Chapter 103 Video
[961 AD: Empress Dowager Du died.]

In July of the same year, Zhao Kuangyin appointed Zhao Jiong as the Yin of Kaifeng and the co-prime minister. Since then, Zhao Jiong has been serving as the Yin of Kaifeng (commonly known as "Judge of the Southern Court") until he succeeded to the throne. During this period, relying on the trust of his brother, he behaved in a high-profile manner and with grand ceremony, which made the people of Kaifeng exclaim "What a soft and embroidered street"; he also made friends with various heroes and talents, and worked hard to cultivate his own power, thus forming an important political force.

Since the founding of the Song Dynasty, Zhao Jiong had coveted the throne, and the obstacle he had to overcome was the Secretary of State Zhao Pu. For this reason, Zhao Jiong and Zhao Pu began to fight openly and secretly.

973 AD: Zhao Pu was dismissed from his position as prime minister because of his popularity and offended Zhao Kuangyin. With Zhao Pu's loss of power, Zhao Jiong also gained the status of "quasi-crown prince" and was named "Prince of Jin" less than a month later, ranking above the prime minister. After Zhao Pu was dismissed from his position as prime minister, Zhao Jiong's confidant Lu Duosun was promoted to assistant minister of state affairs, and Chu Zhaofu was promoted to deputy envoy of the Privy Council. His power had begun to control the center.

In 976 AD: Zhao Kuangyin summoned Zhao Guangyi to the palace for a drink, and they stayed overnight in the palace.

In the same year, Zhao Kuangyin suddenly passed away, and Jin Wang Zhao Guangyi ascended the throne and became Emperor Taizong of Song.

977 AD: Zhao Guangyi accepted the suggestion of Li Han, the Right Picker, and ordered that all states of the Later Zhou Dynasty, including Bin, Ning, Tang, Deng, Song, and Bo, be directly under the capital. From then on, all states and counties in the country were directly governed by the court, and the old system of military governors and sub-counties was eliminated from the stage of history.

Institutions such as the Court of Officials Review, the Court of Examination, and the Court of Criminal Justice were set up to divide some of the power of the Zhongshu Menxia.

AD 978: Under political pressure from the Song Dynasty, Chen Hongjin, who ruled Zhangzhou and Quanzhou prefectures in Fujian, and the Qian family of Wuyue, who ruled Zhejiang and Liangzhe, successively surrendered to the Song court.

In 979 AD: Zhao Guangyi first sent General Pan Mei and others to lead the army north to besiege Taiyuan, the capital of Northern Han. In February, Zhao Guangyi led the army in person, and the Song army repelled the Liao reinforcements and destroyed the Northern Han. This finally ended the nearly years of separatist fighting since the Huang Chao Rebellion in the late Tang Dynasty, and formally unified the country again.

In May of the same year, Zhao Guangyi, despite opposition from his ministers, took advantage of the momentum of conquering Northern Han and set out from Taiyuan to launch a northern expedition. In the early stages of the northern expedition, Yizhou and Zhuozhou in Hebei were recaptured. Zhao Guangyi ordered the siege of Yanjing, and the Song army and the Liao people fought fiercely on the banks of the Gaoliang River. Zhao Guangyi personally went to the battlefield, but was wounded and shot by an arrow. He fled in a hurry on a donkey cart, and the northern expedition failed. (One battle made him a god)
In 980 AD, Hou Renbao, the doctor of the Ministry of Rites of Yongzhou in the Song Dynasty, reported to Zhao Guangyi, requesting to take advantage of the civil strife in Jiaozhi (Vietnam) to attack the south, restore the former borders of the Han and Tang Dynasties, and unify Jiaozhi (Vietnam). Zhao Guangyi then appointed Hou Renbao as the land and water transportation envoy of Jiaozhou; appointed Sun Quanxing, the training envoy of Lanling, Hao Shoujun, the lacquer envoy, Chen Qinzuo, the saddle and bridle envoy, and Cui Liang, the general of the left gate, as the commanders of the army; Liu Cheng, the governor of Ningzhou, Jia Xi, the deputy envoy of the military arsenal, and Wang Zhen, the attendant of the gate of the official chamber, as the commanders of the army, waiting for an opportunity to attack the Ding Dynasty.

981 AD: Zhao Guangyi established the Beijing Court Officials Dispatching Office. The appointment of Zhongshu was limited to court officials above the rank of Qingjian, and the examination and selection of court officials below the rank of Shaoqingjian was transferred to the Beijing Court Officials Dispatching Office. The power of Zhongshu was divided and reduced.

