The Northern Song Dynasty made a mistake and lost power and humiliated the country

In the last years of the Northern Song Dynasty, domestic contradictions intensified, and foreign relations also changed. Originally, there was only one threat in the north, the Liao State, but in the east of the Liao State, he rebelled against the Jurchen Jin State. In addition, the Liao-Jin War was very fierce, resulting in the subject states of Tieli, Wujak, and Goryeo, which originally belonged to the Liao State, all of them were subsumed into the Jin State, and the Liao State became more and more isolated. By the fourth year of Emperor Xuanhe of Song Hui (1122 AD), the offensive of the Jin soldiers to invade Liao had been overwhelming, and the Liao State was struggling to survive.

The Northern Song Dynasty thought that the time for revival had come and that it should follow the trend. The main ministers all wanted to destroy the Liao State in one fell swoop and remove the northern threat. In the imperial history, Cheng Wang Huang, Taishi Cai Jing, Tong Guan and others strongly advocated taking advantage of the fire to loot, and took advantage of the danger of the Liao State to send troops to seize Yan and Yun Prefectures and recover the lost territory.

Wang Hao said: "Although China and Liao are brothers, in the past hundred years, they have expanded their borders, and there are too many arrogant things for us. They implement a policy of the law of the jungle and the supremacy of force. If we don't take back Yan and Yun now, when the Jurchen Jin Kingdom is strong in the future, these places will not be ours. ”

The place of Yun and Yan was given to the Liao State by Shi Jingjiao 180 years ago in order to let the Liao State support him as the emperor. Later, when the Song Dynasty was established, it was already raw rice cooked and matured, and it could not be recovered. In 1004 A.D., Song Zhenzong and Liao Shengzong signed the "Yuanyuan Alliance". The treaty stipulates the content of relations between the two countries, and they abide by each other and maintain friendship.

At this time, the Northern Song Dynasty still had to pay 100,000 taels of silver and 200,000 pieces of silk to the Liao State every year, in exchange for the Liao State not to invade the borders of the Song Dynasty. So on the surface, the two are friendly countries. In fact, the Song Dynasty used money to buy temporary peace. This situation has been maintained for 118 years.

Now, the Northern Song Dynasty saw that the Jin Kingdom had great stamina. It was presided over by Cai Jing and Tong Guan, who secretly colluded with the Jin State, and signed the "Treaty of Attacking the Liao State" on the ship in the Yellow Sea. The Song Dynasty wanted to take advantage of the fire, first help the Jin State destroy the Liao State, and then take the opportunity to recover the Yan and Yun states.

Zhao Long and other officials once wrote that the consequences of doing so would not be good, and asked the court not to do so. They emphasized that the Song-Liao friendship had been around for a hundred years, and that the Jin people were fierce and their ambitions were beyond the control of the Song people. Seeking skin with the tiger, the consequences are unpredictable, and you can't take this risky move.

Minister Zheng Juzhong advocated that it is not appropriate to gloat. He said: "By doing so, we are smearing millions of souls. ”

For this matter, Minister An Yaochen specifically discussed the results of the Song army's northward attack on Yan and Yun. He said: "The ministers are afraid that their lips will die when they are different, and they will give those strong enemies a mouth, so that they will have the opportunity to peek into China, and I hope that they will be worthy of their ancestors and souls." ”

Obviously, many people saw the ambition of the Jurchens, and they were by no means just betraying the Liao State, but intending to the world.

At this time, the Liao State also sent envoys to the Song Dynasty to ask for help, but the Song Dynasty categorically refused.

In the Song Dynasty, it was some powerful ministers who took the throne. Gao Yu, a traitor, became the Kaifu Yi and the third division. Tong Guan officially led the army to the north and reached Gaoyang Pass. And sent a notice to the Liao State that "who can dedicate Yanjing City and give the official position of Jiedu Envoy". The master of the capital once advised Tong Guan not to do this, but Tong Guan did not listen.

The Liao State sent an envoy to say: "If the Jurchen can betray the Liao State, they must also be the evil enemies of the Song Dynasty." Now, for the sake of a momentary benefit, you give up a hundred years of reconciliation and make new neighbors, which is a curse that accumulates in the future. Is it the best strategy? No, you can't. Disaster relief and compassion for neighbors, ancient and modern, please consider your big country. ”

According to the instructions of the court, Tong Guan pressed the Liao border with strong troops, but he only won the panic Nangu, and the army was defeated like a mountain. Although the Song army was defeated, it also dealt a heavy blow to the strength of the Liao State. For the Jin State, it can be regarded as a favorable cooperation with the Jin State War and the implementation of the "Covenant of Siege".

The end of the Liao State has appeared, although Li Liangfu of the Western Xia led 30,000 elite soldiers to save the Liao State, he was still defeated by the Jin soldiers. Liao Guo is even more like taking arsenic, and he only has the opportunity to breathe out his last breath.

Although the Liao State was destroyed, it was still very powerful to fight the Northern Song Dynasty soldiers. Tong Guan led his troops to attack Yanjing three times in a row, but all of them ended in failure. In the end, it was Jin Bing who took Yanjing without much effort and picked the last fruits.

The Song Dynasty wanted to ask the Jin State to return to Yanjing and other places, but the Jin State said that the Song State did not carry out the "Covenant of Siege". It is said that the Song Dynasty did not have a place to conquer the Liao State, and only promised to lease Yanjing to the Song Dynasty. It was also necessary for the Song Dynasty to implement the provisions in the "Covenant of Siege" and contribute 10 to 200,000 taels of silver to the Jin State every year.

