1
岳飛子:雲
Yue Fei's son: Yun.
2
岳飛字鵬舉，相州湯陰人。 世力農。 父和，能節食以濟饑者。 有耕侵其地，割而與之； 貰其財者不責償。 飛生時，有大禽若鵠，飛鳴室上，因以為名。 未彌月，河決內黃，水暴至，母姚抱飛坐甕中，衝濤及岸得免，人少負氣節，沈厚寡言，家貧力學，尤好《左氏春秋》、孫吳兵法。 生有神力，未冠，挽弓三百斤，弩八石。 學射於周同，盡其術，能左右射。 同死，朔望設祭於其冢。 父義之，曰：「汝為時用，其徇國死義乎。」
Yue Fei, whose courtesy name was Pengju, came from Tangyin in Xiangzhou. His family had farmed the land with their own hands for generations. His father Yue He was known for going without meals himself so that he could feed those who were starving. If a neighbor's plowing crossed into his fields, he would cede the disputed strip rather than quarrel; and he never pressed those who borrowed from him to repay. At his birth a great bird resembling a swan flew circling and crying over the house, and from this omen he received the name Fei. Before he was even a month old the Yellow River broke through at Neihuang and a sudden flood swept in; his mother Yao clutched the infant Fei inside a large jar, and the torrent carried them to shore where both survived—a marvel to all who heard of it. Even as a boy he showed fierce integrity, a grave and quiet manner, and an appetite for learning despite poverty; above all he cherished the Zuo Commentary and the Art of War attributed to Sun and Wu. Nature had endowed him with extraordinary strength: before he came of age he could draw a three-hundred-jin bow and an eight-stone crossbow. He trained in archery under Zhou Tong, mastered every technique his teacher knew, and could shoot equally well with either hand. After Tong's death he made offerings at his teacher's grave on the first and fifteenth of every month. His father was moved by this devotion and said, "When your hour comes to serve the realm, will you not give your life for country and principle?"
3
宣和四年，真定宣撫劉韐募敢戰士，飛應募。 相有劇賊陶俊、賈進和，飛請百騎滅之。 遣卒偽為商入賊境，賊掠以充部伍。 飛遣百人伏山下，自領數十騎逼賊壘。 賊出戰，飛陽北，賊來追之，伏兵起，先所遣卒擒俊及進和以歸。
In the fourth year of the Xuanhe reign, Liu Yan, the Pacification Commissioner at Zhending, raised a corps of daring fighters, and Yue Fei enlisted. At Xiangzhou two notorious bandit chiefs, Tao Jun and Jia Jinhe, were ravaging the countryside; Yue Fei volunteered a hundred horsemen to wipe them out. He sent men disguised as merchants into bandit country; the raiders seized them to reinforce their own ranks. Yue Fei hid a hundred men below the hill while he personally led several dozen horsemen to provoke the bandit camp. The bandits sallied forth; Yue Fei pretended to flee north, drawing them in pursuit until the ambush struck. The disguised men inside their ranks seized Tao Jun and Jia Jinhe and brought them in.
4
康王至相，飛因劉浩見，命招賊吉倩，倩以衆三百八十人降。 補承信郎。 以鐵騎三百往李固渡嘗敵，敗之。 從浩解東京圍，與敵相持於滑南，領百騎習兵河上。 敵猝至，飛麾其徒曰：「敵雖衆，未知吾虛實，當及其未定擊之。」 乃獨馳迎敵。 有梟將舞刀而前，飛斬之，敵大敗。 遷秉義郎，隸留守宗澤。 戰開德、曹州皆有功，澤大奇之，曰：「爾勇智才藝，古良將不能過，然好野戰，非萬全計。」 因授以陣圖。 飛曰：「陣而後戰，兵法之常，運用之妙，存乎一心。」 澤是其言。
When Prince Kang arrived at Xiangzhou, Yue Fei was presented through Liu Hao and ordered to win over the bandit Ji Qian, who surrendered with three hundred and eighty followers. He received appointment as Gentleman for Trustworthiness. Leading three hundred armored horsemen to Ligudu, he tested the enemy in battle and put them to rout. He followed Hao in lifting the siege of the Eastern Capital and, while the armies faced each other south of Hua, led a hundred horsemen in riverbank drills. The enemy appeared without warning. Yue Fei rallied his men: "They are numerous but do not yet know our strength—strike before they can steady themselves." With that he galloped alone toward the enemy line. A fierce enemy officer came whirling his blade; Yue Fei struck him down at a stroke, and the foe collapsed in rout. Promoted to Gentleman Upholding Righteousness, he entered the service of the garrison commander Zong Ze. He won credit fighting at Kaide and Caozhou. Zong Ze was deeply impressed and told him, "In courage, wit, and martial skill you outshine the great captains of antiquity—yet your taste for open battle is not the surest path to victory." He then instructed him in formal battle arrays. Yue Fei replied, "Deploying formations before battle is the constant teaching of the art of war—but the subtlety of how they are used rests entirely in the commander's mind." Zong Ze agreed with him.
5
康王即位，飛上書數千言，大略謂：「陛下已登大寶，社稷有主，已足伐敵之謀，而勤王之師日集，彼方謂吾素弱，宜乘其怠擊之。 黃潛善、汪伯彥輩不能承聖意恢復，奉車駕日益南，恐不足繫中原之望。 臣願陛下乘敵穴未固，親率六軍北渡，則將士作氣，中原可復。」 書聞，以越職奪官歸。
After Prince Kang ascended the throne, Yue Fei submitted a memorial thousands of characters long. Its gist was: "Your Majesty now holds the Mandate; the realm again has a sovereign, enough in itself to unsettle the enemy's plans. Armies loyal to the throne gather by the day, yet the Jurchens still take us for the weak state we were—this is the moment to strike while their guard is down. Men such as Huang Qianshan and Wang Boyan fail to carry out Your Majesty's will to recover the north, driving the court ever deeper into the south. I fear the heartland will lose faith in us. I beg Your Majesty, while the enemy's grip is not yet secure, to lead the imperial armies north across the river yourself. The troops will take fresh heart, and the Central Plains can be won back." When the memorial reached the throne, he was dismissed for overstepping his authority and sent home.
6
詣河北招討使張所，所待以國士，借補修武郎，充中軍統領。 所問曰：「汝能敵幾何？」 飛曰：「勇不足恃，用兵在先定謀，欒枝曳柴以敗荊，莫敖采樵以致絞，皆謀定也。」 所矍然曰：「君殆非行伍中人。」 飛因說之曰：「國家都汴，恃河北以為固。 苟馮據要衝，峙列重鎮，一城受圍，則諸城或撓或救，金人不能窺河南，而京師根本之地固矣。 招撫誠能提兵壓境，飛唯命是從。」 所大喜，借補武經郎。
He presented himself to Zhang Suo, the Hebei Pacification Commissioner, who received him as a peerless talent, gave him provisional rank as Gentleman of Cultivated Martiality, and made him commander of the central army. Zhang Suo asked him, "How many foes can you take on?" Yue Fei answered, "Bravery alone is not enough. War is won by planning first. Luan Zhi dragged brushwood to defeat Chu; the Mo'ao gathered firewood to destroy Jiao—victory came from strategy, not sheer daring." Zhang Suo started in surprise. "You are scarcely a common soldier," he said." Yue Fei went on: "The dynasty holds its capital at Bianjing and depends on Hebei for its security. Hold the vital crossings, plant strong garrisons in depth—if one city is besieged, the others can harass or relieve it. The Jin will not dare probe south of the river, and the capital's foundations will stand firm. If you, Commissioner, will truly lead troops to the frontier, I am yours to command." Zhang Suo was delighted and gave him provisional rank as Gentleman of Martial Classics.
7
命從王彥渡河，至新鄉，金兵盛，彥不敢進。 飛獨引所部鏖戰，奪其纛而舞，諸軍爭奮，遂拔新鄉。 翌日，戰侯兆川，身被十餘創，士皆死戰，又敗之。 夜屯石門山下，或傳金兵復至，一軍皆驚，飛堅臥不動，金兵卒不來。 食盡，走彥壁乞糧，彥不許。 飛引兵益北，戰于太行山，擒金將拓跋耶烏。 居數日，復遇敵，飛單騎持丈八鐵槍，刺殺黑風大王，敵衆敗走。 飛自知與彥有隙，復歸宗澤，為留守司統制。 澤卒，杜充代之，飛居故職。
Ordered to cross the river under Wang Yan, he reached Xinxiang to find the Jin in overwhelming strength; Yan would not advance. Yue Fei alone led his men into bitter fighting, snatched the enemy standard and whirled it overhead, and the whole army surged forward until Xinxiang fell. The next day at Houzhao River he took more than ten wounds while his men fought as if death meant nothing, and again routed the foe. That night they camped below Shimen Mountain. Rumors that the Jin were returning threw the army into panic, but Yue Fei lay unmoved in his tent—and no enemy came. When supplies ran out he went to Yan's camp to beg grain; Yan refused. Yue Fei pushed farther north, fought on the Taihang range, and captured the Jin general Tuo-ba Yewu. Days later they met the enemy again. Yue Fei charged alone with an eighteen-foot iron spear, killed the Black Wind King, and put the whole host to flight. Aware that he and Yan were at odds, he returned to Zong Ze and was made controller of the garrison headquarters. When Zong Ze died, Du Chong succeeded him, and Yue Fei kept his former post.
8
二年，戰胙城，又戰黑龍潭，皆大捷。 從閭勍保護陵寢，大戰汜水關，射殪金將，大破其衆。 駐軍竹蘆渡，與敵相持，選精銳三百伏前山下，令各以薪芻交縛兩束，夜半，爇四端而舉之。 金人疑援兵至，驚潰。
In the second year he fought at Zuocheng and again at Black Dragon Pool, winning resounding victories in both. Serving under Lü Qin to guard the imperial tombs, he fought a major battle at Sishui Pass, shot a Jin general dead, and shattered their army. Encamped at Zhulu Ford in stalemate with the enemy, he hid three hundred picked men below the forward hill, each with two crossed bundles of brushwood; at midnight they lit all four ends and raised them high. The Jin took the torches for a fresh army and broke in panic.
9
三年，賊王善、曹成、孔彥舟等合衆五十萬，薄南薰門。 飛所部僅八百，衆懼不敵，飛曰：「吾為諸君破之。」 左挾弓，右運矛，橫衝其陣，賊亂，大敗之。 又擒賊杜叔五、孫海于東明。 借補英州刺史。 王善圍陳州，飛戰于清河，擒其將孫勝、孫清，授真刺史。
In the third year the bandit leaders Wang Shan, Cao Cheng, and Kong Yanzou combined half a million men and pressed against the Nanxun Gate. Yue Fei had only eight hundred men; his troops feared the odds were impossible. He told them, "I will break them for you." Bow in his left hand and spear in his right, he drove straight through their lines; the bandits broke ranks and were utterly routed. He also captured the bandits Du Shuwu and Sun Hai at Dongming. He received provisional appointment as prefect of Yingzhou. When Wang Shan besieged Chenzhou, Yue Fei fought him at Qinghe, captured his generals Sun Sheng and Sun Qing, and received full appointment as prefect.
10
杜充將還建康，飛曰：「中原地尺寸不可棄，今一舉足，此地非我有，他日欲復取之，非數十萬衆不可。」 充不聽，遂與俱歸。 師次鐵路步，遇賊張用，至六合遇李成，與戰，皆敗之。 成遣輕騎劫憲臣犒軍銀帛，飛進兵掩擊之，成奔江西。 時命充守建康，金人與成合寇烏江，充閉門不出。 飛泣諫請視師，充竟不出。 金人遂由馬家渡渡江，充遣飛等迎戰，王𤫉先遁，諸將皆潰，獨飛力戰。
As Du Chong prepared to withdraw to Jiankang, Yue Fei protested: "We cannot yield a single foot of the Central Plains. One step back and this land is lost to us forever—to win it back will take hundreds of thousands of men." Du Chong would not listen, and Yue Fei withdrew with him. The army halted at Tielubu, routed the bandit Zhang Yong, and at Liuhe met Li Cheng in battle and defeated him as well. Li Cheng sent light cavalry to seize the silver and silks meant to reward the troops; Yue Fei struck from ambush and drove Cheng into Jiangxi. Du Chong was then ordered to hold Jiankang. The Jin allied with Li Cheng to attack Wujiang, but Chong barred the gates and would not march out. Yue Fei wept as he begged permission to take the field; Chong still would not budge. The Jin crossed the Yangzi at Majia Ford. Du Chong sent Yue Fei and others to meet them; Wang Yuan fled first, the other generals collapsed, and only Yue Fei fought on.
