1. The scourge of death
In 956, the Later Zhou Emperor Chai Rong sent a sword-wielding Janissary to surround Zhao Kuangyin's mansion.
Everyone in the Zhao Mansion was silent, and even Zhao Kuangyin was terrified, Chai Rong had just promoted himself to a senior general because of his outstanding military achievements, so was it necessary to stage the set of unloading and killing donkeys and rabbits and dogs cooking?
However, it is not quite right to think about it, even if it is to cross the river and tear down the bridge, now is not the time. Now that he was attacking the Southern Tang with Chai Rong, this rabbit was not dead, the grinding had not yet been polished, how could he cook the dog and kill the donkey?
After opening the gate, the murderous leader of the Janissaries waved a big hand, and the soldiers fished in, drew their swords in unison, and without hesitation, slashed at the dozens of carriages full of wooden boxes parked in the courtyard, and in an instant, with the splatter of wood chips, all the boxes were cut open by the sharp blades.
Each box, without exception, was a book, and the book that used the sword to pick open the surface was still full of books, about thousands of books.
Zhao Kuangyin looked at the books that were messy in the wind all over the courtyard, and asked the leader of the Forbidden Army in doubt, not knowing which play this was played. Who knew that something bizarre had happened, and the leader of the Forbidden Army, who had just had a raw expression of not being close to him, now had an expression on his face that was even more blinding than Zhao Kuangyin's. He hurriedly apologized to Zhao Kuangyin, and then waved his hand and ran away in a hurry with the forbidden army.
Zhao Fu looked at each other from above and below, was this group of people deliberately coming to wreak havoc? Looking at the mess in the yard, the servants in charge of cleaning fainted in the toilet.
2. A false alarm
The next morning, Zhao Kuangyin was summoned by Emperor Chai Rong, and it was only then that he understood what had happened yesterday.
Chai Rong told him that recently many people have accused you of privately attacking Shouzhou, looting treasures and loading several large trucks and smuggling them home, seriously violating military discipline, and yesterday sent people to investigate, only to find that they were full of books, which seemed to have wronged you.
As soon as Zhao Kuangyin listened, cold sweat came down, although Emperor Chai Rong appreciated himself, he hated embezzlers extremely, Chai Rong's own style was simple, he was never soft on those who violated military discipline, he did things very absolutely, he was in his box yesterday, but if he had a box of gold and silver treasures, he was afraid that he would finish playing.
Zhao Kuangyin's cold sweat flowed not unreasonable, it was said that Chai Rong did not like people with big faces, and many capable generals under him did not make any mistakes, just because they had a big face, they were all killed by Chai Rong's excuses. This emperor is also absolutely enough, who has a big face, it would have been a very sad thing, but also to be killed by Chai Rong, proper appearance discrimination.
Just when Zhao Kuangyin was relieved, Chai Rong suddenly asked: I heard that you have thousands of books in your box, but I have never heard of you reading books before, the current war with the Southern Tang Is so fierce, I just promoted you to be a senior general, you don't want to think about how to break the line and kill the enemy, but you read the book, why is this?
Zhao Kuangyin was alert again, this is a very ordinary question, but it is very dangerous, because Chai Rong who asked this question is by no means an ordinary emperor, his suspicion is particularly serious, and anyone who makes him suspect that he has a disobedient heart will be brutally killed, which is related to Chai Rong's own experience as emperor, he killed his own emperor Guo Wei's son, and only then did he seize the crown.
Moreover, in that war-torn era, reading was a particularly unsophisticated activity, especially among high-ranking generals, who only believed in the knife in their hands and contemptuously turned the brush into a useless hair awl. (An Court, Fixing Disaster, Straight Beard Long Gun Big Sword, To The Hair Awl, Yan Foot Use Ya)
Zhao Kuangyin was also a staunch believer in this theory before, taking ignorance as a personality and only believing in the aesthetics of violence, but now he is unusual, reading books like crazy, and if he does not give a reasonable explanation, then it is difficult to hide his ambitions.
