Said "Song Qinzong is the scapegoat of his father (Song Huizong) and a shadow puppet of his father." "I don't dare to agree, although Song Huizong is not a famous monarch, he is by no means a mediocre lord. Although Song Huizong was very corrupt at the end of the Song Dynasty, and the failure to launch the war against Liao, it prematurely exposed the tail of the Northern Song Dynasty's foreign power, but Song Huizong has not lost the authority to refresh the political situation, and 25 years of political experience is irreplaceable by others after all. For example, he dismissed Cai Jing many times is the best proof. The biggest mistake in his life was to listen to the advice of Li Gang, Wu Min and others, and give up the throne to his son. Hoping that Jin Bing would retire from the army was actually a great political joke, gambling with power and the throne on the fate of the country. It's a pity that the bet was lost. The Jin soldiers want to invade you, and they will also withdraw because of your emperor's abdication, which is a manifestation of political indiscretion. This is also a great irresponsibility.

Because it was his eldest son, Zhao Huan, who replaced him on the throne of the emperor, and he had no ability and political courage to govern the country at all. You can think about it, a prince who has been trembling for a long time and is worried about the seizure of the crown prince cannot have great ambitions. (I also have another article "On the Prince in Chinese History", which you can refer to). Let's take a look at an indecisive monarch, next to a group of villains (Geng Nanzhong, Li Bangyan, etc.) or incompetent people (Wu Min, etc.), how can this country sit for a long time. Sure enough, after Zhao Huan sat on the throne, he put aside the most important border defense matters and aimed the finger at his father. Isolate its father. In fact, Huizong was opposed to the cession of the three counties, and there was a lot of dissatisfaction with the fact that the imperial court did not pursue it when the Jin soldiers retreated (there are detailed records in the compilation of the Northern Alliance of the Three Dynasties), and later saw that the imperial court was in danger, and took the initiative to propose to Song Qinzong to go to Luoyang to recruit troops in person, but his son also refused. It should be seen that although Song Huizong had no way in his life, his political wisdom and experience were still richer than his son's. However, it is difficult to make a difference, even if the actions are strictly guarded, it is difficult to have freedom. had to end up with a tragic ending of dying in a foreign land. In fact, I think it was not Song Qinzong who made the scapegoat of his father Song Huizong, but Song Qinzong dragged his father to death.

Here, let me say one more thing, Li Gang is a loyal minister, but his personal ability is limited, and he has been directly promoted from a Taichang Qing to the position of the ruling party, and his ability and knowledge are indeed average. Persuading Song Huizong to abdicate was really a bad move, in an attempt to exchange for peace. This is a true literati way of thinking, and it is also very naïve. Rather than letting Song Qinzong ascend the throne, it is better for Song Huizong to reign. Just because Song Huizong fled Tokyo after his abdication, we can't deduce that Song Huizong was also very soft on the Jin State. Also, Li Gang's welcome of Song Huizong back to Tokyo was also a bad move, which directly led to the Song Dynasty's royal family gathering in Tokyo, which directly led to the later royal family being wiped out. As long as Song Huizong does not return to Tokyo, many of his sons will not go back, including his third son, Zhao Wei. Even if Song Qinzong is captured, whoever is the emperor is better than Zhao Gou as the emperor, let's imagine it, how can a person who has been a hostage not have a huge sense of fear of Jin Bing, and how can he rely on him to recover the old rivers and mountains.

More than 3,000 remaining members of the royal family, including Emperor Huizong, Empress Zheng of Taishang, King Yun, princesses, emperors, concubines, and duwei, carried futons, and went out of the city from Nanxun Gate under the escort of Yin Xu Bingzhe of Kaifeng Mansion and Fan Qiong, the inspector of the four walls of Tokyo City. Xu Bingzhe and Fan Qiong, who worked extremely hard to help the Jin army, in order to prevent the royal family from escaping, also ordered all the royal family members, every two or three people, to tie each other with their sleeves and urge them viciously. As soon as Huizong and Qinzong entered the golden camp, they were stripped of their dragon robes.

