Chapter 12 5. Invincible youth

Chai Rong is undoubtedly one of the dozens of kings of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, one with outstanding talents and insights, and one who is aggressive and has the world in mind.He wants to become the Lion King who dominates the world and unifies the universe.But how to climb to the top and be proud of the top of the mountain?Where is the king's road? Chai Rong is a typical workaholic. He is very energetic in his work and does not know fatigue and sleepiness.In order to prepare for something he wants to do, Chai Rong will mobilize all resources and strength, and come up with all the methods he can think of.In order to win the Battle of Taiyuan, Chai Rong personally dispatched, researched and formulated military strategies and backup supplies.Chai Rong re-established strict military discipline for the hundreds of thousands of troops gathered under the city of Taiyuan, prohibiting plagiarism, looting houses, and plundering local property and food to fill the army, so that the common people can live in their own places.He also encouraged the nearby people to contribute money, grass and grain, which can be exchanged for official positions and offset taxes.The imperial court uniformly allocated and raised grain and grass from Ze, Lu, Jin, Jiang, Ci, Xi, and prefectures and counties near Shandong, and transported them to the front line of Taiyuan.In order to raise logistical support in an orderly, timely and sufficient manner, Chai Rong made a special trip to send Li Gu, the envoy of the third division, to the front line of Taiyuan.

The burial ceremony of Guo Wei's body had just been completed, and Feng Dao died. Feng Dao's influence was second only to the emperor at that time.Due to old illness, Feng Dao died when he was seventy-three years old.Feng Dao's death caused a huge impact at the time.Although Chai Rong didn't like Feng Dao very much, he still stopped working for three days because of it, and posthumously presented Feng Dao as Shang Shu Ling and King Ying, and gave him a high honor. The records about Feng Dao in the history books take up a lot of space. Even such a high-standard official history uses a lot of pen and ink when describing and evaluating Feng Dao. "Old History of the Five Dynasties" has a separate biography for Feng Dao.This shows its historical influence.But Feng Dao was very controversial in history.Here we do not have a lot of space to discuss, just a brief introduction.

Feng Dao was famous in his hometown for his filial piety when he was young. He was well-known, good at writing articles, familiar with ancient and modern allusions, and especially had some research skills in literary textual research.First served under the Youzhou warlord Yan Wang Liu Shouguang, and was later captured by Hedong Li Cunxu.Promoted by Zhang Chengye, the chief counselor of Hedong, he was gradually reused, and since then he has participated in the military affairs of Jinwang Central.After five dynasties and eight surname regimes, Feng Dao has always been a high-ranking official in the imperial court.

Feng Dao is a smart man. Although he doesn't have many outstanding achievements in governing the country, he is good at speculating on human relationships and sophistication.When encountering conflicts of interest, he mostly does not express his position, or is ambiguous and specious, and he is sophisticated and smooth.In the turbulent and capricious officialdom of the Five Dynasties period, do not stand in line, be sharp, not sharp, do not compete, do not fight, do not create conflicts, do not form cliques, do not build personal relationships, do not offend colleagues, do not rely on clever tricks to invite pets, and do not rely on exploitation and corruption He is self-fat and does not bully the common people. He lives a clean and simple life. He is generous and tactful when things happen.Most people can't see what he is thinking and what he is going to do. People in the world think that he knows current affairs, knows the general situation, is good at handling political relations, is modest and generous, has high morals and great bearing. .

Feng Dao also calls himself "Changle Old Man", and he is very smug, as if he is a successful person in troubled times. Is it true? That depends on what kind of vision is used to detect. The controversy over Feng Dao has lasted for more than a thousand years, with praise and criticism, objective and subjective.We do not list them one by one, but only summarize the comments of two people here.Both of these two were big figures in the Song Dynasty, both were great Confucianists, both were experts in history, and both understood principles.They are Ouyang Xiu and Sima Guang. Ouyang Xiu focused on the ethics of being a minister, and explained his shamelessness towards Feng Dao, thinking that Feng Dao had no principles, no stand, opportunism and flattery, and shamelessness.Ouyang Xiu believed that during the decades of the Five Dynasties, there were only 18 people who were righteous and loyal, and they were all generals.He looked down upon none of the literati of this period.

