History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 968: Taizu's Past 7
"Merciful and Forgiving"

One day in March of the eighth year of Kaibao (975), Zhao Kuangyin was about to have a meal when he suddenly found a cute louse playing happily beside the bowl (next to the food container with louse rim).

Zhao Kuangyin hurriedly calmed down his attendants and warned them not to make a fuss, otherwise someone would die in the imperial kitchen. Historical records say that Zhao Kuangyin was greatly inspired by reading "The Canon of Yao", admired the rule of Yao and Shun, opposed harsh laws, and pardoned as many as 4,108 death row prisoners within a few years.

Later in the article we will talk in detail about Liao Muzong's attitude towards his servants. By comparing the two, it is not difficult to understand why the Liao Kingdom was at a disadvantage during this period.

"Fishing enforcement"

Not all scholars are bookworms, and not all of them are gentlemen. Throughout history, many so-called intellectuals and public intellectuals have been full of benevolence, righteousness, and morality, but full of thieves and prostitutes. Therefore, there is a feeling among the people that "most loyal people are butchers, and most unfaithful people are scholars."

There was a scholar named Liu Pan who passed the imperial examination in the Later Han Dynasty and entered the official career. This person was "good at making strange plans" and had a lot of bad ideas. When the country was founded, he was appointed as the head of the dyeing house. Liu Pan deliberately planted spies on the roadside. Whenever Zhao Kuangyin was about to inspect the work in the dyeing house, Liu Pan could always get intelligence in advance. So he wore dirty and tattered work clothes, held a big stick, and supervised the workers in the workshop with dishevel. When Zhao Kuangyin suddenly arrived, he "panicked" and knelt to greet him, saying that he did not know that the emperor was here, and he was guilty of death.

Zhao Kuangyin was very satisfied and thought that Liu Pan was a model worker of the new era because he devoted himself to his work wholeheartedly and neglected sleep and food. He called on all employees to learn from Comrade Liu Pan and gave him 200,000 coins.

Thanks to his outstanding acting skills, Liu Pan's career was successful and he rose rapidly in the officialdom.

Later, Zhao Kuangyin asked him to inspect the smuggling of tea in the Huaihe River area. At that time, tea, like salt and iron, was related to the economic lifeline of the country and was a strategic material strictly controlled by the government. Because of the control, there was a huge profit margin in the black market tea trade. Many merchants took risks in the face of huge profits and engaged in illegal activities of smuggling tea.

In the previous article on the Southern Tang Dynasty, it was mentioned that the Song Dynasty launched a trade war against the Southern Tang Dynasty in order to destroy its economy. It set up the "Zhebo Service" to strictly control the trade between the two countries and strangled the Southern Tang Dynasty with the invisible hand of the economy. So from this perspective, smuggling tea at the border is no longer a small economic problem, but an act of undermining national strategy and aiding the enemy, which is a felony of treason that provides blood transfusion and prolongs the life of the enemy.

The government strictly investigated the smuggling of tea, but it continued despite repeated bans. This was because the stricter the investigation, the higher the profit from smuggling tea, and the more it could tempt unscrupulous merchants to take risks.

After Liu Pan took office, he used a fishing enforcement trick, which achieved remarkable results. The specific method was very simple. Liu Pan wore civilian clothes, rode a skinny old horse, knocked on doors from house to house, and claimed to be a tea dealer who wanted to buy tea at a high price. The local people did not suspect him and happily sold him tea. As expected, those people who were willing to sell goods were arrested.

Since then, no one dared to sell private tea to strangers. As for regular customers, after several rounds of regular crackdowns, the number of them was reduced to a controllable range, and the practice of selling private tea was effectively curbed.

Liu Pan was praised by Zhao Kuangyin again. Later, Liu Pan worked hard in the post of transport envoy and performed well, and was rewarded by the emperor many times. In the second year of Chunhua (991) of Emperor Taizong of Song Dynasty, Liu Pan died of a stroke at the age of 73.

"Suppressing the actors"

In April of the eighth year of Kaibao (975), Comrade Wei Deren, Chairman of the Royal Quyi Association (Jiaofangshi), submitted a retirement application to the organization with a small request, asking the organization to arrange a high-ranking official position for him for retirement, and citing the practice of the Later Tang Zhuangzong period.

Li Cunxu doted on the actors and often played guest roles in them. He gave himself a stage name and even pretended to be his father-in-law to tease his wife - "Chua Di Calculating Liu". At that time, whenever an actor retired, Li Cunxu would reward them with a post such as a provincial governor.

