This is a video program that focuses on Chinese history and is planned to be produced and broadcast for twenty years. It is also a very long-term cultural project.It will inherit the Chinese chronicle tradition of Zizhi Tongjian, starting from 1000 AD and continuing to 1912. Each program focuses on a year in Chinese history.The 913 episodes of the program will accompany and influence more than one generation over the next 20 years.

《Journey of Civilization》To complete such an exploration: from the history of the development of ancient and modern civilizations, sort out the experiences and ideas for solving today's problems.

1000 AD: Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Hello, I am Luo Zhenyu. Welcome to the Civilization Program. The characteristic of this program is that one program corresponds to a year in history. In this first program, we will talk about the year 1000 AD. What was the world like in the year 1000 AD??Maybe that word is more appropriate, called darkness before dawn, darkness is its background.

If you don’t believe me, if you open the world map at that time, you will see that the Western Roman Empire in the west has collapsed for more than 500 years, and Europe was in the dark Middle Ages at that time, right?The Arab Empire was very powerful to the east around 1000. At this time, it also fell into division.To the east, China was in the Northern Song Dynasty at that time. Because the Northern Song Dynasty did not control the Hexi Corridor, the Silk Road, the trade link between the east and the west, was also severed and fell into a valley.So if you look at the entire Eurasian continent, from west to east, the center of human civilization at that time, it was really a decoupling exercise, and it was completely fragmented.

But why is it said to be the darkness before dawn?That's right, because in Europe, don't think that the Middle Ages were dark. At that time, some very important institutional and technological innovations were already growing and brewing.In another 100 years there will be a very famous Crusade, so the collision of Eastern and Western civilizations and the intense exchanges will soon usher in a new climax.As for the Song Dynasty in China, you know that the Song Dynasty has been established for 40 years at this time. It was founded in 960. The Song Dynasty civilization will soon shine.

Regarding China's Song Dynasty, many people came up with various figures to praise him, saying how prosperous China was at that time and what percentage of the world's GDP it accounted for. I won't talk about these abstract things, but I will tell you a detail.Feel it.At this stage, did the Song Dynasty often hold imperial examinations?Then I would like to ask how many people from all over the country are going to flock to Bianliang, Tokyo to take the exam?You guessed about 20,000 people. For example, in 1992, there were more than 17,000 people. It was not just them, but there were also some book boys accompanying them.Let’s conservatively count 40,000 people, right?Forty thousand people poured into a city at the same time to eat, drink, have sex, and have basic necessities and shelter. Even today, some cities wouldn't be able to handle it, right?But Bianliang in Tokyo could handle it back then. What kind of commercial service level do you think this is?If you think about it again, these nearly 20,000 people come from all over the country. Everyone is a weak scholar, right?They were actually able to travel long distances across the country in all directions, they were able to drive away their families, they were relieved, they were able to arrive, they were not protected by force, there were no concubines and robberies along the way, and they were able to bring silver coins with them along the way.Food, accommodation and services.To know that such a level of security and commercial services could be achieved in such a vast area was in 1000 AD. Europeans at that time could not even imagine it.So we start with the Song Dynasty in China in 1000 AD.

There were two major events for the Song Dynasty this year. We can perceive these two major events from the perspective of the Song Dynasty court.The first thing happened in the north. The Song Dynasty was at war with the Liao Kingdom at that time. This war started last year and continued until this year. There was a win or loss for each other. Of course, the real decisive battle between the two sides will not happen until five years later.It only started in 1004, and by 1005 the Zen Alliance was established. This is one thing.The second major event occurred in the west. It was a mutiny, the rebellion of the royal army in Sichuan. This chaos was not small, and it was put down that year. Moreover, the reasons and consequences behind it involved a very critical issue in Chinese dynastic politics.So we will talk about the Rebellion of Wang Jun in Sichuan next year and in the next episode. This year we will talk about 1000 years. What should we talk about?We focus on a small thing, a small thing that cannot be smaller.On the fifth day of April this year, an old prime minister named Lu Duan passed away. When he died, the prime minister had actually resigned.So if you look at the entire history of China, Lu Duan seems not to be very well-known, and he had already resigned as prime minister when he died.So why do we need to talk about it again?You must know that in the Song Dynasty, Lu Duan was not only an important figure in the court, but he also had a landmark story of the era.Yes, this is at least an iconic story on a 100+ year scale.You may be wondering, what kind of signature can a person whose name I don’t even know have?Why do you say that?Okay, let’s take this question and travel back to 1000, the Song Dynasty in 1000 AD.

Today’s story begins with the death of the old Prime Minister Lu Duan. I hope this story can convey to you a feeling that each generation not only lives in its own era, but also lives in the previous era.Inside the shadow.Okay, let's first briefly introduce Mr. Lu Duanlu. The name Lu Duan has always been from Anci, a person from Youzhou. Specifically, he was from Langfang, Hebei, near Beijing today.Today, there is an Anci District in Langfang, Hebei Province. It is actually not very famous in history. Its only fame comes from an idiom: big things are not confused.It is said that the last emperor of the Song Dynasty, Song Taizong Zhao Guangyi, also promoted Lu Duan to be prime minister at that time. Someone reminded him, "Your Majesty, this is not good. Just look at Lu Duan and you will be confused."Song Taizong said, otherwise, as far as I know, he is confused about small things but not about big things.Alas, you see, this sentence has now become an idiom in modern Chinese. The allusion that a person is not confused about important matters comes from Lu Duan.As for Lu Duan, if you think about his identity, he was the last prime minister of Song Taizong and the first prime minister given by Song Taizong to Song Zhenzong.Alas, you will know as soon as you hear it. He is a very important transitional figure in the transfer of power.

In fact, if you look at us today, we are in the year 1000. In the past two years, Lu Duan's health failed and he had retired from the position of prime minister.After his death, Emperor Zhenzong sent the eunuchs around him to take care of the Sang family, and granted him titles such as Sikong, promotion of his son, etc. These were all routine matters.But you must know that when Emperor Zhenzong of the Song Dynasty sent Lu Duan, the old prime minister, the relationship between them was different from others. Their relationship was very special.Why do you say that?In the era of imperial power, what do you think is the greatest contribution a minister can make to the emperor?It's called the power of decision-making. This is a proper term.The merit of deciding the policy is the merit of supporting the emperor.Yes, Lu Duan had such merit. To put it bluntly, without him, Song Zhenzong would not have the throne.Then we will spend a little more time telling this story.

This year is the year 1000. Three years ago, it was 997 AD, which was also March 29th, the third year of the Song Dynasty.You don’t need to remember these days. Anyway, you know that Song Taizong Zhao Guangyi died on this day.Then the old emperor dies, what should we do next?It's the crown prince's succession. This is a normal procedure, just follow the rules.It happened that a variable occurred at this time.What?Someone wanted to stage a coup, and they wanted to depose the prince Zhao Heng. Later, Song Zhenzong wanted to install Zhao Heng's eldest brother, this person named Zhao Yuanzuo, as the emperor.You listen to a typical palace coup.So who wants to do this?If I count the people involved in this conspiracy, you will know how big this conspiracy is.How many people?The first key figure is Empress Li, the empress of Emperor Taizong.Then when Song Taizong dies, he will be Empress Dowager Li, right?good.The second key figure is the most powerful eunuch in the Taizong era, named Wang Ji.In addition, there were two people, one of whom was officially in the official position of the Song Dynasty. This was the deputy prime minister, named Li Changling.There was also a fourth person, Zhizhigao, who was the cadre who wrote the document. Zhizhigao also had an official name. This person was named Hu Dan.As soon as you hear it, you will know that these people have great backgrounds. Once Emperor Taizong dies, the people who can influence the entire court are basically on this list.Think about it, from the queen mother who makes decisions to the eunuchs who run errands, from the support staff who have the ability to write documents to those who have the authority to issue documents, the formal load-bearing team is complete.

Then why do you think they want to stage a coup?Why change the prince?Change the emperor?Let's think about it later. We only need to know a conspiracy to change the emperor now. It has been formed at this time, but there is one person missing in it. Who is it?It was Lu Duan, the prime minister of the dynasty. If Lu Duan nodded, this matter would be done.So on March 29, 997 AD, as soon as Song Taizong died, these people started to do things.

What to do?First, the eunuch Wang Jien was sent to Zhongshu, where the prime minister worked, to call Lu Duan.Sigh, it would be easier if he was really called over, and a few people would pinch him in the middle.So what situation do you think Lu Duan is facing?The four people on the coup list I mentioned just now actually have one person behind them.Who?Empress Dowager Li’s natal brother.This man's name was Li Jilong, who was the commander-in-chief of the army at the time.Although he was not present, there was a vague force behind the coup, representing the military.So if you look at this play, it's really refreshing. Mochou's various characters are perfectly matched, and they are all surrounded from top to bottom. All they need is a nod from Lu Duan, the prime minister of the court.So Lu Duan gathered a few people around him and explained the decision to replace the emperor. Some people were trying to be a good person, some were trying to be a bad person, some were threats, and some were inducements. That would be equivalent to a whole table of dishes being served to you..I'm just waiting for you, Mr. Lu Duanlu, to say, Oh, okay, count me in.Then you can serve the meal with a pair of chopsticks, and everyone will share in the decision-making process of establishing the new emperor.If it really comes to that point, I feel that Lu Duan may not be able to handle it.But don’t forget his nickname: Lu Duan is not confused if he is not confused. Before he allowed this matter to develop to that point, we should return to the scene.

Didn’t I say that before?The eunuch Wang Jien came to the Zhongshu Provincial Office and asked Lu Duan to come over.Lu Duan probably felt something was wrong at that time, so he said yes, I'll go.But you go somewhere with me first. I have an important edict document in the archives. You can find it with me, and we can stay there together.Wang Ji'en didn't suspect anything, so he followed him to the warehouse. As soon as Wang Ji'en entered the door, Lu Duan clicked behind him and closed the door. Then with a click, a big lock locked the warehouse, and then said helloNo one is allowed to let him out without my order.The eunuch Fang Ji'en was imprisoned here, and then the old man Lu Duan went to see Empress Dowager Li for comment.

Then you think the situation Lu Duan faced at this time was relatively simple. I was the old prime minister, you were the old queen mother, and we, the monarch and the minister, talked alone.Well, you think the Queen Mother was still the Queen yesterday, and today there is a funeral at home. Her husband just died, so she must be feeling sad, and she has no political experience.That would be easier to handle, and the old prime minister could explain things to him, and everyone would not be in such a booing and arrogant mood.

And what did Lu Duan say?The principles he taught are actually very simple, just two.Then put the first item on the table: why did the late emperor establish a prince?Isn't it just to cope with today's situation?No, let’s discuss and argue later. Has it been decided in advance?As long as the court letter is there, the prince can directly succeed to the throne.So for the second reason, who was the late emperor?It's your husband, Queen Mother Li, who just passed away and his body is still cold. Are you embarrassed to go against his wishes?Then you see, as soon as these two principles were placed on the table, Queen Mother Li stopped talking.Well, the Queen Mother's attitude has softened. At this time, the new emperor, Prince Zhao Heng, arrived. Then Lu Duan will come immediately. Let's not waste a minute. Let's hold the enthronement ceremony now. How simple is it to hold a ceremony?, I also need to change my clothes.It is said that as soon as the prince Zhao Heng changed his clothes and sat in the middle, the prime minister and his ministers kowtowed and shouted "Long live the emperor", the status of the monarch and ministers was determined, and the emperor was regarded as the emperor.

But Lu Duan still had an extra thought at this time. You see, he was really not confused about the important matter. He said don't panic and brought the old minister forward to take a look.What if you changed people when you changed clothes just now?So Lu Duan walked up the steps tremblingly, opened the curtain and took a closer look at the person on the throne in the middle. Well, it turned out to be Prince Zhaoheng. Then he stepped back and lay on the ground to formally go through the process.Our current emperor, Zhenzong Zhaoheng, has become the emperor without any danger.That's the story.Let me tell you the story you just heard, mainly to show that Lu Duan is responsible, great, and not confused about important matters.Today we are famous for this program and telling this story to ask you to think about it again.What are you thinking about?Wondering if there is anything strange in this story?Alas, there are two strange things. Let’s talk about the first strange thing first, which is why they launched a coup. What are these people trying to do?

Our pursuit of a better life comes from the opening of every extraordinary door.Casarte was born for love, the art of connecting homes.Just now we told the story of Lu Duan being clear about major matters. Alas, if you think about it, there are two particularly strange things in this story. Let’s talk about the first one first. Alas, you are a coup group, okay?Whatever you do, you have to calculate the costs and benefits, right?What are you guys doing this for?Generally speaking, there are two types of coups. One is that the camps are very clear, there is you and not me, so people from one faction have to strike first to gain the upper hand. For example, this was the case with Emperor Taizong's Xuanwu Gate coup.

Then there is another situation where the emperor or the prince himself does not know about it, but there is someone underneath who wants to make a fortune and gain support.Therefore, the Ming Dynasty's coup to seize the throne is in line with the latter situation, but no matter what the situation is, in the era of imperial power, it is a treasonous sin for a group of people to conspire to change the emperor. The cost is huge and scary, and everyone will be executed.of.The coup we just talked about today seems to be in neither of these two situations. Is there a confrontation between the camps?No, that's really not the case, because Zhenzong Zhao Heng was officially canonized as the prince by the court a few years ago. There was no dispute between the government and the public about this, and there was no confrontational camp.Then what do you think these coup groups are trying to achieve, and what huge benefits they want to gain?It seems out of the question, so let’s take a look at the core figures we’ve just mentioned. Let’s look at Queen Mother Li first. Generally speaking, if a Queen Mother takes the lead in advocating for the replacement of a prince, it’s usually because she wants to replace her biological son, right??But at that time, neither Zhao Heng nor Zhao Yuanzuo, whom they wanted to replace, nor Empress Dowager Li were their biological mothers. He couldn't afford to fight to the death for such a matter. Why did he bother? Let's look at a few other people. Wang Jien, the great eunuch, his status in the kilometer is very high.Gao, because he had served Taizu and Song Taizong, and he also had military exploits. He was the most favored and high-status eunuch in the harem.

At such an old age, even if you proclaim a new emperor, aren't you still a eunuch?What are you drawing?Let's look at the deputy prime minister again, it is Li Changling.This person has little political experience and was just promoted last year.Well, if you establish a new emperor, you will be able to advance half a level at most.You have defeated Lu Duan, you are the prime minister, and you are so old. If you don't take this risky move, the opportunity will be there soon.As a civil servant and official, you risked having your house confiscated and your family wiped out. Why did you get involved in this matter?Interestingly, if you look through Chinese history, you have never seen a coup with such high risks and such small benefits.

Okay, so why do these people do this?At this time, we see that someone needs to tie the bell to untie it. We need to listen to their explanation. What do they think?Regarding the reason for this matter, Empress Dowager Li left a few words in history. It was just a few words. She told Lu Duan that the bus had been inspected and it was Emperor Taizong who went there, right?It is more common sense to leave us orphans and widowed mothers to establish a temple for Chang Shun and to establish an emperor. It seems that we should establish an older one.

What will happen now?What should you do about this?Your Queen Mother said it was because of Li, Your Majesty, our current prince is a bit younger, how about we change him to an older emperor?Can the prince who has been officially canonized by the court be overthrown for this reason?It's not like that.And it's strange that so many people can be persuaded to participate in this conspiracy just for this reason.To answer this question, we really can't just look at the situation in this year, or even the situation in the early 40 years of the Song Dynasty.We have to stretch our political horizons as far as at least a hundred years before we can understand why these people at this time think so.Why did he do this?We are now in 1000 AD, so which dynasty preceded it?It is a famous period of great chaos in Chinese history, called the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms.

From 907 AD to 960 AD, the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms lasted 53 years in total. In such a short period of time, in just half a century, the Central Plains of northern China alone experienced five dynasties: Liang, Tang, Jin, Han, and Zhou.They are called Later Liang, Later Tang, Later Jin, Later Han, and Later Zhou.So how long were these dynasties?The longest is 16 years of Hou Liang, and the shortest is 3 years of Hou Han.They are all short-lived dynasties.The even more astonishing number is that there were 14 emperors in just 53 years. Among them, only 5 people died normally on the throne because no one killed them.There were only 5 emperors out of 14, and the rest were either dethroned or died violent deaths.So what kind of world do you think this is?What era is this?Even if the emperor is like this, then the life of the common people will be even worse.Maybe when I tell you these numbers, you can already smell the blood of that era.Yes, it was a terrifying and chaotic world with mountains of swords, seas of fire, and mountains of lions and seas of blood.

And the main characters in the story we are telling today are Wang Jina and Lu Duan. You see, they are all from the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms at their age. They were born in the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms. Their political concepts are based on the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms.formed.Their methods of action were learned in the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, and their fear of loss and perception of danger all came from the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms.Although they lived 40 years after the founding of the Song Dynasty, they were essentially still people of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, or a generation living in the shadow of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms. So which dynasty do they think they are now?Then you may say that of course it is the Song Dynasty, but we can then ask a question, which Song Dynasty is it?Is it the Song Dynasty of the Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties that we descendants talk about?It is not among the feelings of this generation. This is the sixth generation after the five generations. It is the Song Dynasty of Liang, Tang Jing, Han, Zhou and Song.
Because they understand better than anyone else how Zhao Kuangyin, the great ancestor of their old Zhao family, came to power. It is a typical script of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, right?You were brought up by others to engage in politics. Everyone should have learned in middle school textbooks that Chen Qiao rebelled and became a prostitute. You are a master who usurped the throne and came to power. So what are they afraid of in this generation?I am just afraid that this story will happen again.As long as there was one mistake in the Song Dynasty, it would not be the Five Dynasties. In the history books, it may be written down in the future that it was the Sixth Dynasty.

It's like a TV show, right?The style of the TV series is fixed. All the characters in it will die at every turn, and they will die after a few shots. But the fourth season is good. Now you are the third emperor of the Song Dynasty. According to the TV series, you have already lived to the third year.episode, but the audience knew it in their hearts, they were watching it all the time, right?This broken sentence has such a broken style, and it is sung according to the habit of the protagonist, right?If you do it a few times and you'll die, how do I know your character will survive the fourth episode?Today we feel that the old emperor dies and passes the throne to the pre-determined prince, which is a perfectly normal procedure.But if you were alive in 1000 AD, on that day, you would know that this was something unusual.When the emperor dies, it is abnormal for the throne to pass to the officially canonized prince.Why?Very simple?Because that hasn’t happened in the last 100 years.It’s something that hasn’t happened in 100 years. In ancient times, it was something that only existed in legends. Do you think people at that time would take it seriously?Yes, since Wantang, there has been no normal handover of imperial power.You are the prince appointed by the old emperor, and you will be the next emperor.Why?Is there force?Can you beat others?Can you handle the eunuch?The most important political experience left over from the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period is that power cannot be handed over to one spearhead.

Young man, you grew up in a deep palace, you are young, you have never led soldiers or fought in a war, you have no basic team in the army, and you just want to be the successor to the regime, aren't you looking for death?Let me give you an example. Houliang is the first generation of the Five Dynasties. The ancestor of Houliang is called Zhu Wen. Before he died, Zhu Wen said to the people around him, "My dead pig is not my enemy. I have no dirty land."That is to say, my son is dead. You see, my sons are no match for my enemies. I want to die without a burial place.June En was emotional as she spoke.
There are a few words recorded in the history books. It is said that when someone woke up due to choking, he died crying and cried, but he was unwilling to give up, so he woke up again crying.You really don’t give up on your own son, but what’s the result?Zhu Wen did something very rare in ancient Chinese imperial politics. When he was alive and in a very normal state of mind, he actually wanted to pass the throne to his adopted son instead of his biological son who was related by blood., because he thinks that this Yang Zi can have a position in the army, and my regime may be able to continue through him.
Of course, his own son was dissatisfied, and finally killed Zhu Wen, and then his own son usurped the throne. But the result was exactly as Zhu Wen expected, and all his biological sons were really killed later.Zhu Wen himself was almost dug up, so you see, Zhu Wen is actually a sensible person on this issue. He understands that in today's troubled times, the most important goal of the emperor's succession is to ensure that IThe survival of the dynasty.As for whether the person inheriting the throne is his biological son in terms of medicine, biology, and genes, he didn't care so much in those troubled times. It was so pitiful.