Sima Guang analyzed it from the two aspects of being a minister and being a king. He believed that Feng Dao had no loyalty and rebelled anytime and anywhere.Sima Guang also analyzed the external reasons for people like Feng Dao. It is because the monarchs of the Five Dynasties were all dim, ignorant of good and bad, and tolerated traitors, creating a living space for people like Feng Dao. Objectively speaking, Sima Guang's argument is better than Ouyang Xiu's. He not only commented on the subjective motivation of personal ethics, but also commented on the adverse effects of the external environment, especially the imperial power.This is more objective than simply talking about personal cultivation.

Although Feng Dao is dead, the war will continue. Chai Rong has made up his mind that he will wipe out the Northern Han Dynasty in one fell swoop.Now that a large-scale war has been launched, it will not be a trivial matter, nor will it be easily stopped.Fighting wars is about money, and organizing wars depends on the skills of commanders.In order to win this war, Chai Rong started from Luzhou and moved the central command organization to the city of Taiyuan.Before the formation of the two armies, Chai Rong personally directed the attack on Taiyuan. At this time, there were still many outlying cities in the Northern Han Dynasty who surrendered.In May, Chai Rong had just arrived in Taiyuan, and surrounded Taiyuan tightly.Later Zhou's army camp was stationed outside Taiyuan City, with flags and banners fluttering, trumpet belts fluttering, marching tents undulating like water waves, and the fields within forty miles were full of Zhou troops.Li Qing, the supervisor of Xinzhou in Hedong, killed Zhao Gao, the governor, and Yang Nugu, the translator of Khitan, and surrendered to Xiancheng in Later Zhou Dynasty.Liao Muzong Yelvjing once again sent Yang Gun as a general to help Liu Chong.As the prefectures and counties of the Northern Han Dynasty fell one after another and surrendered one after another, the atmosphere of mutual suspicion within the Northern Han Dynasty became increasingly intense.

Yang Gun led the Khitan army to the city of Daizhou.Yang Gun suspected that Zheng Chuqian, the defense envoy of Daizhou, had an affair with Hou Zhou, and planned to get rid of Zheng Chuqian when he entered the city.But Zheng Chuqian discovered Yang Gun's intentions, was not fooled, and closed the city gate to refuse Yang Gun to enter the city.Yang Gun's suspicion hastened Zheng Chuqian's surrender to Hou Zhou.Yang Gun's strategy failed, he had nowhere to settle down, and was in a dilemma, so he had to retreat to Khitan.Liao Muzong Yelujing reprimanded Yang Gun for his incompetence and locked him up.But soon Zheng Chuqian was killed by his subordinate Sang Gui.Sang Gui reported to Zhou Shizong that Zheng Chuqian had colluded with Khitan.Chai Rong was beyond his reach at this time, so he had to turn a blind eye.

Khitan imprisoned Yang Gun, and sent another army to Xinkou to harass the Zhou army.General Fu Yanqing of the Later Zhou Dynasty fought fiercely with the Khitan several times, but the two sides did not decide the outcome.Later, the vanguard general Shi Yanchao led more than 20 cavalry to encounter the Khitan.Shi Yanchao has always been famous for his bravery, without fear, he stood up and rode his horse into the enemy's line.After a while, General Zhou Li Yun came.Li Yun and Shi Yanchao fought hard and beheaded 2,000 Khitan people.Seeing that the situation was not good, Khitan retreated while fighting.At this time, the Zhou army brought out by Shi Yanchao and Li Yun also suffered heavy losses.But Shi Yanchao became red-eyed and chased after him.Seeing Shi Yanchao and Li Yun break away from the Zhou army's main force, they chased further and further.At this time, Khitan reinforcements arrived.The defeated and supporting Khitan troops joined forces and launched a massive counterattack, encircling Shi Yanchao and Li Yun at the core.Although Shi Yanchao and Li Yun fought desperately, they still couldn't break through the enemy's encirclement. In the end, Shi Yanchao was killed in battle, and Li Yun was lucky enough to tear a breakthrough and escape back to the camp.

After losing the Battle of Xinkou, Fu Yanqing was forced to withdraw his troops and return to the city of Taiyuan to join Chai Rong.Hundreds of thousands of troops gathered in Taiyuan City, which caused a huge impact and heavy burden on the local people.In particular, the Zhou army worked hard to attack far away, and fought remotely, and logistical support soon encountered difficulties.After entering the summer, the rain continued, the weather was wet, and the roads were muddy. The transportation of cattle, mules, wooden ships and vehicles encountered great difficulties.The climate often had a disastrous effect on ancient wars. The soldiers of the Zhou army began to get sick on a large scale, with swollen legs and feet, diarrhea and dysentery, and common diseases during the rainy season spread rapidly.Coupled with the sad news of the death of the tiger general Shi Yanchao, it caused a huge setback to the morale of the Zhou army.After discussing with Chai Rong, the generals decided that the fight could not continue, and the only solution for the present was to move troops back to the division.

