The "playful" emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty turned the Song Dynasty into a miasma: corrupt officials, political darkness, and people's livelihood was in dire straits.

The Playful Emperor

Song Huizong was a famous "playful" emperor in history. When he was a boy, he loved poetry, calligraphy and painting. He was very fond of skills such as Cuju, playing crows, and admiring stones. Omnipotent, omnipotent. After taking the throne, he put national affairs aside, appointed the flattering and treacherous minister Cai Jing to assist the government, and used Tong Guan to collect toys for him. He set up a production bureau in Hangzhou and selected skilled craftsmen from the southeast to make jades and carve ivory for him. He also ordered the Suzhou-Hangzhou Yingfeng Bureau to collect exotic flowers, trees and rocks from the south of the Yangtze River for the emperor and transport them to the capital on a large number of ships. Make "Hua Shi Gang".

In fact, "gang" is a group name given to large quantities of the same type of goods shipped from all over the country to the capital since the Tang and Song Dynasties. In the past, there were "salt gang" and "grain gang", which were specially used for emergency purposes. However, the "Hua Shi Gang" transported to the capital during the reign of Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty was used for pleasure. The "Hua Shi Gang" fleet travels between the Huaihe River and the Bian River day and night, thousands of miles from end to end, affecting agricultural production. Sometimes they even intercepted official ships and private merchant ships transporting food and wages from prefectures and counties, which brought great disasters to the people in the southeastern region and along the canal, and many people even went bankrupt. In the second year of Xuanhe, the people in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and other places could not bear the suffering of "Huashi Gang" and broke out the Fangla Uprising.

The Zhu family father and son who searched for treasures for the emperor

At that time, the head of the Suzhou-Hangzhou Yingfeng Bureau was named Zhu Chong. He specially collected rare flowers, trees, and rocks in the south of the Yangtze River for the emperor. Zhu Chong was originally a member of the public in Suzhou. Later, because of his acquaintance with Cai Jing, he was flattered by Cai Jing's cultivation and worked extra hard. Whether he was a commoner or an official's family, as long as there were some flowers and stones that were worth viewing, Zhu Chong and his son Zhu Nai then ordered people to put a yellow seal on them, indicating that they were "imperial objects." If anyone disobeyed, the officials would immediately use the excuse of "being disrespectful to the emperor" and fine him at least, or he would be arrested and thrown into prison, and he would be punished at will. He demolished houses and walls at every turn, causing people to panic. He was even more vicious than a robber. After searching for them, the people went to the Yangtze River and Taihu Lake to salvage strange rocks. In addition, Ying Fengju also purchased lychees, longans, coconuts and other seasonal fruits for the emperor, as well as rare birds and animals for the emperor to enjoy. On the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, which is thousands of miles long, there are fleets transporting flowers, stones, and tribute fruits. More than a dozen of these ships are organized into a single line and march towards Kaifeng in a mighty way. Once, in order to transport a huge Taihu stone, thousands of people were used to pull fiber. The sad fiber song resounded on both sides of the canal. When passing the bridge in the town, it was difficult to pass the big stone, so they opened the city walls and demolished the bridge, always trying to remove the strange stone on time. Flowers and stones were sent to the capital.

Since the Zhu family and his son worked so hard for the emperor, they naturally did not have to worry about the rewards of high-ranking officials and generous salaries. They could also enter and leave the emperor's inner palace and directly feel the emperor's benevolence. Once, Zhu Nai was serving a banquet at the emperor's side. When the wine was in full swing, the emperor suddenly stood up and said, "Your father and son have worked hard day and night for me, but they have nothing to show for it. I will fill this glass of wine for you now." How could Zhu Nai dare to suffer such a heavy blow? Well, he quickly knelt down in fear, banged his head like a pound of garlic, and kept saying "death penalty, capital crime", which made the emperor nervous. He quickly stretched out his hand to pull Junai's arm and smiled. He said: "You are a loyal minister that I like. From now on, the inner court should not be too polite." Zhu Nai finally calmed down a little. From then on, Zhu Nai used a piece of yellow cloth to wrap around the places where the emperor touched. In name, he did not dare to offend the places where the emperor touched, but in fact, he labeled himself an "imperial" trademark to increase his personal worth. The local officials in the southeast were even more respectful to the Zhu family and his son. Anyone who didn't buy it would have to pack up and leave in a few days. The slaves of the Zhu family also became officials with purple clothes and gold waists. Therefore, people called the Zhu family and his son the "Southeast Little Court" and made up a jingle like this: "Gold belt, silver belt, the Zhu family is bad in the world of Zhao family."

The Zoological and Botanical Gardens of the Song Dynasty

In response to the rare flowers and trees transported by the "Hua Shi Gang", Song Huizong employed tens of thousands of craftsmen to build the "Mingtang" for holding sacrificial activities and hold banquets. The active "Yenbok Palace" and the rockery Gen'ao, built on a ten-mile radius of earth, were built to pray for more sons. Genyue is a comprehensive scenic area with man-made mountains as the main body. It is an ingenious place and was also the largest zoological and botanical garden at that time.

In order to create the curling clouds and mist on Mount Gen, Huizong asked craftsmen to make some large oilcloth bags. After soaking them in water, the eunuchs placed them among the strange rocks at dawn. To capture the morning clouds and mist, and then store them properly. Once the emperor was lucky enough to travel here, he would open these pockets. Suddenly, the mountains were filled with clouds and mist, making people feel like they were in a cave. This pattern is called "Gongyun". Various animals collected from all over the world are also raised here, and they are tamed by dedicated people. Once, Zhao Ji led his officials to visit the Long Live Mountain. The sound of thousands of birds on the mountain could be heard throughout the country. Zhao Ji was overjoyed. At this time, the attendant hurriedly said: "The rare birds of the Long Live Mountain welcome you." Zhao Ji immediately made this man a high official. Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty often gave gorgeous mansions worth millions of dollars decorated with exotic flowers and stones to ministers who boasted and flattered him. There were six people favored by Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty, known as the "six thieves", namely Cai Jing, Zhu Nai, Wang Fu, Li Yan, Liang Shicheng and Tong Guan. They stayed by the emperor's side like flies, flattering the emperor, but secretly engaged in corruption and bribery, and plundered people's wealth.

Superstitious Song Huizong

Song Huizong not only loved playing, but was also very superstitious. During his reign, all parts of the country were busy collecting signs of the coming of the gods. Today is the Kunning Hall where the gods appear. Tomorrow, somewhere will the flying dragon appear, or somewhere else will he see things like heavenly books and earthly decrees? All are rewarded. He liked Taoism and proclaimed himself "Daojun Emperor". He also liked others to call him "Daojun" or "Daojun Emperor". Sometimes he even personally led hundreds of Taoist priests to worship heaven. Zhao Ji not only believed in Taoism himself, but also ordered all his people to believe in Taoism. He allocates a large amount of money to Taoist priests every year, and thousands of acres of farmland in a temple are also tax-free. Under his leadership, the number of Taoist priests in the Song Dynasty increased unprecedentedly. After receiving money from the state, these Taoist priests went around cheating and cheating, becoming parasites of society, corrupting the body of society, and eroding the vitality of the country in the Song Dynasty.

The "playful" emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty turned the Song Dynasty into a mess: corrupt officials, dark politics, people's livelihood, and complaints. Peasant uprisings occurred one after another, the borders were even more unstable, and the Northern Song Dynasty regime was on the verge of collapse. In April of the second year of Jingkang (1127 AD), Huizong and his son Qinzong were captured by the Jin people. Since then, the Northern Song Dynasty, which had ruled China for 167 years, was declared destroyed.