History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 1036 Zhenzong Zhao Heng
【Zhao Heng, Emperor Zhenzong】

As usual, the new emperor's appearance will be accompanied by several episodes of "Approaching Science".

It is said that in the fifth year of Qiande (967), "five stars gathered from the Zhenxing to Kui", and the shining five-pointed star made the red scarf on my chest even redder... In the first month of the following year, Queen Li dreamed that the sun penetrated into her clothes, and then she became pregnant, and gave birth to a baby boy on the second day of the twelfth lunar month. When the child was born, the room was full of red light, and the midwife discovered that the child was born with a tattoo - there was a "天" character on his left foot.

This baby boy was the third son of Emperor Taizong of Song, Zhao Guangyi, Zhao Dechang.

This boy was handsome, well-behaved and clever. When playing with his brothers, he always liked to play games of arranging troops and charging into battle. He always played the role of "marshal". It was obvious that he was a military strategist, not to mention his later military performance.

The child was well-behaved and cute, and even his grandfather, Emperor Taizu Zhao Kuangyin, liked him very much and raised him in the palace. One day, the ignorant little Zhao Dechang actually climbed onto the dragon chair in the Wansui Hall and sat there in a formal manner, as if he was attending a morning court meeting with civil and military officials. Zhao Kuangyin was very surprised to see this, so he caressed his little head and asked:

"Is the emperor good at what he does?"

Zhao Dechang replied: "It's fate."

Taizu was even more surprised by this.

When he reached school age, "Marshal" Zhao Dechang turned into a "top student" and was said to be able to memorize everything he read.

After Emperor Taizong ascended the throne, Zhao Dechang first changed his name to Zhao Yuanxiu, then to Zhao Yuankan, and then to Zhao Heng after he was made crown prince. As usual, he will be referred to as Zhao Heng in the following text without distinguishing the time period.

Zhao Guangyi demoted his younger brother Zhao Tingmei to death, forced his nephew Zhao Dezhao to death, and caused the mysterious death of his nephew Zhao Defang, paving the way for Zhao Heng's smooth ascension to the throne. However, Zhao Heng was Zhao Guangyi's third son, and he had his eldest brother Zhao Yuanzuo (Zhao Dechong) and second brother Zhao Yuanxi (Zhao Deming) before him. How did these two competitors get eliminated?

1. "Diary of a Madman - Zhao Yuanzuo"

Zhao Yuanzuo was Zhao Guangyi's eldest son. He looked very much like Zhao Guangyi and was smart, so he was loved very much. Zhao Guangyi very much wanted to train him into a qualified successor. Like all emperors training crown princes, Zhao Guangyi hired the best tutors for him to enable him to develop all-roundly in moral, intellectual, physical, aesthetic and labor aspects.

Once, Zhao Yuanzuo accompanied Zhao Guangyi to hunt in the suburbs. Suddenly, a wild rabbit jumped in front of Zhao Guangyi. Zhao Guangyi asked Zhao Yuanzuo to shoot it. Zhao Yuanzuo bent his bow and shot the rabbit. The Khitan envoy was also with them at that time. He was deeply surprised because Zhao Yuanzuo was only 13 years old at that time.

Later, Zhao Yuanzuo participated in the war to annihilate the Northern Han Dynasty and the Battle of Conferred Gods in Gaoliang River, gaining enough experience.

In 982, he was appointed as the Acting Taifu, the Co-Prime Minister of the Secretariat, and was granted the title of King of Wei. He went to the Secretariat to work. In the same year, he moved to the Eastern Palace, was appointed as the Acting Taiwei, and was further granted the title of King of Chu.

He won military merits, was crowned king, given the title of prime minister, moved into the Eastern Palace, and worked in the prime minister's office... Up to this point, Zhao Yuanzuo was following the routine of becoming the crown prince, and all he lacked was a red-letter document to officially establish him as the crown prince.

If nothing unexpected happens, something unexpected will happen soon. Zhao Yuanzuo was actually involved in the "Zhao Tingmei Rebellion Case".