Throughout the Five Dynasties period, as I mentioned earlier, there were a total of 14 emperors in those 53 years. They were succeeded by father and son.Either the crown prince was established or his father died, and the son took over normally. This happened three times in history.Let me calculate these three people for you. The first one is Li Conghou, Emperor of the Later Tang and Min Dynasties, and the second one is Liu Chengyou, the Emperor of the Later Han Dynasty. What are the results of these two people?Alas, it's quite a coincidence that the two of them were killed. Didn't you say that they were both killed when they were 20 years old?There is also the youngest third person. This is the emperor who became the emperor when Chai Zongxun was 7 years old at the construction site of the Later Zhou Dynasty. He was quickly usurped by Zhao Kuangyin. Although this emperor was very lucky, he did not die an unexpected death. Zhao Kuangyin did not kill him, but it was a coincidence., like the previous two living treasures, also died at the age of 20.

So you see, in this era, passing the throne to a biological son who has no force, although it is in line with the law, although it is in line with human feelings, but unfortunately it is not in line with reality. As long as you dare to do this, the success rate is too low.In the Five Dynasties period, the probability of success was 0. Do you think this transaction can still be done?So this is a basic political experience left over from the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period.In the early years of the Song Dynasty, this political experience was still there. It is said that there was another public case in the history of the Song Dynasty. Whether it was true or not is currently controversial, but the story itself is quite interesting, called the Alliance of Gold and Gold.

It is said that the Empress Dowager Du, the biological mother of Song Taizu Song Taizong, called Song Taizu Zhao Kuangyin before she died and asked his son, do you know how you got the world?Then Zhao Kuangyin knelt on the ground and said, Mom, of course it is the virtues of our ancestors.The old queen said, "Don't do this to me. What kind of virtues do you have from your ancestors?"Isn't it because you bullied the orphans and widowers of the Later Zhou Dynasty that you can sit in this emperor's seat?If the heir to the royal family of the Zhou Dynasty was an older person, not a 7-year-old baby, how could you be where you are today?Therefore, you will have to learn a lesson in the future. You cannot pass the throne to your son after your death.Who do you want to pass it on to?Pass it on to my other son, the older one. You have to pass it on to your brother Zhao Guangyi.Zhao Kuangyin said what you said makes sense. Since you think what Lao Sheng said makes sense, will you agree?You agreed, then you make a note. Let's put this note in a gold cabinet and keep it. This is called the fierceness of gold. This is a piece of historical data left over from the early years of the Song Dynasty. Of course it is controversial, but don't you think?This matter is reasonable. Later, when the government was handed over, we really faced such a choice.

When Song Taizong Zhao Guangyi took over Zhao Kuangyin's class, a rumor spread that Zhao Kuangyin was killed and Zhao Guangyi usurped the throne, the so-called Zhuying Fusheng.But this legend is also controversial in historical circles. Regardless of whether it is true or false, let’s step aside and see if it is reasonable according to normal political logic.When Taizu Zhao Kuangyin died, he left two sons. Zhao Dezhao was 25 years old and Zhao Defang was 17 years old. The two spearhead boys had no political or military experience. Do you want these two spearhead boys to inherit or let this timeZhao Guangyi, who already has an army team and has killed enemies on the battlefield, has political experience and continues to stand within the political logic of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms. I am afraid the latter is a rational choice.

As a modern person, even if you go back in time and make decisions for the old Zhao family at that time, you may also feel that, well, the latter one may be more reliable.At this time, let’s go back and understand what we just said about Empress Dowager Li’s words to Lu Duan. To establish the fourth emperor, Chang Shun, and to find a new monarch who is older, more experienced, and more able to control the situation.It can better ensure the continuation of our dynasty.We can expand this topic a little further.In Chinese history, there are usually two models of full-scale inheritance. One is that after the father dies, the son will take over. If the father dies, the son will take over.So both of these modes exist, so what kind of situations do each apply to?How are they different?I saw such an analysis in Mr. Shi Zhan’s book called Pivot. He said that south of the Great Wall is the Central Plains Empire. The Central Plains Empire usually has fathers succeeding and sons succeeding. After the father dies, the son takes over. This isWhy?Because the rule of the Central Plains Empire was mainly accomplished by the bureaucracy, the ability of the monarch was not that important and came second.So the key to being a monarch is that you have to be legal, that is, there is a consensus from top to bottom in the entire bureaucracy.

Why do we recognize this emperor?Just because you are legal, for example, the eldest son inheritance system can ensure the stability of the order of the Central Plains Empire.This is the situation south of the Great Wall, but if you look north of the Great Wall, the grassland to the north has a completely different logic.The father dies, can the son succeed?No, if the father and son are more than 20 years apart, the father cannot guarantee that the son will be a mature military commander by this time, someone who can really hold a knife in his hand, right?It turns out that it is often his brothers who follow Korea on the grassland in south and north wars, and the most trusted generals are often these brothers.The so-called good luck among brothers is that after the elder brother dies, the younger brother will take over. This is the inheritance logic of the grassland.Why?In order to ensure the continuation of the force itself, you want to create a copycat, where a gangster brother and a group of brothers occupy the mountain and become king.We assume that this eldest brother had no problem with his prestige during his lifetime, and his brothers also admired him.Okay, now that the eldest brother is dead, can this eldest brother allow his son to inherit the position of the boss of the village?If you think about it, you will know that it will definitely not work, because if a copycat wants to survive, it must have a protective leader, so the most prestigious brother behind the eldest brother must succeed.

If the eldest brother was blinded by lard before he died and said in his heart that I have to pass on the throne to my child, then think about it, he will not only harm his brother, but also the copycat, and eventually his own son, youNeither son will live long.So when you look at power inheritance, the key is not the identity of the successor, but where does the legitimacy of power come from?If the legitimacy of power comes from the consensus of the entire system, then it is reasonable to follow the rules.If the legitimacy of power comes from force, then the ground level in the chest is more reasonable.With this background in mind, let’s understand the coup episode we’re talking about today. Do you have more understanding and sympathy for the thoughts and practices of that generation?

We have just talked about the first strange thing about this coup. Alas, there is actually a second strange thing about what you are doing, don’t you think?This coup was done very hastily.Yes, although there are many people involved, ranging from the Queen Mother to the eunuchs, including deputy prime ministers, and county magistrates who have taken charge of the county, you feel that all the participants are a little careless, haha.Throughout this drama, don’t forget that this drama is called a coup, right?The only violent act in a coup scene was Lu Duan. An old man in his 60s tremblingly took a lock and clicked it on the eunuch Wang Ji'en, and then went to the Queen Mother for comment. The whole conspiracy went bankrupt.

Then think about it, it may not be so easy for us Chinese to mediate disputes between neighbors and friends on the street.What are you doing?Do it?You are engaged in a business where you either succeed or die, and you are making such a fool of yourself.I have read this story over and over again, and I have a strong feeling that none of the parties involved thought it was a big deal. They even thought it was an ordinary policy suggestion. Let's discuss it and change the emperor.Okay, let's discuss calling Lu Duan over to discuss things together.Lu Duan disagreed, disagreed.Forget it, let’s not change it. It just feels like this. This is a very strange political atmosphere. Why is it like this?Hey, I think the answer to this question still has to be found within the political context of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period.

Let me tell you the answer first. The imperial power during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period is actually different from the imperial power we understand. It is not a complete imperial power.Why do you say that?If you look at the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, when you see the man sitting on the throne, he is also an emperor. He also wears a dragon robe. He is also called a lonely Taoist widow, and he also kills whoever he says will be killed.But I'm sorry, the legitimacy of these emperors in the Five Dynasties had only one basis, and that was force.There was a famous saying at that time: The emperor has a strong army, and a strong horse is in danger. Whoever has thick arms and big fists will be the emperor.We now feel that there is no problem with this logic. The one with the big fist is the elder brother, and the one with the gun is the grass-headed king. Isn’t that what the so-called emperor is like?No.

China's emperor system is a very unique monarchy system, which is different from the emperors of ancient Rome, the kings of medieval Europe, and the pharaohs of Egypt.But the topic of the particularity of Chinese imperial power is too big. We will find an opportunity to talk to you specifically about this matter in the future.I will just briefly say here that although China's imperial power is based on violence, this is not to say anything, it is based on violence, but if a Chinese emperor wants to be stable, he must have all aspects of legitimacy.For example, you must have a long historical tradition, you must be able to bring benefits to the current people, and you must be able to promise a peaceful vision for the future. The elite within you must be convinced by you, and even the surrounding barbarians who are not under your control must be convinced.To be convinced by you, you must have blessings from the gods from heaven and earth, and you yourself must be a moral benchmark like a sage.To put it bluntly, the emperor of China is both a king on earth and a god in heaven. He must also be a saint in people’s spiritual world. You must be integrated into one, and you are the emperor of China.Hey, what if you can't do it?You said there is no such person in the world, right?But you have to pretend. Anyway, the Chinese emperor has to meet this series of standards on the surface. We can compare the yellow dog to a ship on the sea. What are these conditions?It is your hairs and cables that can hook the seabed. The more hairs you have, the more complete the legitimacy will be, and the more stable the imperial power will be.

Okay, let’s go back to the reality of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. The emperors of Liang, Tang, Jin, Han, and Zhou only had force in their hands. Of course they had the power on the surface, but in fact the imperial power was precarious, just like in the dark night.On the sea, dust is floating in the waves in a Category 12 typhoon.Why?Because such a big ship only has the spear of force, it cannot hook the bottom of the sea, and it is too dangerous.

Why were the dynasties of the Five Dynasties and Ten Ancient Periods so short?53 years, 8 surnames, 14 emperors, why?It's because all the power in society looks at them emperors a bit like ordinary people watching gangsters fighting on the street. You are fighting, but I can't beat you, right?Whoever of you is more powerful and kills the previous gangster can continue to collect protection fees on this street.We also pay, but everyone just pays to watch the show and doesn't come forward to help, so as not to get blood all over themselves.

What does your gangster fights with me, ordinary people, ordinary civil servants and officials, have to do with me?Therefore, a very strange political ethics was formed during the ancient Ten Kingdoms period, which is completely different from our understanding of ancient Chinese history.There is a saying in the history of the Song Dynasty that people in the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period were called ministers, and those who were mediocre were ministers. They treated the emperor like a human being treated his employer. Their mentality was like this. I will try to describe it,I just work part-time, right?Your emperor is a landlord, and I am a long-term worker. Why are there conflicts within your family?What does fighting and killing have to do with me?I am here to work and earn money. My craftsmanship and my work are worthy of my conscience. Isn’t that okay?Listen, does this set of moral standards sound familiar?Hehe, yes, this is the moral standard of professional managers in our contemporary joint-stock companies.

Like I'm a hired CEO and executive, right?I don't care what kind of chaos you have in the board of directors, I don't care if you make a mess, as long as you can produce legal board resolutions, as long as you still pay me my annual salary, I have done my job well, I take care of customers, employees, and produce products., complete sales, and manage the company's brand and my personal reputation, wouldn't it be enough?If this company is really determined to die by your board of directors, and it fails in the future, it would be fine for me to work on my own, and I can continue to work for another company.

You must know that this kind of ethics and this kind of mentality are not only from the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, but also from the civil servants and officials in the early years of the Song Dynasty. Everyone had a similar mentality.Let me give you an example. We have just mentioned that just 21 years ago, Song Taizong succeeded Song Taizu to the throne. Then it became suspicious that there was a legend about Zhu Ying's assistant?This legend was whispered among the government and the public at that time, and it had spread to a small area. Everyone said, huh.Zhao Kuangyin was probably killed by his younger brother when he was seriously ill, and it was later proven that the two sons left by Song Taizu, Zhao Dezhao and Zhao Defang, whom we mentioned earlier, also died in strange ways. Everyone said that they might have killed the current emperor.Kill him.

Faced with such rumors and such a human tragedy, is there anyone in the civil and military circles who can stand up and speak out?No, it's none of my business. I'm a CEO and a senior executive. I treat the military like mediocrity. How can I be in charge of their family as a servant?So hundreds of years later, in the early years of the Qing Dynasty, there was a great thinker named Wang Fu's mother. In this Song Dynasty treatise, he became very angry when he talked about this matter. He said that when you ministers come, some are called steel, and some are called steel.In another year, some are called Founders, bah, Wang copied the paragraph where he named everyone one by one. You can really feel it from his words. He hates talking about you people. Alas, in the face of such a tragedy,No matter how you all bow your head and talk, and let him imitate his appearance, I dare to think of the first emperor who founded the country. How can you people keep your heads down, keep your mouths shut, and let Emperor Taizong do cruel things for your own selfish interests?.You also don’t miss the kindness that the founding emperor Zhao Kuangyin was to you.

These sentences in the Ode and the Song Dynasty, today we do not have the moral anger of Wang Euzhi's generation. We can calmly speculate on what Staff was thinking at that time, right?Doctor Shi may have thought so. The lights of swords and shadows in the palace, the red walls, green tiles and black eagle ditches, aren't they the business of your royal family?Is it about the board of directors?We don't care, we professional managers can just do our own thing well.This is slightly different from the mentality of the scholar-bureaucrats during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period that I just mentioned.

Okay, now that we understand the political logic of the Five Dynasties and the Song Dynasty, let’s look at the little story we told today, which is the farce coup that happened when Emperor Zhenzong succeeded to the throne. We will know why he acted as carelessly as child’s play.In a word, the Taihu and the eunuch thought, well, this is a family matter.Civil servants and officials think, well, that’s your family’s business, haha.Let's first look at Queen Mother Li and the eunuch Wang Jien. These two people may not have any evil intentions. Maybe their starting point is quite good. They are really just for the good of the old Zhao family.The starting point for this, as we explained before, is to replace the new emperor with an older one who has more control over the country, which will increase the survival probability of our Song Dynasty.

In fact, we might as well imagine the Song Dynasty as a large family in the countryside in ancient times. When the old rich man and the old master were still there, the old master had the final say, his wife was obedient, and the old slaves were also obedient.When the old master was dying, he said, "I won't live long, and I will let our youngest son take charge of the family. I have trained him for many years, and I have officially announced it. Everyone on the left and right knows that there is no problem. Everyone listens."Is the old master here?But the old master died on the front foot, because everyone felt that the war was a bit chaotic. Alas, whether he listened or not, it depends on the situation.We Chinese have a saying, right?Life is about to go on, and the living cannot be kidnapped by the dead, so Taizong died on the front foot and his wife on the back foot. At this time, the Queen Mother wanted to replace hundreds of people according to her understanding of the country's situation.His reasons are very good. I have no personal interests, and I am not replacing my biological son. I am doing it for the good of the country.At this time, the servant in the family was the eunuch Wang Jien, who had served the old master for two generations. He had made great achievements in establishing the country, and he felt that his words had weight in the family.Well, the old queen mother has the right idea, Sui Sheng agrees.

Then, the Queen Mother, you are very thoughtful. If I think you are justified in doing so, then the Queen Mother will feel even more justified, right?I made up this scene, but if you think about it, might it make sense?I would like to make a little comment here, that is, although eunuchs are the emperor's domestic slaves in terms of status, if they have enough qualifications, they will have status in the palace.For example, during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, Gao Lishi, the son, daughter, and son-in-law of Emperor Xuanzong all had to address him as Weng or Ye. This is an honorific title.Regardless of the royal family, when you meet a great eunuch, you should be given the honorific title.

There is also Empress Dowager Cixi's eunuch Li Lianying. Emperor Guangxu had to call him Li Anda, which means master in Manchu. The emperor called the eunuch master, right?This has status, and you will understand why Wang Ji'en, a eunuch, was so enthusiastic about changing the emperor. He may really feel that he has the responsibility and strength to worry about the future of this family.

So you see, when the change of emperor is not a state matter, but a family matter, is it easier to understand the behavior of Queen Mother Li and Wang Ji'en?Next, let’s look at the following scholar-bureaucrats, that is, the deputy prime ministers involved in the coup conspiracy. It is Li Changling and Hu Dan, the secretary of Zhongshu Province.Judging from historical records, what kind of person was Li Changling? He had a cowardly personality and didn't talk much at ordinary times.Hu Dan was born in the imperial examination and had a very popular literary personality. He had been working as a secretary in the imperial court and had no political experience in writing articles. You said there are only two people with such two personalities. Why would he participate in the coup?It is easy to explain based on the reasoning we mentioned earlier. It is very likely that the Queen Mother and Wang Ji'en have already pinched their bones and made a decision. Then they came to them. We want to change the idea of ​​​​the Emperor. What do you two think?ah?What's your opinion?The old lady, the old housekeeper, and the housekeeper had already discussed something, but they still had the nerve to discuss it with me, the eldest aunt. Why should I object?I can only express my position and let the old lady decide everything.I guess this is how Li Changling and Hu Dan got on the pirate ship.

This can also be seen from the aftermath of the coup. You see, one of the people involved in these coups was Li Changling. Although he participated in the rebellion and the coup, that is, he was demoted, he later worked in the central government and was still a local official.After several other officials, the eunuch Wang Ji'en was demoted after the incident. He was demoted to an official position and was placed in Junzhou, which is today's Danjiangkou in Hubei Province. He later died there.

Although the first-class secretary Hu Dan we just talked about was demoted, due to poor health, Hu Dan later lost his eyesight and could not see, so he retired normally.As for the Queen Mother Li, nothing happened. She was still her Queen Mother, and Song Zhenzong respected her very much.Then do you think this processing result can be the processing result of the coup answer and the conspiracy answer?You don’t care whether this kind of thing happened in the Han and Tang Dynasties before, or in the Ming and Qing Dynasties later. Hey, if the emperor changes, hey, once you fail, you will definitely wipe out the roots and kill a lot of people, right?Although some people explain that this is because Song Zhenzong is a magnanimous person, which may be a factor, but don't you think so?This was an abortive coup. This matter may not have been so morally appalling at the time, so we could pick it up high and put it down gently.Therefore, even with Song Zhenzong's magnanimity, behind this was actually the deep helplessness of the incomplete and broken imperial power at that time.You see, it has been 1000 AD this year, three years since Xianping, 40 years since its founding, and 40 years of repairs to the imperial power. The cracks in the imperial power are still clearly visible.

We just spent some time observing the mentality of each character in this coup. Once you understand these mentality and background, you can see it.Lu Duan, the old prime minister, Lu Duan, the old prime minister Lu Duan, who is over 60 years old, stepped forward at this time. How amazing and iconic it is.What did he do?He just locked Wang Ji'en with one hand, stopped Queen Mother Li with one hand, and sent Song Zhenzong to the stage with the other hand.This series of actions actually represents the entire class of scholars and officials announcing that we are back and we have to take care of some things.

If you think about it for more than a hundred years, Song Zhenzong was the first emperor to be officially canonized as a prince in more than a hundred years, and he was a real emperor with complete legitimacy.What he calls complete legitimacy is that it is not a matter for the old Zhao family, nor can it be decided by a few people in the harem.Who will be the emperor?This is related to political rules, Chinese orthodoxy, the support of the people, and the prosperity of the Song Dynasty, including the emperor, scholar-bureaucrats, and all ordinary people in the 40 years since its founding.So I have repeatedly warned, I am the prime minister, I am a scholar-bureaucrat, I should take care of it, and I must take care of it.Then may I ask why Lu Duan can stand up?Is it because he has a particularly strong personality?I don’t think so. What we are telling today is not a story about a man who has repeatedly turned the tide on his own.

You think, after all, it has been 40 years since the founding of the Song Dynasty. During these 40 years, the collective sense of responsibility of the wealthy scholars has grown, the political structure of the central government has been optimized, the status of generals has irreversibly declined, and the conditions that support the smooth transfer of imperial power have matured.Therefore, the reason why Lu Duan dared to stand up was a result of the social evolution in the past 40 years. His coming forward was just a sign that the nature of the emperor's role in the jade work had changed.The emperor is no longer just the leader of the armed forces, but the representative of the highest power recognized by the social elite in accordance with laws and rules.

