Since the Anshi Rebellion in the middle of the 8th century, China has actually been in a state of separatist regime. At this time, the Tang Dynasty not only lost control of the Western Regions and Hexi Corridor (the western border is not far from the capital), but also lost control of Hebei, even including some towns in the south. This is the beginning of the great division of China in the next five generations and ten countries. This is another great division of China since the Southern and Northern Dynasties, which lasted for nearly 200 years. When the Song Dynasty was founded, the most powerful enemy at that time was in the north, which occupied the Khitan in sixteen states of China and the supporting regime-Northern Han, while the south was several independent regimes (countries) formed in the Tang Dynasty. The situation is very similar to that before Qin reunification. In a short period of fifteen years, except for sixteen states, Song Taizu eliminated all separatist regimes except the Northern Han Dynasty (the issue of Northern Han Dynasty was actually the Khitan issue) and unified China (wuyue had completely surrendered, and it was only a matter of time before surrender). This amazing military achievement can only be compared with the unification of Qin in the history of China. At that time, Song Jun did not have an advantage in the number of personnel and national strength, and it was completely one-to-many. This situation is very similar to the Warring States period.

2. The comparison between the military strength of Tang Taizong and Song Taizu and that of Tang and Song Dynasties; By the way, who made the decision in the early Song Dynasty and put forward the unified strategy? Biography of Zhao Pu in Song Dynasty: Mao went to the hero's home several times, and every time he retired from the DPRK, he was afraid to put on his clothes. One day, when it snowed at night, Emperor Puyi couldn't get out. After a long time, I heard a knock at the door and was anxious to think of it. I was afraid to see the emperor when he was standing in the snow. The emperor said, "I have made an appointment with the king of Jin." Emperor Taizong has arrived, sitting heavily in the hall, burning meat with hot charcoal. The vulgar wife drinks, and the emperor calls it his sister-in-law. Because of the master plan of Taiyuan. Pu said, "Taiyuan is on both sides of the northwest. If Taiyuan falls, I will take it alone. Why don't we just raze all countries to the ground, and then those tiny spots will escape safely? " The emperor smiled and said, "That's what I mean. I am testing your son. " In this historical document, it is clearly pointed out that "South first, then North" was put forward by Mao, just asking Zhao Pu. "Go north first and then go south. It was not the time for Chai Rong's Northern Expedition. The northern Han Dynasty in Qidan had already stabilized its position. If it weren't for the persuasion of his brother and Zhao Pu, he would be the one who fled back." Where did this conclusion come from? Besides, how many years will it take to establish the Song Dynasty and Chai Rong's Northern Expedition? Six months! Great changes have taken place in China and Liao in the past six months? You think history is magical. 3 Comparison of Tang Taizong's "Inner Sage and Outer King" with the military strength of Tang and Song Dynasties Since Liao occupied sixteen states, China has not only lost the danger of Yanshan Mountain on the Great Wall, but also failed to effectively defend itself everywhere on the national defense line of hundreds of kilometers to guard against cavalry attacks with strong power. Therefore, it is necessary to spend a lot of manpower and material resources on fortifications, and it is inevitable to be beaten. This is a problem that the Central Plains regime did not face before the Song Dynasty. In addition, the area occupied by Liao is not only a hunting regime, but also a country with one country, two systems, that is, both hunting and agriculture. Have the strength to attack and hunt and defend the fortified cities in agricultural areas. Song Jun's Northern Expedition was defeated by the cavalry outside the city because they were trapped at the gates. These are the advantages that Huns and Turks did not have in the Han and Tang Dynasties, and they are not all about Song Jun's fighting capacity. More importantly, the enemies in the Central Plains are completely different from those in the past, and they are not simply hunting nations. The fact that the Central Plains regime can take surprise attack as an advantage and win the first world war is precisely the magic weapon for the Han and Tang armies to win. The same is true of Jin and Xixia in the future. Without stirrups in the Han Dynasty, tarquin could not give full play to his fighting capacity like the later hunters, which was also one of the reasons why the Han army won. Another reason may be that the bow and arrow range of the Han army is much faster than that of the Huns. Li Ling can defeat tens of thousands of Xiongnu soldiers with 5,000 infantry (all shot by arrows). If we are facing Khitan, Nuzhen and Mongolia, it is undoubtedly a fantasy. In fact, in the Tang Dynasty, the war between Tang Jun and Zhou Bianyou for hunting ethnic groups was not always brilliant, and the war with Tubo was mostly a failure. Even the capital has been captured by Tubo, and the border is not far west of Chang 'an. Even in its heyday, Tang Jun was defeated by Nanzhao, a farming nation. How about Xixia, Liao, Nanzhao and Korea? Therefore, it is superficial, not internal, to compare the military achievements of Tang and Song Dynasties with the failure of foreign wars in Song Dynasty.

