Northern Song DynastyFounding EmperorSong TaizuZhao Kuangyin, during his reign, was widely praised for his kindness. After he launched the " Chen Qiao Mutiny of " to seize the post-week throne, he did not persecute the descendants of the previous royal family. Instead, he tried his best to protect them and give them the best treatment other than imperial power.
The second emperor of the Song DynastySong TaizongZhao Guangyi, the younger brother of Zhao Kuangyin, his fame and achievements are far less famous than his brother Zhao Kuangyin.
After Zhao Guangyi ascended the throne, he seemed to want to continue his brother's image of benevolence and fraternity, but his actual practice was quite different from the word benevolence. In particular, his treatment of Zhao Kuangyin's queen and her children was widely criticized.
From the sudden death of Song Taizu Zhao Kuangyin to the direct succession of his younger brother Zhao Guangyi, there are too many doubts. And how will the second emperor of the Song Dynasty treat the first emperor's empress and her children? Why is he doing this? Is he really as benevolent and fraternal as he himself claims to be?
stills
candle shadow axe , suddenly proclaimed emperor
In fact, how Zhao Guangyi inherited his brother's throne has always been a mystery that cannot be said. In " Song History " volume four, the fourth chapter of the fourth period, there is only one sentence at the beginning: "In the winter of the ninth year of Kaibao, in October, Gui Chou, the emperor collapsed, and the emperor became the emperor." hastily described Zhao Guangyi's succession to the throne. .
But if you think about it carefully, you can see the weirdness: On October 20th in the winter of the ninth year of Kaibao, Song Taizu Zhao Kuangyin died, and Song Taizong Zhao Guangyi inherited the throne.However, Zhao Kuangyin had been in power for 16 years at that time, and his two sons Zhao Dezhao and Zhao Defang were young people , and they were all excellent candidates for the prince. Why did his younger brother directly inherit the throne after his death?
Zhao Kuangyin died suddenly in that year, and historically it was once suspected that his younger brother Zhao Guangyi "killed his brother to usurp the throne". As early as the Northern Song Dynasty, this kind of speculation was recorded by the monk Wenying in the "Continuation of Xiangshan Wild Records".
In the record of "Continuing Xiangshan Wild Records", an idiom "candle shadow axe" vividly describes the scene of that night: under the shadow of candlelight, the figures of the two brothers were cast on the window paper, and the two were in the palace as usual. Li toasted and drank, but the flickering candlelight secretly meant that this night was doomed to be unusual.
suddenly blew a gust of wind, and the candlelight seemed to reflect Zhao Guangyi's figure who was retreating from the table!
What followed was the sound of an ax hitting a heavy object in the hall. After a long silence, the hall, which was originally just the two brothers, shouted. That night, the founding emperor Zhao Kuangyin died.
The four characters of "candle shadow and axe" are the most widely circulated stories in historical records. However, what happened that night, and whether Zhao Kuangyin's death was related to his younger brother Zhao Guangyi, we still don't know.
But what caused such controversy was not just because Song Taizu was with him before his death, but what made him suspicious was that Zhao Guangyi immediately chose to change the era name to " Taiping Xingguo " after he took the throne.
For this matter, criticism and speculation are even more rampant. In the "Journal of Sushui" written by Sima Guang, it was recorded that Zhao Kuangyin was in danger that night, and the Queen of Song immediately sent her cronies, Wang Jien, to summon their fourth son, Zhao Defang, into the palace, and to prepare for the subsequent succession to the throne.
However, Zhao Guangyi, the younger brother of Song Taizu, had long coveted the throne, and he had already bought Wang Jien as his confidant. Once he learned that Taizu was seriously ill, he immediately waited for the news with his cronies at the Jin Wangfu. What happened after
is not unexpected, Wang Jien did not act according to the will, but went directly to report to Zhao Guangyi. Zhao Guangyi immediately entered the palace, and after entering the palace, he entered Song Taizu's bedroom without waiting for a notification.
When Wang Jien returned to the palace, the Queen of Song asked, "Is Defang coming?" Wang Jien said, " The King of Jin is here." Seeing that Zhao Guangyi had arrived, the Queen of Song knew that the matter was a foregone conclusion, so she could only call the emperor one of the names. The "official family" called Zhao Guangyi, and begged: "My mother and son's life is entrusted to the official family." Zhao Guangyi replied: "To protect the wealth and honor together, worry-free!" "One of the most important evidences. Not only the historians today, but the people of the Song Dynasty had different opinions on this change. Most people were skeptical or even opposed to this second brother who suddenly became emperor.
