Zhou Shizong Chai Rong (92 1-959), nephew of Guo Wei, Zhou Taizu, was later adopted. The biological father Chai Shouli is the brother of Guo Wei's wife Chai Shi. Before I came of age, I lived with my uncle and aunt Guo Wei. He went to Jiangling with merchants to sell tea goods, and then joined the army with Guo Wei. Guo Weiyuan took a fancy to Chai Rong's talent when he was an official in the Han Dynasty. On behalf of the Han Dynasty, Guo Wei proclaimed himself emperor, made Chai Rong king of Jin, guarded the capital of Yedu, and entrusted him with an important task.
In 954, less than 10 days after Zhou Shizong ascended the throne, Liu Chong, the master of the Northern Han Dynasty, colluded with the Qidan to invade on a large scale, and Liao rode more than 10,000 soldiers of the Northern Han Dynasty and 30,000 soldiers to jointly attack Luzhou. This is a life-and-death war, and Sejong himself went into battle. In the case that the number of people is not as good as that of Han and Liao, they fought calmly and won a great victory. The Battle of Gaoping was of great historical significance, and the Northern Han Dynasty, which belonged to Liao, no longer seized the central government.
During the civil strife in the Northern Han Dynasty, the four states of Qinfengcheng on the western border surrendered to Shu. In the Northern Han Dynasty, after Chai Rong defeated Liu Chong, he sent Wang Jing and Xiang Xun to the west to explore Shu. Defeated Houshu within half a year, and successively recovered the Qin State (now Tianshui, Gansu Province), Jie (now Wudu East), Cheng (now Chengxian County), Feng (now Fengxian East, Shaanxi Province) and other places in Houshu.
Since 955, Sejong Guli invaded the south and besieged Shouzhou (now Shouxian, Anhui) and other places in the southern Tang Dynasty. At the beginning of the third year of Xiande, he personally conquered Shouzhou and won the battle of Zhengyang (now southwest of Yingshang), and sent troops to capture Chu (now Yangzhou, Jiangsu), Yang (now Huangchuan, Henan), Guang (now buried hill in Henan) and Shu (now buried hill in Anhui) in the southern Tang Dynasty, but Shouzhou failed to capture it because of Liu Ren, a general in the southern Tang Dynasty. At the beginning of Xiande four years, Chai Rong made a second expedition and finally captured Shouzhou City. At the end of this year, he went south for the third time, and even took Haocheng (now northwest of Fengyang), Si (now southeast of Sixian County), Chu (now Huai 'an, Jiangsu Province), Yang and other States. In the five years of Xiande, Li Jing sent an envoy to make peace in the southern Tang Dynasty, cutting the land of 60 counties in Jianghuai 14 state, and going south three times, and the national strength of the later Zhou Dynasty suddenly increased, which provided a powerful military action for the next step.
In March, 959, Chai Rong made another northern expedition. Take Cangzhou (now Hebei) to the north and ride tens of thousands straight into Liao territory. By May, the three states of Ying (now Hejian), Mo (now Renqiu North) and Yi (now Yixian) and the three passes of Yijin (now Wen 'an County), Waqiao (now Xiongxian County) and Meiyukou (now Ba County) were successively recovered, totaling 17 county, which was the greatest victory in the battle against Liao since the Five Dynasties. Just as the generals of Chai Rong Congress were discussing Youzhou (now Beijing), they suddenly fell ill and had to move troops back to Bianjing. They died on June 19 at the age of 39.
Although Zhou Shizong and Chai Rong were in office for only five and a half years, they made great achievements in the martial arts of Wenzhi. In addition to the great martial arts of fighting in the south and the north, they have also carried out fruitful reforms at home.
Rectify Ji gang. The politics of the Five Dynasties were extremely dark, the officials were extremely greedy and violent, and the people were miserable. Because of this, Sejong, in order to rectify military discipline and change greed, severely punished corrupt officials. Later, officials became more law-abiding and the punishment was relaxed. For example, in the History of the Old Five Dynasties, it is recorded that he showed virtue for four years. "When sejong also thoroughly revised the laws known for their harshness in the Five Dynasties. The provisions on arbitrary execution were abolished, and some torture such as the death penalty year was abolished. At the same time, there are many humane measures to treat prisoners. Finally, the "big week punishment system" was completed and promulgated, so that the whole country could abide by the unified law, and it was used until the Song Dynasty. Sejong is also very strict with himself. He thinks that he is "shallow in knowledge and experience, often afraid of obscurity and overwhelmed", so he asks "a hundred officials at home and abroad, or see and hear something in the future, and make a chapter to admonish them. If I do my best, I can do my best; If there are flaws in current politics, we should not hide them. "
Develop agriculture and reduce taxes. History records Zhou Shizong's "attaching importance to agriculture, carving wood as a ploughman and a silkworm girl, and putting them in a temple" to show his respect. (History as a Mirror, Volume 294). Sejong cared about the sufferings of the people and took a series of measures to restore and develop the economy. In the second year of Xiande (955), the imperial edict was issued in the first month: "You should flee from the fields of farmers and allow people to pay taxes on their tenants. Within the third anniversary, the household returned, and the mulberry garden was not ripe, and it was still half; If it belongs to the industry within five years, one point will be returned to three points; If it returns to business outside the fifth anniversary, its farmland will not be delivered except the grave of the household. In the states near the northern region, there should be people who are trapped in the country, people who come from the country to return to their jobs, and those who come within the fifth anniversary will receive three points and two points; Half of those who come within the tenth anniversary will be returned; Come to 15 anniversary, three points will be returned to one point; Those who are outside the fifteenth anniversary are not subject to return restrictions. " These regulations promote the early return of fugitive households and the reclamation and utilization of abandoned farmland, which is greatly conducive to the recovery and development of rural economy. In the fifth year of Xiande (958), Sejong read the Tian Jun Table written by Yuan Zhen, the secretariat of the same state in the Tang Dynasty, and wrote a letter praising this table "better than the disease at that time, and do its best;" Give a creature on the land, it is salty. " Then he ordered to make maps of all fields according to the table and give them to all our time and secretariat. Later, he sent "Zuo Sanqi to serve Ai Ying, and set up a tax for 60 States in Henan". Even the Confucius House in Qufu, which has been given preferential treatment and exempted from paying rent tax for generations, has been deprived of its privilege and paid rent tax according to the common people's practice. He also ordered the exemption of two taxes owed by the people before and the abolition of exorbitant taxes and other corvees.
