«——【Preamble】】 ——»
Cultivating power, he succeeded Zhao Kuangyi, Taizong of the Song Dynasty, from a family of military generals, and his father Zhao was named Hongyin. It is said that when Zhao Kuangyi's mother Du Shi was pregnant with him, she dreamed at night that a god held a round of fiery red sun in both hands and handed it to her.
Soon, Duche became pregnant. When Zhao Kuangyi was born, the red light was like fire, and his body had a strange fragrance. Zhao Kuangyi has been outstanding since childhood, diligent and studious, and his eldest brother Zhao Kuangyin is very fond of Zhao Kuangyi, who is brave by nature.
Zhao Kuangyi followed his father and brother to fight in the south and north since he was a child, and when he was 18 years old, he followed Zhao Kuangyin to attack Waqiaoguan, Yingzhou and Mozhou.
Subsequently, Zhao Kuangyi, who was only 22 years old, actively acted as the leading role for Zhao Kuangyin in the process of Zhao Kuangyin's self-reliance on behalf of Zhou, and came forward as the brother of the party, communicated up and down, made friends with sergeants, and made great contributions to Zhao Kuangyin's yellow robe and the establishment of the Great Song Dynasty.
Therefore, after Zhao Kuangyin became the emperor, he reused Zhao Kuangyi, named Zhao Kuangyi as the Marquis of Yu in front of the palace, and led the defense envoy of Muzhou. For Zhao Kuangyi, the second son, his mother Empress Dowager Du is particularly fond of her, and at the same time she is very strict.
1. Cultivate forces and succeed to the great unification
Every time Zhao Guangyi went out, Empress Dowager Du always asked him to go with Zhao Pu, and portrayed the shadow of the sun and agreed to come back. Empress Dowager Du had far-reaching intentions in letting Zhao Kuangyi contact Zhao Puduo.
Zhao Pu is a knowledgeable person, Zhao Kuangyi can learn a lot of ways to do things through contact with Zhao Pu, and furthermore, Zhao Pu is an important minister of the state that Zhao Kuangyin relies on, and Zhao Kuangyi can consolidate and improve his status by making friends with people like Zhao Pu.
In May of the first year of Jianlong, Zhao Kuangyin personally conquered Ze and Luzhou, where the rebel Li Yun was stationed. When Zhao Kuangyin crusaded against Li Yun, he ordered Zhao Kuangyi to serve as the inspector of the inner capital and stay in Bianjing. In August, Zhao Kuangyin named Zhao Kuangyi as the envoy of the Taining Military Festival.
When Zhao Guangyi was the governor of Kaifeng, a Qingzhou man brought a beautiful woman in her teens to Beijing, and Zhao Guangyi wanted to pay for the woman, but the Qingzhou people firmly disagreed.
Zhao Guangyi had a man named An Xi under him, who used ulterior means to buy the Qingzhou woman back to Kaifeng Mansion. When Zhao Kuangyin learned of this, he ordered An Xi to be hunted down.
Zhao Kuangyin called to hunt down An Xi, but it was actually a warning to Zhao Guangyi. During the reign of Zhao Kuangyin, he paid great attention to strengthening the imperial power, and he had four sons in his life, all of whom were born before he ascended the throne, and the eldest son and the third son died tragically, leaving only the second son Dezhao and the youngest son Defang.
Zhao Kuangyin is in the prime of life, so he has not yet set up a prince, has not arranged an heir, and died mysteriously without wanting to. There is a saying. In August 976, Zhao Kuangyin went to Zhao Guangyi's house to drink, and after returning to the palace, he couldn't afford to get sick.
In the evening, Zhao Guangyi visited Zhao Kuangyin's dormitory, and Zhao Guangyi dismissed all the eunuchs and palace maids on the grounds of state secrets. The palace maids heard the intermittent conversation between the two outside Zhao Kuangyin's bedroom in a trance.
Soon, I saw the candle shadow in the dormitory swaying back and forth, as if I saw Zhao Guangyi leaving his seat and dodging, in the dormitory, under the candlelight, the figure swayed, and I heard the sound of the axe poking and Zhao Kuangyin's shout.
Just when the eunuchs and palace maids were puzzled, Zhao Guangyi strode out of the palace and ordered the palace maids to invite the queen and the prince. When the queen and others arrived, Zhao Kuangyin, who was 50 years old at the time, had already died.
The queen and the princes wailed in the face of Zhao Kuangyin's sudden death. Zhao Kuangyi then became the emperor, known as Song Taizong in history.
Regardless of whether Empress Dowager Du's edict is true or not, in the feudal hereditary system, it is unjustifiable for Zhao Kuangyi to inherit the throne as the emperor's younger brother.
And when Zhao Kuangyi succeeded to the throne, there was no young son mentioned in the edict of Empress Dowager Du, and Zhao Kuangyin's second son Zhao Dezhao was 26 years old at this time. However, the orphans and widows left behind by Zhao Kuangyin were powerless to prevent Zhao Kuangyi, who held great power, from ascending to the throne.
