Chapter 283 Chapter 282 Ningzong Zhao Kuo

Song Ningzong, the name expanded.He is the second son of Emperor Guangzong and his mother, Empress Ciyi, Li Shi.Born in the fourth year of Qiandao (AD 1168) and died in the seventeenth year of Jiading (AD 1224).57 years old.Reigned from 1194 to 1224 AD. After Guangzong, the father of Ningzong Zhao Kuo, was established as the crown prince, he was also named the Duke of England in the fifth year of Chunxi (1178 AD).In the seventh year of Chunxi, he began to study with a teacher.In the twelfth year of Chunxi, he was granted the title of Prince of Pingyang County.In the same year, he held a wedding and married his wife Han.The Han family is a descendant of Han Qi, a famous general in the Northern Song Dynasty. He is virtuous and intelligent, and is very much loved by Zhao Kuo.In March of the sixteenth year of Chunxi, Emperor Guangzong came to the throne, and he became King Juejia again.In the first year of Guangzong's accession to the throne, that is, the first year of Shaoxi (AD 1190), Empress Li once proposed to make Zhao Kuo the crown prince. Since the Supreme Emperor was still alive, Guangzong did not dare to make his own claim and did not agree.In the spring of this year, Prime Minister Liu Zhengzuo asked Li Jiawang to be the crown prince, but it was also rejected.Taishang Emperor Xiaozong believed that the establishment of a reserve was related to the foundation of the country and should not be acted hastily.Unexpectedly, in June of the fifth year of Shaoxi, Emperor Xiaozong passed away suddenly. Because Guangzong had a deep grudge with the Supreme Emperor, he could not complain about his illness. He neither presided over the funeral of his biological father nor went out to handle political affairs. .The ministers then decided that the empress dowager would preside over the Zen throne ceremony, forcing Guangzong to abdicate, and supporting Zhao Kuo as the new monarch, known as Song Ningzong in history.

Not long after Ningzong came to the throne, he fell into the vortex of fighting among ministers.Ningzong was able to ascend to the throne as soon as possible, and the minister Zhao Ruyu and the Zhigemen Han Yuzhou contributed the most.Han Yuzhou is a relative, his mother is the younger sister of the Empress Dowager, and he is the uncle of the new empress Han.As a double relative, he gradually became restless.Han Yuzhou originally wanted to obtain the title of Jiedushi by virtue of making decisions, but Zhao Ruyu, who was in power, enlightened him and said: "I am a minister of the clan. As a foreign relative, it is your duty to assist the prince to ascend the throne. How can you claim credit for rewards?" ?” He only learned about Ningzong, and rewarded other meritorious decision-makers. Han Tuozhou was only promoted one level, and concurrently served as the defense envoy of Ruzhou. Such an appointment made Han Tuozhou very disappointed.He was in charge of delivering the edict for Ningzong, and he was favored by Ningzong, so he wanted to spy on the opportunity to attack Zhao Ruyu.

Han Tuozhou regarded Zhao Ruyu as a sworn enemy, and began to make foreign aid to exclude him.In September of the fifth year of Shaoxi (1194 A.D.), he dragged Jingboring, the minister who was at odds with Zhao Ruyu, into the water.Liu Bi, a member of Zhige's door, was dissatisfied with Zhao Ruyu because he could not participate in the decision-making, so he offered advice to Han Tuozhou, asking him to control Yushitai and Jianyuan as tools to attack Zhao Ruyu.Afterwards, borrowing Ningzong's internal criticism, Han's henchmen Liu Dexiu, Li Mu, and Liu Sanjie quickly entered Taiwan to admonish and occupy the voice.

Huanzhang Pavilion waiting system and attendant lectured Zhu Xi, seeing that Han Yuzhou's appointment of a villain might endanger the government, he often used the opportunity of the palace to deal with it, and advised Ningzong, but Ningzong ignored him.Zhu Xi again begged Zhao Ruyu to reward Han Yuzhou generously, let him live in a foreign vassal, and prevent him from intervening in politics.But Zhao Ruyu was too careless, thinking that Han Tuozhou's small knowledge of the court would be easy to control and would not cause too much harm, so he put Zhu Xi's suggestion on the shelf.

