The history of China's Song Dynasty is a beautiful era of cultural and artistic prosperity and development, there are Su Dongpo of the extravagant school, there is Li Qingzhao of the gentle school, and there are some other well-known literati rioters, that era has left us with many famous sentences throughout the ages, which are still sung to this day. So, today I will discuss with you the emperor who single-handedly created this era of artistic prosperity - Song Taizong Zhao Jiong. Just heard this name, everyone may be a little unfamiliar, don't worry, listen to the author to introduce you in detail.
Portrait of Emperor Taizong of Song
Zhao Jiong, formerly known as Zhao Kuangyi, after Taizu ascended the throne, in order to avoid the name of the emperor, changed to Zhao Guangyi, he was the younger brother of Zhao Kuangyin, the grandfather of the Song Dynasty, he himself was born in a family of martial generals, and when he was 16 years old, he accompanied his father on the southern expedition and showed great courage. At this time, Zhao Kuangyin was also added to the yellow robe, and he was in urgent need of a powerful assistant, so he called his younger brother Zhao Kuangyi over.
As the saying goes: fight brothers, fight fathers and sons. With the strong joining of his younger brother, Zhao Kuangyin's road to clearing the obstacles was unusually smooth, and it can also be said that Zhao Kuangyi made great contributions to consolidating his brother's imperial power. Therefore, in the early days of Zhao Kuangyin's ascension to the throne, the two brothers still got along very well. This can also be seen in the following things.
Portrait of Song Taizu
At the beginning of His ascension to the throne, in order to consolidate imperial power again, Zhao Kuangyin twice marched in person, and he let his younger brother Zhao Kuangyi stay in the court to handle political affairs, and later made Zhao Kuangyi the Governor of Kaifeng. What is the position of Kaifeng Fuyin? It was the highest official position in Kaifeng, the capital of the Song Dynasty at that time, and important government affairs of the whole country had to pass through here before they were uploaded to the emperor. Therefore, Zhao Kuangyi had a pivotal position in the dynasty at this time, and was also very trusted by Emperor Taizong of Song.
However, sometimes people can only share hardships and hardships, and they cannot share happiness, and Zhao Kuangyi is a living example. During his more than ten years as The Governor of Kaifeng, he recruited all kinds of able people and strangers to his subordinates, made friends with ministers, cultivated his own wings, and his relationship with Zhao Kuangyin deteriorated more and more. We all know that Song Taizu was heavy on literature and light on martial arts, which was the fear that one day, his own courtiers would be like themselves, and they would be added to the yellow robe and seize their imperial power.
Yellow robe plus body
But it is difficult to prevent thieves. In 976, on the nineteenth day of the tenth month of the lunar calendar, summoned by Taizu, Zhao Kuangyi entered the palace, and the two brothers talked about wine and talked all night long, who knew that the next morning they found Zhao Kuangyin violently ill and died, and the person who succeeded the throne was not Zhao Kuangyin's son, but his brother Zhao Kuangyi. In fact, Zhao Kuangyi's succession is very criticized, and some historians believe that he killed Song Taizu and then succeeded to the throne, which is what the author said in the title of succeeding his brother and ascending the throne as emperor.
However, there is also history that it was Empress Du who, when Song Taizu had not yet died, asked the chancellor Zhao Pu to draw up an edict and pass it on to Zhao Kuangyi. However, the author believes that this rumor is not credible, this is just an excuse for his own ascension to the throne, after all, the ancient people attach great importance to the four words of righteousness, especially when it comes to such a major matter as the handover of the throne. Taizu did not leave no heirs, so why did he have to go to great lengths to let his brother succeed to the throne? Speculating on the cause of Taizu's death is really terrifying.
Song Taizong stills
No matter what the truth is, history is impossible to repeat, let's see what Zhao Kuangyi did after succeeding to the throne! Militarily, he sent troops to attack the Northern Han Dynasty, completed the historical problems left by Zhao Kuangyin, and realized the great unification. He then took advantage of the victory to pursue the Liao state, but the truth was not as easy as he thought, and both crusades failed. As a result, the offensive and defensive relationship between the Song and Liao countries was completely reversed, and his own heart was also afraid of the Liao state, which also laid hidden dangers for the future collapse of the Song Dynasty.
In addition to these, didn't Zhao Kuangyi do anything else? Of course not! As the author mentioned above, Zhao Kuangyi has been the Kaifeng Fuyin for more than ten years, and he is still very means in the affairs of the dynasty, he has strengthened the centralization of power, and vigorously developed cultural undertakings, he emphasized the rule of the country by culture, improved the examination system, in order to prevent candidates from cheating and emphasize fairness, he also came up with the idea of sealing the examination papers and finding someone to transcribe the examination papers, and we are now using the system of sealing the examination papers.
I have to say that Song Taizong was really prescient! Song Taizong's emphasis on governing the country with literature is not just lip service, he himself is also practicing it, no matter how late he reads the recital every day, he will always make some time to look at some of the classic masterpieces of the past, and in the handling of the affairs of the dynasty, he also takes history as a mirror. Under his leadership, the cultural development of the Song Dynasty was like a day in the sky, many well-known literary writers sprung up like mushrooms, and the whole society presented a thriving scene.
We don't care how Zhao Kuangyi's throne came from, but during his reign, the cultural prosperity and development of the Song Dynasty was real. Therefore, based on Zhao Kuangyi's various performances, the author believes that he is still a qualified emperor, what do you all think?