Many people’s impressions of the character “Song Ci” come from a book called “The Great Song Dynasty’s Criminal Justice Officer”. The portrayal of Song Ci is very successful and leaves an impression of being a god of impartial law enforcement and case resolution, just like Tang Dynasty’s Di Renjie and Song Dynasty’s Bao Zheng, although these few people are not the same type of person. And in real history, Song Ci was also a real person, so what kind of person was the real Song Ci?
When it comes to Song Ci, many people think of the TV drama ‘The Great Song Dynasty’s Criminal Justice’. Song Ci is a famous expert in solving cases in history. His “Record of Clearing Injustice” (also known as the “Collection of Clearing Injustice Records”) is the world’s earliest monograph on forensic science, and he is revered as the pioneer of forensic science in the world. Song Ci is not only an expert in solving cases, but also highly skilled in military affairs, and he was the first to demonstrate military capabilities. Song Ci’s friend Liu Kezhuang said that he was “full of poetry and books, and had spare time to study military tactics”, which means that Song Ci was originally a literary figure full of poetry and books, but in his spare time, he became a military strategist and general.
Song Ci was born into a family of officials. In the second year of Baoqing (1226 AD), he entered the officialdom and served as the chief clerk of Xinfeng County in Ganzhou, Jiangxi. He was a junior official of the ninth rank, ranking below the county magistrate and county magistrate, and above the county captain. During the Southern Song Dynasty, land consolidation was severe and people’s lives were difficult. At that time, the areas of Ganzhou in Jiangxi and Tingzhou in Fujian were the most frequently affected by peasant uprisings and mutinies. Song Ci served in the area and inevitably had to deal with this situation. His ability to control the rebellion was appreciated by the Jiangxi pacification envoy and he was summoned to the pacification envoy’s account to provide advice and strategies for quelling the rebellion, showing remarkable performance.
Not long after, Song Ci’s term as pacification commissioner in the yamen came to an end, coinciding with a rebellion among the local minority groups in San Dongli. The area of Gan Nan, which borders Jiangxi, Guangdong, and Fujian, was in turmoil for hundreds of miles, shocking both the government and the public. Ye Zai, also known as the Criminal Justice Officer in Jiangxi, hired Song Ci as his staff. Before Song Ci left, his good friend Liu Kezhuang gave him a farewell party and gave him a poem, “Man Jianghong: Sending Song Huifu to Jiangxi”:
Filled with poetry and books, with spare time to learn about military strategies. Newly received, Wu Gongshu coins, with a whip hanging down his hair. The yellow paper red flag echoes the road, and the black wind and green grass empty the nest. Xiangyou’an and Xuanzi are heading towards the top, which is quite unique. Xidong matter, listen to Nong. Outside of Gong Sui, there is no long-term strategy. Offering prisoners is not bravery, and surrendering is not cowardice. All the athletes under the tent are exhausted, and all the children in the grass are seeking survival. Go to Kongtong and send a congratulatory song quickly to bid farewell.
Instruct Song Ci to suppress the rebellion as soon as possible so that he can return home quickly, and remind him not to brutally suppress the rebellious people, but to use appeasement measures as much as possible, after all, the people also rebel because they cannot survive.
The ideas of Song Ci and Liu Kezhuang coincide perfectly. At that time, the main general Chen Shixiong held a heavy army, but he refused to advance for a long time. Song Ci had no choice but to lead his own troops into the mountains, first providing relief to the local hungry people and pacifying many ordinary people who had joined the rebel army due to livelihood reasons. Then, he personally led three hundred soldiers to break through Shimen Fortress and captured the rebel leader. General Chen Shixiong was envious and jealous of Song Ci’s achievements, and immediately launched an attack. However, he was ambushed and suffered heavy casualties. Chen Shixiong fled alone, and the Song army became at a disadvantage.
Song Ci then told his commander Ye Zai about his plan of first providing relief to the people and then attacking the remaining rebels. However, Ye Zai did not pay attention to it, and Wei Dayou, who was in charge of grain storage, exemption from labor, water conservancy, and other matters, also ignored it. Song Ci had no choice but to recruit his own rebel army and successfully captured Gaopingzhai and Dashengdong. Several rebel leaders were captured or surrendered. Song Ci made great contributions again and was specially awarded the title of “Official of Sacrifice”, which aroused the jealousy of Wei Dayou, the Minister of Warehouse. Wei Dayou insulted Song Ci in court, and Song Ci angrily brushed away, saying to others, “This person is cruel and stubborn, and will definitely not have a good ending.” Wei Dayou became even more jealous of Song Ci and wrote three memorials accusing and impeaching him. However, the heavens have eyes, and soon Wei Dayou was killed by soldiers.
Song Ci was recruited into the shogunate of Chen Wei, a provincial magistrate in Fujian, to participate in the pacification of central Fujian, due to his meritorious service in suppressing the rebellion. At that time, the main general under Chen Wei, Wang Zuzhong, still looked down upon and excluded Song Ci because he was a scholar. It wasn’t until Song Ci “led his lone army into Zhuzhou and fought for more than 300 miles,” that Wang Zuzhong sincerely said to Song Ci, “Your intelligence and courage even surpass our military commanders
Song Ci successively served as a staff member for Zheng Xingzhi, the pacification commissioner of Jiangxi, Ye Zai, the prison commissioner of Jiangxi, Chen Wei, the prison commissioner of Fujian, and Wei Liaoweng, the secret commissioner of Tongzhi Shu. He made numerous military achievements and formed an inseparable bond with the position of prison commissioner. Later, Song Ci himself also served as a prison warden in Guangdong, Jiangxi, Guangxi, Hunan and other places, solving numerous cases and compiling the “Record of Clearing Injustice”, becoming a well-known judge in the Great Song Dynasty.
