Hello, this is the Civilization Journey program, and you are welcome to travel to 1008 AD. This year is the first year of mass prosperity for Zhenzong of Song Dynasty and the twenty-sixth year of the unification of Shengzong of Liao Dynasty.To be honest, our Civilization Journey program has been competing year by year until now. These 1008 years have been the biggest challenge for me.So why do you say that?Its historical development in the previous years had a clear context, but in 1008 a big turning point suddenly occurred.

Yes, in this year, we must explain a very strange thing, that is, the current emperor Zhenzong of the Song Dynasty suddenly turned around. Starting from this year, his temperament suddenly changed drastically, and he engaged in superstitious activities.He forged heavenly books to seal Mount Tai, and then developed to build Taoist temples and large-scale construction projects across the country. He continued to toss and toss until his death at the age of 55, which lasted for more than ten years.So later the Twenty-Four Histories, Official History, and Song History commented on this stage of history: Alas, your whole country is like crazy. It's really strange.Did you hear when Song History was compiled?It was built by the Yuan Dynasty 300 years later.

In other words, people 300 years later will still find this paragraph strange when they see it more than ten years ago. They can’t find a reasonable explanation for your client’s behavior. They can only say, alas, your client is crazy. You may say, this isWhat's weird, Emperor?Are there many cases of sudden confusion in Chinese history?Since our program "Journey of Civilization" has been developed year by year, we have a responsibility, which is to see the continuity behind historical development as much as possible, and to ask ourselves to see the continuity of the world., does not accept any broken explanation, this is a very important intellectual tradition, and it is not only the subject of history, as the German mathematician Leibniz said, there are no jumps in nature.Yes, this is a very important motto in the Western academic tradition.There are no jumps in nature. The economist Marshall even wrote this sentence on the title page of the first edition of his classic economics book.There are no jumps in nature, and the evolution of anything is always carried out through small continuous changes, not sudden ones.If we feel, eh?Why did there suddenly be a turn or a jump? Well, we have to know in our hearts that it can only be because we don't know him well enough.

Let's look at the historical materials of Zhenzong's dynasty, at least the early historical materials, and you will find that Emperor Zhenzong was a generous, sensitive, thoughtful, and decisive person with a good cultural foundation.How could such an emperor suddenly turn into a person in the year 1008 who was both deceived and willing to deceive, confused and fanatical.When I look at this period of history, I feel a bit like an invigilator watching a top student taking an exam.Wow, the first half of this paper is really impeccably done. You can see the handwriting is neat and there are almost no wrong questions.Suddenly, in the middle of the exam, he went crazy. Not only did he get all the questions wrong, but the paper was so smeared and dirty that he couldn't read it.

Then you said that as an invigilator, am I looking after other students?What do I think is wrong with you?These three questions come one after another. The first question is, why did he do this?Second question, why didn’t the ministers stop me?The third question is, what inspiration does this tragedy of Song Zhenzong have for us contemporary Chinese?Well, with these questions, let’s travel back to 1008 AD, the first year of the Great Song Dynasty.

As we mentioned just now, in 1008, our current emperor Zhenzong suddenly engaged in superstitious activities. Alas, this left a word in history called Tianshu fan.Although it is one word, it is actually two things.The Book of Heaven refers to a letter written by God to him. This is called the Book of Heaven.Where did the emperor's reply go?Going back to the top of Mount Tai to hold sacrificial activities is called Fengchan. Mount Tai communicates with God and destroys the letter.
So let’s first talk about how this happened?It is said that on the second day of the Lunar New Year in 1008, Emperor Zhengzong suddenly told several important ministers around him to come quickly and see you if I need anything.After being called, the story started.I have this story, which is very detailed and vivid with many layers.Mr. Emperor said, do you know Wuling’s bedroom?Hey, there are a lot of cyan curtains hanging inside, which are flickering and swaying, so the lighting in my bedroom is not very good. I don’t light candles in the morning and night, and I can’t even see the colors clearly.Hey, you see, this is the first level of the story. First, the environment is explained and the atmosphere is heightened, and then the lake of the story comes.

In November last year, please note that this time is already 1008. I am talking about what happened the previous year. In November last year, I went to bed in the middle of the night. Suddenly, there was a bright light in the fog.The old god appeared and told me, get up quickly and get ready. God will teach you three heavenly books in a month.You must not tell others, and then the old god will disappear.

This is the second level of the story. The old god has caused suspense. God wants to write a letter to us. I have never heard of it, and the suspense suddenly rises.Immediately following the third level, Emperor Zhenzong, let me tell you what happened at the end of November. Starting in December, I started to be jealous. I didn’t dare to touch any meat. Not only was it building a dojo but also making preparations, oh, butIt took a whole month of tossing.I just waited there and let the old god say that there was no movement for a month. So after all the preparations I had done, such as arriving at the scene, should I withdraw or not?Look at the twists and turns of this plot. I am due in one month. Will this letter from God come or not?It’s so exciting that the fourth level of the story is coming soon.