To appease people's hearts, following the old example
Zhao Guangyi immediately changed the title to "Taiping and rejuvenating the country" after he succeeded to the throne, which shows his determination to build a peaceful and prosperous country as the goal. However, due to the suspicions of all parties before the enthronement, Zhao Guangyi's path to the throne was not smooth.
Especially among the people, the people still feel very strange about Zhao Guangyi's succession to the throne, and his claim to succeed the throne by decree is not accepted and understood by the public. All this is too strange.
Gradually, Zhao Guangyi gradually understood in his heart. After that, he chose not to comment on and limit these rumors, but to prove himself with practical actions.
From childhood to adulthood, Zhao Guangyi was smart but not crowded. It is rumored that his mother was pregnant with Zhao Guangyi when he dreamed that a fairy was holding the sun to her.On the night he was born, it was even rumored that the sky was red like fire, and the streets and alleys were full of strange fragrances.
Regardless of the rumors, Zhao Guangyi's intelligence and high emotional intelligence can be seen from his participation in Chen Qiaoyi's mutiny in and helping his brother Zhao Kuangyin to proclaim himself emperor.
In order to make the people at that time more accepting of his leadership, his first step to win over people's hearts was to continue to use the old habits in various policy articles, and to punish all those who had been punished or wanted to be punished when Song Taizu was alive. pardon. It can be said that after he came to power, he gave amnesty to the world, which also attracted the crowd of the people at that time.
But in the early days of Zhao Guangyi's administration, more people wanted to know how he treated the sons and daughters and wife of the late emperor Song Taizu.
Zhao Kuangyin had two sons, Zhao Dezhao and Zhao Defang, and three daughters. After Zhao Guangyi came to power, he did not abolish the title of prince of the son of the late emperor, but continued to retain it.
These two princes were not kings when their father Zhao Kuangyin was alive. After Zhao Guangyi succeeded to the throne, it was equivalent to "promotion and rank" for his two nephews.
In addition, Zhao Kuangyin's three daughters all retain the title of "Princess". In this way, Zhao Guangyi treats his brother's two sons and three daughters as his own sons and daughters, they are all princes and daughters of the world.
At that time, Zhao Guangyi's attitude and handling of the sons and daughters of the late emperors were widely praised and praised. He even named the third living queen of his brother, the famous Xiaozhang Queen Song in history, as . " Kaibao Queen ".
Song Taizu's old ministries and others have all been promoted to rank, and their children and grandchildren have been promoted to rank.These actions towards the sons and daughters and wives of the late emperor seemed to prove to the world that Zhao Guangyi was just as kind and philanthropic as the late emperor. But his subsequent actions showed his ambitions.
At that time, not only the wives and sons and daughters of the late emperor, but also Zhao Guangyi's own cronies and well-connected brothers were also conferred the title of honor. He appointed his younger brother, Zhao Tingmei, as the prefect of Kaifeng and the Book Order of the Central Committee, and the title of "King of Qi". Zhao Tingmei's sons and daughters also enjoy the treatment of princes and princesses.
Not only that, Zhao Guangyi paid more attention to cultivating and promoting his own cronies and wings in the imperial court. The cronies and important officials who were used by Song Taizu in the previous dynasty almost all expressed their opinions in the "Candle Shadow Axe" incident. They did not support Zhao Guangyi's superior position, which also brought him considerable hidden dangers.
Therefore, after Zhao Guangyi came to power, his original shogunate member was logically assumed to be an important position in the previous dynasty.
The original important and loyal ministers were all devolved and dismissed by Zhao Guangyi following Song Taizu's " cup of wine to release the military power", like some veteran generals such as Zhao Pu, Xiang Gong, etc. Zhao Guangyi even chose to transfer them out of the capital and to a nearby town. County officials. This is easy to control and prevent accidents from happening.
Zhao Guangyi chose to follow the old system after he took office and delegated power to the lower levels. His actions seemed to be benevolent and fraternity. But a closer look reveals his true purpose and ideas. In the early days of his administration, Zhao Guangyi seemed to treat the children and wife left by his brother fairly well, and did not make it difficult to persecute them.
If history is frozen here, people's speculation and criticism of him will gradually disappear, but the fact always backfires.
The bizarre death, the controversial
The first person to be persecuted was Empress Xiaozhang, that is, the Song family who was still respected as Empress Kaibao after Zhao Guangyi came to power.In the year of Zhao Kuangyin's death, Song was only 24 years old and was in her youth. She was known for her gentle temperament, beauty and virtuousness. After she married Zhao Kuangyin as his wife, their relationship was also very deep.
also has Song's figure in the rumors about Zhao Guangyi's succession to the throne. It is rumored that she cried to Zhao Guangyi after knowing that her son would not be able to take the throne, "I and my child's lives are in your hands."