The records of this period of history are both incredible and touching. As we all know, Zhao Guangyi took great pains to eliminate Zhao Tingmei, Zhao Dezhao, and Zhao Defang one by one in order to pass the throne to his son, and this son is almost certainly the eldest son Zhao Yuanzuo. In other words, as long as Zhao Yuanzuo defended Comrade Zhao Guangyi's great, glorious, and correct leadership like everyone else, or at least remained silent, then he would be the next to sit on the throne.

However, unexpectedly, Zhao Yuanzuo actually defended Zhao Tingmei and did his best to clear his uncle's name.

Of course, Zhao Guangyi would not rehabilitate Zhao Tingmei. He demoted Zhao Tingmei to the Duke of Fuling County and moved him to Fangzhou.

Zhao Yuanzuo was so angry that he became mentally ill (heart disease) and went "crazy" from then on. Zhao Guangyi also began to seriously consider the candidate for the crown prince, and Zhao Yuanzuo was no longer the first choice.

In 984, Zhao Tingmei, who was demoted to Fangzhou, finally left us prematurely, dying of anxiety. News came that Zhao Yuanzuo's "mental madness" had worsened, and he often abused his attendants, and it was said that he often stabbed people with a knife for trivial matters. Zhao Guangyi was heartbroken, how could the throne be handed over to a manic mental patient?
The following year (985), Zhao Yuanzuo's condition improved slightly. Zhao Guangyi was very happy. This foolish son finally came to his senses! How happy was Comrade Zhao Guangyi? Answer: He issued a general amnesty.

On the Double Ninth Festival of the same year, Zhao Guangyi held a family dinner. Because Zhao Yuanzuo had just recovered and was still in a state of mild mental illness, Zhao Guangyi was considerate enough not to invite him, meaning to let him rest in peace.

In the evening, after the banquet ended, Zhao Yuanxi (the second son of Emperor Taizong) passed by Zhao Yuanzuo's residence on his way home, so he visited his brother on the way. Zhao Yuanzuo then learned about the banquet.

Zhao Yuanzuo was very angry, "Father invited you to the banquet, but didn't invite me. He is abandoning me!"

Zhao Yuanxi and his brothers exchanged glances and said, "It's over. Big brother is going to have another attack. You take a rest first. We have something to do and we'll leave first." They said goodbye and went home.

Zhao Yuanzuo became angrier and angrier as he thought about it. In the middle of the night, he suddenly locked all the maids and concubines in the room and set a fire. The fire in the Chu palace burned until dawn.

Zhao Guangyi established the "Chu Palace Fire Investigation Committee" to find out the cause of the fire and summoned the major criminal suspect Zhao Yuanzuo.

Zhao Yuanzuo was taken away for tea. When he saw the huge wooden yoke in front of him, his psychological defenses were instantly broken, and he confessed to the crime.

Zhao Guangyi was very disappointed with this and sent someone to bring him a message. The last sentence, "The relationship between father and son has come to an end," was equivalent to declaring that he had completely lost his qualifications as heir.

All the princes and officials pleaded for Zhao Yuanzuo. Zhao Guangyi said with tears in his eyes, "I often read history books, and every time I saw the unworthy descendants of the emperors of previous dynasties, I felt sad and regretful. Who would have thought that the melon would be eaten by my own head, and the clown was actually me. I was still lecturing people all day long. Look at what a good thing my son has done. No one can persuade him to do this. I can't bear to let him go, but for the sake of the country and the people, I can't be partial!"

Afterwards, Zhao Guangyi issued an edict to demote Zhao Yuanzuo to a commoner and settled him in Junzhou (now Danjiangkou City, Hubei Province).

Prime Minister Song Qi and others wrote three chapters in a row to plead with the emperor that Zhao Yuanzuo was not unforgivable because he was a mentally ill person. Otherwise, he would not have done such a thing. Mentally ill people are not fully capable of acting and should be treated leniently as appropriate.

Finally, Zhao Guangyi followed the advice of his ministers, recalled Zhao Yuanzuo to the capital, and imprisoned him in the Nangong Palace.