Just this morning, someone just reported to me that there is a gate in our imperial city. There is a corner on that gate, and there is a scroll hanging on the corner, and there seems to be writing on it.The emperor said, I am thinking that this may be the heavenly book mentioned by the old god. What can the ministers say at this time?Right?If you say it is a heavenly book, then you have to go with it.That's not good. It's all because you are so wise and mighty, Emperor. God sees it and must write a letter to praise you.Since it is a heavenly book, why don't you go and see what is written in the heavenly book alone?We outsiders stood by.Alas, I'm afraid it's inconvenient for us to see. The emperor will express his position immediately.That doesn't necessarily mean praising me. What if the Book of Heaven criticizes the government of our Song Dynasty?Then let's correct it together.If the Heavenly Book criticizes me personally as the emperor, then I should improve my self-cultivation myself.How can we be afraid of others knowing about the letter written by God?Listen, between this push and pull, where there is no suspense, there is a suspense created every time.God's letter may also be a criticism.Who said it well? Of course, the subsequent development will be revealed soon. Someone was sent to the foot of the Imperial City Gate to take down the Book of Heaven. There were words on the baggage. When I opened it and unfolded it, it turned out to be a letter, which meansYour old Zhao family was appointed emperor by fate, and it was passed down to Zhao Heng that he was the Zhenzong Emperor. He did a great job.If your old Zhao family continues to pass it on like this, it will be passed down for at least 700 generations. You don't mean to criticize at all.It turned out to be a letter of unreserved praise.

That famous history book is called Xu Zizhi Tongjian. At this point in the long article, there is one detail worth pondering. He specially wrote the names of the two eunuchs who took down this heavenly book on the feet of the upper city gate.One is named Zhou Huaizheng and the other is Huangfu Jiming.It was said that the two eunuchs were just handymen and they sent people up to take them down. Why did they have to write down their names?Alas, this is the power of traditional Chinese historians.
I didn't say anything about the so-called "knowing a pen like a knife", but I said everything, and you just think about that?Is it easy for an emperor to create such a book in a deep palace?you?You have to be like this when editing lyrics, writing lyrics, and making heavenly books, right?He still had to send someone to hang it on that door again. Why couldn't he let the emperor do so many things himself?There must be someone in the palace who can help the emperor, who?Hey, dear readers, please remember the names of these two eunuchs. I won’t be able to tell you more. Not to mention us modern people, even people at that time, who can’t figure out what is going on??But all the onlookers saw through it but didn't expose it, and everyone cooperated with the performance.

Then there is the whole series, including congratulations from the officials, suing heaven and earth, suing the Ancestral Temple, amnesty to the world, rewarding the officials, and the elimination of the reign name of Jingde. Isn't it the first month of the year?After the year changed, the old god said that the book of heaven called for Dazhong to surrender.Okay, our reign name has also been changed to Dazhong Subjugation. Originally, this scene can only end here, right?The high-mocking ending was all there, but no one expected that this was just the beginning.In 1008, within this year, Song Zhenzong received three letters of heaven.What no one expected was that collecting the Heavenly Book was just the beginning. The real drama turned out to be the sealing of Mount Tai.Speaking of this year, in October of this year, Song Zhenzong set off from Bianliang, the capital, with a huge team. It took a total of 46 days and more than a month to hold the ceremony for the Fengchan Taishan.Of course, what everyone didn't expect was that the closure of Mount Tai was just the beginning. In the next ten years, there would be more heavenly books, more priests, and more large-scale construction projects, and this continued until the death of the authentic emperor.

The thing is like this. As we are separated by more than a thousand years, we must have an explanation for this matter. The simplest and most consistent explanation for the ancient concept is that since there is a foolish king, what is behind the scenes?There must be a treacherous minister. If both the foolish king and the treacherous minister are gathered together, the causal chain will be complete.Then who is this traitor?It is said to be Wang Qinruo.Wang Qinruo is an incredible person, and we will mention him in our programs for many years to come.Wang Qingruo was also a senior official of the imperial court at the time. It is said that this man was very short and had a big tumor on his neck.I might call it Fugui Bao today.What is it?Anyway, you think he has an ugly image, and he looks like a treacherous minister at first glance.How did he become such a traitor?This is what is recorded in the history books. Let’s sum it up. It’s probably just this sentence. Asking him to first create a pain out of nothing for Emperor Zhenzong.Then he deliberately gave the emperor a medicine, first the pain and then the medicine, but he made all these things himself.

It was said that this was a few years ago. After the members' alliance was signed, it was only three years in February. One day the court meeting ended, Prime Minister Kou Zhun resigned first and went home from get off work.Alas, Song Zhenzong looked at Kou Zhun's back with a look of great admiration.At this time, Wang Qingruo was not off work, so Wang Qingruo said something he had been holding in his heart for a long time.Wang Qingruo said, oh, you are so respectful of your accuracy, do you really think he has made great contributions to the country?Zhenzong said, of course not. How could the Zen Yun Alliance be in the situation it is today?Wang Qingruo said, Your Majesty, I didn't expect you to have such a view.