People began to be dissatisfied with Ningzong's repeated use of internal approval to remove ministers.The inner batch is the emperor's edict, which can be issued directly from the palace without going through the three provinces.Using internal approval, ministers cannot express their opinions before making decisions, which naturally encourages the emperor's arbitrariness and makes decision-making arbitrarily.In order to correct this practice, Zhu Xi took the opportunity of preaching scriptures and said to Ningzong Shangshu: "Your Majesty has only been on the throne for a short time, but it is up to His Majesty to advance and retreat as a prime minister, and to be an admonishing official in Taiwan. All the subjects inside and outside the court think that His Majesty is right and wrong. Someone is stealing the power, and the ministers are also worried that the master's authority will go down, and seeking governance will lead to chaos!" At this time, Ningzong relied heavily on Han Yuzhou, read the letter, and handed it over to him. He said to Ningzong: "Zhu Xi's pedantry and broadness cannot be reused." Ningzong then issued an internal approval and dismissed Zhu Xi from his position as a lecturer.

Zhu Xi's dismissal aroused opposition from many ministers. Ning Zong insisted on going his own way, and dismissed those who dissuaded him one by one.Huang Ai, the servant of the Ministry of Industry, took advantage of the opportunity to speak and asked Ning Zong why he suddenly drove Zhu Xi away. Ning Zong said: "Originally he was only allowed to lecture on scriptures, but now he wants to interfere in everything." Huang Ai repeatedly explained that Ning Zong Zong refused to take back his order.Minister Wang Jie wrote a letter against Ningzong's use of internal criticism to promote ministers. He believed that such arbitrariness was not a good policy for governing the world. He also cited examples of the use of internal criticism in the history of the dynasty that caused harm. He hoped that Ningzong would change course and seek more opinions from the prime minister and the ruling party , and then appoint and remove officials, in order to ensure that there are few regrets.However, Ning Zong ignored them.There is a fact that Ningzong didn't pay attention to. Since he used the internal batch, he has less and less contact with the important officials of the court. The thoughts of these ministers in power cannot be heard by him. The status of Han Yuzhou became more and more important in his mind.In October of this year, he issued an edict to change the next year to the first year of Qingyuan, and then appointed Han Yuzhou to concurrently take up the important post in charge of conveying the emperor's edict-the Privy Council all accepted the edict.There is no doubt that Han Tuozhou has gained the absolute trust of Ningzong.

Zhao Ruyu is careless and careless.Before Xiaozong died, he had dreamed that Xiaozong personally handed him a treasured tripod, and then ascended to heaven with a white dragon on his back.When I was proud, I casually said this matter, but I didn't take it seriously, I didn't expect it would become a pretext for treason.In November, Ningzong received He Dan's memorandum, attacking Zhao Ruyu for citing lawbreakers and plotting against him.Ning Zong originally resented Zhao Ruyu for always claiming to be the hero of the policy. Now someone impeaches him, regardless of whether it is true or not, and immediately issued an edict to demote Zhao Ruyu to the deputy envoy of Ningyuan Jiedu and exile him to Yongzhou. Xu Yi was also implicated and exiled to Nan'an Army.After receiving the edict, Zhao Ruyu set off immediately, and fell ill when he arrived in Hengzhou.The local governor, Qian Kai, had received hints from Han long ago and insulted him in every possible way. Zhao Ruyu was sick and sick, how could he endure such torture, and soon died violently in Hengzhou.The bad news spread, and both inside and outside the government and the public believed that Zhao's death was wronged.But Ningzong was not sad when he heard this, but felt that Han Tuozhou had really eliminated the source of adultery for him.People are dead and ashes, and the crimes are not blamed. In order to put on a show and block the mouths of his subjects, Ning Zong ratified Zhao Ruyu's original official.

After Zhao Ruyu's death, no one in the court could compete with Han Tuozhou.In order to consolidate his power, he tried his best to fight and persecute the political opponents.Under his instigation, Ningzong designated the Neo-Confucianism governed by Zhu Xi and others as "pseudo-science", Zhao Ruyu, Zhu Xi and others were dismissed and exiled, all the works of Neo-Confucianism were burned, and the articles related to Neo-Confucianism in the scientific examination were not admitted .In the fourth year of Qingyuan (1198 A.D.), Ningzong issued an imperial edict to register a list of pseudo-schools. There were 59 people including the old minister Zhao Ruyu, Liu Zheng, and the famous Confucian Zhu Xi, and the general scholar Yang Hongzhong.Among the 59 people, those who were officials were dismissed immediately, those who were not officials could not be hired, and those who were related to these people were not allowed to hold official positions again. This was the "Qingyuan Party Ban" during Ningzong's period.

