In the fourth year of Taiping's reign (979), Emperor Taizong of Song launched a war against Liao after recovering the Northern Han Dynasty in order to restore the "old land of Yanyun", and was defeated by the Liao army at Gaoliang River. After that, Song-Liao diplomacy was severed, and for 25 years, the two countries did not communicate with each other.
In the third year of Yongxi (986), in order to restore the "old land of Yanyun", Emperor Taizong of Song once again organized a three-way army to attack the Liao Dynasty, and as a result, the Song army led by Cao Bin was defeated by the Liao army at Qigou Pass, and the Song army suffered heavy losses. Mr. Qi Xia believes: "Since the defeat of Emperor Taizong of Song's Northern Expedition in 986, the situation of the Song and Liao sides has undergone major changes.
Song had to shift from strategic offensive to passive defense, and fell into a passive beating situation, Liao firmly seized the initiative in the war, and with its mobile cavalry team often galloped on the Great Plain of Hebei, attacking the city and trapping the town, and finally forced the Song to sign an alliance under the city. ”
However, in the ten years following the first year of Chunhua (990), there were no large-scale wars in Song Liao. In other words, there was a decade-long period of relative peace between the Song and Liao, which was very important for the Song-Liao relationship.
Song Zhenzong's choice of Liao policy
The accession of the new emperor to the throne was the beginning of the emperor's administration and the beginning of determining the direction of national policies. After Emperor Zhenzong of Song came to the throne, how to deal with the relationship between Song and Liao became an urgent problem for the imperial court. At the beginning of Song Zhenzong's accession to the throne, Prime Minister Lü Duan and others spoke to him, suggesting that an envoy be sent to the Khitan to mourn, taking this opportunity to communicate with Liao and seek peace.
When the new monarch ascends the throne, sending his neighbors to mourn is the proper etiquette of normal exchanges between countries. Prior to this, soon after Emperor Taizong of Song came to the throne, he sent envoys to Liao to complain about the funeral of Emperor Taizong of Song. In response, Liao also sent emissaries to the funeral of the late Song emperor, and sent another envoy to congratulate the new monarch on his accession to the throne.
Even in July of that year, there was a war between the Song Dynasty and the Liao vassal state Northern Han, and Liao also sent troops to support the Northern Han. That is to say, in the case of war between Song and Liao, the Song Dynasty still sent envoys to Liao.
After Emperor Zhenzong of Song came to the throne, he should pay tribute to the envoys of Liao according to the etiquette of normal exchanges between countries. Moreover, the Song and Liao sides were in a long period of relative peace, so it was a good time to send envoys to the Liao side to reconcile with Liao. Song Zhenzong did not listen to the advice of Prime Minister Lu Duan and others.
In May of the third year of the Dao Dynasty (997), Wang Yuwei, then the commander of the Criminal Department Langzhong and Zhiyang Prefecture, described the situation faced by the Song Dynasty at that time, first, the transfer of food and wages from the war with Li Jiqian in the northwest of the Song Dynasty, which dragged down the people of Guanzhong.
He suggested that Xiazhou be returned to Li Jiqian, that the war with Li Jiqian be stopped, and that the transfer and feed of the northwestern army be reduced, so that the people of Guanzhong could recuperate. This suggestion of Wang Yuwei was adopted by Emperor Zhenzong of Song. The Song Dynasty then restored its name of Zhao Baoji and gave Li Jiqian the five states of Xia and Sui.
Second, the confrontation between the Song Dynasty and Liao has not changed, and a large number of guards still need to be deployed on the Song-Liao border. Wang Yuwei hoped to have the "Xinjiang officials" send a letter to Liao Fang, conveying the Song Dynasty's desire to reconcile with Liao. Judging from Song Zhenzong's attitude of immediately summoning him back to the imperial court, Song Zhenzong should have heeded Wang Yuwei's suggestion and asked He Chengcheng of Zhixiong Prefecture to deliver letters to the Liao side.
