What is history: it is the echo of the past to the future, the reflection of the future on the past. - Hugo
Emperor Chai Rong of Zhou Shizong was the adopted son of Guo Wei, the grandfather of later Zhou, and was a brilliant emperor who was known as the "First Ming Emperor of the Five Dynasties". At the beginning of Chai Rong's reign, he once said to the prime minister Wang Pu: "If as Qing qing said, it is enough to open up the world in ten years, to feed the people in ten years, and to bring peace in ten years." ”
Unfortunately, Chai Rongcai was emperor for less than six years, and he died young, only 38 years old, and did not have enough time to unify the world and create a prosperous world. Then, if Chai Rong can live for another thirty years, will he be able to unify the world and establish a great unified dynasty as powerful as the Han and Tang Dynasties?
If Chai Rong could live an extra thirty years, his exploits would be comparable to those of Liu Bang, the ancestor of Han Gao—this is not my point of view, but the words of Emperor Zhao of Song. According to the "Long Passage of The Continuation of Zizhi Tongjian", Song Shenzong once lamented that "Zhou Shizongcheng started a business and made meritorious heroes, saying that "in the year of heavenly leave, his deeds can be compared with that of Han Gaozu".
In fact, except for Song Shenzong, most of his contemporaries with Zhou Shizong believed that he had the strength to unify the world. The Song Dynasty historians after Zhou Shizong also praised Zhou Shizong, and even Sima Guang commented that he was "if Zhou Shizong, it can be said to be benevolent", although the Song Taizu Zhao Kuangyin usurped Chai Zongxun, the son of Zhou Shizong ("Ren" is the highest evaluation of the emperor by Confucian scholars).
So, what great achievements did Zhou Shizong create that could be highly praised by all?
Although Zhou Shizong reigned for only six short years, during these six years, externally, he defeated Hou Shu in the west, marched against southern Tang in the west, and youyan in the northern expedition, and made great achievements in battle; externally, he straightened out the administration of officials, selected talents, developed the economy, and revised laws, and achieved remarkable results.
Six years was simply not enough for an ordinary emperor who aspired to be an accomplished person, and Zhou Shizong used this period of six years to make Later Zhou, both economically and militarily, the most powerful country at that time, and the territory was greatly expanded, laying a solid foundation for the establishment of the Northern Song Dynasty. It can even be said that the Northern Song Dynasty was established, developed and expanded under the achievements of Zhou Shizong.
We know that the Northern Song Dynasty, which inherited the achievements of Zhou Shizong, failed to unify the world, so if Zhou Shizong could live for an extra thirty years, why could he unify the world?
First of all, Zhou Shizong's xiongcai was roughly above Zhao Kuangyin, especially military ability.
According to historical records, Zhou Shizong was "handsome in appearance and good at riding and shooting", and in his early years he followed Guo Wei, the grandfather of Later Zhou, and made great achievements in battle; after inheriting the throne, he repeatedly rode in the imperial conquest and won several great victories, reflecting his outstanding military ability.
On the other hand, Zhao Kuangyin, no matter how much the Song Dynasty Shichen boasted about him, the Taizu Emperor who presented people was only a warrior who bravely crowned the three armies, and although his military strategy and strategic vision were far beyond those of ordinary people, there was still a gap compared with zhou Shizong, who was brilliant and strategic.
As for Zhao Guangyi, the Emperor Taizong of Song who succeeded Zhao Kuangyin, known as the "God of the Gaoliang River Car", the old man sharply commented on him, "This man did not know the soldiers, was not a Khitan opponent, and then repeatedly lost." However, he also felt good about himself, liked to remotely control the front-line generals, and also made the so-called "Pingrong Wanquan Array Map", ordering the front-line generals to fight according to the instructions in the map.
Some scholars believe that if Zhao Kuangyin, the grandfather of the Song Dynasty, lived for one or two more years, it would be possible to unify the world. Zhao Guangyi was not good at war, but also extremely conceited, liked to interfere in front-line wars, and the great cause of the unification of the Song Dynasty could be said to have been buried by Song Taizong. If Chai Rong could live for another thirty years, even Song Taizu would not appear, and naturally there would be no Song Taizong who would corrupt the big things.
Secondly, Zhou Shizong did not usurp the throne and ascended the throne, and he would not release his military power with a glass of wine.
