After 140 years of steady development, the Northern Song Dynasty ascended the throne in Song Huizong, or entered a "peaceful and prosperous world". We can see the prosperity of Bianjing, the capital of the Northern Song Dynasty, from the narration of Meng Yuanlao's Tokyo Dream Record and the description of Zhang Zeduan's Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival. In terms of population, in the early years of Song Huizong, the number of households had exceeded 20 million, and some scholars estimated that the population had exceeded 100 million. In an agricultural society, population is the main measure to measure the strength of a country, and with a population of 100 million, there are nearly one million troops, which is definitely a leading country in the world at that time. From the aspect of territory, since Chongning, with the successive victories in the war against Xixia, "it's too late to live in peace" until the first year of Xuanhe (119), when Song Jun was defeated in Tongan City, he was forced to stop fighting with Xixia. Later, he attacked Liao, won Yanyun States from 8 Jin Jun, and added Yanshan Mansion and Yunzhong Mansion Road. Song Huizong was also quite complacent about the prosperity of the country at this time, painting Taiping from time to time, exulting in success. The ci minister was ordered to write a poem: "The four seas are full of harmony, and the Taiping Gallery Temple only sings songs."
However, it is this seemingly powerful Song Dynasty, which has the world's leading manpower, material resources and financial resources. In the contest with the newly emerging small country in Northeast China, Xu Jin, it took only over a year for this magnificent building to collapse, the capital fell, the second emperor and a large number of people were taken into captivity, and all the people were smeared with charcoal. Its horror was really unbearable. So, why is such a seemingly rich and powerful empire so vulnerable? Why was this Song Dynasty with a population of hundreds of millions so quickly destroyed by the fighters of the nomads from the army? In particular, this destruction took only one year after the confrontation between the two armies. Is it that the nomads from the army have such great power, or did the Song Dynasty invite humiliation and defeat?
Let's take a look at the last two emperors of the Northern Song Dynasty and the wonderful performances of the people around them in the last days of the Northern Song Dynasty, or we can understand this problem.
Song Huizong is one of the few talented artists among emperors in past dynasties. He has great talents in music, painting, calligraphy, chess, poetry and so on. For example, he created a thin gold body in calligraphy, and his flower-and-bird paintings are exquisite and lifelike. He knows music and writes well. However, the stupor in handling military affairs, the degree of luxury and corruption in life, and the number of treacherous officials and corrupt officials under his command are all equal to those of bad emperors in previous dynasties. He directed the construction of unprecedented palaces and backyard gardens, which were extremely extravagant and beautiful. He set up a construction bureau and a service bureau, launched a "flower stone class", and squandered the people's fat and paste, using it as sediment. He was a womanizer, and he was bound to be a virgin on the 5th and 7th, that is, he was given a title or advanced rank. When he abdicated, he gave birth to more than 6,000 maids, totaling tens of thousands. Not even satisfied, I set up a special bureau to wander freely in prostitutes' restaurants, chasing after the sound and color, and looking for flowers. He indulged in debauchery, exhausted the world to serve himself, and the huge palace expenses were completely supported by the blood and sweat of the people.
At the same time, Song Huizong also boasted verbally that he "always pays attention to his ambition, and deeply understands the difficulty of keeping the text". Soon, he followed the reform policy of Zhezong, further punishing the anti-reformists, and adopted new policies in finance and education, such as continuing to equalize taxes on farmland, attaching importance to farmland water conservancy, reforming salt law and tea law, encouraging the development of mining industry, and reforming the imperial examination in schools. Increase taxes and worship Taoism, etc. Its series of New Deal presents a complex situation, which can't be said to have no reasonable and positive elements, but most of them include the contents of the people's fat and people's paste. It is even more ridiculous to worship Taoism, claiming to be "the founder of Taoism and the emperor of Taoism", and a large number of Taoist priests who boast of their excellent Taoism are honored as guests by Huizong, playing tricks of deceiving themselves and others.
