Lu Xiufu

(1236-1279) was a famous official in the Southern Song Dynasty who fought against the Yuan Dynasty. Han nationality, courtesy name Junshi, was born in Changjianli, Yancheng, Chuzhou (now Jianhu, Jiangsu). Baoyou Jinshi. He first served as Li Tingzhi's staff, and later held positions such as minister of the Ministry of Rites. After the fall of Lin'an, he went to Fuzhou and established Zhao Shi as emperor with Zhang Shijie and others. After his death, he supported Zhao Bing and lived in Yashan (today's south of Xinhui, Guangdong). He was appointed as the left prime minister and continued to organize the resistance against the Yuan Dynasty. In the second year of Xiangxing (1279), he was defeated by the Yuan army and died in the sea. There is "Collection of the Posthumous Works of Duke Lu Zhonglie".

Li Tingzhi was appointed envoy to Huaidong, and he was also appointed as a counselor. In the first year of Deyou (1275), the first year of Emperor Gong of the Song Dynasty, Yuan soldiers marched eastward along the Yangtze River. The situation in Yangzhou became tense and most of his staff fled. Lu Xiufu and several others stuck to their posts without wavering. Li Tingzhi recommended him to the court and transferred him to Lin'an. In the second year of Deyou's reign, he was appointed as Minister of Rites. After the Empress Dowager led Emperor Gong of Song to surrender, he and his general Su Liuyi and others retreated to Wenzhou. Soon, he, Chen Yizhong, Zhang Shijie and others established King Yi as emperor in Fuzhou, rebuilt the Song Dynasty, served as a bachelor of Duanming Palace and a member of the Privy Council. The soldiers of the Yuan Dynasty entered Fujian, and the monarchs and ministers of the Song Dynasty took ships to go south to Guangdong. The following year, Guangzhou was demoted to the Yuan Dynasty, the Song Dynasty moved to Jing'ao (now under Hengqin Island, Nanda, Zhongshan County, Guangdong), and Chen Yizhong fled to Champa (now central and southern Vietnam). At the beginning of the third year of Jingyan's reign (1278), Zhao Shi died and many ministers wanted to disperse. Lu Xiufu encouraged the ministers and established the eight-year-old King Zhao Bing as emperor. He changed his reign to Xiangxing and moved to Yashan (now Nanhai, Xinhui, Guangdong). middle). Lu Xiufu was appointed prime minister of the left, and he and Zhang Shijie were in charge of the government. In the second year of Xiangxing (1279, the 16th year of Yuan Dynasty), Zhang Hongfan of Yuan Dynasty attacked Yashan and the Song army was defeated. Lu Xiufu said to Zhao Bing: "Emperor Deyou has been humiliated too much. Your Majesty must not humiliate him again." He resolutely jumped into the sea and died in the face of the emperor. There is "Lu Zhonglie Collection" handed down from generation to generation.

The prime minister of the Southern Song Dynasty who was appointed in times of crisis

At the turn of the Song and Yuan Dynasties, when the emperors and ministers of the Southern Song Dynasty surrendered to the Yuan Dynasty and endured the hardships to survive, in the southeast On the land burning with anger along the coast, a large number of loyal and loyal people stood up to turn the tide. They used their lives to write magnificent poems. Lu Xiufu, who was ordered to face the crisis, was a representative of this group who fought desperately.

He is just beginning to show his talents; it is difficult to achieve ambitions

Lu Xiufu was born in the third year of Duanping (1236) and died in the second year of Xiangguang (1279). His courtesy name was Junshi and he was born in Chuzhou. Yancheng (now Yancheng, Jiangsu), moved to Jingkou, Jiangnan (now Zhenjiang, Jiangsu) with his parents at the age of three. He was very smart since he was a child. He studied in a village school and was often praised by his teacher: "Among the hundreds of Mongolian boys, Xiufu is the only one who is extraordinary." As he grew older, he liked to read books about patriotism and serving the people, and his thinking became increasingly agile. Poetry: At the age of nineteen, he was admitted as a Jinshi, and he was on the same list as Wen Tianxiang, who left the aphorism "Since ancient times, no one has ever died, and his loyalty will illuminate history." Li Tingzhi, the envoy who guarded Huainan at that time, was famous for recruiting talents. When he learned that Hideo was young and promising, he hired him to serve in his shogunate. Huainan was a place where talented people from all over the world gathered at that time, and was known as the "little court", so Lu Xiufu was at home here.

