Zhou Shizong-Chai Rong
Chai Rong, Shizong of the Later Zhou Dynasty, also known as Chai Shizong, was born in Longgang, Xingzhou (now southwest of Xingtai, Hebei Province). His father, Chai Shouli, was the wife of Guo Wei, the Taizu of the Later Zhou Dynasty. His brother, Chai Rong, was adopted by his uncle Guo Wei and renamed Guo Rong. Before he became an adult, Chai Rong went to live with his uncle because of his family's decline. Guo Wei saw that he was kind-hearted and careful in doing things. In addition, Guo Wei did not have a son at the time and his family was not in a good condition, so he adopted Chai Rong as his adopted son and asked him to help with business and manage the housework. Chai Rong was also very capable and managed the business carefully. He also went to the south with other businessmen to sell tea and other products to supplement his family's income. In addition to doing business, Chai Rong also did not forget to study and practice martial arts, becoming an outstanding talent with both civil and military skills.
Acceded to the throne and created great achievements
In the Later Han Dynasty, Guo Wei was appointed as Privy Councilor and took control of the military and political power of the court. Chai Rong stopped doing business and became the general of Zuojian Gate Guard and began to enter politics. When Guo Wei sent troops from Yedu to march to Kaifeng, he was ordered to guard Yedu and resist the Khitan. Soon after his adoptive father became the emperor of the Later Zhou Dynasty, he was also appointed as the governor of Chanzhou and granted the title of Marquis of Taiyuan. Chai Rong managed the local area in an orderly manner. After Chanzhou was hit by a flood, he led the army and civilians to rebuild roads, widen streets, and expand the urban area, which was well received by the officials and the people. Since Guo Wei's sons were all killed during the coup in the capital, Guo Wei pinned his hopes on his only adopted son and wanted to entrust him with important responsibilities. However, Wang Jun often obstructed him. After Wang Jun was demoted, Chai Rong was allowed to take the post. Kaifeng Yin was granted the title of King of Jin.
After the death of his adoptive father, Chai Rong was supported by everyone to succeed him. Chai Rong inherited Guo Wei's great cause and continued to deepen reforms with the ambition of unification. In just five years, the Central Plains region began to become stronger. It laid a solid foundation for the basic unification of the Northern Song Dynasty.
When he first succeeded to the throne, Chai Rong set a thirty-year ambition: "Ten years to open up the world, ten years to support the people, ten years to bring peace." In the end, although it only lasted five years, he The results have been very outstanding.
Just after the fall of the Later Han Dynasty, Liu Chong established the Northern Han Dynasty in Taiyuan to confront the Later Zhou Dynasty. He also united with the Khitan to send troops to attack when Chai Rongxin came to the throne. He also wanted to follow the example of Shi Jingtang who colluded with the Khitan to destroy the Later Tang Dynasty and set up the Central Plains on his own. Emperor, but Chai Rong was not Li Congke. Chai Rong personally led the troops and charged forward just like Li Cunxu. With the brave fighting of Zhao Kuangyin and other brave generals, he actually defeated Liu Chong with a small number and completely defeated Liu Chong and besieged Taiyuan. , although Chai Rong soon withdrew his troops, Liu Chong was too frightened and finally fell ill and died.
After the war, Chai Rong thoroughly rectified the arrogant and powerful generals, executed a group of generals who were greedy for life and feared death, and then established an elite forbidden army, creating basic conditions for the subsequent southern and northern wars.
Working hard
In order to achieve the great cause of reunification, Chai Rong worked hard and carried out fruitful reforms in all aspects.
Chai Rong first started with himself. First, he lived a frugal life and set an example for the officials and soldiers. The second is to humbly accept advice. For this reason, he also issued a special edict to ask the ministers to give their opinions. The edict was extremely sincere. He said that it was impossible for him to govern the country and handle government affairs perfectly, and it was also impossible for him to make no mistakes. However, no one among the ministers pointed out his faults or mentioned the flaws in his administration. Chai Rong did not blame the ministers blindly, but took the responsibility on himself, saying that the ministers could not do this because he, the emperor, did not seek good advice from the ministers sincerely. He said that if no one wrote to express his opinions, he would not have the opportunity to understand the minister's talent and character, so he would not be able to reuse him. Therefore, he asked the ministers of civil and military affairs to write letters to express their opinions as much as possible in the future, even if it was the emperor's fault. Those who are not good at writing don't have to worry, just write down the facts directly, and then he will promote or demote the ministers' official positions according to their performance.
In order to better allow ministers to speak, Chai Rong also named Wang Pu and more than 20 Hanlin scholars to write two articles: "On the Difficulties of Being a King and Difficulties of Being a Minister" and "Ping Border Policy". From this, Chai Rong obtained Wang Pu's famous "Pingbian Policy" and used it to formulate a unified plan.
