Speaking of the Song Dynasty, there are always two facts that cannot be avoided: the Song Dynasty established the most prosperous economic empire in my country's feudal society, and the people's life could be described as having no worries about food and clothing; the Song Dynasty was constantly invaded from the founding of the country until its demise , repeatedly ceding territory, paying indemnities and seeking peace. These two facts can be said to be the two extremes of the Song Dynasty. Looking back at the reasons for the occurrence of these two extremes, we can easily see that it was caused by the Song Dynasty's national policy of "refining military power and cultivating literature, emphasizing literature over military power."
There is nothing right or wrong in emphasizing literature over military affairs, but when the country was in crisis after valuing literature over military affairs, no civil servants came forward to take on the important task of solving problems for the country, which became the greatest tragedy of the Song Dynasty.
Beginning with Emperor Taizu of the Song Dynasty, the Song Dynasty began to pursue a policy of emphasizing literature over military affairs. Civilian officials were repeatedly re-employed, but military generals were marginalized everywhere, and the entire court began to practice martial arts and cultivate literature. It was against this background that the economy and culture of the Song Dynasty began to prosper. At the same time, the borders of the Song Dynasty were repeatedly invaded by foreign enemies. After repeatedly failing to fight against the Liao Kingdom, the Song Dynasty completely lost confidence. In order to seek stability, the Song Dynasty took the initiative to repair with the Liao Kingdom and signed the famous "Chanyuan Alliance". The alliance stipulated that the Song Dynasty would provide "military assistance" to the Liao people every year. The fee is one hundred thousand taels of silver and two hundred thousand pieces of silk. From then on, the Song Dynasty began to pay compensation and seek peace, and the humiliation also began, and it became out of control.
By the time of Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty, this policy of paying indemnities and seeking peace could no longer continue. Countries such as Liao and Jin were no longer satisfied with the silver tribute paid by the Song Dynasty and began to invade the south again and again. At this time, the situation of the Song Dynasty was already in danger. Obviously, this policy of emphasizing civility over military affairs that had lasted for many years was incompatible with the current situation. Actively preparing for war was the best way to achieve national tranquility. However, Huizong of the Song Dynasty and his ordinary civil servants had long been obsessed with the peace and happiness of emphasizing literature over military affairs. As the emperor of a country, Huizong indulged in calligraphy and painting all day long.
Finally, the Song Dynasty swallowed its anger and ignored it again and again, which made the Jin people's appetite grow bigger each time. Seeing that the current situation could no longer last, Huizong approached his civil servants for discussion. However, none of the civil servants at this time could come up with a good strategy to defend against the enemy. In desperation, Huizong decided to give up and took the initiative to pass the throne to his son Zhao Huan. Logically speaking, it is a dream to enter the palace and dominate the world, but Zhao Huan was extremely weak, crying and unwilling to ascend the throne, but he was eventually pushed to the throne.
At this time, the Jin people had already arrived at the city, but Qinzong and his ministers could only be in panic all day long. In a huge country, no ministers came forward to take on the important task of turning the tide. In the end, tragedy finally struck as expected. The Jin conquered the capital Tokyo. Emperors Hui and Qin and a group of royal family members and ministers became prisoners of the Jin until they died in a foreign country. After this disaster, the once prosperous capital city had long been in ruins. After this battle, the Northern Song Dynasty finally fell.
Fortunately among misfortunes, Huizong's son Zhao Gou escaped and went south to Nanjing to establish the Southern Song Dynasty regime by occupying half of the country. This Gaozong Zhao Gou has experienced the world, and now he is a master who has suffered the humiliation of the hatred of the country and his family. At the beginning, he had vowed to regain the mountains and rivers and welcome back the Two Saints. The civil and military ministers under his command also seemed determined to avenge their past humiliation. However, although Zhao Gou had experienced the world, he was afraid of the Jin people. On the surface, he vowed to regain the mountains and rivers, but privately he was thinking all day long about how to negotiate peace with the Jin people and seek peace.
Due to the current pressure, the military generals also ushered in a spring, and Han Shizhong, Yue Fei and others were able to rise up and take charge of their own affairs. However, they still could not be truly reused. Not only were they ostracized and impeached by civil servants, but they were also suspected by Emperor Gaozong and Zhao Gou. In this way, tragedy befell the Southern Song Dynasty again, and Zhao Gou was finally driven by the Jin people to live on the sea. Shame once again enveloped the people of the Southern Song Dynasty. At this point, Gaozong Zhaogou, who had vowed to regain the country, was completely frightened, and welcoming back the Second Saint had long become a memory of the past.
In order to negotiate peace with the Jin people, Gaozong began to re-employ civil servants and doubt military generals. Qin Hui and other civil servants took advantage of the situation to rise up and dominate the world.
After the rise, the civil servants had no determination to solve the country's problems. When the Jin Dynasty proposed peace, Gaozong Zhaogou invited his most trusted civil servants to discuss countermeasures, but no civil servants came forward to make suggestions. In the end, Gaozong had to invite Zhao Gou and was impeached and dismissed. The prime minister’s traitorous minister Qin Hui.
He also handed over the peace negotiation to Qin Hui. This Qin Hui was originally the agent of the Jin people, and his heart had long been towards the Jin people in the north. Finally, Qin Hui completed the peace negotiation as scheduled, and the Southern Song Dynasty returned to China. A humiliating surrender to the Jin people. Since then, Gaozong has been completely inseparable from Qin Hui, and Qin Hui has begun to truly monopolize power and exclude dissidents.
It must be mentioned that this peace negotiation was proposed by the Jin people, because with the efforts of Yue Fei and others, the Jin army had no advantage. As long as the entire Southern Song Dynasty court worked together to regain the mountains and rivers and welcome back the Second Holiness is no longer out of reach. The Jin people proposed peace in order to reorganize their troops and make a comeback. At this time, Gaozong was already frightened and could not make up his mind, so he called in civil servants to discuss countermeasures. But at this time, no one of the usually arrogant and domineering civil servants dared to stand up and make suggestions or take on major responsibilities. In the end, the villain Qin Hui once again gained power, and the tragedy of the Song Dynasty continued in humiliation again.
There is no right or wrong in emphasizing civility over military affairs. However, the Song Dynasty has been mechanically implementing this policy that was completely inconsistent with the current situation. When the country was in crisis, no civil servants came forward to take on important responsibilities. This was so sad for an economically developed country like the Song Dynasty. How could the country not be destroyed in the end?