After Zhou Shizong Chai Rong died of illness, Prince Chai Zongxun came to the throne. He was only seven years old, and he was Emperor Gong of Zhou.The emperor was young and unable to preside over the government, and the queen mother was also an ordinary woman with no political acumen and opinions.Under such circumstances, some ambitious people began to move around. In 960 A.D., the monarchs and ministers of the Later Zhou Dynasty were celebrating New Year's Day, and the city of Kaifeng was full of joy.At this time, an urgent report suddenly came from the border, saying that the Liao Kingdom and the Northern Han Dynasty had invaded the south.Emperor Zhou Gong was so frightened that he was at a loss for what to do.At that time, the most virtuous and respected minister in the Later Zhou Dynasty was Zhao Kuangyin. Zhao Kuangyin served as the inspector in front of the palace and held a heavy army.As expected, Zhao Kuangyin led the Forbidden Army to the border to resist the enemy.

When the army marched to Chenqiaoyi, 20 miles north of Kaifeng City, it was already dark, so the army stationed in the area of ​​Chenqiaoyi.Miao Xun, the commander of Dianqian San, was watching the sky at night, and suddenly announced that the sky was different, and that the destiny belonged, and he should be "checked to be the Son of Heaven".Checking is Zhao Kuangyin's official position. Here is a special mention. When Zhou Shizong Chai Rong went to the north later that year, he found a piece of wood more than three feet long in his document bag, with the words "Check to be the Son of Heaven" written on it.At that time, it was Chai Rong's son-in-law Zhang Yongde who was in charge of inspecting the front of the palace. Chai Rong began to suspect Zhang Yongde, so he seized Zhang Yongde's military power and became the prime minister. post.Not long after this incident, Emperor Shizong Chai Rong of the Later Zhou Dynasty died of illness.

After hearing Miao Xun's words, Zhou Dajun was disturbed.Zhao Kuangyin's younger brother Zhao Kuangyi (later Song Taizong Zhao Guangyi), and the secretary of the Guide Army Zhao Pu planned the mutiny overnight, and joined forces with the generals of the Forbidden Army Gao Huaide, Murong Yanzhao, Zhang Lingduo, Zhang Guanghan, Zhao Yanhui, Pan Mei, etc. to spread the news everywhere: "Now the Emperor Zhou is young. , can’t be in charge of the government, and we are working hard outside to defend the country against foreign enemies, who knows! It’s better to make the inspector (Zhao Kuangyin) the emperor first, and then it’s not too late to go to the north.” Everyone agreed loudly.

At this time, the real protagonist Zhao Kuangyin pretended not to know, and fell asleep in the room.At dawn, excited soldiers surrounded Zhao Kuangyin's dormitory in armor.When Zhao Kuangyin came out to take a look, he saw the soldiers holding weapons and shouting in unison: "There is no master among the generals, and I hope that the Taiwei (Zhao Kuangyin also serves as the Taiwei) will be the emperor." A yellow robe was draped over him.Everyone immediately bowed down and shouted long live together.This is the origin of the allusion of "yellow robe plus body". Later, there was a widely circulated saying: In fact, the Liao army did not go south to invade, but Zhao Kuangyin and others deliberately lied about the military situation, hoping to take the opportunity to incite the emotions of the soldiers and launch a mutiny.

Zhao Kuangyin was surrounded by all the soldiers and returned to Kaifeng.Zhao Kuangyin seemed to be a little reluctant, so he reined in the horse and said, "You people are greedy for wealth and honor, and you made me the emperor. If you can obey my orders, I can agree to be your emperor. Otherwise, I can't be the emperor." The general dismounted and said: "I am willing to obey orders." Zhao Kuangyin then declared military discipline in public: he must not surprise Emperor Zhou Gong, the Queen Mother, and ministers, and must not invade the court, market, and treasury.

At that time, Kaifeng's defenses were empty, and Shi Shouxin, the commander of the palace guarding the capital and the palace, and Wang Shenqi, the Marquis of Duyu, were Zhao Kuangyin's confidantes.Zhao Kuangyin's subordinates came to Zhao Kuangyin's office with Fan Zhi and Wang Pu, important ministers of the Later Zhou Dynasty.As soon as Zhao Kuangyin saw the two, he immediately shed tears and said, "I have been favored by Shizong (Chai Rong) and forced by the Sixth Army. Once I get here, I will be ashamed of the world. What will I do?" General Luo Yanhuan already had his sword in his hand, stepped forward, and said sharply: "We have no master, we must establish the Son of Heaven today!" Fan Zhi and the others looked at each other, not knowing what to do.It was Wang Pu who reacted quickly and bowed down to Zhao Kuangyin first, and Fan Zhi also had to bow down.

