Text/Fu Huaxuan
People usually talk and chat, talk about history, we have to talk about the general order of history, Qin, Han, Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming, Qing, and The dynasties of China's great unification are these, and there are many short-lived dynasties in the middle and half of the dynasties, as well as local dynasties.
Counting the founding emperors of these great unified dynasties, I think it is easiest to count the Song Taizu Zhao Kuangyin in the world, a group of soldiers, get a yellow robe, put it on him, and it will be finished! The Dynasty of later Zhou came to an end in an instant. Later Zhou was founded by Guo Wei, and since Guo Wei had no sons, he passed the throne to his nephew Chai Rong, who passed the throne to his younger son Chai Zongxun, and the ten-year dynasty was ceded to Zhao Kuangyin.
In fact, it was not easy for Zhao Kuangyin to ascend the throne as emperor.
Zhao Kuangyin sat on the dragon chair at the age of thirty-three, and just after the age of standing, he was also a hairy young man. The founding emperor of the Song Dynasty was at this time very rich and energetic, and the mutiny he launched to seize power was still benevolent and righteous, and he was very kind to the royal family of the previous dynasty. Although the coup d'état was very smooth, it cannot be said that the great achievements have been completed by getting the Beijing Division and changing the flag and changing the banner. With the emissaries scattered throughout the country and wielding military power, will they submit to the new court? And the dozen or so small countries scattered north and south? If we want to unify the world, we still have a long way to go!
Zhao Kuangyin first encountered two hard bones that were difficult to gnaw. One of them was Li Jun, the envoy of the Zhaoyi Festival, who took a clear stand against the new regime.
Li Yun was a member of the Later Zhou Dynasty, he was highly skilled in martial arts, he could draw a hundred pounds of strong bows, he enlisted in the army as early as the Later Tang Dynasty, and went through the Later Tang, Later Jin, Later Han, and Later Zhou regimes, and was also a person who had seen the world. Guo Wei declared himself empress dowager, promoted Li Yun to the post of envoy to Zhaoyi Jiedushi, and took up the seat of Lu Prefecture (潞州, in present-day Changzhi, Shanxi). Li Yun served as the envoy of Zhaoyi Jiedushi for a long time, and his position was quite stable, which can be said to be a very powerful local prince.
After Zhao Kuangyin seized power in a coup d'état, he actively co-opted various local forces. What is the mentality of these local forces? After the demise of the Tang Dynasty, we entered the era of often "changing the banner of the king at the head of the city", and everyone has long seen the rapid change of power, the emperors who are like marquees, you sing, I appear, the long toss for more than ten years, the short one is only a few years. For these little "princes", it doesn't matter who sits on his dragon chair, as long as his power is not shaken, what does it matter? Therefore, many local forces expressed their allegiance to the new central government, Zhao Kuangyin's imperial court. However, Zhaoyi's temperance made Li Yun not move.
Of course, Zhao Kuangyin understood that Li Yun's strength was a hard bone that was not easy to deal with, so he took the initiative to win him over and xu a high-ranking official. To tell the truth, the conditions set by Zhao Kuangyin were heartwarming enough, and he sent envoys to Luzhou and crowned Li Yun as Zhongshu Ling (vice state level).
When Li Yun learned that the envoy from Kaifeng had arrived, his first reaction was: refusal to see. This attitude frightened his officials, and everyone looked at the Lord of The Festival, puzzled: Aren't you going to confront the imperial court? To tell the truth, Li Yun is also a person who has come over, since the fall of the Tang Dynasty, the emperor has not known how much to change, and now he has changed another one, why make a fuss? Everyone hurried forward to advise, but Li Yun had no choice but to reluctantly agree to a banquet for the imperial envoys.
The wine and dishes were all prepared, and the musical instruments for the pleasure were also put on the table, and everyone thought that Li Yun had changed his mind. As soon as the banquet began, the guests were full, and Li Yun unexpectedly invited the portrait of Guo Wei, the founding emperor of the Later Zhou Dynasty, to be hung on the wall of the hall. Everyone felt that something was wrong, and at this time, Li Yun actually cried loudly at Guo Wei's portrait. Whether it was the guests present or the attendants on the left and right, they were all dumbfounded, and Li Yun's attitude was unclear in demonstrating to the emperor's envoys? Everyone toasted to the envoys one after another and apologized: "My lord has drunk too much wine, don't be surprised." ”
In fact, the reason why Li Yun was unwilling to submit to the new imperial court was not only loyalty to Hou Zhou, but the bigger reason was that he thought that Zhao Kuangyin was a descendant. When Lao Tzu led the soldiers to fight, you were still a saddle horse running errands, and actually climbed on my head? Outrageous! Moreover, Zhao Kuangyin granted him the post of Zhongshu Ling, ostensibly a promotion, but in fact wanted him to leave Luzhou for the imperial court and take up his military power. Li Yun understood this in his heart.