A group of minions around Song Huizong are known as "six thieves": Cai Jing, Wang Fu, Zhu and eunuchs Tong Guan, Liang Shicheng and Li Yan. People call Cai Jing the public phase, Tong Guan the secret phase, and Liang Shi the hidden phase. In fact, at that time, there were definitely more than the above six people, such as eunuchs Yang Jian, Lan Congxi, Tan Ai, officials Li Bangyan, Gao Qiu, Cai Jing's various schools of thought Cai You, Meng Changling, Meng Yang, and Meng Yi's father and son. These people stole from Tianjin, quoted relatives and friends, and made friends. For example, six sons of Cai Jing and four grandchildren were in power and served as officials at the same time, and other treacherous court officials followed suit. At one time, they were childish and ignorant of books, and officials banned them everywhere. Therefore, the relevant historical materials are everywhere, especially the cruel plundering of the people.
Don't think that these henchmen are all straw bags, and some of them are also gifted scholars. For example, Cai Jing is a great calligrapher, a scholar, and his articles are also beautifully written. He initiated the theory of "Prosperity and Prosperity" and advocated peaceful and prosperous times. The Huizong Dynasty was once a phase for four times, which lasted for seventeen years. When his younger brother Cai Bian was a scholar in the same year as Beijing, and Wang Anshi was recruited as a son-in-law and edited from Anshi, the official middle school book and the national history, "the literary decoration was treacherous and false, and the record and official history were changed to the best of his ability", and he was appointed as the second official of Zaizhi. Cai Jing philosophers are also quite literary, such as Cai Liao's Supplement to National History, Documentary of the Northern Expedition, Poems in the Western Qing Dynasty, and Talks on Tiewei Mountain. Wang Fu's "History of the Song Dynasty" originally said: "Being beautiful, eyes like gold, and eloquent, is only sparse and academic, but more intelligent and good."
Despite the smog in the officialdom, Song Huizong still flaunted to punish corruption, and the court also punished a number of officials for taking bribes and cheating. For example, officials such as Li Chang Ru, deputy transport envoy of Hebei Road, He Xizhong, supervisor of Hebei Province, Tang Ke, the magistrate of Chuzhou, and Wang Zhan, who cast money on Jiangdong Road, were all demoted for being greedy for ink. However, there are not many power checks and balances in its system, especially for the highest authorities, and there is basically no supervision ability. Therefore, the root of its system corruption lies in the emperor himself, who is actually the biggest bribe-taker, and a large number of senior corrupt criminals around him are favored by the emperor.
In the face of the superficial prosperity of the hidden crisis, there are also some honest officials and students who complain about the shortcomings of the times. For example, Li Gang, an official, was relegated to a county tax. Zhu Meng, a former student, said that he had repeatedly written and was demoted to Chizhou. Yong Xiao, a former student, scorned the Cai Jing family and died in exile in Hainan. Some people even recited the crimes of treacherous court officials in Cai Jing and Tong Guan, which were "terrible at home and abroad", but Song Huizong turned a deaf ear to such advice.
Yan Mazhi was recommended and led by Tong Guan, offering the strategy of uniting the gold to destroy Liao. In the second year of Xuanhe (1 120), he entered the gold negotiations and formed the maritime alliance. In the fourth year of Xuanhe (1 122), the Jin people attacked Liao in Song Dynasty. In the long-term battle, Shaanxi Army became the elite of Song Jun. However, under the leadership of Tong Guan, it attacked Yanjing, the capital of Liaoning, twice and was defeated. 8 jin j take yanjing, at this time also see the essence of DaSong dynasty. 8 Jin Jun ransacked the ancient city and left several dilapidated empty cities for Song. In the Song Dynasty, however, the monarch and his subjects were still narcissistic. In order to recover the Yanyun States, the "heroes" were promoted one by one, and Huizong also ordered people to write "Fu Yanyun Monument" to sing praises. It seems that the unfinished business of Taizong and Taizong was really completed by him. Therefore, before the attack of the nomads from the Jin Dynasty, the Dasong Dynasty always gave people an impression of prosperity and prosperity.
In October of the seventh year of Xuanhe (1 125), Emperor Taizong of Jin sent a letter to cut the Song Dynasty, and the soldiers were divided into two ways: all the way to Taiyuan, all the way to Yanjing, and then to Kaifeng. Tong Guan, who was in charge of the Privy Council, heard the information of 8 Jin Army invading south in Hedong, but left the army in the name of reporting to Beijing and ran away. In December, Yanjing Song Jun surrendered, but the nomads from Shanxi Taiyuan and Hebei Baozhou still met with Song Jun's desperate resistance. At this time, Huizong felt the seriousness of the situation, and was forced to write a letter to himself, admit all kinds of malpractices, and hastily spread it to Qinzong on the 23rd, leaving a mess to his son irresponsibly. It should be said that this time, when 8 Jin Jun first attacked the south, Song Jun still had resistance, but alternated had already fled in a panic, and Cai You, Tong Guan and Gao Qiu also went with him.