The list is:

Emperor Taishang

Empress Taishang

King Yun, Princess Zhu and three sons and six concubines

King Su, Princess Ren and two sons and two sons

King Jing, Princess Tian and Erzong Ji

King Ji, Princess Cao

King Kang, Princess Xing

King Qi and Princess Cao

King Xin and Princess Yan

King Xu, Princess Wang

King Yi, King He, King Xin

The king of Ankang and the king of Jian'an

Jiaguo Gong, Yingguo Gong, Changguo Gong, Wen Guogong, Yi Guogong, Xiangguo Gong, Han Gong

Roufu Emperor, Jiade Emperor, Ande Emperor, Chongde Emperor, Maode Emperor, Chengde Emperor, Shunde Emperor, Xiande Emperor

The concubines were:

Wang Guifei, Qiao Guifei, Wei Xianfei, Wang Wanrong

Yan Wanrong, Ren Wanrong, Wang Jieyu, Xiao Wang Jieyu

Cui Meiren

The Seven Emperors Who Were Not Married:

Huafu, Huifu, Lingfu, Chunfu, Ningfu, Yongfu, Roufu

Five young princes:

King Yan, King Yue, King Wu, King of Heyi, King of Yongning.

Then, a large number of royal women were sent to the gold camp one after another:

There were eighty-three concubines, twenty-four princesses, and twenty-two imperial concubines, and the emperor had 1,000 ingots of gold, and the emperor's concubines were doubled, and a total of 134,000 ingots of gold.

Ninety-eight concubines, twenty-eight concubines, fifty-two concubines, seventy-eight royal maidens, one hundred and ninety-five concubines, five hundred gold ingots, and two hundred and twenty-five thousand gold ingots.

One thousand two hundred and forty-one princesses, two hundred ingots of gold, and two hundred thousand two hundred ingots of gold.

There were 479 palace maids, 604 maidens, 2,091 women, 500 silver ingots, and 1,587,000 silver ingots.

There were two thousand and seven women, and one thousand three hundred and fourteen singers, and two hundred ingots of silver, and sixty-four thousand two hundred ingots of silver.

There were 3,309 nobles, officials and women, and 100 ingots of silver were allowed, and 331,900 ingots of silver were obtained.

In this way, more than 11,000 women of the Great Song Dynasty were sent to the gold camp, with a total of more than 600,000 taels of gold and more than 2,580,000 taels of silver, but even if the gold and silver that the Great Song had paid to Jin, according to the agreement, the Great Song still owed more than 340,000 taels of gold and more than 870,000 taels of silver.

After these women were sent to the Jin camp, Han Li also issued an order specifically for Song royal women, and he asked the Jin army and the exiled Song people to examine all young royal women, and all pregnant women were to have a fetus with medicine. This time, many concubines who were already pregnant with dragon species and royal flesh and blood were all forced to give birth.

Due to the cold and starvation, a large number of detainees died in the gold camp. Many royal concubines, imperial concubines, princesses, clan concubines, and clan wives who were taken captive into the Jin camp one after another, as well as the wives and daughters of a large number of ministers, were insulted by a large number of Jin army generals and soldiers. The first to be insulted was Cai Jing's daughter-in-law, Emperor Maode. On the night she was sent to the gold camp, she was drunk and forcibly raped by Han Li. Subsequently, even King Kang's wife, Concubine Xing, King Yun's wife, Concubine Zhu, and some emperors were also raped. Many martyrs did not want to lose their temper and committed suicide. For a time, the entire golden camp became a prostitution cave. On February 20, Princess Xin resolutely committed suicide in Qingcheng Walled City because she was unwilling to be humiliated. On February 24, 17-year-old Yifu Diji died of illness. On February 25, 16-year-old Renfu Emperor Ji died in Liujia Temple.

On February 28, 16-year-old Emperor Xianfu died in Liujia Temple. These emperors were all daughters of Huizong and sisters of Qinzong.

The descendants of Emperor Taizong of the Song Dynasty were almost wiped out by the Jinren. In the end, the royal family that "slipped through the net" was only Emperor Gaozong and Emperor Zhezong's empress [Empress Dowager Meng].

Later, after entering the Southern Song Dynasty and Gaozong Chan, the throne was passed to the descendants of Emperor Taizu.

On the fall of the Northern Song Dynasty

New Linghu Chong

Zigong, a student of Confucius, once asked his teacher, "What are the most important conditions to keep a country?" Confucius said: "Enough food, foot soldiers, the people believe in it." Zigong asked again: "If for some reason you have to do one less of the three, you should go to that one first?" Confucius said, "Go to the soldiers." Zigong also asked: In case this situation happens, the country is very poor and poor, and the military funds are withdrawn and cannot be maintained, which one should be the first to go for adequate food and Lixin. Confucius categorically said: "If you go to eat, you will die since ancient times, and the people will not stand without faith."

