Why did the Northern Song Dynasty sign the humiliating Tanyuan Alliance when it was victorious?

Taizong Zhao Guangyi has always been worried about the sixteen states of Yanyun occupied by the Khitans. In the third year of Yongxi's reign (986), Zhao Guangyi, who thought he had a strong army and strong horses and a sure chance of victory, launched another large-scale attack on the Khitan.

(1) Song Taizong's Northern Expedition suffered a disastrous defeat

He divided the army into three groups: Marshal Cao Bin of the East Route attacked Youzhou (today's Beijing) from the front; Marshal Tian Chongjin of the Middle Route attacked Feidian ( Laiyuan (now Laiyuan, Hebei Province) entered Khitan territory, and as the backup for the east and west routes, Marshal Pan Mei of the West Route, Deputy Marshal Yang Ye, and Supervisor of the Army Wang Qian broke into Khitan from Yanmen.

Unfortunately, in this battle, Cao Bin was defeated by the Khitan due to lack of food and grass along the way. Pan Mei was also forced to retreat when she encountered a sudden attack by the main force of Khitan while transferring people. In addition, the conflict between Wang Qian and Yang Ye intensified, which led to the defeat of the war. Pan Mei had to abandon the recovered prefectures and return to Daizhou, and then marched back to Tian on the middle road. It was difficult to hold the army alone, and it lost the meaning of continuing to advance. It then withdrew, and the entire battle ended with the Song army's defeat. Until Taizong's death, not only did he not regain Yanyun, but he gave the Khitan an excuse to attack and threaten the Song Dynasty in the future. The Khitan had always threatened to retaliate against the Song Dynasty.

(2) Yang Yanzhao’s clever plot to defeat the enemy

In the third year of Zhidao (997), Zhao Guangyi’s third son, Zhao Heng, inherited the throne and became the third emperor of the Northern Song Dynasty. Since Zhao Heng came to the throne, the Khitan invasion of the Song Dynasty has not stopped. For example, in the winter of the second year of Xianping (999), the Khitan invaded the Song Dynasty in large numbers. It was spent in Daming Mansion. The Khitan did not take much advantage in that battle. The weather was surprisingly cold on the day when the army passed by Ansu Army (now Zhucheng Town, Xushui, Hebei Province).

Yang Yanzhao, the son of the guard Yang Ye, ordered all the soldiers and civilians in the city to carry water to the city wall, and then pour the water along the outer wall of the city. They did this all night. On the third day, the Khitans came to attack. When they entered the city, the city walls were surrounded by glittering ice. The entire Ansu Army became an ice city. The Khitan people could not even set up ladders. Occasionally, a few pawns who climbed the city would fall down after only a few steps. Finally, Had to give up. At that time, the Khitan army saw that the soldiers and civilians of the Song Dynasty were very motivated to fight, and heard that Zhenzong had rushed to the front line, so they had to plunder a lot and disperse it back to the north of Baigou (Baigou is the Baigou River in Rongcheng, Hebei Province at that time, which was the link between the Song Dynasty and the Khitan at that time. boundary river).

(3) The large-scale invasion of the Liao Kingdom

This breath was held in for several years, until September of the first year of Jingde, the Khitan Emperor Yelu Longxu and the Empress Dowager Xiao once again took charge and invaded the Song Dynasty. Launched the largest attack, claiming that this move would surely wipe out the Central Plains and destroy the Song Dynasty. The attack was extremely fierce. At this time, Kou Zhun had just been re-elected as the governor for a month (from the fifth year of Taizong Chunhua to the second year of Zhidao, Kou Zhun had He once served as a counselor for political affairs, but was later dismissed for some reasons, and this time he was recalled to the DPRK).

(4) Kou Zhun vigorously resisted the enemy

Faced with such a severe situation, Zhenzong Zhao Heng summoned two ministers, Wang Qinruo, the counselor and the Privy Council member Chen Yaosou, to discuss countermeasures . Wang Qinruo, who was from Jiangxi, advised Zhao Heng: "Your Majesty, it is better to go to Jinling south of the Yangtze River for a while." Chen Yaosou, who was from Sichuan, gave advice and said: "Jiangnan is not safe. Since ancient times, it has been difficult to avoid military chaos. Whether to evacuate to Chengdu, Your Majesty should follow the experience of Tang Minghuang and Tang Xinzong, and it is safest to go to Chengdu." After all, there are only two words: escape.

