When the child was young, I told him a story, and once I told the passage that "Emperor Renzong intended to expand the palace, but gave up because the people around him refused to relocate", and the child asked me:
Henan people are so fierce?The emperor can stir up the yellow when he builds a house"?
I knocked him on the head and scolded with a smile: Your grandmother is from Henan, and your mother is also half of it, be careful that they clean you up.
Renzong failed to expand the palace, not because of the "fierceness" of Henan people, but because of his "benevolence".
When it comes to Renjun in history, Emperor Renzong is the second, and no one can call it the first.
Whenever there was a famine, the court could not come up with money, Emperor Renzong would always open the inner treasury, and a large amount of money was moved out of it for disaster relief, preferring to cut down on food and clothing, and even reluctant to eat yokan.
Is his "benevolence" innate?It's not!
What he wants to be is a Ming Jun, and to be a Ming Jun, he must curb the greed of the gentry and magnates and balance the interests of the people.
However, because he was defeated in the struggle with the courtiers for the dominance of governance, he had no choice but to retreat.
It is said that the "History of the Song Dynasty" was revised by the prime minister of the Yuan Dynasty, and the Song Dynasty was destroyed by the Yuan, so the Yuan people should do everything they can to slander the royal family of the Song Dynasty, right?
On the contrary, the Yuan people were very objective in their evaluation of the emperors of the early Song Dynasty, especially the praise of Taizu Zhao Kuangyin and Renzong Zhao Zhen.
As mentioned in my previous article, the fall of the monarchy of the Northern Song Dynasty began with the third emperor Song Zhenzong. But the biggest stupid thing Emperor Zhenzong did was not to spend a lot of money to seal Zen everywhere, but because in his later years, he rewarded the children of the gentry and magnates of Enyin as officials, and at most rewarded thousands of people at a time.
At that time, the phenomenon of "redundant officials and redundant expenses" in the Northern Song Dynasty was already very serious.
Renzong Zhao Zhen succeeded to the throne at a young age, and the Empress Dowager Liu E hung the curtain. Because Renzong was not born to Liu E, Liu E was ambitious and tried to emulate Wu Zetian. Fortunately, at that time, most of the ministers of the DPRK and China were loyal to the Zhao family and did not let them succeed.
After Liu E's death, Renzong was in power, and at that time, the finances of the DPRK and China were already beyond their means. Renzong was worried, and Fan Zhongyan, who was the counselor at the time, asked for an innovation in the phenomenon of "redundant officials, redundant expenses, redundant soldiers, and **lazy government" in "Eight Things to Save Evil", and Renzong thought so. Ren Fan Zhongyan was appointed as the deputy minister and Fu Bi was the deputy envoy of the privy council, and began the vigorous Qingli reform, proposing the reform measures of "deposing the Ming Dynasty, suppressing luck, fine tribute, selecting officials, Jun Gongtian, Hounongsang, repairing military equipment, reducing rumors and servitude, Qin Enxin, and re-ordering", which is known as the Ten Policies in history.
If these ten reform measures can be implemented, the Northern Song Dynasty will definitely take on a new look, and the dynasty will last for more than 167 years.
However, Emperor Renzong overestimated his own prestige and underestimated the shamelessness of the gentry and magnates. At the beginning, Renzong was able to withstand the pressure and support Fan Zhongyan's innovation, although Qingli was forced to remove Fan Zhongyan from the position of deputy prime minister in the fifth year, but he still loved the new policy in his heart.
But the subsequent rebellion in the palace during the Qingli period made Zhao Zhen completely dead.
That rebellion was actually a warning from the gentry and magnates to Emperor Renzong: Don't touch our interests!If you dare to move, you will not be able to do it!
Emperor Renzong originally wanted to be a Ming monarch and emulate the rule of Wenjing, but the dominant power was given to the "scholars and doctors" by Emperor Zhenzong, and then how difficult it was to take it back
Since then, Renzong has concentrated on being a benevolent monarch, and in line with the idea of helping as much as he can help the people, he would rather save himself on food and clothing, but also go to disaster relief and help the people;And the gentry and magnates were also very cooperative, "Anyway, you don't want us to pay for it, your emperor can take it if he likes to pay for it, and you can still get a little bit from your disaster relief money."
Because of Emperor Renzong's "benevolence", during his reign, the people's hearts were stable, and after his death, the people of the whole country were full of grief, and even the Liao people and Xixia people felt his virtue.
Seeking benevolence and benevolence, benevolence is worthy of it.
Fan Zhongyan's historical status is very high, not only because of the famous "The Story of Yueyang Tower", but because of his "righteousness" and his insight into social evils.
However, because he was born in a poor family, unlike other **, he is assisted by many staff members and retainers, and his person is upright, but he is also out of order. For politicians, it is not enough to rely on "righteousness", but also to have means, and what Fan Zhongyan lacks is precisely the means.
Later, Wang Anshi was similar to him, the reform failed, Sima Guang came to power, and the Great Song Dynasty lost its last ray of life.
In his later years, Renzong had already realized that if he allowed the elite to do whatever he wanted, the Great Song Dynasty would eventually sink.
He has no son, and he hesitated between Zhao Zongjiang and Zhao Zongshi when he established an heir. Compared with Zhao Zongshi, the gentry and magnates are more inclined to Zhao Zongjiang, and Zhao Zongshi has entered the palace once before, and he is not liked by Empress Cao, but Emperor Renzong still chose Zhao Zongshi and gave the name Zhao Shu, but also wanted to use his fierce temperament to redeem the monarchy.
Emperor Yingzong Zhao Shu, whose person was just and strong, but his health was not good, because of the "Pu Yi Dispute", he fought with the Empress Dowager Cao and the Manchu Dynasty ministers for nearly two years, although he won the battle, but also exhausted the last trace of vitality. After only four years on the throne, he died young, and Renzong's intention to let Zhao Shu save the imperial power was frustrated.
Time is also fate?Sigh!