In the first year of Xiangfu, Zhao Heng, the third emperor of the Northern Song Dynasty, Song Zhenzong, suddenly received a letter. It was this letter that caused the whole country of the Northern Song Dynasty to become abnormal...

In the first year of Xiangfu (AD 1008), Northern Song DynastyThe third emperor Song Zhenzong Zhao Heng suddenly received a letter. It was this letter that caused the whole country of the Northern Song Dynasty to become abnormal...

From the emperor and ministers to the common people, everyone has entered a state of madness. Everyone is like "collective onset" , and "hallucination" has appeared!

What is even more incredible is that this absurd situation of "the whole country is crazy about " and has lasted for a full 14 years.

So, what kind of letter could make the entire Northern Song Dynasty fall into such a state of madness?

This letter is really extraordinary.

Because this is a letter written by God to Song Zhenzong!

Speaking of this, everyone must think this matter is ridiculous: How could God write a letter to Song Zhenzong? What's even more ridiculous is that he actually received the letter!

That’s right! This thing is nonsense...

On the third day of the Lunar New Year in 1008 AD, all the court officials went home to celebrate the New Year, but Song Zhenzong suddenly called them all back to hold an emergency meeting.

In Song Zhenzong’s own words, that is: Something big happened with !

That day, saw that the ministers had almost arrived, Song Zhenzong began his own performance...

Song Zhenzong said slowly: "My ministers, as you know, the dormitory where I live is very large, surrounded by It is covered with black curtains. When the draft passes, the curtains will sway unsteadily, which is very scary. I am often worried that there will be gods and ghosts coming out from behind the curtains..."

After listening to Song Zhenzong's words, the ministers They looked at each other: This early in the morning, isn’t the emperor so bored that he wants us to listen to ghost stories?

Song Zhenzong saw that the ministers were as confused as the monk Zhang Er, and then said: "Two days ago, I was exhausted, so I took a nap in the dormitory. When I was sleeping soundly, I was awakened by a flash of lightning. Waiting When I opened my eyes, I saw a man wearing a star crown and a dark red robe standing in front of me..."

Song Zhenzong was very smart. He did not directly tell who this person was, and the ministers were even smarter. : Congratulations to the emperor, the person the emperor saw must be a god!

Why do you say this?

In fact, Song Dynasty has always believed in Taoism, especially when it came to Song Zhenzong, he was simply a fanatical Taoist fan.

The "star crown" in Song Zhenzong's mouth refers to the Taoist hat, and the dark red robe is the "uniform" that can only be worn by very high-level gods in Taoism.

Therefore, star crown + dark red robe = fairy!

The preparations have been made, and Song Zhenzong's second round of performances has begun...

Song Zhenzong told the ministers that after the "immortal boss" made a stunning appearance, he said to him: "On January 3rd, it should be in the main hall. After building the Huanglu Dojo, fasting and chanting sutras for a month, three chapters of the Heavenly Book "Dazhong Xiangfu" will be sent down. Remember! After that, Song Zhenzong actually built a dojo and practiced fasting and reciting sutras very devoutly. , from December 1 last month to now, I have been busy for a whole month.

The ministers suddenly realized that the emperor had been busy with this matter this month!

Of course, Song Zhenzong did not bring the ministers together to "report" on his work this month. He was still laying the groundwork for the "Book of Heaven".

After all, the reason why Song Zhenzong did so many things was because the "immortal boss" wanted to give him the "Book of Heaven".

However, the one-month deadline has expired, has the "Heavenly Book" been delivered?

It was delivered, but it was just a few days later than the agreed time!

Actually, it was already a month old on New Year's Eve, but the "Book of Heaven" did not arrive as expected. Could it be that God was deliberately testing Song Zhenzong to see if he was sincere?

So Song Zhenzong persisted for three more days, until the third day of the Lunar New Year, his voice was unusually high: "My dear friends, just now the Imperial City Department came to report urgently that a two-foot-long tunnel was found south of Zuo Chengtian Gate. The silk cloth was hanging on the ridge of the roof. I was very surprised, so I sent someone to check..."

Obviously, Song Zhenzong meant something...