"History of the Song Dynasty" (written by Yuan Tuotuo) contains: "At the beginning, the court negotiated a gold agreement, but asked Shi Jin to bribe the Khitan hometown, and did not Siping, Ying, and Luan three states were not bribed by Jin, but Liu Rengong offered to ask for help. The king wanted to get it, but the owner refused to do so. ”

A sweet dream in the Northern Song Dynasty was shattered by the strength of the Jurchens. The naïve Northern Song Dynasty people tried to negotiate to obtain national interests, but it was only a wishful wish. The court of the Northern Song Dynasty sent Zhao Liangsi to the Jin State to negotiate Yan, Yun and other matters, but the Jin Emperor refused.

Wanyan said: "I heard that the Chinese general Liu Yanqing was brave, he led 150,000 troops to the battle, and he defeated himself without a fight in one morning.

Later, after several tosses, the Jin people agreed to withdraw from Yanjing. However, Yanjing's golden silks, children, officials, and households were swept east. When Tong Guan entered Yanshan Mansion, it was just an empty city.

When the Jin soldiers withdrew, Wanyan Aguta said to his subordinates: "The covenant on the sea (the covenant of the sandwich attack) must not be forgotten. ”

The withdrawal of the Jin soldiers from Yanjing was out of strategic necessity. At that time, the Liao State had not yet completely perished. Under the hanging egg of facts and crises, Lord Song has not yet sobered up. I don't think about the crisis yet, but I still want to fall into the well. The Song Dynasty ensnared the last emperor of the Liao State for the Jin State, and wanted to help the Jin people with sincerity and seek tolerance from the Jin people.

The Song Dynasty had an empty city in Yanzhou, and the people were injured and money, so they had to adjust the people, enrich the vacant land, and mobilize food to appease the people's ....... In addition, the famine and the lack of harvest made the country hungry and thieves and thieves. There are 300,000 people gathered, and there are 20,000 or 30,000 few. If it is like the Great Celestial Empire, it is burnt out.

After the Jin soldiers completely swept away the remnants of the Liao State and captured the Liao Emperor, they immediately planned to recapture the land of Yan and Yun. And use this as a springboard to attack Song in a big way. The "Covenant of Attack" has become a waste of paper, and the Northern Song Dynasty will directly face the Jin Ge Iron Horse.

In front of Dajin, the Northern Song Dynasty had nothing to hide. Without lips and teeth, you can only face the cold wind directly. The Jin soldiers took advantage of the victory to the south, and successively captured the ...... of Shanzhou and Jizhou.

During the Liao period, the Song and Liao still had the "Yuanyuan Alliance", which was friendly for a hundred years. Now that Lanyuan has become the place of the Jin Kingdom, the people of the Jin Kingdom will not sign any more contracts with the Song Dynasty. Guo Yaoshi, the commander of the Song Dynasty, was defeated and surrendered to Jin, as the leader of Jin, and the spearhead was directed at Bianliang. On the chessboard of the Jin Kingdom, the next step is to destroy the Northern Song Dynasty.

In the face of the bad situation, Song Huizong retreated and became the emperor.

The Jin soldiers fought all the way to the capital of the Northern Song Dynasty and were invincible. He surrounded Bianjing City and sent envoys to ask for 10 million ingots of gold, 20 million ingots of silver, and 10 million horses of silk. Therefore, the newly appointed Emperor Song Qinzong did not hesitate to collect the people's wealth and wealth, and wantonly looted the people's fat and ointment, "until the people did not have enough gold and silver", and "sent to search for relatives, clans, internal servants, monks, tricks, and prostitutes". At this time, the Northern Song Dynasty regime did not care about face, and even the money and gold and silver of prostitutes were looted to continue their power for themselves.

The golden soldiers were no longer complimentary, and their swords ...... each other.

Song Qinzong "hid his face and cried: 'The prime minister mistook my father and son' in front of everyone."

Only a little more than a year later, the two emperors of Hui and Qin were captured by the Jin soldiers and sent to the northeast to "sit on the well and watch the sky".

History cannot be assumed, but the situation can be seen. Knowing the heart of the Jurchen tigers and wolves, if the Song Dynasty can keep a hundred years of reconciliation, and do not engage in any "flanking attack" with the Jin people, reach out to help the Khitans. The Northern Song Dynasty is still the Northern Song Dynasty, but the Liao State is different from the past. The Liao State had to do its best to deal with the Jin State, and it was even more incapable of invading the Northern Song Dynasty in the south. When the Liao State is subject to the Jin State, how can the Liao State be unwilling to take the opportunity to ask the Liao State to return the lost territory? Isn't it a soldier who surrenders without a fight? Or when the Liao State is in danger, it is very easy to ask the Liao State to return to Yun and Yan Prefectures, or to relieve the Tanyuan Alliance of its contribution responsibility. At the same time, the Liao State will naturally become an iron wall against foreign enemies in the northern Xinjiang of the Song Dynasty. Wouldn't it be more prudent for the Northern Song Dynasty to set aside time to develop itself? After becoming strong, wouldn't it be more prudent to launch it at the right time and develop more in an even more strategic way?

Besides, didn't Wang Hao, Cai Jing, Tong Guan, and others know the ambitions of the Jin State? It's just that what they saw was that after the Jin State gained power, the Song Dynasty would no longer be able to get the land of Yan and Yun. They do not see the danger of their own annihilation, let alone the knowledge of using their neighbours as a protective wall. It must also be said that they are bent on seeking land for the country, and their loyalty to the country cannot be denied. But what the result was?—— in exchange for losing power and humiliating the country, and sending his master into the frozen "well" .......

Therefore, the Chinese people call Wang Hao, Cai Jing, Tong Guan, Liang Shicheng, Zhu Mian, and Li Yan the "Six Nations Thieves"

(The above quotations and basic content are all from "History of the Song Dynasty")