With this stand, the political logic and historical shadow of the troubled Five Dynasties finally faded away, and a new era finally began.This year is 1000 AD, the third year of Xianping in the Song Dynasty. In April of this year, Prime Minister Lu Duan trend completed this huge change.His death is recorded in history with nothing but a line of small characters, but behind this line of small characters is the still and deep flow of history.

Having said this, I don’t know if you have noticed something, that is, we, the descendants who stayed out of the situation, actually see the problem from a different perspective than the ancients who were involved in it.We descendants have an advantage. We see things more comprehensively. We can have a God's perspective on the causes and consequences, and the evolution of the pattern. However, the perspective of us descendants actually has a flaw.This flaw is quite serious, that is, we can easily ignore the feelings of the person involved.For example, it is difficult for us to understand what the person involved is afraid of?We don’t know the historical baggage of the parties involved, especially the spiritual baggage in history. We don’t know what excessive expectations they have for the future, which are delusions. We don’t know why they are hesitant at the moment of decision-making.To put it bluntly, we don't understand their feelings.

As we talked about in this episode, it has been 40 years since the founding of the Song Dynasty, but the historical shadow of the Five Dynasties still weighs heavily on the hearts of the monarchs and ministers of the Song Dynasty.Alas, if we cannot see these words, in fact we cannot understand that period of history, especially the people in that period of history.Speaking of which, I especially want to make a digression. There is a novel called Tender Is the Night by American writer Faith Girard. There is a passage in it that really touched me when I read it. I want to read it to you.This passage is about the most brutal Battle of Verdun in Europe during World War I.We all know that the Battle of Verdun was known as the Meat Grinder of Verdun. It lasted for 10 months and resulted in more than 1 million casualties on both sides.Then Faith Hillard said that such a battle would never be repeated again, not for a long time.This kind of war requires faith, the wealth and security accumulated over the years, and certain and clear relationships between classes.You must have emotional roots that are older than you can remember and that make you wholehearted.You must remember the postcards sent to the Crown Prince and his fiancée at Christmas, but also the little cafés in Valence, the beer halls on Unter den Linden in Berlin, and the weddings in the town hall.I remember going to Derby to watch the horse racing meeting, and the beard on my grandfather’s lips. This is a battle of love.After a century of bourgeois love was consumed, my entire beautiful and safe world was blown to pieces in front of me and turned into nothing with the strong wind brought by this explosion.

This passage is just right. You can imagine that a cruel battle like Verdun was fought so fiercely, and so many people on both sides died, but they still persisted and still thought that I still had hope of winning. Why?Is it because of the power of emotion?This power is actually greater than the power of guns and cannons visible on the battlefield.Both sides feel that we are controversial, powerful, and capable of winning. But what is behind this confidence?It is a sense of belief accumulated over a long period of time and a large number of warm stories.So if we cannot understand the spiritual world and emotional stories of that generation, we actually cannot understand why that generation does what they do and why they think that way.

Our civilized program is to follow the historical years and talk about them year by year. This gives our program an opportunity to follow the footsteps of the ancients, their fears, their love, theirHesitation, their entanglement, even though we, as descendants, are following behind, we can't help much.But we can invoke an understanding of empathy and empathize with their inner challenges, problems, and limitations.Only in this way can we have a deeper understanding of human nature, China, the world, and history.This is just like what one of my favorite American scholars, Sewell, said. He said that understanding human limitations is the beginning of wisdom.Understanding the limitations of human beings is the beginning of wisdom. By the way, let this sentence be too short for our long civilization program. We will continue to talk about it in the next issue.

Phase 2 Sichuan

Hello, this is a civilized program, and you are welcome to travel to 1001 AD, and this year in China is the fourth year of Xianping in the Song Dynasty, and the reigning emperor Song Zhenzu.For the Song Dynasty court, there were probably two major events that happened this year. One was bad news, that is, the Qingyuan army was lost in August and was captured by Xixia.Where is the Qingyuan Army?It’s Tongxin County in Ningxia today. Look at the map. This matter is very important. We don’t have time to talk about it today. You just need to have an idea.Even if the Qingyuan Army is lost, Lingzhou in the north will become an isolated city, and it will have to be lost sooner or later.If Lingzhou loses the Hetao area again, it will completely lose it. Then the walnuts will be the west section and the upper section of the jigsaw shape of the Yellow River. This is called walnuts.Not only was the Song Dynasty's territorial loss, but the problem was that there were no horse farms in the entire Song Dynasty. At that time, it was equivalent to the loss of the tank manufacturing factory in modern countries.Then you think for the Central Plains Dynasty, which was still in the Song-Liao War, the consequences would be very serious.

Another thing was good news for the Song Dynasty. In October, the Song army fought a battle with the Liao Dynasty in the north, and it is said that more than 20,000 Liao troops were killed.If this number is not false, then this is the Song Dynasty's largest military victory against the Liao in 15 years.And we are not going to talk about this section today, because in the five years from 1000 to 1004, Song and Liao were at war. The battles were mutually beneficial and there were many clues, but the real decisive battle was when both sides bet on each other.The decisive battle of the entire national destiny would not begin until 1004, three years later, and it directly led to the dream of overturning the injustice of 1005 last year.So we will skip this war today and wait until 1004 to start it again.

Now, as for the year 1001, you only need to have a general impression in your mind.This year, the Song Dynasty faced military pressure from the Xixia Dynasty in the west, and the military pressure from the Liao Dynasty in the north.Moreover, winter is approaching, and the storm of the decisive battle between Song and Liao is coming soon.So what should we talk about this year, 1001?Hey, let’s talk about a trivial matter.In March this year, the imperial court issued a mourning edict to divide the original two provincial administrative divisions of Xichuan Road and Xiaxi Road into four, namely Yizhou, Zizhou, Lizhou and Daizhou.It's just the road.In the Song Dynasty, this was a first-level administrative district.Okay, may I ask why he wants to split?Again, all man-made historical changes are to deal with the challenge faced by the parties involved. This challenge actually reflects a fundamental problem faced by the Song Dynasty court.What's the big problem?Let’s travel back to 1001 with this question.

It is said that in 1001 AD, the fourth year of Xianping reign of the Song Dynasty, the imperial court split the administrative regions, so there were four roads: Yizhou, Zizhou, Lizhou and Kuizhou.Let's take a brief look at the approximate location. Lizhou is in today's northern Sichuan and Hanzhong, Shaanxi Province. It is the area centered on today's Chengdu. It is the smallest but the richest. The Chengdu Plain is in today's central and southern Sichuan.This area, and the center of Kuizhou is today's Fengjie District of Chongqing, and this area is today's Chongqing and Guizhou.This brings us to a misunderstanding among people today. Many people think that Sichuan, as its name suggests, must have four rivers and four rivers, so they can be counted.You see, Dadu River, Mingjiang River, Tuojiang River, Jialing River, this is how Sichuan came to be.In fact, it is not Deming, Sichuan, but because of what we are talking about today, in 1001 AD this time the administrative district was divided into Zizhou, Lizhou, and Kuizhou. Because these four roads were called Chuanxia Four Roads, they were collectively calledFor Sichuan.

Okay, here comes the question, why did the court do this?Usually administrative districts are merged, usually to reduce administrative costs, because two teams are merged into one team. Of course, there is a meaning behind this. This place is less troublesome and easier to manage, and it can be managed after the merger.Then you think if the boroughs were to be split up, that would be the opposite of the problem.The imperial court took the initiative to increase administrative costs. One team became two, and the cost increased over a long period of time. This has not changed.Then why?The high probability is that there is trouble in this place, and it is a big trouble, and it is a trouble that may last for a long time.So what trouble happened in Sichuan in the early years of the Song Dynasty?Alas, they rebelled, and kept rebelling.
When the Song Dynasty conquered Sichuan, it was actually Hou Shu. It was actually quite easy. This was done by Zhao Kuangyin at that time. The process was very smooth. The troops were sent out in November 964, and it was completed in January 965 of the next year, a total of 66 days.But after the emperor was dealt with, the trouble did not end.At that time, there was a rebellion by the troops surrendered by Hou Shu. There were rebellions in 17 of the 45 states. It took the court two years to suppress it.Okay, this was fine originally, but I didn’t expect that Sichuan would be in chaos again 30 years later.This was during the reign of Emperor Taizong of the Song Dynasty. We have all learned about the uprising of Wang Xiaobo and Li Shun in 993 in middle school textbooks.The scale of this uprising was very large, with more than 200,000 people, and it took the court another year to suppress it.In just a few years, Zhenzong of the Song Dynasty had just succeeded to the throne. In 997, there was another so-called Liu Xuzu in Sichuan. And just the previous year, in 1000 AD, the Wangjun Rebellion broke out.
So this time you understand why the imperial court wants to divide Shuzhong and Sichuan into four parts this year. Do you always rebel?I sent a few more officials and a few more teams, but unfortunately I can't control you anymore. What's wrong?Then why do you think this is?The signature of the Song Dynasty was people's government, so why did the people always face rebellion?Why do the people of Sichuan always face rebellion?Is this a problem for Sichuan people?Of course not. At least from the experience of our generation, we know that Sichuan people are famous for their good temper and their desire for comfort.

In fact, there is a historical record about the rebellion of the people in Sichuan during the Northern and Southern Dynasties. There was a discussion at that time. Some people said that you Sichuan people love to cause trouble. Hey, there was an official from Sichuan who was from my family named Luo Yan. He said that he said that we in SichuanPeople are like this, if you let our Sichuan family have five old hens, one old sow, simple quilts on the bed, and rice in the steamer, then even if there are people like Su Qin and Zhang Yi in front of them, they are so eloquent.shareholders, there are people like Han Xin and Bai Qi behind us who are threatening us with arrows, and we Sichuan people will not rebel.

This passage is very interesting. In fact, this passage also expresses the aspirations of many ancient Chinese people. They would rather be peace dogs than people in troubled times. Who would rebel unless it is absolutely necessary?This is especially true for Sichuan people, because the plains between Sichuan and Chengdu are thousands of miles away.In the Tang Dynasty, there was a saying called Yang Yi Yi Er, which meant that the world was about to recover. The first was Yangzhou, and the second was Yizhou where Chengdu was located. Who in a wealthy place didn't want to live and work in peace and contentment, and who wanted to rebel.Moreover, the character of Sichuan people is indeed to seek comfort. If you look back at history, you will see that it was the separatist regime in Sichuan. Whenever the Central Plains regime said it was determined to attack you, Sichuan people rarely resisted.

If you look at the Eastern Han Dynasty, Liu Xiu conquered him in less than two years. When Liu Bei entered Sichuan and conquered the Eastern Jin Dynasty in less than two years, he was still warm for four months.During the Five Dynasties, it took 75 days for the Later Tang Dynasty to destroy the First Shu, and the Zhao Kuangyin we mentioned just now destroyed the Later Shu for 66 days.Sichuan people don’t like fighting.Emperor Meng Chang of the Later Shu Dynasty said something at the end, saying that no father and son have looked up to each other with windbreakers and delicious food for forty years.Once the enemy is unable to shoot an arrow for me to the east, if we, the old Meng family, have been so good to you, raising troops for a thousand days, but when the time comes to use you, then you will really not be willing to shoot an arrow for me.Mengchang also had a favorite concubine named Mrs. Huarui. It is said that he also left behind such a poem, which contains a famous sentence: 140,000 people all disarmed, and not one of them was a man.You see, Sichuan people don’t like fighting to this extent.Of course, we have to add that the Sichuan people are not bloodless. When the Mongols attacked the Song Dynasty, the Sichuan people continued to resist for 50 years. Even the Southern Song emperor himself surrendered, but Sichuan still persisted in resisting for three years.When the Qing army entered the customs, Sichuan also continued to resist for more than ten years. Not to mention that during the Anti-Japanese War, more than 3 million Sichuan troops resisted Japan, and eventually more than 600,000 enemy soldiers were killed or injured. Moreover, Sichuan people came out of Sichuan to fight the war, which is really praiseworthy and tearful.

Okay, after talking so much about the character of Sichuan people, I actually want to go back to the question I asked at the beginning, which is why Sichuan people, who are so prosperous, comfortable, and kind-hearted, had constant rebellions and bloodshed in the early years of the Song Dynasty.Chenghe?There has to be an explanation.There are many explanations. For example, some people say that this is because in the early years of the Song Dynasty's conquest of Sichuan, there were some indiscriminate killings of innocent generals like Wang Quanbin. This is of course true, but it can only explain the first rebellion, right??Then it happened again 30 years later, and again a few years later. This can’t be explained.Some people say that it was because the Song Dynasty court plundered the wealth of Sichuan, which is also true.For example, Zeng Gong was one of the Eight Great Masters of the Tang and Song Dynasties.He recorded a piece of historical data that said that after the Song Dynasty destroyed Hou Shu, the wealth in Shu was divided into heavy goods and light goods. Heavy goods were things of relatively low value in weight, such as copper cloth, which were transported by boat.When transporting things back to Kaifeng from the Yangtze River, these things also need to be cleared, including gold, silver, silk, etc. Then it is even more necessary to use carts and horses to transport them back along the road. How many years did it take you to move them by both water and land?time?Are you full of talent?It took more than ten years for the court to actually poke a straw into the Sichuan Basin and suck it for ten years. What a fortune.

But think about it, if you were from Sichuan back then and you had been watching like this, how would you feel?It's very bad. You have taken away all the good things from our Sichuan. Moreover, if you change the emperor, taxes will be increased, and all kinds of exploitation will definitely be relatively heavy, so it is normal for the people to resist.The famous Wang Xiaobo and Li Shun uprising broke out against this background.We have to say today that if we only stay at this level and only see the Sichuan Rebellion in the early years of the Song Dynasty, which is a typical rebellion that has happened countless times in Chinese history, we have underestimated the complexity that the Song Dynasty faced back then.situation.What was so difficult about the Song Dynasty at the beginning?The difficulty is that he has to face that psychological place.Separatism, which is more subtle and stubborn.What do you think the Song Dynasty faced at the beginning?He was previously called Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, which is this stage.But today we regard the Five Dynasties of History as one word, but at that time they were two concepts. Even geopolitically, they were completely two ecologies, right?The Five Dynasties refers to the Henan generation. The center is called the Zhongyuan regime. Liang Tang enters Hanzhou. Next to it is a bunch of them, mainly in the south. They are a pair of small regimes.

What about the small regimes of Wu Nantang, Wu Yue, Chu, Qian Shu, Hou Shu, Nan Han, and Nan Ping Min? These small regimes were relatively stable at the time, and which ones were richer?Then why you may not have thought that 9 of the founders of these 10 small countries were from the north, and 5 of them were from Henan. Do you think so?They were all military leaders who ran away from the Central Plains due to the turmoil in the feudal towns and the imperial uprising in the late Tang Dynasty.Then because of some fate, he may have suddenly seized power somewhere in the south and established a country.These small countries all have natural geographical barriers and are separated from the Central Plains. They are far away from each other and have nothing to do with you, the Central Plains.

The former Shu and the latter Shu, this is the Sichuan Basin. Needless to say, it is surrounded by a circle of mountains. The Southern Han Dynasty was south of Meiling, which is the area of ​​Guangdong today.That can be regarded as a theorem barrier. Where is Min?The coastal area east of Wuyi Mountain is also blocked by mountains and rivers, so it is safe for the time being.If you think about these small countries, they have no ambition to expand, so it is easy to live like an old landlord. I am guarding this three-acre land passed down by my ancestors.I actively engage in production, renew my quilt, sleep in my bed, and sleep, because I don’t have to pay any taxes to the central government. As time goes by, the people’s lives are pretty good.What’s even more interesting is that these regimes are relatively long-lived, at least compared to the Liang Tang Dynasty in Hanzhou in the Central Plains. The average reign time is close to 40 years. The shortest-lived one should be Qian Shu, which also lasted 18 years, which is longer than the Five Dynasties.In Liang and Tang Dynasties, Jinghan also had a long life.So if you look at it, he will be relatively rich over time, and without much trouble, he will have accumulated a relatively thick family fortune. These ten countries are rich.

Okay, after looking at the situation of the Ten Kingdoms, if we look back at the ecology of the Five Dynasties, it will be impossible to look at it.During the Five Dynasties, there were 50 years, 5 dynasties changed, and more than a dozen emperors fought every day.Then of course the Central Plains region is poor.Moreover, the mentality of these dozen emperors is not very good. He will not think that I occupy this land. This is the country left to me by my ancestors. I have to manage it well. It will be my ten thousand-year inheritance in the future.How could he want to fight every day so much?What he thinks about is that I have to win this current battle. Besides, if I win, how long can I survive?If I lose, I don’t even have my life anymore, what else do I have?Therefore, the attack on the common people must be ruthless. How many can be robbed?The attendant of the Later Zhou Dynasty once said something. He said, "Is it easy for me to be an emperor?"I can't bear to eat or wear clothes. I just want to make some money to fight.I have made a lot of money in my life, but when I look back, I have nothing left.

In the troubled times like the Five Dynasties, it was impossible for the court to rely on political finances, so there was a word at that time called Kuo Lv, Kuo, which means the one with brackets and the green one around the circle.The word green sounds quite elegant, but its connotation is very bloody.What is expansion rate?There is no tax rate issue in Souguang, and there is no issue of leaving a ration for the people. It is just that I can earn as much as I can. The court can appoint an official to that area at any time, and I can earn all the things from the people's homes by force. This is calledExpanding stone.So the Central Plains was like this at that time, extremely poor.Now you are looking at the whole country. If you look at the situation in the early Song Dynasty, it is human nature to dislike the poor and love the rich.How can it be so easy for you to ask the people of the ten southern countries, especially the people of Sichuan who have relatively strong family backgrounds, to say that I will willingly agree with your central government in Kaifeng and that I will willingly throw myself into your arms?This is of course one of the reasons for the psychological tendency of local separatism in the early Song Dynasty.We still haven't touched on the fundamental issue here.

We just mentioned that in the early years of the Song Dynasty, there was a more fundamental reason behind the rebellions that occurred one after another in Sichuan. Did you notice that these rebellions often have a common feature, that is, they are all mutinies?.Yes, the Quanshixiong rebellion in 965, the Liu Xu rebellion in 997, and in 1000, the Wangjun rebellion in the first year was also a mutiny.When everyone hears about mutiny and civil commotion, everyone thinks they are both rebellions, but in fact they are completely different in nature.The soldiers from the late Tang Dynasty to the Song Dynasty were professional soldiers, that is, the court removed military pay, and I came to collect wages. I made a living as a soldier, so I was an organized soldier. This is different from the atomized and decentralized peasants.Not the same thing at all.Therefore, private stores are decentralized, and ordinary people really can’t survive anymore, and they can’t survive anyway if they are desperate.If anyone is willing to come forward, organize me to take a gamble.It is purely for economic reasons, but mutiny is different. Mutiny has three evolutionary directions.

The first direction of evolution is to eat delicious food to attract military pay. As soon as the military pay is released, everyone returns to their respective military camps, and it is very easy to calm down the ice change.The second evolutionary direction is to become a bandit, because as a soldier, he is organized, armed, equipped with swords and guns, and he is professional, right?He can evaluate the strength of the military force between himself and the imperial court, and knows that if he cannot fight against the imperial court, well, he will bring his swords, guns, and troops, and then go up to the mountain and become the king.So Lu Xun didn't say that the brave are angry and draw their swords against the stronger, while the cowards are angry and draw their swords at the weaker.Yes, mutiny can easily turn into banditry, so in troubled times, mutiny is a major cancer in society and is extremely malignant.

But there is a third direction for the mutiny to evolve, which is to really go against the imperial court and turn the mutiny into a formal rebellion. What is the reason?You think it must be because of the armed forces organized by this group of soldiers. He saw the possibility of accomplishing something big, realizing an ambition, either becoming an emperor or setting up a pattern. If you think of it, you can just end up in Liangshan.Well, right?Brother Song Jiang knows in his heart that I can only be a bandit and rob the surrounding people, and I will still be recruited by the court in the future.

