This article is originally created by: Upstairs Old Fan
Ye Meng of the Northern Song Dynasty wrote in the book: Zhao Kuangyi, the grandfather of the Song Dynasty, made an oath monument at the beginning of the founding of the country, which could only be seen by the emperors of successive dynasties, and the contents of the stele were unknown to many people. When it came to the shame of Jing Kang and the demise of the Northern Song Dynasty.
This oath stele has to meet with the world, and the stele records some ancestral precepts left by Zhao Kuangyin. These few sentences run through the beginning and end of the entire Northern Song Dynasty. On the stone tablets is clearly written the warning that the Song Dynasty did not kill the literati.
Throughout the development of the feudal dynasty, the literati of the Song Dynasty were the least persecuted, and the literati were free of speech, and even they could engage in tongue wars with the emperor. Zhao Kuangyin, the grandfather of the Song Dynasty, was the first emperor in history to attach importance to civilian officials.
In successive dynasties, military generals have been paid more attention to, and in the previous dynasties, this kind of thinking also led to the rise of the final military generals and the chaos of the country. "Governing the country with civility" has continued the entire history. The pioneering policies had a profound impact on the Song Dynasty and laid the foundation for the development of later generations.
First, the benefits of "heavy literature and suppressing martial arts" during the Song Dynasty
As we all know, the political system of the Song Dynasty was always "ruling the country with culture", which is also the ancestral precept of the founding emperor Zhao Kuangyin, which is a lesson learned from the previous dynasty.
At the end of the Tang Dynasty, the feudal towns were divided, the masses stood tall, and the half-century-long melee had a great impact on the country, and the regimes of the five generations and ten kingdoms were changed one after another, and the Song Dynasty was established, bringing dawn to the people.
1. Civilian officials are corrupt and corrupt, but military generals who have made meritorious contributions to the lord are not easy to manage
After the Song Taizu Zhao Kuangyin seized power, he carried out great reforms to the state system, and although he inherited the old system, he also had great reforms. Zhao Kuangyin, the grandfather of the Song Dynasty, learned lessons and experiences, and also understood the influence of military generals on the country. At the slightest, a lot of treatment is obtained, and the serious one is the master of merit.
For the sake of the evil side, such a harm is almost impossible for many literati to be achieved in groups. Therefore, "emphasizing literature and suppressing martial arts" became the governing policy of the Song Dynasty.
It is embodied in all aspects of the country, of course, in the early Song Dynasty, it did play a very good role. The imperial examination system founded during the Sui and Tang dynasties was carried forward during the Song Dynasty.
In the Song Dynasty, many people were able to grow from an obscure petty official to a pivotal position as prime minister. The number of jinshi admitted also increased from 20 or 30 in the Tang Dynasty to 200 or 300 in the Northern Song Dynasty, or even 500 or 600.
Because of the reform of the system, many of the cold disciples of the Song Dynasty could also enter the career path, breaking the monopoly of official positions by the powerful ministers and clans.
Hanmen intellectuals had an important position in the official arena. The Song Dynasty formulated the rights and treatment of the literati separately, which was also the Song Dynasty's system of separating dispatches, officials, and posts.
Under such a policy, although the various positions were checked and balanced, the official system of the entire Song Dynasty was somewhat bloated. The official positions of the Song Dynasty and the Feng Lu were not necessarily related, and mainly included many old ministers, and such a policy also played a good role in stabilizing the government in the early Song Dynasty.
In the history of the Song Dynasty, there were relatively few internal rebellions, which was also because of the reason of "ruling the country with culture", and the power of military generals was less, making the overall domestic capital of the Song Dynasty peaceful and stable.
2, the book is written, but also have to take it out and use it
In the Song Dynasty, the imperial court was very open to the free speech of civil calligraphy, and even a bit like the current free speech. Although many courtiers at that time would say some bad things and were finally belittled by the emperor to the ends of the earth, this also stimulated the development of ideology and culture between contradictions and conflicts.
Cheng Zhu Lixue is another ideological leap after the controversy of a hundred schools. Three of China's four great inventions originated in the Song Dynasty and have all been carried forward in the Song Dynasty. It was also an important driving force for the development of the commercial economy in the Song Dynasty.
Foreign exchanges have also played a very big role. In the process of commodity dissemination, the development of handicrafts promoted the development of foreign trade. The economic, political, and cultural development of the Song Dynasty all benefited from the national policy of "emphasizing literature and suppressing martial arts".
Second, the drawbacks brought about by "heavy literature and suppressing force" are inevitable
Under this national policy, there were more and more civil servants, and because of the popularization of the imperial examination system, the wide spread of printing and papermaking technology greatly improved the quality of the people of the Song Dynasty, and the rulers were more and more jealous of the military generals. The army has also been implementing the policy of the Song Taizu period - "the iron army, the general of the flowing water".
1. Under the redundant troops and redundant officials, the military strength is weak
The scope of the military general's power is small, but the army is indispensable, and maintaining the stability of the army is also responsible for the country. Ensuring that there was no large army available when necessary occurred, but the strength of the song dynasty's large army became weaker and weaker, most of which was also caused by "heavy literature and suppressing martial arts".
The preferential treatment of the literati made the position of military general difficult. Inevitably, many problems arise, and civil official corruption will not affect future generations, and there will be no killing of oneself.
In this way, the courtiers have become more willing to do whatever they want. With the development of the times, there are more and more civilian subjects, and the pressure brought by high-quality treatment to the national finance is not something that can be alleviated simply.
2. After the shame of Jingkang, the national strength went downhill
Yue Fei's "Man Jiang Hong" made future generations burst into tears and lament the general's national feelings. The occurrence of Jing Kang's shame and the subsequent unjust death of Yue Fei made people doubt this national policy of the Song Dynasty.
However, at that time, the country's civil servant clique advocated passive resistance and exchanged other things for immediate peace, and the war between the Song Dynasty and the border ethnic minorities has always been in a passive situation.
The song dynasty and the surrounding ethnic groups have not been large-scale wars, so that many literati have the illusion that such a system is the right direction. After the shame of Jing Kang, those who were lords and factions still wanted to keep the peace with money. National strength has been on the decline.
Under the civil service system of the Song Dynasty, we can see the advantages and disadvantages of that time, with the progress of the times, the system has been lagging behind, can not meet the late development, can only begin to collapse. A good balance between civilian officials and military generals is an important guarantee for the peaceful development of the country.
bibliography:
The Gains and Losses of the Governance of the Civil Bureaucracy in the Song Dynasty and Its Enlightenment
"On the Three Factors of the Full Development of the Civil Official System in the Song Dynasty"
"On the Harm of Excessive Reuse and Reliance on Civilian Officials in the Song Dynasty"