What is history: it is the echo of the past to the future, the reflection of the future on the past. - Hugo
This person served as a minister at the end of the Northern Song Dynasty and was also a famous lord and faction figure. When the Jin soldiers besieged Kaifeng that year, he vigorously advocated peace negotiations, and went to the Jin Kingdom with Zhao Shuo, the King of Kang, as hostages, and requested the indemnity of the land to negotiate peace. After jing kang's disaster, he was made a "pseudo-Chu" emperor by Jin Guoqiang and became emperor for a month. After Jin withdrew, he took the initiative to give up his position to Zhao Shuo, who was still his minister at the time. This person was Zhang Bangchang, the "treasonous" emperor of the Song Dynasty. Today we will take a look at his story.
This Zhang Bangchang, born as a jinshi, during the reign of Emperor Huizong and Emperor Qinzong, successively held the positions of Shangshu Right Cheng, Zuo Cheng, Zhongshu Shilang, and Shaozai. Since the Time of Emperor Zhezong in the Northern Song Dynasty, there has been continuous party strife. Zhang Bangchang and Tong Guan were both henchmen of the powerful minister Wang Yi, who in turn was promoted by Cai Jing to the position of a rocket. In terms of policy toward Gold, Wang Dang is mostly the main and factional. It was in sharp political opposition to the main war faction headed by Li Gang. Later, When Jin Taizong took the throne and betrayed the contract and attacked the Song dynasty south, Emperor Huizong of Song panicked and took the throne of Emperor Qinzong of Song. Emperor Qinzong wanted to get rid of Zhang Bangchang, so he sent him to negotiate peace with Jin, but then behind his back, he sent people to raid Jinying, which forced Zhang Bangchang into a dead end. However, Zhang Bangchang was not an embroidered pillow, and he insisted that the raid on Jinying was not the instruction of the imperial court, and actually saved his life, but because he did not see the evidence of the cession of the land, the peace agreement was naturally not reached.
The Jin invaded Tokyo in 1127, captured Hui and the Second Emperor of Qin, and the Northern Song Dynasty fell. However, the purpose of the Jin people at that time was obviously to pay tribute to the year, so they still had to set up a Han monarch to help them raise the year tribute. Although the Han chinese proposed the establishment of a separate Zhao clan, Jin Taizong vetoed it. At this time, Zhang Bangchang became the only candidate to be nominated. With the support of Song Qiyu, Wang Shiyong and others, the Jin people "persuaded" Zhang Bangchang. Zhang Bangchang knew that this dragon chair was not easy to sit on, and most of the Hanchens at that time were fiercely opposed, the most fierce of which was another controversial figure in the future, Qin Ju. At that time, Zhang Bangchang refused to ascend the throne, tried everything to shirk, and even cut himself off, but in the end, Jin Guo threatened to slaughter the city and forced Zhang Bangchang to obey. There was no way Zhang Bangchang had to become this emperor.
After he became emperor, he resolutely prevented the officials of the imperial court from bowing down to him and performing a great salute, and when some officials bowed to him in order to curry favor with him, he must "arch to the east." When he held meetings and chats with court officials, he called himself "Yu" instead of "朕", and used "handwritten writing" instead of "holy will" when exchanging official documents. All this fully proves that he always lived with the officials of the imperial court as colleagues and in a peaceful relationship. Wang Shiyong was the chief contributor who elected him to the emperor, and can also be said to be his confidant and nemesis, but when Wang Shiyong called him "His Majesty" for the emperor, he reprimanded him mercilessly.
Later, the Jin army was preparing to return to the Northern Kingdom, but he was already the "emperor", but he was dressed in musu, led the Manchu Dynasty Wenwu, and personally sent off Hui and Qin Erzong, who were already trapped in the cage of the Jin army at that time, and was heartbroken, tearful, and completely a courtesy for his courtiers. As soon as the Jin army withdrew, Zhang Bangchang decided to immediately return the government to King Kang, who was still his vassal at the time, that is, the future Emperor Gaozong of Song. Zhang Bangchang knew that it was his life to return the government, but he still did not hesitate. King Kang, emperor Gaozong of Song ascended the throne, and once again activated the main warrior faction Li Gang, intending to revive the national style. The first thing Li Gang did when he came back was naturally to impeach Zhang Bangchang, but Zhang Bangchang was the chief hero of Emperor Gaozong's ascension to the throne, and Emperor Gaozong did not want to hurt his life and exonerated Zhang Bangchang in the name of expediency.
But in fact, Song Gaozong was still uneasy about Zhang Bangchang in his heart, after all, he had once been someone else's courtier. Although Emperor Gaozong did not kill Zhang Bangchang from the court, he may not have the intention of killing him, but only hindered the face of the government. However, if Zhang Bangchang has any handle and is caught, he will naturally not be able to escape death. Later, sure enough, Emperor Gaozong of Song found a reason to kill Zhang Bangchang. Zhang Bangchang is a controversial figure, and there are biographies recorded in the History of Song, the History of Jin, and the Chronicle of the Great Jin Dynasty. From the traditional historical point of view, Zhang Bangchang was made a puppet emperor by the Jin state and betrayed the country to seek glory. But he was able to return the government to song, and from this point of view, he was actually quite loyal to the great Song.