Once, the witch Xiao Gu gave him a home remedy, saying that it could prolong his life after taking it, but he needed to use the bile of an adult man as a medicine. Yelujing was so pleased to hear that he killed an adult man every day and took his bile into medicine. killed dozens of people one after another, only to realize that this Xiao Gu turned out to be a counterfeit medicine seller, and immediately became furious, and ordered someone to shoot her to death with random arrows, and trampled her bones to pieces.

The negative impact of these two characteristics on the politics of Yelujing is self-evident. Snooze made him ignore the government and politics, and his thirst for killing made everyone endanger, and the civil and military officials were afraid that they could not hide, and no one dared to say it even if there were reasonable suggestions. This made the Khitan during the reign of Yelu Jing, the internal affairs were corrupted, the military equipment was not repaired, and the monarchs and ministers were separated from morality.

All this, of course, can't escape Chai Rong's eyes, and the appearance of such a faint monarch in the enemy country is the best time to defeat it. This is probably one of the main reasons why Chai Rong was eager to get out of the battlefield on the southern front and turned around on the Northern Expedition.

On March 19, the sixth year of Zhou Xiande (959), Chai Rong officially issued a war mobilization order, calling on all commanders and fighters to take the recovery of rivers and mountains as their own responsibility and send troops to the Northern Expedition. Chai Rong's expedition was prepared for nearly a year, with strict organization and careful planning, and the blockade of news had reached the point of being airtight.

On 17 April, Chai Rong arrived in Liao's Ningzhou (present-day Qingxian County, Hebei), where the Liao-appointed assassin Wang Hong, who was unprepared for this, was unable to resist at all, so he had to immediately open the city gates and surrender.

Subsequently, Chai Rong ordered the two routes to march, appointed the guards and pro-army Du Yu Hou Han Tong to deploy the land route, and the front army of the palace commanded Zhao Kuangyin to deploy the water route, and the two roads marched together. At the same time, it was inserted into the Liaozhan area. On April 22, Chai Rong ascended to the royal flagship. He personally led the army down the Yongji Canal and went straight to the Liaozhan area to kill. At this time, the sailors of the Later Zhou Dynasty were quite large-scale. The warships were connected from end to end, dozens of miles long, and the momentum was extremely terrifying.

On April 26, Chai Rong's army reached Yijin Pass, and the Liao garrison general Zhong Tinghui did not dare to resist and immediately surrendered Kaicheng. The next day, Chai Rong abandoned the ship and went ashore, and ordered Zhao Kuangyin to lead the leading troops and continue to advance.

April 28. Zhao Kuangyin arrived at Waqiaoguan (present-day Xiongxian County, Hebei), and before the battle, the Liao general Yao Neibin opened the city and surrendered. On April 29, Liu Chuxin, the assassin of Mozhou (now north of Renqiu City, Hebei), also voluntarily surrendered to the Zhou army.

On 1 May, Gao Yanhui, the assassin of Yingzhou (present-day Hejian City, Hebei), also surrendered to Li Chongjin, a general of the Later Zhou Dynasty. In this way, all the lost land in the south of Waqiao Pass has been recovered by Chai Rong.

On May 2, Chai Rong ordered Hou Zhou Xianfeng to command Liu Chongjin to lead his army to set off first, stationed in Gu'an, and prepared to attack Youzhou. At this time, the situation in front of Chai Rong can be said to be very good. Only forty-two days have passed since he sent out his army, not a single battle has been fought, not a single soldier has been lost. It easily won three prefectures (Ning, Mo, Ying), three passes (Yijin Pass, Waqiao Pass, Sikou Pass), and 17 counties, with a population of 18,360 households, which can be called a megatron.

Look at Liao in turn. The whole Manchu Dynasty was panicked by Chai Rong's Northern Expedition, and the only person who was not in a hurry was actually Yelu Jing, the emperor of the Liao State. When he heard that Chai Rong had captured Sanguan and Sanzhou. Unhurriedly, he said to the people on the left and right: "I should be a great thing!" Youzhou was originally the territory of the Han people, and if they wanted to take it, let them take it. "And then I put that out of the way.

can be an opponent of a faint king like Yelu Jing. It was a very fortunate thing for Chai Rong. But in reality, the one who should really be thankful is Yelujing. Because on the night when Chai Rong convened his ministers to discuss the attack on Youzhou, he suddenly felt unwell, and then he couldn't afford to fall ill. In this case, Chai Rong obviously had no way to continue the Northern Expedition, so he had to lead the army back to the capital. In the following month, Chai Rong's illness became more and more serious, and he finally died in the palace on June 19 of that year at the age of 39.

