Yue Fei (1103-1142), a military strategist and national hero of the Southern Song Dynasty. The courtesy name is Pengju, and he was born in Tangyin, Xiangzhou (now in Henan). When he was young, he was diligent and eager to learn, and developed good martial arts skills. Yue Fei's father, Yue He, and his mother, Yao, have been farming for generations. When he was a teenager, Yue Fei learned archery and spear skills from Zhou Tong and Chen Guang, and became the most skilled person in the county. However, due to his poor family, he later went to Xiangzhou (today's Anyang), where he "became a guest of Han Wei Gong (Qi)'s family, farming for born". At the age of 19, he joined the army to fight against the Liao Dynasty. Soon after his father died, he retired from the army and returned to his hometown to observe filial piety. In 1126, the Jin army invaded the Central Plains on a large scale. Yue Fei joined the army again and began his military career to fight against the Jin army and protect his family and the country. Legend has it that when Yue Fei left, his mother Yao tattooed the four characters "Serve the Country with Loyalty" on his back, which became the creed that Yue Fei followed throughout his life.
After Yue Fei joined the army, he was quickly promoted to Bingyilang for his bravery in battle. At this time, Kaifeng, the capital of the Song Dynasty, was besieged by the Jin army. Yue Fei went to the rescue with Deputy Marshal Zongze and defeated the Jin army many times. Zongze appreciated him and praised him for his "wisdom, bravery and talent, which cannot be surpassed by ancient generals." In the same year, the Jin army broke through Kaifeng and captured the Hui and Qin emperors. The Northern Song Dynasty was destroyed. In May of the second year of Jingkang, King Zhao Gou of Kang ascended the throne and became Gaozong. He moved the capital to Lin'an and established the Southern Song Dynasty. Yue Fei wrote to Emperor Gaozong, demanding to regain his lost territory, but was dismissed. Yue Fei then transferred to the Zhangsuo, the capital of Hebei Province, and served as the commander of the Chinese army. He fought against the Jin army in the Taihang Mountains and made many military exploits. Later, he returned to Tokyo and stayed with Zongze, who became a martial arts master with his military exploits. After Zongze's death, he succeeded Du Chong, who stayed in Tokyo and stayed in Kaifeng.
In the third year of Jianyan (1129), Jin general Wu Shu led the Jin army to invade south again. Du Chong led his army to abandon Kaifeng and fled south. Yue Fei had no choice but to follow him south. In the autumn of that year, Wu Shu continued to invade the south, and Du Chong, who was left behind in Jiankang (now Nanjing, Jiangsu Province), surrendered without a fight. The Jin army was able to cross the natural dangers of the Yangtze River and soon captured Lin'an, Yuezhou (today's Shaoxing), Mingzhou and other places. Gaozong was forced to live in exile at sea. Yue Fei led his lone army to fight behind enemy lines. He first attacked the Jin army's defender in Guangde, winning six battles and six victories. When the Jin army attacked Changzhou, he led his troops to rush to help and won four out of four battles. The following year, Yue Fei set up an ambush in Niutoushan, defeated Jin Wushu, regained Jiankang, and the Jin army was forced to withdraw north. From then on, Yue Fei's reputation spread all over the north and south of the Yangtze River, and his reputation shocked Heshuo. In July, Yue Fei was promoted to the governor of Tongzhou Town and also had knowledge of Taizhou. He had more than 10,000 troops and established a strong anti-gold force "Yue Family Army" with strict discipline and bravery in combat.
In the third year of Shaoxing, Yue Fei won the Gaozong Award for "loyal Yue Fei" for annihilating "army thieves and bandits" such as Li Cheng and Zhang Yong. In April of the following year, Yue Fei sent his troops northward, defeated the Jin Puppet and Puppet Qi troops, and recovered Xiangyang, Xinyang and other six counties. Yue Fei was also promoted to the military governor of the Qingyuan Army due to his meritorious service. In December of the same year, Yue Fei defeated the Jin soldiers in Luzhou (now Hefei, Anhui), and the Jin soldiers were forced to return north. In the fifth year of Shaoxing (1135), Yue Fei led his army to suppress Yang Mo's uprising army and recruited 50,000 to 60,000 elite soldiers, which greatly increased the strength of the "Yue Family Army".
In the sixth year of Shaoxing, Yue Fei once again went on the Northern Expedition and captured Yiyang, Luoyang, Shangzhou and Guozhou, and then besieged the Chen and Cai areas. But Yue Fei soon found that he was alone in the expedition, with no reinforcements or food, so he had to retreat to Ezhou (today's Wuchang, Hubei). During this Northern Expedition, Yue Fei's ambition was not fulfilled, so he wrote the eternal masterpiece "Man Jiang Hong":
He was so angry that he rushed to his crown, leaning on the railing, the misty rain stopped.
Looking up, looking up to the sky and roaring, with strong feelings.
Thirty years of fame and dust, eight thousand miles of clouds and moon.
