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Chapter 495 Emperor Renzong of Song: Benevolence is Not the Only Thing (History of the Northern Song Dynasty)

Li Nian smiled and said, "Although Zhao Heng is incompetent, he is not Emperor Hui of Jin, nor was he born an idiot. Of course, he did not immediately believe the reports of those officials. He sent a trusted eunuch to investigate the locust plague situation on the ground."

It's obvious what happened next. Feng Quji said, "The eunuchs sent by Zhao Heng colluded with those officials to cover up the true situation of the locust plague from Zhao Heng."

Li Nian nodded: "Exactly! Moreover, Zhao Heng at that time was so superstitious that he was obsessed with ghosts and gods. If they explained the true situation of the locust plague to Zhao Heng, they might not get the better of him, and they would offend the officials who reported that the locusts had committed suicide. Even Kou Zhun reported that the locusts in his jurisdiction had died by themselves hugging grass."

This was indeed the politically correct thing to do at the time; anyone who dared to say that the locust plague was very serious was considered politically incorrect.

Upon hearing that Kou Zhun had also followed the crowd in concealing the locust plague, the First Emperor shook his head and said, "This Kou Zhun is no loyal minister either!"

Wang Wan laughed and said, "It's just a matter of the superiors setting an example for the subordinates. What kind of ruler there is above, what kind of minister there is below. Kou Zhun was able to survive in the Song court and even rise to the position of prime minister. He must not be a loyal and upright minister!"

To survive among the many "heroes" of the Song Dynasty and even rise to become prime minister, Kou Zhun was certainly not the kind of impartial, honest, and upright minister.

Li Nian laughed and said, "Speaking the truth directly may not necessarily bring good results. It's better to go with the flow. What if the locust plague really does subside on its own? Even if Zhao Heng discovers that they lied later, there will be others to share the blame with them."

"Therefore, the eunuch sent by Zhao Heng not only failed to report the truth, but also told Zhao Heng that the locusts were indeed committing suicide."

"Zhao Heng was overjoyed after hearing the eunuch's report, thinking that he had succeeded in his diligent cultivation and worship of the gods, and that the locusts were truly afraid of his divine power."

Zhao Heng's mood at the time was probably like: Hahaha, hahaha, I've succeeded, I've succeeded! Did you all see that? Those locusts, fearing the divine power of the Daoist, committed suicide on their own.

A Northern Song Dynasty Emperor Zhenzong's version of "I've succeeded, Taoist Master!"
It must be said that superstition and the pursuit of immortality are another "excellent" tradition of the CCP, and the "Jingkang Incident" was also related to this tradition.

If Emperor Qinzong and others hadn't believed in Guo Jing's "Six Jia Method," the Jin people might not have been able to breach the city.

"But Zhao Heng's joy didn't last long. Zhao Heng didn't leave the palace and couldn't see the locusts in various places, but locusts can fly and can come to Zhao Heng on their own."

"A few days later, Zhao Heng was discussing state affairs with his ministers in the palace when suddenly it got dark. Looking up, he saw swarms of locusts flying overhead, some even flying into the Golden Palace."

Meng Tian laughed and said, "Zhao Heng didn't even have time to be happy for two days before he was slapped in the face. How satisfying! It's a pity that these locusts can't eat Zhao Heng!"

In ancient times, locust plagues were not minor disasters, but major calamities. Once they occurred, measures had to be taken as soon as possible to stop them, otherwise, if they grew stronger, the consequences would be extremely serious.

Locusts have wreaked havoc, devouring crops and vegetation wherever they go. Without crops, how many people will become refugees and how many will go hungry?

They might even starve to death!
This was all the fault of those incompetent Song Dynasty officials and Zhao Heng. They missed the best opportunity to control the locust plague when it was already raging, causing an even greater disaster.

Li Nian said, "Although Zhao Heng was kept in the dark about the locust plague by the officials, if he hadn't been superstitious and the officials hadn't known his nature and deliberately tried to please him, how could this have happened?"

"And as long as one is not mentally ill, one can understand how locusts could possibly commit suicide? They don't eat crops, they only drink water. Even Emperor Hui of Jin might not believe such nonsense."