Li Jun's attitude was happy to spoil one person, he was liu jun, the emperor of the Northern Han Dynasty (note that the names of the two people are one bamboo character).
A few days later, an envoy from the Northern Han Dynasty (around Taiyuan, Shanxi) secretly met with Li Yun and brought a letter. This letter was written by Liu Jun, asking Li Jun to jointly raise an army against the newly established Song dynasty. Li Jun showed this letter to his son Li Shoujie, but he was strongly opposed by his son, and Li Shoujie even washed his face with tears and bitterly advised his father not to oppose the central authorities. Where Li Yun listened, he whisked his sleeves away.
In April of the first year of Jianlong, the war between Li Yun and Zhao Kuangyin broke out.
In this war, Li Yun was full of confidence, in his opinion, "The general of the Zhou Dynasty is the same brother as Sejong (Chai Rong); the Janissaries are all my old people." He believed that as long as he carried the banner of Guo Wei and Chai Rong to call on the world, the old generals of the Later Zhou Dynasty and the officers and men of the Forbidden Army were bound to turn against each other, and it would be easy to overthrow Zhao Kuangyin's regime.
But Li Yun's judgment was completely wrong.
Zhao Kuangyin applied to the old generals of later Zhou, enwei and shi, officials and children, Feng Lu took care of the collar, the days passed, the wife and children were hot, some were promoted and reused, and several people were brain-dead, wanting to be loyal to this Hou Zhou that had only existed for ten years? Zhao Kuangyin was fully prepared for Li Yun's rebellion, and when the war broke out, he immediately sent the generals Shi Shouxin and Gao Huaide to lead troops to negotiate.
Although Li Yun received assistance from the Northern Han Dynasty and was made the Prince of Xiping by the Northern Han Emperor Liu Jun, the contradictions were soon exposed. The Northern Han Dynasty and later Zhou were feuding, and the Later Zhou was established by overthrowing the Later Han, and the Northern Han was the remnant of the Later Han, and Li Yun claimed to be a relic of the Later Zhou, which greatly dissatisfied the Emperor of the Northern Han Dynasty; at the same time, the Northern Han Emperor Liu Jun sent a supervisor to Li Jun's army, which also caused Li Yun's dissatisfaction. This mutual distrust seriously weakens the strength of the two sides in joint operations.
In May, Li Yun ordered his son Li Shoujie to guard the party, and he himself led more than 30,000 people to the south, intending to duel with the Song army. However, the combat effectiveness of the Forbidden Army of the Song Dynasty was well deserved, and in the Battle of Changping, Shi Shouxin defeated the menacing Luzhou Corps. In order to quickly quell the rebellion, Zhao Kuangyin, who had just come to power for more than four months, decided to take the throne and march in person. Soon, Shi Shouxin and Gao Huaide sent a generous gift to the emperor, and they destroyed Li Jun and more than 30,000 People of the Northern Han Army in the south of Zezhou (around Jincheng, Shanxi), captured the Northern Han general Fan Shoutu, and killed the overseer Lu Zan.
After losing the battle, Li Yun had to shrink in Zezhou, and the infant city was firmly held.
In June, Zhao Kuangyin, the grandfather of the Song Dynasty, arrived in Zezhou and personally sat on the front line and commanded the siege. However, Zezhou's resistance was still very tenacious, and after more than ten days, the city was still untaken. Zhao Kuangyin summoned the general Ma Quanyi to inquire about the siege plan, and Ma Quanyi volunteered to lead a death squad to attack the city. This death squad struggled to enter the city with an indomitable spirit, and Ma Quanyi was even a pioneer, in the course of the battle, his arm was hit by an arrow, he painfully pulled out the arrow shaft, did not get out of the line of fire, and continued to fight. The death squad finally climbed the city wall, Zhao Kuangyin threw in the pro-army troops to follow, and the defenders finally could not resist.
Zezhou finally fell. Unwilling to become a prisoner of the Song army, Li Yun set himself on fire after the fall of the city. This Zhaoyi Jiedushi envoy took less than two months from the beginning of the army to the defeat.
After conquering Zezhou, the Song army attacked Luzhou without stopping. Li Jun's son Li Shoujie surrendered the city, and because he had earlier opposed his father's rebellion, Song Taizu was particularly gracious and pardoned him for his capital crimes.
So far, the first hard bones have been solved.
Next, the second hard bone is solved.
At the same time as Li Yun's rebellion, there was a person who was also eager to move, and he was the Huainan Jiedushi who made Li Chongjin, one north and one south, echoing each other from afar.