His head was running rapidly, thanks to the fact that the books had not been read in vain for a while, this fierce general who usually rushed to the battlefield and was extremely brutal, at this time, he gave a perfect answer in a crepe:
I am ashamed that Your Majesty has used me so much, because I feel that I lack ingenuity and cannot serve you well, and I hope to learn more from books and live up to His Majesty's expectations.
Chai Rong was very happy to hear this and felt that Zhao Kuangyin was very happy. He is a subordinate who is content with his duties and knows how to be grateful. Since then, he has no longer bothered to ask Zhao Kuangyin about reading.
Since then, Zhao Kuangyin has begun to be bright and upright, blatantly collecting and using the convenience of work (attacking the city) to collect all kinds of strange books, and then spending all the time frantically reading, becoming a general who can't release the scrolls, which is a spectacle in the army.
In fact, the purpose of Zhao Kuangyin's reading is not just to better serve Chai Rong, his ultimate purpose, in fact, everyone later knows, that is, to be an emperor, not only to be an emperor, but also to be an emperor who unifies the Central Plains, not only to be an emperor who unifies the Central Plains, but also to be an emperor who has found a way to completely end the chaotic world of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms.
Of course, it is not Comrade Zhao Kuangyin's turn to step onto the stage of history now, what he has to do now is to live well in the chaotic world, and following Chai Rong, the big brother who is difficult to serve, if there is no three-inch tongue that is unique to readers, saving his life is very problematic.
Soon, the next incomparably dangerous life-and-death test will come.
3. The only big-faced survivor
The Later Zhou army led by Chai Rong was connected in the Southern Tang Dynasty, and the celebration banquet was also held from time to time, just at a celebration banquet, Chai Rong specially left Zhao Kuangyin, who had made outstanding achievements in battle, and the two junchens drank until the middle of the night, although both of them were good wine, but at this time they were also drinking a little fluttering, just when Zhao Kuangyin was a little confused, he found that chai Rong, who was red in the face, had been staring at his face and looking at it with a meaningful smile.
Just when Zhao Kuangyin was a little confused, Chai Rong suddenly put down the wine glass that was about to be entered, and blurted out a sentence that almost made Zhao Kuangyin pee his pants.
Chai Rong said: Your boy has big ears and is very emperorly, maybe you will become an emperor in the future!
Zhao Kuangyin woke up instantly, he did not expect that this big face could not be hidden after all, Chai Rong still spoke out, Zhao Kuangyin's level of panic was no less than Liu Bei's panic when he heard Cao Cao cooking wine on heroes. But at this time, Zhao Kuangyin was no longer the previous wufu, he was calm and self-assured, and he gave a perfect answer with a smile.
Zhao Kuangyin said casually: My appearance was given by my parents, and my parents not only gave me a fat face with big ears, but also gave me a fat heart and liver, and these belong to Your Majesty, if Your Majesty needs it, you can come and get it at any time.
Chai Rong smiled, this was an answer he was very satisfied with, the reason why he hated the person with the big face was because he himself was, and he firmly believed that this face was the face of the emperor, and if others looked like this, it would be a great threat to himself, so later he became a big face destroyer. Zhao Kuangyin vomited the truth after drinking, and was a rare loyal servant.
Zhao Kuangyin's answer this time made him very proud. Many years later, Zhao Kuangyin really replaced Chai Rong's descendants as emperor, and he still remembered this matter and always showed off to the people around him, what a shrewd person Chai Rong was, the emperor, and the people with big faces in all aspects were destroyed by him, but I, the most square and the biggest person with the most square face, surrounded him every day (serving the side all day), but he was always safe and sound, this is the destiny of heaven.
Of course, the Mandate of Heaven was just Zhao Kuangyin pasting gold on his face, and the real reason was only that he knew best, and the biggest difference between him and other big-faced martial artists was that he couldn't release the scroll.
In addition to the feudal superstition of the military power, from a scientific point of view, reading books is the only way for Zhao Kuangyin to save his life.
Author: Our special guest author Yulong