The most thrifty emperor-Song Xiaozong Zhao Xin
Song Xiaozong Zhaoxin was the second emperor in the Southern Song Dynasty and a relatively successful emperor. He set an example and advocated frugality. Historically, Song Xiaozong was called "respectful and thrifty", which means respectful and thrifty. Song Gaozong praised him as a "thrifty and too stuffy emperor". At the beginning of his reign, Song Xiaozong refused to enjoy himself. He spends little on his daily life, often wears old clothes and doesn't build big buildings. Usually it is rarely given to ministers, and the income from the palace has not been used for many years, so that the rope for wearing coins in the library is rotten. Song Xiaozong thinks, "I don't have much else to do, but I can be frugal." He often said to the scholar-officials around him: "Scholar-officials are models of customs, and they should cultivate their self-cultivation to educate customs." Song Xiaozong was not only thrifty, but also respected Buddhism and Taoism, praised loyalty and righteousness, rehabilitated himself, and made great efforts to govern the country, which led to a well-off situation in the Southern Song Dynasty.
Thrift first needs to control one's own desires and greed, so as to keep moral integrity and cultivate virtue. Therefore, people with virtue have always advocated "frugality and morality". There are "thrifty people, virtue * * * also; The sentence "extravagance and waste is a great evil" means: thrift is a great virtue of doing good; Luxury is the root of all evil. Moreover, people's blessings are limited and precious, so we must cherish them.
The first year of Longxing (1163)-the sixteenth year of Xichun (1 189)
Xiao Yue, formerly known as Mao VII's grandson. Since the Song Dynasty, the throne has been passed down in Taizong. When Emperor Gaozong arrived, due to the premature death of his only son, Zhao Fu, ministers suggested choosing an heir from the descendants of Emperor Taizong. In the second year of Shaoxing, 6-year-old Zhao was lucky enough to be selected and raised in the palace. At the age of 36, he was made a prince, renamed Hao, and became king in the same year. Since then, the Song Dynasty throne has returned to the Zhao Kuangyin family.
Xiaozong was the most successful monarch in the Southern Song Dynasty. Unwilling to be partial, he tried to restore the Central Plains and reform the internal affairs at the same time, hoping to revive the national situation. The wind of compromise and peace that pervaded the ruling and opposition parties during the reign of Emperor Gaozong was once reversed. However, in the face of internal and external unfavorable factors such as the containment of Emperor Gaozong everywhere, the strong obstruction of the pacifists, and the withering of the talents of the war factions, Xiaozong was deeply overwhelmed, and the great cause of Zhongxing finally had to be wasted. War and peace: the difficulties and twists and turns of cleaning up old mountains and rivers
Xiaozong's ambition to use the nomads from the army was shown when he was a prince. In the thirty-first year of Shaoxing, Yan Hongliang invaded the south, and many ministers in the DPRK advocated fleeing. Filial piety, who was 35 years old at that time, was very angry and took the initiative to write a letter asking for a decisive battle with the nomadic people. However, after Shi Hao's reminder, in order to avoid the emperor's suspicion, he wrote another letter, requesting to protect the emperor's personal expedition to show filial piety and loyalty. After Xiaozong ascended the throne, he ostensibly expressed opposition to the compromise peace policy, but when dealing with political affairs, he rebelled, rehabilitated Yue Fei's unjust case, expelled from the party, used a group of demoted ministers, and actively contacted the northern anti-Jin Yijun. In July of the thirty-second year of Shaoxing, that is, the second month after Xiaozong ascended the throne, a decree was issued to call Zhang Jun, a hawkish veteran, into the DPRK, and business resumed.
In order to understand the situation of the Privy Council, Master Zhang Jun and Master Gao insisted on resisting Jin, and successively led troops to Sichuan, Shaanxi and Huaibei. They have made great achievements in the military and enjoyed a high reputation in the ruling and opposition circles in the Southern Song Dynasty, and the Jin people were also afraid of him. When Qin Gui was in power, Zhang Jun was excluded and forced to leave the court. Xiao Wen has long heard of Zhang Jun's reputation and admired him. Now to restore the Central Plains, Zhang Jun is the best person to take charge of the overall situation. The new emperor was determined to forge ahead and strive for revival, and his respect and trust for himself made Zhang Jun excited for a long time. He suggested that Xiaozong go to Jiankang to attract the hearts and minds of the Central Plains. Chen Bing marched into Shandong to support the Sichuan-Shaanxi Army on the western front. At the same time, he also recommended a group of talents who advocated the war of resistance to Japan to, Wang and others. Filial piety was put into use one by one. For a time, the atmosphere of compromise and concession that once permeated the ruling and opposition parties was swept away, and the strength of the hawks was greatly enhanced.
In the first year of Longxing (1 163), Xiaozong appointed Zhang Jun as the envoy of the Tang Dynasty to take charge of the military command of the anti-Jin front. Previously, Jin people asked the Southern Song Dynasty for the land and old coins of Shanghai, Si, Tang, Deng and Shang, but Zhang Jun refused. The rulers stationed troops in Hongxian and Lingbi, posing to attack the Southern Song Dynasty, and the situation between the north and the south suddenly became tense. Zhang Jun advocated pre-emptive strike and immediately carried out the Northern Expedition. As soon as this proposal came out, it immediately attracted strong opposition from the pacifists, including the right-wing Prime Minister Shi Hao.
Shi Hao used to be Xiaozong's teacher, and the relationship between teachers and students was very harmonious. At the beginning of Xiaozong's accession to the throne, some natural changes, such as rehabilitating Yue Fei and his son and contacting heroes in the Central Plains, were actively supported by him. He also recommended a group of people of insight such as Lu You to Xiaozong. However, what Shi Hao did was not to restore the Central Plains, but to maintain the status quo of the Southern Song Dynasty. In his view, the Northern Expedition was costly, and the national strength of the Southern Song Dynasty was weak, so it was very risky to take the initiative to send troops. It is the safest way to retreat to the north of the Yangtze River and watch the change of Jin people. He argued with Zhang Jun for five days and finally failed to convince Zhang Jun. Filial piety at this time is a newborn calf, full of energy. Although he hesitated under the obstruction of Shi Hao, he made up his mind with the encouragement and support of Zhang Jun. In April of that year, in order to avoid the interference of the pacifists, Xiao Zong bypassed the three provinces and the Privy Council and directly ordered Li Xianzhong and Shao Hongyuan to send troops to the Northern Expedition.