I want to ask, outsiders cannot enter the emperor's deep palace, and the city gate is so Gao, who can (dare) hang things there?

The implication of Song Zhenzong's words is naturally to express: This thing is made by gods!

Of course, Song Zhenzong himself would not point it out.

So, he went on to say: "The people who went to check came back and reported that the silk cloth hanging on the ridge was still tied with books. I was thinking, could it be the Book of Heaven?"

Speaking of this, the minister We completely understand: It turns out that the emperor urgently summoned us early in the morning to watch this play that he wrote, directed, and acted in order to tell us that the "gods" really gave him the "heavenly book"!

Since the emperor loves "acting", how dare he not cooperate with the emperor's performance as a minister!

Afterwards, all the ministers knelt together and shouted long live.

Song Zhenzong became even more excited when he saw that the ministers were so cooperative with him: "Since all the beloved ministers are here, why don't you come with me now to invite the Book of Heaven to come back and read it!"

After all, there is no "script" , there are no "lines" prepared in advance, and the ministers are not very sensible, and they don't know how to "take over the show": "Your Majesty, this book was given to you by God, and only a true dragon emperor like you can do it. Look, how dare we mortals look at it!"

Under normal circumstances, the ministers' answers are very reasonable and appropriate, but this is not a normal thing after all. It is neither reasonable nor appropriate. Song Zhenzong naturally didn't want to get such a decent reply!

When Song Zhenzong saw that the ministers were withdrawing from the "script" and no longer playing with him, he became furious: This is not possible. My script is not like this. The reason why I have called you all here is to You are here to be witnesses!

So, under his high-sounding "lobbying", a melon-eating crowd gathered to watch Song Zhenzong take the heavenly book...

Now that the emperor had decided, the ministers did not dare to refuse any more, so they followed Song Zhenzong. To the south of Chengtianmen on the left.

After getting the "Book of Heaven", Song Zhenzong ordered someone to open it and take a look. It turned out to be a letter of praise. The general meaning is: You, the emperor, have performed well. I am going to give you another "extra time" in the Song Dynasty and reward you again. Your country has been in Zuo for hundreds of years.

It seems that God gave Song Zhenzong a huge thumbs up!

When the ministers saw the atmosphere, they knelt down quickly and fired a rainbow fart. Song Zhenzong was elated and relieved at the same time.

At this point, the play has finally been completed perfectly, but the story is not over yet...

So, why did Song Zhenzong direct and act in this drama of the "Book of Heaven" falling from the sky?

Throughout history, Song Zhenzong was not a faint king, and he governed the country well during his reign. But why did he forge a heavenly book to confuse and deceive his subjects?

The reason is that this incident is related to a major event that happened a few years ago...

In 1004 AD, The Liao Kingdom marched south and went straight to Kaifeng Prefecture to fight. At that time, Song Zhenzong was very worried. I was afraid, so I thought of the thirty-six strategies as the best strategy.

However, Prime Minister Kou Zhun firmly opposed it and urged Song Zhenzong to lead the expedition in person.In desperation, Song Zhenzong had no choice but to bring his troops and ministers to Chanyuan to confront the Liao army.

In fact, judging from the situation at the time, the Song Army obviously had an advantage over the Liao Army.

First of all, the Song army had already achieved some victories in local battles; secondly, at that time, the troops of Qinwang from all walks of life had also been moving closer to Chanyuan, but the Liao soldiers were still alone. Therefore, many people feel that this battle must be won.

However, Song Zhenzong did not think so...

In Song Zhenzong's view, in the past historical battles with the Liao army, the Song army's record was not good. It can be said that it won less and lost more. In addition, the late emperor Song Taizong fought a decisive battle with the Liao army under the Youzhou city. The situation at that time was also favorable to the Song army, but he still lost to the Liao army. In the end, he died of an arrow wound in this battle. .

It can be said that the death of Song Taizong left a serious psychological shadow on Song Zhenzong: Song Zhenzong became timid at the thought of going to war with the Liao army!

In the end, the situation between the Song and Liao countries evolved into: The Liao Kingdom could not defeat the Song Dynasty, and the Song Dynasty did not dare to provoke the Liao Kingdom, so it had to negotiate peace!

