Song Shi Wu Shui (002)

2. Zhao Kuangyin: Office boy's workplace counterattack

In recent years, when referring to the history of the Song Dynasty, some scholars especially pointed out that the Northern Song Dynasty was the most prosperous era of ancient culture and economy in China. Why on earth do you say that? I will slowly reveal it to you in the next chapter. Don't worry. The most urgent question now should be: What kind of person is Zhao Kuangyin who created this era?

Is a man of heart.

Yes, this seemingly non-evaluation evaluation actually flows in his body like blood throughout his life.

Born in a bureaucratic family in Luoyang, his father's name is Zhao. Zhao was brave and aggressive when he was young. Later, he joined the army, made a lot of meritorious military service, and was promoted to the leader of the army. In the later Tang Dynasty, Li saw Zhao fighting hard and liked it very much, so he stayed in the imperial army. It is Zhao's second son. It is said that he was born with a strange smell and won't leave for three days. In view of this, Zhao gave him an appetizing name-Xiang Haier.

A few years later, when Hai Er reached the age of going to school, Zhao officially gave him a scientific name called.

Kuang means help and help; Yin means future generations. As can be seen from the name, the father has great expectations for his son.

Zhao Kuangyin didn't let his father down. When he was a teenager, he not only studied hard, but also learned to ride horses and shoot arrows, and developed a martial arts. He is a good student with all-round development in morality, intelligence, physique and aesthetics.

However, although Zhao Kuangyin grew up well, his father was frustrated in officialdom. As mentioned earlier, Zhao was promoted by Li in the Tang Dynasty, and Li was killed before he was born, which means that Zhao's patron fell. Therefore, in the next ten years, Zhao's official career did not improve, although the dynasties changed two times and the emperors changed a few times.

What's more, during this period, the Zhao family added two men and two women, and they had a few more meals, and the days were getting tighter and tighter. In the early years of the Han Dynasty, Zhao Kuangyin, who was married soon, saw that his father couldn't help himself in his career, and he couldn't always be idle at home, so he packed his bags, bid farewell to his wife, and made up his mind to travel abroad.

Zhao Kuangyin defected to some friends before his father, but the world was cold. These people heard that Zhao had a bad life, and they didn't like it. Once, he came to Wang Yanchao, the national defense envoy in Fuzhou, hoping to get a job and settle down. And Zhao used to be colleagues and friends, and their relationship was extraordinary. He is very enthusiastic about Zhao Kuangyin, asking questions, but he just doesn't talk about work. Finally, Wang Yanchao took out a little money and politely sent Zhao Kuangyin away.

This incident touched Zhao Kuangyin a lot, and kept him in mind. When Zhao Kuangyin became emperor, he once hosted a banquet for ministers. When Liu Bei saw it, he went up to him and asked, "You were in Fuzhou before, and I went to you. Why don't you accept me? " Wang Yanchao thought, thirty years in Hexi, thirty years in Hedong, I'm not a fortune teller. Who would have expected that you would become an emperor, but he said, "I was a national defense envoy at that time, and a spoonful of water could not hold a real dragon." If I accepted your majesty, where would your majesty be today? " Zhao Kuangyin knew that Wang Yanchao was lying, but when he answered skillfully, he turned it over with a smile.

My father's friends can't count on him, and he has no stable job and income. The situation in Zhao Kuangyin is really bad.

Fortunately, God never shuts one door but he opens another. One day, Zhao Kuangyin came to Xiangyang, an important town on the Hanshui River, and lived in a temple. The owner of the temple is an 80-year-old monk who knows people very well. When he saw that Zhao Kuangyin was rich in purple and outstanding, he urged him not to wander in the south. The political situation in the south is relatively stable and suitable for providing for the aged, while the political situation in the north is chaotic and suitable for starting a business. I think you are a man who does great things, so I advise you to go to the north.

Zhao Kuangyin thought the old monk was right, so he decided to return to the north.

In the first year of Ganyou (948), Zhao Kuangyin came to Yedu, Hebei Province, which coincided with the recruitment of Guo Wei, a general of the later Han Dynasty. Maybe it was too exciting before. This time, Zhao Kuangyin lowered his posture and didn't put forward any requirements for his work. He just said in a low-key way, I want to be an ordinary soldier. Guo Wei saw that the young man in front of him was very capable, but he had no ambition. He likes it very much. Keep him around.

