"In addition, Chai Rong chose Zhao Kuangyin to assist the young master for another reason, that is, the political struggle between Zhang Yongde and Li Chongjin."

"Zhang Yongde is Guo Wei's son-in-law, Li Chongjin is Guo Wei's nephew, and Guo Wei is Chai Rong's adoptive father, it can be said that Zhang Yongde and Li Chongjin are half of Chai Rong's family."

"Chai Rong originally trusted the two very much, they were both the top leaders in the army, but Zhang Yongde and Li Chongjin were at odds, and the two often reported each other in front of Chai Rong, which made Chai Rong very unhappy."

In the fifth year of Xiande, Chai Rong led the army to the Northern Expedition, and he got a pocket on the march, which contained a wooden plank, on which was written "Check to be the Son of Heaven", and Zhang Yongde happened to be inspected in front of the palace at that time. ”

"This incident made Chai Rong worried, he was worried that the words on the wooden board would come true, and coincidentally, Chai Rong was seriously ill at this time."

"Chai Rong was very worried that Zhang Yongde would really rebel after his death, so he immediately dismissed Zhang Yongde from the position of inspection in front of the palace after returning to Beijing, and let Zhao Kuangyin replace Zhang Yongde."

"Many people say that this wooden board was written by Zhao Kuangyin, but at that time, Zhao Kuangyin's influence in the army was not as great as Li Chongjin, Zhang Yongde and others, and compared with Zhao Kuangyin, Li Chongjin is more likely to be the mastermind of this matter."

"Of course, no matter who wrote this plank, Zhao Kuangyin picked up a big bargain, after all, if it wasn't for Chai Rong who happened to be critically ill, he might not take this sentence seriously."

"But Chai Rong was sick after all, and a generation of male lords finally died young, he was worried that the young lord would be seized of power, so he chose to promote Zhao Kuangyin, who he trusted, but it was Zhao Kuangyin who finally took away the world of the Chai family."

"Although Chai Rong's reign was only a short six years, during these six years, Chai Rong not only fought for the war, but also was very attentive to the development of the country."

"Politically, Chai Rong rectified the rule of officials, severely punished corrupt officials and corrupt officials, under torture, the official atmosphere of the Later Zhou Dynasty gradually cleared up, however, Chai Rong felt that he used excessive punishment and was too harsh in the later period, and began to gradually relax, and sympathized with the suffering of the people."

"In 954 AD, Chai Rong appointed Fan Zhen and three others as ministers, and despite the opposition of the courtiers, he made an exception to appoint Wei Renpu, who failed in the imperial examination, as a privy envoy."

"In 957 AD, when Chai Rong was formulating the subjects of the imperial examination, he decreed that there was no restriction on qualifications for the scientific examination, and anyone could apply for the examination."

"During Chai Rong's reign, he humbly accepted advice, and he asked his ministers to actively write and do things, and taking people as a mirror was vividly reflected in Chai Rong."

"In 955 A.D., Chai Rong specified in detail the number of years for the return of the fugitive households, urging the fleeing farmers to return to the abandoned fields as soon as possible to cultivate and farm, which greatly promoted the economic development of the rural areas and the use of the fields."

"In 958 AD, Chai Rong canceled the preferential treatment and tax exemption of the Qufu Kong clan, and all taxes were paid according to civilian specificationsAfter the end of the Huainan War, Chai Rong ordered all armies in Huainan to disarm and return to the fields to develop agriculture."

"During Rong's reign, he also built water conservancy, developed the economy and education, and his series of political measures made the national strength of the Later Zhou Dynasty increase day by day, and gradually became the most powerful country at that time!"

"In the second year of Chai Rong's ascension to the throne, he successively conquered Huainan three times, which took three years and occupied most of the Huainan area."

"At the same time, Chai Rong took advantage of the gradual decline of Houshu's power, divided his troops to crusade against Houshu, and lasted half a year to beat Houshu to the south of Xingzhou and did not dare to come out, so that the western defense of Houzhou was more stable."

"In fact, the most important reason why the Northern Song Dynasty was defeated in the battle with the alien races in the north was the loss of the barrier of Youzhou."

"Zhou Shizong was aware of Youzhou's strategic position, so he planned to take Youzhou as his top priority after the Northern Expedition, and it turned out that Chai Rong's decision was correct."

"After careful preparations, Chai Rong knew that the contradictions between the Khitan aristocracy had intensified, so he took this opportunity to dispatch most of the troops of the Central Plains to attack Youzhou, intending to crusade against the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun in one go, solve the last territory of the northern alien races on the border of the Central Plains, and unify the Central Plains."

"In the sixth year of Xiande, Chai Rong once again drove the expedition in person, and took only one day to conquer Ningzhou with the momentum of wind and thunder, and it took twenty-six days to capture two important passes, followed by half a month to capture Mozhou, and half a month to capture Yingzhou."

"In just 40 days, Chai Rong's army has pocketed all the lost land in the Central Plains in Guannan, and the morale of the Northern Expeditionary Army is high."

"However, just as Chai Rong wanted to take advantage of the victory to pursue a further crusade against the Khitans, he suddenly contracted a strange illness and had to lead his army back to the capital, and died shortly after returning to the palace."

"Chai Rong has been fighting and crusading for six years, not only because his country's territory is getting wider and wider, but also because he has deterred all forces, so that they can really see the strength of Hou Zhou!"

"Zhao Kuangyin's almost unification of the Central Plains was completed on the basis of the world laid by Chai Rong, and Chai Rong can be said to have made great contributions."

"Reigned for six years, the southern conquest and the northern war, the expansion of territory, the art of conquest is excellent, at the same time, for the national politics is also handy, determined to change, strengthen the development of economic education, everything he does is in line with the requirements of the Ming monarch, his merits can be described in this way, if it is not for the jealousy of the talent, died young, maybe there will be no later Song Dynasty."

"Chai Rong is not as famous in history as the Tang Dynasty and Song Zu, but in that era of division and chaos, such a monarch who integrates civil governance and martial arts can really be regarded as the chosen son."

"It is not an exaggeration to say that he is a generation of heroes!"

Li Shimin: I agree, this is indeed worthy of the praise of a generation of heroes, I can only say that I can do this step in the troubled times, as Miss Zhang said, if it is not for the untimely death, this Great Song Dynasty may not be able to appear.

Zhu Yuanzhang: If Chai Rong can live for a few more years, I'm afraid that the Liao, Jin, and Yuan dynasties will not be able to settle in the Central Plains at all! It's really hard to say whose work is this almost unification of the world!

Zhu Di: It can be said that although Zhou Shizong Chai Rong failed to realize his wish to be the king for 30 years and sweep the world, his 5 and a half years of cultural and martial arts have determined that he will become a decisive figure in ending the more than 200 years of secession and turmoil since the Tang Dynasty.

If it weren't for the disagreement between you and Chai Rong, then the Liao Kingdom would not be a big trouble for you, do you admit it?

Zhao Kuangyin: My mistake, if I could have chosen the same route as Chai Rong at that time, I would not have attacked the Southern Tang Dynasty first, so that the Khitan could recuperate, and in the end, the Liao State would have become a major problem for the Great Song Dynasty.

"It can be said that under the complicated situation of the Central Plains at that time, the Northern Song Dynasty completed the unification in only 20 years, which is of course inseparable from Zhao Kuangyin's wise decision, but more importantly, the Later Zhou regime he took over was strong, and the unification was unstoppable."