In that turbulent and dark era, there was a promising king who stood out in this troubled era.
He was once the overlord in the troubled times, and was praised as "the first monarch of five dynasties and ten kingdoms". However, he died in the prime of life, leaving his fortune in the hands of others.
Fortunately, this beneficiary was a Ming monarch who founded the Great Song Dynasty. Chai Rong, Later Zhou Shizong, his whole life was laying the foundation for the establishment of the Great Song Dynasty, so some people in later generations called him the real Song Taizu.
The establishment of the Song Dynasty was made possible by his unremitting efforts.
Chai Rong: How did you go from a rich child to a later Zhou Mingjun, and why did you fall short in the end?
Due to the middle of his family, Chai Rong could only go to his aunt when he was young, and he lived by his aunt's side since he was a child, and was loved by Guo Wei. Because Guo Wei has never had a son, he adopted Chai Rong as a righteous son and changed his name to Guo Rong.
When he grew up, Chai Rong showed his outstanding business talents, helping his family to engage in various business activities, such as managing housekeeping and selling tea, so that his life gradually became richer.
At the same time, he also attaches great importance to martial arts training, often running around in business life, and also training horseback archery, which makes Chai Rong not only achieve success in the business world, but also very good at martial arts.
In addition, he diligently studied the subset of classics and history, delved into the art of literary power, and became a handsome young man who was calm and taciturn. After Guo Wei assisted Liu Zhiyuan to establish the Later Han Empire, Chai Rong, as Guo Wei's beloved son, gradually rose in status.
Guo Wei served as the deputy privy envoy, and Chai Rong served as the general of the left prison guard; When Guo Wei stayed in Hebei, Chai Rong served as the commander of Tianxiong Ya, the assassin of Guizhou, and the right servant of the inspection school.
1.After the Han Dynasty changed hands, Guo Wei successfully proclaimed himself emperor after Liu Zhiyuan's death, and Chai Rong also entered the court. However, after Guo Wei died of illness, his family and heirs were killed by Liu Zhiyuan's son Liu Chengyou, and Chai Rong inherited the throne and became Later Zhou Shizong.
2.The new emperor ascended the throne, and the people of the Later Zhou Dynasty were immersed in the grief of national mourning. Liu Chong, the lord of the Northern Han Dynasty, joined forces with the Liao army, claiming to fight for the revenge of killing his son and seizing the country, and led an army of 100,000 straight to the Central Plains, and Hou Zhou faced a great threat.
Guo Wei mutinied and killed Liu Chong's son, when Chai Rong had just ascended the throne, the court was unstable, and the ministers and soldiers had not yet fully devoted themselves to the new monarch.
Although Prime Minister Feng Dao warned him that he should not leave the capital, otherwise a mutiny might break out in the capital, Chai Rong did not think so, and was determined to defeat Liu Chong with the strength of Mount Tai. After some preparations, Chai Rong drove his own expedition on March 11, and launched a life-and-death struggle with the ** Khitan coalition army in Gaoping, Zezhou on the 19th.
However, Chai Rong's first pro-campaign did not go well. At the beginning of the battle, the cavalry on the right flank of the Zhou army saw the huge number of enemy troops and fled directly, causing the infantry to disarm and surrender.
Chai Rong personally led the elite and charged bravely, which instantly inspired the soldiers' enthusiasm for fighting, they met the battle with desperate momentum, the tide of battle was quickly reversed, reinforcements arrived, and the Zhou army won a complete victory, not only capturing the enemy, but also capturing a large amount of booty.
Liu Chong's"Killing"In the end, it just made him flee back to Taiyuan in embarrassment. After the war, Chai Rong not only rewarded the meritorious soldiers, but also severely punished the deserters, and executed more than 70 soldiers such as Fan Aineng and He Hui, which deterred some of the negative soldiers, and also rectified the army, pointed out the existing problems and strengthened the improvement, and greatly improved the combat effectiveness of the Later Zhou.
