In 927 AD, Zhao Kuangyin, Song Taizu was born in Luoyang. Since the end of the Tang Dynasty, the phenomenon of separatist regime in buffer regions has continued and become increasingly serious. When Daliang officially became a national title, China began to enter the chaotic period of Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms. In this land of China, the flames of war are blazing, and the plays of the royal family usurping power and seizing power are frequently staged. In the past 53 years, there have been 14 emperors. At this time, Zhao Kuangyin walked from behind the scenes to the stage, from the street prodigal son to the ordinary soldier, from the soldier to the general, and from the general to the throne of the emperor. From Nanping to the destruction of Houshu, Nanhan and Nantang, the great cause of reunification was initially completed, and the Northern Song Dynasty was founded, which led to a rare period of peace and prosperity in the Central Plains after a long period of turmoil.
study hard
Zhao Kuangyin was born in Luoyang on February 16th, 927. Great-grandfather Zhao Ting was an official of the buffer region in the late Tang Dynasty. He had served as an official in the imperial censor, such as Zhong Cheng and Ci Shi, and was very prestigious in the imperial court. Zhao Hongyin, his father, served as a military history in the post-Tang Dynasty. When he was young, he was strong-willed, brave and good at riding and shooting, and made a living by martial arts. Zhao Kuangyin likes reading and writing since he was a child, and especially likes reading historical classic stories and historical books of the replacement of major dynasties. He has studied them all in detail and often looks for some books on the art of war. Under the influence of his father, Zhao Kuangyin learned to ride and shoot again, and after more than ten years' practice, he achieved his superhuman martial arts. Zhao Kuangyin performed well when he was a child, and he possessed the qualities of wit, courage, firmness and daring to learn that extraordinary people imagined. Zhao Kuangyin once saw someone at home pulling a fierce horse that had not been domesticated, so he wanted to ride it. The horse manager put a saddle and bridle on Ma 'an, and Zhao Kuangyin couldn't wait to jump on the fierce horse, whipping and running wild. The fierce horse rushed straight for the gate, and Zhao Kuangyin fell and bumped his head against the lintel. The people present were startled and thought that he would be seriously injured if he didn't die. Unexpectedly, since he jumped from the ground as if nothing had happened, he struggled to catch up with the fierce horse, jumped up and continued to ride on the horse until he tamed it. From then on, he often learned riding skills and practiced riding, and became a master of riding, which provided opportunities for him to make meritorious deeds in the battlefield in the future.
Zhao Kuangyin's boyhood was relatively stable, with no major family changes. He has also been studying cultural knowledge and martial arts hard at home. With the growth of his age, according to the family tradition, when a boy grows up, he wants to marry a daughter-in-law, and Zhao Kuangyin is no exception. He Jingsi, the eldest daughter of the Imperial Military Academy, is his wife.
Perseverance
Heroes have suffered many hardships since ancient times. I could have relied on my father's stable income to make my family live a relatively stable life, but what my family didn't expect was that in that era of changeable political situation, the power struggle became increasingly acute, and my father finally became a victim of the power struggle and began to be left out in the cold, so his father left the military camp. With his father's unemployment, the family became increasingly difficult. Can't, Zhao Kuangyin began to follow his father crisscrossed, busking life. The father and son support their families with the income of performing arts in the streets and lanes, and often stay in the streets. This life has made him look down on the world and taste the ups and downs of life. With the growth of age and the accumulation of social experience, Zhao Kuangyin has made great progress and matured in his thoughts. He realized that he can't do nothing all his life, but the reality of his family is getting poorer and poorer. How easy is it to do a career? This also made him determined that he must do something vigorous on his own. Then, in 948, Zhao Kuangyin, 21, decided to leave his family and travel the world alone. At this time, Zhao Kuangyin's mind is very clear. He knows that in the era of martial arts, there is no hope to go to the upper line by relying on Confucian official career. Only by relying on military achievements can he make contributions and enter official career. Later, Zhao Kuangyin left his parents and wife, turned around and hurried south to Sui State. However, ambitious Zhao Kuangyin was soon hit. From Shaanxi to Gansu, Zhao Kuangyin's ambition is hard to pay, and he doesn't even have a person to take him in. He has defected to his father's friend Wang Yanchao, the secretariat of Fuzhou, and Dong Zongben, the secretariat of Suizhou. Because of Zhao Kuangyin's father's humble position, Wang Yanchao didn't develop greatly, so he looked down on him and didn't accept him. He only gave him some travelling expenses and sent him away. Although Dong Zongben took in Zhao Kuangyin, his uneducated son insulted Zhao Kuangyin in every way. Zhao Kuangyin couldn't swallow this tone, so he left Dong Zongben and set foot on the horizon again. Zhao Kuangyin went to Xiangyang and stayed in a temple. The old monk in the temple saw that his heaven was full, his head was covered with eyes, his face was covered with dust, and he couldn't hide his heroic spirit. He was dressed in rags but didn't look shabby. He couldn't help secretly marveling. After talking, the old monk felt that he was distinguished and would surely achieve great things in the future. So the old monk sincerely said to Zhao Kuangyin, "In today's society, there is chaos in the world. The situation of domestic political power is that the southern political power is relatively stable, while the northern political power is constantly in war. The so-called heroes in troubled times, to achieve great things, you should go north, not south. " Zhao Kuangyin thought what the old monk said was very reasonable, so he decided to develop in the north.
