Chapter 468: Side Story 19: Yi Kaitian Discusses Zhao Jiu in History — Spilling Tea for the Scent of Books

Side Story 19: Yi Kaitian Discusses Zhao Jiu in History — Spilling Tea for the Scent of Books

Zhao Jiu, the tenth emperor of the Song Dynasty, was a rare restoration monarch whose historical reputation surpassed even that of the dynasty's founder. In his youth, he was open and generous, fond of drinking and composing poetry, often upholding his principles, and skilled with spear and staff. As a young man, he emulated Song Taizu by traveling through Hebei, and with a single gilded dragon-coiling staff, he defeated all comers across three prefectures and sixteen military commanderies, leaving no opponent able to match him. People of the time called him "Unrivaled in Hebei with Spear and Staff, First in the Realm for Cavalry Combat." Because his face was as fair as jade and he favored white robes and white socks, he was known as the "Jade Qilin," also called the Jade-Faced Little White Dragon.

Later, during the Jingkang Incident, the realm collapsed. North of the Yellow River, Zhao Jiu first took command of military forces as the Grand Marshal of the Realm's Armies. Because of his skill in horsemanship and his care for his soldiers, many troops and officers were willing to die for him. At that time, the Central Plains had long been at peace; civil officials were idle and military officers indulged in pleasure, and the armies had not trained for a long time. Whenever they encountered the Jin forces, most fled. Only Zhao Jiu dared to fight. Though he lost repeatedly, he kept fighting, and from those defeats he forged an iron army—this was the foundation of the Imperial Guard that later shook the realm.

After Zhao Jiu ascended the throne, he fought several major battles. The first was at Bagongshan, where he gathered scattered defeated troops. To boost morale, he executed the fleeing general Liu Guangshi. Liu Guangshi came from a family of generals in the Western Army and had been skilled in martial arts since childhood. Yet before Liu Guangshi's several thousand personal troops, Zhao Jiu killed him in just a few exchanges. At that time, Wang De, known as Wang Yecha, who could stop children from crying at night and was a fierce general under Liu Guangshi, could not even intervene. The assembled generals submitted to his courage, crawled on their knees to beg forgiveness, and none dared to raise their heads. This battle was fought on the Huai River, using both water and land forces. The Jin forces suffered a minor defeat, and though the number of kills and captures was not great, the true significance of this battle was that it shattered the myth that ten thousand Jin troops were invincible, injecting a strong stimulant into anti-Jin forces everywhere.

Later, he led his army on a rapid relief of Dongjing, with one man and three horses, galloping several hundred li. It was here that Zhao Jiu and Yue Fei met—a convergence of circumstances, a perfect match between ruler and minister. The enemy general Wanyan Talan, known for his cruelty and bloodlust, faced the realm's top military minds and had no ability to resist, barely escaping with his life. For the first time, the Jin forces suffered large-scale annihilation on the battlefield. The bandit general Wanyan Talan saw Zhao Jiu's ferocity and invincibility on the battlefield, lost his nerve after a single battle, and never dared to set foot south of the Yellow River again for the rest of his life.

Later, when the Jin war god Wanyan Loushi led his army south to invade, Zhao Jiu combined several armies to fight him at Yaoshan. In this battle, both Generals Yue and Han were absent, which fully demonstrated Zhao Jiu's military talent. At that time, Wanyan Loushi first defeated the veteran commander Wang Yan, then killed the great general Li Shiqi in battle, rampaging through a hundred-thousand-strong army with none of the generals able to stop him. Zhao Jiu drew his bow to shoot an eagle. He fired three arrows: the first cut down a banner, the second killed a horse, and the third struck Wanyan Loushi himself. The battle was won from that point on. Later generations called it "Three Arrows Settle Yaoshan."

Later generations evaluated Zhao Jiu and the Yan Founder as the most skilled emperors at waging war. However, the Yan Founder excelled in military strategy and deception, while Zhao Jiu excelled in military force and positioning. The Yan Founder led a hundred-thousand-strong army to sweep across the realm; Zhao Jiu led several thousand troops to break enemy armies and kill their generals—both were top figures in their respective fields. Regarding Zhao Jiu, children sang: "No king surpasses Xiang, no general surpasses Li. Ancestor Zhao Jiu, unmatched under heaven."