Clear the waterway. In the second year of Xiande, Hulu River, Bianhe River and Zhangwu River were dredged one after another. "The river reached the Huaihe River, so the Jianghuai ship began to sail." Since the Five Dynasties, the navigation of the Sui and Tang Grand Canal has been impossible because of the separatist regime and the constant war. Sejong dredged waterways and transported food and goods from Shandong and Jianghuai to Beijing, which made Kaifeng prosperous. This is of great military significance for Zhao Kuangyin to fight against the south and unify China. In the second year of Xiande, Sejong issued a letter to expand the outer city of Kaifeng and set up a brand first. As soon as the city was built in the slack season this winter, it stopped farming the next spring. It will be carried out in years and gradually completed, and the waterway traffic centered on Kaifeng will be restored. By 959, waterway transportation was basically unified.
Manage Buddhism and rectify coins. Buddhism became a major moth in society in the Five Dynasties. Temples occupy a lot of labor, and monks and nuns do not cultivate or weave, which wastes national strength. At the same time, temples also sell and melt bronzes and even coins in large quantities to cast Buddha statues, which leads to the rise of copper prices and the shortage of coins. In order to increase the labor force and the source of soldiers, in May of the following year, Chai Rong issued an imperial edict to restrict the development of monasteries: "All counties and towns should have monasteries, and everything will remain the same. If there are no monasteries, they will be abandoned." It also strictly stipulates the conditions for becoming a nun. In this year, 30,336 monasteries were abolished, and only 2,694 monasteries remained, with 6 1200 secular monks and nuns. At the same time, he wrote that he would destroy the bronze Buddha statues in the world to cast money to promote commercial development. However, in the face of Sejong's new order to melt the Buddha statue, almost everyone opposed it. Sejong replied, "It is a great achievement of a thousand years to pacify troubled times. Buddhism once said that if it is good for the world, the hand and eye can still be given, and the bronze statue is He Zudao! " Everyone was speechless. "Destroying the Buddha" enhanced the national strength of the later Zhou Dynasty, and also made the social order increasingly stable and the economy developed.
On the issue of reunifying China, Chai Rong did not completely follow the principle of "South first and then North". After he acquired the land of Huaibei in the southern Tang Dynasty, he resolutely went north to take the Khitan, aiming to recapture the sixteen states betrayed by Shi Jingtang, the "son emperor" of the late Jin Dynasty (sixteen states were occupied by the Khitan and became their base for attacking the Central Plains). In this expedition, only 42 days after the start of the war, the Zhou Dynasty occupied Yannan Prefecture. However, when the army striker of the Zhou Dynasty pointed directly at Youzhou, Chai Rong suddenly fell ill and the army was forced to transfer troops. If it weren't for Chai Rong's sudden illness, he would have to quit. With the strength of the Zhou Dynasty and Chai Rong's great talent, it is entirely possible to recover the sixteen states of Youyun cut by the rulers to the Khitan and unify the north. Even after a few years' rest, if Shu is captured by the south, the Tang, Yue, Han, Fujian, Jing and Chu countries are likely to unify China. In particular, the descendants of Yan Yun, who ceded territory, often mentioned that they all regretted the untimely death of Sejong. After that, although the Song Dynasty put down the separatist forces in the south and other countries, it failed to recapture sixteen states throughout its life, resulting in the long-term threat of northern minorities to the Central Plains. This "historical problem" was not solved until the Northern Expedition of Xu Da in the Ming Dynasty.
Chai Rong of Zhou Shizong wanted to be emperor for 30 years, but his wish of "creating heaven and earth in 10 years, raising people in 10 years and leveling the world in 10 years" finally failed to come true. He is an ambitious "English master of a generation" who has the ability to clean up old rivers and mountains. Sejong was only 39 years old when he died, and the great cause of reunification was only half completed. It's a pity for Sejong and his descendants. It can really be said that "it is often a hero crying when he dies before he can conquer", but he reformed many disadvantages accumulated in the Five Dynasties, opened up the road of unifying the whole country and paved the way for the establishment of the Northern Song Dynasty. Zhao Kuangyin was able to unify China, not only because of his own talent, but more importantly, the power of the post-Zhou regime he took over. Most of the troops participated in the wars against Northern Han, Qidan, Houshu and Nantang, and they were rich in war experience, which was not a good foundation laid by Sejong. Zhao Kuangyin's unification war can't end in 20 years.
Zhou Shizong's Chai Rong is known as the first monarch of the Five Dynasties, and the world's evaluation of him has always been mixed, with little controversy. From Zhu Yuanzhang in the Ming Dynasty to Puyi in the Qing Dynasty (the third year of Hongwu (A.D. 1370) to Xuantongyuan (A.D. 1909), the emperors of the Ming and Qing Dynasties kept offering sacrifices to him. Up to now, nearly 40 imperial tablets and tablets have been preserved in front of Sejong Mausoleum. Compared with the memorial tablet of Song Ling, the memorial tablet of Sejong Mausoleum is more precious. It seems to be silently writing a brilliant, wise and brave good emperor to the world. ...