"Green mountains are fortunate to bury loyal bones, and white iron casts innocent ministers." Next to Yue Fei's grave on the West Lake, there is an iron statue of Qin Hui kneeling. When it comes to Yue Fei's death, people all blame Qin Hui. However, if we want to know the full story, it is still the traditional policy of the Song Dynasty to guess the military officials who killed Yue Fei. This policy was followed by Emperor Gaozong of the Song Dynasty. Even without Qin Hui, Yue Fei would still die. Just like Di Qing, he was sacrificed by the traditional policies of the Song Dynasty. Instead of scolding Qin Hui, we would rather curse the traditional policies of the Song Dynasty and condemn Song Gaozong for destroying the Great Wall.
The traditional policy of the Song Dynasty was to guess and defend military officials. The author has already mentioned it in the article on the death of Di Qing. This policy did not change until the death of the Song Dynasty. It was the same in the Northern Song Dynasty and the Southern Song Dynasty. Although the Jingkang disaster fully exposed the shortcomings of this policy, Song Gaozong was not aware of it and still adhered to the established law and defended himself against ordinary military officials. Even more powerful. Under this traditional policy, outstanding talents like Yue Fei were exactly what Song Gaozong wanted to guard against. Because Yue Fei had many advantages in his behavior, and these advantages were not wanted by Emperor Gaozong of the Song Dynasty to be possessed by his military ministers, so his advantages became the cause of his death. This analysis of the cause of his death also demonstrates his merits. Although his spiritual personality cannot be described as much as possible in this short article, it can be summarized.
The first reason for Yue Fei's death was his studiousness. He was originally a tenant of the Han family in Anyang, and did not study much when he was a child. Because he was fond of learning by nature, he later became a general and was still tireless in his studies, so he was able to achieve profound attainments in learning. The works he left behind, such as Manjianghongci, are still recited by people today, and his calligraphy is also very beautiful. Among the military officials of the Song Dynasty, he can be said to be the first to be eager to learn, and also the first to be knowledgeable. Di Qing Not as good as him. Precisely because he was studious and good at learning, he offended the Song court. In the Song Dynasty, typical military ministers were usually illiterate. The less knowledgeable they were, the more trusted they were by the court. For example, Dang Jin during the reign of Emperor Taizu of the Song Dynasty was illiterate and his words and actions were very rude and ridiculous. (In fact, Yuan Yuhu was clear in his words.) Taizu tolerated him very well and put him in high regard. The reason was that he had no knowledge. Separating the civil and military lines was the Song Dynasty's method to eliminate factors of civil strife. Civil servants have knowledge but cannot fight, military ministers can fight but have no knowledge. Civil servants govern the people, military ministers lead the troops, civil servants control the military ministers, and military ministers assist civil servants. Not only do they divide labor and cooperate appropriately, but they can also check each other. Regardless of whether civil servants or military ministers They don’t dare to rebel, they can’t rebel anymore. Once a military minister actually has the same knowledge as a civil servant, wouldn't this make the separation of civil and military affairs ineffective? This military minister, who is both civil and military, must of course be regarded as a dangerous person. In this way, Yue Fei was able to help Emperor Gaozong of the Song Dynasty suspect that he was contacting the scholar-bureaucrats. Mr. Wang Chuanshan said in the Song Dynasty that there was a good reason why Yue Fei approached the scholar-bureaucrats to explain the cause of his death.
