During the Northern Song Dynasty, there were several major doubts, which have always been the topic of everyone's talk, such as whether Zhao Kuangyin's yellow robe was an accident to catch ducks on the shelves or a premeditated rebellion; for example, on the night of the axe candle shadow, whether it was Zhao Guangyi's brother usurpation of the throne or the Zhao family's hereditary heart attack that caused Taizu to be violent.
A thousand years have passed, and the truth of these doubtful cases has also been buried in the fog of history, and it is difficult to get a glimpse of the truth of that year. However, for Zhao Kuangyin's yellow robe plus body, the later scholars have roughly the same view, and they all think that it is a play directed and performed by Song Taizu himself. However, for the second emperor of the Song Dynasty, Zhao Kuangyin's younger brother Zhao Guangyi, the ascension to the throne, views can be very different.
Some scholars believe that this is Zhao Erwolf's ambition, taking advantage of his brother's drunkenness to kill his brother and seize the throne. Some people held the opposite view, thinking that Zhao Guangyi was not so vicious, it was indeed Zhao Kuangyin who died of an acute illness, and before he died, he really entrusted the throne to this younger brother who had been experienced for a long time and had an imperial demeanor.
Personally, however, neither of these statements is necessarily accurate. First of all, it sounds ridiculous to say that Zhao Guangyi killed Zhao Kuangyin, a weak scholar who killed his brother who was born as a martial general, not to mention that Song Taizu is not an ordinary martial general, he is strong in martial arts, which is evidenced by sufficient historical data. Even if he was drunk at that time, it was not something that Zhao Guangyi, who had no power to tie the chicken, could easily solve it.
As for the active transmission of the younger brother, this credibility is even lower. Just before Zhao Kuangyin's violent death, there was an incident about moving the capital.
We know that the capital of the Northern Song Dynasty was Fenjing (Kaifeng), which was the world's premier metropolis at that time, and the prosperity and prosperity can be seen from the "Qingming River Map". The biggest advantage of Beijing is the convenience of water transportation, and the grain in the south can be transported to the capital at low cost, which is a good guarantee for the food problem in the capital.
However, the disadvantage is also obvious, the terrain is flat and flat, there is no danger to defend. Moreover, at that time, the largest barrier in the north, the Great Wall, was also in the hands of the Liao State. Therefore, Fenjing may face the nomadic armies in the north at any time. How could Song Taizu, the founding prince of the country with great strategic vision, not see this hidden danger, he had always had the idea of moving the capital, and the ideal place was Luoyang, the western capital at that time.
Luoyang is only more than a hundred kilometers away from Fengfeng, which greatly reduces the cost of moving the capital. The most important thing is that Luoyang has a wonderful terrain, surrounded by mountains and water, easy to defend and difficult to attack. There are natural dangers in the east, west, south and north. However, after all, the relocation of the capital was a major event related to the foundation of the country, so although Zhao Kuangyin came to Luoyang many times to investigate, he never made a decision. What really made him make up his mind was not the war, but his precious brother Zhao Guangyi.
Zhao Kuangyin was very fond of this younger brother, and gave him the position of Jing Zhaoyin, equivalent to the mayor of Kaifeng City. This contains the meaning of exercise and promotion, and Zhao Guangyi really does not live up to his brother's trust and conscientiously does his job. But the problem is that he is too dedicated. At that time, Kaifeng City was run by him with great sound and color, and the officials of all sizes were only Zhao Guangyi, and even the people of the capital only knew that there was Zhao Er, but did not know that there was Zhao Da.
Seeing all this, Zhao Kuangyin began to have a vague worry, as this way, sooner or later, this younger brother would not be able to fall, and who would be able to restrain himself after a hundred years. If you directly transfer your brother out of work or suppress him forcefully, it will not only give himself a bad reputation, but also affect the brotherly relationship of love and affection. How to achieve the goal without revealing traces, so Zhao Kuangyin is a headache.
However, Song Taizu was Song Taizu, and soon he thought of a wonderful way, that is, to move the capital. As long as the political center is transferred to Luoyang, then Zhao Guangyi's foundation will be uprooted. It's just that at this time, Zhao Kuangyin is not sure whether this younger brother who has always been in love and obedience has other ideas, maybe he blames him wrongly, people just simply love work.