Talking about the alliance of luck, this is called the alliance under the city. It was forced to sign the contract.Even in the Spring and Autumn Period when small countries were fighting wars, it would be extremely embarrassing if they signed an alliance under the city walls.We are the great Song Dynasty, leading the city's spear, why are you not ashamed of it, but proud of it?It is said that as soon as Wang Qinruo said this, the emperor felt a huge shadow in his heart. He signed an alliance under the city and embarrassed the country. What should we do?How to remedy it?Wang Qi said that he would take out the antidote from his pocket immediately. The emperor said, what do you think we should do?Wang Qingruo really has the demeanor of a political strategist from the Warring States Period. He is particularly good at talking, and he suppresses his ambitions first.
He first gave an answer. He said that this is easy to handle. Wherever we fall, we can get up. Let's go on to fight with the Liao Kingdom and take back the Sixteen States of Youyun. Wouldn't this be avenging our previous shame?Mr. Zheng said, no, no, no, we can’t chat like this?That won't work. We finally have peace. This is a bad idea. Why don't you try another one?Look at this situation, with horses and bows in front, and all preparations made, Wang Qingruo took out the trump card he had prepared from his pocket.

He said that there is another way, you can seal Mount Tai, which is a great public welfare. As long as you seal Mount Tai, people in the world will be shocked and convinced.Alas, after hearing this, we as contemporary people may feel a little confused, right?Ha, doesn’t Fengchan Taishan just go to the top of the mountain to hold a sacrificial activity?You want to go to Ningning area, right?How can the world be convinced by this matter?We cannot understand this from the perspective of contemporary people, we have to stand from the perspective of the parties involved.Fengchan Taishan was a great event in ancient China. Sima Qian wrote a special article called Fengchanshu in the Historical Records. The first sentence of this article is that since ancient times, all emperors recognized by destiny have not been virtuous.?So you see, at the beginning, the emperor who felt that he had the destiny to consecrate Mount Tai, but as time went by, the logic of this matter changed very subtly. That is, if you can consecrate Mount Tai, it proves that you, the emperor, have the destiny.

If you look at the chain of cause and effect, it is reversed. If you look at the fan, it becomes the Emperor of Taiping, or the certification exam for the top emperor. If you can successfully confer Zen Taishan, it proves that you are the Emperor of Taiping and that you are a top emperor..Don't think this exam is easy or difficult. If you want to be a good person, generally speaking, you have to meet the following conditions. First, first, the unification of the world. Second, this country can no longer fight. There is no war outside.Right?Third, there must be no natural disasters.Fourth, there must be all kinds of auspiciousness in the world.What is auspiciousness?Just as various signals appear in the world, such a strange animal suddenly appears, such a strange plant appears, and a strange world appears. In short, God has to send you a lot of consumption before you can come, right?So in Chinese history, there are often emperors who feel that the funds are about the same, and they have to catch the fan. They are in full swing of preparations, but at this time, hey, a war suddenly comes, or a natural disaster suddenly comes, alas, I get a fan.If we can't do it, we have to stop.

This kind of thing happened many times. For example, the famous Tang Taizong, who should be our surname Mu, was Tang Taizong, the number one emperor in ancient China, but he failed to do it.It's not that he didn't want to do it. Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty wanted to ban it in the sixth year of Zhenguan and the twenty-first year of Zhenguan, and was making preparations. But, alas, suddenly there was a flood in the world, and it stopped after that. Is there a natural disaster?Alas, not long ago, our Song Zhenzong's father, Song Taizong Zhao Guangyi, also decided to seal the mountain.Suddenly, hey, one day there was a fire in the palace hall.There's nothing you can do about it. God has sent you this signal. Are you still going?I can't go away because I'm licking my face, so I can't stop fanning my face. What does this mean?Just like today in a company, if you go for an interview and something happens and you fail, then you shouldn’t bother God to give you an interview on the top of Taishan Mountain, right?So in our Chinese history, despite the many dynasties and emperors, there are actually only a few people who have actually held fan ceremonies.

Before the Song Dynasty, you could count them with one slap.You can count Qin Shihuang Ying Zheng, Han Wu Emperor Liu Che, Han Guangwu Emperor Liu Xiu, Tang Gaozong Li Zhi, and Tang Xuanzong Li Longji.Counting this time in 1008, there are only these six people in Chinese history including Song Zhenzong and Zhao Heng.Of course, it was precisely because Song Zhenzong did this in 1008 that completely ruined the reputation of Fengchan Taishan, so later emperors stopped playing this trick.Now we can understand what Wang Qingruo said, saying that as long as Fan Taishan becomes a huge industry, it can shock the world.Yes, just say you don’t doubt the emperor. If you think the emperor’s grades are not good, the emperor went to God to take the certification exam. God has already interviewed him. The God who interviewed him on the top of Mount Tai said he is good. Why do you say he is not good??In this sense, the power that shocks the world comes from here.

Okay, what I just explained is the mainstream explanation in history as to why Song Zhenzong did what he did. Simply put, the treacherous minister Wang Qinruo not only created a problem for the emperor, but felt that the Zen Yuan Alliance was not decent, and also created a problem for the emperor.The solution is to meet Mount Taishan and many related superstitious activities later. Anyway, Emperor Zhenzong was stupid and fell into the trap of the treacherous minister Wang Qinruo.Is this really the case with mainstream introductions?The historical data are all there, and we can't do anything to translate the correspondence, but I think this is the interesting part of Chinese history. It's the same fact. Maybe we can look at it from another angle.What angle is called the angle of human nature?We raise some questions about the mainstream explanations and make some new explanations.

