The wish expressed by Li Gang, a sick cow.

In the history of China, Li Gang lay in people's hearts like a sick cow in the sunset. In fact, this is just the image of Li Gang in his later years. When I was young, I was brilliant and ambitious. I was simply a stubborn bull. However, in the contest between hawks and capitulationists, between loyal and treacherous officials, between fortitude and weakness, he was stabbed again and again, scarred and lying at the junction of the Song Dynasty, under the stormy sky of the Song Dynasty. He licked the bleeding wound, full of grief and sadness.

Such a brave and upright man, history played a joke on him, putting him in a declining era, among a group of treacherous bureaucrats, among three or four fatuous emperors, and in the predicament of internal troubles and foreign invasion. Although "going out into the phase", the tragedy has long stopped.

Along the track of time, let's take a look at Li Gang's internal injuries again and again.

In the second year of Daguan, Li Gang, a teenager, took the Gong Sheng exam, ranking first, and Ren Zhen (now Yizheng, Jiangsu) joined the army judicially. Zheng He was a scholar in two years and served as a professor at Zhenjiang University. Three years later, he was promoted to be an assistant in the Imperial College. Li Gang, who is straightforward in nature, was demoted as foreign minister because of his words and deeds. This is his first sword. This seems to set the tone for his life, and he has been living in the alternation of demotion and promotion since then.

In April of the eighth year, Zheng He was appointed as Taichang Shao Qing and editor of national history. In June of the first year of Xuanhe, there was a flood in the capital of song dynasty. Li Gang went to fight floods and provide disaster relief, and put forward six suggestions for pleading for the people. "The imperial court hated his words" and was demoted to "the secretariat of Shaxian County in Nanjianfu". Most of his suggestions were to build water conservancy projects and help the people, just because it asked the imperial court to "save trouble and effort, and transport flowers and stones appropriately", which touched the authorities. This refers to Song Huizong's grand "Shoushan Genyue" in Tokyo. Local officials took the opportunity to blackmail the people, and the people were miserable and complained. Many honest officials also made suggestions, but the court not only refused to listen, but cracked down on those who made suggestions. Li Gang used the flood in the capital to plead for the people, demanding to reduce the "troublesome labor" that caused serious burden to the people and stop the "flower and stone transportation". The Northern Song Dynasty imperial court was so angry that Li Gang was demoted to Shaxian, a "far and small place", and became a small official in charge of the state treasury. This is the second time to win the sword.

In the first year of Jingkang, the nomads from the capital of song dynasty went south and Kyoto was besieged. Qin Hui and Manchu ministers, some surrendered, some fled, and the ruling and opposition parties fell into chaos. At this time, Li Gang stepped forward and insisted on resisting gold and protecting Beijing. He repeatedly said that "the territory of our ancestors should be guarded by death, not by size and people." After careful consideration, the two emperors adopted Li Gang's advice and appointed him as Beijing's defense envoy. Li Gang took the lead, led the soldiers to fight bloody battles, finally repelled the nomads from the army and won the final victory in the defense of Bianjing. However, the capitulators still carried out the policy of treason, and Li Gang was removed and replaced by Cai Mao. When the news of Li Gang's strike came out, the capital of song dynasty was in an uproar, and the students in imperial academy were even more indignant. Student Chen Dong led hundreds of students to write books on Xuande Gate. Soon, tens of thousands of people gathered in solidarity, cursed Li Bangyan and beat up eunuch Zhu Gongzhi. This is the famous "Tai Xue Chao". The court had to re-appoint Li Gang as the right-hand man of Yanshu, which greatly boosted the morale of the defenders in Beijing. Wang Zong looked at the bad situation and led the army to retreat from the north. However, it was not long before the nomads from the Northern Song Dynasty went south again, the capital of song dynasty fell, Qin Hui was exiled, and the Northern Song Dynasty perished. This is the third time that Li Gang has won the sword.

In the second year, the Southern Song Dynasty was established, Emperor Gaozong ascended the throne, and Li Gang was hired again, worshiping him as the right servant of Shangshu and assistant minister of Zhongshu. Li Gang is determined to reform, enrich the national treasury and consolidate the Northern Expedition. However, due to the opposition of capitulationists, he stayed in North Korea for just over 70 days and was exiled to Ezhou. At that time, Shang Youcheng Han Xu thought that Li Gang was a loyal minister and called Chen Dong, who said that Qian Shan, Bo Yan and others could not be appointed, and Li Gang could not be dismissed from office and was killed. He was hit by a sword again.

For more than ten years, Li Gang went up and down, up and down, and finally went to Fuzhou and other places. In his later years, several things dispelled Li Gang's deep worries. One is the scenery and the other is the spirit. Hermeneutics may also be the secret to relieve anxiety. Sometimes he looks at the distant mountains like that, and sometimes he goes boating and fishing like Zhang for comfort. But digestion is temporary, and worrying about the country is his eternity. Neither landscape, Buddhism nor ghosts and gods can drive away the pain of worrying about the country, and until his death, he did not release half of the land occupied by the Jin people. The fall of the Central Plains is an eternal pain in his heart. His eternal wish in his heart is to rebuke and retreat from the group discussion, follow pholiota adiposa in the sunshine, cross the river in the clouds, and shoot arrows at the enemy's chief until the enemy's feelings overwhelm, and make an oath that he will never go south again, and make a positive result year after year, thus realizing his long-cherished wish of "taking all my rooms to waste". Unfortunately, I am full of ambition, but in my heart, I only have tears. Because of the main battle, he was relegated to the Jianghu and had to get drunk and become Wu Lingren. He wants to be a hermit, but after all, he is not. So he is in the rivers and lakes, with strong feelings, roaming like the sea, sleepless in the moonlight, and giving people a terrible lonely smile in the dreamland.

This life is the courtiers of the Song Dynasty, and life and death are the anti-Jin heroes of the Song Dynasty, which can neither prevent the demise of the Northern Song Dynasty nor wash away the shame of Jingkang. He can't change the direction of the Song Dynasty, but the Song Dynasty holds his destiny. Finally, he became a sick cow, lying in the sunset, ruminating on history and life.

Li Gang's being excluded and belittled is the success of villains, the victory of traitors and the misfortune and humiliation of DaSong. But history is always like this, interpreting this tragedy again and again.