The "Alliance of Liaoyuan" is a covenant concluded between the Northern Song Dynasty and the Liao State, but when it is said to be a covenant, many people regard it as a traitorous treaty that loses power and humiliates the country, after all, there are no requirements for the Liao State in the covenant, but the Northern Song Dynasty has to pay a huge price. What is even more criticized by many is that the alliance of The Yuanyuan was also a humiliating treaty signed by the Northern Song Dynasty with the Liao State on its own initiative under favorable circumstances, which is similar to the treaty signed by the late Qing Dynasty and France.
Actions like this that won a battle on the battlefield but wagged their tails and begged for mercy would always be infuriating, and Song Zhenzong and others would also bear the infamy. So, what is the truth behind the humiliating alliance between the Northern Song Dynasty and the Liao State?
In fact, for the Song people, the history before the conclusion of the Alliance of The Yuanyuan is unbearable. Ever since Shi Jingyao dedicated the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun to the Khitans, the Central Plains Dynasty has been sleeping in peace, but all aspiring monarchs did not want to retake the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun. However, the land of Yanyun was easy to send, but it was even more difficult to retake it, so Song Taizong went north with an elite army and fought two major wars with the Liao State, but returned home.
After the failure of the Northern Expedition of Emperor Taizong of Song, the Northern Song Dynasty fought no less than a hundred large and small battles with the Liao State, but the Northern Song Dynasty lost more than it won, and the backbone of the entire Song people was all broken in one defeat after another. By the time of Emperor Zhenzong of Song, not only did the Manchu Dynasty Wenwu not dare to start a war lightly, but even the Song army regarded the Liao army as a tiger and a wolf and did not dare to confront it.
However, the roof leaked in the overnight rain, and just when the Northern Song Dynasty was in a state of turmoil, the Liao state was constantly stabilizing under the efforts of Empress Xiao and Liao Shengzong, and its national strength was also increasing. The Song people were aware of the ambitions of the Liao people's wolves, but they had no choice but to passively defend.
In the first year of Emperor Zhenzong of Song (1004), Empress Xiao and Emperor Shengzong of Liao personally led a large army to invade the south and penetrate deep into the Song territory. Under the strong troops of the Liao army, Suicheng and other places were breached one after another, and the Song general Wang Prophet and Yunzhou Observation made Wang Jizhong both captured. After the news reached the capital, the government and the opposition were shaken, and Emperor Zhenzong of Song was in a hurry and wanted to move the capital to the south. The Manchu Dynasty wenwu also advocated moving the capital, and one by one the ministers had even begun to discuss where to move the capital. At this moment, the chancellor Kou Zhun stood up, and he vigorously advocated the resistance to the enemy, and repeatedly asked Emperor Zhenzong of Song to personally march. Song Zhenzong had no choice but to go north to march in person.
In fact, not only was Song Zhenzong helpless, but Empress Xiao and Liao Shengzong also had their own grievances, and they did not expect that the resistance of the Song army would be so resolute. The Liao army fought fiercely with the Song army in Dingzhou and Yingzhou for more than ten days, but they could not conquer it. Seeing that there was less and less grain and grass, and the supply lines were getting longer and longer, there were also voices of peace discussion within the Liao army.
When the Liao army was unable to attack Dingzhou for a long time, Wang Jizhong took the opportunity to persuade Empress Xiao to make peace with the Song Dynasty. Empress Xiao was a very pragmatic person, and when she went out to the army, she had already made two preparations, and if the war went well, she would continue to fight, and if the war did not go well, she would negotiate peace with the Northern Song Dynasty. As a result, the Liao state proposed peace to the Northern Song Dynasty, but Song Zhenzong refused to negotiate peace.
Seeing that the Northern Song Dynasty did not cooperate, the Liao army could only continue to attack the city. Under the large-scale attack of the Liao army, Qi Prefecture and Deqing were successively conquered, and Liao Prefecture (澶州, in modern Puyang) was surrounded by the Liao army on three sides. However, the Song general Li Jilong stubbornly guarded the city gate, and the Liao army was never able to conquer Liaozhou.
