There is the Song Dynasty, from the beginning of the fate of the fate, first when the founding of the dynasty failed to unify the country, and then the nomadic neighbors in the northwest continued to rise, even the capital city has been breached several times, although the Song Dynasty, a dynasty with the gene of the civil servants, has created a prosperous cultural and commercial civilization, but it is unlucky in military and diplomatic affairs.
In such a context, there was such an emperor who was very dissatisfied, and he tried to make the Song Dynasty come back to the prosperous world. He is Song Xiaozong.
First, the south crossing to build the capital, the wind and rain are shaking
Beginning with the shame of Jing kang in 1127, the Song Dynasty was in decline and decline, and the imperial court, under the leadership of the fleeing Emperor Gaozong, crossed south to Yingtianjiandu. At this time, foreign countries were invaded by Jin soldiers, and there were officials corrupt at home, so it can be said that the early days of the southern Song Dynasty were very bad. Although there were yue fei, Han Shizhong, and other main war factions who were very capable of fighting, they could not resist the court's desire for peace. Emperor Gaozong was busy signing the "Shaoxing Peace Agreement" while he was busy cleaning up the mess, after all, he could not suppress the large-scale peasant uprising in China.
However, Jin Guo did not speak so well, and only 20 years after the peace talks, Jin Bing invaded the south on a large scale, which stemmed from the fact that Yan Liang, who had just taken the throne, wanted to complete the great cause of destroying the Song Dynasty, but unfortunately he hung up on the halfway after exhausting his national strength. However, this sudden incident made Emperor Gaozong lose face, because he said that he would personally enlist the resistance of Jin, and the result was to make a show, and even the ships fleeing south were ready. Emperor Gaozong, who had the intention of retiring, had to start looking for a candidate for the Zen throne, and it was difficult for him to occupy the throne because he was riding a tiger.
Emperor Gaozong chose from Taizu's descendants to choose from the left and the right, and he fell in love with Zhao Xuan, which was the later Song Xiaozong. Zhao Yun grew up in the palace since he was a child, and his quality education was very good, and he was accompanied by a good teacher, Shi Hao, and he also behaved very prominently when Jin Bing invaded the south. Emperor Gaozong observed the people's hearts and felt that Zhao Yun was very hopeful of fulfilling his last wishes, so he gave up the imperial government to Zhao Yun on the grounds of "tired diligence", and moved to Deokshou Palace to serve as the emperor for the elderly, and the mess was cleaned up for the next term.
Second, Emperor Xiaozong was pro-dynasty, and Longxing fought again
At this time, in addition to the uncertainty of the Southern Song Dynasty against Jin and the war, there were also problems of border unrest and the weakness of the country and the poverty of the people. After Emperor Xiaozong took over, he immediately embarked on internal political reforms, and the following year he launched the Longxing Northern Expedition again, Wang Fuzhi said that he was "resentful of the fact that he could not forget" the reconquest of the Central Plains, although the result of the Northern Expedition was very humiliating, but did not deny the high level of Xiaozong's deeds, and the economic restoration work that Emperor Xiaozong subsequently turned to was also very outstanding.
Emperor Xiaozong had just sat on the throne, and there was still Emperor Gaozong's clamping around him, and Qin Ju was in charge. He first let the Qin Jun's forces go home en masse, and then, despite Emperor Gaozong's opposition, resumed the use of the old minister Zhang Jun, and issued an edict to formally settle Yue Fei's grievances and correct the chaos in public opinion. At the same time, Emperor Xiaozong wanted to use diplomatic means to reclaim Henan, because at this time, The Jin Dynasty Sejong had just ascended the throne and the regime was not stable. After the failure of this negotiation, both of them threatened each other with war, and the result was really a war, and finally the Southern Song Dynasty launched the Northern Expedition in the first year of Longxing.
At the beginning of the Northern Expedition, the Song army won the first battle and took Suzhou and Lingbi. However, the Jin State soon mobilized heavy troops in Henan, and the Song army's front line unfortunately had a contradiction between the main generals and generals, which caused the main force to suffer a "collapse of fu yuan", and the Song army almost collapsed on all fronts, and finally barely gained a foothold on the Huai River line.
This sudden incident also greatly undermined Emperor Xiaozong's ambitions, and after a disturbance in the lord and faction, Emperor Xiaozong reluctantly negotiated the "Longxing Peace Agreement" with Jin Guo, and Song Jin temporarily settled down.
