The struggle of the reborn prince

The annual holiday ended on the 25th of the first lunar month, and all the yamen opened their seals to go to work. The brains of the Song Dynasty were waiting for the emperor to be received in the court room.But this Spring Festival, many of them have been tossed about by the emperor, making them embarrassed and frightened.As the saying goes, "Good deeds can travel thousands of miles without going out." I am afraid that the incident has already spread throughout the capital, so it is embarrassing for everyone to meet, and there is no way to explain the incident, so they are simply bored.

And those who have not been visited by the emperor are not at peace at the moment, it's not that they are cheap and feel uncomfortable if they are not tossed about.They were worried that the emperor would 'visit' them, and what happened to their colleagues also shocked them, but the emperor's arrival was delayed, it was like sitting on a bottomless boat and didn't know when it would sink, so it was better to have a good time , It's life or death, it's easier than "defending thieves" every day.But when the emperor tossed about other people's homes, he didn't come to his own. It couldn't be said that it was jealousy or panic.

In the silence, everyone finally waited until the sound of the net whip sounded, and the servant loudly announced that the ministers went to court to discuss matters.Everyone hastily lined up to enter the Chuigong Hall one by one. At the moment, they felt very urgent, because everyone wanted to know the purpose of the emperor's actions, and hoped to get the answer from the emperor's few words at the court meeting...

The advantage of Zhao Tong is that he has self-knowledge. He knows that his shortcoming is that he is not good at handling political affairs and solving the affairs of those mothers-in-law. Therefore, he must rely on scholars to assist in governing the country. This is also the tradition of all dynasties, and it was even more successful in the Song Dynasty.In this way, he can be regarded as inheriting the mantle of the ancestors and inheriting the ancestral system.But Zhao Tong also understands that it is impossible for him to copy completely.Especially when the country is in peril.

Generally speaking, the monarchy is divided into four modes of operation: the first mode is called the mode of central control.It means that the monarch and bureaucrats have limited control over the army and local governments at all levels; the second mode is called the centralization mode of the court, that is, the emperor or his agent independently exercises central control power, and bureaucrats and officials can only routinely approve it; The first model is the independent model, all decisions are made by the emperor or his agent arbitrarily or in collusion. Although the bureaucrats and bureaucrats can share the administrative power, they have no right to participate in decision-making; the fourth model is the dictatorial model, the monarch or his The agent has sole power.Suppress or even suppress ruling and opposition scholars who disagree.

Perhaps the first model is the most ideal for a monarchy, but it is also the most difficult to realize. It should be said to be an idealized thing. Anyway, according to Zhao Tong, the political environment when he became the throne did not allow him to do that. of.So he adopted the second model, but the bureaucrats did not routinely agree with it.Because the Song Dynasty already had a set of mature methods in managing state affairs, which made it difficult for him to implement dictatorship. This system is very advanced even in the eyes of a modern person like Zhao Tun. It is called a limited democracy under the feudal monarchy. Not too much.

The biggest change in the political structure between the Tang and Song Dynasties was the end of aristocratic politics before the mid-Tang Dynasty, and corresponding changes in the status of the monarch.After the mid-Tang Dynasty, a non-identity common landlord class appeared.They eventually replaced the status-oriented landlord class that had withdrawn from the historical stage, and became the foundation of the entire regime after the Tang and Song Dynasties.The imperial examination system implemented after the Sui and Tang Dynasties was further expanded and improved after entering the Song Dynasty.This kind of imperial examination system of "selecting scholars regardless of family background" actually opened up the possibility of entering the ruling circle to all strata of the whole society through the imperial examination.

The direct consequences of social changes in Tang and Song Dynasties in social class relations.It is to rely on the production of imperial examinations to cultivate a relatively independent scholar-bureaucrat class.After this class is formed, it is bound to enter the circle of bureaucratic rule and express its political demands.Song Taizu's oath stele said "do not kill scholar-bureaucrats and those who write letters".It is not only a reflection of this social change, but also further promotes this change in policy.And policy changes.The improvement of status has strengthened the concept of managing the world of the scholar-official class.They all have a subjective understanding of who they can give up to, whether it is the safety of the country at the top, or the benefit of the people at the bottom, and they integrate this subjective understanding into their own achievements in the economy...

In the politics of the Song Dynasty, there is another commonly used term called "Guo Shi", which is roughly equivalent to what is said today as the general policy of a certain period.Moreover, once the state is established, it will not be easily changed in the short term until the next round of "state" is determined.

Since it is a joint discussion of "state affairs", it is necessary to solicit opinions extensively, but due to historical limitations, this scope is often the opinions of scholars. They participate in the formulation of major national policies through letters, supervise the emperor's observance of family law, and advise Asking the monarch to change the edict, preventing the monarch from issuing the edict, and restraining female queens from taking political power, etc., have indeed played an active role in participating in and discussing state affairs.The highest decision-making power, that is, the imperial power, is therefore also strongly constrained by the power of speech of the scholars who have integrated into the country's ruling class.