Secondly, Chai Rong carried out thorough reforms, including political, economic and cultural aspects.
First, political aspects. Chai Rong broke the rules and appointed talented people to enrich the main government departments and improve their efficiency. He also ordered people to rectify the imperial examination system, which had many shortcomings and was unable to select talents, so that people with real talents and knowledge could enter government agencies and play a role. Chai Rong attached great importance to the rectification of officialdom and was merciless in punishing corrupt officials. Meng Hanqing, who was in charge of taxation affairs, was exposed for secretly increasing the tax amount. Chai Rong ordered him to die. The person in charge of the investigation said that there was no provision in the law to put him to death. Chai Rong said: "I know, this is to intimidate." Everyone!" When Chai Rong was renovating the Yongfu Hall, he personally inspected the construction site and saw that Sun Yanchang, the enshrined official, deducted wages and food, mistreated the laborers, and some laborers even used tiles to serve food. He couldn't help but be furious and beheaded Sun Yanchang on the spot. Other people who were greedy for money and those who killed soldiers who surrendered were also executed without mercy. Even his biological father's old friend broke the law without favoritism, and was eventually dismissed from office and exiled. Those who arbitrarily recommend officials and those who obtain official positions by deception may be demoted or dismissed and will be severely punished. Chai Rong also made thorough revisions to the laws that were notoriously harsh during the Five Dynasties. The provision of arbitrary executions and some tortures such as Lingchi (that is, death by a thousand cuts) were abolished. Several officials who killed prisoners privately were beheaded as punishment.
Prisoners were also treated with humane measures, dirty prisons were cleaned, shackles were washed, and prisoners were given adequate meals. Those who were sick were allowed to visit, and the government was responsible for the treatment of unowned patients. It was strictly forbidden to cause prisoners to die without reason. Chai Rong ordered people to preside over the revision of laws that were out of date and unreasonable. After the book was written, he asked ministers to discuss it, and finally completed the famous "Dazhou Xingtong" of the Five Dynasties, which had a direct impact on the "Song Xingtong" of the Northern Song Dynasty.
Second, the economic aspect. This aspect mainly includes reducing the burden on the people, building water conservancy projects, and rectifying coins.
Chai Rong recognized the important role of the people, so he took measures to reduce the burden on the people as much as possible to promote production and enhance national strength. The first is to lower taxes and eliminate all unreasonable taxes other than regular taxes. Secondly, Yuan Zhen of the Tang Dynasty promulgated the "Equal Land Map". Yuan Zhen saw that after the people's land near the river was washed away by floods, they still paid rent and taxes according to the original number of fields, which increased the burden, so he petitioned to collect taxes according to the actual land. Taxes. Chai Rong admired it very much after seeing it, and ordered it to be promulgated to all states and counties to collect taxes based on the actual land to prevent local officials and gentry from passing on their taxes to the people. This greatly reduces the people's burden and increases farmers' enthusiasm for production. After that, Chai Rong called the exiles to cultivate their fields, which not only stabilized the people, but also increased the country's income. At the same time, some retired aristocrats are no longer exempt from tax and pay rent like the common people. Even the descendants of Confucius, who have received preferential treatment in the past dynasties, are exempted from privileges and pay tax according to regulations. This indirectly reduces the burden on the people.
In order to fundamentally create a good environment for agricultural production, Chai Rong also ordered people to take charge of the construction of water conservancy projects and dredge water transportation. He also carefully managed the Grand Canal, the Yellow River, and the Bianhe River. The smooth flow of waterways further promoted economic development.
Rectifying coins and governing Buddhism
Rectifying coins is an important measure for Chai Rong to rectify the economic order. For this reason, he boldly destroyed bronze Buddha statues to mint coins and promote commercial development. . Someone tried to dissuade him, and he said: "Buddha advocates charity to the people. As long as he does good deeds, he is worshiping the Buddha. How can a bronze statue be a Buddha? Besides, I also heard that the Buddha put benefiting the people first and was willing to sacrifice even his head and eyes. Come out and give alms to everyone. If my body can help the people, I will not begrudge it." These words are reasonable. Destroying Buddha statues and making money not only rectified the coin market, but also played a restrictive role in the proliferation of Buddhism at that time. At the same time, Chai Rong also fundamentally managed Buddhism and allowed some fake monks to return to secular life, because during the war, some bandits, people evading corvee, military service, and criminals used monasticism as a means of resistance. Moreover, the rapid development of temples increased the number of rent-free and tax-free fields. , seriously affecting the country’s revenue. Chai Rong strengthened the management of temples, prohibited private ordination, and abolished more than 30,000 temples, leaving more than 2,600. There are more than 60,000 monks and nuns left, and an estimated 600,000 people have returned to secular life.
