Chapter 41 1. The Alliance of the Golden Chamber: Brothers End Brothers and

In the order of succession of emperors in ancient China, the first rule is to pass from father to son. All emperors hope that their blood can continue to have the achievements they have established, enjoy the cheers of all people, and continue the glory of the family.Only after the eldest son of the heirloom cannot succeed to the throne due to various reasons, other sons in line will be considered.But there are also special circumstances. Although the emperor has Sangong and Liuyuan, he has no heirs, so he can only choose the person closest to his blood relationship to succeed him. At this time, the younger brother becomes the first heir.Although it is a special way of dealing with special circumstances, this phenomenon was very common in ancient China. In different dynasties, many emperors were brothers and sisters.Among them, the most famous should be the brothers Zhao Kuangyin and Zhao Kuangyi.

Zhao Kuangyin's father, Zhao Hongyin, had five sons. The eldest son Kuang Zan and the youngest son Kuang Ji both died young, leaving only three sons, Kuang Yin, Kuang Yi, and Kuang Mei. The younger Kuang Yi and Kuang Mei stayed with their mother, Du Shi, to serve her.After Zhao Kuangyin was appreciated by Chai Rong for his outstanding talent, his father was also promoted as a general in the army.However, during the encirclement and suppression of Chuzhou, Zhao Kuangyin, as the commander in chief, in order to avoid arousing the suspicion of the monarch and enforce the law impartially, refused to open the city to his father who came to help in the middle of the night.

After the death of his father, Zhao Kuangyin was distraught and knelt before his father's spirit, refusing to get up for a long time.His mother, Du Shi, said to him with tears in her eyes: "Your father always thought that you were talented and a dragon among men, and you will never be under others in the future. Although he has passed away early, I hope you will not let him down. I think he will too." Rest in peace!" Zhao Kuangyin said with tears: "I closed the city and did not open it because I was loyal to the emperor. Who knew that my father who was sick would die because of this? As a subject, I did my duty, but as a son, I have committed a heinous crime! Please punish me Bar!"

Mrs. Du said: "Loyalty and filial piety are difficult to balance. Your father is also an imperial official. He understands this truth, so don't blame yourself too much! But now that he is gone, you will be the eldest son of the family, and you will be relied on to support the family!" Although Yi is an adult, he hasn't experienced much experience; Kuang Mei is still young and doesn't understand anything. They all need you as an older brother to set an example!" Zhao Kuangyin said: "Please rest assured, mother, I will definitely treat my two younger brothers well, honor the Zhao family, and live up to my father's expectations."

Mrs. Du pulled Zhao Kuangyin up, sighed, called Kuang Yi and Kuang Mei over, and said to them: "Your father is gone now, and your elder brother will be the master of the family from now on. As the saying goes: elder brother is like father, Although he is only ten years older than you, you must respect him like your father in the future!" Kuang Yi was twenty at this time, and Kuang Mei was only twelve or thirteen years old. They were both young when Zhao Kuangyin left home, and they had been seeing each other in a hurry for more than ten years.They didn't know this elder brother very well, but they admired him for making meritorious service among thousands of troops, being appreciated by the emperor, and becoming a brave general.Now that his father passed away, and his mother ordered him to do so, the two immediately fell to the ground.

Zhao Kuangyin looked at the two younger brothers who were still immature, and remembered his father's death. From now on, he would be the pillar of the family. A sense of responsibility arose spontaneously, and he secretly vowed to support the two younger brothers in their careers. The high-spirited Zhao Kuangyin assisted Chai Rong in the southern and northern expeditions, but unfortunately, Chai Rong died young.The turbulent situation and the suspicious situation of the country made Zhao Kuangyin start to plan longer-term plans, and finally launched the Chenqiaoyi Change, replacing Hou Zhou on the throne of emperor.His mother, Du Shi, was also conferred the title of empress dowager. The two younger brothers, Kuang Yi, were already in their twenties, so they let him follow her, teaching him how to handle government affairs, and at the same time training him to be his assistant; When he was young, he always followed his mother.To avoid the taboo, Kuang Yi changed her name to Guang Yi, and Kuang Mei changed her name to Guang Mei.

Zhao Guangyi is a smart man. Although he has no experience in war and has no outstanding performance in military talent, he understands by analogy and understands everything. He can always memorize what Zhao Kuangyin taught, showing superhuman strength. intelligent.And because he followed Empress Dowager Du since he was a child, he had a deep affection for his mother, so he also won the favor of the Empress Dowager. The Empress Dowager fought for rewards for him in front of Zhao Kuangyin from time to time. After a period of tension, the foundation of the Song Dynasty gradually stabilized, and the four-party campaign gradually ended. While the territory expanded, the national strength and wealth also continued to increase.Zhao Kuangyin, who was always vigilant to his ministers, naturally trusted his brother the most, and trusted Zhao Guangyi even more. He named him King of Jin and allowed him to participate in all political affairs, especially responsible for commanding the forbidden army in Kaifeng to protect the safety of the capital.Prime Minister Zhao Pu, as a minister who has always followed Zhao Kuangyin, can only sit on an equal footing with the young Zhao Guangyi.