After a hundred years of development, the construction of the system in the Song Dynasty has gradually matured, and a consensus has been reached on the ruling ideology: "The laws of the world should be shared with the world, and there are officials who guard them to death, even though the emperor can't do it privately." Law, far beyond the previous generation", with a set of strict systems and procedures.If the speech officer is competent, there are corresponding transfer rules, and the degree of promotion and preferential treatment is very high.On the contrary, if "words and things do not agree" and the emperor's will is violated, generally they will not be relegated, and they will just leave their posts in a flat manner.The most serious thing is to lose one rank of official, that is, to lose one rank of salary.

Civilian politics, a broad and sound political system promoted the formation and rise of the independent consciousness of the scholar-bureaucrat class in the Song Dynasty. As the mainstay of the bureaucratic group, the scholars consciously and strongly projected their political requirements and social ideals into the monarchy-bureaucratic regime.Although the monarchy was still the premise at that time, the literati and bureaucrats all regarded themselves as responsible for the safety of the world.Fan Zhongyan said: "Anyone who is an official must not have private crimes, and public crimes must not be free." Therefore, "If one thing is exaggerated, there will be a lot of discussions, and chapters will be handed in, and often fight to the death"...

Zhao Tong was born as a warrior at root. He was able to become emperor and successfully reversed the basic situation of scholar politics, allowing the imperial power to take the initiative. Take advantage of the fire!

Zhao Tong understands that if he wants to rejuvenate the Great Song Dynasty, he must end the party struggles that lasted for three dynasties. There can only be one voice in the court, and to do this, he must have the final say. Tree.At that time, under the pressure of the Jurchens in the Song Dynasty, the scholars failed to shoulder the important task of saving the country and the people, and instead committed a scandal of betraying the country and the royal family.This gave Zhao Tun, who came to power at the moment, under the slogan of resisting foreign humiliation, sufficient reasons to suppress the opponents in terms of ideology and speech, and clear some opponents from the court.And took the opportunity to improve the status of the warriors, who are the backbone force against the invasion of foreign enemies, and consolidate their own power.

However, as the war developed in a direction that was beneficial to the Song Dynasty, and under the deliberate propaganda and incitement of Zhao Tun, the national consciousness of the Song dynasty and the public immediately rose, and the slogan of "respect the king and fight against the barbarians" was put forward again.Driven by the rise of this national consciousness, the scholars were transformed into a general recovery complex and patriotism, and the righteousness of the nation became the mainstream thought of the Song dynasty and the public.The ideology of paying attention to national integrity among the scholar class was generally established and practiced consciously, and the "Day of Death for the Country" became the highest honor for a scholar.But more importantly, the imperial power expanded rapidly through this, and the imperial power gained the upper hand in the court.

Zhao Tong has always believed that civil society, the tide of the economy, and the literati's independence are not diametrically opposed and mutually exclusive, nor will they hinder the established outlook on life and values ​​​​of the literati.When he was in the Northwest, he used Zhou Xingji, Chen Guoting, Yang Shi and other contemporary great Confucians who did not reject "utility" as his staff, and let them teach in Luxue, and trained a group of grassroots officials for himself.After ascending to the throne, they held high positions in the court, making their theories mainstream and becoming the teaching content of universities at all levels.

Since different emperors and different periods can have different states, that is, different central tasks and political ecology, the implementation of basic state policies in the Song Dynasty also varied from time to time, from person to person, that is, from emperor to emperor of.Zhao Tong put forward the policy of "developing industry and commerce and encouraging farming" in due course, and vigorously promoted foreign trade, which was successfully implemented with the support of "his own people", and at the same time created a group of new big businessmen.

In any era, the status of officials is higher than that of merchants, and merchants all want to train their children to become officials. With the backing of huge wealth, they can hire the best teachers to educate their children, let them enter the best schools, and make them become officials. Leaving the ranks of businessmen and entering the group of scholars, and they will definitely speak for their own interest groups.And he did not forget the well-driller when he was drinking water, so Zhao Tang also received the full support of this emerging class.

While business develops, ordinary people are also beneficiaries.The increase in commercial tax allows the two taxes to be reduced as appropriate, and various miscellaneous taxes can be reduced or exempted, thereby improving their living standards, and living and working in peace and contentment is the greatest wish of the ordinary people in Shengdou. Naturally, I am grateful to the "Ming Jun" who brings them a happy life, long live He shouted the most vigorously, and he would support the emperor with practical actions, so that his edicts could be implemented smoothly in the local area.

Zhao Tun, who has won the support of all walks of life, enables him to call the wind and rain in the court, respond to all calls, and realize his ideals and aspirations, but the occurrence of this accident made him have to be vigilant... (To be continued..)