Jiang Jinling x surging asked
In 960, Zhao Kuangyin, a young officer who had stood out for his military merits in the five generations of turmoil, became the founding prince of the Song Dynasty. Without his layout and adventurous fight, there would be no establishment of the Great Song Dynasty; without him ending the chaotic government of the Warriors with a "cup of wine and releasing military power" and quelling the rebellion with political wisdom, the Song Dynasty may have been a short-lived "sixth generation" dynasty. From the cloth people to the founding emperor, is zhao Kuangyin's legend accidental or inevitable? How did the literati political precedent he opened affect the later development of the Northern Song Dynasty? This issue of The Paper invites Professor Jiang Jinling of the Department of Chinese History of Jilin University to talk about the life of Zhao Kuangyin and the founding history of the Northern Song Dynasty.
From the cloth people to the founding emperors
@ Mint Eggshell: Is Zhao Kuangyin's family well-off? How did he gain hearts and minds step by step in the barracks?
Jiang Jinling: Zhao Kuangyin's high ancestor Zhao Shu served as the Tang Dynasty Yongqing and Youdu County Commandery, and the official Liu Pin was about; the great-grandfather Zhao Jue, who was a tired official to Yushi Zhongcheng, was the second in command of the Tang Dynasty's highest supervision department, Yu shitai, and the official Zheng Si Pinxia; his grandfather Zhao Jing, who successively served as the assassin of Yingzhou, Jizhou, and Youzhou, and the official Zheng Si pin to cong san pin. It can be seen that from his high ancestors to his grandfather, the Zhao family has been a generation of hairpins, and has achieved three consecutive jumps in official products, from low and intermediate officials to high-level officials. But his father, Zhao Hongyin, was just an ordinary mid-level officer in the Forbidden Army. It can be said that the family lineage has no role in supporting Zhao Kuangyin's success, and Zhao Kuangyin has grown up step by step from an ordinary soldier on his own.
Zhao Kuangyin was brave and fierce in battle, and was appreciated by Chai Rong, and in 953 Chai Rong transferred him to his side, serving as an envoy of Ma Zhijun in Kaifeng Province, managing the cavalry of the Later Zhou capital Kaifeng Province, this position can not be described as unimportant, from then on, Zhao Kuangyin became Chai Rong's right and left arm. In 954, as soon as Chai Rong ascended the throne, he transferred Zhao Kuangyin to the Central Forbidden Army and became a mid-level general in the Forbidden Army. In this year, in the Battle of Gaoping, which was related to the survival of Later Zhou, Zhao Kuangyin tried to turn the tide of the tide, and after the war, Chai Rong promoted Zhao Kuangyin to the post of Marquis of Yu in front of the palace and entered the ranks of senior generals of Later Zhou. After the Battle of Gaoping, Chai Rong asked Zhao Kuangyin to vigorously rectify the two forbidden army units of the Guards Division and the Dianqian Division, if Zhao Kuangyin was known for his amazing wisdom and courage in the Battle of Gaoping, then in this whole army Zhao Kuangyin was impressive with his extraordinary ability to govern the army, because of the power to appoint and dismiss personnel, Zhao Kuangyin not only established his prestige in the forbidden army, but also infiltrated his influence into the forbidden army, and the famous "Ten Brothers of the Righteous Society" was probably formed during this period, which laid the most important foundation for his future yellow robe.
@ Rose-colored you: Zhao Kuangyin, a martial artist, why did you start literati politics?
Jiang Jinling: It is precisely because Zhao Kuangyin is a warrior and has a yellow robe, that he has a deep understanding of the chaos of the five generations and is deeply jealous of the martial generals, so after the founding of the country, he took a variety of methods to prevent the military generals from sitting up. In Zhao Kuangyin's view, civilian officials obviously have advantages that military generals do not have, first of all, civilian officials are good at cooperating and controlling; second, civilian officials have a high level of education and relatively high ability to govern the country and the people; third, attaching importance to civilian officials and selecting talents for governing the country through examinations can also enable the people of the country, including military officers, to learn the Confucian ethics of loyalty, righteousness, benevolence, and filial piety as the core, thus eliminating potential hidden dangers of rebellion. Attaching importance to the imperial examination and civil officials has greatly contributed to the birth of civilian politics.
@ A Dumpling OQ: How did Zhao Kuangyin deal with the Later Zhou royal family?
