For the weakness of the Song Dynasty, everyone may say a lot of reasons, such as Youyun is in the hands of the Khitan, and the Central Plains is not in danger to defend; The organization is bloated and inefficient; Redundant officials, financial struggling to make ends meet, and so on, but these are neither comprehensive nor to the roots.
Summarizing the five points, I believe there is no more accurate and thorough explanation than this!
Unlike the Han and Tang dynasties, Zhao Kuangyin gained power by military support, not by force. Therefore, after the founding of the People's Republic of China, the basic policy was to use literature to control the military, when Zhao Kuangyin asked Zhao Pu: "I want to rest the soldiers of the world, for the country for a long time, what is the way?" Zhao Pu replied: "This is not his reason, Fang Zhen is too heavy, and the monarch is weak and the minister is strong." Now there is no other ingenuity, but a little seizure of its power, control its money valley, collect its elite soldiers, and the world will be at peace. ”
As a result, after Zhao Kuangyin "released the military power with a glass of wine", he began to carry out military reform, clearly proposing to "promote culture and education, suppress military affairs", widely open the selection of imperial examinations, and reuse literati. Later, Zhao Guangyi further carried forward the civil politics. According to statistics, in the reign of Taizong, there were more than 5,800 scholars, and civil officials were all over the government and the opposition.
The Song Dynasty's Chongwen Venerable Scholars were unprecedented, and it can be said that they surpassed the Han and Tang dynasties before the Ming and Qing dynasties. The Tang people are still martial, so there is "rather be a centurion than a scholar"; Song Shangwen, "The Son of Heaven is heroic, and the article teaches Er Cao, everything is inferior, but only reading is high." ”
Suppressing the military so that there would be no more coups d'état was indeed the only way to ensure the survival of the Song dynasty. In this respect, Zhao Kuangyin was a complete success, but his policies left a serious aftermath: it was difficult for good soldiers to stand on their own feet in the court, let alone exert influence on military operations.
One of the most typical examples is Di Qing.
Di Qing, as a famous general of the early Song Dynasty, has made great achievements, but he has a tattoo on his face, and is known as "General Nie"; He went to Beijing to serve as a privy envoy, and was degraded by the literati as a "red pivot", and even a generation of famous ministers Ouyang Xiu was repeatedly dismissed from his privy envoy position, on the grounds that "to eliminate the trouble of the country"; Renzong said to Wenchen: "Di Qing is a great loyal minister! Wen Yanbo replied: "Isn't Taizu a loyal minister of Zhou Shizong?" In a word, it stabbed the heart of the emperor of the Song Dynasty.
The Miscellaneous Records of the Sentinel Pavilion contains: "There is a Song generation, there are few military ministers, but Di Wuxiang has made meritorious contributions to Guangnan, and there is a little color, and Renzong has placed the Zhushu Mansion very well. It was Ouyang Gonglu who impeached him, and he was afraid that he had other intentions, how could he love talents for the country? Di Gong finally died of fear. Later, the thief was able to frame Wu Mu, and he also attacked the old wisdom. ”
Qin Hui is a traitorous minister, and Ouyang Xiu is a loyal minister, but they all have one thing in common in the treatment of military generals, that is, they cannot let the generals take power, they cannot let the generals have the right to speak, and they cannot let the generals their tails. Qin Hui framed Yue Fei as "unwarranted", and he studied with Ouyang.
Yue Fei was unjustly killed, but Di Qing was scared to death.
Di Qing has been a privy envoy for four years, and has always been under the suspicion of Wenchen, saying that his family "has horns and horns, and there are several strange lights". Later, when the Beijing division was flooded, Di Qing wore a light yellow jacket, and rumors spread throughout the city: "Di Shumi wore yellow clothes and ascended the hall to command the soldiers!" There is even a children's song between the government and the opposition: "Han is like Hu Er, Hu is like Han, and the makeover is always average, only on the bank of the Fenchuan River." It is implied that Di Qing has a heart of disobedience.
Soon, Di Qing was dismissed under the discussion of the government and the opposition and the attack of the ministers, and after arriving in Chenzhou, he was still under the strict monitoring of the Song court, "two times a month, the envoys were sent to care", and in the end, Di Qing was afraid all night, the pain was unbearable, and he was afraid all day, and in less than half a year, he died of illness at the age of 49.
In history, Di Qing had found Wen Yanbo before his dismissal, confessed his loyalty to him, and confessed his heart, but Wen Yanbo replied coldly: "Without him, the court is suspicious", which can be described as a breakthrough in one sentence, for military generals, it is better to make a mistake than to miss a thousand.
Many people think that the Song Dynasty's forbidden army is weak in combat, but in fact, it is not, the real weakness is the box army stationed in various places. In order to defend Kaifeng, the Song army fought every time, at most half of the forbidden army and half of the box army, unless the emperor drove the expedition in person.
