After traveling through time, I became Han Zhang’s grandson?

In 1066 AD, the third year of Zhiping in the Song Dynasty, it was an unremarkable year in Chinese history.

However, it was also the most peaceful and harmonious year without any disputes since the founding of the Song Dynasty.

Thanks to the "Pingxingguan Victory" in March, no force or country from east to west, from south to north, from inside to outside has attempted to provoke trouble or challenge the Song Dynasty.

In addition to the "Dragon Raising its Head" ceremony in February, the weather was good in the following period, and there were no major floods like the one in the first year of Zhiping.

The court took advantage of the war situation to promote "deepening reforms and changes", and reported impressive results every day.

With the help of the government, people from all over the country gradually became qualified to survive, and the basic guarantees of "food, clothing, housing and transportation" began to be implemented slowly and firmly.

Thanks to the implementation of the "agriculture to commerce" policy, people have gradually freed themselves from the constraints of the land and entered the business field.

From south to north, the commodity economy of the Song Dynasty achieved unprecedented development. For a time, the main cities of major provinces were crowded with people, and the prosperous scene made people dream back to the Tang Dynasty.

Under a number of policies that benefit the people and laws that restrict the scholar-official class, the problems of "class contradictions" and "land annexation" that the Song Dynasty was criticized for were gradually alleviated.

Although it was impossible to eradicate the evil, this trend gave the "impoverished and weak" Song Dynasty a glimmer of hope for improvement and recovery.

In addition, thanks to the subsequent impact of the "Pingxingguan Victory", the "annual tribute" compensation required by the Liao Dynasty was stopped in the past two years.

This alleviated the financial problems of the Song Dynasty to a certain extent, and left more spare capacity to invest in national infrastructure.

At the grand court meeting in early June of the third year of Zhiping, Emperor Yingzong summarized his administration during his nearly three years in power.

At the same time, a series of ideas involving politics, economy, culture and military were also put forward.

In terms of politics, Emperor Yingzong continued to employ important reformist ministers of the Renzong period, such as Han Zhang, Ouyang Wenzhong, and Fu Yanguo, as well as Han Ming, Wang Jiefu, Sima Junshi, Su Shizhan and others who were known as the new political reformers of the dynasty.

In view of the bad policies since the reign of Emperor Renzong, Emperor Yingzong raised the issue of how to rectify the accumulated problems and solicited their opinions.

At the same time, an imperial decree was issued to extend the transfer period for officials of all ranks, which to a certain extent alleviated the pressure on the court's finances caused by the "redundant officials" phenomenon.

In order to recruit talents and select wise men for the country, Emperor Yingzong ordered the prime minister to recommend talented and capable people to fill positions in the library.

To a certain extent, this gave the prime minister greater power to recommend officials and expanded the weight of the Secretariat under the two-government and three-department system.

Economically, due to the huge deficit left by the previous Emperor Renzong, after Emperor Yingzong ascended the throne, the national treasuries such as Fengzhuangku and Zuozangku were empty, and even reached the point of corruption.

According to original history, in the second year of Zhiping (1065), although the annual revenue of the Song Dynasty reached a huge amount of million, the expenditure on official expenses, military expenses, etc. reached million, which was completely insufficient to cover the expenses.

After Han Ming, Wang Jiefu and others continued to "increase revenue and reduce expenditure", the redundant bureaucrats, imperial guards and garrison troops were re-planned.

In the autumn of the second year of Zhiping, the "three redundancies and two accumulations" problem that had plagued the Song Dynasty for nearly a hundred years was greatly alleviated.

The continuous economic recovery and prosperity brought the court's tax revenue to a historical high, and retention began to appear.

According to the national policy of "strengthening the trunk and weakening the branches" in the early Song Dynasty, this part of the reserves was supposed to be handed over to the central government and local governments were not allowed to intercept them.

However, in order to stimulate local economic development and improve the administrative efficiency of local governments, Emperor Yingzong allocated the funds to local governments for their own use as rewards and punishments for local governments and as funds for investing in people's livelihood.

