Chapter 49 9. Eradicating future troubles: Zhao Guangyi's uneasiness

Amidst everyone's doubts, Zhao Guangyi finally sat on the throne of the emperor.In order to stabilize people's hearts and quell everyone's doubts, he tried his best to win over members of the royal family and Zhao Kuangyin's old ministers.He gave great gifts to Zhao Kuangyin's two sons: the eldest son Zhao Dezhao was named the king of Wugong County, served as the military governor of Yongxing Army and served as a servant; His three daughters were all named princesses.For the old ministers, he continued to use Xue Juzheng, Shen Yilun, Cao Bin and others as prime ministers and privy envoys, and the political counselor Lu Duoxun and deputy privy envoy Chu Zhaofu, who had been heavily used by Zhao Kuangyin, were all promoted.

After Zhao Guangyi succeeded to the throne and proclaimed himself emperor, the third brother Zhao Guangmei had to change his name to Tingmei again to avoid taboo.Through extensive wooing, on the basis of the fact that all the officials gradually accepted the fact that "brothers end up with brothers", Zhao Guangyi promoted his third brother Zhao Tingmei extraordinarily, and named him the governor of Kaifeng, concurrently with the order of Zhongshu, and named him king of Qi. .Such sealing specifications are based on Zhou Chairong's status before he succeeded to the throne, and also compared with Zhao Guangyi's position before he succeeded to the throne.All these actions are to show the world: I, Zhao Guangyi, got the throne from my elder brother, and I will follow this rule to pass on the dragon chair to my younger brother Zhao Tingmei. "Brother ends up with younger brother" is the rule of my Zhao family, so it is justifiable for me to be the emperor.

After finishing these tasks, Zhao Guangyi was also extraordinarily generous to those who had helped him.Under the astonished eyes of Manchao, he named Cheng De Xuanchi, who had made great contributions, as an Imperial envoy.Other members of the shogunate in Jinwangfu were also placed in key positions.However, this is not enough. Looking around, Zhao Kuangyin's old ministers still occupy the majority in the court. How loyal are these people to him?Zhao Guangyi couldn't believe it.Therefore, he used the imperial examination method to recruit power for himself, and admitted 500 people at one time. In this way, he eliminated the political influence left by the late emperor in the court.

In the court where meritorious deeds are considered, although Zhao Guangyi has become the emperor, the fact that he does not have any military exploits cannot be changed, which has become Zhao Guangyi's regret.In order to make up for this shortcoming, three years after he succeeded to the throne, that is, in 978 AD, the situation was slightly stable, and Zhao Guangyi couldn't wait to say to the prime minister Xue Juzheng: "Now the country of the Song Dynasty is stable, and the national strength has also been greatly improved. Prosperity. But there are still people under foreign rule, every time I think of this, I feel very uneasy!"

Xue Juzheng said: "The current stability is not easy to come by. The first emperor has devoted most of his life to this. After His Majesty succeeded to the throne, everyone has also obtained blessings. It is just right to take this opportunity to rest with the people so that the people can develop in stability. Production." Zhao Guangyi turned to Shen Yilun and said: "In such a stable situation, people's fighting spirit is the easiest to wear down. I want to take this opportunity to wipe out the south and recover the lost land in the north, so as to fulfill the unfinished business of the late emperor and fulfill his wish. "

Shen Yilun said: "Your Majesty is able to inherit the last wish of the late emperor. It is a blessing in the world. However, the Liao Kingdom was strong and prosperous, and the late emperor always hoped to use the silver in the 'sealed pile treasury' to exchange for the lost land and not want to go to war with them. This is also the greatest possibility. A way to minimize losses." Zhao Guangyi said disdainfully: "Exchanging money for land is a loss of my Song's prestige. I have already made a decision, and you don't need to discuss it later." Regardless of the opposition of the people, Zhao Guangyi quickly launched a war to the surrounding area, recovered several states in the south, deprived the real power of Qian Chu, the leader of Wuyue, and sent troops to the north, regardless of the consequences. March.

When Zhao Kuangyin was in power, he once launched an attack on the Northern Han Dynasty, but was repelled by Khitan reinforcements.In order to demonstrate his military talents, Zhao Guangyi mobilized the whole country to crusade against the Northern Han Dynasty. After suffering heavy casualties, he finally captured the leader of the Northern Han Dynasty, Liu Jiyuan. The ecstatic Zhao Guangyi said to the generals: "I have completed the unfinished business of the first emperor, and the world is bound to be unified in my hands." Through these several wars, Zhao Guangyi finally found a place where he was better than Zhao Kuangyin. All the soldiers objected, and ordered to take advantage of the victory to attack Khitan in an attempt to recover the sixteen prefectures of Yanyun that Zhao Kuangyin had not recovered in time, so that his achievements surpassed Zhao Kuangyin's and became a brilliant stroke in the military merit book.

This time when the royal driver dispatched troops, he was accompanied by important ministers in the court, the emperor's brother Zhao Tingmei, the emperor's nephew Zhao Dezhao, the prime minister Xue Juzheng, and Zhao Pu who was dismissed as a loose official.These people are either important figures in the royal family, who may become the heirs to the throne; or they are highly respected veterans in the court and China, with intricate and complicated connections.How can Zhao Guangyi rest assured that these people are left in Kaifeng, and he expeditions to Khitan?Only by bringing them all by his side can he leave the capital with peace of mind.But this also led to the biggest crisis of this expedition.

