General History of China Episode 53 Commentary by Song Taizu

The Hundred-episode Documentary "General History of China" Episode 53: Song Taizu

Summary:

At the end of the Tang Dynasty, the warlords became independent, the world was in chaos, and the people were in dire straits. Since 907, the history of China has entered an eventful autumn, which lasted for more than half a century. There are only 53 years left before and after Liang, Tang, Jin, Han and Friday's separatist regimes, but the emperor changed 13. As the saying goes, "You can sing, I will play." The founding kings of the five dynasties were all important generals of the previous dynasties. They seized the throne through coups and killings, but they had no ability to govern the country at all, so they were quickly ousted by others and died. There are tyrants and cruel officials in the world, and rulers of all sizes compete fiercely in the ancient Central Plains. This is the eve of dawn, and people are eagerly looking forward to the birth of a hero who can end troubled times and save them from fire and water.

This is a handicraft skill that has been circulated for more than 1000 years: border embroidery, which was called "court embroidery" and "official embroidery" in the Northern Song Dynasty. Zhao Kuangyin, Song Taizu, specially set up Jin Ling Academy in Shi Jing for production and editing. Playing with pearls and dragons is a traditional theme in Bian Xiu, which shows the legendary story of Song Taizu Zhao Kuangyin and his younger brother Zhao Guangyi. However, due to the age, the original pattern has long been lost. Today is an important day for Guo Ning. Guo Ning has read many historical materials. After more than two months of material selection, stretching, drawing, silk separation and embroidery, the embroidery of this "Shuanglong Play Pearl" is about to be completed. In her view, every stitch and thread is weaving the legendary life of Zhao Kuangyin.

On March 2, 9271day and night, there was a baby crying in a military camp called Jiamaying in Luoyang. This baby is the son of Zhao, a court official in the later Tang Dynasty, who is also the founding emperor of the future DaSong Dynasty. It is said that when Zhao Kuangyin was born, the room was full of red light, accompanied by flames. What is even more incredible is that Zhao Kuangyin was born with a tangy aroma, which made Gamaying fragrant for three days and three nights. Therefore, Zhao Kuangyin was named "Xiang Haier" by posthumous title, and was renamed "Xiang Haier Camp" after Jiama Camp. In the biography of the founding emperor of China, the legend of Zhao Kuangyin's magical birth is not uncommon. However, there is a unique legend in Zhao Kuangyin, Song Taizu, which originated from Shaolin Temple in Songshan Mountain.

This temple is the best in the world and is famous for Shaolin Kung Fu. Among the Shaolin boxing routines handed down from generation to generation, there is a mysterious boxing method called "Taizu Changquan 32 Style". Zhao Kuangyin comes from a military family and likes riding, shooting and practicing martial arts since childhood. Later, he came to Shaolin Temple to learn boxing, and soon showed his outstanding martial arts talent. This 32-style Taizu Changquan, named after Zhao Kuangyin, combines the essence of Shaolin Temple martial arts. Has been passed down to this day. Yan Shiao inherited the mantle of his ancestors. Today, he is an important descendant of Shaolin Taizu Changquan.

Comments:

( 1)

Yan Shiao: I heard that Zhao Kuangyin went to Shaolin Temple when he was a child. When he practiced boxing, he perfected this set of boxing. He prefers this boxing. He practiced this boxing very well. Therefore, in order to respect him in the future, everyone named Mao Changquan.

Zhao Kuangyin is not only good at Changquan, but also proficient in many weapons, among which the best iron bar is from Shaolin Temple. There has always been a saying in the Song Dynasty that "Mao decides 400 states with a whistle stick". After Zhao Kuangyin, the Emperor of the Northern Song Dynasty went out for a patrol, and someone was carrying an iron bar behind him. It is said that it is Zhao Kuangyin's weapon with his fingerprints on it. Nowadays, more and more people come to Shaolin Temple to learn stick and boxing, but in order to reach the realm of Zhao Kuangyin, Yan Shiao seems that almost no one can do it, even he himself has to constantly understand the true meaning of Mao Changquan every day.