There was the Song Dynasty, and the main ** of the Song army was "recruitment", and the characteristic of the recruitment system was to pay salaries, which made the quality of the Song Dynasty's soldiers extremely high. According to the "History of the Song Dynasty", the scene of Song Renzong's recruitment was "every time there is a recruitment, he will run and tell him, and he will be brave and enthusiastic", and every recruiting station is overcrowded, for this reason, the Song court also formulated very strict selection standards, requiring conscripts to wear three layers of armor, be able to operate a crossbow of twelve stones, carry 50 arrows, and carry a sword, wrap three days' food, run with a load, and run from dawn to mid-day, those who can run a hundred miles can be conscripted into the army.
Moreover, Zhao Kuangyin will also send tall and strong soldiers as "soldiers" to each recruiting station, subject to the wooden ruler, and only those who meet this standard can be admitted, with a height of 176, Yue Fei, who "holds a bow of 300 catties and crossbow eight stones", was selected as a first-class soldier when he joined the army at the recruitment station.
In addition, the Song court also selected sergeants at all levels every year or irregularly, and unqualified sergeants had to be reduced to military branches and ranks. Old, weak and disabled non-commissioned officers receive half of their salaries and serve as miscellaneous servants in the army, and they can also be removed from the military and return to their hometowns to work as farmers.
Of course, after the middle of the Northern Song Dynasty, the combat effectiveness of the forbidden army declined due to bureaucratic corruption, the selection of apprentices, and poor training.
The military power of the Song Dynasty was controlled by three departments - the Privy Council, the Three Ya, and the Marshal, "the Privy Council is in charge of the military registration and the tiger charm, and the three Ya are in charge of the army, and the ministers are in charge of the army, and each has its own defense." ”
In the five dynasties, the Privy Council was held by military generals, although for the monarch, the military power was suspected of being sidelined, but after all, it was a professional person doing professional things, and in the Song Dynasty, the power of the Privy Council was not only weakened, but also the privy envoy could only be served by the civil minister, and the military general could at most serve as a deputy envoy. Outsiders manage insiders, which has led to poor government orders and low morale in the military system.
In addition, although the Privy Council was the highest military organ of the two Song Dynasty, it did not have the power to command the army, but was only in charge of military affairs, military orders, and strategic decisions. The "Sanya" not only commanded the national forbidden army and the box army, but also was in charge of the public security of Kaifeng, so the Sanya did not have the right to send troops, but they had the weight of commanding the army.
The leader is the general of the unified army temporarily appointed when the forbidden army goes out to fight or fight, and leads the local Sanya forbidden army, and the matter is finished. Later, he set up a pacification envoy in Lu or Zhou as a minister, and was also in charge of local military affairs, with civil ministers serving as the main post and military generals serving as deputy positions. Military operations were subject to the orders of the Emperor and the Privy Council.
As a result, the Privy Council presided over by Wenchen in the Song Dynasty and the Sanya restrained and restrained each other, and finally achieved the goal of using civil affairs to control military force and prevent Wufu mutiny.
In addition, Shangshu Province also has a military department, which is in charge of matters such as honor guards, martial arts, weapons, and horse administration, and the revered Taiwei, one of the three dukes, can sometimes compete with the privy envoys.
Therefore, although the Privy Council, the three ya, the marshals, the military department, and the Taiwei of the Song Dynasty divided their powers and checked and balanced each other, so that the military power was highly concentrated in the emperor, but the many military command organs also made the units push each other. And the troops that form combat effectiveness are only supported by the personal charm of the generals, such as Yue Fei's Yue Family Army.
In fact, in the era of Zhao Kuangyin, the Northern Song Dynasty originally had a chance to settle the war, but it was lost because of Zhao Pu's words.
Before the Chenqiao Mutiny, Chai Rong had already defeated Houshu and seized its 4 states; forced the Southern Tang Dynasty to claim the title, and the 14 states of Jiangbei and Huainan have been included in the territory of the Later Zhou Dynasty; The Northern Expedition defeated the Khitan again, capturing the seventeen counties of the two passes, three prefectures, and Chai Rong had already formulated a detailed plan to take Youzhou in the north before he died of illness, which can be said to have laid a solid foundation for the Northern Song Dynasty to recover the sixteen states of Yanyun.
Moreover, at that time, the Liao State was in the midst of internal and external troubles. Liao Muzong was just assassinated in the palace by his entourage, and after Liao Jingzong succeeded to the throne, the kings fought for power, which seriously affected the stability of the order of the Liao Dynasty.
In addition, at that time, Cao Han, the general of "the commander and the talented man, no one can match him", presented Zhao Kuangyin with the "map of Youzhou", planned the Northern Expedition to Liao, and recaptured Youyun.
