I have to say that this comment is very in place.
For the Song Dynasty, many people may not like it. Because the Song Dynasty valued literature over martial arts, it was always at a disadvantage in foreign wars, and even signed many humiliating treaties.
This is probably unacceptable to many of us. However, it is hard to accept, but we have to admit that the economy of the Song Dynasty was very developed, at least the people's quality of life was good.
So we must look at this dynasty objectively.
The two emperors mentioned by Wang Shizhen were very representative in the Northern Song Dynasty.
Song Renzong is just an official.
I believe everyone has heard of the recently hit "Qingping Music", in which the protagonist is Song Renzong. Regarding this play, everyone's comments are mixed. Some people think that the scenery in the Song Dynasty described in the play is very good, while others think that the story of Song Renzong's day is too boring.
But I have to say, this was Song Renzong, and it was so boring.
During the period of Song Renzong, two great events happened, one was that Li Yuanhao proclaimed himself emperor in Xixia, and the other was to celebrate the New Deal.
Let's start with Li Yuanhao proclaimed himself emperor.
Throughout the Northern Song Dynasty, there were many minority regimes, including Liao Xia in the early stage, Jin Xia Dali in the later stage and so on. The rise of these ethnic minorities has a lot to do with the decline of martial arts in the Northern Song Dynasty.
The establishment of Xixia took place in Song Renzong period. In this regard, the Song Dynasty was naturally furious, so it fought several wars with Xixia, including the battle of Sanchuankou, the battle of Haoshuichuan and the battle of Dingchuan Village.
But the ending was expected, and the Northern Song Dynasty lost. However, although the Northern Song Dynasty was defeated, Xixia felt even worse, because the victory of Xixia was disastrous, the national strength was greatly damaged, and domestic uprisings continued.
It stands to reason that at this juncture, there is no need to shake hands with Xixia in the Northern Song Dynasty, even if it consumes energy, it will kill Xixia Kingdom.
But Song Renzong just shook hands and signed a "Li Qing Peace Treaty" to send money to Xixia. Song Renzong did this because Song Renzong's opinions in "Qing Ping Le" were unbearable for both Xixia people and Northern Song people.
I think it's similar. A kind word speaks for itself. However, this also doomed Song Renzong to lack due courage. This can be seen in the later Qingli New Deal.
Let's start with celebrating the New Deal.
Qingli New Deal can be said to be the basis of Wang Anshi's political reform, and its purpose is to solve the problem of three redundancies in the Northern Song Dynasty and relieve the financial pressure of the court. Since ancient times, political reform has been difficult to succeed because it has infringed on the interests of too many people. But it is not without successful examples, such as Shang Yang's political reform in Qin Dynasty.
The success of Shang Yang's political reform benefited from the support of Qin Jun and the relatively stable domestic situation.
These two points, Song Renzong period. Song Renzong period, although martial arts is not good, but the economy is developed, known as Shengzhi. And Song Renzong also has the ability to control the overall situation.
In fact, in the early days of the political reform, the effect was very good, and Fan Zhongyan and others were also very powerful.
However, when the political reform achieved initial results, Song Renzong successively demoted the political reform personnel for one reason, that is, many people were dissatisfied.
From these two things, we can actually see that benevolence is both Song Renzong's strength and his weakness. He is very willing to protect himself, but he lacks development.
Let's see what a good emperor is.
It is not unreasonable for a dynasty to defend itself most of the time. It is easy to build a country, but difficult to defend itself. This is not to belittle the founding emperor. The founders are all wise men with great talents, but whether a dynasty can flourish depends on guardianship. The Qin Dynasty is an example.
Therefore, according to this standard, Song Renzong is undoubtedly a good emperor and a good official.
If you knew everything, you wouldn't be an official, Song Huizong.
Song Huizong was the king of national subjugation in the Northern Song Dynasty, and the demise of the Northern Song Dynasty had much to do with him. The demise of the Northern Song Dynasty was also related to Song Huizong's hobby.
Hua Shiguang is one of them. The so-called Huashiban refers to the fleet of ships transporting southeast Huashiban for Song Huizong. I don't want to go into details here. In short, we just need to understand that this so-called Flower Stone Class consumes a lot of money, material resources and manpower, and its function is only to satisfy Song Huizong's daily hobbies.
It can be said to be quite corrupt.
Song Huizong's hobbies don't stop there. He likes writing, so he created the painting style of "thin gold body". He likes painting, so he created the painting style of "courtyard body".
Besides these two, Song Huizong is also proficient in tea ceremony.
In short, Song Huizong's artistic attainments are very high.
Maybe Wang Shizhen said that he would exaggerate everything, but it is rare for a person to master so many talents.
As for being an official, he is obviously unqualified, and the demise of the Northern Song Dynasty is the best proof.