Emperor Hui of Jin was born with intellectual disabilities, but Zhao Heng brought it upon himself and was even worse than Emperor Hui!
Li Nian continued, "After realizing he had been deceived, Zhao Heng sent people to control the locust plague and also punished the officials who had deceived him."

"Zhao Heng's superstition about ghosts and gods was also a tradition of the Song Dynasty, and the emperors after him inherited this tradition. That great calligrapher was even called the 'Daoist Emperor'."

What's so great about Emperor Jiajing's money-making and pursuit of immortality? Look at Emperors Huizong and Qinzong, their superstitions led to the downfall of their country.

In comparison, Jiajing was actually quite capable. Although he swept the country clean in his pursuit of immortality, as the saying goes, "Jiajing, Jiajing, every household is clean," he didn't cause the country to fall.

"Zhao Heng reigned for twenty-five years. He ascended the throne in the third year of the Zhidao era and died in the first year of the Qianxing era. He made some contributions to the Song Dynasty, but not as many as his father and uncle. His actions were mostly extensions and improvements on the foundations laid by his father and uncle."

"The Song dynasty's adherence to ancestral rules and the respect for ancestral laws also began with him. He had few merits but many mistakes. However, these mistakes did not lead to the downfall of the Song dynasty under his rule. Later, the Western Xia split off and established its own state, and the Jiaozhi (Vietnam) caused harm to the Song dynasty, all of which were related to Zhao Heng."

"In fact, during Zhao Heng's reign, the Song Dynasty had the opportunity to unify Jiaozhi. At that time, Jiaozhi was in turmoil and internal strife, and some people in Jiaozhi even requested the Song court to send troops to quell the unrest. Such a great opportunity was rejected by Zhao Heng, who reasoned that the territory his ancestors had expanded was already large enough, and it was sufficient to defend the existing territory. Why waste resources and manpower to covet those useless lands?"

Meng Tian sarcastically remarked, "Expanding territory is exhausting for the people and wastes resources, so they perform the Fengshan ceremony at Mount Tai, build grand palaces, and believe in ghosts and gods to avoid exhausting the people and wasting resources?"

Is it the same to use money to expand territory or to use money to enjoy oneself?
Just like my Great Qing Dynasty, what's more important than spending money to develop the country and fight foreigners? Spending money to build gardens and eat more dishes?

Zhao Heng's reason for rejecting the expedition against Jiaozhi was the same as that of many emperors and ministers in ancient China: the lands outside of China were barbarian and useless, and it was better to just guard one's own small plot of land.

"Later, during the reign of Emperor Shenzong, both Emperor Shenzong and his minister Wang Anshi accused Zhao Heng of causing the Song Dynasty to lose a good opportunity to unify Jiaozhi, and the consequences were still fresh in their minds at that time."

After Zhao Heng's death, the Song court officials posthumously honored him with the title "Emperor Wenming Zhangsheng Yuanxiao" and the temple name Zhenzong. After Zhao Heng, his son Zhao Zhen ascended the throne. He was also a famous emperor in history, with the temple name "Renzong" and is often referred to as "Emperor Renzong of Song".

Seeing the smile on Li Nian's face when he mentioned "Emperor Renzong of Song", Feng Jie laughed and said, "The temple name is 'Ren' (仁), which means that Zhao Zhen had no other abilities besides benevolence and virtue. The only thing worth mentioning is 'Ren' (仁)."

If he had other, greater, and better achievements, would he have been given the temple name "Renzong"?

Being an emperor is not the same as being a great philanthropist. This man was known as "Ren" (仁), and his good reputation was probably due to his honesty and kindness, which allowed everyone to make a fortune. Of course, after his death, people were willing to praise him.

Who wouldn't like such a philanthropist? Who wouldn't applaud him?

Li Niandao said: "Many people in history have praised Zhao Zhen, calling him a benevolent ruler, a virtuous and kind ruler, and a wise and sagacious ruler, comparing him to Emperor Wen of Han."

This clearly lowers the status of Emperor Wen of Han; how could Zhao Zhen sit at the same table with him?
In fact, most of these people who praised Zhao Zhen as a wise ruler hoped that they too would encounter an emperor like Zhao Zhen.

