As a turning point in history in the past thousand years, many strange features of the Northern and Southern Song Dynasty have been talked about by future generations. In addition to the unrealistic pre-wealth and over-whitewashed peace years, the imperial court's grace of not killing people always fascinates certain groups.
However, this privilege monopolized by the civil service class is not as flawless as imagined. The reason for its formation, the development process and the solidification itself are all filled with an extremely sour smell of official protection. is more like a sugar-coated cannonball temporarily abandoned by the imperial power to achieve autocratic purposes.
Special Era
Zhao Kuangyin's Song Dynasty happened to be at a turning point in history
Compared with other stages in history, the Northern Song Dynasty dynasty established by Zhao Kuangyin happened to be at the alternation of the old and new eras. Before they realized their ideal of usurping the throne by wearing yellow robes, the proportion of civil servants in administrative units at all levels was relatively limited. As for the subsequent autocracy of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it was undoubtedly controlled and monopolized by the scholar-bureaucrat class. Therefore, the Song Dynasty's greatest contribution to the historical process was to play an important part in the grand trend. The so-called culture of emphasizing civility over military affairs and the systematic attack on generals are nothing more than policy tools in the process of implementing major policies.
Affected by this, the emperors of the Song Dynasty had to systematically weaken the social status of warriors by elevating the status of scholars. Especially the children from wealthy landowning families were effectively attracted to take the imperial examination, instead of pursuing proficiency in bow and horse like their predecessors in the Wei, Jin, Sui and Tang . Although both may be loyal fans of Confucian classics, and those who are accustomed to using them also regard them as status symbols, the threat to the monarch himself is not the same. As a result, a series of death-free regulations for the scholar-bureaucrats were introduced one after another in the stable country:
The ancestors of art had an oath, which was hidden in the Taimiao, and swore not to kill ministers and officials. Violation of this would be unlucky. --" The annual records since the founding of the Yan Dynasty "
I respectfully heard that Taizu made an appointment to hide it in the Taimiao, and swore not to kill the ministers who spoke of official duties. Anyone who violates it would be unlucky. --" Recorded after the War"
Yun Taizu set up an oath monument in the Taimiao Temple, one of which is "Do not kill scholar-bureaucrats and those who write letters"--" Summer Resort Mangao "
Zhao Kuangyin set the precedent of not killing scholar-bureaucrats. Continue to suppress military generals for future generations. Of course, the above records mostly appeared in the Southern Song Dynasty, a long time ago from the glorious years of Zhao Kuangyin. However, they all reflect the urgent need of Song Taizu to improve the situation of scholar-bureaucrats, and also provide the latter with This is a political argument that is almost "invincible". Considering that the new dynasty has not yet annexed the remnants of the Ten Kingdoms, many hardcore core members have a strong political legacy of the five generations of soldiers. This approach of Song Taizu is not difficult to understand. This is not only the beginning of a check on internal military leaders, but also a deconstructive means to disintegrate the remaining external political systems.
However, any policy that is eager for quick success will be accompanied by a corresponding vicious self-punishment mechanism. As long as it does not commit heinous crimes such as rebellion , it was difficult for successive monarchs of the Song Dynasty to impose capital punishment on culprits. As a result, the and Song dynasty courts only increased officials and rarely removed them, which led to an irreversible dilemma of redundant officials + redundant soldiers + redundant costs.
The Song Dynasty's emphasis on literature over military affairs allowed the social status of scholar-officials to rise rapidly.
Nepotism
Mutual protection was the unspoken rule for scholar-officials in the Song Dynasty.
Due to the ancestral system established by Zhao Kuangyin himself, the scholar-officials in the officialdom of the entire Song Dynasty were More or less, there is nothing to fear. In order to gain more benefits during his lifetime, and to hold the fruits of victory for himself and his family for a long time, further launched an upgraded version of the favor system. That is, when one person is an official in the government, any relative can be recommended Entering an official position. As for the specific scale of the benefit group, it depends on the official status or professional connections of the scholar-officials.
