Author: We invited students
of sea moon eighties and nineties of the last century, the mainland once the screen is occupied by the Hong Kong wireless television production of film and television drama, a lot like "Legend of the Condor Heroes", "beach" turns aired , Has become a lingering memory of a generation.
With the development of mainland film and television culture, the aesthetics and needs of audiences have also changed. After entering the 21st century, these TV series released in Hong Kong, collectively referred to as TVB, have also been criticized because of their crude layout and imprecise plot. The scenery that dominated the mainland's film and television dramas is gone forever.
However, TVB TV dramas have not completely sunk. In recent years, TVB has been in the field of costume dramas with some novel content and factual details. For example, , for example, the 2012 TV drama "The King Maker" starring Li Yaoxiang and Zheng Zeshi, etc., is based on the Southern Song Dynasty. In the Song Ningzong era, the court battle among several men in the court was a selling point, and achieved a high ratings.
The plot theme of the play is clear, compact and not procrastinating, but the opening plot makes many viewers feel that the sky is rolling.
Zhao Guihe, the second prince of Song Ningzong, led the army to provoke Jin Bing and failed to win, but he was beaten to shame by the Jin Bing. When he came back, he spoke to the Manchu civil and military, and he said: "Why can't we defeat the Kingdom of Jin in the Southern Song Dynasty? ??, because the money is all the money, and there is no money to buy weapons, why not make it yourself? Because the north of the iron ore production area is occupied by the enemy, we naturally can’t build weapons without iron ore, so except for Please beg for mercy and shout uncle, we can only be beaten for nothing!"
The Southern Song Dynasty, which was in a quiet corner of the Southern Song Dynasty, was repeatedly beaten by the Kingdom of Jin with no power to fight back. It was not because the Lord and the faction were in trouble? Is it because the Southern Song Dynasty, known for its wealth, lacks combat weapons?
explored, such an unconventional plot, in fact, is not the excuse of the second prince in the play, but a real historical fact: the reason why suffered from rickets that fear gold as a tiger in the Southern Song Dynasty is mainly due to the lack of two capabilities throughout the country. The materials to contend with gold are war horses and the iron ore mentioned by the second prince.
1. The disappeared iron ore
As one of the four ancient civilizations, China used iron tools quite early. After the Warring States period, with the improvement of iron smelting technology, iron weapons showed hardness and toughness far exceeding those of bronze weapons. However, due to the immature technology in the early days, the output of iron weapons was not high. The battlefields before the Qin Dynasty were basically bronze weapons and Mixed use of iron weapons. After the Han Dynasty, there were processes such as pig iron smelting, cast iron decarburization steel, steel filling, and steel frying, and the output of ironware was rapidly increased. In the Western Han Dynasty, when the famous generals Wei Qing and Huo Qubing expedition to Mobei, the cavalrymen killed the Huns with a round knife to the horror. After the Eastern Han Dynasty, bronzes were completely replaced by irons.
By the Song Dynasty, the smelting and casting of ironware has been developed for thousands of years, and both the quality and quantity of ironware have reached a new height. The "Wu Jing Zong Yao", which was written during Renzong of the Northern Song Dynasty, is a military book that introduces military theory and technology. There is a lot of space in it to introduce the style and production technology of cold weapons. However, such a brilliant achievement of
later became the heartache of the people of the Southern Song Dynasty: no matter how superb craftsmanship of , the raw material of cast iron-iron ore was lost, everything became empty talk.
During the Five Dynasties, the founding emperor Shi Jingtang dedicated the sixteen states of Yanyun as a barrier to the Central Plains to Khitan, so that the Northern Song Dynasty after the founding of the People's Republic of China had a very small control area over the northern region. Unfortunately, the largest iron ore deposits of were basically located in the north.
In the Northern Song Dynasty, there are six main iron ore producing areas: Xuzhou, Laiwu in Yanzhou, Guzhen in Cizhou, Qicun in Xingzhou, Qin County in Shanxi, and Guozhou. According to the "Song Hui Yao Collection Draft", during the Yuanfeng reign of Song Shenzong, the pig iron output in these places reached 5.07 million jin, which accounted for 90% of the country's total.
In 1127 AD, the Jinren captured Bianliang, Tokyo, and took Song Huizong, Song Qinzong and his sons, as well as more than 3,000 members of the royal family, to the bitter cold place in the northeast, known as the "Jingkang Change" in history.
Zhao Gou, who was lucky for the rest of his life, later ascended the throne in Lin'an and became Emperor Gaozong of the Song Dynasty. The Southern Song Dynasty kicked off. It's a pity that the Jinjun went all the way to the south, and Song Gaozong, who fled watching the wind, abandoned not only the countless remnants of Jiangbei who were expecting the return of the king, but also those six things.The iron ore of the lifeline of the country. After the change of
Jingkang, all six iron ore mines fell into the hands of gold men. According to statistics, in the 32nd year of Emperor Gaozong in the Song Dynasty, the output of iron was about 880,000 jin, but less than 30% of the 2.16 million jin in the Chongning reign of Huizong of the Song Dynasty, and less than 2% in the Yuanfeng reign of Emperor Shenzong of the Song Dynasty.
And just this little iron, it is estimated that it still has to satisfy the people's livelihood. The common people have to use iron to cast a pot, forge a hoe and a shovel. In this way, how much iron can be used to equip the army?
2. The shrinking arsenal
is the same as modern manufacturing companies. The reduction of downstream raw material production will inevitably trigger a decline in the efficiency of upstream processing companies. During the Southern Song Dynasty, even the arsenal had to lay off employees due to the reduction in iron output.
