Chapter 3 Lecture 1: Huizong's Accession to the Throne

Everyone of Mr. Jin Yong should have read it. This book describes two protagonists, one is Guo Jing and the other is Yang Kang. These two names were given by Qiu Chuji, the Taoist leader of the Quanzhen School.Why did Qiu Chuji give them such a name?It is to let them not forget the "shame of Jingkang".There are two sentences in "Manjianghong" written by Yue Fei, a famous general in the Southern Song Dynasty: "The shame of Jingkang has not yet been snowed; when will the hatred of the courtiers disappear?" So, what is the shame of Jingkang?It refers to 1127 AD, the second year of Song Qinzong's succession to the throne, that is, the second year of Jingkang, the Jin Kingdom established by the northern Jurchen tribe went south and wiped out the Northern Song Dynasty.The two emperors Huizong and Qinzong became prisoners. This is an earth-shattering event in Chinese history.At that time, Song Qinzong's reign was actually one year and three months. Why did he suffer such pain of subjugation and family loss?The main responsibility lies with his father Song Huizong.

It doesn't matter if you don't know Song Huizong, everyone has seen it, and who forced those Liangshan heroes to go to Liangshan?According to the Liangshan hero Li Kui, the old emperor who made the country full of treacherous sycophants, wolves and tigers filled the streets, and sat on the emperor's throne was Song Huizong.There is also a bizarre legend about the birth of Song Huizong.According to the Ming people's "Liang Zhai Miscellaneous Comments": "The empress Li died, the most pitiful, and the empress of Song Huizong. Song Shenzong was lucky to be the secretary for one day, and he was surprised to see the statue of the Jiangnan kingdom. Those who are pregnant, dream that the Empress Li will come to pay homage, and give birth to King Duan." This passage means that Song Shenzong once went to the Secretary Department and saw a portrait of Li Yu, the empress of the Southern Tang Dynasty. The characters in the painting are elegant, elegant and handsome, Emperor Shenzong was surprised again and again.During this period, a concubine in the harem was pregnant, and Emperor Shenzong dreamed that Empress Li came to visit.Later, the child born to this concubine was King Duan, who was later Song Huizong.So people say that Song Huizong was the reincarnation of Li Yu, the empress of the Southern Tang Dynasty, because Li Yu's Southern Tang Dynasty was destroyed by Song Taizu, so he was reincarnated as the descendant of Song Taizu, and also destroyed the Song Dynasty.After Emperor Huizong was captured by the Jin people, the Jin people treated him just like Song Taizu did to Queen Li.Of course, this story cannot be verified, but it is more in line with our Chinese concept of karma, retribution, retribution

Whether it is karma or not, we don't care here for the time being, but Li Houzhu and Song Huizong do have similarities.First, both of them are artistic geniuses, Li Yu is a poet, and Song Huizong is a calligrapher and painter. Whether it is thin gold calligraphy or his flower and bird paintings, they are all exquisite.Second, both of them are incapable of governing the country, lacking the ability to govern the country, and governing a good country into chaos.But the difference is that the Southern Tang Dynasty was narrow and sparsely populated, especially during the period of Li Yu's father, Li Jing, who suffered heavy losses in national power because of the war with the Later Zhou Dynasty; while Song Huizong took over a rich and vast dynasty. According to the calculations of modern scholars, the gross national product of the Northern Song Dynasty accounted for 80% of the world at that time, and the gross national income was 10 times that of the Ming Dynasty, so the Northern Song Dynasty was a very rich dynasty.Third, both of them are "kings of subjugation".Li Yu's Southern Tang Dynasty died in the Northern Song Dynasty, and Song Huizong's Northern Song Dynasty died in Jin Dynasty.The end of the two people was very miserable, and the subjugated emperor made people feel infinitely sympathetic.Of course, Li Yu is more of a pitiful person, so he said that "Li Houzhu's subjugation is the most pitiful", and he did not make any big mistakes.However, Song Huizong ruined the colorful world and the bright universe left by his ancestors. His subjugation of the country is hateful.

