weak, sick, and disabled. However, soon after he took office, the military and political affairs were effectively managed.

In the sixth year of Shaoxing (1136), Yang Cunzhong assisted Han Shizhong in attacking the puppet Qi emperor Liu Yu, and launched a fierce battle with Liu Yi in Lotus Pond, defeating Liu Yi. After receiving the good news, Emperor Gaozong sent eunuchs to reward and express condolences, and said proudly to the prime minister:

"Only now do you know who I am in charge of."

The battle at Lotang made Yang Cunzhong truly famous. Subsequently, Emperor Gaozong appointed Yang Yizhong as the military governor of the Baocheng Army, the chief military officer in front of the palace, and soon he also served as the commander of the horse and infantry troops.

Song Gaozong stills

Yang Cunzhong experienced more than 200 battles in his life, winning more than losing. When he was in charge of Su Wei, he rarely made mistakes. He was very loyal to Song Gaozong. Prime Minister Gaozong once said:

"Yang Cunzhong is obedient and loyal. He is my Guo Ziyi."

It can be seen how much Gaozong and Zhao Gou trusted him.

In the thirty-first year of Shaoxing (1161), Yang Cunzhong was granted the title of Prince of Tong'an County, was given a jade belt, and entered the court at the end of the new year. Even Song Xiaozong respected him very much and did not dare to call him by his name. Instead, he respected him as the county king.

As for the execution of Yue Fei and his son, it may not have been Yang Cunzhong's original intention, because Yang Cunzhong also opposed the proposal many times, and he and Yue Fei were both generals, and they somewhat sympathized with each other. But it was hard to disobey the king's orders, and he was so loyal to Zhao Gou that he could not resist Zhao Gou's orders. Even if it wasn't him who supervised the execution, it was someone else.

Some people say that this is a stain in Yang Cunzhong's life, but I don't think so. The ancients were somewhat loyal to the emperor, and they had to obey the emperor's orders. As a military general, Yang Cunzhong was able to survive the storms and the treacherous officials in the Southern Song Dynasty. It was absolutely impossible without a smart mind.