Therefore, Song Zhenzong signed the historically famous "Chanyuan Alliance" with the Liao Kingdom.

Regarding the "Chanyuan Alliance", it is actually an unequal treaty...

According to the treaty, the Song Dynasty had to pay tribute of 300,000 taels of silver and 200,000 bolts of silk to the Liao Kingdom every year, and what the Liao Kingdom had to do was to withdraw from the Song Dynasty. , just stop invading the Song Dynasty from now on.

However, although this was an unequal treaty, it also brought many benefits to the Song Dynasty.

Because, since the signing of the treaty, Song and Liao basically lived in peace, and no major wars occurred. It was in this long-term peaceful environment that the economy of the Song Dynasty soared, and the people's The days are getting better and better.

However, just when the prospects of the Song Dynasty were promising, something went wrong in the Liao Kingdom...

A civil strife in the Liao Kingdom almost made Song Zhenzong almost depressed!

Some people say that if there is trouble within the Liao Kingdom, wouldn’t it be a great good thing for us in the Song Dynasty? It’s time to celebrate and be happy, so why are you still depressed? They are enemies!

Don’t forget, Song Zhenzong’s brain circuit is different from that of ordinary people!

In Song Zhenzong's view: Now that Liao is in civil strife and its national power is weakening, will someone in the DPRK begin to wonder whether I should sign the "Chanyuan Alliance" back then, or maybe they will force me to fight again? Liao?

In fact, some ministers were actually discussing this matter in private, which made Song Zhenzong very angry and aggrieved!

Song Zhenzong believed that he risked his life to fight with the Liao Kingdom and sign treaties. Now the Song Dynasty is developing so well. This is his glorious political achievement and will be recorded in the annals of history. It's good now. All of this seems to have become a stain on myself. This is not okay. This matter must be resolved!

So, Song Zhenzong thought of a person-Wang Qinruo.

Wang Qinruo was a close minister of Song Zhenzong. Although he had no ability, he was the best at observing words and emotions and understood the emperor's thoughts very well.

Song Zhenzong was very depressed about this matter, so he called Wang Qinruo in front of him and complained: "Wang Aiqing, now there is civil strife in Liao Dynasty. Many ministers in the court are talking privately, saying that I should not sign the "Chanyuan Alliance" "What should we do?"

Wang Qinruo, who had already had a plan in his mind, tried Song Zhenzong to be on the safe side and said: "Your Majesty, how about we go to the Liao Kingdom?"

Song Zhenzong waved his hands repeatedly when he heard this, and said in a high-sounding voice: "I really can't bear to see my people suffering from the war!"

In fact, what Song Zhenzong really thought in his heart was: This can't be done. The last time I went on a personal expedition with my imperial commander, I was frightened. This time... If I want to go to war, I will probably die. No, no, absolutely no!

Hearing what the emperor said, Wang Qinruo took reassurance. Since the emperor did not want to fight, he would definitely like his idea.

Wang Qinruo only told Song Zhenzong four words - "Fengchan Taishan " !

The so-called "Fengzen" is a very large ceremony held by ancient Chinese emperors to worship heaven and earth.

As early as before Zhenzong of the Song Dynasty, there were five emperors in history who had visited Mount Tai. They are: Qin Shi Huang Ying Zheng , Emperor Wu of Han Liu Che , Emperor Guang Wu of Han Liu Xiu , Emperor Xuan Zong of Tang Li Longi and Tang Gaozong Li Zhi.

It can be seen from this that not every emperor is qualified to go to Mount Taishan casually! must meet at least two standards: either it has great merit and outstanding political achievements; or it is favored by God and auspiciousness comes from heaven.

Although Song Zhenzong was a pretty good emperor, he was a war-fearing person after all. He had also signed unequal treaties. If we were to talk about merit, he really was not qualified to be granted the title of Zen Taishan.

Therefore, in order to solve this matter, Song Zhenzong could only choose the second way - auspiciousness from heaven!

As soon as Song Zhenzong heard what Wang Qinruo said about Fengchan Taishan, his eyes immediately shone and he couldn't help being happy.

