On the first day of the first lunar month in 960, the Later Zhou court received an urgent report that the Northern Han Dynasty and the Khitan rebellion had invaded the country and would soon be under the city of Kaifeng. At this time, the Later Zhou Emperor was an 8-year-old child, his father was the famous Chai Rong, he obviously did not have the ability to handle the government, and the important ministers Wang Pu and Fan Zhi made a decision after consultation: send Zhao Kuangyin to lead the army to the expedition!
At this time, Zhao Kuangyin was the commander of the Later Zhou Forbidden Army, and after receiving the order, he first selected the generals to go on the expedition, and then sent his deputy Murong Yanzhao to lead a small number of soldiers as the vanguard. On the third day of the first lunar month, Zhao Kuangyin led a large army to leave the capital of Later Zhou, Kaifeng, and marched to the front line. Strangely enough,
When Zhao Kuangyin led the army to Chen Qiaoyi, 40 miles away from Kaifeng, he suddenly ordered to stop advancing and set up camp on the spot. That night, Zhao Kuangyin drank a meal of wine, and it looked like he was drunk, and the famous general who had experienced hundreds of battles returned to his big tent and fell asleep
The generals and soldiers also performed their duties.
Just as Zhao Kuangyin was sleeping, his loyal generals gathered and seemed to be plotting something. They first found Zhao Kuangyin's younger brother Zhao Guangyi, saying that the current emperor was only an 8-year-old child, and he did not know how hard the soldiers in front of him were, and it was better to support the inspection as a heavenly son. Zhao Guangyi already had this meaning, he immediately found Zhao Pu, the two hit it off, and the generals quickly reached a consensus and waited for Zhao Kuangyin to appear.
Soon after, Zhao Kuangyin "woke up", he woke up really at the right time, the generals had planned it, and he just walked out of the big tent. At this time, Zhao Pu and Zhao Guangyi led a large number of generals to welcome Zhao Kuangyin to a chair, and then suddenly took out a yellow robe to put on him, and everyone brushed and fell to their knees and shouted long live! Zhao Kuangyin was "forced by helplessness" to accept the support of the generals, and then immediately led his troops back to Kaifeng City, "coincidentally" the generals who defended the city were Zhao Kuangyin's brothers Shi Shouxin and Wang Zhenqi, and his large army entered the city smoothly without any obstacles. On the fourth day of the first lunar month, Zhao Kuangyin forced the 8-year-old young emperor to take the throne and ascended the throne himself.
If you count from the time Zhao Kuangyin received the order to go out on the expedition, until he returned to Kaifeng City to claim the title of emperor, only 3 days passed, and in the whole process, only 1 minister named Han Tong was killed, and his ascension to the throne was so fast that the civilization of means was unprecedented in history. So, is Zhao Kuangyin really just drinking a drink, then sleeping, waking up and becoming an emperor?
In fact, it can be seen from the 3 details that Zhao Kuangyin was premeditated. first
Zhao Kuangyin was a famous general who had experienced hundreds of battles, he ruled the army extremely strictly, and he was particularly cautious and careful, how could he drink on the eve of the big war and fall asleep on the bed?
Second, Zhao Kuangyin had sent his own cronies to guard the border on behalf of Zhen a few months earlier, and the day before the army had sent Murong Yanzhao to the Heshuo region, these two men had actually led troops to control the entire north of the Yellow River, and as long as he gave an order, they could lead the troops to Kaifeng, and the Later Zhou court was already facing a huge threat. There is also a very important reason, the Khitan and The Northern Han army is false news. According to the History of Liao,
During the period when Zhao Kuangyin was dressed in yellow robes, there was a civil unrest within the Liao state, a very powerful prince openly opposed the imperial court, and the Khitans spent many months to settle the matter, and there was no time to take care of the affairs of the south.
It can be seen from this that when Chai Rong was alive, Zhao Kuangyin had already cultivated cronies in the army, and as soon as this short-lived emperor died, he immediately began to plot to usurp the throne.
As for the generals' support incident, it is just a play directed by Zhao Kuangyin, because he does not want to bear a notoriety, and when everyone comes together to take on this responsibility, his psychological pressure and guilt will be less.
However, it is also a good thing that Zhao Kuangyin can inherit the throne, after all, it is obviously better to hand over the government to an 8-year-old child than to a 34-year-old adult. Facts have proved that Zhao Kuangyin was a good emperor who was both literate and martial, and the Great Song Dynasty he founded is still respected by many people to this day.