Veteran Yao Yuanfu said to Chai Rong: "It is easy to march, but difficult to retreat. It requires careful deployment." Chai Rong nodded and said, "You're right. General Yao is in charge of the deployment of the withdrawal troops and the affairs of the rear." Yao Yuanfu led the troops to cut off the rear.After the Zhou army broke up, the troops were in order, and they protected the army back to the division in an orderly and rhythmic manner.Liu Chong in the city of Taiyuan in the Northern Han Dynasty has been terrified these days, and he feels like black clouds are overwhelming the city and want to destroy it.Seeing Zhou Jun retreating, Liu Chong breathed a sigh of relief, and finally made it to this day.Liu Chong ordered Zhou Jun to be pursued.Fortunately, with Yao Yuanfu, the Northern Han army did not find much advantage in the pursuit. Liu Chong was so embarrassingly repaired by a young little emperor that he was beaten so helplessly that he was so ashamed and annoyed that he was so depressed that he couldn't get sick.Liu Chong died before the end of the year, and passed on the palm-sized territory to his son Liu Chengjun. On the way back to the army, Chai Rong paid homage to the tomb of Zhou Taizu Guo Wei, and then returned to Kaifeng. This time Zelu defeated the Northern Han army and threatened Liu Chong under the city of Taiyuan. It was a huge victory for Hou Zhou, and it boosted the military and national prestige.The motion of this expedition was mainly initiated by Emperor Chai Rong, and the victory of the war also directly benefited from Chai Rong's direct leadership. During this process, Chai Rong repeatedly rejected all opinions, showing strong decisiveness and accurate judgment And super strong organizational skills in overall planning and scheduling.This incident greatly enhanced Chai Rong's self-confidence and status. It was undoubtedly a huge benefit for the young emperor who had just ascended the throne for a few months. It was a good start and greatly helped Chai Rong firmly establish his dominant position. From then on, Zhou Shizong Chai Rong worked harder, became more aggressive, and made more powerful decisions. Most of the civil and military officials became executors, and he did not dare to easily dispute with the emperor. Chai Rong wants to shake off his arms and do a big job. If the emperor wants to do business, it is impossible for a bare-handed commander to do it himself. He needs a group of like-minded bureaucrats.Chai Rong started to adjust the cadre team and promoted those who supported his ruling philosophy to important positions.He promoted Fan Zhi, the servant of the door and Tongping Zhangshi, to Situ, replacing Dou Zhengu.Jing Fan, a direct bachelor of the Privy Council and Minister of the Ministry of Industry, was promoted to be the Minister of Zhongshu, Tongping Zhangshi and Sansi, replacing Li Gu.The Privy Envoy and Tongping Zhang Shi Zheng Renhui was promoted to concurrently serve as a servant.Promoted Wei Renpu, deputy privy envoy, to the privy envoy.Since the post-Tang An re-education, there has been a phenomenon of multiple privy envoys side by side in the same dynasty, which is also an important measure for the emperor to weaken the power of the privy envoys. After promoting the trusted and capable ministers, Chai Rong strengthened the strict management of officials at all levels and never tolerated them.General Meng Hanqing of Zuo Yulin took bribes and was ordered to die by the emperor to commit suicide.Someone argued to the emperor that Meng Hanqing's crime was not worthy of death. Emperor Chai Rong said: "I understand, I want to make an example!" Fanzhen. Chai Rong was full of energy and dedicated to his work. Major political measures were introduced one after another, and years of bad governance were corrected.As long as he sees things that are out of date and inconvenient to govern the country, Chai Rong will immediately study and introduce management measures.While trying to deal with the heavy workload, there is another thing that makes Chai Rong very troubled.That is the trouble of the Yellow River.In the past few years, the Yellow River has frequently flooded. The embankment of more than 100 miles from Yangliu to Bozhou has broken down year after year.The imperial court sent several batches of engineering teams to deal with the river disaster, but they all returned without success.Later, Chai Rong dispatched Finance Minister Li Gu to mobilize 60,000 laborers. It took a month to finally block the broken dam and dredge the river. In the first month of 955 AD, Chai Rong formulated another far-reaching policy.Since the later Jin Dynasty and the later Han Dynasty, water transport has been the main channel for material circulation, especially the main road for official grain collection, transportation, adjustment and storage.However, in the process of grain transportation, it is inevitable that there will be measurement and loss of mold and rot.According to the old law, once there is a shortage of catties, the officials responsible for delivering grain will be beheaded.In order to survive, the grain transportation officials have to collect more grain from the people every time to offset the loss.Chai Rong ordered that this law be abolished, and