Chapter 11 first quarter

As one of the ten famous temples of Han Buddhism in China, Daxiangguo Temple has a long history.As early as the Warring States Period, this land was the prime location of Daliang City, the capital of the State of Wei at that time. It used to be the private residence of Mr. Wuji, one of the Four Princes of the Warring States Period.In the Western Han Dynasty, it is said that Liu Wu, King Xiao of Liang, once built a platform here to lay a foundation for the heaven, praying for his own brother Liu Qi to die early, and he himself wore a dragon robe for two days to play.During the Northern Qi Dynasty, this place officially became the site of Buddhism, and a temple was built in the sixth year of Tianbao in the Northern Qi Dynasty (AD 555), and it was originally named Jianguo Temple.

Later, Jianguo Temple was destroyed in the war and became the residence of Sima Zheng Jing in Shezhou in the early Tang Dynasty. Later, a monk named Huiyun bought the house with the money raised and built Jianguo Temple again. In the first year of Taiji (AD 712) Year) Tang Ruizong Li Dan ascended the throne as Xiangwang, so he gave Jianguo Temple "Daxiangguo Temple", and Jianguo Temple was changed to Daxiangguo Temple. In the Tang Dynasty, Daxiangguo Temple was well-known. Famous calligraphers and painters such as Wu Daozi, Shi Baoyu, Li Yong, Han Gan, etc. all left calligraphy and calligraphy in Daxiangguo Temple.At that time, it was also a famous international Buddhist cultural exchange center. The Japanese monk Kukai came to China to study and lived in Xiangguo Temple for a long time.Here, Kukai specialized in learning Buddhism and writing, and suddenly came up with a whim. Referring to the cursive radicals of Chinese characters, he created the Japanese alphabet called Hiragana for the Japanese, which played a major role in the development of Japanese writing.

With the establishment of the Northern Song Empire by the Zhao brothers in Kaifeng, Daxiangguo Temple also ushered in its glorious apex. It was rebuilt and expanded many times. By the time of Song Huizong Zhaoji, it had occupied an area of ​​more than 500 mu. It was definitely the number one temple in the world at that time. The Daxiangguo Temple in the Northern Song Dynasty was the royal temple of the Zhao Dynasty. Every time the emperor’s birthday, all civil and military officials would come here to hold a dojo to celebrate the emperor’s birthday.In addition, Daxiangguo Temple, located in the center of prosperous Tokyo, was the most prosperous business district at that time. In addition to being a Buddhist holy place, Daxiangguo Temple also evolved into an international trade center.Five surname trade fairs are held here every month, and the monks also have a business mind, so many stalls are set up in the temple for rent, and the economic income is naturally considerable.

Lu Zhishen's transfer from Wenshu Monastery in Mount Wutai to Daxiangguo Temple in Tokyo is equivalent to transferring from Taihuai Town Government in Wutai County, Shanxi Province to the Chongwen District Government in Beijing. Lu Da was a blessing in disguise. Since he has to meet many international monks, royal princes, dignitaries, merchants and pilgrims every day, Zen Master Zhiqing does not have much time to consider the placement of this monk recommended by his brother Wutai Mountain. It's a piece of cake.As for arranging what Monk Zhishen should do (Elder Zhizhen mentioned what Luda was in his letter), Zen Master Zhiqing thought about it and said, Zhishen, go and guard the abandoned garden!

How could there be an abandoned vegetable garden in the commercial center of Xiangguoji Temple in prosperous Tokyo? Yes, the abandoned garden, there is indeed an abandoned garden where no one dares to live.Many years later, people will remember Lu Zhishen uprooting willows there, but no one remembers what kind of fire was ignited here before? Di Qing moved his family to the side of the Daxiangguo Temple shortly after he became an official privy envoy. Why moved the family to such a noisy commercial area as Daxiangguo Temple? The official explanation in "Song History Biography of Di Qing" is that there were frequent floods in Tokyo in those two years. My lord, why is their family okay), and finally had no choice but to move to Daxiangguo Temple.