After that, Zhao Kuangyin went to the Chongyuan Hall to practice meditation and perform rituals, that is, the emperor, who was the emperor of Song Dynasty.This is the famous "Chenqiao mutiny" in history. Song Taizu Zhao Kuangyin established the Song Dynasty through Chen Qiao's mutiny of Huangpao, and successively destroyed the Southern Han, Later Shu, Southern Tang and other countries, and the world has become unified. In June of the second year of Jianlong (961), Song Taizu's biological mother, Empress Dowager Du, was critically ill. On her deathbed, Zhao Pu, a privy envoy, was called to the palace to record her will.It is said that Song Taizu was also present at that time. Empress Dowager Du first asked Song Taizu how he was able to win the world. Song Taizu said that it was the kindness and blessing of the ancestor and the queen mother.Empress Dowager Du immediately retorted: "You are wrong! You can win the world only because Zhou Shizong passed the throne to a child, so that the country has no long-term monarch, and people's hearts are not attached. Suppose Zhou Shizong establishes a middle-term emperor, How can the world be in your hands?" Song Taizu, who has always been filial, can only say yes to his mother's words, not to mention Empress Dowager Du's words are indeed reasonable.Empress Dowager Du said the following key words to Song Taizu earnestly: "So, you have to learn the lesson, and in the future, the throne will be passed on to Guangyi (the younger brother of Zhao Kuangyin) first, and then to Guangmei (the second younger brother of Zhao Kuangyin, later renamed Ting Beauty), Guangmei was passed on to Dezhao (the eldest son of Zhao Kuangyin), in this way, it is a blessing for the country to have an elder.” Song Taizu wept and said: “I will remember the teaching.” Empress Dowager Du said to Zhao Pu who was on the side: "You must also remember my words, and you must not violate them." Zhao Pu wrote the words of Empress Dowager Du into an affidavit in the form of a will, signed "Chen Pu Ji" at the end, and kept it in the Golden Chamber (sound gui, same cabinet) Among them, it is called "Golden Chamber Oath".

Later generations have doubts about this "golden chamber oath" story, thinking that it was a lie fabricated by Song Taizong Zhao Guangyi and Zhao Pu in collusion, in order to cover up Song Taizong's improper position.On this point, here are two points of analysis. First, the reason why Empress Dowager Du asked Song Taizu to inherit his younger brother Zhao Guangyi was "the king of the country", and a little calculation shows that this reason is quite far-fetched.When Queen Mother Du died of illness, Song Taizu was thirty-five years old, Zhao Guangyi was twenty-three years old, Zhao Guangmei was fifteen years old, and Zhao Dezhao was twelve years old.Unless Song Taizu could not live to be forty years old, he could pass on the title of "National Lai Changjun" to his younger brother Zhao Guangyi as a sufficient reason.In fact, Song Taizu was born in the battlefield, proficient in martial arts and riding and shooting. With his physique and strength, Empress Dowager Du had no reason to suspect that the eldest son would not live to be sixty years old.At that time, Song Taizu was sixty years old, Zhao Guangyi was forty-eight years old, Zhao Guangmei was forty years old, and Zhao Dezhao was thirty-seven years old.Obviously, when Song Taizu really passed away, the eldest son Zhao Dezhao was not only not a young monarch, but also in the prime of life.On the contrary, it was Zhao Guangyi, already old and frail, almost an old man who knew his destiny.