Zhao Kuangyi became the biggest beneficiary of Zhao Kuangyin's death, and Zhao Kuangyin's death is related to Zhao Kuangyi, which has become a fact. After Zhao Kuangyi ascended the throne, Zhao Kuangyin's two sons died one after another without explanation.
After ending the secession and defeating Zhao Kuangyi in Liao, he took the initiative to cut off Wu Yue's Qian Jiao and took the initiative to cut off Wu Yue's national name. Zhao Kuangyi named Qian Jiao as the king of Huaihai, and so far, the Song Dynasty unified the southern region.
In the autumn of the first year of Duangong, Zhuozhou, Xinle and other places were lost one after another, and the northern border alarm kept coming. In this regard, the ministers have their own opinions, some are the main peace, and some are the main battle.
The main peace faction led by Prime Minister Li Fang demanded that Taizong bend himself and sue for peace. The main battle faction led by You Zhengyan, Tobe Langzhong, Zhang Xun and others suggested that Zhao Kuangyi strengthen the military power of the generals and motivate the officers and men in the army in an attempt to recover the lost territory.
As for the Lord's Peace faction, Zhao Kuangyi himself could not accept the idea of humiliation and peace. For the main battle faction, Zhao Kuangyi's heart has lost the confidence and determination of the Northern Expedition.
Therefore, although Zhao Kuangyi rewarded the main battle faction with a large reward, he did not intend to put it into action. Zhao Kuangyi was preparing to reconcile with the Liao State, and the Song army switched from offensive to defensive against the Liao Dynasty, starting from Zhao Kuangyi.
From then on, the combat effectiveness of the Song army continued to weaken. At the beginning of Zhao Kuangyi's accession to the throne, in order to complete the great cause of unification, he attached great importance to military generals, but after many failures in the Liao invasion, he began to emphasize literature and light on military force.
2. Pay attention to the rule of culture and ensure the throne
Zhao Kuangyi has many unique features in terms of cultural governance. He not only created, repaired, and perfected the code system of the Song Dynasty, laid the foundation for the political, military, cultural, and economic systems of the Song Dynasty, but also perfected the imperial examination system that began in the Sui and Tang dynasties.
Zhao Kuangyi opened the door to the imperial examination to the vast number of literati and expanded the number of jinshi. The temple test is set as customized, and the temple test is "roll call" in front of the temple after the temple test. In order to prevent cheating, Zhao Kuangyi ordered the implementation of the method of sealing the name of the examination papers.
Zhao Kuangyi attaches great importance to cultural undertakings, from the five dynasties, Zhaowen Museum, History Museum, Jixian Courtyard are located in the northeast of Shi Changqing Gate, the three museums only have dozens of huts, the conditions are very poor.
Whenever the three halls were edicted to write, they had to be moved elsewhere. After Zhao Kuangyi ascended the throne, he saw that the three halls were so shabby, and chose the northeast Chefu land of Zuosheng Longmen as the new site of the three halls.
Zhao Kuangyi personally planned a Dongzi palace comparable to the imperial palace for the three pavilions, and ordered craftsmen to build it day and night.
Soon after Zhao Kuangyi succeeded to the throne, he ordered Li Fang, Hu Meng, and others to compile the "Taiping Guangji", "Taiping Yulan" and "Wenyuan Yinghua", valuable materials for future generations to study ancient Chinese history and literature.
These three books record many lost ancient classics, and Zhao Kuangyi is diligent in his administration. In order to continuously consolidate the rule of the Song Dynasty, Zhao Kuangyi personally selected talents to govern the country and the country.
He observed his talents in the summons and question answers, and promoted and reused the excellent. Zhao Kuangyi went to the Changchun Hall early every morning to receive the court, and after listening to the reports of the civil and military officials, he hurried to the Chongzheng Hall to deal with the country's political affairs.
By noon, he hadn't had time to eat breakfast. Zhao Kuangyi did not like safaris, so he ordered the release of the eagle dogs raised in Wufang, and ordered all localities not to offer safari animals.
Zhao Kuangyi has a deep Xi in calligraphy, he has been instructed by famous masters since he was a child, coupled with diligent practice, he has a deep foundation in calligraphy. Zhao Kuangyi adopted a tolerant attitude towards religion.
Buddhism was very popular in the south, so after the founding of the Northern Song Dynasty, a policy of protection was adopted for Buddhism. Although Zhao Kuangyi himself emphasized Taoism and despised Buddhism. However, he believed that Buddhism was good for politics and advocated it.
He not only successively built temples in Wutai Mountain, Tiantai Mountain and other places, but also set up a translation institute in Kaifeng to interpret Buddhist scriptures. In order to maintain social stability and prevent cases from being delayed, Zhao Kuangyi stipulated.
Major cases must be completed within 40 days, medium cases must be completed within 30 days, small cases must be completed within 10 days, and cases that are easy to handle without pursuit cannot exceed 3 days.
Zhao Kuangyi felt the lesson of the eunuch dictatorship since the Tang Dynasty, and believed that eunuchs interfering in politics was a taboo in the country, and the management of eunuchs was very strict. The prime ministers appointed are all upright men.
