After the fall of the Tang Dynasty, Chinese history entered a chaotic period of five dynasties and ten kingdoms, in 960 AD, Zhao Kuangyin established the Song Dynasty, and since then the Song Dynasty has lasted for more than 300 years in history, this article will talk to you about the succession road of the nine emperors of the Northern Song Dynasty.
1, Song Taizu Zhao Kuangyin
Zhao Kuangyin was originally a general of the Later Zhou Dynasty, and was deeply appreciated by Chai Rong, who was known as the "first Ming monarch of the fifth generation", and if he lived longer, history would have been rewritten. However, Chai Rong died of illness in 959 at the age of 39.
After Chai Rong's death, his youngest son Chai Zongxun succeeded to the throne, and on the first day of the first lunar month in the seventh year of Later Zhou Xiande (960), Zhen and Dingzhou sent officials to Kaifeng to send an urgent war report to the imperial court, saying that the Khitan and Northern Han combined forces to raid the territory and asked the imperial court to send troops to protect the enemy, and Prime Minister Fan Qian and others sent Zhao Kuangyin to lead the forbidden army to protect the enemy without approving the military situation.
Emperor Taizu of Song, Zhao Kuangyin
When the army reached Chen Qiao, Zhao Kuangyin added yellow robes, turned around and led troops back to Kaifeng, forced Chai Zongxun to abdicate, and Zhao Kuangyin ascended the throne, established the Great Song Dynasty, and became the founding emperor of the Song Dynasty.
At the beginning of Zhao Kuangyin's accession to the throne, the land of the Central Plains was still in a state of fragmentation, and Zhao Kuangyin began the road of unification. By the time of Zhao Kuangyin's death, except for the Northern Han Dynasty, the whole country was basically unified. In the ninth year of the founding of the People's Republic of China (976 AD), Zhao Kuangyin died at the age of 49.
2, Emperor Taizong of Song, Zhao Jiong
Zhao Jiong is Zhao Kuangyin's younger brother and changed his name to Zhao Jiong because of avoidance. On a snowy night on October 19, the ninth year of Kaibao (976), Zhao Kuangyin suddenly summoned Zhao Jiong and told him what to do, but he could not hear it left or right, but under the shadow of the candle, Zhao Jiong sometimes left the table, as if humbly retreating. Then Zhao Kuangyin slashed the column axe towards the ground and said loudly to Zhao Jiong: "Good for it." In the early morning of the next day, Zhao Kuangyin died in his sleep in the Hall of Banzai, and Zhao Jiong became the emperor, which is also known in history as the "candle shadow axe".
Emperor Taizong of Song
Emperor Taizong of Song reigned for a total of 22 years, during which he destroyed the Northern Han Dynasty and took the opportunity to reclaim the sixteen prefectures of Yanyun, so he drove his personal conquest, but unexpectedly was defeated by the Liao state, and even Yang Lao Linggong died in battle at the mouth of the Chen Family Valley of the Two Wolf Mountain, after which Zhao Jiong no longer dared to drive his personal conquest. In the third year of Zhidao (997), Emperor Taizong of Song died at the age of 58.
3, Song Zhenzong Zhao Heng
Zhao Heng was the third son of Emperor Taizong of Song, and he had no chance of taking the throne. After Emperor Taizong of Song succeeded to the throne, he first cut off Zhao Dezhao, Zhao Defang, and his younger brother Zhao Tingmei, who were a threat to the throne, and successively favored his eldest son Zhao Yuanzuo and second son Zhao Yuanxi as heirs. However, Zhao Yuanzuo was imprisoned in seclusion because of the death of his uncle Zhao Tingmei, and Zhao Yuanzuo also died violently in the third year of Chunhua (992), so Zhao Heng, who ranked third, entered Emperor Taizong's sight.
Zhao Heng
In 995, Zhao Heng was made crown prince by Emperor Taizong of Song, and his name was changed from Zhao Yuankan to Zhao Heng. In 997, when Emperor Taizong of Song was seriously ill, the eunuch Wang Ji'en and the governor Li Changling, the Zhizhi Hu Dan, the scribe Pan Lang and others plotted to establish Zhao Yuanzuo the King of Chu as emperor, and Empress Li was also a little shaken, so she summoned Lü Duan to the dynasty to discuss countermeasures, and after Lü Duan inquired about the unusualness of the matter, he sent his relatives to urge Zhao Heng to enter the palace, and then put Wang Jien under house arrest in the Zhaoshu Pavilion. He entered the palace and engaged in a dispute with Empress Li, forcing her to agree to make Zhao Heng emperor. So Zhao Heng succeeded to the throne for Song Zhenzong.
Song Zhenzong was the last emperor in Chinese history to go to Mount Tai to seal Zen, and because he single-handedly lowered the standard of Taishan Feng Zen, no emperor has gone to Mount Tai to seal Zen since him. Zhao Heng died in 1022 at the age of 55.
4, Song Renzong Zhao Zhen
Zhao Zhen was the sixth son of Emperor Zhenzong of Song, the longest reigning emperor of the two Song dynasties, and his reign was also the most prosperous period of the Song Dynasty.
Song Zhenzong had a total of 6 sons, the first five sons either died early or died just before Zhao Heng, and by the time he died, there was only one son Zhao Zhen, so after the death of Song Zhenzong, Zhao Zhen successfully succeeded to the throne, which was for Song Renzong.
Song Renzong Zhao Zhen
During Zhao Zhen's reign, the Northern Song Dynasty prospered economically, and science and technology and culture also developed greatly, and historians summarized his reign as "Renzong's reign". He was also called by later generations as "Pepsi will not be, only be an official", which means that he will not do anything, but will only be an emperor.