Yan Shiao: Learning Wushu is a method of practice, and then practicing Zen. Everyone who does great things first lacks a calm heart. Zhao Kuangyin entered Shaolin Temple, where he studied Zen. Once he meditates, he can think better about big problems.

To achieve great things, we must go to a wider world. 2 1 year-old, Zhao Kuangyin seemed to be ready when he left Shaolin Temple. Next, Zhao Kuangyin, who has practiced martial arts, will begin to interpret the "32 styles" of his life.

But he didn't seem to find the right direction in life. Zhao Kuangyin went to the south first. One day, he went to Xiangyang and lived in a temple. The abbot of the temple helped him redefine the coordinates of life. The abbot is a monk 100 years old. The monk pointed out to him that the regime south of Hanshui River is relatively stable, and only in troubled times can a hero be born. He should go to the north instead of the south. Zhao Kuangyin thought what the old monk said was reasonable, so he listened to the old monk's advice and went straight to the north. At this time, the northern region is a turbulent era, and a hero is already there waiting to clean up the mess. Now, this hero has embarked on a journey.

(2)

Deng Xiaonan: In 53, the Northern Five Dynasties. At that time, there was a saying in history that it was a state of frequent changes. In fact, there are not only 13 emperors, but also at least 14 emperors. The north did experience war and was relatively turbulent for a long time.

In 948, Zhao Kuangyin found a good opportunity. At that time, Guo, the Tang envoy of the later Han Dynasty, was ordered to crusade against Li Shouzhen, our river envoy. Zhao Kuangyin joined Guo Wei. Two years later, Guo Wei overthrew the post-Han regime and established the post-Zhou Dynasty. Zhao Kuangyin became an imperial officer. Soon, Chai Rong acceded to the throne for Zhou Shizong, and Zhao Kuangyin soon became an important minister around Chai Rong. But as a soldier, his further promotion needs more capital. What is lacking now is that Zhao Kuangyin needs to win a war to prove its true value to Zhou Shizong.

The opportunity came soon. Soon after Zhou Shizong ascended the throne, in February 954, Northern Han contacted the Khitan to invade the following week. Zhou Shizong had a personal adventure, and Zhao Kuangyin went out with him. In March, the two armies fought fiercely in Gaoping. At the beginning of the battle, the northern Han army gained the upper hand. In the second week, when several generals saw that the situation was not good, they chickened out and ran away. In the second week, the army immediately went into chaos. At this point, Zhao Kuangyin is fearless in the crisis. According to Zhou Shizong's deployment, he resolutely split the imperial army in two. One suppressed the enemy's attack, and the other made a detour to the left, and went straight to the Northern Han camp to turn the tide and almost wiped out the Northern Han army. Zhao Kuangyin became famous in the First World War. He not only contributed to the rescue, but more importantly, he saved Zhou Shizong's country.

(3)

Li Xiao: So the role of this war is not only in this respect, but more importantly, it has won high praise from Zhou Shizong and Chai Rong. Without the trust and appreciation of Zhou Shizong and Chai Rong, there would be no story of Zhao Kuangyin's rapid promotion.

After the war of Gaoping, Zhou Shizong set out to rectify the imperial army. At the same time, in order to weaken the influence of local warlords, Zhou Shizong recruited warriors from all over the world to Beijing, and then carefully selected them to form a new army, called "the classes in front of the temple", making it the most elite imperial army directly controlled by the emperor. It was Zhao Kuangyin who was responsible for selecting and forming this imperial army.