11
會充已降金，諸將多行剽掠，惟飛軍秋毫無所犯。 兀朮趨杭州，飛要擊至廣德境中，六戰皆捷，擒其將王權，俘簽軍首領四十餘。 察其可用者，結以恩遣還，令夜斫營縱火，飛乘亂縱擊，大敗之。 駐軍鍾村，軍無見糧，將士忍饑，不敢擾民。 金所籍兵相謂曰：「此岳爺爺軍。」 爭來降附。
By then Chong had surrendered to the Jin; most generals turned to plunder, but Yue Fei's men touched not a single thing that was not theirs. As Wuzhu pushed toward Hangzhou, Yue Fei harried him deep into Guangde territory, winning six battles in a row, capturing the general Wang Quan, and taking more than forty drafted-army chieftains prisoner. Those he judged useful he won over and sent back, ordering them to raid the camp and set fires that night; Yue Fei charged into the confusion and won a crushing victory. He encamped at Zhong Village with no grain in sight; his men went hungry rather than trouble the local people. Jin conscripts said to one another, "This is Marshal Yue's army." They flocked to surrender.
12
四年，兀朮攻常州，宜興令迎飛移屯焉。 盜郭吉聞飛來，遁入湖，飛遣王貴、傅慶追破之，又遣辯士馬皐、林聚盡降其衆。 有張威武者不從，飛單騎入其營，斬之。 避地者賴以免，圖飛像祠之。
In the fourth year Wuzhu attacked Changzhou; the magistrate of Yixing invited Yue Fei to shift his camp there. The bandit Guo Ji fled into the lakes when he heard Yue Fei was coming; Wang Gui and Fu Qing ran him down, and envoys Ma Gao and Lin Ju persuaded his whole following to submit. One Zhang Weiwu refused to yield; Yue Fei rode alone into his camp and cut him down. Refugees owed their safety to him and painted his portrait for worship.
13
金人再攻常州，飛四戰皆捷； 尾襲於鎮江東，又捷； 戰于清水亭，又大捷，橫屍十五里。 兀朮趨建康，飛設伏牛頭山待之。 夜，令百人黑衣混金營中擾之，金兵驚，自相攻擊。 兀朮次龍灣，飛以騎三百、步兵二千馳至新城，大破之。 兀朮奔淮西，遂復建康。 飛奏：「建康為要害之地，宜選兵固守，仍益兵守淮，拱護腹心。」 帝嘉納。 兀朮歸，飛邀擊于靜安，敗之。
When the Jin again attacked Changzhou, Yue Fei fought four battles and won every one; pursued them east of Zhenjiang and won again; and at Qingshui Pavilion won another crushing victory, with enemy dead lying thick for fifteen li. Wuzhu pressed toward Jiankang; Yue Fei laid an ambush on Ox Head Mountain to receive him. By night he sent a hundred men in black to slip into the Jin camp and sow chaos; the Jin panicked and turned on one another. Wuzhu halted at Longwan; Yue Fei raced to Xincheng with three hundred horsemen and two thousand foot soldiers and shattered his force. Wuzhu fled west of the Huai, and Jiankang was recovered. Yue Fei memorialized: "Jiankang is the key to the south. Hold it with picked troops and reinforce the Huai line to shield the court's heartland." The emperor approved his advice. As Wuzhu withdrew, Yue Fei intercepted him at Jing'an and put him to rout.
14
詔討戚方，飛以三千人營于苦嶺。 方遁，俄益兵來，飛自領兵千人，戰數十合，皆捷。 會張俊兵至，方遂降。 范宗尹言張俊自浙西來，盛稱飛可用，遷通、泰鎮撫使兼知泰州。 飛辭，乞淮南東路一重難任使，收復本路州郡，乘機漸進，使山東、河北、河東、京畿等路次第而復。
Ordered to suppress Qi Fang, Yue Fei encamped three thousand men at Kul Ridge. Fang fled, then returned with reinforcements; Yue Fei personally led a thousand men through dozens of clashes and won every one. When Zhang Jun's army arrived, Fang surrendered. Fan Zongyin reported that Zhang Jun, arriving from western Zhe, had spoken highly of Yue Fei's abilities; he was promoted to Pacification Commissioner of Tong and Tai and made prefect of Taizhou. Yue Fei declined, asking instead for a demanding post on the Huainan East Circuit so he could recover its prefectures, advance as openings appeared, and win back Shandong, Hebei, Hedong, the capital region, and the rest in turn.
15
會金攻楚急，詔張俊援之。 俊辭，乃遣飛行，而命劉光世出兵援飛。 飛屯三墪為楚援，尋抵承州，三戰三捷，殺高太保，俘酋長七十餘人。 光世等皆不敢前，飛師孤力寡，楚遂陷。 詔飛還守通、泰，有旨可守即守，如不可，但以沙洲保護百姓，伺便掩擊。 飛以泰無險可恃，退保柴墟，戰于南霸橋，金大敗。 渡百姓於沙上，飛以精騎二百殿，金兵不敢近。 飛以泰州失守待罪。
Just then the Jin pressed Chu hard; the court ordered Zhang Jun to relieve the city. Zhang Jun declined, so Yue Fei was sent instead, with Liu Guangshi ordered to march to his support. Yue Fei encamped at Sanpu to relieve Chu, then reached Chengzhou, won three battles in succession, killed the Jin officer Gao the Grand Guardian, and took more than seventy chieftains prisoner. Guangshi and the others would not advance; Yue Fei's force stood alone and Chu fell. He was ordered back to guard Tong and Tai: hold where holding was possible; otherwise shelter the people on the sandbanks and strike when chance offered. Finding Taizhou indefensible, he withdrew to Chaixu, fought at Nanba Bridge, and routed the Jin. He ferried the people onto the sandbanks while two hundred elite horsemen under his command held the rear; the Jin dared not close in. Yue Fei offered himself for punishment over the loss of Taizhou.
16
張用寇江西，用亦相人，飛以書諭之曰：「吾與汝同里，南薰門、鐵路步之戰，皆汝所悉。 今吾在此，欲戰則出，不戰則降。」 用得書曰：「果吾父也。」 遂降。
Zhang Yong raided Jiangxi. A fellow townsman of Yue Fei's, Yong received a letter from him that read: "You and I come from the same place—you remember the fighting at Nanxun Gate and Tielu Bu. I am here now. If you want a fight, come out; if not, surrender." When Yong read it he exclaimed, "It truly is our elder from home." And so he surrendered.
17
江、淮平，俊奏飛功第一，加神武右軍副統制，留洪州，彈壓盜賊，授親衞大夫、建州觀察使。 建寇范汝為陷邵武，江西安撫李回檄飛分兵保建昌軍及撫州，飛遣人以「岳」字幟植城門，賊望見，相戒勿犯。 賊黨姚達、饒青逼建昌，飛遣王萬、徐慶討擒之。 升神武副軍都統制。
After the Jiang and Huai regions were pacified, Zhang Jun ranked Yue Fei's achievements first. He was promoted deputy commander-in-chief of the Right Army of Divine Martiality, left at Hongzhou to suppress bandits, and made Court Grandee of the Imperial Guard and Military Commissioner of Jianzhou. When the Jian bandit Fan Ruwei took Shaowu, Li Hui, the Jiangxi pacification commissioner, ordered Yue Fei to detach troops to hold Jianchang Prefecture and Fuzhou. He had banners emblazoned with the character "Yue" posted at the gates; bandits who saw them warned one another to keep away. Bandit lieutenants Yao Da and Rao Qing threatened Jianchang; Yue Fei sent Wang Wan and Xu Qing to defeat and capture them. He was promoted commander-in-chief of the Deputy Army of Divine Martiality.
18
二年，賊曹成擁衆十餘萬，由江西歷湖湘，據道、賀二州。 命飛權知潭州，兼權荊湖東路安撫都總管，付金字牌、黃旗招成。 成聞飛將至，驚曰：「岳家軍來矣。」 即分道而遁。 飛至茶陵，奉詔招之，成不從。 飛奏：「比年多命招安，故盜力強則肆暴，力屈則就招，苟不略加剿除，蠭起之衆未可遽殄。」 許之。
In the second year, the bandit chief Cao Cheng led more than a hundred thousand men from Jiangxi through Hunan and seized Dao and He prefectures. Yue Fei was appointed acting prefect of Tanzhou and concurrently acting grand pacification commissioner of the Eastern Jinghu Circuit, with a golden tally tablet and yellow banner to summon Cheng to surrender. Learning that Yue Fei was on his way, Cheng exclaimed in alarm, "The Yue Family Army is coming!" He immediately split his forces and fled by different routes. Yue Fei reached Chaling and tried to win Cheng over by imperial order, but Cheng refused. Yue Fei memorialized: "In recent years the court has relied too much on offers of amnesty: bandits raid when strong and surrender when weak. Unless we suppress them firmly, swarms of rebels cannot be wiped out quickly." The request was granted.
19
飛入賀州境，得成諜者，縛之帳下。 飛出帳調兵食，吏曰：「糧盡矣，奈何？」 飛陽曰：「姑反茶陵。」 已而顧諜若失意狀，頓足而入，陰令逸之。 諜歸告成，成大喜，期翌日來追。 飛命士蓐食，潛趨繞嶺，未明，已至太平場，破其砦。 成據險拒飛，飛麾兵掩擊，賊大潰。 成走據北藏嶺、上梧關，遣將迎戰，飛不陣而鼓，士爭奮，奪二隘據之。 成又自桂嶺置砦至北藏嶺，連控隘道，親以衆十餘萬守蓬頭嶺。 飛部才八千，一鼓登嶺，破其衆，成奔連州。 飛謂張憲等曰：「成黨散去，追而殺之，則脅從者可憫，縱之則復聚為盜。 今遣若等誅其酋而撫其衆，慎勿妄殺，累主上保民之仁。」 於是憲自賀、連，徐慶自邵、道，王貴自郴、桂，招降者二萬，與飛會連州。 進兵追成，成走宣撫司降。 時以盛夏行師瘴地，撫循有方，士無一人死癘者，嶺表平。 授武安軍承宣使，屯江州。 甫入境，安撫李回檄飛捕劇賊馬友、郝通、劉忠、李通、李宗亮、張式，皆平之。
Entering He Prefecture, Yue Fei captured one of Cheng's spies and had him bound in camp. Yue Fei stepped outside to arrange rations; an officer said, "Our grain is gone—what now?" Yue Fei said loudly, for all to hear, "We will withdraw to Chaling for now." Then he glanced at the spy as though in dismay, stamped his foot, and went back inside—while secretly ordering the man released. The spy reported back to Cheng, who rejoiced and planned to pursue the next day. Yue Fei had his men take a cold meal before dawn, stole around the ridge, and before daybreak reached Taiping Post and smashed Cao Cheng's camp. Cheng made a stand in rough terrain; Yue Fei launched a surprise assault and the bandits broke completely. Cheng fell back to Beizang Ridge and Shangwu Pass and sent officers to fight. Yue Fei ordered drums without waiting to form ranks; his men surged forward and seized both passes. Cheng strung camps from Guiling to Beizang Ridge, blocking every pass, and personally held Pengtou Ridge with more than a hundred thousand men. Yue Fei had only eight thousand men. At a single drum roll they stormed the ridge, routed the enemy, and Cheng fled toward Lianzhou. Yue Fei told Zhang Xian and the others: "Cheng's followers are scattering. Hunt them down and kill them, and we destroy men who were forced to follow him; let them go and they will band together again. I send you to cut down the leaders and win over the rest. Do not kill indiscriminately and betray the emperor's wish to protect the people." Zhang Xian swept He and Lian, Xu Qing Shaozhou and Daozhou, Wang Gui Chenzhou and Guizhou; twenty thousand surrendered and joined Yue Fei at Lianzhou. Pressing the pursuit, they drove Cheng to surrender to the pacification commission. Though it was midsummer in malarial country, his care of the troops was so thorough that not one man died of fever, and the Lingnan region was pacified. He was made military commissioner of the Martial Peace Army and stationed at Jiangzhou. He had barely entered the circuit when Li Hui ordered him to capture the notorious bandits Ma You, Hao Tong, Liu Zhong, Li Tong, Li Zongliang, and Zhang Shi—all were suppressed.
