Last time, it was mentioned that Zhao Kuangyin launched the Chen Qiao Mutiny, seized the imperial throne, and established a new dynasty. Because Zhao Kuangyin did not have his own titles and fiefs, he named the new dynasty Song after the place where he had been an official. During Zhao Kuangyin's reign, he completed most of the country's unification according to the strategy of first the south and then the north, and then the difficulty. In order to avoid the chaos of the division of domains and towns and the dictatorship of eunuchs in the late Tang Dynasty, he adopted the policy of emphasizing literature and suppressing martial arts. Centralization was strengthened, and the situation of local discipline and self-respect since the middle of the Tang Dynasty was solved through the "right to release troops from a cup of wine". Zhao Kuangyin reigned for 16 years and died mysteriously the next day at the age of 50 after drinking with his brother Zhao Guangyi one night. This is the origin of the story of the candle shadow axe.
Zhao Kuangyin
After Zhao Kuangyin's death, his brother Zhao Guangyi succeeded him, reigning for 22 years, using political means to force the king of Wuyue and the forces that divided Zhangquan Prefecture to subordinate the territory, and then personally conquered Taiyuan to eliminate the Northern Han Dynasty, ending the division of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms. He also sent troops twice to try to recover the lost Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun, but they were all defeated by the Liao State. From then on, the Song Dynasty began to adopt a defensive posture against the Liao state. In the Battle of Lianghe, Zhao Guangyi was wounded and never recovered, and eventually his condition worsened and he died in the Banzai Hall.
Zhao Guangyi
After Zhao Guangyi's death, he was succeeded by his third son, Zhao Heng, who appointed a virtuous minister and was diligent in political affairs. He opened the reign of Xianping, and under the persuasion of the main war faction, he defeated the Liao army and reached the alliance of the Lanyuan. In exchange for a hundred years of peace between the Song and Liao countries. However, in the later period, he indulged in the Feng Wei Movement, and the construction of palaces deepened social contradictions, and died in Kaifeng after reigning for 25 years at the age of 55.
Zhao Heng
After Zhao Heng's death, Zhao Zhen succeeded to the throne, and was only 13 years old when he succeeded to the throne, because of his young age, the empress dowager obeyed the government. During his reign, the First Song-Xia War broke out, and after three years of war, the two sides signed a Qingli peace treaty. In this war, the Liao State took the opportunity to force the Song Dynasty to increase the amount of the annual coin, that is, the historical Qingli coin, and reigned for 42 years, making it the longest reigning emperor of the Song Dynasty in history. During this period, he launched the Keili New Deal and wanted to carry out reforms, but he was forced to stop it due to the obstruction of opposition forces. He was 54 years old
Zhao Zhen
Zhao Zhen did not leave an heir, but passed the throne to his adopted son Zhao Shu, although Zhao Shu was not Zhao Zhen's own son, but the throne was still in the hands of Zhao Guangyi, although Zhao Shu had the life of being an emperor, but did not have this blessing, and died of illness after only 4 years of reign.
Zhao Shu
After Zhao Shu's death, the throne passed to his eldest son Zhao Yan, and by this time the Song Dynasty was already in a very poor and weak predicament, and he had to use the power of monarchy to forcibly support Wang Anshi in carrying out the Xining reform and implement a large number of new policies. Send troops to attack Western Xia and reclaim the land of the five states. But under constant pressure from the old guards, the New Deal began to falter. The Song Dynasty was also defeated twice in subsequent wars with Western Xia. The 38-year-old Zhao ended up depressed.
Zhao Yan
Due to his untimely death, the Empress Dowager Gao obeyed the government and seized the power of the imperial government, and the old forces once again walked into the court. It was not until 8 years later, when Gao died, that Zhao Xu became pro-government. The new party was able to return to power, and the party rivalry intensified. Zhao Xu reigned for a total of 15 years, waging two wars against Western Xia, which eventually brought Western Xia to its knees. But he also died young, only 25 years old.
Zhao Xu
After Zhao Xu's death, his brother Zhao He became the new emperor, an artistic emperor who pioneered thin gold calligraphy. During his reign, he used imperial power to promote painting, and when the Jin army came to the city, he ceded the imperial throne to his son Zhao Huan, and finally the father and son were captured by the Jin people and sent to the north after the Jingkang Revolution. This is the end of the Northern Song Dynasty!