In 959 AD, Zhou Shizong was seriously ill on the way to the northern expedition to Qidan and was forced to return to Daliang. He died half a month later at the age of 39. Zhou Shizong died young. His son, Chai Zongxun, who just turned six, succeeded to the throne, and was called Gong Di in history. The post-Zhou regime, which was established only nine years ago, immediately fell into the turmoil of "suspecting the country" and was in jeopardy. On his deathbed, Zhou Shizong became suspicious of Zhang Yongde, the son-in-law of Guo Wei, who was in charge of the inspection before the temple at that time, so he lifted his military power and appointed Zhao Kuangyin as the inspection before the temple. It seems that fate is predestined, and the historical task of reconstructing mountains and rivers actually falls on Zhao Kuangyin's shoulders in advance.

The first day of the first month in 960 AD was the first New Year after the seven-year-old little emperor ascended the throne. However, the world is not peaceful because of the arrival of the New Year. News came from the front: Northern Han colluded with Liao soldiers to invade the later Zhou Dynasty. According to the later research, this is probably a plot carefully planned by Zhao Kuangyin, and the so-called Northern Han invasion is totally false. Queen Fu used his quick wits and ordered Prime Minister Fan Ju to hold an emergency command meeting to discuss sending troops to defend the enemy. After discussion, Zhao Kuangyin is the most suitable candidate to lead the army. However, such a result does not represent everyone's opinions.

The day before Zhao Kuangyin went to war, that is, on the second day of the first month, rumors of "an imperial envoy" filled the capital. At that time, Zhao Kuangyin's official position was to inspect the Forbidden City. "Asserting the emperor" means that Zhao Kuangyin will rebel in the later Zhou Dynasty and seize the world. Some rumors are often unpublished truths, and rumors are rampant. Zhao Kuangyin, pushed to the forefront, has entered the most critical moment in his life. If Zhao Kuangyin, armed to the teeth, immediately launches a mutiny in the capital, it will anger the public and arouse strong opposition. Only by taking risks can we achieve great things. For Zhao Kuangyin, this is not only reflected in the battlefield. Zhao Kuangyin has been preparing for the war in an orderly way, and he has not been influenced by the theory of rebellion.

According to historical records, on the third day of the first month, it is said that two suns appeared over Kaifeng House at the same time. Miao Xun, a young officer in the Zhao Kuangyin Army, first discovered this strange celestial phenomenon, and found Zhao Kuangyin's confidant Chu Zhaofu, saying, "It seems that there will be a new Tianzi." .

Chen Qiaoyi, located in fengqiu county, 50 kilometers away from Kaifeng City, was rarely visited because of its remote geographical location, although there was a famous mutiny in Chen Qiaoyi in China. Li has been waiting here for most of his life. Every year, on the third day of the first month, Li Man Tang Zong Sr will offer three glasses of wine to Zhao Kuangyin, the host here. This is a tradition that janitors must always follow, because everyone knows that on this day, Zhao Kuangyin can't live without wine.

On the third day of the first month in 960 AD, Zhao Kuangyin went to war, spent the night in Chen Qiaoyi, and got drunk that night. The next morning, there was a sudden shout outside, and Zhao Kuangyin jumped up in a drunken dream. As soon as he went out, a group of people came forward and put him in a yellow robe. Before Zhao Kuangyin could react, a large crowd knelt in front of him, and everyone shouted long live.

Between dream and reality, Zhao Kuangyin became the founding emperor of the Song Dynasty. This is the legendary "Chen Qiao mutiny" in the history of China, and the protagonist of the incident is Zhao Kuangyin. Today, the statue of Zhao Kuangyin enshrined in the Martyrs Temple in Chen Qiaoyi still wears a yellow robe.

(4)

Deng Xiaonan: This is usually said in official history books. But I think if we look at the clues left by historical materials at that time and put these contents together, we can actually grasp the whole picture of the incident. I think the whole process of Chen Qiao's mutiny was carried out step by step under the co-ordination of Zhao Kuangyin and a group of advisers around him, including think tanks.