However, he soon began to mutter: First of all, he did not meet the conditions for being granted Zen status; secondly, "auspiciousness descending from heaven" is something that can only be met but not sought. What should I do?

After Song Zhenzong told Wang Qinruo his doubts, Wang Qinruo replied:

"Tian Rui can be obtained, and the previous generations have done it with human power. If the master believes deeply and worships Yan to show the world clearly, it is no different from Tian Rui." Yes. Your Majesty said that He Tu and Luoshu are really like this? "

Wang Qinruo means: Your Majesty, don't be too naive! The auspicious things coming from heaven cannot wait and are not reliable. However, we can "make" auspiciousness ourselves!

Take the story of Hetu Luoshu as an example. If you yourself are very pious and believe in this "manufactured" auspiciousness, who else dares to doubt its authenticity?

To put it bluntly, it’s just a matter of a word from the emperor!

In this way, Song Zhenzong made up his mind, imitated Hetu Luoshu's creativity, directed and acted in a drama in which the "Book of Heaven" fell from the sky!

After all, as soon as the Heavenly Book came out, he had the qualification to be enshrined in Zen and Taishan. The troubles he had caused to him by the "Chanyuan Alliance" before could be put aside and no one would mention it again.

So, after this drama is over, will things really develop as Song Zhenzong imagined?

After that, Song Zhenzong actually held a Zen ceremony in Mount Tai in the name of "Heavenly Book".

However, what Song Zhenzong didn't expect was: In the process, someone dared to add drama!

You must know that from obtaining the "Book of Heaven" to being granted the title of Zen, you have to go through a very long process. But during this process, Song Zhenzong, in order to increase the popularity of the title of Zen, let it only increase but not decrease, he started a series of With his actions, the matter slowly began to change...

In order to cater to the emperor, everyone seemed to have opened their eyes, and it was like they were collectively ill. They often "see" some strange things, and He also reported it to Song Zhenzong immediately.

Regarding these, Song Zhenzong was also happy to see the success and was secretly happy.

Seeing that the emperor was so happy, everyone became more motivated to work...

One day, a minister came to Song Zhenzong and reported to him: "Your Majesty, since you are about to enshrine Mount Tai, the tigers there have become It's very strange! Not only did they not eat people, but they also moved together with friends and children..." After hearing this, Song Zhenzong couldn't help but sigh: This must be the preparation work done in advance by God for me to be enshrined in Zen. Even the king of the mountain had to give way to me. What a blessing for my Song Dynasty dynasty!

A minister named Ding said , his play is even more "first-class". Whenever he sees a bird, he calls it "Heavenly Crane".

Once, a few birds flew over the car carrying the "Book of Heaven", and Ding Wei hurriedly ran to tell Song Zhenzong the good news: "The two cranes flew in the chariot of the Book of Heaven, flying for a long time!"

Although, Song Zhenzong also liked to be photographed by others. His flattery, but Ding said that the flattery this time made him very dissatisfied. Even he himself felt that it was too fake and impossible.

After all, there were many people present at the scene, and no one had ever seen Tianhe dancing on the car, and he danced for a long time.

So Song Zhenzong said: "Ding Aiqing, it's passed! It's passed! Let's change it..."

Unexpectedly, Ding Wei told him firmly: "Your Majesty, this cannot be changed, like this Only then can you show your devotion to God!"

Ding Wei said that not only cannot it be changed, but this matter must be recorded in official history. If you do this, God will see the sincerity of our Song Dynasty!

After hearing this, Song Zhenzong felt that what Ding Wei said was reasonable. Later, this incident was actually recorded in the history books.

After this incident, everyone understood Song Zhenzong's bottom line on the matter of "Auspiciousness from Heaven", that is: There is no bottom line.

As a result, the trend of this matter became more and more weird:

Everyone tried their best to lie, constantly expressing their piety to a forged "heavenly book", and constantly trying to please Song Zhenzong...

This phenomenon of " rainbow fart " flying all over the sky actually lasted for 14 years. It was not until the death of Song Zhenzong that this drama really came to an end. In history books, this period is called "heavenly book politics" era.