It's a harrowing piece of history. When the Jin army invaded Hebei and approached Bianjing, the Northern Song court made some efforts to resist, but due to the raging bureaucracy, all kinds of absurd actions contributed to the disaster. Although the Jin army was insufficient, the shortcomings of the Northern Song Dynasty itself became the biggest stumbling block. At a time when mediocre officials are raging and party power struggles are raging between the government and the opposition, how can people expect victory in their efforts to defend the motherland? The defeat in this battle was a microcosm of the corruption and incompetence of the ruling circles at the time. Let's take a look back at this classic of history, explore the poignant details of this dark history, and learn the hard lessons. How should we answer all these questions?
Internal friction in the ruling group: eunuchs are in charge, and the party is the same and different
The ruling clique of the Northern Song Dynasty had long been decaying, with many parties and eunuchs controlling the government. In the years leading up to the Jingkang Revolution, the party struggle between the ministers and ministers had reached a fever pitch. The increasingly in-depth infiltration of eunuchs into the emperor and the government, coupled with the pro-trust affairs of Gaozong in the later period of the Song Dynasty, made some cronies and officials have no scruples and run rampant in the countryside with the momentum of favor, which led to the intensification of contradictions within the ruling group.
Among them, the most criticized are Chang Gon and Fu Bi, who were once favored by Song Huizong after he ascended the throne. When Chang Gon was in power, he vigorously engaged in the dictatorship of party henchmen, and the dynasty was shaken. Fu Bi is self-righteous because of his temperament, and even people have the comment of "Fu Bi is chaotic". In the later years of Song Huizong, the traitorous party was troubled, and the rule of officials was abolished, causing the emperor to abandon the government and government. In the Song Qinzong period, the traitors had no scruples and unscrupulously colluded.
The party of eunuchs was also rampant. With the help of the emperor's trust and support, they committed evil in the court, fought against the same party as civil and military officials, and secretly obstructed reform. The former dynasty has become a hotbed for their power and money transactions. All the things that are rich in bean soup are difficult to escape from the control of the eunuchs. Most of these eunuchs were filled by idle people, and they did not have the talent and ethics to govern the world, but they relied on their convenient position close to the emperor to run rampant in the government and government. Among them, Yang Yi and Yin Jizuo are the most rampant.
Obviously, such a rotten ruling group has long had no time to take care of major state affairs such as the invasion of the Jin. The various political parties and eunuchs only cared about the immediate power and interests, and wrestled with each other, and the situation in the court was almost paralyzed. In such a turbulent environment, how can military affairs be dealt with calmly? Even in the face of the grim situation of foreign invasion, the power fighters in the ruling circles did not restrain in the slightest. On the contrary, in the process, they are even more vicious, disregarding the safety of the country in a vain attempt to profit in times of crisis. It was precisely these ugly acts that eventually led to the great disaster of the Jingkang Change.
Untruthful and unwise measures to defend against the enemy
In November 1126, the East Road of the Jin Army was approaching the city of Bianjing. At this time, there were more than 500 cannons of the Northern Song Dynasty army in Liujia Temple outside Bianjing City. These heavy artillery, which were originally used to defend against the enemy, should be quickly transported into the city in case of emergency. However, when the Northern Song Dynasty court disposed of this important military material, it staged a farce that was ridiculous.
At first, the officials of the imperial court had a big dispute over the responsibility of transporting the cannon into the city, and you pushed me and shirked each other's responsibilities. The military officials said that the matter was in charge of the Privy Council; However, the Privy Council officials claimed that the cannon belonged to the emperor's inner court and had nothing to do with him; The officials of the Inner Court Ordnance Supervisor also said that they had been removed from their posts and had no authority to deal with it. As a result, this trivial matter, which should have been stripped away, turned out to be a "masterless cannon" under the prevarication of many officials.
Just as these officials were pushing and kicking the ball, the siege army of the Jin army was getting closer and closer to the city. Finally, an official woke up and urgently ordered the two yamen of the capital office and the driving department to mobilize men and horses together to transport heavy artillery into the city. However, one of the two yamen reasoned that the warehousing procedures were cumbersome, and the other said that he was only in charge of the transportation of cars and horses, and no one was willing to take the initiative to take this responsibility. In this way, the huge force was delayed in front of the city gate until the Jin army completely surrounded Bianjing, and it was impossible to transport heavy artillery into the city.