The careful deployment of the mutiny plan began on the first day of the first month. When Zhao Kuangyin received the command from the command meeting to let him go to war, he first took Murong Zhaoyan, who was not a close friend, and asked him to lead the former army to start one day in advance. Let the guards' pro-military advisers Gao Huaide and Zhang Lingduo go out by themselves, and spare time for the guards' pro-military forces in the capital; Shi Shouxin and Wang Shenqi, two loving brothers, will be arranged in Kaifeng City for internal and external coordination. At the same time, even the safety of family members has long been taken into account by Zhao Kuangyin: According to Sima Guang's Story of Sushui, when leaving the army, Zhao Kuangyin's family members all hid in the Buddhist scripture building of the temple named Dingliyuan, just in case something happened. From this perspective, Zhao Kuangyin is not a brave warrior with developed limbs and simple mind. He can achieve great things because of his extraordinary courage, superb wisdom and careful deployment.

However, if that's all, Zhao Kuangyin's behavior is no different from that of all warlords who seized power through rebellion in the Five Dynasties. However, what Zhao Kuangyin did next really showed the statesmanship of a great dynasty. During Chen Qiaoyi's reign, Zhao Kuangyin, dressed in a yellow robe, returned to the capital Kaifeng House and forced the young master Chai Zongxun to make way. However, the protagonist of the mutiny issued a special order: after returning to Beijing, all soldiers must protect the Empress Dowager and Master Zhou, and must not infringe on court ministers or rob the state treasury. Those who obey orders are rewarded, and those who violate orders are eliminated. However, a seemingly simple command made Zhao Kuangyin stand out from all the coups of the Five Dynasties.

(5)

Li Xiao: In order to achieve the success of the coup, other coup planners even condoned and even encouraged their soldiers to plunder, so the killing of former leaders and ministers and rebellion emerged one after another, which brought greater social unrest.

On the fifth day of the first month, Zhao Kuangyin returned to Beijing with the rebels. Sure enough, the military discipline is strict, and Qiu has not committed a crime, but this alone is not enough to successfully ascend the throne. He had only one last step, that is, to make the ministers of the Zhou Dynasty submit to him. In the face of the severe condemnation of Zhou Dynasty ministers, Zhao Kuangyin wept and blamed herself, which was an embarrassing moment for Zhao Kuangyin, who was about to usurp the throne. At this time, someone must stand up and push history forward. As Zhao Kuangyin's personal bodyguard, Luo Yangui walked out of Zhao Kuangyin's side and shouted with a sword: "My generation has no owner, and today it will be the son of heaven!" In this way, a reprimand ended the history of the later Zhou Dynasty. Zhao Kuangyin officially ascended the throne, and changed the title of Chai Zongxun, the emperor of the later Zhou Dynasty, to Zheng Wang.

Because it was appointed to Songzhou, where the German army appointed our army, the new dynasty took "Song" as its country name and made its capital in Tokyo (now Kaifeng, Henan), which was called the Northern Song Dynasty in history. Chen Tuan, a hermit in Huashan and a "master of Yi Studies", learned of Zhao Kuangyin's accession to the throne. The old man said this: "The world will be settled from now on!"

Li Xiao: Since the Anshi Rebellion, China's political structure has lasted for more than 100 years. People are afraid of chaos, so they long for peace and stability. This is the direction of the times, the trend of society and the desire of the people.

For Zhao Kuangyin, "wearing a yellow robe" means the beginning, because Chen Qiaoyi was only a small post station in his 17 imperial career. Zhao Kuangyin still has a long way to go to end the chaos since the Five Dynasties and create a prosperous dynasty. Zhao Kuangyin first faced the fragmented pattern after the warlord melee since the end of the Tang Dynasty, and the mission of unifying the territory and reviving the Central Plains was calling him. However, before the curtain of reunification was lifted, some people raised the banner of rebellion, which was unexpected by Zhao Kuangyin.