Taking an opportunity, Zhao Kuangyin began to ask his brother for his opinion on the relocation of the capital. Zhao Guangyi strongly opposed it after hearing this, and this further strengthened Zhao Kuangyin's vigilance against his brother, and gradually saw through the inner thoughts of this younger brother.
Not long after, Zhao Kuangyin died of a violent illness, and the eunuch Wang Ji'en, who was guarding at the time, did not go to Zhao Defang, the fourth son of Taizu, but informed Zhao Guangyi, who was already waiting. So the first person to rush to the palace was Zhao Guangyi, and the throne fell into the hands of this younger brother.
From the capital relocation incident, we can see that Song Taizu did not intend to pass the throne to his brother, otherwise he would not have to go to such great lengths to test it, so this is a more logical version, and it can also be seen that Zhao Guangyi's years of painstaking management have already bought through the palace inside and outside the palace, even if everyone has doubts and speculations, but there is no real strong opposition, he also has a thrilling ascension to the throne.
For Zhao Guangyi's ascension to the throne, the most unhappy one must be Zhao Kuangyin's son. Emperor Taizong of Song had four sons, two of whom died prematurely, leaving only his eldest son Zhao Dezhao and his younger son Zhao Defang. At that time, both of them were adults, but they watched the throne slip away from their eyes, and they could only be angry at this uncle.
It should be said that from the moment Zhao Guangyi ascended the throne, the fate of the brothers was doomed, as long as these two people existed, Zhao Guangyi could never justifiably pass the throne to his son. No matter how well the two of them did, they could not escape the doom, but they did not expect the doom to come so quickly.
After ascending the throne, Zhao Guangyi was very ambitious and could be said to be the most ambitious of the two Song Dynasties. Because he was suspected of being in the wrong position, he was bent on proving himself and making himself more like a good emperor than his brother who was talented and ambitious. The best way is naturally war, if you can take back the Yanyun Sixteen Prefectures in the north that have been ceded for a long time, then you will become the object of praise of all the people, and the credit will go straight to the Qin Emperor Han Wu, and even become an emperor for thousands of years.
Driven by honor, this emperor, who had never been on the battlefield, fainted, he repeatedly launched wars against the Liao state, you must know that the famous generals of the Northern Song Dynasty at that time were like clouds, and the army was also an iron-blooded soldier who had been honed by five generations and ten countries, and his combat effectiveness was extremely strong. Unfortunately, the command is not strong, the tactics are problematic, and the result is always more defeat and less victory.
Once the eldest nephew Zhao Dezhao came to his uncle to ask for a reward for the soldiers in the Battle of Taiyuan, and Zhao Guangyi said hatefully: When you become emperor, it is not too late to reward. Zhao Dezhao was horrified after hearing this, and after retreating from the dynasty, he drew his sword and committed suicide.
Note that this was later revealed by Sima Guang in his book "The Tale of Shuishui". According to the saying in the main history, there is a lot of dog blood, and it is actually Zhao Dezhao who loves to eat fat pork, eats too much, and dies. Whether he was tired of dying or choking to death, I am afraid that even Shi Guan himself did not believe this.
The eldest nephew was scared to death like this, and zhao Guangyi's eyes were only left with the little nephew.
Compared with his brother Zhao Dezhao, poor Zhao Defang's death is even more unclear. Because the history books only say that he is only twenty-two years old and "Xue". Not even mentioned. How can a twenty-two young man not be suspicious of his inexplicable death? But we can't find a single bit of inside story in the wild history.
The only thing worth mentioning is that in the "Continuation of Zizhi Tongjian Long Edition", which is said to be necessary for the study of Song history, the author Li Tao used an intriguing word "卒".
The prince used "薨" when he died, and the doctor used "卒" when he died. The only explanation for how such a rigorous historian could make such a mistake is that the author is using the Spring and Autumn Brushwork to silently vent his dissatisfaction and his contempt for Zhao Guangyi.
However, the most interesting part of history is that no matter how hard Zhao Guangyi worked, he really did not expect it. After the Jing kang disaster, the Northern Song Dynasty was established after the fall of the Southern Song Dynasty, and its own vein was almost wiped out. In the end, the throne actually returned to the hands of Zhao Kuangyin, the seventh grandson of Zhao Kuangyin, the seventh grandson of Song Taizu, and the adopted son of Emperor Gaozong of Song, Zhao Xuan, who succeeded to the throne, that is, Song Xiaozong, and later until the fall of the Southern Song Dynasty, the throne belonged to Zhao Kuangyin.