Hello, this is a journey of civilization. Welcome to travel to China in 1009 AD. This year is the second year of the surrender of Zhenzong of Song Dynasty and the twenty-seventh year of the unification of Shengzong of Liao Dynasty.Opening the chronology of this year's major events, I guess you, like me, will notice two major events in life: one and death.Who was born?Su Xun, one of the Eight Great Masters of the Tang and Song Dynasties, Su Shi, Su Dongpo, his father was born this year.Who died then?It is the legendary Empress Dowager Xiao of the Liao Dynasty.If you think about it, the two events in this life and death actually herald the arrival of a prosperous age.You see, although Empress Dowager Xiao died, she was great in her own right, but after her death, her son Yelu Longson of Liao Shengzong took over. This emperor was not bad either.Of course, the life of Liao Shengzong was not easy. He had been in power for nearly 50 years. His mother, Queen Mother Xiao, made the decisions for the first half of the time, and she personally governed the second half. However, the governance results of the two periods were both good.North Korea reached its peak.

Let's look at the three masters Su Xun, Su Shi, and Su Che. Today I want to say to you that I have finally waited for you, and you have finally appeared on the stage of history.But we can’t rush, we have to wait patiently for another 30 years.Why?Because according to Su Qun himself, he was a playboy when he was a child, not a child prodigy. He only started to study seriously when he was about 30 years old.And the two brothers Su and Su Zhe happened to have to wait until nearly 30 years before they were born, so we can't be anxious now. We just have an idea. In Meizhou, Sichuan, to the west of the Song Dynasty, these three wonderful flowers in the ancient Chinese literary worldIt is breaking out of the ground and blooming quietly.
But there is nothing at the moment, so we are a little patient. This year Song Zhenzong surrendered in Dazhong, and in the second year we still focus on the atmosphere in the capital city of Kaifeng.In the last issue, we talked about the mess of things that Song Zhenzong started to do since the first year of Dazhong's enrichment last year, including the arrival of the Book of Heaven and the Fengshan Taishan. That's all. It is said that it is enough to finish these two things.You think the Heavenly Book is a letter written by God to the emperor, but what about the fan?It was the emperor who went to the top of Mount Tai to reply to him.Haha, the atmosphere is here, it has a beginning and an end, isn't that enough?no.In the last issue, we talked about superstition and lies. It is like a seed. Once it falls to the ground, takes root and sprouts, it cannot be stopped. With the participation and promotion of various forces, it willWhen he started to rise, he couldn't stop the car, and it continued to rise until it became a huge monster.You see, too much fan is over.Alas, isn’t there a heavenly book?God’s handwriting.Baby, put it there. You can't just find a drawer in the palace and just throw it in. It has to be offered.So where can I build a house? Can this house be small?This is where the later Song Dynasty Yu Qing Dynasty Ying Gong built it?Tianbo Gate is located in the northwest of Kaifeng City.

Why mention Tianbomen?Because many people who have heard Yang Jiajiang’s storytelling should be familiar with this term.I heard this is not the Tianbo Yang Mansion?But you think this is a legend, because the first generation of the Yang family generals was Yang Ye. After he surrendered to the Song Dynasty, a military attaché guarded him outside all year round, but he did not live in Kaifeng Mansion all year round.Moreover, in the atmosphere of the Song Dynasty, Yang Ye was not actually a high official. Even if you had a house in Kaifeng Mansion, how big would it be?The scale of Tianbo Yang Mansion must be very small even if it exists.

At that historical stage, the largest building near Tianbo Gate was the one I just mentioned by Song Zhenzong. How much area did the Jade Qing Dynasty provide to worship Tianshu?The total area is about 350,000 square meters, which is equivalent to 540 acres.What is the concept of these two trees?If you go to Beijing and see the scale of the Forbidden City, it is as big as the bug in the Forbidden City in Beijing today. It sounds like a bug to you, but think about it. When the Forbidden City was built in Beijing, it was designed on an open space and drawn on white paper.Picture, how big do you want it to be?The construction work of Yuqing is different. Kaifeng City was already built at that time. Large-scale demolition is required to rebuild such a large building complex. Do you think it would be difficult to build half of the Forbidden City?

And the palace, the Forbidden City was for the emperor to live in. It was bigger and everyone recognized it as Yu Qingzhao Yinggong. In essence, it was a Taoist temple. It was built to enshrine a heavenly book. It was half the size of the Forbidden City today.big.If you feel the ambition of the decision-maker, how much did it cost him to build this Yuqing Recruitment Gong?Unfortunately, there are no detailed records in history, and it is indeed quite difficult to calculate. If you think of it as an event venue, it is not finished once the house is built. There are civil construction and decoration costs in front of it, and there are also the costs of holding ceremonies and activities in the back.Ceremonies and activities were held according to the rules of the Song Dynasty, and there were a large number of rewards for officials and people.And he has been doing it for more than ten years.Anyway, during the Song Dynasty, some people said that the money spent by Yuqing to recruit Ying Gong was without books.The highest estimate I have seen given by contemporary scholars is that all the money spent by the Yuqing recruiters was 200 million, not 200 million copper coins, but 200 million strings of copper coins, which is 200 million.People, do you still remember that number we mentioned in previous issues?The amount of broken coins sent to the Liao Dynasty every year is 300,000, which is 200 million.When you look at the broken coins, they look like drizzle, and they don’t count as much money at all.