in 948 ad, Zhao Kuangyin finally came to yedu, Hebei province, and became a soldier under the account of Guo Wei, the Tang dynasty. In 951 AD, Guo Wei led an army to launch a rebellion, and the army soon perished in the later Han Dynasty. Guo Wei proclaimed himself emperor and established the later Zhou Dynasty. Due to Zhao Kuangyin's meritorious service in attacking the later Han Dynasty, he was appreciated by Guo Wei, and he was immediately promoted to an imperial officer, and two years later he was promoted to the position of deputy commander of Kiddle State (Henan). At this time, Crown Prince Chai Rong was named King of Jin and served as Kaifeng Prefecture Yin. Because of Zhao Kuangyin's resourcefulness and courage, the Crown Prince liked it very much, so he followed Chai Rong and became a close friend of Chai Rong as an envoy of Ma Zhijun in Kaifeng Prefecture.
Be strict with yourself
On New Year's Day in 954, Chai Rong ascended the throne of the Emperor of the Later Zhou Dynasty, with the title Sejong. After Chai Rong proclaimed himself emperor, Zhao Kuangyin was transferred to the central imperial office. With the increasing war, Zhao Kuangyin has established immortal feats one after another, and has gained more and more favor from Zhou Shizong. However, Zhao Kuangyin, as a military commander, did not make public because of his brilliant exploits. On the contrary, he restrained himself more and more, demanding himself to set an example and be cautious. Zhao Kuangyin never violated the military discipline for personal reasons. In February 956, after Zhao Kuangyin conquered Chuzhou, a military town in the Southern Tang Dynasty, Zhao Kuangyin temporarily stayed in Chuzhou before the court sent officials to take over. At that time, his father also fought for the next week on the battlefield in Huainan. A few days later, his father, Zhao Hongyin, was the deputy commander of Ma Jun in the Later Zhou Dynasty, and led an army to come from Yangzhou. He went to Chuzhou at the gates in the middle of the night, and commanded to open the door. Zhao Hongyin hoped to visit his son in the city and meet his father and son. However, Zhao Kuangyin stood at the head of Chuzhou City and said to his father, "Although the father and son are close relatives, the opening of the city gate is a great event of the dynasty, and we dare not open it without authorization. This high-sounding confession naturally shows that loyalty and filial piety are in a dilemma. If you try your best to be king, you have to put aside your family and put the king's affairs first. " Zhao Kuangyin shut his father out on the grounds of strict military discipline, so his father had to set up an account outside the city and endure all night. It was not until dawn that he was able to enter the city to see his son. Zhao Kuangyin's excellent quality of being strict with himself was trusted and reused by Emperor Sejong.
Zhao Kuangyin fought in Huainan from Sejong, attacked the city slightly and was invincible. Li Qiong, the master of the Southern Tang Dynasty, saw that he had repeatedly made meritorious military service, and his fame spread throughout the Southern Tang Dynasty. So he used the double agent to send someone to find Zhao Kuangyin privately, give him 3,2 pieces of silver, and write a letter, promising a high official and generous salary, so as to alienate him from the monarch and his subjects in post-Zhou Shizong. I don't know that Zhao Kuangyin is ambitious. How can he lose a lot for selfish interests such as gold, silver, goods and high officials? Everyone can imagine the result. He didn't hide the traitors, gave the silver sent by the Southern Tang Dynasty to the library in the later Zhou Dynasty, and reported the situation to Sejong openly. This made Zhou Shizong trust him twice as much, and was later promoted by Zhou Shizong to be our national envoy.
