During the reign of Emperor Renzong of the Northern Song Dynasty, Han Qi, as chancellor, played one autumn after another, and the content of the recital was basically related to the heirs of the imperial family. At this time, Emperor Renzong was often ill and had no heirs, so Han Qi repeatedly hoped that the emperor would pay more attention to the issue of selecting successors from the clan. After some careful selection, two candidates stood out, one of whom was the future Song Yingzong.
It is reasonable to say that as the successor of the clan, Yingzong himself should be very happy, but he himself has a somewhat timid personality, does not want to participate in politics too much, and there is a lot of criticism of him in the clan at that time. At the beginning of his succession, he was criticized in the hope of calming the discontent in the clan, but due to his limited ability and excessive number of clans, he failed to regulate the clan relations until his death. In 1067 he was succeeded by his eldest son, later Emperor Shenzong of Song. The emperor, who witnessed his father's oppression by the clan before his death, was very dissatisfied with the large population of the clan, and in the ancient times of the prosperity of the people, a plan for population reform within the royal family was about to be born.
Zhao Shu (16 February 1032 – 25 January 1067), originally known as Zhao Zongshi and later renamed Zhao Shu
1. Overpopulated clans
During Emperor Yingzong's reign, due to his own compromise nature, his means of dealing with clan issues changed from weakening to appeasement. He vigorously promoted clan education and sent additional teachers to the children of the clan, but the already overpopulated clan during the renzong period made Yingzong's appeasement weak, and the education system of the clan houses was on the verge of collapse.
When Emperor Shenzong succeeded to the throne, the first two emperors left him a mess, whether it was a tight war, a financial deficit, or a conflict between the clans, which was enough to make The Divine Sect anxious. The Song and Western Xia wars of the 11440s alone left the Song Dynasty treasury empty, and by the 1960s, the descendants of the Zhao clan had been passed down to the fifth generation, and many of the so-called imperial relatives and state relatives had already surpassed the "five clothes" in the funeral.
Under the Song Dynasty and the Tang Dynasty, the descendants of the five costumes should be sent to places outside the capital, stop issuing Lu gifts, and divide the fields and acres instead, so that they can take root on their own, and never appear in the royal family tree again. Zhao Kuangyin was worried about the overpopulation of the clan in the Great Training. In the 1160s, Zongzheng Temple reported to Emperor Yingzong that there were more than 1,000 people over the age of ten in the clan room. This figure is indeed not much compared to the people of the whole country, but the cost of this "minority" group is not small.
Above_ Nine Ethnic Groups Five Costume Diagram
Second, the treasury of the fiscal deficit
Just supporting these imperial relatives costs as much as 70,000 taels per month. The entire capital spent only 40,000 taels on officials. If there is a special event such as marriage and funeral, or a change of season, Zongzheng Temple also has to apply to the imperial court to reward the clan room with clothing and additional funds.
Emperor Shenzong believed that it was not enough to reduce financial expenditures, and it was necessary to redefine the concept of clan rooms, reorganize the existing clan rooms, and exclude the children of the clans outside the five services from the welfare system. However, due to the voice of the conservatives, the Shinjong could only postpone the reform for the time being until the end of the yingzong mourning service.
Above_ Wang Anshi transformation method
3. Clans facing reorganization
In the summer of 1069, a reform ensued. At that time, Emperor Shenzong of Song, after listening to Wang Anshi's opinion, was determined to reform the imperial family, although the conservative Sima Guang repeatedly opposed it. Zhongshu Province and the Privy Council issued a detailed plan for the reorganization of the clans, which targeted the distant branches of the clans outside the five services. The plan was accompanied by an edict that invoked Confucian classics and precedents from the old Han and Tang dynasties to justify the reorganization plan.
The sons of the clan who belonged to the five services lost the power to automatically appoint officials, and as a reassurance, they exchanged the right to take the imperial examination, and those who passed the examination could hold regular positions. Even if they fail to obtain meritorious titles, these people still retain the admission qualifications for the clan school. In addition, the reorganization plan deprived Taizu, the fifth generation of descendants of Emperor Taizong, and the fourth generation of descendants of King Wei of the power to give names and confer official duties, and the disappearance of this power was a signal sent by Emperor Shenzong to the outside world, and he could no longer tolerate too many people attaching themselves to the royal family.
Above_ Sima Guang's full body portrait
In the face of reform, Ouyang Xiu, Sima Guang, Cheng Yi, and others advocated the revival of the clan system in the Western Zhou Dynasty, in an attempt to allow the emperor to preserve the existing clan members, because this system included the clan members who did not obey the discipline within the clan.
The emperor believed that by the end of the sixth generation, the relationship between the clan and the emperor had long ended, and the "pro-Tao" had been exhausted. However, Zongzheng Temple complained to rebbe that since the Xining Reformation, the banned clan families often had children with names that were used in the name of the family.