Don’t wait any longer, your young head will turn gray and you will feel so sad!
Jingkang’s shame is still not over.
When will the hatred of the ministers be eliminated?
Ride a long chariot and ride through the Helan Mountains! The soldiers were hungry and ate the meat of the Huns, and laughed and drank the blood of the Huns when they were thirsty.
Start from scratch, clean up the old mountains and rivers, and face the sky!
In the seventh year of Shaoxing, Yue Fei was promoted to Taiwei. He repeatedly suggested that Gao Zong launch an expedition to the north and regain the Central Plains in one fell swoop, but Gao Zong rejected them all. In the ninth year of Shaoxing (1119), Gaozong and Qin Hui negotiated peace with Jin, and the Southern Song Dynasty paid tribute to Jin. This made Yue Fei extremely angry, and he expressed his protest by demanding that he "dismiss military service and retire to Linquan". The following year, Wushu tore up the peace treaty and invaded the south again. Yue Fei was ordered to send troops to fight back. They successively regained Zhengzhou, Luoyang and other places, defeated the Jin Army's elite iron cavalry "Tie Fu Tu" and "Guaizima" in Yancheng, and took advantage of the victory to occupy Zhuxian Town, which was only forty-five miles away from Kaifeng. Wu Shu was forced to retreat to Kaifeng. The morale of the Jin army was depressed. They lamented that "it is easy to shake the mountains, but it is difficult to shake the Yue family's army" and they did not dare to fight.
In Zhuxian Town, Yue Fei recruited troops, contacted the Hebei rebel army, and actively prepared to cross the Yellow River to regain the lost territory and march directly to Huanglong Mansion. He excitedly said to the generals, "Go straight to Huanglong Mansion and have a drink with you!" At this time, Gaozong and Qin Hui were bent on seeking peace and issued twelve gold-lettered edicts in succession, ordering Yue Fei to retreat. Yue Fei couldn't restrain his inner excitement, and looked up to the sky and sighed: "Ten years of work have been destroyed in one day! All the states and counties have been shut down in one day! It is difficult for the country and the country to be revived! There is no way for the world to be restored!" His ambition is difficult to realize. I had no choice but to shed tears.
After Yue Fei returned to Lin'an, he was relieved of his military power and appointed deputy envoy to the Privy Council. In August of the 11th year of Shaoxing, Gaozong and Qin Hui sent people to ask Jin for peace. Jin Wushu demanded that "Fei must be killed before peace can be achieved." Qin Hui then falsely accused Yue Fei of treason and had him imprisoned. On December 29, the eleventh year of Shaoxing (1142), Qin Hui poisoned Yue Fei to death in Lin'an Fengbo Pavilion on "unfounded" charges. Yue Fei was only thirty-nine years old that year. His son Yue Yun and his general Zhang Xian were also killed at the same time. After Yue Fei was killed, Lin'an righteous man Kai Shun carried his body across the city and buried it hastily next to the Jiuqucong Temple.
Twenty years after Yue Fei's death (1162), Song Xiaozong Zhao Shen vindicated Yue Fei. After seeing the notice to search for Yue Fei's body, Wei Shun's descendants reported the place of Yue Fei's death near Jiuqu Cong Temple to Lin'an Mansion. On October 16 of the same year, the imperial court of the Southern Song Dynasty officially restored Yue Fei to the title of Shaobao, Wu Shengding, Military Military Envoy, and Founding Duke of Wuchang County. On December 18 of the same year, Yue Fei's body was moved to the West Lake with a grand first-class funeral. Next to Qixia Cenxia is where Yue Fei's tomb is located in Yue Fei Temple in West Lake, Hangzhou, where tourists visit today. There is a monument in front of the tomb "Tomb of King Yue'e of Song Dynasty". In the fifth year of Chunxi (1178), he was given the posthumous title Wu Mu. In the fourth year of Jiatai of Emperor Ningzong of the Song Dynasty (1204), he was posthumously granted the title of King of E. In the first year of Baoqing (1225), Emperor Lizong of the Song Dynasty, his posthumous title was changed to Zhongwu.
Yue Fei was good at strategy and strict military management. His army was famous for "not demolishing houses to death of freezing, and not taking prisoners to death of starvation". During his military career, he personally participated in commanding 126 battles without losing a single battle. He was truly a victorious general. Yue Fei has no special military writings left. His military thoughts and military management strategies are scattered in books, memorials, poems, etc. Yue Fei was good at poetry and calligraphy, and left behind masterpieces full of patriotic passion such as "The River is Red: Angry Crown" and famous calligraphy such as "Going to Serve as a Disciple" and "Return My Rivers and Mountains to Me". Later generations compiled Yue Fei's articles and poems into "Yue Wu Mu Yiwen", also known as "Collected Works of King Yue Zhongwu". Yue Fei's spirit has become a huge spiritual wealth of the Chinese nation, and the eternal stories of "tattooing on mother-in-law" and "loyalty to serve the country" will be passed down from generation to generation.