Lu Xiufu has a clear mind and few people can match him, but he is not proud of it. He has a very quiet temperament and doesn't like to show off. Whenever the officials came to visit and the guests and hosts entertained each other, Lu Xiufu was the only one standing by, silent. Sometimes there would be a banquet and wine in the house, and Lu Xiufu would sit at the banquet, reserved and solemn, without saying a word. People thought he was very strange and difficult to approach, so few people got along with him. However, Lu Xiufu's ability to manage affairs efficiently, steadily and capable was deeply appreciated and valued by Li Tingzhi. Even if his official position was promoted, he was not allowed to leave. In this way, Hideo's status in the palace became higher and higher, until he was in charge of Jiyi writing.

In the first year of Deyou (1275), the troops of the Yuan Dynasty launched a massive attack on the Southern Song Dynasty. The situation in the Huaihe and Huaihe regions became more urgent. The Li shogunate fell apart and his staff resigned one after another. Only Lu Xiufu was not afraid of the difficulties and worked with Li Tingzhi. We are in the same boat and fighting against the enemy to the death. Li Tingzhi was deeply moved by his precious character like the wind and grass, and felt that he was a rare loyal person. He reluctantly gave up his love and recommended him to the imperial court as a mainstay, and he was promoted to Minister of Rites.

At this time, the situation in the Southern Song Dynasty worsened even more. At that time, the Yuan army was guided down the river by Lu Wenhuan, the rebel general of the Song Dynasty.

The generals along the river, many of whom were members of the Lu clan, watched the wind and surrendered. For example, Qian Zhensun, the prefect of Jiangzhou, and Fan Wenhu, the prefect of Anqing, surrendered to the city one after another. Jia Sidao, who had never dared to go on an expedition, was forced to lead his troops due to the situation. Although he came to Wuhu, he did not want to fight, but fantasized about seeking peace. They failed to seek peace, so they had to fight by chance. Jia Sidao sent Sun Huchen to lead more than 70,000 infantrymen to station in Dingjiazhou. Xia Gui led 2,500 warships to line the river. Jia Sidao personally led the rear army to camp in Lugang, southwest of Wuhu. As soon as the two sides fought, Sun Huchen, because of his junior qualifications and lack of prestige to convince the crowd, had no ability to fight back against the Yuan army's attack, and soon the situation was in chaos and the army was completely defeated. Jia Sidao was even more panic-stricken. The Song army was in trouble. The Yuan army took advantage of the victory and pursued it. The Song army was killed and drowned. The water was dyed red with blood. All the military supplies and equipment were obtained by the Yuan army. The disastrous defeats in the battles of Dingjiazhou and Lugang caused the Song army to lose all its main force.

After Jia Sidao left the army this time, the court was controlled by his party members Wang Entropy and Chen Yizhong. Although Lu Xiufu wrote many times and made impassioned speeches, requesting to go to the front to organize the anti-Yuan movement, he was always rejected. It's a pity that Lu Xiufu had an empty ambition to serve the country, but he was blocked by traitors and could not display it. In March of this year, Boyan led the Yuan army directly into Jiankang and threatened Lin'an. When he heard about Lu Xiufu and other loyal ministers, he couldn't help but admire: "There were such loyal ministers in the Song Dynasty, but they didn't know how to reuse them. If they reused them, would I still be here?"

After the failure of the Battle of Lugang, Jia Sidao was dismissed from his post and died in Mu Mian'an in Zhangzhou, Fujian in September of that year. However, the fate of the Southern Song Dynasty's demise was irreversible at this time.