In the same year, China won the Battle of Bach Dang River but then lost, and the plan to unify Jiaozhi (Vietnam) ultimately came to nothing, allowing Jiaozhi (Vietnam) to maintain its independence.

985 AD: Zhao Guangyi summoned several sons to hold a banquet in the palace garden. Because Zhao Yuanzuo was not fully recovered from his illness, he did not send anyone to invite him. After the banquet, Chen Wang Zhao Yuanyou went to visit Zhao Yuanzuo. When Zhao Yuanzuo learned about the banquet, he was furious and kept drinking. In the middle of the night, he simply set fire to the palace. For a while, the palaces and pavilions were filled with smoke and flames. When Zhao Guangyi learned about it, he guessed that it might be Zhao Yuanzuo's doing, so he ordered people to investigate, and Zhao Yuanzuo admitted it. Zhao Yuanzuo was deposed as a commoner. Later, Chen Wang Yuanyou became the candidate for the crown prince by popular consent, and Zhao Guangyi also had this intention.

986 AD: Zhao Guangyi dispatched five generals, Pan Mei, Yang Ye, Tian Zhong, Cao Bin, and Cui Yanjin, to lead the Northern Expedition in three routes, namely the East, the Middle, and the West. The West and the Middle Route armies advanced smoothly, but the main East Route army was repeatedly defeated by the Liao army, and its food supply was cut off. In the end, it failed to join the Middle and the West Route army, and was defeated and collapsed at Qigou Pass. The Middle and the West Route army also had to retreat to the south. Yang Ye, the main general of the West Route, was captured by the Liao army for covering the retreat of the army and civilians to the south, and died in prison after three days of hunger strike. After that, the Northern Song Dynasty repeatedly failed in the battles of Sanchuankou, Haoshuichuan, Dingchuanzhai, etc. against the Dangxiang tribe of the Western Xia, but because of its war-weariness, it negotiated peace with the Song court. Zhao Guangyi appointed his trusted Fu Qian, Wang Chao, Chai Yuxi, Zhao Rong, Zhang Xun, Yang Shouyi, and Mi Dechao as the commanders of the imperial army, most of whom were mediocre and afraid of fighting.

In the same year, Zhao Yuanyou changed his name to Zhao Yuanxi, and was appointed as the prefect of Kaifeng and the minister of state, becoming the quasi-crown prince. In the same year, the Yongxi Northern Expedition failed. Zhao Pu submitted a memorial "Remonstrance against the Yongxi Northern Expedition", which was praised by Zhao Guangyi. Later, Zhao Yuanxi also submitted a memorial on the matter of conquering Liao, which was adopted by Zhao Guangyi.

988 AD: Zhao Pu became prime minister for the third time, and his authority was revived. Chen Wang Yuanxi, who had supported and won over Zhao Pu, was also promoted to Xu Wang, further consolidating his position as crown prince. After Zhao Pu was dismissed, Zhao Yuanxi became close to another prime minister, Lu Mengzheng. The process of establishing a crown prince was proceeding step by step.

In 990 AD, Zhao Guangyi ordered people to divide the existing Zhishiguan into Zhizhaowenguan and Jixianyuan, so that the duties of the imperial court were basically complete, thus laying the foundation for the imperial court system in the Song Dynasty.

In 991 AD, the Criminal Court was established in the Forbidden City. All cases reported by the court were first sent to the Criminal Court. Later, it was stipulated that the cases decided by the Dali Temple should be sent to the Criminal Court instead of going through the Ministry of Justice for detailed review. In this way, the Court of Examination and the Court of Examination took away the responsibility of the Secretariat, and the Criminal Court took away the responsibility of the Secretariat. The power of the prime minister was weakened, and the power of the emperor was strengthened.

Strengthen the power of the Privy Council. After Zhao Guangyi ascended the throne, he made a series of personnel adjustments and squeezed Cao Bin out of the Privy Council. His cronies Shi Xizai, Wang Xian, and Chai Yuxi were appointed as the Privy Council envoy and deputy envoy respectively. Until the eve of his death, the key positions in the Privy Council were basically monopolized by his cronies. At this time, the Privy Council was largely regarded by Zhao Guangyi as a private advisory team to assist in handling government affairs, and it was difficult to say that it was the highest institution responsible for national military and political decision-making and military command.

In 992 AD, the Imperial Court Office and the County Office were established.

