Diqin Designer

Chapter 493 Is he an emperor or a child? (History of the Northern Song Dynasty)
Before the First Emperor and the others could speak, Li Nian continued, "Well, in fact, Zhao Heng really regarded the 'Treaty of Chanyuan' as a merit that he was proud of."

Wang Ben said, "They are not ashamed, but proud!"

Look at Emperor Taizong of Tang. After being forced to sign the "Alliance of the Wei River" with Khagan Jieli, he felt deeply ashamed. A few years later, he captured Jieli and brought him to Chang'an to be made a dancing king.

Zhao Heng not only did not feel ashamed, but also felt that he had done a good job and considered it a proud achievement.

Wang Jian asked curiously, "What exactly is this 'Treaty of Chanyuan'?"

Li Nian smiled and said, "The root cause lies in the Song Dynasty's failure in its northern expedition, which forced it to switch from offense to defense. Conversely, the Song Dynasty switched from offense to defense, while the Liao Dynasty turned to taking the initiative to attack because of its victory."

"After Zhao Heng ascended the throne, he expressed his intention to make peace with Liao and establish friendly relations between the two countries, but Liao did not accept it at the time."

Meng Tian scoffed, "Peace cannot be obtained on the battlefield, let alone outside the battlefield! Zhao Heng is truly delusional. The Liao people have won a great victory over them. Without them paying a price, how could the Liao people possibly negotiate peace with them?"

If you can't win on the battlefield, it's even harder to achieve peace through negotiation and communication, unless you have to bleed yourself dry.

Li Nian nodded and said, "Because of their great victory over the Song, Liao looked down on Song and felt there was no need to negotiate peace with their defeated enemy. Moreover, Liao was even planning to launch an offensive against Song at that time!"

"In July of the second year of the Xianping era, Emperor Shengzong of Liao, Yelü Longxu, issued an edict to 'attack the Song.' When the news reached the Song, the Song was greatly alarmed and quickly made preparations for defense and summoned troops to counterattack the Liao army. In November, Zhao Heng even issued an edict to personally lead the expedition!"

Meng Tian laughed and said, "Zhao Heng can personally lead an expedition? Could it be that he also fled two hundred miles at night in a donkey cart?"

Is it true that Emperor Zhao Heng personally led an expedition? Did he even have the ability to do so?
Could it be that he'll also produce a battle formation diagram and ask the generals to deploy their troops according to his brilliant military strategies?
His father has already run away in a donkey cart; this fellow's abilities are probably not even as good as his father's.

Wang Wan said, "Although Zhao Heng's abilities may be lacking, his courage is commendable. The Liao emperor issued an edict to conquer the Song, and he personally led the expedition. Putting aside other factors, this can boost the morale of the Song army and make the court and the people determined to resist the Liao."

The First Emperor pointed out: "But this is also because the Song suffered a great defeat and heavy losses when it launched its northern expedition against the Liao. The Liao people attacked the Song with the intention of destroying it. If the emperor did not personally lead the expedition, and the Liao army was unstoppable, what difference would it make whether he was in the capital or on the front line?"

Zhao Heng knew that the Liao people were coming to destroy the Song Dynasty. If he didn't find a way to thwart the Liao army's offensive, it would be all over when the Liao army reached the city gates.

As long as the Song dynasty exists, he is the emperor. If the Song dynasty is conquered by the Liao dynasty, he will naturally become nothing and may even become a prisoner of the Liao people.

Make sure you understand what's important!

In this respect, Zhao Heng was far superior to his great-nephew, that great calligrapher.

Li Nian smiled and said, "Just as Your Majesty said, Zhao Heng is not truly courageous, but he knows that if he does not stand up and stop the Liao people at this time, and the Liao people win all the way and become powerful, his life will be in danger."

"In reality, Zhao Heng desperately wanted to make peace with the Liao people. Even if the Song army could defeat the Liao people, he still wanted to negotiate peace with them. So in the Song Dynasty, whether you won or lost, you lost money. It was all the same whether you won or lost."

"Some Song officials even believed that since our Song Dynasty was the richest in the world, it was a very worthwhile thing to buy peace with a little money."

