The Song Dynasty established by Zhao Kuangyin was like an awkward historical issue, standing behind the glorious Tang Dynasty. In the war with neighboring countries, he was unable to hand over a qualified report card, and fell into the name of weak Song. Until the end, even half of the country was not guaranteed, and in Gu Yanwu's words, for the first time in history, there was a world of destruction, which changed the fate of ancient China. And the starting point of all this is that the Zhao Kuangyin brothers failed to complete the great cause of recovering all the northern lands.
When people focus on this historical period, a great name hidden in it is pinned on people's infinite assumptions about history. This name is Chai Rong, a generation of British lords who died young. His ability to crown the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, and his adventurous style in conquest and warfare, made him undoubtedly the best leader choice at that time. If Chai Rong did not die, would he be able to recover Yanyun Sixteen Prefectures?
<h1 class= "pgc-h-center-line" > first, the chief is respectful, and Wang Ye is dominant</h1>
In the sixth year of Xiande, Emperor Chai Rong of Zhou ordered the du hou Han to go out of Cangzhou to dredge the river channel for the army. Subsequently, Chai Rong personally led a large army to the north, and the army was rapid, and for 42 days, he captured three passes and three states in succession. The Liao army was heavily afraid of its military position, and stationed north of Youzhou did not dare to send troops, which was a temporary shock. People marveled at Chai Rong's heroism, but did not know that he had been preparing for this war for a long time.
Ever since Chai rong ascended to the throne and personally led his army to victory in the Battle of Gaoping, he had been waiting for this day. To this end he ran the internal affairs and conquered the southern states to stabilize the rear. Taking back Yanyun Sixteen Prefectures was his long-cherished wish, but at the most critical moment, he suddenly stopped due to his sudden illness, leaving behind eternal regrets. Therefore, whether Chai Rong could successfully recover Yanyun if he did not die suddenly has caused some controversy in modern times. The life of this genius and his preparation for this battle may allow us to know more about this character and further answer the question of whether he can recover Yanyun.
The first is his life, a generation of British lords have a very humble starting point in life, since childhood, Chai Rong defected to his uncle Guo Wei's family because of the fall of the family road, and was adopted by Guo Wei, who was later later Later Zhou Taizu. Because of his cautious and loyal personality, he was deeply loved by Guo Wei and often asked Chai Rong to help him with various affairs. In addition, Chai Rong also learned to ride and shoot, and went out to do business to subsidize his family, which was the life of his youth.
Later, Guo Wei served as a privy councillor in the Later Han Dynasty, and Chai Rong was also crowned as the Grand General of the Left Guard. Chai Rong, who followed Guo Wei on his journey, shared the fate of honor and humiliation: Guo Wei was jealous of the Later Han Emperor, and Chai Rong's family members who remained in the capital were also killed along with Guo Wei's family; Guo Wei rebelled against Hou Han and established Hou Zhou, and Chai Rong, as an adopted son, also became the only prince, which was the reason why he was able to ascend to the throne later.
Guo Wei died of illness after 4 years of reign, and in 954, in the first year of Xiande, Chai Rong ascended the throne with Guo Wei's will, which was for Zhou Shizong. During his 6-year reign, he was invincible and threatened the three strong enemies of the west, south and north.
This was Chai Rong's short and extraordinary life. The Northern Expedition to the Liao State was the highlight of this, and his administration during his reign was inseparable from the inevitability of domestic conditions and the existence of a strong enemy who occupied the north and threatened his country at all times.
<h1 class = "pgc-h-center-line" > second, because of what is lost, it is treated</h1>
"In the world of decay, in just five or six years, the mighty voice has shocked Yixia." - Hong Mai
In a chaotic world that has been in decline for a long time, Chai Rong is facing not only the honor of the emperor, but also the imminent internal and external troubles. Before the Later Zhou Dynasty, the sudden rise and fall of the 43 years had already experienced four short-lived dynasties of Later Liang, Later Tang, Later Jin, and Later Han. Before defeating a formidable enemy, he needs to gain a foothold in a chaotic world.
At present, there are problems in the country such as people's livelihood, political corruption, and military abuse of power, as Wang Pu said in the "Pingbian Policy": "Tang lost the way and lost Wu and Shu, Jin lost the way and lost the secret, and the reason for looking at the reason for the loss, know the art of peace." "Looking at what has been lost and knowing what it has been cured, everything is both a challenge and a direction of achievement. Therefore, Chai Rong first temporarily put aside the military operations of the Northern Expedition and turned to internal affairs.