Third, invigorate the national strength and rule in a clean and pure manner
At this time, the Southern Song Dynasty had many problems, the Northern Expedition not only did not win the war, but also hit a deficit, but also made social contradictions bigger, and the main war faction withered too much, and the people who could fight were exhausted, and Emperor Xiaozong had to temporarily focus on economic development and internal political reform. However, Emperor Xiaozong still did not forget to restore the Central Plains, and he took a fancy to Yu Yunwen, who commanded the "quarry war", and asked him to replace the deceased Wu Phosphorus as the envoy of Sichuan Xuanfu, and within a few years he summoned Yunwen to join the dynasty.
▲ Song Xiaozong
Emperor Xiaozong saw the problem of military wealth and military resources at the moment, and he first started by rectifying the administration of officials, laying off the number of people and reducing salaries to solve the problem of "redundant officials", resetting the power of participation in the government affairs of the governors, and controlling the power of the Appointment of the Taijian system in his own hands. At the same time, Emperor Xiaozong replaced the previous method of disaster relief with the social warehouse method economically, lightly dispensed with thin endowments, relaxed the monopoly of salt and iron, issued and exchanged children, and promoted the prosperity and development of commerce.
The Xiaozong period was also the most active era of intellectuals in the Southern Song Dynasty, and it was at this time that Zhu Xi established the system of science, and at the same time, various university schools of the Southern Song Dynasty were also produced, and poetry stars such as Lu You and Xin Shuyi were active at this time. However, Emperor Xiaozong was still determined to carry out the Northern Expedition, and immediately turned to preparations for war after the economic and financial resources came up. To this end, Emperor Xiaozong first rebuilt the Jianghuai Crossbow Army, and then directly subordinated the Dinghai Sea Army to the Imperial Front, and made a series of personnel adjustments to the Privy Council and the Consul General's Office, and prepared the logistics for the Jin operation.
Emperor Xiaozong was very optimistic about Yu Yunwen, who was in charge of Shu, and was ready to go out from Sichuan to the Northern Expedition first, personally leading the Huainan road and trying to fight on two fronts to cut gold. In the early stage of preparations, Emperor Xiaozong also held three large-scale military parades to encourage morale, boost people's morale, and regain lost territory with a single blow. However, in the first year of Chunxi, Emperor Xiaozong waited for the news of Yu Yunwen Jilao's death. Yunwen's filial piety was cold, and the Northern Expedition was suddenly lost, and he knew that the shame of washing snow was hopeless, and he spent all his energy on internal affairs.
In the later period of Chunxi, Emperor Xiaozong almost pinned his hopes on his successors, concentrated on doing a good job in finance and economy, promulgated some policies to build water conservancy and encourage foreign trade, and also developed agricultural productivity, and promoted a group of science scholars who advocated the restoration of the government, and urged his son to "restore the Central Plains". Since the first dynasty of Emperor Xiaozong, the society and people's livelihood have been rich, the culture has flourished and the politics have flourished, and history has called this scene of Shengping "the rule of Qianchun".
Fourth, the Southern Song Dynasty was late, and Guangning was defeated
After Emperor Xiaozong ascended the throne, he could not bear the situation of Gou An in Shaoxing and was determined to carry out the Northern Expedition and seek the opportunity of national reunification. However, the Southern Song Dynasty has accumulated shortcomings for a long time, and its entire system is almost copied from the Northern Song Dynasty, and the atmosphere of "emphasizing literature and suppressing martial arts" cannot be changed by one dynasty. Emperor Xiaozong also did not choose a successor to the throne, resulting in the next Guangzong almost squandering the results of the "rule of Qianchun", and the power of the Southern Song Dynasty immediately declined.
In the Xiaozong dynasty, the opponent encountered by the Southern Song Dynasty was Jin Shizong, who created the "rule of Dading", And Emperor Xiaozong did his best to revitalize the national strength, and there was also Emperor Gaozong's interference in the government, and he was tied to his hands and feet for 25 years in the 27th year of his reign, and the dynasty of Xiaozong coincided with "a prince of restoration, but a minister of no restoration". Emperor Guangzong and Emperor Ningzong, who ascended the throne after Emperor Xiaozong, could not continue to defend Chengdu, let alone restore it, and the southern Song Dynasty's brief recovery of national fortunes came to an abrupt end after emperor Xiaozong's reign.
Song Xiaozong can be described as the "lord of Zhongxing", but the "rule of Qianchun" failed, and since then, it has been difficult for the Southern Song Dynasty to cheer up.
Reference materials:
History of the Song Dynasty
"Detailed Discussion of the Song Dynasty"
"The Imperial Song Dynasty and the Two Dynasties of The Holy Government"