Meng Chang said with a sad face when he heard this: "My father and son have devoted themselves to raising soldiers for forty years, but now, who can swing a knife and an arrow for me?" I just want to stick to it, but who can work for me? Meng Chang's words are pitiful, but in fact, the combat effectiveness of the Shu army is so weak, who can blame it?

However, since ancient times, there is a difference between monarchs and ministers, and no one dares to refute him, and after a long time, Prime Minister Li Hao said: "Things have deteriorated to such a point, there is no point in resisting, it is better to seal the treasury and ask the Song army to surrender, maybe it can still be rich and noble." ”

So far, Meng Chang has nothing to do, so he had to follow Li Hao's suggestion, seal the treasury, and order Li Hao to draft a surrender table, and officially ask the Song army to surrender.

I also want to say here that Li Hao is an old minister of the former dynasty, when Zhuangzong invaded Shu, it was Li Hao who lowered the table for the former Shu repair, and this time the Song army attacked Shu, and it was written by Li Hao, so some people had a lot of troubles, and secretly ran to Li Hao's door at night to say a line of words - Shixiu surrendered to the Li family, and humiliated him fiercely.

Later Shu was officially destroyed, and then the lord of Shu Meng Chang was moved to Bianliang by Zhao Kuangyin's family, and was named by Zhao Kuangyin as the prosecutor and the secretary of the order, Qin Guogong, and Meng Chang's mother Empress Dowager Li respected as the "mother of the country", and said to her: "The mother of the country lives with peace of mind, if you are not used to living here, I will send you back to your hometown to live." ”

Empress Dowager Li asked, "Where is the emperor going to send me?" Zhao Kuangyin said: "Naturally, it is Shudi." Empress Dowager Li said: "The concubine is from Taiyuan, if there is a chance to return to Taiyuan in this life, her wish will be enough." Zhao Kuangyin laughed when he heard this: "When I destroy the Northern Han Dynasty, I will send the mother of the country back." ”

However, Meng Chang only lived in Bianliang for seven days before he died of illness. Zhao Kuangyin was still very sad when he heard the news. Specially for this purpose, he dropped out of the dynasty for five days, and gave a book order. Posthumously crowned the king of Chu, which can be regarded as giving Meng Chang a very high treatment.

But Empress Dowager Li was not sad. just said drunkly: "You refuse to be martyred, just for greed, I don't want to die, just for you." Since you are dead, what am I still alive for? He then went on a hunger strike for several days and died.

Regarding Meng Chang's death, there is another theory circulating in the society, that is, when Meng Chang entered Beijing to meet Zhao Kuangyin, he brought Mrs. Hua Rui Fei with him.

And this Fei's beauty deeply attracted Zhao Kuangyin, making him carried away by lust. Then the color started from the heart, and the evil was born to the side of the gall, and finally sent someone to poison Meng Chang to death, and then snatched love with a knife, and connected the Fei family into the palace and made him a concubine. At first, Fei was still aggrieved, but he couldn't bear Zhao Kuangyin's favor every night, and he missed Meng Chang, so he finally committed suicide.

This statement is mostly found in notebook novels. There is no record in the official history, so I listen to it in vain. Zhao Kuangyin himself is not a lustful person, but as the most dazzling political star at that time, it is normal for some scandals to occur. Let's talk about the social environment at that time. Even if this kind of thing is true, it is not surprising, and it will not affect the course of history.

Zhao Kuangyin sent an army to the west this time, from sending troops to Meng Chang's surrender. It only took 66 days, which was extremely smooth. This is obviously inseparable from Zhao Kuangyin's correct leadership. However, Zhao Kuangyin also made mistakes in the pre-war arrangement.

Before the Song army set out on the expedition. Zhao Kuangyin specially summoned Wang Quanbin and other major generals and said to them: "In this western expedition, all the captured grain, grass and weapons belong to the army, and all the gold and silver treasures are given to the soldiers, and I only need land." ”

Zhao Kuangyin's original intention in saying this must have been to boost the morale of the three armed forces, but when you taste these words carefully, they also have the meaning of encouraging the soldiers to rob them.

