The underrated Richelieu

Probably influenced by Alexandre Dumas's "The Three Musketeers", French Prime Minister Richelieu has always been a treacherous villain. But in fact, this is really an illusion. To France, he is probably a Zhuge Liang-like figure, and many people underestimate him.

First of all, most people underestimated his ability. During the reign of Louis XIII, this guy strengthened the French royal power to an unprecedented level, which is almost comparable to our Chinese county system. Single-handedly suppressing the queen mother from the Medici family, expelling the governor of Provence, and killing Marshal Montmorency, this is definitely not something that can be achieved by relying on ghostly means.

This guy is even more impressive externally. The Thirty Years War that almost overthrew the Habsburg Dynasty was almost planned by him. He constantly funded the opponents of the Habsburg Dynasty and allowed them to add fuel to their fire. One by one they jumped out to fight, and it was nearly 20 years after the war began that France jumped out to fully participate in the war, replacing the Habsburg dynasty's land hegemony in one fell swoop. This is definitely a strategic strategist who can turn clouds into rain with his hands. He is no better than Bismarck in Germany later.

Secondly, many people underestimated his character. Although this guy was ruthless, he was really not a fucking guy. He ruled as a cardinal and chief minister. He was authoritarian but not monopolistic. He maintained sufficient respect for King Louis XIII, even though he had been exiled earlier.

He was not obsessed with power. Realizing that his life could not be saved, he immediately handed over power to the next prime minister, Mazarin. And this guy left a very powerful quote before he died. The priest asked him: "Do you want to forgive your enemies?" ?

He replied: ?I only have public enemies and no personal hatred. ?

The overrated Song Renzong

Song Renzong Zhao Zhen is quite famous in history books. It is said that the news of his death reached the Liao Kingdom, and the Liao Emperor Yelu Hongji cried bitterly. He lost his voice and said to his attendants: "If I were born in China, I would only be holding a whip and covering the ears of the capital Yuhou". The "History of the Song Dynasty" even praised him, saying: "Being a king is limited to benevolence." The emperor is sincere and has no shame. ?

The complainer is not a detail-oriented person who is keen on overturning the case. At best, he is just a big tease. But in my opinion, his evaluation should be: "A man is a king, and only benevolence remains." He had been in power for thirty years and had basically failed to win foreign wars. The Song-Xia war was completely confused by Li Yuanhao, and he finally bought others to become ministers. The Qingli peace treaty agreed to give Xixia 130,000 pieces of silk, 50,000 taels of silver, and 20,000 jins of tea every year in exchange for half a century of peace. The Liao Kingdom also followed suit and marched southward, marching to the border. In the end, the "Chanyuan Alliance" was maintained in the form of increased annual coins, which was known in history as "Chongxi Increasing coins".

Finally, Di Qing was able to fight, but he died of worry.

The internal affairs were in a mess. Wang Euzhi's assessment that he had no fixed ambition was absolutely correct. Officials from the two governments were replaced like a revolving door, with more than 40 people replaced. The Qingli New Deal failed in less than two years. In the end, we could only sit back and watch as redundant officials and soldiers became more and more serious, and land annexation was irreversible.

Some people in the current dynasty said that in the 42nd year of Renzong's reign, it was known as the era of peace and prosperity in the dynasty, but there was a great shortage of money. In other words, Song Renzong is actually somewhat similar to Qianlong. Because his predecessors paved the way, the empire reached its peak in his hands, but because of his own incompetence, the empire declined. This man is indeed overrated.