The Filature of the Song

Intro: Introduction: Shao means two things: to inherit and to guide. In the year 1127 AD, the Northern Song Dynasty fell. Soon after, the ninth son of the Emperor, Zhao Gou, ascended the throne in Shangqiu amidst great expectations, inheriting the Song lineage and changing the reign title to Jianyan. However, within three months, Li Gang was dismissed from his position as Prime Minister, Chen Dong was executed, Yue Fei was expelled from the army, Zong Ze was abandoned in Dongjing (Tokyo), and the defenses against the Jin in Hebei were completely dismantled... After so much effort, the entire court finally unified their thinking and settled on a glorious anti-Jin strategy of supporting the Zhao Emperor's southward move to Huaidian and then Yangzhou. But as soon as they set off, after paying respects to the Taoist Patriarch at the Mingdao Palace in Bozhou, this Zhao Emperor plunged headfirst into the world-famous Nine Dragon Well. When he emerged, he no longer recognized his confidants! "I want to resist the Jin! But where are my loyal subjects?!" This is the sincere cry of a soul from nine hundred years later. Having helplessly inherited the title of Great Song, he must guide this court and the world onto a new path. Hence the title, Shao Song (Guiding Song).