Second, Song Taizu was generous and friendly, and treated his brothers very kindly.When Zhao Guangyi was ill, Song Taizu went to the mansion to visit in person, and personally burned wormwood for Zhao Guangyi to cure his illness.Zhao Guangyi felt the pain was unbearable, so Song Taizu tried it on himself to see the effect of the medicine.The brotherhood is deep and touching.Soon after Empress Dowager Du died of illness, Song Taizu issued an imperial edict to appoint Zhao Guangyi as Yin of Kaifeng.Kaifeng Yin Zheng Sanpin, in charge of Kaifeng mansion (the capital, accompanying capital and special key places were called "fu" in the Song Dynasty), is the highest chief executive of Kaifeng, the capital.According to the old system of the Five Dynasties, the crown prince generally assumed the position of Kaifeng Yin first.Song Taizu's move actually implied that his younger brother Zhao Guangyi was the future heir to the throne.He once praised Zhao Guangyi to his close ministers and said: "Guangyi walks like a dragon and walks like a tiger. He was born differently. He will be the emperor of Taiping in the future, and his fortune is beyond my reach." ("Song History Volume 3 Taizu Benji") meaning It is Zhao Guangyi who has the appearance of an emperor, plus he is blessed and virtuous, and he will definitely be a Taiping Emperor in the future.

Judging from the analysis of the above two points, regardless of whether there is a golden chamber oath or not, the content of Empress Dowager Du's will "to succeed Zhao Guangyi in the future" is absolutely credible, otherwise Song Taizu would not have appointed Zhao Guangyi shortly after Empress Dowager Du died of illness For Kaifeng Yin.In other words, it is true that Empress Dowager Du has a will, but it is not certain whether it is written in the Golden Chamber oath. Empress Dowager Du favored Zhao Guangyi. In Empress Dowager Du's will, there is only one key point, that is, Song Taizu must pass on the throne to his younger brother Zhao Guangyi.This is the meaning of Queen Mother Du, and it is also the meaning of Zhao Guangyi himself.It can be said that from the day of the Chen Qiao mutiny, Zhao Guangyi had the idea of ​​becoming emperor, because it was he and Zhao Pu who planned the Chen Qiao mutiny.Furthermore, Song Taizu also obeyed his mother's will well and treated his younger brother Zhao Guangyi favorably.After that, Song Taizu's words and deeds in all aspects indicated that he would pass the throne to his younger brother Zhao Guangyi.

In the sixth year of Kaibao (973), Song Taizu even named Zhao Guangyi as the King of Jin, whose shift was higher than that of the prime minister, and continued to hold the important position of Kaifeng Yin.It is particularly worth noting that Zhao Guangyi was named king of Jin in September of that year, and in August of the same year, Zhao Pu, who had been a witness of the "Golden Chamber Oath", was dismissed from the position of prime minister, which aroused the attention of the ruling and opposition parties.There are many stories about Zhao Pu, and he is also a key figure in the two mysteries of "The Alliance of the Golden Chamber" and "The Sound of the Ax and the Shadow of the Candle". Zhao Pu, courtesy name Zeping, was born in Jixian County, Youzhou (now Jixian County, Tianjin), and moved to Luoyang with his father.He also studied hard when he was young, but due to his temperament, he couldn't devote himself to learning, so he didn't have deep knowledge.In this way, it is naturally impossible to succeed by taking the road of imperial examinations.In order to be able to live and work with a skill, Zhao Pu began to study official affairs, specially pondering the way of being an official, so he became wise and flexible. Although Zhao Pu did not study much, he was quite resourceful.In the Later Zhou Dynasty, Zhao Kuangyin was the general, and Zhao Pu was his staff.Once, Zhao Kuangyin's subordinates arrested more than a hundred villagers, saying that these people were bandits and should be executed according to the law.After Zhao Pu heard about it, he suspected that there were innocent people among the villagers and asked for interrogation.As a result, nine out of ten of them were falsely accused of being robbers.After this incident, Zhao Kuangyin praised Zhao Pu greatly, and believed that he had the foresight and was careful and prudent in handling things.Zhao Kuangyin had great ambitions, and since then he has deliberately won over Zhao Pu and relied heavily on him.Soon, Zhao Kuangyin's father fell ill and couldn't afford it, and Zhao Kuangyin was busy with military affairs and had no time to take care of family affairs.Zhao Pu took the initiative to serve Zhao's father, offering medicine and bait day and night, and taking care of food and daily life.Zhao's father and Zhao's mother Du were very moved and regarded Zhao Pu as the same clan.Later, when Empress Dowager Du was dying to give her will, she must call Zhao Pu by her side, which shows