Emperor Taizu of Song Zhao Kuangyin (21 March 927 - 14 November 976), the first emperor of the Song Dynasty of China (reigned 960-976)

By the side of the couch, how can you let others sleep soundly - Emperor Taizu of Song must unify the world; I keep my wealth for the people... Rule the world with one person, not with the world serving one person - Emperor Taizu of Song on frugality; do not kill scholars and officials, and those who write and say things... If the descendants swear this oath, the sky will kill them - the admonition on the "Taizu Oath Stele"

In the development of Chinese history, the Song Dynasty was a turning point towards the later period of feudal society, manifested in the strengthening of centralized power, the strengthening of imperial power, the replacement of secular landlords and nobles as the backbone of the ruling class, and the conservative social atmosphere and cultural concepts. The personal role of the founding emperor of the Song Dynasty, Zhao Kuangyin, also promoted the occurrence of these changes.

Zhao Kuangyin was born into a family of generals. He was born in Luoyang Jiama Camp in 927 BC. He also loved to practice martial arts since he was a child. In the chaotic times of the Five Dynasties, which advocated force, his background and expertise helped him a lot to climb to the peak of power. At the age of 22, it is said that he was instructed by an eminent monk. He joined Guo Wei's army and was appreciated by Guo Wei's adopted son Chai Rong. In 951, Guo Wei abolished the Emperor of the Later Han Dynasty and established Houzhou. Three years later, Chai Rong succeeded him as the Emperor of the Later Zhou Dynasty. After Chai Rong took the throne, he launched the key Battle of Gaoping. Zhao Kuangyin rescued Chai Rong as a resident guard and made great contributions. After that, Zhao Kuangyin made contributions in battles such as the attack on the Southern Tang Dynasty. He commanded the envoy in front of the official hall and became Chai Rong's confidant general. In 959, Zhao Kuangyin was appointed to check the palace before Chai Rong's death, and actually mastered military power.

In the first month of 960, Zhao Kuangyin was ordered to lead the army to resist the invasion of Liao. When the team marched to Chenqiaoyi, Zhao Kuangyin was said to have been made emperor by the mutinous soldiers without prior knowledge. The history of "Chenqiao mutiny" began Zhao Song's 320-year rule. In the same year, Zhao Kuangyin quickly suppressed the rising army of Li Yun and Li Chongjin under the banner of revenge for the later Zhou Dynasty, and settled down the country.

After taking the throne of emperor, Zhao Kuangyin faced two urgent issues: ending the division that had formed since the end of the Tang Dynasty, unifying the country and eliminating the hidden danger of military riots and coups, and maintaining political stability. Addressing these two issues remained the core of all his policies during his 16-year rule.

Based on an analysis of the objective situation, Zhao Kuangyin adopted Zhao Pu's suggestion to unify the country in the order of "south first and north later." In 963, with the strategy of "using the road to attack Guo", the two separatist regimes of Jingnan and Hunan were destroyed in one fell swoop. In 964, general Wang Quanbin and others were sent to march westward on two roads of land and water. In just 66 days, they destroyed the prosperous Houshu. In 971, the Southern Han Dynasty was destroyed. In 975, generals Cao Bin and others were sent to cross the river with pontoon bridges to attack and destroy the Southern Tang Dynasty. By the time of Zhao Kuangyin's death, only the Wuyue in the south and the Northern Han Dynasty in the north were still dying, and the unification of the whole country (traditional Han areas) was in fact a foregone conclusion.

In 961, Zhao Kuangyin peacefully relieved Shi Shouxin and other generals of military power by means of the famous "right to release the army with a glass of wine". But this was only the beginning of military reform. Zhao Kuangyin divided the military power into three parts. The generals of the Imperial Army only had the power to control the army, while the power to move the army was controlled by the Privy Council, the logistics supply was handled by the "Three Division", and the emperor was the only one in charge of all military power. Through military reform, the hidden danger of military coups was eliminated, and Zhao Kuangyin was fortunate to become the last founding monarch in Chinese history to seize power through a military coup.

