In 960, Zhao Kuangyin stole later Zhou's Jiangshan through the Chen Qiao Mutiny and established the Song Dynasty. After Zhao Kuangyin ascended the throne, he adopted the strategy of first going south and then north, controlling Jinghu Lake, destroying Sichuan and Shu, and fixing the south of the river. Ended the war in the Central Plains 70. Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang once commented on Zhao Kuangyin:
"Those who have the virtue of the king and the merits of the world."
In the long river of history, Zhao Kuangyin is a hero. However, what is unexpected is that Zhao Kuangyin's death is very bizarre. On the night of October 19, 976, 50-year-old Zhao Kuangyin fell ill. Zhao Kuangyin's younger brother Zhao Guangyi entered the palace, and the next morning, Zhao Kuangyin suddenly died of illness, and the throne was inherited by Zhao Guangyi as Emperor Taizong of Song. Because some people saw Zhao Guangyi fleeing from the table under the candlelight that night, and heard the sound of an axe hitting the pillar, posterity called this incident "the sound of the candle shadow axe", and what happened that night is still a historical mystery.
Coincidentally, 21 years later, when Zhao Guangyi died, the inheritance of the Song Dynasty throne once again had twists and turns. At this time, a key figure appeared, he was the prime minister Lü Duan, who used his cautious attitude to smash the conspiracy.
Chairman Mao once said, "Lü Duan is not confused about major matters," which can well summarize Lü Duan's character characteristics. Usually do not pay attention to small sections, but be cautious in the face of major rights and wrongs, and stick to the bottom line. Lü Duan's father was a military attendant of the Later Jin Dynasty during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, and later defected to Zhao Kuangyin. After Zhao Kuangyin ascended the throne, Lü Duan inherited his father's position of Qianniu Bei, and had been tempered at the grassroots level for many years. After Zhao Guangyi ascended the throne, Lü Duan was promoted to judge of Kaifeng Province, and the person who served as the Yin of Kaifeng Province at this time was Zhao Guangyi's third brother, Zhao Tingmei, the Prince of Qi.
After Zhao Guangyi ascended the throne, he was full of suspicion for his younger brother Zhao Tingmei because he considered the saying that "brothers are always brothers and brothers". In 979, Zhao Guangyi wanted to take advantage of the opportunity of pro-conquest of the Northern Han Dynasty to let Zhao Tingmei stay in Kaifeng and deliberately give Zhao Tingmei a loophole in order to seek an opportunity to suppress Zhao Tingmei. After the promulgation of the Holy Decree, the staff of the Qi Royal Palace rejoiced and thought that Zhao Tingmei's opportunity had arrived. However, Lü Duan and Zhao Tingmei were colleagues in Kaifeng Province, so they reminded Zhao Tingmei:
"Your Majesty is out on a campaign, and His Highness the Prince of Qi should follow His Majesty on his expedition, and if you stay in Kaifeng, it is very inappropriate."
When Zhao Tingmei heard this, he suddenly realized that if he stayed in Kaifeng, he would inevitably be in great trouble, so he immediately went up to ask for a journey with the army.
After this incident, Zhao Guangyi gradually discovered that Lü Duan was a talent, so he was promoted all the way, and soon promoted to the position of governor of government affairs, and later promoted to the position of prime minister, and was in the same rank as Kou Zhun. At this time, Lü Duan was 60 years old, and although he was old, his thinking was very agile.
Initially, Zhao Guangyi let Lü Duan and Kou Zhun take turns to hold the seal, and later gradually discovered that Lü Duan's ability was above Kou Zhun, so he pushed Lü Duan as the first and Kou Zhun as the second.
In February 997, Emperor Taizong of Song zhao Guangyi was critically ill, and the eunuch Wang Ji'en and others believed that if the crown prince Zhao Heng ascended the throne, they would not have the merits to establish zhao Guangyi's eldest son Zhao Yuanzuo, so they joined forces with Empress Li to attempt to launch a coup d'état to depose the crown prince.
Lü Duan, as the prime minister, happened to enter the palace to meet Song Taizong, and saw that Song Taizong was seriously ill, and there were only Empress Li and Wang Ji'en around him, but he did not see the crown prince Zhao Heng, and he guessed that the prince was deliberately alienated by the empress and others. In an emergency, Lü Duan secretly wrote two words on his jade wat - "Da Wei" (meaning serious illness). Then he dragged Empress Li and Wang Ji'en and quietly sent someone to send the jade wat to the prince's mansion. When crown prince Zhao Heng saw this, he immediately understood that his father was seriously ill, forcibly broke into the palace, came to Song Taizong's side, and prevented a coup d'état.
The "Continuation of the Zizhi TongjianChang" records:
When prime minister Lü Duan asked about the forbidden disease, he saw that shang was not around, and suspected that there was a change, but he used the word "Da Gradual" in the Wat Book to make the intimate officials interested in serving.
After the death of Emperor Taizong of Song, Empress Li and Wang Ji'en were not dead-hearted, and Lü Duan was worried that things would change, claiming that there was a will from Emperor Xian's deposed crown prince, and asked Wang Ji'en to go with him to the Zhongshu Painting Pavilion to get it, and when Wang Ji'en stepped into the painting cabinet, Lü Duan immediately locked Wang Ji'en in the room.
Lü Duan then went to see Empress Li, and Empress Li saw that Wang Ji'en was delayed, knew that things had changed, and had to support the crown prince Zhao Heng to succeed him.
Judging from the process of Song Zhenzong Zhao Heng's ascension to the throne, Lü Duan first sent jade wats, then locked Wang Ji'en, and finally persuaded Empress Li, this series of operations ensured the successful ascension of Song Zhenzong to the throne, without Lü Duan, there may be another "candle shadow axe sound" in the history of the Song Dynasty.
Interestingly, when Zhao Heng ascended the throne, sitting behind the curtain, the minister hurriedly knelt down, but Lü Duan was not in a hurry to kneel, he walked to the curtain, leaned over to look into the curtain, confirmed that the curtain was Zhao Heng himself, and then stepped back and knelt down and shouted "Long live".
Why did Lü Duan do this? Because he knew that the new emperor could not be sloppy when he ascended the throne, he must personally confirm it. This is the so-called "big things are not confused".
Lü Duan is obese, slow-moving, and seemingly clumsy, but in fact, he can always come up with the best plan when handling government affairs. "Lü Duan is not confused about big things" has become a famous life motto, at every critical moment, we must be cautious and cautious, only in this way can we stand in an invincible position.