It's no wonder that Song Dynasty officials thought this way; the key point is that even the Song Dynasty emperors thought this way. If the top was like this, it's normal for the bottom to be skewed as well.

But that's not how it works. Seeking peace with money is a shameful peace, and their ability to maintain peace is not truly due to money, but rather to the desperate fighting of the Song soldiers on the front lines.

If the Song army had not held off the Liao and Jin armies, showing them the strength of the Song, even if the Song Dynasty had been willing to pay tribute, it would not have been able to achieve peace.

Ironically, many civil officials in the Song Dynasty believed that their "ingenious plans" had worked and looked down on the soldiers who were fighting against the Liao and Jin people on the front lines.

Li Nian continued, "The Liao army's southern expedition this time is more like a test. If they can take advantage of the opportunity to seize a large amount of Song territory, or even destroy the Song Dynasty, that would be even better. But if they fail, they should know when to stop."

"Seeing that Emperor Zhao Heng personally led the expedition, Yelü Longxu and his mother, Empress Dowager Xiao, believed that the Song people were determined to resist, so they abandoned their plans to continue the war against Song. Although the war situation at that time was more favorable to Liao, the Liao army took the initiative to withdraw."

"After the Liao army withdrew, Zhao Heng and his ministers regarded it as a 'victory'. The ministers congratulated Zhao Heng one after another. Zhao Heng immediately composed two poems entitled 'Celebrating the Victory' and personally wrote the poems on the walls of the palace. He also ordered his ministers to write poems in response."

Upon hearing this, the First Emperor and others had only one thought: Can this really be called a "victory" or a "triumph"? Did the Song Dynasty set the standards for "victory" and "triumph" too low?

It was the Liao people who attacked you Song people, who took the initiative to invade your territory, kill your people, and plunder your resources. Now that the Liao people have plundered enough, they have decided to withdraw their troops. You actually think this is a victory and have the nerve to write a "Poem of Celebration".

They have absolutely no shame!

Throughout the Song Dynasty, from top to bottom, from the emperor to the officials, it seems that few people cared about their reputation.

If Li Nian knew what the First Emperor and others were thinking, this was nothing compared to what was to come; it was just an appetizer. When the great calligrapher and Zhao Jiumei's group appeared, they would truly and vividly demonstrate what it means to be utterly shameless.

During the "Jingkang Incident," the Jurchens demanded beautiful women from the Song court. The Song court officials personally searched for them, but the number of beauties found among the common people was insufficient. Therefore, the wives and daughters of the officials and the emperor's concubines were also sent to the Jurchens to make up the demand.

This is the real disgrace, and one of the main reasons why Li Nian doesn't have much affection for Song.

The Song Dynasty's economy was indeed impressive, yet it suffered the "Jingkang Incident"; the Song Dynasty's cultural development was truly remarkable, yet it also suffered the "Jingkang Incident"; this pillar of shame is truly ugly.

Even setting aside the "Jingkang Incident," there is the shameless act of Zhao Jiumei conspiring with Qin Hui to murder Yue Fei.

Compared to all of this, Zhao Heng thought that his shameless act of writing the "Poem of Victory" after scaring away the Liao army was nothing.

Li Nian continued, "After defeating the Liao army this time, Zhao Heng actively prepared for war. He knew that Liao would not only attack them once, but would come to conquer them again later."

"In the fourth year of Xianping, the Liao army attacked the Song again. In this battle, after losing tens of thousands of men, the Liao army was defeated and forced to retreat by the Song army. These losses were within the acceptable range for the Liao army and did not seriously damage its strength."

Even if this battle report is exaggerated, the Song army should indeed have defeated the Liao army in this invasion.

The Song and Liao armies were evenly matched, and it was not true that the Liao army was completely stronger than the Song army!
"In the sixth year of Xianping, the Liao army attacked again, but this time they won. After winning, they did not launch a large-scale invasion. They also withdrew their troops. More than a year later, in the first year of Jingde, the Liao people attacked Song again. Emperor Shengzong of Liao, Yelü Longxu, and his mother, Empress Dowager Xiao, personally led an army of 200,000 to attack Song."

"This battle was also the last battle before the 'Treaty of Chanyuan'."

