In the sixth year of Zhou Xiande (959), this was the sixth year of Chai Rong's ascension to the throne.
Of course, Chai Rong is not fighting alone, there are also a group of former ministers of the Qiandi, especially Wang Pu.
Wang Pu is a late bloomer, although the ability is strong, but never entered the center of power, until the death of Zheng Renzhi, the founder of the Later Zhou Dynasty, he became the prime minister, this year is the third year of Xiande (956), and Wang Pu is already over fifty years old.
Five generations of troubled times, you can't work hard if you don't work hard
Perhaps it was only in middle age that he was able to display his ambitions, Wang Pu cherished this opportunity that could go down in history, and continued to give advice to Chai Rong, and the "Pingbian Policy" that pacified the world was dedicated to Chai Rong.
Not only that, in addition to government affairs, he is also proficient in astronomical etiquette, rules and regulations, and water conservancy architecture, which can be described as an all-rounder.
Chai Rong also trusts him very much, and arranges for Wang Pu to stay behind after each personal expedition, which can be said to be the relationship between Wang Pu and Chai Rong, just like the relationship between Xiao He and Liu Bang, Zhuge Liang and Liu Bei.
However, it was such an important minister, but he suddenly died violently, which made Chai Rong sad.
Wang Pu did not have any hidden diseases before, and even went to the river control site in March.
On 15 March, when he returned to Beijing after completing the inspection, he happened to pass by the home of his friend Sikong Li Gu, who was sick at home at this time, and Wang Pu planned to pay a visit.
Wang Pu
Unexpectedly, just after saying a few words, Wang Pu suddenly fell to the ground unconscious, and when he was sent home, he was already out of breath.
The old minister who was his right-hand man died suddenly, and Chai Rong, who learned the news, was first taken aback, and then cried bitterly, not only giving Wang Pu a very high glory behind him, but also crying loudly several times in the mourning hall where he bid farewell to Wang Pu, regardless of the emperor's identity.
Although Wang Pu died, but the long-cherished wish to pacify the world continued, only four days later, Chai Rong planned to send troops, this thought he wanted to recover Yanyun, seek a stable rear for Hou Zhou, and then pacify the southern countries.
First ordered Yiwu Jiedu to send Sun Xingyou to Dingzhou to prevent the harassment of the Northern Han Dynasty from participating in the war.
Then it was arranged for the Xuanhui Southern Yuan to temporarily lead Wu Yanzuo to stay in Tokyo, and the three envoys Zhang Mei to be deployed in the inner capital to maintain the operation of the rear of the capital.
After these appointments continued, Chai Rong ordered Du Yu to wait for Han Tong as the main general, and generals Gao Huaide and Zhang Duo as deputy generals, and went north along the Grand Canal to dredge the river and ensure the transportation of materials.
After making preparations, Chai Rong led Zhao Kuangyin and others along the Grand Canal to Cangzhou on March 29 to join Zhang Yongde on the front line.
Six years of Xiande, the territory of the Later Zhou (Source: Shi Tu Museum)
On April 16, Chai Rong, who had just arrived in Cangzhou, directly led tens of thousands of soldiers and horses to directly attack the Liao border, forcing Hong Xiancheng, the assassin of Ningzhou in Liao, to surrender.
Then all the way to push flat, conquered Yijin Pass, Waqiao Pass, so far the south of the two passes of Yingzhou, Mozhou completely lost contact with the Liao State, the two state guards saw that the general trend has gone, directly surrendered the city.
On this day, only forty-two days have passed since Chai Rong's edict was issued, and it can be said that the army is advancing rapidly.
It's just that this time in person, Chai Rong has not yet encountered the main force of the Liao State, if he continues to advance north, then the two sides will inevitably break out a big battle with the main force of the Liao army in Youzhou.
Whether to win or lose determines the future fate of Zhou and Liao, so Chai Rong is also extremely cautious.
On the second day of the first month of May, Chai Rong hosted a banquet for the generals in the camp to discuss the plan for the next attack on Youzhou.
Chai Rong
I thought it was a one-sided discussion on how to attack Youzhou, but I didn't expect that during the banquet, many generals dissuaded Chai Rong from attacking.
This made Chai Rong very unhappy, Chai Rong thought that at this time, the army was booming, and it was a good time to attack Liao, how could he give up halfway?
Seeing that Chai Rong was angry, the generals did not squeak, and the originally lively banquet suddenly began to fall silent.