The Qingyuan party ban lasted for several years, and most upright people were excluded. Han Yuzhou took the opportunity to pull relatives, old friends and minions into the court.Jing Tong designed for him to remove Zhao Ruyu and be promoted to prime minister; Chen Ziqiang was his enlightenment teacher, he was old and stupid, but he soon became prime minister; Within a few years, he was promoted to Zhige sect and privy secretary. This is exactly the important position that Han Lai used to steal power.During the period of Han Tuozhou's dictatorship, important officials such as the government, privy secretaries, Taiwan advisers, and attendants all came from Han Tuozhou's family.Ningzong was like a puppet, who appointed and dismissed all officials, but listened to the words of the gangsters.After Han's relatives gained power, they all committed adultery and greed.Chen Ziqiang openly accepted bribes and sold officials. Letters sent to him by officials from all over the country must indicate on the envelope how much "and" something was offered, and any letter without the word "and" was not even read.Su Shidan holds the power to appoint generals, from the Sanya to the commanders along the river, the prices are clearly marked, the most are as many as 100,000 guan, and the few are no less than 100,000.Other officials who serve as Zaizhi and Taiwan admonishers are also filthy.

Han Yuzhou himself was a little carried away.As a minister of the foreign dynasty, he frequently went to and from the palace. In the past, where Xiaozong was thinking about political affairs, he actually lay down there casually. Those old palace people often cried quietly when they saw it. Not only that, he even had to intervene in the emperor's family affairs.At that time, Empress Han had passed away, Concubine Yang Gui and Cao Meiren were both favored by Ningzong, and each had the hope of becoming empress.Concubine Yang Guifei is alert, well-educated, and knows how to manipulate power, while Cao Meiren has a submissive personality, which is different from Yang.Han Yuzhou persuaded Ningzong to register Cao Meiren.When Concubine Yang heard the news, she took advantage of the opportunity of attending the bedtime to show her skills and begged Ning Zong to make her queen, and Ning Zong agreed.Concubine Yang Guifei was afraid that Han Yuzhou would not comply with the edict, so she asked Ningzong to write the edict in two copies, one was issued according to the usual practice, and the other was sent to her righteous brother Yang Cishan by a servant, so that he would announce it as soon as all the officials came to the court. accident.The next day, when Han Yuzhou went to court, the imperial edict had already been read out.The deal was done, so Han Tuozhou had no choice but to give up, but since then he had a grudge with Queen Yang.

