Reasons for the weakness of foreign policy in Song Dynasty

Reasons for the weakness of foreign policy in Song Dynasty

When it comes to the Song Dynasty, poor and weak, weak Song and other nouns have almost become synonymous with this dynasty. Throughout the history of the Song Dynasty, a weak word can sum up the performance of the Song Dynasty in foreign policy. With the long-term confrontation between the Liao regime in the Northern Song Dynasty and the Xia regime in the Northwest, the Wuyuan League in the first year of Jingdezhen not only recognized the legitimacy of Qidan's possession of sixteen states in Youyun, but also issued 202,000 silver and 100,000 silks every year, creating a bad example of annual currency. In the second year of Qing Dynasty, Liao Xingzong claimed Zhou Shizong and took back ten counties in Guannan, each with an increase of 100,000. In the fourth year of Qing Dynasty, the Northern Song Dynasty negotiated peace with Xixia, and the Northern Song Dynasty generously gave 52,000 pieces of silver, 0/30,000 pieces of silk/kloc and 20,000 Jin of tea every year. In addition, on holidays, Xia was given 22,000 pieces of silver, 23,000 pieces of silk and 1 10,000 Jin of tea. In the first year of Yuan You, Sima Guang and Wen Yanbo attacked Anjiang and Xixia. In exchange for the security of the northwest border. In the fourth year of Jian 'an in the first year of Kang, he divided his troops into Taiyuan, Zhongshan and Hejian, begging the Nuzhen nobles to retreat. After the Song Dynasty crossed the south, it confronted Jin for a long time. Shaoxing Peace Conference stipulated that 252,000 silver and 252,000 silk should be paid to Jin every year. During the Longxing period, not only did the letter from South Korea, the American head of state, fail in the battle with Kim, but it also increased the annual currency. From beginning to end, the content of these peace talks runs through the characteristics of compromise and concession, even giving in and kneeling for peace. The Northern Song Dynasty has a large population, a vast territory and a million troops. The strength is comparable to that of Liao, far exceeding that of Xixia. It is bounded by the Southern Song Dynasty, from Jin Dynasty to Dasanguan, east of Huaihe River. There will be Longxing and Tan in the future. Why is the economy and culture unprecedentedly developed? There has been a lack of confidence in foreign exchanges in the Song Dynasty. The author tries to analyze from the following aspects.

First, the basic national policy of the early Song Dynasty

Carry out the basic national policy of emphasizing literature and restraining weapons.

In 960 AD, Zhao Kuangyin, the general of the Later Zhou Dynasty, launched a mutiny in Chen Qiaoyi near Kaifeng. Wearing a yellow robe, he easily seized power from orphans and widows in the post-Zhou Shizong era and began the rule of the Song Dynasty. However, Zhao Kuangyin was not the initiator of this way of seizing power. Long before Zhao Kuangyin, Guo Wei ascended the throne in this mode. In order to prevent such incidents from happening again, the rulers in the early Song Dynasty formulated the following important systems and implemented them as basic national policies. These basic national policies were also pursued by the emperors after the Song Dynasty, and their influence ran through the whole Song Dynasty.

First of all, implement the policy of valuing literature over martial arts. That is, attach importance to cultural education and ignore military affairs.

Specific measures, the first step is to deprive the central and local commanders of military power through a glass of wine; The second step is to send civil servants to local posts and deprive us of the administrative power of our times; The third step is to appoint someone as a freight forwarder and deprive us of time-saving financial rights. In this way, the problem of separatist regime and arbitrariness in the buffer region since the end of the Tang Dynasty was initially solved. Furthermore, various restrictions on military commanders, such as the most prominent garrison law, were once described by people at that time, but their negative effects were changed again and again. Shan Ye's terrain is unfamiliar, the officers and men are unfamiliar, the officials and the people are unfamiliar, and the local conditions and customs are gone. As a result, soldiers don't know who they are or who they are. As a result, the school went too far and became a hurdle.

