Song dynasty didn't trust military commanders
Song Taizu, in view of his lesson from the world, thinks that military commanders have too much power to threaten national security. Foreign enemies will only invade territory and population, while internal military commanders can often change dynasties. Therefore, in the Song Dynasty, the policy of "emphasizing literature and restraining martial arts" was adopted, and the treatment of literati was generally higher than that of military commanders. Military commanders earn very little, and it is usually difficult for ordinary generals to support their families. The other is to limit the power of military commanders to lead troops. Military commanders must be supervised by a eunuch around the emperor when they lead troops outside, and the power of military supervision even exceeds that of military commanders. The formulation of a military action needs to be reported to the emperor for approval. After a few months, the best opportunity to fight has long been missed, and the military commanders in the Song Dynasty basically have no power to improvise. Dare not go to war without authorization. If you win, your merits will be offset, and if you lose, you will be punished.
Song dynasty lacked cavalry.
Needless to say, the importance of ancient war horses, developed to the Song Dynasty, the places rich in war horses, Youzhou and the Western Regions were not under the rule of the Song Dynasty. Therefore, there was a lack of war horses and cavalry in the Song Dynasty, and the army was mainly infantry, which was not only difficult to deal with enemy cavalry, but also poor in mobility. After the founding of People's Republic of China (PRC), the separatist regimes were eliminated one after another, and the armed forces in various parts of the Song Dynasty were mixed. In addition, the Song Dynasty seemed powerful on the surface, but in fact it was poor and weak, and the combat effectiveness of the army continued to decrease.
The opponents in the Song Dynasty were very strong.
Northern neighbors in the Song Dynasty were difficult to deal with. Xixia, Liao, Jin and Mongolia are basically nomadic grassland peoples with strong cavalry. In the face of powerful enemies in the Song Dynasty, it was good to protect yourself, and it was unrealistic to take the initiative to send troops to the Northern Expedition. When Liao was destroyed, Liao suffered heavy losses on the frontal battlefield. The Northern Song Dynasty sent troops to attack Youzhou, but it was still defeated by Liao.
The evil minister controlled the court.
The excessive power of civil servants is not good for the country. There were many traitors in the Song Dynasty, including Cai Jing, Tong Guan and Gao Qiu in the Northern Song Dynasty and Qin Gui and Jia Sidao in the Southern Song Dynasty. These people have certain abilities, but their destructive power is also amazing. It not only seriously weakened the national strength of the Song Dynasty, but also persecuted military commanders. The emperor also trusts, which is unreasonable!
Unreasonable military layout
In the Song Dynasty, in order to prevent the government officials in the Tang Dynasty from becoming too large, an imperial army was set up under the personal command of the emperor, and what's more, 80% of the country's troops were deployed around the capital to defend it. In this way, the defense in other parts of the country will be weak, and once the capital is surrounded, other places can't come up with troops to rescue. Once the capital falls, the country basically dies. Moreover, at the end of the Northern Song Dynasty, Guo, like a government official, raised hundreds of thousands of soldiers, and his surrender made the situation in the Northern Song Dynasty worse.
The emperor's weakness
It doesn't matter whether you win or not, what matters is that you dare to fight! Song Dynasty generally dared not fight, and Zhao Kuangyin made great efforts. After the failure of cutting Liao twice, the Northern Song Dynasty began to humiliate and make peace, instead of taking the initiative to attack or even compromise. The result must be that the other side is pushing his luck. For the shame of Jingkang, although the Jin army occupied the Bianjing gate and there were hundreds of soldiers in the city, people spontaneously gathered at the gate of the palace, demanding that the government issue weapons and fight in the street, vowing to live and die with the capital. But Song Huizong refused. He still hopes to achieve peace by ceding land and other conditions, and he keeps illusions about the enemy. However, Xu Jin did not intend to destroy the your countries and take away all the land and wealth.
However, despite this, the record of the Song Dynasty was good, with a winning rate of 70%. Then why were you hanged? The reason is that the Song Dynasty was good at self-defense and counterattack. If it wins, it will continue to steal peace. If you lose, it's gone. Therefore, the Song Dynasty could not afford to lose, but its rivals Liao, Jin and Mongolia could not afford to lose. If they can't win the war, they can sign a Covenant to get compensation. Although they were defeated, they will make a comeback in the coming year. However, in the Song Dynasty, the land became weaker and smaller, and was finally destroyed.