Song HuizongZhao Ji has been characterized as a fatuous and incompetent emperor in Chinese history. Because of his wrong strategy, it directly led to the fall of Northern Song Dynasty. In order not to bear the charge of the demise of the Northern Song Dynasty, he At the last moment, he gave up the position of emperor to his son, and then he became the emperor behind his back. In fact, the strategic plan that most embodies Song Huizong's mediocrity should be the strategy formulated at the end of the Northern Song Dynasty to unite with the Jin Kingdom to destroy the Liao Kingdom. This unprepared move directly led to the Jin Kingdom's siege of the Northern Song Dynasty and entered the Jingkang Period. Countdown to .
Song Huizong The background of the alliance with Jin to destroy Liao
The emperors of the Northern Song Dynasty had a dream from the founding of the country to their demise, that is to recover the lost Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Yanyun Sixteen States, this place had always been there before the Northern Song Dynasty It was in the hands of the Han people, but later it was accidentally given to the Liao Kingdom by Shi Jingtang, the later emperor of Jin'er. The purpose was to use the power of the Liao Kingdom to maintain its own peaceful regime. When Huizong of the Song Dynasty was the emperor, he also had the ideal of recovering the sixteen states of Yanyun and restoring the old territories of the Han and Tang Dynasties. When he was the emperor, he did realize this dream.
The opportunity for recovery actually came from a horse trader named Zhao Liangsi. This man was always Han in his ancestors, but he lived in the Yanyun area ruled by the Liao Kingdom. He served as a high official in the Liao Kingdom, but in his heart I have always kept the lesson in mind and never forgotten that the Central Plains Dynasty was my origin. Because of this kind of character, I simply stopped being a high-ranking official in the Liao Kingdom. I went to sell horses freely and freely between the Song and Liao Dynasties, and later in Jin During the rise of the people , he saw the end of the Liao Kingdom, so he went through Tong Guan, a high-ranking military official in the Northern Song Dynasty, hoping to provide strategies to regain the sixteen states of Yanyun.
After being recommended by the eunuch Tong Guan, he successfully met Song Huizong and suggested that Song Huizong take advantage of the current decline of the Liao Kingdom to unite with the Jurchens in the Northeast to destroy the Liao Dynasty. In fact, this area has always been a concern for the emperor of the Northern Song Dynasty. Since the failure of the Northern Expedition by Song Taizong , Song Zhenzong although he defeated the Liao Kingdom with the help of Kou Zhun, he still signed an alliance under the city. The annual tribute to the Liao Kingdom was 100,000 taels of silver and 200,000 pieces of silk. Song Renzong increased it to 200,000 taels of silver. Song Shenzong faced blackmail from the Liao State and ceded the land east of the river.
The main reason why the emperors of the Northern Song Dynasty repeatedly made concessions and compromises was that they lost the barrier of Yanyun and were unable to stop the Liao cavalry from going south, so they could only spend money to buy peace and cede some land to buy peace. The appearance of Zhao Liangsi seemed to give the Northern Song Dynasty some chances to regain the Sixteenth Prefecture of Yanyun. Song Huizong was actually tempted at the time, but he was always hesitant because he knew what his army was like, even if it was the Liao Kingdom. No matter how bad it was, it was not as bad as the Northern Song Dynasty's army. So why did the Northern Song Dynasty choose to unite with the Jin Dynasty to destroy the Liao Dynasty?
The game between the attacking faction and the peaceful faction
Although Tong Guan was just a eunuch, he was the Minister of Defense of the Song Dynasty at that time. The military power of the entire country was in his hands, and his luck was also surprisingly good. During the war in Xixia , the anti-imperialist army defeated Xixia, which accumulated prestige in the army and also won him the title of "knowing soldiers" in the court. Later, he gradually became After reaching the position of Minister of Defense in the Northern Song Dynasty, he always advocated joining forces with the Jin Dynasty to destroy the Liao Dynasty, because once there was a war, it would be him, the most knowledgeable minister of defense, who would take action, and the credit and honor would be his.
There is also an important supporting minister named Cai Jing. This person was once a minister of Su Shi. He was recommended to be an official because of his good handwriting and copywriting. He is as famous as Su Shi in terms of calligraphy and literary achievements, but his official position is lower than that of Su Shi. Su Shi was much older. Logically speaking, he was a civil servant. How could he mount a sword and mount a fight to recapture Yanyun? Actually no, the main reason for his support was that there was an imperial edict in the history of the Northern Song Dynasty. The founding emperor Zhao Kuangyin once left an edict saying: "If any descendant in future generations has the ability to restore Yanyun, he will be the king." In other words, you only need to Those who have made great contributions to the recovery of Yanyun can be directly crowned king.
The ultimate dream among civil servants is who doesn’t want to be crowned king and prime minister? Cai Jing knew that as a civil servant, he would definitely not be able to become the king, but if he supported Tong Guan in his northern expedition to the Liao Kingdom and successfully regained Yanyun, the credit afterwards would definitely be enough for Tong Guan to be crowned king, and he would also be able to choose Ma to be the prime minister. There is no problem, so with such private interests greater than national interests, Cai Jing and Tong Guan desperately encouraged Song Huizong to send troops to the northern expedition to the Liao Kingdom, and united with the newly rising Jin people to carve up the land of the Liao Kingdom in order to regain Yanyun. Purpose.