20
三年春，召赴行在。 江西宣諭劉大中奏：「飛兵有紀律，人恃以安，今赴行在，恐盜復起。」 不果行。 時虔、吉盜連兵寇掠循、梅、廣、惠、英、韶、南雄、南安、建昌、汀、邵武諸郡，帝乃專命飛平之。 飛至虔州，固石洞賊彭友悉衆至雩都迎戰，躍馬馳突，飛麾兵即馬上擒之，餘酋退保固石洞。 洞高峻環水，止一徑可入。 飛列騎山下，令皆持滿，黎明，遣死士疾馳登山，賊衆亂，棄山而下，騎兵圍之。 賊呼丐命，飛令勿殺，受其降。 授徐慶等方略，捕諸郡餘賊，皆破降之。 初，以隆祐震驚之故，密旨令飛屠虔城。 飛請誅首惡而赦脅從，不許； 請至三四，帝乃曲赦。 人感其德，繪像祠之。 餘寇高聚、張成犯袁州，飛遣王貴平之。
In the spring of the third year he was summoned to court. Liu Dazhong, the imperial envoy to Jiangxi, memorialized: "Yue Fei's troops are disciplined and the people depend on them for safety. If he leaves for court, bandits may rise again." He did not go. Bandits from Ganzhou and Jizhou were raiding Xunzhou, Meizhou, Guangzhou, Huizhou, Yingde, Shaozhou, Nanxiong, Nan'an, Jianchang, Tingzhou, Shaowu, and other prefectures; the emperor charged Yue Fei alone to pacify them. At Ganzhou, Peng You of Gushi Cave marched his whole force to Yudu to fight. Leaping on horseback to charge, he was seized by Yue Fei's men before he could break through; the other chiefs fled back to Gushi Cave. The stronghold stood high above the water with only a single narrow path in. Yue Fei drew up cavalry at the foot of the hill with bows fully drawn. At dawn he sent picked men racing up the slope; the bandits panicked and fled downhill into a ring of horsemen. They cried for mercy; Yue Fei forbade killing and accepted their surrender. He detailed Xu Qing and others to hunt down remaining bandits in the prefectures—all were defeated or persuaded to surrender. At first, shaken by the shock to Empress Dowager Longyou, the court secretly ordered Yue Fei to slaughter Ganzhou. Yue Fei asked to execute the ringleaders and pardon those forced to follow; the court refused; only after three or four appeals did the emperor grant a limited pardon. Grateful for his mercy, the people painted his image and worshipped him in a shrine. Remaining bandits Gao Ju and Zhang Cheng attacked Yuanzhou; Yue Fei sent Wang Gui to suppress them.
21
秋，入見，帝手書「精忠岳飛」字，製旗以賜之。 授鎮南軍承宣使、江南西路沿江制置使，又改神武後軍都統制，仍制置使，李山、吳全、吳錫、李橫、牛皐皆隸焉。 偽齊遣李成挾金人入侵，破襄陽、唐、鄧、隨、郢諸州及信陽軍，湖寇楊么亦與偽齊通，欲順流而下，李成又欲自江西陸行，趨兩浙與么會。 帝命飛為之備。
That autumn he attended court; the emperor personally wrote the four characters "Utmost Loyalty Yue Fei" and had a banner made and conferred on him. He was made military commissioner of the Army Pacifying the South and river-defense commissioner for western Jiangxi, then reassigned as commander-in-chief of the Rear Army of Divine Martiality while retaining his commissioner title; Li Shan, Wu Quan, Wu Xi, Li Heng, and Niu Gao all came under his command. Puppet Qi sent Li Cheng with Jin allies to invade, capturing Xiangyang, Tangzhou, Dengzhou, Suizhou, Yingzhou, and Xinyang Prefecture. The lake bandit Yang Mo coordinated with Puppet Qi for a descent downriver while Li Cheng planned to march overland from Jiangxi into the two Zhe circuits to link up with him. The emperor ordered Yue Fei to prepare against them.
22
四年，除兼荊南、鄂岳州制置使。 飛奏：「襄陽等六郡為恢復中原基本，今當先取六郡，以除心膂之病。 李成遠遁，然後加兵湖湘，以殄羣盜。」 帝以諭趙鼎，鼎曰：「知上流利害，無如飛者。」 遂授黃復州、漢陽軍、德安府制置使。 飛渡江中流，顧幕屬曰：「飛不擒賊，不涉此江。」 抵郢州城下，偽將京超號「萬人敵」，乘城拒飛。 飛鼓衆而登，超投崖死，復郢州，遣張憲、徐慶復隨州。 飛趣襄陽，李成迎戰，左臨襄江，飛笑曰：「步兵利險阻，騎兵利平曠。 成左列騎江岸，右列步平地，雖衆十萬何能為。」 舉鞭指王貴曰：「爾以長槍步卒擊其騎兵。」 指牛皐曰：「爾以騎兵擊其步卒。」 合戰，馬應槍而斃，後騎皆擁入江，步卒死者無數，成夜遁，復襄陽。 劉豫益成兵屯新野，飛與王萬夾擊之，連破其衆。
In the fourth year he was additionally appointed commissioner for Jingnan and the E-Yue prefectures. Yue Fei memorialized: "The six prefectures including Xiangyang are the base for recovering the north. We must seize them first and cut out the enemy's heart. Once Li Cheng is driven far off, we can reinforce Hunan and wipe out the bandits." The emperor showed the memorial to Zhao Ding, who said, "No one understands the upper rivers as well as Yue Fei." Yue Fei was appointed commissioner for Huangzhou, Fuzhou, Hanyang Prefecture, and De'an Prefecture. Midstream on the Yangzi, Yue Fei turned to his staff and said, "If I do not capture the enemy, I shall not cross this river again." He reached Ying Prefecture; the enemy general Jing Chao, called "Match for Ten Thousand," held the walls against him. Yue Fei stormed the walls at drumbeat; Jing Chao leaped to his death from the cliff. Ying Prefecture was retaken and Zhang Xian and Xu Qing recovered Suizhou. Yue Fei pressed on to Xiangyang. Li Cheng met him with the Xiang River on his left flank. Yue Fei smiled and said, "Infantry fight best in tight ground, cavalry on open ground. He has cavalry on the river side and foot soldiers on open ground—even with a hundred thousand men, what can he do?" He raised his whip toward Wang Gui: "Take your long-spear foot soldiers against his cavalry." To Niu Gao: "Take your cavalry against his foot soldiers." The armies clashed; horses fell to the spears, ridden men were shoved into the river, foot soldiers died in heaps. Li Cheng fled by night and Xiangyang was recovered. Liu Yu reinforced Li Cheng at Xinye; Yue Fei and Wang Wan struck from both sides and routed them repeatedly.
23
飛奏：「金賊所愛惟子女金帛，志已驕惰； 劉豫僭偽，人心終不忘宋。 如以精兵二十萬，直擣中原，恢復故疆，誠易為力。 襄陽、隨、郢地皆膏腴，苟行營田，其利為厚。 臣候糧足，即過江北剿戮敵兵。」 時方重深入之舉，而營田之議自是興矣。
Yue Fei memorialized: "The Jin care only for loot and comfort; they have grown arrogant and slack; Liu Yu's regime is a usurpation, but men's hearts still turn to Song. Send two hundred thousand picked troops straight into the Central Plains and recovering our old borders would be well within our power. Xiangyang, Suizhou, and Yingzhou sit on rich land; military farming there would yield great profit. When our grain is ready, I will cross the river and destroy the enemy." The court was already weighing bold northern offensives, and from this time the debate over military colonies began.
24
進兵鄧州，成與金將劉合孛堇列砦拒飛。 飛遣王貴、張憲掩擊，賊衆大潰，劉合孛堇僅以身免。 賊黨高仲退保鄧城，飛引兵一鼓拔之，擒高仲，復鄧州。 帝聞之，喜曰：「朕素聞岳飛行軍有紀律，未知能破敵如此。」 又復唐州、信陽軍。
Advancing on Dengzhou, Li Cheng and the Jin general Liu Hebejin encamped to block him. Yue Fei sent Wang Gui and Zhang Xian in a flank attack; the enemy collapsed and Liu Hebejin barely escaped alive. Bandit lieutenant Gao Zhong fell back to Deng city; Yue Fei took it at the first assault, captured Gao Zhong, and recovered Dengzhou. The emperor rejoiced: "I have long heard Yue Fei keeps strict discipline on campaign—I did not know he could smash the enemy like this." Tangzhou and Xinyang Prefecture were also retaken.
25
襄漢平，飛辭制置使，乞委重臣經畫荊襄，不許。 趙鼎奏：「湖北鄂、岳最為上流要害，乞令飛屯鄂、岳，不惟江西藉其聲勢，湖、廣、江、浙亦獲安妥。」 乃以隨、郢、唐、鄧、信陽並為襄陽府路隸飛，飛移屯鄂，授清遠軍節度使、湖北路、荊、襄、潭州制置使，封武昌縣開國子。
With the Xiang-Han region pacified, Yue Fei tried to resign his commissioner title and asked that a senior minister take charge of Jing-Xiang; the court refused. Zhao Ding memorialized: "Ezhou and Yuezhou in Hubei guard the upper Yangzi. Station Yue Fei there and Jiangxi gains his protection, while Hunan, Guang, Jiang, and Zhe all grow safer." Suizhou, Yingzhou, Tangzhou, Dengzhou, and Xinyang were folded into the Xiangyang circuit under his command. He moved to Ezhou, became military governor of the Qingyuan Army and commissioner for Hubei and the Jing-Xiang-Tan region, and was enfeoffed as Baron of Wuchang County.
26
兀朮、劉豫合兵圍廬州，帝手札命飛解圍，提兵趨廬，偽齊已驅甲騎五千逼城。 飛張「岳」字旗與「精忠」旗，金兵一戰而潰，廬州平。 飛奏：「襄陽等六郡人戶闕牛、糧，乞量給官錢，免官私逋負，州縣官以招集流亡為殿最。」
Wuzhu and Liu Yu besieged Luzhou; the emperor's personal note ordered Yue Fei to the rescue. He marched for Lu while Puppet Qi already had five thousand armored cavalry at the walls. Yue Fei unfurled his "Yue" banner and his "Utmost Loyalty" banner; the Jin broke at the first clash and Luzhou was saved. Yue Fei memorialized: "Households in the six Xiangyang prefectures lack oxen and grain. Grant official funds in proportion, cancel public and private debts, and rate local officials on how well they bring back refugees."
27
五年，入覲，封母國夫人； 授飛鎮寧、崇信軍節度使，湖北路、荊襄潭州制置使，進封武昌郡開國侯； 又除荊湖南北、襄陽路制置使，神武後軍都統制，命招捕楊么。 飛所部皆西北人，不習水戰，飛曰：「兵何常，顧用之何如耳。」 先遣使招諭之。 賊黨黃佐曰：「岳節使號令如山，若與之敵，萬無生理，不如往降。 節使誠信，必善遇我。」 遂降。 飛表授佐武義大夫，單騎按其部，拊佐背曰：「子知逆順者。 果能立功，封侯豈足道？ 欲復遣子至湖中，視其可乘者擒之，可勸者招之，如何？」 佐感泣，誓以死報。
In the fifth year he attended court; his mother was enfeoffed as Lady of the State; Yue Fei was made military governor of the Pacifying Tranquility and Honoring Trust armies and commissioner for Hubei and Jing-Xiang-Tan, raised to Marquis of Wuchang Commandery; and additionally made commissioner for northern and southern Hunan and the Xiangyang circuit and commander-in-chief of the Rear Army of Divine Martiality, with orders to capture Yang Mo. Yue Fei's troops were mostly northwesterners, unused to fighting on water. He said, "Soldiers are what you make of them—it all depends on how you use them." First he sent envoys to offer terms. Bandit lieutenant Huang Zuo said, "Commissioner Yue's orders stand like a mountain. Fight him and we cannot survive—we should surrender. He is true to his word and will treat us well." And so they surrendered. Yue Fei petitioned to appoint Huang Zuo Grandee of Martial Righteousness, rode alone through his ranks, and clapped him on the back: "You know which way the tide runs. If you win real merit, a marquisate will be the least of your rewards. I want to send you back to the lakes—seize those we can seize, win over those we can persuade. Will you go?" Huang Zuo wept and pledged his life in return.