You may have heard what I just said. What is the reason for this superstitious carnival that started in 1008, the first year of the surrender of Dazhong?The explanation of the past is actually a couplet, right?The first couplet is about Wang Qinruo's treacherous ministers' treacherous tactics, and the second couplet is about Song Zhenzong's foolish moves by the cowardly king.You see, this explanation is simple and clear, and it conforms to historical data, but unfortunately, it does not conform to human nature.If nothing else, let’s simply list three points.
First point, even if Wang Jinruo is a traitorous minister, even if he holds back his bad intentions and wants to frame Kou Zhun, then as a traitorous minister, what reason would he find to prohibit slander and frame Kou Zhun?That must be Kou Zhun being the protagonist.But the matter of Chen Yuan's Alliance is uncertain, because who is the protagonist of Chen Yuan's Alliance?It was Emperor Zhenzong himself.In the whole process, Kou Zhun was of course very important, but after all, he was a supporting role. The emperor personally participated and made the decision, a decision he is still proud of to this day.

You are standing next to me now, what kind of alliance under the city, what kind of humiliation of the country, you are biased, do you want to harm Kou Zhun or yourself?Anyone with a little bit of social experience knows that it is not difficult to understand the meaning of what I just said. There is no way to be a traitor.Second point, let’s think about it again, what is an alliance under the city?The enemy has surrounded me and is about to break the city. At this time, no matter what humiliating conditions the enemy proposes, I can only agree. This is called a treasure under the city, right?But the situation in the Battle of Chanyuan is obviously not like this. Readers, go out and turn left, you can go to the 1004 issue of our civilization journey, the Song Dynasty. At that time, they had considerable initiative, whether to fight or not to fight.It's up to me.

And who is Song Zhenzong?He was a director of the incident. He was completely present at the time, fully understood the situation, and was not an unopinionated person in terms of character. Such an emperor was so easily dismissed by you, Wang Qinruo, with just a few words, a completely untenable argument.It's just a mess, and it's not humane to ask you for the antidote.The third point is also the most important and doubtful point in my own reading of historical materials. Emperor Qingzong wanted to use the Book of Heaven to seduce the gods and to use the East Wind and West Si. Don't you think it's strange?Are the ministers around me dead?Not only did the ministers not object, but they cooperated vigorously. Why do you think this is?There was a historical record in the past that explained it this way: Emperor Zhenzong secretly gave the prime minister Wang Dan a pearl, which meant that I bribed you, prime minister, so you don't object.

The material is written in history books, so we can’t say it’s false, but I don’t believe it myself.Even if there was, how could outsiders know about the private exchange of pearls between monarchs and ministers?Moreover, there is such a big movement, and the whole country is mobilizing to engage in superstitious activities. If everyone is opposed to it, then what is the use of the emperor trying to bribe a prime minister who is a prince, right?Everyone has heard the story of Emperor Shinichi. Even if all the adults dare not speak, in the end you, a child, can still shout out that the emperor is not wearing anything, right?So what's the use of bribery of a prime minister?Furthermore, how could the scholar-bureaucrats in the Song Dynasty be so polite to the emperor?In the previous issue of Civilized Governance, in 1003 AD, when I talked about the prime minister Li Han, I also gave an example. Emperor Zhenzong also wrote a note to Li Han when he promoted Liu to the harem as a noble concubine, and sent someone toSend it.Li Hang took the note and put it on the candle to burn it. He said, "Go back and tell the emperor that I, Li Hao, think this is not okay."

A matter about a noble concubine, alas, a matter about the emperor's harem, alas, a scholar-bureaucrat can be so competitive with him, so serious. Now there is a nationwide superstitious activity, but no minister has come out to oppose it. Do you think this is reasonable?What is a reasonable explanation?I ask everyone to think about it calmly.Alas, do you think there is such a possibility? That is to enshrine Mount Tai and promote superstition. This is what everyone expects and what the people want. Everyone really feels that the peaceful and prosperous age is coming. Our country must have a way to celebrate it.After expressing his gratitude, everyone sincerely supported the emperor in setting up this heavenly book fan. Is this possible?Let’s go back to the atmosphere of 1008 and feel it.

First of all, if you stand in 1008, you will feel that peace has really come, and the decades-long war with the Liao Dynasty in the north is really over, and the price is 300,000 coins, right?But it’s not that big. The country is really rich.The previous year was 1007 AD, and the imperial court had just established a quota of grain transported to the capital from across the country, 8 million tons a year.What concept?Far exceeding the 4 million generations of the Han and Tang Dynasties, and the Ming and Qing Dynasties of later generations could not catch up.The country's financial situation is very good, and it can even be said to be the best period in the Northern Song Dynasty and the entire Northern Song Dynasty for more than 100 years.At this stage of the Song Dynasty, there was actually a scene of all nations coming to court. Yutian, Jiaozhou, Zhancheng, Ganzhou, Uighur, Dashi, Sanfo Banner, Qiuzi, etc. all sentSome envoys wanted to communicate with the Song Dynasty, and some wanted to pay tribute.How do you feel when you are the emperor?It's a bit like the prosperous times of Han and Tang Dynasties.