Only the ignorant Li Kui shouted that he went to Tokyo to win the throne. My eldest brother Song Jiang will be the emperor, and my second brother Lu Junyi will be the deputy emperor, right?If even Song Jiang said this, I might really become an emperor or establish a separatist regime in the future.What does it mean?It shows that this imaginary space really exists. Yes, in the context of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, this imaginary space really exists for mutiny. It is really possible to achieve it. Do you think?This is how Li Siyuan became the emperor of the Later Tang Dynasty, how Guo Wei became the emperor of the Later Zhou Dynasty, and wasn't this how the Taizu Zhao Kuangyin became the emperor of the Song Dynasty?Does Chen Qiao have disease?The stories and scripts of these mutinies are almost the same. They are some junior officers and soldiers in troubled times. When they think about it, well, it seems that the opportunity has come, we will make the one who leads our team an official now and make him the emperor.

Then who am I?Am I not the founding hero of the country?I am the general and the governor-general. I am also made a king and a marquis.Come on, it’s not me who is the emperor anyway, it’s not mine. The risks can be controlled.But once I become a king or a lord, the potential benefits in the future will be too great. I want to take a chance on such great wealth.Then you might say, it has been 40 years since the founding of the Song Dynasty, but there is still a rebellion. Is he confused?Does he really think he has a chance to become emperor?Don’t forget that all the things we talked about today happened in Sichuan, which is a special place.This group of rebels may think that, relying on the dangerous mountains and rivers in Sichuan, if I close the country and lock it down, I will establish a separatist regime for decades, and that may still be possible.That's right, the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, the former Shu and the later Shu gave them such courage, and there are such historical precedents.

Okay, here comes the problem again. The person leading the rebellion is different from the ordinary rebels.If you want to take the lead in the rebellion and become emperor, this is a head-turning business.Don’t forget that it was 1001 AD. It was 41 years since the founding of the Song Dynasty. The Central Dynasty was very powerful. Why would anyone dare to take such a lead?Where did this courage come from?This question is the focus of this program.The matter of local separatism is different from what we imagine. Sometimes it is not simply a case of someone bursting out of ambition and suddenly wanting to occupy a mountain and become king. This may not necessarily be the case.There is often another very secret power mechanism behind it.To put it bluntly, people who engage in opera often do so out of control.This sounds quite strange. You all become warlords, you all establish separatist regimes, and you can't help yourself.

Yes, you have to understand the word "power against power", which means power is below, and it may be the other way around.This power style that we contemporary people are not familiar with, and that we are familiar with, is all top-down power, right?A corps commander is older than a division commander, and a division commander is older than a brigade commander. The rank of senior officer is overwhelming.This seems to be common sense, but when we return to the operation of real society, if you think about it, we can often observe a phenomenon that power is restricted or even coerced by the people below.

Let's just imagine a modern company. Does the boss in the company have to be the so-called domineering president?Do you say the same thing in the company?Not necessarily.If you have really been a boss, if you think about it from his perspective, there are many roles in the company that the boss cannot afford to mess with, that is, business backbones, sales champions, and very powerful professionals.If the boss's opinions are inconsistent with those of these people, the boss may have to humbly listen to them.So you see, even if the boss has legally stipulated that he has the supreme right to govern the company, it is also the part that is authorized from the bottom up.

If this phenomenon occurred in ancient armed groups, the situation would be even more serious.Just imagine this situation. In ancient times, there was a group of bandits who ruled the mountain. If you were the boss of this village, all your brothers would be under your control.It seems that your power is very stable, but as the boss, you must be so smart. You can understand and know why the brothers captured you, because now you can lead them to steal gold and silver, and take them with them.Drink wine, eat big chunks of meat, and achieve progress. This is your true source of power.Then if you fail to do this in the future, your brothers will not accept you.And not only is your position not guaranteed, but your life is also not guaranteed, so where do your rights as a copycat owner come from?Is it empowered from the bottom up?There are conditions for you to be the boss.So if you are not absolutely sure, if you still have a choice, are you really willing to be the boss of this copycat?What a risk, right?At least in the late Tang Dynasty, in the troubled times like the Five Dynasties, we saw that many people were unwilling to be the boss and to be supported by their subordinates as emperors. Therefore, our general imagination of a separatist warlord is like an eagle sitting on a mountain.Character?Usually ruthless and decisive in killing, in fact, in the late Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties period, warlords and warlords were often forced to be helpless doormats. Can you imagine that they actually have this image?To give an example from the late Tang Dynasty, it is said that in the 17th year of Zhenyuan (AD 801) of Emperor Dezong of the Tang Dynasty, there was a place called Binzhou.

The Jiedushi envoy in Binzhou died. Does that mean the court should send a new Jiedushi envoy?But the soldiers below in the feudal town didn't dare, so why?Can we refuse to be controlled by others?We must support our own interpretation of history, so these soldiers were also rebels, so they found a man named Liu Nanjin and said that you would be the interpreter. This old cow was frightened and said, isn't that a rebellion?Since the imperial court did not appoint me to quit being a soldier, I killed this old Liu, and then went to find the next person, a man named Gao Gu. Gao Gu also hid at first and quit, but was later found.You are here to be the interpreter. Should you use this knife holder on your neck or not?Gao Bu thought about it for a long time and then made two requests. He said it was okay to let me do it, and he promised me two things. The first one is that you can no longer kill people indiscriminately.

Second, you can no longer rob randomly.This gang of rebels said that everything depends on you, so overestimated, so they became the interpreter, and the court had no choice but to officially appoint him as the interpreter.So do you think he, a separatist warlord, is aggrieved?A doormat?Yes, if you open the history books of the late Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties, you will find such things everywhere, too numerous to mention.Some scholars have counted the turmoil in the vassal government in the late Tang Dynasty and found that 80% of them were caused by the following crimes.There was a scholar named Ye in the Southern Song Dynasty. He said that at that time, the soldiers below had the final say as to who was in charge. When everyone pushed and led, you didn't dare to say no or say I was inappropriate.You see, this is called the so-called model of rebelling against power and seeking support. This was the case during the Five Dynasties and Ten Ancient Periods.In a normal society, do we often feel entitled?Isn't this a good thing?Right?But in troubled times, especially in troubled times in an armed group, it is very scary to push you into such a position.If the rebellion fails, the soldiers who support me may disperse in droves.

As for my head, I am an emperor, I am wearing a yellow robe, and if I stand on the street, I will definitely not survive.Although we have seen that Zhao Kuangyin, Emperor Taizu of the Song Dynasty, said something when he rebelled against Chenqiao and joined the Yellow Robe, saying that you people are greedy for wealth and honor, and you want me to be the emperor. This is putting me on the fire, so I will put forward a few conditions now and listen to my words.I'll do it, or I won't.It is actually famous that Zhao Kuangyin was such a tabby at that time.Many people later said that the emperor must be hypocritical this week. It was obviously you who wanted to be the emperor, and you also said that others were greedy for wealth.But if you were standing next to Zhao Kuangyin at that time, and you were like him, you also knew the bloody history of the past two hundred years and this pattern of total rebellion, you would understand.What Zhao Kuangyin said at that time was not a lie.

Chenqiao Mutiny, as a typical mutiny, the real driving force was of course Zhao Kuangyin's half-hearted desire to be the emperor, but it also contained the wildness and greed of the soldiers below who wanted to be the founding fathers of the country.So if you think about it from Zhao Kuangyin's perspective, the moment he was put on a yellow robe by a soldier, he felt both desire and fear in his heart.We can't tell which one can understand this historical background more clearly.Let’s look at the mutinies in Sichuan in the early years of the Song Dynasty. Alas, they were almost carved out of the same mold. The script of the late Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties has not changed.Let’s first look at the Quanshixiong Rebellion in 965.Who is this Quan Shixiong?Is he a vicious warlord?He is not, he is just an ordinary official of his subordinates.Now the Queen Rat has been annihilated, right?He had no choice but to take his family with him and go to Bianliang, Tokyo as a demoted official.He lived the rest of his life in Bianliang, Tokyo, just like this. Halfway there with his family, he suddenly felt that something was wrong, and the rebels broke out.But he has this political intuition. He knows what if he wants to support me as the rebel coach?So he left his family behind and hid himself.But later it was discovered that this was a pirate ship that was forced to board, but later because his family was killed again, he had to make up his mind to do it, so Quan Shixiong is a person who is unwilling to do anything.

In the end, Quan Shixiong's name was left in the history books, and he was the leader of the rebels. Do you think he was willing to do so?The cause of the King's Rebellion in 1000 AD was even more unreasonable the previous year.Then where are the rebel armies?It was not the local army in Sichuan, but the elite imperial army sent by the imperial court.So how big is the Rebels' starting lineup?Alas, I’m really embarrassed to say 8 people.Yes, just 8 people.Who is the leader?It was a soldier named Zhao Yanshun.

So why the rebellion?Because the army was holding a review ceremony, these eight people suddenly felt, well, unhappy.Because other armies had better food and better clothes than I did, I didn’t get the taste of the food, so I became unhappy, killed people, and rebelled.Alas, don't you think this is called the Rebellion of the King's Army?The person you mentioned just now is called Zhao Yanshun?Who is this Wang Jun?The royal army is their army.It turns out that the head of the imperial court is a high-ranking officer, and this is what these little soldiers are like. 8 people are dumbfounded after killing someone and getting into trouble. What should we do next?I have to support someone to be the leader, we are just soldiers.right.

Well, a very dramatic scene appeared. It didn't matter who came to negotiate with them, officials or military officials, who came to suppress them or judge them, they just went up to talk to them.How about you lead us in rebellion? I think you are good. If you don't agree, I'll be embarrassed if you don't agree. I'll kill you with one knife.Several people were killed in this series, and the last person who came was the senior officer in charge of their unit. They went up to this king's army and said, how about you lead us?When the king's army saw that this was his own soldier, if I caused such a big disaster, I would be dead even if I returned to Bianliang, right?Besides, if I don't agree to this corpse lying on the ground now, it will be a lesson learned from the past.

Xin Yiheng said goal, this is the starting point of Wangjun's chaos.This chaos was judged only after paying a heavy price ten months later. Is this whole process a replica of the story of the troubled times in the Wan, Tang and Five Dynasties?Is Quan rebel seeking support?The leader is also helpless, retreating half-heartedly, riding a tiger with difficulty, and losing everything.There is a special characteristic about this rebellion of the royal army. I have emphasized repeatedly just now that it did not happen in the half-Tang, Five Dynasties or early Song Dynasty. It happened in the Song Zhenzong era, which had been 40 years since the founding of the Song Dynasty.What does this mean?This shows that the social structure and behavioral logic brought about by the previous troubled times have not been completely eliminated.As long as a military leader works together, he can achieve something, at least he can separate one side.This imagination, not this ability, this imagination, alas, was not completely closed around 1,000 AD.When things come to a close, many people still think, well, maybe we can do something about it, there is still a chance.Marx has this saying. He said under what circumstances can people create history?History is made under established conditions inherited from the past.Therefore, the traditions of all dead ancestors are like nightmares entangled in the minds of living people. This is Marx's golden saying.

Speaking of which, this year marks the 40th anniversary of the founding of the Song Dynasty. The stories and traditions of the previous warlords are, as Marx said, entangled in the minds of living people like Meng Yan.Okay, let’s take this question one step further and ask why it was so difficult for the Song Dynasty to establish a unified country and a unified order.Let’s answer this question. Our pursuit of a better life comes from the opening of every extraordinary door.Casarte was born for love, the art of connecting homes.We just asked a question: Why is it so difficult to establish a unified order in a country as big as China?Those who are familiar with our Chinese history may think it’s okay and not that difficult.You think of Liu Bang of the Han Dynasty, who started his military career in 209 BC and unified the country in 202 BC, which took a total of 7 years.The same was true for the Tang Dynasty. Li Yuan was a soldier from 617 AD, and they were basically unified in 624 AD, which was also 7 years. I didn't think it was that difficult.In the Song Dynasty, if you count the founding of the country in 960, the Northern Han Dynasty was basically unified by taking over the Northern Han Dynasty in 979, which took 19 years.And until this year, 1001 years ago, the tendency of local separatism is still so serious. It has not done its job well in the past 40 years. Why did the Song Dynasty get so involved?We can't just compare these numbers, we have to look at the basis of doing things.Then you will find that the Song Dynasty is indeed facing a game called Hell Difficulty.

Each dynasty is built on a different basis. There is a word called collapse, which is a word invented by Sima Qian in the Historical Records.And we use this word together now. It feels like collapse and disintegration have the same meaning, both describing the disintegration state of a huge thing.But you must know that during the Han Dynasty, some people broke up the word, that is, "collapse" and "disintegration" became two words. They do not mean the same thing. They are two completely different states of collapse of order.

Let’s first talk about what a landslide is, which is the complete disintegration of the social order. It’s a bit like a wall of earth, exposed to the sun and rain. In the end, as long as you poke it with a finger, it will shatter into dregs on the ground with a loud bang.This is called landslide.When a society reaches this point, neither the common people nor the elite can stand it.Isn’t there a saying like that?The worst possible order is better than no order at all.So at this time, the people's desire, after the collapse, is to quickly create a new ruler and create a new order.Yes, just now we talked about Liu Bang at the end of the Qin Dynasty, and Zhu Yuanzhang at the end of the Yuan Dynasty faced this situation. Both Liu Bang and Zhu Yuanzhang came from the bottom of society, and they were both able to achieve success. It can be seen that the old order was in a relatively complete state of collapse. TheyIt is relatively easy to establish a new order.But don’t forget that we just mentioned another word, there is also disintegration besides landslide.This disintegration is different. The original unified order is like tiles, it is broken into pieces.But if you look closely at the inside of each tile, you will find that it is still in order. The original wealth distribution, power structure, and elite class are still there, and even the internal centripetal force is still very strong.For example, after the collapse of the Jin Dynasty and the Tang Dynasty, two eras of great division were left, namely, the Northern and Southern Dynasties and the Five Dynasties Incident. This was the state of disintegration.Therefore, if we want to integrate such a large area across the country at this time, it will be much more difficult.

Let’s use an inappropriate analogy. A landslide is like facing a pile of sand. Adding cement can solidify it into a new whole. But what does disintegration look like?It's like facing a broken porcelain bowl. You have to glue so many pieces together. Not only do you have to stick them firmly, but you also have to leave no traces. It's too difficult.Yes, if the emperors of the Song Dynasty wanted to establish a unified order, they would have to piece together the broken pieces of porcelain from the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, which had been broken for more than 200 years starting from the end of the Tang Dynasty.It is too difficult to get up without leaving any traces, without leaving that thought in my heart.In fact, if we zoom in and look at this problem, it is not only the emperor of the Zhao family of the Song Dynasty, not only us Chinese, but also the entire world. Oh, you have to integrate people from different regions and become a superThe unified order is a very difficult problem.Mr. Bao Gangsheng, a professor at the Department of Political Science at Fudan University, has a book called Arrival. It talks about the evolution of human political order. It opens with an idea, but a question. What is the first question in human civilized society?What is the cornerstone of the block?French thinker Rousseau has an answer. He said that the first cornerstone must be privately owned. It is too difficult, right?You want to circle a piece of land by yourself, then stand there and say that this land is mine and you are not allowed to touch it.People around him still believe it and really admit that this land belongs to him. Do you think this is a miracle?To achieve this miracle, the later civilized society came into being.Therefore, private ownership is the first cornerstone of civilized society.

This is Rousseau's answer, but Mr. Bao Gangsheng said it was wrong in this book. In fact, who was the first to say to everyone that I want to rule you, you should obey, I am your king.And he actually found some people who actually obeyed him. Who is the real founder of civilized society?This passage is so interesting.Yes, a baby can say that this biscuit and this toy are mine. As long as others don't snatch it or can't snatch it away, then it recognizes its private rights, so it doesn't seem that difficult to be private.But a man, a man I didn't even know, suddenly said that he is my king, he is my emperor, and I have to obey whatever he says. He doesn't even have to say anything, he just makes some laws and rules, and I justMust comply.Don't you think this is a more wonderful thing?Is it even more of a miracle?Is being able to do this the most thrilling leap forward for human civilization?

With this perspective, when we return to the Song Dynasty in 1001, we can realize that in such a large territory, it is indeed not easy to rebuild a new order after two hundred years of disintegration.Just think of the Sichuan people back then. The emperor we were familiar with was kidnapped by your surname Zhao. We Sichuan people's elite soldiers were transferred to Tokyo by you. You can take as much of our money as you want.You are a person named Zhao who is thousands of miles away, so why should you, right?Have you noticed?He couldn't answer this question by relying only on force.
Answering this question takes a long time, requires arduous order building, and requires gradual advancement from generation to generation. It is true that the Sun Gong clan works for a long time. This process is very gradual.In fact, if you take the 53 years of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms as an example, well, it sounds quite chaotic.If you sing, I will make a bad debt, but if you sink into the details of history and look at it again, you can still see that the authority of the central government is actually being established bit by bit, and that progress is made year by month.What happened was that when you watch Wandang, the central government could not handle Fan Zhen. Fan Zhen was acting against the central government, and even the emperor was driven away.

But at the beginning of the Five Dynasties, when Zhu Wen, the founder of Houliang Houliang, the first dynasty, was still unable to solve the problem nationwide, he still completely solved the problem of pan-townships in Henan. At least that was the case in Henan during the entire Five Dynasties period.The feudal rebellion never succeeded.Hey, this shows that the emperor has taken care of the surrounding areas.Later in the Later Tang Dynasty, a system called the Shiwei Qing Army was established, which was the emperor's private army.By the time of the Later Han Dynasty, the vassal towns in northern China had been weakened, and no one could challenge the authority of the central government.

The issue of vassal towns was actually solved by the time of the Later Han Dynasty. So when you see that in the late Five Dynasties, it was not local warlords who succeeded in rebellion. What was the local vassal town?You are the commander of the Jin army. To put it bluntly, you are from the central government. Aren't you, like Guo Wei of the later Zhou Dynasty, or Zhao Kuangyin, who established the Song Dynasty, the commander of the Jin army?Was he someone close to the emperor?From the perspective of order evolution, with the simple advancement I just made, you can feel that although the world is still in chaos, that progress, that bit by bit progress, is still taking place firmly.
Yes, the process of civilization is like this. Even if the direction is clear and the people want it, there is no rush. It requires the efforts of one generation after another.As the saying goes, when the fire is so strong that the pig's head is rotten, it will happen naturally when attacked.In 1001 AD, with the assessment of the Sichuan Wangjun Rebellion, the local separatist tendencies that had tortured China for more than 200 years basically ended.Since then, let alone the Song Dynasty, there has never been a long-term large-scale local pattern in Chinese history.So how to build better civilization and order on this basis?This becomes the next challenge.

In 1001 AD, some things happened in the world this year. For example, this year the great compassionate man named Liu Yong turned 17 years old.The politician named Fan Zhongyan is 12 years old this year, Yan Shu, who will be both a great merciful person and a great politician in the future, is 10 years old, and the famous Bao Gong Bao Zheng is two years old, and Ouyang Xiu, the famous great writer, will be born in 6 years.History is moving forward, and the next generation is about to reach the fifteenth stage.Okay, see you next week in 1002.

The third period of the imperial examination

The Civilization Program welcomes you to travel back to 1002 AD. This year in China is the fifth year of Xianping in the Song Dynasty, and the reigning emperor is still Zhenzong of the Song Dynasty.The overall situation this year has not changed much compared to last year. Military pressure still comes from the Liao Kingdom in the north and Xixia in the west. The situation in Xixia actually has a very important progress, that is, the Song Dynasty still gave Lingzhou toLost.A few years ago, the imperial court was still debating whether to save Lingzhou City's Gu Xuan from outside?Lost it now?There is no need to discuss it.

