Taizong of the Tang Dynasty
Li Shimin, Taizong of the Tang Dynasty (January 28, 598 AD [1]; one theory is January 23, 599 [2] - July 10, 649 AD) , whose ancestral home is Chengji, Longxi, is the second son of Emperor Tang Gaozu Li Yuan and Queen Dou, the second emperor of the Tang Dynasty, an outstanding politician, strategist, military strategist, and poet.
Li Shimin joined the army as a young man and went to Yanmen Pass to rescue Emperor Yang of Sui Dynasty. After the establishment of the Tang Dynasty, Li Shimin served as Shangshu Ling and General Youwuhou. He was named the Duke of Qin and later the King of Qin. He led his troops to put down warlords such as Xue Rengao, Liu Wuzhou, Dou Jiande, and Wang Shichong. During the establishment and unification process of the Tang Dynasty, Zhongli made great military exploits.
On July 2, 626 AD (the fourth day of June in the ninth year of Wude), Li Shimin launched the Xuanwu Gate Rebellion and killed his elder brother Prince Li Jiancheng, his fourth brother Qi Wang Li Yuanji, and two other scholars. , was established as the prince. Tang Gaozu Li Yuan soon abdicated, Li Shimin ascended the throne, and changed Yuan Zhenguan. [3]
After Li Shimin became emperor, he actively listened to the opinions of his ministers, governed the world internally with civility, accepted advice with an open mind, practiced economy, and encouraged people to farm and mulberry, so that the people could recuperate, the country was peaceful, and the people were safe, and created China The famous Zhenguan rule in history. Expanding territory, conquering the Eastern Turks and Xueyantuo, conquering Gaochang, Qiuci, and Tuyuhun, severely damaging Goguryeo, and establishing the four towns of Anxi. All ethnic groups lived in harmony and were honored as Tian Khan by the people of all ethnic groups. Many years of prosperity have laid an important foundation.
On July 10, 649 AD (the end of May in the twenty-third year of Zhenguan), Li Shimin died of illness in Hanfeng Hall at the age of fifty-two. After reigning for twenty-three years, The temple name was Taizong and he was buried in Zhaoling. Li Shimin loved literature and calligraphy, and his calligraphy treasures have been handed down from generation to generation.
Zhao Guangyi is the third son born to Song Xuanzu Zhao Hongyin and Queen Mother Du, and the younger brother of Song Taizu Zhao Kuangyin. He was born in the official residence of Hushengying Camp, Chongde Beifang, Junyi County, Kaifeng Prefecture, on October 7th, Jihai year, the fourth year of Tianfu in the Later Jin Dynasty (November 20, 939). [2]
At first, Zhao Guangyi’s mother dreamed that the gods were holding the sun and conferred it on her, so she became pregnant. Until the night when Zhao Guangyi was born, the red light rose like fire and the streets were filled with strange fragrance.
Zhao Guangyi has been smart and unsocial since he was a child. When he plays with other children, he is afraid of them. In 960, Zhao Guangyi participated in the Chenqiaoyi mutiny and proclaimed his brother Zhao Kuangyin as emperor.
Taizong of the Song Dynasty
After Zhao Kuangyin came to the throne, he appointed Zhao Guangyi as the Marquis of Yu in front of the palace, and led the defense envoy of Muzhou, and soon the military governor of Taining. After conquering Li Chongjin, Zhao Guangyi was granted the title of Da Neidu Deployment, added Tongping Zhangshi, Kaifeng Prefecture Yin, and Zhongshu Ling. After occupying Taiyuan, Zhao Guangyi was renamed the Eastern Capital Remainer, given a halberd, and was named King of Jin, ranking above the prime minister.
On the night of the 19th day of the 10th lunar month in the ninth year of Kaibao (976), Zhao Kuangyin summoned Zhao Guangyi to the palace for drinking, and he stayed in the palace that night. In the early morning of the next day (October 20th), Zhao Kuangyin suddenly died. On the 21st, King Zhao Guangyi of Jin came to the throne as Taizong of Song Dynasty.