In 1063, Emperor Renzong of Song became seriously ill and died soon after at the age of 54.
5, Song Yingzong Zhao Shu
Zhao Shu was the great-grandson of Emperor Taizong of Song, the grandson of Zhao Yuanfen the King of Shang, the thirteenth son of Zhao Yunrang the Prince of Pu, and the adopted son of Zhao Zhen of Emperor Renzong of Song.
Although Emperor Renzong of Song reigned for a very long time, he had no children at an early age, so he brought the young Zhao Shu into the palace and raised him and changed his name to Zhao Zongshi. After the birth of Emperor Renzong of Song's biological son Zhao Xin the Prince of Yu in 1039, Emperor Renzong of Song sent Zhao Shu to his biological father.
Song Yingzong Zhao Shu
However, Zhao Xin, the king of Yu, died at the age of five, but Emperor Renzong always thought that he could still give birth to a son, so he did not appoint other clans as princes for a long time, including Zhao Shu. However, as he grew older, Emperor Renzong of Song also saw the reality clearly, so he made Zhao Shu the prince in the seventh year of Jiayou (1062).
After the death of Emperor Renzong of Song the following year, Zhao Shu succeeded to the throne and became the fifth emperor of the Great Song Dynasty. However, Zhao Shu was also relatively poor, and he died after four years of reign at the age of 35.
6, Song Shenzong Zhao Yan
Zhao Yan was the eldest son of Emperor Yingzong of Song, whose real name was Zhao Zhongzheng, who was made crown prince in 1066, and after Yingzong's death the following year, Zhao Yan succeeded to the throne as Emperor Shenzong of Song.
Zhao Yan was still relatively ambitious, and at the beginning of his succession, he reused Wang Anshi to implement the reform of the law, which is known in history as the "Xining Change Law". Although he supported the change of the law, under the obstruction of the old forces, the change did not persist.
Song Shenzong
During this period, he sent troops to resist Western Xia, known in history as the "Xihe Open Side", and at the beginning of the first month of the eighth year of Yuan Feng (1085), the ambitious Song Shenzong Zhao Yan suffered a heavy mental blow due to the crushing defeat in the war against Western Xia, his condition deteriorated, and he died soon after at the age of 38.
7, Song Zhezong, Zhao Xu
Zhao Xu is the sixth son of Song Shenzong, whose real name is Zhao Maid, when Shenzong died in the eighth year of Yuan Feng (1085), at the request of Prime Minister Wang Jue and others, Zhao Xu was made crown prince, and after Shenzong's death, Zhao Xu ascended the throne as emperor, and Empress Dowager Gao obeyed the government.
Song Zhezong
During Zhao Xu's reign, the party rivalry between the new party and the old party intensified, and in the end he could not control it. However, militarily, Emperor Zhezong of Song restarted the Battle of Hehuang, took the Qingtang region, and launched two battles of Pingxia City, which brought Western Xia to its knees. It can be called the last promising king of the Northern Song Dynasty.
In 1100 AD, Zhao Xu died of illness at the age of 25.
8, Song Huizong Zhao Yao
Zhao He is the eleventh son of Song Shenzong, the younger brother of Song Zhezong, after the death of Song Zhezong, because there is no son, the throne of the Song Dynasty is temporarily vacant, and there is also a situation of contention for the throne, Prime Minister Zhang Wei supports Li Zhezong and his mother brother Jian Wang Zhao, otherwise he will be the eldest brother Shen Wang Zhao Li. Xiang advocated for Lizhezong's second brother Duan Wang Zhao He, and finally Xiang made Zhao He emperor with the support of Zeng Bu, Cai Bian, Xu General and other ruling powers.
Song Huizong
Zhao He was not originally the material to be an emperor, he liked Qinqi calligraphy and painting, and reused Cai Jing, Gao Lian and other traitors, and the internal crisis of the Great Song Dynasty was numerous, and then the Song Jiang Uprising and the Fang La Uprising broke out. At this time, the Jin Kingdom of the Northern Song Dynasty began to rise, constantly invading the Song Dynasty in the south, and the Northern Song Dynasty could be called precarious.
In the first year of Jingkang (1126), the Jin army went south and approached Kaifeng, and Zhao He passed the throne to his eldest son Zhao Huan, and became the emperor himself. The following year, the Jin army invaded Kaifeng City, and Emperor Huizong of Song and his son Song Qinzong and a group of royal family members were captured and went north, becoming an effort of the Jin people, and in 1135 Emperor Huizong of Song died of illness in the City of Five Kingdoms at the age of 54.
9, Song Qinzong Zhao Huan
Zhao Huan was the eldest son of Emperor Huizong of Song, who was made crown prince in 1115 AD, and when the Jin army approached Kaifeng City in 1126, Emperor Huizong of Song gave the throne to Zhao Huan, but by this time the Northern Song Dynasty was already rotten, and Zhao Huan was just a backpot man.
Song Qinzong Zhao Huan
In the second year of Jingkang (1127), the Jin army invaded the city of Kaifeng, and Zhao Huan, his father Emperor Huizong of Song and a group of royal clansmen were captured by the Jin army and went north, after which Zhao Huan never returned to the homeland of the Song Dynasty, and died in Yanjing in 1161 at the age of 61.
Brief summary:
The Ninth Emperor of the Northern Song Dynasty began with the addition of Zhao Kuangyin's yellow robe and ended with the capture of Emperor Hui Qin, which lasted for a total of 167 years, during which he founded Emperor Renzong. The Northern Song Dynasty valued civilization over martial arts, so Shi Dafu enjoyed high treatment in the Northern Song Dynasty, and it was also the dynasty with the best treatment of literati in previous dynasties, but unfortunately the military generals were not so good.