According to Li Nian's previous statement, the Song army should have won this battle. Even if it wasn't a complete victory, they could be considered to have gained the upper hand, but this was even more humiliating!

"Initially, the Song court was frightened by the Liao people's movements and thought the situation was critical and that they could not defeat the Liao people. When Zhao Heng asked his ministers for advice, one minister actually suggested that Zhao Heng move the capital." If he were a great calligrapher, even if he did not move the capital, he would definitely have fled. In any case, he had done this before, otherwise Emperor Qinzong of Song would not have become emperor.

The ministers who were calligraphers would mostly nod in agreement, saying, "Yes, yes, yes, the Liao people are fierce. Your Majesty, you should run away quickly. If you run, we can run with you."

When the First Emperor heard that a minister of the Song Dynasty did not offer advice on how to resist the Liao people, but instead suggested that Zhao Heng move the capital and flee, he snorted coldly and said, "The Liao people have not even reached the city walls yet, and they are already so afraid. As ministers, instead of sharing the emperor's worries, they offer such words that shake people's hearts. When the Liao people actually arrive, they will surely betray the Song Dynasty and surrender to the Liao."

"If they speak of this matter before me, I will surely kill them!"

That's true. Given the First Emperor's temperament, he would definitely have chopped off these people's heads. However, this is the Song Dynasty!

Li Nian smiled and said, "If Your Majesty were in the Song Dynasty, it might not be so easy to kill these people. Even if they are deeply afraid of the Jin and Liao, and historically they wanted to surrender to the Liao, it would not be easy to kill them."

"Because our Great Song Dynasty has an ancestral law, 'ruling the world together with scholar-officials,' the Song emperors rarely killed civil officials. Unless it was a serious crime such as treason, civil officials were almost never sentenced to death, but were mostly demoted or exiled!"

These words made Wang Wan and others' eyes widen slightly. "Governing the country together with scholar-officials" and "almost no killing of civil officials" meant that if someone committed a crime, they would not be executed but only demoted or exiled. Being a civil official in the Song Dynasty was incredibly comfortable.

However, this would inevitably turn Song Dynasty civil officials into a force that hinders the development of the Song Dynasty.

"Therefore, many people in later generations hoped to become civil officials in the Song Dynasty, as they enjoyed high status and excellent salaries."

Wang Wan couldn't help but ask, "Who proposed this idea of ​​'governing the country together with scholar-officials'? When they proposed it, did they not consider that it would allow civil officials to become too powerful and be detrimental to the country?"

The First Emperor and others speculated that the idea of ​​"governing the world together with scholar-officials" must have been proposed by Zhao Guangyi, who was the same Emperor Taizong of Song who raised the level of the imperial examination and elevated the status of civil officials.

However, Li Nian gave them an unexpected answer: "Emperor Taizu of Song, Zhao Kuangyin! As for whether he had thought of it? Perhaps he had, but he felt it wasn't a big problem."

"Because during Zhao Kuangyin's time, the trend of 'emphasizing literature and suppressing military' had not yet developed, and there weren't that many civil officials during Zhao Kuangyin's time, so it was still within a controllable range. He couldn't have imagined that after his death, his brother would later regulate the imperial examination and greatly improve the status of civil officials."

Zhao Kuangyin may have simply wanted to use this phrase to appease the scholar-officials of the time, to offer them a promise of success, to make them willing to serve him, and to express his appreciation for the scholar-officials and his desire to reverse the trend of "emphasizing military over civil affairs" that had prevailed since the late Tang Dynasty.

He probably never imagined that the cake would one day be redeemed.

After hearing Li Nian's words, the First Emperor and others were amazed by the generous treatment of civil officials in the Song Dynasty.

The First Emperor said, "The Song dynasty's longevity was due to the support of civil officials, but if the civil officials' status becomes too high, it will surely be harmful to the country. Governing a country requires equal emphasis on both civil and military affairs, without favoring either side. Furthermore, in addition to civil and military affairs, we must promote science in order to ensure the country's prosperity and longevity."

The second sentence was learned from Li Nian: the later generations were more prosperous than the ancient times, mainly because of science.

The First Emperor continued, "If Zhao Heng truly heeds this advice, the Song Dynasty will surely lose the hearts of the people, and without the hearts of the people, the Song Dynasty will find it difficult to maintain its stability."

