Emperors in the Song Dynasty were generally working emperors. In fact, it is the prime ministers, that is, the prime ministers now, who really have the power to manage the country. This is a bit of a constitutional monarchy, hundreds of years earlier than western countries. If this social system continues, the Song Dynasty will definitely enter the capitalist society hundreds of years ahead of the western countries, which is quite terrible.
The respect for culture in Song Dynasty is unprecedented. Punishment is not a doctor, which has been said in the Song Dynasty. In fact, it is not true that doctors are not punished, but a kind of respect for cultural people. Scholars in the Song Dynasty have great dignity. Even if they are not famous, they have a high status in the countryside. The behavior of respecting teachers and valuing morality was also common in the Song Dynasty.
Students who generally call themselves XXX. For example, Su Shi's students are called Su Men Four Bachelor's degree. After being admitted to Jinshi, Su Shi claimed to be Ouyang Xiu's protege, examiner, etc., which was a manifestation of respecting teachers and valuing morality. Once the label is attached to you, it will basically follow you all your life. In addition, the status of literati is always high, which is a manifestation of high civilization.
Because military commanders are generally rude when they don't study very much, at this time, they can use the identity system to suppress military commanders, which is a unique place in the Song Dynasty. Of course, many people think that this is also a disadvantage of the Song Dynasty. Everything has advantages and disadvantages, depending on which group of people. From the central government to the local government, all official ranks and literati must compete and be superior. This has advantages. Literati are well-read and thoughtful.
In strategic planning, the contest will be stronger. So we can see that neither Fan Zhongyan nor Su Shi is bragging about leading troops. They can lead troops with their own ideas, not necessarily because they are military commanders. Cultural people should be very happy if they live in the Song Dynasty. Even if Su Shi's Wutai poetry case appeared, he was able to dodge a bullet. In the Song Dynasty, he really didn't kill the doctor.
The economic level of Song Dynasty was the peak of feudal society. I have seen many prosperous times. What is the law of chastity and prosperity? In fact, these are all relative. Compared with the dilapidated countries, the emergence of these prosperous times not only makes the people live a stable life, but also makes the economy prosper. The real economic level reached its peak in the Song Dynasty, especially in the Northern Song Dynasty. From Zhang Zeduan's The Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival, we can see how prosperous the economy was in Song Dynasty.
When the army was not strong, the Song Dynasty was willing to buy peace with old coins. Why? Because fighting needs a lot of money, you may not win. If you can give the lucky money directly, it will definitely be stable. In this case, a fool will choose to fight. After all, fighting will kill people. Isn't giving some money the best of both worlds? Therefore, the national policy of the Song Dynasty has always been to break wealth and eliminate disasters. Why do they have so much confidence to burst their banks and eliminate disasters? Mainly because the Song Dynasty was so rich.
Anyway, there is no place to spend money, so it is better to spend money to buy peace. The commodity economy in the Song Dynasty was quite developed, and there were small markets everywhere, and you could meet people doing business everywhere. So for the Song Dynasty, money was not a problem at all. And if you trade frequently, it is really inconvenient to carry metal coins every day. Clever people in Song Dynasty invented the earliest paper money in China.
It is hard to imagine how many times more developed China would be than western countries if the Song Dynasty existed. According to unreliable experts' prediction, the economic aggregate of the Song Dynasty could buy half of the earth at that time. Although this is an exaggeration, it also illustrates the economic development of the Song Dynasty from the side.
There is no reason for the demise of the Song Dynasty. The Song Dynasty was first destroyed by the backward Jin people, and then by the backward Mongolia after the establishment of the Southern Song Dynasty. At that time, the Jin people and the ancient capital of Mongolia were both countries in slave society, and their systems were relatively backward. Song Dynasty is a period of transition from feudal system to capitalist system. In the private market, the capitalist market has basically taken shape.
It makes no sense that such an advanced social system was destroyed by backward slavery. We see that the Jin people did not unify the whole country after destroying the Northern Song Dynasty. Why? Because the Jin people know that with their ability, they can't control this huge and advanced country at all. So they can only grab a wave of things north.
In the same way, after the Mongols went south, they did destroy the Southern Song Dynasty with their powerful forces, but they also completely destroyed the economic system left over from the Song Dynasty. In other words, the Central Plains Dynasty returned to the pre-liberation period overnight, which was undoubtedly a great blow to the people and was not a good thing for those in power. After all, if ordinary people have a hard time, the tax revenue will be relatively reduced, and the tax revenue will be less, so the money in the pockets of the politicians will naturally be less.
So Mongolia ruled for less than a hundred years and was replaced by the Ming Dynasty. In fact, the economy of the Ming Dynasty is incomparable with that of the Song Dynasty. After all, all the economic systems in the Song Dynasty were completely destroyed by the Yuan Dynasty, and it will take a long time to recover. It was not until the middle of the Qing Dynasty that the corresponding economic level was restored.
Summary: Song Dynasty is not a humiliating history, but a glorious history. Many people, when watching the history of China, told the Song Dynasty that they hated iron for not turning into steel. Because they thought that the Song Dynasty was not a unified dynasty at all, some even took Liao and Jin instead of the Song Dynasty. This is a rather wrong idea. The Song Dynasty did not complete the great cause of reunification. This is a decision-making problem for those in power, but it is not a problem for the current dynasty.
The Song Dynasty was impeccable in culture and economy. The most criticized thing in the military is indeed its fatal weakness, but this is not the reason why the Song Dynasty was not good. There are Liao and Jin Dynasties in the north, Xixia in the west and Dali in the south. This Song Dynasty really makes people feel a little chilling. But it is precisely because of the failure to complete the great cause of reunification that the Song Dynasty can continue to work hard.
The failure of the rulers did ruin the future of the Song Dynasty, but the existence of this dynasty over the years undoubtedly added the most brilliant page to the history of China. So I think the last thing that should die is actually the Song Dynasty.