There was also a small change in the political situation of the imperial court in Bianliang, Tokyo. The third prime minister this year was named Ping Zhangshi under Tongzhongshumen. This person was named Xiang Minzhong, and he was so bloody because of the elephant.It is said that once because he was involved in a case, Minzhong expressed his position to the emperor and said that my wife had just passed away and I would not consider marrying another wife for the time being.You see how good of a character I am and how nostalgic I am, but soon it turned out that he had just proposed to a family.This matter fell in the ears of Emperor Zhenzong. Although it was not a matter of principle, it was obvious that Xiang Minzhong was not honest, so he left it alone, his prime minister.But this is also a very interesting feature of the politics of the Song Dynasty, that is, cadres can really be promoted to the next prime minister. Haha, after being dismissed, they can still continue to be local officials, and they are relatively low-level local officials like Zhizhou, and they are alsoIt will not affect this person's return to the court as prime minister in the future.Sure enough, in the late Zhenzong Dynasty, Xiang Minzhong was re-appointed as prime minister and served for many years.And we will have the opportunity to tell this person’s story later.

So what should we focus on this year, 1002?It didn't seem like a big deal at the time, but looking at the entire history of China, it was a huge thing in terms of institutional arrangements.Imperial examination.That's right, Song Zhenzong held a palace examination in the imperial examination this year. It was an imperial examination in which the emperor himself was the examiner. It was called a palace examination. This was the second TV show since Zhenzong succeeded to the throne.There is an interesting technical detail behind this exam.Okay, in today’s civilized program we will start with this technical detail and ask a question.What's the problem?That's why at this time in the early Song Dynasty, the imperial examination system suddenly came up with so many technical details. In fact, the essence behind it was a genetic mutation.Alas, what genetic mutation is good?With this question in mind, let’s travel back to 1002.

Today's battle in our civilization program comes to AD 1002, which is the fifth year of Xianping in the Song Dynasty. During this year, a small thing happened.Let’s talk about a big topic called the imperial examination system.It is said that in the year 1002, a top candidate was admitted in the palace examination hosted by the emperor. This person was named Wang Zeng.This man was amazing, and later became the prime minister of the Song Dynasty, but that was 20 years later.But even though he's a spearhead this year, we still have to give him a thumbs up.Why?Because he is a very rare person called winning three yuan in a row.In other words, he was the first in the first-level examination he took, and he was the first in the examination hosted by the Ministry of Rites of Shangshu Province. Finally, he was still the first in the TV program hosted by the emperor.This is called winning three yuan in a row.

Such a thing is so rare. In the history of China's imperial examinations for more than a thousand years, a total of 14 people have won three yuan in a row. Only 14 people. Wang Zeng was the fifth among them. Do you think it is difficult??Of course, if it were specifically the year 1002 when Wang Zeng won three yuan in a row, someone might be even happier than him.That person is not himself, nor is his father the examiner who presided over Wang Zeng's examination at the Ministry of Etiquette, called Statement.I would definitely be happy if I stated it.Why do you think that Wang Zeng won the first place in the Ministry of Etiquette examination that I presided over, and now Wang Zeng won the first place in the TV program presided over by the emperor.It means that the vision of my statement is the same as that of the emperor. Is it something to be proud of?But more importantly, could it be because the emperor trusted me, so he thoughtlessly persuaded me and believed in the statement, so I chose the number one pick, and the end is here.

Won't.Why not?Is it guaranteed by technical means?No, because this year’s TV has adopted a brand-new technical method called Hu Ming.In fact, people of our generation who have taken the college entrance examination are familiar with this.To put it simply, it is a test paper. Candidates have to write their names, but sorry, the name part has to be sealed. The paper will not be opened until all the results of the score and ranking of this paper are available. Look at thisWhich candidate does this paper belong to?This is called Hu Ming, and it was also called Mi Feng in the Song Dynasty. Don’t think that it is only done this way in the college entrance examination. This was done in the college entrance examination TV in the Song Dynasty more than a thousand years ago.

Then you think that with the guarantee of this technical means, Wang Zeng TV is still the top pick. What does this mean?It shows that Wang Zeng has real talent and learning, which can stand the test, right?It means that my statement is as discerning as the emperor, right?And more importantly, I think as an official, I care more about this, which indirectly proves that I have not engaged in malpractice for personal gain, right?Where did you find such a good opportunity? It not only proves that I am capable, but also proves that I am moral. I am a good cadre with both virtue and art.

Well, do you think I can't be excited about my statement?Okay, this is just a small thing that happened this year, but what is its larger background?In the early decades of the Song Dynasty, a large number of intensive, high-intensity institutional innovations were taking place around the imperial examination system.From the perspective of future generations, we can summarize that the four black technologies that occurred were invented or matured at this stage.The first thing is the TV we just mentioned, which is the last level of the exam. It is simply made by the emperor as a formal system. This is the history of the palace started by Song Taizu Zhao Kuangyin.

The second black technology is called Wishful. This is a system solidified during the Taizong period of the Song Dynasty. Simply put, when the court decides who will be the examiner this year, sorry, the appointment will be announced at the court as soon as it is announced. The appointment will be announced this year.If it's you, you can't go home. You'll be sent directly to Gongyuan to take the exam. You won't be able to get out until the results are announced.Then why do this?You can imagine that this is to prevent someone from using the relationship to get through the back door, right?You know that you are the examiner, so you can't see others.

The third black technology is the Hu Mingzhi we mentioned earlier. It is now 1002, and five years later, in 1007, the Song Dynasty implemented Humingzhi in the entire process of the imperial examination.In other words, no matter whether it is the first-level explanation, the province or city of the Ministry of Rites, or the final TV show, the names of the candidates will always be unclear.There is another piece of black technology, the fourth one is called Tenglu. Even though it has been obscured and the examiner can no longer see the name of the examinee, there may still be notes from the examinee on the test paper.What if 15 I, as the examiner, colludes with the examinee to determine the identity based on the notes, or we simply agree to make a certain mark on the test paper to cheat?The people of the Song Dynasty were so ruthless and ruthless that they simply organized people to copy the test papers again.There were no photocopiers in that era, so using a human photocopier completely eliminated the possibility of cheating.This system was also developed under Emperor Zhenzong of the Song Dynasty. Have you noticed?These high-tech inventions are designed to prevent cheating.With these methods, the imperial examination system will be very strict and mature.

Let me take Hu Mingzhi as an example. Later, during the reign of Song Renzong, there was a man named Zheng Xie who once offended the examiner. The examiner was holding back his anger when he was on TV. It was me, I am sure,I must get your certificate.But because this test paper belongs to Hu Ming, I can only guess, well, this paper seems to be taken with thanks, um, that paper also seems to be taken with thanks, so I will not take it.At the end of the day, when Emperor Cheng opened the paper he gave to the emperor, he saw that the number one scholar was still grateful, hmph.

Of course this is a story. This story comes from Shen Kuo's Mengxi Bitan. It may have elements of interpretation, but don't you think so?Every ordinary person will feel happy after hearing this kind of story.Yes, if there is no small person like Hu Mingzhi, we should not let the big people bully him to death.Our generation grew up under the Chinese-style examination system, so I don’t think there is anything wrong with this system. Shouldn’t examinations be completely free from cheating?Then when we take exams, we must try to be fair.Then I will ask you two questions. Can you think about it?Is there something a little strange about this system?The first question is, the imperial examination system was not created by the Song Dynasty, right?In middle school history class, we know that the imperial examination was founded in the Sui Dynasty. It was 400 years ago from the year 1002 we are talking about today. An examination system has been around for 400 years. Even the most basic anti-cheating measures are not perfect.There is no technical threshold that cannot be overcome. As I said just now, this is black technology.Alas, what a black technology.

If he really wanted to do this, why didn't the emperor of the Tang Dynasty do it?Why didn't he fix these loopholes in the emperors and imperial examination systems of the Sui and Tang Dynasties?If you think about the Song Dynasty, you can calculate that from 973 AD when Song Taizu first built a palace to the Zhenzong Dynasty when the Tenglu system was adopted, it took more than 30 years.The imperial examination system suddenly developed so many methods to prevent cheating in the past 30 years, and these methods were really useful once they were invented, and they never disappeared.Until 1905, when the imperial examination system was abolished, that is to say, starting from this year until 1905, the imperial examination system, such as the TV Tenglu system and Hu Mingzhi's wish system, were all done in this way for more than 900 years.

This is strange. 30 years sounds like a long time, but China’s imperial examination system was more than a thousand years old. So many innovations suddenly occurred in just 30 years. It’s a bit like the word in biological evolution.It's called the Cambrian explosion, right?The sudden explosion of biological diversity must be due to some important change in the external environment, right?So what is this change?This is the first strange thing. There is another thing. If you want to take the imperial examination, what is the imperial examination for?The essential purpose is to select talents for the imperial court, so the imperial examination was called the Luncai Ceremony in ancient times. Finding suitable officials was equivalent to the imperial court's recruitment examination.

Okay, just think about it this way. Suppose I am the HR person in charge of recruitment in the company. The company stipulates that before officially issuing a letter of appointment to a newly hired employee, I, the HR, are not allowed to know who this person is, what his temper is, and what his nature is., What character?What's your place of origin?What you look like, what your hobbies are, where you are from, who your friends are are not allowed.I know that my recruiter can only decide whether to hire him or not based on the answers on a written interview paper.As a human resources manager, I definitely want to have at least one interview to see if this person is reliable, but the company has said, what if you collude with him to cheat?What if you bring your brother-in-law into the company?Then I'm not allowed to do this, and I'm not allowed to interview.

Then I think I must scold in my heart, hey, is this a test for me or for him?Haha, can I do my HR job well?With my example, you will definitely understand what Hu Ming and Teng Lu are, and the essence of these things is that I can only judge a person by the words on the roll, and I am not allowed to judge a person by myself.Judge people.So what do you want me as HR to do?The company publishes the test papers and then finds a machine to automatically score them.

In fact, it was not the Song Dynasty people who invented Hu Mingzhi, but who?The empress Wu Zetian of the Tang Dynasty used it in the official promotion examination. Of course, Wu Zetian's original intention was also for fairness.The test paper is covered, and no one knows that we can judge by the test paper.But within a few years of Wu Zetian's implementation, he himself issued an order to abolish this system. The reason he gave at the time was these words: "Ji Bei Gui".The method of appointing someone is quite a skill.This is not a reliable method for appointing and evaluating officials. If you look at this truth, people in Wu Zetian's era would understand it.

Why was Hu Mingzhi, who had been thrown away, picked up again in the Song Dynasty?This system has proven to have advantages and disadvantages, so why did it only take advantage of him in the early years of the Song Dynasty and not look at his one-sided selection of materials?Do you think this is also a problem?To summarize, we just raised two questions about the imperial examination system in the early years of the Song Dynasty.The first question is, why not do it sooner rather than later?In such a short period of 30 years in the early years of the Song Dynasty, so many institutional innovations to prevent cheating were made.Second, using papers to determine the results is a system with pros and cons, but why did the Song Dynasty still make a firm choice?To answer these two questions, we have to look at the overall evolution of China’s imperial examination system to find the answer.
In this cultural program, we talk about the imperial examination system. So why is there an imperial examination system?Some people may say that in order to solve the problem of mobility between the upper and lower classes of society, this is the perspective of our descendants. In the historical scene, the emperor could not solve such an abstract problem.After all, the imperial examination system was to solve the talent problem of unifying the great empire. This has a development trend.You think there was a feudal system before the Qin Dynasty and the Han Dynasty, right?The princes each look after their own gates and manage their own people, so there is no national talent problem.When does this dilemma arise?It was only after Qin Shi Huang unified the six kingdoms that he had to establish a centralized system of prefectures that the problem arose.

To govern such a large empire, not only a large number of officials are needed, but these officials must meet at least these two conditions. First, you must have basic abilities, otherwise how can you be an official?Second, the emperor must trust you, otherwise why would he let you be an official?It is actually very difficult to meet these two conditions. Not to mention that era, even today, if you open a company, you may not feel comfortable with capable strangers.It's safe to use your own relatives, classmates, and brother-in-law, but you may not have the ability. You see, even today, is this also a dilemma?Well, the Qin Dynasty did not live for many years, and then this problem passed, and it was relatively easy to handle in the early Han Dynasty.

Why?Because Liu Bang's generation could use some of the founding projects, the abilities of these people and the trust between the emperors were both tested during the war years.So when Xiao He dies, use Cao Shen, and when Cao Shen dies, use Chen Ping.When all of this generation died, the children of these people were used. For example, Tao She's son Tao Qing and Zhou Bo's son Zhou Yafu were all prime ministers. But when Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty came, even the children of meritorious officials were useless.Yes, right?Even those families, including the founding fathers, cannot guarantee that every generation will produce talents, so what should we do?Because when Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty came, the emperor had no choice but to train him himself, so he created a post called Lang Guanzhi.

What does it mean?It’s you ministers and people with high salaries as local officials who have good children in their families. Will those who want to be officials in the future be sent to me?Do you want me, the emperor, to be a bodyguard for a few years?Where is the guard standing?Alas, he was standing on the corridor outside my house, so this kind of official is called a corridor official.Later, the words you heard as servant, doctor, yuanwailang, and even the groom in folk marriages all evolved from this word.Then you think that the children of these high-ranking officials are very handsome young men and serve as bodyguards for the emperor. It is easy to establish a close relationship with the emperor by just looking up and not looking down.Then sometimes I will send him to perform a small task, to give me soy sauce or something. Then the emperor will also have a basic judgment on his ability. With the foundation of trust and ability, I can send them out in the future.Official.

So if you listen to this system of job holders, it existed even in that era. It is now called the management trainee program in the company.Yes, the Langguan system was the management trainee program of that era.Don’t think that this is a stop-gap measure. Many people have started on this road since ancient times. For example, in the era of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Huo Qubing and Huo Guang were reused from this road, until He Shen of the Qing Dynasty.In fact, it is a reward from the position of imperial guard. He has a much greater chance of being seen and trusted by those around him.

This Langguan system is actually very good, but what is its shortcoming?It’s just that the amount of human assets is too low.If you think about it, there is a concept in human mechanics called the Dunbar tree, which means that the upper limit of the number of people a person can maintain a close relationship with is about 150 people.This cannot be broken, haha. The upper limit of 150 people is determined by the level of human intelligence. So you see, the emperor is also a human being. How many officials can he know?To govern such a large empire, aren’t there enough people?It's like when you open a company and all the familiar and trusted people around you have been put to use, what should you do if there is still a shortage of talents?Usually the bosses of many companies will think of a way, which is internal referral.

Just tell the current colleagues in the company, who are your good friends? Your old good colleagues include your own relatives. We don’t have to be intimate. You can recommend everyone who you think is capable and capable. Can the company still not trust you?That's right, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty also did the same thing.Therefore, the next generation of talent system has emerged, called the inspection and promotion system, which means you make internal recommendations to me.Officials in various places not only have the right to recommend talents, but also have the responsibility to recommend talents. There are assessment indicators for this.For example, if your average population is about 200,000, well, if you are assigned a task every year, you must recommend at least one talent. This is a base number. For an army of 400,000 people, you need to recommend two people. For an army of 600,000 people, you need to recommend two people.Sarah, by analogy, this system is actually quite good, right?But as time goes by, new problems arise.

Hey, what do you think?Local officials have the responsibility to recommend them. Where did these local officials come from?He was sent by the imperial court. If a colleague from the imperial court, such as a leader, sends him a note saying that I have a nephew of an old acquaintance, go and take care of him. Aren't you going to nominate two people this year?One of them, you recommend the nephew of my old colleague, do you think you will buy it?Of course you buy it.

As a local official, you may be promoted or go to the capital in the future, so where is your chance to eventually become an official?It just revolves around a small circle around the central court. People who admire foreign affairs write notes to each other and write notes to these local officials, so he can't choose local talents.What should we do?Let’s go back to a company today to give an example. Just like the chairman of a company today, he can’t trust the company’s vice presidents and general managers of local branches when it comes to talent issues. What should he do?He also has another way, which is to simply set up a special position in each branch. This position can only use native people. They must be local people and be responsible for talent development. If there are local talents, there will be such a full-time person.Discover it and recommend it to the court.

You think a chairman today can think of the emperor back then, and he can also think of going with you.Yes, during the reign of Cao Wei, there was really such a position called Zhongzheng, which was responsible for rating local talents and recommending them to the country. This is the famous Nine-Rank Zhongzhengzhi. Listen to this name.Zhongzheng, it is obvious that the court has expectations for you. You have to put your conscience aside to recommend talents impartially. This is called Zhongzheng.But I never expected that the position of Zhongzheng and the system of the Nine-Rank Zhongzheng System would bring even greater problems.You think, because Zhongzheng is a local, the people he built must be local wealthy families, right?Well, the fellow raised his head but didn't look down. All he saw were the local big families. In the past, the wealthy families in these places only had money but no political rights.Now that’s good, let’s start making deals, what about you?Recommend my son. If I want to be a politician in the future, I will also recommend your son.

This goes on and on, and after hundreds of years of accumulation in a place, a series of social classes of wealthy soldiers are created. The so-called top class has no poor family, and the bottom class has no clan. This is what it means.Moreover, once such a big family is formed and it can continuously consolidate its position, it will never lose its greatness.Alas, in the Southern Dynasties, Sui and Tang Dynasties, these big families sometimes didn't even pay the emperor's debt.That's okay, China's imperial society forced the emperor to dig deep and fight back, especially the emperors in the Sui and Tang Dynasties.Sui and Tang Dynasties?A unified empire?The imperial power was not Fu Zheng. During the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the emperors, scholar-bureaucrats and soldiers had the final say. In the Sui and Tang Dynasties, when the imperial power came to control, the cancer of wealthy soldiers had to be dealt with.
When we review this paragraph, we actually want to experience with you the difficulties of system creation.In a country as big as China, with a vast territory and a vast population, you have to come up with a way to solve any problem. However, this method will definitely bring about new problems during its operation, so new methods must be created. This isAn endless, endless process.Okay, we just mentioned the Sui and Tang Dynasties, and then the emperor tinkered with it and created an imperial examination system.So has the problem been solved?Of course not, because the initial examination system was different from what we thought. We have learned it in middle school textbooks. It is said that the Sui Dynasty created the imperial examination system. When I was studying, I didn't even ask for the imperial examination system?Isn't it just an exam?The exam is open and fair. It bypasses the aristocratic families’ quarreling with each other about who is regarded as a talent, right?The examination is fair. If officials are selected among the people, wouldn't this bypass the wealthy families?Have you treated them?How can it be so simple?If you think about the background, almost all the elites in the entire society during the Sui and Tang Dynasties came from the Sakyamuni and aristocratic families. Not only were they rich, they also monopolized many social resources, such as talents, prestige, and connections. Almost all of these social resourcesThe monopoly is in their hands.

How do you get around books?Simple, you think at that time printing technology had not yet become popular, books were still very expensive, and there were not many people at the bottom who could read, so how could they have talents?Are you uneducated?Besides, even if a person from the bottom is selected to become an official, how can he carry out his work without social prestige or network of connections?So it’s hard for you to look at the emperor. Don’t look at the emperor who is aloof and mediocre. Compared with these wealthy families, the emperor is just one person. He is a wealthy family on an isolated island. That is the vast ocean around the emperor and the foundation of hundreds of years.The tree has long been planted with deep roots and scattered roots.

So no matter how anxious or resentful the emperor is, you have to solve the problem of the wealthy family. You can't wait, but you can't be anxious either. We have to go back and talk about the imperial examination system.The imperial examination system is wonderful. It was Manton, the young man of the Sui and Tang emperors, who solved this problem.This is the cleverness of the restraint system in the Sui and Tang Dynasties. Its focus was not on solving problems all at once, but on slowly changing the structure and concepts of society.Which word is the focus of the imperial examination system?Is it the word "lift"?no.The focus of the imperial examination system during the Sui and Tang Dynasties was on this subject.When you say Ke, what does Ke mean?The meaning of "ke" is very simple, which is to classify things into different categories, which is called "ke".The imperial examinations in the Tang Dynasty were not like those of later ones. They were mainly myopia examinations.In the Tang Dynasty, there were various examination subjects, and those who passed the exams could get official status.This subject is very complicated. For example, there are examinations held regularly, such as Xiucai subject, Jinshi subject, Mingjing subject, Ningfa subject, Naming subject, Famous calculation subject, etc. These are called long subjects, and they will be held in a few years.

