Chapter 323: The Reverse Jingkang Humiliation

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Returning to the Your Majesty Palace, Zhao Yu accepted the congratulations of the ministers.

After the ceremony, Zhao Yu, citing Tong Guan’s merit, promoted him to Inspector General of the Ministry of Justice, Military Governor of Zentao Army, and granted him the title of Imperial Minister with equal honors to the Three Excellencies.

But Tong Guan firmly declined the appointment.

In truth, Tong Guan did not wish to refuse—he merely had to adopt this posture due to opposition from the civil officials.

Tong Guan was a eunuch; according to ritual protocol, eunuchs were confined to serving internal palace affairs, their status strictly limited to the “inner court,” with a clear boundary separating them from the civil and military officials of the outer court who managed state affairs.

Ritual norms imposed rigid hierarchical regulations on official selection and promotion, centered on preserving the patriarchal order of “rulers ruling, ministers serving, fathers fathering, sons sonning.”

Eunuchs, residing within the inner court, were commonly regarded as “castrated men”; in Confucian ethics, their status was deemed incompatible with the ideal of “cultivating oneself, regulating the family, governing the state, and bringing peace to the world”—they lacked the foundation of proper family ethics and were viewed as an aberrant group far removed from the “proper path”; granting them high office was seen as shattering the social hierarchy of “scholars, farmers, artisans, merchants” and the tradition of “study hard, then serve as official.”

Moreover, dynasties throughout history had suffered from eunuch domination and political chaos; thus, ritual restrictions on eunuch authority were fundamentally meant to prevent their interference in outer court affairs and to safeguard imperial power from erosion.

Positions such as “Imperial Minister with equal honors to the Three Excellencies” implied ceremonial status and authority equal to that of the chancellor, granting participation in core state decisions—clearly exceeding the ritual role assigned to eunuchs, naturally provoking fierce opposition from the civil official bloc, who saw it as a challenge to traditional rites and a threat to the dynasty’s foundational order.

Ye Mengde, then Hanlin Academician, opposed the appointment, arguing that naming Tong Guan Military Governor of Wukang Army was inappropriate and would invite public censure.

Thus, even though Tong Guan had earned merit, he had to observe these deeply entrenched ritual constraints and adopt the posture of refusal.

But Zhao Yu’s rule was simple: if you perform well, you are richly rewarded without hesitation; if you fail, sorry—your life is forfeit without debate.

So Zhao Yu rejected Tong Guan’s resignation, waved his hand, and granted him the ceremonial status and authority equal to that of the chancellor, allowing him to participate in core state decisions.

Tong Guan was deeply moved and later secretly presented Zhao Yu with vast quantities of gold, silver, and jewels.

These gold, silver, and jewels were the accumulated wealth of the Liao dynasty over two or three centuries, many already buried with Liao emperors and nobles, then exhumed by the Jin.

Zhao Yu never refused such tributes.

Soon after, Cai Jing, who managed affairs in Dongjing Bianliang for Zhao Yu, submitted on behalf of the ministers a congratulatory memorial, which read:

The army moves by righteous impulse, conquering the northern lands; since advancing north, we have won every battle. Recovering the former lands of Yan, we comfort the remnants of the Jiedi people. White-haired elders and children alike rejoice and shed their robes; wine and food fill the roads. Ten thousand states come in unity, one region now secured; heaven and earth change color, ancestral temples shine bright. To the north lies a realm, truly the wilds of Ji—once marked by Great Yu, regularly toured by Emperor Shun…

In short, Zhao Yu’s northern campaign resolved the Song dynasty’s greatest border threat, granting its subjects peace and security; throughout the four seas, all praised his sacred virtue; the court erupted in jubilation.

Zhao Yu read the memorial with great delight, deeply satisfied by Cai Jing’s praise, and immediately issued an edict rewarding all ministers and proclaiming a general amnesty to celebrate this unparalleled achievement.

In Dongjing Bianliang, firecrackers exploded, drums and gongs thundered, and the people flooded the streets to celebrate this hard-won peace and tranquility.

The crescent moon shines over the nine provinces; some rejoice, others grieve.

While the Song celebrated with joy, the Jin faced an unprecedented catastrophe.

The Song advanced north with thunderous force, armor gleaming like golden scales beneath the sun; the once-dominant Jin cavalry, who had ridden unchecked across the northeast, now lay shattered before Song artillery and powerful crossbows.

Half of the once-proud Jin warriors lay dead in pools of blood.

The remaining Jurchens clutched bloodstained wolf-tooth clubs, gazing at the endless sea of Song banners, their eyes filled with fear for the first time—fear, the very thing they had once inflicted upon the Liao.

Even more devastating to the Jin was the collapse of their lineage.

Over a hundred thousand Jin women were captured: from empresses and imperial consorts, to the wives and princesses of wolf lords and crown princes, down to concubines, concubines of nobles, commandery princesses, palace maids, clan daughters, servants, singers, noble relatives, and commoner women—all taken.

Without exaggeration, from Emperor Wanyan Aguda downward, nearly half of the Jin faced the risk of being cuckolded.

Shame!

Utter, unforgivable shame!

The Jin had long regarded “bride-snatching” as ancestral custom and “capturing” as honor, believing it natural, a symbol of fearless warriors; when they breached Liao territories, they had seized Liao royal, clan, and noble women as spoils, distributing them among victorious warriors. They believed in the supremacy of the strong, that all belonging to the defeated—including women and dignity—could be claimed.

Now, fate returned the same treatment: those Jin women who once sang the “Jurchen Song” and danced the “Mangshi” now became spoils in the hands of the conquerors. A profound absurdity and humiliation swept through the entire Jin realm, and the words “retribution” seemed etched into every Jurchen heart like a freezing north wind, slicing through their former pride and arrogance.

At this time, the Jin was still a confederation, preserving the traditional structure of Jurchen tribal alliances.

Wanyan Aguda’s central authority did not stem from a mature imperial system of absolute power, but from his role as alliance leader of the Jurchen tribes, a position grounded in his ability to consistently deliver tangible benefits to each tribe.

Logically, the union of Jurchen tribes arose directly from resistance against Liao oppression and exploitation. Wanyan Aguda united them because he demonstrated military prowess—by defeating the Liao, he not only removed external threats but also seized land, population, and wealth.

These spoils were distributed according to traditional Jurchen tribal alliance customs: participating tribes and nobles received shares proportional to their contributions.

In essence, the Jin at this time was still a tribal confederation. Though Wanyan Aguda had declared himself emperor, he remained the alliance leader; the tribes followed him not because he was emperor, but because he led them to break Liao oppression, seize cities, grain, and people, ensuring every tribe received its share.

In vivid terms, the Jin was like a joint-stock company, with all Jurchen nobles as “shareholders”; the more warriors and battle merit a clan possessed, the greater its share and influence within the alliance, while Wanyan Aguda acted as the “chairman” who drove profits—his authority depended entirely on sustained victories and resource acquisition.

That is, Wanyan Aguda held his position as “chairman” only through continuous victories and spoils, binding the loose confederation into a single force.

When Wanyan Aguda suffered repeated defeats, this logic reversed: on one hand, he could no longer provide sufficient resources to distribute to the tribes, damaging their material interests and eroding support for him; on the other, the losses from defeat—human and material—as well as the shame, caused each tribe to doubt his leadership.