The first reason why Song Huizong became emperor was that his brother Zhezong had no children after his death.Zhezong and Huizong were the seventh and eighth emperors of the Northern Song Dynasty, and they were two brothers.Their father was Song Shenzong, the sixth emperor of the Northern Song Dynasty.Shenzong had fourteen sons in total, but the eight sons from the oldest to the fifth, the seventh, the eighth, and the tenth all died young, leaving only six grown-up princes, Zhezong was the sixth son, Huizong was the Eleventh son. Zhezong died and had no son, so which of the five younger brothers will inherit the great line?The Empress Dowager at that time, that is, Queen Xiang Shi of Shenzong, summoned all the officials to discuss this matter.The Xiang family played a very key role in Huizong's succession to the great unification.The Empress Dowager Xiang did not have her own son, and Zhe Zong was not born to her, so it didn't matter to her who the five younger brothers under Zhe Zong would succeed.The queen mother asked the minister through the curtain: "Emperor Daxing has passed away and has no heirs. Dear friends, who do you think will succeed him?" At this time, a person who helped Song Huizong appeared, and he was the prime minister Zhang Dun.Of course, this was not Zhang Dun's original intention, but his words helped Song Huizong a lot by accident.

Zhang Dun had a good relationship with the great writer Su Dongpo when he was young.Once, two people went out to play, and they came to a stream with a fast current. There was a single-plank bridge on the stream and a cliff on the opposite side.Zhang Dun said to Su Shi, old Su, how about the two of us writing poems on the cliff in the past?Su Dongpo saw that it was too dangerous and said I would not go.But Zhang Dun walked along the single-plank bridge to the opposite side of the stream as if nothing had happened, tucked his robe to his belt, swung to the cliff with an old vine, picked up a pen and wrote "Su Shi Zhang Dun travels here", that is, he came here for a visit mean.After Zhang Dun came back, Su Shi glanced at him and said, if you take power, you must be a murderous guy, and millions of heads will fall.Zhang Dun asked why, Su Shi said, you don't even take your own life seriously, can you take other people's lives seriously?Sure enough, after Zhang Dun became prime minister, he used the means of fighting against and driving out dissidents to the extreme. Even Su Shi, an old friend who wrote poems back then, did not escape the bad luck of being exiled.

Ask the queen mother who the ministers will succeed. As the prime minister, Zhang Dun should of course be the first to speak.He opened his mouth and said: "Mother is more valuable than sons. If you want to inherit the throne, the first emperor and his mother and younger brother should be established." In other words, the thirteenth son who was born to the same mother as the first emperor should be established.As soon as he finished speaking, the queen mother's face changed immediately.Although Zhang Dun might not be able to see it through the curtain, he immediately understood that this was too reckless.Sure enough, the Empress Dowager asked across the curtain: "Prime Minister, what are you talking about? What are you talking about with the same mother and brother? Aren't these six princes all sons of the Ai family?"

Because Emperor Zhezong himself was a concubine, not born to the Queen Mother, but to Concubine Zhu.Now if the King Jian, born to Concubine Zhu, is established again, then Concubine Zhu will have two sons who will successively become emperors.Although the Empress Dowager is in the middle palace and has this position, if the two sons of Concubine Zhu become emperors, then the relationship between the Empress Dowager and Concubine Zhu will not be good.Therefore, the queen mother suddenly changed color, and Zhang Dun's proposal was invalidated. Since King Jian couldn't do it, Zhang Dun proposed another person.He said: "According to the order of elder and younger, the ninth son King Shen should be established." Because the ninth son is the only one left among the top ten princes, the ninth son should be established as the ninth king Shen.As soon as he finished speaking, the civil and military officials of the court, including the queen mother, were all happy.Why?Because King Shen has eyesight and is blind.Not to mention Chinese history, even in world history, there seems to be no blind man who became an emperor.The queen mother thought to herself, you said King Lishen, he couldn't even read the memorial, didn't you do it on purpose?So as soon as Zhang Dun said, it was over after everyone had fun, and there was no further discussion at all.

Counting down, it will be eleven sons Duan Wang.Zhang Dun said in his heart, it's not good, it's really not good!Because he knows that this King Duan spends his days playing football, admiring flowers, writing, drawing, and flirting with famous prostitutes. How can such a person rule the world?Don't look at Zhang Dun as a traitor, but he does have the talent to know the king.Sure enough, the Empress Dowager said from behind the curtain: "In this case, the next king should be king." When Zhang Dun heard this, his mind became confused, and he yelled, "The king is frivolous, you can't be king." The world." This sentence laid the groundwork for his miserable life later on.Let's think about it, he dared to say that King Duan was frivolous, so once King Duan becomes emperor, will he end well?Therefore, Zhang Dun's generation of power traitors ended up miserable and miserable, and were demoted to death in other places.