In the early years of the Republic of China, due to the existence of heroes, the negative impact of the policy of valuing literature over martial arts was not obvious. We can still defeat the weak southern countries, including the Northern Han Dynasty, militarily. However, in the war against Liao in the early Song Dynasty, clues appeared. Before the war, Song Taizong gave the generals a map and didn't distrust them. The so-called lightness skill and secret law system made them unable to fight in World War I, which was restricted and contained, and eventually led to the failure of the campaigns of Gaolianghe and Shuangqigou. It is indeed a strange thing that celebrities come forth in large numbers under such a political system and such an atmosphere. In the Song Dynasty, there were really few celebrities. Like Yang Ye in the early years of the Northern Song Dynasty, he was forced to die. Although Cao Bin is known as the No.1 star in the early Song Dynasty, he is just obedient. His son Cao Wei was exiled by Ding Wei in the Song Dynasty and had to die in obscurity. Although Di Qing made great contributions and held high positions, he was born as a military commander and was finally transferred abroad. The most unjust thing is the death of Yue Fei, a famous gold fighter in the Southern Song Dynasty. You don't need three words to convince the world. No matter whether they are military strategists or famous soldiers, their fate is just so, because they are too close to the throne of the emperor or too easy to endanger the imperial power.

The implementation of the basic national policy of emphasizing culture and education, restraining military affairs and emphasizing the imperial examination system has greatly expanded the career path of the middle and lower landlord class intellectuals. The generous salary after promotion also greatly attracted the literati of the Great Song Dynasty. This has indeed trained a number of famous ministers, but the good and the bad are mixed. The bad habit of despising literati was quite popular in the Song Dynasty. With the development of economy, the literati in Song Dynasty became more and more gentle in the rich life in Hexi, and the tolerance principle established by Mao Zedong gave them more excuses and reasons for self-discipline. They can stop doing great things, but they don't. Don't allow others to make a little mistake. In order to cover up a criticism of others and prove that he has not shirked his responsibility. Usually boastful and dismissive, but once you get up in March, you can't be calm. People with virtue are inevitable, not to mention the second kind, which often makes slanders and framed things. This kind of thing can be found everywhere in the Song Dynasty.

In the Song Dynasty, there was basically no eunuch's autocracy and vassal regime in the Han and Tang Dynasties, let alone consorts. However, there were powerful ministers in all dynasties, from Zhao Pu in the early Northern Song Dynasty to Jia Sidao in the late Southern Song Dynasty. There is constant fighting among officials. To this end, Ouyang Xiu also wrote "On cronies", which is the name of his cronies. But in the early stage, the party with many gentlemen was in power, which could protect the country and defend the country. Later, it was a party with many villains and many cronies. Even the disputes between gentlemen, American political parties greatly consumed the already insufficient ruling power of the ruling class in the Song Dynasty. At the same time, it also makes those in power eager for quick success and instant benefit, and it is difficult to transcend the party's views. Don't take the overall situation into consideration, but use talents in an all-round way. On the contrary, it makes national affairs worse and worse. Not to mention the villain in power.

The fundamental goal of the legal system is to punish evil and promote good, and to trap Manhattan. However, in the indulgent social environment of the Song Dynasty, the good was not promoted, but the evil was promoted. In the end, people with lofty ideals can only flinch and end up in national subjugation.

The indoctrination of hedonism

Under the advocacy of Song Taizu, hedonism prevailed in the early Song Dynasty. There are two reasons.

First of all, in order to strengthen centralization, Song Taizu adopted the method of replacing soldiers with wine, and his words proved this point. Life is fleeting, so-called wealth, but want to accumulate more money, wealth and entertainment, so that children and grandchildren endless ears why don't you release the relieving, go out to guard a big clan, choose a good city?

Second, after eliminating many separatist regimes, the Northern Song Dynasty moved the surrendered or captured monarchs of various regimes to the capital, Bianliang. These people have resigned from the temple downstairs and come to the new dynasty. They moved away with their wives and concubines. In addition to building large buildings, it is a luxurious lifestyle. Life is like a dream of enjoyment. For example, when is the spring and autumn month of Li Yu in the Southern Tang Dynasty? I know everything about the past.

A national defense policy that is strong inside and weak outside.

