Song Huizong stills
The emperors of the Northern Song Dynasty hated the Liao state and dreamed of destroying the Liao. When Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty finally destroyed the Liao, followed by the shame of Jingkang, which was destroyed by the Jin people, it was a very humiliating page in the history of the Han Dynasty. If you want to explore the reasons for this, different people have different opinions. However, if we carefully comb through history, we will find that the demise of the Northern Song Dynasty is not only a deep-seated reason, if the analysis from its diplomatic point of view is completely self-inflicted, why do we say so? Let's take a look at it with the author!
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="3" > First, the Northern Song Dynasty's hatred of the Liao</h1>
In the late Tang Dynasty, the Khitan people rose in the steppe and gradually unified the northern steppe. At the end of the Tang Dynasty, the five dynasties were in turmoil, and the Khitan and the Han regime began to compete. During the Five Dynasties Later Han Dynasty, during the reign of Emperor Taizong of Liao, Yaru Deguang, he assisted Shi Jingyao to seize the throne, and in return he received the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun. Yanyun Sixteen Prefectures was the territory of the traditional Chinese Dynasty, and it was also the front line of the Central Plains Dynasty to resist the steppe peoples in the northeast, and once this place was lost, there was no danger in the northeast direction of the Han Dynasty.
After the establishment of the Northern Song Dynasty, there has always been a desire to recover Yanyun Sixteen Prefectures. During the reign of Emperor Taizong of Taizu, there were several Northern Expeditions, but no substantial progress was made, and finally in the early years of Emperor Zhenzong, Song Liao signed the Alliance of Yuanyuan and maintained the status quo. However, after the Alliance of Yuanyuan, the Liao Dynasty always put diplomatic pressure on the Song court, especially after the rise of the Western Xia, threatening the Song Dynasty to increase the number of coins or claim territory. The Song Dynasty has always had a tendency to fear and hate the Liao. Therefore, defeating the Liao state and recovering the sixteen prefectures of Yanyun has always been the wish of the emperors of the Song Dynasty.
Sculpture of the Empress of the Liao Dynasty
During the reign of Emperor Shenzong of Song and Emperor Zhezong, the Northern Song army achieved great success in military operations in the northwest, establishing a stable stronghold in the Hehuang region (present-day eastern Qinghai), and even had the opportunity to destroy Western Xia. The success of the western economy greatly stimulated the ambitions of the Song court's monarchs, who wanted to go north to the Liao state. History says: "(Tong) Guan is both aimed at the west, so it is said that the north side can also be figured." Moreover, after Emperor Huizong ascended the throne, he was committed to creating a prosperous world, and he greatly reformed the system in internal affairs and pursued a grand style. Externally, he hoped to recover Yanyun Sixteen Prefectures, complete the unfinished deeds of his ancestors, and restore the old frontiers of the Han and Tang Dynasties.
At the end of the Northern Song Dynasty, the Song Dynasty ushered in a good opportunity for revenge. At this time, in the northeast of the Liao Dynasty, there was a rise of a nomadic regime, that is, the Jurchens. The Jurchens had always been suppressed and enslaved by the Liao Dynasty, but gradually developed under oppression and became an uncontrollable force in the declining Liao Dynasty. In 1115, Yan Akuta established the Jin Dynasty and sent an envoy to the Liao State to establish equal diplomatic relations with it, but the Liao Dynasty refused. For the Jin people, the elimination of the Liao Dynasty regime and the establishment of political power in Northeast Asia were the only way for their development. For the Northern Song government, the recovery of Yanyun Sixteen Prefectures had always been its wish, and it would be even better if it could unite with the Jurchens to destroy the Liao state and eliminate the shame of being suppressed by the Liao for hundreds of years.
A real actress in a film and television drama
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="10" >2, Song-Jin Maritime Alliance</h1>
During the reign of Emperor Huizong of Song, he began to actively prepare for the Northern Expedition to the Liao State. He first strengthened the intelligence work of the Liao state, and constantly sent envoys to the Liao state in order to obtain the intelligence of the Liao state. At the same time, they actively accepted the Liao people to surrender, and these returned to the Song and Liao people brought a lot of intelligence. A man named Zhao Liangsi provided the Song Dynasty with a strategy to cut down the Liao, mainly by inviting the Jin army to act together and crusade against the Liao state. There was another man named Wang Shizhong, who, after his surrender to the Song Dynasty, was appointed by the Song government to be in Charge of spying on the Liao State in Dengzhou (present-day Yantai, Shandong), and he received the Liao Gao Yaoshi in Dengzhou, who were the main people in contact with the Jurchens.
