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introduction
Jing Kang is ashamed, it is still snowing, the courtiers hate, when will it be destroyed. When Yue Fei wrote this poem "Man Jianghong: Writing Huai", the resentment in his heart can be said to be vivid.
The Song Dynasty was an unclear dynasty in which the founding emperor died, and it was also a dynasty in which successive emperors after Zhao Kuangyin soaked their bones in vinegar.
The tragic Battle of Yashan became the last swan song of the Song Dynasty. If Zhao Kuangyin is not unexpected, and he lives to be 75 years old, can the Song Dynasty become a prosperous dynasty like the Han and Tang Dynasties?
(Yue Fei stills)
First, the core issue
To get the answer to this question, break down these two key questions, that is, what Zhao Kuangyin can do before the age of 75. And his leadership will bring us the impression of the Song Dynasty, what kind of changes.
This change will involve various aspects, namely, military, political, economic, diplomatic, and national integrity. In my opinion, we should not think of being too simple. When Zhao Kuangyin established the Song Dynasty, he was already 34 years old, and if he hung up in a wise state at the age of 75, he would only have 41 years.
The Southern and Northern Song Dynasty combined, the time is 391 years, and the 41 years occupy more than 10% of the time, or at the beginning of the dynasty, and the influence caused is very far-reaching. So we also have to take into account the time perspective and the impact after that. Let's take a closer look.
(Image by 赵匡胤)
2. What has happened in the past 41 years
As a wise and ferocious military aspect, Zhao Kuangyin, who showed the idea of centralization in the form of a glass of wine and military power in the political aspect, will experience what will happen in the past 41 years?
Zhao Kuangyin died in the ninth year of Kaibao, that is, in 976 AD, at this time he had already decided to send troops to attack the Northern Han Dynasty. The events of the next 41 years can be summed up in two wars, the first of which was the war launched by Zhao Guangyi of Song Taizong in 979, that is, 3 years after the death of Zhao Kuangyin.
This war was originally going to be fought by Zhao Kuangyin, who knew that there was an accident, and there was a high probability that he was stabbed in the back by his younger brother. After destroying the Northern Han Dynasty, Song Taizong gained self-confidence and began to think about going north to crusade against Liao and recover Yizhou and Zhuozhou. But in this war, not only was it defeated, Zhao Guangyi had not yet learned the lesson, and launched the second Northern Expedition in 986, with an army of 200,000 and troops divided into three routes.
(Zhao Kuangyin stills)
There were also problems in the domestic economy, and the problem of land annexation was serious, which led to the outbreak of many uprisings across the country. In fact, it is enough to say this, and it is not necessary to push the time to 1017, 41 years later. Because this war was the reason why the Song State directly led to its military decline, began to avoid wars continuously, and signed the "Tanyuan Alliance".
The war against the Northern Han Dynasty, Zhao Kuangyin himself had to do it, and the war against the Liao State, according to Zhao Kuangyin's military ability and thoughts, there is a high probability that he will do it. Is Zhao Guangyi's military ability strong? The author thinks that it is not so strong, and it is far worse than his eldest brother Zhao Kuangyin. If Zhao Kuangyin is asked to face these two wars, what will change?
(Zhao Guangyi stills)
3. The military gap between the two brothers
Zhao Guangyi's highlight moment in military affairs was the destruction of the Northern Han Dynasty. The Northern Han Dynasty was the sole seedling of the Han regime during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. Why did Zhao Guangyi start this war, not only because his brother had to do it before, but also because before that, Zhao Guangyi did not have any military merits!
He wanted to use a military feat to silence the ministers who suspected him of killing his own brother. In fact, the Northern Han Dynasty at that time was caught in the middle, and on the one hand, it had to give money to curry favor with the Liao State, and on the other hand, it had to pay attention to the attack of the Song Dynasty.
In addition, their own land is relatively barren, so the demise of the Northern Han Dynasty is actually inevitable, and it will be fought down and developed early. Zhao Guangyi killed his brother, causing the plan to be delayed by 3 years. Even in the face of such an advantage, it took Zhao Guangyi a full four months to fight the Northern Han.
(Zhao Guangyi stills)
You must know that this war does not need to travel long distances, it is a battle of neighboring countries, which is indeed Zhao Guangyi's military exploits, but since then his highlight moment has stayed here.
The next two wars against the Khitan of the Liao State were not too badly lost, and General Yang Ye, the prototype of the Yang family general in the TV series, died tragically in this war. Zhao Guangyi needed to distrust his soldiers at that time, and sent the supervisor Wang Yu to restrict Yang Ye's strategy, causing Yang Ye to die aggrieved.
