Chapter 271 Chapter 270 Taizu Zhao Kuangyin

Song Taizu was the founder of the Northern Song Dynasty.Surnamed Zhao, given name Kuangyin, from Zhuozhou (now Zhuo County, Hebei).Father Zhao Hongyin, mother Du Shi.He was born in Jiamaying, Luoyang in the second year of Tiancheng (AD 927) in the later Tang Dynasty, and died in the ninth year of Song Kaibao (AD 976).50 years old. Zhao Kuangyin's baby name was "Xianghaier".It is said that when he was born, he had a strange fragrance on his body, which lasted for three days, so he was named Xianghaier. A few years later, Xianghaier reached the age of studying, and Zhao Hongyin officially named him Zhao Kuangyin.Kuangzhe, Kuangfu, Blessing also, Yinzhe, Yinsuccessor, offspring also.A father really has high hopes for his son.Little Kuangyin did not disappoint his father either. When he was a boy, he not only read well, but also showed talent in martial arts like his father. A well-known rider who is skilled in bowing and horse riding.

However, the Zhao family has been in a downturn for more than ten years when Zhao Kuangyin grew up.Zhao Hongyin was originally the favorite general of Li Cunxu, Zhuangzong of the Later Tang Dynasty. Since Li Cunxu was killed in the mutiny, he began to be neglected. In the past ten years, the dynasties have changed twice, and the emperor has also changed five or six. His official position has not been promoted.During this period, the Zhao family added two men and two women, and the family situation became increasingly difficult.In the second year of Kaiyun (945 A.D.), Zhao Kuangyin got married and started a family. He was 19 years old at the time.A family should be established.But the current situation of the poor family told Kuang Yin that relying on the help of the family to start a career would not work. At the age of 21, he resolutely ran away from home, determined to make a living outside.

He first went to join some of his father's former friends.But the world is so cold, not only did he not get care and help from these powerful seniors, but instead he received a lot of stares and cold reception.Once, he came to Fengxiang Jiedu envoy Wang Yanchao, hoping to find a stable job, but Wang Yanchao sent him away like a beggar, and gave him a few pennies.The two years of wandering life were hard, but Zhao Kuangyin was not overwhelmed. On the contrary, his will and character became stronger and his horizons broadened.On this day, he came to Xiangyang, an important town beside the Han River, and lived in a monastery.The presiding officer of the temple is an old monk who is nearly a hundred years old.He saw Zhao Kuangyin's purple face and plump face, leopard head around his eyes, although his face was full of wind and dust, he couldn't hide his heroic aura, and he was dressed in rags, but he didn't look shabby, he was secretly amazed.After a conversation, I feel that his instrument is extraordinary.He told Zhao Kuangyin that the various regimes south of the Han River were relatively stable, while the north was in constant war and chaos, and heroes emerged in troubled times, so they should go north instead of south.The old monk not only "gifted" money to Zhao Kuangyin, but also gave him the only donkey in the monastery to ride north.

In the second year of Qianyou (950 A.D.), Zhao Kuangyin came to Yedu, Hebei, and took refuge in Guo Wei, the privy envoy of the Later Han Dynasty, and became a soldier.The following year, Guo Wei launched a mutiny, destroyed the Later Han Dynasty, and established the Later Zhou Dynasty.Zhao Kuangyin was promoted to be the leader of the East and West Squads of the Forbidden Army because of his military exploits, and was in charge of the imperial guards. In the fourth year of Guangshun (954 A.D.), Zhou Taizu Guo Wei died of illness, and Chai Rong ascended the throne and proclaimed himself emperor as Zhou Shizong.Zhou Shizong's accession to the throne created excellent conditions for Zhao Kuangyin to display his talents and ambitions.On the one hand, because Zhao Kuangyin was a trusted general before Zhou Shizong proclaimed himself emperor, he would naturally be reused; on the other hand, it is more important because Zhou Shizong was a wise monarch who followed the historical trend. His career has provided a place for talented civil and military ministers like Zhao Kuangyin to use his skills.

After Zhou Shizong ascended the throne, Zhao Kuangyin was then transferred to the Central Forbidden Army.In February of the same year, the Northern Han Dynasty launched an attack on Hou Zhou, and Zhao Kuangyin followed Zhou Shizong to meet the enemy.The troops of the two sides met in Gaoping (now northeast of Jincheng, Shanxi) and started a fierce battle.Not long after the battle began, the Northern Han army gained the upper hand. Later Zhou generals Fan Aineng and He Hui feared the enemy like a tiger.At this time, Zhao Kuangyin was very calm. Under his suggestion, Zhou Shizong divided the Forbidden Army around him into two parts. One part was commanded by Zhang Yongde to seize the commanding heights, condescending, and suppress the enemy's attack with dense arrows; Led by Zhao Kuangyin, they rushed straight to the enemy from the left.Zhao Kuangyin shouted to his subordinates: "The main dangerous minister is dead, and the time has come for desperate allegiance!" He led 2000 cavalry into the enemy's position.Unable to withstand the sudden impact, the Northern Han army retreated one after another, and the Hou Zhou army finally turned defeat into victory.

Zhao Kuangyin was further appreciated by Zhou Shizong with his outstanding performance in the Battle of Gaoping.After the war, he was not only exceptionally promoted to be Marquis of Yu, the capital in front of the palace, but also a senior general of the Hou Zhou Imperial Army, and was also entrusted with the important task of rectifying the Imperial Army.Under the personal auspices of Zhao Kuangyin, the Forbidden Army of the Later Zhou Dynasty completed three tasks: eliminating the old and the weak, selecting the strong, and forming the army of the Dianqian Division. It was also during this process of rectifying the Forbidden Army that Zhao Kuangyin began to form his own power in the army.Taking advantage of the opportunity of presiding over the rectification, he arranged Luo Yanhuan, Guo Yanbin, Tian Zhongjin, Pan Mei, Mi Xin, Zhang Qiong, Wang Yansheng and other "committed" people under his command to serve as the middle and grassroots generals of the army in front of the temple. As a senior general, he took the initiative to make friends with other middle and senior generals, and swore with Shi Shouxin, Wang Shenqi, Han Chongbin, Li Jixun, Liu Qingyi, Liu Shouzhong, Liu Tingrang, Wang Zhengzhong, and Yang Guangyi as the ten brothers of the Yishe, forming a group with Zhao Kuangyin as the leader. core circle of power.