It should be said that Zhao Kuangyin's refuge in Guo Wei was a major turning point in his life. Later, Guo Wei launched a mutiny to destroy the later Han Dynasty and establish the later Zhou Dynasty. Because of his outstanding performance, Zhao Kuangyin was promoted to the head of the Royal East-West Class, responsible for the security of the palace. Guo Wei's adopted son, Chai Rong, was the default heir at that time and frequented the palace. Zhao Kuangyin took advantage of his position and soon got acquainted with him.

Making friends with Chai Rong completely changed the fate of Zhao Kuangyin's life.

On Wednesday (953), Chai Rong became Yin of Kaifeng Prefecture. As the person he admired most, with the consent of Guo Wei (this is very important), he was transferred to his own hands and served as commander of Kaifeng Prefecture cavalry. That is, from then on, Zhao Kuangyin began to formally follow Chai Ronggan.

Chai Rong didn't mistreat Zhao Kuangyin. Where there is him, there is Zhao Kuangyin. It can be said that they are both superiors and subordinates, and they are really good friends. After the death of Guo Wei, Chai Rong, who had just acceded to the throne, faced the Great Northern Han Crisis. In the case that the civil servants were not optimistic and the military commanders were dragging their feet, it was Zhao Kuangyin who resisted the pressure, held his ground and fought to the death to turn defeat into victory.

In this regard, Chai Rong was very moved. The first thing Banshi did after returning to Korea was to promote Zhao Kuangyin to the front of the temple.

Hou Yu in front of the temple is a senior general of the imperial army, probably ranking seven or eight. Through his own efforts, it took Zhao Kuangyin only a few years to embark on the road that his father had never walked for decades. There are not only internal factors such as Zhao Kuangyin's high talent and strong ability, but also external factors such as opportunities. Only the interaction of internal and external causes can maximize personal value.

Of course, for an emperor who will ascend to the throne in the future, a position of waiting in front of the temple will definitely not satisfy Zhao Kuangyin's appetite. Zhao Kuangyin is an ambitious man and a patient man at the same time. He knows that his time is not up yet, and the only thing he can do now is to wait. Otherwise, only death awaits him.

But Zhao Kuangyin can't do anything. After all, opportunities are reserved for those who are prepared.

The opportunity came! When Chai Rong appointed Zhao Kuangyin as the commander-in-chief in front of the temple, he also assigned him an important task-reorganizing the imperial army. I have already talked about the content of rectifying the imperial army, which can be summarized as three points: eliminating the old and the weak, choosing the best from the best, and forming an army before the temple. Zhao Kuangyin did a good job, which greatly improved the fighting capacity of the imperial army. At the same time, he also used this convenience to develop his personal power in the dark.

For example, people like Luo Yanhuan and Tian Chongjin, who used to be junior officers under Zhao Kuangyin, have now become middle-level backbone generals for their own use through some clever operations.

Another example is Shi Shouxin, Wang Shenqi and others, whose level is similar to that of Zhao Kuangyin, and their work does not overlap. Zhao Kuangyin could not entice them to gain benefits and threaten them, so he turned to woo them and became sworn brothers with them, forming a power circle with him as the core.

In this way, Zhao Kuangyin made friends with and controlled a large number of young generals by overt or covert means, which made him more and more energetic in the Imperial Army, especially in commanding operations, even more handy than his boss.

In the war against Nantang, Zhao Kuangyin took a group of brothers and went wherever there was danger, making great achievements. In return, Chai Rong also appointed Zhao Kuangyin as the commander-in-chief in front of the temple and our time as the loyal army.

The commander-in-chief in front of the temple was the third in command of the army in front of the temple, but because the post of deputy governor in front of the temple was vacant at that time, it was equivalent to the second in command. As for our time, I don't need to say more about its status, and everyone knows it.

So, in this way, Zhao Kuangyin became one of the most influential people in the imperial court by combining military power with political power.

With the change of identity, Zhao Kuangyin's attitude towards things has also changed. In the past, he only attached importance to the relationship with military commanders, but now he has begun to attach importance to literati, and has collected a number of literati like Liu Xigu, Shen Yilun and Zhao Pu to join his think tank. After all, people can't fight and kill all their lives. Fighting and killing is always a means, not an end.