Xiongzhou is located in the important border area of Song and Liao, and has the role of transmitting news from the two countries without the envoy of Song and Liao. Although the edict given to He Chengju by Emperor Zhenzong of Song did not explicitly say that He Chengzhu should be reconciled with Liao, he was only allowed to "be in the middle of the light and heavy".
In the absence of Song Zhenzong's instructions, He Chengcheng could not have sent letters to the Liao side privately.
He Chengxu's "Yishu Khitan" incident is also seen in Cao Bin's mouth. At that time, Liao had already made the decision to attack the Song Dynasty, and He Chengji detected the military operations that Liao was preparing to invade, and reported to Zhenzong the report of the enemy's incoming attack.
When asking Cao Bin about countermeasures, Cao Bin made a judgment of "final reconciliation", and also mentioned that He Chengxi had "sent a letter to the Liao side". However, this incident is not recorded in the Liaofang historical materials "History of Liao" and "Khitan National History".
It is unknown what the content of He Chengxi and Liao's letters was "the purpose of the past" and whether the letters were delivered to the Liao Dynasty. However, the Song Dynasty's diplomatic attempt to repair this time did not receive a response from the Liao side.
Above the Song court, there was still a call to reconcile with Liao by sending emissaries. In September of the third year of the Dao (997), Ma Liang, a member of the criminal department, said that "still invading the years" was from the position of the Song Dynasty, and as far as the night attack on Xiongzhou City by the Liao army in the first year of the Dao was concerned, in fact, there had been no major war between the Song and Liao on the border of Hebei for ten years.
The two sides of Song and Liao were still in a state of confrontation, and his use of the expression "Heshuo Xiaoran" was also used to persuade Song Zhenzong to reconcile with Liao. In March of the second year of Xianping (999), Zhu Taifu, then deputy envoy of Jingxi Transfer, Dr. Taichang, and Zhu Taifu of the Zhishiguan again asked Emperor Zhenzong of Song to send an envoy to reconcile with Liao.
The Zhutai runes contained in the Long Edition are very detailed. Although Zhu Taifu still holds the saying that "the land of the thistle is actually our territory, it is still separated and mixed, and it is suitable to open up", he borrowed the story of the previous dynasty to warn Song Zhenzong that it was not advisable to wage war with Liao at this time, and that sending envoys to reconcile with Liao would benefit both Song and Liao.
During the reign of Emperor Taizu of Song, the measures of reconciliation with Liao and rest with the people were most appropriate. Moreover, in order to prevent the southern invasion of the Liao army, the Song Dynasty had heavy troops in Heshuotun, and the military burden was very heavy. Zhu Taifu suggested that Zhenzong's mourning period expire and send an envoy to reconcile with Liao, and expressed his willingness to serve as an envoy to the Liao Dynasty.
It can be seen from the "Theory of the Times" that the ministers of the imperial court at that time also had the will to reconcile with Liao, so they agreed with the proposal to reconcile Taifu and Liao. Song Zhenzong still didn't listen. Judging from later developments, Song Zhenzong chose to "train troops and train generals and strive with them."
Under the emperor system of the Song Dynasty, the final decision on foreign policy was almost in the hands of the emperor alone. During the Emperor Taizong of Song, major events such as foreign wars were often decided by the emperor and the privy council.
In the early days of Song Zhenzong's accession to the throne, the Zhongshu and the Privy Council were still in charge of civil affairs and military affairs, and the two did not hear of each other. That is to say, after Song Zhenzong came to the throne, Song Zhenzong had the final decision in the decision-making process of Liao's foreign policy.
At the beginning of Song Zhenzong's accession to the throne, both Prime Minister Lü Duan and other ministers hoped to reconcile with Liao, but after Song Zhenzong let He Chengxu's diplomatic attempts to reconcile with Liao were fruitless, he no longer accepted the proposal of the ministers of the central government to send envoys to reconcile with Liao.
The author believes that Song Zhenzong refused to send an envoy to Liao for two reasons: First, sending an envoy to Liao first meant humiliation and peace, and lost the initiative to negotiate with Liao, so that peace would pay more "price".