Since Chai Rong did not agree to withdraw his troops, he could only continue to attack.
The next day, Chai Rong ordered Liu Chongjin to be the pioneer and stationed in Gu'an County, which was only 100 miles away from Youzhou.
However, the night before the attack on Youzhou, Chai Rong actually fell ill, and he was not lightly ill, so sick that he could not continue to command the expedition.
This is also too coincidental, it is obvious that he can directly attack Youzhou, but he was rejected by the generals first, and after Chai Rong insisted on attacking, he suddenly fell ill and had to give up the plan to attack.
It can be said that this disease not only came suddenly, but also came quite coincidentally, how could it be so cooperative with the opposing generals?
Thinking of Wang Pu's violent death a few months ago, it has to make people wonder.
I think that Wang Pu said the bold words of "Park is here, then the Zhou Dynasty is here", if some people want to seek power and usurp the throne, they must kill Wang Pu first, and now that Wang Pu is dead, it seems that the next one can only be Chai Rong.
To be honest, Chai Rong was already suspicious at this time, after all, he was too familiar with this routine.
In the past five generations, which dynasty has the Son of Heaven ascended to the throne, and did not all rely on coups d'état?
In the past five generations, which dynasty has the Son of Heaven ascended to the throne, and did not all rely on coups d'état?
Obviously, in the Later Zhou army, some people have already begun to hold back, but who it is, Chai Rong doesn't know, so he can only wait to return to Beijing to investigate, rash investigation will only cause chaos, maybe he misunderstands the real henchman, but lets go of the traitorous minister?
Of course, there are still some preparations that need to be made before returning to Beijing.
On the fifth day of the first month of May, the sick Chai Rong ordered to set up Xiongzhou in Waqiao Pass and Bazhou in Yijin Pass, and then let Han Tong be responsible for repairing the city and becoming the front line to resist the Liao State.
On the way to the class, the short-sighted Northern Han sent troops, and as soon as they touched in, they were chased and beaten by Li Chongjin's army, and they were chased and beaten by Li Chongjin, and they were chased to Baijing near Taiyuan, the capital of the Northern Han Dynasty, and Li Yun conquered Liaozhou in the Northern Han Dynasty.
But they are just teaching a lesson, after all, Chai Rong's condition has worsened, and the political situation in Hou Zhou is a little unpredictable, and they must go back to prevent a situation that is unfavorable to them.
Sure enough, after Chai Rong arrived in Lanzhou, a major event happened: Zhang Yongde was deposed.
The reason was that Chai Rong didn't leave after being stationed in Lanzhou, and he couldn't meet with the ministers for several days.
Zhang Yongde took control of the forbidden army
This caused many people to worry, after all, Chai Rong was seriously ill, in case of sudden death, the crown prince was young, and the future Zhou would inevitably fall into civil strife, so everyone discussed, let Zhang Yongde, who could still enter the inner court, persuade Chai Rong to return to Beijing as soon as possible.
Zhang Yongde also thought it was right, and immediately took the opportunity to see Chai Rong to persuade him to return to Beijing quickly, but this advice was a bit harsh.
It turned out that Zhang Yongde said that the world was undecided, and His Majesty was seriously ill, and some people took advantage of this opportunity to plan to make trouble, but His Majesty stopped in Lanzhou and refused to return to Beijing.
To be honest, the words are not rough, but they are so harsh in Chai Rong's eyes.
After all, a seriously ill person is most afraid of others saying the word "death", and Zhang Yongde is so coincidental that he caught "death" and said, how can Chai Rong be happy?
immediately asked Zhang Yongde, who asked him to say it, after all, in Chai Rong's eyes, Zhang Yongde couldn't say such a thing.
Zhang Yongde is also honest, and directly said that the ministers outside said so, and the angry Chai Rong scolded, thinking that Zhang Yongde was so shallow and ignorant, how could he be worthy of the position of inspection.
In this way, Zhang Yongde was removed from the position of the inspection in front of the palace, although he was given two official positions of Ping Zhangshi and Taiwei of the same school, but the inspection in front of the palace was in control of the forbidden army, which was equivalent to directly excluding Zhang Yongde from the core of the highest power.
From this point of view, Chai Rong's first object of suspicion is actually Zhang Yongde.
Zhang Yongde has always been Chai Rong's most trusted general, and he is a royal relative, even if that advice is not very popular, but at least it is kind, and it is not a matter at all for Chai Rong, who is known for his fairness.
