In the history of China's more than two thousand years of feudal society, there was a period of comprehensive political, economic and cultural development, which was the Song Dynasty. It can be said that the status of the Song Dynasty in China's ancient history is even greater than that of the Tang Dynasty, which was at the peak of feudal society. In terms of politics, the Song Dynasty's two-province and three-division system not only inherited the advantages of the Tang Dynasty's three-province and six-part system, but also made the areas ruled by the government more extensive. In terms of economy, the annual grain production of the Song Dynasty far exceeded that of the Tang Dynasty, culturally, literati painting and calligraphy reached a new height in the Song Dynasty, and in science and technology, three of the four major inventions were born in the Song Dynasty and matured. It can be seen that the Song Dynasty was the most glorious period in China's history.
Brilliant so, the Song Dynasty is a well-known soft-boned dynasty in China's ancient history. It can be said that the Song Dynasty was far ahead of other periods in every aspect except military. Only this military has long been in a backward position. This is also the fundamental reason for the fall of the Song Dynasty.
When people mention the Song Dynasty, the first thing that people think of is the Northern Song Dynasty; when people mention the Northern Song Dynasty, the first thing that comes to mind is that Shi Nai'an's "Water Margin" vividly depicts the uprising process of one hundred single and eight generals. In this book, the people are also impressed by the Privy Counsellor known as the Great Traitor, Tong Guan.
Tong Guan, during the reign of Emperor Huizong of Song, served as a privy councillor and held the power of soldiers and horses. Later generations made him the six traitors of the Song Dynasty, including Gao Li, Cai Jing, Yang Jian, Liang Shicheng, and Li Yan. So is Tong Guan really as shameless as stated in the book? Throughout Tong Guan's life, although he brought calamity to the country and the people, he interfered in the government affairs of the DPRK. But his contribution is also outstanding. It's just that the achievement of this contribution has come at a heavy price.
People familiar with history know that since ancient times, the area of "Youyun Sixteen Prefectures" has been an important hub connecting the north and the south, and a military stronghold that must be contested by all dynasties and generations. The Song Dynasty was no exception, and after the Song Taizu Zhao Kuangyin mutinied and became emperor, he always wanted to retake this military stronghold. However, because of the interference of the ethnic minorities in the north, the desire to seize it has not been realized.
Since Zhao Kuangyin, the emperors of the Northern Song Dynasty have tried to recover this area, but they have not returned. It was not until the time of Emperor Huizong of Song that Tong Guan helped Emperor Huizong of Song fulfill this wish of the Zhao royal family. First, look at the location of Youyun Sixteen Prefectures, which is bordered to the north by the regimes established by ethnic minorities, the Liao and Jin states, the Western Xia kingdom to the west, and the Han Dynasty to the south.
At that time, the military system of the Song Dynasty was very backward, and there were also great loopholes in military deployment. Therefore, in order to take the sixteen states, it was necessary to unite with the Jin state to attack the Liao state. Therefore, Tong Guan signed an alliance agreement with the Jin State, saying that it was an alliance, and the Song Dynasty also allowed the Jin army to be stationed in the Song Dynasty, and also paid tribute to the Jin State every year, which was simply an unequal treaty.
After the Song and Jin alliances, they quickly defeated the Liao state and recovered parts of the sixteen states. Subsequently, Tong Guan led an army to attack Western Xia and regained sizhou. Since then, Tong Guan has basically fulfilled the wishes of the Zhao royal family. However, the annual tribute to the Jin Dynasty also made the economy of the Song Dynasty very tense.
Another contribution of Tong Guan was the suppression of the Fang la Rebellion in the Jiangnan region. Anyone who has read "Water Margin" knows that when Tong Guan led hundreds of thousands of troops to suppress Liangshan, he was beaten by the good man of Liangshan.
Later, after Song Jiang led the good Han zhao'an of Liangshan, he was used by Tong Guan and Cai Jing to quell the Fang La rebels. But the liangshan uprising in history, let alone defeating Tong Guan, even a small Taishou Zhang Shuye can crush them. Therefore, there is still a certain gap between the reliability of novels and history books.
When he learned that Tong Guan was about to lead a large army to Jiangnan, Fang La still had a certain fluke mentality, believing that with the easy to defend and difficult to attack terrain in Jiangnan, he could fight with it. But what he did not expect was that the local people had long been unable to tolerate his brutal rule. Therefore, after the arrival of Tong Guan's army, the local people spontaneously led the imperial army around to the rear of Fang La, attacked back and forth, Fang La's rebel army was defeated, and the thief leader Fang La was also escorted to the capital to be beheaded for public display.
Conclusion: As the Fang La Rebellion was suppressed, the people who had long been tormented by heavy taxes began to revolt. The Liao and Jin states in the north also believed that the Great Song Dynasty had exhausted its strength and began to plan an offensive plan. Under external and internal troubles, the Northern Song Dynasty collapsed. After the fall of the Northern Song Dynasty, Tong Guan was also assigned to the frontier and later beheaded.
As for why he is called a traitor in history, to a large extent, it is related to his collusion with Cai Jing and others to interfere in the affairs of the dynasty, but from the perspective of objectivity and justice, Tong Guan also has a certain contribution to history, which can be regarded as a mixed merit.