In 1009 AD, just this year, the imperial court appointed Ding Wei as the commander-in-chief, and the construction project of recruiting laborers in Yuqing was in full swing.In this episode of our program, we will use this incident to explain an issue, which is something that seems unjust. Your emperor is building construction projects. This is something Confucianism has strongly opposed since ancient times.Did you, Song Zhenzong, receive a full Confucian education in the palace since childhood?Did you, the Emperor of the Song Dynasty, always boast of benevolent governance?Why do you want to build so much?Why are you so focused on building such a big project?Moreover, the common people at that time did not complain much. What is even more interesting is that the scholar-bureaucrats in the Song Dynasty did not firmly oppose it. Alas, why is this?With this question in mind, we will travel back to 1009 AD, two years after the people of the Song Dynasty surrendered.

When I read the relevant information about Yuqing's recruitment workers, I had a strong feeling. It wasn't how big their buildings were, nor was it grand, with hanging beams and painted buildings. It wasn't these. The strongest feeling was two words.,in a hurry.Really anxious.Do you think this project was originally planned to be completed in 15 years, but due to the rush and hard work, it was actually completed in 6 and a half years? How anxious do you think it was?Moreover, it is too inhumane for tens of thousands of people to work in a construction site, in the dog days of summer, with the scorching sun in the sky, and the work is not allowed to stop.

So this matter was reported to the emperor later, and the emperor issued an imperial edict specifically for this matter, whether the Yuqing Zhaoying Palace construction site could start in Sanfutian. This is what the emperor said, and he said that civil construction should be carried out in this way.The engineering, that is, the people who are carrying the soil, the dog days of summer are too inhumane, so stop working.But as for other types of work, it is still the same as it should be. You see, the emperor still has cycles.Not only civil engineering, but also decoration, mainly mural painting. Craftsmen who were able to paint from all over the country were recruited to work on this construction site.When I think about it, there were no electric lights in that era, so you could only spend it during the day, right?No, you also have to paint and beautify a wall for me at night and hand out two candles. You give me paintings day and night. Are you so anxious?The person who came up with this kind of management method was also the person who presided over this big project. This person is very famous. Remember, his name is Ding Wei.

We will mention this person many times in the following episodes. He is a very important figure in this historical stage. Today we focus on the topic of Yuqing's recruitment. We don't need to know too much about him. YouJust know two things.The first thing is that Ding Wei is an engineering expert.Isn’t there a famous story?It is said that Ding Wei once served as the commander-in-chief of the restoration project of the imperial palace. You see, he is always doing this job.He thought, wow, this project is too big and the soil is too far away. We have to dig the soil outside Kaifeng City and then carry it over. What should we do if it is too far?He said that there is a depression on the main street of Kaifeng City, so just take the soil here. Now that you have taken the soil, didn't you dig a big ditch in Kaifeng City?The positioning said that if there is nothing to do, the water will be released directly from the Bianhe River outside the city.What big ditch?This is a canal, so boats transporting various construction materials can come in and play, and the boats arrive directly at the construction site. You can see how convenient it is.Well, after the palace is built, a large amount of construction waste will be backfilled into these ditches on the streets of Kaifeng City.The big room is as smooth as ever, so you see, it kills three birds with one stone.It saves a lot of things and of course a lot of money.So this story later became a classic case of ancient Chinese operations research.Now you can still see this story in engineering and operations research textbooks in many universities, so this position is the first-class smart person among the ancient Chinese.

But today I want to talk about Ding Wei. I want to emphasize the second point, which is Ding Wei's position at this time. He is not only the chief supervisor and project director of Yuqing Recruitment Project, but also a part-time job.He also held the position of Third Secretary, which was the Minister of Finance of the Song Dynasty at that time.To understand it simply, as the finance minister is in charge of the country's purse strings, and then he is responsible for a specific project, you can understand the intention behind this appointment.Anyway, I thought it must be more convenient to spend money on this project. This meaning is there. The appointment of Ding Wei as project director was issued on May 11, 2009, and then on May 29, look at thisWith less than a month left, another special edict was issued on May 29th.

What?That is to say, the department responsible for the renovation of the capital's buildings should have been theirs. The department responsible for the renovation of the capital's buildings no longer needs to be in charge of the Yuqing Banking Project.This is a department that he specializes in doing this. You specifically said hello and said you should leave it alone. What do you mean?It is not difficult for people with social experience to guess that this is not only to prevent people from taking charge of things, but also to prevent money from touching this matter.So you can see that Yuqing's official recruitment money is in the left pocket and right pocket of the positioning account book. How much is in the treasury and how much is in the finance department's account, he can repay as much as he can for this project.The cost of this project has really not changed, and there are no budget constraints.

Of course, this cannot be completely blamed on the positioning. Although the commander-in-chief of the project is senior, don’t forget that within the team of supervisors of the same project, Emperor Zhenzong of the Song Dynasty also sent a eunuch named Liu Chenggui, who was responsible for the project.Deputy Commander-in-Chief.Then you want someone from the emperor's side to be sent as your deputy. How can this be a deputy, right?The eunuch represents the emperor himself. This Liu Chenggui doesn't care about budget issues. What he wants is that the project must be done beautifully and the emperor must be satisfied in the end. This is his only goal, right?So this Liu Chenggui works on this construction site every day. As long as he is a little dissatisfied, even if it is a fine decoration, the house will be finished. Liu Chenghui will ruin it and redo it, so other people in charge of the project, including this Ding Wei, how dare you mention the budget?Look at this huge Tianzi No. 1 project. Some people are working hard for the good, some are working hard for the fast, and some are working hard for the big. However, the emperor himself is waiting anxiously beside him to enshrine the number of days.