a certain redundant adjustment policy be given to allow a bucket of grain loss per hu.To a certain extent, this policy can alleviate the disadvantages of grain requisition officials increasing their burdens on subordinates and ordinary people. Boosting logistics and commerce is also a matter that Chai Rong attaches great importance to, especially the forced promotion of inter-trade activities with western ethnic minorities such as Xixia, which facilitates the Central Plains to obtain important materials such as war horses, cattle and sheep, leather and iron. In the selection of cadres, Chai Rong carried out important reforms.When he asked the Imperial Academy, Zhongshu Province, and Shangshu Province to elect cadres, he not only indicated the name of the appointee, but also the name of the elector on the appointment document.Those who are qualified will be appointed.If the official who takes office commits evil deeds, not only must the official who committed the wrongdoing be severely punished, but he must also be elected to bear joint and several liability.This move has played an important deterrent role in eliminating old habits in officialdom. Ever since Shi Jingtang lost the Sixteen States of Yanyun, the Khitan had crossed the Great Wall and occupied the bridgehead of the southern invasion of the Central Plains, and could drive straight in at any time and send troops south.The Central Plains has suffered a lot from the Khitans, but they have no good plan. They can only watch the people and the frontier cities being looted and invaded by the Khitans. Chai Rong attaches great importance to this, and the border troubles are restless. It is impossible to talk about national construction, let alone subjugate the sixteen prefectures of Yanyun.Later, someone told Chai Rong that between Shenzhou and Jizhou there is a river named Hulu River, which is hundreds of miles long from east to west.The river can be dug deep to widen, increase the flow of the river, and build it into a natural barrier to block Khitan from rushing south.Chai Rong felt that this countermeasure made sense.As soon as he said it, Chai Rong immediately ordered Zhongwu Jiedu Envoy Wang Yanchao and Zhangxin Jiedu Envoy Han Tong to lead the troops to excavate the Hulu River.At the same time, a new city was built at the key position of Li Yankou, and troops were sent to guard it.Hulu River is located in the southeast of Ningjin County, Hebei Province, also known as Hulu River. It used to be formed by the confluence of Fu River, Zhangshui River and Hutuo River, but now it has been submerged into a depression. After building a military barrier with the help of favorable geographical conditions, Chai Rong did not give up his artificial role.He granted Zhang Zangying, governor of Texas, great power to recruit brave and skilled soldiers on the northern border with high salaries, and he was free to attack or defend according to the specific needs of border defense.This team became an important supplementary force to the army stationed in the prefectural city, and it used guerrilla tactics to deal a great blow to the enemies of the Khitan southern criminals.For a long time after that, the Khitan army and horses did not dare to cross the Hulu River, and the people in the Central Plains got a rest and a stable social life. Since the Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, Buddhism has risen in China. After the Sui, Tang and Five Dynasties, its status has risen day by day, and it has gradually penetrated into national politics, becoming a spiritual ruling tool closely related to imperial power and political power.With the help of state official activities, Buddhist scriptures, monasteries and nuns, and religious activities have expanded on a large scale and spread all over the country.Later, apart from imperial power, bureaucrats, and landlords, monasteries became the largest property forces.Whether it is money, real estate, fields and other movable and immovable properties, monasteries at all levels and places are very rich. Once rich and powerful, the predatory side of the monastery intensified.Many monasteries are no longer limited to accepting alms, and have begun to occupy nearby land and even villages, and have become an important force for dividing up social wealth.Besides, monasteries don’t need to pay taxes on money and property, and monks and nuns don’t need to perform hard labor, that is to say, they only consume and don’t create.Buddhism has greatly departed from its original way of meditation and has become a huge force interfering in social, political and economic life.Chai Rong saw the malady of excessive monasteries and abnormal development, so he ordered the dismissal of all monasteries outside the scope designated by the state.It is forbidden for monasteries to shave or recruit monks and nuns privately, and anyone who intends to become a monk must first obtain the consent of his grandparents, parents, and uncles.Only the precept altars in Luoyang, Kaifeng, Weizhou, Xi'an, and Qingzhou were kept, and all others were closed.All kinds of self-mutilation atonement behaviors and other superstitious activities that confuse the spirit are prohibited.Even for the monasteries designated by the state to be