Therefore, whenever an official makes a mistake, he immediately relies on the whole family to help smooth things over.Even if it is a disgusting issue with serious consequences, as long as it does not affect the safety of the imperial power, nepotism can be used to avoid severe punishment. For example, Wang Huai, who is in charge of the Xiangyao Yiyuan Institute, was reported for corruption. However, his elder brother, Wang Mi, happened to be a political advisor, so the heavy punishment was reduced to a mere hundred imperial edicts and he was demoted to the chief register of Dingyuan. Another example is Han Gang, a member of Shangshu Yongbu who led the Guanghua Army. He first caused a mutiny by mistreating his soldiers, and then abandoned the city without permission and fled. As a result, he relied on his friendship with powerful officials to avoid punishment, and was able to be transferred to the mainland to continue serving in idle positions.
Dead enemies with different political views can also explain each other at critical moments
Although not all civil servants in the Song Dynasty were related to each other, they could more or less rely on this official-official protection mechanism to avoid punishment. Sometimes even opposing factions that attack each other will lend a helping hand to colleagues who are in danger of disaster based on group interests or internal pity among the scholar-bureaucrats. For example, after Cai Que was demoted, he wrote slanderous words, which were seized by Hanyang Army Wu Chuhou and turned over to the court. As a mortal enemy, Wen Yanbo did not take the opportunity to retaliate. Instead, he asked the emperor to demote him to Lingnan. Other scholar-officials in the court also thought that the punishment was too severe, and they all stepped forward to issue disclaimers on behalf of the former prime minister.
Regarding this kind of chaos, the famous minister Fan Zhongyan expressed his true feelings: Since our ancestors, we have never killed my subordinates lightly. How can one try to undermine this great virtue by taking it lightly? Moreover, among my colleagues here, how many of us have the same mind? Although the superior intention is unknown, he leads the master lightly to kill his subordinates. My hands will be slippery in the future, even though I will not dare to protect myself!
Fan Zhongyan was very clear about the grievances of the scholar-bureaucrats
The hidden rules of the court
The dominance of one family in the imperial examination also originated from the two Song Dynasties
Obviously, this bureaucracy, which was completely controlled by the scholar-bureaucrats, was usually willing to put party disputes, mistakes or Crime is used to resolve internal conflicts. The core concept of is to bind each other into a relatively strong "whole" to resist the unexpected power of the top-level imperial power. At the same time, stabilize the vested interests and guard against all kinds of intrigues from military generals, eunuchs, merchants, civilians or foreign competitors.
What’s more interesting is that as the scholar-bureaucrat class continues to grow, there seems to be no other force in the DPRK that can compete with it. Song Shenzong was furious because of the defeat of Shaanxi and almost ordered the beheading of a Cao official. Cai Que, who served as prime minister, refused to implement it and brought up Zhao Kuangyin's ancestral system to put pressure on him. The emperor immediately changed the sentence to a package of stabbed noodles and hair distribution, which still attracted unanimous protests from other scholar-bureaucrats. After that, the civil servants were too lazy to make excuses and always talked about the ancestral system. The iron rule not to kill scholar-bureaucrats, touted by some people who don't know why, was openly upgraded to the hidden rule of the court.
The imperial examination system itself was also a measure to win over the scholar-bureaucrat class
However, the final interpretation power of the Song Dynasty was still firmly controlled by the strengthened imperial power. With the exception of a few seemingly incompetent rubber stamps, most monarchs are pleased with the situation. After all, these scholar-bureaucrats have long been separated from the country where they were born and raised, and can only perform lip service in the close space of the court. At the same time, he also shouldered the heavy responsibility of suppressing the warriors, and he was unable to use a single soldier to increase his momentum. Even the historical evaluations that literati and poets value most are always deeply bound to the attitude of the monarch. For example, Zongze 's reputation for loyalty, Qin Hui's 's inconsistency, and even Jia Sidao's treacherous attributes are just different perspectives of observing similar phenomena.
In the end, the Song Dynasty collapsed twice because it could not bear the burden of the system, and the scholar-bureaucrat class completely said goodbye to the beautiful marginal years. Although during the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, they could often drink and drink with military generals at the same level, they no longer enjoyed the death-free treatment of their predecessors. Because the custom of valuing culture over martial arts has become a common practice, their value has dropped...