Ningzong appointed Empress Yang, fearing that Han Tuozhou would be dissatisfied, so he took advantage of the celebration and named him Grand Master.Han Tuozhou had already become the king of the Pingyuan County, and wanted to keep his fame and wealth forever, so some party members persuaded him to conquer the Jin Dynasty in the north, establish a world-class fame and consolidate his position.Han Tuozhou was elated when he heard that, and immediately started to prepare.In order to mobilize all forces, he first lifted the ban on the party. Many of the party members were in favor of the Northern Expedition, and the anti-Japanese factions among them were employed one after another.The famous poet Xin Qiji also made a comeback at this time.In 1206 A.D., Guo Ni, the envoy of Jingluo Recruitment, sent troops, which opened the prelude to the Northern Expedition. However, when Han Tuozhou initiated the Northern Expedition, he just wanted to engage in military speculation. Due to his arbitrariness, the Northern Expeditionary Army had many internal conflicts and was extremely unstable. Therefore, his dream of sending troops from east to west and regaining the Central Plains was soon shattered.The Jin army broke through the 4th army of the Southern Song Dynasty, arrived at the border town of Sizhou, and threatened to build ships to cross the river. In fact, at this time the Jin Dynasty was no longer able to fight.After the war reached a stalemate, the two sides wanted to strike peace and sent a man who claimed to be the fifth grandson of Han Qi to Songying to negotiate.Han Tuozhou was regretting his hasty dispatch of troops, and immediately sent someone to negotiate with the Jin army.After repeated many times, after the Song side agreed to return the land of Huaibei to the Jin people, the peace agreement was initially reached.Soon, he sent Fang Xinru to Jinying to discuss peace.At this time, Jin Shuaifu Sankui was dead, and Wanyan Zonghao succeeded him. In order to obtain the most favorable conditions, he tried every means to intimidate Fang Xinru, but Fang Xinru did not give in. The Jin Dynasty had to send him back and let him take him back with him. A letter to Zhang Yan, a member of the Privy Council in the Southern Song Dynasty.The letter asked the Southern Song Dynasty to kill Han Tuozhou, who was the leader of the army, and dedicate his head to the Kingdom of Jin.In addition, 50,000 taels of tribute to gold and 10 million taels of silver will be added to the gold every year before a peace can be negotiated.He also proposed that if the Southern Song Dynasty proclaimed itself as a minister to the Jin Dynasty, it would take the middle between the Jianghuai River and Huaihe River as the boundary;The conditions were so harsh, how dare Fang Xinru tell Han Tuozhou, after repeated questioning, Fang Xinru said: "The Jinren want to get the head of the grand master." After hearing this, Han Tuozhou was annoyed that the Jinren grabbed him, and determined to regroup the army again. play.In this way, the imperial court once again issued an edict to recruit new soldiers, and appointed Xin Qiji, who advocated the Northern Expedition, as the Privy Council to command the military. Han Tuozhou's hope of using troops again was soon shattered.Xin Qiji died of illness at home before leaving.Due to successive failures on the front lines, a large number of people in Shukou and Jianghuai areas died in the war.Military spending is huge and the treasury is empty.General Zhang Yan built the governor's mansion for 9 months, but he did not accomplish an inch, but spent 3.7 million yuan.The ministers who previously opposed the war became active again, and their war weariness gradually escalated with the defeat on the front line. In November, Mi Yuan, a minister of the Ministry of Rites, took the lead in launching a letter against Han Tuozhou's continued use of troops, requesting that he be beheaded. This time, the letter failed to convince Ningzong, but it caught Empress Yang's heart.She cooperated immediately and ordered King Rong Zhao Riyan to impeach Han Tuozhou. Rong Wang Riyan is not Ningzong's biological son.Ning Zong had four sons, but they all died young.In the fourth year of Qingyuan (AD 1198), the Prime Minister Jing Tong saw that Ningzong had no heirs yet, so he asked Ningzong to choose an adopted son according to Zhao Gaozong's old rules. Rong Wang Riyan was selected into the palace at that time. King Rong accepted Empress Yang's order and waited for an opportunity to speak.One day when he retired from the imperial court, he said to Ningzong: "Han Tuozhou's military campaign will be detrimental to the country, and he should be punished to thank the world!" When Ningzong heard this, he scolded King Rong for being ignorant.Seeing that King Rong had hit a wall, Empress Yang had no choice but to persuade him personally.Empress Yang said: "Han Tuozhou's arbitrariness harmed the country. No one in the world knows. The ministers dare not impeach him only because they are afraid of his power." Ningzong was still dubious, and said to Empress Yang: "It may not be true. After I find out Let’s dismiss him again!” Empress Yang said: “Your Majesty lives in Jiuchong, why should you conduct a secret investigation? You must entrust a close relative to handle this matter.” After listening to the empress’s repeated persuasion, Ningzong gradually gave up his opinion and agreed. At the request of the queen, Yang Cishan, the queen's righteous brother, was sent to investigate Han Tuozhou's situation. Empress Yang was worried that Ningzong would repent, so she quickly summoned Yang Cishan and asked him to secretly make friends with the court ministers and jointly deal with Han Tuozhou.After Yang Cishan was ordered, he went to Shi Miyuan first, and Shi Miyuan joined forces with Qian Xiangzu, the former deputy envoy of the Privy Council who opposed the Northern Expedition, and Li Bi, the political adviser, to make a surprise attack and kill Han Tuozhou. One day in November of the third year of Kaixi (AD 1207), Shi Miyuan and others sent troops to arrest Han Tuozhou on his way to court, and took him to Yujin Garden to kill him.Ningzong had no intention of killing him. After Han Tuozhou's death, Shi Miyuan and Qian Xiangzu reported to Ningzong that Han had been killed. Ningzong didn't believe it at all. After three days, he found out that Han Tuozhou was indeed dead. Shi Miyuan and others beheaded first and then played, killing the powerful officials. Ning Zong wanted to be angry, but he had the persuasion of Yang Hou and Rong Wang inside, and the entreaties of Yang Cishan, Shi Miyuan and others outside, plus the strong pressure of the Jin army, so he had no choice but to push the boat along .He issued an imperial edict listing Han Dongzhou's crimes and ransacked his home.Later, Chen Ziqiang, Guo Ni, Deng Youlong and others attached to Han Tuozhou were expelled from the court, and the situation of Han Tuozhou's monopoly ended.Ningzong issued another edict, Rong Wang Riyan was canonized as the prince, Qian Xiangzu was promoted to the right prime minister, Shi Miyuan was promoted by leapfrogging, and gradually took control of the government.In December, Ningzong announced that next year would be changed to the first year of Jiading, and the momentum for peace talks was almost done. In March of the first year of Jiading (AD 1208), the envoys who went to the Jin Dynasty returned to China and brought back the Jin Dynasty's peace negotiation conditions.Ningzong also felt ashamed to accept the harsh conditions, because the Jin Dynasty required the Southern Song Dynasty to redeem the Huainan land occupied by the Jin army with the heads of Han Tuozhou and Su Shidan.Ning Zong called the ministers to discuss.Lou Yao, Minister of the Ministry of Officials, said: "The peace negotiation is a major national event, and a conclusion needs to be reached urgently. What is there to regret about the heads of treacherous officials who have already been killed?" Open the coffin of the two people, take out the head, show the two Huaihe Rivers, send them to the Jin Dynasty, and exchange the land occupied by the Jin Dynasty, and the Song and Jin Dynasties finally reached a peace agreement.The Southern Song Dynasty added 300,000 year-old coins every year, and the war indemnity called "Zhishiyin" was 3 million taels of silver. The Jin army withdrew from the occupied land. Regarding internal affairs, the Song Dynasty minister Ni Si warned Ningzong: "The power has just been taken back, and we should bear in mind that if there is any sign of interfering with the monarchy, we will repeat the same mistakes. I hope that the minister Yuanquan will calm the outside discussions." The minister refers to Shi Mi Far.But Ning Zong couldn't do anything about it.Shi Miyuan, who defeated Han Yougong, was supported by Empress Yang, and was promoted to four ranks within a few months. He jumped from the minister of the Ministry of punishment to the right prime minister and privy envoy.He repeatedly reprimanded Han Tuozhou's accomplices and replaced them with his own minions, and soon firmly controlled the power of the court.He had monopolized power for 17 years, and he did not release his power even during the mourning period for his mother.In November of the first year of Jiading (AD 1208), Shi Miyuan's mother died, and he had no choice but to leave his post and go home for the funeral.Ningzong did not want Shi Miyuan to leave, so the prince asked Ningzong to give Shi Miyuan a mansion in the capital, so that he could go to mourn in Beijing so that he could consult political affairs.In May of the following year, Ningzong made an exception to restore Shi Miyuan. He was also worried that Shi Miyuan would not be able to go to Beijing in time due to public opinion, so he sent envoys to look at him.In this way, Shi Miyuan became prime minister again before finishing his mourning. In order to consolidate his position, Shi Miyuan took some measures to win people's hearts.He vindicated Zhaoxue for the late Prime Minister Zhao Ruyu, and revised the national history compiled under the intervention of Han Tongzhou. Zhu Xi, Peng Guinian, Lu Zujian and other members of the "pseudo-learning" party who were persecuted by Han Tuozhou were also rehabilitated and hired their descendants even though they died