Chen Qiao mutinied
Emperor Taizu of Song Zhao Kuangyin was originally a soldier of Later Zhou, who was in charge of the forbidden army in front of the palace, and became a confidant of Emperor Shizong of Later Zhou because of his outstanding combat achievements. After Sejong's death, Emperor Gong of Zhou, who was only seven years old, succeeded to the throne. During the Spring Festival in the seventh year of Xiande (960), Zhao Kuangyin's henchmen created false information about the attack of the Liao state, and the then prime minister Fan Qian urgently ordered Zhao Kuangyin to lead his army north to defend the enemy. On the third day of the first lunar month, Zhao Kuangyin arrived at Chen Qiaoyi, and when he slept soundly that night, he was added to the yellow robe of his army and proclaimed himself emperor. Later Zhou bureaucrats learned that they were unable to return to heaven, and Emperor Gong of Zhou was forced to abdicate the throne to Zhao Kuangyin.
The basic national policy formulated by Taizu for the Northern Song Dynasty was to "emphasize literature over martial arts" and "strong cadres and weak branches", emphasizing preferential treatment of literati and implementing the system of one official and multiple posts. In the ninth month of the seventh month of the third year of Jianlong (962 AD) and October of the second year of Kaibao (969), Emperor Taizu of Song deprived the generals with heavy troops and local officials of their military general power through a cup of wine, entrusted them with fictitious posts, and replaced them with civilian officials to lead the army, and concentrated all military power and financial power in the central government. At the same time, the Northern Song Dynasty greatly expanded the scale of the central forbidden army, greatly weakened the military power of military generals, and separated the power of commanding troops from the power of transferring troops to achieve the effect of mutual restraint.
The implementation of "emphasizing culture over martial arts" and "strong cadres and weak branches" made the early Northern Song Dynasty relatively stable in all aspects of politics, economy and other aspects, solved the problems of eunuch dictatorship, division of clans and towns, and martial arts in the middle and late Tang Dynasty, and was conducive to social and economic stability and development. However, this also led to bloated and overlapping institutions in the middle of the Northern Song Dynasty, and a large number of officials, forming a situation of "redundant officials", with people floating and inefficient. In addition, the "emphasis on civility over military force," coupled with the power to command troops and the right to transfer troops, have also reduced the combat effectiveness of the army and caused the problem of "redundant troops." Both brought a heavy financial burden to the Northern Song court. The lack of local resources and the weakening of the army's combat power prevented the Song Dynasty from effectively guarding the frontiers, and repeatedly failed in wars against Liao and Western Xia.
Founding War
Another cause facing Song Taizu was the unification of the country. After discussing with Zhao Puxueye, Zhao Kuangyin decided to take the south first and then the north as the step to unify the country. Zhao Kuangyin first resorted to a false way to destroy Yu and destroyed Nanping and Wuping. After that, it destroyed the three kingdoms of Later Shu, Southern Han and Southern Tang. Hoping to unify the whole country, Taizu also set up a pile sealing warehouse to save money and cloth, hoping to redeem the sixteen prefectures of Yanyun from the Liao Dynasty in the future. In August of the ninth year of Kaibao (976), Taizu again carried out the Northern Expedition. However, on October 19, Taizu died suddenly, and his brother Zhao Guangyi immediately took the throne, and Chuan Guangyi murdered his brother and usurped the throne, which was a case of candle shadow axe, and the cause of reunification of the Northern Song Dynasty was temporarily stopped. Zhao Guangyi's accession to the throne was for Emperor Taizong of Song.
After Emperor Taizong consolidated his rule, he continued the cause of national unification, first separating Chen Hongjin from Zhang, Quan, Fujian, and Qian Hongling, the king of Wuyue, in 978, and then to Northern Han in 979. In May of the fourth year of Taiping's Xingguo (979), Emperor Taizong ignored the objections of his ministers and took advantage of the aftermath of the destruction of the Northern Han Dynasty to launch the Northern Expedition from Taiyuan. At first, Yizhou and Zhuozhou were recaptured. Emperor Taizong was satisfied and ordered an attack on Yanjing. As a result, it suffered a crushing defeat at the Sorghum River outside Youzhou (outside present-day Xizhimen, Beijing). After this battle, the strategy of the Song Dynasty turned passive. In the third year of Yongxi (986), Emperor Taizong again made a northern expedition, but was defeated again, and the famous general Yang Ye was also killed in this battle. After that, Wang Xiaobo and Li Shunmin rebelled in Sichuan. Emperor Taizong's administration had to shift to internal and external emptiness.