This further stimulated the local people's livelihood and economy, and also brought considerable prestige to Emperor Yingzong.

In terms of culture, Emperor Yingzong attached great importance to reading and the compilation and editing of books.

In the first year of Zhiping (1064), Sima Junshi wrote a "Chronicles of the Years" and presented it to Emperor Yingzong, who praised it highly.

At the beginning of the third year of Zhiping (1066), Emperor Yingzong ordered Sima Junshi to set up a bureau to compile the "Zizhi Tongjian".

He also agreed to Sima Junshi's request to recruit assistants to set up a bookstore to compile the deeds of emperors and ministers of all dynasties, and ordered that the bookstore be set up in Chongwenyuan. He specially allowed it to borrow books from Longtu Pavilion, Tianzhang Pavilion, Zhaowen Pavilion, History Museum, Jixian Academy, and Secret Pavilion.

Not only that, Yingzong also approved the provision of pens, ink, and silks for the emperor's exclusive use, allocated special funds to supply fruits and cakes to the bookstore staff, and dispatched eunuchs to provide services.

Emperor Yingzong's instructions greatly improved Sima Junshi's conditions for compiling history books, and provided solid support for the grand undertaking of compiling "Zizhi Tongjian" from the very beginning.

In order to repay Emperor Yingzong's kindness, Sima Junshi devoted all his energy to compiling the masterpiece "Zizhi Tongjian" for the next 19 years.

At this moment, history seemed to have formed a closed loop. In addition to Han Ming and Wang Jiefu who thrived in the New Deal reforms, Sima Junshi also found his own historical mission and started a not-so-peaceful life.

Finally, in terms of military affairs, Emperor Yingzong agreed to Han Ming's suggestion to "reduce some military units and form a new army."

This marked the beginning of the historical process of the formation, integration, training and campaigning of the new army of the Song Dynasty.

Many years later, when facing countless powerful enemies in history: Liao, Xia, Jin, Mongolia and other forces, this new army, which was first established during the reign of Emperor Yingzong, became the backbone of the war and one of the symbols of people's memories of the Song Dynasty.

"Zhi Ping" comes from Baopuzi: "When the country is peaceful and prosperous, it is said to be governed by Tao; when the country is in danger and the ruler is in chaos, it is said to be governed by Tao." It means that a peaceful country needs to be governed by Tao.

Since he ascended the throne, Emperor Yingzong has been working diligently and not daring to delay for a moment.

With the endorsement of Emperor Renzong and Empress Dowager Cao, he and his ministers worked tirelessly day and night, taking one step at a time on the arduous road to creating a well-governed world.

Maybe no one understands him now, but thousands of years later, some people will remember that there was a feudal monarch who briefly started a good reign and devoted his whole life to the Song Dynasty.

On the eighth day of the eleventh month in the third year of the Zhiping reign of the Song Dynasty (1066), Emperor Yingzong fell ill again and fainted in the Wende Hall.

According to the recollections of the eunuchs on duty at the time, Emperor Yingzong first approved memorials from various places, and then suddenly suffered a headache with unbearable pain. He immediately asked someone to get a hot towel to apply to his head.

At three quarters past noon, Emperor Yingzong, who had been taking a short rest in the Wende Hall, became violently ill, roaring and smashing the objects in the hall.

She even started to talk to invisible things through the air. No one heard what she said, but the strong regret in her words could be felt by the palace maids and eunuchs outside the palace.

At four quarters after noon, Emperor Yingzong calmed down and summoned the empress and the eldest prince. After a brief and cheerful conversation with them, his face turned from red to white, he spat out a mouthful of blood, and fell to the ground in the Wende Hall.

In early December of the same year, at the suggestion of Prime Minister Han Zhang, Emperor Yingzong officially appointed his eldest son Zhao Ceying as the crown prince, and he continued to serve as the "Regent".