When the Yuan army approached Lin'an, the Southern Song Dynasty court immediately fell into extreme chaos. The civil servants and generals, who were as timid as a mouse, were in panic all day long. Prime Minister Zuo Mengyan, who was greedy for life and fearful of death, took the lead in abandoning his official position and fleeing; officials from the six ministries (the general name of the official, household, ritual, military, punishment, and work ministries) followed suit and left for other places one after another. Privy Council officials in charge of military aircraft and border defense affairs, such as Wen Jiweng and Ni Pu, were afraid of being accused of deserting before the battle, so they colluded with the supervisory agencies and begged the censor to excuse themselves from the imperial court and be dismissed from office. But he was afraid that the imperial court would show mercy and persuade him to stay, so he often escaped from the capital before waiting for the memorial's approval. In just a few days, a ferocious wind of "hanging the crown" blew up, causing the Zhao Dynasty to suddenly become "deserted and sparse in front of the door." Even when the emperor summoned his ministers to order Wu Jian to take over as prime minister Zuo, only six civil servants were present.

The regent, the 72-year-old Empress Dowager Xie Daoqing, was guarding her six-year-old boy, Song Gongzong Zhao Xian, and was worried about the precarious political situation. The helpless widow and orphan finally came up with a countermeasure and posted an edict in the court hall in the name of Xie, half begging and half threatening, to the effect of: "The Song Dynasty has conquered the world for more than three hundred years. The scholar-bureaucrats have always been courteous and kind. Now that the young emperor and I are in trouble, all the civil and military officials are turning a blind eye, and no one can come up with any wisdom or plan to save the country. "The ministers in the court neglected their duties, and the governor of the state abandoned his seal and threw the city to investigate. Ineffective, the prime minister had no way to govern, so he made the unscrupulous people cooperate with each other inside and outside, and planned to escape at night. You claim to read the books of sages and understand things on weekdays, but in this time of national crisis, you commit such a despicable scandal, how can you still live with dignity? What qualifications do you have to see the late emperor after death? The country of the Song Dynasty has not changed, and the national laws are still in place. From now on, all civil and military officials who perform their duties wholeheartedly will be promoted by two levels: if there is anyone who abandons his official position and flees in times of crisis, the censor will be severely investigated and punished. ”

The Empress Dowager, who used to be so arrogant and always responded to every call, when the country is in critical danger and there is no way to save the country, she will inevitably call the heavens and the earth to be unresponsive. No matter she lures her with high-ranking officials and generous salaries, or uses the Severe punishments and threats are of no use to the disloyal ministers. The imperial edict that once aroused the awe of the ministers has now become a piece of paper stuck to the wall of the court and allowed to be corroded by the wind and rain.

The Empress Dowager, who was beleaguered internally and externally, was frightened by the overwhelming threat of force from the Yuan army, and finally agreed with the right prime minister Chen Yizhong: to negotiate for peace and surrender. She first sent Liu Yue and three others to the Boyan camp, and offered to call her nephew. Or the humiliating conditions for his nephew and grandson to pay coins, and asked the Yuan Dynasty to stop the army and negotiate for peace.

Boyan immediately rejected him. Then he sent the supervisory censor Liu Guanjie to Boyan Camp to "proclaim himself a minister" and promised to pay tribute of 250,000 taels of silver and 250,000 pieces of silk every year, hoping to use this heavy price to exchange for the remaining corner of the Southern Song Dynasty court. Boyan not only refused to give in, but asked the Prime Minister of the Southern Song Dynasty to personally come forward to ask for surrender. When the news returned to Lin'an, Chen Yizhong was afraid that he would be detained by the Yuan army and sent north to Dadu (Beijing), so he fled to Wenzhou overnight, thus causing the Southern Song Dynasty to breach the contract. Boyan was furious and ordered the Yuan army to garrison Gaoting Mountain, thirty miles outside Lin'an City, as a warning. The Empress Dowager appointed Wen Tianxiang as Prime Minister and Privy Envoy to the right, to supervise all the people and negotiate peace with Boyan. But Wen Tianxiang was detained by Boyan. The Empress Dowager had no choice but to pay homage to the Yuan Dynasty in the name of the little emperor Zhao Xian. She automatically cut off the imperial title and changed her name to "The Lord of the Country." , give away all the remaining rivers and mountains. It declared the complete end of the Southern Song Dynasty's partial peace in Jiangnan.