So it is now well documented that before the Yuqing Zhaoyun Palace was built, the emperor found various reasons to go against the schedule and conduct on-site surveys. How many times did he go there in total?A documented 13 times.Just tell me how much the top leader attaches importance to this project, tell me what the final result of such a project will be, and how fast and good it can be done.But it’s impossible to save money. You said that the project has spent so much money to keep up with the progress. Isn’t it like when Qin Shi Huang built the Great Wall or Sui Yang Emperor dug the Grand Canal, and the people were forced to rebel?At least it should make the public resentful. This is what it should be.There is a book called Rong Zhi's Essays, written by Hongmai in the Southern Song Dynasty. The attitude there towards Duke Zhaoyun of Yuqing is worth pondering.As a scholar-official, Hongmai's basic attitude when he wrote this paragraph was of course criticism, saying that you were really doing evil by building this project and turning the world upside down. Anyway, there are good things everywhere in the world, so don't worry about them.Rare trees and rare stones have to be dug out and sent to Kaifeng to build this Yuqing. What is the equivalent of recruiting workers?It is equivalent to conducting a large-scale land and resources survey and a large-scale mobilization of land treasures.

There is such a comment in Longzhai's essays, saying that there is Yandang Mountain in Wenzhou, Zhejiang. We all know that it is also a famous tourist scenic spot now, but at this time in the Song Dynasty, people did not know about Yantang Mountain or that there was such a place.Great place to go.Look at Xie Lingyun, a landscape poet from the Southern Dynasties, who served as a prefect in Wenzhou, but no one who loves to play has ever been there. Why?Because I don’t know.

It's better now. In the past two years, because of the wood stepped on by Yu Qingzhao Yinggong, outsiders came in to take a look. The scenery of this place is so beautiful, and Yandang Mountain was discovered.Hey, just for this example, if you think about it, is the world in turmoil because of the establishment of the Jade Qing Dynasty?But when Hongmai wrote this, he changed his pen and said a few more words. He said that although this project used all the manpower and wealth in the world, our Zhenzong emperor did not resort to military violence.He didn't do this for personal enjoyment, and he didn't use harsh punishments to do it, so the people were quite happy, and no one resisted in this regard.

The original Qin Shihuang and Emperor Sui Yang were incomparable to our Song Zhenzong. This was the opinion of the people of the Song Dynasty.Well, look, here comes the interesting thing. With such a project that drained the national treasury and was built overtime, why didn’t the people at that time resist?I will give the answer directly, because we are talking about the Song Dynasty. It has a very special place. It is different from the Han and Tang Dynasties before it, and the Ming and Qing Dynasties later. It is that the country basically does not use the people in vain.

Well, then you said that the country is going to carry out big projects, such as building the Great Wall and digging the Grand Canal. Who will do such things?The answer of the people of the Song Dynasty was this. They used the central imperial army and the local Hunan army to drive away the Hunan army. It was not the Hunan army in Hunan, but the Xiang army in the wing. It was a unique army organization in the Song Dynasty.We will introduce this system specifically here in the future. As long as we have an idea, it will be fine.

We often have the impression that the country of the Song Dynasty was actually very backward in terms of its military system. The redundant army meant that the country had too many soldiers, but the combat effectiveness was insufficient, which seemed unreasonable. In fact, it also had its advantages.For example, take the Hunan Army, which undertakes a large amount of civilian labor work. This is also an advantage of this system.Because in other dynasties, ordinary farmers were often directly recruited, and farmers were directly used to do the work. Now professional soldiers are doing the work. The advantage is that when they are not farming, the people do not have to do this work here, while thinking about it.Are the crops at home abandoned, so the Hunan Army is relatively more attentive to their work, and they use a little more.

If you think about the Jin and Hunan armies in the Song Dynasty, they were mercenaries who were originally paid. Moreover, they now interfered with the Qing Dynasty to recruit transport workers. This kind of project was the number one God-given project valued by the emperor. This kind of project was rewarded byYes, the bonus is very generous, so I won’t suffer financially.And one thing you may not have expected is that everyone is quite willing to do this job.Come to me, I have evidence. In August 1009, Emperor Zhenzong of the Song Dynasty said that the march to participate in the Yinggong Project of the Yuqing Dynasty was originally a quarterly one. Now Xia Imperial Decree has changed it to a monthly one..Strange, engineering is also a craft job. If you are experienced at it, why do you have to change it every month?Isn’t this another wave of newbies?Emperor Zhenzong made it clear in his imperial edict that this was to allow more people to receive royal rewards, and the emperor's favor should be shared equally. Then we can naturally infer that it is a good job for everyone to rush to do it.So why the resentment?And I especially want to explain to Song Zhenzong that during the entire process of this seemingly absurd activity, we have no historical data about the book from heaven, the east wind to the west, the four major construction projects, and the construction of jade and the Qing Dynasty.There is no record of any additional taxes or burdens being allocated. On the contrary, wherever these activities are carried out, taxes will be exempted.

Whoever participates in these activities, regardless of whether you are a commoner, a craftsman, or a grassroots official, will receive generous rewards.How much do you think you spent on the expenses related to recruiting workers in Yuqing?Many of them are rewards given to the people. This can be regarded as taking from the people and giving back to the people. Then you have to say that this is called large-scale construction, haha, this is called extravagance and waste.It seems to be quite a bit, but after understanding these details, I feel a bit speechless.So you see, once you return to the historical scene, the rights and wrongs of many things are actually quite complicated.

And if you think about it, why don’t the people oppose or resent the Yuqing recruitment project?Because it is different from Qin Shihuang's Afang Palace. Afang Palace is for the emperor's enjoyment.Yuqing Zhao Yinggong is a religious project. Just put yourself in his shoes. If I were a local official or a foreman at the project site, I would definitely use this religious meaning to motivate everyone to work. I would definitely follow the craftsmen.People say this, everyone does this work, this is not for the emperor, this is to enshrine the heavenly book, this is to work for God, you work hard, if you do well, God will see it in the future, you are blessed.It was reported.

