Chapter 102 Emperor Taizong of Song (End)
Song Dynasty, the first year of Kaibao.

When Zhao Kuangyin was born, it was already some time since the late Tang Dynasty, when the gloomy atmosphere was so heavy that Huang Chao's arrogant reputation was only passed down by word of mouth, and the noble families who had flourished in previous dynasties had only a few echoes of their names. After all, the Five Dynasties had long been dominated by warlords who held military power.

But despite this, from the fragments in history books and poems, we can also get a glimpse of the tragic end of those once wealthy and prosperous families under the sharp blade of Huang Chao.

"The streets are covered with the bones of officials and nobles!" But without the corpses of these officials and nobles as a foundation, how could the Song Dynasty implement the imperial examination system among ordinary scholars?
Indeed. From this perspective, Huang Chao did a good thing.

Tang Dynasty, the third year of Zhenguan.

Everyone's mind was shaken to pieces by these words.

The prosperity of the past has all been buried... The streets are deserted and all the nobles have been trampled to pieces!

Even though many of the important officials present were all supporters of the current emperor, loyal and willing to follow all the decisions of the current emperor - including the decision to implement the imperial examination system which harmed the interests of the aristocratic families, many of them had after all inextricable ties with the aristocratic families.

In their imagination, although the imperial examination system would shake the aristocratic families, with the aristocratic families' foundation, they could slowly settle down, and if they were more tactful, they could work together with Your Majesty to achieve the good of both us and everyone else.

They also thought about how the imperial examination system in the Song Dynasty was able to break free from the influence of the aristocratic families - perhaps it was because of the five generations of war, but the aristocratic families were always able to get some military power to protect themselves.

But the result before them was too blatant and too cruel! It was so cruel that even these famous officials were unwilling to accept it.

Although, this physical elimination is indeed the most thorough and effective method.

Tang Dynasty, Wude Year.

The people who were more troubled than those during the Zhenguan period were the emperor and his ministers during the Wude period.

After all, unlike when Li Shimin ascended the throne, when Li Yuan was in power, the power of the aristocratic families, especially the Guanlong nobles, was much greater, and they accounted for a larger number of ministers in the palace.

Naturally, the blow to the people after seeing what Huang Chao had done was even more severe. For a time, some elderly officials fainted due to being unable to catch their breath.

Han Dynasty, the fourth year of Yuanshou.

The marquises with military merits were sitting in their seats, and they felt a sense of empathy for some reason, probably because of the word "nominees and ministers".

After all, they also knew that the aristocratic families that Huang Chao eliminated were not the same as them.

There were also many people who sighed: "It's too tragic, Huang Chao is really a ruthless man." No wonder he was so ruthless that he could fight all over the country and create such a huge wave.

[In addition to these measures to expand the grassroots of civil servants, Zhao Guangyi also spared no effort in supporting the civil service group.

First, Zhao Guangyi himself set an example by valuing literature and books. He once pointed out: "Although a king can rule the country by military exploits, he must ultimately govern the country by literary virtues." He also encouraged military commanders to read books.

Next is the aforementioned civil officials commanding the troops, using civil officials to control the military. Although Zhao Kuangyin also restrained the military commanders, civil officials were generally only appointed as prefects in inland areas, and military commanders were often appointed to prefectures and counties on the border.

But Zhao Guangyi did not act in this way. He not only appointed a large number of civil officials as governors of border areas, but also sent them to serve in the army. Since then, it has become a common practice for civil officials to serve as pacification envoys, pacification envoys, or concurrently as general commanders of the cavalry and infantry stationed in a certain area and to supervise military generals.

Regardless of the negative impact of this behavior, it did play a role in expanding and supporting the power of civil officials.

Finally, he made use of civil officials, giving priority to selecting talents from among the ci officials to serve as prime ministers. Ci officials referred to the Hanlin academicians who drafted internal regulations for the emperor and the Jiazhi Zhigao who drafted external regulations. Seven of Zhao Guangyi's prime ministers were promoted from Hanlin academicians.