But now that Chai Rong is seriously ill, he even feels that he is really dying, and he begins to plan for his son to sit firmly in the country.
The crown prince Chai Zongxun is only six years old, a six-year-old young master, placed in a peaceful and prosperous era, it may be no problem, but in the troubled times of five generations, isn't it for nothing to give others the country?
The six-year-old young master, placed in a peaceful and prosperous world, may be fine
Therefore, Chai Rong began to guess who was most likely to threaten Chai Zongxun's status after his death? Naturally, it is Li Chongjin and Zhang Yongde, Li Chongjin is in charge of the guard army, and Zhang Yongde is in charge of the palace army, not only with heavy troops, but also close relatives of the royal family, and have prestige and military exploits, and are natural threats to the imperial power.
Whether or not they are behind the scenes, these two people must stay away from military power.
Therefore, the first to be deprived of military power was Zhang Yongde, and the one who took over the position of the capital inspection was naturally Chai Rong's confidant - Zhao Kuangyin.
For Chai Rong, although Zhao Kuangyin has made outstanding achievements in recent years, after all, his qualifications are still shallow, his prestige is limited, and he is not a close relative of the royal family, so he doesn't look like a person to focus on.
In that case, let's promote him to the head of the forbidden army.
With the withdrawal of Zhang Yongde, the personnel of the palace army began to change, among which the important capital inspection was held by Zhao Kuangyin, the deputy capital inspection was served by Murong Yanzhao, the commander of the inspection was served by Shi Shouxin, and the palace capital Yu Hou was served by Wang Xianqi.
Since Zhang Yongde was arranged, Li Chongjin also had to deal with it, but unlike Zhang Yongde, Chai Rong did not change the position of the commander of his guard Ma Bujun, but appointed him as the envoy of Huainan Jiedu and went out of the town of Yangzhou.
As for the work of the guards, it was handed over to Han Tong, the deputy commander of the guards Ma Bujun, in addition to Han Tong, the guards Ma Bujun were handed over to Han Lingkun, the guards Ma Jun were handed over to Gao Huaide, and the guards were handed over to Zhang Lingduo.
Such a bright rise and secret descent, using Hantong to overhead Li Chongjin, directly deprived Li Chongjin of the right to manage the guards and pro-army.
After some manipulation, Chai Rong refrigerated the two biggest threats without killing them by mistake.
It's just that the old threat is gone, and there are new threats, such as Zhao Kuangyin, who just became the capital inspector, so Chai Rong thought of checks and balances, and arranged a deputy for Zhao Kuangyin and Han Tong to check and balance, and let the two divisions restrain each other.
Zhao Kuangyin
The forbidden army system is dealt with, and the power of the court also needs to be balanced, in order to prevent the emergence of a power group, Chai Rong must find a person who has enough prestige to suppress the ministers, of course, this person had better not have ambitions.
And the only people in the court who meet this condition are their father-in-law, Tianxiong Jiedu, and Fu Yanqing, the king of Wei.
Fu Yanqing has gone through the Later Tang Dynasty, Later Jin, Liao, Later Han, and Later Zhou in his life, and has never had the intention of seizing power, and is recognized as a loyal person by the government and the opposition, and now he is sixty years old, he will never seize power from his grandson, although there is a case of Yang Jian's failure, but Yuwen Yan is not Yang Jian's own grandson.
In addition, Fu Yanqing's protégés and former officials are all over the world, and the entire Fu family can be called the first family of the five generations, which can be regarded as the representative of the power of the feudal town, and its prestige is high enough.
Now that the two divisions are restraining each other, in case someone acts rashly, Fu Yanqing can come forward to unite the forces of the feudal town, which is enough to suppress the other party.
There is just a problem, Chai Rong originally weakened the relationship between the Fu family and the royal family in order to weaken the power of the Fu family, and after the death of the Great Fu Queen, he can only win it over now.
On the ninth day of the first month of June, Chai Rong issued an edict to establish the younger sister of the Great Fu as the new queen, known as the Little Fu Queen, and strengthened the marriage between the Fu family and the royal family.
The power of the feudal town has been taken into account, and the next step is the civilian power.
On 15 June, Chai Rong ordered Wang Pu and Fan Zhen, who were prime ministers, to know the affairs of the Privy Council, so that these ministers could interfere in the power of the Privy Council, and then let the privy envoys Wei Renpu add Zhongshu Shilang and Tongping Zhangshi, so that the prefect of the Privy Council also had the title of prime minister.