the degree of trust in Zhao Pu.Zhao Kuangyin also believed that Zhao Pu had both loyalty and wisdom, and regarded him as a brother, who would never leave him. Zhao Pu successively served as Zhao Kuangyin's pusher, secretary and other confidantes, and he played an important role in assisting Zhao Kuangyin in the process of unifying the world.Before and after the pacification of the world, Zhao Pu made two outstanding contributions: one is to carefully plan the "Chenqiao Mutiny" and help Zhao Kuangyin to add a yellow robe without bloodshed, and successfully ascend to the throne of the emperor; The way of "buying" deprived the military power of the heroes and generals, and consolidated the centralized Northern Song Dynasty.In this way, Zhao Pu won the absolute trust of Song Taizu with his ingenuity. Prime Minister above. Zhao Pu was born as a petty official, and he didn't have much knowledge. If he is an official and a prime minister, he should be full of ambition and pride.However, Zhao Pu is quite self-aware. He knows that because he doesn't read much, he is ridiculed behind his back as a "scholarly bumpkin". If you take on the important task of prime minister, it will be difficult to convince the hearts of all officials.Therefore, Zhao Pu worked hard, "in his later years, he would not release the scrolls, and every time he returned to his private residence, he would open the box and take out the books, and read them all day long." As a result, his knowledge, intelligence, and eloquence improved greatly.He studied hard by candlelight the night before, and went to court to deal with political affairs the next day. He was always very quick and "executed like a stream" before the administration.Amazing.Later, family members discovered that there was only one book in Zhao Pu's bookcase, so a folk saying began to spread that Zhao Pu ruled the world by "half of the book". Zhao Pu's wife can cook good dishes, especially barbecue.Song Taizu often went to Zhao's house in micro-services without saying hello in advance, ordered to eat the barbecue made by Zhao's wife, and affectionately called Zhao's wife "sister-in-law".Therefore, Zhao Pu didn't dare to change his court clothes easily after he came down to court, lest Song Taizu suddenly come and lose his appearance if he didn't have time to change clothes.One winter, it was snowing heavily. Zhao Pu thought that the road was too snowy and the emperor would not go out. As soon as he changed his court clothes, Song Taizu asked his younger brother Zhao Guangyi to come to the Zhao residence together.Therefore, the three monarchs and ministers "set up heavy shades to sit in the hall and burn meat with burning charcoal" ("Song History Volume 256 Zhao Pu Biography"), and Zhao's wife personally served and poured wine on the sidelines. The monarch and ministers were intimate and happy look. The relationship between Song Taizu and Zhao Pu was extraordinary, and Zhao Pu also dared to insist on his own opinions in front of Song Taizu.Once, Zhao Pu recommended a minister to an important position to Song Taizu, but Song Taizu refused.The next day, Zhao Pu recommended this person again. Song Taizu was very angry because he had refused the previous day, but Zhao Pu would come again, so he tore up the memorial and threw it on the ground.Without changing his face, Zhao Pu knelt down to pick up the broken memorial and went back.After returning home, Zhao Pu carefully patched up the memorial, and took it with him the next day to remonstrate Song Taizu again.Seeing that Zhao Pu was so persistent, Song Taizu came to his senses and finally appointed the courtiers recommended by Zhao Pu.And the later facts also proved Zhao Pu's vision. Another time, a minister should be promoted, but Song Taizu insisted on not approving it because he always hated this person.Zhao Pu asked repeatedly, but Song Taizu refused to agree, and even got angry with the boss, saying: "I just don't promote him, what can you do to me?" The same. Besides, the punishment reward is the punishment reward of the world, not the punishment reward of His Majesty alone, how can one person's happiness and anger be used to determine the punishment reward?" Song Taizu could not refute what he said, and it was even more difficult to step down. Get up and go to the inner palace.Zhao Pu actually followed closely behind the emperor.Song Taizu went straight into the inner palace, but Zhao Pu couldn't enter, so he simply stood outside the palace gate and did not leave, showing an attitude of never giving up until he achieved his goal.Seeing the prime minister standing at the gate, the guards in front of the inner palace had no choice but to report to Song Taizu.At this time, Song Taizu's anger had calmed down, so he asked the eunuch to inform Zhao Pu and agree to his request. Zhao Pu has been prime minister for ten years and has great power. Many people want to follow his path.In the sixth year of Kaibao (973), King Qian Chu (pronounced chu, same