Before the Yuan army entered Lin'an, the Southern Song Dynasty court, which was in turmoil, hurriedly conferred the title of King Zhao Gang, the king of Ji, as King Yi, and ordered him to judge (a high-ranking official holding a low-ranking position) in Fuzhou; at the same time, he entered Fuzhou He sent a letter to King Zhao Bing as King Guang and ordered him to sentence Quanzhou. When Lin'an was about to fall, the two kings were escorted by the Prince Consort Yang Zhen and others. They left the capital and passed through Wuzhou (now Jinhua, Zhejiang) to Wenzhou. Boyan, who wanted to eradicate the Song Dynasty, learned that he sent troops to pursue him, but failed.

The Iron Bones Turned the Tide

After the fall of Lin'an, some civil servants and generals in the Southern Song Dynasty who were unwilling to accept humiliation and surrender, learned that King Yi and King Guang had arrived in Wenzhou, and they all went to join them with the mood of making a comeback. . It was at this time that Lu Xiufu came to Wenzhou. Subsequently, a naval force led by Zhang Shijie also arrived with sail. The fleet brought by Chen Yizhong's escape happened to be anchored in Qing'ao near Wenzhou. As a result, these important officials of the Song Dynasty in the past were now gathered under the command of the two kings. After consultations with Chen, Zhang and others, Lu Xiufu unanimously advocated rebuilding the imperial court and rebuilding the world. Then, at Jiangxin Temple in Wenzhou, King Yi was appointed as the marshal of the world's military forces, and King Guang was appointed as the deputy marshal. At the same time, he issued a proclamation, stating that loyal ministers and righteous people from all over the country should urgently serve the king and recover the old things. At this time, the Empress Dowager, who had become a prisoner of the Boyan class, appointed two eunuchs to lead more than a hundred soldiers to Wenzhou to prepare for the return of the two kings to Lin'an. Lu Xiufu and others were unwilling to return it, so they supported the two kings to go to Fuzhou.

On the first day of May in the second year of Deyou (1276), King Yi officially ascended the throne in Fuzhou and proclaimed himself emperor. He changed Yuan Jingyan to Duanzong. At the same time, the Jin Dynasty granted King Guang the title of King of Wei, and formed a cabinet headed by Chen Yizhong, Zhang Shijie, and Lu Xiufu to regroup and revive the government. The establishment of the Fuzhou regime was a hope for the revival of the Southern Song Dynasty, but the hope was very slim. In the imperial court, although there were loyal ministers like Lu Xiufu who tried their best to turn the tide of collapse, there were more unscrupulous and incompetent people like Chen Yizhong.

At that time, the Fuzhou regime was called the "Sea Dynasty" and was nothing more than a government in exile. At the beginning of the establishment of this regime, officials could still work together as one, but conflicts soon arose. Yang Liangjie, a foreign relative, prides himself on being the uncle of the country and "holds power in the middle." Zhang Shijie and Chen Yizhong have disagreements; Wen Tianxiang is also excluded from the court because of disagreements with Chen Yizhong; Su Lieyi is suppressed and depressed; and Lu Xiufu is even more difficult to achieve his ambitions. Excluded by Chen Yizhong. At first, Chen Yizhong thought that Lu Xiufu "had been in the army for a long time and knew military affairs," and he valued him very much. And Lu Xiufu "also praised it wholeheartedly, and committed suicide in every case." But soon, Lu Xiufu and Chen Yizhong had differences of opinion. Chen Yizhong instigated Taiwanese admonishers to impeach Lu Xiufu and remove him from office. Zhang Shijie found out and was very dissatisfied, so he said to Chen Yizhong: "When is it now that you can dismiss people at every turn?" As a last resort, Chen Yizhong recalled Lu Xiufu. However, this shows that the exiled regime of King Yi can no longer achieve anything major.

In November, the Yuan army attacked Fuzhou. Zhang Shijie and others led 170,000 official troops and 300,000 militiamen to escort Duanzong and King Wei into the sea and sail to Quanzhou. At that time, the most powerful person in Quanzhou was Pu Shougeng, a wealthy businessman from Acibo.