Chai Rong thinks about checks and balances
The intention is to let them check and balance each other, and they cannot act arbitrarily in one aspect and jointly assist the government.
Among these three auxiliary ministers, Wang Pu was brave and knowledgeable, and he was the only courtier who supported Chai Rong's personal expedition to the Northern Han Dynasty, but he was withdrawn and did not have many friends in the court.
As for Fan Qian, he is a representative of integrity, pretentious, very capable, but has low emotional intelligence, and often accuses others of their faults in person.
Wei Renpu was born in poverty and had excellent ability, but he had no military merits, and he was not admitted to the imperial examination, and his promotion was opposed by many people.
It can be said that the people Chai Rong is looking for are all unpopular in the DPRK and China, just to prevent them from forming friends and threatening the imperial power.
At this point, before his death, Chai Rong used a series of schemes to make his death so that Chai Zongxun could succeed to the throne smoothly.
On June 19, Chai Rong was seriously ill, and he began to plan again, and in the last summoning of the ministers, he planned to let Fan Zhen arrange for Wang Zhu to enter the prime minister and Cao Han to be the envoy of Xuanhui and assist the government together.
So who are these two? Why wasn't it arranged?
Wang Shu is Chai Rong's old subordinate, he is brilliant in writing, and he has no city government, and he is deeply appreciated by Chai Rong, but Wang Shu has a problem, that is, he is addicted to alcohol, once he is drunk, he doesn't do anything, and it is easy to make mistakes, so Chai Rong didn't plan to let him assist the government at first.
But when the deadline came, Chai Rong remembered him again and planned to let him assist him.
As for Cao Han, he was the one who persuaded Chai Rong to enter the palace to serve the dying Guo Wei, and he was Chai Rong's confidant, but although Cao Han was resourceful, he liked to kill, and once forged an edict to slaughter 800 Southern Tang soldiers, so he has not been able to enter the center.
However, Chai Rong didn't expect that Fan Zhen and they agreed in person, and after leaving the palace, they discussed and refused to execute, which also made Chai Rong's last effort come to naught.
Late at night on June 19, Chai Rong died at the age of 39.
However, Chai Rong calculated the checks and balances before his death, but he didn't calculate that they would unite, especially when he looked away at Zhao Kuangyin.
The Zhao family is not simple
His checks and balances are effective for Hantong at most, but for Zhao Kuangyin, it is not a matter at all.
After all, before Chai Rong died, Zhao Kuangyin contacted a group of people, and Chai Rongmeng didn't know it in the dark.
Since Zhao Kuangyin began to rise in the army, the Zhao family began to make friends with various powerful people in the Later Zhou Dynasty, such as the privy envoy Wei Renpu, and the private relationship with the Zhao family is not low.
It's just that it didn't succeed, but after arriving in the Northern Song Dynasty, Wei Renpu's third son, Wei Xianxin, still married Princess Yongqing, Zhao Kuangyin's daughter.
It can be said that Wei Renpu is a member of Zhao Kuangyin's family.
In addition to Wei Renpu, the Zhao family also made friends with Wang Pu, Wu Yanzuo, Pan Mei, Cao Han, etc., and even Yin Chongke, a close confidant of Chai Rong's hidden mansion, has a close relationship with the Zhao family.
And the Zhao family married Fu Yanqing.
Fu Yanqing has gone through five dynasties, but he is used to seeing the change of dynasties, and he has long become an old fritter, and he will not give up his life for one dynasty and one surname, and he has always paid attention to long bets, which is also favored by the Zhao family.
After seeing Zhao Kuangyin as the capital inspector, Fu Yanqing married his youngest daughter to Zhao Guangyi, it can be said that Chai Rong thinks that the important Fu family has already married the Zhao family and has become a community of interests.
Looking at it this way, three of the four ministers arranged by Chai Rong have a close relationship with the Zhao family.
In addition, Zhao Kuangyin privately befriended other generals and formed the "Ten Brothers of the Righteous Society", including Shi Shouxin, Wang Xianqi and others.
It can be said that in addition to Han Tong, these people have long become a community of interests with the Zhao family.
Therefore, Chai Rong's suspicion is right, there are indeed people who seek power and usurp the throne, but the object of suspicion is wrong, it is not Zhang Yongde and Li Chongjin, but Zhao Kuangyin.
Therefore, such a collusion made sense by a series of unbelievable coincidences before.