Once, Kou Zhun played something to Zhao Kuangyi, Zhao Kuangyi got up angrily to leave, and the upright Kou Zhun grabbed Zhao Kuangyi's sleeve and asked him to sit back in his seat until the matter was decided.
Zhao Kuangyi sighed to people afterwards: "Kou Zhun is the real prime minister!" In order to prevent rebellion and ensure the throne, Zhao Kuangyi not only guarded against the dictatorship of military generals, but also guarded against his own people.
In the battle of the Gaoliang River, Zhao Dezhao, the son of Taizu, went to Youzhou with the army. After the defeat of the Song army, Zhao Kuangyi and the main force of the Song army were separated, and the soldiers suspected that the emperor had been killed, thinking that the country could not be left without an owner for a day, so they secretly discussed the establishment of Dezhao as the emperor.
After learning the news that Zhao Kuangyi was alive, this matter was stopped. However, this incident violated Zhao Kuangyi's taboo, and he was very unhappy.
According to the Xi of fighting in the past, after returning to the division, the army should be rewarded according to its merits. And this time, the army returned to the division for many days, and Zhao Kuangyi did not order a reward.
Therefore, the generals in the army could not help but express their grievances. Dezhao then saw Zhao Kuangyi and asked for rewards for the generals in the army. Zhao Kuangyi didn't wait for him to finish speaking, and said angrily: "The general of the defeated army, what merit is there to speak of, and what reward is there?"
After hearing this, Dezhao argued: "Although the conquest of Liao failed, the Northern Han Dynasty was pacified, and Your Majesty should reward the generals according to their merits." Zhao Kuangyi roared angrily: "Then wait until you become the emperor!"
Dezhao, who was in a delicate situation, bowed his head in fear, realizing that his uncle suspected him of having the intention of seizing the throne. When he returned to his lodgings, he committed suicide by slitting his neck. After Zhao Kuangyi ascended the throne, Zhao Guangmei changed his name to Tingmei in order to avoid secrecy.
Tingmei's son and daughter are also called princes and princesses like Zhao Kuangyi's sons and daughters. Soon, there was public opinion in the outside world that Zhao Kuangyi would pass the throne to Tingmei after a hundred years, but Tingmei didn't think much about it after hearing it.
A year after Toku-jo's suicide, Taejo's other son, Deku-fang, who was only 23 years old, died inexplicably, much to Tingmei's great uneasiness.
One day, Zhao Kuangyi's former aides Chai Yuxi, Zhao Rong, Yang Shouyi and others reported to Zhao Kuangyi that Tingmei was secretly seeking self-reliance, and said that Lu Duosun had a great deal to do with this matter. So Zhao Kuangyi ordered Zhao Pu Micha Tingmei.
In order to win Zhao Kuangyi's favor, Zhao Pu had no choice but to attack Tingmei. Soon, Zhao Puyu reported that Lu Duoxun's private officials colluded with Tingmei, and said that Lu Duosun hoped that Zhao Kuangyi would die, and Tingmei would ascend the throne, and Tingmei secretly gave Lu Duosun bows and arrows and other things.
Zhao Kuangyi was furious and ordered Lu Duoxun to be arrested and imprisoned, and Tingmei was demoted to the magistrate of Fuling County. Tingmei became depressed and became ill, and soon died of illness in Fangzhou.
3. Summary
Taizong's eldest son is named Yuan Zuo, born to Concubine Li, this son not only looks very much like Zhao Kuangyi, but also has been smart since he was a child, and he is deeply loved by Zhao Kuangyi.
When Yuan Zuo grew up, he was proficient in martial arts, good at riding and shooting, and once followed Zhao Kuangyi to the north. When his uncle Tingmei offended Zhao Kuangyi, Yuan Zuo tried his best to rescue him, but he was reprimanded by Zhao Kuangyi many times.
After learning of Tingmei's death, Motozo was extremely sad and angry, causing a madness. The person next to him made a small mistake, and Yuan Zuo slashed and killed with a sword in his hand. The ladies of the court passed by and were often killed by him with arrows.
Zhao Kuangyi personally reprimanded Yuan Zuo many times, and Yuan Zuo not only remained the same, but also became even more powerful. Zhao Kuangyi was very worried about this, and under the diagnosis and treatment of the imperial doctor, Yuan Zuo improved slightly.
Zhao Kuangyi was relieved and ordered an amnesty to the world. One day, Zhao Kuangyi sent his ministers and kings to Li Fang's house for a banquet, but because Yuan Zuo was not well at this time, he did not let him participate.
When Yuan Zuo learned of this, he was furious and set a fire in his yard, and for a while black smoke billowed and the flames soared into the sky. Zhao Kuangyi heard that there was a fire in the palace of the king of Chu, guessed that it was Yuan Zuo, and ordered the imperial history to inquire, and Yuan Zuo confessed according to the truth.
Taizong was furious and ordered to cut off Yuan Zuo's title, abolish him as a concubine, and distribute Junzhou. Under the repeated requests of hundreds of officials, Zhao Kuangyi placed Yuan Zuo under the guardianship of Nangong. In 997, 59-year-old Zhao Kuangyi died, and Yuan Kan was made the crown prince.