Zhao Kuangyin showed his skills in the Battle of Gaoping, and his outstanding performance was appreciated by Zhang Yongde and recommended to Chai Rong. Chai Rong not only handed over the Right Route Army to Zhao Kuangyin for rectification, but also promoted many middle and lower-level officers, laying the foundation for Zhao Kuangyin's future development.
Chai Rong once ordered the courtiers to write a plan to unify the world, decided on the strategy of first the south and then the north, first the easy and then the difficult, and conquered the Southern Tang in the first battle. Chai Rong personally led the army to attack Shouzhou, and after a year's siege, defeated the Southern Tang reinforcements.
The Southern Tang Emperor finally proposed to cede the six states of Huainan to sue for peace, but Chai Rong insisted on attacking and finally captured the ten states of Huainan, and the Emperor of the Southern Tang Dynasty was forced to cede the four states and use the Later Anniversary Chronology instead.
Chai Rong returned to the imperial court with a full load of victories.
In the process of conquering the Southern Tang Dynasty, Zhao Kuangyin continued to rise through the ranks with his outstanding achievements, and now he has become the leader of the forbidden army. Chai Rong, on the other hand, adjusted his strategy and decided to abandon the southern expedition first and instead target the Khitan.
The Khitan frequently harassed the Hou Zhou border during Chai Rong's southern expedition, and also occupied the sixteen states of Yanyun, which was an extremely important military focus with strategic value.
Therefore, Chai Rong decided to go directly north to conquer the Khitan, and triumphed all the way to successfully recover Yannan. However, when he was about to face Youzhou, his generals began to disagree, but Chai Rong resolutely went on a northern expedition.
On the eve of departure, Chai Rong was unwell and could only stop regrettably. However, his condition deteriorated and he eventually had to give up. Despite this, when Chai Rong was in power, he always cared about the well-being of the people, implemented many measures to restore and develop the domestic economy, strictly rectified the dynasty, eliminated malpractices, and severely punished, even those who were good friends.
This kind of severe crackdown system made the court of the Later Zhou Dynasty clear and showed a strong ability to govern the country.
Chai Rong not only pays attention to the punishment of **, but also focuses on revising the law and improving the relationship between monarchs and ministers. According to historical records, Chai Rong often reflected on himself during his reign and asked the ministers to write "It is Difficult for the King, It is Not Easy for the Minister" to promote frank exchanges between the monarch and the minister and eliminate the estrangement.
He also advocated pro-virtuous and far-reaching, so that the courtiers in the court recommended the virtuous, if there is a mistake such as **, the promoter must also be jointly and severally liable. In addition, in order to solve the problem of serious shrinkage of farmland after the war, Chai Rong ordered the re-measurement of cultivated land and encouraged displaced people to cultivate uncultivated wasteland, and if the owner returned, it could be returned proportionally, otherwise the land would go to the cultivator.
Years of war and chaos not only made the cultivated land of the five dynasties and ten countries abandoned, but also the imperial examination system decayed in chaos. Due to the frequent wars, it is generally believed that only force can save lives, and there are more opportunities to learn martial arts.
Therefore, the idea of emphasizing military force over literature prevailed at that time. However, during Chai Rong's reign, he re-emphasized the imperial examination and added the system of subjects, aiming to select different types of special talents.
This fully shows Chai Rong's desire for talents. Many people expressed dissatisfaction with the extermination of Buddhism during the Chai Rong period. However, in the Later Zhou period, the number of monks suddenly skyrocketed, showing an explosive growth, why is this?
Monks are a group of people who are detached from agricultural production and commercial economy, and in an agrarian society, their existence is undoubtedly a state of eating white rice. In times of peace, they may be fine, but in the years of war, the extreme scarcity of various materials, the expansion of the community of monks and the increase of monasteries, have had a serious impact on the country and the lives of the people.
