Zhao Kuangyin was the founding emperor of the Northern Song Dynasty, and his temple name was Taizu of Song. The way he ascended to the throne was very special, that is, the famous "yellow robe plus body" in history, which usurped the throne of the Northern Zhou Emperor in this way. At that time, Zhao Kuangyin was supported by the soldiers, and also promised not to kill anyone in the process of seizing the throne, so they also entered the imperial city of Northern Zhou very smoothly.
However, after entering the city, Zhao Kuangyin's general Wang Yansheng killed the general Han Tong, and Zhao Kuangyin also acquiesced to this operation. The main reason why Zhao Kuangyin broke his promise was Han Tong's personality and his ideas against Zhao Kuangyin's claim to the throne.
(1) Han Tong: Repeatedly built up his military exploits and was deeply favored by the emperor, and his personality was easy to offend people
Han Tong was a general of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, who began his military career before the age of twenty, and fought very bravely, always following Guo Wei and Chai Rong. During the reign of Emperor Chai Rong of Zhou Shizong, he was a lieutenant of the inspectorate and was deeply favored by the emperor. He also accompanied the army many times, and had made many achievements in the wars against the Khitan and Jinguo, and was a close confidant under Chai Rong.
Han Tong has a very unpopular feature, that is, his personality is too rigid and easy to offend people. According to legend, Han Tong has a very famous nickname, called "Han Blind Eye". Why do others call him that?
It is because Han Tong has a bad temper, once others do things that are not in line with their own wishes, they will look at others angrily, and over time, Han Tong will offend more and more people, and he has been given a very derogatory nickname. Fortunately, Han Tong was upright and honest, and he was still relatively incorruptible as an official, so he was deeply trusted by the emperor, and it was difficult for political enemies to target him.
(2) Tried to organize forces to resist Zhao Kuangyin's ascension to the throne, but was killed by Wang Yansheng
Another characteristic of Han Tong is that he is not good at being flexible in his heart and has a very serious idea of loyalty to the king. Therefore, after Zhao Kuangyin's yellow robes were added, he secretly organized forces to prepare to rebel against Zhao Kuangyin as emperor. In the end, the matter was revealed, and was detected by Zhao Kuangyin's general Wang Yansheng, who beheaded Han Tong and cut him all over the door.
However, Wang Yansheng's behavior undoubtedly violated Zhao Kuangyin's commitment not to kill people. However, after Zhao Kuangyin knew about this matter, he did not punish Wang Yansheng, who committed suicide privately, but quietly suppressed the matter, and finally failed. Therefore, later generations deduced that Wang Yansheng was likely to have obtained Zhao Kuangyin's secret instructions.
This is because Zhao Kuangyin knows Han Tong very well and also has the motive to kill Han Tong. Han Tong's untamed temperament, combined with his idea of loyalty, made it difficult for him to be truly loyal to himself. Coupled with the fact that Han Tong is good at leading troops and has certain military capabilities, if he exists, his throne is not only unstable, but even the newly established Northern Song Dynasty is likely to fall into crisis. In order to achieve a smooth transition of power and a firm foothold for the new dynasty, Zhao Kuangyin really needed to get rid of Han Tong.
It can be seen that Zhao Kuangyin's promise not to kill people after "yellow robe plus body" is mainly to stabilize people's hearts and let everyone support themselves. However, everything is forbidden, and Han Tong's existence and his actions have seriously threatened Zhao Kuangyin's throne, so it is not surprising that Han Tong ended up with a different head and a full door.