"But these people subconsciously overlooked the fact that it was also during Zhao Zhen's reign that the Western Xia was established, he increased the annual tribute to the Liao, Nong Zhigao raised an army to rebel against the Song, and the problems of the 'three redundant' and land annexation became increasingly serious."

Some say, "During Emperor Renzong's reign, the Khitan increased their tribute and the Xia Kingdom increased their gifts, and the cost of maintaining troops on both sides of the border was in the millions; however, the emperor was respectful, frugal and had few desires, so he took from the people without being greedy." This ignores the fact that the additional tribute from the Liao and the additional gifts from the Western Xia actually came from the people, and that was Zhao Zhen's frugality.

"If Zhao Zhen has the ability, he should farm and weave clothes himself, and personally increase the tribute to the Liao people and the gifts to the Xia Kingdom. Otherwise, he shouldn't use the taxes collected from the people to build his reputation for being respectful, frugal, and benevolent!"

The annual tribute supplied to the Liao people and the silver, silk, tea and other gifts given to the Western Xia people all came from the common people. The only role Zhao Zhen played was to enjoy less of these things himself. This can be considered as Zhao Zhen's respect, frugality and benevolence.
In Li Nian's view, frugality and benevolence are bullshit. The truly frugal and benevolent people are the Song Dynasty commoners who supported these bastards.

The praise should be for the working class, not for Emperor Zhao Zhen, who is high and mighty. What do you mean, he wanted mutton soup in the middle of the night but didn't want to bother anyone, fearing it would become a custom, so he refrained from doing so?
Why don't they think about how many ordinary people in the Song Dynasty went hungry in the middle of the night and could only endure it?

Moreover, they wouldn't dare dream of a bowl of hot mutton soup; a bowl of plain porridge would suffice.

This trivial matter was even recorded and became a story of Zhao Zhen's benevolence and virtue.

And how useful are these virtues?

If you have the ability to defeat the Liao Dynasty, reclaim Yan and Yun, destroy the Western Xia, and unify Jiaozhi, then you will no longer need to pay tribute and will reduce the burden on the people. That would be true benevolence.

When the First Emperor and the others saw that Li Nian was somewhat angry, they understood what was going on.

Li Nianping composed himself and bowed to the First Emperor, saying, "Your subject has been disrespectful; please punish me, Your Majesty!"

The fact that Li Nian could get angry and upset was not only not a concern for the First Emperor, but he was also quite pleased with it. This showed that the young man was a man of strong emotions. If one day the young man became unable to show his emotions, the First Emperor would become wary.

The First Emperor wouldn't actually punish Li Nian, saying, "I'll punish you by making you continue recounting the affairs of the Northern Song Dynasty!"

"The minister obeys the order!"

Li Nian said: "Regarding the evaluation of Zhao Zhen, I think the following assessments are more accurate: 'Emperor Renzong was incompetent in everything, only good at being an emperor,' 'Although Emperor Renzong was respectful and frugal, his administration was half good and half bad, and not worth mentioning,' 'The problem with Emperor Renzong was that he was negligent and incompetent.'"

Regarding the lack of criminal laws during Emperor Renzong's reign, some have offered this perspective: "During Emperor Renzong's forty years of rule, virtuous and wicked men mingled and advanced together; Hebei and Western Xia were constantly at war; he was too busy seeking peace to have time for criminal punishments."

Indeed, they were too busy dealing with issues with the Liao and Western Xia people to have any time to address internal problems.

Another commentator remarked: "During Emperor Renzong's reign, the Song Dynasty was still at its peak. Even with Yuan Hao's harassment of the western borders, it would have been relatively easy to quell the rebellion with a capable general."

"Emperor Renzong's governance of both domestic and foreign affairs was not without its flaws, but he failed due to his excessive leniency... Emperor Renzong was known for his benevolence, but I believe it was the benevolence of a woman, not the benevolence of a wise ruler."

After hearing this assessment, the First Emperor and others nodded in agreement. This was the problem with Emperor Renzong's "benevolence"—it was not the benevolence of a wise and benevolent emperor.