The eldest son Zhao Yuanzuo was the earliest crown prince. He became mentally ill due to the "Zhao Tingmei case" and eventually lost his status as crown prince due to the "Chu Palace arson case" and was eliminated.

2. "The Silence of the Lambs - Zhao Yuanxi"

The second son of Zhao Guangyi, originally named Zhao Deming, later changed his name to Zhao Yuanyou. After the eldest son Zhao Yuanzuo was deposed, his name was changed to Zhao Yuanxi.

Zhao Yuanxi was "manly and resolute in appearance", very handsome, with extraordinary looks; his personality was quiet, introverted and taciturn; in terms of work ability, he was mature, experienced, calm and steady.

After Zhao Yuanzuo was deposed, the second son, Zhao Yuanxi, was appointed as the prefect of Kaifeng, concurrently the minister of state, and the minister of the imperial court. As mentioned above, the mayor of the capital city is a standard for the crown prince, so it is generally believed that from this moment on, Zhao Yuanxi became the quasi-crown prince. Zhao Yuanxi served as the prefect of Kaifeng for five years, and his "government affairs were flawless", and his work ability was fully recognized.

In reality, a chatterbox may not be insincere, and a taciturn person may not be without evil intentions. Zhao Yuanxi's taciturnity may not be a sign of honesty and dullness. His ups and downs in life reveal his scheming. He looks silly but has a thief's heart. He looks honest but is treacherous inside.

For example, in the "Chu Royal Palace Arson Case", everything was normal until the end of the Double Ninth Festival banquet, but Zhao Yuanxi happened to pass by Zhao Yuanzuo's house, and happened to want to go in for a visit, and happened to inadvertently leak the fact that Zhao Yuanzuo was the only one who was not invited. Zhao Yuanzuo was provoked by this and set fire to the palace at night, and was then demoted to a commoner.

The biggest beneficiary of the "Chu Palace Arson Case" happened to be Zhao Yuanxi. Let me ask you again, was it really unintentional for Zhao Yuanxi to visit his elder brother on the way?

Not long after becoming the crown prince (Kaifeng prefect), Zhao Guangyi suffered a disastrous defeat in the "Yongxi Northern Expedition". Unwilling to admit defeat, he was ready to roll up his sleeves and fight the Liao Kingdom. As mentioned above, Zhao Guangyi planned to mobilize the whole country and recruit peasants in the Central Plains to join the army. The ministers submitted memorials in opposition, and Zhao Yuanxi also submitted a memorial to express his opposition. Zhao Guangyi finally calmed down, regained his sanity, and cancelled this ridiculous general mobilization order.

Looking at the problem from another angle, Zhao Yuanxi has already sat on the same bench with the ministers, or, to put it more alarmist: the ministers are of one mind with the crown prince, but not with the emperor.

Coincidentally, more than a month later, the hardcore master Zhao Pu who was exiled came to the court to meet the emperor. Zhao Yuanxi immediately submitted a memorial, saying that Comrade Zhao Pu was a time-tested old revolutionary comrade who was trustworthy and had outstanding abilities, and it would be best to entrust him with important tasks.

Here we need to briefly review the content related to Zhao Pu in "Yongxi Northern Expedition":
The relationship between the "Yongxi Northern Expedition" and Zhao Pu is - nothing to do with it.

At that time, Zhao Pu was demoted and sent to Shannan East Road Jiedushi. He was excluded from the core power circle and had been "sidelined" for a long time. Before planning the "Yongxi Northern Expedition", Zhao Guangyi did not consult Zhao Pu at all. Since the war failed, Zhao Pu was right. You see, he didn't listen to the old man's advice, and he suffered a loss. Who told you not to ask for my opinion? Just listen to the gossip of those treacherous ministers in the court. How can you revive the Song Dynasty with those insects?
Zhao Yuanxi submitted a memorial at the appropriate time, comparing Zhao Pu to wise ministers such as Wei Zheng, Fang Xuanling, and Du Ruhui, and calling Zhao Pu a "founding elder" and a "good minister of the holy dynasty."

