A Missing Chance of Turnaround: The Accession of Emperor Lizong and the Political Friction in the Late Southern Song

As Emperor Ningzong failed to appoint his heir-apparent, his death in 1224 created possible conflicts in the court. By cooperating with Empress dowager Yang, however, prime administer Shi Miyuan successfully enthroned Zhao Yun as Emperor Lizong, and another imperial son Zhao Hong, who had been adopted as Ningzong’s son in 1221, was forced to leave the capital to Huzhou. To strengthen the authority of new emperor, Shi recruited famous Neo-Confucians, such as Zhen Dexiu, to the court, and started to adopt an aggressive policy to control the “loyalist armies” along the northern border. Having controlled the Song court for seventeen years, Shi Miyuan certainly tried to create a turnaround at the time of enthroning the new emperor. His main objective was to receive more support inside, and strengthen the border defenses outside. Unfortunately, two rebellions occurred in early 1225, which not only ruined the plans of Shi Miyuan, but also produced protests from bureaucrats, especially from famous Neo-Confucians. To prevent these protesters from threatening his power, Shi Miyuan convinced the emperor to expel them from the court, which created severe rivalry between Shi Miyuan and Neo-Confucians, such as Zhen Dexiu and Wei Liaoweng. To Emperor Lizong, the policy of Shi created a dilemma. On the one hand, as Shi Miyuan and his supporters had dominated the government for a long time, the emperor needed to accept Shi’s suggestions, but he also wanted to recruit Neo-Confucians to his court, as Neo-Confucianism had become increasingly popular among literati class. This dilemma was the main factor producing the political factions during Lizong’s reign, even after the death of Shi Miyuan in 1233.