Shortly after Zhao Kuangyin acceded to the throne, Li Jun and Jong Li fought the Song Dynasty in Yanzhou, Zezhou, Shaanxi, Yangzhou, Jiangsu and other places, and Song Taizu soon personally put down the rebellion. After "Li Er" was destroyed, no one dared to rebel, and the world was at peace. However, Song Taizu lost sleep for it. He believes that the vicious circle of the Five Dynasties Rebellion has not been eradicated in his own hands, on the contrary, it may continue to spread. Every time Zhao Kuangyin suffers from insomnia, she will think of her brother, the current Prime Minister Zhao Pu, who has troubled her for decades.

(6)

Cursor: No matter in the process of his conquest of the country or after his later establishment of the Song Dynasty, he always attached great importance to Zhao Pu in the process of governing the country and keeping the country safe. Why do you attach great importance to him (Zhao Pu) is because Zhao Pu is really outstanding in some aspects, especially his politics and strategy, so Song Taizu will attach great importance to him.

It's a snowy night. Song Taizu braved the heavy snow and knocked on Zhao Pu's door. This evening's conversation was recorded in detail in Su Shui Ji written by Sima Guang in the Northern Song Dynasty. Four months later, the famous event of "replacing soldiers with cups" took place, which wrote a legend for Zhao Kuang's life.

Even now, Kaifeng people still talk about it. As a full-time actor who plays Zhao Kuangyin, Li Baotian can't remember how many times he performed the story of returning home with a glass of wine in the past 20 years.

One day in the early autumn of 96 1 AD, Song Taizu hosted a banquet for a group of senior generals such as Shi Shouxin and Wang Shenqi who made great achievements with him. After three rounds of wine, Mao looked sad. Shi Shouxin and others asked him why. Mao said: It is really difficult to be an emperor, because everyone wants to be an emperor. Hearing this, the Shi Shouxin and others were frightened and declared that they had no infidelity. Mao said: Although you have no infidelity, you have to be emperor if your subordinates put on a yellow robe. Hearing this, the crowd hurried away in fear, kowtowing together and asking for instructions to live. Mao gave them advice, disarmed, returned to the fields, bought a more beautiful house and fertile land, set up a permanent manor for their children and grandchildren, and bought some geisha, music and dance, drinking and having fun with each other and spending the rest of their lives together. People finally understood what Mao meant. The next day, Shi Shouxin and others all resigned due to illness, demanding disarmament and returning to the field. Mao showed off and transferred them to other places to be officials, thus recovering the relieving power of the imperial court.

(7)

Li Xiao: Zhao Kuangyin became emperor because of the mutiny in Chen Qiao. He is not a local power, but a senior general of the central government. It was with such a position that everyone checked in front of the temple that he successfully launched a coup, and his success just meant where the greatest danger lay. So what he solved was the alternation of new and old senior generals of the Central Imperial Army.

From the Anshi Rebellion to the Five Dynasties, social theft became a common phenomenon, and mutiny seemed to be an unsolved problem. Although he also benefited from the mutiny, Zhao Kuangyin knew that this situation must be changed, otherwise the Northern Song Dynasty would become the sixth short-lived dynasty after the Five Dynasties. The right to drink a glass of wine to relieve boredom does not fundamentally solve the problem. If you don't want to be a thing of the past, Song Taizu must play his 32-style long fist more effectively.

During the Five Dynasties, our economy made power boundless, and the central government lost control. In view of this situation, in the late Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties, Song Taizu abolished the system of our time and leading the county, and the central government sent civil servants as well-known and magistrate, who were directly responsible to the central government. Song Taizu also used our time to transfer schools, become an official and go to Beijing. This will relieve them of their power and let them do nothing, so that they will never threaten the Central Committee again.

In order to seize the relieving power of the buffer region, Song Taizu sent warriors to Beijing and incorporated them into the Central Imperial Army. In this way, the essence of the local army is concentrated in the capital, and there are no elite soldiers and brave people in the local area. But the mutiny came not only from the buffer region, but also from the imperial army in Chen Qiao, and the control of the imperial army was more important.