At the same time, Emperor Huizong used Cai Jing, who advocated the Liao Dynasty. At that time, zheng juzhong, Yu Shen, Deng Xunwu, and other ministers in charge of the northern expedition all opposed the Northern Expedition, and Tong Guan, who was determined to carry out the Northern Expedition, vigorously promoted Cai Jing's restoration in order to support his actions in the Liao. After Cai Jing resumed his appearance, he introduced a lot of harsh taxes and miscellaneous taxes to prepare for the logging of Liao. In the seventh year of Zhenghe (1117 AD), the Northern Song court was ready to cut down the Liao, when the Liao Dynasty was defeated by the Jurchens, and at the same time the Liao Dynasty broke out a peasant revolt led by Dong Pang'er and requested the support of the Song Dynasty. At that time, the court of the Song Dynasty had decided to be led by Tong Guan to carry out the Northern Expedition. At that time, the large army was ready to move, but the divination was not auspicious, so the Northern Expedition was suspended. However, the actual cause is still the Northern Song Dynasty's fear of Liao, and dare not rush to fight.
(Tong Guan film and television drama image)
In the second half of the reign, Guo Yaoshi, sent by Wang Shizhong, returned from the Liaodong Peninsula, bringing back information that the forces of the Jin Dynasty had reached the Liaodong Peninsula. Zhao Liangsi then suggested that Dengzhou should pass through the sea and contact the Jin people in order to negotiate an alliance with the Jurchens. In order to cut down the Liao, the Northern Song Dynasty began to actively contact the Jin Dynasty. At that time, Deng Xunwu, the privy councillor, strongly opposed contact with the Jin dynasty. There were two main reasons for his insistence, first, the Song Dynasty's national strength was empty, and it simply did not have the strength to carry out large-scale conquests. Second, the Jurchens were clearly a more formidable enemy than the Khitans, and the Liao Dynasty was now powerless to deal with the Song Dynasty, leaving the Liao Dynasty as a buffer zone. At that time, many ministers of the DPRK and China also actively supported the proposal.
Cai Jing was originally a supporter of the Northern Expedition, but after consideration, he gradually turned to the ranks of opposition. In the first year of Xuanhe (1119 AD), liao shi sent envoys to the Song Dynasty, and Cai Jing replied: "China's faithfulness and righteousness are also heavy, and the alliance between the two countries (the alliance of the Yuanyuan) is heavy, and it is not obtained as requested by the lord of Ru." "Politely refused the request of the golden envoy. Some scholars have also analyzed that Cai Jing was mainly afraid of implicating himself after the failure of the Northern Expedition.
Cai Jing film and television drama image
However, Emperor Huizong was very happy to do his best, and Tong Guan was eager to invite merit and insisted on the Northern Expedition of Lianjin. In July of the seventh year of Zhenghe, Wang Shizhong and Guo Yaoshi were sent to the Liaodong Peninsula, but they did not dare to go to the island, but confirmed that the Liaodong Peninsula was indeed occupied by the Jurchens.
In August of the following year, the Song Dynasty again sent an envoy, Ma Zheng, to the Jin Kingdom, and Ma Zheng met with Jin Taizu, and the two sides met initially. After that, the two sides sent envoys to each other many times to negotiate, and finally reached an agreement in the second year of Xuanhe (1120), known as the "Alliance of the Seas". The contents include: First, the Song and Jin attacked the Liao state, and neither side could make peace with the Liao alone. Second, after the destruction of the Liao, Yanjing returned to the Song Dynasty and Pingzhou to Jin. Third, Song paid half a million coins to Jin every year and set up a bar to trade, so the two sides reached an agreement. Fourth, Song and Jin established equal diplomatic relations. After the peace agreement was reached, the prelude to the Song-Jin war against the Liao was launched.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="19" > third, the aftermath of the alliance at sea</h1>
After the Song-Jin Maritime Alliance, both sides launched military activities against the Liao. But the main military pressure on the Liao came from Jin. Because of the advance of the Jin people, the Liao Dynasty Tianzuo Emperor canghuang fled and fled into the mountains in the desert. However, the officials of Yanjing took the opportunity to establish a coup d'état and established a political power, known in history as the Northern Liao. Emperor Tianzuo was furious and sent troops to quell the rebellion and destroy the Northern Liao. After the fall of the Northern Liao, the general Yelü Dashi fled to establish the Western Liao, and some Northern Liao officials established Xi. The Liao Dynasty was fraught with external crises, but internally, because of the contradictions of the ruling clique, repeated struggles greatly weakened the ability to resist foreign enemies.