It didn’t take long for Chai Rong’s reforms to bear fruit. The country’s strength gradually increased and with a solid economic foundation, Chai Rong complied with public opinion and the people’s desire for reunification in the north and south at that time, permanently ending the war and living in peace. desire and began the unification war. Chai Rong's north-south campaign was divided into three stages. The first was to recover the four states in the west; the second was to conquer the Southern Tang Dynasty in the south; the third was to conquer the land north of the Yangtze River in the Southern Tang Dynasty; the third was to conquer part of the territory occupied by the Khitan in the Northern Expedition. Chai Rong returned He wanted to continue to expel the Khitan forces outside the Great Wall, but unfortunately he fell ill and died young shortly after returning. The unification of the Central Plains and Jiangnan was not finally completed until the early Northern Song Dynasty, and Chai Rong laid the foundation for the unification.
Conquering the south and fighting in the north for unification
First of all, Chai Rong sent troops to the west. The four states to the west were Qin (now Tianshui, Gansu), Cheng (now Chengxian, Gansu) and Jie (Today's east of Wudu, Gansu) and Feng (today's east of Fengxian, Shaanxi). These four states were originally under the jurisdiction of the Central Plains government. When the Khitan forces entered the Central Plains, they were annexed by Hou Shu. The common people and soldiers could not bear the rule of Hou Shu and had a great desire to return to the Central Plains. Chai Rong followed the public opinion and sent troops to conquer Xiang Xun and Wang Jing. In less than half a year, they captured all four states.
Secondly, Chai Rong directed his troops towards the Southern Tang Dynasty. The Southern Tang Dynasty was the strongest among the ten countries. After Chai Rong's three personal expeditions and a war that lasted for two years and five months, the Southern Tang Dynasty's Jiangbei territory was forced to cede to the Later Zhou Dynasty. The first time, the army of the Later Zhou Dynasty made good progress, but because General Liu Rengan of the Later Tang Dynasty defended Shouzhou (today's Shouxian County, Anhui Province), he could not conquer it and had to retreat. The next year, Chai Rong went on another personal expedition and captured Shouzhou by force. Due to the unfavorable season, he withdrew back to the north. The third time he used troops, he was well prepared and summed up the experience of the first two times. Chai Rong paid attention to win over the people. As a result, the army of the Later Zhou Dynasty captured ten states in the north of the Yangtze River in the Southern Tang Dynasty in one go, and prepared to cross the Yangtze River and attack the capital of the Southern Tang Dynasty.
In order to protect the south of the Yangtze River, Li Jing, the central leader of the Southern Tang Dynasty, sent ministers Li Deming and Zhong Mo to sue for peace, and then offered four states. In this way, the fourteen states and sixty-four counties in the north of the Yangtze River and the southern Tang Dynasty were all returned to the Later Zhou Dynasty. Therefore, after the Southern Tang Dynasty, a large number of tributes were paid every year.
The Southern Expedition achieved a complete victory. Not only did they obtain the land north of the Yangtze River, they also suppressed the Southern Han Dynasty and Hou Shu, especially Hou Shu. They did not dare to act rashly again.
Third, Chai Rong’s Northern Expedition defeated the Khitan. Chai Rong led tens of thousands of infantry and cavalry troops to attack north from Cangzhou. In just forty days, they captured three passes guarded by the Khitans: Waqiao Pass (in today's Xiongxian County, Hebei Province) and Yijin Pass (in today's Xiongxian County, Hebei Province). In today's Wen'an County, Hebei Province) and Yuguan (in today's Ba County, Hebei Province), there are also three prefectures: Ningzhou (now Qingxian County, Hebei Province), Yingzhou (now Hejian, Hebei Province) and Mozhou (now Renqiubei, Hebei Province). Seventeen counties were the greatest victory achieved in the war with Liao during the Five Dynasties.
Chai Rong wanted to continue marching and capture Youzhou, but unfortunately he suddenly fell ill. He had no choice but to retreat southward after sending generals to defend the various states. Shortly after returning to Kaifeng, he died of illness in the palace. He was only thirty-nine years old, his ambitions were unfulfilled, he died young, and his thirty-year ambitions could not be realized. It is indeed a pity for him.
The "Old History of the Five Dynasties" has a very high evaluation of Chai Rong, saying that he was "a heroic leader of a generation with his mighty and heroic strategy... But he will not last forever, his beautiful ambitions will not be fulfilled, and his husband will be sad." !”
Summary of Zhou Shizong’s civil and military skills, he ranks first among the monarchs of the Five Dynasties. Therefore, Chai Rong is called the most outstanding politician during the Five Dynasties period.