After Zhao Guangyi succeeded to the throne, he first changed the title to "Taiping Xingguo", expressing his intention to achieve a new cause. His younger brother Zhao Tingmei was appointed as the prefect of Kaifeng and Zhongshu Ling, and he was granted the title of King of Qi. His nephew Zhao Dezhao was appointed as the Jiedushi and the county prince. Zhao Defang was also named as the Jiedushi. The children of Song Taizu and Zhao Tingmei are all called princes and princesses, and the three daughters of Song Taizu are the princesses of the country. Xue Juzheng, Shen Lun, Lu Duoxun, Cao Bin and Chu Zhaofu, the former subordinates of Song Taizu, were all promoted to nobility, and their children and grandchildren also obtained official positions. Zhao Guangyi pardoned some people who had been punished or wanted to be punished by Song Taizu when he was still alive. However, Zhao Guangyi pays attention to cultivating and promoting his cronies. Members of the shogunate, such as Cheng Yu, Jia Yan, Chen Congxin, and Zhang Ping, all entered the imperial court and held important positions one after another, slowly replacing the ministers of Song Taizu's dynasty. In addition, Zhao Guangyi also deposed a group of veteran generals such as Zhao Pu, Xiang Gong, Gao Huaide, Feng Jiye and Zhang Mei, and transferred them to serve as officials near the capital for easier control.
Zhao Guangyi expanded the number of candidates for the imperial examination. During his reign, the first imperial examination more than tripled the maximum number in the Song Taizu era. The imperial examination gave many talented people the opportunity to enter the officialdom.
After Zhao Guangyi stabilized his throne, he continued the cause of unification. In the third year of Taiping and Xingguo's reign (978), under the political pressure of the Song Dynasty, Chen Hongjin, who separatized Zhangquan Prefecture in Fujian Province, and the Qian family of Wuyue, which separatized Zhejiang Province, surrendered to the Song Dynasty.
In the first month of the fourth year of Taiping and Xingguo (979), Zhao Guangyi first sent general Pan Mei and others to the north to besiege Taiyuan, the capital of the Northern Han Dynasty. Zhao Guangyi led his army to conquer Taiyuan in February. The Song army repelled the Liao reinforcements and perished. The Northern Han Dynasty finally ended the nearly 90 years of war between feudal vassals and towns since the Huangchao Rebellion in the late Tang Dynasty, and once again formally unified the country.
In May of the same year, Zhao Guangyi ignored the opposition of all ministers and took advantage of the Northern Han Dynasty to launch the Northern Expedition from Taiyuan. At the beginning of the Northern Expedition, Yizhou and Zhuozhou in Hebei were recovered. Zhao Guangyi ordered the siege of Yanjing, and the Song army and the Liao people fought fiercely on the banks of the Gaoliang River. Zhao Guangyi went to the battlefield in person, but was injured by an arrow. He evacuated in a panic on a donkey cart, and the Northern Expedition failed.
In the fifth year of Taiping and Xingguo's reign (980), Hou Renbao, a doctor from Taichang in Yongzhou who knew the Song Dynasty, reported to Zhao Guangyi, requesting to take advantage of the civil strife in the Ding Dynasty of Jiaozhi (Vietnam) to go south to crusade, restore the old territory of the Han and Tang Dynasties, and unify Jiaozhi (Vietnam). Vietnam). Therefore, Zhao Guangyi appointed Hou Renbao as the land and water transport envoy to Jiaozhou; Sun Quanxing, the Lanling regiment training envoy, Hao Shoujun, the Qizuo envoy, Chen Qinzuo, the Anbriku envoy, and Cui Liang, the general of Zuojianmen, were appointed as military and horse commanders; Liu Cheng, the governor of Ningzhou, and Wenqi Jia Shi, the deputy envoy of the Treasury, and Wang Zhen, the minister of the imperial palace gate, deployed troops and horses, waiting for an opportunity to attack the Ding Dynasty. However, in the sixth year of Taiping and Xingguo (981), they won first and then lost in the Battle of Bai Dangjiang. The plan to unify Cochin (Vietnam) finally came to nothing, and Cochin (Vietnam) was able to maintain its independent status.
In the third year of Yongxi's reign (986), Zhao Guangyi sent five generals, Pan Mei, Yang Ye, Tian Zhong, Cao Bin, and Cui Yanjin, to divide the east, middle and west into three routes, with the east route as the main route before embarking on the Northern Expedition. The West and Middle Route armies advanced smoothly, but the main force of the East Route Army was repeatedly defeated by the Liao army, and the grain road was cut off. In the end, it failed to join the Central and Western Routes, and was defeated and collapsed at Qigou Pass. The Central and Western Routes also had to withdraw southward. Yang Ye, the commander-in-chief of the West Route, was captured by the Liao army for covering the southward retreat of soldiers and civilians. He went on a hunger strike for three days and died in prison. After that, the Northern Song Dynasty repeatedly failed in the battles of Sanchuankou, Haoshuichuan, and Dingchuanzhai against the Xixia Dangxiang tribe. However, because it was tired of war, it negotiated peace with the Song court. Zhao Guangyi appointed his close confidants Fu Qian, Wang Chao, Chai Yuxi, Zhao Rong, Zhang Xun, Yang Shouyi and Mi Dechao as commanders of the imperial army. They were many mediocre people who were afraid of fighting in the face of battle.
