The history of the early Southern Song is full of strange contradictions.
The terms of the Treaty of Shaoxing and the Treaty of Longxing seem extremely unreasonable.
Under the Treaty of Shaoxing, Emperor Zhao Gou of Song was granted his title by Jin, which meant that Song was a vassal of Jin. Yet under the Treaty of Longxing, the emperors of Jin and Song addressed each other as uncle and nephew.
The annual tribute was changed to an annual payment, and the amounts of silver and silk paid were reduced.
By all logic, Song's northern campaign should have been victorious to produce such an outcome. In fact, Song was defeated, yet it was Jin that took the initiative to seek peace.
Second, Emperor Xiaozong of Song, Zhao Shen, had only just taken the throne. He was known to history as a famously filial emperor, so why did he launch a campaign against Jin as soon as he took the throne, going against the longstanding peaceful policy of the retired emperor Zhao Gou?
Even more unreasonable, in order to launch the campaign, he rehabilitated Yue Fei, whom Zhao Gou had branded a traitor, and posthumously bestowed on him the title of Prince of E. He stripped Qin Hui of his title of Prince of Shen and his posthumous name Zhongxian, replacing them with the insulting name Miu Chou. Wasn't that an outright slap in the face to the retired emperor Zhao Gou?
Open the novel, and you'll discover even more surprises!