Xue Juzheng, Zhao Pu and others all urged Zhao Guangyi: "In order to conquer the Northern Han Dynasty, the Song army has already spent a lot of troops, and the casualties are very heavy. Now they openly challenge the powerful enemy Liao, which will definitely bring disaster. It is better to withdraw the troops and return to Kaifeng first. Wait until the army is rested before thinking of other ways.” Zhao Guangyi said: "You used to dissuade the late emperor in this way, and now you are telling me again. The late emperor was afraid of the Liao Kingdom, but I was not afraid. This personal conquest by the emperor has proved that the Song army is invincible. You only need to drive straight in to recover the lost land. .”

After rashly sending troops to challenge Khitan, the Song army was defeated at the Gaoliang River. The brave Liao army rushed around and dispersed the Song army.The distraught Zhao Guangyi abandoned his Luanjia and his gold and silver treasures and fled in a hurry. He was shot in the thigh by the Liao army. Although he was wounded and escaped this time, he went straight to Zhuozhou, but the arrow wound led to his death eighteen years later. However, the soldiers in the army did not know his whereabouts. The remnants assembled after the defeat were very dissatisfied with the emperor's lack of compassion for his subordinates and his pursuit of merit. Recalling that Zhao Kuangyin once cared so much for the soldiers of the army, and never sent troops unless he had to. Everyone couldn't help but began to miss Taizu's kindness.In this mood, the emperor did not know what to do, so some people advocated that Zhao Dezhao, the son of Zhao Kuangyin, be the new emperor.

Seeing that everyone was about to put the yellow robe on Zhao Dezhao like Zhao Kuangyin did back then, news suddenly came that the emperor had arrived in Zhuozhou and ordered all the troops to escort him.This turmoil also dissipated with the arrival of this news. Zhao Guangyi, who returned to Kaifeng, heard that there had been such a change in the army, and he hated those courtiers who wanted to support Dezhao, and he was even more jealous of Zhao Dezhao.Although he knew that Zhao Dezhao's character was cowardly and it was impossible for him to pose a threat to him, but it was hard to guarantee that other people with ulterior motives wanted to support him, and by then it might be more than a simple disturbance. Since the class teacher, Zhao Guangyi has not given any rewards to the meritorious soldiers in the army, which caused complaints everywhere.Zhao Dezhao said: "In this Northern Expedition, the soldiers fought bloody battles to capture Liu Jiyuan. Everyone suffered countless injuries. I hope His Majesty can reward them." Zhao Guangyi snorted coldly and said, "My purpose of this Northern Expedition was to take back all the land lost by the Liao Kingdom, but I failed. The Northern Han Dynasty is just a tiny place, so what's the point of winning it?" Proud? Failure to recover the lost land means that the war was a failure, do they still have the face to ask for rewards?" Zhao Dezhao was kind-hearted, and he wanted to quell the complaints in the army. He didn't feel Zhao Guangyi's displeasure at all, so he continued to comfort him: "Although the battle with the Liao Kingdom failed, it can't erase everyone's hard work in attacking the Northern Han Dynasty. Your Majesty still should A little grace, so that the soldiers will be more heroic in future wars." Zhao Guangyi saw that he insisted on conferring rewards on his own, and added that the matter of the soldiers supporting Dezhao had always made him worry, so he yelled loudly: "Since you want to reward them so much, then wait until you become the emperor before rewarding them." !" As soon as this remark came out, all four were shocked.None of the ministers knew why the emperor suddenly became furious, and Zhao Dezhao did not expect that Zhao Guangyi would reprimand him so severely, as if he suspected that he had the intention to usurp him.The terrified Zhao Dezhao didn't dare to say anything anymore, so he could only stand on one side with his head bowed, letting Zhao Guangyi angrily blame the generals for their ineffectiveness in fighting. Frightened by this, Zhao Dezhao was disturbed, and within a few days after returning to the mansion, he died suddenly.Not long after, his younger brother Zhao Defang also died suddenly, the cause of death is unknown. For his two nephews, Zhao Guangyi knew very well that Dezhao was cowardly and Defang was still young, so they would not pose any threat to him.But after the defeat of Gaolianghe, he realized that even though these two nephews were ineffective, they could not obliterate their identity as Zhao Kuangyin's sons.And in the eyes of everyone, they are the most qualified to sit on the dragon chair. Zhao Dezhao also dreamed of being an emperor, but after Zhao Guangyi succeeded to the throne, he knew that he was no match for this entrenched uncle, so he gradually gave up those unrealistic fantasies, and he was satisfied with his own martial arts. .But the courtiers didn't think so. Zhao Guangyi's way of obtaining the throne was undisclosed. This was a matter of everyone's tacit understanding. In the eyes of some people, only by making the throne orthodox can the world of Song Dynasty be peaceful.This loyalty to Zhao Kuangyin is certainly a lesson, but it is this loyalty that pushed Zhao Dezhao under Zhao Guangyi's knife.