In the history of the Song Dynasty, there is only one sentence about Zhao Kuangyin's death: "On the evening of Guichou, the emperor died in the Wansui Hall. At the age of fifty", that is, on the night of October 20, 976, His Majesty the Emperor died in the Wansui Hall in the palace. He was 50 years old at the time.

It's so simple, there's only the result, no passing, and no reason!

Of course, there are many other documents that record what happened that night on October 20, 1976. There are the personal notes of Sima Guang, a master of history, "The Record of the Wind Shui Jiwen", "The Record of Xiangshanye" written by a monk named Wenying at that time, "The Record of the Ears of the Southern Song Dynasty", "The Record of the Ears of the Southern Song Dynasty", "The Record of the Zizhi Tongjian Changbian", and "The Record of the Historian of the Southern Song Dynasty". There is even "History of Liao", and even the Khitans have their own opinions on Zhao Kuangyin's death.

"History of the Song Dynasty" is one of the 24 official histories. It is naturally recognized as the most official, orthodox and authoritative research material for Song history. But unfortunately, this is written by the Mongols. 319 years of history and countless historical materials have completed a 496-volume masterpiece in just two and a half years. Can this talk about the rigor and verification of history?

Sima Guang, this man's masterpiece "Zizhi Tongjian" is indeed superior to the world and is rare. However, he only wrote that he had completely stopped it in the sixth year of Xiande in the Later Zhou Dynasty, that he did not mention this book of the history of the Song Dynasty, and he was very proud of himself. Moreover, his "Yu Shui Jiwen" had long been identified by the historical community as "historical books in the novel world and novels in the historical community" and was popular, and there was no mention of acceptance.

Li Tao's "Continued Zizhi Tongjian Changbian". The Song people flew south, and the country was destroyed and their families were destroyed. Countless contemporary histories were lost under the war of iron hoofs of alien races. He was able to reorganize the entire Northern Song Dynasty historical materials with his own personal power, and indefinitely detailed. The 168-year history has written as many as 1,062 volumes. The length is longer than the most detailed and detailed diary-style historical materials such as "Ming Shilu" and "Qing Shilu", which is infinitely admired. But it is credible...

"History of Liao" is very wonderful, and it is not allowed to be defeated. In "History of Liao", we rarely see the Khitans failing, and they will win forever and win again... until they are completely destroyed and disappear. However, "History of Liao" also has one advantage. It is straightforward when talking about the rise and fall of other countries and hit the nail on the head. Especially for its neighboring country, the Song Dynasty...

Xu Dazhuo's "Remembrance of the Ears" is purely a private notes of the Song people. The things recorded in this book are very erotic and classic - Zhao Kuangyin was sick, and his favorite concubine, