Some people say that the Northern Song Dynasty was poor and weak, and it was incompetent to the outside world, but some people said that the Northern Song Dynasty was extremely developed, and the so-called "world of the extreme", this unprecedentedly developed and passively beaten dynasty is really difficult to express.
The two Song Dynasty is still a special dynasty, that is, the emperor's heirs are thin, for example, Zhenzong has a son, to Renzong's generation, there is no son, the two Song Dynasty for more than 300 years, 18 emperors, three times from the distant branch into the imperial system, which also caused nine empress dowagers (concubines) to listen to the government. The frequency of concubines' participation in politics is the highest in all dynasties. What's even more interesting is that the Song Dynasty scholars don't seem to be disgusted with the concubine's interference in politics. Moreover, most of the queen mothers (concubines) who listened to the government have won a good reputation in history. Later generations still have a high evaluation: "For more than 300 years of the Song Dynasty, there is no trouble of the Han Wang clan outside, and there is no disaster of Tang Wu and Wei inside, isn't it outstanding but still good!" ”
Among the nine empress dowagers who listened to the government, two belonged to the long-term ruler: one was Liu E of the Renzong Dynasty above, who had been regent as the empress dowager for 11 years; The other is Empress Gao Tao of Song Yingzong, who ruled as the empress dowager in the Song Zhezong Dynasty for 9 years.
These two empress dowagers left a polarized reputation among the Song Dynasty's curtain listeners: Liu E was considered to have the worst reputation, and the history books say that she almost became the second Wu Zetian; And Gao Tao's reputation is the best, and he is known as the "female Yao Shun" - looking through the history books, I am afraid that I will not find a second woman with this honor. But in fact, on the contrary, Liu E is the female middle Yaoshun. Gao Taotao buried the disaster of the Northern Song Dynasty.
The initial problem of the Northern Song Dynasty came from the party dispute, that is, Wang Anshi's reform, when the 22-year-old Song Shenzong Zhao Ji and the 49-year-old Wang Anshi had a deep conversation, they jointly opened the era of reform in the Great Song Dynasty. In the second year of Xining, Wang Anshi was appointed by Song Shenzong as a governor of the government, and he became one of the ruling ministers and began to promulgate new laws. Although the implementation of the new law has since evolved into factional brawls in the court, the symbolic significance of this event is self-evident. From this year until the fall of the Northern Song Dynasty for nearly 60 years, all the occurrence of court politics can be traced back to this.
The 20-year-old Song Shenzong had just ascended the throne, and he had taken over the empire in name only, and in fact had already fallen into financial difficulties. A few days after Song Shenzong ascended the throne, Zhang Fangping, the third envoy in charge of finance, handed him a financial report, which was impressively written with eight words - "A hundred years of accumulation, only an empty book." The country is so poor that it can't open the pot. In the social environment of "the rich get rich, and the poor benefit the poor" and the reality crisis of "three redundancies", the Great Song Dynasty is irretrievably falling into decline.
Change has become inevitable, Song Shenzong has no choice, Song Shenzong once asked the old minister of the Three Dynasties Fu Bi, and asked him for advice on the way to enrich the country and strengthen the army. Fu Bi told the emperor: "At the beginning of your majesty's accession to the throne, you should spread kindness, rest with the people, and not speak of military affairs for at least twenty years." At this time, Fubi's blood became cold, and he didn't want to mention the past anymore. These speeches are all useful nonsense. In this case, Shenzong began to reuse Wang Anshi.
Wang Anshi's concept of reform is a huge system. Once these measures are implemented, they will inevitably shake the whole society. Based on different interests or different philosophical considerations, the Dr. Sima Guangshi class expressed strong opposition. This is what we now call the new party and the old party, or the reformers and the conservatives. The Northern Song Dynasty produced cattle people, but the cattle people were all destroyed by party disputes. This is one of the most regrettable things in history. It can't be said that the confrontation between Wang Anshi and Sima Guang is wrong, but the dispute between the two is still rational, and the political confrontation does not affect the personal friendship of the two, and their descendants are naked in the struggle for power and profit and party struggle.
For the reform of the empire, Song Shenzong itself was contradictory. On the one hand, he supported Wang Anshi, and on the other hand, he tried his best to maintain the imperial power, contain Wang Anshi and the reformers, and avoid Wang Anshi's power being too heavy. In fact, Song Shenzong lacked Li Shimin's courage. Of course, the struggle between the old and new parties is also the emperor's balancing act.
In the eighth year of Yuanfeng, before the death of Song Shenzong, Sima Guang and Lü Gongzhu were appointed as the prince's teachers. Both of these people are opposition to changing the law. This is actually Shenzong's negation of his original intention, and Zhao Xu's accession to the throne is Song Zhezong. When Song Zhezong first ascended the throne, he was ignorant and listened to the government by Song Shenzong's mother, Gao Tao, who was a staunch opponent of the reform. The first major event after Gao Taotao's regent was to revert to Sima Guang, who had lived in seclusion for 15 years because of his opposition to Wang Anshi's reforms, and with the support of Empress Dowager Gao, Sima Guang completely overthrew the changes during the Song Dynasty.
Although it was less than a year and a half after Sima Guang was reinstated, this last year or so was enough for him to fulfill his long-cherished wish of 15 years of lurking. The new legal pattern laid down by his friend Wang Anshi has all been abolished. Five months after Wang Anshi's death, Sima Guang died. At this time, the political situation of the Northern Song Dynasty had fallen into a lingering nightmare: the focus of the court situation was no longer to study how to enrich the country and strengthen the people, but to study how to defeat the opponent.