At the same time, looking at the entire period of Zhao Guangyi's reign, there were nine prime ministers, all of whom were civil servants, and six of them were candidates for the imperial examination; there were 35 chief and deputy privy councilors, 21 of whom were civil servants, accounting for 60%; there were 18 vice chancellors, all of whom were civil servants.

Song Dynasty, the first year of Kaibao.

Zhao Kuangyin frowned slightly, "Reading is a good thing, and we should read more. It's okay to support the power of civil officials. After all, the arrogance of military generals has not been eliminated, and civil officials need to have the power to compete with them." He paused, "But, is it a bit too much to give such a big preference to civil officials?"

The negative impact of using civil officials to control military power has been criticized before, so forget it now. But when selecting the prime minister, privy councilor, and vice chancellor, they are also so biased towards civil officials. Isn't this a bit too much?
I know that you have established a civil service governance system, but I am still unhappy when I see the process of your establishment.

Tang Dynasty, the third year of Zhenguan.

Zhao Kuangyin was not the only one who felt uneasy; the emperors and ministers of the Tang Dynasty did the same.

"The balance between civil and military power is unbalanced, isn't it?" Yuchi Jingde said a little depressed. Moreover, it seemed that the civil and military officials, and literati and warriors in the Song Dynasty were quite clearly distinguished, unlike in the Tang Dynasty and before, when sometimes the distinction did not seem so clear.

At this moment, Changsun Wuji suddenly thought of the two protagonists in the previous episode "Donghua Gate Roll Call": "Then that Di Qing, couldn't he be a military commander? Or, in other words, a military commander with considerable merit?"

“……” After he said that, everyone thought about it and realized that it was really possible!
That sentence is an annotation of what is "good". Han Qi, a civil servant, said that only those who roll the names at Donghua Gate can be considered good. So why did he say this to Di Qing? It is probably because Di Qing has a different interpretation of good.

So in the Song Dynasty, where civil and military affairs were clearly distinguished and civil affairs were highly valued and military affairs were severely suppressed, how could the interpretation of Haoer be different?

Yuchi Jingde was even more depressed: "None of the important ministers and officials have the right to be military generals. Even Hao'er can't be considered a military general or a warrior..."

[Of course, these are official initiatives. In addition to these, Zhao Guangyi also worked hard in cultural development.

In the ninth year of Taiping Xingguo, Zhao Guangyi ordered the three libraries to compare their existing collections with the Tang Dynasty's "Kaiyuan Four-volume Bibliography" and to announce the missing items to the public. Anyone who donated more than 300 volumes of books would be granted an official position or given other arrangements as appropriate.

In the first year of Zhidao, Zhao Guangyi sent people to Jiangnan and Liangzhe to purchase books.

These measures led to the trend of attaching importance to books in the Song Dynasty, promoted the popularity of book collecting and reading, and also played a certain role in the cultural inheritance of later generations.

At the same time, during Zhao Guangyi's reign, he also compiled three books, "Taiping Yulan", "Wenyuan Yinghua" and "Taiping Guangji", which were later called the "Four Great Books of the Song Dynasty" together with "Cefu Yuangui".

In addition, during his reign, Zhao Guangyi also compiled medical books including "The Divine Doctor's General Prescriptions" in 1,000 volumes, "The Taiping Shenghui Prescriptions" in 100 volumes, "The Yongxi Guangyun" in 100 volumes, and "The Taiping Huanyu Ji" in 200 volumes.

These are also the embodiment of Zhao Guangyi's "rule by virtue" and part of the "peaceful and prosperous era" he governed.

Song Dynasty, the fourth year of Chunhua.

Zhao Guangyi was very satisfied with what he heard, and felt that everything he did was recognized. That's right, these are the manifestations of his governing the world with virtue, and also the embodiment of the peaceful and prosperous times brought by his virtue!
He had three of the four great books of the Song Dynasty, and these were his achievements in literature and governance! The ministers congratulated him: "Your Majesty has succeeded the sage and spread the reputation of literature. You have finally succeeded and unified the country. At that time, from Chang and Jie in the north to the Lingbiao in the south, to Haidai in the east, and to Tao and Long in the west, the power and virtue of the Song Dynasty was at its peak!"