Therefore, with the strong support of Zhao Yuanxi, Zhao Pu entered the court for the third time to be appointed prime minister and returned to the pinnacle of politics.

Zhao Pu is a legendary figure in Chinese history. He was appointed as prime minister three times and set a legendary record of ten years as the only prime minister. Zhao Yuanxi was the key figure who facilitated his third appointment as prime minister. From this perspective, Zhao Yuanxi had already completed a deep bond with the civil service group controlled by Zhao Pu.

It is difficult to say whether Zhao Pu reciprocated the favor, but the subsequent actions of the civil service group turned out to be a good intention but a bad result.

The ministers repeatedly suggested that Zhao Guangyi appoint a crown prince and clarify Zhao Yuanxi's status as the crown prince, which made Zhao Guangyi very disgusted. Later, the upset Zhao Guangyi finally confided his true feelings to the ministers. There were two main meanings: one was that if the crown prince was appointed, people would be uneasy, which would threaten his ruling position; the other was that he wanted to continue to discover other princes and select the best ones.

The words had been so blunt and explicit that the ministers should have kept quiet. However, in September 991, Song Hang and five others submitted a petition requesting the establishment of a crown prince, and specifically requested that Zhao Yuanxi be made the crown prince.

Zhao Guangyi was instantly furious.

Song Hang was the Zuo Zhengyan and the judge of the Ministry of Finance at that time, which was considered a small role with low position and little power. How could he have the courage to challenge Zhao Guangyi's red line and bravely expose his reverse scale? This was what annoyed Zhao Guangyi the most, because Song Hang was just a puppet, and the big boss behind him was Lu Mengzheng.

Lü Mengzheng passed the imperial examination in the early years of Emperor Taizong and gradually became the prime minister of the dynasty. Song Hang was a relative of Lü Mengzheng's wife. The specific relationship is difficult to verify, but we can simply say that Song Hang was Lü Mengzheng's brother-in-law.

From this perspective, Song Hang's behavior had the endorsement of the prime minister of the time. How much trouble can a prime minister stir up? Let's look at another small matter: When Lu Duosun was the prime minister, his son was arranged to be the deputy director of the Ministry of Water Resources (fifth rank) right after graduation. Lu Mengzheng said in a memorial that when I just graduated (Jinshi Jidi), I was only awarded the ninth rank Beijing official. Many people are not even so lucky. Many outstanding graduates are not appreciated and can only live in seclusion in the mountains. Just because Lu's father is the prime minister, he starts as a fifth rank official. This is a huge waste of resources. In the long run, it will be detrimental to the country. I hope Your Majesty will think deeply!
Subsequently, Lu Dosun's son was re-assigned as a ninth-rank official in the capital, and "the prime minister's son can only be appointed as a ninth-rank official in the capital" was listed as a legal system and clearly stipulated.

Key points: Lu Mengzheng attacks Lu Dosun.

The power struggle between Lu Duosun and Zhao Pu was a political drama in the early years of the Northern Song Dynasty. The two were a pair of mortal enemies. Therefore, attacking Lu Duosun would definitely get Zhao Pu's attention.

Maybe Lu Mengzheng was just upright, but it is undeniable that he entered Zhao Pu's vision from then on, and with Zhao Pu's support, he gradually climbed to the high position of prime minister.

In other words, behind Song Hang, who bravely took the lead, stood the prime minister of the time, Lu Mengzheng, and behind Lu Mengzheng was the terrifying Zhao Pu force. Zhao Pu had just completed the binding with Zhao Yuanxi, and they were now pushing for Zhao Yuanxi to be the crown prince, and they did not even dare to openly go against Zhao Guangyi's wishes.

It is terrifying to think about it carefully. Combined with the previous few stories, the civil service group had already become close friends with Zhao Yuanxi...a drama of forcing the emperor to abdicate has begun.

Zhao Guangyi was completely furious. You guys are planning to rebel! It's time to give you a little Taizong shock.

