Chapter 28 8. On the side of the couch: Li Yu's snoring

Since ancient times, the natural barrier of the Yangtze River has been the dividing line between the north and the south. The weaker southern countries have used the Yangtze River as their own barrier to resist the attacks of the northern powers.Once the Yangtze River falls, it will inevitably bring disaster.After pacifying the Southern Han Dynasty, the prestige of the Song army in the south suddenly increased. After crossing the Yangtze River, looking at the southern countries, Zhao Kuangyin was as easy as searching for something.There is no need to choose the next target, and that is Nantang, which has formed a three-sided encirclement.

Since Li Sheng, the ancestor Li Sheng, built the Southern Tang Dynasty in 937 A.D., this vast land has been under the control of the Li family for 39 years. Prosperity is a pure land in the Jianghuai area that can achieve more than a year in the troubled times of the Five Dynasties.There are thirty-five prefectures in the Southern Tang Dynasty, covering all of Jiangxi and parts of Anhui, Jiangsu, Hubei, Hunan, and Fujian, with a population of more than five million. It is a relatively developed country in the south. Choosing a Mingjun as the heir is the biggest problem that the emperors of all dynasties need to consider. After Li Sheng established the Tang Dynasty, he passed the throne to Li Jing, and Li Jing made his son Li Hongji as the heir.Li Hongji had a strong and irritable personality, because he wanted to be emperor so much, and he was worried that Li Jing would change his mind, so he wanted to poison Li Jing.After being exposed, Li Hongji was killed, and the throne passed to Li Yu, a man who never thought of being emperor.

Li Yu was originally immersed in poetry and books. On the one hand, he was avoiding the bloody war for the throne. On the other hand, he had no intention of being an emperor at all. He only hoped to indulge in poetry, prose, and beauties.But a trick of fate pushed him to the throne of the emperor.As early as when Li Jing wanted to establish Li Yu, the minister Zhong Mo had already seen that Li Yu was very unsuitable, and urged him: "Li Yu has a cowardly character, likes to write poems and compose Fu, and loves Buddhism very much, so he is not the best candidate for the emperor." Li Jing himself also loves literature very much, so he has always doted on his sixth son, but now seeing that Zhong Mo didn't support him, he felt displeased, so he asked, "Then who do you think is more suitable?"

Zhong Mo said: "Li Congshan is courageous and dignified, and has the potential to be an emperor. He should be made his heir." Li Jing was furious and said, "I'm afraid Li Congshan asked you to say these words!" Li Jing, who had already made up his mind, resolutely made Li Yu the crown prince, demoted Zhong Mo to the son of the state, and exiled him to Raozhou.Two years later, Li Jing died of illness in Nanchang, and Li Yu ascended the throne in Jinling.Just like Zhong Mo's evaluation of him, Li Yu is "arrogant and extravagant, sensual, likes Buddha, talks high, and doesn't care about political affairs."The national power of the Southern Tang Dynasty began to gradually decline amidst internal and external troubles.

After Zhao Kuangyin captured the Southern Han Dynasty, Jinling was shaken, and all the officials were afraid that disaster would soon befall the Southern Tang Dynasty.Li Yu didn't take it seriously, and said to the ministers: "Since Chai Rong's southern expedition, we have maintained a good relationship with Dazhou. Shizong once bowed his head to Chai Rong, so he kept my Tang Dynasty alive. Now that Zhao Kuangyin has captured Chai If I don’t have the position of the family, then I will continue to respect Song as the upper state, and I can also protect the Tang Dynasty.” In 971 A.D., Li Yu wrote "Biao Taizu of the Song Dynasty on the Enthronement", sincerely expressing his support for the Song Dynasty established by Zhao Kuangyin, and said humbly: "I am willing to revoke my title of emperor, and only regard myself as the lord of the south of the Yangtze River, and regard Song as the upper country. , pay tribute every year."

This watch was sent to Zhao Kuangyin by his younger brother Li Congshan. Zhao Kuangyin looked at it and said to Zhao Pu: "Tang's national power is no longer enough to be an enemy of our Song Dynasty. He's still a smart guy." Zhao Pu said: "Li Yu is talented and intelligent, but it's a pity that he didn't put his mind on the government at all, so the Southern Tang Dynasty was weak. It was originally the strongest country in the south of the Yangtze River, but now it is not afraid. We have just pacified the Southern Han Dynasty. He must be afraid that the Southern Tang will be targeted in the future. However, the Song army needs to rest at present, and it is not appropriate to continue to send troops after a long-distance campaign. It is better to follow his wishes and calm down for a while."

Zhao Kuangyin agreed with this, saying: "I don't want Song Jun to be too tired. Now that Li Yu is so docile, let's keep him for a while!" After deliberation, Zhao Kuangyin was really embarrassed to send troops to Tang, which had always regarded Zhou and Song as the upper kingdom.Li Jing treated Chai Rong, and Li Yu treated Zhao Kuangyin with great respect, and now there is obviously no excuse for sending troops suddenly.However, the Song army went to the south and experienced several years of fighting, and now it also needs to rest.Therefore, Zhao Kuangyin let Li Congshan take away his goodwill, made the deceased Li Jing emperor, and greatly appreciated Li Yu.