In terms of culture, there are so-called four major books in the Song Dynasty. You can see Taiping Guangji, Taiping Zhanwen, and Yu Yinghua Side Assistant Compass.The three parts I mentioned earlier have been programmed, and the fourth part is the largest Cefu Compass, and the project has begun.By the way, in 1008, the first government-revised Transportation and Guangdong Movement was also promulgated, so it doesn’t matter if you can’t remember the names of these books. You just need to remember that this was a prosperous period of culture, and a large number of cultural factories were operating.

There is a scene where after the Zen Yuan Alliance was signed and there were only a few members, Emperor Zhenzong once came to the library of the National University, which was called Gu Zijian at the time, and asked the librarian how many book boards our library collected in total.ah?It's either a book board, or it's already carved and ready for printing.How many pieces does this board have?The answer I received was this: when we founded the country decades ago, we had less than 4,000 yuan, but now we have 100,000 yuan under your rule.

Alas, the Zhenzong Emperor sighed, if there was no war in all directions, how could such an achievement be achieved?We present evidence differently. In fact, as long as we have a little experience with the mood of that generation, it is not difficult to understand.This is not an ordinary governance problem. It is not so simple to say that life has been better in the past two years.This is the first time in 250 years since the An-Shi Rebellion in AD 755 that China has seen peace and prosperity.If you are a fan of knowledge living in this era, you will be proud of this country's achievements and rejoice in this hard-won peace and prosperity.At this time, you suddenly heard that the emperor wanted to be enshrined on Mount Tai, to pick the pearl in the crown that the greatest emperors from ancient times had to pick, and to let God finally come to verify that this peaceful and prosperous age has really come.How do you feel?Of course you are optimistic about the outcome, so you may even be a little nervous.Alas, this time when sealing Mount Tai, be sure not to make any mistakes or cause any natural disasters. So the result is 1008. This year, you have to wait and see, from the emperor's announcement to seal Mount Tai to the final completion of the ceremony.There is really no war outside, no disasters inside, no floods, fires, hail, or earthquakes.

For such a big event, nothing happened and it was held peacefully.At this moment, do you think, wow?God has really confirmed it, and we are truly in a peaceful and prosperous age.As an intellectual, if you live in such an era, will you also feel tired and thirsty, and cheer for this peaceful and prosperous age?What we just talked about are all emotional things, but the matter of Fengchan Taishan is not that simple. At that time, the decision-makers knew that there were some practical functions behind Fengchan Taishan, and there were some rational ailments. It was not onlyAn emotional orgy.

Let me briefly mention two things. The first one is, how old was Emperor Zhenzong at this time?He was 40 years old, but he still had no son. Zhenzong had given birth to 5 children before, but unfortunately, they could not raise them and they all died.In the era of imperial power, there was no heir to the throne. What kind of problem was this?The share capital is shaken and the share capital is unstable.So now the emperor has proposed that I should go to Mount Tai to communicate with God. God may let me have a son when he is happy. What kind of problem do you think this is?The most important thing in the world, who can object to such an important thing?We can only be optimistic about the success, this is a realistic function.And if you think about it, the Song Dynasty and the Liao Dynasty stopped fighting, but the potential competition actually changed in a different way and became more intense.It used to be a boxing match, who can win on the battlefield, who is the boss, but now it has become a draft match, right?The two dynasties performed separately on the stage, and everyone in the world watched and weighed in their hearts.Hey, which one in Liaosu is the orthodox one, right?Which one is popular and which one is orthodox?You see, the Liao Dynasty promoted Buddhism and enshrined all Taoism and Confucius.Alas, our Song Dynasty also has to do something similar to deal with it, can we?You see, this is also a real political function.In short, from the perspective of the parties involved, it is very likely that the matter of closing orders to Mount Taishan is not only a superstitious activity, but also a grand celebration of the country.That's right, I brought a book today, which was written by the scholar Long Pei, "Reunification." This book studies the history of the three emperors in the early Song Dynasty.I will read the last paragraph of this book to you, please listen to it.

A large-scale military confrontation in 1005 led to a political agreement that ended the conflict between Song and Liao, and Wujiangmen no longer had a place in the daily affairs of the Song Dynasty.There were no major military operations for the next 30 years.But the political drama of nationhood seemed to need a final act.That was the Fan Ceremony in 1008. Like the war, it was Emperor Zhenzong's final political performance that completed the founding of the Song Dynasty.

Do you now understand the positioning of the Fan Closing Ceremony?Yes, the Song Dynasty has been established for more than 40 years, but it was not until this Fan Taishan ceremony that people at that time felt that, alas, the struggle of several generations had finally paid off, and the founding process of the Song Dynasty was finally completed.So it is very likely that this is the historical truth. Everyone has a consensus. This is a good thing, and I am willing to participate.But, haha, what I’m going to say next is, but if you accept the explanation I just gave, then another thing seems even more strange. Isn’t the Heavenly Book fan a good thing?Everyone was willing to participate, so why did it become infamous in the end?For example, Prime Minister Wang Dan actively participated in and contributed to the flames at the beginning, but in the later stages it was said that he regretted it very much.It is said that when Wang Dan was about to die, he even told his family that I was dead, shaved my head, put me in black monk robes and went to Tibet.It is estimated that he regarded the lack of real remonstrance and his own complicity as a stain on his career as prime minister.