reserved, they must be strictly registered.All monks and nuns who died or returned to secular life must be cut in time, and the temples will also reduce various monetary treatment quotas accordingly. With the gradual stabilization of the world and the gradual recovery of logistics and commerce, the demand for the use of coins is also increasing.According to official statistics, however, there was a shortage of coins, due to a shortage of copper for coining them.So where did all the copper go?There are two destinations: one is that common people use copper to cast vessels, and the other is that common people or rich households use it to cast Buddha statues.Originally, the copper mining technology in the Central Plains was not very developed. Copper was almost the second only rare metal after gold and silver, so it was used to mint coins.But what should I do if I lack money now?What to do about copper deficiency?Chai Rong decreed that, on the one hand, the government set up a mining bureau to mine copper mines, and on the other hand, ordered the common people to hand over all the bronze wares and bronze Buddha statues to the government within 50 days, and the government would compensate them according to their value. Regarding this measure, Chai Rong also expressed a defensive opinion to the ministers who were arguing a lot. He said: "Don't criticize my measure of destroying Buddha statues. Fundamentally speaking, Buddhism teaches the world with good ways. As long as people want to Shan, why bother to stick to the form of enshrining Buddha statues? How can those clay sculptures in copper niches be equated with Buddha? I heard that the ideal of Buddhism is to be considerate of the world and benefit the world. Pity. If my body can be exchanged for the safety of the common people, I will not hesitate." Sima Guang highly affirmed Chai Rong's words. Sima Guang believed: "If Zhou Shizong, he is benevolent! He does not love himself but loves the people; if Zhou Shizong, he is clear! Don't waste benefit with nothing." Later generations Some people accused Chai Rong of destroying Buddhism and being a tyrant.In fact, the words of Sima Guang and Chai Rong objectively refuted these attacks.Chai Rong did not intend to implement a policy of extermination of Buddhism, but made the correct decision after distinguishing good from bad, distinguishing right from wrong, and weighing the pros and cons. Under the strong promotion of Zhou Shizong Chai Rong, during the reign of the Later Zhou Dynasty, 2,694 monasteries were preserved, 33,336 monasteries were abolished, and 42,444 monks were registered. , 18,756 nuns.It can be seen from this that what a huge set of data this is, and the scale of the temples in the world is unimaginably large. In history, some people said that Chai Rong destroyed the temple and destroyed the Buddha, and implemented a large-scale extermination policy against the monks in the temple, so that Chai Rong died young and suffered this retribution.In fact, these are all emotional and superstitious accusations and curses.Chai Rong is indeed not interested in Buddhism, as can be seen from his attitude towards Queen Fu.Before marrying Chai Rong, Empress Fu resolutely resisted her mother's life and refused to become a monk to atone for her sins in order to prolong her life.Chai Rong praised and admired this very much.As the new ruler, Chai Rong has clearly realized the harm of temple forces to his rule and the normal operation of the world.Therefore, Chai Rong must forcefully compress the living space of monastery forces.Of course, while achieving this goal, the imperial court also obtained additional gains-a large amount of monastery property was confiscated.In the next week, a light and simple taxation policy will be implemented for the common people, and the state's finances will inevitably be tight in the short term.The large-scale confiscation of monastic property played an important role in strengthening the financial strength of the Later Zhou Empire.Compulsory monks and nuns to return to secular life and restrictions on renunciation have increased the social labor force to a certain extent, which is a good thing for social economy and production. Chai Rong also has another hobby. He likes to engage in infrastructure projects, especially municipal construction.When he was in Chanzhou, he widened the streets of Chanzhou, renovated government offices at all levels, and renovated shops along the street, which won the praise of the people.As the capital city, Kaifeng has been rebuilt several times by the emperors three years ago, but Chai Rong feels that it is still not big enough and grand enough.In April 955 AD, Chai Rong ordered the unified planning and design of the capital, and the construction and expansion in batches. This large-scale expansion of Kaifeng has great momentum and far-reaching influence.Chai Rong drew the blueprints and assigned the city's functional layout in person.The imperial court first sent expert designers to delineate the construction area outside Kaifeng City and make signs.For national public facilities such as yamen, official warehouses, streets, barracks, and prisons in the marked area, the planning is in place at one time and the location is reserved.At the same