The Jianyan Restoration

In the second year of the Jingkang era, the Jin army breached Bianliang, burning and looting the once-prosperous Eastern Capital until nothing remained. They captured the two emperors, Huizong and Qinzong, along with three thousand nobles and officials, and took them north. History remembers it as the Humiliation of Jingkang.

If, when the Jin army breached Bianliang, Zhao Gou had led the forces rallying to defend the emperor from across the land in a desperate attempt to save it, would Bianliang still have become a living hell?

That same year, Zhao Gou crossed east to Jiankang, inherited the throne, made Jiankang his capital, and declared a new era, Jianyan. History would remember this as the Jianyan Restoration.

Right Chancellor Li Gang submitted a memorial urging the court to return to Bianliang, but his plea went unanswered. The Jin army eventually crossed the Yangtze, its iron hooves ravaging Jiangnan, and Zhao Gou was forced to flee in haste, moving the capital several times.

If Zhao Gou had heeded Li Gang's advice and returned the capital to Bianliang, guarding the nation's gates as emperor, could history have been rewritten?

Yue Fei and the other generals fought bloody battles for ten years, nearly driving the Jin invaders out of the Central Plains. But Zhao Gou listened to slander and recalled the generals with twelve golden orders. Some were stripped of their military command, while others were executed on the fabricated charge of "treason without cause." The tragedy of Jingkang became an eternal regret.

If, after ascending the throne, Zhao Gou had governed with diligence, surrounded himself with worthy ministers, distanced himself from treacherous officials, and personally led a great army north, could he have struck straight for Huanglong and avenged the humiliation?