"The government cares about the farmers and examines their performance, teaches them to learn and advise them, and governs them with courtesy and kindness. How can the Cheng, Kang, Wen and Jing dynasties be compared to this?"

Song Dynasty, the first year of Kaibao.

Zhao Kuangyin nodded after hearing this. Although Zhao Guangyi was not good at other things, he did a good job in civil governance. He did contribute to the civil governance of the Song Dynasty.

But it is impossible for me to untie him. Zhao Guangyi should continue to be tied up. After all, he is too shameless to the outside world.

In terms of civil and military affairs, Zhao Guangyi was like a man with a lame leg, he only had civil affairs but no military affairs.

Ming Dynasty, Hongwu Years.

Zhu Yuanzhang commented: "That's true. Emperor Taizong of Song was really good at governing the country with civil officials. He was the one who brought up the civil officials of the Song Dynasty. But he was not good at governing the country with foreign officials."

Zhu Bo whispered, "I feel like he knows that his martial arts are not good enough, so he works hard on civil governance, so that he can say that he governs well and that the country is peaceful and prosperous."

The other brothers all agreed with what he said and felt that it was true.

"I feel that Emperor Taizong of Song was too obsessed with a good reputation. This was the reason why he wanted to attack the Liao Kingdom before and why he failed repeatedly and turned to civil governance. Otherwise, the balance between civil and military affairs would be too unbalanced."

On the second day of the first month of the third year of Zhidao, Zhao Guangyi's condition worsened due to an arrow wound he had suffered in his early years, and he was unable to attend court, so he had to decide matters in the side hall instead. On the 23rd day, the crown prince, the kings, and the civil and military officials went to the Buddhist temple to fast and pray for blessings because Zhao Guangyi was seriously ill. On the 28th day of the third month, Zhao Guangyi was critically ill and could no longer attend court.

On March 29, Zhao Guang passed away in the Wansui Hall at the age of 59. His posthumous title was Emperor of Divine Merit, Sacred Virtue, and Civil Martial Arts, and his temple name was Taizong.

Song Dynasty, the fourth year of Chunhua.

Zhao Guangyi was quite satisfied with his posthumous title and temple name, but he decided to seek out a famous doctor early in order to prolong his life.

People in previous dynasties were quite puzzled about his posthumous title. Why was it so complicated? Was it missing the point?

To put it simply, let’s focus on the key points. Is Zhao Guangyi the Emperor Wenwu?
[Then Crown Prince Zhao Heng succeeded to the throne and became Emperor Zhenzong of Song.]

However, we still have to mention someone here, who is also an old acquaintance of ours, Wang Jie'en. 】

Zhao Guangyi's eyebrows jumped. Wang Jie'en? At this time, when he passed away and the crown prince succeeded to the throne, he specifically mentioned Wang Jie'en?

He did not forget why Wang Jie'en was mentioned the last time Zhao Kuangyin passed away.

Could it be that Wang Jie'en wanted to play the role of supporting the emperor again? He treated him well!

Zhao Kuangyin sneered. This kind of villain who is used to taking advantage of the emperor and profiting from it, after tasting the sweetness once, will naturally want to do it again. What if you treat him well? Am I treating him well?

Zhao Guangyi, oh Zhao Guangyi, you spend all day hunting geese, let the geese peck your eyes.

[Empress Li was more inclined towards Zhao Guangyi's other son, Zhao Yuanzuo, and wanted to support him to inherit the throne.

It just so happened that Wang Jie'en was also interested. After all, if the prince succeeded to the throne smoothly, he would only be ordinary, and there would be no additional benefits. But if he supported Zhao Yuanzuo, it would be like helping the abandoned person to the throne, which would be a great achievement.