In addition, there is another kind of guest, that is, the emperor can do whatever he wants at any time.What is this called?This is called Qi Ke, and there are so many different ways to Qi Qi. I was told of it in a general history of Chinese imperial examinations. Haha, there are countless subjects. There are at least 200 kinds of subjects recorded in historical materials..What is it about being outspoken and admonishing, being virtuous and upright, and being able to help others?As long as they are good words.The emperor thought to himself, well, what kind of person do I want who is both moral and capable?A bunch of good words spelled together constitute a subject, and then there is an exam. Even if the emperor randomly thinks of a word and sets a standard, he can organize an exam and select officials.Later, there was a joke that a person saw a scholar on the road, riding his horse towards Chang'an City.The man asked him, "Look, you are about to have a heart attack. You are so panicked. Are you rushing to be reincarnated?"Why are you going?The scholar immediately turned around and replied, "I'm going to take the exam, and I don't want Wen DaKe."Haha, if you don’t ask for Wenda, you don’t ask others to understand me. Look, you’re about to have a heart attack. Why don’t you ask for Wenda?This is a joke from back then.

Then why do you think the emperors of the Tang Dynasty had so many imperial examination subjects?Hehe, this is the key point. His purpose is not to bypass the aristocratic family and replace a group of people. His purpose is to take back the power to set talent standards from the aristocratic family.We just talked about the original nine-grade Zhongzheng system. Zhongzheng officials have the right to divide people into three, six or nine grades. He is a lower-middle grade, and you are an upper-middle grade. They not only give scores but also stamp them.What does it mean to use the name of the country to endorse the credit of the children of these wealthy families?It is equivalent to a local official holding the stamp of the state and handing out diplomas to people at will. How can this be done?Without further ado, it may be you people who want to get this stamp back first, and get back the right to issue diplomas first.

Well, now that we have the imperial examination system, what do we mean by talents?I have the final say.Who is the talent?Test scores have the final say.So even if the examination system itself is incomplete, and even if the people are still the same people, it doesn't matter. At least the ruler that measures officials will give you the stamp of credit endorsement.Sorry, now that I have it in my hands, the emperor's prestige in the bureaucracy has increased a lot.Let me give you an example from a modern company, which may help you understand better.For example, it turns out that local branches recommend talents to the head office. Over time, how do everyone in the company identify themselves?That is, I was recommended by the Henan branch, he was recommended by the Hubei branch, I was cultivated by Mr. Wang, and he was promoted by Mr. Li.This is how interpersonal relationships are distributed in this company.

Well, the company must be falling apart, right?The imperial examination system is equivalent to the current reform of the head office. When it comes to promoting people, we follow the standards issued by the head office. For example, the head office says that in March I want to promote a particularly diligent employee, and in April I want to promote a performance employee.Very good employee. In May I will promote an employee who speaks excellent foreign languages.What do you think this is?Doesn't this throw out three subjects? Subjects?Three standard classifications of talents were thrown out, which were the subjects in the imperial examinations of the Tang Dynasty.

Although the specific operation process may still be mixed up with each other and you can cheat, but the final selected person is in full view of everyone, because I threw out three standards, where?The first is diligence, the second is performance, and the third is foreign language proficiency, right?You have to be cheating, and the person you pushed out has to be somewhat reasonable on these three points.You only know Chinese Pinyin, but you don’t know 26 English letters. You can’t recommend a foreign language subject, right?So what do you think will happen?First of all, the way the interpersonal relationships in the company are grouped is not divided by region and recommender, but by expertise and characteristics.Of course, the power of the original branch offices and the powerful bosses here is weakened, but this is not the most important thing. What is the most important change?The mentality of the person being promoted has changed. He knows in his heart that the first standard is set by the head office. The company needs talents like me. The opportunity for promotion is given by the head office. I want to thank the head office.Secondly, although I am very grateful to the leaders who helped me during the process and the brothers who reported me, please note that that is not the decisive factor. The most important factor here is my own talent and hard work..Because I am a really hard-working person, or someone with good performance, or someone who can speak foreign languages. That word is what I memorize. The most important person to thank is myself. You see what a big mentality this is.change?That's right, the emperor of the Tang Dynasty relied on this trick to gradually take away the right to determine talent standards from the hands of the aristocratic families.

The people were still the same people, but the emperor's authority was greatly increased.So if you look at the imperial examination system during the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the most fundamental purpose was not to select new talents from among the people, just like playing cards, right?The emperor's purpose is not to change the cards, but to recombine the cards already on the table according to the standards set by the emperor.Or else we say that third-rate companies make products, second-rate companies make brands, and first-rate companies make standards.The almanac is as you think. It is very important to get the right to set standards. This was the imperial examination in the Sui and Tang Dynasties.So don't you think this is good?What a great explanation you just gave. Wouldn’t it be great if the imperial examination system continued like this?No.Times are developing. By the Song Dynasty, social conditions had undergone major changes, and the emperor faced new challenges. To solve these new challenges, the emperor had to further transform the imperial examination system.

Our pursuit of a better life comes from the opening of every extraordinary door.Casarte was born for love, the art of connecting home.We just mentioned that there were new challenges to the imperial power of the Song Dynasty. Originally, the emperor's opponents were very clear, which were the wealthy and aristocratic families, but we did not expect that the aristocratic families would not live up to their expectations.During the turmoil at the end of the Tang Dynasty, the wealthy families died and dispersed. The problem of wealthy families that had troubled the imperial power for hundreds of years suddenly disappeared, and the emperor felt empty in his heart.So can the emperor be completely relieved at this time?Si Gu was confused as she drew her sword. Did she seek defeat alone?Won't.Yes, there will be no vacuum in the political arena.The emperor's new rival soon appeared on the scene.Who?This is the group of bureaucracy that can influence the results of the imperial examination.They came from the imperial examination and were created by the emperor himself, but now they are on the opposite side of the emperor.You think after all, the imperial examination has to face thousands of candidates. Such a large project and such a large transactional work cannot be done by the emperor alone, so you have to appoint officials to specifically handle the imperial examination.

Well, these examiners have gained a new kind of right by setting questions, grading papers and selecting the best.To use an inappropriate analogy, the original wealthy families were like beasts squatting at the door to the imperial power, and they would pick up businessmen at every turn, so the emperor was very wary of them.And now this bureaucracy is like a stealing rat in the house to the imperial power. Although the threat does not seem that great, the rats and dogs stealing all day long are also very annoying to the emperor.Because from the emperor's point of view, in the past, it was the Sakya clan that hijacked personnel power, but now it has become a group of scholars, officials, and bureaucracies.Specifically, it is the way in which the examiners have restricted the country’s personnel power.

This is really not the emperor's imagination. How serious is the real situation?Let me give you an example. For example, in the Tang Dynasty, there was a prime minister named Cui Qun. He once presided over the imperial examination, but later he became no longer prime minister and was dismissed from office.His wife persuaded him, "Hey, Lao Cui, you should also save some money, buy a few manors, acquire some land, and let us leave some family property to our children and grandchildren."Then Cui Qun said, I have 30 good farms all over the world. What do you have to worry about?What kind of field should I buy? What kind of land should I buy?His wife was confused and said, "Old man, why didn't I know that you still have 30 good farms in the world?"Cui Qun said, I presided over the imperial examination the year before last and admitted 30 people. Aren't these all good villages?The implication is that it is more reliable for our children and grandchildren to be taken care of by my disciples than to own land at home.This is a very famous joke in the history of imperial examinations, but can you analyze the mentality behind it?You preside over exams, so how come the students you admit become your private property?What would the emperor think when he heard this?Isn't this stealing?Yes, this was the custom of the Tang Dynasty. The relationship between the examiner and the candidates gradually formed a relationship between the master and the disciple.Please note that this relationship is not a public relationship, it is a private relationship.Bai Juyi once wrote such a poem. The last four sentences are like this: The strength in the chest is extremely weak, and the hibiscus outside the body is not enough.There is another grudge that Gaojiamenguan has for revenge.Who does Gaojiamenguan refer to?

The author who admitted Bai Juyi back then was named Gao Ying. The general meaning of this explanation is that I, Bai Juyi, have seen through the world of mortals. I want to bid farewell to officialdom, but the only thing that I can't let go of right now is that I haven't been able to repay my authorship.This is the extent of Gao Ying's personal debt.You must know that this poem is not written by Bai Juyi. Bai Juyi was a 28-year-old Zhong Jinshi. It was not handwritten at the age of 28, but written by him in his later years.Thirty or forty years have passed, and this personal debt still cannot be let go, it is not over yet.If you think about this relationship between masters and students, it gradually evolves and becomes malignant, forming a kind of political tumor.What?It means that cronies in the middle and high levels of the court advance and retreat together politically.Therefore, one of the emperors of the Tang Dynasty was named Tang Wenzong. He had a famous saying: The emperor looked at it and said that it was easy to go to Hebei to be a traitor, but it was difficult to go to the court to support the party.It might be much easier for me to deal with the gang of thieves who controlled Hebei under the vassal regime.It will be much more difficult for me to get rid of these cronies who have colluded with you civil servants and bureaucrats in the court.You think from the emperor's point of view, I created this official position and paid the salary. Why do you bureaucrats, as long as you serve as an examiner once, you can reap the gratitude of this examinee for a lifetime?Isn't this a hijacking?Therefore, the emperor of the Song Dynasty was strictly guarded on this issue from the beginning.

In the third year after he succeeded to the throne, Emperor Taizu of the Song Dynasty issued an imperial edict strictly prohibiting imperial examination examiners and candidates from forming a master-student relationship.There is such a saying in that trick, which is really a famous saying throughout the ages. It says that when selecting scholars in the mystical sciences of the country, the person who is in charge is focused on merit, while Chaoning is grateful for his personal affairs.It is a blessing from the court and the country that you can become an official. Why do you go to the homes of those big bosses?Thanks for the personal relationship.The French thinker Montesquieu once said that he is only responsible for the source of power.Hey, whoever gives him power will be responsible to whomever he uses his power.Then you think about it, in the imperial examination era, if I was a candidate, my rights were given by those who called the shots, those examiners, and those big bosses. After I obtained the rights, I would only be responsible to these big bosses.Who is the emperor?Haha, sorry, I’m not familiar with him.So although the emperor of the Song Dynasty had not read Montesquieu, right?But he knew this truth in his heart, and the emperor was not stupid.

Okay, now we understand that the challenge faced by the emperor of the Song Dynasty was that he had to prevent the bureaucracy from acting as middlemen to make profit on the employment issue.Since this problem is caused by the imperial examination system, this loophole must be plugged by amending the imperial examination system.Speaking of which, do you still remember the two questions I raised earlier?This can explain the first question, why not do it sooner rather than later?In the early 30 years of the Song Dynasty, the imperial examination system suddenly introduced so many institutional innovations to prevent cheating.Most of the Chinese people of my generation came from fighting in the examination room. When I heard about the measures to prevent cheating, I thought it was for us candidates, right?At the beginning of the exam, the teacher said to put everything that has nothing to do with the exam on the podium. Wasn't this directed at me?It is an anti-cheating measure in the imperial examination. It is not aimed at the candidates, but at the bureaucracy.Just look at these black technologies, right?What is the subtext of the television system?It's just you bureaucrats and candidates, don't be taught by your disciples and mentors every day, who are so stupid and focus on Jinshi in everything.Don't talk nonsense, they are all my emperor, my emperor's disciples.Who is your mentor?My mentor is me. Officials like you are not allowed to make profit differences. There are also several black technologies. What are the essence of the measures we just mentioned about Hu Mingteng Road?It is to eliminate the human factor bit by bit as much as possible from the whole process of the exam.

All examiners in the imperial examinations, just lower your heads to judge the papers. You are not allowed to raise your heads to look at others. Who has nothing to do with you, but still makes the decision, and even flatters you in a muffled voice.So if you look at the imperial examination system at this time, it has simply become such a machine.As long as the examinee is willing to take the exam, come and input your paper, haha, and then judge it through the humming and humming operation of this machine, and then it can output the ranking. During the entire operation of this machine, it only checks the words on your paper.Judgment does not involve the judgment of people at all. This is the design principle of this machine. Think about it, what a wonderful thing this is, right?The emperor faces all the scholars in the world alone. You input words from this end, and I output the rankings for you from this end. There is such a huge bureaucracy in the middle, but there is no intermediary dividend, and there is no middleman to make the difference.Even today, when technology is so prosperous, to achieve this, you may need some kind of computer or artificial intelligence to achieve it. It was actually achieved more than 1,000 years ago.

In the words of Ouyang Xiu, a great writer in the Song Dynasty, when the imperial examination came to our generation, it was called being ruthless like nature and being loyal like a balance.This big machine is as ruthless as nature, as fair as a steelyard, an incredible institutional invention, right?Okay, then let’s answer another question raised earlier, which is that this kind of imperial examination only relies on the words on the paper to select people. It is definitely not the best way to select people for officials, right?Does a person who does well in this exam necessarily have strong administrative abilities?Yes, Wu Zetian discovered this hundreds of years ago. The Emperor of the Song Dynasty must have known it well, but why did he still do it firmly?This brings us to the essence of the imperial examination system. What do we generally understand as the essence of the imperial examination?Isn't it just an exam?Good things are just appearances and actions. The key is that this system, as the starting point of a selection system, is different from other systems.

The Japanese scholar Miyazaki Shidine has a book called The History of the Imperial Examination. There is a very insightful statement in this book. He said that other selection systems in ancient China were all discovered by him, and the road to the imperial examination is the road to self-discovery. This isThere are two distinct roads.What do you mean by seeing him?It doesn't matter whether I am a talent or not. Others need to recommend me and endorse me. If they nod, I am the talent.The tea examination system and the wine Zhongzheng system introduced earlier are all systems based on other opinions, while the imperial examination system is a system based on one's own opinions.It's about whether I'm a talent. As long as I think I am, I can stand up and recommend myself.Even though the emperor is thousands of miles away from me, I can use this system to announce to him that I am a talent and that I am willing to pass the testing process.As for the middlemen, all the huge bureaucracies in the middle, how do so many people feel about me?It doesn't matter, I am the talent and I have the final say.

This is the most essential difference between the imperial examination system and the previous talent system.You can imagine a scenario today. Suppose you are in a unit. It turns out that this unit stipulates that whether you can be promoted and whether you can get a salary increase is decided by your direct boss.Well, if your direct boss is a bastard, then as an ordinary person at the bottom, if you are unlucky, you may be exploited and humiliated.There is no chance, he may never have a chance in this life.

If the big boss of your company one day says that our company will hold an open competitive examination and anyone can take part, then what are your expectations for this examination?What you need is my direct leadership. Leaders at all levels should not be involved, and there should be no human factors involved, right?As for what is tested, is it that important?It doesn't matter if he takes the math test, he can take the English test, he can take the push-up test, or even if he draws lots directly, he is at least fair, right?At least it's fair.

As a low-level person, I have a feeling that my fate is determined by my will.In the era of the imperial examination system, the ancients had a set of factors that affected the imperial examination, right?One is fate, two is luck, three are feng shui, and the four seasons are due to official duties and the five are poisons.You have the final say on the matter of studying, but the four fates ranked last and first have negative virtues and have nothing to do with people. They are all metaphysics and there are no human factors involved. This is the development of the self-organized imperial examination.of the Central District.Yes, if you understand the nature of the self-organized system, you will know that the imperial examination system has a tendency in its internal genes from the day it was born.This tendency has grown up slowly over hundreds of years. One of the tendencies shown is to eliminate the human factors in the intermediate links. Its ultimate mission is not to select talents, but to make everyone involved in this selection gameHave a sense of control over your own destiny.

Okay, now that we understand this, let’s take a moment to look at the pros and cons of the imperial examinations under the established system and the self-organized system.It certainly has advantages for him to ask others to recommend him.It is widely used in many talent selection situations so far. The truth is very simple. People are the measure of all things, and the only thing that can measure people is people. Therefore, the selection of talents is indispensable without people's recommendations and endorsements, right?Just like today, when a company selects an applicant, in addition to the written test scores, it also depends on what the colleagues and leaders at the original workplace think of the person.

Another example is today's science popularization day for admissions to many Western schools. They only look at scores. Recommendation letters from celebrities are very useful.So from a micro perspective, if we need to quickly screen talents, he has an advantage and we trust the person who recommends people more.Is the self-seeing system very poor in the efficiency of recommending people?In fact, this is not necessarily the case. This involves another aspect of human nature. Human beings do not have a definite appearance. Human beings cannot only be evaluated, but human beings can still develop.I just talked about my feelings when I was in college. At that time, there were more than 20 people in our class, some from big cities and some from rural areas.The college entrance examination scores of rural students are not low at all, but when it comes to temperament and conversation, they are indeed far behind those of students from the city.But don't be too busy. If you look back in a few years, rural students will experience a rapid urbanization process, and soon their temperament, conversation, and self-confidence will all improve.If you look at it over a longer period of time, our classmates are now over 50 years old. Compared with the students who came from rural areas, the life achievements are not bad at all. This is the development of human beings.People are not just there as they are. People who are evaluated by you will develop after the evaluation.Our college entrance examination today is essentially self-sustaining. It uses a ruler to measure everyone, which seems biased. But on the other hand, it also leaves a huge space for people's development and future development.

The so-called modern civilization, I think, should include the factor that no matter what you think, I should always have a chance to stand up and speak out for myself.I am willing to accept the judgment of fate, and I believe that there are unlimited possibilities for my future development.Today our civilization program talks about the evolution of the imperial examination system. Did you notice that the excellence of this system was probably just to cope with the challenges faced by the emperor at that time, rather than for some abstract principle, let alone a firm master plan?Take one step at a time to see if your straw sandals are good, so you can take them off as you go.However, the system has evolved forward in twists and turns, and has been filtered by abstract principles such as justice in people's hearts. The final result, if it is in line with the direction of civilization development, then it will have strong vitality.

The imperial examination has existed for more than a thousand years, and even the black technologies used in the imperial examination, such as Hu Ming’s wish and Tenglu’s technology we are talking about today, are still appearing in various forms in our various industries today.Inside the exam.In this episode of the Civilization Program, we are talking about the Song Dynasty in 1002, and finally let’s look at two small scenes that happened in this year.This year there was a student who was 13 years old and went to school in poverty. Because his family was poor, he lived in a temple to study.So how does he eat?It is to cook two liters of rice porridge in advance. After leaving it overnight, the porridge will become a big lump. Cut it into four pieces with a knife. Take two pieces in the morning and evening and eat it with pickles. You will eat it for three years. This isThe origin of the idiom "turning off the machine and turning it into porridge".Who is this person?Yes, you know, his name is Fan Zhongyan, this year is 1002, 13 years later, he passed the Jinshi examination, and 43 years later, he wrote the Yueyang Tower Banner, which is a famous medicine for the ages.You see, he originally shouldn't have had the opportunity, but under the imperial examination system, he had the opportunity.Let’s talk about the second scene. In this year, 1002, the two prime ministers in the imperial court did the same thing.The chief prime minister's name is Li Hao, and he married his daughter to the top scholar in Xinke, who is the top scholar Wang Zi who won three yuan in a row as we talked about at the beginning of this episode.There was also a deputy prime minister of the imperial court who participated, it was Wang Dan.Wang Dan also married his daughter to an envoy named Ke Jin, named Han Yi. The Ali people were quite opposed to it at the time.Hey, Wang Dan said that times have changed, you can’t understand why I do this.

These two new sons-in-law, one Wang Zeng and the other Han Yi, were both from not very noble family backgrounds, and they were even officials with children and daughters.They would not have had such a chance of a good marriage, but because of the imperial examination system, they now have Prime Minister Li Hao to take part in it. It is Wang Dan who was an important minister in the court at that time. They have sensed the warmth of the spring river and they have seen it.It's time for a big turn, and the unstoppable rise of a wave of new characters.This year is 1002 AD, the fifth year of peace in the Song Dynasty. We will see you in the next issue in 1003.