aim high
Zhao Kuangyin ascended the throne after the mutiny in Chen Qiao and established the Northern Song Dynasty. Being proclaimed emperor is not the ultimate goal of Zhao Kuangyin, but the goal he has been pursuing is to end the war-torn situation as soon as possible, let the people live a stable and stable life and complete the great cause of reunification. When the song dynasty was just established, the situation of the separatist regime still existed. Therefore, Zhao Kuangyin and Zhao Pu, the etiquette, analyzed the current situation. The current situation is: in addition to many regimes in the south, there are also Liao countries eyeing up in the north. Liao country in the north has a strong national strength. It has been more than forty years since the founding of the People's Republic of China. It has a vast territory, social stability and rapid economic development. Militarily, Liao country has 5, cavalry, which has a greater advantage in military affairs than that of the Song Dynasty. If we go to war at this time, it will be extremely unfavorable to the state of Song in terms of the number of troops and arms. In addition, there are some small countries such as Northern Han Dynasty, Southern Han Dynasty, Southern Tang Dynasty, wuyue, Jingnan, etc. They may also seize the opportunity to attack the State of Song, and if they want to unify the whole country, they must all be eliminated. Taiyuan was ruled by the Northern Han regime. After careful analysis, Song Taizu accepted Zhao Pu's suggestion, learned from Zhou Shizong's lessons, and adopted the general plan of "south first, then north", that is, first take the south of the Yangtze River and cover it with wealth, and then destroy the northern Han Dynasty after it became powerful, so as to compete with the Liao State. Therefore, the first target of Song Taizu's invasion was Jingnan, followed by the elimination of Houshu, Nanhan, Nantang, and wuyue.
Song Taizu has devoted himself to the cause of national reunification for 13 years since he acceded to the throne, basically unifying most of the territory outside the Northern Han Dynasty, and has made important contributions to ending the situation of warlord separatism since the late Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties.
Pay attention to the people
Zhao Kuangyin paid great attention to the people's lives after he took the throne. In the second year, he began to carry out clearing the fields all over the country. In order to prevent formalism and prevent officials from practicing fraud and deceiving their superiors and deluding their subordinates in the process of crossing the fields, he proposed to choose honest people to be field officials, and immediately formulated relevant regulations on disciplinary punishment. This kind of supervision mechanism is worth learning by our current government officials. Zhao Kuangyin pointed out that the purpose of this land-crossing is mainly to "be considerate to the people", which means to let the people who have no land and little land get land, find out the situation that the people have little land but heavy taxes, not only redistribute the land to the people, but also reduce the taxes of the people, and more importantly, check out the phenomenon that the land occupied by the rich people is more than tax evasion. The land occupied by the rich people should not only be evenly distributed to the people who have little land, but also tax evasion. Zhao Kuangyin attaches great importance to the settlement of homeless people, so that they can have a home to return to, a field to grow, and no longer live a wandering life. Before crossing the field, we should first settle the exiled people, and then re-register the new household registration for people all over the country based on the land assets. This management mode for the people ensures social stability, people's self-cultivation and interest-bearing, and promotes the harmonious development of society.
conclusion: Zhao Kuangyin has been in power for 17 years, and he has shown superb military talent and political art. He won the throne without leaving office, and seized the military power without leaving office. He saved the country from royal disputes and national turmoil caused by the change of the throne, which emperors in history failed to do, and Zhao Kuangyin did. He helped the country to be rich and unified, and he was diligent and thrifty, concerned about people's livelihood, respected knowledge and trained talents. He rectified official management and punished corruption; He developed culture, prospered commerce and other measures to stabilize the society of the war-torn country, and the economy began to recover, which laid a solid foundation for the imperial industry of the Song Dynasty for more than 3 years.
When Zhao Kuangyin reached the lowest point in his life, he didn't wait for the pie to fall from the sky. Instead, he stepped onto the throne from a street prodigal son step by step with the spirit of self-improvement, hard work, down-to-earth and step by step, becoming the only emperor in the history of China who ascended the throne through his own efforts and strength. His outstanding qualities and spirit in the course of his struggle deserve our contemporary people to understand and learn.
Zhao Kuangyin experienced hardships all his life. In 976, he completed his 5-year life course with the boldness of an outstanding strategist and politician.