From the third year of Xiande (956 AD) to the fifth year of Xiande, Zhou Shizong launched three attacks on the Southern Tang Dynasty, forcing the Southern Tang Dynasty to cede the land of 15 states in Jiangbei to the Later Zhou Dynasty.Throughout the campaign, Zhao Kuangyin performed most prominently and was promoted to be the Jiedu envoy of the Zhongwu Army and the commander of the front palace. After the Battle of the Southern Tang Dynasty, Zhao Kuangyin's dealings with the world were also very different from before. In the past, he only paid attention to making friends with generals in the army, but now he also pays more attention to literati.Zhao Pu, Wang Renzhan, Chu Zhaofu, Li Chuyun and others were all recruited by him around this time and became his confidants.In addition, he himself began to pay attention to classics and history, and changed his previous reckless style of not liking poetry and books.

In March of the sixth year of Xiande, Prime Minister Wang Pu of the Later Zhou Dynasty died of a sudden cerebral hemorrhage.Zhao Kuangyin was most afraid of Wang Pu in his life. A few days ago, he was reprimanded by Wang Pu to "retire only". Once Wang Pu died, he could breathe a sigh of relief.In June of the same year, Zhou Shizong died.This time, all the obstacles that might prevent Zhao Kuangyin from proclaiming himself emperor as emperor disappeared.The situation is changing so fast and the opportunity is so easy to come by, even Zhao Kuangyin himself did not expect it. After Zhou Shizong's death, his 7-year-old son Chai Zongxun came to the throne.Immediately after the Zhou Dynasty, the situation of "the master and the country are suspicious" appeared. For a while, people were panicked and rumors arose, "people at that time said that the world has no master".Some officials loyal to the Later Zhou Dynasty were keenly aware that the source of the turmoil was likely to be Zhao Kuangyin, pointing out that Zhao Kuangyin should no longer be in charge of the Imperial Army, and some even advocated preemptive strikes and killing Zhao Kuangyin as soon as possible.

Zhao Kuangyin and his under-the-screen confidant Wenwu are also stepping up their activities.An obvious fact is that in the six months after Zhou Shizong's death, the arrangement of the senior generals of the Forbidden Army has undergone changes that are absolutely beneficial to Zhao Kuangyin.Let’s look at the Dianqian department first. It turned out that the post of Dianqian deputy who had been vacant all the time was filled by Murong Yanzhao. The vacant post of Marquis of Dianqian Capital was filled by Wang Shenqi, who was not only Zhao Kuangyin's "commoner old friend" but also one of the ten brothers of Yishe, the same as Shi Shouxin who had served as the commander of Dianqiandu at that time. , are the core figures in Zhao Kuangyin's circle of influence.In this way, all the positions of senior generals in the entire Dianqiansi system were taken by Zhao Kuangyin's people.Looking at the guard system again, among the senior generals in this system, Zhao Kuangyin only had a "brotherhood" with Han Lingkun. Later, Zhao Kuangyin's buddies Gao Huaide and Zhang Lingduo were inserted in, leaving only the deputy commander Han Tong in the capital. He is not Zhao Kuangyin's confidant, but he is alone, so naturally he cannot compete with Zhao Kuangyin.

After nearly half a year of deployment preparations, Zhao Kuangyin felt that he could choose an appropriate occasion to start.On the first day of the first lunar month in the seventh year of Xiande (960 A.D.), the monarchs and ministers of the Later Zhou Dynasty were celebrating the New Year when they suddenly received the battle report of the joint invasion of Liao and Northern Han.After the little emperor Chai Zongxun sought the consent of the prime ministers Fan Zhi and Wang Pu, he ordered Zhao Kuangyin to lead the forbidden army to meet the enemy. On the second day of the first lunar month, Zhao Kuangyin led his troops out of the city as planned.In the afternoon of the same day, I arrived at Chenqiaoyi, which was dozens of miles away.Just after settling in, a military academy who claimed to be proficient in astronomy claimed that he saw two suns in the sky, fighting, and said to Zhao Kuangyin's confidant and aide Chu Zhaofu: "One day overcomes one day, this is the destiny."The two asked and answered questions in a serious manner, which attracted the attention of the surrounding soldiers. Everyone spread the word to ten, ten to hundreds, and soon everyone in the army knew about the fact that "one day overcomes one day".

