In the field of historiography, there have always been sayings of "strong man", "prosperous Tang Dynasty", and "weak Song Dynasty".
The fundamental reason is that the Song Dynasty has been paying tribute constantly, whether it is the powerful Liao State or the Jin State, or the Western Xia in a remote corner, they have all been appeased by the Song Dynasty with a lot of money.
In this way, the Song Dynasty was naturally despised by most people, thinking that it had no integrity at all, and only knew how to give the wealth of the common people to foreign people!
In fact, in my opinion, the reason why the Song Dynasty spent money to buy peace may be due to the following four reasons!
First: Fighting a war burns more money
The Song Dynasty was divided into the Northern Song Dynasty and the Southern Song Dynasty, and during the three hundred years of the two Song Dynasties, it successively sent a large amount of money, tea, cloth, porcelain and other materials to the Liao State, Western Xia, Jin State, and Mongolia.
After some calculations, the ministers of the Song Dynasty found that the cost of fighting a war was too great, whether it was grain, grass, weapons and armor, or the salary of soldiers, a large amount of money was needed to maintain. Especially if the money is insufficient, there is still a possibility that the soldiers will mutiny.
And if you give some money and materials to the nomadic people such as the Liao State, you can get peace, wouldn't it be much cheaper than fighting a war.
Second: The Song Dynasty was too rich
Compared with the bitter cold places such as Western Xia, the Song Dynasty was too rich. Not only agriculture is developed, but also handicraft industry is also developed, and the total economic volume is more than ten times higher than that of Western Xia and other countries.
Third: The military strength of the Song Dynasty was congenitally insufficient
Since Shi Jingjiao of the Fifth Dynasty ceded the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun, the Song Dynasty has been in no danger in the north and can only defend passively. In addition, the sixteen states of Yanyun have always been the land of horses, and there were no good horses in the Song Dynasty, so the cavalry was naturally inferior to the nomads in the north, and the mobility was not strong.
Therefore, the Song Dynasty also had congenital military shortcomings!
Fourth: the fear caused by the emphasis on literature and light on military force
Since Zhao Kuangyin's yellow robe was added, in order to prevent future generations from following suit, he released the military power with a glass of wine, opening a situation in which the civil officials of the Song Dynasty suppressed the generals.
Therefore, the generals of the Song Dynasty were suppressed everywhere, had few opportunities to be trained, and could not let go of their hands and feet, so they naturally had a fear of war.
To sum up, it is precisely because of the above four reasons that the Song Dynasty has been sending money to buy peace!