A live-streamed Chinese language lesson under the sky—the ancients were taken aback.

He continued, "Zhao Kuangyin wasn't unprepared. He set up a 'sealed treasury' to deposit the annual fiscal surplus into, intending to accumulate enough to negotiate with the Liao Kingdom to redeem the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun. If he couldn't redeem them, he would use them as military funds to fight back. However, he never managed to recover the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun before his death."

"The dream of a northern expedition can only be left to future generations."

The scene changes.

At the Battle of Gaoliang River, the Song army was routed. Zhao Guangyi was shot with an arrow and fled south on a donkey cart in a very sorry state.

[The God of Carts on the Gaoliang River, Drifting on a Donkey Cart]

Zhao Da died too young.

[Zhao Kuangyin: I'd never believe in the wisdom of later generations; they're all useless!]

The Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun became a permanent source of pain for the Song Dynasty.

……

The voice, seemingly wanting to say something but unable to, carried a hint of regret.

"After the defeat at Gaoliang River, Yongxi's Northern Expedition also failed."

From then on, the recapture of Yan and Yun faded from the practical options, becoming an old wound that was repeatedly brought up but no one dared to touch again.

"Zhao Kuangyin and the Song Dynasty were really not very lucky."

The scene unfolds to the northern grasslands, where the Khitan cavalry blots out the sky.

Deeper north in the dense forests, the Jurchen people are quietly growing stronger amidst the Changbai Mountains and the Heilongjiang River.

To the northwest, the Tangut people had already set foot on the Helan Mountains.

"When he founded the dynasty, the Central Plains had been in chaos for over a hundred years, with military men in power. If the bleeding wasn't stopped first, the Song Dynasty wouldn't survive past the second generation."

But when he finally stopped the bleeding, he looked up and saw that the north was full of monsters.

"The Khitans established the Liao Dynasty, which spanned thousands of miles and commanded hundreds of thousands of archers."

The Jurchens are about to rise to power and become the Jin dynasty, destroying the Liao dynasty with unstoppable force.

Mongolia is still sharpening its sword on the more distant steppes.

"The Song Dynasty was inherently disadvantaged, and it just so happened to encounter the most mature and fierce wave of nomadic peoples in history."

The Khitan, Jurchen, and Mongol were all incredibly organized and ambitious.

A patient who hasn't fully recovered from surgery is suddenly going to be in a fight in the ring.

"Moreover, one of the reasons why nomadic peoples were so strong was the 'legacy' of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period."

For example, the Liao Dynasty, established by Yelü Abaoji after unifying the various Khitan tribes, absorbed a large number of Han Chinese who had fled there from the very beginning.

They brought agriculture, writing, iron smelting, and institutions, transforming the previously loosely organized nomadic tribes into a powerful nation that was both agricultural and pastoral.

"If there hadn't been chaos in the Central Plains, so many Han Chinese wouldn't have fled to the north."

Song was truly betrayed and killed by Tang.

If the Central Plains had been a powerful empire at the time, perhaps they could have nipped them in the bud.

History isn't full of coincidences; they're all foreshadowing.

The tragedy of the Northern Song Dynasty was sealed from the An Lushan Rebellion.

……

He sighed softly, wanting to say something but unable to.

"Zhao Kuangyin did what he was supposed to do; he saved the Song Dynasty."

But he failed to give the Song Dynasty a sense of security.

This was his personal regret, and also the fate of that era.

The candlelight flickered in the Daqing Hall, the emperor and his ministers faced each other in silence, and the whole hall was filled with heavy sighs.

Zhao Kuangyin stared at the option "Live for sixteen years first" on the screen, his fingers loosening and then slowly clenching again.

He never regretted his initial choice. The blood of the five dynasties that changed hands and the banners of kings had not yet dried. With a young emperor on the throne and the army in turmoil, if the bleeding was not stopped and the internal situation stabilized, the Song Dynasty would become the sixth short-lived dynasty in the blink of an eye.

Hearing "Yan Yun has become an eternal pain" still felt like a stone was stuck in my chest.

"I originally intended to accumulate enough funds and provisions to either ransom or wage war to reclaim the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun." His voice was low. "How could I have foreseen that I would take my own life first?"

Zhao Pu bowed and sighed softly: "Your Majesty established systems and pacified the south, laying a foundation for the Song Dynasty for three hundred years. The matter of the northern frontier was not something that could be accomplished in a day."

But this tranquility shattered completely when the scene of the disastrous defeat at Gaoliang River appeared.

Seeing Zhao Guangyi fleeing in a disheveled state in a donkey cart, Zhao Kuangyin slammed his hand on the table.

"You scoundrel! He's squandered the elite troops I've built up and the wealth I've accumulated!"

The Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun, which had a sliver of hope, were thus squandered!

The hall was completely silent; no one dared to speak.

Everyone knows that the Yan-Yun incident was a lifelong regret for Zhao Kuangyin.

Shi Shouxin stood in the ranks of military officers, looking at the Song army that had lost their armor and weapons on the battlefield of Gaoliang River, his lips moving again and again.

If he had led the troops north back then, they might not have suffered such a crushing defeat.

But military power has been handed over, and times have changed. Some things can no longer be said, and can only be expressed with a long sigh.

The atmosphere in the Taiji Hall was somewhat subtle.