Emperor Taizong himself was elegant and fond of poetry, and the government therefore attached great importance to cultural undertakings, which led to the Song Dynasty's emphasis on religion. Emperor Taizong also likes calligraphy, and there are six fonts of good grass, subordinate, line, seal, eight points, and flying white, especially Fei Bai. Even the words on the Song Dynasty's currency Chunhua Yuanbao are also inscribed by Emperor Taizong.
Song Taizu had an older son, but the accession of his brother to the throne was quite doubtful, because of the "candle shadow axe" incident, and the folk have always said that Zhao Kuangyin was murdered by Zhao Guangyi. In order to ensure the legitimacy of the regime, Zhao Guangyi threw out the last words of his mother Empress Dowager Du, that is, the "alliance of the golden cabinet" (or "匮"). The alliance of the golden cabinet originated when Empress Dowager Du summoned Zhao Pu to the palace to record her death when she was dying, and Empress Dowager Du said that after Zhao Kuangyin's death, she would first pass on Guangyi, then Guangmei (later renamed Tingmei), and then Dezhao (Zhao Kuangyin's eldest son). This suicide note was hidden in a gold cabinet, hence the name of the Golden Cabinet Alliance. Although there is a theory of the alliance of the golden cabinet, Emperor Taizong forced Taizu's sons Dezhao and Defang to death, and deposed Tingmei to Fangzhou, and Tingmei died two years later. Emperor Taizong's eldest son, Crown Prince Yuanzuo, was also deposed as a commoner because he sympathized with Tingmei, and his other son, Yuanzuo, died violently, and finally Yuankan the Prince of Xiang was made crown prince and renamed Heng. In the third year of Zhidao (997), Emperor Taizong died, and Empress Li and the eunuch Wang Ji'en attempted to establish Yuan Zuo as emperor. Fortunately, Prime Minister Lu Duan handled it properly, and Zhao Heng successfully ascended the throne, which was for Zhenzong. The Song Dynasty also began to enter its heyday.
The Alliance of the Buchi
After Emperor Taizong's death, Emperor Zhenzong Zhao Heng took the throne. Zhenzong pursues Emperor Taizong, Huang Lao, and rules without doing anything. Since the Yongxi Northern Expedition, the Liao Dynasty often looted and plundered at the junction of Song and Liao, and finally evolved into a large-scale invasion war in the first year of Jingde. Prime Minister Kou Zhun advocated the war of resistance, and as a result, Zhenzong's personal conquest, the morale of the Song army was greatly boosted, and the Liao army held under the city of Zhaozhou, and the Liao general Xiao Ttarin was killed by the bed crossbow of the Song army, and the morale of the Liao army was greatly reduced. After several negotiations, the Liao and Song dynasties finally negotiated and succeeded, and the Song gave Liao silk twenty thousand horses and 100,000 taels of silver every year, and the two sides were about brotherly countries, known in history as the "alliance of the Lanyuan".
Later, Kou Zhun gradually fell out of favor and was eventually deposed. Zhenzong began to credit the courtier Wang Qinruo. Wang Qinruo was good at greeting, knowing that Zhenzong wanted to create an atmosphere of peace in the world, and strongly advocated Zhenzong's consecration (to show the merits of governance to Emperor Fuxi). Wang Qinruo also joined forces with another prime minister, Wang Dan, to create the image of "auspicious rui" in various places, which was deeply rooted in the true sect. In the end, Zhenzong was consecrated three times in the first year of Daizhong Xiangfu.
Zhenzong and Empress Liu were childless. Once Zhenzong occasionally visited Empress Liu's maid Li Shi, and as a result, Li gave birth to Zhao in the third year of Dazhongxiang Fu, and was raised by Empress Liu and her concubine Yang Shi. In the mid-autumn of the second year of Tianxi, Emperor Zhenzong officially made Zhao Yi crown prince and changed his name to Zhao Zhen. On the twenty day of February in the first year of Qianxing, Emperor Zhenzong died, and Zhao Zhen ascended the throne, honoring Empress Renzong of Song as empress dowager, and acting as an agent for military affairs before Emperor Renzong became an adult. Thus began the sixteen-year era of obedience to the government of Empress Dowager Liu.