28
時張浚以都督軍事至潭，參政席益與浚語，疑飛玩寇，欲以聞。 浚曰：「岳侯，忠孝人也，兵有深機，胡可易言？」 益慙而止。 黃佐襲周倫砦，殺倫，擒其統制陳貴等。 飛上其功，遷武功大夫。 統制任士安不稟王𤫉令，軍以此無功。 飛鞭士安使餌賊，曰：「三日賊不平，斬汝。」 士安宣言：「岳太尉兵二十萬至矣。」 賊見止士安軍，併力攻之。 飛設伏，士安戰急，伏四起擊賊，賊走。
Zhang Jun had arrived at Tanzhou as overall commander. Vice Administrator Xi Yi told him he suspected Yue Fei was deliberately indulging the bandits and wanted to report it. Zhang Jun said, "Lord Yue is a man of loyalty and devotion. War has its deep stratagems—how can you speak so casually?" Xi Yi withdrew, ashamed. Huang Zuo stormed Zhou Lun's camp, killed Lun, and captured regiment commander Chen Gui and others. Yue Fei reported the victory and Huang Zuo was promoted to Grandee of Military Glory. Regiment commander Ren Shi'an disobeyed Wang Yuan's order, and the operation failed. Yue Fei had Shi'an flogged and sent him to lure the enemy, saying, "If the bandits are not suppressed within three days, you die. Ren Shi'an spread the word: "Lord Yue has brought two hundred thousand men!" The bandits, seeing only Shi'an's force, massed together and attacked. Yue Fei had laid ambushes. When Shi'an's fight grew desperate, the hidden troops struck from every side and the bandits broke and ran.
29
會召浚還防秋，飛袖小圖示浚，浚欲俟來年議之。 飛曰：「已有定畫，都督能少留，不八日可破賊。」 浚曰：「何言之易？」 飛曰：「王四廂以王師攻水寇則難，飛以水寇攻水寇則易。 水戰我短彼長，以所短攻所長，所以難。 若因敵將用敵兵，奪其手足之助，離其腹心之託，使孤立，而後以王師乘之，八日之內，當俘諸酋。」 浚許之。
Zhang Jun was then recalled for the autumn defense. Yue Fei pulled a small map from his sleeve to show him, but Zhang Jun wanted to put the matter off until the following year. Yue Fei said, "The plan is already set. If you can stay a few days longer, the bandits will be broken in under eight." Zhang Jun said, "That sounds too easy." Yue Fei said, "It is hard for Wang Siboxiang to take imperial troops against lake pirates—but easy for me to set pirate against pirate. On water we are weak where they are strong; pitting weakness against strength is what makes it hard. Use their own commanders and their own men. Cut off their arms and legs, tear out their heart—leave them isolated—then let the imperial army strike. Within eight days we will have their chieftains in chains." Zhang Jun agreed.
30
飛遂如鼎州。 黃佐招楊欽來降，飛喜曰：「楊欽驍悍，既降，賊腹心潰矣。」 表授欽武義大夫，禮遇甚厚，乃復遣歸湖中。 兩日，欽說余端、劉詵等降，飛詭罵欽曰：「賊不盡降，何來也？」 杖之，復令入湖。 是夜，掩賊營，降其衆數萬。 么負固不服，方浮舟湖中，以輪激水，其行如飛，旁置撞竿，官舟迎之輒碎。 飛伐君山木為巨筏，塞諸港�，又以腐木亂草浮上流而下，擇水淺處，遣善罵者挑之，且行且罵。 賊怒來追，則草木壅積，舟輪礙不行。 飛亟遣兵擊之，賊奔港中，為筏所拒。 官軍乘筏，張牛革以蔽矢石，舉巨木撞其舟，盡壞。 么投水，牛皐擒斬之。 飛入賊壘，餘酋驚曰：「何神也！」 俱降。 飛親行諸砦慰撫之，縱老弱歸田，籍少壯為軍，果八日而賊平。 浚嘆曰：「岳侯神算也。」 初，賊恃其險曰：「欲犯我者，除是飛來。」 至是，人以其言為讖。 獲賊舟千餘，鄂渚水軍為沿江之冠。 詔兼蘄、黃制置使，飛以目疾乞辭軍事，不許，加檢校少保，進封公。 還軍鄂州，除荊湖南北、襄陽路招討使。
Yue Fei then proceeded to Dingzhou. Huang Zuo persuaded Yang Qin to defect. Yue Fei rejoiced: "Yang Qin is their fiercest fighter. Once he comes over, the rebels' core will crumble." He petitioned to appoint Yang Qin Grandee of Martial Righteousness, treated him with great honor, and sent him back to the lakes. Two days later Yang Qin won over Yu Duan, Liu Shen, and others. Yue Fei feigned anger and berated him: "The enemy has not all surrendered—why are you back?" He had Yang Qin flogged and sent him back to the lakes. That night he stormed the rebel camp and accepted the surrender of tens of thousands. Yang Yao still held out. He floated boats on the lake, paddle-wheels churning the water until they flew like wind; ramming poles lined their sides, and any government vessel that met them was smashed. Yue Fei cut timber on Jun Mountain for giant rafts and blocked every harbor mouth and channel. He sent rotten wood and tangled grass floating downstream, then picked a shallow stretch and sent men skilled in abuse to taunt the rebels, cursing all the way. The rebels, furious, gave chase—only to find grass and timber jammed around them, their paddle-wheels fouled and stuck. Yue Fei immediately sent troops after them. The rebels fled into the channels and found the rafts blocking their way. Government troops rode the rafts forward, oxhide stretched against arrows and stones, great logs raised to smash the rebel boats—all were wrecked. Yang Yao leaped into the water. Niu Gao seized and beheaded him. Yue Fei entered the rebel camp. The remaining chieftains cried in terror, "What kind of god is this!" They all surrendered. Yue Fei went in person from fort to fort to reassure them, sent the old and weak back to their fields, enrolled the able-bodied as soldiers—and in eight days, as promised, the rebels were pacified. Zhang Jun marveled: "Lord Yue's calculations are uncanny." Long before, the rebels had boasted of their stronghold: "Whoever would take us must come flying." Now people took those words as prophecy fulfilled. More than a thousand rebel boats were captured, and the Ezhou fleet became the finest on the Yangzi. He was appointed commissioner for Qizhou and Huangzhou as well. Yue Fei asked to leave military service because of eye trouble; the court refused, made him Acting Junior Guardian, and raised his rank to duke. He returned his army to Ezhou and was made pacification commissioner for Jinghu South and North and the Xiangyang circuit.
31
六年，太行山忠義社梁興等百餘人，慕飛義率衆來歸。 飛入覲，面陳：「襄陽自收復後，未置監司，州縣無以按察。」 帝從之，以李若虛為京西南路提舉兼轉運、提刑，又令湖北、襄陽府路自知州、通判以下賢否，許飛得自黜陟。
In the sixth year, more than a hundred men of the Loyalty and Righteousness Society in the Taihang Mountains, led by Liang Xing, came over, drawn by Yue Fei's reputation. Yue Fei went to court and said in person: "Since Xiangyang was recovered, no supervisory officials have been posted there, and the prefectures and counties have no one to inspect them." The emperor agreed, appointing Li Ruoxu intendant for the Southwest Capital circuit with concurrent transport and judicial duties. For Hubei and the Xiangyang circuit, from prefects and vice-prefects down, Yue Fei was authorized to judge merit and dismiss or promote officials as he saw fit.
32
張浚至江上會諸大帥，獨稱飛與韓世忠可倚大事，命飛屯襄陽，以窺中原，曰：「此君素志也。」 飛移軍京西，改武勝、定國軍節度使，除宣撫副使，置司襄陽。 命往武昌調軍。 居母憂，降制起復，飛扶櫬還廬山，連表乞終喪，不許，累詔趣起，乃就軍。 又命宣撫河東，節制河北路。 首遣王貴等攻虢州，下之，獲糧十五萬石，降其衆數萬。 張浚曰：「飛措畫甚大，令已至伊、洛，則太行一帶山砦，必有應者。」 飛遣楊再興進兵至長水縣，再戰皆捷，中原響應。 又遣人焚蔡州糧。
Zhang Jun met the great commanders on the river and singled out Yue Fei and Han Shizhong as men the dynasty could lean on. He ordered Yue Fei to encamp at Xiangyang and watch the Central Plains, saying, "That has always been your wish." Yue Fei moved his army to western Jing, became military governor of the Wusheng and Dingguo armies, was made vice pacification commissioner, and established headquarters at Xiangyang. He was ordered to Wuchang to reorganize the troops. When his mother died, an edict recalled him from mourning. Yue Fei escorted the coffin to Mount Lu and petitioned again and again to finish mourning; the court refused. Edict after edict pressed him to return, and at last he rejoined the army. He was also ordered to pacify Hedong and take command of Hebei circuit. First he sent Wang Gui and others against Guozhou. They took the city, seized a hundred fifty thousand shi of grain, and accepted the surrender of tens of thousands. Zhang Jun said, "Yue Fei is thinking on a grand scale. Once he reaches the Yi and Luo rivers, the mountain forts along the Taihang will answer him." Yue Fei sent Yang Zaixing as far as Changshui County. He won two battles in succession, and the Central Plains rose in response. He also sent men to burn the grain stores at Caizhou.
33
九月，劉豫遣子麟、侄猊分道寇淮西，劉光世欲舍廬州，張俊欲棄盱眙，同奏召飛以兵東下，欲使飛當其鋒，而己得退保。 張浚謂：「岳飛一動，則襄漢何所制？」 力沮其議。 帝慮俊、光世不足任，命飛東下。 飛自破曹成、平楊么，凡六年，皆盛夏行師，致目疾，至是，甚； 聞詔即日啟行，未至，麟敗。 飛奏至，帝語趙鼎曰：「劉麟敗北不足喜，諸將知尊朝廷為可喜。」 遂賜札，言：「敵兵已去淮，卿不須進發，其或襄、鄧、陳、蔡有機可乘，從長措置。」 飛乃還軍。 時偽齊屯兵窺唐州，飛遣王貴、董先等攻破之，焚其營。 奏圖蔡以取中原，不許。 飛召貴等還。
In the ninth month Liu Yu sent his son Liu Lin and nephew Liu Ni against Huai West by separate routes. Liu Guangshi wanted to abandon Luzhou; Zhang Jun wanted to abandon Xuyi. Both petitioned to summon Yue Fei east, hoping he would take the enemy's blow while they fell back to safety. Zhang Jun argued: "If Yue Fei moves, who will hold Xiangyang and the Han?" He blocked the plan with all his force. The emperor doubted Zhang Jun and Liu Guangshi were up to the task and ordered Yue Fei east. Since breaking Cao Cheng and pacifying Yang Yao, Yue Fei had marched six summers in a row and ruined his eyes; by now the affliction was severe. On receiving the order he set out the same day. Before he arrived, Liu Lin was already beaten. When Yue Fei's memorial arrived, the emperor told Zhao Ding, "Liu Lin's rout is nothing to celebrate. What matters is that the generals still know to obey the throne." He sent a letter: "The enemy has left the Huai—you need not march on. If openings appear at Xiangyang, Dengzhou, Chenzhou, or Caizhou, act as you judge best." Yue Fei turned his army back. The puppet Qi had troops watching Tangzhou. Yue Fei sent Wang Gui, Dong Xian, and others to smash them and burn their camps. He petitioned to take Caizhou and push into the Central Plains. The court refused. Yue Fei recalled Wang Gui and the rest.
