"The sun is shining brightly at the beginning, and thousands of mountains are like fire." A round of the heavens, repulsing the stars and the remnant moon. This is a poem by Zhao Kuangyin, the founding emperor of the Northern Song Dynasty, and it is also a rare seven-sentence poem in his life.
This poem is called "The First Day of Yong", which was written by Zhao Kuangyin before he became emperor. At that time, Zhao Kuangyin and his friends talked about wine and sought pleasure, and unconsciously the East ushered in a glimmer of dawn. At this time, a friend who thought he was brilliantly literate improvised a poem, and the content was this japanese poem.
After writing the poem, Zhao Kuangyin still felt that he was not addicted, looking at the sunrise moment in the east, the red sun shone on the earth, and the world gradually became bright, and his heart was surging with emotion, probably remembering the era of war, and did not know when it would end.
Therefore, Zhao Kuangyin couldn't help but recite this "Yong Chu Ri", when the sun first opened, it was dazzling and dazzling, and everything in the world was illuminated by the red and red fire, and in the blink of an eye, the sun rose into the sky, expelling the stars and moon of the night.
The scene depicted in this poem is not what Zhao Kuangyin hoped to be? He wanted to be the sun that illuminated the earth and would drive out the darkness. Although he was only a small army leader at that time, it can be seen from the poem that he had great ambitions and a big pattern in his heart.
Later, it turned out that with his wisdom and righteousness, he created a career, really became a dazzling sun, restored the territory of China, and became the legend of the Great Song Dynasty.
First, Zhao Kuangyin met "Bole" Chai Rong
After the fall of the Tang Dynasty, the Anshi Rebellion could not be resolved for a long time, and the world entered the Period of five dynasties and ten kingdoms. During the Five Dynasties period, Zhao Kuangyin was appointed by Emperor Gong of Later Zhou as an envoy to Guide Jiedushi, and since then he has won many military merits, laying the foundation for the title of emperor. Zhao Kuangyin can achieve a hegemonic career, inseparable from Zhou Shizu's appreciation and promotion, it can be said that Zhou Shizu is Zhao Kuangyin's "Bole".
During the Five Dynasties period, there was an emperor known as the "First Ming Emperor of the Five Dynasties", who was very good at using talents, and said: "Use civil and military affairs, each performs his duty", this person is Zhou Shizong - Chai Rong. During Chai Rong's reign, he reorganized the army, reduced taxes, appeased refugees, and in the later Zhou Dynasty, the politics were clear, the people were rich, lived and worked in peace and contentment, and began to restore prosperity.
Chai Rong was the lord of Zhao Kuangyin all his life, the adopted son of Zhou Taizu, and later changed his name to Guo Rong, because both sons of Zhou Taizu Guo Wei were killed, so Chai Rong inherited the throne when Guo Wei died.
Zhao Kuangyin joined the army very early, the earliest under Guo Wei, Zhao Kuangyin was strong in force, brave in battle, repeatedly made military merits, and received Guo Wei's promotion and reuse, but at this time, Zhao Kuangyin had not yet had the opportunity to enter the center of power and could not participate in decision-making important affairs.
After Zhou Shizu succeeded to the throne, he was young and vigorous, and he personally marched against the Liao state and the Northern Han state, and Zhao Kuangyin was also among them, but at this time, Zhou Shizu did not know Zhao Kuangyin as a person.
In this battle, the Later Zhou soldiers were few, the Northern Han were numerous, the Chai Rong battlefield was inexperienced, and it was the first time that the imperial conquest was personally enlisted, so the morale of the troops was low, and the generals of the Right Army, Fan Aineng and He Hui, were powerless and timid, and they even fled with their troops shortly after the battle, and Later Zhou was defeated by the Northern Han Dynasty.
Chai Rong saw that the situation was critical and personally supervised the army, Zhao Kuangyin saw that the emperor was such a pioneer, and immediately killed the enemy heroically, the soldiers were encouraged, morale was greatly boosted, and later Zhou won a great victory.
At that time, Guo Wei's son-in-law Zhang Yongde served as the supreme commander of the Forbidden Army, and praised Zhao Kuangyin's performance in this battle, and Chai Rong promoted him to the position of Marquis of Yu. From then on, Chai Rong also admired Zhao Kuangyin, trusted him very much, and hoped to become such a heroic person as Zhao Kuangyin.
It is precisely because of Chai Rong's promotion that Zhao Kuangyin began to step onto the political stage in order to have later achievements, and it can be said that with Chai Rong, Zhao Kuangyin achieved the Great Song Dynasty.
Second, "forced" to claim the title of emperor
After the death of Chai Rong, Emperor Gong of Zhou succeeded to the throne, only seven years old, political instability, coupled with the Liao state and the northern Han invasion again, the imperial court had no way to do anything, the prime minister Fan Qian knew that only Zhao Kuangyin could solve the crisis, so he asked Zhao Kuangyin's opinion, but Zhao Kuangyin refused to send troops as a major general, and Fan Qian could only entrust the supreme military power to Zhao Kuangyin, and could mobilize the national army.