Therefore, after the Song army destroyed Shu, Wang Quanbin and other senior generals gathered together all day long to eat and drink, and indulged the soldiers to rob everywhere.

And the soldiers also knew that the higher authorities had given a good policy, robbing more and getting more, and all of them belonged to themselves, so the enthusiasm for robbery was also greatly improved, and it didn't take long to make the entire Shu country into a miasma, and finally caused a riot.

The Shu army gathered to rebel, and pushed the old general of Shu as the leader, and gathered more than 100,000 people in a short period of time, known as the "rejuvenating army", and the momentum was extremely huge. It took more than a year for the Song army to suppress the riot.

This incident should not have happened, but it turned out to cause so much trouble. When it comes to accountability afterwards, because Wang Quanbin and others are all people who have made great contributions in the process of cutting down Shu, it is not good to be too responsible. In the end, I had to let them offset each other's merits, but it was over, it should be said that Zhao Kuangyin was very angry.

However, although this mutiny is a thousand and should not be, it is not completely useless for Zhao Kuangyin, because it is through this mutiny that Zhao Kuangyin re-realized the importance of a general, he was a generation of Confucian generals who enjoyed a high reputation in the early years of the Northern Song Dynasty and finally got the honor - Cao Bin.

In the history of more than 300 years in the Song Dynasty, a large number of outstanding generals with outstanding talents have emerged, such as Yang Ye, Di Qing, Chong Shiheng, Yue Fei, Han Shizhong and so on. These people, who have made outstanding military achievements or are in charge of their own affairs, have become the shining points of history at different times, and at the same time have made their names remembered by future generations.

Compared with these people, Cao Bin seems to be unfamous, unsuccessful, and does not seem to be in a heavyweight. But in fact, there was a Song Dynasty, whether it was the emperor or the scholars, all of them respected Cao Bin, and it can be said that he was the embodiment of the perfect general.

Cao Bin, the word Guohua, Zhending Lingshou (now Lingshou, Hebei), was born in a military general's family in the second year of Changxing in the Later Tang Dynasty (931), and officially became a tooth general in the Chengde Army during the Qianyou period of the Later Han Dynasty, and began his long military career.

Cao Bin's uncle Zhang, after losing her husband, married Guo Wei, who was still the privy envoy of the Later Han Dynasty at that time, and later Guo Wei was called the emperor and named Zhang as a concubine.

The cabinet envoy is responsible for the official position of preaching praise and correcting bullet failures during court meetings, which is not very powerful, but because the place of work is next to the emperor, the importance is still self-evident. However, Cao Bin was not complacent because he was both a relative of the country and a poor leader, he was always modest and cautious, not arrogant or rash, and with his down-to-earth and hard-working work style, he was deeply praised by the leaders of the later Zhou Guowei and Chai Rong.

A few years later, Zhao Kuangyin launched the Chenqiao Mutiny. He ascended the throne as emperor and established the Northern Song Dynasty. This made Cao Bin, who was a relative of the Later Zhou Dynasty, in a very embarrassing situation.

But Cao Bin still maintained a very stable mentality, never complaining, spitting sour water, or saying strange things. is not complaining, or suspicious, still conscientious and down-to-earth work, and thus won the trust of Zhao Kuangyin and the praise of the Manchu civil and military officials.

In the first few years of the founding of the Northern Song Dynasty, Cao Bin's status was not prominent, and when the Song army invaded Shu, Cao Bin was only the capital supervisor of the Eastern Route Army. However, after the destruction of Shu, several high-ranking generals of the Song army gathered in Chengdu to become corrupt and degenerate, and indulged the soldiers to do evil outside. Cao Bin repeatedly admonished. These generals refused to listen, and finally there was a big mess.