The queen mother was very angry when she heard Zhang Dun's words. She thought to herself, whoever you want to establish can be established, and you can deny what I establish. Moreover, she doesn't even care about the etiquette of the monarch and his ministers.At this time, colleagues also began to add insult to injury.Zeng Bu, the privy envoy at that time, had coveted the position of prime minister for a long time. He thought, the late emperor reigned for ten years, and Zhang Dun served as prime minister for six years. when?Therefore, Zeng Bu jumped out to accuse Zhang Dun at this time, saying that his "discussions are shocking, and I don't know what his intentions are."With such a big hat buckled, Zhang Dun was charged with an unbearable crime, and he could no longer speak.At this time, the Queen Mother said: "The first emperor tasted the words, King Duan has a long life, and he is benevolent and filial, which is different from other kings." She said that this child has a long life and is very filial, which is different from other princes.In the end, the queen mother made a decision and said that she would be king Duan.Immediately, King Duan was summoned into the palace and succeeded to the throne in front of the coffin of Emperor Daxing. This was Song Huizong.

The emperor's elder brother died early, he had no heirs, the prime minister made a slip of the tongue, the queen mother stood up, and all the ministers were jealous of each other. Amidst Zhang Dun's shout of "the king is frivolous, he cannot rule the world", Song Huizong Inheriting the great rule and becoming the emperor opened the curtain of the last scene of the Northern Song Dynasty. When Song Huizong first succeeded to the throne, he performed well, and he couldn't tell that he was a fool.In the first seven months of his succession, the queen mother listened to the government behind the curtain.Regarding this matter, some people said that it was Huizong who was benevolent and filial. Since the queen mother supported him as emperor, she let the queen mother listen to the government behind the curtain; With the Empress Dowager handling state affairs, he was able to engage in his hobbies.But the Empress Dowager Xiang was not interested in dealing with government affairs, and returned to power after only seven months.After another three months, the Queen Mother passed away.