Chai Rong's Northern Expedition ended in a hurry, and it should be said that it was still full of regrets. Although we can't conclude that he will definitely be able to complete the great cause of recovering the sixteen states of Yanyun because of his victory in the first battle. But it should be said that this is the most promising one to be recovered by the Han since the loss of the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun. It is very regrettable that the Northern Expedition was not able to succeed in the end. And Chai Rong, the hero of the generation, also contracted a serious illness during the Northern Expedition to Khitan and eventually died, which cannot but be said to be a greater regret.

Chai Rong is recognized as the first Ming Jun of the five generations, and people can hardly find any obvious shortcomings in him. Chai Rong is not greedy for money, not lustful, does not like music, and banquets, and work is his only hobby. When Chai Rong worked in the local area in his early years, he did not embezzle, did not corrupt, worked hard, silently dedicated, did not boast of his achievements, did not complain when he was wronged, and his fine work style was deeply recognized by the superior leaders and warmly supported by the masses.

After Chai Rong ascended the throne, he immediately showed his wise and martial side. In the face of the crazy attack of the Northern Han Dynasty, Chai Rongli overrode public opinion and drove his own expedition, especially when the war was unfavorable, he decisively rushed into the battlefield with fifty personal soldiers, and finally succeeded in reversing the defeat and laying the foundation for his hegemony in a war.

After the end of the war, Chai Rong carried out various reforms in the country, and made outstanding achievements in both politics and military. He commanded the army, and his orders were strict, and no one dared to offend.

During the siege field, the rain of arrows and arrows sometimes fell on his side, and the people on the left and right were frightened, but Chai Rong was always calm and calm, and his expression was as usual.

When Chai Rong handles government affairs, he must be personally involved and never work hard. If a civil and military official is at fault, he will blame it in person, and after the other party admits the mistake, he will no longer pursue it, and he will be rewarded for his merits.

When dealing with relations with neighboring countries, Chai Rong was able to strictly distinguish between those who could be restrained and those who must be resolutely cracked down. When the Southern Tang Dynasty did not surrender, he led the army into its territory three times, went to the former enemy in person, did not avoid the arrows and stones, and never stopped if he did not defeat it. However, once Nantang surrendered, he would be able to put himself in their shoes.

Just a month before Chai Rong's death, Li Jing, the lord of the Southern Tang Dynasty, sent his son Li Congshan and his minister Zhong Mo to the Great Liang Dynasty to meet Chai Rong. Chai Rong asked them: "Does Jiangnan still manage the army and repair the garrison?" Zhong Mo immediately panicked after hearing this, and hurriedly replied: "This is all the wrong thing that our country did when it was outside China. Now that he has surrendered to the great powers, how dare he still do these things. ”

After hearing this, Chai Rong smiled and said, "No." I was an enemy with Li Jing in the past, and today I am a monarch and minister, now that my name has been decided, I will never embarrass him again. But life is too short and the future is difficult, go back and tell your master, tell him to think about his children and grandchildren, and also take advantage of my time to repair the city and repair the armor while I am alive. I don't blame him for that. ”

After Zhong Mo brought these words back to China, he couldn't help but be convinced by Chai Rong's heart. And for the Khitan in the north, Chai Rong has always regarded it as a mortal enemy, and even would rather let go of the low-hanging Jiangnan at his fingertips, but also turn around to fight with it, although in the end he was not able to complete the wish to defeat it, but his courage is far better than those emperors in later generations who "have the courage to destroy the same species and are afraid to exclude foreign races"!

Chai Rong was emperor for five and a half years. The time is short, but the merits made are many. Externally, he attacked Houshu in the west, conquered the Southern Tang Dynasty in the south, and attacked the Khitan in the north, and his prestige shook Yi and Xia. Internally, he revitalized water conservancy, pioneered fields, reduced taxes, expanded the capital, revised the calendar, tuned the law, streamlined the administration of the army, opened up the way of speech, and reprimanded the monks, which were precisely these series of measures. It is only then that the country has gradually become rich and strong, and it has also made the five generations, an extremely chaotic world, finally come to an end.

There are Daoming Jun like Chai Rong. The untimely death cannot but be deplorable. If he is allowed to live for another ten years. The 30-year political program of "expanding the world in 10 years, supporting the people in 10 years, and achieving peace in 10 years" put forward by him when he took the throne is likely to be completed half the time ahead of schedule. History, however, is the least to be assumed. Chai Rong died like this, this is an indisputable fact, and we can't make subjective guesses about what hasn't happened yet. However, fortunately, although Chai Rong's death is sad, it has not been able to change the general trend of unification of the world. Because with the death of Chai Rong, a superman in Chinese history was about to enter the center of the political scene at that time.

The reason why the Central Plains Dynasty always self-destructed was that the productive forces could not always make effective breakthroughs, so they had to find a balance between land and total population. As for the situation after the nomads entered the Central Plains, history proves that it is clearly true, as long as they enter the Central Plains, they will be quickly sinicized, whether it is the Liao and Jin, which are semi-dominant, or the Yuan and Qing Dynasty completely conquered, the key is that the traditional Chinese thought has raised the imperial power to a too high position, which is too conducive to the needs of the ruling class

Chai Rong was only 39 years old when he died, and his sons were young and had not yet been appointed as a prince, which caused great difficulties for the smooth transition of power.

