In the ninth year of Kaibao (976 AD), Zhao Kuangyin, the founding emperor of the Song Dynasty who reigned for 16 years, died mysteriously in the "sound of candle shadow axes", and then his younger brother Zhao Guangyi ascended the throne as emperor on the grounds of "the alliance of the Golden Plateau", becoming the second emperor of the Song Dynasty, known as Song Taizong. Zhao Guangyi often thought that he had great talent and great strategy, comparing himself to Tang Taizong, the founding emperor of the past, rarely able to enter his eyes, one of them is the predecessor of the Song Dynasty, the founding emperor of later Zhou, Guo Wei, for the Later Zhou Taizu Guo Wei, Zhao Guangyi is more contemptuous, one of which he said to the prime minister Lü Mengzheng: "Zhou Taizu is a man who has many powers and deceits, with the trip of Xu Officials, the position of emperor, can he enjoy the country for a long time? ”
Zhao Guangyi believed that Guo Wei liked to use power to do things, and plotted the position of emperor as a small official, and the fortunes of the country could not last long, but in history, Emperor Taizong of Song and Zhao Guangyi were not emperors with great achievements, and the reason why Later Zhou would perish so early was entirely due to the young age of his successor Chai Zongxun and Zhao Kuangyin's "Chen Qiao Mutiny", forcing the young lord to take the throne.
Although Guo Wei's founding of the Zhou Dynasty lasted only nine short years, the policies implemented during his reign left a large political legacy for the later Great Song Dynasty.
First, Guo Wei advocates and advocates frugality, love and compassion for the people. Since the middle of the Tang Dynasty, every year for a period of time to present all kinds of rare treasures to the imperial court, although the Tang Dynasty is extinct, but this tradition has continued, especially in the Five Dynasties period, warlords everywhere wantonly looted treasures in the people, making this custom more prevalent. Although the world was not unified after Guo Wei ascended the throne, he still abolished this tradition of laboring the people and hurting their wealth.
At the bottom, everyone thought that Guo Wei was just doing something, and did not take this matter to heart, still as usual, until one time, Guo Wei directly smashed the treasures that were presented in public, at which time everyone knew that Guo Wei was playing really, so this tradition was eliminated. This move also laid a good foundation for the economic recovery of the Song Dynasty.
Second, pay homage to the Confucius Temple and determine the national policy of ruling the world with Confucianism. Since the end of the Tang Dynasty, warlords from all over the world have attacked each other, the war has not stopped, the people are not happy, these wars are basically caused by military generals, Guo Wei is well aware of the weakening of the civil rule during the war, so he began to gradually reuse the wenchen and revise the lile. He personally went to the Confucius Temple in Qufu, Shandong Province, to pay homage to Confucius, saw that the current Confucius Temple was so dilapidated, and ordered the repair of the Confucius Temple, indicating that he would honor the saints, and future generations of politicians would firmly rule the world with Confucianism.
Guo Wei often said to the ministers: "Most of us are born in the army, if we want to govern the country well, we still have to rely on those talented and moral civil servants, because only when the country's right to speak falls into the hands of the civil servants, can the people truly live and work in peace and contentment." The later Song Dynasty also continued this national policy, emphasizing literature and suppressing martial arts, and the culture of the Song Dynasty developed and prospered.
Third, sympathize with the people of Lebanon and liberate the social productive forces. Guo Wei attached great importance to agricultural production, and seeing that so much unowned land was in ruins, he distributed the ownerless land to the wandering hungry people and reduced taxes for them. At the same time, in spite of the opposition of the people, he resolutely ordered the abolition of the "cattle rent", which to a certain extent provided great help to the liberation of the social productive forces at that time and also reflected his compassion for the people.
Fourth, actively reform maladministration and abolish improper laws. During the Five Dynasties period, but anyone who committed a serious crime was condemned to the Nine Tribes, Guo Wei thought that there were too many innocent people involved, it was too cruel, so he repealed this law. At the same time, warlords everywhere were fighting, salt, iron, leather, etc. were all controlled items at that time, for example, cowhide was one of the main materials for making armor in ancient times, and there were laws in the five generations that if the people hid an inch of cowhide in their homes, they would be sentenced to death if they were discovered by the government.
Guo Wei ascended the throne as the empress, in order to achieve rapid economic recovery, ordered the opening of the civil trade in salt, iron, ore, cowhide and other controlled items, and at the same time encouraged the development of private commerce, which is why the commercial development of the later weeks gradually showed a sign of recovery.
If the Song Dynasty that took over the Later Zhou Dynasty did not have the effective effects of the policies implemented during Guo Wei's reign at that time, and without the economic foundation developed in the Later Zhou, I think that the later Song Dynasty would not have been so smooth in unifying the whole country, and later it would not necessarily be able to see a prosperous commercial scene on the "Qingming River Map".
References: [Zizhi Tongjian, The History of the Old Five Dynasties, Zhou Taizu Benji]
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