Which Famous General Removed from the Martial Temple by Emperor Taizu of Song Surprised You Most?

[Zhu Di: Who is kneeling before the court?]

[Zhu Yuanzhang: This commoner, Zhu Yuanzhang, together with my humble wife Ma Xiuying and my unworthy son Zhu Biao, pays his respects to Great Emperor Yongle!]

A chill ran through Zhu Di as he read the comment, shooting from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head.

"The heavens have been turned upside down!"

"Taizu kneeling to Chengzu. How amusing!"

"People of later generations certainly know how to make things up!"

"People of later generations made it up? Why couldn't it be true?!"

"Father." Zhu Biao looked at Zhu Yuanzhang.

"I'm fine." Zhu Yuanzhang waved a hand.

After experiencing anger and excitement so many times, Zhu Yuanzhang of Emperor Taizu of Ming's plane could now keep both from showing on his face.

The comments from later generations made him feel a sense of estrangement, as though Zhu Di's descendants were not his own, but merely shared the Zhu surname. Great Ming was not his Great Ming, but Zhu Di's.

[They were both Emperor Taizong, but Zhu Di couldn't compare to Li Shimin! Zhu Di rebelled, and more than a hundred thousand Great Ming soldiers died. That's recorded in Ming history. By comparison, Li Shimin didn't rebel; he just killed a few people in a coup.]

[The TV dramas they make now glorify Zhu Di as much as possible. Still, it's not as though Zhu Di had no achievements at all. He moved the capital to Beijing and resolved the conflict between north and south.]

[Take any emperor in history who had a bit of fame, air out his achievements and hide the bad things he did, and any one of them could be the greatest emperor of all time.]

[Of all the Taizongs throughout the dynasties, I only acknowledge Emperor Taizong of Han, Liu Heng, and Emperor Taizong of Tang, Li Shimin.]

[Emperor Taizong of Song lowered the standard for Taizongs.]

[Zhao Guangyi was just bad at war. His civil governance was still decent, about the same as Sun Quan's.]

When Zhao Guangyi saw that comment, he felt the urge to weep.

It hadn't been easy! Someone from a later generation had finally said half a good word about him!

Why did Zhao Guangyi consider it half a word?

Because Zhao Guangyi thought, What is Sun Quan? Is he worthy of being mentioned in the same breath as me?!

Zhao Guangyi looked down on Sun Quan.

On another plane, Sun Quan likewise looked down on Zhao Guangyi.

[It wasn't Zhao Guangyi who lowered the standard for Taizongs. It was Li Shimin who raised the temple name Taizong to another level.]

[The temple name "Taizong" was generally paired with the posthumous title "Emperor Wendi." Wen referred to civil governance, ruling the realm through civil means rather than pacifying it through military might. But Li Shimin somehow slipped in as an exception. He excelled in both civil and military affairs: he could usher in a golden age through civil governance, and beat the surrounding countries into submission through military might. He was honored as the Heavenly Khagan and even outshone the founding emperor Li Yuan. That's why he seems so impressive.]

[There's a saying online now: Zhu Di became Prince of Yan because his father was Zhu Yuanzhang. Li Yuan became emperor because his son was Li Shimin. That's a bit exaggerated, but everyone knows which son was more impressive.]

The more Li Shimin read these comments, the happier he became.

Zhao Guangyi felt a little better too.

Li Yuan was the most upset.

[I just think Zhu Di was better than Li Shimin. Li Shimin became emperor through a coup and underhanded schemes, while our Great Ming's Cheng... Emperor Taizong conquered the realm through real ability! Calling him "Emperor Wendi Taizong" is modesty, so don't take it seriously. The honorific "Emperor Chengzu of Ming" is what he truly deserves!]

The Taizongs of every dynasty: Put that way, Zhu Di really was impressive! We can't compare, we can't compare!

Zhu Di shouted at the heavens, "I am not Chengzu! I am Taizong! Taizong!"

[Which famous general removed from the Martial Temple by Emperor Taizu of Song surprised you most? #history]

"Famous generals removed from the Martial Temple? This isn't the Emperors' Martial Temple from just now!"

"The Song Martial Temple can't be trusted!"

People from after the Northern Song naturally knew which famous generals Emperor Taizu of Song had removed from the Martial Temple.

["Of the twenty-three famous generals removed from the Martial Temple by Emperor Taizu of Song, Zhao Kuangyin, who surprised you most?"]