New Deal for the Calendar
Emperor Renzong remained in the shadow of Liu in the early years of his reign and was not able to fulfill his ambitions until after Liu's death. Although Emperor Renzong established the Cao clan as his successor, he always favored Zhang Guifei. However, Zhang came from a humble background and never advanced to the posthumous position. On the eighth day of the first lunar month of the sixth year of Emperor You, Zhang died. Emperor Renzong actually handled the funeral with the rites of an empress and posthumously named Empress Wen Cheng, and the result was that there were two empresses in one death in his life, which can be described as unseen.
Emperor Renzong faced two major problems: the huge financial burden caused by the large number of redundant officials and soldiers (redundant soldiers) caused by the expansion of the imperial court structure. At the same time, it was necessary to give wealth to foreign tribes to solve border problems, which consumed a lot of wealth.
Li Yuanhao, a party member, became emperor independently in the third year of Daqing (1038), and after the establishment of Western Xia, several years of war broke out between the Song and Xia, and the Song army suffered repeated defeats, which led to the increase of coins in Chongxi. Later, Emperor Renzong appointed Fan Zhongyan, Lü Yijian, Fu Bi, Bao Zheng, Han Qi and other capable ministers to implement the Qingli New Policy, which achieved great results and made the country unprecedentedly prosperous. However, some conservative figures accused these reformist officials of forming a party for personal gain and being a friend of the party. In the end, most of these reformist bureaucrats were demoted by Emperor Renzong to local officials, and the short-lived New Deal ended. On the frontier, Emperor Renzong appointed the general Di Qing to put down the rebellion of the Southern Barbarian Nong Zhigao and the provocation of Western Xia.
Renzong's son died early and was succeeded by Emperor Yingzong's Zhao Shu (赵曙), who was his successor. Emperor Yingzong was ill, and initially the imperial government was controlled by Empress Dowager Cao. After May of the first year of Zhiping, Yingzong began to pro-government. However, half a month after Yingzong's pro-government, the Pu Discussion broke out, and the dispute lasted for eighteen months. The incident was caused by Prime Minister Han Qi who proposed to discuss the issue of Yingzong's biological father's name. As a result, the dynasty was divided into two factions, one believing that Yingzong's biological father King Pu should be called Imperial Uncle, and the other believing that it should be called Huangkao. In the end, Empress Dowager Cao decreed that Yingzong's father be the emperor, which quelled the dispute. However, Yingjong is still a promising master. He continued to appoint former courtiers and boldly hired new people. Yingzong also attached great importance to the editing of books, and the "Zizhi Tongjian" was ordered by Yingzong to be edited.
Xining changes the law
After Youngjong's death, his eldest son, Shinjong, ascended the throne. During the reign of Shenzong, the system formulated in the early Song Dynasty had produced many abuses, the people's livelihood began to regress, and the border Liao and Xia were looking at each other. Shenzong was therefore determined to reform. Emperor Shenzong used Wang Anshi, a famous reformist minister, to carry out imperial political reforms, and appointed him as a counselor in government affairs. The new laws implemented by Wang Anshi include Equal Loss, Young Seedlings, Exemption from Military Service, City Ease, Baojia, Baoma, and Fang Tian Equal Tax. However, the implementation of the new law was met with strong opposition from conservatives led by Sima Guang. Coupled with the continuous natural disasters throughout the country, the determination of the Shenzong to implement the new law has also been shaken. In the seventh year of Xining, during the drought in northern China, an official named Zheng Xia presented a picture of the displaced people to Shenzong, and the scene in the picture was miserable, and Shenzong was greatly shocked. The next day, Shenzong ordered the suspension of eighteen decrees, including Qingmiao, Fangtian, and exemption from military service.
Although these decrees were soon restored, distrust between Shenzong and Wang Anshi had begun. In April of the seventh year of Xining, Wang Anshi was deposed for the first time and went to Jiangning Mansion. Later, Lu Huiqing, an official in the law change faction, acted recklessly. Wang Anshi returned to Beijing to resume his post, but was still firmly blocked by conservatives. In June of the ninth year of Xining, Wang Anshi's eldest son died, and Wang Anshi took the opportunity to resolutely ask for retreat, and Shenzong again deposed Wang Anshi in October, and Wang Anshi did not ask about world affairs after that.