But at this time, there was a quite sober minister named Zheng Juzhong . His view was that the covenant between Song and Liao had been stable for more than a hundred years. This was actually equivalent to an amulet of the Northern Song Dynasty. Although it was paid Some money and food and cloth were exchanged for a hundred years of peace in the border areas. The current Northern Song Dynasty army, that is, the Shaanxi army close to Xixia, has been fighting. The armies in other places have long been degraded to the point where they can only do business but not fight in more than a hundred years of corrupt life. At this time, go to Lianjin Is it really feasible to destroy Liao?
He believed that the newly emerged Jin people were much stronger than the Liao army, and the Northern Song Dynasty army could not defeat the Liao army. If they really united with the Jin Dynasty to destroy the Liao Kingdom, then what if the Jin people in the future would see through the Song Dynasty? With such strength, what should we do if we turn back and attack the Song Dynasty? Therefore, Zheng Juzhong’s opinion is to maintain the status quo of the alliance between the Song Dynasty and the Liao State. In this case, not only cannot we unite with the Jin to destroy the Liao, but we should proactively "alliance with the Liao to destroy the Jin". Only the newly rising powerful force of the Jin State can be Only by eliminating it can the entire East Asia maintain balance.
Zheng Juzhong believed that the Liao Kingdom was not enough to pose a threat to the Northern Song Dynasty. Although the Liao Kingdom's military power was stronger than that of the Northern Song Dynasty, it was not much stronger. The Northern Song Dynasty's military power was slightly weaker, but it could be supplemented through economic warfare , so the Liao Kingdom wanted It is impossible to destroy the Song Dynasty. As long as the Song Dynasty resists carefully, it can still defeat the Liao Kingdom. In addition, more than a hundred years of sinicized and corrupt life have made the Northern Song Dynasty dignitaries and Liao Kingdom dignitaries know each other thoroughly. Everyone knows that the level of both sides is just At the same time, it was impossible for the Northern Song Dynasty to regain Yanyun alone, and it was impossible for the Liao Kingdom to destroy the Song Dynasty. Therefore, Zheng Juzhong advocated joining forces with the Liao Dynasty to destroy the Jin Dynasty and maintain the balance of power in the world.
The Implementation of Lianjin to Destroy Liao
Many people opposed the strategy of Lianjin to exterminate Liao, but they could not stop Cai Jing and Tong Guan from going their own way. Later, Deng Xunwu reported that during the founding of the People's Republic of China, Zhao Pu could serve as counselors again, and Pan Mei famous generals such as Cao Bin could not destroy the Liao Kingdom as commanders. Can today's counselors and military commanders still compare with those people back then? ? After hearing this, Song Huizong became silent and canceled the attack plan. However, Cai Jing then began to encourage Prime Minister Wang Fu to suggest that annexing the weak Liao Kingdom was a God-given opportunity. If it is missed, it will be a century-old regret.
This suddenly touched Song Huizong's heart. He issued an imperial edict to start preparing Tong Guan and Cai Jing for war. At this time, Deng Xunwu, a man who really understood military affairs in the Northern Song Dynasty, once again analyzed for Song Huizong that our country's army was in Xixia Too much was expended on the front. Although more than a thousand miles of mountains and rivers were recovered during the Song Shenzong era, they were later directly sent out by Sima Guang and other conservative parties. Tens of thousands of casualties were lost in the Expedition to the West and they have not yet recovered. Come here, and the Liao Kingdom is also prepared for our attack, so it’s better to cancel the attack plan!
After hearing that the Liao Kingdom was preparing to deal with the Northern Song Dynasty's attack, Song Huizong said to cancel the plan! But what he didn't expect was that Tong Guan's army had already set off. At that time, he also rejected the emperor's imperial edict and insisted on the northern expedition to the Liao Kingdom, saying that he would not accept the orders of foreign troops. Now that hundreds of thousands of troops have set off, if there is no Returning with success is undoubtedly a huge blow to morale. If there is no reward, they will definitely not obey orders, so it is better to let the army go to recover Yanyun, and then reward gold and silver before returning to the court. Tong Guan at the time had such an attitude anyway , Song Huizong had no choice.
We will know what happened later. The Liao Kingdom was indeed destroyed under the attack of the Northern Song Dynasty and the Jin people, but the main force that destroyed the Liao Kingdom was the Jin Army. Even the remaining troops of the Song Army led by Tong Guan could not defeat the Liao Kingdom. , this time allowed the Jin people to see the weakness and vulnerability of the Northern Song Dynasty. After the Jin people destroyed the Liao Kingdom, they took advantage of the situation and launched an attack on the capital of the Northern Song Dynasty. At this time, Tong Guan began to run south in a panic. , Song Qinzong found out and issued an imperial edict to rectify him on the spot. Finally, surrounded by a group of swordsmen , the eunuch Tong Guan, who briefly regained Yanyun and was crowned king, ended his life like this.
Conclusion
In fact, from the history of the late Northern Song Dynasty, Song Huizong has always been hesitant about whether to join forces with the Jin Dynasty to destroy the Liao Dynasty. Anyway, as long as any of his ministers can persuade him, he is willing to listen to whoever. He twice canceled the plan to unite Jin and destroy Liao. The first time was because the army had not yet assembled and the strategic plan had not yet been formulated, so Tong Guan and others obeyed the emperor's imperial edict. The second time he canceled the plan after hearing that Liao was prepared. When it was cancelled, Song Huizong was already beyond reach of Tong Guan, who had already set off for the Northern Expedition. Therefore, Huizong of the Song Dynasty should not be solely responsible for the direct destruction of the Northern Song Dynasty by joining forces with the Jin Dynasty to destroy the Liao Dynasty. What's more, these powerful ministers took advantage of the emperor.
