Chapter 50 10. Going to war to change jade: no permanent enemy

Zhao Guangyi took over the baton of imperial power from his elder brother through conspiracy. His success can be said to be the result of the best combination of the right time, place and people.On the one hand, Empress Dowager Du's love for Zhao Guangyi gave him a lot of training opportunities, and he joined the core team of the ruling group early on, improving his strategic ability; Zhao Kuangyin also trusted this younger brother very much, and once wanted to pass the throne to him , so when he was young, he was given important positions such as Kaifeng Governor, allowing him to use this as a platform to start building power.As the eldest son of Zhao Kuangyin, Zhao Dezhao was cowardly and had no intention of competing for the throne at all. He had no intention of building his own power. Otherwise, when Zhao Kuangyin passed away and Gaolianghe was defeated, as long as someone sincerely supported him, Dezhao would definitely be able to seize power quickly and become a leader. Zhao Kuangyin's successor.All this created the second emperor of the Song Dynasty-Song Taizong.

As early as when he was the Governor of Kaifeng, Zhao Kuangyin and the veteran Zhao Pu were deadly enemies. They were the two most powerful branches in the court, forming a tripartite force.Zhao Guangyi wanted to seek a position, but Zhao Pu didn't want the country he and Zhao Kuangyin had worked so hard to lose, so he tried his best to stop it.The battle ended in Zhao Pu's defeat. Three years after he was demoted, Zhao Guangyi finally got his wish and replaced Zhao Kuangyin. After succeeding to the throne, Zhao Guangyi ignored the practice that the new emperor could only change the reign name in the following year, and eagerly changed the reign name to "Taiping Xingguo".But Zhao Pu, Gao Huaide, Feng Jiye, Liu Tingrang and other veterans returned to Kaifeng in the name of congratulating the new emperor on his enthronement.Returning Zhao Pu knew that Zhao Guangyi was very jealous of him, so he took the initiative to ask: "The mausoleum of the late emperor is still under construction. I am willing to go there to supervise the construction. I hope Your Majesty will agree."

Zhao Guangyi pushed the boat along with the current, and said: "Zhao Pu was loyal to the late emperor, and his sincerity can be learned from. I will order you to be the Prince Shaobao, and stay in the capital to guard the late emperor's tomb." Zhao Pu knew that Prince Shaobao was just a idle job in name only, but at the age of fifty-five, he didn't care about these things, and still happily thanked the Lord for his kindness.After being unemployed, Zhao Pu looked coldly at Zhao Guangyi who continued to clear himself of the suspicion of regicide and seizing the throne, and watched his political enemy Lu Duoxun rise all the way because of flattery.It wasn't until Zhao Guangyi returned from the Northern Expedition to the Liao Kingdom that he was defeated, slaughtered the Zhao family who were likely to inherit the throne, and got rid of Zhao Dezhao and Zhao Defang, and then Zhao Pu came into Zhao Guangyi's sight again.

After the battle of Gaolianghe, when the generals tried to support Zhao Dezhao, Zhao Guangyi found that even those who were unable to compete with him would inevitably become others' pawns and become a threat to him.In order to completely eradicate this threat and completely eliminate the political influence left by Zhao Kuangyin, he did not care about the cost. After Zhao Dezhao's death, another person became Zhao Guangyi's most taboo object, that is the third brother Zhao Tingmei.According to the "Zhao family tradition" announced by Zhao Guangyi, the country of the Song Dynasty is "brothers end up with brothers", so Zhao Kuangyin passed the throne to himself.According to this tradition, Zhao Guangyi is bound to pass the throne to Zhao Tingmei, not his son Zhao Yuanzuo.Although Zhao Yuanzuo could not understand his father's despicable behavior of killing Dezhao and Defang, he was Zhao Guangyi's own blood after all, and only his successor could continue this glory.

