Zhao Zhen, a Song Renzong, lived an ordinary life, which can be described as "ordinary". Although his literary skills were prosperous, his martial arts were lacking. At that time, the Song people commented, "Emperor Injong can't do Pepsi, but only be a butler (the Song people privately called the monarch" the butler ")". As the master of a generation, it is not easy to write brilliantly when writing a biography for it, but the book Song Renzong: The Age of * * * by Wu Gou, a historian, is very interesting. Taking time as a clue, this book takes "monarch" as a kind of system, and tells the history of Injong's reign, or directly or indirectly outlines Song Renzong's life as a monarch, son of man, husband and father, as well as his spiritual and historical world. Not long ago, I wrote an article "The Birds of Emperor Taizong and Bao Zheng's Spit", which praised Zhao Zhen of Song Renzong, but there were many historical errors, which should be revised later.
Song Renzong, the sixth son of Zhao Heng, Song Zhenzong (from whom the poetic allusions of "Golden House" and "Yan Ruyu" came from), is also the only son of Song Zhenzong (all the former sons died young), whose first name is Zhao. Later, he was appointed as the Crown Prince, and was named Zhao Zhen by convention. He was the fourth monarch of the Song Dynasty, with the temple name "Renzong". The History of the Song Dynasty: A Biography of Renzong compiled by the Yuan Dynasty commented on Song Renzong's "Being a monarch stops at benevolence". The emperor is sincere and innocent! " This is the highest compliment to the emperor. Although there are occasional temples with the name "Renzong", such as Emperor Jiaqing of the Qing Dynasty, if compared with Song Renzong, it is also "really difficult".
In folk romance, Song Renzong is the party (the protagonist is Bao Zheng) of "civet cats for princes", but the facts are of course different from this. Song Renzong's biological mother was Zhang Xian's queen mother, Liu E's palace maid, surnamed Li, and she was awarded the title of Chen Fei until the day before her death. After Zhang Xian's Empress Dowager passed away, Ren Zong learned that her biological mother was not Liu E (it was different from this in the TV series "Qingpingle", but it was excusable to describe the plot and characters). Liu E was born in poverty, remarried to Zhenzong and became a concubine, and then became the queen of the palace. Her ex-husband changed his surname to Liu and became brother and sister with Liu E, becoming a royal dignitary. Interestingly, Cao Shi, the second empress of Injong, was also a remarried daughter, and her husband Li Zhi "walked over the wall" on the wedding night, but ran over the wall. It can be seen that the Song Dynasty was not ashamed of women's remarriage. Although Injong is not Liu E's own, she treats Injong as her own and teaches her very strictly. Injong calls her a "big empress". Injong was very kind by nature, and he was very painful after learning that Chen Fei was his biological mother. He made Chen Fei the empress dowager, and wept before Zhang Xian's empress dowager, saying, "Since now, the life of the great empress has been clear.". At that time, Yan Shu, a bachelor of Hanlin, wrote Tombstone for Li Chenfei, and made no mention of Injong's birth mother. Injong had a big opinion and directly asked Yan Shu why he didn't speak out about Chen Fei's "Holy Bow of Birth". Yan Shu argued that it was obscure but difficult to say. Injong is still unhappy.
In his later years, Song Zhenzong was often hesitant, and his political affairs were "mostly decided later". In fact, some substantive monarchies have been transferred to Queen Liu. After Emperor Zhenzong Long Yubin's reign, he left a posthumous edict that "the Empress should be respected as the Empress Dowager, and the military and state power should also be punished by the Empress Dowager". Ding Wei Song dynasty, the prime minister, wanted to delete the word "power", but Wang Zeng, the councilor who made the imperial edict, resolutely disagreed. In the Song Dynasty, the word "power" was often added before the official position, which was of great political significance. If you have the right to know Kaifengfu, it means to be the magistrate of Kaifengfu temporarily. Similar to the deputy presiding over the work today, there is a lot of room for advancement and retreat. Empress Liu has been in the imperial court for many years, so there is no need to doubt that she has the heart of Wu Zhou (for example, she has repeatedly tried to test the minister with the instrument system of the emperor, but she has been strongly opposed), and she dare not do it. Nevertheless, Sima Guang still judged Empress Liu as "having made great contributions to Zhao".
after ren zong took charge of the government, he successively created the reign of Qing Li and Jia You, which was praised by history and became the first "law of ancestors". The reasons are as follows:
First, the diversified distribution and mutual checks and balances of power. There are two aspects to this.