When Zhao Kuangyin led the army to Chen Qiaoyi, a rumor appeared in Kaifeng City: "On the day of the departure of the army, when the point is set up, he will be crown prince." Although most people did not believe this rumor, they panicked Chinese Wu. At that time, Zhou Shizu used this trick to remove Zhang Yongde from the position of inspection in front of the palace. Zhao Kuangyin knew that the emperor was suspicious and afraid of changing hands in the country, so he repeated the trick in order to cause panic, so that the army would absolutely obey his orders.
At nightfall, some of Zhao Kuangyin's cronies spread news among the soldiers: "Now that the emperor is young and weak, he cannot personally govern, and who knows that we are serving the country and destroying the enemy; if you first support Zhao Kuangyin as emperor, then set out on a northern expedition." The soldiers were all hot-blooded and brash people, and they were instantly instigated, and they all thought that it was very reasonable, and When Zhao Kuangyin's brother and Zhao Pu saw that the time was ripe, they draped the prepared yellow robe on Zhao Kuangyin, who pretended to drink more and had just woken up, and bowed to him, shouting long live, wanting to support Zhao Kuangyin as emperor.
Zhao Kuangyin pretended to be a prevaricator, and his words were full of compulsion: "You are greedy and rich, and you have established me as the Son of Heaven, and if you can take my life, you can do it, otherwise, I can't be the Lord." ”
The meaning of this sentence is that you are coveting glory and wealth, and you must proclaim me emperor, and since this is the case, you must obey my orders, otherwise I will not be this emperor. The soldiers immediately said that they obeyed their orders.
It was you who wanted me to be the emperor, not what I wanted to do, and I was helpless, and the words inside and outside were full of the meaning that I was forced to be the emperor. In the "History of Song", it is recorded that Zhao Kuangyin's cronies added a yellow robe after he was drunk and forced by his subordinates to become emperor. But is it really forced?
The yellow robe is the representative of the emperor, how can ordinary people have it? Moreover, the yellow robe cannot always be made on the spot, it must be prepared in advance. It can be seen that Zhao Kuangyin's claim to the emperor has been planned for a long time, and as for the record of the "History of Song", there is a certain degree of beautification of Zhao Kuangyin.
Third, restore China and create history
Zhao Kuangyin claimed to be the empress dowager, solemnly disciplined the military, did not insult the Later Zhou emperor, empress dowager, and ministers, nor did he burn and loot, so with the support of many officials, he easily took the capital of Later Zhou, Kaifeng, forced Emperor Gong to abdicate the throne, and established the Great Song State. In the long river of Chinese history, it is not surprising that a coup d'état occurred, but this mutiny, there was no blood flowing into the river, no harm to the people, a great dynasty established without bloodshed, which is a miracle.
After Zhao Kuangyin established the Northern Song Dynasty, he began to consolidate his power. He strengthened the centralization of power, reformed the military system, quelled the rebellion, took Jinghu, defeated Houshu, pacified the Jiangnan region, restored the unity of China, and "ended the chaotic situation of more than two hundred years since the Anshi Rebellion".
In addition, Zhao Kuangyin knew that his Jiangshan was taken from the hands of orphans and widows, and he was also afraid of this happening again, the Jiangshan changed hands, so he emphasized literature over martial arts, so the Song Dynasty was called "the world of the literati", and began to strengthen the centralization of power, strengthen the imperial power, and avoid excessive power under his hands to threaten his own rule.
Adopt the methods of "collecting elite soldiers, cutting real power, and making money valleys" and "releasing military power through a glass of wine" to receive local wealth and power from the central authorities. During the development of the feudal dynasty to the Song Dynasty, the centralization of power was further strengthened, but it also left the hidden danger of "poverty and weakness".
brief summary
All in all, Zhao Kuangyin established the Great Song Dynasty, and the Great Song achieved Zhao Kuangyin. During Zhao Kuangyin's reign, there were three things that had a profound impact.
The first is to quell the rebellious areas and basically unify China, so that the people can live in stability and live and work in peace and contentment.
The second is to strengthen the centralization of power, completely eliminate the local separatist forces, and there has never been a situation of division and division after the Song Dynasty, leaving valuable wealth for future rule.
The third is to attach importance to culture and production. Zhao Kuangyin pays attention to the people's livelihood and thinks about the people, he has repeatedly managed major rivers such as the Yellow River, greatly reducing the occurrence of floods and laying a good foundation for agricultural production and economic development.
After he ascended to power, he attached great importance to cultural dissemination, ordered the collection of books left over from various countries, bought books, calligraphy and paintings at a wide range and high prices, and granted certain official positions to book donors according to the value of the collection, which greatly stimulated the spread of culture at that time.
Reference: Ancient Chinese History
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