Kou Zhun heard about it and came to see Zhenzong. He asked sternly: "I wonder who gave your majesty such a bad idea?" Zhenzong felt a little guilty and asked Kou Zhun: "Don't worry about who said it. Just tell me which of these two strategies is the most feasible?" Kou Zhun was even louder and almost shouted: "I just want to track down the bastards who made this plan, use their blood to sacrifice the war drum, and then go on the Northern Expedition. ! Your Majesty is talented and powerful, and his generals are harmonious. If you can lead a personal expedition like Taizu and Taizong, the Khitans will definitely collapse without a fight. To say the least, you can also stick to Hebei and compete with the Khitans, making it impossible for the Khitans to move forward. Abandoning the capital and running south? How would the generals and soldiers feel when they heard that the emperor was escaping?" After Kou Zhun's encouragement, Zhenzong made up his mind, so he asked Kou Zhun: "What's going on? The war is bound to be fought in Hebei, and Daming Mansion has become the most important town. Now that Daming Mansion is short of people, who does Kou Shenzhen think is the most suitable to be the prefect? ??Kou Zhun has great opinions on Wang Ruo and Chen Yaosou, and replied: "Let Wang Yinruo go! When Wang Qinruo heard the news, his face turned pale with fright. He came to the palace to receive the order. Before he could speak, Kou Zhun blocked his mouth: "Now is a national crisis. Even the emperor has to go to war. No one is allowed to serve as a minister." Avoid hardship! Wang Qinruo didn't dare to say anything, but he hated Kou Zhun deeply in his heart. This man had neither prestige nor military knowledge. After arriving at Daming Mansion, he burned incense and worshiped Buddha every day, praying that the Khitans would never invade here.

(5) The marksman defeated the enemy commander

The Khitan commander Xiao Talan was a very experienced and brave veteran. When the army entered the Song Dynasty, he was not in a hurry to march straight in, but They fought in Baozhou (today's Baoding, Hebei) and Dingzhou (today's Dingzhou, Hebei). They often suffered a little loss and stopped resisting. Soon, several troops gradually gathered in a place called Yangchengdian (in the south of Hejian in today's Hebei Province). There were about 200,000 troops. They looked lazy and had no fighting spirit. Kou Zhun carefully analyzed the situation and believed that the Khitans were recharging their strength and wanted to lure the Song army over and then concentrate their superior forces to annihilate them all in one fell swoop. So he ordered all the troops in the front to prepare for war seriously and not to underestimate the enemy.

At the same time, Zhenzong also left Bianjing and came towards Damingfu. This time Zhenzong acted very touchingly. When he walked to Weicheng County (now north of Changyuan, Henan), he caught up with a severe cold current. The attendant took out a mink coat and hat and wanted to put it on him. Zhenzong refused to accept it and said: "My subjects will The land is in severe cold, how can I be special?"

When Xiao Talan heard that Zhenzong was coming, he was eager to make a contribution and led his elite vanguard troops to head south. The two armies formed a situation that was about to break out. In order to be well aware of it, on the eve of the bloodshed, Xiao Talan took a closer look at the battle terrain. The Song Dynasty led Li Jilong (son of the famous general Li Chuyun) in the formation, and a military academy officer named Zhang Yu aimed at the enemy chieftain ( According to historical records, Zhang Xuan did not use an ordinary bow and arrow, but a hard bow called a bed crossbow). No one expected that this arrow would kill Xiao Talan.

(6) Zhenzong surrendered and signed the Tanyuan Alliance

The situation has changed a lot. The decisive battle has not yet begun. The Khitan lost its commander first. For the Song Dynasty, this was a once-in-a-lifetime event. Good opportunity? However, although the extremely experienced Khitan Empress Dowager Xiao knew that the situation was over, she remained calm on the surface and continued to threaten to fight the Song Dynasty, hoping to overwhelm the Song Dynasty in terms of momentum. This trick really worked. When Zhenzong walked to Chanzhou (today's Puyang, Henan), someone once again mentioned the hope that Zhenzong would be lucky enough to go south to Jinling as soon as possible. Zhenzong was said to be convinced and asked Kou Zhun what to do. Kou Zhun insisted: Now that the enemy is approaching, your Majesty can only advance but not retreat. The armies in Hebei are looking forward to the arrival of Luan Yu day and night. If they turn back a few steps, the entire army will be disintegrated, and the enemy will take advantage of their power, and "Jinling will not be reached" ("Changbian" Volume 58).

Seeing that Zhenzong was undecided, Kou Zhun became anxious and added, "If your majesty can't trust me, Kou Zhun, you might as well ask Gao Qiong, the commander in chief in front of the palace. Your majesty should believe his words." Under Gao Qiong's persuasion, Zhenzong finally lost his favor to Cuihua Nan. After arriving at Chanzhou, the Song army was indeed in high spirits. At this time, Empress Dowager Xiao suggested that if she did not want the soldiers of the two countries to bleed into rivers of blood, she could talk.

Zhenzong was a person who was very reluctant to fight and was eager to make peace and stop the war. After several rounds of negotiations, the Song Dynasty's special envoy Cao Liang finally reached an agreement: the Song Dynasty would give the Khitan 100,000 taels of silver and 200,000 pieces of silk every year. match. This is the famous "Chanyuan Alliance" in history.