Song Taizu established a three-legged system of "three officials", which was composed of the former government, the Guards' Ma Jun Division and the Guards' Bu Jun Division * * and led the imperial army, so that the generals of the imperial army contained each other and ensured the emperor's position as commander-in-chief of the whole army.

(8)

Deng Xiaonan: These three districts are Sanya. They have the weight of holding troops, but they have no right to send troops. Therefore, separating the right to leave the army from the right to station troops will form a kind of checks and balances from the system. The so-called unified military system between Sanya and the Privy Council will almost eliminate the possibility of its imperial army launching a mutiny in the Song Dynasty, so it will be an impossible state in the future.

Song Taizu deployed half of the more than 200,000 imperial troops in the capital, and the rest were stationed in other places, so that the garrison in the capital was enough to prevent possible accidents in other places, and the garrison in other places was combined to prevent possible accidents in the capital. Song Taizu has also implemented the "multi-garrison law", and the guards stationed in the capital and other places often take turns to transfer and change shifts. At the same time, military generals must be replaced frequently to prevent the formation of a solid relationship between generals and soldiers and avoid the arrogance of soldiers.

Song Taizu's measures are not only reflected in the military system, but also form a pattern of decentralization, that is, the central government is in charge of administration, the Privy Council is in charge of military and political affairs, and the three departments are in charge of finance. In addition, adding a deputy prime minister to participate in government affairs together with the prime minister dispersed the power of the prime minister, prevented the excessive expansion of personal power, and caused mutual checks and balances within the ruling group, thus strengthening the autocratic monarchy. Politically, militarily and financially, Song Taizu effectively curbed the mutiny from the institutional level by implementing a series of measures, ending the historical cycle.

Deng Xiaonan: As far as Zhao Kuangyin is concerned, during his sixteen or seventeen years in office, he successfully changed from a warlord to a relatively successful monarch. So as far as such a political situation under his rule is concerned, it has also effectively changed from that kind of turmoil to relative stability. In the words of people at that time, it was to suppress chaos for the sake of governance and turn this chaos into such a period of relative governance. Then I think that Zhao Kuangyin's political legacy is very important not only to the Northern Song Dynasty, but also to the later monarchs.

Next, it's time for Song Taizu to offer the most important and controversial move in his life, that is, the literati ruling the country.

As we all know, the late Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties were the most tyrannical period in China's history, and the status of literati fell to the bottom of history.

Although Song Taizu himself is a soldier, he likes reading very much. Zhao Kuangyin traveled to Huainan with Zhou Shizong in his early years and brought back several big boxes when he returned to Beijing. Someone framed him for stealing gold and silver jewelry for personal use. Zhou Shizong was so angry that he sent someone to search and found only books.

He said that in the Five Dynasties, the military people suffered greatly from the people. Now, he uses scholars to find about 100 scholars to govern the world. Even if these literati take bribes and bend the law again, the damage caused is not as good as that caused by a Wulin person. He educated his ministers: "Today's armed men should also learn and hope that they know the way of governance."

In fact, wise emperors understand a truth: force can win the world, and civil administration can usher in a peaceful and prosperous time for the country and the people. In order to suppress the samurai, Song Taizu promoted a large number of bureaucrats, put them in an important position, and repeatedly advocated that the prime minister should use scholars. In order to cultivate an atmosphere of respecting literature and being eager to learn, Song Taizu not only set an example, but also constantly urged his literary ministers to study hard. With the vigorous advocacy of Taizu, the wind of learning became more and more fierce, in sharp contrast with the Five Dynasties.

Throughout the Song Dynasty, the status of China literati was promoted to an unprecedented height in the history of China.

Song Taizu left behind an "ancestral family law": neither scholar-officials nor speakers can be killed. Before each new king of the Northern Song Dynasty ascended the throne, he had to take an oath on the "oath tablet" left by Song Taizu. One of them was a scholar-bureaucrat who wrote the letter. No matter how sharp and fierce his words were, he could never kill it.