Issue 4: Listen to Advice

Hello, this is a civilized program, and you are welcome to travel to 1003 AD. This year in China is the sixth year of Xianping in the Song Dynasty, and Zhenzong of the Song Dynasty was on the throne.After he read the historical materials of this year, I have a feeling, that is, if there is really such a manipulator behind history, we really don’t know whether he is a child who likes to hide and seek, or a foresighted old man., then at least in the year 1003, both personalities were reflected.

Let me give you an example. For example, in the northwest, the Song Dynasty lost Lingzhou to Xixia. Of course, it was very tense.Therefore, a new line of defense has been set up in the Qingyang area of ​​​​Ningxia, Gansu today.What are you afraid of?They were afraid that Li Jiqian from Xixia would lead his troops to attack, but he didn't expect that Li Jiqian not only failed to fight, but also led his troops to fight against Tubo further west, and Li Jiqian died in the process.He didn't know about this news in the Song Dynasty in 1003, so he was still guarding it.Do you think history is playing hide and seek?joke.But it was also in this year that Li Jiqian's grandson, the famous Li Yuanhao, gave birth to a baby. His aunt fell to the ground. No one knows whether he will be important in the future.No one thought that this little guy would found the Xixia Empire 30 years later and bring huge trouble to both the Song Dynasty and the Liao Dynasty.

So you see, what’s interesting is that the next chapter in history started just this year, but no one at that time knew where it was going. So do you think history is also a foresighted old man?Let's look at the right direction again. The armies of Song and Liao fought a battle in Wangdu this year, which is southwest of Baoding today. As expected, the Song Dynasty lost again.The news the Song Dynasty received at that time was that general Wang Jizhong had died in battle. This Wang Jizhong was not an ordinary person, he was very important.Why?Because he had followed Song Zhenzong since he was a child, he was regarded as the emperor's own. Zhenzong had not yet become emperor at that time, so Emperor Zhenzong, do you think Fa Xiao is dead?He was very sad and awarded a lot of official titles posthumously, but in fact Wang Ji was not dead, but was captured by the Liao army.Do you think this is hide and seek?joke.

But Wang Jizhong’s story is not over. Next year, in 1004, during the Battle of Chanyuan, Wang Jizhong became a key person and the key to the peace talks between Song and Liao through this clever close relationship between the two parties.hub.Would you say that history is once again planning for big events in the future through a small event?So think about us today. You receive various signals from reality every day, but it is difficult to tell whether these signals are taken seriously. They may be just a fake shot, but they may also have profound meanings.Specifically, let’s go back to 1003 AD. So what topic should we talk about this year?Let’s talk about a person this year, the current Prime Minister Li Hang.Li Hao From September 1003 to 1004, only Li Hang was left as prime minister in Zheng Shitang of Zhongshu Province.Li Hang will pass away in 1004 next year, so if our civilized program does not talk about Li Hang, we will have no chance to talk about him.But the important thing is not this person, but that he has a very rare political opinion. In the entire history of China, this kind of political opinion can be regarded as a flash of inspiration.Once Li Hang died, few people spoke out this idea boldly, openly, and thoroughly.So this year we must talk about Li Hang’s shocking proposition.Okay, with this question in mind, let’s travel back to 1003 AD.

Let’s briefly introduce Li Hang first. He was from Feixiang, Mingzhou, which is today’s Handan, Hebei Province. It is said that in 980 AD, which was the time of Song Taizong, he won the Jinshi.This status was very noble at that time, and then he had a smooth journey in the officialdom, and became the chief minister, that is, deputy prime minister and central-level official.During this process, of course, Song Taizong had been observing him from the sidelines and thought he was a good person, so in 995, he assigned him a very important task to the prince, who later became Song Zhenzong Zhao Hengdang.teacher.You must know that this appointment was a big deal in the era of imperial power.Just think about it, a person today can make friends from all walks of life, and there are all kinds of people, but if you are willing to let your children be fully influenced by one of your friends, think about it.How many friends like this do you have left?Yes, the emperor at that time also had this trouble. The civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty seemed to be very great people, but they were willing to hand over the future prince of the country to him. Under his full influence, the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty could not choose a few.Yes, so this appointment shows that Song Taizong fully recognized Li Hang.And this is also a big deal for Li Hang, because this is a predetermined position of prime minister for him. If you want to wait until the prince becomes an emperor in the future, this new emperor is not familiar with the civil and military affairs of the Manchu Dynasty, so you will be familiar with him.If he is not the prime minister, who should be the prime minister?Yes, Li Hao later took this path.After Song Zhenzong succeeded to the throne, he served as prime minister for six years until his death at the age of 58.

Li Han's resume is so simple. We have finished talking about it, but I guess no matter what I say, you still feel strange to this name.Who is Li Hang?This name sounds quite strange.That's right, the word "Han" is the derogatory word we use, which is called "Han". Of course, the word "Han" alone has no derogatory meaning. It refers to the appearance of water vapor that is unmistakable, called "Tang".

If I tell you that Li Hang, whom everyone is not familiar with, has a prime minister called a holy elephant or a sage in history, you may be even more surprised.Yes, in our history in China, those who can be called saints must have reached the pinnacle of achievement in their profession.If you count Confucius, the sage of literature, Sun Wu, the sage of war, Wang Xizhi, the sage of calligraphy, Du Fu, the sage of poetry, Wu Daozi, the sage of transformation, and the Martial Saint, the Martial Saint is controversial. Some say it is Jiang Ziya, some say it is Guan Yu, and some say it is Guan Yu.It belongs to Yue Fei, but you can tell that he is a well-known celebrity no matter what.

Then let’s take a look at this icon again. Li Hao, hey, who are you?If you are not a professional researcher or an in-depth lover of Song history, you may not have even heard of his name.Yes, it is said that we have many famous names in ancient China, such as Xiao He and Chen Ping in the Western Han Dynasty, Zhuge Liang in the Three Kingdoms, Wang Meng in the Pre-Qin Dynasty, and Fang Xuanling, Du Ru, Huiyao, and Chongsong Jing in the Tang Dynasty.In the Song Dynasty, there was Zhao Pu in the front, Fan in the back, and Wang Anshi and Sima Guang in the middle. Which one is not more famous than you, Li Hao?Just tell me how it was your turn to be the holy elephant. Then do you think you gave him such a nickname because he was a flatterer of the Prime Minister's generation?No, the first person to give the name Li Hang was Wang Dan. Wang Dan served as Li Hang's deputy. After Li Hang's death, he served as prime minister for more than ten years.

As a former colleague, Wang Dan initially disapproved of some of Li Hang's actions. However, after Li Hang's death, the longer time passed and the longer Wang Dan was the boss, the more he discovered that Li Hang was really smart., so he lamented that Li Hao was really a saint, which led to people inside and outside the court beginning to honor Li Hang as the Holy Elephant.Please note that I emphasize again that this incident occurred many years after Li Hang's death, so there is no issue of flattery.If you feel that the evaluations of these contemporaries are inevitably exaggerated, then let’s take a look at another one. This is great. Wang Fuzhi, a great thinker more than 600 years later, also has a frighteningly high evaluation of Li Hang in this Song Dynasty treatise., he said that Li Hang's knowledge far exceeded that of Yao Chong in the Tang and Song Dynasties who recorded Sima Guang and other famous figures.Alas, it seems that Li Hang does have something, but what exactly do you have, and what great things have you done?If we look at historical data, we find that what Li Hang did was nothing more than being honest in government, speaking out and daring to remonstrate. To put it bluntly, he was using Confucian moral principles to fight against himself and stay away from the emperor.Regarding this kind of thing, for example, Li Hao has a very famous joke, saying that one day Emperor Zhenzong wanted to make the Liu family in the harem a noble concubine.Noble Concubine, so one night Emperor Zhenzong sent someone to find Li Hao with a handwritten photo written by him, which was just a piece of paper, hoping to get his support.

Can I, the empress, be a concubine?That?After Li Hao read the note, he took a candle directly in front of the messenger, burned the note on the candle, and while burning, asked the messenger to guide Zhenzong.Just say that I, Li Hao, do not agree. This seems a bit bold, but there is no way. Li Han is always the teacher of Emperor Zhenzong, so it is normal for him to be a little arrogant in his words and actions.In other words, what does it mean to be upright and honest, to speak out and dare to speak out? How often do such things exist in Chinese history?Comparing you with Wei Zheng of the previous dynasty, comparing you with Kou Zhun of the same era, and comparing you with Fan Zhongyan who was a little later, there is nothing unique. Li Hang will never be able to bear the word "holy elephant" based on this kind of thing alone..There are actually not many historical materials about Li Hang. After reading them all, I feel that there is only one statement that is really special.This statement is particularly important. I have to read the original text to you.He said that he would be in the middle for fifteen years, and he would be a minister at home and abroad, and all benefits and harms would be repaid.This young person serves his country and becomes his country.Li Xing's position as prime minister is very important, and I don't have any big contributions. My only contribution worth mentioning is all the suggestions made by officials of all sizes inside and outside the court. I ignored all the suggestions that were about eliminating harm.You heard it right, this is what Li Hang means. I ignore all policy suggestions, whether good or bad, about doing this or that. This is my most important contribution.What are you talking about?Listen, you are not just a retired stubborn old man in the park, you are a prime minister.

Hey, as a senior leader of the country, you listen to everyone’s opinions. Isn’t this a basic quality?Hearing both brings light, listening partially brings darkness. You must have heard of this famous saying, right?Well, our episode of Civilization is set in 1003 AD, and we’re going to solve that mystery.Li Hang is such a famous prime minister, why did he say this?What's the rationale behind this?The reason why Li Hang’s words are important and shocking is that they touch upon a key principle in the design of our traditional Chinese political system, that is, as a person with rights, you must listen to opinions and suggestions, especiallyCritical suggestions.The reason seems to be very simple. If you have rights, you can do whatever you want.So advice from all directions is the brake pad and antidote to your power, right?I remember that when we were in middle school, we learned a text called Warring States Policy, in which Zou Ji satirized the King of Qi for accepting remonstrances, saying that it was the State of Qi.

During the Warring States Period, there was a man named Zou Ji in the Qi State. He was a very high-ranking official. He always cared about himself and another handsome man, namely Mr. Xu. Who was more beautiful?Then ask your wife, ask your concubine, and ask your guests.Hey, everyone says you are beautiful, you are the most beautiful.As a result, Zou Ji actually met the Xu Gong later and saw that he was far inferior to the Xu Gong, so he had an idea.The simple summary of this experience is that everyone who praises me is asking for something from me, so those who praise me are false. Anyone who scolds me, alas, is good to me and is true.

Later, Zou Ji told the king of Qi about this experience. When the king of Qi heard that it made sense, he issued an order, saying, if you can point out my faults in front of me, you will be rewarded.If you don't dare to face me in person, write a note in writing and tell me that you will be rewarded. If you don't dare to face me outside, and criticize me in public outside, you will still be rewarded if I hear you.Then it is said that after doing this, the politics of Qi State will be improved.

This story is very popular in China. We learned this principle when we were in middle school.Behind this is a set of political assumptions. As long as someone pays close attention to it, those in power do not need to be responsible for what you say. As long as you have the courage and attitude to speak, you will definitely get a political outcome that is clear and clear.Did anyone say that?Look at the holy word of the saint, isn’t there an ear in the traditional Chinese character?The reason why a saint is a saint is that he must listen.You see, the most famous pair of monarchs and ministers in Chinese history are Tang Taizong and Wei Zheng. They relied on this set of logic to perform a political drama.Whenever Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty made a mistake, Wei Zheng would have to criticize it, and Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty would have to tell me to correct it, and then politics would get better.

So what is this subtext?At this time, the two of them must have gone to see the monster and said that the performance by the two of us was so wonderful, didn't you write it down?One is outspoken and dares to take the sword, the other is open-minded and accepts the sword, a famous minister through the ages, and a wise king through the ages. It is really a political story of mutual achievement.Therefore, daring to listen to opinions and daring to accept opinions has become political correctness in the Chinese court.But is this assumption correct?Few people in history have doubted it.

To this day, the Prime Minister of the Song Dynasty, Li Hao, we are talking about, suddenly said, "Don't give me suggestions, and I won't mention them if you do." It's just like the anti-fraud notice posted in the bank today, asking everyone not to listen.No viewing, no transfer.The key is that he should regard this as his only contribution to serving the country as prime minister.It’s incredible, is there any truth behind Li Hang’s words?

Then why doesn't Li Hang want to listen?It is recommended that we first listen to the reasons given by Li Hang himself. He gave two reasons. The first one was that those who had just passed the Jinshi examination could not even do simple things such as how to do things, how to stand, and how to carry luggage., when he met me, he talked to me about his ideals, his achievements, and hoped that I would promote him.I can't talk to these people about running the country. If I listen to them talking nonsense, it is called winning people's hearts according to the popular saying.Sorry, I can't do it.This is the first reason. The second reason is that the country's system has been established. If I do something or change something according to the ideas of those who give opinions, it will harm many people.Benefit.Those villains only put forward opinions in order to climb up the ladder, and did not consider that what he said and did would harm the common people.You see, Li Hang has only two reasons. One is that they can't do it. What opinions do they have?The other thing is that it’s good now. What opinions do they have?Does this sound a bit arrogant and domineering?Please note that this is the same book I mentioned just now. More than 600 years later, Wang Duanxuan added a large space to Li Hang in the Song Dynasty.Wang Fuzhi classified and summarized seven situations in which suggestions are given. I will not go into the details. In short, his conclusion is that no matter what suggestions you make, I don’t care whether your level is high or low, whether your original intention is good or bad.Those in power who make suggestions, say this is good or that is bad, none of them are worth listening to.Alas, these words are so absolute. If these words were not printed in black and white in Wang Fuzhi's book, I would have thought they came from some outlaw, haha.

I recommend an article that is very imaginative. The article by Lin Hu from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences is called Reform Party Struggles in Scholar-official Politics, which introduces Wang Fuzhi’s political theory in detail.After reading this article, you will find that Wang Fuzhi has his own reasons.In fact, if we step aside and think about it calmly, this is in line with our common sense.You want to give advice to a powerful person, what's behind it?It’s often our own purpose, and we have our own calculations, right?Human nature.For example, today I brought a book, this memoir by the last emperor Puyi, called My First Half of Life, which is a very exciting memoir. He said in this book that he said that I should not be emperor, and I abdicated. On the surface,Everyone around me cares about me.

An idea today, a memorial tomorrow to give me suggestions, but I know very well that each of them has their own little calculation. Some people advocate business as usual, just pretend that you are still the emperor, why?Because only in this way can the interests of this group of people be protected.For example, former Minister of Internal Affairs Shaoying, he can continue to be in charge of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and there is a bit of oil and water here.There is also Puyi's own biological father, Prince Chun Zaifeng, who can still receive a salary of more than 40,000 taels of silver per year as usual.

Of course, there are also people who advocate change, Liu Yang, going abroad, and seeing the world, so that they can be restored in the future.But the opinions on Liu Yang's destination were different. For example, Luo Zhenyu, who had been to Japan, advocated that he go to Japan, and Huang Gao, who had served as European minister, advocated that he go to Europe.But from Pu Yi's point of view, hey, I'm very aware of your little thoughts.You have a conspiracy to hold the former emperor of China in your hands. Whether in Japan or Europe, you want to hoard them yourself.

Even some of the minions below are making similar ideas. For example, Puyi wrote in his memoirs that he had a sixth uncle named Zai Xun, and Zai Xun had a retainer named Wu Xibao. He only wrote a lot of excerpts and kept urging PuyiWe must use the law, understand the law, study the law, and use the law to learn the theory. Why is this in line with the trend of the times?Puyi thought it made sense at first, but when he asked about it later, he discovered that Wu Xibao himself was a lawyer, and using the term "jurist" means referring to himself.

So you see, Puyi is no longer the emperor at this time and has no power. However, with only such a small aura of power, the people below are deliberately trying to package their own interests by making suggestions, so those in power can be careless.?So you see, if the person below is trying to flatter you outright, then of course you have to be wary, but the motive is on the table after all, doesn't he just want to please you?If, on the other hand, it is the people around you who have the right to give you advice, even some harsh advice, then you have to be even more careful, because it is often the result of carefully packaged interests.

If you don't have Puyi's caution, you might fall into their trap.Hearing this, you might say that not all the people who make suggestions are so miserable. There are always those loyal ministers and righteous people who have no selfish motives at all.Or even if you have selfish motives, the suggestion itself is still good.Don’t we Chinese have a saying?If you call nothing, you will be crowned, and if you call it, you will change it, right?People suggest that you just listen.In case the suggestion itself is not bad, then let's do a thought experiment today. Let's imagine an extreme situation. Someone makes suggestions to me. His motives are absolutely good and the suggestions are absolutely correct.

So is it useful?There are many such examples around us. For example, someone told me Luo Zhenyu, for your own good, you should run 10 kilometers every day.Luo Zhenyu, for the sake of your health, you should not stay up late and go to bed early.Luo Zhenyu, you should uninstall all the short videos on your phone and stop playing games. You should read more. When you eat, you should not eat meat or staple food, but eat more vegetables.Of course I know it’s well-intentioned, and it’s a big statement, and it’s basically right.But so what?Debate master Huang Zhongzhong once said that the problems in your eyes are actually other people's solutions.For example, if we see a child delaying his studies because of playing games, I suggest that he stop playing games in the future. If we dig deeper, we will think of why he plays games. It may be because he is full of frustration in real life.

At school, teachers don't like to go home and parents diss him. Only in games can he find a sense of dignity. This is the solution to his life.So if we, as bystanders, directly advise him not to play games, this will not solve his problem, but take away the solution to his problem.It’s the same as going back to ancient Chinese politics.If a grassroots official sees a large number of unreasonable phenomena in reality, then he can ask the emperor to correct these phenomena. Is it enough to remove them?It becomes a bright and clear world, which is too childish.For example, if I had been born in the Ming Dynasty, I might have thought, wow, this is such a troubled era. Eunuchs are still out of the palace, making money for the emperor, and collecting various taxes. It is unreasonable.Why is it unreasonable for the emperor to have a royal guard?The emperor set up factories in the east and factories in the west. You see, those dead eunuchs are unreasonable, but even if I shout my throat, the emperor will not cancel these institutions.The reason is simple. The reason why these institutions exist is that the emperor has his own problems to solve.Until there are alternative solutions to those problems, it is impossible for these phenomena, which I believe to be unreasonable, to disappear.

Everyone in the game knows what the world is. The world is a network, and one move affects the whole body.You can't optimize the entire network just by changing one or two points.If we go one step further and change the status quo indiscriminately, it may bring more tragic results.In the future, our civilization program will talk about the Qingli New Deal and Wang Anshi's reforms. At that time, we will touch on this topic again. In short, don't give me suggestions in my game, even if it is out of good intentions, even if what he says is right, what do I usually do?People mean well, but we can only smile politely and cannot hear the past.We often divide speech into true and false, correct, wrong, well-intentioned, and malicious. We divide speech in this way, but have you realized that there can also be a classification of speech, as long as this speech is directed at the speaker himself?, or is it directed at others?Point to your own remarks.For example, I state my confidence, my opinions, my demands, I fight for my own interests, and I defend my position. As long as these remarks are not illegal, they are good and are the wealth of society.And the remarks directed at others are me telling others what should you do?In your case you should do this, the value of such remarks is very doubtful.

For example, let's think about it, if you are the chairman of a company, if you say during the company meeting, I hope everyone can speak freely and make suggestions for the company.So what exactly do you want everyone to talk about?It's okay to talk about the development strategies of your respective departments and fight for the interests of your brothers in your department, including yourself. It is definitely something that you, the chairman, should and are willing to listen to.Why?Because these all point to the speaker himself, he speaks for himself. You may not agree with these words after hearing them, but they are all information that you should have as the chairman of the board.