For another example, after Emperor Zhenzong passed away, his queen became the famous Queen Zhang Xian. She was the real head of the family for more than ten years in the Song Dynasty. She discussed with the prime minister and said that the late emperor liked the Book of Heaven so much that he made the Book of Heaven the whole thing.They were all buried and sent underground to accompany the emperor. This was a decent way to end this absurd farce that had lasted for more than ten years.From these two things, you can see that the Tianshu fan issue has been going on for more than ten years, and everyone is very tired. Everyone wants to get rid of it as soon as possible, and have some decent relief. That was the case for people at that time, and for people later.Even less polite.Once later historians mentioned Song Zhenzong, everyone shook their heads. He was okay in the first ten years of his reign, but he was a fool in the second half. That’s how I evaluated myself. After thinking about myself, if it was Song Zhenzong, I would have no power in heaven.Ling, when I face this kind of evaluation of me by future generations, I will cry out loudly and say I am wronged. Even if it is wrong for me to engage in superstitious activities, was it only me who did it?You people didn't object at that time, you all cheered with me.

I mean to throw the blame on me alone and let me lie alone in the history books and be criticized. Is it fair?Kind?Don't you have a conscience?Yes, you think about this, if his original intention was good, and if everyone was still alive, why did he lose his space in the end, and everyone was afraid to avoid it?The pot of responsibility was finally given to Emperor Zhenzong of Song Dynasty and carried to his tomb.You see, this is another question that needs explanation. 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 spent a lot of time explaining the rationality of the Tianshu fan earlier, and you can also see that everyone around us at that time, including the prime minister and various scholar-bureaucrats, were willing to bless and even participate in this matter.Son.However, as time went by, everyone gradually felt that, oh, this is not quite right, and this matter may become anonymous, so everyone gradually withdrew, leaving Emperor Zhenzong alone.The historical scene is subject to criticism for thousands of years.If we stand on Zhenzong's side when it comes to the book, and review it for him, what exactly is the problem with the whole process?After reading the historical materials myself, I felt that there was a problem in the first link.Because you lied.From the era of 1008 to today, even a three-foot-old boy knows something, is it wrong to lie and deceive others?Have you crossed a moral boundary?This question comes again. Of course the emperor knew the historical responsibility he shouldered. Emperor Zhenzong, who grew up reading books about sages and sages since he was a child, was an emperor trained by Confucianism. How could he not know the moral consequences of lying?But why did he lie?Hey, if you look at the problem, it turns into this, why did he lie?In fact, as long as we return to the historical scene and put ourselves in his shoes, this phenomenon is not difficult to explain.

First of all, Emperor Zhenzong wanted to enshrine Shanshan Taishan, so he was embarrassed to say, I am the Son of Heaven, I think I am qualified, I want to go, you are embarrassed, right?God has to send you a signal, with all kinds of flirtations, saying that you can do it, you can do it, you are victorious, you go ahead.So what are these signals?It's auspicious.What is the strongest signal and the greatest auspiciousness?Isn't this the heavenly book?But the Heavenly Book is a lie and is morally untenable. What should we do?How did Emperor Zhenzong get beyond this step?At this time, four words are about to appear, called Shinto socializing.The original meaning of these four words is very simple, which is to follow the mysterious way of heaven. Hey, as a manager and ruler, I am here to deceive the people. But later on, it changed and it became a different meaning.What?It’s just that people are sometimes ignorant. If you want to influence them and educate them, sometimes you might as well do some crazy things. As long as the purpose is good, it doesn’t matter if the means are a little flawed. It’s not a lie or a mistake.Morality, this is called Shinto social interaction.

Don’t feel weird, thinking that the ancients were bad.No, doesn’t this often happen in educational activities between adults and children today?For example, if I tell a child that this gift is brought to you by Santa Claus from the North Pole, alas, this is not a lie, but do you think it is a lie?Is there any moral guilt in this?No way, right?To amuse the children.Shinto archery.right.The elite scholar-bureaucrats in ancient times looked at the common people in the same way that we look at children today. They all thought that as long as the final result is good, sometimes they might as well take some conveniences.The four words Dharma, Shinto, and Archery had repeatedly influenced Emperor Zhenzong at that historical stage.A year before the appearance of the Book of Heaven, Wang Qingrong was the traitor mentioned earlier. He told Emperor Zhenzong that where could there be so much auspiciousness in the world? It was all done by humans. You see, he knew that, right?It’s all done by people. As long as we, the emperor, show our deep faith and everyone else believes in these auspicious signs, is it just like what we Confucianists said in ancient times: He Chu Tuluo published books, are they all true?No, it's just Shinto socializing. As long as you believe in Shinto archery and my intentions are good, the emperor can easily cross the moral threshold of lying.

Although he said this, Emperor Zhenzong still had some moral baggage in his heart at this time. After all, was he going to go out and lie to others?The pressure in his heart was still quite high, so he needed to find a great Confucian master to confirm it.It is said that one day he came to the place where the country collected important books, which was the so-called Mi Ge at that time, and found the great scholar of the time.We actually mentioned this Du Gao in our previous program, known as Du Wanjuan, a great Confucian master with great knowledge.Then Emperor Zhenzong asked him how the Confucian story was unearthed. If it was published, it would be according to the traditional saying: a dragon and horse appeared in the Yellow River carrying the River Map on its back, and a divine turtle appeared in the water carrying the Luo Book on its back. The world is a set of legends about peace and prosperity.What are these supernatural phenomena going on?Mr. Du, tell me.