Among the various emissaries, Li Chongjin's identity is relatively special. He was the nephew of Guo Wei, the grandfather of later Zhou, and also a general with great military achievements, you see, you Zhao Kuangyin took your uncle's Jiangshan, how could I submit to you? During Chai Rong's reign, Li Chongjin shared military power with Zhang Yongde, Zhao Kuangyin, and others. The Later Zhou Forbidden Army had two major systems, one was the dianqian division, Zhang Yongde was the dianqian inspection, and Zhao Kuangyin was the commander of the dianqian capital; the second was the guard division, and Li Chongjin was the commander of the guards and horses. Before Chai Rong died, he removed Zhang Yongde from his post and promoted Zhao Kuangyin to be the head of the palace. It can be said that at this time, the military power of the Later Zhou Empire was in the hands of Zhao Kuangyin and Li Chongjin.
After Chai Rong's death, the imperial court awarded Li Chongjin the inspector of the school, changed the Huainan Jiedushi envoy, and left the town of Yangzhou. Soon after, Zhao Kuangyin added a yellow robe, usurped the throne and seized power, and then stripped Li Chongjin of the command of the horse infantry.
It was precisely at this time that Li Yun raised an army against the Song in the north, and Li Chongjin repeatedly calculated and decided to unite with Li Yun. He sent his confidant Zhai Shouxun to Zezhou on a small road to discuss the joint affairs with Li Jun. Zhai Shouxun ran all the way to Zezhou, and when he got there, he had a look, Oh my God! Zezhou had been besieged by the Song legions, and Emperor Zhao Kuangyin was still on the throne, and Zezhou was in danger. Zhai Shouxun's head turned, and the current affairs operator was Junjie, so he did not go to see Li Jun, but ran to see Song Taizu Zhao Kuangyin, what to do? Snitch! The conspiracy and interrogation of Li Chongjin were revealed, and at the critical moment, the key person did a key thing.
Zhao Kuangyin was worthy of being a person who had seen the world, and did not panic when he saw Li Chongjin's rebellious conspiracy plan. Song Taizu rewarded Zhai Shouxun and his entourage heavily, and asked him to quietly return to Yangzhou quickly, persuading Li Chongjin to postpone the rise of troops, so as not to let the Song army fall into the dilemma of two-sided combat. This is Li Chongjin's so-called confidant, alas, those who betray their masters are all confidants.
After Zhai Shouxun returned to Yangzhou, he made up a set of stories to fool Li Chongjin, the main point is that now is not the time, and we cannot act rashly. Li Chongjin could think that he had been betrayed and still trusted him very much, so he adopted a wait-and-see attitude. However, this wait-and-see missed the best opportunity to start an army.
After quelling Li Jun's rebellion, Song Taizu did not directly attack Li Chongjin, because after all, until now, he had not explicitly plotted rebellion. However, it was absolutely impossible for him to continue to sit in Yangzhou, so under a paper order from the imperial court, Li Chongjin was transferred from the Envoy of Huainan Jiedu to the Envoy of Pinglu Jiedushi, the Envoy of Huainan Jiedushi was stationed in Yangzhou, and the Envoy of Pinglu Jiedu was stationed in Liaoyang, a difference of thousands of miles, and all of a sudden he was sent to the northeast. At this time, Li Chongjin was even more afraid, worried that once he left the old nest, he would be poisoned by Zhao Kuangyin. Zhao Kuangyin is also a thoughtful person, in order to reassure Li Chongjin, he specially gave a death-free iron coupon to show his position.
Li Chongjin understood in his heart that a person like him was a thorn in the new emperor's eye, a thorn in his flesh, and a death-free iron coupon, could he really save his life? He refused the order of the imperial court, stayed in his own territory, repaired the city, actively prepared for war, and asked for help from the Southern Tang. The Southern Tang Dynasty had long since lost the strength to compete with the Great Song Dynasty, and where it dared to send troops to help, it refused Li Chongjin's request.
Since Li Chongjin's rebellion had become a fact, Zhao Kuangyin justifiably carried out a crusade.
In October of the first year of Jianlong, Shi Shouxin was appointed to deploy the Yangzhou xingying capital, with the command of Wang Zhenqi, Li Chuyun and other generals, leading the elite forbidden army troops to attack Li Chongjin. Zhao Pu, a minister of conspiracy, pointed out to Zhao Kuangyin: "Li Chongjin relied on his long and long huai, repaired the lonely fortress, was desperate for external rescue, and lacked domestic resources and grain, so it was advisable to take it quickly." Zhao Kuangyin obeyed Zhao Pu's proposal, issued an edict and personally marched, commanding the generals of the Sixth Army to set off from Kaifeng and take a boat down the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal and directly attack Yangzhou.
The emperor's personal conquest always boosted morale, and the officers and men on the front line fought bravely and finally broke through Yangzhou. Li Chongjin's ending was similar to Li Jun's, but even more tragic, when he set himself on fire when the city fell, including his family, all of which were cremated to ashes.
At this point, the second hard bone has also been completely solved.
Zhao Kuangyin's heart was troubled: Li Jun, Li Chongjin, and this "second Li" was finally eliminated.
Zhao Kuangyin then looked at the remaining small group forces, all of which were "rat tails with long boils... There's not much pus anymore", calm down, and slowly clean up one by one!