Zhao Kuangyin is different, before Zhao Guangyi's Northern Expedition, Chai Rong and Zhao Kuangyin had already launched two Northern Expedition wars. At that time, the Northern Han Dynasty was still a strong country, and the Northern Han Dynasty was also united with the Liao State, so it was not an easy opponent to mess with.
(Chai Rong stills)
Therefore, the Northern Han faced by Zhao Kuangyin and Zhao Guangyi is not the same opponent at all. Even so, Zhao Kuangyin was able to defeat the Northern Han and retreat one after another, until the Liao army appeared to support, and the Song army was repulsed. After that, Zhao Kuangyin continued to attack, forcing the Northern Han to the point where he could only choose to surrender or not, and the Liao State had no choice but to strike again. If it weren't for the heat, I might have won it in one fell swoop.
It can be seen that the military capabilities of Zhao Kuangyin and Zhao Guangyi are not at the same level at all. From this point of view, the demise of the Northern Han Dynasty is inevitable, and Zhao Kuangyin or, this matter will only be implemented earlier!
Fourth, military capability, backbone and future
If Zhao Kuangyin is or, the Song army will have a stronger combat effectiveness for at least the next 41 years and beyond. Perhaps, the First Northern Expedition will be victorious. Zhao Kuangyin is not fierce towards his own people, but when he goes to the battlefield, he is really a living Hades.
(Zhao Kuangyin stills)
Therefore, the author believes that Zhao Kuangyin's improvement of military capabilities to the Song army will change many things, but time is limited! If Zhao Kuangyin lives to be 75 years old, we assume that he has already destroyed the Northern Han Dynasty in the year he dies in reality, and he will support him in the Northern Expedition at most three times in 41 years.
Some friends will think that fighting a war is too expensive, and if Zhao Kuangyin goes to war, the Song Dynasty will not have future economic prosperity. Personally, I think this statement is wildly wrong. If a country wants to develop safely and steadily, military capability is the top priority. If Zhao Kuangyin succeeds in defeating the Liao State for the first time, not to mention whether he can destroy the Liao State, this battle will at least bring benefits.
No matter how heavy the losses are, it is better than Zhao Guangyi losing this war. With more territory, you can expand your border garrisons. If you take Youzhou among the sixteen states of Yanyun, it will be equivalent to the throat of the card master's march from the north to the south!
(Zhao Kuangyin stills)
Excuse me, do we keep paying reparations to the enemy and develop comfortably, or do we receive reparations from other countries and develop comfortably? I think all fools know this question. With military confidence, politics can operate in a more stable system.
Just like the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Di is really not good to be an emperor? At least because of his spiritual attributes, the Ming Dynasty has achieved the tough national attributes of "the Son of Heaven guards the country, the king dies in the community, and does not make harmony, does not cede land, does not claim to be ministers, and does not pay compensation"!
The improvement of military capabilities, the benefits and spiritual attributes that can bring to the country are so important that this statement is applicable in any dynasty. Zhao Guangyi lost the war, maybe Zhao Kuangyin can win, even if he can't win, then the outcome of the war will probably not be worse than Zhao Kuangyi's period.
(Zhu Di stills)
The most important thing is the spiritual attributes brought by Zhao Kuangyin, although 41 years is short, the impact it can have is long-lasting. The Song Dynasty has never lacked soldiers and people who can show strong combat effectiveness on the battlefield, Yang Ye, Di Qing, Cao Bin, Yue Fei, the common people desperately maintain the dignity of the nation, and the Battle of Yashan is also the most typical example.
An emperor who is sensitive to military affairs can often put the country in an environment of internal unity in the military aspect, extremely harmonious, and extremely confident. In other words, how wise can a younger brother who can kill the wise emperor's eldest brother in the face of the wise emperor during the period of stability in the court be?
The Tang and Han dynasties were at their peak in their multi-faceted capabilities, and it was also a period of ferocity in the country's military capabilities. If Zhao Kuangyin lives to be 75 years old, there is a high probability that he will not be able to establish a prosperous world, after all, it costs too much money to fight. But if the destruction of Liao is successful, Zhao Kuangyin must have given the Song Dynasty the perfect stage to become a prosperous dynasty.
(Yang Jiajiang stills)
Resources:
WANG Xiaobo. "Song Taizong's strategy against Liao after the failure of Yongxi's Northern Expedition." Journal of Sichuan University:Philosophy and Social Science 4(2000):7.
WU Kaijie. "The Military Strategy of Zhao Kuangyin in the Early Song Dynasty." Journal of Jingmen Vocational and Technical College 05(1999):52-56.