Zhao Yao
After Jingkang's change, Zhao transferred to Nanjing to ascend the throne and established a new government, known as the Southern Song Dynasty. He appointed Yue Fei, Han Shizhong and other famous generals to resist the Jin army, and reached the Shaoxing Peace Conference at the cost of giving up the old territory and making Nagong to the Jin dynasty. The situation of Southern Song Dynasty was established, but Zhao Zhi listened to rumors afterwards and killed Yue Fei on trumped-up charges. He appointed Qin Hui as the prime minister for a long time, followed the route of making peace with the Jin Dynasty, and after reigning for 35 years, he ceded the imperial throne to his adopted son Zhao Yang, and he retired to the emperor and raised Tiannian. died at the age of 81, interestingly this Zhao Yang is Zhao Kuangyin's seventh grandson, and since then, the throne has returned to Zhao Kuangyin.
Zhao Zhi
Zhao Yang succeeded to the throne, rehabilitated Yue Fei's wrongful case, and began to use the main war faction. It was inevitable to recover the Central Plains, and the people's lives began to gradually be happy, known in history as the "Reign of Qianchun", and after Zhao Yang reigned for 27 years, he also wanted to become emperor, so he gave the throne to his son Zhao Wei.
Zhao Yang
When Zhao Wei first took the throne, he did have the idea of reforming the old and renewing the throne, but this emperor was so afraid of being serious in his heart that he abandoned the imperial government, listened to rumors, and alienated the emperor. It caused a political crisis in the Southern Song Dynasty, and after 5 years of reign, his father's achievements were exhausted, causing the Southern Song Dynasty to begin to decline, and Zhao Wei was forced to abdicate soon after.
Zhao Wei
Zhao Kuan succeeded to the throne with the support of his ministers. Posthumously crowning Yue Fei as the Prince of E, he cut off Qin Hui and focused on fighting the capitulationists, but during Zhao Kuo's 30-year reign, the early imperial government was controlled by the minister Han Kanxuan, and in the later period, it was controlled by Empress Yang, and died at the age of 57.
Zhao Kuan
After Zhao Kuan's death, Zhao Yun succeeded to the throne, and the imperial power was controlled by Xiangquan for the first ten years of his reign, which made him ignore the imperial government. It was not until the age of 29 that Zhao Yun began to be pro-government, changed his previous style, and began to clarify the rule of officials and rectify finances. A series of reform measures were adopted, and troops were sent to destroy the gold, determined to make Zhongxing and the Great Song Dynasty. However, in his later years, he began to settle into the desolate life of drunken dreams and death, and the imperial government successively fell into the hands of Jia Xidao and other traitors, and the country's situation was in jeopardy. After Zhao Yun's death, he passed the throne to his nephew Zhao Yu because he had no children under his knees.
Zhao Yun
By the time Zhao Yu succeeded to the throne, the Jin Dynasty had already collapsed, and the Mongol army began to move south. However, when the country was in trouble, Zhao Yu handed over the power of the military state to Jia Xiandao, making the situation in the Southern Song Dynasty even more critical. Zhao Yu served as emperor for 10 years and died in Lin'an at the age of 35.
Zhao Yu
When Zhao Huan, his second son, succeeded to the throne after his death, the Yuan army was already in the city, and it was not long before Zhao Huan surrendered to the Yuan dynasty. He was sent by Kublai Khan to study in Tubo.
Zhao Huan
Wen Tianxiang and other ministers decided to establish Zhao as emperor in Fuzhou. As the generalissimo of the world's soldiers and horses, Zhao Xiang plotted for the deputy marshal to regain ZTE again. At this time, there were still a small part of the world under the control of the Song Dynasty, and there were still more than 200,000 troops. But they underestimated the strength of the Yuan army and soon lost their stronghold north of the Yangtze River. The Song Dynasty rulers could only spend most of their time at sea, and the soldiers were far from their homeland, and gradually developed a different heart. Families are displaced and miserable. The Song army had to carry out the final decisive battle at Yashan, and after the defeat of the Battle of Yashan, Lu Xiufu jumped into the sea with the last emperor of the Song Dynasty, Zhao Yang, and died in Yashan. 100,000 soldiers and civilians also threw themselves into the sea one after another to martyr the country. The Song Dynasty in 319 came to an end
Zhao Yu