That night, Zhao Kuangyin's confidant Guo Tingbin secretly returned to the capital and informed Shi Shouxin and Wang Shenqi to take charge of the gates inside and outside the capital.At dawn the next day, Zhao Pu and Zhao Kuangyi (the younger brother of Zhao Kuangyin), who had been so busy all night, escorted Zhao Kuangyin out of the dormitory amidst the shouts of the generals outside the gate.I saw the generals holding swords, huddling in the yard, shouting in unison, "There is no master in the army, and I wish Ce Taiwei (the respectful title for senior military officials) to be the emperor." Zhao Kuangyin had no time to answer in the future, a yellow robe that symbolized the emperor His yellow shirt was draped over him, and all the generals bowed down and shouted "Long live". Without further ado.Zhao Kuangyin immediately accepted the support, announced military discipline, and then hurried back to Kaifeng, and quickly controlled the situation with the cooperation of Shi Shouxin and others who had been waiting for a long time.At this point, Chai Zongxun had nothing to do, so he had to call all the officials and read out the "Zen Throne Edict" prepared by others a few days ago, "Ying Tian Shun Ren", and gave the throne to Zhao Kuangyin. The next day, Zhao Kuangyin announced that the name of the country would be "Song" and the Yuan "Jianlong".In this way, he became the first emperor of the Song Dynasty.In history, he was called Emperor Taizu or Song Taizu according to the temple title after his death. In the first month of the first year of Jianlong (960 A.D.), Song Dazu "came out for the first time" after he ascended the throne.The accompanying booklet is relatively simple. The front line is the "driver" composed of the forbidden army, followed by the emperor's walking chariot, and behind the chariot is a square team holding a walking fan.Behind the phalanx are the ministers and officials—they were all former ministers of the Later Zhou Dynasty, and they have been colleagues for many years with the "emperor" sitting on the chariot. Unexpectedly, they would respectfully follow behind his chariot as subjects now , I inevitably feel a little uncomfortable, so the guard of honor is a little messy here.To make matters worse, all the towers and pavilions along the way were not only crowded with condescending spectators, but most of these pavilions were hung with curtains, which always made people feel that there was something hidden behind the curtains. Sure enough, when Luanjia slowly passed through the imperial street and stepped onto the Daxi Bridge, he heard a "whoosh", and a sharp arrow flew past the chariot and hit the fan behind him. shock.Song Taizu seemed much calmer than the guards. He leaned out of the chariot, pointed to his chest and said, "Teach me how to shoot, teach me how to shoot." Then he laughed and said, "Shoot me to death, it's not your turn to be on the throne!" , there is a sting in the smile, not only for the assassins, but also a large number of old ministers from Hou Zhou behind the walking chariot! Song Taizu's early success only caused the old officials of the Later Zhou Dynasty to lose a chance to realize their ambitions, but they did not dispel their ambitions. Some of them were waiting to wait and see, hoping to make a comeback, while others "maintained their armor day and night", preparing to fight against the new dynasty. Let's have another fight. Faced with this situation, Song Taizu, Zhao Pu and others believed that the main policy should be to stabilize the capital and win over the old officials of the later Zhou Dynasty, so as to stop it quietly.Because, "If the capital city is chaotic, the four directions will be reincarnated and changed", "if the hearts of the people in the capital are not shaken, the four directions will naturally be quiet." According to this policy, Song Taizu implemented the policy of maintaining official positions and all appointments for the old officials of the Later Zhou Dynasty.Even the prime minister was still succeeded by the three old ministers Wang Pu, Fan Zhi and Wei Renpu.In February of the second year of Qiande (964 A.D.), the three of them were dismissed. Fan Zhi died of illness in September of the same year.Before Fan Zhi died, he warned his son not to set up a tombstone for him and not to ask for a posthumous title from the imperial court. Open hostility did not lead to his non-cooperation with the Song Dynasty (such as resigning from office and returning to the land), which cannot but be attributed to Song Taizu's preferential treatment and win-win policy. In order to ensure the success of enlisting and buying the old officials of the later Zhou Dynasty, Song Taizu mercilessly dealt with those upstarts who bullied the old officials.Wang Yansheng, the inspector of the capital city, was the vanguard when the mutiny entered the city.In the middle of the night, he knocked on Prime Minister Wang Pu's door in the name of inspection, and Wang Pu "came out in shock".As a result, Wang Yansheng was demoted to be the governor of Tangzhou.These practices of Song Taizu played a very good role in stabilizing the emotions of the old officials of the Later Zhou Dynasty, alleviating their suspicion and fear of the new dynasty, and making them serve the new dynasty with confidence. But not all Zhou Jiuchens were won over.In April of the first year of Jianlong (AD 960), Li Yun, the governor of the Zhaoyi Army, raised his troops to rebel against the Song Dynasty. Song Taizu sent Shi Shouxin and Gao Huaide to lead the army to conquer Li Yun, and the battle officially began.But as soon as the Song army set off, Li Yun captured Zezhou from Luzhou, and there was a