Chai Rong took such measures in order to ensure the lives of the people and the normal operation of the country. However, when the country needed economic development and labor the most, the common people fled to the empty door in order to avoid paying taxes, and were unwilling to engage in agricultural labor, which made a large amount of labor waste in the temple.
Chai Rong dealt with private and small-scale temples, while took a tolerant attitude towards large temples. For those monks with low attainments in Buddhism or who are not pious, Chai Rong made a request to return to the world, but for monks who have attainments or are pious, Chai Rong is not compulsory.
Although Chai Rong had ambitions to spend ten years to expand the territory, ten years to recuperate, and ten years to dedicate himself to peace, the tricks of fate prevented him from achieving this goal.
When Chai Rong realizes that his condition is getting worse, his ambition has not yet been realized. In addition, the family members and descendants of Chai Rong and Guo Wei were killed at the hands of Emperor Liu Chengyou of Han Yin, while Chai Zongxun, the eldest of his own sons, was only 7 years old.
In the last stage of his life, Chai Rong carefully arranged the auxiliary political arrangement of the court to ensure that his young son could sit firmly in the country. He first canonized the queen and chose Fu Yanqing's daughter as the queen.
Fu Yanqing is the envoy of the Tianxiong Army, and his local military power is the most powerful. The position of the Tianxiong army can not only defend against the invasion of the Khitan, but also contain the mutiny of the capital Kaifeng, and it is also a relative of the emperor, and it is possible to compete with Chai Rong's grandson for the throne.
Therefore, Chai Rong chose Fu Yanqing's daughter as empress to ensure his son's political stability.
In the center of the imperial court, Fan Zhen, Wang Pu, and Wei Renpu were all prime ministers who held great power. Fan is honest and honest, upright, Wang Pu is loyal and brave, and Wei Renpu is also a loyal and virtuous gentleman.
These excellent personalities and personalities enabled them to better assist the young monarch. However, in Chai Rong's thoughtful consideration, the person he looked away from was the founding emperor of the Song Dynasty, Zhao Kuangyin, Taizu of the Song Dynasty.
Chai Rong entrusted all military affairs to Zhao Kuangyin and appointed him as the former secretary of the palace, one of the supreme commanders of the forbidden army, and the other supreme commander was Zhao Kuangyin's good brother Li Chongjin.
Chai Rong left the talisman to Han Tong to counterbalance Zhao Kuangyin's military power. Chai Rong's appointment of Zhao Kuangyin was not an irrational decision, because Zhao Kuangyin had followed Chai Rong to fight in the south and north for many years, and he was loyal to Chai Rong.
It's just that people's hearts are unpredictable, and no one can predict the future direction.
Although there will be all kinds of sadness in life, if it is not a person, it is undoubtedly the most painful. Chai Rong Sejong passed away on July 27, 959 A.D., leaving behind regret and pain.
Immediately afterwards, in the first month of 960 AD, Zhao Kuangyin directed a Chenqiao Mutiny on the grounds that the Khitan invaded Hou Zhou. Fan Zhen and Wang Pu ordered Zhao Kuangyin to go to the battle, but Zhao Kuangyin wore a yellow robe and led the army into Beijing, ousting Chai Rong's eight-year-old son and the young queen from the throne.
This is also why many people believe that Chai Rong is the real Song Taizu, because the Great Song Dynasty was taken from Chai Rong's orphans and widows.
Under Chai Rong's rule, the country prospered, large areas of land were recovered, the people gradually became rich, and the state decree was already planned. However, Zhao Kuangyin seized the throne from Chai Rong, who was orphaned and widowed, and inherited the land of Later Zhou and Chai Rong's early national policy.
Although Zhao Kuangyin also made great efforts in the early wars, after all, the strategy and implementation were the results of Chai Rong. Zhao Kuangyin was just a wage earner at the beginning, but he finally succeeded in stealing the country, which is very emotional.