The historians of the Song Dynasty were quite good, they dared to record the emperor's mistakes bluntly, and even a rare benevolent monarch like Song Renzong was picked out by them in the history books.
However, for the former emperor Chai Rong, the successive historians of the Song Dynasty gave a very high evaluation, believing that he was a perfect combination of benevolence and Mingjun. Xue Juzheng's "History of the Old Five Dynasties" called him "the hero of the generation", Ouyang Xiu's "History of the New Five Dynasties" praised him as a "hero" and "virtuous lord", and Sima Guang's "Zizhi Tongjian" called him Renjun + Mingjun.
This is not *** under political pressure, but a real recognition and respect for Chai Rong. His reign has been hailed as a milestone in the history of the Song Dynasty, and his exploits will be immortalized in the annals of history.
From Wealthy Merchant to Emperor: Chai Rong's Life Counterattack Chai Rong (921-959) was not an emperor of imperial origin, he started as a businessman. His aunt was once elected to the harem of Zhuangzong of the Later Tang Dynasty, and on the way home after being dismissed, she fell in love with Guo Wei (904-954) at a glance and ran away with Guo Wei with her dowry.
At this time, Guo Wei was just a down-and-out soldier. Chai Rong later defected to his uncle Guo Wei and became Guo Wei's adopted son. While doing business, Chai Rong also insisted on practicing martial arts, reading through history books, proficient in martial arts, and was a smart and motivated young man.
Chai Rong followed his adoptive father into the military world, and Guo Wei was Liu Zhiyuan's confidant, assisted and meritorious, and was promoted all the way to become the general who commanded the army. However, Liu Chengyou, the emperor who succeeded to the throne of the Later Han Dynasty, was extremely jealous of Guo Wei and intended to kill him.
After the incident was leaked, Guo Wei raised troops on the "Qingjun side", and Liu Chengyou killed all Guo Wei's family members who stayed in the capital, even including Guo Wei's infant son. However, Guo Wei did not give up because of this, so he launched a mutiny in Shanzhou, and the yellow robe was added to establish Hou Zhou.
10 years later, Zhao Kuangyin also concocted the same method and established the Great Song Dynasty, ending the history of the Later Zhou Dynasty. Chai Rong, as Guo Wei's adopted son, also succeeded in becoming an emperor from a merchant because of his ingenuity and determination.
Although Guo Wei, the Taizu of the Later Zhou Dynasty, only reigned for 3 years, his influence was far-reaching. His family was killed by Emperor Yin of the Later Han Dynasty, making him a real "loner". When he was considering an heir to the throne, his adopted son Chai Rong was the highest priority.
After Guo Wei became emperor, he intended to put Chai Rong in charge of the army in order to establish military merit and prestige, but under the obstruction of Wang Jun, the founder of the Later Zhou Dynasty and the privy envoy, this plan was temporarily shelved.
However, Guo Wei became aware of Wang Jun's ambitions and put him under house arrest. A year before Guo Wei's death, he appointed Chai Rong as the king of Kaifeng Yin and Jin, which meant that the situation of Chai Rong's succession to the throne was clear.
However, Li Chongjin is Guo Wei's nephew and may become an obstacle to Chai Rong's smooth succession. Guo Wei was well aware of this, so at the critical period of the transition of power, he summoned Li Chongjin and ordered him to kneel in front of Guo Wei to worship Chai Rong to clarify the distinction between monarchs and ministers.
Finally, Guo Wei died in 954 and was succeeded by the 34-year-old Chai Rong as Later Zhou Shizong.
Chai Rong succeeded to the throne, and everything seemed to be fine, but in fact it was full of challenges. During the Five Dynasties period, emperors changed frequently, with an average of less than four years. Most emperors succeeded to the throne in a variety of ways, but most of the successors who succeeded through their fathers were short-lived.
Chai Rong, who had just ascended to the throne, faced the attack of the Northern Han and Khitan and decided to conquer in person. However, the courtiers opposed his decision, and Feng Dao claimed that he was not Tang Taizong. Chai Rong's predicament is that there are strong enemies outside and surrender factions inside.
He must personally recruit and deal with any unexpected incidents. In the Battle of Gaoping, Chai Rong personally led the army and killed Zhang Yuanhui, a general of the Northern Han Dynasty, and finally won the victory and stabilized the throne.
Wang Fuzhi believes that Chai Rong sits firmly in the world, relying on his own desperate efforts to win the battle of Gaoping.
Chai Rong established his prestige during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, purged the army, and kicked off the prelude to what became known as the "Reform of Zhou Shizong". He killed the generals who retreated from the enemy, and killed Liwei on a large scale, and rectified the ** forbidden army, which greatly improved the combat effectiveness of the Later Zhou army.
He also improved the country's economic and personnel situation by changing tax policies and suppressing the power of generals. Chai Rong is also an emperor who attaches great importance to Buddhism, he ordered the abolition of the Buddhist temple in the country, although it led to a lot of jealousy, but in the end it was for the benefit of the people, and the circulation of coins was restored.