34
七年，入見，帝從容問曰：「卿得良馬否？」 飛曰：「臣有二馬，日啖芻豆數斗，飲泉一斛，然非精潔則不受。 介而馳，初不甚疾，比行百里始奮迅，自午至酉，猶可二百里。 褫鞍甲而不息不汗，若無事然。 此其受大而不苟取，力裕而不求逞，致遠之材也。 不幸相繼以死。 今所乘者，日不過數升，而秣不擇粟，飲不擇泉，攬轡未安，踊踴疾驅，甫百里，力竭汗喘，殆欲斃然。 此其寡取易盈，好逞易窮，駑鈍之材也。」 帝稱善，曰：「卿今議論極進。」 拜太尉，繼除宣撫使兼營田大使。 從幸建康，以王德、酈瓊兵隸飛，詔諭德等曰：「聽飛號令，如朕親行。」
In the seventh year he went to court. The emperor asked casually, "Have you found good horses?" Yue Fei said, "I once had two horses. Each day they ate several dou of fodder and beans and drank a hu of spring water—but only if it was clean and choice. Saddled, they started slow. After a hundred li they gathered speed. From noon to dusk they could still run two hundred li. Strip off saddle and armor and they neither panted nor sweated, as if they had done nothing at all. They took much yet asked for little; their strength was deep yet they did not strain to show it. That is the stuff of distance-runners. Both, alas, died in succession. The horse I ride now eats only a few sheng a day, yet takes any grain and any water. Before the reins are even steady it is leaping and bolting. A hundred li and it is spent—sweating, gasping, nearly dead. It asks little yet is easily satisfied; it loves to show off yet fails quickly. That is the stuff of nags." The emperor approved and said, "Your thinking has grown sharper than ever." He was made Grand Marshal and then pacification commissioner with concurrent charge of military colonies. On the imperial visit to Jiankang, the troops of Wang De and Li Qiong were placed under Yue Fei. An edict told them: "Obey Yue Fei's orders as if the emperor himself were in the field."
35
飛數見帝，論恢復之略。 又手疏言：「金人所以立劉豫於河南，蓋欲荼毒中原，以中國攻中國，粘罕因得休兵觀釁。 臣欲陛下假臣月日，便則提兵趨京、洛，據河陽、陝府、潼關，以號召五路叛將。 叛將既還，遣王師前進，彼必棄汴而走河北，京畿、陝右可以盡復。 然後分兵濬、滑，經略兩河，如此則劉豫成擒，金人可滅，社稷長久之計，實在此舉。」 帝答曰：「有臣如此，顧復何憂，進止之機，朕不中制。」 又召至寢閣命之曰：「中興之事，一以委卿。」 命節制光州。
Yue Fei saw the emperor again and again to discuss the strategy of recovery. He also wrote in his own hand: "The Jin set Liu Yu up in Henan to poison the Central Plains—to set Chinese against Chinese—while Nianhan rested his troops and watched for a chance. Give me time, and I will march on the capital and Luoyang, hold Heyang, Shanzhou, and Tong Pass, and call the defecting generals of the five circuits back to us. Once those generals return, send the imperial army forward. The enemy will abandon Kaifeng and flee to Hebei. The capital region and western Shan can be fully recovered. Then split forces at Junzhou and Huazhou and take the two He regions. Liu Yu will be taken alive, the Jin can be destroyed—the dynasty's lasting security rests on this one stroke." The emperor answered, "With a minister like you, what have I to fear? When to advance and when to halt—I will not second-guess you from the palace." He summoned Yue Fei to the private chamber and said, "The work of restoration—I leave it entirely to you." He was given command of Guangzhou as well.
36
飛方圖大舉，會秦檜主和，遂不以德、瓊兵隸飛。 詔詣都督府與張浚議事，浚謂飛曰：「王德淮西軍所服，浚欲以為都統，而命呂祉以督府參謀領之，如何？」 飛曰：「德與瓊素不相下，一旦揠之在上，則必爭。 呂尚書不習軍旅，恐不足服衆。」 浚曰：「張宣撫如何？」 飛曰：「暴而寡謀，尤瓊所不服。」 浚曰：「然則楊沂中爾？」 飛曰：「沂中視德等爾，豈能馭此軍？」 浚艴然曰：「浚固知非太尉不可。」 飛曰：「都督以正問飛，不敢不盡其愚，豈以得兵為念耶？」 即日上章乞解兵柄，終喪服，以張憲攝軍事，步歸，廬母墓側。 浚怒，奏以張宗元為宣撫判官，監其軍。
Yue Fei was planning a major offensive when Qin Hui took up the peace cause—and Wang De's and Li Qiong's troops were not placed under him. An edict sent him to the overall command to confer with Zhang Jun. Zhang Jun said, "Wang De is the man the Huai West army trusts. I want to make him overall commander and put Lü Zhi, a staff officer, over them. What do you think?" Yue Fei said, "Wang De and Li Qiong have never accepted each other's rank. Put one over the other and they will fight. Minister Lü knows nothing of war. I doubt he can command them." Zhang Jun said, "What about Commissioner Zhang?" Yue Fei said, "He is brutal and rash. Li Qiong will never obey him." Zhang Jun said, "Then Yang Yizhong?" Yue Fei said, "Yizhong is no better than Wang De and the rest. How could he lead this army?" Zhang Jun flushed and said, "I knew all along only the Grand Marshal would do." Yue Fei said, "You asked me honestly, Commissioner. I had to speak my mind. Do you think I was angling for more troops?" That same day he petitioned to surrender command, finished his mourning dress, left Zhang Xian in charge of the army, and walked home to keep vigil at his mother's grave. Zhang Jun, furious, petitioned to appoint Zhang Zongyuan pacification vice commissioner to supervise the army.
37
帝累詔趣飛還職，飛力辭，詔幕屬造廬以死請，凡六日，飛趨朝待罪，帝慰遣之。 宗元還言：「將和士銳，人懷忠孝，皆飛訓養所致。」 帝大悅。 飛奏：「比者寢閣之命，咸謂聖斷已堅，何至今尚未決？ 臣願提兵進討，順天道，因人心，以曲直為老壯，以逆順為強弱，萬全之効可必。」 又奏：「錢塘僻在海隅，非用武地。 願陛下建都上游，用漢光武故事，親率六軍，往來督戰。 庶將士知聖意所向，人人用命。」 未報而酈瓊叛，浚始悔。 飛復奏：「願進屯淮甸，伺便擊瓊，期於破滅。」 不許，詔駐師江州為淮、浙援。
The emperor sent edict after edict pressing Yue Fei to return. He refused. The court ordered his staff to build a lodge and beg him with their lives. After six days Yue Fei came to court to accept punishment. The emperor comforted him and sent him back. Zhang Zongyuan reported back: "Officers live in harmony and the men are sharp; loyalty and devotion run through the ranks—all from Yue Fei's training." The emperor was greatly pleased. Yue Fei memorialized: "After your command in the private chamber, everyone believed the decision was firm. Why is nothing settled yet? Let me lead the army north. Follow Heaven's way and men's hearts; let right and wrong decide who stands firm, loyalty and treason decide who is strong. Victory will be certain." He also wrote: "Qiantang sits at the edge of the sea—it is no place to make war from. Move the capital upstream, as Emperor Guangwu of Han did. Lead the Six Armies yourself and ride back and forth to direct the fighting. Then every soldier will know where the throne stands, and every man will fight with his whole heart." Before any answer came, Li Qiong rebelled—and Zhang Jun began to regret. Yue Fei petitioned again: "Let me advance to the Huai country, watch for a chance, and destroy Li Qiong." The court refused and ordered him to hold Jiangzhou as support for the Huai and Zhe regions.
38
飛知劉豫結粘罕，而兀朮惡劉豫，可以間而動。 會軍中得兀朮諜者，飛陽責之曰：「汝非吾軍中人張斌耶？ 吾向遣汝至齊，約誘至四太子，汝往不復來。 吾繼遣人問，齊已許我，今冬以會合寇江為名，致四太子于清河。 汝所持書竟不至，何背我耶？」 諜冀緩死，即詭服。 乃作蠟書，言與劉豫同謀誅兀朮事，因謂諜曰：「吾今貸汝。」 復遣至齊，問舉兵期，刲股納書，戒勿泄。 諜歸，以書示兀朮，兀朮大驚，馳白其主，遂廢豫。 飛奏：「宜乘廢豫之際，擣其不備，長驅以取中原。」 不報。
Yue Fei knew Liu Yu was tied to Nianhan while Wuzhu despised Liu Yu—a rift that could be exploited. A Wuzhu spy was captured in camp. Yue Fei feigned anger: "Aren't you Zhang Bin, one of our men? I sent you to Qi to lure the Fourth Prince here. You went and never came back. I sent men after that to follow up. Qi had already agreed: this winter, under cover of a joint raid on the south, they would bring the Fourth Prince to Qinghe. The letter you were supposed to deliver never came. Why have you turned against me?" The spy, hoping to save his life, feigned obedience at once. He wrote a wax-sealed letter describing a plot with Liu Yu to kill Wuzhu, and told the spy, "I am letting you live." He sent him back to Qi to ask when they would rise, cut flesh from his thigh to hide the letter inside, and forbade him to breathe a word. The spy returned and showed the letter to Wuzhu. Wuzhu was shocked, raced to tell his sovereign, and Liu Yu was deposed. Yue Fei memorialized: "We must strike while Liu Yu's removal has them off balance—drive hard and retake the Central Plains." No answer came.
39
八年，還軍鄂州。 王庶視師江、淮，飛與庶書：「今歲若不舉兵，當納節請閑。」 庶甚壯之。 秋，召赴行在，命詣資善堂見皇太子。 飛退而喜曰：「社稷得人矣，中興基業，其在是乎？」 會金遣使將歸河南地，飛言：「金人不可信，和好不可恃，相臣謀國不臧，恐貽後世譏」檜銜之。
In the eighth year he brought the army back to Ezhou. Wang Shu was touring the Jiang and Huai fronts. Yue Fei wrote to him: "If we do not march this year, I will surrender my command and ask to retire." Wang Shu admired the sentiment. That autumn he was summoned to court and told to visit the crown prince in the Hall of Virtuous Learning. Yue Fei left overjoyed: "The dynasty has found its heir. The work of restoration begins here—does it not?" Just then Jin envoys arrived to return Henan. Yue Fei said, "The Jin are not to be trusted, peace is no foundation to stand on—the chief minister's counsel will invite the scorn of history." Qin Hui never forgave him.
40
九年，以復河南，大赦。 飛表謝，寓和議不便之意，有「唾手燕雲，復讎報國」之語。 授開府儀同三司，飛力辭，謂：「今日之事，可危而不可安； 可憂而不可賀； 可訓兵飭士，謹備不虞，而不可論功行賞，取笑敵人。」 三詔不受，帝溫言獎諭，乃受。 會遣士㒟謁諸陵，飛請以輕騎從洒埽，實欲觀釁以伐謀。 又奏：「金人無事請和，此必有肘腋之虞，名以地歸我，實寄之也。」 檜白帝止其行。
In the ninth year a general amnesty was proclaimed for the recovery of Henan. Yue Fei submitted thanks but made his distrust of peace plain, writing that they could "reach Yan and Yun as easily as wiping one's hand—avenging the realm and repaying the dynasty." He was offered Grandee with Ceremonials Equal to the Three Dukes. Yue Fei refused firmly: "The times call for dread, not complacency; for worry, not celebration; for drilling troops and staying alert—not for handing out honors that make us a laughingstock to the enemy." Three times he refused the edict. The emperor spoke warmly until at last he accepted. An envoy named Shi Rui was sent to tend the imperial tombs. Yue Fei asked to escort him with light cavalry—ostensibly to sweep the tombs, in truth to scout for a chance to strike. He also wrote: "The Jin offer peace for no reason. This hides trouble close at hand. They call it returning territory; in truth they are storing it with us." Qin Hui persuaded the emperor to forbid the trip.
