The Song Dynasty won the battle between Song and Liao, so why did Song Zhenzong still sign the Chanyuan Alliance?
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The Song Dynasty passed through two dynasties, Song Taizu Zhao Kuangyin and Song Taizong Zhao Guangyi, and reached the reign of Song Zhenzong Zhao Heng. Song Taizu Zhao Kuangyin was undoubtedly a very powerful founding emperor. He had conquered half of the Song Dynasty. Unfortunately, he died a little early. After Song Taizong Zhao Guangyi came to the throne, he also had Taizu’s sharpness. The following year, he personally conquered Taiyuan and destroyed the Northern Han Dynasty, ending the Five Dynasties and Ten Dynasties. The situation of separatism in the country. The last two attacks on the Liao Dynasty, in an attempt to regain the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun, both failed. During the last expedition to the Liao Dynasty, he was beaten by the Liao army and lost his helmet and armor, and escaped back to Bianjing with injuries. Song Zhenzong ascended the throne in 998 AD, when he was 30 years old and in his prime. Before he ascended the throne, Song Zhenzong was named King of Han, King of Xiang and King of Shou. He was the third son of Song Taizong. He was established as the crown prince in 997. Song Taizong died the next year. Zhenzong ascended the throne with the support of Prime Minister Lu Duan. The emperor was the third emperor of the Northern Song Dynasty.
When Zhenzong came to the throne, the world was at peace and the people returned to their hearts. But the northern border was not peaceful. The Khitans of Liao State were fiercely armed and often ambitious, coveting the Song Dynasty. Why did the Liao Kingdom always harass the Song Dynasty? The reason is that during the reign of Chai Rong, Emperor Shizong of Zhou Dynasty, he seized the land south of Guannan of Liao Kingdom. You not only want to ask, what is going on in this Guannan land? It turns out that Guannan in the Northern Song Dynasty refers to the three states conquered by Zhou Shizong in the Later Zhou Dynasty when he conquered the Liao Dynasty: Ningzhou, Mozhou, and Yingzhou. Because the Song Dynasty inherited the territory of the Later Zhou Dynasty, the Liao Kingdom considered Guannan the land. It belongs to them and must be returned to them, but how can the Song Dynasty spit out the meat it ate? Resolutely refused, the Liao State mobilized heavy troops and vowed to fight the Song Dynasty. After many battles, the two armies won and lost each other. At that time, Emperor Taizong of the Song Dynasty still wanted to destroy the Liao Dynasty and personally led his troops to conquer the Liao Dynasty. Unfortunately, he had just returned to his own use and did not listen to the advice. He went deep alone and was ambushed by the Liao army. .
During the reign of Emperor Zhenzong of the Song Dynasty, the Song Dynasty and the Liao Dynasty still had no peace with each other and continued the war. In the first year of Jingde, the Song Dynasty and the Liao Dynasty met in Chanzhou. The Kou Prime Minister strongly argued and advocated the war of resistance, and personally invited Zhenzong to supervise the war in Chanzhou City. Zhenzong personally came to the city to command, the morale of the Song army was greatly boosted, and they defeated the Liao invaders. The Song general Zhang Da shot Xiao Taolin, the brother of the Liao Empress Dowager Xiao, with a fuzi. war. After years of fighting, the two sides did not get any benefits, but many people died. In the end, they had to shake hands and make peace. At that time, the Song Dynasty and the Liao Dynasty signed the “Chanyuan Alliance” peace agreement. At that time, the Empress Dowager Xiao sent the Liao Dynasty envoy Han Qi to follow the Song Dynasty envoy Cao Lili into Chanzhou to meet Song Zhenzong and ask for “Guannan Land”. Why do you keep mentioning this matter? ? Come grab it if you can!
Song Zhenzong immediately refused sternly, but still gave in, saying: We can get gold and silk, but we will never cede territory. He also repeatedly warned Cao Cao in person that he would never give in on the land issue. The two sides finally agreed that the Song Dynasty would provide the Liao Dynasty with 100,000 taels of silver and 200,000 bolts of silk every year to “support the army and brigade”, which would be delivered to Xiongzhou (today’s Xiongxian County, Hebei Province). From then on, the Song Dynasty and the Liao Dynasty stopped fighting. The Song Dynasty negotiated peace with gold and silk. Although it was humiliating, it gained peace in the north. Later, the Khitans did not invade the Song Dynasty for decades.
There is a mystery in everyone’s mind here, why did they pay compensation to Liao after they won the battle? The reason was that Zhenzong of the Song Dynasty simply did not want to fight anymore. During the battle at Chanzhou, the sound of swords could still be heard. In addition, the Liao Dynasty repeatedly claimed that the Song Dynasty had occupied their Guannan land. Song Dynasty felt that it was wrong and had to pay some silver and silk to settle the matter.
In fact, the situation at this time was the best in the Song Dynasty. The war in the north via the Chanzhou Alliance stopped, and the northwest was also very peaceful. Li Deming, a member of the northwest party, was awarded the title of Military Envoy of the Dingnan Army by the Song Dynasty and was granted the title of King of Xiping (1005). , every year, he was given 10,000 taels of silver, 10,000 pieces of silk, 20,000 guan of money, and 20,000 jins of tea. Li Deming received these benefits and was extremely grateful to the Song Dynasty. Although Li Deming fought against the Uighurs and Tubo for many years, he never disturbed the Song Dynasty.
After the Liao Dynasty negotiated peace, the world was really at peace, and Song Zhenzong was also very satisfied. In October of the first year of Dazhong Xiangfu (AD 1008), Song Zhenzong led more than 2,000 officials from the imperial court and set out from Bianjing with thousands of horses and thousands of horses. To attract the attention of the people, what is the emperor going to do? It turns out that Mount Tai was enshrined in the east. When emperors in the past dynasties became successful, they often went east to Mount Tai to worship. Song Zhenzong wanted to use this to show that the emperor’s kindness was great and that the world would be peaceful. Emperor Zhenzong of the Song Dynasty named the God of Mount Tai as the “Holy Emperor of Heavenly Qi Ren” and the goddess of Mount Tai as “The Immortal Jade Girl Bixia Yuanjun”. On the east side of the Tang Moya on the top of Mount Tai, he carved the “Inscription of Xie Tian Shu Shu Two Saints’ Merit and Virtue”. Wang Dan was ordered to write “Ode to the Sacrifice Altar”, Wang Qinruo was to write “Ode to the Shrine Altar”, and Chen Yaosou was to write “Ode to the Pilgrimage Altar”, and each of them erected steles at the foot of the mountain.
There were no more border issues and fewer wars. From then on, the Song Dynasty worked hard to govern and develop production, and the Central Plains experienced a rare prosperity since the Tang Dynasty.
(2010·Yichang) The minority regime that signed the Chanyuan Alliance with the Northern Song Dynasty was the Liao Dynasty.