The Rebbe had to work overtime with Zongzheng Temple out of consideration for genealogical policies to inform these former clan disciples of a large-scale change of name. And because they were once relatives of the emperor and the state, they were not embarrassed to force them to be anxious.
Above_ Emperor Shenzong of Song (1048–1085)
4. The Divine Sect of Grace and Grace
In the face of protests from the clans, opposition from conservatives, and complaints from Zongzhengji and the Rebbe, Shinjong considered slowing down the progress and no longer blindly revising the genealogy and directly eliminating the clan children. Emperor Shenzong intended to give them some degree of welfare, such as the sons of the clan who had been stripped of their status as pro-Nanban guards, although they could only serve in low-ranking official positions, but gave them some privileges, in addition to which the imperial court would still give them small subsidies when there were difficulties.
For those who aspire to make meritorious achievements or change their lives through the imperial examination, the Shenzong is also very welcome, such as people like Zhao Zhongyou. Such people can take the lock-in examination, which is held for officials and their children, and the difficulty of the examination is relatively easy, and there is no need to take the Analects like ordinary people. Clans that are too far away can first take the exam in the Guozijian and then participate in the Rebbe Provincial Examination, although the process is troublesome, but the pass rate is 50%. In the final temple examination, the Non-Service Sect Room and the ordinary people examine the theory together, and the multiple test takers over the age of 40 in the Non-Service Sect Room can make an exception.
Above_ Tang Dynasty manuscript Analects
In 1070, the system of entering and leaving the various houses of the clan began to relax. This was due to the fact that Emperor Shenzong continued to stay in the capital on the pretext of preventing those who had been excluded from borrowing the restriction order. In addition, because of the large number of people, if the entry and exit must be approved by Zongzheng Temple, it will be more cumbersome, and the restriction order will be cancelled. The imperial court allowed the unsubtened clans living outside the mansions to retain their property, but Yongyetian was not allowed to be appropriated for themselves and was reclaimed by the imperial court.
The imperial court allowed unserved children who had not yet reached the age of officialhood and whose relatives had died. It will be reviewed and verified by the Daimyō Shoji, and the money and rice will be issued by the Household Department. Later, the content of the pension was extended to housing subsidies. This was what the Divine Sect wanted to express, and although the imperial court no longer regarded them as fellow sects, it also decided to feed them.
Above_ Song Dynasty officials
The grace and power of the Divine Sect are not only embodied in the material, but also in the spiritual level. The Song Dynasty stipulated that the Wufu Clan could not intermarry with Xu officials, craftsmen, merchants, and peasants' descendants, but the Wufu Clan was not restricted, and Shenzong encouraged them to marry freely, because Shenzong was worried that once they married with high-ranking officials of the imperial court, the Wufu Clan would return to elite status, and it was bound to require the imperial court to give them more preferential treatment, so Shenzong encouraged them to intermarry with ordinary people more.
To this end, the Divine Sect stipulated that the children of the unserved clan who intermarried with ordinary people could receive a dowry of 500 yuan and a dowry. Although this money is only a drop in the bucket compared to the days when it was once a good deal.
Zhao Xu (4 January 1077 – 23 February 1100), originally known as Zhao Shu, was the seventh emperor of the Song Dynasty1
Fifth, the reform of the tiger's head and tail
Although all kinds of policies could be implemented, with the death of Emperor Shenzong, the reform stagnated, and by the time of Emperor Zhezong, both conservatives and reformers no longer carried out policy planning, in exchange for only party struggle, and they were busy arguing whether the reorganization of the clan should be to open up and reduce expenditure or to eliminate the difference between the clan and the ordinary people.
At the same time, the Wufu Clan and the existing Clan clan attacked the new emperor and demanded that the reforms be stopped, because the reforms against the Wufu Clan had spread to the Yufu Clan, and they could only be awarded low-ranking official positions, and their welfare was sharply reduced.
Zongzheng Temple was also not peaceful, due to the reduction of the clan office, the size of the Zongzheng Temple should also be reduced, the frequent transfer of officials caused dissatisfaction among the various ministries of the imperial court, and the clan population reform plan was also abandoned, and there was no further follow-up.
The reforms that were supposed to save the Song Dynasty's finances eventually evolved into a farce, the wheel of history rolled forward, and the Song Dynasty could not avoid its fiscal deficit and demise.
Author: Cave Man Correction/Editor: Lilith
Resources:
"History of the Song Dynasty", "Examination of the Imperial Household System of the Song Dynasty", "Continuation of the Zizhi Tongjian Long Chapter", "Tianhuang Guiguan: History of the Song Dynasty's Ancestral Chambers"
The text was created by the History University Hall team, and the picture originated from the Internet and the copyright belongs to the original author