In August 979, Zhao Dezhao, the eldest son of Zhao Kuangyin, the grandson of The Song Emperor Zhao Kuangyin and the King of Wugong County, was forced to commit suicide. In 982, Zhao Tingmei, the younger brother of Song Taizu and the Prince of Wei, was involved in a rebellion, was stripped of his official position, demoted to the title of Duke of Fuling County, and died two years later in the exiled prefecture of Fangzhou. Zhao Dezhao committed suicide and Zhao Tingmei was framed, both of which are directly related to a person, who is Zhao Dezhao's uncle and Zhao Tingmei's brother - Song Taizong Zhao Guangyi! So, why did Song Taizong do this?
Let's first talk about zhao Dezhao's death! It is said that in 979, Emperor Taizong of Song was defeated and wounded in the Battle of Gaoliang River, during which time he "disappeared", and some generals at that time wanted to support Zhao Dezhao as the new emperor. However, not long after, Zhao Guangyi appeared in the army again, and the matter was over, but Zhao Guangyi was very unhappy after hearing about this. After the return of the large army to the dynasty, according to the custom, the meritorious soldiers who destroyed the Northern Han Dynasty were to be rewarded, but Song Taizong did not make any move for a long time.
Zhao Dezhao felt unfair to the generals, so he found his uncle, Song Taizong, and expressed his feelings to him. However, Song Taizong was very angry and said coldly, "Wait for Ru to do it for yourself, and it is not too late to reward him!" Zhao Dezhao was very scared when he heard the emperor say this, but he had no way to prove himself, and finally embarked on a dead end. Zhao Dezhao came to the tea and wine cabinet, drove the attendant out, and then closed the door and committed suicide with a fruit knife, only twenty-nine years old.
When the news of Zhao Dezhao's death came, Song Taizong was also very surprised and regretful, and rushed to the tea and wine cabinet, holding Zhao Dezhao's body and weeping bitterly, while crying, he also said, "How can a fool be so evil!" "But people understand that Zhao Dezhao's death is directly related to Zhao Guangyi, and it is precisely because of his persecution that Zhao Dezhao used death to prove himself." Although Zhao Guangyi wept in public, from the heart, he should be very happy, after all, the threat of the throne had been eliminated.
Let's talk about Zhao Tingmei's rebellion. Zhao Tingmei was the younger brother of Zhao Kuangyin and Zhao Guangyi, and after Emperor Taizong of Song ascended the throne, Zhao Tingmei was given the title of Zhongshu Ling and Kaifeng Yin, with the status of one person below and above ten thousand people. However, in 982, Zhao Guangyi received revelations that Zhao Tingmei planned to launch a coup d'état against the emperor and then seize the throne. According to the whistleblower, Zhao Tingmei planned two sets of plans for the rebellion.
First, Zhao Tingmei planned to kill Zhao Guangyi when he visited the Water Heart Hall of Jinmingchi; second, Zhao Tingmei pretended to be ill at home, and when Zhao Guangyi visited the palace, he would then act. Zhao Guangyi remained silent, first demoting Zhao Tingmei to the position of staying in Xijing, and then announcing his guilt, and then the Civil and Military Officials played "Duo Xun and Ting mei Gu Wang cursed, the great rebellion, it is advisable to exterminate, in order to correct the punishment." Finally, Zhao Guangyi said that he was magnanimous, "demoting Tingmei to fuling county and housing in Fangzhou."
After Zhao Tingmei's death, Zhao Guangyi cried and said to the hundred officials: "Tingmei is self-righteous and stubborn, and has always been beneficial and vicious. He was close to his relatives with the same qi, and could not bear to ignore the law, so he lived in the house and the tomb, hoping that he would think about it. Fang wants to restore the old, and he dies, and he is hurt! However, the so-called Zhao Tingmei conspiracy rebellion incident is basically fictitious, he was completely framed, and the person behind this matter is Zhao Guangyi! It turned out that the throne inherited by Zhao Guangyi came from Zhao Kuangyin, and some of them were not righteous and unsmooth.
To this end, Zhao Guangyi, with the assistance of Zhao Pu, engaged in the so-called "Zhao Xian Gu Feng", which can be regarded as getting rid of the imperial crisis. However, Zhao Guangyi faced a new problem, if according to the "Zhaoxian Gu Order", after a hundred years, the throne would pass to his younger brother Zhao Tingmei, and then to Zhao Dezhao, so that his descendants would not have the opportunity to become emperors at all. People are selfish, and Zhao Guangyi wanted his descendants to "monopolize" the throne of the Northern Song Dynasty, so he attacked his brother and nephew.
References: 1. "History of Song"; 2. "Continuation of Zizhi TongjianChang"