In the second lunar month of the fourth year of Chunhua (993), a peasant uprising launched by Wang Xiaobo and Li Shun broke out in Sichuan. Wherever the rebel army went, they distributed all the property of wealthy families except daily necessities to the public, which was echoed by the farmers in Shu. In the first month of the following year, the rebel army occupied Chengdu and established the Shu regime. After learning about it, Zhao Guangyi sent two armies to fight against it. The rebel army finally failed completely in the second year of Zhidao (996).
Zhao Guangyi’s eldest son Zhao Yuanzuo has been smart and alert since he was a child, and he looks like Zhao Guangyi. Zhao Yuanzuo was skilled in martial arts and good at riding and shooting. He also accompanied Zhao Guangyi on an expedition to Taiyuan and Youji. Ben is the most suitable crown prince. Unexpectedly, Zhao Yuanzuo went crazy because of the unjust death of his uncle Zhao Tingmei.
On the Double Ninth Festival in the second year of Yongxi's reign (985), Zhao Guangyi summoned several of his sons to hold a banquet in the palace garden to drink and have fun. Because Zhao Yuanzuo had not recovered from his illness, he did not send anyone to invite him. After the banquet, Chen Wang Zhao Yuanyou went to visit Zhao Yuanzuo. When Zhao Yuanzuo learned about the banquet, he was furious and kept drinking. In the middle of the night, a fire was set on the palace courtyard. For a moment, smoke billowed from the palaces and pavilions, and flames shot into the sky. After Zhao Guangyi learned about it, he guessed that it might be Zhao Yuanzuo, so he ordered someone to investigate, and Zhao Yuanzuo admitted it. Zhao Yuanzuo was deposed as a commoner. Later, Chen Wang Yuanyou became the candidate for the crown prince as recommended by the public, and Zhao Guangyi also had this intention.
In the seventh lunar month of the third year of Yongxi's reign (986), Zhao Yuanyou changed his name to Zhao Yuanxi, and was granted the title of Kaifeng Prefect and Minister, becoming the quasi-crown prince. In the same year, Yongxi's Northern Expedition failed. Zhao Pu wrote a memorial "Admonishing Yongxi to the Northern Expedition" and was praised by Zhao Guangyi.
Later, Zhao Yuanxi also wrote a book about the conquest of Liao, which was adopted by Zhao Guangyi.
In the first year of Duangong (988), Zhao Pu became prime minister for the third time, and his authority was restored. Chen Wang Yuanxi, who tried his best to support and win over Zhao Pu, was also promoted to King Xu, which further consolidated the status of the crown prince. After Zhao Pu resigned as prime minister, Zhao Yuanxi had a close relationship with another prime minister, Lu Mengzheng. The matter of establishing the crown prince is proceeding step by step. Unexpectedly, in the 11th lunar month of the third year of Chunhua (992), Zhao Yuanxi returned home early in the morning and felt unwell, and died soon after. Zhao Guangyi was extremely sad. He stayed away from court for five days and wrote "Poems in Thoughts on His Dead Son".
Zhao Yuanzuo was deposed, Zhao Yuanxi died suddenly, and the throne was vacant, so Feng Zheng and others asked to be crown prince early, and Zhao Guangyi demoted Feng Zheng and others to Lingnan. From then on no one dared to discuss the issue of succession.
Later, Zhao Guangyi was disturbed by an arrow injury and knew that he would die soon. So he asked Kou Zhun privately about this. With Kou Zhun's support, finally in the first year of Zhidao (995), Zhao Guangyi's third son, Shou Wang Zhao Yuankan, was established as the crown prince and changed his name to Zhao Heng.
Zhao Guangyi appointed the crown prince and granted amnesty to the world. People in the capital cheered when they saw the crown prince, but Zhao Guangyi was not happy to hear it. Later, with Kou Zhun's persuasion, his mood improved.
In the third lunar month of the third year of Zhidao (997), Zhao Guangyi died in the Long Live Hall of the Tokyo Palace at the age of fifty-nine and had reigned for twenty-two years. Crown Prince Zhao Heng ascended the throne as Emperor Zhenzong of the Song Dynasty. The ministers honored him with the posthumous title of "Shenggong Shengde Civil and Military Emperor", and his temple name was Taizong. In the tenth month of the lunar calendar of the same year, he was buried in Yongxi Mausoleum.