time, the main street in Kaifeng City was widened, and the street was widened to 30 meters, which is equivalent to the current two-way eight-lane road.For the construction of other places, the imperial court adopted the method of mobilizing the masses, allowing the common people to contribute their own money and efforts to repair houses, build houses, and open shops.All the cemeteries inside and outside the city were relocated, and all of them were moved seven miles away from the New City boundary sign. How did the court organize the construction of such a large-scale project?Wouldn't it be a waste of time and money to do a lot of construction work?Zhou Shizong had his own way.When the winter is slack, the people will be mobilized to build the city.When the farmland cultivation becomes busy in spring, the construction will be stopped, and the construction will continue in winter.Adopted a construction strategy of one-time planning, step-by-step, and joint construction by the government and the people, which is scientific, does not affect agricultural production, and is highly efficient. Since the end of the Tang Dynasty, a large number of cities have been destroyed, many people were burned and destroyed, and very few engaged in construction.For decades, there were only three master builders of cities: one was Gao Pian, a famous general in the late Tang Dynasty, who built a military-civilian defensive urban agglomeration with Chengdu as the core; Rong, planned to expand and build Kaifeng. Chai Rong's urban construction concept and management level of Kaifeng are not lower than the level of modern society.Regarding the large-scale migration of tombs, both the government and the people are talking about it, opposing voices are everywhere, and rumors are endless.Chai Rong was unwavering in this regard. He said: "There is no point in arguing now. You will benefit from this urban construction activity in a few years." , has been used until the middle and late Northern Song Dynasty.It can be said that this expansion was more than a hundred years ahead of schedule. Since the dam broke and burst in the late Tang Dynasty, the Bian River has been flooded. Due to successive years of wars, the government did not care about digging and dredging the river.The river was choked with sludge and turned into a swamp.Chai Rong ordered the construction of water conservancy projects, and sent Wu Xingde, the Jiedu envoy of Wuning, to take charge of them. He recruited laborers, built embankments, excavated river channels, and dredged the river water, from Kaifeng to Surabaya.The project involved a huge amount of work. At that time, many people thought it was difficult to succeed. Chai Rong said: "As long as you persist in doing it, you will see the benefits of this project in a few years." We cite so many examples in order to illustrate Chai Rong's governing attitude of loving his post, dedicating himself to his work, and making every effort to govern, and his ability to govern in a way that maximizes the benefits and eliminates the disadvantages.Guo Wei decided that Chai Rong was the successor of Hou Zhou, and he had chosen the right person.Chai Rong is indeed a good emperor. In the one year since he took the throne, Zhou Shizong Chai Rong's work has become more and more smooth, domestic politics has gradually entered the right track, and the military, civil affairs, economy, society, and government have made great progress.Chai Rong's heart, unwilling to be lonely or mediocre, gave birth to a new big idea.Especially after defeating the Northern Han Dynasty, the idea of ​​leveling the world and unifying the world spontaneously arose in Chai Rong's heart.After Zhu Quanzhong, Li Cunxu, Zhuangzong of the Later Tang Dynasty, had this idea briefly. After that, no emperor of the Central Plains had such ambitions, and no emperor could care about such a big thing during his tenure. Chai Rong is a typical activist.As long as he has an idea, he immediately wants to implement it without hesitation. In order to implement his grand ambitions, Chai Rong learned the lessons of the last battle against the Northern Han Dynasty. Instead of having face-to-face discussions and confrontations with the officials, Chai Rong first adopted a strategy of unifying his thoughts.Chai Rong has learned to be smart this time, and has become much more sophisticated. Zhou Shizong Chai Rong threw a balloon to test the opinions of civil and military officials.He said to the prime ministers: "I think about good strategies for governing the country day and night, but I can't get the point, so I can't sleep or eat. Moreover, since the Later Tang Dynasty, Southern Wu, Western Shu, Northern Yan, and Hedong have been separated, and the imperial power of the Central Plains has not spread far and wide. , so that the mountains and rivers were broken. For this reason, I recently thought of a topic, and all of you can help to come up with ideas and find a solution." The prime ministers looked at the young and aggressive king suspiciously, and thought to themselves: "Emperor, what are you planning? Can't you be stable for a few years? You always like to toss all kinds of tricks." Chai Rong was full of these things with confidence. The ministers who thought