On December 11, Emperor Yingzong summoned his former subordinates from Yuzhou in the Funing Hall. No one knew what the two sides said, but they only knew that his uncle Shen Congxing was scolded and made to kneel outside the hall.

Even Queen Shen Congying did not plead for her younger brother, and stopped Da Zou who wanted to enter the palace to plead for him.

On the 15th, Emperor Yingzong summoned the Secretariat headed by Han Zhang, the Sansi Yamen headed by Wang Jiefu, the Privy Council headed by Zhang Sheng, and the Censorate headed by Fu Yanguo to enter the palace to meet him.

These old men, who were deeply influenced by the emperor's grace and Confucianism, covered their faces and cried, repeating the old clichés of loyalty to the emperor, patriotism, and protecting the country and the people. They kept comforting Emperor Yingzong to take care of himself.

On the 19th, Emperor Yingzong's condition became more serious. He was in a trance and kept mumbling, saying that he saw the late Emperor Renzong coming to pick him up and praising his political achievements.

Upon hearing this, Empress Dowager Cao burst into tears in her bedroom, and even went to Buddhist temples and Taoist temples such as Daxiangguo Temple outside the city to pray for Emperor Yingzong.

On the 26th, Emperor Yingzong, who had regained his consciousness, summoned the Crown Prince Zhao Ceying, Han Ming, the Deputy Privy Councilor and Counselor of State Affairs and Marquis of Anyang, and Gu Tingye, the Commander of the Palace Front, Marquis of Ningyuan, to meet him.

The four of them rarely had such an opportunity to have a good chat behind closed doors, so after Emperor Yingzong had recovered a little, he arranged a special winter watermelon banquet.

They sent all the palace maids and eunuchs to the side hall, and then the four of them happily ate watermelon around the stove.

"This thing is good stuff!"

Gu Tingye pursed his lips, forced an ugly smile, and praised Xigua.

"Indeed, it's not easy to eat these in winter!"

Han Ming knew that Gu Tingye was feeling a little sad, so he took over the conversation and continued to comment.

"If it's not easy, eat more. There will be more and more things to do in the future, and the burden on you will become heavier. Eat more so that everyone will have the strength and energy to work!"

The pale-faced Emperor Yingzong chuckled, picked up the cut watermelon and divided it up one by one.

At this moment, he was not an emperor who was high above everyone else, but an approachable middle-aged uncle, inviting the children of the neighborhood to eat melons, chat, and talk about their expectations for the future.

Before I knew it, the moon was at its zenith, and the melon in my mouth tasted less and less good. The originally sweet and delicious melon flesh began to become bitter and salty.

Han Ming raised his head which was buried in the watermelon, and there seemed to be a layer of fog in front of his eyes that could not be wiped away.

"Child... do you want to eat another piece..."

At this moment, he seemed to see the figures of Emperor Renzong and Emperor Yingzong overlapping and approaching each other. He grinned hard, trying to return a clean smile...

On the Dingsi day of the first month of the fourth year of Zhiping (January 1067, 1), Zhao Zongquan died of illness in Funing Palace at the age of 25. He was buried on the west steps of the palace. His temple name was Yingzong, and his ministers posthumously named him Emperor Xianwen Suwu Xuanxiao.

On August 27th, he was buried in Yonghou Mausoleum (now Xiaoyi Fort, Gongyi, Henan).

. . . . . .

Thousands of years later, when people talked about this emperor, most believed that although the "Rule of Peace and Prosperity" was short-lived, it opened the prelude to the great rule of the Song Dynasty.

Its importance is comparable to the two great reigns of Emperor Wen and Emperor Jing and Emperor Zhenguan, and it can be said to be the foundation for creating a prosperous era.

It laid the foundation for the subsequent "Xining Reign" and "Yuanfeng Restoration", and similarly played a starting role in the later "Shaosheng Prosperity".

The internet is abuzz with rumors that the Song Dynasty rose from this fate, with many experts and scholars agreeing that during the reign of Emperor Yingzong of Song, signs of a well-governed society first emerged...