the song dynasty partly inherited the Tang system and still established the post of prime minister. The prime minister (who must have the title of Pingzhang or the title of Pingzhang) is the chief officer under the Chinese book (divided into the prime minister and the second minister), and the deputy is responsible for participating in political affairs and governing civil affairs. The Privy Council is headed by the Tang Dynasty, and the deputy is the deputy of the Tang Dynasty, which governs the military and political affairs. Zhongshumen and Privy Council are collectively called "two houses", and the order of classes is Prime Minister, Second Minister, Tang emissary, Assistant Prime Minister, and Tang emissary, which is the ruling team of Song Dynasty. At the beginning of the Song Dynasty, Song Taizu and Song Taizong were both actively involved in daily political decisions (for example, seeing the DPRK every day and taking back the prime minister's power to order the four directions by "tangtie"), and the monarch moved from behind the scenes to the front desk, so the power centers of the two governments were in a low position. However, it is undeniable that the "two governments" still play a powerful role in balancing the monarchy. For example, the imperial edict as a formal decree is invalid unless it is countersigned by the prime minister. Song Taizu made Zhao Pu as the prime minister at the beginning, but there was no other prime minister countersigned, and the decree could not take effect. Mao put forward his own countersignature, which was rejected by Zhao Pu on the grounds of unconstitutionality (there was a position for the secretary, which was not imperial), and then it was countersigned by Zhao Kuangyi, Mao's brother (Song Taizong, who knew that Kaifengfu was in charge of Pingzhang at that time), avoiding the precedent of too deep monarchical intervention.
in actual government affairs, the prime minister is in charge of political decision-making, and the military affairs are agreed by the "two governments" and then submitted to the emperor for royal approval, saying "may" means implementation. During the reign of Emperor Zhenzong, a minister said, "Now, please appoint a minister and a hundred ministers for the ritual and music conquest." Emperor Zhenzong said, "This is quite knowledgeable." In other words, the monarch can't be arbitrary. Of course, monarchs often issue "inward surrender" or "hand imperial edicts" for "oblique sealing" without going through the "two houses", which is of course unconstitutional, so they are often rejected by the "two houses" for non-implementation, or taken back by Taiwan admonishers. For example, when Zhenzong wanted to make Liu E the imperial concubine, the prime minister burned the imperial edict directly in front of the chamberlain. In a certain year, Renzong wrote a letter to restore the title of Wang's female, but Fu Bi (son-in-law of Yan Shu) refused to draft it and returned Renzong's will (similar to the right of the province to refute it in the Tang Dynasty). On one occasion, Renzong wanted to give an official to Su Zhe, and according to the law, he had to draft a letter of appointment by an imperial edict. At that time, the imperial edict thought that Su Zhe was "specializing in people and safeguarding the prime minister" (Han Qi, the prime minister, said with a wry smile, "Didn't Su Zhe scold' the prime minister is not enough') and refused to draft it. This imperial edict was called Wang Anshi. More interestingly, Du Yan, the prime minister, often wrote a letter to Renzong privately, "If it accumulates to more than ten, it will be sealed and returned", which made Renzong embarrassed and praised him for "helping me a lot".
Secondly, the restriction of the remonstrance system on the monarch's "free will". Taiwan's remonstrating officials picket the government and hundreds of officials, and the appointment and dismissal of personnel are not controlled by the prime minister (Taiwan's remonstrating officials are also not allowed to recommend candidates for slaughter), and they are also independent from the government and the slaughter team, which is conducive to giving full play to the supervisory function. According to the "ancestor story" of the Song Dynasty, "the prime minister cannot interfere with the advance and retreat of Taiwan's admonishers". According to the system, Taiwan remonstrance officials can also get wind of it and be exempted from accountability. However, if the invitation is not true, sometimes it is appropriate to be punished. Famous officials such as Fan Zhongyan (recommended by Yan Shu), Ouyang Xiu, Bao Zheng, Han Qi, Cai Xiang, etc. all served as officials of remonstrance, all of whom were outspoken about the advantages and disadvantages of political affairs, and even splashed their breath on Injong's face. Renzong wanted to abolish Queen Guo, and the prime ministers Lv Yijian and Li Di agreed, but Fan Zhongyan and other Taiwan admonishers were extremely old. Renzong and Zhongshu did not accept Zhang Shu, and Renzong directly ordered Daofu Kong, the imperial censor, to be demoted from Beijing without going through the procedure, which caused a strong rebound among Taiwan admonishers. During the Qing Dynasty, Injong wanted to make Xia Song a Tang Dynasty envoy. In the suggestion, Wang Gongchen, Cheng, said that Xia Song "returned after learning from the West in vain". Seeing that Injong ignored him, he held on to his clothes, forcing Injong to take it back. As soon as Bao Zheng was appointed as the imperial adviser, he asked Injong to set up the Prince of the East Palace, which struck a nerve with Injong. Injong was very unhappy and asked, "Who do you want to set up?". During his tenure, Bao Zheng impeached Zhang Fangping, the third secretary (in charge of finance, so-called "planning"), and Song Qi, who took over, was also opposed by Bao Zheng and removed from office. In the end, Renzong adjusted Bao Zheng from the position of "Cheng in the right suggestion" to the position of "Three Secretaries" as a joke, but he was severely criticized by Ouyang Xiu (saying that Bao Zheng didn't know to avoid suspicion). During the reign of Emperor Jiayou, Wen Yanbo, the prime minister, was impeached by Yushi. Although he was found to be untrue after investigation, Wen Yanbo was still deeply disturbed and resigned many times. When remonstrating officials in Taiwan were in Renzong, they could make "the emperor change his capacity and the prime minister wait for sin", which fully showed the restriction on the monarchical power and the relative power. This is somewhat similar to today's parliamentary politics. If the parliament votes no confidence in the government, it will either change the government or re-elect the parliament.