["Lord Wu'an of Qin, the killing god Bai Qi, one of the four great generals of the Warring States, whom a great man praised with the words, 'When it comes to battles of annihilation, no one in a thousand years has surpassed him,' was removed from the Martial Temple on the grounds that killing surrendered soldiers was unworthy of a warrior."]

"Someone as formidable as Lord Wu'an was actually removed from the Martial Temple by Zhao Kuangyin?!"

"Bai Qi truly was a little ruthless for his time! But in the later ages of turmoil, how many refrained from killing surrendered soldiers?"

"Zhao Kuangyin's ancestral home was in Hebei, and his surname was Zhao. He must have been a descendant of the State of Zhao!"

"Who was this great man? What he said was quite right. Search through the histories for battles fought with the annihilation of the enemy as their main objective, and few can compare to Bai Qi!"

"Emperor Taizu of Song did well! Bai Qi had the blood of hundreds of thousands of people from my State of Zhao on his hands. Was he worthy of a place in the Martial Temple?"

"Lord Wu'an!" King Zhaoxiang of Qin, Ying Ji, sighed.

The two kings of Qin who followed Ying Ji, the First Emperor of Qin, Ying Zheng, and many famous generals and ministers of the Qin Dynasty felt anger and displeasure when they saw that Lord Wu'an had been removed from the Martial Temple by Zhao Kuangyin.

"Everyone, don't forget that the heavenly screen mentioned that after Zhao Kuangyin founded the Song Dynasty, he favored civil affairs over military affairs. That must have been one of the reasons he removed Lord Wu'an from the Martial Temple."

"Hmph! The Song Dynasty favored civil affairs over military affairs and lost its martial virtue. It deserved to be as weak as a sheep and suffer the Humiliation of Jingkang."

As for Bai Qi himself, he didn't care that Emperor Taizu of Song had removed him from the Martial Temple.

He couldn't control what happened in later generations!

When it came to battles of annihilation, no one in a thousand years had surpassed him.

Those words were the best assessment of him.

["Wu Qi, the second sage of military strategy, who founded the Wei Martial Infantry and fought seventy-six great battles against the feudal lords, winning sixty-four outright, was removed."]

Unexpectedly, another heavyweight had been removed!

["Sun Bin, military strategist of Qi, who wrote The Art of War of Sun Bin and devised the plan to attack and kill Pang Juan, was removed."]

"Bai Qi, Wu Qi, Sun Bin—three famous generals from before Qin unified the realm, removed from the Martial Temple one after another. Who's left in the Martial Temple?"

["Lord Xinping of Zhao, Lian Po, one of the four great generals of the Warring States, who crushed the Qi army, captured Yangjin, defeated the enemy and besieged the Yan capital, and killed Li Fu, was removed."]

"Was Zhao Kuangyin an idiot? He actually removed General Lian Po!"

["Han Xin, the immortal of war, Marquis of Huaiyin of the Western Han, one of the three great generals of the early Han, who swept aside the feudal lords and was a peerless talent of the realm, was removed."]

"Han Xin was removed from the Martial Temple too?!" Now it was Liu Bang's turn to be baffled.

Liu Bang knew perfectly well how formidable Han Xin was in battle.

Calling him the immortal of war was no exaggeration!

["Peng Yue, Prince of Liang of the Western Han, one of the three great generals of the early Han and the progenitor of guerrilla warfare, who used guerrilla tactics to wear down the Chu army and joined Han Xin and others in surrounding Xiang Yu, was removed."]

["Zhou Yafu, Marquis of Tiao of the Western Han, who put down the Rebellion of the Seven States of Wu and Chu, was removed."]

["Duan Jiming, Marquis of Duxiang of the Eastern Han, who repeatedly quelled troubles on the frontier and slew many Qiang and other barbarian foes, was removed."]

["Guan Yu, Marquis of Hanshou Village of Shu Han, who slew Yan Liang, captured Yu Jin, killed Pang De, and shook Huaxia with his might, was removed."]

["Zhang Fei, Marquis of Xixiang of Shu Han, who righteously released Yan Yan during the campaign to enter Sichuan and, at the Battle of Baxi, beat Zhang He so badly that he abandoned his horse and fled by climbing a mountain, was removed."]

"My heavens! Even the Martial Sage was removed by Emperor Taizu of Song?!"

"That's Second Lord Guan and Third Lord Zhang!"

Through the spread of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and with Guan Yu's title of Martial Sage, the names of Guan Yu and Zhang Fei became widely known in the Qing and Ming dynasties.

Of all the military commanders removed so far, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei were the best known.