Li Nian said, "There were also people in the Song court who could see the situation clearly, and Kou Zhun, a famous prime minister of the Song Dynasty, was one of them."

When Zhao Heng asked Kou Zhun for his opinion on moving the capital, Kou Zhun replied: "Whoever devised this plan for Your Majesty deserves to be executed. Your Majesty is now a powerful and capable ruler, with your generals and ministers working in harmony. If Your Majesty personally leads the expedition, the enemy will surely flee."

'Otherwise, we can use surprise tactics to thwart their plans, and hold our ground to wear them down. By creating a situation where they are exhausted and at ease, we will have a better chance of victory.'

'Why abandon the temples and shrines to flee to the distant lands of Chu and Shu? The people there will be utterly demoralized, and the rebels will seize the opportunity to penetrate deep into our territory. Can the world ever be saved?'"

The First Emperor nodded and remarked with feeling, "Even in the Song Dynasty, there is no shortage of famous ministers and generals!"

The Song Dynasty had no shortage of famous ministers or generals, but unfortunately, it had even more hindrances, and the emperor himself was involved in dragging things down. Even loyal ministers and generals like Yue Fei could not help it.

Feng Quji was curious about another point: "Was Kou Zhun the prime minister of the Song Dynasty?"

Li Nian said: "The Song Dynasty did not have the position of prime minister, but there were official positions with the power of prime minister. During the Song Dynasty, the prime minister's powers were divided into three, so at the same time, there could be several people who could be considered prime minister. Kou Zhun was one of them when he served as the co-chancellor of the Secretariat and the Chancellery."

This was a deliberate measure taken by the Song Dynasty to prevent the prime minister from becoming too powerful and turning into a powerful minister. However, with so many people and each with their own agenda, administrative efficiency would also be greatly reduced.

"Kou Zhun not only refuted the proposal to move the capital and flee, pointing out the dangers of such a proposal, but also advised Zhao Heng to personally lead the army again. Zhao Heng listened to Kou Zhun's advice. If it had been Zhao Heng's great-nephew, he probably would have abdicated the throne and become the retired emperor long ago!"

Wang Jian asked curiously, "Who is this Zhao Hengxuan grand-nephew? And why was he chosen to succeed to the throne?"

If it were a direct lineage, it should be a great-great-grandson, not a great-great-nephew. There must be a problem with Zhao Heng's lineage.

Li Nian said: "He was a great calligrapher, a well-known Cuju (ancient Chinese football) champion, a painter, a poet, an appraiser of rare flowers and stones, a collector of rare birds and animals, and also a 'great' practitioner of the Jin Dynasty's sheep-leading ceremony."

What a load of nonsense these titles are! None of them have anything to do with the profession of emperor. Just by hearing them, you can tell that this is a super "hero".

Moreover, the sheep led by the Jin people in the sheep-leading ceremony was definitely not a real sheep, but Zhao Heng's great-nephew.

How absurd and humiliating it is for a dignified Song Dynasty emperor to be led around like a sheep.

And this Song emperor even abdicated and fled when the enemy attacked?

Li Nian did not continue recounting the great calligrapher's glorious deeds. He said, "If it weren't for Kou Zhun and others, given Zhao Heng's nature, the Song army might not have been able to gain the upper hand in this battle before the Treaty of Chanyuan."

"When Zhao Heng personally led the expedition and arrived at Weicheng, he wanted to retreat, but Kou Zhun persuaded him to stop. After arriving at the south city of Chanzhou, Zhao Heng did not want to go to the north city because the north city was small and the south city was large, and the north city was in danger while the south city was safe. It was Kou Zhun who strongly persuaded him to go to the north city. On the way there, he even wanted to go back to the south city, but he was persuaded to stop by Song general Gao Qiong."

The First Emperor said, "As an emperor, if you lack courage and determination, and hesitate so much that you need your ministers to persuade you, are you a child or an emperor?"

Although I know it's human nature to be nervous and scared, you, Zhao Heng, are the emperor, not an ordinary person.

Wang Jian also said, "No wonder the Song army was able to defeat the Liao army, gain the upper hand, and still sign the Treaty of Chanyuan."

(End of this chapter)