Jiang Jinling: Zhao Kuangyin was very respectful to the Later Zhou royal family, not only did he treat the descendants of the Chai clan with kindness himself, it is said that he also made a special instruction to let the descendants of the Chai clan treat the Chai clan as he did, even if the descendants of the Chai clan are guilty, they must not be punished, even if they commit such a heinous crime as rebellion, they can only let the sinner commit suicide in prison, and they must not be killed in the public in the downtown court like other death row prisoners, nor can they sit with their relatives.
Internal and external troubles
@ Cactus Cactus Ball Immortal Sword: After the death of Song Taizu Zhao Kuangyin, why did he pass the throne to his brother Zhao Guangyi to inherit? Is there really such a thing as the "Golden Alliance" recorded in the main history? Why did the Empress dowager put forward a motion for her brother to take the throne?
Jiang Jinling: The alliance between the Golden Kuai and the Golden Dagger is real, this was presided over by Zhao Kuangyin's mother, Empress Du, and the agreed order of succession to the throne is that after Zhao Kuangyin's death, the throne is inherited by the second brother Zhao Guangyi, after Zhao Guangyi's death, the throne passes to the third brother Zhao Tingmei, and after Zhao Tingmei's death, the throne is passed back to Zhao Kuangyin's son Zhao Dezhao. The emergence of the "Golden Alliance" of brothers and brothers has its own special historical background.
First of all, and most importantly, the frequent changes in political power in the five dynasties and ten kingdoms have given Empress Du and Zhao Kuangyin the most direct and profound historical lessons. In particular, Chai Rong died suddenly in his prime, and the young lord who was only seven years old took the throne, and Zhao Kuangyin had a chance to seize the throne. In this case, whether the monarch of a country is a mature, prestigious and talented leader is closely related to the survival and safety of the country, and "the speaker of the parliament" has become a major consensus of the people at that time.
Secondly, during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, in the succession of the throne, it was not uncommon for brothers and nephews to pass on, and the Song Dynasty, as a dynasty established immediately after the five generations, naturally could not get rid of the influence of this historical atmosphere.
Third, based on the reality that the Song Dynasty was first established and the situation was worrying. At the beginning of the founding of the Northern Song Dynasty, not only were the four sides divided, the military power of the strong domain was not cut, and the situation of centralized power was still formed, while the Khitan in the north occupied the sixteen prefectures of Yanyun and looked at the newborn Northern Song Dynasty, and under this situation of internal and external troubles, a monarch with rich experience and prestige was needed to undertake the heavy responsibility of ruling the world and unifying the four sides.
Therefore, as long as we combine the historical background at that time and proceed from the actual situation of the five dynasties and the early Song Dynasty, we will find that Empress Du's "the state is the chief king, and the happiness of the society" is a wise theory with a sense of distress.
@ Sand Stain: Why is it important to recover Yanyun Sixteen Prefectures? What was Zhao Kuangyin's attitude toward recovering Yanyun Sixteen Prefectures?
Jiang Jinling: Before the Northern Song Dynasty, the Central Plains Dynasty's defense line against the northern ethnic groups going south was mainly Yanyun Sixteen Prefectures. Yanyun Sixteen Prefectures, also known as Youyun Sixteen Prefectures, that is, the northern regions of present-day Beijing, Tianjin, and Shanxi and Hebei, specifically, bounded by the Taihang Mountains, divided into the seven prefectures before the mountain and the Jiuzhou region after the mountains, which have unique geographical advantages, and have been a place of contention since ancient times - it is the north pillow Yanshan Mountain, the west embraces the Taihang Mountains, the east surrounds the Bohai Sea, is a barrier built by heaven to defend the Central Plains in the south, and since the Warring States, the various regimes have built the Great Wall according to the mountain conditions, and built Juyongguan, Bauhinia Pass and other passes at the gaps in the mountains. These natural lofty mountains and mountains, vast oceans, coupled with the artificial construction of the Great Wall fortress, heavy passes and junkou, together constitute the central plains Dynasty's comprehensive defense system against the northern nomads going south, the real so-called "one husband and one pass, ten thousand people are in front of the land". During the Shi Jingyao period, Yanyun was dedicated to the Liao Dynasty. It has to be said that the loss of Yanyun was an important reason why the Northern Song Dynasty tended to be passive in its relations with the Liao.
