Zhao Kuangyin, the grandfather of the Song Dynasty, was a military general who led the troops to fight very well, but lacked administrative ability and planning ability. However, Zhao Kuangyin seized the Later Zhou Dynasty and became the founding emperor of the Northern Song Dynasty! The reason why Zhao Kuangyin was able to seize Jiangshan was mainly because he had a very good strategist under him, who could be called the first strategist of the Northern Song Dynasty, who not only helped Zhao Kuangyin become emperor, but also assisted Zhao Guangyi to stabilize the emperor.
First, the career is bumpy
This person is Zhao Pu, one of the founding heroes of the Northern Song Dynasty! Zhao Pu's ancestral home was Jixian County, Youzhou, and due to the chaos in the world, his father moved to Changshan with his family and later came to Luoyang. When he was a teenager, Zhao Pu began to learn the rule of officials, "to hear the way of officials". However, Zhao Pu's official fortunes were not good, and he was dismissed from his post as a judge of Longzhou at the age of twenty-five. After that, Zhao Pu began a decade-long life as a staff member. At the age of thirty-three, Zhao Pu was made by the Yongxing Army to make Liu Ci "engaged".
Liu Ci admired Zhao Pu's talent, but two years later he fell ill and died. Before his death, Liu Ci recommended Zhao Pu to the imperial court. At this time, Later Zhou Shizong Chai Rong was at war with the Southern Tang, and on the recommendation of the chancellor Fan Qian, Zhao Pu was arranged to serve as a military judge in Chuzhou, and Zhao Pu was already thirty-five years old that year. After coming to Chuzhou, Zhao Pu met the forbidden army general Zhao Kuangyin for the first time, and the two saw each other as they always did, and since then they have become close friends. The time is 956!
2. Chen Qiao mutiny
At that time, Zhao Kuangyin's father, Zhao Hongyin, was recuperating in Chuzhou, and Zhao Pu "took medicine and bait day and night", so his relationship with Zhao Kuangyin became closer. After the end of the war, Zhao Kuangyin was made the envoy of Tongzhou Jiedushi, and he recruited Zhao Pu as a push official. Later, Zhao Kuangyin moved to Songzhou, and appointed Zhao Pu as the secretary-in-chief, as his secretary general and chief of staff. In 959, Later Zhou Shizong fell ill and died, and the following year, under the plot of Zhao Pu, Zhao Kuangyin launched the Chen Qiao Mutiny and seized the throne.
After that, Zhao Kuangyin adopted Zhao Pu's advice and relieved the senior generals of the Forbidden Army of their military powers through "releasing the military power through a cup of wine". At the same time, Zhao Pu also suggested that Zhao Kuangyin reduce the power of the clan town, "slightly seize its power, control its money and grain, and collect its elite soldiers." Zhao Pu also made great contributions to the planning of the war of reunification, and he proposed to Zhao Kuangyin the strategies of "first south and then north" and "first easy and then difficult". It can be said that under the planning of Zhao Pu, Zhao Kuangyin seized the throne and sat firmly in jiangshan.
3. ZhaoXian is concerned about his life
However, in the later years of Song Taizu's life, his trust in Zhao Pu began to weaken, and he even released Zhao Pu as an official. In 976, Zhao Kuangyin died violently, and his younger brother Zhao Guangyi took the throne, which aroused the questions of the government and the public. Because at that time, Zhao Kuangyin's two sons were already adults and could become emperors, but the imperial throne fell into the hands of Zhao Guangyi. In 977, Zhao Pu entered the dynasty according to the custom, and he helped Zhao Guangyi solve the problem of legitimacy of the throne.
Zhao Pu told Zhao Guangyi that he had "foretelled taizu and empress dowager Zhaoxian", which means that before Empress Zhaoxian died, he instructed Zhao Kuangyin to pass the throne to his younger brother Zhao Guangyi. Zhao Guangyi was very happy and immediately issued a decree, "Worship (Zhao Pu) Situ and Serve zhong, and seal the Duke of Liang." Later, Zhao Pu helped Zhao Guangyi get rid of Zhao Tingmei (Zhao Guangyi's younger brother) the King of Qin, and solved the hidden dangers in the inheritance of the throne. In 992, Zhao Pu fell ill and died at the age of 71.
References: 1. "History of Song"; 2. "Continuation of Zizhi TongjianChang"