At the beginning of the first year of Jingkang (1 126), Song Qinzong saw that his father had fled south and wanted to flee to Shaanxi. Under Li Gang's repeated remonstrance, he gave up his intention. Li Gang was appointed minister Youcheng, personal expedition camp ambassador, and was responsible for Tokyo's defense. 8 jin j hit Tokyo at the gates, and Song Jun was well-defended. The nomads from the army were wounded and killed, so they couldn't succeed, so they had to send an envoy into the city to make peace. Qin Zong was delighted. Under the urging of Prime Minister Li Bangyan, he agreed to the harsh conditions of ceding land for compensation, sent his brother prince as a hostage to Jinying, and sent officials to extort gold and silver from the people. After the diligent soldiers from all over the country arrived in Beijing one after another, the famous Zhongshidao also led the army to arrive, and Yao Pingzhong was eager to make contributions, and Li Gang did not object to it. However, the camp robbery failed, and Yao abandoned the army and fled. Jin Jun held Qin Zong accountable, and Qin Zong's fear of gold broke out again. Li Gang and Zhongshidao were dismissed, and an envoy was sent to apologize and prepare to deliver the goods to the three northern towns. It can be seen that Qin Zong has no ability to cope with the sinister situation, but only swings back and forth between surrender and adventure.
When the news came out, the crowd was furious. On February 5th, Chen Dong, a former student, led thousands of students to write a letter. Tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians came unexpectedly, demanding the removal of the courtiers and traitors, reusing Li Gang and the teacher's way, and opposing the division of land and begging for peace. The crowd carried the Dengwen Drum outside the Donghua Gate, beating it to the sky, and besieged and scolded the Lord and treacherous court official Li Bangyan. Kaifeng sent troops to surround the students and accused them of coercing the central government. The student retorted, "It's better to ask the court for loyalty than to threaten the son of heaven with evil deeds!" " Chen Dong stood up between the axes, awe-inspiring and fearless. Qinzong knew that there was a loss in the sense of honor, and the public was furious. He had to announce the reinstatement of Li Gang and Zhongshidao, and let Li Gang come forward to appease the students, which calmed the storm.
Jin Shuai learned that Song Ting's hawk faction had the upper hand, and the peripheral loyal soldiers were increasing. He could not attack Kaifeng for a long time, fearing that he was at a disadvantage. With the consent of Qin Zong, he ceded the letters of the three towns, and with the gold and silver extorted, he led his troops north. Kaifeng was besieged for nearly forty days, and finally cleared in mid-February.
On April 3, 1000 people from Huizong returned to Beijing leisurely, as if they had just made a trip to the south of the Yangtze River. At this time, the call for punishing all the treacherous court officials pervaded the ruling and opposition parties. At the end of last year, Chen Dong led hundreds of students to write to the court and demanded that the court severely punish the "six thieves". Qin Zong then exiled and gave the "six thieves" death. However, he thought that the crisis was over, so he dismissed the famous Zhongshidao from his post and laid him off. Only at the request of other officials did he let Zhongshidao be the Xuanfu ambassador of Hedong and Hebei. The imperial court ignored the teacher's suggestion to concentrate on guarding the military fortress north of the Yellow River to prevent the Jin Army from invading south again.
In June, Qin Zong pushed Li Gang out of the DPRK and went to Taiyuan to command the military. Because the front-line military commanders were directly under the emperor's command, Li Gang remained unmoved and had to resign. Qin Zong actually demoted Li Gang to exile and placed him in Kuizhou (now Fengjie, Chongqing) on the charge of "focusing on the main battle and wasting money". On the other hand, Qin zong thought that peace talks could be relied on, did not think about preparing for war, and suppressed the public opinion against gold. At the same time, Qin Zong and Huizong's father and son are intrigued on the issue of power, and they have no intention of preparing for war at all.
