This is a history of dynastic games about the peak of civilization and the abyss of hell.
In 960 AD, Zhao Kuangyin wore the yellow robe and gave the Song Dynasty the best cards in history: an unprecedentedly prosperous commodity economy, the world's most technological sparks, and the supreme respect of "ruling the world with the scholar-bureaucrats." However, while Taizu's "cup of wine to release military power" prevented civil strife, it also injected a fatal genetic flaw into the dynasty - the institutional curse of "valuing civility over military power".
For the next three hundred years, the Song Dynasty was like a lame giant. At the pinnacle of glory, Su Shi's calligraphy and painting, Shen Kuo's ink, and Bian Jing's sleepless nights shine with the brightest light of human civilization; but in the examination room of military and diplomacy, it slides step by step into the abyss. The dispute between Wang Anshi and Sima Guang evolved into crazy internal strife. Song Huizong used his artistic brush to bring the empire into the hell of "Jingkang's Shame". After crossing south, Zhao Gou was frightened out of his wits in the storm on the sea. Even though he had Yue Fei's trump card, the conventional "Sudden Fire Spear" and other magic weapons, he still chose to succumb to the aliens under the "unnecessary" butcher's knife.
When the hundreds of thousands of floating corpses on the sea surface of Yashan fell silent, the Song Dynasty finally played its last card. But this is not only a lesson about "playing bad cards", but also a civilizational redemption written by Han literati in desperate situations with their backbone and character (from Wen Tianxiang's death to the country to Kong Zhu's surrender).