great possibility of going west to Taihang.At the same time, the Northern Han Dynasty sent troops to the south to support Li Yun.As the situation became increasingly serious, news came that Li Chongjin in Yangzhou was preparing to raise troops to respond to Li Yun.Li Chongjin was Zhou Taizu's nephew. When Zhou Shizong died, he was stationed in Yangzhou as the commander of the horse infantry.After the news of Li Yun's rebellion against the Song Dynasty reached Yangzhou, he decided to raise troops from Yangzhou to respond, attacking from the north and the south, so he sent Zhai Shouxun to contact Li Yun.But Zhai Shouxun came to Tokyo secretly and reported the matter to Song Taizu. Faced with this complicated situation, Song Taizu took two measures decisively: First, since Li Chongjin followed Li Yun to raise troops, it shows that he may only want to be rich, and he does not necessarily want to be the emperor like Li Yun.Therefore, you can consider awarding him an "iron coupon" to show that you will keep your wealth and honor forever, and you will never bear the burden.At the same time, let Zhai Shouxun return to Yangzhou quickly, fabricate false information, and try to delay the time for his army to rise as much as possible; second, the emperor Zhao Kuangyi, Zhao Pu, and Wu Yanzuo stayed in Tokyo, and Song Taizu himself went out to conquer Li Yun in order to seek a quick victory.Before leaving, Song Taizu said to Zhao Kuangyi: "This trip, if I win, I will not say anything. If I don't win, then Zhao Pu will divide his troops to guard Heyang, and don't make plans for one family." He has already made the worst plan. In May, Song Taizu set off from Tokyo, crossed the Yellow River, and entered Taihang Mountain to join Shi Shouxin and other ministries.The roads in the Taihang Mountains were steep and dangerous, and the rocks were steep. Song Taizu personally took the lead in moving the rocks to open the road. Naturally, everyone rushed to the front, and the marching speed was greatly accelerated.Soon the Song army crossed Taihang and defeated Li Jun in Changping.In June, Zezhou was captured.Li Yun had no way out, so he set himself on fire and died. After a short rest, in October of the same year, Zhao Kuangyin personally led an army to conquer Li Chongjin in Yangzhou. got resolved. With the resolution of the conflict with the old officials of the Later Zhou Dynasty, Song Taizu's mental pressure was not as great as before, and his behavior was a little indulgent.In March of the second year of Jianlong (AD 961), he said to the ministers in a repentant tone that he had "indulged" in the banquets for a while, often lost his composure, and sometimes got drunk, which was too inappropriate.It seems to be a little awakened.Immediately after another major event occurred in June of this year, his understanding of the situation became sober. In the Jiawu period of June of this year, Song Taizu's mother, Empress Dowager Du, died of illness.Du was born in a family, and he was courageous and insightful. When the Chenqiao mutiny was reported to her by some people who heard the news, she said calmly, "My son has always had great ambitions, so it should be so." Song Taizu, who served decoction beside him, said: "Do you know why you can be the emperor?" Song Taizu probably felt that it was not the time to discuss this issue, so "you can't be right", but the Queen Mother wanted him to answer, so he had to deal with it. Said: "This is all the result of the meritorious deeds of the ancestors and the empress dowager." The empress dowager said sternly: "That is not the case at all! You can be the emperor because the monarch who succeeded Zhou Shizong after his death was young. If an adult succeeds to the throne, can you become the son of heaven? I think that when you pass on the throne in the future, you should pass it on to your younger brother Guangyi. It is a blessing for the community to make the elder the king of the country!" Song Taizu cried He promised: "I must do as you ordered." So Zhao Pu wrote down the queen mother's will on the spot and hid it in the golden chamber. This is the so-called "golden chamber alliance" mentioned in history.However, some historians believe that the "Alliance of the Golden Chamber" is a fabricated theory under the instruction of Emperor Taizong of Song Dynasty. Although from an emotional point of view, it was difficult for Song Taizu to accept the future succession of the emperor's throne, but the politician's rationality told him that the empress dowager's well-intentioned arrangement was by no means unfounded.As the sixth dynasty after the five short-lived dynasties of Liang, Tang, Jin, Han, and Zhou, the Song Dynasty is far from getting rid of the bad luck of repeating the same mistakes. In the next month (July) after the Queen Mother's death, the emperor's younger brother Zhao Kuangyi was appointed as Kaifeng Yin and Tongping Zhangshi in the capacity of Taining Army Jiedu Envoy and Da Neidu Deployment.This was a no-nonsense appointment. During the Five Dynasties period, all heirs to the throne had to be crowned king as Kaifeng prefect. Although Zhao Kuangyi was not crowned king at this time, being appointed Kaifeng prefect implied that he would succeed to the throne.This is not only an important step in the implementation of the Queen Mother's last will, but more importantly, Song Taizu hopes to show his officials through this move that in the future handover of the throne, the situation of "the master is less suspicious" will not appear again. However, this is still a relatively negative measure after all.Song Taizu knew very well that the reason for the change of dynasties during the Five Dynasties