Second, Song Zhenzong wanted to continue to compete with Liao for the land of Yanyun, in order to seek a strategic place for Yanyun and occupy a geographically advantageous position, so that the peace between Song and Liao could be more long-term.
Song Zhenzong's statement that "Qujie is the life of the world" naturally refers to sending envoys to reconcile with Liao, while Song Zhenzong's answer that "he must adhere to the discipline and save the general body, that is, the long-term benefit" reflects his true thoughts, that is, he will not first send envoys to negotiate peace with Liao, but will retake the land of Yanyun in an all-out army, occupy the land of the precipitous fortress, and then negotiate peace with Liao. Only in this way can the northern border of the Song-Liao River achieve long-term peace.
Preparations for war at the beginning of Song Zhenzong's accession to the throne
1. Mandate are deployed
After Song Zhenzong came to the throne, the relationship between Song and Liao remained hostile, and since he decided not to reconcile with the Liao envoys, Song Zhenzong immediately transferred troops and prepared to fight the Liao army. Moreover, during the Emperor Taizu of Song and Emperor Taizong, they were deployed to hold the military power to decide on the occasion and command the front's operations.
On the border of Hebei, Song Zhenzong, in addition to appointing "stationed capital deployment" in Zhen and Dingding, also appointed Wang Hanzhong as "Gaoyang Guanxingdu deployment". Gaoyang Pass borders the Liao realm and was recaptured by Emperor Shizong of Zhou from Liao. In the seventh year of the Xingguo of Taiping (982), it was renamed Gaoyang Pass, and its seat was in Yingzhou, which was the first line of defense against the invasion of the Liao army by the Song army, and it was also the forward position of the Song campaign against Liao.
Whether it is the appointment of "stationing and deployment" or "camping deployment", it can show that Song Zhenzong is preparing for war. In July of the third year of the Zhi Dao (997), Emperor Zhenzong of Song's appointment of Fan Tingzhao and the other four on the Song-Liao border is not included in the "Long Edition", and the "History of Song" can also prove the existence of this appointment in the respective biographies of Fan Tingzhao and the other four.
The aforementioned suggestion by Prime Minister Lü Duan and others to "send envoys to reconcile with Liao" should also be an important event in the Song Dynasty, and only in the words spoken by Song Zhenzong, not in the three years of the Zhidao contained in Li Tao's "Long Edition".
2. Buy a horse and prepare for war
After Song Zhenzong took the throne, he soon began to buy horses. In the Song Dynasty, the importance of horses to war goes without saying, especially in the Song Dynasty's war against the Khitan people in the north. In November of the first year of Xianping, Emperor Zhenzong of Song sent him closer. Minister Yang Yungong set up an institution specializing in buying horses - the Horse Estimation Division. In addition to spending money to buy from ethnic minority tribes in the border areas, the Song Dynasty encouraged them to pay tribute to war horses through official documents appointed.
Zuozangku is also the emperor's inner library, and the purchase of horses directly puts Zuozangku in charge of Yang Yungong, which can also be seen that Song Zhenzong's intention is to actively prepare for war. At this time, there was no news of the Liao invasion, but Song Zhenzong made a gesture of fighting Liao again in force.
The setting of the horse division was in November of the first year of Xianping, and the purchase of horses by Song Zhenzong was still before this. Horses are important materials in warfare and play an extremely important role in combat and logistics transportation. However, the environmental climate in the Central Plains was not conducive to horse breeding, and coupled with the poor management of horse breeding in the Song Dynasty, the herding supervisor failed to raise horses, and the Northern Song Dynasty was forced to turn to city horses.
Especially the excellent military horses used in war, most of the Song Dynasty were purchased from border areas. The fifteenth year of Liao Tonghe was the third year of the Song Dynasty (997), and Song Liao had not had major wars in the past eight years, while Song Zhenzong, who had just ascended the throne, actively purchased war horses from the border areas.