Zhao Kuangyin believed that Yanyun Sixteen Prefectures must be recovered, but on the other hand, Zhao Kuangyin also clearly realized that with Song's current strength, it was impossible to compete with the Khitan militarily, and Zhao Kuangyin himself said: "The only fierce enemy of my Great Song today is the Khitan!" There was no hope of recovery by force, and Zhao Kuangyin germinated a new idea to recover Yanyun: to recover Yanyun in a peaceful "redemption" way. At the beginning of the Song Dynasty, the war was fought all year round, and the ransom could not be directly allocated from the state financial expenditure, so Zhao Kuangyin gathered the property in the treasury of the southern countries that was peaceful and specially built a "sealed pile warehouse" for storage. He said to his close courtiers, "I plan to save enough five million taels, so I will send emissaries to the Khitan to discuss redeeming the Yanyun States with money." If the Khitan did not agree, I would use the money as military expenses, recruit warriors, and forcibly capture them. Zhao Kuangyin's peaceful "redemption" policy was a clever strategy in line with the national conditions of the Song Dynasty, which not only avoided a direct conflict with the Khitan and was able to concentrate the Song Dynasty's forces in the war to unify the south, but also showed his determination and commitment to the soldiers to recover Yanyun and encouraged them to fight heroically. Therefore, until Zhao Kuangyin's death, the Northern Song Dynasty did not launch an armed attack on Yanyun Sixteen Prefectures.
Zhao Kuangyin's life's work and faults
@ Paper Bag Rose: What are Zhao Kuangyin's outstanding achievements that are highly respected, and even can be juxtaposed with Tang Taizong? From the beginning of the release of military power with a cup of wine, Song Taizu has always been more generous and peaceful in government, is his personal personality also like this?
Jiang Jinling: Zhao Kuangyin's greatest achievement is to end the chaos of the five generations and basically unify the Central Plains, which has created a basic social foundation for China's economic development and cultural prosperity. The change of the throne in the five generations period is more dependent on the contest of strength. Undoubtedly, after years of accumulation, Zhao Kuangyin has a large number of supporters around him, so that after precise planning, he can be supported and become an emperor with a yellow robe. After Zhao Kuangyin became emperor, he also took a series of measures to reassure the people, so he won the hearts and minds of the people. In addition, Zhao Kuangyin laid a relatively solid foundation for the Song Dynasty's rule, such as the control of military generals, the emphasis on the imperial examination, and the civil servants, which became the "ancestral family law" and was the foundation of the Song Dynasty.
Zhao Kuangyin is first and foremost an emperor and a politician, his personality is naturally complex, there is an element of generosity in his personality, and Shi Renzheng does have something to do with his personality, but as a mature politician, no matter what kind of policy he pursues, the first thing he should consider is how to consolidate his rule, this consideration is calm and rational, not just driven by personality.
@DL.666: How to evaluate Zhao Kuangyin's merits and faults?
Jiang Jinling: As the founding emperor, Zhao Kuangyin basically did not make a major mistake in the 17 years of his reign and fulfilled the duties of a founding prince. His great contributions were mainly twofold: First, he put an end to the nearly two hundred years of feudal division and warlord war since the Anshi Rebellion, so that the people who had been devastated by the war finally had a peaceful and peaceful production and living environment. Although he ascended the throne by usurping the throne, if he really continues to let the young children and widows rule the world in the later weeks, it will only provide opportunities for more careerists, and the "five generations" may become "six generations" and "seven generations"... It will only bring more killing and disaster.
Second, as the king of "entrepreneurial vertical unification", Zhao Kuangyin laid the foundation of the Song Dynasty for more than three hundred years. Because he was deeply touched by the "weak monarchs and strong subjects" during the Five Dynasties period, after ascending the throne, he pursued the basic national policy of "suppressing the right language and suppressing the military", and skillfully controlled the military, administrative, judicial, and financial powers in his own hands through such policies as "releasing military power through a glass of wine," "strengthening cadres and weak branches," and "slightly seizing their power, controlling their money valley, and collecting their elite troops." As the founding emperor, he honored Confucius, perfected the imperial examination, and established the temple examination, which gave the literati the opportunity to show their lifelong ambitions. He reduced his servitude, ruled the country by law, built water conservancy, developed production, clarified the rule of officials, and persuaded and rewarded nongsang, thus realizing the famous "rule of Jianlong". He also has an admirable personality charm, generosity, diligence and love for the people, strict self-discipline, advocating frugality, which has played a great exemplary effect on the whole society.
In 976, Zhao Kuangyin died young, only 49 years old, and the Song court, based on his life's merits and virtues, was given the title of "Emperor of Yingwu Shengwen Shende", which can be described as deserved.
"The Founding Emperor: Zhao Kuangyin" by Jiang Jinling, published by Liaoning People's Publishing House in August 2021.
Editor-in-Charge: Ju Wentao
Proofreader: Liu Wei