The tragedy of an emperor, the tragedy of a dynasty

Zhao Heng [1100-1161] was the eldest son of Zhao Ji of Song Huizong, and was made crown prince at the age of fifteen. In 1125, Huizong abdicated, and Zhao Heng succeeded him as emperor. After Qinzong succeeded to the throne, he belittled Cai Jing, Tong Guan and others, and used Li Gang, Zhong Shidao and others as ministers. But in the end, it was difficult to reverse the situation that had been in decline for many years, resulting in his father and son, wife and daughter, and princesses and concubines all becoming prisoners of the Jin soldiers, and he himself died of illness in a foreign land.

When Qinzong was the crown prince, he didn't care about the sound, the dogs, the horses, etc. As soon as he came to power, he straightened out politics, purged the Qing Dynasty, punished treacherous evils, and appointed meritocrats. When it was very critical, he personally put on his own clothes and went into battle, sharing weal and woe with the soldiers, sharing food and clothing [the army of Jin Ren Muhan came to the city, and the day was constantly raining and snowing, and the emperor put on armor and climbed the city wall, and distributed the food for the emperor to the soldiers, and he ate the soldiers' meals instead, and everyone was moved and wept bitterly. The Jin people came to attack Tongjin Gate, and hundreds of soldiers were hung down the city wall with ropes to resist them, burning five artillery mounts and two goose carts of the enemy. - Source: History of the Song Dynasty]. It can be said that in the feudal era, a monarch could do the most virtuous moves, he did. In the end, he could not save the fate of the Northern Song Dynasty, causing both father and son to fall into the hands of the enemy, and the country became a barren. This cannot be said not to be a tragedy.

The Song Dynasty was the era of China's feudal society. All social systems, ideologies and cultures tended to mature in the Song Dynasty and a relatively perfect system was formed. But the pity is that it is compared with the Han and Tang dynasties before the Song Dynasty. Although the Song people can be proud of their achievements in cultural systems and other aspects, they can't help but be ashamed of themselves in terms of land and sigh and shortness of breath. The Song people have never completed their territory. From the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China, the Song people have not been less than border troubles. It is true that there will be border conflicts in the Han and Tang dynasties, but it is often the result of the Han Dynasty and the Tang Dynasty's poor border martial arts.

But the Song people did not have such great pride, and they were often stumbling to deal with foreign aggression. He fought with Liao, Western Xia, Jin, Mongolia, etc., and also sued for peace, signed a humiliating alliance under the city, and finally went to the end of the country.

So what led to the defeat of the Song people in this battle for foreign exchanges? Ostensibly, the Song Dynasty learned the lessons of the warlords' separatism caused by the implementation of the feudal town system in the late Tang Dynasty. The result of the abolition of the standing army, the professional army, and the replacement of the militia with the armor protection system. But the fundamental reason also lies in the entire state system, cultural and ideological structure of the Northern Song Dynasty.

In terms of the size of the country at that time, no matter the vast territory, or the large population, the material wealth, and the economic development. The Northern Song Dynasty was much stronger than other countries, whether it was Liao, Western Xia or Jin. However, the fact that the Song was defeated again and again in the wars of these countries cannot but make us think deeply about the many reasons that determine the outcome of wars, especially wars between countries, and the complex combination of these reasons and the energy generated by this combination.

The demise of the Northern Song Dynasty was both the tragedy of an emperor and the tragedy of a dynasty. As for the reasons for the demise of the Northern Song Dynasty, various [historians, politicians, philosophers] have said a lot about it [I will not describe them one by one here], and there is a certain amount of truth. But I personally believe that the fatal reason for the demise of the Song Dynasty was the dishonesty of the Northern Song Dynasty externally and internally, that is, it lost its trust with the people [the most important thing is with the people] internally, and with the allies externally. He has lost his trust in the world [and has lost the most basic and most important article of the founding of the country], and it is obvious that any other effort is in vain.

There is very little historical information about the lack of integrity in the Northern Song Dynasty, perhaps because history has ignored this point [which is a very important point], but we can still understand some of the circumstances of the incident through some relevant materials. Some of the following sources are from the Golden History. The Biography of Zong Han.

Zong Han's real name is Dip or Drink, and his Chinese name is incorrectly called Sticky Han. He was the eldest son of Xiangguo Sagai, and at the age of seventeen his bravery was already admired in the army. By the time the crusade against the Liao State was discussed, Zong Han's opinion was in agreement with that of [Jin] Taizu. The Liao capital, Yelu Liduo, led 200,000 soldiers to guard the border, and Taizu attacked them head-on. Zong Han led the right army to defeat the Liao people in the ancient city of Dalu .......

