Yue Fei victorious.

Kaze

Banned
Real history:
Yue Fei was on the caliber of any of the Generals of the Three Kingdoms Period. He had several problems - firstly, he could not capitalize on his victories without being countermanded by the capital - the Emperor Gaozong feared that if Yue Fei took Kaifeng, that the general might release Emperor Qinzong (Emperor Qinzong's existence threatened Gaozong's claim to the throne and could lead to civil war). Secondly, the corrupt officials in the capital decided to sign a peace treaty. They recalled him from the front. Thirdly, the corrupt officials saw the requirements of the treaty - the life of Yue Fei - the officials concocted a conspiracy saying that Yue Fei wanted to rebel and become Emperor. Yue Fei was executed because "it might be true" or "there is no reason needed." After the death of Yue Fei, competent generals were in short supply - they feared they would face the same fate as Yue Fei.
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New history --

What if Yue Fei captured Kaifeng? How much longer would the Jin-Song Wars last? Would there be a civil war? Could they retake the north? Could they face off the eventual arrival of the Mongols?
 
I know it’s been a few months, but still this topic is very interesting, I’m willing to tell you some of my opinions. Since as a Chinese myself, Yue Fei has always been one of my favorite generals. Regarding to how much longer the war will last, I assume you mean to ask that if Yue Fei captured Kaifeng, would the emperor still seek peace with Jin or would he support Yue Fei to keep on fight since the situation is much better? If that’s what you asked, then I can assure you that regardless of whether Yue Fei take Kaifeng, this will not change much, or the war might end faster, since for the emperor of Song Dynasty, military generals who know how to fight are all the more dangerous to them than outer enemies. The more victor Yue Fei achieves, the more the emperor would dislike him, so I dare to say that the emperor probably would order Yue Fei to abandon Kaifeng all over again for peace treaty. But however, should the emperor some how decided to support Yue Fei’s war efforts, then I think the war will also end quiet soon, since Jin’s army has already suffered quiet many defeats, military speaking their invasion of Song has already failed utterly. As for whether there will be a civil war, if you are talk about that Jin put Qinzong to against Gaozong, then well then it likely would lead to civil war since Gaozong were not that popular to begin with, he was the 9th born son and he couldn’t even has kid of his own(health problem), thus many might think that well Qinzong were the oldest thus we would support him. Hell there is a possibility that Yue Fei himself might do so since he said that he shall rescue the former two emperors back to Song(Qinzong and his father Huizong). As for retake the North, again it’s all up to how much support the emperor would give Yue Fei or other generals which I personally think that there will be no support at all. But say he actually does support them, then I think they can definitely take back all the land before the war with Jin, but if you are talk about land further north(land that reach the Great Wall or land beyond) or destroy Jin entirely, then honestly speaking I don’t know since Song cannot do so even at its best time, but Yue Fei was the best of Song generals(better even than those who founded this dynasty), so he might has a chance?(I don’t know) As for face off Mongols, that heavily depend on whether they are able to take back the land in the north and how much they can take back. I’d say if they can take back all lands south of the Great Wall, then they probably would be able to hold off the Mongols. How these answers your questions(my grammar is bad, sorry for that.)
 
May I ask where are you from? Can you read Chinese? If you can, then I have a Chinese fiction to recommend which is about how a man from modern China manage to save the Northern Song Dynasty from being destroyed.( ok the story is in a long hiatus for years, currently the protagonist was leading his troops fighting against Jin’s army in Northern China fiercely, war is far from over.) The name of it is 宋时归(I think the name could be translated as “back to Song era), I can send you the link directly if you know how to read Chinese. If not I can introduce this story generally.
 

Kaze

Banned
I would love to read it, but my Chinese is basic enough to know which bathroom to use in the airport. Yet, I would love to read an English translation or get the plotline.
 
I'm sorry I can't introduce the whole plotline to you since this story is too complex to be able to explain in a few words, if I can meet you in person then I can sit down with you and talk with you for hours no end. But in general the protagonist pretty much became a usurper(he dethroned emperor Huizong and deposed Qinzong who was still crown prince at the time and put Zhao Kai to the throne(the third son of Huizong) and gain control of all military and political power, only then were he able to march to north to against the army of Jin. So far the war was fought on two front, he himself fight on western front(nowadays' Shanxi) against Wanyan Zonghan while his troops in Hebei fight against Wanyan Zongwang. I'd say that in order to defeat Jurchen at the time, you must try to get ride of Song's emperor, only then would you be able to lauch your full might against your enemy instead of worry the emperor stab you in the back.
https://www.zhaishuyuan.com/chapter/778/570280(This is the link of the story,the author's pen name is 天使奥斯卡(literlly mean "Angel Oscar"), hope you can find someone to translate it, I'm sorry I can't help)
Also how do you think of my answers to your questions above?
 
The truth is that we have no idea about how good Yue Fei really is,or how successful he was against the Jin. A lot of primary material during the period were deliberately destroyed or altered during Qin Hui's chancellorship. What's popularly known of Yue Fei largely came from a semi-fictional account written by Yue Fei's grandson, a corrupt official who probably used his grandfather's reputation to further his political career. A lot of events written in Song accounts were either missing in Jin history books or are now under scrutiny by modern scholarship .A lot of scholars for example believed that his last battle, the Battle of Zhuxian,probably never took place(because it was absent in most of the primary sources) and that Yue Fei probably never defeated the Jin main force under Wanyan Wuzhu.Also,according to a number of accounts from the Song period, Yue Fei actually fucked up and deserted from a number of battles.It is also well known that Yue Fei actively tried to interfere with the succession of the throne,which may partly be the true reason why he was killed.

As for competent generals becoming short supply,that's not true. The subsequent Song-Mongol war actually produced a series of highly competent generals,including the highly successful Meng Gong, who was not only able to defeat Mongols in the field,but actually retake territory from them.
 
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