As mentioned above, Zhao Kuangyin loved to study the history of Li Cunxu, learn from history, and deeply learn the painful lessons of the big brother's destruction of the party and the country. It would be better if he didn't mention Zhuangzong. As soon as he mentioned Zhuangzong, he was simply walking into the muzzle of a gun. Zhao Kuangyin immediately expressed his attitude:

"Employing actors as provincial governors is a misstep of Emperor Zhuangzong. How can we follow his example?" The prime ministers understood what Zhao Kuangyin said, but did not understand what he meant. They prepared to appoint Wei Deren as the deputy secretary of the municipal party committee of a first-tier city (Sima of Shangzhou).

Zhao Kuangyin simply didn't beat around the bush and forced me to speak in plain words: "The deputy secretary of the municipal party committee must also be a scholar, and he must be an outstanding scholar with qualifications, ability and reputation. How can this be treated as a joke? As for this fellow - the old artist Comrade Wei Deren, he should be digested within the Qu Association (this person should be transferred to the music club)."

Finally, Wei Deren was awarded the title of Taiyue Office Director of the Taichang Temple. What kind of position is this? The Taichang Temple is the highest administrative agency in charge of rituals and music. There are many "offices" under it, such as the Beijing Suburbs Community Office and the Mausoleum Offices of various imperial mausoleums. Among them, the Taiyue Office is in charge of palace rituals and music. The Taiyue Office has two "lings", which means that Wei Deren's "Taiyue Office Director" is the head of the Taiyue Office. What is the specific rank of this head?

Answer: From the seventh rank.

The seventh rank is not the official seventh rank, but the subordinate seventh rank, and it also has the word "lower". Below the seventh rank, calling him "the seventh rank official" is just flattery, because the seventh rank official is several levels higher than him.

Seventh-rank sesame official: "What rank, you're fighting with me for sesame!"

“No hunting”

Many emperors like hunting, especially those who come from the military. Hunting has many advantages, such as it is a high-intensity sport that is closest to combat, comparable to military exercises. But its disadvantages cannot be ignored. Hunting for noble people such as emperors is very expensive and requires temporary demarcation of an uninhabited area, which directly damages local agricultural production. During this period, rewards must be given to the entourage. Therefore, being addicted to hunting has always been a criticism of the emperor.

Zhao Kuangyin, who was born in the military, also loved hunting. One day in September of the eighth year of Kaibao (975), Zhao Kuangyin was hunting in the suburbs. Just as he was chasing a hare, his horse suddenly stumbled, causing Zhao Kuangyin to kiss the ground deeply. He could not outrun the hare.

The scene of social death. Zhao Kuangyin was furious, stood up, drew his sword, and stabbed his horse to death. However, he regretted it immediately. Facing the attendants who came to protect him, Zhao Kuangyin blamed himself: "I am the ruler of the world, but I am obsessed with hunting. How can I blame the innocent horse?" From then on, Zhao Kuangyin gave up the habit of hunting (and never hunted again).

It is very touching and inspiring to talk about. In fact, looking at the time, there was still one year left before his death. However, the historian probably had more considerations when recording this event, such as comparing it with Liao Muzong of the same period. The following article will detail Liao Muzong's boring and simple monotonous life.

"I'll kill you with money"

In November of the third year of Kaibao (970), the Khitan assembled 11 cavalrymen to invade Dingzhou, but were repelled by the troops of the Song general Tian Qinzuo, creating a military miracle of " against ". When the news reached Bianzhou, Zhao Kuangyin was very pleased and said to those around him: "The Khitan have invaded the border several times. I want to buy a Khitan head for pieces of silk. They only have elite soldiers, so I only need to spend million pieces of silk to buy out the Khitan!"

Using "money power" to settle the Khitan was the last step of Zhao Kuangyin's unification strategy. As mentioned earlier, Zhao Kuangyin set up a "sealed pile treasury" and allocated a portion of the fiscal surplus every year as a war reserve. How was this money used specifically?

Zhao Kuangyin had given the answer as early as when he set up the "Fengzhuang Ku". He said that when he had saved up 300,000 or 500,000 yuan, he would send envoys to contact the Khitan and redeem the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun. If the Khitan agreed, everyone would be happy; if not, he would use the money as military expenses and recover it by force.

The redemption of the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun was a very advanced political wisdom, which was more than 800 years earlier than the United States buying land from France, Spain, Russia, and Mexico! It was a pity that Zhao Kuangyin died suddenly, so it was not implemented in Chinese history.

As for the amount of money, there is obviously some misunderstanding. What is the unit of three or five hundred thousand? Is it "wen" or "guan", "pi" or "ding"? In fact, it doesn't matter. In short, it is definitely a huge sum of money.

(End of this chapter)