I want a 500 million referendum, is that what I would instinctively say?Okay, now that I understand the above reasons, why do the people not resist or feel disgusted? They are even willing to obey as written in Hongmai’s disaster recovery essay. The people are quite willing to obey. Do you think it’s not difficult?Got it?But then we have to explain another thing, so where are the scholar-officials?You scholar-bureaucrats are not trying to earn a few wages, and you scholar-bureaucrats don’t believe in superstition to brainwash you. Why don’t you stop it or object to it?This is a more difficult question to explain.

What we just talked about is the attitude of the common people. The country is recruiting workers to build such a big Yuqing building. If I am on the construction site, I have wages and bonuses, but I am not on the construction site, then at least a tourist attraction has been built. I look at it.It's also eye-catching, what can I object to?But you scholar-bureaucrats are different. Behind the scholar-bureaucrats are Confucian traditions and a series of principles. According to Confucian values, the emperor's large-scale construction projects are never a good thing. As a scholar-official clan, you have to stop it.Yes, even if you are making a statement.

But it is strange that in 1009, when the Yuqing Recruitment Project was started, if you turn over the stones, there is nothing like MOS holding a sword or arguing with reason.May I ask why this is?Just take a look at Wang Dan, the leader of civil servants and officials, and the biggest prime minister. Does he know that this is wrong?Of course he knew, but he didn't openly object.When did a little bit of opposition start to emerge?We have to wait until after the project has been carried out for a period of time, there will be vague and very gentle objections from some relatively marginal officials.

If you look at historical data, there are basically three people. The first person is called Sun. This person is a nominal advisor to a great Confucian official but not a great emperor, but this person is very important in the history of Confucianism.The famous book Mencius wrote among the Thirteen Classics was written by this Sun.This is one person, and the second person is called Zhi Zhi Gao Wang Zeng.This person was actually mentioned in our program. When he talked about the episode in 1001, he mentioned the manor he planted that year. Several years have passed and he has grown. At this time, he is drafting an edict for the emperor.secretary.

But when you hear it, you know that this official is not big, right?There are also some local officials, such as Zhang Yong of Sichuan, who only have a small number of people, and there are only three people who have some weight in the opposition.On the contrary, those important ministers in the court whom you know by name, such as the prime minister Wang Dan whom I just mentioned, did not express any clear objection, and you should know that Kou Zhun, who has a more stubborn personality and does not pee on anyone, although it is not appropriate at this time.Even though he was the prime minister, the important ministers had never heard of any objections he raised in his letter, let alone other people. Wang Qinruo and Ding Wei were already keen participants. How could they object?The scholar-bureaucrats did not object, not necessarily because it was so correct, nor necessarily because they were afraid that the emperor would turn his back and glare.

At least at this stage in the Northern Song Dynasty, the scholar-bureaucrats were not afraid of this. We can speculate that one possibility is that they had concerns that they could not object to.To put it bluntly, the scholar-bureaucrats really held a great principle in their arms. This great principle told the emperor to use his power to care for the people and not to carry out large-scale construction projects.This is the truth, but they found that the emperor also had some truths in his arms, and they were also Confucian truths. The truth in their hands was not as good as others' truths, so they did not dare to object.Alas, that's a fair guess.Okay, let's take a look at what Song Zhenzong's message was.

Let’s talk about the first one first. This idea was actually given to him by Ding Wei. Ding Wei also told him the same thing, “Who are you, Your Majesty?”You are the emperor, you are rich in heaven, and now you just build a palace to worship the gods. What's wrong with that?If someone objects, just tell them this: You tell me, it’s because I don’t have a son. I see a Taoist temple to pray to God so that I can continue the family lineage.

If you say this, do you think anyone would dare to object?Sure enough, then the Prime Minister Wang Dan gave a secret message that was not made public, trying to persuade the emperor to forget it and stop doing such a costly project. Emperor Zhenzong really responded to Wang Dan like this, saying, I, I amAre you still opposed to having a son?Wang Dan had no choice but to give up.We modern people don't think that having a son is so great, but what you think is that in ancient times, unfilial piety would lead to disaster and having no offspring would be a big deal.That's the emperor.If the emperor does not have a son, the country does not have a prince, which is a matter that shakes the foundation of the country.I think this is not a small matter.Don't talk about that time, think about a situation among us modern people. We have an ordinary friend who wants to have a son. Now he has decided to donate a large amount of incense money to the temple in order to let the gods bless his son.A son.I am his friend, and I know that this is absolutely wrong, unless I have other ways to ensure that he has a son.I can't persuade him, I can't persuade him to stop doing this, right?Because I don’t have an alternative, that’s human nature.

Yes, Wang Dan and the scholar-bureaucrats and ministers in the court also encountered such a dilemma. This matter was a big deal for the emperor, and even a fundamental matter for the country, and weHe couldn't come up with an alternative method. According to the concept at that time, he built a temple and worshiped a god. He had ten ways. The emperor said this method. So why do you object?This is a reason.

But there is actually another reason, which is a larger truth that the emperor holds in his arms, and this is not just the emperor's private matter, it is related to the legitimacy of the Song Dynasty's regime.When we look at this set today, things like the Book of Heaven, Dongfengxi, Four Jianyu, and Ying Gong of the Qing Dynasty all think it is superstitious. The person involved knows very well that there is a plan behind it.This calculation took place over 1,000 years ago. We modern people find it very estranged, and the people involved knew it very well.What's the plan?It was to strengthen the legitimacy of the Song Dynasty.If you look at the history of China, there is a particularly interesting pattern. That is, every dynasty that lasts a long time has a large-scale peasant war in front of it.Do you count Chen Sheng and Wu Guang in the peasant war at the end of Qin Dynasty before the Han Dynasty?In front of the Tang Dynasty, there was the Peasant War against Magangzhai in the late Sui Dynasty. In front of the later Ming Dynasty, there was the Red Turban Army in the late Sui Dynasty.The Qing Dynasty was preceded by Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong in the Peasant War in the late Ming Dynasty. You see, there was such a big chaos in the past. The Song Dynasty did not tell you that it was a good thing that there was no chaos. You have to see how you say it.