Empress Liu lived in the imperial court for many years. Of course, Renzong was not willing to be a "symbolic" monarch after he took office, as can be seen from his restoration of the "daily court" system. However, due to physical reasons, it was changed to "one-day dynasty". After the turmoil after the abolition and the establishment, Renzong naturally understood that his "free will" could not be fully realized. At that time, many ministers (such as the up-and-coming Wang Anshi and Sima Guang) criticized Renzong's inaction, and advised Renzong to take power and be simple and decisive. Injong once said, "It is often said that I am less broken. Unless you don't want to dispose of it, Gaiyuan country has a story about its ancestors, and if it fails to comply with the constitution, it will become a fault. This needs to be discussed by the minister. Taiwan' s remonstrance officer saw that it was inconvenient, but when he said it, he was not afraid to chase after it. " At that time, even the court chamberlain knew that Wang Shouzhong said to Injong that "everything in the world is up to the prime minister, and your majesty is not allowed to autobiography". Injong was silent for a long time and replied, "Anyone who is willing to do things will be the foundation of the king. Self-employed, the king who lost his way. " Of course, it can't be said that the monarchs of Song Renzong and even the Song Dynasty were only "symbolic" and had no actual power, but this power was constrained by the system of "ancestor story" and the prime minister's remonstrance. At that time, Lv Yijian and Wang Zeng were in the same book as each other, but they had a lot of disagreements, resigned many times, and even once they quarreled in front of Injong and lost their dignity. Injong was angry and told them about each other. It can be seen that as long as you act within the "constitutional degree", the authority of the monarch remains the same.
the second is to know people and be good at their duties. Su Shi once said, "Emperor Renzong was in office for forty-two years, and there were countless heroes in the world." Once in the reign of Charinzong, talents were really brilliant. Eight masters in Tang and Song Dynasties, Ouyang Xiu, San Su (Su Xun, Su Shi, Su Zhe), Wang Anshi and Ceng Gong appeared in Renzong Dynasty one after another. Cai Xiang, a great calligrapher of Su Huang Mi Cai, Liu Yong, a master of graceful words, Zhou Dunyi, Shao Yong, Zhang Zai and Cheng Er (Cheng Yi and Cheng Hao), famous ministers Lv Yijian, Yan Shu, Fan Zhongyan, Fu Bi, Han Qi, Bao Zheng, Wen Yanbo and Sima Guang, and military commanders such as Di Qing were all active in the Renzong period. Just a few examples to illustrate. Yan Shu, a famous poet in the Northern Song Dynasty, was a prince, and he was an official in Renzong's dynasty, who was involved in political affairs, an imperial adviser, a Tang Dynasty envoy and an inferior official. Later, he was impeached and demoted for writing Chen Fei's epitaph, and he was given "Sikong" when he died. Yan Shu did not shy away from relatives, and repeatedly stopped Empress Liu from acting offside. Ouyang Xiu, a writer in the Northern Song Dynasty, presided over the compilation of the Book of the New Tang Dynasty and edited the History of the New Five Dynasties. In Renzong's time, he served as a court of admonition, a government official with the right to know Kaifeng, a deputy envoy with a secretary, and participated in political affairs. He participated in the "Qingli New Deal" reform initiated by Fan Zhongyan, Han Qi and Fu Bi, and was demoted to Chuzhou, Anhui Province for some reason, and wrote the immortal masterpiece "Zuiweng Pavilion". Cai Xiang, a famous calligrapher in the Northern Song Dynasty, is as famous as Su Shi, Huang Tingjian and Mi Fei. In Renzong Dynasty, he successively held the positions of imperial edict, academician's bachelor's degree, and three secretaries of power. When he held the imperial edict, "every time he was granted a non-official position, he needed to seal it back." The emperor is very thick. " That is, he repeatedly "sealed the prefix" and rejected Renzong's will. "The emperor's wisdom lies in choosing people and distinguishing between evil and right, so there is no cure in the world." Renzong once had a lot of talents, and Renzong himself also gave advice, which was even worse than that of Emperor Taizong. On one occasion, Renzong was pregnant with a letter, and when the eunuch combed Renzong's hair, he was curious to ask the minister what he was playing. It turned out that the remonstrating officer had written to ask for a reduction in the maid-in-waiting, and the eunuch who combed his hair complained that he would be the first to be reduced. After Renzong wrote a letter, "Thirty people below someone are released from the palace", and someone combs their hair and eunuchs. The queen didn't understand why she was sent first. Renzong explained that the eunuch advised me to refuse the advice of the admonisher. Such people can't stay around.