Chai Rong's first wife's surname is Liu, and she can't know her background, but she was married to him when Chai Rong was at the end of his life. Liu had a very good relationship with Chai Rong, and gave him three sons, but unfortunately in the late Han Dynasty, the hidden emperor Liu Chengyou carried out a purge in the court, and slaughtered Guo Wei and Chai Rong, so that Chai Rong's three sons all died. After that, Chai Rong gave birth to four sons one after another, namely Zongxun, Zongrang, Zongjin, and Zongzhu, but they were all still young, and the eldest Chai Zongxun was not yet seven years old that year.

Before his death, Chai Rong named his eldest son Chai Zongxun as the king of Liang and led General Zuo Xiaowei, making him the first heir to the throne. Therefore, after Chai Rong's death, the ministers naturally kept Chai Zongxun on the throne.

In this matter, there were no accidents, but Chai Zongxun was only six and a half years old at the time, so how to make this little emperor sit on his throne has become a big headache.

Since ancient times, there are no more than three forces that can pose a threat to the imperial power from within, one is the harem, the second is the courtiers, and the third is the army. Regardless of which of these three forces has a problem, it may deal a fatal blow to the imperial power. So let's analyze which force will pose the greatest threat to Chai Zongxun in terms of the situation at that time.

Let's talk about the forces from the harem first, which can include concubines, royal families, relatives, and eunuchs. Chai Rong has loved work all his life, and he doesn't like entertainment, so he doesn't get close to eunuchs, so the eunuch group has no power in the Later Zhou, and it can be eliminated directly. Chai Rong is Guo Wei's adopted son and the only son of the Chai family, he has no brothers, Chai Zongxun has three younger brothers, but he himself is only six and a half years old, what kind of threat can his younger brothers pose to him?

Therefore, the royal family can also not be considered. Chai Rong had three wives in his life, and the first wife, Liu, died early, so I won't mention it. The second wife, Empress Fu, was the daughter of Fu Yanqing, the envoy of the Tianxiong Festival, and also died of illness during Chai Rong's expedition to the Southern Tang Dynasty.

The last wife is the sister of Empress Fu, this little Empress Fu herself has no heirs, so her interests are closely linked to Chai Zongxun, and there is no motive for chaos, so it can also be ruled out, so in this category, only relatives may pose a threat to Chai Zongxun's throne.

Among the relatives, the first is Fu Yanqing, the envoy of the Tianxiong Festival. Fu Yanqing is the son of Li Cunxian, a famous general in the Later Tang Dynasty, and has become famous in the Later Jin Dynasty.

However, Fu Yanqing is relatively low-key and never suffers from disasters, plus the empress dowager is his daughter, and the little emperor Chai Zongxun is even his grandson, so he lacks the motivation to make trouble, so he can not consider it. But in addition to Fu Yanqing, there are two other people who are a great threat to Chai Zongxun's throne, that is, the guards and pro-army are all commanding Li Chongjin and Zhang Yongde in front of the palace, and the threat level of these two people will be discussed later.

Speaking of the second type of force that could pose a threat to the throne, that is, the power from the courtiers, there was no threat at that time. Chai Rong is a very knowledgeable leader, and the management team under him can be said to be the best leadership collective in the entire five generations, all of whom are loyal ministers, capable ministers and cadres.

It is also an object that Chai Zongxun can fully believe in and rely on. However, at that time, there was also a very serious problem in this team, that is, a month before Chai Rong led his troops to the Northern Expedition to the Khitan, Wang Pu, the number one minister of Xuanli under him, died of a sudden cerebral hemorrhage due to overwork, at the age of 45.

The loss caused by Wang Pu's death to Hou Zhou is incalculable, and after his death, Chai Rong died immediately after, so he didn't have time to cultivate a replacement for Wang Pu.

The major affairs of the state are concentrated in the hands of Prime Minister Fan Zhen and Wang Pu, both of whom are also loyal ministers, but their abilities are still very lacking compared with Wang Pu.

As a result, after Chai Rong's death, the center of gravity of the country's power was seriously tilted, and it sharply shifted to the third force that could pose a great threat to the imperial power, that is, the power of the military.

Among the military forces, the two people who can pose the greatest threat to the imperial power are the two people, that is, the guards and the pro-army are all commanding Li Chongjin and the palace are both inspecting Zhang Yongde, of which Li Chongjin is Guo Wei's nephew, and Zhang Yongde is Guo Wei's son-in-law, so these two people have the identity of relatives, and if you talk about blood relationship from Guo Wei, these two people are not far from Chai Rong. In other words, these two people were strong contenders for the throne when Chai Rong ascended the throne. (To be continued.) )