address) of Wuyue wrote a letter to Zhao Pu. Besides greetings, he also brought ten bottles of Wuyue's "seafood".Zhao Pu put the bottles in front of the hall, and before he could open the letter and read it, Song Taizu just arrived.Song Taizu saw ten bottles in front of the hall and was very curious, so he asked Zhao Pu what was in the bottles.Zhao Pu replied truthfully, "It's the seafood sent by Wu Yue." Song Taizu smiled and said, "Since it's the seafood sent by Wu Yue, the seafood must be delicious. Let's open it and have a look!" Everyone was dumbfounded.It turned out that what was put in the bottle was not any seafood, but gold in the shape of melon seeds.Song Taizu always hated the ministers for accepting bribes and abusing their power, so his face sank immediately.Zhao Pu was terrified, and sweated profusely to plead guilty to Song Taizu, saying: "I haven't read the letter yet, and I really don't know what's in the bottle. Please forgive me." Song Taizu said: "You might as well just accept it!" But But he was very unhappy in his heart. In his opinion, Zhao Pu's move not only accepted bribes, but also touched the dignity of the imperial power. After that, Song Taizu began to be somewhat suspicious of Zhao Pu, and he no longer had the absolute sense of trust that he had before.Soon, another minister accused Zhao Pu of violating the ban and trafficking in timber.At that time, the imperial court prohibited the private trafficking of Qin and Long (now Shaanxi and Gansu) big trees.However, Zhao Pu violated the ban by sending his cronies to Qinlong to collect and transport large logs, and transport them to the capital by raft so that he could build a house for himself.As a result, his cronies took the opportunity to transport an extra batch of big logs and sold them in the capital for profit.As a result, Zhao Yu, the envoy of the third division, found out and played Song Taizu.Because Zhao Pu was involved in this incident, Song Taizu was furious, and immediately ordered Hanlin scholars to draw up an edict, intending to issue an edict to expel Zhao Pu.Prince Taishi Wang Pu tried his best to intercede, but Song Taizu's anger calmed down a little, so he changed his mind. Zhao Pu's bad luck did not end there.Lu Duoxun, a Hanlin scholar, was at odds with Zhao Pu, attacking Zhao Pu's marriage minister (Zhao Pu's son Zhao Chengzong violated the ban on intermarriage between ministers and ministers, and married the daughter of Li Chongju, a privy envoy), ran a mansion for profit, excluded ministers, and acted arbitrarily .Because of this series of problems of public loyalty and selfishness, Zhao Pu finally lost the trust and favor of the emperor. Song Taizu appointed a deputy minister to share power with Zhao Pu and supervise the prime minister. In fact, long before Song Taizu appointed a deputy prime minister, measures had already been taken to lower the status of the prime minister.In Chinese history, the prime minister is the leader of hundreds of officials, in the position of "under one person, above ten thousand people".During the Qin and Han Dynasties, the prime minister had a high status, and the emperor appointed the prime minister as "worshiping prime minister".The prime minister could go up to the palace wearing a sword, and he didn't have to kneel down when he saw the emperor. Instead, the emperor had to stand up to pay his respects.In the court hall, the prime minister can also accept the worship of all officials together with the emperor.If the emperor and the prime minister meet on the road, the emperor will also get out of the car to greet the prime minister.In the Sui and Tang Dynasties, when the ministers met in court, the prime minister had to have a seat, and the emperor had to give the prime minister tea.The prime minister can sit down with the emperor to discuss state affairs, which is the so-called "Three Dukes sit and discuss the Tao".After Song Taizu came to the throne, the old system was still used for the prime minister's performance.It is said that one morning in the early dynasty, Song Taizu suddenly said to Wang Pu and Fan Zhi, the prime ministers at that time: "My eyes are a little dim, so I send you your memorial." So Wang Pu and Fan Zhi stood up from their chairs and walked Go forward and hand over the memorial.Just as the two prime ministers were leaving their seats, the court guards who had already been instructed took the opportunity to remove the prime minister's seat.Since then, the prime minister can only act in front of the emperor, so it has become a custom, and the status of the prime minister has been greatly reduced. Song Taizu set up a number of people under the prime minister to be in charge of political affairs, and also set up a privy envoy to divide the prime minister's military and political power; and then set up three envoys to divide the prime minister's financial power.In this way, Zhao Pu's power was greatly weakened.Obviously, this is not only aimed at Zhao Pu himself, but