This incident was originally just a small material dispatch problem, but under the incompetent style of the officials of the Northern Song Dynasty court, it was indefinitely delayed and ridiculed, and finally led to all the important arms falling into the hands of the Jin army. The Jin army surrounded the Bianjing City Pond almost unhindered, and more than 500 heavy artillery pieces were used by it to bombard the Bianjing City Wall. The soldiers and civilians of the Northern Song Dynasty suffered not only from the artillery fire of the Jin army, but also from the incompetence and indifference of their own officials.
Excessive corruption: pro-trust, tying up and blackmailing
During the Jingkang Rebellion, the officials of the Northern Song Dynasty were corrupt, not only because of the disadvantages of pro-trustworthiness, but also because of the evil of binding and blackmailing.
At that time, the prime minister Wang Huang was in the pretext of donating money to the enemy, and actually sent money and goods to relatives in Xiangyang, which was not only huge, but even included the reward of the imperial court in silver. Such an act is tantamount to personal gain and is absurd. As an important minister of the court, Wang Hao's extravagance and profligacy is obviously a serious squandering and waste of the enemy's military resources.
What's more, the rewards of the enemy have also become a tool for the selfish interests of the powerful. Those who were wounded and wounded by the enemy were supposed to be rewarded with great benefits, but at that time they were detained and embezzled by some officials. According to history, some seriously injured and disabled soldiers waited for months without a way out, and they were denied a penny. At the same time, Wang Hao and others collected a lot of rewards and squandered them wantonly. The magnates really committed many murders against the injured soldiers, how could they serve the enemy?
During the period when some disabled soldiers were trapped in Bianjing, their original family members had fled the famine. However, the enemy's grain reserves were detained and embezzled by some officials, leaving the families of these soldiers helpless and displaced.
At that time, in order to encourage soldiers to serve bravely, the government originally stipulated that each disabled soldier could receive 18 buckets of food and 500 yuan of silver per month. However, some officials set up their own rules and imposed deductions on those who were seriously injured, and only paid seven buckets of grain and 200 yuan. This practice is undoubtedly another kind of injury and insult to the seriously injured soldiers.
What's more, during the period of resisting the enemy, there were corrupt officials who tied up and extorted money from the people. The history records that Ni Jing, the town general, once "divided and claimed" the people in the sub-feudal territory, and demanded that each family pay a penny of silver as "redemption silver". Those who do not pay the money will be imprisoned by the whole family and forced to submit. Although Ni Jing is guarding the enemy's important place, he is so domineering, which is indeed contemptible and strange. The people of the Northern Song Dynasty had already sacrificed their lives and money to resist the enemy, and they were even more devastated and oppressed, how could they resist the enemy?
The list goes on and on. It can be seen that the officials of the Northern Song Dynasty at that time were greedy and shameless, and they had no intention of saving the enemy at all, but only took advantage of the fire to rob and make profits. Under such a corrupt and moth-clad government and the opposition, no matter how powerful the Northern Song Dynasty is, it is inevitable that it will waste time and will inevitably end up in a slump.
Rigid and outdated military system
In the face of the severe situation of the invasion of the Jin army, the various stereotypes and rigid shortcomings of the military system of the Northern Song Dynasty were exposed in this crisis.
Most of the military generals of the Northern Song Dynasty were born from hereditary sons or eunuchs Zhong Eun, but those who really had military combat talents were often ignored and excluded. For example, the important army guarding Kaifeng at that time was commanded by the eunuch deputy envoy Quan Chengen. Quan Chengen has no ability to fight bravely at all, and only relies on favor to drill the camp. Even in the face of the fierce offensive of the Jin army, he was still unable to suppress it, which eventually led to the fall of Kaifeng.
Other military generals who are hereditary descendants often have little military accomplishments and only rely on hereditary titles. Taking Zhang Ge, who guarded Heyang, as an example, he only knew how to spoil beautiful concubines, and was at a loss for the invasion of the Jin army, and was finally captured by the Jin army. There are many similar examples of the sons of the family performing poorly during the period of defending against the enemy.