Soon after the marriage between the Zhao family and the Fu Yanqing family, the Zhao family planned to get rid of Wang Pu.
To tell the truth, Wang Pu was in charge of the privy military administration and was responsible for staying in Beijing, so he had already planted eyeliner in the army, and he saw the Zhao family's actions clearly, and even began to make moves, which caused the Zhao family to be jealous.
Therefore, if he wanted to plot against Zhou Jiangshan, the first one was to get rid of Wang Pu, so Wang Pu died violently.
Wang Pu is really too important, and it is no wonder that after the establishment of the Northern Song Dynasty, Zhao Kuangyin said to himself: "If this person is here, I can't wear this robe." ”
The person in Zhao Kuangyin's mouth is Wang Pu.
Wang Pu's violent death will inevitably arouse Chai Rong's suspicions, so during Chai Rong's northern expedition, the Zhao family poisoned again, forcing Chai Rong's class to return to the dynasty.
Why not just poison it? is to let Chai Rong get rid of Zhang Yongde and others for them.
The Zhao family knew that in order to let his son ascend to the throne, Chai Rong would inevitably deprive Zhang Yongde and others of their military power, and it can be said that the Zhao family borrowed Chai Rong's hand to clear away the threats of Zhang Yongde and Li Chongjin, and even thought about it, Zhang Yongde's words were said by Zhao Kuangyin and others.
At this point, the Zhao family has no more obstacles, and under a series of schemes, all obstacles have been removed, and all that remains is to seek power and usurp the throne.
So someone asked, is the Zhao family so poisoned?
Yes, it's so powerful, Zhao Guangyi was a master of poisoning in history, he liked to study poison when he had nothing to do, and poisoned a large number of celebrities, but he didn't expect that his son also drank poison.
It's a long way off, and let's go back to the last period of the next week.
After Chai Rong's death, Chai Zongxun succeeded to the throne.
On the first day of the first month of the seventh year of Xiande (960), after the minister congratulated Chai Zongxun, the imperial court suddenly received an urgent military situation.
It is said that the Liao State and the Northern Han Dynasty took advantage of the suspicion of the lord Shaoguo and took the opportunity to invade the south.
There is an enemy invasion, so it is natural to fight back, Fan Zhen discussed with Wang Pu, and planned to let Zhao Kuangyin be the commander and lead the army to the north.
Then the specific scenarios are listed:
1, the deputy capital of the palace inspected Murong Yanzhao first led the elite to the front line;
2. Zhao Kuangyin is the head coach, Gao Huaide, Zhang Lingduo, Zhang Guanghan, and Zhao Yanhui accompany the expedition;
3. The defense of the capital was handed over to Han Tong, Shi Shouxin and Wang Xianqi;
Everyone looks at this arrangement, Murong Yanzhao is Zhao Kuangyin's friend, Han Lingkun is Zhao Kuangyin's hair, Gao Huaide has a close relationship with the Zhao family, and later married Zhao Kuangyin's sister, and Zhang Lingduo's daughter later married Zhao Tingmei.
As for Shi Shouxin and Wang Xianqi, they are all ten brothers of the Righteous Society, in other words, except for Han Tong, the rest of them have a great relationship with Zhao Kuangyin.
It can be said that they are planning to take advantage of this expedition to seek power and usurp the throne, as for the Liao State, did it really go on the expedition? Although the "History of Liao" is very poor, it still has a strict record of large-scale military operations, but the "History of Liao" does not record it at all.
Looking at it this way, the Zhao family took advantage of this expedition to carry out a mutiny, so that the five generations became the sixth generation.
The next thing, everyone also knows, Chen Qiao mutinied, Zhao Kuangyin yellow robe.
Before the defeat, Zhao Kuangyin's mother Du Shi hid her family in the Dingli Courtyard, which can be described as thoughtful, after all, there is still Han Tong in the capital.
Empress Dowager Du
Although Shi Shouxin took control of the capital, Han Tong escaped and gathered troops to search for the Zhao family, but unfortunately he fell short.
It can be seen that everyone has already plotted this matter.
As for Han Tong, although he wanted to maintain the Hou Zhou, the general trend had gone, and he was killed by Wang Yansheng, so far there was no obstacle for Zhao Kuangyin to change the dynasty.
On the fourth day of the first month, Zhao Kuangyin officially ascended the throne in the Fengchongyuan Palace, and demoted Chai Zongxun to King Zheng, the Northern Song Dynasty was established, and the Hou Zhou, which was only ten years old, died in the country.