Okay, let's imagine again, if there is a meeting, everyone in your company can stand up and say, I want to guide the head office on how to develop. The key to this is to do a good job in the canteen, so that everyone can work with morale.The one said, well, our current products are not good, how about our company switch to live streaming to deliver goods?Haha, the chicken has its mouth and the duck has its mouth. As the chairman, are you going crazy?There is a legend about Huawei. It is said that a new employee, when he first joined the company, wrote a letter of ten thousand words to his boss Ren Zhengfei, which contained many suggestions on the company's development strategy.Ren Zhengfei made a big note, instructing that if this person has mental illness, it is recommended that he be sent to the hospital for treatment; if he is not ill, it is recommended that he be fired.I guess if we ordinary office workers heard this story, we would not take it seriously. They just made a suggestion, so they wouldn't say it so harshly.They are also good for the company, but if you have ever been a boss, or if you have the opportunity to start a business in the future, you will understand what they say after hearing this.If you are not in the position of the boss, do not bear that responsibility, and cannot see his overall situation, it is impossible to make reliable suggestions.So when we give advice to others, we sometimes think, well, I'm not in his game, let's save it.Haha, yes, this is what Li Hao meant. People who are not in my game should not give me suggestions, because they are of no value.

Okay, then the next question comes again. If you, as a senior leader of a country, do not listen to suggestions, how can the people in power make decisions about the governance of a country and optimize and improve it?Okay, let's listen to Wang Fuzhi's plan next.

Just now we mentioned that Li Hang, as the prime minister of the Song Dynasty, actually suggested that I would not listen to any suggestions about my governing style.Alas, here comes the problem. How can a country change if it refuses to listen to any suggestions?How can he improve?Hundreds of years later, Wang Fuzhi gave a complete set of solutions in the Song Dynasty. To put it simply, there are four sentences in total. To create wisdom in classical Chinese, listen to it, go to Xiuju, and listen to it.Baizhi considers it carefully and listens to it, and the palm force is used to listen to it. Bianmeng expands and explains the first sentence. Chuangzhi listens to this institutional framework. You must listen to the founders of the country in front of you.

Who is Jianguo Zhijun?The people whose ancestors started their own business faced the most complex situations, and they had the most sufficient conditions to solve problems at that time. These people also have excellent abilities, so the institutional framework they formulated is very reasonable. Don't take it lightly.To move it, this is called creation.Listen to the second sentence and practice the duties of listening.What is a hundred jobs?For professional cadres in various vertical fields, should a policy be adjusted or a project be held?This is called quitting. We must listen to them and listen to professional cadres.The implication is that you should never listen to laymen.Didn’t Guo Degang have such a joke?He said, for example, a rocket scientist and I said that your rocket is not good and the fuel is not good. I think it is best to burn wood, coal must be selected coal, and water-washed coal will not work.If that scientist looked at me squarely, he would lose.This is Guo Degang's joke. To put it bluntly, this is a spirit of respect for professionalism.No matter how lively the layman shouts and no matter how sincere the suggestions he makes, he cannot be ignored. This is called resting.

Listen to a hundred words, consider three sentences, listen to the palm of your hand.What is consideration?It is the specific proportion of implementing that policy. Do you want more or less?Is it lighter or heavier?Who do you want to listen to?Listening to local governors and department heads is called Chang Li.When the major policies formulated by the central government of your country are conveyed to the lower levels, they are just a few lines of capital, but when they reach the grassroots level, the situations they encounter are all real and life is very different.If you don't give grassroots officials this kind of flexibility, they won't be able to do anything.For example, some time ago I saw a grassroots village official sharing his work experience online. He said that one of the characteristics of our village is that villagers love gambling.Originally, every family was extremely poor. They couldn't make much money outside in a year. During the Spring Festival, they would lose everything by playing a few cards.For those of us who are cadres, if you come to your door to persuade someone, they won’t listen.Okay, you use police force to arrest them. If you arrest them on occasions such as weddings and weddings, it will easily cause conflicts, so you can't do it forcefully.

What to do?We forced everyone to do square dancing, held regular square dancing competitions, invited professors from the music school to be judges, and even created a ranking list.In this way, the energy of the villagers is consumed. It can be seen to the naked eye that there are fewer people participating in gambling.But if you let an outsider look at this, he would definitely say, "Oh, the cadres in this village are not good enough to force people to participate in cultural activities. Why are they doing this?"He must be doing a face-saving project for his own political achievements. How do they know our true purpose? As God testifies, it is for their happiness that the villagers are not allowed to gamble. Sometimes the measure of policy implementation and joining the party are really...It can only be decided by the officials closest to the people.

If you are not in the middle of the situation, it will be difficult for you to intervene.The rights and wrongs you see from the sidelines are probably layman's terms.Wang Fuzhi also has a fourth sentence: obey and listen, and border alliances are the common people organized to protect the people on the border. They are called border alliances.Under the political conditions in ancient times, the common people could only be governed. But don't forget, even if the common people were completely passive, they still had the right to speak. However, this speech was not about speaking, but voting with actions.The so-called compliance refers to whether the people cooperate or not.If this is a policy, then you can rest assured that ordinary people will naturally find ways to exploit loopholes, find loopholes, non-violently disobey or simply leave, so this policy will still not be implemented.

You see, with these four sentences, Wang Xiuju listens before creation, Baizhi considers it, and Zhangli obeys it. Wang Fuzhi of the border alliance has outlined a complete logic of political adjustment, which is nothing more than fourThe first layer is the big institutional framework. Listen to the founder of the country and don’t touch it.Second, whether policies should be revised or projects should be stopped, let’s listen to professional officials.The third is whether there should be more or less, whether the intensity should be loose or tight, listen to local cadres, and the fourth is to cooperate with the people recently or not?Are you willing or unwilling?Finally, let’s look at the reaction of the people. Is the plan set up by Wang Fuzhi a bit like some kind of mechanical structure?It means that there is first a large stable frame, then some thick knobs, and some finely adjusted knobs. This layer by layer makes the entire social governance system both stable and adaptable.

You should have heard the core logic of this plan, which is that specific people preside over the operation and changes of specific links in specific ways.Of course there is a subtext here, that is, please don’t break away from your own position to worry about other people’s hearts. There can’t be a position where you don’t know anything, you have no expertise, you just give advice to others, this kind of adviceOf no value.Among these four sentences, I think the one that we as modern people may not be used to hearing the most is the first sentence called "Creation of Intelligence, Listen to it and go."Hey, why?The founder of the country may have been dead for hundreds of years. We still regard the words of our ancestors as Jing Ke Yulu. Isn’t this kidnapping the living by kidnapping the dead?This question is very complicated, haha.At least when we are talking about the Song Dynasty in 1003 today, we cannot use a modern perspective to look at the institutional framework created by the founding emperor in ancient times when the social environment changed very slowly. It was indeed very adaptable.This problem is so big that we won’t talk about anything else. Today I will talk about a very small problem, that is, when the highest power is only passed down within a family, one generation will not be as good as the other. That is a high probability.

King Qian is better than the king he is now. You have to recognize this, right?Using a concept in the theory of evolution, what is this called?This is called regression to the mean, right?This concept is a phenomenon discovered by Darwin's cousin Galton. If the father's height is greater than the average, the son's height will most likely be shorter than the father's. In turn, the son's height will most likely be shorter than the average.My father is tall.Other indicators of intelligence, emotional intelligence, energy and physical fitness are similar.Returning to the mean is fate.The first generation of entrepreneurial monarchs should be far superior to ordinary people in all aspects of ability, but it is inevitable that the abilities of their descendants will return to the average. It is impossible for generations to be strong men descended from heaven. This is a hard bargain.

Let's just look at the Song Dynasty. Song Taizu and Song Taizong were not ordinary people. Needless to say, Taizu, Song Taizong was only diligent, and his descendants could not compare at all.Let's take the emperor's rest time as an example. During the Tang Dynasty, the emperor was required to stay in court for more than five days. After the Anshi Rebellion, there were more national affairs, and the emperor became more diligent.The emperor's rest is also a day of work and a day of rest.But what are the characteristics of an old man like Song Taizong Zhao Guangyi?Not taking a day off?Yes, during his 21 years in office, he worked every day and went to court every day. On the day of his death, he even summoned ministers and righteous men.So how meticulous was Song Taizong in managing things?He personally decides the cases that he can handle.For example, in the case of Kaifeng Mansion, the record he left behind was that he sentenced hundreds of cases a day.Some ministers advised him, "Your Majesty, you are working too hard. What did Song Taizong say?"What's so hard about this?I didn't feel tired at all. I felt like I just sat there for a while and got the work done.A capable person is a capable person, and this must be obeyed.What experience did you say this was?When he came to Song Zhenzong, he could insist on going to court every day to learn from his father at first, but gradually he couldn't do it anymore, and he began to find reasons to take holidays for himself every now and then.To be honest, Song Zhenzong is really not lazy, but as an ordinary person, his experience is not as good as that of Song Taizong, a man who is called a genius.

Speaking of which, I would like to mention a famous scene in Chinese history.It is said that the prime ministers in the early Han Dynasty were first Xiao He and then Cao Shen.The time of Cao Shen was the time of Emperor Hui of the Han Dynasty. Emperor Hui of the Han Dynasty thought that I, the Prime Minister, Cao Shen, only drank alcohol every day and had no ambition to make progress. He just came to Cao Shen to talk to him and asked, "Can you change things?"Let's do something.Then Cao Shen asked him while holding the wine glass, "Hey, is your ability comparable to your father Liu Bang?"Oh, it can’t compare, right?Ha, then do you think I, Cao Shen, am better than my predecessor Xiao He?Oh, no comparison.Haha, then neither of us can compare, so why are we still messing around?If we just follow the rules honestly, that is, if we act in accordance with the founding system, wouldn’t it be the end of it?What kind of innovation are you doing?It was a famous scene, and later the idiom was left behind, called Xiao Gui Cao Sui.

Therefore, the ancients always talked about ancestral laws and compliance with ancestral systems. This was not a conservative reaction in concept, but very realistic. He knew it, right?This emperor is not as good as the previous generation, and there is a high probability that this will happen. This is a very feasible political strategy.So today our program does not tell historical stories, but introduces them through a passage from Li Hang. In fact, we are repeatedly playing with a concept.The most core of them are these two. First, don’t listen to the advice of irrelevant people, and always try to eliminate the disadvantages and make changes.So why is this the second one?The system established by the late king is actually quite good and very reasonable. Don’t move it if you can. To put it bluntly, these are the two concepts we are talking about today. So what kind of concept is this set of concepts??In the genealogy of thought all over the world and all mankind, we know that this is the so-called conservatism tradition. Why do we talk about this in this issue?Because even in ancient China, there were very few people like Li Hang and Wang Fuzhi who expressed this concept so clearly and completely.This year is 1003 AD, so Li Hang will pass away in July next year.Therefore, we must seize this electric moment in Chinese history and capture this rare fragment in the history of Chinese thought.Hey, in the next part of this program, we will ask about conservatism again. What is he talking about?

Our pursuit of a better life comes from the opening of every extraordinary door.Casarte was born for love, the art of home.We mentioned conservatism just now. However, the word conservatism sounds like a derogatory term. There is nothing we can do about it. Although the themes of the Chinese people's times in the past 200 years have been different, sometimes it is the old king, and sometimes it is the old king.Enlightenment, sometimes rise.But we Chinese people of the past 200 years all have the same strong thinking and background. We all advocate change and oppose conservatism. We all feel that the status quo is not good and needs to be transformed. Tomorrow will be better. This is a major event in the world. We should just go along with it.Chang, if you go against it, you will offend the king.

Therefore, when Chinese people of our generation hear the concept of conservatism, they will inevitably find it harsh, bizarre, and unimaginable.So in today’s civilized program, we will try to spend a little time to understand this conservatism. What is he talking about?After understanding, we can make a decision. Should we agree with him?All right?So what is the starting point of conservatism?Are you clinging to tradition, clinging to the status quo, clinging to the words of your ancestors and not letting go?

Is it an antique?no.The fundamental starting point of conservatism is three words: distrust.It's a deep-rooted distrust of humankind's intellectual capacity.By the way, this is a little tip for learning the history of thought. When we study the history of thought, we cannot just look at how he expresses his thoughts. What does a thinker stand for?Don't look at this yet, let's first look at what he hates?Disgust is an emotion. This is not rational disgust, it is emotional.What is he against?Fear of what?Dislike what?Alas, after finding this, and then looking back at the anger, fear and disgust on his face, we can suddenly understand why he has those opinions.

Yes, the same is true for understanding conservatism. First look at its opposite. What does he hate?Conservatives believe that by using pure rational thinking and conceptual reasoning, you can come up with a plan to transform the world.This person is too arrogant. The conclusion these people come to must be a utopia. Human society is not a machine. Whatever is broken can be repaired and made better.Human society is a very complex organism, and no one's wisdom can understand all the laws of its operation.As an outsider, when you propose a change, you can see the benefits of a change, but you cannot see the hidden costs.Why?Because real life is the Internet.Let me give you a very small example, which I saw in a book recently.Suppose a trainee screenwriter is very talented and is good at writing scripts. He is reading a script and suddenly a new idea comes to him, saying that I should add a character and a cat to this story, okay?You see, this idea sounds very good and reliable, but there is an extra cat, the cat does not need to be ugly in the film, and there are pets in the film. You see, in today's society, young people will definitely like it. Is this a good idea?But let me tell you, this screenwriter must have never read this book, hahaha. The book I got recently is called The American TV Drama Screenwriter’s Handbook.

This book mentions a detail, saying that when you are not absolutely sure, don’t write about the baby series and the pet series. Why can’t you write about the series with cats?Because it is very difficult for children and pets to cooperate during actual filming on the set. If the filming scene cannot be handled properly, the entire staff may have to work overtime.Haha, the cost and complexity of the entire film will go up, so don’t just add a cute-looking cat character to the script, the hidden price is huge.

You see how small this is. If you are not in the game, you do not understand the potential costs and costs brought about by a change.Therefore, there is an old saying among the Chinese: If a law cannot be established, it will not change a hundred times. If it does not bring a hundredfold benefit, don’t try to make changes.Ordinarily, wouldn’t it be possible to make changes if the benefits are doubled?No, if you want to keep the remaining 99 times the benefits, what can you do to hedge against the potential risks and costs that you don’t know now and haven’t yet shown?Whatever we do, we must fully consider the shortcomings of human reason. This is the fundamental starting point of conservatism.He doesn't believe in human rationality. Now you may better understand why Li Hang said that.

I don't listen to those policy suggestions that promote advantages and eliminate disadvantages, and I dominate all the interests and harms of my subjects at home and abroad.This is the same as the Western conservative tradition.Edmund Burke, the founder of British and American conservatism, opposed the French Revolution.Sometimes it is difficult for us to understand the French Revolution. Isn’t this a good thing that promotes the progress of the times?Why do you object?He is not against the slogans of freedom, equality, and fraternity. He does not believe in these people. You hold up these slogans and think that you can transform a better society because you have the truth. This is too arrogant. This is conservatism.The first characteristic.

There is a second characteristic of conservatism that often leads to misunderstandings: we often think that conservatism is opposed to change.No, they just demand cautious change.Then you might say what's the difference, right?What does caution mean?How to measure this caution?Doctoralists have put forward a whole set of ideas, which is very imaginative.Don’t they advocate change?Okay, everyone has to come to the meeting.Who are we?All stakeholders involved in the change must be invited to the meeting room and everyone must vote together.But here comes the point, who is this stakeholder?This is the thinking of conservatives. He says that you are not just living. This world existed before our generation. After our generation, this world will continue to exist. WeTheir descendants must still survive.So what the world looks like cannot be decided only by those of us who are alive.The dead, the people in the future, and of course us, all have a role to play. Everyone has to enter the conference room, go to the negotiation table, speak, and vote.Yes, this is the famous saying of Eton’s blog.

I also brought this book review of the French Revolution. It says in it what does he mean by country?The state is a partnership not only between living people, but also between those who are alive, those who have died, and those who will be born.So since it is a partnership, we have to let them speak, let the dead and the unborn speak together, right?So you see those political newspaper activists are the spokespersons of our ancestors.

No matter what we think, they will shout at the poker table, don't just see the benefits, think more about the costs.Those fiscal conservatives are the representatives of our children and grandchildren.No matter what we want to do, they will shout at the card table that we are not allowed to eat everything. This is just the idea of ​​​​your generation. We must leave some for our children and grandchildren, for those children and babies who are not yet able to vote.

There is a British conservative thinker named Chesterton who put it very clearly. What does he mean by tradition?Tradition is the democracy of kings. The essence of respecting tradition is not not to change, but to allow dead kings to participate in our democratic decision-making process.Only this kind of decision-making process, which involves all stakeholders, can be a thoughtful process, and actions taken through this process can be responsible and prudent changes.

You might say that this is not the case, this is just a concept, right?The dead ancestors cannot speak, and the infants and unborn children who cannot speak yet cannot speak. How can they participate in decision-making?They don't need to talk.Let me give you a simple example. For example, we ordinary people, the way we do things by ourselves in the room is the same as the way we do things in front of our parents who are sitting next to us.Even if our parents don't say anything, we will act much more serious, right?As long as we realize that our ancestors and our descendants are all in this conference room, even if they don't say anything, they are actually participating.
Yes, as Fan Zuyu, a historian from the Song Dynasty, said, we are now in 1003, and Fan Zuyu would not be born until 40 years later.Fan Zuyu is also one of the editors of Zhizhi Tongjian

one.Fan Zongyu told Song Zhezong, the then emperor, that if every word and action of our ancestors is above us and left aside, we can always enjoy the seams of the world without losing it.It's you, the Emperor. When you do everything, you think of our ancestors sitting next to you.They may often ask you why you do what you do. As long as you have this thought, hey, our world is not that bad.If you understand this truth, we may be able to understand more deeply why the ancients took the trouble to talk about the Zongzhi system.Well, now, whether you agree with conservatism or not, you at least understand one thing, that is, conservatism is not narrow-minded, and it does not only look at the past.Non-conservatism actually penetrates the past, present and future. It provides a broader perspective and the participants in their conference room are richer.

Our civilization program today is a bit abstract. It starts with a sentence from Li Hang. We have said so much. I know that even if I explain so much, that sentence still sounds quite harsh. What is the meaning of Chinese and foreign culture?What is it called?With everything at stake, why are you so arrogant?Fortunately, I still have a book on hand, and I brought more books today.Mr. King Kong, this is one of the three hundred years of the Song Dynasty series written by a folk thinker that I like very much.Li Han's words are also mentioned in this book.Then he said that three things are needed to understand Li Hang's sentence, and I will read it to you.One thing needs to be said. Yes, the founder of the Song Dynasty, Taizu Taizong, devalued legislation in the historical situation since the Five Dynasties. This is the profound meaning of the system created by the founding monarch. Do we really understand it in full?We have to think about it, this is the first thing we need, and we also need to examine the weaknesses of the scholar-bureaucrat class who are obsessed with meritorious deeds and seeking fame.Hey, those are the people who put forward extreme suggestions for reform. Have they really thought about it or are they just for their own selfish interests?Hey, we also need to ask this question, and we need to have some ideological understanding of the historical sage concept of governing by doing nothing and modern conservative political philosophy.

Is there some truth to the objections of ancient Chinese sages and Western conservatism to middle-aged people?Well, back to 1003 AD.Li Hao, our protagonist today is still serving as prime minister, but by July 1004 next year, Li Hang, known as the holy elephant, will die.After Li Hang's death, the political atmosphere of this Chinese-style classical conservatism gradually disappeared.From the need for change to everyone vying for opinions and suggestions, to party disputes because of different opinions, the political style of our Song Dynasty is about to undergo major changes.

In our cultural programs for the next two years or so, we will continue to touch on this topic.This year we are watching the departure of the old man Li Hang in advance, so that we can remember the stubborn figure of Chinese classical conservatism.Next year in 1004, the ultimate decisive battle between Song and Liao will begin, so in the next episode of Civilization, we will focus on the battlefield of swords and swords.See you next time.