The Imperial Front Armament Factory was a state-owned arsenal in the Southern Song Dynasty. It was only a small workshop at the beginning of the dynasty. In 1129, the imperial court merged several workshops in order to defend against the golden soldiers of Nandu, and added several warehouses for materials and finished products, and a slightly larger ordnance workshop took shape. With the
equipment and venue, Zhao Gou also faced the difficulty of recruiting workers. After several wars, a large number of artisans in the ordnance were lost. Including all kinds of miscellaneous tasks, there were only a thousand people. It was only in 1134 that there were 1,900 people.
After the reconciliation of Song and Jin in 1162 AD, due to the long-term confrontation between the two sides, the weapons production of the arsenal became saturated and had to reduce production and layoffs. Only 864 craftsmen were left in , and even the number of laborers dispatched by the states and counties was only 2,300.
Song Gaozong had no children under his knees, and the throne was inherited by his adopted son Zhao Shen, known as Song Xiaozong in history.
This Zhao Shen is the grandfather of Song Ningzong in "The Maker of Kings", and the only wise figure among the kings of the Southern Song Dynasty. After he took office, he actively used soldiers to restore the Central Plains. Based on this background, the number of craftsmen in the Ordnance Institute reached a peak during Song Xiaozong's reign, and remained around 4,000 throughout the year.
In the Song Duzong era at the end of the Southern Song Dynasty, the state treasury was empty and the government was corrupt. There were only 700 craftsmen in the ordnance store. This person can hardly guarantee the daily maintenance of weapons, let alone build weapons.
At the end of the Southern Song Dynasty, even if Song Xiaozong is barely qualified, it is just a return to light. Regardless of military strategy, in terms of the size of the ordnance station alone, it is dozens of blocks behind the Northern Song Dynasty.
Seeing this horrible data, it is not difficult to understand why Song Gaozong's first reaction was to run away when Jin Bing went south? The real situation is that there is still a glimmer of life in running. If you don't run, you can only catch it!
is like when the gold master Wanyan Liang invaded south, the artisans in the ordnance hall of in the Southern Song Dynasty were still dissatisfied with 800 people, even the daily production of bows and arrows was difficult to satisfy, also counted on such an army to fight back?
As for the emergence of a group of famous generals such as Yue Wumu and Han Shizhong, and achieved unprecedented victories, that can only be said to be the luck of the Zhao Dynasty.
Zhao Gou’s heart is more conscious of his own strength than anyone else. After his retreat, he was relieved to be the overlord. Faced with Song Xiaozong’s dream of the Northern Expedition, he frequently beat: "The Northern Expedition is related to the safety of the society. You Let's wait until I and I die!"
The ambitious Song Xiaozong did not listen to the advice of his adoptive father, and the hastily launched Longxing Northern Expedition ended in a hasty end. It also proved from the side what the difference in military strength between Song and Jin is!
3. Corrupted people's hearts
iron ore and other raw materials are insufficient, and the loss of personnel is large. These are indeed objective facts, but the Southern Song Dynasty group company finally went bankrupt, and the source was still internal corruption. The most obvious example of
is that if iron ore was invaded by the gold people due to the war and the reduction in pig iron production can be justified, why is the production of copper, silver, lead, and tin, which are mainly produced in the south, reduced?
Hong Mai, an official in the Southern Song Dynasty, is an academic talent. He has investigated the decline of the copper mine in Guangdong Censhuichang. After an inspection, he pointed out: "When the copper mine in Censhuichang flourished, there were eight or nine thousand residents. There are less than one hundred households. Except for the flooding in Hunan and Hunan, the most fundamental reason is the government's blood-sucking system for miners. For example, the copper mine in Shiyan Lake, Longquan County, miners need to bring their ownFor equipment mining, for every four catties of pure copper to be refined, one or two mining taxes must be paid, and the finished copper must not be sold privately and can only be purchased by the government.
The government did not consider the impact of inflation, and the purchase price was lower than the market price, so that the hard-earned money earned by the miners was not enough to support the family. Over time, these copper mines were abandoned because of no one to mine. The corruption of the mining industry has the most direct impact on the military industry, that is, the raw materials contain many impurities and the quality of ordnance is low.
With this trend of corruption spreading to the ordnance, the chaos of the entire military-industrial system is shocking.
In the last years of Emperor Gaozong of Song Dynasty, some people reported that the manufacturing supervisors in the ordnance workshop were mostly ignorant and unskilled children. These people did not have the professional knowledge, and the craftsmen did not know the performance of weapons, whether they were good or bad. The craftsman has the final say.
Occasionally, there are those who are familiar with ordnance, and they are also negligent, often absent from work and play. There were even production supervisors who used craftsmen as private slaves. Many craftsmen were humiliated and fled one after another. During the Longxing reign of Song Xiaozong, a vicious incident of collective escape of craftsmen from the Ordnance Institute occurred. Those skilled in craftsmen of
were hired by high-ranking officials at high prices to build garden furniture for their own homes. In order to complete the task, these people hired a group of unemployed people in the society and gave them a small amount of money to do it for them. Weapons can only be similar models.
is like this. In the Southern Song Dynasty, was known as the wealthy. Weapons built with huge political machines were broken and iron before the battlefield. In addition to cedes territories, what good strategy can have?
The embankment of a thousand miles collapsed in an ant nest. Rather than the difficulties and tragic and vigorousness of the Southern Song Dynasty, it is better to say that the lazy government and corruption deep in the bones of the dynasty finally sent this congenital inadequate dynasty on a weak point of no return.
Reference materials: "Song History", "General History of Chinese Handicraft Economy", "On Weapon Production and Quality in the Song Dynasty"
Zhu Yuanzhang , Benefited the Ming and Qing China for hundreds of years