and the phenomenon of restlessness was not so much because the emperor was too weak, but because the subjects were too strong.Especially those generals who lead the army, relying on the military power in their hands, usurp the throne and kill the lord, they are easy to turn back, and they are the biggest force threatening the imperial power.In order to ensure the stability of the rule, Song Taizu decided to take more active measures to seize the military power of the generals of the imperial army. It is against this background that "a cup of wine releases the power of soldiers". One night after the court, Song Taizu left Shi Shouxin, Wang Shenqi and other senior generals of the imperial army behind, and hosted a banquet for them.When the wine was half full, Song Taizu sighed and said: "Without your help, how could I be where I am today. I will never forget your merits and virtues, but it is too difficult to be the emperor. It is far worse than being a Jiedu envoy." Happy. Ever since I became emperor, I haven’t had a good night’s sleep.” Shi Shouxin and others hurriedly asked, “Why is that?” Song Taizu said, “I still don’t understand. Who doesn't want to sit down." Once there was something to be said, Shi Shouxin and the others stood up in fright and said, "Why did Your Majesty say such a thing? Now that today's fate is fixed, who dares to have second thoughts?" Song Taizu said: "That may not be the case! Even if you have the same intentions, what about your subordinates? Once they are greedy for wealth and honor and put yellow robes on you, you just don’t want to be the emperor, right?” Shi Shouxin and others were stunned by these words I don't know how to express my love, so I have to ask the emperor to show me a way.Song Taizu sighed and said: "Why don't you let go of the military power, buy a batch of good farms and houses, leave an inheritance for your descendants, put more singers and dancers in your home, drink and have fun every day, and live your life happily? In this way, we, the monarch and his ministers, will no longer have to be suspicious of each other, and how good it would be to live in harmony with each other!" Shi Shouxin and others said gratefully: "Your Majesty has thought so carefully and for such a long-term for us, really Treat them like your own flesh and blood!" The next day, they all wrote a letter saying that they were sick and unfit to lead the army, and they demanded that they be relieved of their military power.Song Taizu was very happy, and after comforting them with rewards, he announced that Shi Shouxin, Gao Huaide, Wang Shenqi, Zhang Lingduo, Luo Yanhuan and others would be removed from their positions in the imperial army, and they would be sent to local states and counties as Jiedu envoys. After the "cup of wine releases the power of soldiers", the imperial army no longer set up the post of inspectors in front of the temple, the deputy inspectors, and the commander and deputy commander of the guards and horse infantry. He and the front of the palace command and envoy these three positions that cannot be subordinated to each other. These three envoys each lead a division (collectively referred to as "three offices"), check each other, and all directly obey the emperor.At the same time, the chiefs of the "Three Yamen" are all served by junior generals with less seniority, making it difficult for them to form a deep-rooted force in the Forbidden Army. In order to "pacify" Shi Shouxin and others who were released from military power, Song Taizu not only rewarded them with a lot of money, but also expressed that he would become relatives with them, "marrying to show that they are inseparable".Soon, Taizu's widowed younger sister, Princess Yan Guochang, married Gao Huaide, and her daughters, Princess Yanqing and Princess Zhaoqing, married the sons of Shi Shouxin and Wang Shenqi respectively. Except for the one who died young, Taizu had only one younger sister. Three daughters, three of them married into the families of senior generals of the Forbidden Army who were released from military power, which shows that this kind of marriage has a strong political color. Psychological balance, thereby eliminating the doubts and fears such as "the bird is dead and the bow is hidden, the rabbit is dead and the dog is cooking", and as a symbol, it also shows that the contradiction between the emperor in the early Song Dynasty and the hero who once supported the emperor has finally come to an end. A more reasonable solution was obtained. At the end of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, people demanded to end the division and wars and achieve stability and reunification. The historical trend of reunification has formed.As early as the Later Zhou Dynasty, Song Taizu, as Zhou Shizong's right-hand man, had assisted Zhou Shizong to make great contributions in promoting the unified military struggle.Now, when he became self-reliant on behalf of Zhou and consolidated his rule, he naturally put the task of completing China's unification on the agenda. Judging from the objective situation at that time, the newly established Song Dynasty was surrounded by several hostile countries established by foreigners and many separatist regimes established by the Han nationality.In the north there was the Liao Kingdom established by the Khitan people, and in the northwest there was the powerful force of the Dangxiang people. Between the two was the Northern Han Dynasty, which ruled Shanxi.Backed by the Khitan, the Northern Han has been in open hostility with the former Hou Zhou and the present Song dynasty.In the south of Jianghuai, there are eight separatist regimes including