After receiving Song's conferment, Li Yu even became a little proud, and said to the ministers: "My Tang Dynasty is blessed by the Buddha, so how can it easily attract military disasters?" Chen Qiao, the attendant, and Zhang Bo, the right internal historian, said: "Now that the enemy is at hand, Your Majesty must not relax your vigilance. The Song army has already occupied the Southern Han Dynasty, and the troops stationed near Jinling may swing at me at any time. It should be early. Get ready." Li Congshan also said: "When I saw Zhao Kuangyin, I felt that this person must not be a person who is willing to give up. Although he is now named the first emperor, it does not mean that he will not turn his face in the future. The Song soldiers I saw along the way were all dressed up and ready to go. I'm afraid they won't let it go!"

Li Yu saw that everyone insisted that preparations should be made early, so he discussed with Chen Qiao, Zhang Bo and others, hoping to prepare together with Wu Yue. Once the Song army invaded, they could form an alliance and help each other. After a period of rest for the Song Army, as Li Congshan saw, they began to prepare for another expedition.But Zhao Kuangyin suffered from having no reason to send troops. He said to Zhao Pu: "Li Yu is responsive to the Song Dynasty, and has always appeared as an obedient citizen. Now I am embarrassed." Zhao Pu said: "As long as your majesty wants to send troops, what's the problem? Since he is so docile, your majesty will call him to Beijing to see him. Li Yu must not dare to come, and then he can send troops on the grounds of 'stubbornness'." "

When Zhao Kuangyin heard this, he was overjoyed and said: "Li Yu is timid by nature. If I ask him to come to Beijing for an audience, he will be afraid that he will never come back and dare not see me. This plan is very good, so I will act accordingly." As the saying goes, "If you want to commit a crime, there is nothing to worry about." When Zhao Kuangyin didn't want to wave his troops to each other, he could certainly treat Li Yu with courtesy.But once he has murderous intentions and wants to pacify Nantang, he only needs a little design to find an excuse to send troops.

And all this came too suddenly for Li Yu who was immersed in fantasy. He was still writing poems and lyrics with Xiao Zhouhou in the garden, but he received the order of the Song court.Horrified, Li Yu hurriedly summoned Chen Qiao and asked him what to do. Chen Qiao said: "Zhao Kuangyin summoned him suddenly, I'm afraid his intentions are unpredictable. If His Majesty goes and is detained by him, it will be a big disaster!" Li Yu said anxiously: "I am also afraid that he intends to call, but it will be bad for me. According to Yiqing, how should we deal with it?" Chen Qiao thought for a while and said, "It's better to say that His Majesty is sick and cannot go to the pilgrimage. Then send Li Congshan to explain to Zhao Kuangyin and ask for forgiveness." Li Yu said: "So now it seems that this is the only way to go." With Li Yu's letter of illness, Li Congshan met with Zhao Kuangyin, and explained the reason why Li Yu could not come to court in fear.When Zhao Kuangyin heard this, he said angrily: "Li Yu has always called himself a minister of the Great Song Dynasty, and even voluntarily gave up the emperor's title. I kept him until now because of this face. But he turned a deaf ear to my orders. , it seems that the so-called Song Dynasty is a lie." After some reprimands, Zhao Kuangyin took Li Congshan into custody to put pressure on Li Yu.After receiving this news, Li Yu was terrified. Lin Renzhao, who stayed behind in Nandu, was well-known in the court and was supported by the generals. Seeing this situation, he advised Li Yu: "Since Zhao Kuangyin wants to dominate the world, he has no reason to be with us. Stop here. We should have been prepared to meet the Song army long ago, instead of pinning our hopes on surrender." For this denial of himself, Li Yu became furious and blamed Lin Renzhao for not instigating trouble: "It is because you people think about fighting and killing all day long that you have caused military disasters and made people miserable." After finishing speaking, He actually ordered someone to give Lin Renzhao poisoned wine and poison him to death. It is just Li Yu's beautiful fantasy to hope that he can exchange for a moment of peace by being humble.Song Jun soon began to march south on the grounds that he was "stubborn not to go to court".Zhao Kuangyin successively used Xue Juzheng and Lu Yuqing, governors who participated in politics, as land and water transfer envoys to transport strategic materials; he also joined forces with Wuyue King Qian Chu to let Cao Bin lead the army, Pan Mei and Cao Han as deputy, and started the Southern Tang War with 100,000 troops. This time, the famous envoys of the Song Dynasty drove straight in. The water, infantry, and cavalry led by Cao Bin and Pan Mei quickly attacked the Tang Dynasty. territory.Seeing that the general situation was over, the Tang generals continued to surrender to the Song Dynasty, and the surrender of Fan Ruoshui and other naval generals made the Tang army completely lose its advantage.After nearly a year of war, Jinling also fell. Li Yu was escorted to the capital of Song Dynasty, and Zhao Kuangyin made him an ironic disobedience.Filled with anxiety and indignation, he thought that all the achievements created by his ancestors were destroyed by his own hands, so he could only devote his love to literature, and reached a peak in poetry creation.But the longing for the motherland expressed in his words aroused Taizong's dissatisfaction, and finally died at the hands of Zhao Guangyi. Zhao Kuangyin's strategy for the Southern Tang Dynasty was to soften first and then fight.When he had no time to take care of it, he treated Li Yu with courtesy, not only chasing Li Jing as emperor, but also contributing money to help Nantang.But when he was ready, he found an excuse to start the war immediately.Li Yu is partial to Jinling, and only hopes to steal a life, but he can't.To get to the bottom of it, Zhao Kuangyin once said: "How can others snore and sleep on the side of the couch". How could Song Taizu, who wanted to rule the world, make an exception in Jinling?If Li Yu had realized this earlier, perhaps he would not have fallen so easily.