Hanaishizuna

Empress Dowager Gao died after eight years of power, and Song Zhezong took over the government. The young Song Zhezong was already dissatisfied with his grandmother's reappointment of conservatives. When he was in power himself, he reappointed the reformists. However, the later reformists were not as sincere as Wang Anshi in reforming the dynasty, and internal strife was endless. A group of opportunists took advantage of the opportunity to make trouble under the guise of law reform. After the death of Emperor Zhezong, his younger brother, Zhao Ji, reigned and the dynasty became even more chaotic.

Song Huizong was a notorious prodigal son who did not know how to manage state affairs and was devoted to having fun. He had a eunuch, Tong Guan, who catered to his desires and searched for his paintings and treasures for him to enjoy. Once he went to Suzhou to collect calligraphy and painting treasures, a disillusioned official Cai Jing wanted to join him and accompanied him every day, and gave him his writing screens and fans. When he received Cai Jing's favor, he sent the paintings and calligraphy to Tokyo immediately and sent a message to Emperor Huizong of Song that he had found a rare talent.

When Cai Jing arrived in Tokyo, he brought a group of people to work for him. One official said to Emperor Huizong: "The implementation of the new law is a big event, and no one among the courtiers can help to do it well. If Your Majesty wants to carry on the legacy of Shen Zong, you must use Cai Jing." The official also drew a chart and presented it to Emperor Huizong of Song, on which a large number of courtiers were listed, with the conservatives on the right and the reformists on the left. The names on the right were all ministers of the dynasty, but the list on the left had only two names, one of which was Cai Jing. When Emperor Huizong saw it, he was so full of love that he immediately decided to make Cai Jing the chancellor.

As soon as Cai Jing came to power, he raised the banner of the Reformation and called all the upright officials, whether conservative or in favor of the Reformation, traitors. He also manipulated Emperor Huizong of Song to erect a party monument in front of the Duane Gate, calling Sima Guang, Wen Yanbo, Su Shi, Su Zhe, and 120 others as the traitorous party of Yuan You (Yuan You was the year of Emperor Zhezong of Song), and those who had died were stripped of their official titles, while those who were alive were all demoted and exiled. In this way, some upright officials were all excluded from the court, while Cai Jing's associates rose to the top. As for Wang Anshi's new laws, they were completely changed in Cai Jing's hands. For example, the exemption law could have reduced the people's burden on labor, but Cai Jing's group kept increasing the tax on hired labor and turned it into a means to extort the people.

Emperor Huizong and Cai Jing were also superstitious Taoist priests and built a large Taoist temple. There was a Taoist priest named Lin Ling Su, who bragged in front of Emperor Huizong that there were nine heavens in the sky and the highest level was called Shen Xiao, and there was a Yu Qing King in Shen Xiao Palace, who was the eldest son of God. Song Huizong is the eldest son of God down to earth. There are also 800 immortal officials in the Divine Sky, Cai Jing and Tong Guan are the reincarnations of immortal officials. This nonsense, but the Song Huizong coaxed the heart to be happy, every day invited a large number of Taoist priests to the palace to preach. Taoist priests also offered a title to Song Huizong, called the Lord Taoist Emperor. This came, the emperor became the head of the Taoist priests.

Emperor Huizong pursued a life of pleasure and decadence to the fullest. Tong Guan recruited thousands of artisans in Suzhou and Hangzhou for him to make carvings or embroideries of ivory, horn, gold, silver, bamboo, and rattan for his pleasure every day. All the materials were scavenged from the people. After a long time, Song Huizong was tired of those playthings and wanted to find some strange grasses and stones to change his taste. Cai Jing and Tong Guan, to please Emperor Huizong, sent a second-rate Zhu Yi to run a "Ying Feng Bureau" in Suzhou to search for flowers and stones. Zhu Qi had a group of officials under his command, specializing in this matter. When he heard that there was a piece of stone or flowering wood in a citizen's house that was more exquisite and chic, the officer would bring soldiers to break into that house and stick it with a yellow seal, which was considered a tribute to the emperor and had to be carefully kept by the people. If there is half a bit of damage, will be sent a "big disrespect" charge, light fines, and heavy arrest into prison. Some families were requisitioned flowers and trees tall, inconvenient to carry, the soldiers will be that family's house demolished, the walls destroyed. Those officers and soldiers took the opportunity to extort and extort, and the families of the requisitioned flowers and stones were often made to lose all their money, and some of them sold their children and fled everywhere.