Mu Mao was reading a book at the time, and was a little confused by such a sudden question, so he casually answered, saying that this was a social meeting between saints and Shinto.You see, this word appeared in the ears of Emperor Zhengzong for the second time. When Zhenzong heard it, he thought, it turns out that saints also did this. It turns out that doing this, as long as the purpose is good, it is not a lie.That's why he made up his mind to go back to the palace and tell the story to some eunuchs.Emperor Zhenzong never imagined that although Shinto archery was a very convenient way to achieve his goal, it was a devil in a bottle.You thought it was funny at first, but if the real urine is released, you can't take it back?You must know that superstition is not a simple matter. It is just pretending to be a god, making a ghost, and deceiving someone.

It’s not that its social consequences are very complex and difficult to control.I will briefly mention a few, and you can feel it.The first social consequence of superstition is that it spreads too widely.Don't think it's spread widely just because everyone is ignorant.No, the biggest feature of negative is not that it is fake, but what?The benefits he promised were too great, but the costs were too low. This is the essence of superstition, think about it.Oh, eating a handful of incense ash can cure diseases, kowtow to the Bodhisattva sincerely, you can have a son, recognize a big tree, and become a godfather, you can avoid disasters.Such a cheap thing, if you don't do it, it will be in vain. It is better to believe that it is available than to believe that it is not available. The cost of believing that it is available is low.Only superstition can spread on a large scale.Let me tell you a rumor, but I have no proof of the rumor.It is said that the great physicist Bohr hung a horseshoe on the door of his home, which was said to ward off evil spirits.Haha, some friends were shocked when they saw it.

Alas, you are a great physicist and you believe this?Bol said of course I don't believe it, but I heard that he can work even if you don't believe it. So do you think Bol believes it or not?Yes, in fact, most people have this attitude towards superstition. If you ask me to spend a lot of money, I don’t believe it. But if a horseshoe hung at the door can ward off evil spirits, hey, I will try it, and it will not lose a piece of flesh.This is the basic principle why superstition can spread on a large scale.
A second social consequence of superstition is that it has a strong network nature.It’s useless if you don’t believe it yourself. If you are in a social network, you will still be affected by this superstitious network.Don’t be dissatisfied. Let me give you an example. Suppose there is a real estate in a city that is said to be haunted. Therefore, the price of this real estate has dropped very cheaply. It is only half the price of surrounding real estate. Would you buy such a house?I have asked myself this question, and I must admit that I am a staunch materialist, but my final answer is that I don’t buy it, and I don’t take advantage of it.

The reason is simple. I don’t believe it myself, but who do the people around me believe it?Then I want to buy this house. I don’t care if there are ghosts in it, but it also means that my family may not want to live in it, and my friends may not want to come as guests. I want to sell it in the future, but I can’t.Dropped, unable to make a move.So why should I cause all these troubles for myself in the future?I don't believe in the superstition of hauntings, but it doesn't matter whether I believe it or not. My behavior is the same. If I don't buy this house, I stay away from him. You see, this is also a social consequence.Of course, going back to the Tianshu fan in 1008, I also want to emphasize that superstition is more deadly and important in a society that will ferment immediately after 1008. The consequence is that bad people will free ride on superstition, and bad people willSqueezed up.If you think the emperor has forged the greatest auspiciousness in the Book of Heaven, then it’s not too much for others to forge a little auspiciousness to help the emperor enhance the atmosphere.Emperor, are you embarrassed to slap me on the spot?Sorry, let me give you an example. The emperor wanted to go to Caozhou and Jizhou near Mount Tai. It must have been the work of local officials. He found more than 2,000 local famous elders and traveled thousands of miles.More than 2,000 elderly people were a large travel rate for that era.When he traveled all the way to Kaifeng and asked the emperor to enshrine Mount Tai, he stopped by his hometown to have a look. It was not too much. Did it add to the atmosphere?Emperor, are you embarrassed to stop me?And since the emperor wants to hold a ceremony, some people think that we ordinary people need to contribute some money.So people from the private sector took the lead in collecting donations, and more than 400 people participated, and a lot of money and materials were donated.Not too much.When the country wants to hold sacrifices, there must be some atmosphere. There are military officers, and the lower-level officers deduct the military pay of their subordinates. After deducting it, they don’t just put it in their pockets, but buy some silk and satin to decorate the atmosphere of the military camp and confer a Zen title on the emperor., Taishan is not too much to add to the fun.