So Empress Li formed an alliance with Wang Jie'en, Vice-chancellor Li Changling, and Hanlin scholar Hu Dan to support Zhao Yuanzuo.

However, Prime Minister Lu Duan, to whom Zhao Guangyi entrusted an important task, had already thought of the possibility that someone might plot a rebellion.

On the day of Zhao Guangyi's death, Empress Li asked Wang Jie'en to go to the Secretariat to summon Lü Duan. Lü Duan knew that Wang Jie'en was going to repeat his old tricks, so he tricked him into going to the Imperial Edict Pavilion to get the imperial edict from Emperor Taizong, locked him in, had someone watch him, and immediately went into the palace.

Afterwards, Lü Duan enthroned the crown prince. During the enthronement ceremony, the crown prince summoned all the ministers behind a curtain. Lü Duan refused to kneel down as the emperor and his ministers should do, and asked to see him through the curtain. He personally went up to the hall to examine him, and when he saw that he was indeed the crown prince, he came down the steps and saluted with all the ministers, and Zhenzong finally ascended the throne smoothly.

Song Dynasty, the fourth year of Chunhua.

Zhao Guangyi breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, no matter which son of his this Crown Prince Zhao Heng was, he was still the crown prince he appointed and the designated heir, and he obviously had no intention of deposing him and establishing a new monarch.

In this case, it is of course most appropriate for the crown prince to succeed to the throne.

Well, one candidate is still ruled out. Yuan Zuo is obviously not the crown prince.

Fortunately, there is Lü Duan! Lü Duan is now the Vice Minister of State Affairs. After a while, I will promote him to Prime Minister. The current Prime Minister Lü Mengzheng is indeed not a good candidate to entrust the afterlife.

But Wang Jien really failed to live up to his trust and entrustment for so many years. He trusted him and gave him military power. He even didn't hold him accountable when he stayed in Yizhou to have fun while cleaning up the unrest in Shu...

Forget it, just strip him of his power and let him go wherever he wants to live out his retirement.

[Edition of the life of Emperor Taizong of Song Dynasty Zhao Guangyi——939 AD: Zhao Guangyi was born in Kaifeng Prefecture
In 954 AD: Because Zhao Kuangyin stood out among the generals of the Later Zhou Dynasty, Zhao Guangyi was appointed as the right palace guard and was soon promoted to a sacrificial official.

960 AD: Emperor Gong of Zhou sent Zhao Kuangyin, the chief inspector of the imperial court, to the north to resist the Khitan. The next day, the Chenqiao mutiny occurred. Zhao Kuangyin returned to Kaifeng and proclaimed himself emperor, establishing the Song Dynasty. After the founding of the Song Dynasty, Zhao Kuangyin was appointed as the chief inspector of the imperial court and the defense envoy of Muzhou. His name was changed from "Kuangyi" to "Guangyi".

In May of the same year, Zhao Kuangyin went to fight against Li Yun who had raised an army in Luzhou, and Zhao Jiong was appointed as the Imperial Household Inspector and stayed in Kaifeng. In August, Zhao Jiong was appointed as the Jiedushi of Taining Army. In October, Zhao Kuangyin went south to fight against Li Chongjin who had raised an army in Yangzhou, and Zhao Jiong was appointed as the Imperial Household Deployment and stayed in Kaifeng. By completing two missions of staying in the capital, Zhao Jiong further gained the trust of his brother and obtained certain military power. At the same time, Empress Dowager Du required Zhao Jiong to go out with "Secretary Zhao" (Zhao Pu) to train his ability to handle affairs. 】

　The teacher was quite disapproving of the second emperor of the Song Dynasty and gave him negative comments many times.

　　"Anything to get on stage" and "but incompetent"

　　According to the feudal monarchy's system of primogeniture, Zhao Guangyi had no chance of becoming the emperor of the Song Dynasty, but in the end he actually inherited his brother's throne, leaving behind the most confusing scene in Chinese history.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)