41
十年，金人攻拱、亳，劉錡告急，命飛馳援，飛遣張憲、姚政赴之。 帝賜札曰：「設施之方，一以委卿，朕不遙度。」 飛乃遣王貴、牛皐、董先、楊再興、孟邦傑、李寶等，分布經略西京、汝、鄭、穎昌、陳、曹、光、蔡諸郡； 又命梁興渡河，糾合忠義社，取河東、北州縣。 又遣兵東援劉錡，西援郭浩，自以其軍長驅以闞中原。 將發，密奏言：「先正國本以安人心，然後不常厥居，以示無忘復讎之意。」 帝得奏，大褒其忠，授少保，河南府路、陝西、河東北路招討使，尋改河南、北諸路招討使。 未幾，所遣諸將相繼奏捷。 大軍在穎昌，諸將分道出戰，飛自以輕騎駐郾城，兵勢甚銳。
In the tenth year the Jin attacked Gongzhou and Bozhou. Liu Qi called for help. Yue Fei was ordered to hurry to his aid and sent Zhang Xian and Yao Zheng ahead. The emperor wrote: "How you carry this out I leave entirely to you. I will not second-guess you from the palace." Yue Fei sent Wang Gui, Niu Gao, Dong Xian, Yang Zaixing, Meng Bangjie, Li Bao, and others to take command across the Western Capital, Ruzhou, Zhengzhou, Yingchang, Chenzhou, Caozhou, Guangzhou, and Caizhou. He ordered Liang Xing to cross the river, rally the Loyalty and Righteousness societies, and recover Hedong and northern Hebei. He sent men east to Liu Qi and west to Guo Hao, then led his own army in a long thrust toward the Central Plains. Before marching he wrote in secret: "First settle the succession to calm the realm. Then do not keep a fixed capital—show that we have not forgotten revenge." The emperor read it and praised his devotion, made him Junior Guardian and pacification commissioner for Henan, Shaanxi, and northern Hedong—then pacification commissioner for all Henan and the northern circuits. Soon his commanders began reporting victory after victory. The main force held Yingchang while his generals struck on every front. Yue Fei himself camped at Yancheng with light cavalry. His army's edge was razor-sharp.
42
兀朮大懼，會龍虎大王議，以為諸帥易與，獨飛不可當，欲誘致其師，併力一戰。 中外聞之，大懼，詔飛審處自固。 飛曰：「金人伎窮矣。」 乃日出挑戰，且罵之。 兀朮怒，合龍虎大王、蓋天大王與韓常之兵逼郾城。 飛遣子雲領騎兵直貫其陣，戒之曰：「不勝，先斬汝！」 鏖戰數十合，賊屍布野。
Wuzhu was terrified. He met with the Dragon-Tiger King and decided the Song commanders were easy prey except Yue Fei. They would lure Yue Fei's army out and crush it in one battle. Court and country were alarmed. An edict told Yue Fei to weigh the situation and hold firm. Yue Fei said, "The Jin are at their wits' end." Each day he rode out to challenge them—and to curse them. Wuzhu, enraged, marched on Yancheng with the Dragon-Tiger King, the Sky-Covering King, and Han Chang. Yue Fei sent his son Yue Yun at the head of the cavalry to drive through their lines, warning him: "Lose and I will take your head first!" After dozens of savage clashes, enemy dead carpeted the field.
43
初，兀朮有勁軍，皆重鎧，貫以韋索，三人為聯，號「拐子馬」，官軍不能當。 是役也，以萬五千騎來，飛戒步卒以麻札刀入陣，勿仰視，第斫馬足。 拐子馬相連，一馬仆，二馬不能行，官軍奮擊，遂大敗之。 兀朮大慟曰：「自海上起兵，皆以此勝，今已矣！」 兀朮益兵來，部將王剛以五十騎覘敵，遇之，奮斬其將。 飛時出視戰地，望見黃塵蔽天，自以四十騎突戰，敗之。
Wuzhu's crack troops wore heavy armor and were roped together three abreast—the "Linked Cavalry"—and the government troops could not stop them. This time fifteen thousand riders came. Yue Fei told his infantry to go in with maza sabers, eyes down, and cut at the horses' legs. Roped together, when one horse fell the others could not move. The government troops charged and broke them completely. Wuzhu wept: "Since we took up arms on the coast we have won with these horses—now it is finished!" Wuzhu sent reinforcements. Wang Gang rode out with fifty men to scout, met the enemy, and cut down their commander. Yue Fei was inspecting the field when he saw dust blot out the sky. He charged with forty riders and beat them back.
44
方郾城再捷，飛謂雲曰：「賊屢敗，必還攻穎昌，汝宜速援王貴。」 既而兀朮果至，貴將遊奕、雲將背嵬戰于城西。 雲以騎兵八百挺前決戰，步軍張左右翼繼之，殺兀朮婿夏金吾、副統軍粘罕索孛堇，兀朮遁去。
After a second victory at Yancheng Yue Fei told Yue Yun: "The enemy keeps losing. They will hit Yingchang next. Go help Wang Gui at once." Wuzhu came as predicted. Wang Gui led the Mobile Corps; Yue Yun led the Beiyue troops. They fought west of the city. Yue Yun led eight hundred cavalry straight into the decisive fight; infantry opened both wings behind him. They killed Wuzhu's son-in-law Xia Jinwu and the vice-commander Nianhan Suo Boqin. Wuzhu fled.
45
梁興會太行忠義及兩河豪傑等，累戰皆捷，中原大震。 飛奏：「興等過河，人心願歸朝廷。 金兵累敗，兀朮等皆令老少北去，正中興之機。」 飛進軍朱仙鎮，距汴京四十五里，與兀朮對壘而陣，遣驍將以背嵬騎五百奮擊，大破之，兀朮遁還汴京。 飛檄陵臺令行視諸陵，葺治之。
Liang Xing linked up with Taihang loyalists and heroes of the two He regions. Victory followed victory. The Central Plains shook. Yue Fei wrote: "When Liang Xing and his men crossed the river, everyone wanted to come back to the court. The Jin keep losing. Wuzhu is sending families north. This is our moment for restoration." Yue Fei pushed to Zhuxian Town, forty-five li from Kaifeng, and drew up facing Wuzhu. Five hundred Beiyue cavalry under a crack commander smashed the Jin line. Wuzhu ran back to Kaifeng. Yue Fei ordered the tomb warden to inspect the imperial graves and put them in order.
46
先是，紹興五年，飛遣梁興等布德意，招結兩河豪傑，山砦韋銓、孫謀等斂兵固堡，以待王師，李通、胡清、李寶、李興、張恩、孫琪等舉衆來歸。 金人動息，山川險要，一時皆得其實。 盡磁、相、開德、澤、潞、晉、絳、汾、隰之境，皆期日興兵，與官軍會。 其所揭旗以「岳」為號，父老百姓爭挽車牽牛，載糗糧以餽義軍，頂盆焚香迎候者，充滿道路。 自燕以南，金號令不行，兀朮欲簽軍以抗飛，河北無一人從者。 乃嘆曰：「自我起北方以來，未有如今日之挫衂。」 金帥烏陵思謀素號桀黠，亦不能制其下，但諭之曰：「毋輕動，俟岳家軍來即降。」 金統制王鎮、統領崔慶、將官李覬崔虎華旺等皆率所部降，以至禁衞龍虎大王下忔查千戶高勇之屬，皆密受飛旗牓，自北方來降。 金將軍韓常欲以五萬衆內附。 飛大喜，語其下曰：「直抵黃龍府，與諸君痛飲爾！」
As early as Shaoxing year five Yue Fei had sent Liang Xing and others to spread goodwill and win over heroes north of the river. Wei Quan and Sun Mou in the mountain forts gathered men and held their strongpoints for the imperial army. Li Tong, Hu Qing, Li Bao, Li Xing, Zhang En, Sun Qi, and others brought their followers over. For a time they knew every Jin movement and every mountain pass. From Cizhou through Xiangzhou, Kaide, Ze, Lu, Jin, Jiang, Fen, and Xi, every district set a day to rise and meet the imperial army. They flew banners with the character Yue. Peasants vied to haul grain for the loyalists. The roads thronged with people carrying incense on their heads to welcome the army. South of Yan the Jin could no longer enforce their orders. Wuzhu tried to draft men to fight Yue Fei—not one person in Hebei obeyed. He sighed: "Since I came out of the north I have never known a rout like this." Even Wulingsimou, the Jin commander famed for his ruthlessness, could not control his troops. He could only tell them: "Stay put. When Yue's army comes, surrender." Jin officers Wang Zhen, Cui Qing, Li Yi, Cui Hu, Hua Wang, and others brought their units over—even men under the Palace Guard Dragon-Tiger King such as Qianhu Gao Yong had secretly accepted Yue Fei's banners and defected from the north. The Jin general Han Chang wanted to defect with fifty thousand men. Yue Fei rejoiced and told his men: "We will march to Huanglong Prefecture and drink ourselves merry!"
47
方指日渡河，而檜欲畫淮以北棄之，風臺臣請班師。 飛奏：「金人銳氣沮喪，盡棄輜重，疾走渡河，豪傑向風，士卒用命，時不再來，機難輕失。」 檜知飛志銳不可回，乃先請張俊、楊沂中等歸，而後言飛孤軍不可久留，乞令班師。 一日奉十二金字牌，飛憤惋泣下，東向再拜曰：「十年之力，廢於一旦。」 飛班師，民遮馬慟哭，訴曰：「我等戴香盆、運糧草以迎官軍，金人悉知之。 相公去，我輩無噍類矣。」 飛亦悲泣，取詔示之曰：「吾不得擅留。」 哭聲震野，飛留五日以待其徙，從而南者如市，亟奏以漢上六郡閒田處之。
With a crossing day in sight, Qin Hui wanted to abandon everything north of the Huai and swayed officials to ask for withdrawal. Yue Fei petitioned: "The Jin are broken in spirit. They have dumped their baggage and are rushing north. Heroes are turning to us. The men will fight to the death. This moment will not return." Qin Hui saw Yue Fei's resolve could not be bent. He first recalled Zhang Jun and Yang Yizhong, then argued that Yue Fei's lone army could not stay—and begged for withdrawal orders. One day twelve gold-letter plaques arrived. Yue Fei wept with rage, bowed twice to the east, and said: "Ten years of effort—ruined in a single day." As he withdrew, people blocked his horse and wept: "We welcomed you with incense and grain. The Jin know everything. When you leave, none of us will survive." Yue Fei wept too. He showed them the edict: "I cannot stay without orders." Wailing filled the fields. Yue Fei waited five days for refugees to move. The stream of people heading south was endless. He urgently petitioned to resettle them on idle lands in the six Han River prefectures.
48
方兀朮棄汴去，有書生叩馬曰：「太子毋走，岳少保且退矣。」 兀朮曰：「岳少保以五百騎破吾十萬，京城日夜望其來，何謂可守？」 生曰：「自古未有權臣在內，而大將能立功於外者，岳少保且不免，況欲成功乎？」 兀朮悟，遂留。 飛既歸，所得州縣，旋復失之。 飛力請解兵柄，不許，自廬入觀，帝問之，飛拜謝而已。
As Wuzhu was leaving Kaifeng a scholar stopped his horse: "Prince, do not go—Lord Yue is about to pull back." Wuzhu said, "Lord Yue broke a hundred thousand of us with five hundred riders. The capital has been praying for him day and night. How can we hold it?" The scholar said, "Never in history has a great general won glory abroad while a powerful minister ruled at court. Lord Yue will not even save himself—how could he finish the job?" Wuzhu understood—and stayed. Once Yue Fei withdrew, every county and prefecture he had taken was lost again. Yue Fei begged to give up command; the court refused. He came from Lushan to court. When the emperor asked him questions, he only bowed and thanked him.
49
十一年，諜報金分道渡淮，飛請合諸帥之兵破敵。 兀朮、韓常與龍虎大王疾驅至廬，帝趣飛應援，凡十七札。 飛策金人舉國南來，巢穴必虛，若長驅京、洛以擣之，彼必奔命，可坐而敝。 時飛方苦寒嗽，力疾而行。 又恐帝急於退敵，乃奏：「臣如擣虛，勢必得利，若以為敵方在近，未暇遠圖，欲乞親至蘄、黃，以議攻卻。」 帝得奏大喜，賜札曰：「卿苦寒疾，乃為朕行，國爾忘身，誰如卿者？」 師至廬州，金兵望風而遁。 飛還兵于舒以俟命，帝又賜札，以飛小心恭謹、不專進退為得體。 兀朮破濠州，張俊駐軍黃連鎮，不敢進； 楊沂中遇伏而敗，帝命飛救之。 金人聞飛至，又遁。
In the eleventh year spies reported the Jin crossing the Huai on several fronts. Yue Fei asked to combine the commanders' forces and destroy them. Wuzhu, Han Chang, and the Dragon-Tiger King raced on Luzhou. The emperor sent Yue Fei seventeen urgent messages to go to the rescue. Yue Fei reasoned that if the whole Jin host was marching south, their base must be empty. A long strike at Kaifeng and Luoyang would force them to hurry back—we could wear them down without a fight. Yue Fei was racked with a cold cough but forced himself onward. Fearing the emperor wanted a quick repulse, he wrote: "If I strike their empty base we will win—but if Your Majesty thinks the enemy is too close for a distant campaign, let me go in person to Qizhou and Huangzhou to plan the counterattack." The emperor read it with joy and wrote back: "You are ill with cold yet you march for me—you forget yourself for the realm. Who is like you?" When his army reached Luzhou the Jin fled at the mere rumor of his approach. Yue Fei held his troops at Shuzhou awaiting orders. The emperor wrote again, praising his caution and restraint in not taking advance or withdrawal into his own hands. Wuzhu took Haozhou. Zhang Jun camped at Huanglian Town and would not advance; Yang Yizhong walked into an ambush and lost. The emperor ordered Yue Fei to save him. When the Jin heard Yue Fei was coming, they fled again.