The consequences of a fierce peasant war are of course the loss of life, but it also brings another result, that is, the original interest structure and identity structure of the world are completely destroyed, and the world is waiting for reorganization.Then whoever can stand out from the crowd at this time will have natural legitimacy.Come on, come and regroup.So otherwise, chaos in the world will lead to great knowledge in the world.But our current Song Dynasty has never experienced this, so the emperors of the Song Dynasty were somewhat anxious about legitimacy.What to do?The Song Dynasty must implement benevolent governance. The emperor must be a good person, and he must pretend to be a good person. You must use the performance of governance to speak for itself.
When we talked about the Taishan Fans in 1008 in the last issue, we have already touched on this topic, that is, Emperor Zhenzong shoulders a historical mission, and he must prove it to the world.Not only the people of the Song Dynasty, but also the Liao Dynasty in the north and Xixia were watching. He wanted to prove that the first three generations of emperors of our Song Dynasty brought four words to the world, peace and prosperity.From the perspective of people today, these so-called superstitious activities are all delusions. You dream the first day, and the old gods come the next day, and the number of days suddenly drops. All these are groundless.But people at the time didn't see it that way.All these activities have precedents, all these things have templates in history, everything you do now is a link between the past and the future, and all your intentions now are intentional.

What does it mean?These are the four words I mentioned earlier. Everyone who did this in the Taiping and Shengshi era wanted to prove that the result would be a peaceful and prosperous era.Yes, because no one has ever seen anything like peace and prosperity.This is not an abstract concept. The peaceful and prosperous age that people in the Song Dynasty could imagine at that time was the open source of Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty hundreds of years ago, until the interesting things happened here.Behind Song Zhenzong's series of saucy operations, if you analyze them step by step, they are actually one-to-one.The purpose of imitating Tang Xuanzong is to awaken everyone's memories of the prosperous Kaiyuan era through this step-by-step imitation.It's that simple. Who has ever done this?Teng Xuanzong did this, and later offered sacrifices to Fenyin, because offering sacrifices to Mount Tai was to offer sacrifices to heaven, while offering sacrifices to Fenyin was to offer sacrifices to earth, and Fenyin is located in Yuncheng, Shanxi today.Who has done this?Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty once attacked the Great Sword Taoist Temple. Who had done it?Did Tang Xuanzong like to do this?In fact, during the reign of Emperor Zhenzong of the Song Dynasty, many Taoist temples were built during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty. They were rebuilt on the foundations of the Taoist temples. They were once built back then, but now they have been destroyed by the war. When you peel back the soil, you can see that the foundationsStill rebuilding, learning step by step.There is another interesting thing. I don’t know what Song Zhenzong thought, but later he actually arranged for the old Zhao family to invent and fabricate an ancestor.It is very rare for us Chinese to create an ancestor for ourselves, but we also learned this from Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty. This happened three years later. The bell was blessed for five years. Emperor Zhenzong said one day that I had another dream., in my dream, the ancestor of our old Zhao family recognized me. His name was Zhao Xuanlang.My ancestor is great, he was once reincarnated as Emperor Xuanyuan.As long as you think that the descendants of the emperors Yan and Huang are actually descendants of our old Zhao family, they are all Zhao Xuanlang, the ancestor of our old Zhao family. Now he is a great Taoist god.He just had a dream and created this ancestor, so he had to offer it up and make it look like the real thing, right?Zhao Xuanlang, you have to avoid this name, you have to avoid the word Xuan, and you have to avoid the word "Lang".

For example, the Chinese are originally the gods of the four directions, southeast, northwest and northwest. What are they called?Green Dragon, White Tiger, Suzaku Xuanwu?The minister representing the north, Xuanwu, is sorry to conflict with our ancestors. You have to change the name, so Xuanwu was changed to Emperor Zhenwu at this time.If you go to the temple now and see Emperor Zhenwu, you will know that the name was changed at this time.There is also the word "Lang" that needs to be avoided. For example, Yang Liulang, the general of the Yang family, we all know that his original name was Yang Yanlang.Unfortunately, you have to change your appearance at this time, so we have the Yang blindfold that we are familiar with in later generations.Does this sound like you are staring like a real person?Then why do we say that he learned it from Tang Xuanzong?Because of this pathology, the royal family of the Tang Dynasty also had it.When Li Yuan and Li Shimin first became emperors, it was still an era of aristocratic families. What should they do if they also felt that their family backgrounds were not very prominent?With all the favored people in the world, which one with the surname Li is more awesome and worthy of being the ancestor of our emperor?Who did you find?This is Lao Tzu worshiped by Taoists.Isn't my name Lear?Okay, let’s recognize our ancestors.Because in the Tang Dynasty, Lao Tzu became the Xuanyuan Emperor worshiped by the Li and Tang royal families. In the Tang Dynasty, people began to worship Taoism, worship Lao Tzu, and worship the so-called ancestors of the Li family.When did Emperor Xuanyuan do it?The craziest thing was that it was the most lively during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty.By the way, when a royal family advocates religious belief, it is often not belief behind it, but a deep political motive.For example, why did Wu Zetian later believe in Buddhism?Is he just trying to distinguish himself from the Li Tang royal family?Then why did Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty later turn around and change the dynasty to Li, and why did he change it back to worshiping Taoism?Isn't this still to emphasize the orthodox status of the Li Tang royal family?In the end, it was all politically motivated, so the emperor's true religious beliefs were not that important.