Zhao Guangyi at that time also promised; "It means that they can live well.
But the good times didn't last long. One year after Zhao Guangyi's reign, this promise was broken.
In the second year of Taiping and rejuvenation, Zhao Guangyi moved the Song family's palace address to West Palace for another reason. The West Palace has always been the place where the concubines lived, which is undoubtedly a humiliation to the Song family. Ten years later, four years later, he ordered the Song family to be forcibly moved to the East Palace.
"Song History" Volume 4 Chronicles records that in the second year of Emperor Yongxi's reign, the Eastern Palace was set on fire by the king of Chu Zhao Yuanzuo , causing serious damage, and Zhao Yuanzuo was demoted to a commoner because of this incident. , it can be seen that the seriousness of this matter and the great damage of East Palace .
After the fire, the East Palace was no longer inhabited, but Zhao Guangyi ordered the Song family to move to this severely damaged and uninhabited East Palace.
In that environment, the Song family lived for eight years. Until April, the first year of Zhidao, Song died at the age of 44. It's hard to imagine how she was treated in that dilapidated and empty East Palace.
Whether it was due to illness or depression, Song's death was inseparable from Zhao Guangyi's two orders to move the palace.
However, after Song's death, her treatment is still not good.
Although Song was honored as Queen Kaibao before her death, she did not enjoy the slightest queen treatment after her death. Zhao Guangyi not only did not perform mourning for the emperor's sister-in-law Song, but also forbade the former ministers to commemorate the queen.
What's even more extreme is that Song's coffin after her death was placed in the Puji Buddhist House, not only could not be buried with her husband Song Taizu, but even the shrine was not allowed to enter the imperial temple.
The mask of benevolence and fraternity left by Zhao Guangyi during Song's lifetime was exposed after her death. Not only that, but the two sons of Song Taizu were also unable to escape bad luck.
After three years of Zhao Guangyi's reign, wars continued. In order to calm the army, Zhao Guangyi personally led the troops to attack the area around Youzhou. During a battle, the army was in chaos, and Zhao Guangyi, as the leading general, disappeared during the war, and the army still couldn't find him after returning to the army.
At this time, someone suggested that Zhao Dezhao should take the throne and replace Zhao Guangyi as emperor.
But the fact is that Zhao Guangyi did not die in the war, but was well protected. The previous proposal from the army also suddenly reached Zhao Guangyi's ears, and this was the beginning of Zhao Dezhao's bad luck.
Zhao Guangyi's personal expedition to attack the Liao Kingdom ended in failure, and the momentum of the army was not encouraged, which led to Zhao Guangyi's silence on this battle for a long time.
However, at this time, Zhao Dezhao personally asked for a reward for the meritorious minister of the campaign. Zhao Dezhao was sternly reprimanded by Zhao Guangyi in the courtroom. According to the "Song History" record, Zhao Dezhao committed suicide that night after being reprimanded.
The death of Zhao Dezhao has caused everyone to talk a lot, and unconsciously think that his father Zhao Kuangyin also died like this bizarrely.
The following year, Zhao Defang, who was only 23 years old at the time, also died of a strange illness.Zhao Defang was in his prime at that time, and he had been marching and exercising for a long time. It was obviously not normal for him to die so easily.
In the History of the Song Dynasty, his death was summed up hastily as "sickness and death". The meaning of these three words is that Zhao Defang fell ill in bed and died. It's too easy to die! In this regard, historians also believe that someone did something wrong.
Conclusion
In the history of Zhao Guangyi, who reigned for twenty-two years, on March 29 in the third year of Zhidao, he died of a serious illness in the Wansui Hall at the age of fifty-nine.
During his reign, he did not make many current political measures against the Northern Song Dynasty. Mao Zedong made a comment when reading "Song History: Taizong Benji": "This person does not know soldiers, and he is not an opponent of Khitan . After that, the Khitan was defeated repeatedly. All of them used the method of enticing the enemy to go deep, gathering and annihilating them, and the people of Song eventually lost their minds."
This shows that Song Taizong Zhao Guangyi was not very clever in his conduct and warfare.
Instead, he was caught in a scheming battle, always worried about losing his throne. From the way he treats his brother's children and wife, it can be seen that the demise of the dynasty never stemmed from criticism from others, but from his own mind.
References:
- "Song History" Volume Four of the Period, Yuan Dynasty Tutuo wrote ancient books.
- Cao Weiqin. On the supply dilemma of military rations in Song Taizong's two northern expeditions [J]. Journal of Wenzhou University (Social Science Edition), 2011,24(05):106-110.