The second thing about Yue Fei is that he is not greedy for money. There are very few generals in the Song Dynasty who are not greedy for money, especially the generals in the early years of the Southern Song Dynasty. Almost all of them are greedy for money, with the exception of Yue Fei. Emperor Gaozong of the Song Dynasty often allowed the generals to be greedy for money and rewarded the generals for being greedy for money. The purpose was to make the generals corrupt and lose their ambition to make progress. A miser would not have any ambitions. Once upon a time, Emperor Wu of Liang heard that his brother Wang Hong's house in Linchuan had a lot of storehouses. He suspected that the weapons were hidden. Linchuan Wang Hong is a good-for-nothing, so he won't investigate the source of the money. Song Gaozong's psychology towards the generals was similar to that of Emperor Wu of Liang towards Wang Hong of Linchuan. During the reign of Emperor Gaozong, Zhang Jun was considered the most corrupt. His land could collect 600,000 dendrobium of rice in rent per year. He had a lot of silver hidden in his house, and every thousand taels were minted into one coin, so he said he had nothing to do with it. (Jianhu Ji) He will send people to do business overseas. (Helin Yulu) He once ordered his flower-legged troops (people with tattoos on their legs) to repair his house and built a restaurant in Lin'an, named Taiping Tower. All the troops sang songs to ridicule him and said: "Zhangjiazhai? There is no reason to make him spend his time lifting stones. The two saints are still unable to save themselves, and they are building a Taiping Tower." (Chicken Fat Editor) His greed for money can be seen here. Therefore, the military nicknamed him "Captain Zhang Iron Face", which means that he was shameless and shameless, and his face seemed to be made of iron. (Ji Fang ed.) When Youren was performing in the palace, he once teased him and said: "I only saw Prince Zhang sitting in the eyes of money." (Jianhu Collection) How could he have so much money? It’s not just about depriving military rations and competing for profits with the people. But such a greedy and despicable person was favored by Emperor Gaozong of the Song Dynasty. In the early years of the Southern Song Dynasty, the generals enjoyed him the most. Emperor Gaozong of the Song Dynasty didn't know that Zhang Jun was very bad, so he chose him without far-reaching ambitions, so he reused him and treated him favorably. Greed of money has become a common trend, and even the famous general Han Shizhong is not immune to it.
He once proposed to buy Guan Tian in Xingan. Emperor Gaozong of the Song Dynasty was overjoyed when he heard about it and gave him the land as a special gift. At that time, Emperor Gaozong was suspicious of the ambitions of the generals, and he knew that Han Shizhong was also a man who wanted land and property, so he liked him. (Helin Yulu) Han Shizhong may have followed the old wisdom of the ancients who bought land and houses to defile themselves, but Yue Fei was absolutely unwilling to defile himself. Yue Fei's integrity can be proved by his family property. After his death, his home was ransacked. He only had more than one hundred thousand in cash, and other items such as cloth, silk, corn, and wheat were only worth more than nine thousand strings in total. (Notes on Poems on Miscellaneous Affairs of the Southern Song Dynasty by Zian Leichao of the Song Dynasty) He has led troops for many years, and his family property is only this small. In order to treat all the generals at the same time, they all have treasures to fill their halls and sleeping rooms, and their fields occupy several counties. It is really a huge difference. However, all the generals were enjoying their long lives, and their wives and children were young. Yue Fei died in prison, and his family was garrisoned far away, which really made people feel unfair. Yue Fei got into trouble because he was too honest. All the generals are greedy for money, but he is not greedy for money. It can be seen that his ambition is not small, and his ambition is not small, which is what Gaozong is suspicious of. If you can't use it for profit, you will inevitably be punished.
The third is not to be lewd. In the early years of the Southern Song Dynasty, few generals were not greedy for money, and even fewer were not lustful. Emperor Gaozong of the Song Dynasty not only thought it was gratifying that the generals were greedy for money, but he also felt that it was also gratifying that the generals were lustful. People who are greedy for money are no longer worthy of fear, and those who are greedy for money and lustful are even less worthy of fear. At that time, all the generals had many concubines and concubines. When Han Shizhong went to the general's home for a banquet, he often asked the general's wife and daughter to come out and have a drink. As a result, several of them were killed by the general Hu Yantong. (Compiled by the Northern League of Three Dynasties) Yue Fei was the only one who was different. He had no concubine to serve him at home. One time Wu Jie gave him a beautiful woman, and he said, "It's the last day of the night, will the general be happy?" He refused. (Biography of Yue Fei in the History of the Song Dynasty) These two sentences fully demonstrate the greatness of his personality. His lack of lust is just like his greed for money, which can be said to be against the customs. Emperor Gaozong of the Song Dynasty once built a private residence for him, but he declined and said: "The enemy is not destroyed, so why should we take care of our family!" (The Biography of Yue Fei in the History of the Song Dynasty) This is in the same spirit as his rejection of Wu Jie. The beautiful golden house was not in his mind at all. It is conceivable that his ambitions were lofty. A person who was not greedy for money and not lustful made Song Gaozong feel more and more difficult to control, which of course constituted the cause of Yue Fei's death.