The Liao side seemed to smell the smell of "war" and ordered that the Tuyuhun troops not be allowed to sell horses to the Song Dynasty.
Emperor Zhenzong of Song also issued an edict allowing the people to buy horses in the territory of Khitan in an attempt to obtain horses from the channels of private trade.
It can be seen that the Song-Liao border has always not allowed private trade. In the official field, the Liao side certainly did not sell horses to the Song Dynasty, and Song Zhenzong's move was to obtain horses through private trade channels. Li Tao said that He Chengxu's performance was played after receiving news of the Khitan invasion, that is, in July of the second year of Xianping.
However, Emperor Zhenzong of Song issued an edict to "listen to the people crossing the Ma River to reach the northern border city of Ma" before He Chengcheng received news of the Liao army's invasion. It can be learned that before the Liao army invaded, Song Zhenzong had long been preparing for war.
3. Use espionage laws
In the second year of Duangong (989), Emperor Taizong of Song issued an edict to Qunchen to state the "strategy of preparing the border imperial army", and the third suggestion of Wang Yuwei, then the Right Collector and Zhishiguan, was to use the espionage method. Tian Xi, who was in charge of the system at the time, also suggested the use of espionage law against Liao.
Spies usually collect intelligence on the enemy's political, military, social customs and other aspects to increase their understanding of the enemy's situation in order to gain their own advantages in diplomacy and war. Especially in wartime, important military intelligence is very important for the role of war.
In July of the second year of Emperor Zhenzong of Song's reign (Liao Twelfth Year 999), the Liao Dynasty issued an edict for the Southern Expedition to the Song Dynasty, recruiting troops from all walks of life. In May, He Chengxi reported to the Song court that the Liao army was about to attack.
He Chengcheng was able to get the news of the Liao army's intention to invade in advance, and it should be information obtained through spy channels. In the fourth year of Chunhua (993), when He Chengxi knew Xiongzhou, he had the experience of listening to Liao news through the border people.
He Chengcheng treated the border people with espionage attributes with no suspicion and often received them in secret, so he was able to obtain effective information from the Liao side from these border people. In the first year of Xianping (998), Emperor Zhenzong of Song appointed Liu Kai to Zhi Prefecture, and soon after transferred to Xin Prefecture.
Dai and Xinzhou are located on the Song-Liao border, and it is easier for Liu Kai on the border to obtain the movements of the Liao side. The Guiming people mentioned in Liu Kai's Shu were common border people with espionage attributes, and in order to obtain gold and silver rewards, they probed valuable information from Liao to report to the Song Dynasty.
Therefore, Liu Kai concluded that the Liao army that invaded in the future would certainly not easily retreat. Therefore, he reminded Zhenzong to pay attention to this invasion of the Liao army, hoping that Zhenzong could personally conquer Heshuo and repel the incoming enemy.
In the fourth year of Xianping (1001), the Song Dynasty obtained false information from the Liao side from spies, so that the fighter plane was delayed. It can be judged from this incident that the Song Zhenzong imperial court trusted too much to send spies, and the information that the Song Dynasty sent spies made a wrong judgment.
The important identity of this kind of spy is far from being able to replace the Song and Liao border people and the Guiming people who surrendered from the Liao side, and professional spies should be sent specifically for the Song Dynasty to spy on intelligence. This also reflects Song Zhenzong's emphasis on espionage law from the side.
4. Adjustment of Zaisuke members
In October of the first year of Xianping, Lü Duan withdrew due to illness. In April of the first year of the Zhi Dao (995), Lü Duan was appointed chancellor, and Emperor Taizong of Song regarded him as a minister of Gu Ming and entrusted him with his posthumous affairs. After Emperor Zhenzong of Song ascended the throne, he paid special tribute to Lü Duanzun, who had protected his accession to the throne.
Since Lü Duan fell ill in the summer of that year, Emperor Zhenzong of Song granted him permission to go to Zhongshu to handle government affairs. Emperor Zhenzong of Song continued to use the method of combining the former dynasty and the old clan to form a slaughtering institution to further strengthen his control over the imperial court.