also to strengthen the need for centralization. Although Zhao Pu's power was greatly dispersed, Song Taizu seemed unable to forgive the various faults of this friend in need. In August of the sixth year of Kaibao (973), he demoted Zhao Pu as the governor of the three cities of Heyang.However, with the loyalty of Song Taizu, this is unreasonable, and there must be deeper reasons behind it. After Zhao Pu was demoted, he was very unconvinced, and wrote a letter to himself: "Outsiders say that the minister underestimated the emperor's younger brother Kaifeng Yin, and the emperor's loyalty, filial piety and perfect virtue, it is unreal; The king who knows the ministers, I would like to give you a lesson!" ("Continued Zizhi Tongjian Volume 7") roughly means that some people say that I, Zhao Pu, and my brother Zhao Guangyi are at odds, and often talk about Zhao Guangyi behind his back. Zhao Guangyi is loyal, filial, and perfect. Where is there any place where people can make irresponsible remarks? Let's first look at the relationship between Zhao Pu and Zhao Guangyi.Before and after the founding of the Song Dynasty, Zhao Pu and Zhao Guangyi had a very good personal relationship. Both of them were the key planners of the "Chenqiao Mutiny", and they cooperated quite tacitly.Empress Dowager Du loves her second son Zhao Guangyi the most, and she often warns Zhao Guangyi that he must go with Zhao Pu when he goes out.It can be seen that the relationship between the two was quite close at first, but this was only when there was no conflict of interest. Going back to Zhao Pu's letter, this self-indictment is quite interesting, and it has the flavor of "there is no silver three hundred taels here".Zhao Pu tried his best to argue that he had no quarrel with Zhao Guangyi, but it showed that he had a deep conflict with Zhao Guangyi before.Even Zhao Guangyi later publicly declared: "Zhao Pu didn't have a good relationship with me before, which is well known to everyone."Zhao Pu is proficient in power tactics and is well versed in the way of being an official. He is such a smart person who dares to openly compete with the emperor's brother. This can only show that he must have a bigger backer than Zhao Guangyi behind him.And this backer obviously has no one but Song Taizu Zhao Kuangyin. Song Taizu once planned to add an official to Fu Yanqing, but Zhao Pu firmly disagreed.Song Taizu said: "I expect Ding Yanqing will not betray me." Zhao Pu replied tit for tat: "How did Your Majesty betray Zhou Shizong that day?" These words were quite sharp, and only Zhao Pu dared to say them.Only then did Song Taizu remain silent, and the matter of Fu Yanqing's appointment as an official was shelved.Zhao Pu's famous words against Fu Yanqing were later used by Song Renzong's prime minister Wen Yanbo to speak against the military general Di Qing. This is a later story. Fu Yanqing was the survivor of the Later Zhou Dynasty, and his two daughters successively became the queen of Zhou Shizong. The sixth daughter married Zhao Guangyi as his wife. She was both Zhou Shizong's father-in-law and Zhao Guangyi's father-in-law.After Song Taizu ascended the throne, because of guilt in his heart, he has always been very kind to the Chai family in the later Zhou Dynasty. It is well known in the world that he once made an oath: "Preserve the descendants of the Chai family, and do not impose additional punishments for crimes."Zhao Pu naturally knew it too, so his words were not aimed at Zhou Shizong's descendants, nor was he worried that Fu Yanqing would restore the Chai family's world after he became an official, but reminded Song Taizu from another angle to pay attention to Fu Yanqing's son-in-law, that is, Song Taizu's son-in-law Brother Zhao Guangyi.It's not that Song Taizu didn't understand Zhao Pu's deep meaning, but he couldn't express it clearly, so he had no choice but to let it go. Even if you are an emperor, there are troubles that ordinary people can't imagine, and Song Taizu is no exception.There are various signs to speculate that although Song Taizu always wanted to obey his mother, Empress Dowager Du's will, he must have been shaken deep in his heart.He wanted to pass the throne to his own son Dezhao. The most important thing is that since ancient times, the system of succession to the eldest son of the throne has been "a system that is not easy for a hundred kings". The eldest son inheritance system originated from the creation of Duke Zhou in the Western Zhou Dynasty, and it is an important content of Duke Zhou's "making rituals and making music".It is to distinguish the princes from the legitimate sons and the concubine sons according to the status of the mother in the case of polygamy, so as to establish the qualifications of the heirs to the throne, and in accordance with the order of first sons and second sons, first elders and then younger children, the heirs to the throne are divided The qualifications are limited and compressed within the