It was all caused by the appointment of treacherous ministers.
The Song Dynasty probably had the most treacherous officials in any dynasty. If nothing else, let’s talk about the artist Song Huizong who brought about the destruction of the Northern Song Dynasty. During his reign, there were three treacherous officials, and these three treacherous officials all became prime ministers.
Everyone knows that Song Huizong’s paintings and thin gold calligraphy are unparalleled. His artistic attainments are difficult for ordinary people to match, just like Li Houzhu’s lyrics, which are difficult for others to match.
However, it is a bit difficult for them to let them govern the country as emperors. Just like Song Huizong, the first prime minister he appointed was the treacherous minister Cai Jing.
Cai Jing was a man who wrote very well. He was known as one of the four masters of calligraphy in the Northern Song Dynasty. He was on the same level as Su Shi and Mi Fu.
Why did Song Huizong reuse him?
Because of his calligraphy, before Song Huizong became emperor, he spent two hundred taels of gold to buy Cai Jing’s calligraphy. It seems that Song Huizong was probably a fan of Cai Jing.
Let’s see what bad things the traitor Cai Jing did after he became prime minister?
The emperors of the Song Dynasty were all very frugal, and they have always been like this starting from Song Taizu Zhao Kuangyin.
Zhao Kuangyin's clothes are often patched. When his clothes are really unwearable, he gives them to his ministers so that they can continue to wear them for a few years. It was he who set the precedent for frugality for the later emperors of the Song Dynasty, so the emperors of the Song Dynasty persisted in this way until Huizong of the Song Dynasty.
There is also the matter of emperors building imperial mausoleums. You have heard how luxurious the imperial mausoleums of the Song Dynasty were, right? It was also decided at the time of Song Taizu Zhao Kuangyin that the emperor was not allowed to make major construction projects, especially the imperial mausoleums.
However, when it came to Song Huizong, Cai Jing told Song Huizong that as the emperor, it was wrong for you to be so frugal. You have to spend a lot of money to prove the country's wealth. Only in this way can the barbarian countries like Khitan and Xixia know that we are very rich. They know that the Song Dynasty is so rich, so they will not invade the Song Dynasty rashly.
Song Huizong was right. I don’t know how to do anything else. Spending money is too simple for me. In addition, after Wang Anshi's reform at that time, the country was indeed very rich. So Song Huizong began to build a palace, and began to use jade bowls for meals.
In short, Song Huizong began to show off his wealth in all aspects. Even the emperor did this in the entire country, which encouraged unhealthy trends. Ministers also followed suit and began to build luxurious villas. Their living styles were extremely of luxury and corruption.
The most irritating thing is the officers who manage the army, such as Gao Qiu. He began to use the soldiers raised by the state to make money for himself. This led to a decline in the combat effectiveness of the soldiers, so that the Jurchens later When the Song Dynasty invaded the Song Dynasty, the Song army had no resistance at all.
I have to say that these are all given by the traitor Cai Jing.
How bad is Cai Jing’s reputation?
In other words, Cai Jing wants to ask the new top scorer to teach his grandchildren. When the new top scholar came to Cai Jing's house, he said to Cai Jing's grandson, you shouldn't learn knowledge, because you won't have anything if you learn it.
These grandsons asked the new champion, what should we learn if we don’t learn knowledge?
The new top scholar told them to learn to escape. Your ancestor Cai Jing did too many bad things, and he will be exterminated sooner or later. After you learn how to escape, whoever runs faster will be able to save a life.
When these people heard what the new top scholar said, they were all frightened and cried. They told Cai Jing these words. Cai Jing did not kill the new champion because he knew that his sins were serious and what they said was the truth.
Cai Jing wanted the new top scholar to pay attention to him to see if he could avoid the disaster of annihilation. The new top scholar told him that your sins were too numerous to describe and there was nothing I could do about it, so he resigned and went back. No more teaching these grandsons.
The second prime minister during the Huizong period of the Song Dynasty was the treacherous minister Wang Fu. This man was worse than Cai Jing. He led the emperor every day instead of doing serious business and only did some sneaky things, such as taking the emperor to a brothel. Picking up girls is something they do a lot.
Of course there is the third....