The training rules of the Northern Song Dynasty army were very rigid, and they disregarded the needs of actual combat. For example, during military training, the soldiers of the Northern Song Dynasty only knew how to beat drums and curse and kill, but in fact they only did some vain formalistic actions. For example, cavalry and archery training is also useless, and many sergeants are within the reach of their husbands when they go into battle, and they have little combat power to speak of.
Moreover, during the period of resisting the enemy, the Northern Song Dynasty army was ruinous and rigid, and often fought against it. There are also conflicts and disputes between civilian and military generals. As a result, although many soldiers have the heart of bravery, under the influence of rigid training and enemy resentment, it is inevitable that their morale will gradually lose and they will not be willing to fight.
More importantly, the equipment strength of the Northern Song Dynasty army has lagged behind the trend of the times compared with the Jin army. As a grassland cavalry and archery people, the Jin people are good at cavalry and archery combat, while the cavalry and elite forces of the Northern Song Dynasty have been weakened a lot. When defending against the enemy, the imperial court hurriedly recruited cavalry from all over the country, but the level was uneven and the equipment was outdated. Compared with the Jin Army, it is inferior in mobile combat and long-range shooting.
In general, the military system of the Northern Song Dynasty has long been rigid and outdated, and many deficiencies have been exposed when dealing with the iron cavalry of the strong enemy Jin Army. How can military generals win on the battlefield if they have no real material to learn, their training is useless, and their equipment strength is far inferior to that of people? This is undoubtedly one of the important reasons for the final defeat of the Northern Song Dynasty.
Command confusion, internal strife and self-chaos
At the critical juncture of the Jin army's invasion, the command system of the Northern Song Dynasty army was in chaos, and there were many internal contradictions and self-chaos. This situation undoubtedly exacerbated the eventual fall of the Northern Song Dynasty.
During the period of resisting the enemy, the supreme command of the Northern Song Dynasty army was in the hands of the prime minister Wang Huang and Yu Wenxu. However, they were all civilian officials, and they did not really know the way of military command. In addition, many staff members and middle-level generals are children of families or protégés of eunuchs, and they are not real military generals, so the military orders are inefficient and the command system is redundant and incompetent.
On the other hand, many small and medium-sized generals in the army are also jealous and suspicious, and each has his own private opinions, making it difficult for them to command and unify their commands. At that time, Wang Hao and others also did not know enough about this, and failed to rectify their morale in time, which led to the gradual dispersion of the army's morale. At the beginning of the Jin army's attack, the Northern Song army was already lurking in chaos.
At the same time, the power struggle between eunuchs and parties was also very rampant in the Northern Song army. As mentioned above, eunuchs such as Quan Chengen and others relied on the favor of their cronies to take charge of heavy troops, but they had no real talent and real learning. Not only were they unable to command properly, but they also often fought in the same way as other soldiers, causing the army to feel uneasy.
The other party is centered on military generals such as Zhang Fangping, who are the children of the family. They were incompatible with the eunuchs' protégés, and often clashed and confronted each other. During the critical period of resisting the enemy, the two sides did not distinguish between each other and focused on their own partisan power struggle, which greatly weakened the morale and combat effectiveness of the Northern Song Dynasty against the enemy.
It was precisely because of the above-mentioned civil strife that the Northern Song army gradually collapsed in the face of the onslaught of the Jin army. The defense line of the troops began to be in disarray, each with its own evil intentions, and it was difficult to unify its command. Some generals were captured and turned to serve in the Jin army; Some secretly colluded with the Jin people to become spies; Some simply abandoned the camp and fled. All this made the army of the enemy in the late Northern Song Dynasty almost no military spirit at all.
end
In the end, under the chaotic and incompetent command of Wang Hao and others, the Northern Song army was defeated in the face of the Jin offensive. Even the capital city of Bianliang was vulnerable and was soon captured by the Jin army. The Northern Song Dynasty was thus destroyed, and all blame was on the incompetence and corruption of the ruling group, as well as all kinds of malpractices and internal strife within the army.