scope of one person to ensure the peaceful transition of the supreme power of the country within a family.The emergence of the eldest son inheritance system had a profound historical background at that time.The direct reason is based on the lessons of the Shang Dynasty. The throne succession system in the Shang Dynasty was based on "brother ends up with younger brother", but after the succession of younger brothers is exhausted, the next successor should be the son of the elder brother or the son of the younger brother.In theory, it should be passed on to the son of the elder brother, but it is often not the case. The younger brother hopes to pass it on to his son.As a result, the system of "brother ends up with brother" has great ambiguity and uncertainty in its implementation.Since Zhong Ding in the Shang Dynasty, "disciples may compete to establish each other, which is more chaotic than the ninth generation", which has a lot to do with the "brother end brother and brother" system.On the contrary, "Since Kang Ding and below, the four generations have passed on their sons, and the royal family is relatively stable."The rulers of the Western Zhou Dynasty, represented by the Duke of Zhou, saw the different consequences of the two inheritance laws. In order to correct the disadvantages of the chaotic succession system of "brother end brother and brother" in the Shang Dynasty, they formally established the succession system of the eldest son.After the Qin and Han Dynasties, except that the Qin Dynasty died due to short life and did not have time to establish a crown prince, and the Qing Dynasty adopted the secret reserve system after Yongzheng, most dynasties regarded the system of eldest sons as the "law of all ages". Although Song Taizu was born as a general, but he was good at reading, and he had a group of counselors around him, so he would not be ignorant of these allusions from the previous dynasty.It can be said with certainty that the root cause of Song Taizu's real shaken is the "law of all ages" son-in-law.Zhao Pu and Song Taizu got acquainted in times of adversity. They were like brothers and knew each other very well. They would not be ignorant of Song Taizu's contradictory thoughts. To the prince Zhao Dezhao, not the emperor Zhao Guangyi.Zhao Pu understood this, and Song Taizu also understood this. However, at this time, Zhao Guangyi's wings were already established and hard to shake. In addition, Song Taizu had a deep brotherhood and couldn't bear to do anything to his brother, so he finally didn't adopt Zhao Pu's suggestion.Just as Wang Fuzhi said in "Song Lun": "Song Zu was ordered by the Queen Mother to know that his younger brother would not allow his son, but Zhao Pumi's words could not bear to hear, and urgently destroyed his traces." At that time, Zhao Guangyi's cronies were all over the government and the public, and most of Zhao Puzhi's actions were known to Zhao Guangyi.Song Taizu finally decided to obey his mother's last wish. In order to avoid greater disputes, he had no choice but to dismiss Zhao Pu's phase.Otherwise, with Song Taizu's emphasis on love and righteousness, Zhao Pu would not be expelled from the capital just because he seeks personal gain.Here I want to emphasize one sentence in particular. Song Taizu once made a secret oath, stipulating that future generations "shall not kill scholar-bureaucrats and those who write letters, and swear not to kill ministers and officials. If the descendants keep this oath, the heavens will kill them" ("Summer Man" Copy" cited "Secret History").Compared with Liu Bang's killing of a white horse and forming an alliance "not the Liu family, not the king", Song Taizu is really a very generous and benevolent emperor. There is one more thing that can explain Song Taizu's love for his old filial friends.Song Taizu had three queens successively. His first wife, He Shi, gave birth to the prince Zhao Dezhao, who died of illness before Song Taizu came to the throne.Later, Song Taizu married the third queen of Wang Rao, the military governor of Zhou Zhangde, and became the queen after he ascended the throne.Queen Wang gave birth to three children successively, but they all died young one by one.Queen Wang was short-lived and died of illness in the first year of Qiande (963) at the age of 22.However, Song Taizu's favor towards the relatives of the queen has never diminished.Wang Tongxun, the younger brother of Queen Wang, is handsome and personable, but has a fierce temperament and loves to eat stewed female meat.Because he is the younger brother of Queen Wang, he has a prosperous official career, and all the officials who have served in the inner hall know that Xizhou Governor, Enzhou Regiment Training Envoy, Du Commander, Defense Envoy, and Secretary of the Quan Guard Army are mostly illegal and openly held positions. Looting women, wherever they go, there is a lot of turmoil, officials and people are vying to sue.Song Taizu only lifted Wang Tongxun's military