This person has lived in China for many years and also obtained the official position of the Song Dynasty's Shipping Envoy (in charge of inspecting foreign merchant ships entering and leaving the port, collecting customs duties, purchasing imperial products, and managing foreign merchants, etc.). He controlled a large number of seagoing ships, dominated local maritime trade, and bullied the market. , illegal character windfall. After Duanzong and his entourage anchored in Quanzhou, Zhang Shijie was eager to expand the strength of the royal family and ordered the seizure of Pu Shougeng's ships and assets. This angered Pu Shougeng, who was planning to lower the Yuan Dynasty, and accelerated his anti-Song Dynasty pace. Because Xingchao was unable to entangle him, he had to leave Quanzhou and go to Jiazimen in Huizhou via Chaozhou (today's Donghaikou, Haifeng, Guangdong). In September of the second year of Jingyan (1277), he moved to Qianwan (now an island in the South China Sea in Raoping, Guangdong). Lu Xiufu resumed his post as a Privy Council member, and Empress Yang listened to politics behind the curtain, "talking to the ministers, still calling herself a slave." Every time Lu Xiufu participated in the court meeting, he would "just stand up and govern the court." Sometimes during the court meeting, Xiufu would burst into tears and wipe his tears with his court clothes. His clothes were stained with tears. All the ministers on the left and right looked at them without feeling sad. . However, the Song Dynasty was still heading for destruction step by step. Although Wen Tianxiang, Li Fu and others carried out extremely arduous struggles against the Yuan Dynasty in the local area, they mostly did nothing due to their weak power.

Kublai Khan, the founder of the Yuan Dynasty, learned that the "Sea Court" of the Southern Song Dynasty had not been wiped out and was still haunting the coasts of Fujian and Guangdong, so he urgently ordered Ta Chu, Li Heng, Lu Shigen and others to lead their infantry to Yu Yu. Ridge, Manwutai, Zhudu, Pu Shougeng, Liu Shen and others led the boat divisions into the sea and launched a two-pronged attack to the south to suppress the dynasty. In November, Liu Shen attacked Qianwan, but Zhang Shijie was at a disadvantage, so he and Lu Xiufu escorted Duan Zong to Jing'ao (now an island in the South China Sea of ??Zhongshan, Guangdong). Seeing that the situation was tense, Chen Yizhong escaped and fled to Champa (the name of an ancient country in today's Vietnam). In December, a hurricane hit Jing'ao, causing heavy rain and violent waves. The mast was broken and the ship capsized, and more than half of the soldiers drowned. Although the boat of Danzong and his ministers was spared, it was also full of dangers, causing Danzong to become frightened and become ill. After the hurricane, Zhang Shijie, Lu Xiufu and others were busy leading their troops to clean up the mess. Liu Shen took the opportunity to command the navy to follow and pursue, and the march was forced to move hastily to Xienu Gorge outside the Pearl River Estuary.

In March of the third year of Jingyan’s reign (1278), after more than a hundred days of bumpy journey on the sea, I finally found a resting place with time to breathe. Gangzhou (now southeast of Leizhou Bay in Guangdong) an island in the sea). However, trouble arose again, and Danjong suddenly died of illness in April at the age of eleven. In the eyes of some officers and soldiers, this is an ominous sign that the life of the "Sea Court" has come to an end. In order to avoid perishing together with Xingchao, they decided to find their own way to survive. At this critical moment when the tree fell and the hozens dispersed, Lu Xiufu stepped forward with awe-inspiring righteousness and encouraged everyone: "Duanzong died, but King Wei was still there. Back then, Shaokang was able to revive the Xia Dynasty with five hundred men and ten miles around. Is it possible?" Can't our civil and military officials rely on hundreds of thousands of soldiers and people and vast tracts of blue sea to revive the three-hundred-year-old foundation of the Song Dynasty?" Inspired by the rejuvenation spirit advocated by Lu Xiufu, the ministers were all excited and expressed their determination to revive the Song Dynasty. . Then, Lu Xiufu discussed with the ministers to establish King Wei as the emperor, and Empress Dowager Yang would listen to the affairs behind the curtain. In May, it was changed to Yuan Xiangxing. At this critical moment, Lu Xiufu was appointed to take over as Prime Minister Zuo, and worked with Zhang Shijie to turn the tide and support the crisis. In June, the army and horses moved to Yashan.