Nantang, Wuyue, Houshu, Jingnan, Hunan, Nanhan, Nanping, and Zhangquan.Although these separatist regimes are located in areas rich in products and relatively developed in production, due to their small territories and lack of alliance with each other, most of them are weak, weak and cowardly, and have to express their name to the former Hou Zhou Dynasty and the newly established Song Dynasty. Surrender or Tonghao. In this situation, Zhao Kuangyin had two options. One was to take advantage of the nominal surrender of the southern states, continue Zhou Shizong's policy, carry out the Northern Expedition, and recover the territory of the 16 Yanyun prefectures occupied by the Liao Dynasty. Cut off the connection between the Liao and the Northern Han, and then eliminate the openly hostile force of the Northern Han, and then unify the southern countries; Yanyun 16 prefectures drove Khitan back to the north of the Great Wall.After repeated arguments between the monarch and his ministers, Song Taizu brainstormed, and finally established a unified policy of "first south and then north" in the third year of Jianlong. In the first year of Qiande (963 A.D.), Song Taizu appointed Murong Yanzhao as the capital of Hunan Daoxing camp, Li Chuyun as the capital supervisor, and led the soldiers from 10 prefectures including An and Fu to go to Jinghu.Before leaving, he said to Murong Yanzhao and Li Chuyun: "When going to Hunan, we must go through Nanping. Nanping is weak and weak, so we can attack it by the way." Murong Yanzhao and others acted according to the plan. In February of the first year of Qiande, they sent troops to Hunan and attacked Jiangling.A month later, Hunan was also pacified, and 14 prefectures, 1 prison, 66 counties, and 97,380 households were acquired. After pacifying Jinghu, "both water and land can go to Shu", and Houshu, a big southern country that dominates in the middle of Sichuan, is already in a situation of waiting to die.In November of the second year of Qiande (964 A.D.), Song Taizu sent generals Wang Quanbin and Cao Bin to divide his troops into two groups. It took only 66 days to destroy Houshu, and obtained a vast territory of 46 states and 240 counties. Hou Shu is rich in products and full of treasury, known as the "Land of Abundance".After pacifying Houshu, Song Taizu specially appointed Lv Yuqing, a political adviser (deputy prime minister), as the prefect of Chengdu, and cooperated with Wang Quanbin and others to search.For a time, the ship carried the road transport, "day and night", and a large amount of wealth was concentrated in Kaifeng, Tokyo.This certainly strengthened the national power and financial strength of the Song Dynasty, but at the same time intensified the social conflicts in the Houshu area. a large part of the force. Soon after Shu was pacified, Song Taizu successively dispatched Hou Barong, Hui Lin and others as spies to break into the Northern Han Dynasty.Hou, Hui and others were active, and soon bribed Guo Wuwei, then Prime Minister of the Northern Han Dynasty.Under Guo Wuwei's arrangement, Hou Hui and others became the court officials of the Northern Han Dynasty, who could easily enter and leave the palace. In August of the first year of Kaibao (968 A.D.), Song Taizu sent troops to attack the Northern Han Dynasty.At the same time, they secretly ordered Hou, Hui and others to act accordingly, to cooperate from inside to outside, and "welcome" the Song army.In September, the Song army broke through the Tuanbai Valley defense line of the Northern Han Dynasty, crossed the Fenhe Bridge, and approached the city of Taiyuan. At the same time that the Song army was approaching the city of Taiyuan, Hou Barong, with the support of Guo Wuwei, launched a palace coup and assassinated Liu Jien, the leader of the Northern Han Dynasty.But unexpectedly, Guo Wuwei suddenly changed his mind at this time.When Hou Barong led his men to assassinate Liu Jien, he quietly mobilized troops to surround the assassination site and killed Hou Barong and his accomplices. Guo Wuwei's impromptu change of mind disrupted a wonderful move carefully arranged by Song Taizu, and the defeat of the Song Army was also in sight.Sure enough, not long after the Song soldiers besieged Taiyuan, the Khitan sent troops to help the Northern Han.The Northern Han took the opportunity to counterattack, and the Song Dynasty not only lost all the prefectures and counties it had occupied since its march in August, but was also driven into Jinzhou and Jiangzhou by the Northern Han army and looted away. Originally, before the start of the war, Song Taizu had sealed the official positions of the Northern Han monarchs and ministers in advance after they surrendered, but he did not expect this to be the final outcome.In February of the following year, out of shame, he decided to lead an army to conquer the Northern Han Dynasty.At the beginning of the war, the Northern Song Dynasty went smoothly.In March, Song Taizu led his army to break through several defense lines of the Northern Han Dynasty, entered the city of Taiyuan, and surrounded it.But since then the war has entered a stalemate.Several strong attacks launched by the Song army were repelled by Liu Jiye, a famous general of the Northern Han Dynasty.A strong attack was not enough, and Song Taizu adopted a long-term siege policy, but more than three months later, Taiyuan was still not captured.In May of this year, Song Bing officially withdrew from Taiyuan.The Northern Han army took advantage of the momentum to pursue again, and the Song army lost a large amount of food and grass, and the loss was even more serious than last time. In the Northern Song Dynasty, from September of the third year of