Song Hang was demoted and sent away, and Lu Mengzheng was demoted to the position of Minister of Personnel. In the following year (992), Zhao Pu submitted three petitions requesting to retire and return home. Resigning voluntarily was better than being fired. After all, they were all respectable people. In July of the same year (992), Zhao Pu died of illness in retirement, ending his legendary life.

One person worth mentioning is Lu Mengzheng. He had a grandson-in-law named Bao Yu, whose father was Bao Zheng, also known as "Judge Bao".

Also in 992, on November 11, Zhao Yuanxi suddenly felt unwell after clocking in at work in the morning, so he asked for leave to go home and rest. When Zhao Guangyi heard about it, he immediately went to visit him. At that time, Zhao Yuanxi was lying on the bed sickly, almost in a coma. Zhao Guangyi called him softly, and Zhao Yuanxi barely responded. Zhao Guangyi immediately summoned the imperial doctors and told them to pay more attention to him. Before he could finish, Zhao Yuanxi died.

Having lost his beloved son, Zhao Guangyi cried heartfeltly. All the attendants on his left and right prostrated themselves on the ground, and no one dared to look up at him.

It is said that Zhao Guangyi could not recover from the pain of losing his son for a long time. He often cried all night and could not fall asleep. He also wrote a poem "Thinking of My Lost Son" and asked his ministers to circulate it. The ministers forwarded and collected it, but no one dared to like it. The leader posted on WeChat Moments saying that his biological father had died. Should I like it, or like it, or like it?
In his grief, Zhao Guangyi posthumously awarded Zhao Yuanxi the title of "Crown Prince" and the posthumous name of "Gongxiao".

However, before the ceremony of posthumously enthroning the crown prince was held, someone reported Zhao Yuanxi's concubine Zhang to Zhao Guangyi, saying that Zhang was tyrannical and presumptuous. For example, she often abused maids and servants, and even caused a death, but Zhao Yuanxi was unaware of this; for example, she performed a soul-calling ceremony for her parents in a Buddhist temple in the suburbs and buried her parents in violation of the rules...

Taizong was furious and had Zhang hanged, dug up the graves of her parents and exiled the rest of her relatives. All the staff and officials in Zhao Yuanxi's palace were demoted. The posthumous ceremony was also stopped and was replaced with a first-class funeral ceremony.

There are different records about Zhao Yuanxi's mysterious death and Zhang's fate, each more alarmist than the other.

For example, the records in the "Continuation of Zizhi Tongjian" suggest that Zhao Yuanxi did not die of natural causes but of food poisoning. It is said that he ate the food given to him by Zhang and then suddenly fell ill and died.

The "Silent Record" records Zhang Jingshan's testimony, saying that Zhao Yuanxi wanted to depose his first wife, Li, and make Zhang his first wife. Zhang bought a wine pot at a high price. The appearance of the wine pot was the same as that of a normal wine pot, but it had a mechanism inside that could hold two liquids at the same time, and the pourer could switch freely without anyone noticing. Zhang wanted to use this to poison Li, but Zhao Yuanxi, who was unaware of the situation, played a little romantic game with Li. The couple drank a cup of wine, showed their affection, and died quickly. Zhao Yuanxi was poisoned to death. Later, Taizong had Zhang executed by slow slicing.

Zhang Jingshan's testimony came from his grandfather, Zhang Quhua, who was a staff member in Zhao Yuanxi's palace at the time. This testimony of the "uncle party" can be described as alarmist and quite different from other records.

Other theories include that Zhao Yuanxi fainted while riding a horse and fell off his horse, causing his death; some say Zhang was tortured to death by lingchi, while others say she was hanged; some say Zhang's case was not caused by someone informing on him, but was an unexpected discovery when Zhao Guangyi sent people to inspect the public security, procuratorial and judicial work on a routine basis...

In short, this "silent" Zhao Yuanxi had too many secrets. He instigated his elder brother to fall ill and be deposed, won over the ministers, attached himself to Zhao Pu, and the ministers "forced the emperor to abdicate" to help him take the throne... After the "forced emperor to abdicate" failed, Zhao Pu died of illness, and less than half a year later, Zhao Yuanxi also died suddenly...

(End of this chapter)