We all know that Zhao Kuangyin seized the power of later Zhou through the Chen Qiao Mutiny and established the Great Song Dynasty, and the key to the success of the Chen Qiao Mutiny was the unexpected and untimely death of a former tea vendor.
This peddler was the second emperor of the Later Zhou Dynasty, Chai Rong, and if it were not for the unexpected death of the thirty-nine-year-old Chai Rong, leaving only the seven-year-old Chai Zongxun on the throne, Zhao Kuangyin might not even have the opportunity to take control of the military.
The biological son of Zhou Taizu Guo Wei was killed by Emperor Yin of Han when he started the army, so that Guo Wei only had an adopted son like Chai Rong on his knees in his later years.
Chai Rong's work made Guo Wei very satisfied, and it was logical that Guo Wei would pass the throne to Chai Rong. Chai Rong made some attempts at reform when he was serving as the envoy of this state, and he exempted the people from some of the errands and burdens, and these political measures were praised by Guo Wei, which was also a microcosm of his political measures after he ascended the throne. Zhu Yuanzhang once said of Guo Wei: "The king of the three generations has his own time to do it, Han Wen has a time to do it, and Zhou Shizong does not have his time to do it."
Chai Rong, who was the emperor, made great efforts to govern and attached great importance to the people's lives and agricultural development, and he once said to Wang Pu: If he is given thirty years, he is ready to "open up the world in ten years, feed the people in ten years, and bring peace in ten years."
In Chai Rong's plan, the people's living and working in peace and contentment accounted for a large proportion. Once Chai Rong's plan was successfully completed, or some of it had been implemented, the Later Zhou Dynasty was by no means overthrown by the Chen Qiao Mutiny.
Secondly, Chai Rong's dominance is very strong, Chai Rong is Guo Wei's adopted son, that is, at the beginning of the reign, he could not serve the public, and Guo Wei also spent a lot of thought in order to make Chai Rong smoothly take the throne.
A year before his death, Guo Wei degraded the ambitious Wang Jun, promoted Chai Rong to the position of Yin of Kaifeng And Jin, and on his deathbed, specially summoned his nephew Li Chongjin to perform the courtesy of Chai Rong, all in order to stabilize Chai Rong's throne. The reason why Chai Rong was able to finally sit firmly on the throne was his own deeds and ability. As soon as Guo Wei died, the Northern Han Dynasty colluded with the Khitan and attacked later Zhou, originally Chai Rong had just taken the throne, and being on the front line would lead to instability in the dynasty. However, Chai Rong was well aware of the importance of this battle to himself, and despite the objections of the ministers, he decided to personally lead his army north to meet the battle, and finally defeated the Northern Han at Gaoping. Although Zhao Kuangyin also participated in the Battle of Gaoping, and also established meritorious achievements and accumulated prestige, it was definitely not as prestige as chai Rong, who was pro-conquest.
Before Chai Rong's death, like Guo Wei, he also made some arrangements to consolidate his son's rule, and we can get a glimpse of Chai Rong's ability to control power through these arrangements.
First of all, Chai Rong urgently crowned an empress, the Fu clan, in order to enhance the status of foreign relatives, who were not enough to usurp the throne, but must be dedicated to assisting the little emperor. Three more ministers were found, Fan Qian, Wang Pu, and Wei Renpu, who had a common advantage, that is, they had no ambitions, no military power, and could not ponder usurpation. But the problem also came, when Zhao Kuangyin led the army back to the capital through the Chen Qiao Mutiny, these three elder-level ministers did not react at all, and later their status was even more set on the status of the Northern Song Dynasty.
Of course, judging from the results, this is a big failure, but this shows that Chai Rong also attaches great importance to the control of the forbidden army, and has released his "left and right arms", and these generals who hold military power can not rely on the forbidden army to seize power, but also can respond to the DPRK at the local level.
Since the end of the Tang Dynasty, the political structure of the Central Plains has been constantly changing, and the warlord An Chongrong in the fifth dynasty has publicly declared that anyone with strong soldiers and strong horses can be emperors. This sentence very accurately summed up the concept in people's minds at that time, "the soldiers are arrogant and the marshals are commanded, and the handsome and strong are rebellious", as long as they have the military power, they can rebel at any time, and in the long run, the people have no sense of belonging to the regime.
After the Battle of Gaoping, Chai Rong had a deep understanding of army building and was determined to reorganize the army. Zhao Kuangyin was ordered to recruit heroes from all over the world to "select the best ones as the classes before the palace" and vigorously develop the forbidden army in an attempt to reverse the situation in which the town had abused power since the end of the Tang Dynasty and was overweight at home and heavy on the outside.
It is precisely because of this reform of Chai Rong that we have noticed that although Zhu Wen, Shi Jingyao, Liu Zhiyuan, and others, like Zhao Kuangyin, seized the throne with military power, these people relied on local jiezhen soldiers, and Zhao Kuangyin directly "plotted against" the most powerful central forbidden army established by Chai Rong. If Chai Rong did not die and firmly controlled the central forbidden army, the generals of the unified army, including Zhao Kuangyin, would not have the opportunity to rebel successfully.
Facts have proved that after Zhao Kuangyin ascended the throne, chai Rong's practice was continued, and whether it was the Zhaoyi Festival, which raised troops under the banner of loyalty to Later Zhou, which made Li Jun and Huainan Jiedushi make Li Chongjin, or before and after Zhao Kuangyin's two "cups of wine and release the military power," the central forbidden army showed superior combat effectiveness and deterrence.
A few years after the dust settled on the Chen Qiao Mutiny, Zhao Kuangyin also sighed when talking to Zhao Pu about Chai Rong of Zhou Shizong, saying that Chai Rong was the person he most admired, and if Chai Rong did not die, he would definitely be able to follow Chai Rong to dominate the world.