On the same day, Zhang Qixian and Li Xin were appointed ministers at the same time. Hube Shilang Li Yu was promoted to prime minister by participating in political affairs, and Zhang Qixian was a former dynasty. When Emperor Taizu of Song went to Luoyang to worship heaven and earth, Zhang Qixian, who was dressed in cloth, offered his horse and was appreciated by Taizu.
In the second year of Emperor Taizong's reign of Emperor Taizong of Song, Zhang Qixian first served as a counsellor in political affairs, and a few months later, he served as an official and served as an attendant for two years, and in June of the fourth year of Chunhua, he was resigned. It can be seen that Song Zhenzong appointed Zhang Qixian as his face because of his prestige.
Another part of the reason why Emperor Zhenzong of Song appointed Zhang Qixian may be Li Xin's introduction. During the reign of Emperor Taizong of Song, Zhang Qixian's ouster had a lot to do with Li Xin, and it can even be said that he received it on behalf of Li Xin. The reason why Emperor Taizong of Song was angry was that the members of his own residence asked him to govern without first declaring his affection to himself.
Undoubtedly, Zhang Qixian, Li Xin, and others acted in this way to suspect that they were colluding with the party for personal gain, so Emperor Taizong of Song removed Zhang Qixian. In the court of power competition and intertwined interests, Zhang Qixian was able to "not want to be burdened and take responsibility alone", which was a favor owed to Li Xin.
After Lü Duan's resignation, it was logical for Li Xin to introduce former Emperor Sude Zhang Qixian as prime minister. Soon after, Shangshu of the Ministry of Works and Li Zhi, the governor of the government, asked for relief because of an eye disease, and was awarded the title of Wu Shengjun by Emperor Zhenzong of Song.
Song Zhenzong adjusted the membership of the Privy Council. The Privy Council was directly responsible for military and political power, and the new Privy Councillors Yang Li and Song Xiang were all civil servants. Yang Li was Zhenzong's former minister of Xiangdi and served in the army as a chronicle of Prince Xiang's mansion.
Yang Li was known as Jin Shi Jia and No. 1 during the Jianlong period, and when Zhenzong asked what year and No. 1, Yang Li did not use the name of the department and did not answer directly. After Shinzō found out, he valued his character even more. Song Xiang was a scholar of the Taiping Xingguo for five years, and recommended his text to the Song Zhun in the Song Dynasty of Emperor Taizong, and paid homage to the Shulang and Zhishi Museum.
Shinzō ascended the throne and appointed him as a Zhongshusheren. Both men were famous for their writings, and were only reused as vice-envoys to the Privy Council because they gained Shinzong's trust.
After the death of the privy envoy Cao Bin, Emperor Zhenzong of Song summoned his old minister Wang Xian to the dynasty and appointed him as the privy envoy. Wang Xian served as a privy envoy in the eighth year of Emperor Taizong's reign (983) and served in the privy palace for many years. After Shinjō ascended the throne, Gaon became the envoy of Yokokai Setsudu and went out to Zhenzhou.
Emperor Zhenzong of Song reappointed him as a privy envoy before him. At this time, the news of the invasion of the Khitan army came, and Song Zhenzong was ready for war, and appointed Wang Xian, a veteran general of the former dynasty, as a privy envoy, also in order to use his prestige to deter hundreds of officials.
brief summary
During this period, Song Liao was in a relatively peaceful state of confrontation. After 989, the desire for peace between the Liao and Song dynasties led to a 10-year truce, but the hostility between the two sides did not dissipate, and the original mode of war was transformed into a struggle between the two sides for the northwestern Dingjian army.
In the decade-long confrontation between the Song and Liao dynasties, the basic framework of the later Song-Liao territory was laid. During the alliance of the Lanyuan, the boundaries that Song Liao each acquiesced in during the ten-year confrontation became the formal boundaries determined by the form of the alliance between the two sides.