A wise ruler's benevolence should benefit the country and its people, and be able to work for the benefit of the country and its people, rather than being praised as benevolent by a group of foreigners and a group of vested interests.

"The reason why Zhao Zhen was able to ascend the throne is very simple: his older brothers had all died, leaving him as the only one left. If Zhao Heng did not choose him, then he would have to be adopted from the imperial clan."

Wang Jian asked curiously, "How many sons did Zhao Heng have? Apart from Zhao Zhen, were they all dead?"

As an emperor, he should have had many sons, so how come only one of them died?
Li Nian said: "According to historical records, Zhao Heng had six sons, the first five of whom died young."

Meng Tian also became interested. It's normal for one person to die, but five people dying seems a bit strange.

In response to Meng Tian's question, Li Nian said, "Not only did Zhao Heng lose five out of six sons, but Zhao Zhen also suffered the same fate. He had three sons and thirteen daughters, of whom three sons and eleven daughters all died young."

Even if the infant mortality rate in the Song Dynasty was higher than in other dynasties, this rate is really outrageous. Out of sixteen children, fourteen died young.

Furthermore, with Zhao Heng having six sons and five dying young, there must be something wrong here!
Then the First Emperor and his companions remembered Li Nian saying that the throne of the Zhao Song dynasty had been passed to that great calligrapher, and that great calligrapher was not from the line of Zhao Heng.

It is likely that Zhao Zhen had no heir, so he adopted a male member from the imperial clan to succeed to the throne.

Wang Jian said, "There must be a reason why so many princes and princesses have died young."

Li Nian said: "In fact, not only Zhao Heng and Zhao Zhen, but also Emperor Shenzong Zhao Xu had fourteen sons, eight of whom died young. Emperor Zhezong had four daughters and one son, two of whom and one of whom died young. On the contrary, the great calligrapher is said to have had as many as eighty children, many of whom survived, but unfortunately he encountered the 'Jingkang Incident'."

Before Zhao Ji, the emperors of the Song Dynasty did not have many children, but Zhao Ji had many children, and he was even giving birth while he was captured and taken to the Jin Dynasty.

"Later generations have made some speculations about this matter, guessing that there may have been radioactive materials in the Song imperial palace."

Wang Ben asked, "What is radioactive material? How can it be so potent that it causes people's offspring to die young?"

Li Nian thought for a moment and explained in a way that the First Emperor and the others could understand: "Radioactive material is a term used in later times. Such items that exist naturally in the world generally look extremely beautiful, and some can even glow at night. If people do not know their dangers, they may mistake them for treasures."

"Radioactive materials will continuously release radiation that is invisible to the naked eye but can harm the human body. It will not kill people immediately, but will gradually weaken the body and eventually cause death."

"Furthermore, its harm to the human body can also affect offspring. For example, if parents are exposed to radioactive materials for a long time, they will have more difficulty conceiving. Even if they do conceive, the probability of their offspring being deformed is very high, and they are more likely to die young."

After hearing this, the First Emperor and his entourage decided that they would conduct a thorough investigation of the palace and their homes.

This radioactive material is beautiful and glows at night; someone would surely treasure it as a rare gem, never imagining it would be a deadly weapon.

Meng Tian asked, "How could this radioactive material have any effect before the offspring have even been born?"

Before Li Nian could answer, Wang Wan answered for him: "Children are conceived through the union of yin and yang between their parents. This radioactive substance damages the parents' bodies, causing yin and yang imbalance, which will naturally affect their offspring."

That makes sense. When Li Nian was explaining genes and chromosomes to the First Emperor, she also used the concepts of Yin and Yang to make it easier for him to understand.

Li Nian smiled and said, "What the Prime Minister said is not wrong. There may be radioactive materials in the Zhao Song imperial palace. They were placed in the palace as treasures by the Zhao Song royal family. Being exposed to radioactive materials for many years will inevitably cause problems."

The First Emperor then posed a question: "Why was that... calligrapher unaffected?"

Yes, Emperors Zhao Heng, Zhao Zhen, Zhao Xu, and Emperor Zhezong of Song were all affected, so why wasn't that great calligrapher affected?

May your descendants prosper!
(End of this chapter)