In the third year of Jianlong, that is, in 962 A.D., Empress Dowager Du suddenly became seriously ill. The filial Zhao Kuangyin was by her side and dared not leave her side.Empress Dowager Du has always been very grateful for the help of Zhao Pu and others for her son's ability to become emperor. She often said to Zhao Kuangyin: "Zhao Pu does everything with his heart, so he saves you a lot of trouble. You should treat him well." She always taught Zhao Guangyi, whom I prefer, wants to associate more with Zhao Pu, hoping that he can learn some of Zhao Pu's wisdom. Now that she is seriously ill, Empress Dowager Du knew that her life was not long, so she asked Zhao Kuangyin to call Zhao Pu, Zhao Guangyi and others to the bedside, and said to them: "You are able to have today because of the blessings of your ancestors, but also because of human affairs. If you want to continue to own the world in the future, the monarch and his ministers cannot be separated, and only by working together can the country of the Song Dynasty be stabilized!"

Everyone saw that Queen Mother Du was still thinking about the country when she was dying, and they all burst into tears, and hurriedly agreed to every word she said. Empress Dowager Du said to Zhao Kuangyin who was kneeling in front of the bed: "Do you know why you were able to win the world and become the emperor?" Zhao Kuangyin was so choked up that he couldn't answer, Empress Dowager Du took a deep breath and said, "I'm going to talk to you about important things now, why do you only know how to cry? You must know that the reason you can win the world is because the youngest son of the Zhou Dynasty did it. The emperor. Giving such a big country to such a young and innocent child is putting the country in a precarious situation, making others have ambitions of disobedience, planting the root of disaster, and giving you an opportunity to take advantage of .If Chai Rong has an older son who can take power, and Zhou Tianzi has grown up, how can the world fall into the hands of Song?"

Zhao Kuangyin nodded while crying and said, "Mother is wise, what she says is true." Empress Dowager Du said: "Now that you are the emperor, you should think about how to avoid this kind of thing from happening again, so that the country of the Song Dynasty will not be turbulent because of these reasons. Both you and Guangyi are born of me. Now he has When you grow up, you have learned a lot about governing the country. If you can no longer be the emperor, you should pass on the throne to him. You must know that having a ruler in a country is a blessing for all people!"

Although Zhao Guangyi was in his twenties at this time, Zhao Kuangyin's own son, Zhao Dezhao, was also in his teens. At the age of thirty-six, it is very unlikely that Zhao Kuangyin would die suddenly like Chai Rong. son grew up.But the most filial Zhao Kuangyin has always been uneasy because of his father's death, and he is even more obedient to his mother, Du Shi. He knows that his mother prefers Zhao Guangyi, so he hopes that Zhao Guangyi can take over his throne. Selfishness is in it.Facing his dying mother, Zhao Kuangyin couldn't refuse. He raised his head and glanced at Zhao Pu. Zhao Pu also looked at him helplessly, and could only say to Mrs. Du: "My child will obey mother's instructions." Empress Dowager Du saw that he agreed, and her gray eyes shone with brilliance, and she said to Zhao Pu, "Record this matter as the emperor's promise to let Guangyi inherit Kuangyin's throne and become the king of Song Dynasty. Keep me safe in Song Dynasty." Zhao Guangyi paused while crying and said: "The child will definitely live up to the expectations of his mother and elder brother. From now on, he must be motivated and diligent, and vow to live up to the people of the Song Dynasty." Seeing Zhao Kuangyin's words, Zhao Pu knew that it would be difficult to change what the emperor said, so he was already worried.Now Empress Dowager Du asked him to record what he said, and it cannot be changed in the future.He glanced at Zhao Kuangyin, and seeing Zhao Kuangyin nodding at him, he hurriedly stood up and took a pen and ink, and recorded what the emperor and the queen mother said, and after showing it to the queen mother, he ordered someone to put it in a wooden box inlaid with gold and jade. . Empress Dowager Du put the wooden box into Zhao Kuangyin's hands, and said to him: "You must remember that your promise is not to allow Guangyi to be emperor, but to prevent Song Dynasty from encountering the Zhou Dynasty's misfortune, and to let Zhao Kuangyin The family can be passed down forever." After speaking, he passed away. Zhao Kuangyin, Zhao Guangyi, Zhao Guangmei and others were crying to death, while Zhao Dezhao, Zhao Defang and others, who were not yet sensible, did not know that what they should have had been taken away, so they were also crying on the sidelines.The Zide Palace suddenly turned into a world of weeping and tears, but the golden cabinet was quietly placed on the table, as if watching all this with cold eyes, waiting for the future that it would brew and change. As an emperor with healthy heirs, it is incredible for Zhao Kuangyin to pass on the throne to his younger brother.Although he kept promoting his younger brother when he was young, he didn't appreciate Zhao Guangyi very much in his later years.When Zhao Kuangyin died, his son Zhao Dezhao was already twenty-six years old, enough to take on the heavy responsibility of a country, so Zhao Guangyi's succession seemed even more strange.The emergence of the Golden Chamber Alliance provides the basis for this turning point. This event is recorded in "Song History Biography of Empress Dowager Du" and Sima Guang's "Sushui Jiwen". There are roughly the same records in historical works such as Changbian.But later generations are still skeptical about this, thinking that it is difficult to distinguish the truth from the falsehood, and that the Golden Chamber Alliance was fabricated by Zhao Guangyi for his succession. Judging from the existing historical data, it seems that Zhao Kuangyin in his later years had no intention of passing on the throne to his younger brother, but it is also true that the two brothers were still in harmony when Queen Mother Du passed away.Therefore, the authenticity of the Golden Chamber Alliance has been indistinguishable so far.If it is true, it is possible to agree to the mother's last wish under the deep brotherhood and filial affection; if it is false, it is also possible to turn the face ruthlessly in the power struggle.And as a descendant of history, he can only seek answers that can convince himself in it.