Zhao Yuanxi returned home from an early morning court session and felt unwell, and died soon after. Zhao Guangyi was extremely sad, and stopped attending court for five days, and wrote a poem "Thinking of My Lost Son".

Zhao Yuanzuo was deposed, Zhao Yuanxi died suddenly, and the throne was vacant, so Feng Zheng and others petitioned to appoint a crown prince as soon as possible, and Zhao Guangyi demoted Feng Zheng and others to Lingnan. From then on, no one dared to discuss the issue of succession.

In 993 AD, the Ministry of Personnel was changed from the Ministry of Personnel to the Ministry of Personnel. The Ministry of Personnel was abolished and replaced by the Ministry of Personnel. In the same year, the Ministry of Personnel was changed from the Ministry of Personnel to the Ministry of Personnel.

In the same year, a peasant uprising led by Wang Xiaobo and Li Shun broke out in Sichuan. Wherever the uprising army went, they distributed all the property of the rich and powerful families except daily necessities to the public, which won the support of the peasants in Sichuan.

994 AD: Wen Zhongshu, the governor of Qinzhou, sent troops to drive the Tubo tribes north of the Weihe River to prevent them from snatching the felled trees. Zhao Jiong was worried about causing border troubles, so he replaced Wen Zhongshu with Xue Weiji as governor of Qinzhou. Among the Tubo tribes at that time, the Liugu tribe in Liangzhou had the closest relationship with the Song Dynasty. Its chief, Zhebu, inherited the post of governor of Xiliang Prefecture.

In the same year, the rebel army occupied Chengdu and established the Great Shu regime. When Zhao Guangyi learned of this, he sent two armies to fight against it. The rebel army was finally completely defeated in the second year of Zhidao (996).

950 AD: Zhao Guangyi's third son, Prince Shou Zhao Yuankan, was appointed crown prince and renamed Zhao Heng. Zhao Guangyi appointed the crown prince and issued a general amnesty. People in the capital cheered when they saw the crown prince, but Zhao Guangyi was unhappy. Later, his mood improved after Kou Jun's persuasion.

997 AD: The roads were changed to routes, and the country was divided into routes, namely Jingdong Road, Jingxi Road, Hebei Road, Hedong Road, Shaanxi Road, Huainan Road, Jiangnan Road, Jinghu South Road, Jinghu North Road, Liangzhe Road, Fujian Road, Xichuan Road, Xia Road, Guangnan East Road, Guangnan West Road. From then on, the route became the first-level administrative unit of the Song Dynasty. In addition, Zhao Guang also set up a post of Zouma Chengshen to strengthen the central government's control over the local areas.

In the same year, Zhao Guangyi died in the Wansui Hall at the age of 59, having reigned for 21 years. The crown prince Zhao Heng ascended the throne and became Emperor Zhenzong of Song. The ministers gave him the posthumous title of Emperor Shen Gong Sheng De Wen Wu, and the temple name Taizong. In the same year, on the 10th month of the year, he was buried in the Yongxi Mausoleum.

〈Zhao Guangyi lowered the status of successive Taizongs〉

"The God of Carriage in Gaoliang River"

〈It's a pity that there is only one civil official, and his martial arts are rubbish〉

Song Dynasty
There were 319 emperors for a total of years, and they showed kindness to the world. They were able to achieve victory and shoulder the heavy responsibility of managing a vast territory. "The culture of the Chinese nation, after thousands of years of evolution, reached its peak in the Zhao Song Dynasty."

Emperor Taizu of Song Dynasty (960-976 AD)
I am willing to give up my military power and the worry of wearing the yellow robe. Those who want to be my brothers, just drink this cup.

Emperor Taizong of Song (976-997 AD)
The candlelight and the axe sound are known to everyone. Do you want to hide it from everyone in the world?

Emperor Zhenzong of Song (997-1022 AD)
If we win at Chanyuan, then our Song Dynasty will win. If we lose at Chanyuan, then the Song Dynasty will be in danger.

Emperor Renzong of Song (1022-1063 AD)
The people should be the foundation of the country.

Emperor Yingzong of Song (1063-1067 AD)
Govern the country with culture and maintain security with military force.

Emperor Shenzong of Song (1067-1085 AD)
Rule the world with benevolence. Song Zhezong Zhao Xi (1085-1100 AD)
Good to do.

Emperor Huizong of Song (1100-1126 AD)
Emperor Qinzong of Song Dynasty (1126-1127 AD)
Thirty years of fame and glory are reduced to dust.