However, the reform emphasizes balance, and those who go too far will be taught a heavy lesson. Due to the one-sided implementation of the policy of respecting literature and restraining martial arts, the society in Song Dynasty was ashamed of martial arts and proud of learning literature. Too much emphasis on the mutual restraint between government departments and officials has seriously affected the administrative efficiency and caused many political drawbacks in the Song Dynasty. Its hidden dangers gradually unfolded and highlighted in his later years, which brought a series of insurmountable problems and crises to the rule of the Song Dynasty, caused the decline of martial arts in the Song Dynasty, seriously weakened the ability to resist foreign invasion, and caused most emperors in the Northern Song Dynasty after Song Taizu to have trouble sleeping.

Even if the threat of a coup from within the regime is eliminated, Zhao Kuangyin can't sleep at night. Another snowy night, Zhao Kuangyin knocked on Zhao Pu's door again, accompanied by his younger brother Zhao Guangyi. This time, the problem is that Zhao Kuangyin thinks his bed is too small. Zhao Pu soon understood that the emperor didn't think his bed was too small, but that the territory of the Song Dynasty was too small.

After Song Taizu seized the post-Zhou regime, he only inherited all the areas in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River and the Huaihe River basin. The remnants of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms still occupy most of China's vast land. In Zhao Kuangyin's own words, this situation is described as: one side of the sofa is full of sleeping enemies.

(9)

Li Xiao: Zhao Pu, he said, Your Majesty, although your territory is very small now, it is at this time that you are opening up your territory and unifying the whole country. Zhao Kuangyin asked, what's your opinion? Zhao Pu said that this Northern Han Dynasty was supported by the Khitan, so it has always been our enemy. We can beat him down, but once the Northern Han Dynasty is solved, we will be fully bordered by Qidan, which is a powerful force.

Therefore, Zhao Pu put forward the idea of unifying the north and the south, which coincides with Zhao Kuangyin's idea. From the first month of 963 AD, Zhao Kuangyin began his hegemony of unifying the Central Plains. Jingnan, Hunan, Houshu, Nanhan and Jiangnan were eliminated successively. In 13, the separatist regime of the Five Dynasties and Ten Countries basically ended, and the national reunification was basically realized except wuyue and Northern Han.

Zhao Kuangyin was doomed by snow all his life. He visited Zhao Pu twice on a snowy night and got a good plan for governing the country. At the end of his life, Si Nuo was his companion.

On October 20th, 976/KLOC-0, heavy snow fell in Kaifeng, which was the first snow in a year and came earlier than in previous years. Looking at the snowflakes flying all over the sky and the silvery world on the ground, Zhao Kuangyin was in a good mood. He sent someone to invite his brother Zhao Guangyi to drink. After the two brothers got drunk, I don't know why, so Song Taizu sent away the eunuchs and maids who waited on them.

As for the night's drinking, historical records show that Zhao Guangyi left the table from time to time in the shadow of a candle, and it looked as if he was humbly retreating. When the three drums are banned, the night wine will be finished. At this time, the snow in the yard has fallen for several inches. Song Taizu used her husband to poke the snow on the ground, then went back to the house, undressed and went to bed, snoring like thunder. That night, Zhao Kuangyin, the founding emperor of the Song Dynasty, died suddenly at the age of 50. Song Taizong succeeded to the throne, and the era of Song Taizu was over.

Song Taizu's death, the sound of candles and axes left an eternal mystery for future generations. Some people say that Zhao Kuangyin died of murder, while others say that Zhao Kuangyin died of perennial alcoholism or sudden cerebral hemorrhage. The river of time keeps flowing. Today, more than a thousand years later, it is no longer important to study the cause of death of the founding emperor of the Song Dynasty. What's important is that Zhao Kuangyin's limited life glows with great positive energy. With his outstanding wisdom and superhuman courage, he ended the troubled times, brought long-awaited peace to people all over the world, and wrote the legendary life of Song Taizu.