However, the Northern Song Dynasty repeatedly lost in its battles against the Liao Dynasty. In the third year of Xuanhe (1121), a peasant revolt led by Fang La broke out in the south of the Song Dynasty, so the Song Dynasty was very negative about the liao for a while, so the Jin Dynasty suspended cooperation with the Song Dynasty. However, the territory of Liao was vast, and it was difficult for Jin to eat it alone, and in the following year and five years, Jin sent an envoy to The Song to help destroy the Liao. In the fourth year of Xuanhe, Jin conquered Liao Dadingfu and Xijing, and Song also hurriedly sent Tong Guan to yanjing, but could not attack yanjing for a long time in the face of the empty garrison of Yanjing. You can only turn to the Golden Man. The Jin Dynasty became more aware of the weakness of the Song Dynasty, but in the subsequent negotiations between the Song and Jin, the Jin constantly made new demands on the Song. In its negotiations with the Jin, the Song Dynasty knew that it was inferior to the Liao army, let alone the Jin army, and more often made concessions.
After the Jin dynasty fought Yanjing, he asked the Northern Song Dynasty for more coins and land as a reward in exchange for Yanjing. When the Song general Wang Yi received the Jin envoy, he made great contributions, but exposed the false reality of the Song Dynasty. When the Song Dynasty received envoys from the Liao state, Yanjing went to Kaifeng, and also had to take a detour on the plain for a month to avoid Liao from knowing geographical information. In order to facilitate the conclusion of the contract as soon as possible, Wang Yi took the Jin emissaries to a short distance, and arrived in Beijing in seven days, exposing the geographical route into Beijing. In the end, the contract was reached, and the Jin Dynasty demanded 500,000,000 taels of silver from the Song Dynasty, and Yanjing (Liaoning Nanjing) and the six prefectures of Ji, Jing, Tan, Yi, Zhuo, and Shun were traded to the Northern Song Dynasty, and the Song finally received only one Yanjing that had been plundered by the Jin army.
Song Huizong film and television drama image
The Rulers of the Northern Song Dynasty also made a fatal mistake, the Liaoping Prefecture defender Zhang Jue led the most elite army of the 30,000 Liao, and began to surrender to Jin, but unwilling to accept the Jin people's demand to move east to Jindi, they rebelled against Jin and surrendered to the Song Dynasty. In order to obtain Pingzhou, the Song Dynasty immediately accepted his surrender, but did not think of assisting him. Soon the Jin people attacked Pingzhou and defeated Zhang Jue, and he ran to song. When the Jin people came to ask for it, the Northern Song Dynasty immediately handed over Zhang Jue. As a result, Zhang Jue's 30,000 troops were discouraged, and later they also surrendered to the Jin soldiers, leading the Way to the Jin soldiers to invade the Song. Many Han people in the former Liao Dynasty had hundreds of thousands of "Han Er soldiers" descending to the Song Dynasty, but the Song court was also very vigilant about it, did not give them military salaries and assistance, and guarded against them and even insulted them, and this part of the people eventually lowered their gold.
The Zhang Jue incident brought the Song-Jin relationship to an impasse and went to a rupture, and the Jin Dynasty, in its negotiations with the Song Dynasty, also realized the weakness of the Song government and began the process of invading the Song. In the process of guarding against the Jin people, the Song Dynasty was also warlike and uncertain, and eventually the Jin army attacked Beijing, causing the shame of Jing Kang.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="26" > Wen Shijun said:</h1>
If we evaluate the demise of the Northern Song Dynasty, it is called self-inflicted. The Liao could have acted as a buffer zone between the Song and the Jin, but the Northern Song did not know the truth of the cold, and reached a maritime alliance with Jin and took the initiative to help Jin destroy the Liao. In the negotiations with the Jin people, the Northern Song government was afraid of causing trouble, but it was difficult to control itself in the face of small interests, and as a result, it caused trouble for itself. After the liao destroyed the Northern Song Dynasty, in northern China, it successively supported Zhang Bangchang's pseudo-Chu and Liu Yu's pseudo-Qi regime, indicating that it did not have the ambition to annex the Song Dynasty and the ability to directly rule China, but only wanted to plunder wealth, so it used puppets to replace its rule. If it were not for the Northern Song Dynasty itself, the Jin Dynasty would not necessarily let it perish.
< h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="28" > references:</h1>
Zhao Yongchun: A History of Jin-Song Relations, Beijing: People's Publishing House, 2005.
Yang Xiaomin, "The Song People's Fear of the Liao Dynasty and the "Yanyun" Complex", Journal of History, No. 5, 2008.
Ni Hong, "Research on the Evolution of East Asian Political Patterns in the Song-Jin Maritime Alliance Period", PhD Thesis, Shanghai Normal University, 2016.
(Author: Haoran Wenshi Rotten Keren)
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