Song Gaozong Zhao Gou (1127-1162 AD)
Eight thousand miles of cloud and moon.

Emperor Xiaozong of Song (1162-1189)
Jing Kang shame, still not snow.

Emperor Guangzong of Song (1189-1194)
The ministers hated it.

Song Ningzong Zhao Kuo (1194-1224 AD)
When will it be destroyed?

Emperor Lizong of Song Dynasty (1224-1264)
The mountains and rivers are broken.

Emperor Duzong of Song (1264-1274 AD)
The wind blows the catkins.

Song Gongzong Zhao (1274-1276 AD)
The ups and downs of life.

Emperor Duanzong of Song (1276-1278 AD)
Rain hits duckweed.

Zhao Bing, the last emperor of the Song Dynasty (1278-1279 AD)
The Song Dynasty is dead. 】

〈Culture reached its peak in the Zhao Song Dynasty, but humiliation was ranked second in the Zhao Song Dynasty [Shiba Inu][Shiba Inu]〉

〈Ranked first, right? [Shiba Inu]〉

〈The only dynasty among the Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties that was not unified.〉

〈I don’t know why I just can’t get excited about the Song Dynasty.〉

[This issue of Emperor Taizong of Song Zhao Guangyi has ended. See you next time]

The sky disappeared, and all dynasties entered into a stage of dealing with various affairs in full swing.

Song Dynasty, the first year of Kaibao.

Zhao Kuangyin first dismissed Zhao Guangyi from all his current positions, ordered the guards to take Zhao Guangyi back to the mansion, and sent a team of guards to guard the mansion, not allowing anyone to enter or leave.

Afterwards, he called in his trusted ministers and generals, together with Zhao Guangmei, Zhao Dezhao and Zhao Defang, to begin discussing recent foreign strategies and domestic policies. Also on the agenda was the issue of building a good atmosphere in the court and among the people in the future.

As for other emperors of the Song Dynasty, each had his own style.

After ascending the throne, Zhao Guangyi promoted cultural undertakings and encouraged the growth of scholars with greater efforts, while at the same time making some adjustments to domestic policies to prevent the chaos in Sichuan and Shu from breaking out again. As for foreign relations and the treatment of generals, Zhao Guangyi hesitated for a long time and finally relaxed some restrictions slightly, such as whether battle maps should be granted in advance.

Especially Zhao Guangyi, who had experienced the battle of Gaoliang River, had a great wish in his heart after seeing it through the sky curtain - he must destroy the Liao Kingdom first! After all, to eliminate his own dark history...

Qin Dynasty.

The First Emperor gained some inspiration from this imperial examination system.

In addition to the military merit system, the Qin Dynasty needs to develop another relatively simple promotion system. The promotion method must be simple and easy to understand, just like the military merit system. Military merit can improve one's status.

The Qin Dynasty really couldn't have any complicated literature exams, but a simpler one, starting from literacy, to the mastery of Qin law, and then to deeper areas...

In fact, the Qin Dynasty had relevant methods of selecting talents before, but they were not completely unified, and were not uniformly considered as a system like the military merit system.

Now, if we organize these scattered things together to form another complete system, it may be able to offset the impact of the weakening of the military merit system.

Qing Dynasty.

The Song Dynasty was not of much value to them. After all, many of them were recorded in history books. Some Manchu ministers might not have read the history books carefully, but the royal family had read them.

Now, under the instruction of Kangxi, the court writers focused their energy and pens on the adaptation and creation of folk operas, striving to find creative inspiration from the peaceful relations between Song and Liao and Song and Jin, like in the plays of Yang Jia Jiang, and to use various stories about the pursuit of peace and a happy ending of Song, Liao and Jin to eliminate the people's resistance to the Qing Dynasty.

Tang Dynasty.

During the Zhenguan period, Li Shimin and his ministers were working hard to figure out how to better promote the imperial examination system in the Tang Dynasty while at the same time cracking down on the power of aristocratic families, killing two birds with one stone.

On the other hand, in my spare time, I would continue to study the bits and pieces about the Tang Dynasty in the stories of Emperor Taizong of the Song and Ming dynasties, the problems of the feudal lords, the rent and labor service system, the military system, and civil uprisings, all of which were related to the internal problems of the Tang Dynasty.

As for external problems, Li Shimin and others did not care much about them. On the one hand, after he ascended the throne, the Tang Dynasty basically had the upper hand in external affairs. On the other hand, the Tang Dynasty did not perish at the hands of foreign enemies, but more due to internal unrest.

(End of this chapter)