In addition, Chai Rong also attached great importance to the imperial examination system and talent selection, and he personally organized re-examinations and appointed talented people exceptionally. His view of power was also different, believing that the emperor should put the people first and care about the suffering of the people.
Chai Rong's ideal is to bring 30 years of peace and prosperity to the people.
On his first day in office, Chai Rong firmly pushed forward his work in accordance with his first 10-year plan. His goal is to strengthen the country and enrich the people and open up the world. Under the historical trend at that time, the reunification of China was in the fundamental interests of the broad masses of the people.
The Later Zhou was located in the Central Plains, with the Liao State and the Northern Han Dynasty in the north, and the Southern Tang, Later Shu, and Southern Han regimes in the south. Chai Rong's approach was different from that of Wang Pu and later the Northern Song Dynasty. He first captured the four states of Houshu, and then began the southern expedition, three imperial expeditions to the south, and finally won the fourteen states of Jiangbei in the Southern Tang Dynasty.
His goal is to destroy the most powerful enemy, the Liao State, and recapture the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun. He first attacked the not powerful Houshu, and took 4 states, but did not destroy the human country, which can be seen for the purpose of training and deterrence; Then he attacked the most powerful Southern Tang in the south, took the land of Jiangbei, and still did not destroy the human country, the purpose is still to deter, so that all the southern regimes will honestly not move, and take me as the right one.
After Chai Rong shocked the southern regime, he sent troops to Liao as planned, also based on a realistic consideration. At that time, although the Khitan was strong, the contradictions were fierce. Chai Rong's sixth year of reign.
In the third month of the lunar calendar, he led the army to the north to attack Liao, and the momentum was like a bamboo, and he successively recovered the three prefectures of Ying, Mo and Yi, as well as the three passes of Waqiao, Yijin and Sikou, which took only 42 days. This was a great deterrent to the Khitan, and the history books said that the Khitan "all those who were in Youzhou also fled overnight."
In May, Chai Rong was about to take advantage of the victory to enter Youzhou, but suddenly fell ill. Legend has it that he traveled to a place and asked the local people for the name of the place, and he listened to it silently. Exacerbation.
Returned to Kaifeng and died of illness in June. He was only 39 years old.
Of course, it is often not a good thing for a ruler to reign too long. Generally speaking, emperors who have reigned for more than 40 years are prone to slumping and slacking off in government in the later period, resulting in political consequences.
For example, the famous emperor in history who "does not guarantee the late festival": Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, who reigned for 54 years; Emperor Wu of Liang, reigned 48 years; Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, reigned for 44 years; The two emperors, Jiajing and Wanli, both reigned for more than 40 years; Emperor Qianlong, reigned for 60 years ......From two aspects, Chai Rong's 30-year expectation is indeed a rather rational judgment.
At the end of the troubled times, it will be longer to create a ruling world than a unified dynasty. The rule of the world in history, which is most comparable to Chai Rong's situation, should be the reign of Yang Jian, the founding emperor of the Sui Dynasty.
Yang Jian has been in power for 24 years, which shows that Chai Rong's self-expectation of 30 years is very real and reasonable. If it grows longer, it may fall into the trap of gerontocracy, which is also what Chai Rong tries to avoid.
Unfortunately, all of this is only an afterthought for us. And what Chai Rong is really great about is that even if he has only been 5 and a half years, he has still won the highest praise in history.
The reputation he gained during his reign of five and a half years is no less than that of the ten or twenty years of ruling the world. Ouyang Xiu admired Chai Rong so much that he threw himself to the ground, and he praised in the "History of the New Five Dynasties": In the five or six years of Shizong (Chai Rong), he took Qin Long, Pinghuai Right, and Fu Sanguan, and the mighty voice shocked Yixia.
The scholars who studied Confucianism in the Fang Nei, examined the system, revised the "Tongli", determined the "Zhengle", and discussed the "Criminal System", and the methods of its production could be applied to future generations. He is a man who is wise and wise, and his discussion is ......His heroic material can be described as a hero, and he humbly listens to it, and uses people without doubt, isn't it the so-called virtuous master?
Sima Guang wrote history and was quite harsh on the emperors of previous dynasties, but he also praised Chai Rong: If Zhou Shizong, he can be described as benevolent, not loving his body but loving the people. If Zhou Shizong, it can be said that it is clear, and it is not beneficial to waste it.
Contemporary historians also recognize Chai Rong as another ruler in Chinese history who has made outstanding achievements in governing the country and the army after Taizong of the Tang Dynasty. Historians believe that Chai Rong made three important achievements in his historical era: first, the endgame of decades of disintegration during the Five Dynasties period was not until the reign of Chai Rong, and there was a unified clue; Second, since the end of the Tang Dynasty and the fifth dynasty, the social economy that had been seriously damaged in the warlord melee had only taken a turn for recovery during the reign of Chai Rong; Third, due to the emergence of reunification and the turning point of economic recovery, as well as the comprehensive reform at home, military operations abroad have been fruitful, enabling people to see light and hope in the turbulent situation and in the uncertain fate of survival.