At the same time, in order to prevent local military separatism, Zhao Kuangyin concentrated heavy troops and elite soldiers from all over the world to deploy defenses near the capital, leaving only weak troops to the local area. It also gradually replaced local governors from generals to civil servants, and sent general judgments to various states to restrict the prefectures. All decrees must be signed by the general judgments and the prefectures to take effect.

At the same time as receiving military power, Zhao Kuangyin sent transshipment envoys to the states to manage the finances. Except for the necessary expenditure, all the local fiscal revenue was collected by the transshipment envoys to the central government. In this way, the financial power was recovered.

In terms of political power, Zhao Kuangyin adopted the "separation of powers", with the Zhongshu Province and the Privy Council in charge of civil and military authority, the three departments in charge of finance, the Imperial History Station and the Jianyuan in charge of supervision and public opinion, respectively directly responsible to the emperor, weakening the power and ceremonial treatment of the prime minister (Tongping Zhangshi, the head of Zhongshu Province). And shorten the term of office of officials, implement the separation of positions and powers, etc., to prevent officials from cultivating personal power in a certain position.

Zhao Kuangyin grew up in the turbulent times of the Five Dynasties and was well aware of the scourge of the dictatorship of military generals, which may have been the root cause of his policy of "right writing and suppressing martial arts". In addition to widely appointing literati as officials to replace military generals, he also set up oaths including "not killing ministers and those who speak in letters". What had a more profound impact on history was his reform of the imperial examination system. He banned the pre-examination recommendation systems such as "public recommendation" and "public papers" that had prevailed since the Tang and Five Dynasties, making the examination papers the only criterion for evaluating admission, which greatly increased the fairness of the examination, so that the poor without any background had the opportunity to Chinese style. He also established the re-examination and palace examination system, which was also conducive to the selection of real talents. The developed culture and high status of literati in the Song Dynasty were not unrelated to Zhao Kuangyin's initiative.

During Zhao Kuangyin's reign, he did not appoint an heir, but he granted his brother Zhao Guangyi the title of King of Jin, Yin of Kaifeng, and Tong Pingzhang, but did not give any power to his son. His intention to pass on to Zhao Guangyi was very obvious. In 976, Zhao Guangyi ascended the throne amidst the suspicion of "shining axes and shadows". Zhao Guangyi was a good successor to Zhao Kuangyin's cause. He unified the whole country (traditional Han areas) except the sixteen prefectures of Youyun, continued to consolidate centralization of power, and allowed the Northern Song Dynasty regime to pass the "bottleneck" of development.

In addition to ending the division of nearly a century and generally unifying the Han areas, Zhao Kuangyin's greatness lies in the fact that he grew up in the cruel and bloody chaos of the Five Dynasties, but created a relaxed political environment. He grew up in a military career, but created an atmosphere conducive to the vigorous development of literati culture. However, he excessively concentrated power in the central government, which weakened local forces and was not enough to defend the central government. His military reform made "soldiers do not know their generals, and generals do not know their soldiers," which reduced the military's combat capabilities, and later remained at a disadvantage in the war against the ethnic minorities in the north. The official system he created, which allowed all levels and departments to contain each other, also reduced the efficiency of work and led to redundant officials and redundant government. These all caused him to be criticized by future generations. In fact, you don't have to be too demanding on historical figures. Zhao Kuangyin reformed the system according to the shortcomings of the times and adapted it to the situation at that time. However, his successors failed to continue to improve and reform according to changes in current politics, resulting in poverty and weakness, which cannot be blamed on Zhao Kuangyin.

Zhao Kuangyin's role in Chinese history was not only to create a dynasty, but also to achieve a phased transformation. He ranks 58th in the list of emperors who have influenced the world.

Comments: In China's history, most of the regimes that gained the country through usurpation were short-lived, with the exception of the Song Dynasty. You can also follow the trend, but from taking the trend to following the trend, there must be a fundamental change in the governing thinking and administrative system. Zhao Kuangyin is deeply aware of this. The focus of all his policies is to realize the transformation of thinking from troubled times to thinking about governing the world. At the same time, the unification war under his chairmanship not only followed the historical trend, but also added weight to the ruling legitimacy of the Song Dynasty.