In the early Song Dynasty, Song and Liao were basically in a state of balance. Song attacked Liao, and Liao attacked Song. When Song Zhenzong was here, Liao soldiers fought all the way to the Yellow River, and the ideal city could not be captured, so they had to talk about withdrawing troops. Only when both sides see this clearly can there be peace for more than a hundred years. If Song Taizu dies late, according to his strategic plan, it is inevitable to recover sixteen states. The Song-Liao War will not be as ugly as Song Taizong's command with poor military ability, and the outcome is still unclear. The biggest reason for the failure of the two Northern Expeditions in the early Song Dynasty was that there was an incompetent commander in chief, Song Taizong. Once, after the Northern Han Dynasty was destroyed, the people were exhausted, refused to listen to advice and insisted on cutting Liao. A cold-blooded battle plan, leapfrog command, even the public will not be willing.

At the end of the Northern Song Dynasty, the battle with Xixia gained the upper hand more and more, but except for this Shaanxi army that fought Xixia all the year round, there was no army to fight, and the military system was completely broken. But you can't blame Song Taizu for it, can you? This is a universal law. The armies of past dynasties have become more and more corrupt, just as you can't ask Emperor Taizong to be responsible for the failure of Nanzhao to surrender Tang Jun. Paying more attention to literature than martial arts is a great leap and progress in the history of China, and it is not the reason for the decline of the army in the future. Song Taizu established a whole set of civil service system, which completely solved the minister's insurrection, which was also the biggest cause of chaos in the history of China, and the separation of military attache was also the most harmful chaos to the people. Without this institutional guarantee, the Song Dynasty could not be the highest peak of Chinese civilization. It seems that the Tang Dynasty paid more attention to martial arts than literature. In order to expand and reuse the northern barbarians, it is similar to the Roman Empire who used barbarians as soldiers to fight for their homeland. What was the result? Similar to the fate of the Roman Empire. In its heyday, the Anshi Rebellion occurred, and the barbarians captured the two cities of Beijing, and all the expanded territory was lost. The Western Regions, Mongolia, its own Hexi Corridor, and even Hebei (which was brutalized in the middle and late Tang Dynasty) were all captured several times, which was completely divided, directly forming the most serious division of China since the pre-Qin period.

At the end of the Northern Song Dynasty, Jin people rose. This is a heavy cavalry equipped with heavy armor. The Khitan was swept like a fallen leaf in front of the 8 Jin Army, showing its strong combat effectiveness. In front of this army, Song Jun's performance is much better than that of the Khitan. When Qin Wang's Shaanxi army was ambushed and destroyed by Jin people on the battlefield, Kaifeng lost its support and became an isolated city. After the fall, the emperor was captured. At this time, the Song Dynasty was close to national subjugation, but in this way, it was able to survive and set up a government in exile (all in the sea, the real government in exile), and finally it was tied with Jin, and even counterattacked.

Anyway, it's all nonsense. Just pull it off. More interesting than Song Dynasty. The situation in the early Southern Song Dynasty was much more sinister than that in the late Ming Dynasty. Two emperors were captured, the capital fell, and the emperor was chased to wander at sea, but he finally came down, tied with Jin, and even gained the upper hand and fought back. The fighting capacity of the Qing army may not be stronger than that of the 8 Jin Army, or even worse than that of the 8 Jin Army with heavy cavalry; The weapons of the Ming army are far superior to those of Song Jun. They have firearms and never lack the most important war horses (even a rogue can compete with Sanma alone, with hundreds of people). Why is the result so different? The late Ming Dynasty is not so much a history of resisting the Qing Dynasty as a history of generals (including literati) leading troops to fight for surrender. Reading the history of the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, I feel that there were so many traitors at that time (these traitors were real, not online, hehe), which can only be attributed to the different feelings and powers of the Song and Ming Dynasties. No one wants to work for the imperial court. The imperial court spanked the ministers, killing people like mowing grass, especially those military commanders, who rushed to surrender and acted as a quick attack to destroy Ming. I don't trust anyone, only eunuchs. In the end, it was eunuchs who sold him. It's really heartbreaking It is an empty thing to turn people's hearts to their backs. This is a mysterious thing. It takes decades and hundreds of years to twist people's hearts on their backs, which is entirely due to Song Taizu.

Mao's oath tablet can be said to be the most immortal famous saying in China's history: "Chai's children are not allowed to be punished if they are guilty, but they are given up in prison for rebellion, and they are not allowed to slaughter the city or sit on the ground to support themselves"; "If you don't kill a scholar-bureaucrat, you can sue someone"; "Children and grandchildren have this oath, and heaven must do it." It's no exaggeration to say so. Most of the famous sayings are empty words, or they act on temporary events. However, Song Taizu's famous saying is that he formulated the most enlightened policy in China's history so far and effectively implemented it for 300 years. It can be said that it is the Magna Carta of the Song Dynasty for more than 300 years, and it is also the most enlightened Magna Carta among contemporary countries in the world. It fundamentally ensured that the Song Dynasty became the highest peak of Chinese civilization. Only this one, Song Taizu's image can shine through the history books and become the first monarch in China's history. What is a foreign king? This is the outer king, the real outer king, because there is no inner saint, and the outer king is Temujin at most; With Song Taizu's compassion and benevolence, and with a long-term enlightened system, we can truly be called the inner saint, and with the inner saint, we can truly be called the emperor who has both the inner saint and the outer king.