Gao Taotao's big name is Gao Zhengyi, and his nickname is Gao Taotao. Gao Tao was born in a famous family of the dynasty. Her great-grandfather was the famous general Gao Qiong, and her mother was the granddaughter of Cao Bin, the first founding hero of the Great Song Dynasty, and the sister of the Empress Cao of Song Renzong. She and Song Renzong's adopted son Zhao Shu were childhood sweethearts, and the two got married at that time There was a saying that "the son of heaven marries a daughter-in-law, and the queen marries a daughter".
Gao Taotao successively gave birth to four sons and four daughters for Song Yingzong, and Song Yingzong died after less than 4 years of reign. He succeeded to the throne with Gao Taotao's eldest son Zhao Xu, who was Song Shenzong. After the death of Song Shenzong. The political situation of the Great Song Dynasty stood at a fork in the road, and at this critical juncture, the 54-year-old Gao Tao began to listen to politics in the court. At this time, she has the highest rank in the harem, so she has no choice.
Gao Taotao had no political experience before he began his official regency. Whether it is the Yingzong Dynasty or the Shenzong Dynasty, she is a woman who adheres to the way of the concubine, and has no interest or opportunity to participate in court politics. In order to control the affairs of the empire and establish her authority, she chose conservatives, such as Sima Guang, Wen Yanbo, and Lü Gongshu. Politically, she returned to the old era of her ancestors that she was familiar with before the Shenzong Dynasty.
After that, in less than a year, the results of the reform of Fangtian Tax, Shiyi, Baojia, Qingmiao, and exemption from military service were completely abandoned. After Sima Guang's death, the conservative faction gradually split into three factions, which later generations called the "Shuluoshuo Party Struggle". However, Gao Tao did not have any strong posture of intervention, but just allowed his party contention environment to deteriorate. Gao Tao's personal morality is actually very good. She advocates frugality and is known for her simplicity, although she was born into a noble family, she has compassion for the suffering of the people. She treats her relatives and her own family members with a very strict attitude and does not show favoritism. But the problem is that it has nothing to do with governance.
Gao Taotao first of all does not have the ability to govern the country, and the idea and ability to improve the chaotic situation of the dynasty has surpassed her political level. But in fact, the period of Gao Taotao's regency, which was beautified by historical books as "Yuan You's reign", was a prelude to the abyss of the Northern Song Dynasty's demise. The various foreshadowings that led to the demise of the Northern Song Dynasty had been laid at this time.
In the fierce power struggle, everyone ignored the existence of one person - Zhao Xu, Song Zhezong, who was the nominal supreme ruler of the Great Song Dynasty. Gao Tao was regent for 9 years, and Song Zhezong grew from a 10-year-old child to a 19-year-old young man. However, the military affairs were still decided by the Empress Dowager Gao and several ministers, the emperor never had the right to speak, and the ministers of the court and the central government, without exception, ignored the aging of Song Zhezong. They were accustomed to thinking that the emperor was still young, and warned him to obey the Empress Dowager Gao in everything.
The confrontation between the Empress Dowager and the young emperor is not uncommon in history, and when Gao Tao was seriously ill, he had already realized that Song Zhezong was extremely dissatisfied with her. She seemed to see some ominous signs, and Gao Taotao also warned Lu Dafang and Fan Chunren, after I die, the emperor will not reuse you, and you should take the initiative to retreat to avoid disaster. Until her death, Gao Taotao's proudest thing was still her selfish virtue, and she never used her power to take extra care of her mother's family. But she didn't know that this point, for the emperor who had been ignored for a long time, was it important?
As the emperor of the Great Song Dynasty, Zhao Xu, the 17-year-old young son of heaven, Song Zhezong, was extremely happy in his heart. Because from this moment on, there was no longer a nasty woman behind him to supervise and discipline him, and he finally felt the power that the identity of the Son of Heaven brought him.
After the 62-year-old Gao Taotao died of illness, Song Zhezong finally began a counterattack-style pro-government. He didn't recognize the people appointed and the policies formulated by the Empress Dowager Gao during her regency, and they all went the other way. He recalled the leaders of the reformers, such as Zhang Dian and Cai Bian, to the court, while conservative officials were deposed and demoted one after another. The court party struggle, the transfer of power, and a new cycle has been started.
At this time, perhaps at the behest of Song Zhezong, Zhang Dian and Cai Bian planned to abolish the Empress Dowager Gao and prepared an edict. After persuading the Queen Mother and Song Zhezong's biological mother, Concubine Zhu, Song Zhezong had no choice but to give up. Song Zhezong also planned to dig the graves of Sima Guang and others, but he didn't do it after being bitterly admonished by the courtiers. Although Song Zhezong's comprehensive restoration of the new law somewhat had the psychology of revenge against the Empress Dowager Gao, it has to be said that the new law has been more suitable for the social status quo of the Song Dynasty after the changes in the Shaosheng period.
Song Zhezong has been weak since he was a child, and more importantly, he has no son himself, and finally in August of the second year of Yuanfu, he ushered in his only son Zhao Mao. However, the poor child died after only three months. The death of Zhao Mao completely broke the last straw in Song Zhezong's body, and Song Zhezong died suddenly in the third year of Yuan Fu at the age of 24.
He left behind a powerful Great Song Empire after a strong change, but in the end, because he had no children, the empire was entrusted to no one. Twenty-five years after his death, the prosperous Song Dynasty came to an abrupt end. And the initiator of all this is Gao Taotao.