Emperor Taizong ascended the throne and issued an edict to Zong Han, saying: "I entrust you with the responsibility of one aspect, and those who have qualifications should be promoted, you can act at the opportunity to appoint them to official positions, so I will hand over the empty appointment letter of Emperor Baidao to Zong Han." The Song people [Northern Song Dynasty] came to ask for the cession of some cities, and Zong Han promised to cede Wu and Shuo Erzhou. He also asked for instructions: If the Song people do not return to us those who defected [criminals who fled to the Song State after committing crimes] and block the road to and from Yanshan, the covenant between the two countries will inevitably be torn up in the future, and please do not cede the counties west of the Taihang Mountains to them." Taizong replied: "The emperor of the previous dynasty had agreed to them, and they should be ceded to them."

Zong Han also said: "At the beginning of the previous emperor's conquest of Liao, he hoped that the Song Dynasty could join forces to attack the Liao State, so he promised to cede the Yan land to them. The covenant reads: It is not permissible to harbor and flee criminals, and to lure and disturb the border people. Now the Song Kingdom has several ways to recruit and receive betrayed and fleeing people, and treat them with kindness and rewards, we have written down the names of the betrayers more than once to ask Tong Guan, and they have also made an appointment on the day of the month, and set a date in the form of an oath, but no one has been delivered. It's not been a year since the alliance was agreed, and that's what it looks like now. Is there any hope for the Peace Covenant? Besides, there is no peace on the western border, and if the Shanxi lands are ceded to them, then the armies will lose the place where they are stationed, so please put this matter aside for the time being and do not cede it." The emperor completely complied with Zong Han's request.

When Hanlu reported that Song would not send the money and people that should be sent every year [not fulfilling the agreement], and that Song was about to betray the covenant and must not be prepared, Taizong ordered Han to take the household registration reported on Zhulu and ask Song for the place registered in the book. Then the mother of Yan reported that the Song broke the covenant and had specific manifestations, and Zong Han and Zong Wang both asked for a crusade against the Song state. So Chen Ban Bo Ji Liegao served as the marshal of the capital, stayed in Beijing, and Zong Han served as the deputy marshal and set off from Taiyuan Road to attack the Song State.

Zong Han set out from the south of the Yellow River, so he surrendered Shuozhou, conquered Daizhou, and besieged Taiyuan Fu. The army of 40,000 people in Shaanxi east of the Song River came to save Taiyuan, but was defeated north of the Fen River, and more than 10,000 people died. Zongwang took Bianjing directly from Hebei, and there was no news for a long time. Zong Han then left Yinshu Ke to besiege Taiyuan, led the division to the south, Tianhui four years, surrendered and stabilized some counties and Weisheng army, and captured Luzhou, Longde Mansion. The army drove to Zezhou, and the envoys of the Song State came to the army, and only then did they know that the Song State cut the three towns and told the Jin State about peace. Lu Yundi came with the edict of the Song State cessing Taiyuan, and the Taiyuan people did not accept the edict and surrendered. Zong Hanqi took Wenshui and Yuxian, and left Yinshuke to besiege Taiyuan, and returned to Shanxi by himself.

Emperor Shao of Song [Qinzong] induced Xiao Zhonggong to send a letter to Yelu Yujian [Liao was destroyed by Jin], impressing him with the promise of revitalizing and restoring the Liao state. Xiao Zhonggong handed the letter to the Jin State, and the Jin Emperor issued an edict ordering the Song Dynasty to be attacked again. In August, Zonghan departed from Xijing....... All the way the Song army was defeated.

Ding Hai, crossed the Yellow River, Runyue, and went to Bianjing to join Zongwang's troops. The Song State agreed to use the Yellow River as its national boundary and asked for peace, but the negotiations did not come to fruition [Jin would not believe it anymore]. Bingchen, Yinshuke and others conquered Bianzhou. Xin You, Emperor Shaodi of Song lived in Qingcheng before he arrived at the Jin army. In December, the young emperor asked the Jin State to surrender. In April of the fifth year, Zong Han took the two emperors of the Song State and more than 470 people from their clans [except for Zhao Gou, the king of Kang, because he was not there at the time], as well as jade, treasure seals, clothing, chariots and horses, sacrificial utensils, bands, Lingtai books and the army returned north [the Northern Song Dynasty perished].