After the chaos subsided, Zhao Kuangyin began to investigate the responsibility, and found out that several generals in Shu had embezzled a total of more than 640,000 yuan, not including unregistered property, which was simply rotten to the bones. Only Cao Bin refused to be corrupt and never touched, clean and spotless, and Zhao Kuangyin couldn't help but look at him differently.

After that, Cao Bin became Zhao Kuangyin's most relied on general. The destruction of the Southern Tang Dynasty was to take Cao Bin as the main commander, and also saved Jiangnan from being destroyed. After Zhao Kuangyin's death, Cao Bin served as Zhao Guangyi's privy envoy for eight years, and Zhenzong succeeded him. Cao Bin was also appointed as a privy envoy. In the second year of Xianping (999), Cao Bin was seriously ill, and Zhenzong personally visited him at home. and gave ten thousand taels of silver on the spot. In June of that year, Cao Bin died of illness. Zhenzong once again went to his house to offer his condolences and cried very sadly. After that, every time Cao Bin was mentioned to the ministers, Zhenzong couldn't help but cry.

After Cao Bin's death, he was given a Shangshu order, posthumously crowned the king of Jiyang County, and received the highest honor that a courtier could get in ancient times, and enjoyed the Taizu temple court with Zhao Pu. It is quite surprising that Cao Bin can get the honor he deserves.

Judging from the selection of the people to enjoy, it is obviously a text and a martial art, and his Chinese minister Zhao Pu, since he became acquainted with Zhao Kuangyin, has always been Zhao Kuangyin's most important adviser, from the Chen Qiao mutiny, to the snow night decision, the release of military power with a glass of wine, and even the later Northern Expedition Khitan and Jinkui Alliance, he has not been able to leave his figure, so he can get the matching is worthy of it.

But Cao Bin was a relative of Hou Zhou at the earliest, not Zhao Kuangyin's confidant, and he did not participate in the Chen Qiao Mutiny, so he was not old enough in terms of qualifications. The conquest of the Southern Tang Dynasty is indeed a great credit to Cao Bin, but other than that, it seems that there is nothing to show off.

In the third year of Yongxi (986), Zhao Guangyi's troops invaded Liao in three ways, and it was precisely because the main force led by Cao Bin was defeated by the Liao general Yelu Xiuge at Qigou Pass (now Laishuidong, Hebei) that the Northern Expedition, which Zhao Guangyi had high hopes for, completely failed. It can be seen that Cao Bin's military exploits cannot be called prominent, and his military ability is not necessarily outstanding, so what is the reason why Cao Bin deserves to enjoy this supreme glory? There is a reason for this.

In the following anniversary, Zhao Kuangyin, who was an important figure in the forbidden army, had extensive contacts in order to cultivate his own power, and Cao Bin also became the object of his friendship. However, Cao Bin is very low-key, does not interact with anyone except on official business, and turns a blind eye to Zhao Kuangyin's wooing.

Zhao Kuangyin deliberately asked him for imperial wine in order to have a relationship with him, Cao Bin was also very embarrassed, if he gave the wine to Zhao Kuangyin, he would inevitably make a mistake, if he didn't give it to him, he would definitely offend people. Cao Bin didn't want to make mistakes, and he didn't want to offend a celebrity like Zhao Kuangyin, so after thinking about it, he first rejected Zhao Kuangyin's request, and then paid out of his own pocket to buy good wine on the street and send it to him.

This matter is not big, but it left a deep impression on Zhao Kuangyin, so after he became emperor, he once said to the ministers: "The old officials of Sejong, those who do not deceive their masters, are the only ones." It can be seen that the evaluation is high.

Cao Bin also knows the truth of self-preservation very well. Before the Southern Tang Dynasty, Zhao Kuangyin said to Cao Bin: "When the Southern Tang Dynasty is defeated, you will be appointed as the prime minister." But after the Southern Tang Dynasty was pacified, Zhao Kuangyin repented again, and excused himself: "Taiyuan has not been pacified, and you will be the prime minister when Taiyuan is defeated." Then he rewarded Cao Bin with 200,000 yuan as compensation.

