Chapter 221 Unifying the World
I want to quickly review ancient Chinese history, including all dynasties. I've watched too many TV series about the Xia, Shang, Zhou, Spring and Autumn Period, the Warring States Period, Qin, and the Three Kingdoms, and I have a general understanding of them. I don't really like watching the Spring and Autumn Period, the Warring States Period, and the Qin Dynasty.
I've read Romance of the Three Kingdoms and the TV series, and I've gotten a general idea of the Three Kingdoms. So I don't need to read the Three Kingdoms anymore. I'd love to read the Eastern Han, the Two Jin Dynasties, the Southern and Northern Dynasties, the Tang, Song, Yuan, and Ming dynasties. I'm anxious to read books on the ancient history of these dynasties, but time is limited and it's impossible to quickly read all of them. I can only look at the emperors' chronology of major events or key events.
But I have a feeling that I don't dislike the Jin, Liao, Xixia, and Mongol Yuan dynasties. But I don't feel that I have to read their history. I feel that it doesn't matter whether I read the history of these dynasties or not. I don't have to read the history of the Northern Wei dynasty.
But then I think about it, and I feel like I really can't miss the history of the Han dynasties. It's frustrating, and I feel really bad if I don't. Because I'm Han, how can I be so indifferent to minority dynasties, and not care whether I read about them or not? And let alone the Qing Dynasty. I hate the Manchus the most, and I'll never read about their history.
Back in the day, weren't the Yang family's seven generals and eight tigers all brave and valiant? Yang Liulang, Yang Yanzhao, was the sole survivor of the "Golden Beach Twin Dragons" incident! Actually, more than just Liulang survived, but only Yang Liulang made it back alive!
Silang and Balang were not dead, but they were trapped in the Liao Kingdom in the north. Wulang was also not dead, but he was disheartened and became a monk in Mount Wutai! Although they were not dead, they no longer cared about the war in the world, so they were almost dead!
Yang Liulang was different. After returning alive, he continued to participate in the war, fighting for the Song Dynasty! Later, he was promoted to the Grand Marshal guarding the three passes! He fought against the Liao Kingdom many times and made great contributions!
Logically speaking, Yang Liulang, a veteran who had spent his entire life in the military, shouldn't have regressed much in martial arts skills! But why, during the siege of Mu Ke Village, how could such a powerful Yang Liulang, Yang Yanzhao, be captured alive by the little girl Mu Guiying?
This was the greatest humiliation of Liu Lang's life! Was it really because Liu Lang was old? It shouldn't be like that! His son Yang Zongbao hadn't married yet, so the father should be in his middle age, around 37 or 38, or at most around 40, not too old!
The Song Dynasty may have been inferior in military achievements compared to other unified dynasties, but that was only compared to other unified dynasties.
In horizontal comparison with the rest of the world, the Song Dynasty was still a great empire, which was countless times stronger than the Qing Dynasty, which was missed by all the great powers.
Later, with the Southern Song Dynasty being in a precarious position and some official exaggerations, netizens had reasons to believe in the existence of the Song Dynasty.
Then a group of idle people who were only thinking about fighting and killing instead of reciting poems started to attack.
In my opinion, the Zhao Song Dynasty was the peak era of classical China, which succeeded the Sui and Tang Dynasties and preceded the Ming Dynasty.
It is the most critical link in the inheritance and continuation of Chinese civilization.
There is a strange phenomenon now. Those who hate Song are not necessarily all Ming fans, but some people who claim to be Song fans classify this group of people as Ming fans, and finally point the finger at Ming.
It's hard for me not to doubt the composition of this group of people. I definitely don't believe that there are no old-fashioned people stirring up trouble among them. Just look at history and see how chaotic the situation is now.
Provoking everyone to fight each other is a good way to divert the damage. This is a real phenomenon I have seen in recent years, and it is something that all Dynasty fans should be vigilant about, especially some so-called "Ming fans" groups that are dispatching police everywhere.
In my opinion, every dynasty has its advantages and disadvantages. After all, they were all in ancient times, and their systems were certainly not advanced compared to today's.
But some people use the present to satirize the past and are full of arrogance. This is also the favorite trick of historical nihilists and those who play the villains.
Limited by productivity, the only difference between the ancients and us was knowledge, not intelligence. And when it comes to knowledge, in some aspects, those modern people who are lazy and ignorant of grains may not be able to compare with the ancients.
After a dynasty ends, we should see what valuable cultural heritage it has left for future generations and make a horizontal comparison to see what the entire world looks like, instead of focusing on the petty intrigues within each feudal dynasty, spreading rumors and gossip, taking things out of context, and refutation of each other.
Or maybe they're just bragging about that "sweet potato boom"—do they think they're so smart? So, be sure to keep your eyes peeled and see who's playing the role. After all, high-level blackmail is all about getting paid, and making money isn't a bad thing.
Could the Song Dynasty rival the Liao, Jin, and Xia dynasties? If they were stronger than them but were still beaten and forced to pay tribute for a hundred years, why shouldn't they be criticized?
Military affairs are a continuation of politics. Furthermore, the Song dynasty was renowned for its emphasis on civil service over military power, using civil power to control military power. How could the disastrous military record of the two Song dynasties over the past three hundred years be unrelated to Song internal affairs? Even with the rotten political conditions of the late Tang dynasty, it was not repeatedly attacked by foreign enemies, leading to the same level of devastation as the Song dynasty.
There is also culture. If a country's mainstream culture is positive, then there is no reason why most of the people in that country, especially those with real power, would not be excellent, proactive, and able to solve problems. So Song culture may be really gorgeous, but it is definitely insulated from the word "excellent".
In middle school, I learned the saying, "When the country is in misfortune, the poets are fortunate." Now I think there are two situations in which this saying can be applied: the first is when, as in Du Fu's time, the country's misfortune objectively became the material for literary creation;
The second type is that literature and art occupy and waste a lot of national resources and thus become one of the driving forces of national misfortune. The Song Dynasty is one of the best negative examples.
There is indeed a world of difference between the feudal dynasties and the present, but the Song Dynasty was indeed a mess, not to mention that there are a bunch of extreme fans who are trying to imitate the Han, Tang and Ming dynasties.
In 1267, during the Battle of Niuxinling, the Song army organized 5,000 cavalry and 10,000 infantry to pursue the Mongol army. A Shu, leaving only 5,000 cavalry as a rearguard, was able to inflict a crushing defeat on the Song army, resulting in over 10,000 casualties. This demonstrates how weak the Song army's combat effectiveness was by this time, and its field combat capabilities were far inferior to those of Meng Gong's lifetime. When Meng Gong was conquering the Jin, he led 20,000 Song troops (the number of infantry and cavalry is unknown) on his way to Caizhou. He encountered 20,000 Jin cavalry and was able to defeat them.
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