Well, all these things were reported to Emperor Zhenzong, and he was in a dilemma. If I stopped it, it would ruin everyone's fun, and it would not be in line with the general atmosphere of this Taishan fan.If I don’t stop all these things, and other places follow my example, then what will happen to the world?So for all these things, you can look at this period of historical data. When Emperor Zhenzong came out, he had no choice but to praise him.Oh, not bad, really good.Hahaha, I said I won't do it next time, I did a good job, don't do it next time, it's the same attitude.Then how good do you think the moral character of all those who are willing to do this kind of thing is?He tends to be helpful to Xunxin, right?Anyone who wants to take advantage of this situation and take advantage of it is called free riding.You see, this is a mechanism of lies. As soon as a lie comes out, all the people who are willing to lie will come, and they will grow bigger lies through the root of your lie.Then I would like to ask if you are not the first person to take the final responsibility for lying. Who will take the responsibility?This is the truck of lies, and the truck of lies has a more terrifying side. Let me give you another example so that you can feel something even more terrifying.

The treacherous minister Wang Qingruo mentioned just now once reported to Emperor Zhenzong, "Oh, I had a dream. I dreamed that a god asked me to build a temple, and also gave me directions and specific locations where to build it."Later, when I was supervising the project, I discovered that there really was such a little god in the local area. How about we use the remaining project funds to build a temple for him? He gave me dreams at night, which is not easy.Emperor Shengong said, OK, you can build it. To be honest, it has been more than a thousand years.

When I saw this piece of material, I was still sweating for Emperor Zhenzong and took a breath. Oh my god, you are so brave. How could you agree to this?Think about it, how can you admit that other people also have this ability when the old god gives you dreams?The old god entrusted you with the emperor's dream, but even if you say it yourself and others don't dare to refute it, this matter can only end here.Wang Qingruo can also bring dreams to gods. If you agree this time, you are admitting that Wang Qingruo can also bring flowers to gods.Okay, then let's imagine that one day Wang Qingruo said, oh, the gods gave me another dream last night, saying that you should make me prime minister, then what will your emperor do?If Wang Qin made an even more extreme request, how would you agree to it?So you see that you have understood what I have deduced to this point. This is no longer a matter of superstition. This is already shaking the foundation of political power.This is not me worrying in vain.

Later, a similar thing really happened. Some years later, it was said that a man named Zhu Neng forged a heavenly book and said that I wanted to dedicate it to the emperor. The old minister gave me a message first, and the emperor then dared to do so.Yes, you actually sent someone to win this Heavenly Book. Don't you, the emperor, still know how you got the Heavenly Book in 1008?This heavenly book suddenly appeared out of nowhere for no reason. It must still be a forgery.

You know it in your heart, but you can't say it. Who said that I can only write letters to your father? Who said that they must be dropped in Bianliang, Tokyo? Isn't it normal to throw them everywhere to others?Right?According to the logic of the Heavenly Book, why couldn't Zhu Neng pick up a copy of the Heavenly Book?You see, here comes a dilemma.If you don't recognize the Heavenly Book of unknown origin, it doesn't conform to the principles of the Heavenly Book itself. You think there will be endless troubles in the future. If someone forges a Heavenly Book, use the tone of God and say, you emperor, stop doing this, get up and replace me.If you do it, then the world will not be in chaos?Do you recognize that heavenly book?You are locked into internal logical contradictions and cannot resolve them.Later, Zhu Neng, who I had just brought up the Heavenly Book, rebelled as expected, and the court had no choice but to say that his Heavenly Book was a forgery.Zhu Neng committed suicide and his accomplices were summarily executed.

Now you hear it, what is the biggest trouble with superstition?It will plunge the entire society into a state of information distortion, and the chain of evil consequences will be very long. It is constantly extending and growing. No one can control it. Many evils may be hidden in it.Waiting for the final vicious attack.The longer the time goes on, the more disastrous the consequences will be.I brought a book today, which is a masterpiece of sociology called The Social Consequences of Preference Disguise. Its author is the sociologist Cullen. In this book, he proposed a very important theory called the Preference Disguise Theory., is to explain this phenomenon.Because of some kind of pressure, many people in a society begin to tell lies, and the crises in this society will continue to accumulate until one day it may suddenly collapse.The fable that we have been familiar with since childhood, The Emperor's New Clothes, is about this process.

Okay, so what should I do?So after talking about the 1008 Tianshu fan, my own feeling is that if you are a person who holds power, the smartest way is not to lie from the beginning, and never use any convenient methods or engage in Shinto for any practical purpose.Isn’t there a famous saying about social networking?It is said that if a person vigorously promotes something that he himself does not believe, then he is ready to do any bad thing.

Today in the year 1008, we face together this somewhat absurd life tragedy of the authentic emperor.It was as if I saw a smart child, driven by social consensus and under the encouraging eyes of everyone, telling his first lie out of good intentions.Then the chain of cause and effect begins, like letting the devil out of the bottle, and there is no way to take it back.And this child became a slave to his own lies. He had to use more lies and more cover-ups to save the previous lies.This walk was so tiring, and gradually there were fewer and fewer people around me.Huh, everyone started to avoid this lie, but in the end it was he alone who brought down the barbaric tree in a ridiculous drama. People in later generations pointed at him and said, look at that confused emperor, who made the world a mess.

After reading the historical materials of Emperor Zhenzong myself, in addition to feeling a sense of desolation and regret, I also remembered a sentence said to be by Mr. Ji Xianlin.He said that when people live in this world, they really have to tell only half the truth and all lies.If you don't tell lies, the bottle's mouth cannot be opened at all.0008 That’s it, see you in the next issue of Civilization Journey in 1009.