The annual rings of history are constantly rotating, the changes of dynasties come and go in a hurry, the Qin Emperor Han Wu, the Tang Emperor song zu, all wise, all shenwu. Sitting in the world, overlooking the sheji, the rivers and mountains are clear, it is also an undercurrent, and the emperor who has ascended to the throne also has inexplicable worries.
Becoming an emperor is not a one-time effort, nor is it a day's work, those followers and supporters work hard, but the merit is very likely to cover the lord, so many successful emperors will exploit and squeeze those brothers and comrades who have worked with themselves to a certain extent, and even directly kill. This is the sorrow of the king of last resort or the premeditated unloading of the donkey.
However, there is an emperor who is a maverick, he is the most righteous emperor, after he became the founding emperor, he did not kill the brothers who fought with him, did not kill the heroes, and let all these brothers have a good death. This emperor was the emperor of the Song Dynasty, Zhao Kuangyin.
First, Chen Qiao mutinied in imperial robes
Zhao Kuangyin was the founding emperor of the Song Dynasty, he was born in the most chaotic era in Chinese history, those years of frequent changes in state power, like a purgatory era to temper Zhao Kuangyin's will, the only ideal in his heart is to end this dark era, the chaotic world to achieve reunification.
In the years of war, Zhao Kuangyin was a general under Guo Wei and had very good ability, so he made great military achievements under Guo Wei. In the first year of Guangshun, Zhao Kuangyin supported Guo Wei to establish the Later Zhou Era. After that, Guo Wei transferred Zhao Kuangyin to Kaifeng. At this time, Zhao Kuangyin was very popular in the workplace.
After Guo Wei was established in the zhou, the war was still going on, the world was still not peaceful, for various reasons, Guo Wei stepped down, and then Chai Rong took the throne. Cai Rong greatly appreciated Zhao Kuangyin, who was both literate and martial, so he promoted him to commander of the Forbidden Army. Then Zhao Kuangyin began to fight continuously.
In the process of conquest of the combined forces of the Northern Han And Khitans, Zhao Kuangyin was a pioneer soldier, fought to the death, inspired the morale of the army, led the army to win many battles, and the morale of officials and soldiers was greatly boosted, and the victory of this war made Zhao Kuangyin deeply appreciated by Chai Rong, so he was promoted again to be a thrifty envoy, and Chai Rong's trust in Zhao Kuangyin became higher and higher.
In the later Zhou Dynasty when Emperor Chai Rong of Zhou came to power, Zhao Kuangyin made a lot of contributions to Chai Rong, so Chai Rong trusted him very much, and he was inspected in front of the palace and fully controlled the military power of the country. Later, when Chai Rong was critically ill, he handed over the administrative power of the state to him, and after the death of Zhou Shisong Chai Rong, although Chai Rong's 7-year-old son took the throne, the power in the court was all in the hands of Zhao Kuangyin.
Soon, the Northern Han Dynasty joined forces with the Liao to attack Hou Zhou, coupled with internal corruption, Zhao Kuangyin was proclaimed emperor at Chen Qiao Station with the support of all the generals, and this mutiny called the emperor did not make a big move, because the young lord at that time was still young, and the internal and external troubles in the court were in urgent need of someone who could influence the political situation, and Zhao Kuangyin also had prestige, so his throne was also the people's desire.
Second, a century of chaos must be unified
Based on this, Zhao Kuangyin successfully became the emperor, so the founding monarch of the Song Dynasty was born, which was for the Song Taizu. After becoming emperor, Zhao Kuangyin calmly analyzed the current situation in the face of chaos, first attacking jinghu lake, then attacking Houshu, pacifying the Southern Han Dynasty, and then pacifying Jiangnan.
He relied on his prestige and strategy to gradually unify from south to north, from easy to difficult to calm the war, and he was lenient to the returned generals and royal families, so under the efforts of Zhao Kuangyin, the world gradually achieved unification.
During this period, of course, there were indispensable able cadres, and those who supported him made great contributions to him in the process of his great unification, and the prestige and status of these heroes were also very high, and even some endangered his position. Any emperor will always be uneasy under a stable regime, and he is worried that his subordinates will one day replace him.
Third, stagger the right to release military power
In order to ensure the stability of his political power, Zhao Kuangyin began to collect power from the central government, making the cadres strong and weak. Reusing civilian officials and weakening military generals, the benevolent Zhao Kuangyin did not design to kill heroes like other emperors, but used his own clever tricks to centralize power. This is the famous "glass of wine to release the military power".
In 16 A.D., when the imperial meeting was terminated, Zhao Kuangyin did not leave immediately, but called several brothers who had accompanied him to fight in the country and had made great achievements, and invited them to the palace to eat after asking for warmth. Everyone was very happy to hear it, and this is the perfect time for the brothers to gather and look back on history.
So everyone came to the palace to feast, everyone was born as a soldier, and they attached great importance to the brotherly feelings of fighting side by side, the palace jade liquid, the chips were staggered, and everyone seemed to have returned to the era of continuous killing, while eating and drinking, while reminiscing, it was simply the greatest pleasure of men.
At this moment, Song Taizu spoke: "If one day, someone in my imperial robe will put it on you, but how is it good" Everyone listened, this boss was saying something in his words, so he hurriedly said" Your Majesty, I will wait to die to follow, and I will never have the heart to create a second", Song Taizu raised his wine glass, drank it all, shook his head and smiled bitterly: "Brothers, you can't feel my suffering"!
The crowd was also very confused, thinking in their hearts, "What pain do you have when you become the emperor", but without saying a word, Song Taizu said: "I can have today, all rely on the help of my brothers, but this position is also a lot of people's worries, I have never slept a good night since I put on this dress, I understand your loyalty to me, but if your people support you, you can do it."
After saying this, Taizu sighed again, and when everyone was afraid, they asked Taizu: "What should the brothers do, Your Majesty can rest assured?" Taizu raised his wine glass and said: "This life, that is, so short decades, is nothing more than wealth and wealth, beauty, you might as well unload your armor and return to the field, spend your old age in peace, and ensure that you have no worries for several lifetimes."
After listening, everyone also understood the meaning of Taizu, Taizu just wanted them to surrender their power to go home for the elderly, brotherly feelings, speaking of this, everyone was also very moved, the emperor did not design to kill them is already the greatest mercy, so everyone also obeyed Taizu's arrangement, surrendered military power, said sick and returned to their hometown. Zhao Kuangyin did not renege on his word, all of them were properly arranged, and all the brothers died well.
summary
Zhao Kuangyin was really a more affectionate emperor in history, as the founding emperor of the Song Dynasty, he did not kill those courtiers who had made great contributions to himself without mercy like Zhu Yuanzhang and Liu Bang, such as Zhu Yuanzhang and Liu Bang, but used his own housewife to ensure the safety of everyone. All the brothers who worked hard with him all had a good death.
Such a founding emperor can get more people's support, and it can also show the open-mindedness and boldness of an excellent emperor. Although he took away his brothers' military power, he placed them properly and provided sufficient security for their lives, and it is not an exaggeration to say that he was the most righteous emperor in history.