Wang Anshi, the leader of Xining's transformation method
Although later generations have a very polar evaluation of Xining's new law, the effect of the new law is indeed far less than Wang Anshi expected. Although the implementation of the new law has greatly increased the country's fiscal revenue and arable land, it has also increased the burden on the common people. The military reform of Xining's new law is only a headache and a sore foot, and the army's combat effectiveness has not improved significantly. Coupled with Wang Anshi's hasty, more than a dozen reforms that will take a long period of social evolution to complete were fully implemented in just a few years, making the law change fall into the dilemma that it is impossible to achieve quickly. Moreover, in the late stage of the implementation of the new law, the difference between the provisions and the implementation effect has become more and more different, and some measures have changed from benefiting the people to disturbing the people. Improper employment in the implementation of the new law is also the reason for the final loss of popular support, and the reform faction such as Lu Huiqing, Zeng Bu, Li Ding, and Cai Jing are all figures with controversial personalities. Some are more regarded as villains.
Commenting on this reform, Huang Renyu, a historian known for his "big history," commented on the reform: "Nine hundred years before us, China attempted to manipulate state affairs by means of financial control, the scope and depth of which have not been proposed anywhere else in the world. But modern finance is an all-encompassing and all-powerful organizing force, and its rule covers all the synopsis, and it cannot compete with other factors similar to it. ”
After Wang Anshi was deposed, Shenzong continued to reform the cause, and the name was Yuanfeng reform. Although the Yuanfeng reform is called the "Xifeng New Law" together with the Xining Reform Law, the reform intensity cannot be compared with the Xining Reform Law. With the increase of national strength, Shenzong shifted its focus to external troubles. He was determined to destroy Western Xia. In May of the fifth year of Xining, Shenzong began his western expedition to Western Xia, achieving great victories and greatly encouraging Shenzong's confidence. In April of the fourth year of Yuanfeng, a coup d'état occurred in Western Xia, and Emperor Shenzong used this to conquer Western Xia again. As a result, it suffered a crushing defeat, and Shenzong could not afford to get sick. At the beginning of the first month of the eighth year of Yuanfeng, Emperor Shenzong made his sixth son Zhao Maid crown prince. Although the new laws promulgated by Shenzong were once abolished by his mother Empress Dowager Gao, they were soon restored, and many were even used as late as the Southern Song Dynasty.
Yuanyu changed
After the death of Shenzong, the real power was in the hands of the Empress Dowager Gao, and Zhao Xu, who had just ascended the throne, was severely suppressed. Empress Dowager Gao reused the conservatives led by Sima Guang and pushed out Emperor Zhezong of Song, abolishing the new law of Xifeng introduced during the reign of Emperor Shenzong of Song, which led to a serious political struggle between conservatives and new law factions in the court of the Northern Song Dynasty. Because the conservatives had the support of Empress Dowager Gao, they vigorously suppressed the New Law faction and deposed and exiled many New Law officials, and this political event was known as Yuanyu Reform. However, Song Zhezong was able to seize real power after the death of Empress Dowager Gao, and instead suppressed the conservatives, reactivating the new law school and implementing the new law.
Emperor Huizong neglected government
Emperor Zhezong left no heirs, and after his death, his younger brother Zhao He ascended the throne for Emperor Huizong of Song. Emperor Huizong specialized in pleasure and had no interest in imperial politics, and at the beginning of his accession to the throne, he obeyed the government to the Empress Dowager, and used the old and new parties to try to reorganize and integrate the harmony between the DPRK and China, but it ended with the death of the Empress Dowager. Since childhood, Emperor Huizong has loved pen and ink, danqing, horseback riding, etc. After the pro-government, Emperor Huizong's life was rotten, and he liked to visit the green building. He also built a lot of civil engineering, and according to the words of the priests, he built Banzai Mountain in the northeast corner of Kaifeng, which was later renamed Genyue. Genyue has a radius of more than ten miles, including Furong Pond, Cixi and other scenic spots. Inside, there are pavilions, birds and animals. Emperor Huizong also set up a Yingfeng Bureau in Suzhou to specifically search for strange stones in the southeast, which was for the purpose of Huashi Gang and caused popular resentment.
Emperor Huizong of Song ignored the imperial government, and government affairs were handed over to the six thieves headed by Cai Jing. Cai Jing used the name of restoring the new law to ban the party and exclude dissidents. After Cai Jing took power, he designated conservative officials who opposed the new law during the Yuan Yu period as traitors in the name of restoring the new law, and carried out large-scale political persecution of conservative officials, which was both a case of Yuan Yu traitors. As a result, honest ministers were all excluded from the political center. During Cai Jing's reign, large-scale economic reforms were indeed carried out, including the creation of the salt introduction system, which increased the financial revenue of the Northern Song court and satisfied the extravagant life of Emperor Huizong of Song and the cost of foreign military use, but at the same time, the economic policies implemented by Cai Jing also greatly increased the burden of the people of the Northern Song Dynasty, seriously intensified social contradictions, and caused popular uprisings.