Li Shimin had originally commented with his hands behind his back: "Zhao Kuangyin's use of a cup of wine to release military power, combining kindness and severity, was a brilliant method. The disaster caused by the regional military governors during the Five Dynasties should indeed have been dealt with in this way."

But when Tianmu mentioned that Song Zhen had been tricked to death by Tang, he was speechless.

The Tang Dynasty's century-long foundation ultimately collapsed in the hands of regional military governors, dragging the Central Plains into chaos for nearly a century. Even the northern nomadic tribes took advantage of the chaos in the Central Plains to absorb Han civilization and grow stronger.

Fang Xuanling, observing the situation, said in a low voice, "Your Majesty, the An Lushan Rebellion was caused by the misrule of later emperors, not by Your Majesty."

Li Shimin shook his head slightly and sighed: "It is a debt that the Tang Dynasty owes."

Wei Zheng, standing nearby, said solemnly, "Your Majesty need not apologize too much. Every dynasty has accumulated problems. The mistakes of the past should be learned by the future. Suppressing military power was originally an expedient measure. The later dynasties' adherence to the status quo has gone too far and ruined their military capabilities. This was the Song Dynasty's own choice."

Li Shimin did not respond, gazing at the fragmented map of the Five Dynasties on the sky, his expression complex.

The sky was still dark.

The screen lit up again.

The palace lanterns swayed on a winter night.

The brothers Zhao Kuangyin and Zhao Guangyi sat facing each other, drinking wine. Outside the hall, snowflakes fell softly, and two swaying shadows were reflected on the window paper.

Her tone, which had been hesitant to speak, became lighter again. "Since we've brought up Zhao Guangyi, we have to mention the 'Shadow of the Candle and the Sound of the Axe'."

In the winter of 976, Zhao Kuangyin summoned his younger brother to the palace for drinks.

The next morning, Zhao Kuangyin died.

Zhao Guangyi said that his elder brother died suddenly from an illness, and passed the throne to him on his deathbed.

"This is the 'Shadow of the Candle and the Sound of the Axe'."

He paused for a second, seemingly wanting to say something, then posed the question: "So, was Zhao Guangyi's rise to power legitimate or not?"

[Normal, very normal, so normal that all of Zhao Kuangyin's sons died "normally"]

[Zhao Guangyi: My brother passed the position to me before he died, it's true, you can ask him if you don't believe me]

The Shadow of Candles and the Sound of Axe: An Unsolved Mystery for Ages

The more vague the historical records are, the bigger the event is.

……

"We're not saying he definitely did it, but there are a few things that happen in a rather coincidental timeline."

"First, when Zhao Kuangyin died, both of his sons were adults. Zhao Dezhao was 26 and Zhao Defang was 18. According to the usual logic of inheritance, it would not have been the younger brother's turn."

"Secondly, Zhao Guangyi said that his brother had left a will, but he only produced this will six years later, and the witness was Zhao Pu, who had been dismissed from his post as prime minister for many years."

An old minister who was dismissed as prime minister by Zhao Kuangyin and later reinstated by Zhao Guangyi.

The person who most needs to prove their worth in crucial moments.

"Third, the day after Zhao Kuangyin died, Zhao Guangyi changed the reign title, which was a major taboo according to the etiquette at the time."

The new emperor should use the previous emperor's reign title in the year he ascends the throne, and only change the reign title in the second year.

Zhao Guangyi couldn't even wait a few months; it was as if he was in a hurry to cook the rice into a fait accompli.

"What's even more coincidental," he continued, "is that Zhao Kuangyin's son and another brother all died 'at the right time' later on."

"Zhao Dezhao was publicly reprimanded by Zhao Guangyi, and then committed suicide when he got home."

"Zhao Defang, 23 years old, died suddenly from an illness."

"Zhao Tingmei was falsely accused of treason and demoted to Fangzhou, where he died soon after in exile."

"Zhao Kuangyin's branch of the imperial family, except for the young Zhao Deyuan, was basically purged, and the throne was firmly in the hands of Zhao Guangyi's lineage from then on."

[Zhao Kuangyin was so kind to the Chai family, but his own family was ruined by his younger brother.]

Zhao Guangyi: Brother, rest in peace, your sons will come to be with you soon.

Even Zhao Da's empress didn't fare well.

The throne of the Northern Song Dynasty had nothing to do with Zhao Kuangyin's descendants from then on, but the Southern Song Dynasty returned.

……

"There are three attitudes in the historical community regarding Zhao Guangyi's rise to power."

The first theory is that he murdered his brother to seize the throne.

The main reason is that Zhao Kuangyin had no record of being seriously ill before his death, died suddenly, and was only accompanied by Zhao Guangyi at the time of his death.

Zhao Guangyi's purges after taking power were entirely a sign of his guilty conscience.

"The second theory is that Zhao Kuangyin died suddenly from an illness, and Zhao Guangyi took over the throne."

Killing his nephew was a political purge, but it doesn't mean he actually did it.

Even so, his legitimacy was extremely fragile, because Zhao Kuangyin left no formal edict passing the throne to his younger brother.

"The third view is that Zhao Kuangyin had considered the idea of ​​'brother succeeding brother' before his death, since it was common for younger brothers to succeed to the throne during the chaotic Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period."

Zhao Guangyi succeeded to the throne normally, but his purges made him appear guilty forever.

There are three arguments, each with its own merits, but there is one thing that everyone can basically agree on.

Zhao Guangyi's ascension to the throne was indeed of dubious origin.