power and killed hundreds of his attendants, but he ignored his brother-in-law's evil deeds. This was naturally for the sake of the dead king and queen.Wang Tongxun lost his power and felt depressed, so he took pleasure in slaughtering slaves and cooking women all day long.Guanghui, a monk at the Changshou Temple in Luoyang, also liked to eat female flesh. The two had similar tastes, and countless women were cooked by them.Later, after Zhao Guangyi came to the throne, he sent someone to kill Wang Tongxun and Guanghui. As mentioned earlier, Zhao Pu was kind to Song Taizu's father, and Empress Dowager Du valued Zhao Pu even more, and affectionately called him "Secretary Zhao" (Zhao Pu used to be the secretary in charge), and asked her son Zhao Kuangyin to ask Secretary Zhao's opinions on political affairs.Even when Empress Dowager Du was dying, she called Zhao Pu to her bedside, which shows how close Zhao Pu is to the Zhao family.Song Taizu was so tolerant of the younger brother of the dead king and queen, how could he not tolerate Zhao Pu, a friend in need?Therefore, it must be that Zhao Guangyi and Zhao Pu are incompatible, and the matter that Zhao Guangyi has been worrying about all the time can only be a matter of establishing an heir. It is said that at that time the empress Song Taizu had no children (the mother of the prince Zhao Dezhao was Empress He, and Zhao Defang's biological mother was unknown, and both died early). Because she favored Zhao Defang, the second son of Song Taizu, she wanted to make Zhao Defang the crown prince, but Song Taizu did not agree.However, although Song Taizu did not agree, it does not mean that he did not consider this idea.Regarding this point, I will provide strong evidence later when I talk about "the sound of the ax and the shadow of the candle". Back to the topic of Zhao Pu's private prosecution.At this time, Zhao Pu had been demoted from the capital, but why did he suddenly write a letter to defend himself, and specifically emphasized that he was present when Queen Mother Du died?Given Zhao Pu's contingency, he must have had a purpose in taking this move, and it was not as simple as a self-prosecution.There is only one reasonable explanation, that is, Zhao Pu also saw that with Song Taizu's generosity, he must not have the heart to abolish the Queen Mother Du's will, and Zhao Guangyi's succession to the emperor is imperative. The meritorious service is used as evidence for a comeback. Soon after Zhao Pu wrote the letter, Zhao Guangyi was named King of Jin.As for the eldest son Zhao Dezhao, Song Taizu only gave him the post of "Guizhou regiment training envoy Tongping Zhangshi", in name of phase, but without the power of prime minister.According to royal practice, when the prince reaches adulthood, he must be crowned king. However, Zhao Dezhao and Zhao Defang were not crowned king in the first reign of Song Taizu. This is another strong evidence of Song Taizu's close brother Zhao Guangyi. "Continued Zizhi Tongjian" also records how Song Taizu treated Zhao Pu's letter, "Seal his book with his hand, and hide it in a golden cabinet."The golden chamber here refers to the golden chamber in the "golden chamber oath". It can be concluded from this that although Song Taizu wavered due to various considerations and wanted to pass the throne to his son, in the end he decided to follow his mother's will and pass the throne to his younger brother Zhao Guangyi.However, he has never clearly declared that Zhao Guangyi is the heir to the throne.This naturally made Zhao Guangyi feel indescribable pressure.It can also be inferred from this that the story of the Golden Chamber Oath is indeed questionable.Otherwise, Zhao Guangyi should sit back and relax. There was one thing that made Zhao Guangyi's worries even deeper.At that time, a Qingzhou native came to Kaifeng to take care of the industry, and he brought a teenage girl with him.The little girl is innocent and beautiful.After Zhao Guangyi saw her by chance, he liked her very much and sent someone to buy the little girl from Qingzhou people.Qingzhou people are unwilling.One of Zhao Guangyi's subordinates, named An Xi, volunteered to complete the matter.Zhao Guangyi gave An Xi two ingots of silver and ordered him to handle it quickly.An Xi was greedy, so he cut off one or two taels of silver with a knife and kept it, and then bought the little girl by force, and secretly sent it to Kaifeng Mansion.Later Song Taizu learned about this and ordered An Xi to be hunted down.Zhao Guangyi had no choice but to hide An Xi in his mansion, and An Xi didn't dare to show his face until he later became emperor. Although this is just a trivial matter, it can be seen from this that Song Taizu's brotherhood towards Zhao Guangyi has gradually changed from enthusiasm to calmness.Zhao Guangyi was clever and flexible, and far above his brother, he could not but feel the unprecedented crisis. Therefore, a series of conspiracies against the throne began secretly.