Where there is power, there is a struggle, and where there is a struggle, there must be a mystery, just like the Ming and Qing dynasties had many court mysteries, and the early years of the Northern Song Dynasty also had a historical mystery that had plagued more than a thousand years. That is the mystery of the death of Zhao Kuangyin, the grandfather of the Song Dynasty, and there are many controversies about the death of Zhao Kuangyin in history, and some people say that he died suddenly because of heart disease. However, more people believe that Zhao Kuangyin was murdered by his brother Zhao Guangyi and died, and eventually even the throne was taken away by Zhao Guangyi.
In the "History of Song", the only record of Zhao Kuangyin's death is "On the eve of the ugly night, the emperor collapsed in the Hall of Ten Thousand Years, at the age of fifty". As the founding emperor of the Northern Song Dynasty, the cause of death was actually only these twelve words, which is really doubtful. In fact, in most of the history books about the Song Dynasty, there is no detailed record of Zhao Kuangyin's death. Only the Song Dynasty monk Wen Ying's "Records of the Continuing Xiang Mountains" is unusual, and the monk Wen Ying made a detailed account of Zhao Kuangyin's death in the book.
According to the "Records of the Wild Mountains of Xiang", "The haze of Russia is everywhere, the heavens and the earth are changing sharply, the snow and hail fall sharply, and the battle is moved to the lower cabinet." The palace key opened the door and held a consecration, that is, Emperor Taizong. Extend into the big bed, drink wine and drink. The eunuch palace concubines were screened, but in the shadow of the candles, Emperor Taizong or avoided the seat, there was an invincible situation. Drinking, forbidden to leak three drums, His Highness snow has been several inches. Taizu led the pillar to axe Zhai Xue, and Gu Taizong said: "Easy to do, easy to do." 'Untie the belt and go to bed, sniffling like thunder.' On the eve of the night, Emperor Taizong stayed in the forbidden place, and the five drums were beaten, and the servants were silent, and Taizu had collapsed. Emperor Taizong was ordained and took the throne before the coffin. Arrest Xiao Dengming Hall, proclaim the will, mourn, and lead the courtiers to the jade robes to see the Holy Body, and the jade color is as bright as Tang Mu. ”
Through this record of the monk Wen Ying, it is not difficult to find that on the snowy night when Zhao Kuangyin died, only Zhao Guangyi was alone with Zhao Kuangyin. The two brothers talked about wine, and under the flickering candlelight, Zhao Guangyi stood up as if he was hiding from something. At three o'clock, Zhao Kuangyin walked outside, poked the snow with a pillar axe in his hand, and shouted, "Easy to do!" Easy to do! After that, he undressed and went to bed, snoring like thunder during the period.
However, what is puzzling is that Zhao Guangyi, who was supposed to leave the palace and go home at this time, did not go back, but continued to stay in the palace. At the time of the five drums, Zhao Kuangyin, who was asleep, died in his sleep. Soon Zhao Guangyi took the throne in front of the spirit. At dawn, the edict was read to the ministers, and the emperor's close ministers were arranged to visit Zhao Kuangyin's remains, and the ministers found that the emperor's face was warm and bright, as if he had just taken a bath.
All kinds of indications show that Zhao Kuangyin's death was not a simple illness, but a murder. First of all, the first suspicious point is that Zhao Kuangyin, who was born as a martial general, has always been in good health. In the year of his death, he once went out of the palace to worship his ancestors and prepared to choose a feng shui treasure for himself to build a mausoleum. He ordered the guards to bring a hard bow, and the bow was taken with an arrow, and an arrow was fired, and the place where the arrow landed was used as the place of the mausoleum, and this arrow shot 600 meters. During the harsh winter season after returning to the capital, Zhao Kuangyin also inspected the troops guarding the capital and observed the exercises organized by the generals. It can be seen that its physical fitness is not generally good, and I wonder how such a body can suddenly die violently.
The second and biggest doubt. According to the court etiquette system of the Northern Song Dynasty, the prince was not allowed to spend the night in the palace. But on the night of Zhao Kuangyin's death, Zhao Guangyi stayed in the palace unusually. During this period, Zhao Guangyi had complete time to commit crimes, and he also had a motive for committing crimes, that is, to usurp the throne by killing his brother.
The third suspicious point is that Zhao Guangyi is acting as a thief. Usually after the death of the emperor, there is no custom for ministers to pay homage to the body. However, Zhao Guangyi arranged for several ministers trusted by Zhao Kuangyin to pay respects to the remains of the former emperor, and the key was that Zhao Kuangyin's body was still "jade-colored", as if it had just been washed. Such a practice of wanting to cover up the work has actually aroused the suspicion of posterity, as if Zhao Kuangyin had suffered some harm, and he wanted to wash away the evidence of the crime "like a soup mu".
The fourth point of doubt is the "correct name" that Zhao Guangyi actively sought after succeeding to the throne. After Zhao Guangyi succeeded to the throne, in order to give himself a reasonable reason, he made up the so-called "Golden Pre-Alliance". In the "History of Song", it is recorded that before Zhao Kuangyin and Zhao Guangyi's birth mother Empress Du was critically ill, she called Zhao Kuangyin and Zhao Pu, the chancellor, to the bedside, leaving behind an unbelievable "will", that is, the "Golden Pre-Alliance". In Empress Du's view, the reason why Zhao Kuangyin was able to replace Hou Zhou was precisely because Chai Rong left a young heir. In order to avoid such a crisis in the Song Dynasty, Empress Dowager Du proposed that after Zhao Kuangyin's death, her brother-in-law and the elder Zhao Guangyi be the heir, Zhao Guangyi should be established as the heir after Zhao Guangyi's death, and Zhao Tingmei's son should be established as the heir after Zhao Tingmei's death. In this way, the Song Dynasty was able to avoid being usurped by foreign ministers and military generals.
Later, in order to let the throne circulate in his own vein, Zhao Guangyi forced his younger brother Zhao Tingmei to die and secretly killed Zhao Kuangyin's two sons, Zhao Dezhao and Zhao Defang.
It is precisely because there are so many doubts that historians are full of doubts about Zhao Kuangyin's death. Although there is no direct evidence that Zhao Guangyi killed Zhao Kuangyin, it is certain that Zhao Kuangyin's death was not as simple as a violent death.