Chapter 48 Chapter two

The success of Chen Qiao's mutiny only means that Zhao Kuangyin's imperial career is half successful.He still has two important and thorny things to do: one is to consolidate the regime, and the other is to unify the world. Since Zhu Wen destroyed Tang and built Liang in 907 AD, in just over 50 years, the Central Plains has successively established Liang, Tang, Jin, Han, and Wu dynasties, because these names have been used before. It is customary to add a word "后" in front of these dynasties; at the same time, nine dynasties including the Southern Tang Dynasty were established in the south, and the Northern Han Dynasty in the northwest, making a total of ten dynasties. "Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms".If calculated on an average basis, there will be a regime change in the land of China every three years. This is the most unstable special period in ancient Chinese history.In terms of the rise and fall of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms regimes, some people vividly compare it to baking biscuits on an iron stove, which is always tossed and baked endlessly.

The Song Dynasty usurped the rule of the Later Zhou Dynasty with ease, and many people couldn't help sighing that since ancient times, no one who won the world was as easy as Zhao Kuangyin.In the era when the regime was constantly changing like a revolving lantern, no one would have thought that the Song Dynasty based on the Later Zhou Dynasty would last for more than 300 years.Everything, of course, is closely related to Zhao Kuangyin, the founding emperor of the Song Dynasty. At the beginning of the establishment of the Song Dynasty, it only controlled a small part of China's territory, and its territory was limited to the core area of ​​the Central Plains.Around it, there are many powerful or weak feudal separatist regimes such as Nanping, Houshu, Nanhan, Nantang, Wuyue, Houhan, Khitan and Liao.When Zhao Kuangyin first put on the yellow robe and ascended to the throne, the primary threat to the regime did not come from the outside. "In order to fight against the outside world, the inside must be settled first." danger of mutiny.

When he personally conquered Li Jun and Li Chongjin and other open opposition forces, he began to consider the long-term internal stability.Zhao Kuangyin's most trusted military and political adviser, Zhao Pu, analyzed: "The fundamental reason for the endless wars in the world is that Fangzhen's status is too heavy and the monarch's power is weak. To rectify it, you only need to take away the power of the ministers, limit their money and food, and take back their elite soldiers. , the world will naturally become peaceful.” Zhao Puzhi's words can be said to hit the point. The reason for the great division and turmoil of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms was the root cause of the separatism of the feudal towns.In this regard, Zhao Kuangyin himself has the deepest feeling and experience. The reason why he was able to ascend the throne of the emperor is that he has the "light" of the power of the feudal town.Zhao Kuangyin knew very well in his heart, even those ministers who bowed their heads at his feet, how many were sincerely convinced?Moreover, the envoys of the various towns under him still hold great power, and they may stage a similar mutiny at some point, or simply show their banners and seize power by force.The direct example of the Chenqiao mutiny he launched is undoubtedly Guo Wei; but before Guo Wei, there were "successful examples" of Tang Mingzong Li Siyuan and Tang abolished Emperor Lu Wang Li Congke; including his so-called supportive mutiny, similar has been repeated four times in history.A lesson from the past, a guide for the future, this kind of general mutiny should be made "out of print" in his hands, and they cannot be staged again.Therefore, after some careful consideration, the familiar story of "a cup of wine releases military power" was written down in the history of the founding of the Song Dynasty.In a special banquet, Zhao Kuangyin "showdown" with the ministers who hold heavy troops as the emperor: exchange money, mansions, fertile land and other favorable economic conditions for the military power in their hands.Even if the generals are unwilling, they dare not fight; besides, being able to enjoy life under the protection of the emperor without taking risks or worrying is a dream, so why not do it?So, one by one, they hurriedly wrote to each other, requesting to be relieved of their military posts.A transaction of power and money was successfully completed without knowing it. Zhao Kuangyin used his tactful and tactful tactics to completely control the most powerful and most turbulent Forbidden Army at that time in his own hands, so there was no need to be unpredictable. worried about the military coup.However, in the Song Dynasty's rule of more than three hundred years since then, there has never been a mutiny similar to "addition of yellow robes". It seems that Zhao Kuangyin's "drinking wine to release military power" has indeed achieved the effect of "once and for all".

Zhao Kuangyin sat firmly on the dragon chair. At this moment, he began to look around like a falcon, shaking the yellow robe on his body majestically, and issued an order to fight from south to north.He adopted the unification strategy of first being weak before being strong, first being easy before being difficult, and first going south to north. However, in 976 AD when the great cause of reunification entered a critical moment, Song Taizu Zhao Kuangyin, who was in his prime, suddenly died suddenly. At that time, Zhao Kuangyin was commanding the campaign against the Northern Han Dynasty.On the eve of his death, he was still nervously dealing with official duties, and there was no sign of physical discomfort.All kinds of good news came to the palace frequently, and the great cause of reunification, which he had dreamed of for many years, was in sight. He was naturally very happy.That night, there was heavy snow in the sky. He couldn't hold back the joy in his heart, so he summoned Zhao Guangyi, the younger brother of King Jin at that time, into the palace, and then dismissed the crowd. The two brothers toasted and drank to their heart's content .Gradually, Zhao Guangyi, who didn't drink much, became a little unbearable, and stood up repeatedly to express that he could not drink any more.But Zhao Kuangyin refused to obey, and kept pressing him down to continue drinking.

After drinking in the middle of the night, Zhao Kuangyin took an ax and went outside to chop the snow, wanting to see how thick the snow had fallen. He yelled loudly while chopping: "You can do it for yourself, you can do it for yourself!" Then he went into the house and fell asleep.The younger brother Zhao Guangyi, who had already been drunk like mud, naturally also slept in the palace that night.Nearly five o'clock, news suddenly came out that Taizu had passed away. The next day, Zhao Guangyi inherited the throne in front of his brother's coffin. When the two brothers were drinking, the people waiting outside could only see the flickering candles and scattered figures on the screen from a distance. Zhao Guangyi was overwhelmed with alcohol and left the table from time to time. "Push me to let" can naturally be understood as an entanglement, conflict or even a fight between the two; and Zhao Kuangyin's behavior of chopping snow and the ax are even more mysterious and terrifying; the throne is usually inherited by the son, but this time it It was brother and brother, and later came up with a so-called "golden chamber alliance"; Zhao Kuangyin himself died violently, and his two sons died in Huangquan not long after for no apparent reason... All of these things are related to each other. People have enough reasons to suspect and even think that it was Song Taizu's brother Zhao Guangyi who murdered his brother and usurped the throne.

The death of Zhao Kuangyin not only left behind the eternal mystery of "the sound of the candle shadow and axe", but also left the regret of the unfinished great cause of reunification: the Northern Han and Liao still stared at the north and confronted the Song Dynasty. Although Song Taizong Zhao Guangyi who succeeded to the throne quickly regained the Later Han Dynasty, Khitan Liao became the biggest and deadly enemy of the Song Dynasty. The sharp and powerful iron hooves often made the Song Dynasty struggle under its ravages and groan in pain.