Wuzhu

Jin Wuzhu (金兀朮, died 1148), also known by his sinicised name Wanyan Zongbi (完顏宗弼), was a prince, military general and civil minister of the Jurchen-led Jin dynasty of China. He was the fourth son of Aguda (Emperor Taizu), the founder and first emperor of the Jin dynasty. Wuzhu started his career in the military in his youth, when he participated in the Jurchen rebellion led by his father against the Khitan-led Liao dynasty. Between the late 1120s and 1130s, he fought for the Jin dynasty in a series of wars against the Han-led Northern Song dynasty and its successor state, the Southern Song dynasty. In 1137, in recognition of his contributions in battle, he was appointed as Right Vice-Marshal (右副元帥) and enfeoffed as the "Prince of Shen" (瀋王). In the final decade of his life, he was appointed to several high-ranking positions in the Jin imperial court, including Left Chancellor (左丞相), Palace Attendant, Taibao (太保), Marshal of the Capital (都元帥), Taifu (太傅), and Taishi (太師). He died of illness in 1148. Throughout his life, he had served under three Jin emperors – Emperor Taizu (his father), Emperor Taizong (his uncle), and Emperor Xizong (his nephew).

Life Family background Wuzhu was born in the Wanyan tribe, the most prominent among the Jurchen tribes residing in the area around present-day Harbin, Heilongjiang Province. He was the fourth son of Aguda, the chief of the Wanyan tribe, which was a subject of the Khitan-led Liao dynasty. Wuzhu's mother was Lady Wugulun (烏古論氏), one of Aguda's concubines. She also bore Aguda two other sons, Alu (阿魯; Wanyan Zongqiang) and Alubu (阿魯補; Wanyan Zongmin). Wuzhu had at 13 other brothers and three sisters born to his father's other wives.

War against the Liao dynasty In the spring of 1114, Aguda united the Jurchen tribes under his leadership and started a rebellion against the Liao dynasty. In 1117, after the Jurchens had conquered several Liao cities, Aguda declared himself emperor and established the Jin dynasty. In December 1121, Wuzhu, then a teenager, participated in battle against Liao forces. When the Jurchens received news that the Liao ruler, Emperor Tianzuo, was out on a hunting expedition at Yuanyang Lake (鴛鴦濼; northwest of present-day Zhangbei County, Hebei Province), Wolibu (斡離不; Wanyan Zongwang) and Wuzhu led an army to attack the Liao emperor in the hope of catching him off guard. During the battle, Wuzhu, after expending all his arrows, seized a Liao soldier's weapon and continued fighting. He killed eight enemy soldiers and captured five, and became famous after the battle.

By 1124, the Liao dynasty had lost most of its territories to the Jurchens. On 26 March 1125, Emperor Tianzuo was captured by Jin forces led by Wanyan Loushi (完顏婁室) in Yingzhou (應州; in present-day northern Shanxi Province). Months later, he was sent to the Jin capital in Shangjing (上京; present-day Acheng District, Harbin, Heilongjiang Province).

War against the Northern Song dynasty

Wuzhu participated in the Jin–Song Wars, which broke out in 1125 between the Jin dynasty and the Han Chinese-led Northern Song dynasty. He served as an officer in the Jin dynasty's Eastern Army, which was commanded by his second brother, Wolibu (斡離不; Wanyan Zongwang), who held the appointment of Right Vice-Marshal (右副元帥). In the first month of 1126, Wolibu sent Wuzhu to attack Tangyin County; Wuzhu won the battle and forced the 3,000 Song defenders to surrender. Soon after, the Eastern Army reached the Yellow River and attempted to cross, but the Song forces had already set the pontoon bridges on fire. The Jin officer Helusuo (合魯索) led 70 horsemen to cross the river at a shallow point and killed 500 Song soldiers burning the bridges. Wolibu sent Wu Xiaomin (吳孝民) as a messenger to the Song capital, Bianjing (present-day Kaifeng, Henan Province), to admonish the Song dynasty for breaking its earlier alliance with the Jin dynasty. At the same time, Wuzhu, leading 3,000 light cavalry, approached Bianjing. When he received news that the Song ruler, Emperor Huizong, had fled from Bianjing after abdicating the throne to his son Emperor Qinzong, he led his horsemen in pursuit but failed to capture the emperor. However, they managed to obtain 3,000 horses. When Jin forces besieged Bianjing, the Song dynasty agreed to cede Taiyuan, Zhongshan (中山) and Hejian (河間) prefectures to the Jin dynasty in return for peace. The Jurchens agreed and retreated back to Yanjing (燕京; present-day Beijing).