about it said: "My dear ministers, you are all my ministers. Each of you should write two essays, one titled "It's Difficult to Be a King and It's Not Easy to Be a Minister", and the other is "Ping Bian Strategies". Be sure to write it well, I will personally review it as an important reference for the country's decision-making." These two heavy issues raised by Emperor Chai Rong stirred up waves in the hearts of every official.With different thoughts, these officials went home to do their homework anxiously. A few days later, the emperor received dozens of answer sheets.After Chai Rong browsed one by one, most of the strategies were about stability and success. He suggested that the court should not toss about, maintain stability, govern carefully, enrich the country and the people, and rest and recuperate.Chai Rong wasn't very interested in these things, so he flipped through them casually and threw them aside.Suddenly, Chai Rong was attracted by one of the answer sheets. He finished reading it in one go, turned around and read it again, then slapped his thigh and exclaimed: "Good article, good advice!" What did Chai Rong see? He saw an article "Ping Bian Policy".This policy theory was written by Bibu doctor Wang Pu.When Wang Pu was young, he was spotted by Guo Wei.Guo Wei thought Wang Pu was smart and capable, so he sent him to work under Chai Rong.Wang Pu once served in Chai Rong's Chanzhou shogunate, and later followed Chai Rong all the way to promotion, and his current position is roughly equivalent to a director of the Legal Affairs Office. What did Wang Pu say in his answer sheet? Why is Emperor Chai Rong so excited? The main content of Wang Pu's "Ping Bian Ce" is as follows: Wang Pu said that the Central Plains Empire lost its ruling power over Wu, Shu, Youzhou, and Hedong successively, all due to policy mistakes.If we want to discuss the strategy of capturing these places, we must first analyze the reasons why the Central Plains Empire lost these places. At the beginning, there were five major reasons that caused the imperial court to lose control over these areas: first, the emperor was dark and his ministers were evil, the highest decision-making level of the imperial court was stupid, the courtiers were busy, and a bunch of fools; If you are not loyal to the country, the common people will not be comforted in dire straits; the third is that the treacherous party is raging inside, and the imperial officials and factions are constantly fighting, and there are many factions that cannot agree on what to do; A series of small conflicts accumulate over time and cause big troubles. Now if we want to restore the rule over these areas, we must do the opposite for the above five reasons. How to do the opposite?Wang Pu's suggestions are as follows: first, promote virtuous people and eliminate stupid and bad ones, so as to achieve the purpose of rewarding talents; second, spread favors and be honest, so as to achieve the purpose of increasing trust; The third is to clearly distinguish rewards and punishments to achieve the purpose of incentives; the fourth is to abandon luxury and save money to achieve the purpose of accumulating wealth;Wait until the group gathers, the government orders are smooth, the politics is clear, the property is sufficient, and the whole body is united, and then send troops to conquer on a large scale, and great success can be achieved. From the enemy's side, if the other side knows that we have the determination and advantages we must take, then the enemy's side will also be divided. Those who understand the situation are willing to act as spies for us, and those who understand the geography of mountains and rivers are willing to act as guides. We are welcome in our hearts.At that time, God's will will also help us succeed. After analyzing the importance of the preparation work, Wang Pu went on to prescribe prescriptions for specific topics. Regarding the strategy against Nantang.The border between Southern Tang and Hou Zhou was more than 2,000 miles long, so the front line was also very long, which created conditions for raiding and harassing Southern Tang.How to harass?We should attack where the defense force of the Southern Tang Dynasty is weak, and attack east and west, and the enemy will definitely run thousands of miles to defend and rescue.As long as the enemy moves in a large range, we can see their strength and weakness, and then avoid the reality and attack the weak, and attack the weak when they are strong.When harassing the Southern Tang Dynasty, there is no need to go to war, just send a small group of troops.Southerners have always been cautious. Once they hear the alarm, no matter how big the danger is, they must concentrate all their strength to rush to the rescue.Tossing and tossing them several times like this will consume a lot of financial and people's resources against Nantang. After they are exhausted and exhausted, we can use the smallest strength to take advantage of them. At that time, the territory north of the Yangtze River will be occupied by our dynasty.After occupying Jiangbei, we can build Jiangbei into a new base for attacking Jiangnan, promulgate our system and laws, drive and govern the officials and people in Jiangbei, and