After broadcasting the ancient times live, I handed the system over to the state.

"From this we can see that the prosperity of the Song Dynasty's economy came from the above aspects: one was the political stability of the Northern Song society, and the other was the relatively relaxed economic policies."

"There is also the economic environment that lasted for a century, the political system that promoted civil service politics, and the development of science and technology."

Yi Mei paused again, then lowered her voice and said, "Some people might say that the Song Dynasty's emphasis on civil affairs over military affairs shows that it lacked backbone, and that everyone says it was weak and impoverished?"

"But I also want to tell everyone that everything has two sides, a good side and a bad side."

"As the Central Plains dynasty following the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, the Song Dynasty, although it did not achieve unification, still had to resolve some of the legacy issues of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms. These factors led to the so-called civil service political system."

Yi Mei didn't go into details here, but everyone under the sky knew what was going on, because those military generals from the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms really did eat people!

Originally, the system intended to set up the Myriad Realms Mall in a certain spacetime rift, but it would consume too much energy. In the end, the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period was chosen, and Li Yuanji was sent to quell it. When Li Yuanji saw that there were people who actually led armies and ate wherever they went, he was terrified and killed them all.

"The influence from the top down was that intellectuals were highly respected in the Song Dynasty. As a result, intellectuals had a high status and a large number of intellectuals. The academic environment was very relaxed, which led many people to pursue scientific and technological innovation. Of course, it should also be said that all of this is inseparable from the government's governance capabilities."

"The Song Dynasty government's governance and adaptability were able to adapt to rapid economic development. For example, the fact that Jiaozi eventually became the official currency used by the court shows the court's adjustments."

Yi Mei's praise made Zhao Kuangyin, who was below, wipe his sweat. He had thought he would be criticized like Zhu Yuanzhang.

It's possible that they've been cursing Da Song, Da Song, and Ruo Song so much on the Sky Screen that they're now feeling quite like crying when they hear words of praise.

That's because Yi Mei was only talking about the economic aspect, not military capabilities. If we're talking about military capabilities... actually, the Song Dynasty wasn't bad at all. It may seem weak, but its win rate in foreign wars was actually quite high.

In fact, the people of the Song Dynasty did not want to fight and preferred to pay reparations directly. It was an economic matter, with reparations amounting to a few million, while war involved strategic calculations of tens of millions. They were certainly willing to spend a small amount of money to avoid disaster.

Having experienced many things, we know that sometimes simply paying compensation is useless. Today someone asks for a hundred, tomorrow they might dare to ask for a thousand, and next time they might ask for even more. What will you use to pay them back?

Hearing these words, Zhu Yuanzhang was the one who sulked, as the Ming Dynasty had always been criticized.

Especially the paper money... Last time he was lectured, he was scolded so badly he was exhausted, but now the Song Dynasty wasn't scolded at all, and was even praised...

There is no harm without comparison.

"In fact, a commercial revolution quietly took place in the Song Dynasty. The market system of the Tang Dynasty had changed by the Song Dynasty, and the service industry that people enjoy in later generations basically existed in the Song Dynasty."

“Did you know that food delivery existed as early as the Song Dynasty?” Yi Mei smiled. “In Tokyo, teahouses, taverns, opera houses, and brothels were everywhere, and people’s consumption potential for relatively luxurious products such as silk, tea, books, and paper was even stronger.”

"Simply looking at the total money supply that reflects the value of goods in circulation, the average annual amount of coins minted after the mid-Northern Song Dynasty exceeded the total amount of coins minted over several decades in the Tang Dynasty." Yi Mei pressed a button, and a chart appeared.

The chart above shows the total money supply each year, divided into years from the Song Dynasty and the Tang Dynasty, followed by a bar chart, creating a stark contrast.

Li Shimin was somewhat taken aback; no wonder they said the wealth of the Song Dynasty was unparalleled.

"At that time, some people counted that tens of thousands of raincoat materials in a warehouse in the Northern Song Dynasty were damaged, which shows that the reserves of goods were abundant at that time. Even in the Southern Song Dynasty, the annual tribute to the Jin Dynasty was more than 50, but it only accounted for about 2% of the GDP."

"The prosperity of commerce in the Song Dynasty was not only reflected in this aspect; domestic trade, border trade, and foreign trade were all very prosperous."

Yi Mei also released some materials to prove that during the Song Dynasty, there were already many ships going out to sea to do business, and those on land would also go to Liao, Western Xia, Qingtang and even more distant places to trade.

Later generations, when studying this subject, always excel at making substantive statements, drawing conclusions rigorously from historical materials rather than creating their own ideas with literary motives.

(Su Shi: Click me?)

"And the prosperity of towns and cities, as we just mentioned, the grass market, which can also be a typical representation of the scene at that time."

"During the Xining era, there were more than two thousand towns and cities throughout the Song Dynasty. In order to do business, people gradually settled in commercial markets, and thus commercial cities with political and economic centers gradually emerged, which is also reflected in the 'Along the River During the Qingming Festival' scroll."

"At that time, Bianjing was the largest city in the world. At its commercial peak, it had a population of over 1.5 million. The busiest towns were open all night long, with a constant flow of people and the incessant cries of vendors..."

Zhu Qinggu realized that she had never been to Bianjing (Kaifeng) before, as she had been traveling around all the time. She would definitely take her parents there when she had some free time.

"At that time, the per capita GDP of the Song Dynasty was also among the world's leading levels. Even in the Qing Dynasty, it was more than twice the per capita GDP of the Kangxi and Qianlong eras."

After so many economics classes and popular science explanations, people under the sky also know what GDP means, which is the total market value of all final products and services produced by all resident units within a country or region, including enterprises or individuals, within a certain period of time.

Hearing that the Song Dynasty's GDP was so high, people under the sky exclaimed in surprise upon comparison.

The information released by Yi Mei here also corroborates this statement.

"This is the per capita GDP of China over thousands of years, derived by the famous British economist Maddison using the purchasing power of $1 in 1990 as a base and employing the purchasing power parity method."

"After Emperor Taizu of Song established the Song Dynasty, the per capita GDP of the Song Dynasty was about $450. By the end of the Song Dynasty, the per capita GDP was about $600. At that time, Europe was in the Dark Ages and the per capita GDP was $422."

"After the defeat in the Opium War in 1840, China's economy was in a slump, with per capita GDP of only a little over five hundred US dollars, not even recovering to the level of the late Song Dynasty."