Wolibu died of illness in the sixth month of 1127 and was succeeded by his third brother, Eliduo (訛里朵; Wanyan Zongfu or Wanyan Zongyao), as Right Vice-Marshal (右副元帥). In the 12th month, Eliduo received orders to suppress anti-Jin rebellions in Shandong Province. Wuzhu participated in the campaign. First, he defeated a few thousand troops led by Song general Zheng Zongmeng (鄭宗孟) in Qingzhou. Next, he defeated the Huangqiong forces (黃瓊軍) led by Song general Zhao Cheng (趙成) in Linqu. In the first month of 1128, when Eliduo and his army were planning to retreat after successfully suppressing the rebellions, they were ambushed at Qinghe (青河) by a 30,000-strong Song army. Wuzhu led the attack on the enemy and killed thousands of them. Wuzhu moved in upon Guide Prefecture (present-day Shangqiu, Henan Province), and the Song generals guarding the city surrendered just before his troops attacked. The cities and towns Wuzhu passed through were all easily captured or gave up without a struggle. Wuzhu kept carrying his victorious arms to the north bank of the Yangtze River, and occupied Hezhou (present-day He County, Anhui Province), an important city to the north of the Yangtze River. Wuzhu intended to cross the river from Caishiji (in present-day Anhui Province), but was blocked by the Song troops from Taipingzhou (太平州) at the ferry, and could not cross the river for three days. So Wuzhu turned to Majiadu (馬家渡) and beat the garrison, beheading the Song general Chen Cui (陳淬). In November, Wuzhu crossed the river and defeated the Song troops led by Du Chong (杜充), capturing Jiankang (present-day Nanjing). Having assigned the subordinate generals to the neighboring towns, he headed the army in person to capture Guangdejunlu (廣德軍路) and Huzhou (in present-day Zhejiang Province), and arrived in Lin'an (present-day Hangzhou). Hearing that Lin'an was to fall, Emperor Gaozong escaped to Mingzhou (present-day Ningbo, Zhejiang Province). Wuzhu sent Ali (阿里) and Puluhun (蒲盧渾) as the spearhead with 4,000 veteran soldiers to chase Emperor Gaozong, and sent another two generals to capture Yuezhou with dramatic swiftness. Ali's army approached Mingzhou after successive victories, and Emperor Gaozong had to escape by sea. Soon afterwards Wuzhu rushed to Mingzhou and captured it. Ali and Puluhun sailed across the sea to Changguo County (present-day Zhoushan Island, Zhejiang Province) and captured the governor of Mingzhou. Learning that Emperor Gaozong had fled to Fuzhou by way of Wenzhou, they pursued at sea but fell back after being blocked by Song naval forces. Wuzhu led his troops back to Lin'an. In March, Wuzhu's army arrived in Zhenjiang. They were blocked by Han Shizhong's troops. The navy led by Han Shizhong had huge and lofty warships which were guarding the estuary, preventing Jin troops from crossing.

In 1139, the Jin ruler, Emperor Xizong, accepted Wuzhu's proposal and declared war against the Song dynasty again. The Jurchen troops invaded the area, which had been given back to the Song dynasty in Henan and Shaanxi provinces. Because many of the generals used to be Jin officers, they soon surrendered and within one month the Jin dynasty captured most of the area as mentioned before. In that case, Yue Fei and other generals had to retreat to the south of Yingchang (present-day Xuchang, Henan Province), and Wuzhu garrisoned at Bianjing without difficulty. Wuzhu had intended to strike while the iron is hot and captured the area to the north of the Huai River, so he led his army to the north. But was defeated by Liu Qi in Shunchang (present-day Fuyang, Anhui Province), and got a worse defeat by Yue Fei in Yancheng (in present-day Henan Province) and Yingchang. Wuzhu was within an inch of being captured. The situation was very good for Song dynasty, and Yue Fei was going to recapture the area in Henan and Hebei. But Emperor Gaozong commanded Yue Fei to go back to the capital, so the army of Song retreated from Henan.

Later, Wuzhu was appointed as Marshal of the Capital (都元帥) and "Prince of Yue" (越王). In 1140, Wuzhu found evidence that Talan had connections with the Song dynasty. Emperor Xizong made Wuzhu kill Talan, after which appointed Wuzhu as Taibao (太保; Grand Protector).

In November, Wuzhu went to the imperial court, at which time Emperor Xizong was on a trip to Yanjing, with Left Vice-Marshal Wanyan Xiyin by his side. Wuzhu wanted to go back to his own mansion. At the farewell dinner, Wanyan Xiyin and Wuzhu had an unhappy conversation, which made Wuzhu very angry. The next day when Wuzhu said goodbye to the empress, he told the details that Wanyan Xiyin was up to no good. After his leaving, the empress told everything to Emperor Xizong. The emperor recalled Wuzhu back and permitted him to kill Wanyan Xiyin. Wuzhu forced Wanyan Xiyin and his two sons to commit suicide, and killed Xiao Qing and his son. The next year, Wuzhu was appointed as Left Chancellor and Shizhong (侍中), and was still the Marshal of the Capital.

In March, 1142, Wuzhu was appointed as Taifu (太傅). In November 1147, he was appointed as Taishi (太師; Grand Tutor). After the Shaoxing Treaty, Wuzhu stuck to the treaty terms, and advocated to wait until everything was ready to destroy the Song dynasty in a very short time. And in that case, in the later 20 years, there were few wars between the two empires, which was positive to their development of economy and culture.

In October 1148, Wuzhu died of illness.

Family Parents:

Father: Emperor Taizu of Jin (August 1, 1068 – September 19, 1123), Mother: Consort Yuan of the Wugulun clan (元妃 烏古論氏) Consort and issue: Princess Consort of Liang, of the Tudan clan (梁王妃 徒單氏) Wanyan Heng, Prince of Rui (芮王完顏亨), 1st son Secondary Consort Zhao, of the Zhao clan (次妃 趙氏; b.1111), personal name Yuanzhu (圓珠) Wanyan Wei (完顏偉), 2nd son Concubine Chen, of the Chen clan (妾 陳氏), personal name Yan (豔) Unknown: Princess Shoukang (壽康公主), personal name Puci (蒲刺), 1st daughter Wanyan Xinian (完顏習捻), 2nd daughter married Shao Heya (稍喝押) Princess of Yong'an County (永安縣主), 3rd daughter Married Heseri Zhining, Prince of Jinyuan (紇石烈志寧爵 金源郡王) of the Heseri clan