50
時和議既決，檜患飛異己，乃密奏召三大將論功行賞。 韓世忠、張俊已至，飛獨後，檜又用參政王次翁計，俟之六七日。 既至，授樞密副使，位參知政事上，飛固請還兵柄。 五月，詔同俊往楚州措置邊防，總韓世忠軍還駐鎮江。
Peace was settled. Qin Hui, fearing Yue Fei's independence, secretly petitioned to summon the three great commanders to discuss honors. Han Shizhong and Zhang Jun arrived first. Yue Fei came late—Qin Hui, following Vice Grand Councillor Wang Ciweng's advice, kept him waiting six or seven days. When he finally arrived they made him Vice Commissioner of Military Affairs, senior to the vice grand councillors. Yue Fei insisted on giving up his command. In the fifth month he and Zhang Jun were ordered to Chu Prefecture to manage the frontier. Han Shizhong's army was recalled to Zhenjiang.
51
初，飛在諸將中年最少，以列校拔起，累立顯功，世忠、俊不能平，飛屈己下之，幕中輕銳教飛勿苦降意。 金人攻淮西，俊分地也，俊始不敢行，師卒無功。 飛聞命即行，遂解廬州圍，帝授飛兩鎮節，俊益恥。 楊么平，飛獻俊、世忠樓船各一，兵械畢備，世忠大悅，俊反忌之。 淮西之役，俊以前途糧乏訹飛，飛不為止，帝賜札褒諭，有曰：「轉餉艱阻，卿不復顧。」 俊疑飛漏言，還朝，反倡言飛逗遛不進，以乏餉為辭。 至視世忠軍，俊知世忠忤檜，欲與飛分其背嵬軍，飛議不肯，俊大不悅。 及同行楚州城，俊欲修城為備，飛曰：「當戮力以圖恢復，豈可為退保計？」 俊變色。
Yue Fei was the youngest of the great generals, risen from the ranks. His victories unnerved Han Shizhong and Zhang Jun. He humbled himself before them, but his staff's hotheads told him not to demean himself so. When the Jin attacked Huai West—Zhang Jun's sector—Zhang Jun dared not march. His army accomplished nothing. Yue Fei marched the moment he was called, lifted the siege of Luzhou, and was given two military commissions—to Zhang Jun's further shame. After Yang Yao's defeat Yue Fei gave Han Shizhong and Zhang Jun each a tower ship, fully equipped. Han Shizhong was delighted; Zhang Jun resented it. In the Huai West campaign Zhang Jun tried to scare Yue Fei off by warning of scarce supplies. Yue Fei pressed on. The emperor praised him: "Supply lines were choked—you did not waver." Zhang Jun suspected Yue Fei had repeated his warnings. Back at court he accused Yue Fei of dawdling and using lack of supplies as an excuse. When they inspected Han Shizhong's troops Zhang Jun—knowing Han Shizhong had crossed Qin Hui—wanted Yue Fei to help him split up the Beiyue force. Yue Fei refused. Zhang Jun was furious. Touring Chuzhou together Zhang Jun wanted to fortify the walls. Yue Fei said: "We should fight together for recovery—how can we plan only to fall back?" Zhang Jun's face darkened.
52
會世忠軍吏景著與總領胡紡言：「二樞密若分世忠軍，恐至生事。」 紡上之朝，檜捕著下大理寺，將以扇搖誣世忠。 飛馳書告以檜意，世忠見帝自明。 俊於是大憾飛，遂倡言飛議棄山陽，且密以飛報世忠事告檜，檜大怒。
Meanwhile Han Shizhong's army clerk Jing Zhu told the chief administrator Hu Fang: "If the two commissioners of military affairs split up Han Shizhong's army, there will be trouble." Hu Fang reported this to court. Qin Hui arrested Jing Zhu and sent him to the Court of Judicial Review, planning to use the case to undermine Han Shizhong. Yue Fei sent an urgent letter warning Han Shizhong of Qin Hui's scheme. Han Shizhong went to the emperor and cleared himself. Zhang Jun now hated Yue Fei with a passion. He spread rumors that Yue Fei wanted to abandon Shanyang, and secretly told Qin Hui about Yue Fei's warning to Han Shizhong. Qin Hui flew into a rage.
53
初，檜逐趙鼎，飛每對客嘆息，又以恢復為己任，不肯附和議。 讀檜奏，至「德無常師，主善為師」之語，惡其欺罔，恚曰：「君臣大倫，根於天性，大臣而忍面謾其主耶！」 兀朮遺檜書曰：「汝朝夕以和請，而岳飛方為河北圖，必殺飛，始可和。」 檜亦以飛不死，終梗和議，己必及禍，故力謀殺之。 以諫議大夫万俟禼與飛有怨，風禼劾飛，又風中丞何鑄、侍御史羅汝楫交章彈論，大率謂：「今春金人攻淮西，飛略至舒、蘄而不進，比與俊按兵淮上，又欲棄山陽而不守。」 飛累章請罷樞柄，尋還兩鎮節，充萬壽觀使、奉朝請。 檜志未伸也，又諭張俊令劫王貴、誘王俊誣告張憲謀還飛兵。
When Qin Hui had driven Zhao Ding from office, Yue Fei would sigh in the company of guests. He made recovery of the north his personal mission and would not countenance peace. Reading one of Qin Hui's memorials, he came to the line "virtue has no fixed teacher; the ruler who excels in virtue becomes the teacher." Disgusted by the deceit, he fumed: "The bond between ruler and minister is rooted in nature—how can a great minister lie to his sovereign's face!" Wuzhu wrote to Qin Hui: "You plead for peace day and night, but Yue Fei is scheming to recover Hebei. Yue Fei must die before there can be peace." Qin Hui knew that as long as Yue Fei lived, peace would never hold and he himself would pay the price. He set out to kill him. He enlisted Remonstrance and Policy Advisor Wan Qixie, who already hated Yue Fei, to impeach him, and prompted Vice Censor-in-Chief He Zhu and Attending Censor Luo Ruji to pile on. Their charge, in essence: "This spring when the Jin attacked Huai West, Yue Fei only reached Shuzhou and Qizhou and stopped. With Zhang Jun he held the Huai line but wanted to abandon Shanyang." Yue Fei repeatedly asked to give up his post at the Bureau of Military Affairs. His two military commissions were restored, and he was made Commissioner of the Wanshou View with the rank of Court Attendant. Qin Hui's purpose was not yet served. He told Zhang Jun to coerce Wang Gui and entice Wang Jun into falsely accusing Zhang Xian of plotting to bring Yue Fei's army back.
54
檜遣使捕飛父子證張憲事，使者至，飛笑曰：「皇天后土，可表此心。」 初命何鑄鞠之，飛裂裳以背示鑄，有「盡忠報國」四大字，深入膚理。 既而閱實無左驗，鑄明其無辜。 改命万俟禼。 禼誣：飛與憲書，令虛申探報以動朝廷，雲與憲書，令措置使飛還軍； 且言其書已焚。
Qin Hui sent men to arrest Yue Fei and his son as witnesses in the Zhang Xian case. When they arrived Yue Fei laughed and said: "Heaven and earth can bear witness to my heart." He Zhu was first assigned to interrogate him. Yue Fei tore open his robe and showed He Zhu his back, where the four characters "Serve the State with Utmost Loyalty" had been tattooed deep into the skin. Investigation found no corroborating evidence. He Zhu declared him innocent. The case was reassigned to Wan Qixie. Wan Qixie fabricated charges: that Yue Fei had written Zhang Xian ordering false intelligence reports to stir the court, and that Yue Yun had written Zhang Xian to arrange Yue Fei's return to command; and claimed the letters had already been burned.
55
飛坐繫兩月，無可證者。 或教禼以臺章所指淮西事為言，禼喜白檜，簿錄飛家，取當時御札藏之以滅迹。 又逼孫革等證飛受詔逗遛，命評事元龜年取行軍時日雜定之，傅會其獄。 歲暮，獄不成，檜手書小紙付獄，即報飛死，時年三十九。 雲棄市。 籍家貲，徙家嶺南。 幕屬于鵬等從坐者六人。
Yue Fei sat in prison for two months. Nothing could be proved. Someone advised Wan Qixie to build the case on the censorial charges about Huai West. Wan Qixie gladly told Qin Hui, inventoried Yue Fei's household, and seized the imperial letters of the time and hid them to destroy the evidence. He coerced Sun Ge and others into testifying that Yue Fei had dawdled despite orders, and had Reviewer Yuan Guinian jumble marching dates together to make the charges stick. At year's end the case still would not hold. Qin Hui wrote a note by hand and sent it to the prison. Yue Fei was reported dead. He was thirty-nine. Yue Yun was executed in the marketplace. The family's property was confiscated and the family was exiled to Lingnan. Six members of his staff, including Yu Peng, were punished as accomplices.
56
初，飛在獄，大理寺丞李若樸何彥猷、大理卿薛仁輔並言飛無罪，禼俱劾去。 宗正卿士㒟請以百口保飛，禼亦劾之，竄死建州。 布衣劉允升上書訟飛冤，下棘寺以死。 凡傅成其獄者，皆遷轉有差。
While Yue Fei was in prison, Court of Judicial Review aides Li Ruopu and He Yanyou and Chief Minister of Justice Xue Renfu all declared him innocent. Wan Qixie impeached them all and they were removed. Director of the Imperial Clan Shi Rui offered to guarantee Yue Fei with the lives of a hundred family members. Wan Qixie impeached him too. He was exiled and died in Jianzhou. A commoner named Liu Yunsheng submitted a memorial pleading Yue Fei's innocence. He was sent to prison and died there. Everyone who helped fabricate the case was promoted.
57
獄之將上也，韓世忠不平，詣檜詰其實，檜曰：「飛子雲與張憲書雖不明，其事體莫須有。」 世忠曰：「『莫須有』三字，何以服天下？」 時洪皓在金國中，蠟書馳奏，以為金人所畏服者惟飛，至以父呼之，諸酋聞其死，酌酒相賀。
When the case was about to go up, Han Shizhong was furious. He confronted Qin Hui and demanded the truth. Qin Hui said: "The letters between Yue Yun and Zhang Xian may be unclear, but the substance of the matter perhaps exists." Han Shizhong said: "'Perhaps it exists'—how can three words like that convince the world?" Hong Hao was then in Jin territory. He sent a wax-sealed dispatch reporting that the Jin feared no one but Yue Fei—they even called him "Father." When the chieftains heard of his death they drank wine and congratulated one another.
58
飛至孝，母留河北，遣人求訪，迎歸。 母有痼疾，藥餌必親。 母卒，水漿不入口者三日。 家無姬侍。 吳玠素服飛，願與交驩，飾名姝遺之。 飛曰：「主上宵旰，豈大將安樂時？」 卻不受，玠益敬服。 少豪飲，帝戒之曰：「卿異時到河朔，乃可飲。」 遂絕不飲。 帝初為飛營第，飛辭曰：「敵未滅，何以家為？」 或問天下何時太平，飛曰：「文臣不愛錢，武臣不惜死，天下太平矣。」
Yue Fei was deeply filial. His mother had remained in Hebei. He sent men to find her and brought her home. His mother had a chronic illness. He always prepared her medicine himself. When she died he took neither food nor water for three days. His household had no concubines. Wu Jie had long admired Yue Fei and wished to befriend him. He sent him a famous beauty as a gift. Yue Fei said: "The emperor toils day and night—how can a great general take his ease?" He refused. Wu Jie respected him all the more. In youth he drank freely. The emperor admonished him: "When you reach Hebei, then you may drink." From then on he never drank again. When the emperor first built a mansion for him, Yue Fei declined: "The enemy is not yet destroyed—how can I think of home?" When someone asked when the realm would know peace, Yue Fei said: "When civil officials do not love money and military officers do not fear death, the realm will be at peace."