This statement cannot stand the test of evidence.According to historical records, Daxiangguo Temple was destroyed by floods twice in history (one in Tang Dynasty and one in Ming Dynasty), which shows that this is not a good place to avoid floods. What Di Qing avoided was probably not a water disaster, but a man-made disaster.Back then, after Guo Ziyi, the deputy marshal of the army and horses of the Tang Dynasty, pacified the "Anshi Rebellion", he was afraid of the slander and slander of authoritarian eunuchs such as Chaozhong Yu Chaoen, so he deliberately opened the door of his house all day long, allowing civilians to come in and out freely, so that the court could monitor it.Daxiangguo Temple is a bustling commercial area, full of traffic and people coming and going, living here is easy to see everything (who will move here if there is any shady conspiracy), Di Shumi's move is in line with Guo Da Marshal has the same purpose.

What Privy Di didn't know was that the literati in the Northern Song Empire were more talented than the eunuchs in the Tang Dynasty. Now there is a very erroneous saying that Di Qing was the only military general who was a privy envoy in the Northern Song Dynasty. To be precise, Di Qing should be the only military general who rose from a soldier to the military leader of the empire from a military background. Military generals who have served as top leaders of the Privy Council (private envoys and privy council affairs, etc.) in the empire include Wu Tingzuo, Li Chongju, Cao Bin, Chu Zhaofu, Wang Xian, Zhang Xun, Chai Yuxi, Zhao Rong, Zhou Ying, Wang Jiying, Ma Zhijie , Cao Lili, Zhang Qi, Yang Chongxun, Wang Deyong, Xia Shouyun, Wang Yiyong.

Including Di Qing, a total of 18 military generals once sat at the head of the Privy Council, while the Northern Song Empire produced a total of 73 principal positions in the Privy Council. The ratio of civil and military officials in this position is 55:18, and those with military background 24.6% of the total number of people. A bit shabby, but not the worst looking. Using another calculation method, we will be clearer: taking Di Qing as a point, in the 97 years from the founding of the Northern Song Dynasty to Di Qing’s death, there were 18 military generals who sat at the head of the Privy Council. There are 31 civil servants, the ratio of civil and military personnel is 31:18, and those with military background accounted for 36.7% of the total number; and in the seventy years from the death of Di Qing to the end of the empire, a total of 28 civil servants served as the top leaders of the Privy Council position, while military commanders are zero, the ratio of civil and military personnel is 28:0, and those with military backgrounds account for 0% of the total number of people.

Di Qing was not the first military general to sit as the Privy Envoy of the Northern Song Dynasty, but the last. If the deputies of the Privy Council (Privy Council Deputy Envoy, Tongzhi Privy Council Affairs and Signing Privy Council Affairs, etc.) are included in the statistics, and Di Qing is taken as a point, in the 97-year history from the founding of the Northern Song Dynasty to the death of Di Qing, there are 19 There are 66 civil servants, 66:19 civil servants, and 22.3% of the total number of military personnel. From the death of Di Qing to the last 70 years of the empire's demise, A total of forty-nine civil servants served as deputies of the Privy Council, while there were two military commanders, the ratio of civil and military officers was 49:2, and those with military background accounted for 3.9% of the total number.In the Northern Song Dynasty in the last 70 years, there were two generals who could squeeze into the deputy position of the Privy Council. The first was Guo Kui, the favorite general of Fan Zhongyan, a famous general in the northwest. About one year and five months, but Guo Kui guarded the northwest for a long time at that time, and in fact he never went to the Privy Council for a day.And the second one is the leader of the third generation of the family army, Lao Zhong, the manager, and the teacher. When he received the appointment document from the Tongzhi Privy Council, it was already the eve of the empire's demise. A few months later, the old strategist also died of illness, and he probably didn't work a day in the Privy Council.

Speaking responsibly, after Di Qing, the Privy Council, the highest military decision-making body of the Northern Song Empire, closed its doors to generals. Of course, this was also the attitude of the entire Northern Song Empire. Before Di Qing, we can say that on the political stage of the Northern Song Empire, literati played the leading role, military commanders played supporting roles, and played tricks—emphasizing literature over military; then after Di Qing, we can say that this play is a one-man show for literati, Zhou Libo's Shanghai-style stand-up comedy, there is nothing about generals - there is literature but no military.

Di Qing's fate is actually the fate of the generals of the entire empire.