Let me give you an example. Take Li Shimin, Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty. He had always elevated his status in public policies throughout his life, but who was with him when he was dying?The person who gave him spiritual comfort before his death was the famous Ambassador Xuanzang, Tang Seng.So do you think Li Shimin himself believes more in Buddhism or Taoism?When a person is about to die, his words are also good.It seems that Buddhism was the best spiritual support for him when he was dying. Let's go back to Song Zhenzong. Whether he poured out large-scale indoctrination, invented ancestors for himself, or how he dreamed of ancestors, all these actions wereIt was copied from the work of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty. It was copied step by step without any distortion.

Remember the person we mentioned earlier?There are people as big as Sun, who are in opposition and have been writing letters to the emperor against engaging in this series of superstitious activities.He said this, and the emperor ignored him and didn't say a word when asked. Of course, he didn't offend him.But once when the great Confucian Sun Shi wrote a letter, he mentioned this meaning, saying that Emperor, outsiders are talking about you, and you are imitating Emperor Ming of the Tang Dynasty in everything, that is, Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty.

Is this Tang Minghuang a good emperor?Look at what happened to him. It was the Anshi period and the Maweipo mutiny. Why do you want to imitate him?You mention other Zhengzong emperors and ignore you. When you mention Tang Xuanzong, Zhenzong gets excited and writes a paper called Jie Yi Lun, specifically to refute Sun's point of view.The general meaning is this. Emperor Zhenzong said it himself, saying that I am now engaged in this set of things like sealing fans, Mount Tai, sacrifices, burning Yin sword, and Taoist temples. This set did not start with Emperor Ming of the Tang Dynasty, and TaipingThis is how we are in the prosperous times. We use good things whenever they are available. What are we afraid of?For example, the Qin Dynasty was an era that was so brutal and cruel. Aren’t many of our official and emperor names today come from the Qin Dynasty?How can you treat someone with pneumonia?Oh, let him take advantage of it.

To put it bluntly, I will use it as long as it is a time of peace and prosperity. I just want to prove that I am in a time of peace and prosperity, not to prove that I am Emperor Ming of the Tang Dynasty.You can hear the truth.You can also see from this detail that the purpose of this series of activities carried out by Emperor Zhenzong is to let everyone in the world know that the prosperous age of Kaiyuan has finally returned to this day.Now you understand, and the scholar-bureaucrats at that time also understood that the emperor was not crazy, or even an irrational superstitious activity. He was concerned with the rationality of the royal family and whether the era we live in is a peaceful and prosperous age.It concerns whether the people's hearts in the world will be further united because of this.You see, with these motives in it, wouldn’t it be easy for Staff to object?There is another historical detail that is very interesting. I saw it when I was reading historical materials, and I think it can be regarded as a supporting evidence.

It is said that in 1008 last year, the emperor led a large army to attack Mount Tai, mobilized troops, and finally completed the work.Alas, I'm exhausted, so I can take a break.The emperor decided to stop being jealous tonight, start eating meat, and hold a feast to entertain the officials.When the meal started, the emperor said a few polite words, pointed to the ministers around the prime minister and said, "It's really not easy for you guys. You have worked hard to accompany me to be a vegetarian for so many days."

As a result, before he finished speaking, there was an old general named Ma Zhijie among the courtiers. He was a big and rough man. He didn’t know any taboos when speaking. He just said that it was okay. Your Majesty, you are the only one who is a vegetarian. We all secretly ate it along the way.Come eat meat.As soon as this sentence came out, Huang Lie was dumbfounded. He had to turn around and ask Prime Minister Wang Dan, was what he said true?Wang Dan said, well, it’s true, we all eat meat.But at this point in the historical records, you will find that the emperor was not angry, nor did he pursue the matter. The matter just passed.Alas, if you go and defend this historical detail and the true attitude of everyone present, what does it mean?For the emperor, this superstitious thing is not very serious. Otherwise, if he takes such a big sacrificial activity seriously, you are really fucking offending the gods by eating meat, and the emperor will definitely be angry.Without the people around the emperor, their attitudes would be very interesting.

If you analyze it, there are probably just these levels. First, we don’t really believe in these superstitious things, right?Second, if you believe the Emperor, or if you pretend to believe it, of course you have your reasons and your difficulties, and we deeply understand him.Third, this is your own business. The affairs of your old Zhao family actually have little to do with us. However, because your royal affairs are of concern to the world after all, we fully cooperate in both actions and attitudes.But let’s not worry about the fact that we eat two bites of meat in private. That’s it, the objection is still support. We usually think that this is a clear distinction. This is an expression of attitude, right?But in real historical scenes, how can it be so simple and complicated?These outsiders often see only one big truth from a distance, but people in the game can see many small truths, so this is where the complexity comes from. There is historical complexity in this matter,There is also the complexity of human nature.Regarding the large-scale construction incident of the Yinggong of the Yuqing Dynasty in 1009, there is actually another problem that needs to be explained. Everyone knows that large-scale construction projects waste people and money and is not good.But why did ancient emperors often couldn't help but ask this question?Let’s explain that too.

Our pursuit of a better life comes from the opening of every extraordinary door.Casarte was born for love, the art of connecting homes.At the end of today's program, we will try to explain a small question, which is why the emperor couldn't help but build large-scale construction projects and spend extravagantly?Then if it is Qin Shihuang, we don’t care about the previous emperors. You should not be the emperor after the Han Dynasty, because you have been educated by Confucianism since you were a child. All the emperors after the Han Dynasty are well aware of the principle of loving the people. Why can’t you bear it?live?Well, just like the Song Zhenzong we are talking about today in 1009, the first explanation comes from the complexity of human nature, which is the so-called cognitive dissonance.Then let me tell you a story, and you will understand what cognitive dissonance is.