Although the remonstrating officials in Taiwan are performing their duties, it is inevitable that Renzong occasionally gets angry. Looking closely at Injong, it is not difficult to find that he is actually a long-lasting person. Because of his guilt for his biological mother, he repeatedly reused his uncle Li Yonghe. Empress Cao is dignified but boring. Renzong dotes on Zhang Bihan (Wen Cheng), who is considerate. Love me, love my dog and support his uncle Zhang Yaozuo. During the Qing Dynasty, Renzong wanted to promote the three ambassadors of Yao Zhang and Zuo Wei, but Taiwan remonstrators strongly opposed it. Later, he was appointed as the official of Xuanhui South Academy, the official of Taiwan remonstrated and opposed, involving Wen Cheng. Renzong was furious and demoted Tang Jie, the official of imperial history, from Beijing. Within two years, Injong recalled Tang Jie and hung his portrait in the palace as a self-guard.
Third, the influence of Injong's own temperament. Renzong was generous in benevolence and filial piety by nature. When Shinzong was alive, he said that "the virtue of pure filial piety of the prince is also gifted and very affectionate", and Prime Minister Kou Zhun also praised "the crown prince is gifted with benevolence and virtue". This natural temperament also affected the courage of Renzong's decision to fight, not to mention his own style of doing things that he didn't like to kill. This can be seen from many examples. One year, an old scholar in Yizhou (present-day Sichuan) advised the authorities to stand on their own two feet, but Renzong didn't think so when he heard about it, saying that the old scholar was eager to be an official and asked the company to give him a small official position to join the army. Injong once took a walk in the palace, but somehow he looked back behind him many times. When I got back, I was in a hurry to ask for water to drink. The concubines didn't understand why they didn't ask the fetters for water to quench their thirst. Renzong said that he looked back repeatedly but didn't notice the shackles. He was afraid that he would be punished if he asked the shackles, so he endured it. On the other hand, in the war against Zhao Yuanhao in Xixia, due to the deliberation system and Injong's indecision, the fighter plane was repeatedly delayed. Therefore, the influence of Renzong's personality is multifaceted. Of course, if everything is really arbitrary by the monarch, as Qianlong said, then the harm caused by absolute monarchy will be more serious.
Renzong remained childless at the end of his life, which became a hidden pain in his life and a sensitive topic in the court. After Han Qi, Bao Zheng, Wang Anshi, Sima Guang and other ministers remonstrated many times for many years, Renzong finally received Zhao Zongshi, the son of Zong Shi, into the palace again, made him a prince, and named him Zhao Shu, the fifth monarch of the Song Dynasty, Song Yingzong. Perhaps coincidentally, Zhao Yunrang, Zhao Zongshi's father, was also taken into the palace for adoption when he was in Zhenzong, and was later sent out of the palace by gift because of the birth of Renzong. After the reign of Emperor Renzong, Minister Zaifu asked Zhao Shu to succeed to the throne. Zhao Shu turned and fled in fear, or ministers seized him and forcibly ascended the throne.
at the end of the article, let's talk about something outside the topic. When I first read the book "Song Renzong: The Age of * * *", I didn't know why the film and television drama "Qingpingle" ("Qingpingle" was originally a epigraph, popular in the Song Dynasty) was described. When I went to see it specially, I was also a little picky and chose to compare the contents of the book. Apart from other things, although this drama is different from historical facts (for example, Renzong usually doesn't like Zhang Maoze, the chamberlain), it is properly taken care of in historical details (for example, Yan Shu knocked out his servant's teeth because of his late anger, and Wang Gongchen wore Ouyang Xiu's scholar robe), which roughly presents the political ecology and personal historical world of Renzong. The script of "Qingpingle" was originally a novel "Lonely City Closed". After examining Song Renzong's life, I thought it was originally named.