Reform emperor Song Shenzong: No one can empathize, Wang Anshi can’t, and Sima Guang can’t

The prosperous age is hard to find, this is destined to be a chaotic world

In 1069 AD, Wang Anshi's reform began amidst opposition.

Only five years later, the weather was severe and the rain did not last for a long time. A young official, Zheng Xia, drew "The Picture of Refugees" and handed it to Song Shenzong at the risk of death. This 28-year-old man who wanted to change the law to be strong and benefit the people saw Stop crying. Immediately afterwards, Sima Guang went on to "Yingzhaoyan the imperial court failure". At this point, Song Shenzong, the strongest supporter of this reform, began to waver. He began to doubt whether the new law that he had been pushing against all opinions led people to a prosperous or chaotic world.

In 1074 AD, Wang Anshi gave up for the first time.

In 1076 AD, Wang Anshi discontinued the situation for the second time, and the new laws and regulations were abolished one after another.

In 1085 AD, Song Shenzong, who was only 38 years old, depressed and regretted, and left forever with his unfulfilled dream of prosperity. It was also this year that Song Zhezong came to the throne. Under the leadership of the Empress Dowager Gao, Sima Guang and others, the new laws were almost completely abolished, and the conservatives began their crazy counterattack against the reformists. Since then, the balance of power between the two factions has repeatedly tilted, and the party disputes are even as intense as the later Ming Dynasty. But the result of the fight is that the Northern Song Dynasty, which was originally suffering from internal and external troubles, is even more devastated. In the painful struggle, it is waiting for the last straw to crush it. All this runs counter to the blueprint for the prosperity of Song Shenzong at the beginning of his ascension.

The world is open to Thailand, from all directions, everyone has their own recognized prosperity in their hearts, the rule of Wenjing in the early Han, the rule of Zhenguan in the Tang Dynasty, and the prosperity of the Qing Dynasty. These are realized. See Naturally, many people commented on the flourishing age. However, today I want to talk to you about a king and his unfinished prosperity.

This emperor is not easy to do

In 960 AD, Song Taizu Zhao Kuangyin launched Chen Qiao's mutiny to replace Zhou Lisong, saying that it was the establishment of the Northern Song Dynasty, which is actually the Central Plains based on the following weeks. In a place, there are separate regimes like Southern Tang, Houshu, and Southern Han in the south, and the sixteen prefectures of Yanyun in the north are held in the hands of the Liao. Compared with the previous emperors founding the country, Zhao Kuangyin's top-down method of establishing a country without bloodshed and sacrifice is quite unique, or a miracle, but it is precisely because he did not experience bloodshed in the early stage that it left a huge hidden danger for the Northern Song Dynasty. Later, after Taizong and Zhenzong’s tossing, not only did the Yanyun Sixteen Prefectures not regain it, but suffered a lot of defeats, and finally signed the Chanyuan Alliance, which gave Liao a large amount of gold, silver, cloth, and tea every year. It gave this new regime the label of "Weak Song".

Relationship diagram of the emperor of the Northern Song Dynasty

As for Renzong, he was a rare and bewildered good emperor. He had no war in the Northern Song Dynasty during his decades of reign, and his rare confusion did let himself live. Ann was born for decades, but many problems began to accumulate during this period, and they were not exposed until the emperor later came to power. Among them, Xixia was established during the Renzong period. Later facts proved that the trauma that really tortured most of the Northern Song Dynasty was not Liao but this Xixia. The so-called "Looking northwest, shooting Sirius" refers to Xixia. All of these are external troubles that Song Shenzong needs to face.

Song Taizu founded the country and laid down three rules for future generations. One of the core is not to kill scholars, thus establishing the lofty status of the Northern Song Dynasty literati and civil servants and making a lifeless contribution to the economic and cultural prosperity of the Northern Song Dynasty. But looking further, this national policy of emphasis on civil and military suppression has also brought about many negative effects. On the one hand, it caused a bloated civilian ranks. On the other hand, it created a banned army system for suppressing military forces, which not only caused a serious surplus of the army. Moreover, the combat effectiveness was low, and the Northern Song Dynasty had to spend a lot of gold and silver for such a large team of civil and military officials every year. With redundant officials, redundant officials, and redundant soldiers, the Northern Song Dynasty financial year was unable to make ends meet. Inefficiency, fiscal deficits, and heavy taxes are all internal worries.

Contents of the reform

There is no real empathy

The throne is passed to the Shenzong, the imperial machine seems to be rusty, change to a confused emperor, or disappearTo be extremely slow, or continue to mess around, leave the problem to the next successor. But the Emperor Shenzong was not such a person. This young man in his early 20s wanted to do his best. Although he did not dare to compare with Yao and Shun, he vowed to return the people to a peaceful and prosperous age. So there was the scene mentioned in the previous article. In the second year of Xining (1069), Wang Anshi was appointed to be a member of the political affairs, and with the support of Shenzong, he began to implement reforms.

