The Eighteen Emperors of the Great Song

The Great Song stood for three hundred years, its heroes and champions commanding awe throughout the realm. The founding emperor rose from humble beginnings and was proclaimed emperor at Chenqiao Station. Did he seize the world from the Chai family, or reclaim the empire that had always been his? The flash of blades and the shadows of axes: was it a tragedy sparked by a younger brother succeeding his elder, or was there more to the story? The eldest son went mad, the second died suddenly, and in the end the throne passed to Zhenzong. Did the Treaty of Chanyuan and the humiliation of having the enemy at the gates, followed by the emperor's pilgrimage to Mount Tai, truly resolve the crisis of rule? A singing girl climbed step by step to the peak of power. How should we judge the merits and faults of the feud between Liu E and Consort Li, and Liu E's rule from behind the curtain? Then came the Qingli reforms and Wang Anshi's reforms. How did the Great Song Empire renew itself, and how did generations of powerful rulers and wise advisers find a way through? The humiliation of Jingkang, the Battle of Yashan, three hundred years of peace and war: witness the rise and fall of the Great Song and rediscover this passionate chapter of history.