early. People, Zhu Xi's works are re-established in academic officials.Some celebrities like Zhendexiu and Wei Liaoweng also used it frequently.However, Shi Miyuan's real trustees are his henchmen Xue Ji and Hu Ju.As in the period of Han Tuozhou's dictatorship, important positions such as ministers, attendants, admonishers, and commanders were all filled by people recommended by Shi Miyuan. Ningzong had no opinion, and he was vacillating on the issue of peace and war against the Jin Dynasty. In this way, he had to be at the mercy of his ministers.Han Tuozhou initiated the Northern Expedition, but he didn't agree with it. Later, when he got hot-headed, he agreed generously; Han Tuozhou's Northern Expedition was frustrated, and Ningzong immediately gave up his idea of ​​​​the War of Resistance.In the early years of Jiading, Shi Miyuan strongly advocated peace talks, and reached a peace deal with Jin on extremely humiliating terms.In the next few years, the Jin Dynasty was tired of dealing with Mongolia, Song and Jin were in peace, and Ningzong had no intention of launching a war against Jin.In the seventh year of Jiading, the Jin Dynasty had nowhere to go under the pressure of Mongolia. It had to move the capital from Zhongdu (now Beijing) to Bianjing (now Kaifeng). The natural danger lingers on.In this situation, the gold master Wanyan Xun sent envoys to urge the Southern Song Dynasty to pay the old coins many times. This attitude angered the subjects of the Southern Song Dynasty. With its territory shrinking and financial difficulties, the Jin Dynasty could not get the old coins of the Southern Song Dynasty, and it was even more in trouble.The rulers of the Jin Dynasty have always looked down on the Southern Song Dynasty. In order to solve the problem of insufficient national use and expand their territory, they wanted to make up for the loss in the north and attack the Southern Song Dynasty.In the tenth year of Jiading, the Jin army branched out and aggressively invaded the south.At the beginning of the war, Ning Zong was confused by the dispute over peace and war. He did not issue a clear counterattack, but ordered the generals along the border to act cheaply.After the frontier generals Zhao Fang, Meng Zongzheng and others won repeatedly, Ning Zong generously issued an order to cut gold.Shi Miyuan couldn't make peace, so he was noncommittal and just sat and watched the success or failure. The war between Song and Jin lasted for 6 years. Jin Xuanzong used the main force of the Mongolian army to march west, temporarily relaxed the timing of the attack on Jin, and frequently launched attacks on the Southern Song Dynasty. The Song army always had an advantage in this war. The Jin army The loss of soldiers and generals forced Jin Aizong, the new king of the Jin Dynasty, to send people to make good friends with the Southern Song Dynasty in the 17th year of Jiading, and explicitly ordered his subordinates not to attack the Southern Song Dynasty.Both Song and Jin entered into a truce. When the Song and Jin wars were inextricably fought, Shi Miyuan's monopoly power also reached the point where it could not be further increased.He colluded with Queen Yang internally and externally to control the government and covered the sky with one hand. At that time, the prince had died of illness, and the concubines in the harem were still childless, so they had to choose another heir.The ninth grandson of King Dezhao of Yan was named Guihe, the adopted son of Zhao Bing, King of Yi. Ningzong took a fancy to him, so he made him the heir of the emperor and named him Zhao Mian.In addition, he ordered Shi Miyuan to choose someone to succeed King Yi, so he chose Zhao and Ju, the sons of the clan. The prince Zhao Mian could not understand the actions of Empress Yang and Shi Miyuan. He hated Shi Miyuan's despotic power and wronged the country. He vowed to eradicate him after he ascended the throne.When Shi Miyuan heard the news, he felt that Zhao Mian was his great enemy, so he wanted to abolish him and choose another person who had a good relationship with him as the prince. King Yi's adopted son, Guicheng, was knowledgeable in books and etiquette, and respected Shi Miyuan very much. Every time he saw Shi Miyuan, he would call himself his nephew and salute him.Shi Miyuan deliberately cultivated Guicheng, preparing to replace the prince Zhao Mian.Taking advantage of the opportunity of going to court, he told Ningzong about Zhao Mian's shortcomings more than once, and praised Guicheng's strengths. Ningzong was always baffled. Although he liked Guicheng very much, he had no intention of making him the prince, and things dragged on like this down. In August of the seventeenth year of Jiading (AD 1224), Ningzong fell ill and was bedridden, and Shi Miyuan stepped up plans to abolish the establishment.Five days later, when Ningzong's condition became more serious, Shi Miyuan pretended to make Guicheng the prince and changed his name to Zhao Yun. Five days later, Ningzong died of illness in Funing Hall.The posthumous title is "Fa Tian Bei Tao Chun De Mao Gong Ren Wen Zhe Wu Sheng Rui Gong Xiao Emperor", the temple name "Ning Zong".