As for the ending, everyone knows that Shenzong wholeheartedly thought that the reform was approaching the peaceful and prosperous age he yearned for. As a result, not only was the reform failed miserably, but the balance of the party struggle was completely out of balance. Since then, the reformists and the conservatives are tumbling against each other. Fighting and fighting, they had long forgotten their original intention to make life for the common people, and everything was based on overthrowing each other.

• "The Picture of the Refugees"

In the spring of 1074, the weather was long and dry without rain. Outside Kaifeng, the capital was full of migrants, the crops were poor, and the taxes were heavy. A picture of "The Picture of Refugees" It was the truest portrayal of the miserable condition of the people at the bottom. There are of course the faults of the new law, but the conservatives attribute all this to Wang Anshi's reform, and picking up the plane to use it as a bargaining chip for overthrowing the reform, there seems to be no practical solution for disaster relief. And Wang Anshi’s performance is also very disappointing. Facing the miserable situation, he used the phrase "disasters are always common" to get through the confusion, thinking about how to deal with the impeachment of political opponents, not how to correct the mistakes in the reform and improve. The fact that people's livelihood is unbearable.

流民图

清明上河图

Maybe in the face of the displaced, selling children and wives, only the tears of Song Shenzong It is true. As for the reformists and the conservatives, what they consider more is the political game behind it.

• Niaoxianggong and Sima Niu

Niaoxianggong and Sima Niu, the former refers to Wang Anshi, the latter refers to Sima Guang, they are the leaders of the reformists and the old school, respectively. As for these two nicknames, they were given by people according to their personalities.

is not afraid of floating clouds to cover your eyes, and your body is at the highest level. Regarding the reform, Wang Anshi is determined to carry it through to the end, and he firmly believes that his policies are correct, and he is confident that he is at the highest level. But the fact is that many of his reforms are problematic, but he doesn't listen to the advice of others. Whether it was Su Dongpo's opinion, Sima Guang's opinion, or Han Qi's opinion, as long as they disagreed with their own opinions, they were eventually relegated.

王安石图

When Wang Anshi was in power, after opposing the invalidation of the reform, Sima Guang stayed behind closed doors and devoted himself to compiling history books. Shenzong died in 1085 and Zhezong succeeded. With the support of Empress Gao, Sima Guang began to abolish the new law and liquidate the reform faction. At the beginning, it was based on the starting point of correcting the mistakes of the new law, and later, no matter whether it was correct or not, all were abolished. Anything that the new law advocates must be opposed. Even Su Dongpo from his camp was relegated for correct opinions.

斯马光图

and the practices of these two leaders basically represent the practices of the reformists and the conservative schools. Later, the two factions took turns in power and liquidated each other, and the court people floated and did practical things. There are fewer and fewer people, and more and more party fights.

Alas, I don’t know if there is knowledge under Shenzong Spring, how should I feel? "Establish a heart for the heaven and the earth, establish a life for the people, for the sacred and continue to learn, and open peace for all ages." I wonder if those scholar-officials who are happy in party disputes see their bold words ashamed of themselves?

Times make heroes, it is difficult for heroes to make times

It is a pity that this emperor, who was so devoted to reform and creating a prosperous world, failed to realize his blueprint for the prosperous world. On the contrary, it has fallen into the infamy of "Song's name died in Huizong, but actually died in the political struggle during the Shenzong period." The original intention of the reform was to pursue a prosperous age, but the ending was to bring the Northern Song Dynasty toTurbulent times.

In the early Han Dynasty, the rule of inaction can still lead to the prosperity of Wenjing, while the Song Shenzong, the natural filial nature, careful and humble, did not rule the palace, did not take a fortune, and went through elaborate treatments. It is a pity that he failed to create a flourishing age. . Compared to those emperors who are indulging in flowers and wine, regardless of right and wrong, distanced from loyal officials, and blocked their words, it is difficult to say that Song Shenzong is not a good king. Regarding this vigorous reform and strengthening movement, the historian said, "The emperor will not be conscious at all, and the evil spirit will advance day by day, the heart will be separated day by day, and the day of disaster ", the author thinks this is actually quite unfair to Song Shenzong.

宋神宗图

The so-called situation makes heroes, and it is difficult for individuals to achieve the situation by themselves in the historical environment. In the end, it failed to bring a better life to the people. The reason is not whether the law should be reformed or not. In fact, no matter how you do it, different opinions and voices will appear. The purpose of the dispute should be to adopt the correct opinions. Seeking common ground while reserving differences, trying to one place, instead of endless internal friction, this is the correct way to open up the prosperity.

【I am the master of the Chinese Jane Hall in History, focusing on Song history, welcome to follow 】