Zhao Kuangyin's cup of wine to release military power has always been regarded as a model for treating meritorious heroes well. It is true that from the perspective of the hero, and even from the perspective of Zhao Kuangyin's personal interests, the power of ice wine to release the army is quite clever. However, for the great cause of unification of the Northern Song Dynasty, it was very stupid.
Zhao Kuangyin's release of military power occurred in 961 AD, that is, the second year of his reign, when the Northern Song Dynasty was surrounded by strong enemies, and it was precisely when it was necessary to use military generals to pacify the world, but Zhao Kuangyin dismissed all these top generals from military power, which undoubtedly seriously affected the great cause of unification of the Northern Song Dynasty.
In this regard, we may wish to give an example, in the year when Zhu Yuanzhang was proclaimed emperor, there were many political powers in the south, and the Yuan Dynasty still dominated the north, if Zhu Yuanzhang also followed Zhao Kuangyin's example in relieving the military power of the military generals and relieving Xu Da, Tang He, Deng Yu, Fu Youde, Lan Yu and others of their military power, may I ask, can Zhu Yuanzhang still unify the world?
If Zhou Shizong lived, Zhao Kuangyin would not usurp the throne, Zhou Shizong, who had legally succeeded to the throne, would not have drunk a cup of wine and released his military power, and the famous generals who were brave and good at war would be like clouds, and Zhao Kuangyin himself would also become his fierce generals, obviously, the military strength of Later Zhou would be far above that of the Northern Song Dynasty.
In the end, Zhou Shizong would not formulate a national policy of emphasizing literature over force (at least not until the world was pacified).
During the reign of Zhou Shizong, there was a very important decision, that is, to rectify the forbidden army. According to the Zizhi Tongjian, in the first year of Zhou Shizong's reign, he issued an edict to eliminate the old and weak of the forbidden army, and ordered Zhao Kuangyin to recruit heroes from all over the world, "to personally try to read, to select those who are superb in martial arts and have heads, and to divide the classes in front of the palace", so that the Later Zhou army had a new look, and the history said that "the soldiers are strong, the modern era is incomparable, the conquest is in all directions, and all directions are successful."
After Zhao Kuangyin ascended the throne, what he did was almost the opposite of Zhou Shizong. It is true that at the beginning of the Northern Song Dynasty, Zhao Kuangyin also selected the forbidden army according to strict criteria, and there was no shortage of brave men in the forbidden army. However, the Northern Song Forbidden Army was more like a shelter for unstable elements, and in order to prevent rebellion, Zhao Kuangyin included local idle and troublemakers into the forbidden army, making the forbidden army not only large in scale, but also demoralized.
Before his death, Zhou Shizong said that the army was not in much order, and he would rather have fewer forbidden troops, and also ensure the quality of the forbidden army's soldiers and the overall combat effectiveness. Therefore, the Later Zhou Forbidden Army was refined and strong, while the Northern Song Forbidden Army was many and weak, the latter not only did not have strong combat effectiveness, but also spent huge military expenditures, seriously dragging down the national economy.
The key is also that Zhou Shizong and Zhao Kuangyin's strategy toward the forbidden army embodies two distinct styles of governance, the former is determined to create and heavy martial arts, and the latter is more focused on keeping the work and emphasizing literature over martial arts. These two governing styles also made the military combat effectiveness of the Later Zhou and Northern Song Dynasties incomparable.
Therefore, we have reason to believe that if Zhou Shizong lived for an extra thirty years, it was very likely that the world would be unified.
Zhou Shizong unified the world, and the strongest opponent was undoubtedly the Khitans, so could Zhou Shizong defeat the Khitans?
Before answering this question, it must be emphasized that the Khitan is not as strong as people think, and its strength is to some extent set off by the weak military strength of the Northern Song Dynasty. During the Five Dynasties period, Liu Rengong of Youzhou and Li Cunxun of later Tang Zhuangzong both "pressed the Khitan to the ground and rubbed it".
The last battle in Zhou Shizong's life was the Northern Expedition to the Khitan (which had been renamed Liao at that time). In this battle, the Later Zhou army was really like a broken bamboo, only forty-two days, the soldiers did not bloodshed, and they collected three passes and three states in a row, a total of seventeen counties. Unfortunately, just as Zhou Shizong was full of ambition and preparing to continue to attack Youzhou north, he unfortunately fell ill and died two months later.
Later Zhou only understood the development of Zhou Shizong for more than five years, and the Later Zhou army only underwent more than five years of reform and training by Zhou Shizong, creating a military miracle of defeating the Khitan and taking three passes and three states in a row.