Therefore, there are indications that Zhao Kuangyin was not a law-abiding person when Chai Rong was alive. It's just that he pretends so well that sometimes he doesn't even believe that he is plotting rebellion.

But Zhao Kuangyin still dare not make a move, because there are two obstacles in front of him, one is Prime Minister Wang Pu and the other is Chai Rong.

Wang Pu mentioned in the previous chapter is the minister who put forward the unified principle and line of "South first, North later, Easy first, Difficult later". In the history of the Old Five Dynasties, there is also a widely circulated story about him. It is said that after the establishment of the Northern Song Dynasty, Zhao Kuangyin once passed the Chen Gong Pavilion in the later Zhou Dynasty, and the wind blew the door open, and Zhao Kuangyin was facing the portrait of wang pu in the pavilion. Zhao Kuangyin quickly stood, adjusted his clothes and bowed respectfully to wang pu's portrait. The attendants no longer said, "Wang Pu is a courtier of the previous dynasty, and your majesty's status is too noble to perform such a heavy ceremony." Zhao Kuangyin pointed to his dragon robe and said, "If wang pu is still alive, I can't wear this dragon robe." I looked up relevant information, and it seems that no one has ever commented on Zhao Kuangyin's modesty. He can say such a thing, which shows that wang pu is really a tough nut to crack.

As for Chai Rong, I don't think it's necessary to waste more ink. The aura is there. As long as there is breath, Zhao Kuangyin can be crushed like a bug. Therefore, if Wang Pu and Chai Rong stay healthy, eat well and live a few more years, then Zhao Kuangyin's saliva will flow to the ground and they will never look at the throne of the emperor again.

By the way, I just used a word called "if". The word "if" is very interesting Anything that happens after it means it didn't happen: if I die-that means I'm still alive; If I love you-that means we can't. Similarly, if wang pu and Chai Rong are in good health, their situation is not optimistic.

There is no historical data to prove that Wang Pu and Chai Rong died suddenly and promptly. Wang pu died in March (959) in the sixth year of Xiande in the later Zhou Dynasty. It is said that he was checking his work below, and suddenly fainted and died suddenly when talking to people normally. Some people speculate that he may have died of a cerebral hemorrhage.

Chai Rong was very sad about wang pu's death. On the day of burial, he visited the memorial ceremony and cried many times.

In April, Chai Rong led an army to crusade against the Khitan. On the way, he found a piece of "re" with the strange words "physical examination" "Spot check" is the abbreviation of "spot check in front of the temple". At that time, Zhang Yongde was a "spot check" person. What does this "spot check" mean? Because Chai Rong was busy with the war, he didn't think deeply. Soon, Chai Rong suddenly fell ill, so he withdrew and returned to Kaifeng.

In critical condition, Chai Rong began to think about the funeral, and felt that his son was still young. If he was gone, someone would launch a mutiny, and I'm afraid he would only lose his life. He remembered the "physical examination" card he had picked up earlier, and thought it might be a prophecy, which meant that Zhang Yongde, the "house before physical examination", would seize the throne.

Zhang Yongde is Guo Wei's son-in-law, and has a friendship with Chai Rong. At the beginning, Chai Rong reorganized the imperial army and divided it into two systems: the front army and the bodyguard pro-army. Chai Rong appointed Guo Wei's nephew Li Zhongjin as the commander of the bodyguard pro-army, ranking higher than Zhang Yongde, causing dissatisfaction in Zhang Yongde. In order to balance the relationship, Chai Rong specially set up the post of inspector in front of the temple for Zhang Yongde, as the supreme commander of the army in front of the temple. However, this practice did not ease the relationship between them. Since then, Zhang Yongde and Li Zhongjin have been fighting against each other, which has gradually aroused Chai Rong's dissatisfaction and prevention.

So, in this case, Chai Rong quickly removed Zhang Yongde's post, and made Zhao Kuangyin, who he thought was very reliable, serve as the commander-in-chief before the temple.

In June of the same year, Chai Rong died, and his son Chai Zongxun acceded to the throne, in order to pay tribute to the Emperor of the Later Zhou Dynasty.

At this point, the obstacles that prevented Zhao Kuangyin from proclaiming himself emperor were completely removed, and the spring that belongs to Zhao Kuangyin finally came.