it will be much easier to attack Jiangnan from Jiangbei. After seizing Jiangnan, capturing Lingnan and Bashu is as easy as turning a finger, like finding something out of a bag.After pacifying the south, Youyan and other northern regions will inevitably surrender.If the north is not aware of the current affairs, no matter how much we send troops to conquer, it will be nothing but the autumn wind sweeping the fallen leaves and sweeping the world. Although Lingnan, Bashu, and Youyan are at your fingertips, Hedong will never give in easily.Hedong must be the most difficult enemy to attack. It doesn't work to appease Huairou with kindness and credit, only relying on a large army to attack.After the Battle of Gaoping last year, the Northern Han Dynasty was dying and in decline, and had no ability to harass our border.Therefore, after the world is in peace, I will free up my hands and finally fight to determine Hedong. Wang Pu drew a road map for the Later Zhou Empire to level the universe and unify the world.This is a magnificent blueprint, imposing and rigorous in logic.Since it's so exciting, when do you throw your arms around it?Wang Pu's answer is that he can raise troops after one year.He said that the Hou Zhou Empire now has several conditions: first, the soldiers are well-trained and the army is well-trained, especially after Chai Rong reformed the army construction, the combat effectiveness of the soldiers has been greatly improved; The reserves are sufficient; the third is that the group fears the law, the imperial court orders and prohibits, the army is disciplined, the orders are consistent, and the country operates efficiently; the fourth is the effectiveness of the generals. Under the effective reward and punishment mechanism, the soldiers are willing to work hard. Since there are so many good conditions, why do you have to wait a year to be a teacher?Because there is another important shortcoming, that is, there is not enough food and grass.The so-called soldiers and horses go first without using food and grass. Once the war machine is in operation, it will be a monster that devours food, grass and supplies, and it is a bottomless pit.Once the supply of food and grass is cut off, the war will inevitably fail.Therefore, Wang Pu thinks that after waiting for another year, the grain harvested in summer and autumn this year will be transported and stored to the border defense readiness base.There is a good harvest of grain, and everything is ready to send troops to implement this great plan. Wang Pu's "Strategy for Ping Bian" touched Chai Rong a lot, and it was also in line with Chai Rong's psychological expectations. It made Chai Rong's young and competitive heart excited, and a fire burned in his chest. In fact, objectively speaking, the strategies of other civil and military officials with stability and governance as the core are also of high value. It is also necessary to enrich the country, strengthen the army, protect the environment and the people, and it is a prudent strategy.Wang Pu's suggestion is to expand the frontier and expand the territory, and it is easy to defend and attack, which is a positive and enterprising attitude.There is no absolute right or wrong for these two types of governance strategies, the key depends on the applicable conditions.Wang Pu's articles are magnificent, with clear strategies, rigorous logic, profound analysis, specific measures, and high spirits.Wang Pu put forward strategic goals, and at the same time comprehensively analyzed the conditions for realizing these goals, including both advantages and disadvantages, both external and internal, which is relatively objective.Therefore, it is inevitable that Wang Pu's article was highly regarded by the wise monarch Chai Rong. Chai Rong saw the strategic value of this article. Wang Pu's strategy was not only valued by Zhou Shizong Chai Rong, but also had important historical value.After the end of the Tang Dynasty, the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms experienced chaos, the world was exhausted, the mountains and rivers were broken, and they needed to be unified. Only after unification can they be governed well, the chaotic situation of conquests and wars can be eliminated, and it is possible to bring stability and peace to the world.This is the need of history, but among the dozens of monarchs of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, few have the ambition to unify the world, and even fewer have the ability and methods to unify the world.Wang Pu's strategic concept of "first south and then north" was not only adopted by Chai Rong and the Later Zhou Empire, but also adopted by the later Zhao and Song Dynasties, and became a strategic theory with far-reaching influence in changing history. Chai Rong gave Wang Pu 100 points in his heart.Within a few days, the emperor decreed to promote Wang Pu as Zuo Jianyi doctor to assist in governing Kaifeng Mansion.Wang Pu was promoted to the rank of deputy minister in one fell swoop. Wang Pu's suggestion was fully affirmed by Chai Rong, but Chai Rong was not in a hurry to publicize the "Bian Bian Policy", he planned to fully implement it after full preparation.But before Chai Rong started this great plan, an episode happened.