Just when Zhao Guangyi was having a headache because of the existence of Zhao Tingmei, Lu Duoxun, who had been promoted to prime minister, was getting closer and closer to Zhao Tingmei.Seeing Lu Duoxun, Zhao Guangyi suddenly thought of someone——Lu Duoxun's nemesis, Zhao Pu. Zhao Pu was not at all surprised when he received the summons from the palace. He knew that as long as he was useful, Zhao Guangyi would definitely come to him.Therefore, after meeting with neither humble nor overbearing, he stood aside silently, waiting for Zhao Guangyi to reveal his purpose. Zhao Guangyi said to Zhao Pu: "You once thought that I could not inherit the throne, and you provoked our relationship in front of the late emperor. Now that I have become emperor, what else can you say?"

Zhao Pu said: "Your Majesty can be the emperor because of destiny, and I have never said anything wrong with your Majesty in front of the late emperor. In my eyes, Your Majesty, you are loyal, filial, and virtuous. You are a rare Mingjun and a blessing for the Great Song Dynasty." , how could I slander you?" Zhao Guangyi laughed loudly and said, "Zhao Pu, Zhao Pu, are you trying to erase what you did before?" Zhao Pu said, "I'm not talking nonsense. I did say so in my memorial. If you don't believe me, your Majesty can send someone to investigate."

According to Zhao Guangyi's words, he sent people to look up the previous memorials, and it was found that when Zhao Pu was demoted by Zhao Kuangyin, he had written a letter saying that Guangyi was "loyal, filial and perfect", and praised him greatly.As a senior conspirator, Zhao Pu left this memorial when he was demoted, so that Zhao Guangyi would be able to use it as a reason to stand up when he came to power in the future, and it really came in handy today. Looking at the memorial, Zhao Guangyi couldn't help but be impressed by Zhao Pu's foresight. Although he knew that it was true that Zhao Pu had done him a disservice, since he didn't come to him this time to settle old scores, he stopped thinking about it.He turned to Zhao Pu and said: "As far as I know, you and Lu Duoxun have always been at odds. Since you were dismissed as prime minister, you have been suppressed by him everywhere: your brother-in-law Hou Renbao is the magistrate of Xiaozhou, and he has never let him go. When you returned to Beijing, you let him die in battle outside the mountains. When your son Zhao Chengzong remarried, he married Gao Huaide’s daughter. He was also very jealous. Zhao Chengzong was sent to Tanzhou one month after his marriage. Forbearance?"

Zhao Pu said with a smile: "Lu Duoxun is just a villain. He is now the prime minister. I am just a prince and a little protector. I can't do anything to him, but I believe he will fall down one day. I heard that he recently had a relationship with Kaifeng. Governor Zhao Tingmei is very close, maybe this is why he is coming to the end of the road." Hearing what he said, Zhao Guangyi deliberately asked: "Then why do you think he wants to seek refuge with Zhao Tingmei?" Zhao Pu said: "Lu Duoxun has always been a speculator. He was appreciated by the late emperor because he bribed the officials in the library to find out what books the late emperor liked to read, and then went back to study hard. When the late emperor asked He naturally answered the questions fluently. Now that His Majesty is the new emperor, he thinks that Zhao Tingmei will follow the usual practice and become the next emperor, so he takes refuge in him and flatters him everywhere, hoping that he can make a fortune in the future."

This conversation caused quite a shock in Zhao Guangyi's heart. He did not expect Zhao Pu to see the current situation so thoroughly. Although he was not in the court, the affairs in the court could not escape his eyes.Zhao Guangyi asked again: "The first emperor 'brothers end up with younger brothers', so I can be emperor, and I will naturally pass the throne to Tingmei in the future. This is exactly what I meant by making him the governor of Kaifeng as soon as I ascended the throne. It seems that it is also a correct choice for Ludoson to join Tingmei." Hearing what he said, Zhao Pu suddenly smiled, and said to Zhao Guangyi: "In my opinion, His Majesty may not pass the throne to Zhao Tingmei."

Zhao Guangyi was taken aback, Zhao Pu's sharpness surprised him again, and he quickly asked, "Why?" Zhao Pu said: "It was a mistake from the first emperor to pass the throne to Your Majesty. If Your Majesty passes on the throne to Tingmei now, wouldn't you repeat the mistakes of the late Emperor? I believe His Majesty is unwilling to do this, and this is what His Majesty summoned me today reason." After a lot of verbal confrontation, Zhao Guangyi and Zhao Pu were finally able to meet each other honestly, and they came together for their respective purposes.Zhao Pu has been suppressed by Lu Duoxun for many years, and he has long held a grudge; Zhao Guangyi does not want Zhao Tingmei to become his second self.Now, the former enemies stand on the same front because of their interests.