The commander of the Liao army, Xiao Taorin, was brave and brave, and even went to inspect the city of Liaozhou, and when the Song army discovered Xiao Taorin, it shot him with a fusi. Xiao Taorin was a general in the Liao army, and his death was a great blow to the morale of the Liao army. The "History of Liao" says: "The battle with the Song Dynasty, (Xiao) Tart Rinzhong crossbow, our soldiers (Liao soldiers) lost their leaning, and the agreement was decided." Or the heavens are tired of chaos, so that the people of the north and the south rest! ”
At this time, Song Zhenzong and his party also arrived in Lanzhou. Under the persecution of Kou Zhun, Song Zhenzong ascended the city tower, and although the emperor was forced to supervise the battle, the morale of the Song army was greatly increased, "all the armies shouted long live, the sound was tens of miles, and the momentum was a hundred times greater."
At this point, the Liao army was difficult to conquer Liaozhou, as many as hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians in The Liao army was also increasingly under pressure on grain and grass, and the initiative on the battlefield seemed to have reached the hands of the Song army. However, Song Zhenzong and the commanders were not happy, and after the previous battles, they knew that the Song army's combat strength was far inferior to that of the Liao army, and the Song army could only defend the city and could not fight in the field. The Liao army may not be able to conquer Liaozhou for the time being, but the Song army will also have difficulty defeating the Liao army. If the two armies continue to hold each other like this, the Liao army will be difficult to support, but the Northern Song Dynasty will also pay a heavy price.
Moreover, Song Zhenzong himself was also an emperor who did not like war, and he was able to come to the front line to supervise the war, which was completely forced by Kou Zhun, and if it were not for Kou Zhun's presence, he would have already moved the capital to the south and fled.
Therefore, when Liao proposed peace again, Song Zhenzong immediately agreed, and he wrote back to Empress Xiao and Liao Shengzong, saying that the Song Dynasty was not willing to exhaust military force and was willing to reach a reconciliation with the Khitans. In this way, the peace talks between the Northern Song Dynasty and the Liao Began.
Before the Northern Song emissary Cao Yu set out, Emperor Zhenzong of Song instructed him that as long as he did not cede the land, he could spend millions of dollars. After Kou Zhun heard about it, he called Cao Yong away and said to him viciously, "Although the emperor has a million covenants, if it exceeds 300,000, I will cut off your head." ”
Cao took advantage of this uneasy to enter the Liao camp and negotiate with the Liao people, and finally reached an agreement: Song Liao is the country of brothers, and the Song Dynasty is a brother;
The Song and Liao were bounded by the Baigou River (the Liao abandoned Suicheng and zhuo, Ying, and Mo prefectures), and the two sides withdrew their troops; the Song provided the Liao with 300,000 silver silks every year. Because the peace talks were held in Puyang, Henan, and the prefecture was also known as Liaoyuan County during the Song Dynasty, it was called the "Alliance of Liaoyuan" in history.
When later generations mentioned the Alliance of the Yuanyuan, they were mostly angry at it, but objectively speaking, the Alliance of the Liaoyuan was not a shameful treaty. The conclusion of the alliance of The Yuanyuan finally stopped the twenty-five-year war between Song and Liao, and the border was in a state of peace for a long time, "fertility and reproduction, cattle and sheep were wild, and people wearing white (white-haired elders) did not know how to do it." The end of the war also allowed the Song Dynasty to save a huge amount of war expenses, and the expenditure of 300,000 yuan was actually less than one percent of the cost of 30 million soldiers. After the war was reduced, it also avoided the excessive forced labor caused by the heavy army for many years and the pressure of the imperial court to pay taxes, which was very beneficial to the imperial court and the people. The reason why the Northern Song Dynasty concluded an alliance with the Liao in the case of partial victory was precisely for these reasons.
However, the drawbacks of the Alliance of Liaoyuan were also obvious, and in any case, it was the result of Song Zhenzong's acceptance of peace in a favorable military situation. And this scene is actually the epitome of the entire Song Dynasty.
Resources:
History of Liao
History of the Song Dynasty