After the Northern Han regime collapsed in Shaanxi, Song Taizong, who was headstrong, ignored the fatigue of the army and did not listen to the advice of his subordinates, and led the army to attack Liao. The result can be imagined. Liao's failure, especially in the chaos, made Song Taizong very angry when someone wanted Zhao Kuangyin's eldest son Dezhao to be emperor. He had to leave his position, so he felt more guilty and began to pay attention from the outside to the inside, consolidating his pity for him and his descendants. He also said to his deputies: a country has internal and external worries and internal hardships. All foreign invasion can be prevented, but there is no evil in any form. If it is internal worry, you can be deeply afraid. Emperor's will often requires the so-called emperor's will, that is, to get rid of those who threaten the imperial power and throne.

The first step is to get rid of Dezhao who advised him to go to Taiyuan many times. There are two reasons. First of all, after pacifying the Northern Han Dynasty, Dezhao repeatedly asked Song Taizong to reward the meritorious soldiers who pacified the Northern Han Dynasty, which was quite encouraging. Second, in the war against Liao, some people took advantage of the chaos to support Li De. So, when DeZhao once again asked Song Taizong to give a reward to the hero who pacified the Northern Han Dynasty, he was furious and dumped a cold word for you, and the reward was not too late, which drove DeZhao to commit suicide. Is the chief culprit of Zhao's death.

The second step is to let Fang, his third son, die. Fang De was only 23 when he died. Although there is no evidence that Fang De's death was related to Song Taizong, Fang De died young, and Zhao Kuangyin died after Dezhao. The person who poses the greatest threat to Song Taizong is really kind. His death may have nothing to do with Song Taizong.

Step three, get rid of my brother Mei Ting. First of all, demote Yin and open the government to stay in Xijing; Secondly, clear the cronies around you and send someone to monitor them; Once again, he was demoted from Xijing to Fuling County and lived in Fuling; Finally, his heart was broken. It was not good enough to blame Zhao Pu for Mei Ting's death in the past. It's like blaming Qin Gui for Yue Fei's death.

After eliminating the threat of internal throne, Song Taizong also took a series of military measures. Taking the defensive and shrinking the front line against Liao actually admitted that Liao occupied the Jingyun area. Half of the elite imperial troops are stationed near the capital, and there are only a few imperial troops and local compartments on the border. This national defense policy of protecting the weak from the outside and forcing back the weak branches made the local area too weak to resist the attacks of a few regimes, so that the Liao or Jin army was able to March in and soon threatened the capital of song dynasty, thus giving Song Fangqiang great psychological pressure from the beginning of the war. The local power is too weak to suppress the peasant riots. Such a thing happened in Song Renzong's time.

At the beginning of the year, bandits robbed Huainan and crossed Gaoyou. Knowing that Zhong Chao's army could not resist, they asked the rich to produce gold and silk, welcomed people to work with cows and wine, left a legacy and stole music and systems engineering. Not violent. When Tang's deputy heard about it, he made an appointment with Zhongzhou Municipal Government. Fan Zhongyan, a politician, wanted to forgive him. He fought in front of the emperor, and the thief was on a business trip in Bitian, which made him unpredictable and made the people pay for it. If he doesn't do this, he will be punished by law. If he hadn't, if he hadn't been punished, he wouldn't want to defend himself in court.

The commodity economy in China and the United States was highly developed in the Song Dynasty, which was mainly reflected in the prosperity of cities, taking Tokyo, the capital of the Northern Song Dynasty, as an example.

Look up again, draw a brothel pavilion and embroider a bead curtain. The racing car stands in Tianjie. BMW competes for Imperial Avenue. Cui Jin Yao Mu. Luo Qi is full of fragrance, and the new voice smiles at Liu Hua. Teahouses and restaurants adjust silk according to the tube. Eight barren people compete for novelty and beauty, and everyone is virtuous. What a bustling place. People living in this environment have been peaceful for a long time, and there are many compounds, but they are always encouraged by ignorance, aging and fighting. There is an instinctive fear of war, and their primary need is to be content with the status quo, to be stable, and even to the point of survival. My father is very much like England before World War II. Chamberlain, who returned home after signing the Munich Agreement, was warmly welcomed by hundreds of thousands of Londoners as soon as he got off the plane. When they were intoxicated with joy, they didn't I didn't know the war was coming.