In the first year of Emperor Xuanhe of Hui (1119), Song Jiang gathered thirty-six people to revolt, and they were active in Shandong and Hebei, and were later recruited. In the second year of Xuanhe (1120), the Manichaean leader Fang La led his people to revolt in Qixian Village in Xiao County (one said to have helped Yuanzheng in Chun'an Wannian Township), and then captured Hangzhou and established a peasant regime spanning 6 prefectures and 52 counties in present-day Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, and Jiangxi provinces, which was suppressed by the Song general Han Shizhong the following year.
The scourge of Jingkang
Emperor Huizong of Song was so happy that he saw that the Jin State attacked the Liao State, hoping to take the opportunity to recover the sixteen prefectures of Yanyun, so that in the spring of the first year of Chonghe (1118), Ma Zheng was sent from Dengzhou to Jin to conclude a "maritime alliance", and the two countries jointly attacked Liao, and the Northern Song Dynasty was responsible for attacking Nanjing and Western Beijing in Liao. After the destruction of Liao, the land of Yanyun returned to the Song, and the years coins given by the Song in the past were changed to the Jin Kingdom. Due to the great defeat of the Song army, as a result, Jin soldiers plundered the population of Yanjing and withheld the three prefectures of Camp, Ping, and Luan. Although the Song Dynasty rebelled against Zhang Jue, the defender of the three states, and once recovered eleven of the sixteen prefectures of Youyun, in the seventh year of Xuanhe (1125), Jin soldiers invaded the south in two ways, and soon occupied the prefectures of Youyun, pointing directly at the Song capital. Zhao passed on to his son Qinzong to clean up the situation and fled to Jiangnan himself. Emperor Qin was undecided between the war and the peace, and after that, Li Gang was not allowed to defend Tokyo. After the defeat of the Jin army, Emperor Huizong returned to Beijing.
In August of the first year of Jingkang (1126), the Jin Dynasty went south for the second time, fell to Taiyuan in September, and fell to the outer city of Kaifeng in November. On the day of the leap month, he forced Emperor Qin to go to Jinying to discuss peace. Emperor Qin returned three days later and looted the city's belongings in response to the demands of the gold people. At this time, the city of Kaifeng was besieged, and the epidemic in the city was endemic, and many people died of starvation and disease. The Jin people again forced Emperor Qin to negotiate peace and detain him to extort money, but the Song Dynasty was no longer able to raise enough money to satisfy the Jin people. Finally, Song sent Fan Qiong to Emperor Huizong and members of the imperial family to Jinying. On February 6 of the second year of Jingkang (1127), Emperor Hui and Qin were deposed by Emperor Taizong of Jin. The Jin Dynasty plundered almost all the royal family members, palace people, and treasures of the Northern Song Dynasty and returned north[cf. 8], and only Emperor Qinzong's brother King Kang Zhao Zhi was spared in recruiting troops abroad, which is known in history as the "Hardship of Jingkang". At the same time, in May, Zhao Zhi ascended the throne as emperor in Yingtianfu (present-day Shangqiu, Henan) in Nanjing, and established the Southern Song Dynasty.
In March of the second year of Jingkang, the Jin Dynasty established a puppet regime Dachu and installed Zhang Bangchang as emperor. After Zhang Bangchang abandoned the throne and went south to return to the Song Dynasty, the Jin people established the Great Qi regime in 1130 and established Liu Yu as emperor, known as "Liu Qi" in history. That year, the Jin people plundered Hui Qin and his brother's family to the Five Kingdoms City, Huizong was made the Duke of Dude, and Qinzong was made the Marquis of Chongdu, and the two finally died in the Five Kingdoms City.
Although Emperor Huizong made no achievements in imperial politics, his calligraphy and painting both played an important role in the history of Chinese art. Emperor Huizong created an original thin gold body and attached importance to the cause of calligraphy and painting. The status of the Hanlin Academy of Calligraphy and Painting was greatly improved, and Zhang Zeduan, a famous painter and author of "Qingming Shanghe Tu", was promoted by him. Even his son Zhao Shu was educated and became an outstanding calligrapher.