This is an example given by teacher Wan Weigang in the elite daily class.It is said that in the 1950s, there was a sect in the West. Their teachings were as follows: they believed that the end of the world would happen on a certain day of a certain month and year.All those who believe in our religion will be picked up by flying saucers sent by aliens.All those who do not believe in our religion, hey, you will be out of luck and will be destroyed along with the earth.But the problem is that their day is written to death, right?Finally, when that day came, alas, the flying saucer did not come and the earth was not destroyed.

How do you explain it?We onlookers feel that according to the rational response, you should examine whether you believe in the wrong doctrine.You should reflect on it, but it is impossible. Everyone thinks that they are smart and wise.How could a wise and mighty man believe in the wrong thing about pride, so he had to find an explanation.How do people from this sect explain that, hum, it is not our belief.No, it was our faith that moved the aliens, so they decided to postpone the end of the world. In the future, there will be such a certain year, a certain month, and you will be unlucky today. You see, this is called cognitive dissonance.

Teacher Wanweidang said that when you find that your behavior is not consistent with your self-image, well, you will inevitably have an illusion to explain your behavior.Alas, this process is called cognitive dissonance.There is actually a similar incident in Song Zhenzong's story. Last year was 1008. Didn't the emperor forge the Book of Heaven with a few eunuchs in the palace?If there is a big cost, there will be cooperation. For example, Ding Wei, the engineering expert we mentioned earlier, who was the Minister of Finance at the time and the project commander-in-chief of Yuqing Recruitment, wrote a letterWhen he wrote the memorial, he said, "Hey, I saw two cranes. The two cranes flew in front of the car that was transporting the heavenly book. They couldn't bear to leave. After flying for a long time, they handed over the memorial."

When I met with the emperor the next day, Song Zhenzong said that even if there were cranes, your memorial said it flew for a long time, which means it flew for a long time. I understand that this writing is very literary, but I'm afraid this is not true.If you do this, this memorial says that you should take it back, revise it, and then send it back to revise the part that does not conform to the facts.What do you think this positioning was said at the time?Because of how quick his reaction was, he immediately knelt down and kowtowed, saying that I have done something good for Your Majesty. I am so honest. If there is no sky above, I cannot afford all things below.When you asked me to change the book, I strongly urge you to write it down and use it as a textbook for future generations. This is a model of honesty.

Song Zhenzong lowered his head and thought for a moment, okay?Yes, this was the emperor who had just forged the Heavenly Book. He was able to find evidence right away that he was an honest person. Not only did he believe that he was an honest person, he also wrote it down so that he could believe it in the future.What do you think this is?Isn’t this the cognitive dissonance I just mentioned?This is human nature. Each of us often cannot see adverse evidence in front of the death reasons we believe. We can also find countless rational explanations in front of our own behavior. This is human feelings.What we just talked about is an explanation based on the complexity of human nature, but there is another explanation based on the complexity of society. Alas, you might as well listen to it. You must know that the emperor sometimes just started things, but youDon't worry, someone will naturally join him next, encourage him, seduce him, and even force him to continue doing this, and the more he does, the more he does, so that the emperor, the instigator, can't stop the car.

We talked about Wang Qinruo in the last issue. In this issue we mentioned positioning. At that time, this kind of person was generally considered to be a bad person. Don’t think that they are the only ones who would join abnormal people. Even the good people you think would do the same.Will also join.Let me give you an example. After coming down from Fengshan Taishan, another thing came to the surface and became a question. Since your emperor sacrificed to heaven, do you want to sacrifice to another emperor?This is also an old rule in the Han and Tang dynasties. Go to Fenyin, Shanxi to worship the emperor.In fact, it turned out that we had already agreed during the festival that we would not go because we were afraid of wasting money.It was originally agreed upon, but now public opinion has come, and this thing is deadly.Public opinion was a big deal in that era.In July of the next year, 1010, the local official of Fenyin, Shanxi reported that a total of 1,290 local villagers, monks and Taoists had jointly signed a letter requesting the emperor to go to Fenyin to offer sacrifices.Not only did they request, but these more than 1,000 people also said that this time they would come to Kaifeng in person to invite you to see if you would go to Zhenzong. They quickly issued an edict saying no, this is not possible, and you have agreed not to go.Don't come either, I won't go either.

The problem is that this kind of thing is like this. Your emperor, Song Zhenzong, has personally initiated this direction. Then everyone understands that if I just hit hard in this direction, it may not have any effect.But you won't make a big mistake by rushing in this direction, because it was you, the emperor, who started this direction, right?In September 1010, Fenyin's local civil and military officials, Seng Dao, not only came, but this time there were not more than a thousand people.How many people are there?Thirty thousand people came to Kaifeng in a mighty manner, asking the emperor to go to Fenyin to offer sacrifices.At this time, Song Zhenzong actually had a clear mind and could not go unless he agreed. However, the people still came forward one after another with requests, and this time the emperor was a little unable to bear it.I discussed it with the prime minister and said, "You tell me whether I should go or not. If you say no, the attitude of the local people is too enthusiastic."Let's go, it has only been a few years since Shantaishan was sealed, and it has done such a big thing again. Alas, this is a waste of money.What else can the Prime Minister say?The emperor has already vomited this, which shows that his mind is active.

Everyone says it’s not easy for you, Your Majesty. You pray to the gods for the sake of the common people. What is this called?This is called the wind and rain, and the fatigue of boating and traveling.You've been working too hard on the road, and we're just worried that your body is working too hard, so cheer up and speak out.You can't say that. As long as the people can live a good life, I am not afraid of any hardships and hardships. Let's go to Fenyin.Did the emperor want to engage in superstitious activities when you did this?Maybe a little bit, but the most fundamental and huge driving force behind it comes from local museums.So do you think the magistrate was at fault?Anyway, I put myself in their shoes and thought about it. If I were in charge of Fen Yin at that time, I would do the same thing, right?I am in the palace to support the local people. When the emperor comes, he must build some infrastructure and there will be some rewards. If the people's life is better than that in the palace, I also want to make progress, right?I also want to perform well for myself. Of course I have to fight hard to please the emperor and get promoted. I am very legitimate.