If this kind of thing is put on others, it will definitely be quite dissatisfied with Zhao Kuangyin. But after Cao Bin went down to court, he said to people: "What's the good of being the prime minister?" Isn't it just about money? The greatest reward for me is the money that the Lord has given me. In fact, Cao Bin doesn't love money in his life, he said this just to solve Zhao Kuangyin's doubts.

Cao Bin also knows how to be introverted. After Cao Bin cut down Shu, he began to rise to prominence, and gradually became the head of the generals of the Northern Song Dynasty, and served as a privy envoy for many years, which can be described as a high power, but during Cao Bin's tenure, he never went against the emperor's wishes, nor did he talk about the shortcomings of people behind his back, he was modest and polite to people, never lost his temper with his subordinates, nor called them by name, and was very considerate of them.

On one occasion, one of Cao Bin's subordinates made a mistake and should be punished with a cane, but Cao Bin did not order the execution until a year later.

When asked why, he explained: "This man has just gotten married, and if he beats him, his family will think that the new daughter-in-law has brought him bad luck, and they will inevitably reprimand him, and how can the new daughter-in-law live in this house?" Therefore, the execution had to be postponed. "Cao Bin, the head of the country, can think about the problem so carefully, can his subordinates not be grateful to him?

Cao Bin is modest and polite, he never wears civilian clothes to meet guests, and if he goes out for something, he must also tell his family not to make a big show. If he encounters the honor guard of Dr. Wenchen on the road, regardless of the size of the other party's official position, he must avoid it first.

Cao Bin is also very tolerant, after the defeat of the Yongxi Northern Expedition, Zhao Changyan wrote to these defeated generals to impose military law, and Cao Bin was also demoted to the general of the right Xiaowei.

But only a year later, Cao Bin was reinstated as the envoy of the Shizhong and Wuning military festivals, while Zhao Changyan was impeached and demoted from the deputy envoy of the privy council to the marching Sima of the Chongxin army, and was directly driven out of the capital, without even having the opportunity to meet him. It was Cao Bin who ignored his previous suspicions and wrote a letter to intercede for Zhao Changyan, so that Zhao Changyan was able to enter Beijing to face the saint.

It can be seen that Cao Bin has too many advantages, which also makes him deeply trusted by the emperor, admired by hundreds of officials and loved by soldiers throughout his life.

However, despite this, it seems that it is not a necessary condition for Cao Bin to enjoy the Taizu Temple, because to enjoy this special gift, the first thing required is the merit of the courtiers, and the second is the character, and Cao Bin is obviously deficient in this regard, so what is the real reason why Cao Bin won this honor?

In fact, the reason why this article devotes such a large amount of space to introducing Cao Bin is not to set up a biography for him, but to illustrate the standards for judging military generals in the Song Dynasty. The Song Dynasty's requirements for military generals are very special, it does not require military generals to have strong military talents, but first depends on whether they are loyal or not? Listen or disobedient?

Is it good to manage? In these aspects, Cao Bin fully met the requirements, coupled with his benevolence, honesty, humility, generosity and many other good qualities, making him almost a model general tailored for the Song Dynasty, and it is no wonder that he was so highly regarded.

The Song Dynasty's defense of military generals was one of the strictest in Chinese history, which was also one of its major drawbacks. It was for this reason that the Song Dynasty became one of the most vulnerable dynasties in Chinese history to the surrounding peoples, and ultimately led to its demise.

However, at the beginning of the founding of the Northern Song Dynasty, this problem was not very serious, everything was still in Zhao Kuangyin's control, just a few years after Houshu was conquered by him, the same fate inevitably befell the Southern Han in Lingnan. (To be continued.) )