The fourth is not to disturb the people. He governs the army very strictly, and his army's discipline is excellent. If you pass by a place and have to rent a house, you must clean the door of the house the next day and wash the basin before leaving. (Qidong Wild Language) One time, a soldier under his command took a piece of flax from a civilian to bind the horse leather. He immediately beheaded the soldier in public and showed no mercy. His army had the slogan "Don't demolish the houses to death, don't plunder to death of starvation." (Biography of Yue Fei in the History of the Song Dynasty) So after his death, the Jin envoy Liu Tao came to hire him and praised the discipline of his army to the people accompanying him in the Song Dynasty. (Song Bai Lei Chao) No matter where he went, he would never want local officials to run errands for him. When he passed through Luling, the local magistrates were having a feast in the suburbs, but he didn't know that he had left among some of the generals. Zhou Mi called him the number one in ZTE. (Qi Dongye said) It can be seen that the discipline of other armies is definitely not as good as his. He won the hearts of the people without disturbing the people, which inevitably aroused the suspicion of Emperor Gaozong of the Song Dynasty. Isn't it dangerous to be a military minister and be loved by the people? Yue Fei's death was closely related to his popularity among the people. If he was a man who wanted to commit war and bring disaster to the people, he might not have surrendered to death.
The fifth is to win the hearts and minds of the military. Although he was very strict in running the army, what he was strict about was military discipline, and he was still very concerned about the lives of ordinary soldiers. He often personally dispensed medicine for the sick soldiers. When his generals were stationed in distant places, he often sent his wife to the generals' homes to express condolences. When one of his men died in battle, he not only cried bitterly for them, but also raised the deceased's orphans and sometimes married the deceased's daughter for his own son. Whenever rewards were awarded, he always distributed them fairly to his subordinates without any regard for personal property. (The Biography of Yue Fei in the History of the Song Dynasty) Therefore, he and his subordinates were as close as a family. His army is known as the Yue family army. When fighting, they are really united as one. There is no problem that the soldiers ignore the generals, the generals don't know the soldiers, and they don't give in to each other in victory. They don't rescue each other in defeat. No matter where he is, his army is unshakable and firmer than a mountain. Jin people often say: "It is easy to shake a mountain, but it is difficult to shake the Yue family's army." (The Biography of Yue Fei in the History of the Song Dynasty) is indeed a flattering praise, not an exaggerated statement. But the name Yuejiajun was not something Song Gaozong wanted to hear. The more Yue Fei gained the military's support, the more he feared Emperor Gaozong of the Song Dynasty. If the army is named after the commander-in-chief, doesn't it become the commander-in-chief's personal army? Isn't it possible that this general will be supported by his subordinates at any time? Song Gaozong thought this way, could Yue Fei avoid disaster?
From the five causes of death of Yue Fei listed above, we can see that he was a great man who was studious, not greedy for money, not lustful, did not disturb the people, and won the hearts of the military.
Because of this, it conflicts with the Song Dynasty's traditional policy of being suspicious of military officials. Under the traditional policy of being suspicious of military officials in the Song Dynasty, only generals who were greedy for money, lustful, and ignorant were tolerated, but no generals with knowledge, ambition, and the will to win the hearts of the people or the military were allowed. People like Yue Fei must be incompatible no matter which monarch was in power in the Song Dynasty. When Emperor Gaozong of the Song Dynasty was establishing the Southern Song Dynasty, he was wary of danger and could not tolerate Yue Fei. Most people think that Yue Fei's death was due to his opposition to the peace negotiation. In fact, even if Yue Fei supported the peace negotiation, how could he avoid disaster? Qin Huizhi instigated people to impeach Yue Fei and secretly ordered him to be killed in prison. An Zhi was not adhering to Song Gaozong's will. Even if he was not, he must be catering to Song Gaozong's will. His evil deeds are hateful, but he is not responsible for them. What we want to blame is Song Gaozong, who destroyed the Great Wall, and should further blame the Song Dynasty’s traditional policy of being suspicious of military officials