Although we, the contemporary generation, have been separated by more than 1,000 years, we think these things in those days were superstitious, but we must know that superstitious thoughts and superstitious actions are fundamentally different. If it is just an idea, it is a concept., then you can debate right and wrong, everyone is ugly.But if it changes from an idea to an action, from a concept to a fact, its nature changes, and it cannot be resolved by quarrels, because it is embedded in the social structure and becomes a fact, which becomes a real society.Structure, the people next to you may have nothing to do with beliefs or concepts. All people have to look for their own interests within this realistic social structure. Once the real interest structure is formed, it will be difficult to withdraw., it has nothing to do with everyone’s opinions on it.

It's a bit roundabout for me to say that.Let me give you an example. In 1009, when Taoist temples were built all over the country, the Song Dynasty created an official position called Cilu.The official temple is the temple of the ancestral hall, and the salary is the salary of the salary.To put it simply, for all these Taoist temples built in the world, I assigned nominal supervisors, such as public officials, chief ministers, deputy envoys, judges, etc. These are official names.But once these official positions are born, it will be difficult for you to remove them.Why?Because these official positions later became a tool for arranging idle officials.There are even some officials that the court doesn't want to use, but they don't want to because it makes them look too bad.

What to do?You can be granted the title of Cilu Officer and receive a salary, but you don't have to do much work to manage a Taoist temple, right?It has become an important tool for personnel arrangement. Can you remove it?For example, during the Southern Song Dynasty, we all know that the great benevolent man Xin Qiji once served as the supervisor of a crown in Wuyi Mountain called Chongyou crown.But do you think it's his routine to go to work?Don't worry, it's just a salary, so he went to Yanshan in Shangrao, Jiangxi, to live his pastoral life.What is the meaning of Quejiang Wanzi Pingrongce suffered from the owner planting trees.The book was written in Shangrao, Jiangxi last month.

So if you look at the Taoist temples built all over the world and want to dismantle them, this is a fact. This is not a concept. It is not that easy to dismantle them. If they are dismantled because of the concept, all kinds of interest arrangements will be harmed. It is tooDifficult.So you see, what is the lesson for us?When something is wrong, you should never start it. Once you start it, it will become a social fact and it will be uncomfortable.At the end of today’s program, let’s talk about the ending of such a glorious building, Ying Gong of the Yuqing Dynasty.This year is 1009, and Yuxing Zhaoyinggong was built in 1014. After it was completed, it became the venue for many important ceremonies during Emperor Zhenzong's reign. In fact, ordinary people also had the opportunity to go in and pay homage.But the good times didn't last long.In 1029, in August of the seventh year of the Tiansheng reign of Emperor Renzong of Song Dynasty, there was a sudden thunderstorm, and Yuqing Zhao Yinggong was struck by lightning.There were more than 2,000 rooms in the fire. Except for the one called Changsheng Chongshou Point, all of them were burned to the ground. It was so tragic.It was the period of Song Renzong, and the person in power was Empress Dowager Liu. The widow of Empress Dowager Liu and Song Zhenzong cried because the late emperor's hard work was ruined.

At this time, there was a deputy envoy named Fan Yong in the imperial court. He said coldly next to him, saying that in my opinion it would be better to burn them all. It was wrong to leave such a small spot later.Taihu said, what do you mean?Fan Yong said that it took all the manpower in the world to cultivate this Yuqing fortune-seeking skill back then. If it hadn't been burned out, hey, I guess someone would want to focus on cultivating it today.Alas, when we start repairing it again, some of the stubble has not been burned away, right?The common people have to suffer again, listen to this weird guy.When he said this, all the ministers had this attitude, and Empress Dowager Liu gave up her thoughts on rebuilding, and the history of Yuqing's recruitment of laborers ended.

So you see, we talked about such a lively tourist attraction today, but you can’t see it if you go to Kaifeng, Henan Province today. For this reason, it never stopped.It's still the same rule we mentioned before. As long as everything gets started like this, it will start to attract resources from all aspects, strengthen it, improve it, and turn it into a behemoth that everyone feels is not right.Sure enough, although Ying Gong of the Yuqing Dynasty burned down and the court decided not to rebuild it, the place he left behind, the legend, and the dream still attracted subsequent emperors to recreate the dream.

This is really the history. 100 years later, exactly 100 years later, Song Huizong began to build his garden in Kaifeng City. In the future we will talk about this place called Gengyue, and the infamous Huashi Gang was collected for Genyue.All kinds of strange stones in the world.Then where is Gengyue?Some people have verified that the general location of Zhenyue, a large garden, is in the northeast of Kaifeng City.Remember what we said earlier?The general location of Yuqing's recruitment team is northwest of Kaifeng City, but it is actually much larger.However, construction started from the site where Yuqing was recruited in the northwest. This time the project was larger and more luxurious.But it is worth pondering that the life span of menstruation is also shorter.It was completed in 1122 AD. Just five years later, in 1127, the Jin people from the north captured Kaifeng. Later, Heyue was demolished and the Northern Song Dynasty perished.

Speaking of which, I couldn't help but recite a few lines from Du Mu's "A Fang Gong Fu".The people of Qin are not narrow-minded in mourning for themselves and their descendants; they grieve for their descendants without seeing them; they are also descendants of their descendants and their fathers mourn for their descendants.These major projects not only reflect the greed of emperors, but what I particularly want to convey is that they actually reflect the complexity of human nature and society. How can it not be admirable?Well, see you next year in AD 1010.