Some scholars also tried to exaggerate the cruelty of the war. For example, Su Dongpo once described such a picture of war. As for people in the distance, the liver and brain are painted on the white blade, and the bones and muscles never meet. If you lose everything, sell men and women, smoke your eyes and tear your arms, your majesty will never see you again. Your Majesty will not hear the cries of loving fathers, dutiful sons, lonely ministers and widows. The purpose is nothing more than a harmonious sentence. Dasong is so rich that hundreds of thousands of old coins are nothing.

This idea of being content with the status quo and seeking pleasure is a strong resistance to the idea of demanding change and strengthening the army.

Third, conformism is very serious.

The concept of conformism has existed in China since ancient times. Confucius summed this up during the Han Dynasty, Sui Dynasty and Han Shu years in Cao Can. That's a gentleman's rule. You must replace it according to the rules. However, there is an urgent need for change. The conservative thought in the Song Dynasty was particularly serious, and the law of ancestors could not be changed, so it was always difficult to go beyond the old framework, which was very prominent politically and militarily.

For example, in politics, the choice of state officials is related to the life and death of a country. In addition to the intellectuals of the middle and lower landlord classes selected through the imperial examination, a large number of officials in the Song Dynasty entered the official career directly through the shadow of merit, that is, relying on the contributions of their parents or grandparents. And the latter method has a growing trend. Talented people can't deny being an official in the latter way, but it can't be denied that they are far gentler than talented people. In addition, in the assessment of officials, the Song Dynasty adopted the method of seniority in most cases, relying on almanac and seniority, not talent. This kind of people occupied a considerable proportion in the Song Dynasty regime. Become a huge obstacle to political reform. Therefore, Kou Zhun, who wanted to reform the evaluation criteria of officials, was quickly pushed down from the position of prime minister, not only because of the hatred of Ding Wei in the Song Dynasty, but also because his evaluation method offended those mediocre people who were seniority. Another example is Fan Zhongyan in Li Qing's New Deal, who put forward a principle: A family crying is not as good as a group crying, and the result is bound to be failure. During the period of Wang Anshi, especially in the later period, speculators such as Zhang and Cai Jing came to power, and the criteria for selecting officials made a fatal mistake, which was narrow.

The military performance is very outstanding. Since Song Taizong's defeat in the war with Liao, the monarch of Song Dynasty has become more and more weak and incompetent. After Emperor Taizong came to power, Zhenzong attacked on a large scale after hearing the news of the Liao army and fell into panic. With Kou Zhun's strong encouragement, he personally signed. However, under favorable circumstances, we soon took the initiative to make peace. No one who made an alliance with Liao after the monastery dared to fight Liao at the gates of Xuecheng. On the contrary, under the temptation of Wang Qinruo and Ding Wei in Song Dynasty, they soon entered the enjoyment and extravagance of worshipping the west. Renzong, who came to power after Zhenzong, is this home.

The only person who wants to cheer up is Song Shenzong. He and Wang Anshi started the reform together, trying to make Qiang Bing rich, but he didn't succeed. The summer war was defeated and almost scared to death. Later, Song Huizong was even more absurd, trying to restore the secluded cloud area with gold, but it attracted the invasion of wolves, which led to the demise of the Northern Song Dynasty. After the four generals of ZTE crossed the Song Dynasty to the south, they were able to fight for the Song Dynasty militarily, which made the Song Dynasty achieve brilliant military achievements. Go straight to Huanglong to drink with you! Heroism is refreshing. However, for the sake of the throne, the emperor would rather have peace than the Central Plains. After that, there were two weak northern expeditions in the Song Dynasty, but they were both inhuman. They failed to pull themselves together in the army and eventually perished.

In short, the Song Dynasty has always been at a disadvantage in foreign exchanges, and there are many reasons to compromise for peace. But among many reasons, political and economic reasons are the fundamental reasons. Other aspects, such as the ever-changing fighting mode of nomadic people in the north, the fixation of cavalry stirrups can give cavalry a fulcrum for archery at once, and the accuracy is relatively high, and so on. I won't list them all here. The reasons for the external weakness of the Song Dynasty need to be further explored. Please give us your opinions and comments.