59
師每休捨，課將士注坡跳壕，皆重鎧習之。 子雲嘗習注坡，馬躓，怒而鞭之。 卒有取民麻一縷以束芻者，立斬以徇。 卒夜宿，民開門願納，無敢入者。 軍號「凍死不拆屋，餓死不鹵掠。」 卒有疾，躬為調藥； 諸將遠戍，遣妻問勞其家； 死事者哭之而育其孤，或以子婚其女。 凡有頒犒，均給軍吏，秋毫不私。
Whenever the army rested, he drilled his officers and men in running slopes and leaping ditches—all in heavy armor. His son Yue Yun once practiced slope-running. His horse stumbled and Yue Fei whipped him in anger. A soldier who took a single strand of hemp from a civilian to bind fodder was beheaded on the spot as an example. When soldiers camped overnight, civilians opened their doors to offer shelter—but none dared enter. The army's motto was: "Better to freeze than tear down a house; better to starve than plunder." When a soldier fell ill, he prepared the medicine himself; when generals were stationed far away, he sent his wife to visit their families; for those who died in service he wept and raised their orphans, or married his sons to their daughters. Whenever rewards were distributed, he shared them equally among officers and men—not a fraction for himself.
60
善以少擊衆。 欲有所舉，盡召諸統制與謀，謀定而後戰，故有勝無敗。 猝遇敵不動，故敵為之語曰：「撼山易，撼岳家軍難。」 張俊嘗問用兵之術，曰：「仁、智、信、勇、嚴，闕一不可。」 調軍食，必蹙額曰：「東南民力，耗敝極矣。」 荊湖平，募民營田，又為屯田，歲省漕運之半。 帝手書曹操、諸葛亮、羊祜三事賜之。 飛跋其後，獨指操為姦賊而鄙之，尤檜所惡也。
He was skilled at defeating large forces with small numbers. Before any operation he summoned all his unit commanders to counsel together. Only when the plan was settled did he fight—hence victory after victory, never defeat. When suddenly encountering the enemy he never flinched. The enemy had a saying: "It is easy to shake a mountain; it is hard to shake the Yue family army." Zhang Jun once asked about the art of war. Yue Fei said: "Benevolence, wisdom, trustworthiness, courage, and strictness—leave out one and it will not do." When requisitioning army provisions he always furrowed his brow: "The people of the southeast are exhausted to the breaking point." After the Jing and Hu regions were pacified, he recruited civilians for garrison farming and established military colonies, cutting grain transport costs in half each year. The emperor wrote out by hand accounts of Cao Cao, Zhuge Liang, and Yang Hu and bestowed them on him. Yue Fei wrote a colophon afterward, singling out Cao Cao alone as a treacherous villain and despising him—this Qin Hui especially hated.
61
張所死，飛感舊恩，鞠其子宗本，奏以官。 李寶自楚來歸，韓世忠留之，寶痛哭願歸飛，世忠以書來諗，飛復曰：「均為國家，何分彼此？」 世忠嘆服。 襄陽之役，詔光世為援，六郡既復，光世始至，飛奏先賞光世軍。 好賢禮士，覽經史，雅歌投壺，恂恂如書生。 每辭官，必曰：「將士効力，飛何功之有？」 然忠憤激烈，議論持正，不挫於人，卒以此得禍。
When Zhang Suo died, Yue Fei, moved by old kindness, raised his son Zongben and memorialized to grant him office. Li Bao came over from Chu. Han Shizhong kept him. Li Bao wept and begged to serve Yue Fei. Han Shizhong wrote to consult Yue Fei, who replied: "We all serve the state—why distinguish between us?" Han Shizhong sighed in admiration. In the Xiangyang campaign Liu Guangshi was ordered as reinforcement. After the six prefectures were recovered Guangshi only then arrived. Yue Fei memorialized to reward Liu Guangshi's army first. He loved worthies and honored scholars, read the classics and histories, sang refined songs and played pitch-pot—deferential as a scholar. Whenever he declined honors he always said: "The officers and soldiers gave their strength—what merit have I?" Yet his loyal indignation was fierce, his opinions upright, and he would not yield to others—in the end this brought him to ruin.
62
檜死，議復飛官。 万俟禼謂金方願和，一旦錄故將，疑天下心，不可。 及紹興末，金益猖獗，太學生程宏圖上書訟飛冤，詔飛家自便。 初，檜惡岳州同飛姓，改為純州，至是仍舊。 中丞汪澈宣撫荊、襄，故部曲合辭訟之，哭聲雷震。 孝宗詔復飛官，以禮改葬，賜錢百萬，求其後悉官之。 建廟於鄂，號忠烈。 淳熙六年，謚武穆。 嘉定四年，追封鄂王。
When Qin Hui died, there was discussion of restoring Yue Fei's offices. Wan Qixie argued that the Jin wished for peace; to suddenly rehabilitate a former general would arouse suspicion throughout the realm—it could not be done. By the end of the Shaoxing era the Jin grew ever bolder. Imperial University student Cheng Hongtu submitted a memorial pleading Yue Fei's injustice, and an edict allowed the Yue family to move freely. Qin Hui had hated that Yue Prefecture shared the Yue surname and changed it to Chun Prefecture. Now it was restored. Censor Wang Che was sent to pacify Jing and Xiang. Yue Fei's former troops together pleaded his injustice—their wailing like thunder. Emperor Xiaozong ordered Yue Fei's offices restored, a proper reburial, a gift of a million cash, and that all his descendants be found and given office. A temple was built at Ezhou, titled Loyal and Fierce. In the sixth year of Chunxi he was given the posthumous title Martial and Solemn. In the fourth year of Jiading he was posthumously enfeoffed as Prince of E.
63
五子：雲、雷、霖、震、霆。
Five sons: Yun, Lei, Lin, Zhen, and Ting.
64
子雲
Son: Yun
65
雲，飛養子。 年十二，從張憲戰，多得其力，軍中呼曰「贏官人」。 飛征伐，未嘗不與，數立奇功，飛輒隱之。 每戰，以手握兩鐵椎，重八十斤，先諸軍登城。 攻下隨州，又攻破鄧州，襄漢平，功在第一，飛不言。 逾年，銓曹辯之，始遷武翼郎、楊么平，功亦第一，又不上。 張浚廉得其實，曰：「岳侯避寵榮，廉則廉矣，未得為公也。」 奏乞推異數，飛力辭不受。 嘗以特旨遷三資，飛辭曰：「士卒冒矢石立奇功，始沾一級，男雲遽躐崇資，何以服衆？」 累表不受。 穎昌大戰，無慮十數，出入行陣，體被百餘創，甲裳為赤。 以功遷忠州防禦使，飛又辭； 命帶御器械，飛又力辭之。 終左武大夫、提舉醴泉觀。 死年二十三。 孝宗初，與飛同復元官，以禮祔葬，贈安遠軍承宣使。
Yun was Yue Fei's adopted son. At twelve he followed Zhang Xian into battle and contributed greatly. The army called him "Lord Winner." In Yue Fei's campaigns he was never absent. He repeatedly achieved extraordinary merit, but Yue Fei always concealed it. In every battle he gripped two iron maces weighing eighty jin and was first among the army to scale the walls. He captured Suizhou and then took Dengzhou. When Xiang and Han were pacified his merit ranked first—but Yue Fei said nothing. More than a year later the personnel office investigated and he was promoted to Martial Wing Gentleman. When Yang Yao was pacified his merit again ranked first—and again he did not report it. Zhang Jun investigated and learned the truth. He said: "Lord Yue avoids honors and glory—honorable, yes, but this is not fair." He memorialized asking to grant extraordinary honors. Yue Fei forcefully declined. Once by special edict he was promoted three ranks. Yue Fei declined: "Soldiers who face arrows and stones barely gain one rank—how can my son Yun suddenly leap to high honors? How will this satisfy the troops?" He repeatedly memorialized and refused. In the great battles at Yingchang there were no fewer than a dozen. He went in and out of the battle lines and his body bore more than a hundred wounds—his armor and garments were dyed red. For his merit he was promoted to Defender of Zhong Prefecture. Yue Fei again declined. He was ordered to carry the imperial arms. Yue Fei again forcefully declined. In the end he held the rank of Left Martial Grandee and was Commissioner of the Liquan View. He died at twenty-three. At the beginning of Xiaozong's reign his original offices were restored along with Yue Fei's. He was buried by rite beside Yue Fei and posthumously made Military Commissioner of the Anyuan Army.
66
雷，忠訓郎、閣門祗候，贈武略郎。 霖，朝散大夫、敷文閣待制，贈太中大夫。 初，飛下獄，檜令親黨王會搜其家，得御札數篋，束之左藏南庫，霖請於孝宗，還之。 霖子珂，以淮西十五御札辯驗彙次，凡出師應援之先後皆可考。 嘉定間，為《籲天辯誣集》五卷、《天定錄》二捲上之。 震，朝奉大夫、提舉江南東路茶鹽公事。 霆，修武郎、閣門祗候。
Lei was Loyal Training Gentleman and Palace Gate Attendant; posthumously made Martial Strategy Gentleman. Lin was Gentleman for Dispersing Affairs and Attendant Drafting Master at the Fuwen Pavilion; posthumously made Grandee of Palace Attendance. When Yue Fei was imprisoned Qin Hui ordered his kinsman Wang Hui to search his home. Several cases of imperial letters were found and stored in the Left Treasury's south vault. Lin petitioned Xiaozong and they were returned. Lin's son Ke used fifteen imperial letters from the Huai West affair to verify and compile them in order—the sequence of every deployment and reinforcement could be checked. During the Jiading era he compiled the five-scroll Appeal to Heaven Refuting False Charges and the two-scroll Record of Heaven's Verdict and submitted them. Zhen was Gentleman for Court Attendance and Commissioner for Tea and Salt Affairs of Jiangnan East Circuit. Ting held the ranks of Gentleman of Cultivated Martiality and Palace Gate Attendant.
67
論曰：西漢而下，若韓、彭、絳、灌之為將，代不乏人，求其文武全器、仁智幷施如宋岳飛者，一代豈多見哉。 史稱關雲長通《春秋左氏》學，然未嘗見其文章。 飛北伐，軍至汴梁之朱仙鎮，有詔班師，飛自為表答詔，忠義之言，流出肺腑，真有諸葛孔明之風，而卒死於秦檜之手。 蓋飛與檜勢不兩立，使飛得志，則金讎可復，宋恥可雪； 檜得志，則飛有死而已。 昔劉宋殺檀道濟，道濟下獄，嗔目曰：「自壞汝萬里長城！」 高宗忍自棄其中原，故忍殺飛，嗚呼寃哉！ 嗚呼寃哉！
The historian writes: Since the Western Han, each age has produced commanders in the mold of Han Xin, Peng Yue, Zhou Bo, and Guan Ying—yet to find one who united civil and martial gifts and wielded both benevolence and wisdom as Yue Fei of Song did is a rarity indeed in any generation. History tells us that Guan Yu mastered the 《Zuo Commentary》, yet none of his writings survive. On his northern campaign Yue Fei reached Zhuxian Town outside Bianliang when an edict recalled the army. He drafted the reply himself—words of loyalty and righteousness that seemed to pour straight from the heart, worthy of Zhuge Liang himself—yet he died at Qin Hui's hands in the end. Yue Fei and Qin Hui could not coexist: had Yue Fei had his way, the Jin could have been avenged and Song's humiliation erased; once Qin Hui prevailed, Yue Fei could only die. Long ago the Liu-Song dynasty executed Tan Daoji. As he was thrown into prison he glared and cried, "You are tearing down your own Great Wall!" Emperor Gaozong could bring himself to abandon the Central Plains, and so could bring himself to kill Yue Fei—what an outrage! What an outrage!