In August, nomads from two roads south again. Taiyuan was conquered in September, and Zhending House (now Zhengding, Hebei Province) was captured in October. In November, nomads from the Yellow River crossed safely and sent envoys to Tokyo, proposing that the two countries cut the river as the boundary. Qin zong readily promised, but also urgently sent officials to deliver. At the beginning of leap November, two nomads from the Golden Army joined forces in Tokyo. Start a large-scale siege. Qin Zong remembered Li Gang, who had been exiled, and called him to Beijing to preside over defense (however, Li Gang was still on his way, and Tokyo had fallen). At this time, there were nearly 200,000 imperial soldiers, loyal soldiers and militiamen in Kaifeng. If they were properly deployed, they could withstand at least a period of time. However, Qin Zong believed in the sorcery of Taoist Guo Jing, saying that only 7,777 people could be used to wipe out the nomads. On the 25th, Guo Jing drove troops to meet the enemy, but the enemy broke down at the first touch, and the nomads from the army took the opportunity to break into the city gate. The next day, Qin Zong sent an envoy to Jinying to beg for peace, and Jin Shuai put forward the conditions of ceding territory and hostages. Qinzong also personally went to Jinying as a hostage, presented a surrender watch, and was humiliated before being put back.
Jin Shuai had understood the psychology of Emperor Hui and Emperor Qin, and did not capture them immediately, but first ordered them to confiscate the weapons and horses in the city and deprive the Song people of their resistance. Then let them order the government to search for all the gold, silver, property and women of the people for the 8 Jin Army. After Qin Zong came back, he immediately ordered the search for 10 million gold ingots, 20 million silver ingots, 10 million silks, more than 7,000 livestock and 1,500 women, which caused the city to thread the river, rob people, and make people miserable. In the second year of Jingkang (1 127), on the 10th day of the first month, Qin Zong, his prince and ministers were summoned to Jinying for imprisonment. On February 6th, Qin Zong knelt down and listened to Di Chin's letters, announcing that Emperor Hui and Qin were abolished as Shu Ren, and others were made kings. Then he ordered the emperor Qin Zong to be stripped of his clothes, and Li Ruoshui, assistant minister of the Ministry of Rites, cursed the emperor and was beaten and hacked to death. The next day, Huizong and the royal family were also taken to Jinying. Huizong begged to stay in a small county in Guangnan to worship his ancestors, but was rejected. On the 11th, officials had to elect Zhang Bangchang as emperor. On March 7th, Jin Shuai wrote a book for Zhang Bangchang, and Zhang repeatedly wept bitterly, saying that he could not bear to rebel, but he could not help himself.
On April 1st, 8 jin j took a large number of captives and booty and left for the north. The captives included two emperors, queens, concubines, princes, princesses, imperial families, consorts, Zaizhi and other officials, geisha, craftsmen and prostitutes, with a total of more than 100,000 people. Gold and silver, horses, silks, chariots, artifacts, ritual vessels, cultural relics, books and other trophies are countless. At this time, Kaifeng city has also been burned by the war and is in ruins. In the past, the prosperous, rich and prosperous Dasong Dynasty was basically destroyed in just over a year. It was destroyed by the rampant nomads and fighters, and even more by these two despicable and incompetent emperors. They can do whatever it takes to oppress and destroy their own people; In the face of resisting foreign aggression, it seems so cowardly, incompetent and despicable. Of course, those traitors can't escape the condemnation of aiding and abetting. So, what is the main factor?
This makes us think: why are the people helpless in the face of such a despicable and groggy monarch's rule? The people have almost no right to choose, only to obey the fate: a so-called "good" emperor will think that he is the great savior of the people and thank the emperor for his gift of peace and prosperity; When you encounter a bad king and a violent Lord, you can only bear the pain. At the same time, many people are still singing their praises. At most, only a few people are making some unnecessary struggles such as writing letters and complaining. This is the operating characteristic of the traditional autocratic monarchy system in China. This system can sometimes construct a magnificent building, but it is by no means built on a solid foundation, and its texture is extremely fragile. About one hundred and fifty years later, it only took Mongolian fighters more than a year to go south from the north and conquer Lin 'an, the capital of the Southern Song Dynasty. Thousands of emperors, harem and ministers were captured and moved northward, and the scene of Jingkang's difficulties was vividly repeated, and the Yuan regime soon replaced the Song Dynasty. Through the above example analysis, do we understand the main reason why this building will suddenly collapse?