At the end of the Northern Song Dynasty, it was an era of political corruption and disasters. Although the division of the former dynasty ended, the Northern Song Dynasty was always threatened by powerful enemies, with frequent wars and difficulties in internal affairs and diplomacy.
The decline of the Northern Song Dynasty should start from Hui Zong. In the first month of Fu Yuan's third year, Song Zhezong Zhao Xu died without children. Evonne, the 11th son of Zongshen Zhao Zhuan and the younger brother of Zhezong, was elected as the emperor of the Empress Dowager. Although Zhang Dun, the Prime Minister, objected that "(Evonne) can't be frivolous and rule the world", he succeeded alone after all. Evonne entered the palace, which was prepared for Song Huizong in front of Zhe Zong Ling.
As a famous painting and calligraphy emperor in history, Song Huizong was good at painting and calligraphy, leaving many treasures handed down from ancient times. His original thin gold calligraphy is beautiful and elegant, and no one can match it. Unfortunately, this major is not suitable for governing the country. More importantly, as Zhang Dun said, Song Huizong's virtue is "frivolous". He likes luxury, regardless of politics, but he prefers books, paintings, animals, birds and exotic flowers and rocks. After being in power for 25 years, he was not only arrogant and extravagant, but also dissolute, treacherous, disastrous to the country and people, and finally pushed the Northern Song Dynasty to the road of extinction.
Song Huizong's "Rui He Tu"
Song Huizong's favorite jesters are mainly Cai Jing, Tong Guan, Zhu CuO, Liang Shicheng, Wang Fu and Li Yan, who were called "Six Thieves" at that time. Headed by Cai Jing and Tong Guan, they have long held the highest military and political power in Song Huizong.
Cai Jing and Song Huizong have the same purport, and they are also good at painting and calligraphy. He was a famous painter and calligrapher at the end of Northern Song Dynasty. By constantly contributing his own works, he gradually won the recognition of Song Huizong, climbed to the position of prime minister, and took power 17 years.
Cai Jing's running script, Song Huizong's postscript to "Xue Shui Gui Ji"
Eunuch Tong Guan and Cai Jing colluded with each other, supported each other and reused Suzhou businessman Zhu CuO. Zhu CuO was appointed as the Tang envoy and held the military power for 20 years.
Tong Guan in Water Margin
Eunuch Liang Shicheng was clever and astute, and won the favor of Song Huizong. He is mainly responsible for publicizing the imperial edict of Song Huizong. He made people imitate Song Huizong's handwriting and spread the imperial edict falsely, but it was difficult for foreign courts to distinguish between true and false, so he was in power for a while.
Wang Fu, a scholar, touted Cai Jing and took refuge in Liang Shicheng. Because of his handsome appearance, he often spoiled in front of Song Huizong, and said some obscene words in the street to make Song Huizong laugh, and soon became the prime minister.
Cai Jing in Water Margin
Eunuch Li Yan worked in Ruzhou, searching for the land of the people for the royal family, and was on an equal footing with Zhu Cuo. These "six thieves" are all good at flattery, bullying the weak and fearing the hard. They colluded with each other to cultivate party members. In order to win the favor and appreciation of Song Huizong, they spare no effort to do what they like and help others.
Take Hua Shigang, which caused widespread indignation and resentment, as an example. In the fourth year of Chongning, Zhu Xu, under the instruction of Cai Jing, used the signboard of Suzhou Yingfeng Bureau to look for rare flowers and trees and strange peaks and rocks in southern Jiangsu, eastern Zhejiang and damao mountain. These flower stones were loaded on the ship as tributes and transported to Tokyo by water. Every ten ships are a "class", which is called "Huashiban".