Jianlong (AD 962) to the first month of the third year of Qiande (AD 965), the Gao family in Nanping, the Zhou family in Hunan, and the Meng family in Houshu were pacified in less than three years. The 3 separatist regimes unified a large area of ​​63 states and 1 prison.But it is a pity that since the pacification of Shu, it was almost entirely due to the improper actions of Song Taizu, which led to a series of unexpected changes. As a result, the great cause of reunification of the North was stagnated and reversed. After more than a year of rest and recuperation since the Taiyuan class teacher, in September of the third year of Kaibao, Song Taizu decided to attack the Southern Han Dynasty and continue to implement the unification strategy of "first south and then north". The Southern Han Dynasty took Guangzhou as the center and ruled the Guangdong and Guangxi areas in the south of Lingnan for 60 years.After the Northern Song Dynasty pacified Houshu, Song generals such as Pan Mei once captured Chenzhou in the Southern Han Dynasty, forming a good offensive situation.Now, after Pan Mei and others received Song Taizu's instructions to destroy the Southern Han Dynasty, they immediately captured Hezhou, and then Lian Kezhao, Du, Lian, and Shao prefectures, and defeated more than 100,000 Southern Han troops at the foot of Lianhua Peak.By February of the following year, Guangzhou was conquered, and the Southern Han Dynasty perished.The Song Dynasty acquired the territory of 214 counties in 60 states. After the fall of the Southern Han Dynasty, the last three remaining separatist regimes in the South were all in danger and panicked.At this time, the most powerful Southern Tang Dynasty also had to take the initiative to ask for the abolition of the title of the country, abandon the title of emperor, and change the title of "Jiangnan Kingdom Lord" (the other two separatist regimes, Wu Yue and Zhang Quan, had already submitted their petitions and accepted the official positions of the Song Dynasty) . After three years of preparation, in October of the seventh year of Kaibao (AD 974), Song Taizu ordered Cao Bin to be the commander-in-chief and Pan Mei to be the capital supervisor. He led water, infantry, and cavalry troops to forcibly cross the river on the quarrying line and entered Jinling; Qian Chu, the lord of Wuyue, commanded 50,000 Wuyue troops, supervised by Song general Ding Deyu, captured Changzhou from the east, and then joined forces in Jinling.Order Wang Ming as the West Route Army to attack Wuchang, restraining the Southern Tang army stationed in Jiangxi, preventing them from going east to rescue Jinling. In mid-November, according to the diagram of Fan Ruobing, a Jinshi of the Southern Tang Dynasty, the Song Army succeeded in erecting a pontoon bridge with pre-fabricated warships in the quarry. The main force passed the pontoon bridge and successfully crossed the natural danger of the Yangtze River, defeating 10 soldiers of the Southern Tang Dynasty. More than ten thousand in Qinhuai, approaching the city of Jinling.At the same time, Qian Chu led his troops to conquer Changzhou, Jiangyin, and Runzhou, forming an outer siege of Jinling, and Jinling became an isolated city.On November 27, when Li Yu still refused to surrender, the Song army launched a general attack, Jinling City was broken, and Li Yu became a prisoner. The extermination of the Southern Tang Dynasty was Song Taizu's last battle to unify the south, and it was also the biggest river battle at that time.The "floating bridge crossing the river" and "sieging the city to fight for aid" in this war were the proud moves of Song Taizu's strategic deployment, and they were also pioneering feats in the history of ancient warfare. In 967 AD, Song Taizu died. According to Song Taizu's established policy, Song Taizong continued to exert pressure on Wuyue and Zhangquan, and finally stopped fighting, forcing Qian Chu and Chen Hongna to donate soil. 100 counties of the army (a first-level organization parallel to the state) surrendered to the Northern Song Dynasty.The South is fully united.On this basis, Emperor Taizong of Song Dynasty destroyed the Northern Han Dynasty in one go, and the situation of division and separatism that had lasted for decades finally came to an end. Except for the 16 states of Yanyun controlled by the Liao Dynasty, the Central Plains area where the Han people lived and the vast south The region has regained unity.At this time, it had only been three years since Song Taizu passed away. At the beginning of the Song Dynasty, while Song Taizu used troops from the north and the south to unify the country, he also took a series of measures to consolidate and strengthen the centralization of absolutism, and then established a set of "ancestral family laws" that he would respect for his descendants. The first is "slightly seizing power", that is, weakening local power.In the first year of Qiande (963 A.D.), after Jinghu was pacified, Song Taizu made a regulation to abolish the "branch counties" in the Jinghu area.Song Taizu announced that Jiedushi would still be retained in the newly conquered areas, but the states and counties outside the Jiedushi's residence were "directly under the capital", and the "branch counties" were abolished.With the gradual pacification of the southern countries, the scope of dismissing "branch counties" became wider and wider. By the time of Emperor Taizong of Song Dynasty, the branch county system had been abolished nationwide.At the same time, Song Taizu gradually sent civil servants to these places as "prefects" to replace the defense envoys and other generals who were in charge of state affairs.In a short