In this way, after ten months of succession, Huizong would start to handle the government affairs by himself.At the beginning of Song Huizong's succession to the throne, he issued an edict to seek talents.His imperial edict was written with sincerity: "If his words are valid, I will reward them; if his words are wrong, I will not add any crime." It means that if you give me opinions or criticize the government, you will be rewarded if you can use it, and you should do it. An official is an official, and he should be rewarded with money.Even if the words are wrong, I will not add any crime, and I will not be punished for my words.When Song Huizong said this, hundreds of articles were sent to the emperor's desk. We know that in ancient times, not everyone could write memorials to the emperor, only officials above a certain level or who were authorized by the emperor to write memorials, so hundreds of memorials are enough.Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty read the articles one by one, and he was unworthy of being a virtuous person, and rehabilitated those who were persecuted by ### one by one, including Su Dongpo.It's a pity that Su Dongpo passed away on the way to rehabilitate and recall, and a generation of literary superstars fell.Song Huizong also recalled Fan Chunren, the old prime minister who had been persecuted by Zhang Dun, back to the court, preparing to let him handle and rectify the government affairs.Fan Chunren was the son of Fan Zhongyan, a famous minister of the Renzong Dynasty, and Song Huizong Xiangzi. Unfortunately, this Fan Zai was already seventy years old at the time, and died soon after his return.Therefore, Emperor Huizong was very emotional, saying that none of the good people caught up with him, and all of them passed away.But he did indeed do the point of issuing an edict to seek talents. In addition, during this period, Song Huizong was especially able to accept advice with an open mind and listen to different opinions.Zhang Shangying, the prime minister at the time, said to Song Huizong that your majesty must pay attention to thrift and not be extravagant, as extravagance will lead to the ruin of the country.After Song Huizong heard it, he praised the prime minister's suggestion as very good.Once when the palace was being renovated, Emperor Huizong of Song Dynasty told the foreman when he inspected the construction site that if the prime minister passed by, you should hide and don't let him see that you are renovating the palace.Because when the prime minister advised me to be frugal, I agreed. If he saw it, I would lose face.Even the emperor paid attention to frugality like this, and the people below should also pay attention to frugality. Once, Emperor Huizong had a discussion with a minister in the palace.The minister spoke in a frothy and impassioned manner, and he didn't even look at it. He continued to talk until the sun went down and the twilight merged.In ancient China, it was very hard for the emperor to sit at the court. Generally, he might get up at five or six o'clock. In the Qing Dynasty, the emperor got up at four o'clock, and he had already sat at the court at seven or eight o'clock.The minister kept talking about it until the sun went down, and Emperor Huizong was very hungry, so he said that I was hungry and I had to go to eat first, and I will talk about something tomorrow, and then I got up and left.As soon as Huizong stood up, the minister grabbed the emperor's sleeve and said, don't leave, we haven't finished talking, you must listen to me.Huizong struggled and said, I want to eat, how can you grab my sleeve regardless of the courtesy of the monarch and his ministers?The two tore like this and ended up tearing Huizong's clothes.How decent is it for the emperor to wear a piece of ragged clothes?So Huizong was in a hurry, saying that you have something to say, and you tore my clothes, what is this called?But this minister is very virtuous, saying that His Majesty would not spare a single piece of clothing, why should the minister be smashed to pieces to repay His Majesty?It means, Your Majesty, if you don't care about this dress, I don't care about being torn to pieces. If you don't care about me tearing your clothes, it doesn't matter if you tear me apart.Emperor Huizong was very moved when he heard this, and thought that there is such a loyal minister. Okay, then I will sit down and you can continue talking.At this time, the courtier came over and said that the clothes are so torn, let me change them for you.Huizong said not to change it, just wear this rag, and don't throw it away. When I see this rag in the future, I will think of this loyal minister, and I want to keep it as a souvenir. The story of Song Huizong is very similar to the story of Tang Taizong and Wei Zheng.Tang Taizong and Wei Zheng are a famous pair of monarchs and ministers in Chinese history.When Wei Zheng gave advice to Emperor Taizong of Tang, he was also in the same way.Once, Wei Zheng started arguing with Tang Taizong face to face again. Tang Taizong was very angry and said that he would come here first today, and then he turned around and left.Wei Zheng went up and grabbed Tang Taizong's sleeve, but also didn't finish his speech, so he wouldn't let him go.Maybe Tang Taizong was the emperor immediately, and he was still a little bit energetic, and his clothes were not torn.Seeing this, the surrounding officials hurriedly reminded Wei Zheng, saying that you should pay attention to the etiquette of ministers.Wei Zheng was not as stunned as the minister who grabbed Song Huizong's sleeve, knowing that he had lost his composure, he immediately knelt down.Tang Taizong said to Wei Zheng, just wait and see, I will kill you, a country bumpkin.Wei Zheng was born in the Wagang Army and participated in the peasant uprising, so Tang Taizong called him a country bumpkin.Tang Taizong was still angry when he returned to the harem, so Empress Changsun asked, who are you so angry with?Taizong said, I was angry with Wei Zheng, he dared to grab my sleeve and wanted to kill this country bumpkin.Empress Changsun is a generation of virtuous queens. She didn't say anything after hearing this, so she asked Tang Taizong to change clothes and drink tea.Later, Empress Changsun brought the concubines and female officials from the harem, dressed in phoenix crown dresses, to join the drive.Tang Taizong was taken aback and said that he was neither going to court nor worshiping ancestors, why are you dressed like this?Empress Changsun said, I am here to congratulate Your Majesty.Tang Taizong asked, why do I like it?She said, Wei Zheng is just happy, how can you not be happy that you have a courtier like Wei Zheng?Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty said, Wei Zheng fought with the court, grabbed my sleeves, and made me lose face. What is there to be happy about?The queen said, the Lord Ming minister is straight, you are a wise king, and the minister dares to speak out.If you were a foolish emperor like Emperor Sui Yang, and you would lose your head if you said it, then who would dare to speak out?There are officials like Wei Zheng precisely because you are a wise king.Furthermore, if you listen to one side, you will be dark, and if you listen to both, you will be clear. As a monarch, it is difficult to hear different opinions. Now a minister like Wei Zheng is risking his life to give you advice. This is the blessing of the people of the country!When Tang Taizong heard it, he couldn't help but sigh that the queen's awareness was higher than his own, and later the relationship with Wei Zheng became more and more harmonious. Emperor Huizong of Song Dynasty was able to sit down and listen to opinions even though his ministers grabbed his sleeves and tore his clothes.Moreover, at this time Song Huizong especially liked this kind of upright minister.There used to be a county magistrate of the seventh grade, which is equivalent to the current county-level cadres. Someone heard that he was virtuous and recommended him to Emperor Huizong of Song Dynasty.Song Huizong personally interviewed him, and found out through the conversation that this person was indeed very virtuous, so he was appointed as the censor in the palace, equivalent to a bureau-level cadre, in charge of supervision and discipline.Song Huizong told him, I promoted you by leapfrogging the ranks because there are too many shameless scholar-bureaucrats today, and you understand etiquette, so I hope you can give me more good opinions in the future. Song Huizong in his youth still wanted to do something, hoping to make the country stronger by rectifying the government and restoring the new laws implemented by his father Shenzong.But we can also see that some of Song Huizong's actions at this time have laid the groundwork for his subsequent encounters. Song Huizong especially liked to associate with literati, because he was a literati himself.But his association with literati is so close that some literati are proud of their favor.For example, there was a great calligrapher in the Song Dynasty named Mi Fu. Song Huizong liked him very much and had a very good relationship with him.In the history of the Song Dynasty, there were four masters of calligraphy - Su, Huang, Mi and Cai.Su is Su Shi, Huang is Huang Tingjian, Mi is this Mi Fu, and Cai is actually Cai Jing, a treacherous minister of the Huizong Dynasty. Because his reputation is too bad, later generations do not mention Cai Jing, but Cai Xiang. Wen will talk about it. Mi Fu is a man with a literati temperament to the extreme and even a little crazy, so he is called "Mi Dian" and "Mi Crazy".When he sees a strange rock, he likes it very much, so he will make obeisance to the strange rock and consider the stone as his brother.Once, Huizong called him into the palace to write, and Mi Fu wrote on a two-zhang long scroll. Huizong admired it so much that he rewarded Mi Fu with all the treasures in the palace.If Song Huizong was just a prince, or an ordinary rich man, and he was congenial with his friends, there was nothing wrong with giving him things.But Song Huizong was the emperor of one dynasty, and a literati rewarded so many treasures after writing a few words. In this way, what would those ministers think?What would the generals who were born and died think?Ming emperors in ancient China understood the principle that juelu should not be used indiscriminately, but Emperor Huizong of Song Dynasty was lucky enough to reward Mi Fu with all the treasures of a palace at will. Of course, Mi Fu loved to write for the emperor even more. Another time when he was in court, Huizong asked Mi Fu to write in the hall.Mi Fu was holding a letter in his hand, and Huizong asked him to put it on a chair. As a result, Mi Fu sat down on the chair in a big way, and said to Huizong, bring me a spit pot (sputum bucket).The discipline officer was very angry when he heard this, so he impeached Mi Fu, saying that he couldn't talk to the emperor like this, because he was too big or small.Huizong said, don't use etiquette to restrain this kind of handsome man.We can see from this that Huizong himself did not abide by etiquette. Mi Fu did not use etiquette to restrain others, because the law should be the same, and different laws cannot be used for different people.After Mi Fu finished writing for Huizong, Huizong rewarded him with 900 taels of silver.When Mi Fu got the 900 taels of silver, he was so happy that he went crazy, saying that the magistrate Mo Ruojun, the emperor really understands me, and I am just stupid and crazy. What does 900 taels of silver mean?In the Song Dynasty, 900 means stupid, which is the same as the "two hundred and five" we say today.In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, 500 taels of silver was a letter, so 250 taels was a half seal, so this 250 is "half seal (crazy)", which means stupid.Song Huizong rewarded Mi Fu with 900 taels of silver, deliberately playing with Mi Fu.But Huizong, as the son of heaven, would be inappropriate if he played around with ministers like this.Therefore, this kind of communication between Song Huizong and Mi Fu is easily criticized by others. Mi Fu's official position at that time was equivalent to the level of the dean of the Central Academy of Fine Arts today, and he was called a doctor at that time.He is very interested in precious utensils, such as the ancient Four Treasures of the Study.Once, Mi Fu went to the palace to write for Huizong, and he took a fancy to a precious inkstone used by the queen. Of course, the imperial things are the best of the best.After finishing the writing, he actually told the emperor that this royal inkstone had been polluted by the minister, so you can no longer use it, the emperor, so you can reward it to me.Although Song Huizong also liked these precious utensils very much, after a little hesitation, he still said that's fine, and I will give it to you.Mi Fu was afraid that the emperor would regret it, so he didn't even care about the ink on the inkstone, so he grabbed it and put it in his arms, covered in ink, and ran away like crazy, forgetting about Xie En. There is nothing wrong with the emperor's contacts with literati, but personal friendship should not be placed on the same level as state affairs, let alone rewards indiscriminately.If you say that you don’t agree with each other when you talk about differences, and you use those who share the same hobbies and like-mindedness with you, and you don’t use anyone who has different hobbies and ugly handwriting, then the government will not be clear at all, and the ministers will only be alienated.Song Huizong was an artist, he had the nature of a literati, and sometimes he did things entirely according to his inner feelings.From a psychological point of view, it means that he doesn't care much about what others think of him, nor does he care about other people's feelings.This kind of literati running a country is sometimes quite scary, because it is easy to be swayed by one's own emotions, with more emotional things and less rational thinking. We have seen that in the early days of Song Huizong's reign, he was relatively diligent and wanted to do something.However, he made the streets of China full of wolves and tigers, the flames of war broke out everywhere, devastation everywhere, the people were displaced, and finally the country was destroyed. Why is this?A very important reason is that he met the most treacherous official in the Song Dynasty for three hundred years, and it was he who guided Song Huizong step by step on a road of no return.