Zhao Pu said: "In order to allow His Majesty to realize his wish as soon as possible, I hope to return to the aspect." Zhao Guangyi asked in surprise: "Why do you believe that I will re-appoint you as prime minister?" Zhao Pu said with a smile: "The position of a subject depends on His Majesty's needs. If you need me to do something, you must give me the corresponding power. Otherwise, how can I be loyal to Your Majesty?" In the sixth year of Taiping Xingguo, that is, AD 981, although there were three prime ministers in Zhao Guangyi's dynasty, Xue Juzheng had passed away, and Shen Yilun was recuperating due to illness.His frequent contacts with Zhao Tingmei made Zhao Guangyi gnash his teeth with hatred, and finally made up his mind to use the veteran Zhao Pu to become Situ, who also served as a servant, and the real power was above the two prime ministers Shen Yilun and Lu Duoxun. In the second year after Zhao Pu took office, courtiers Chai Yuxi and Yang Shouyi sued Kaifeng Governor Zhao Tingmei for attempting to rebel.Zhao Guangyi was so angry that he didn't go to investigate, so he cut off the position of Zhao Tingmei's governor and changed him to stay in Xijing. He also quickly demoted Zhao Tingmei's confidant Privy Chengzhi Chen Conglong, Imperial City envoy Liu Zhixin, Forbidden Army general Huangfu Jiming and others. He placed his confidant Dr. Wang Taichang and Yan Ju, the magistrate of Kaifeng Prefecture, to monitor Zhao Tingmei. Soon, Zhao Pu found evidence of the collusion between Lu Duoxun and Zhao Tingmei, and he was convicted and sent to prison.Zhao Guangyi asked all the officials to discuss the matter, and all the officials who were aware of God's will put aside their relationship with Zhao Tingmei and Lu Duoxun one after another, demanding that they be beheaded to punish future generations.However, Zhao Guangyi mercifully spared him the crime of death, relegated Zhao Tingmei to Fuling county magistrate, and placed him in Fangzhou, Hubei.After Lu Duoxun seized the official title, his family was exiled to Yazhou, Hainan.Three months later, Zhao Tingmei died of illness at the age of thirty-eight.A year later, Lu Duosun also died in Yazhou. After the forces of Zhao Tingmei and Lu Duoxun were eradicated, Zhao Pu also completed his mission. Zhao Guangyi dismissed him in 983 AD and changed him to the post of inspector Taiwei. The 61-year-old he readily accepted this appointment.Eight years after Lu Duoxun's death, Zhao Pu died in Xijing, following Song Taizu Zhao Kuangyin who had been born and died together. So far, the political influence left by Zhao Kuangyin has been completely wiped out, and the Song Taizong era belonging to Zhao Guangyi has really begun. The truth of Zhao Guangyi's seizure of power has been deliberately covered up until the Jin soldiers went south to break through Tokyo and captured the two emperors Hui and Qin, and moved south in the Northern Song Dynasty.After the death of Emperor Gaozong Zhao Gou, no one from Zhao Guangyi's lineage could inherit the throne. Only Song Xiaozong Zhao Yun from Zhao Kuangyin's lineage was found to succeed him, and the truth was revealed.The historians revised the records and recorded that Taizong's death was the work of Taizong, and Zhao Yan also acquiesced to this conclusion, and the cause of Zhao Kuangyin's death really came to light. No matter how those in power fight, the most important thing is to promote the development of society and let the people live and work in peace and contentment.If he is only confined to the thoughts of family and world, then he can only be a fatuous monarch.Zhao Kuangyin has been looking for ways to make the country stronger all his life, while Zhao Guangyi has been thinking about letting his descendants inherit the throne all his life. This difference also makes the two of them compete.Mingjun and Hunjun may have similar intelligence and ability, but the evaluation they can win from later generations is very different.It seems that in order to let the emperor's prestige spread through the ages, hard work and love for the people are the most fundamental way.