period of time, Song Taizu selected and dispatched hundreds of civil servants to divide and rule the sub-counties that were originally under the jurisdiction of the major vassals, and finally formed the system of "knowing state affairs through civil servants" in the Song Dynasty. The abolition of branch counties and "knowing state affairs through civil servants" greatly weakened the power of a respected and powerful Jiedu envoy. It is an honorary title.Since the mid-Tang Dynasty, the power of the vassals and towns has been too heavy, and the situation of sitting in a big place and keeping a big tail has finally changed.Therefore, in the same year when Zhijun was abolished and civil servants were used to know state affairs, Song Taizu established two measures to limit the excessive power of state and county chiefs: one is "three years old and one change", so that "knowledge of state" and "knowledge of county" in one place The term of office is limited to 3 years and cannot be extended.In the third year of Qiande, Yang Guangmei, the Zhijun of the Beihai Navy, had served for three years. Because of his clean government, he was loved by the people. Hundreds of local people went to Beijing to stand at the gate of the palace to petition, demanding that Yang Guangmei continue to serve in Beihai.Song Taizu issued an edict to persuade them to disperse, but it was invalid.So decisive measures were taken to "whip (whip) the leader" before driving the petitioners away.Another measure is to set up general judgments in states and counties.In name, Tongsan was jointly adjudicating government affairs with Zhizhou, and its status was slightly lower than that of Zhizhou. Be afraid of it.Therefore, in the Song Dynasty, the problem of discord between the state and county chiefs and the general judge has always existed. The second is to "control its money valley", that is, to seize local financial power.In the second year of Qiande (964 A.D.), he issued a very important edict, requiring all states to keep the necessary funds, and all the currency part of the rest of the wealth should be sent to the capital, and should not be retained without reason.In March of the following year, the edict was reiterated again.Since the Tang Dynasty, the tax "staying in the state" system that accumulated a large amount of money was abolished.With the concentration of coins, control over the rest of the property was gradually tightened. 在废除“留州”制度的同时，对于各地大藩镇以“留使”的名义截留地方赋税以及肆意征税的弊政，宋太祖也小心审慎地进行了革除。他以支付大藩镇“公使钱”为代价，废除了留使制度，收回了为地方藩镇所控制的部分财权。对于藩镇任命亲信武将掌管场务、肆意征税的问题，宋太祖处置时就更为小心了。一般都是在该节度使病逝或调离之际，朝廷方才改派文臣管理场务。自此以后，“粟帛咸聚王畿”，地方藩镇失去了对抗中央王朝的经济后盾。 地方丧失了财权，自然也就无法“屯兵自重”了。在这种情况下，宋太祖与赵普所讨论的“收其精兵”的措施实施起来就很顺利了。宋太祖为收地方精兵而创立的兵分禁、厢的制度，也为其后代一直沿袭下来，成为两宋兵制中的一大特色。 宋太祖在统一南方诸国时，为了制止地方割据局面的再现，曾下令拆毁了不少通都大邑的城墙，填平了壕沟。这显然是一个消极的、只解决临时问题的措施。而“稍夺其权，制其钱谷，收其精兵”，才能收到长远的效果。出现了“天下之权悉归朝廷”、“四方万里之遥，奉遵京师”的新型的中央与地方的关系。在以后两宋300多年的统治中，宋太祖所确立的这种中央与地方的关系作为“祖宗之法”的主要内容，一直为宋代君臣所恪守。 在调整和确立了中央和地方的关系的同时，宋太祖对君臣关系也进行了调整。 在他看来，地方权力集中到朝廷，还没有完全解决中唐五代以来“君弱臣强”的问题，因而应该进一步削弱文武百官的权力，使由地方集中到朝廷的权力最后完全集中到自己一人手中，“总揽威柄”，“独制天下”。 宰相是封建社会的“百官之领袖”，处于“一人之下，万人之上”的地位，自两汉起，宰相与皇帝议事都是有座位的。宋太祖称帝后，宰相奏事仍沿旧制。有一天早朝，宋太祖突然对宰相王溥、范质说：“我眼睛有些昏花，把你们的奏疏送上前来。”在范、王二相离座递疏时，宫廷侍卫乘机将他们的座位搬走。自此以后，宰相在皇帝面前毕恭毕敬地站着奏事成为定制。宰相的地位也大大下降了。 与削弱相权同步进行的，则是在百官中推行“官、职分离，互相牵制”的任官政策。宋代官制中，“官”是品级，只有据此受俸禄的作用；“职”是殿阁、馆阁学士一类的荣誉称号，亦没有实际权力；只有由皇帝或中书省“差遣”的临时职务才是实职，即执行实际权力的职务。这种职、权分离，名、实混淆的任官体制，使任何官员都无法集中权力、荣誉、威望于一身，权大者并不一定职高，望重者并不一定位显，这样也就很难形成对皇权的威胁了。 皇帝临时“差遣”的实职，也是依照“分权而相互牵制”的原则进行安排的。如宋代有固定的尚书省兵部，但兵部尚书只是虚职，并无实际兵权，只有被差遣为枢密使才有相当于兵部尚书的实权。不过枢密使也只是有奉旨调兵之权而无领兵之权，领兵之权归“三衙”长官。同理，“三衙”的高级将领虽然名为禁军的最高统帅，却也只有领兵之权而无发兵之权。 宋太祖为了扩大统治基础，改革和推进了隋唐以来的科举考试制度。宋初极力放宽科举考试的范围，无论家庭贫富，郡望高低，只要具有一定文化程度的人，都可以前往应举。同时严格考试制度，以防权贵豪门请托舞弊。 同时，着力改变重武轻文的旧风气。宋太祖即位之初，就下令修复孔庙，开辟儒馆，延用耆学名儒，以劝励教化。针对五代时期文教不兴、学校荒废的情形，他下诏拨款增修国子监学舍，当国子监开学讲书之日，他很高兴地派人送去美酒、菜果以示祝贺。 随着文教的振兴和开科取士的增多，大批文人进入统治集团。宋太祖认为，乱世用武，治世用文，对这些文臣再也不能像五代时期那样，只是当作点缀摆设，而应切实发挥他们的作用。 随着对文臣的重用，统治集团内部的那种畸形的文武关系得到了调整。原来那些骄横跋扈，视文臣为无用，甚至一言不合就要“砍杀”宰相的武将们不但见了宰相都要恭恭敬敬地唱诺问候，而且自己也在宋太祖的劝告鼓励下，学着文臣的样子读起书来。 宋太祖的“重文”是针对五代的“轻文”而言的，目的是要改变那种由武臣独擅政权的局面，进而扩大专制主义中央集权的统治基础。所以在“重文”的同时，他并不歧视武将。当然，在宋初君主专制极度强化这样一个大气候下，无论文臣也好，武将也好，其权力都不能不受到影响。 总之，尽管宋太祖的“重文”政策在以后曾被其子孙奉为“祖宗成规”而代代相传，以至形成了“重文轻武”的风气，但在宋太祖时，情况却并不如此。他“重文”但并不轻武，无论文臣武将，只要“有一材一行可取者”，都予以擢拔和使用，“天下无遗材，人思自效”，其专制统治的基础是广泛和稳固的。 这样，一方面是调整中央与地方、君主与臣下的关系，使地方的行政、财政、军事等等各方面的权力不断地向中央集中，最后又集中到皇帝一个人手中，形成了至高无上的君主集权制；另一方面又开科取士，重文用武，广罗人才，极力扩大这一专制统治的基础。 在统一大局已定的情况下，宋太祖并没有志满意得、忘乎所以，更没有因此而骄逸放纵。平定南方诸国后，各国的金帛财宝源源不断地运至东京，宋太祖将其作为战备物资，全部收贮在内库，从不随意挥霍。宋太祖本来很喜欢射猎和踢球（当时称“蹴鞠”），刚做皇帝那阵，他还常常技痒难忍，不时地邀手下的人玩上几次。这些游戏对宋太祖来说自然属于忙里偷闲，但有时玩到兴头，又难免误事。一次，他正在后苑射鸟，忽然有大臣口称急事求见。可他接过奏章一看，里面说的并不是马上要办的事，不由得有些恼火，当即训斥了几句。那大臣却说：“这些事虽不是很急，但总比射鸟急些吧。”他愈加恼怒，随手抄起一把玉斧，朝那人撞去，撞掉了两颗牙齿。那人也不作声，跪在地上，将牙齿捡起来装在衣服里，宋太祖问：“你想拿这个来控告我吗？”那大臣说：“不敢！不过陛下既为天子，一言一行自然会由史官记录在案的。”这话算是说到了点子上，逼得宋太祖不得不赶紧地表示道歉。通过这件事，使宋太祖认识到“吾为天下主”，一言一行至关重要，“畋游”（即射猎）、“蹴鞠”终究不是“正经事”，以后慢慢地就将这些嗜好戒除了。 去世前一年，宋太祖曾对臣下说：“自古为君者，很少有严以律己而无过失的。像唐太宗那样虚心纳谏固然不错，但他若一直注意防止骄奢，克制自己，不犯过失，使臣下无从谏议，岂不更好！所以我自己是夙夜畏惧，防非窒欲，以防过失的。” 随着宋初局势的稳定和统一事业的逐渐完成，赵宋皇族被外姓旁人颠覆的危险越来越小了，宋太祖与赵光义之间原来那种为家族的命运和利益同心同德、共济险难的精神慢慢地消失了。而一旦他们有了争夺的目标，原来掩盖在“兄友弟悌”的伦理美德下的人性中的另一方面的东西就可能显露出来。赵光义对皇位的垂涎已越来越明显。 尽管赵光义当时已是势延难遏，滋蔓难图了，但宋太祖仍没有放弃这方面的努力。开宝九年（公元976年）二月，吴越国王钱俶来朝，一般很少参预政治活动的皇子德昭这次却突然被宋太祖委派至宋州迎宾。钱俶来朝是当时朝野瞩目的大事，宋太祖借这一机会，巧妙地把本来还默默无闻的皇子推到了臣民们的面前。三月，宋太祖巡视洛阳，特令赵光义随行。宋太祖在洛阳盘桓了一个月，一直住在自己当年出生和长大的旧居中。有一次，他指着一条小巷说：“我小时候与伙伴们玩游戏时，曾埋在这里一个石马，不知还在不在。”左右的人一挖，果然找到了这匹石马。 回到开封后，宋太祖一反常态，明显地加强了同另一皇弟赵光美（后改为延美）的关系。其中仅七月一个月的时间，就三次“幸光美第”。赵光美是“金匮之盟”中排在赵光义之后，赵德昭之前的继位人之一，宋太祖对他如此亲近，恐怕不是毫无用意的。开宝九年，皇子德昭已25岁，德芳也17岁了。德昭、德芳之母均已早死。此时，宫中主事者为孝章皇后宋氏。 从历史记载上看，宋皇后并无子女，但在德昭、德芳这两个皇子中，她倒是比较偏宠德芳的。这一点，对正在考虑继位人问题的宋太祖也可能稍稍产生了一些不好的影响，使他难以果断地在长子德昭和幼子德芳中挑选出一个来，以取代赵光义的继承人的位置。 就在这年的十月，宋太祖猝然死去，赵光义则顺利地继承了皇位。关于宋太祖之死，史家众说不一，其中也有称为光义谋杀者。总之，太祖之死，留下了千古之谜。