Five generations of maladministration followed, the world has declined to the extreme, And Zhou Shizong implemented a series of reform measures for this purpose:
One of them, shortly after Chai Rong ascended the throne, he led his troops to personally conscript and won the Battle of Gaoping of the Northern Han and Khitan Alliance, and used this to establish his own prestige, rectify military discipline, and eliminate the old and weak. He eliminated the vicious habits of the five generations of soldiers who were arrogant and fierce, recruited brave outlaws, and finally formed an invincible forbidden army.
The second economy, the second year of Xiande, formulated the method of reclamation of land; in the five years of Xiande, the average world taxation was issued, and yuan shu's "Average Field Map" was issued, reducing taxes, encouraging reclamation, and restoring the productive forces of the people. The construction of water conservancy and the expansion of the capital city also made the capital a prosperous metropolis.
The third is politics, the appointment of qualified personnel, the rectification of political institutions, and the severe punishment of corruption. Chai Rong's only reproach has been criticized by later generations for his overly harsh use of punishments against lawbreakers, but it cannot be denied that his measures have led to a clear political trend.
Although these measures will be implemented by any monarch who wants to make a difference, the difference in talent will lead to very different results. The exercise of seemingly ordinary measures has transformed a precarious country into a powerful country, and the courage and insight of the people can imitate. This policy measure also gave the foundation for future wars.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-center-line" > third, difficult before easy, ambition is not rewarded</h1>
The internal affairs of the country were clear, so that there was a basis for solving the problem of the occupation of the strategic yanyun sixteen prefectures for the Liao state. Chai Rong then launched a conquest of the southern kingdoms, and in the minister Wang Pu's "Pingbian Strategy", he advocated first easy and then difficult, and after unifying the southern countries, he then went north to compete with the Khitan and the male and female. But Zhou Shizong's ambitions and thoughts were not entirely the same as Wang Pu's.
He attacked Hou Shu and captured the four states of Qin and Feng, and the three expeditions of the Southern Tang Dynasty to take the fourteen prefectures of Huainan, beating one of the overlords to the subservience. Subsequently, he did not continue to annex the countries according to the plan in the "Pingbian Policy", but adopted a soft policy towards the southern countries. Although chai rong's unified war plan is not clearly recorded in history, posterity can deduce from the behavior of predecessors that he had a set of plans different from Wang Pu at that time, and did not fully accept the strategic idea of first easy and then difficult.
In stark contrast to this wise and divine king was The famous Khitan Emperor Muzong of Liao, who was the most important opponent of the Later Zhou Dynasty. At this time, the Liao state had been in power for decades, with a vast territory and soldiers for all the people. At the hands of Emperor Muzong of Liao, due to the lack of order in rewards and punishments, the government did not pay attention to the government, and internal rebellions broke out. If the two countries are at war at this time, the victory or defeat is clear. Chai Rong was well aware of this, and the civil unrest in the Liao state was a rare opportunity, and he bet on the conquest of the north from the beginning.
And the subsequent development was also as expected, And Emperor Muzong of Liao had no defensive measures in the face of Hou Zhou's large-scale move north, but only allowed the Liao general Xiao Siwen to act on the opportunity and resist on his own. It can be seen from this that in the face of generals, the later weeks of full preparation for the battle are already in a fairly strong position.
Ouyang Xiu once commented on this period of history: "Historians still ridicule the importance of his light society, and the fluke is better than the pawn, but he does not know that his strength and weakness are stronger than those of others, and he takes advantage of the death of the law, and he cannot lose the opportunity. It is not within the reach of Shi Shi! “
The meaning of this sentence is: "Some historians have commented that Zhou Shizong took the initiative to march in the army, but he did not know that Zhou Shizong was a man who knew the way to win the battle, he judged the strength and weakness of the enemy and us, the situation of the two countries, and knew that this was a good time to retake Yanyun Sixteen Prefectures, so he tried his best to overcome the public opinion and decisively send troops. This evaluation is enough to make a conclusive conclusion for this period of history, and we may as well conclude that in time, Yanyun Sixteen Prefectures will be determined for Chai Rong. Unfortunately, Chai Rong's life expectancy has ended, and Yan Yun is doomed to lose.
Author: Da Fei
Resources:
1. The Battle of later Zhou Dynasty, Wang Dan
2. "On the Reform of Zhou Shizong and Its Historical Significance", Xu Mingde
3. "New Five Dynasties History Zhou Benji"