It can be said that the Northern Expedition to Youzhou has the right time and place, so Zhao Kuangyin nodded in approval, and Zhao Kuangyin also knew the importance of Yanyun to the Song Dynasty, so after reading this map, he thought that if Cao Han went to capture Youzhou, he would definitely conquer it. ”
However, at this time, Zhao Pu "also knew that Han was capable, and he was jealous, so he skillfully blocked it." Just one sentence made Zhao Kuangyin dispel the idea of the Northern Expedition, "Who should take Youyan?" Which can be replaced? ”
The meaning of this sentence is very simple on the surface, but the connotation is very rich.
If the sixteen states of Yanyun are recovered, generals must be dispatched, and the best candidate is Cao Han, in this way, Cao Han will have the power of the army.
If there is a general who recovers Yanyun, it is the establishment of the world's merit, which will definitely threaten the imperial power, that is, the merit of the master. This person is also very likely to be Cao Han.
If Yanyun is recovered, it must be guarded by heavy troops, which means that the general who guards Youzhou has heavy troops, and he is still on the border, and the emperor who is far away in Kaifeng may not be easy to control.
So Zhao Pu's words hit Zhao Kuangyin's life.
In the end, Zhao Kuangyin hesitated again and again, vetoed the plan to capture Youzhou, and set a strategy of "first south and then north" with Zhao Pu.
In this regard, Zhang Yi of the Ming Dynasty said: "The calamity of gold and yuan, the Chinese are almost the horse ranches of the Huns, all of them are universal, and the calamity of hundreds of years is also a disaster!" The sin of Yu Jinkui is still here! ”
Because of Zhao Pu, the Northern Song Dynasty lost the best opportunity to recover Youyun.
In fact, Zhao Kuangyin's choice of Kaifeng as the national capital was just an expedient measure, and he still valued Luoyang and Chang'an in Guanzhong.
Guanzhong has always been the land of emperors since King Wu of Zhou, whether it is Zhou Gongdan or Zhang Yi and Zhang Liang's evaluation of Guanzhong: "Surrounded by mountains and rivers, fertile fields for thousands of miles", "The fields are fertile, the people are rich, and the chariots are ten thousand times", "The so-called Tianfu, the heroic country of the world!" ”
Guanzhong is the land of four stops, there are natural barriers all around, there is Hangu Pass in the east, there is Dasan Pass in the west, there is Wuguan in the southwest, there is Xiao Pass in the southeast, the four passes firmly protect the pass in the **, plus the Loess Plateau in the north, Longshan in the west, Qinling in the south, Huashan and Kunshan in the east, it can be said that it is easy to defend and difficult to attack, and the terrain safety factor is extremely high.
Therefore, whether it is the Zhou Dynasty, the Qin Dynasty, or the Han, Jin, Sui and Tang Dynasties, Zhao Kuangyin chose Kaifeng at the beginning only because Chang'an and Luoyang at that time had been war-torn for a long time, and they were already in ruins in the five dynasties.
But Zhao Kuangyin has always been obsessed with the easy-to-defend and difficult-to-attack Guanzhong, and he once bluntly said: "Moving to Henan has not ended, and it has been moving to Chang'an for a long time." If you want to go to the redundant army according to the danger of mountains and rivers, follow the story of Zhou and Han, and settle the world. ”
Therefore, in 976, a year before Zhao Kuangyin's death, he planned to move the capital to Luoyang first, and then move the capital to Chang'an, for which he also went to Luoyang and Chang'an to investigate, but when he came back to make this idea public, it was opposed by the ministers, Zhao Guangyi used a sentence "in Germany is not in danger" to block Zhao Kuangyin's mouth, and finally Zhao Kuangyin gave up moving the capital, but left a sentence: "The words of the King of Jin are good, but within a hundred years, the people of the world are exhausted." As expected, in order to defend Kaifeng, the land of the four wars, redundant troops became a major burden for the Northern Song Dynasty.
After the fall of the Northern Song Dynasty, Zhao Gou rebuilt the Southern Song Dynasty, and when choosing the capital, the minister Li Gang suggested: "Guanzhong is the top, Xiangyang is the second, and Jiankang is the bottom." Since ancient times, the lord of Zhongxing, from the northwest, is enough to have the southeast according to the Central Plains; If it starts in the southeast, it cannot recover the Central Plains and has the northwest. ”
But at this time, Guanzhong is no longer the "four stops", but the "four dangers", north of the south, west of the Western Xia, south of Tubo, east is a strong enemy Jin, with Zhao Gou's courage, naturally did not want to be in danger, so he finally chose the next strategy of Jiankang.
The above five points are the fundamental reasons for the weakness of the Song Dynasty, what do you think? A good drama that has been watched n times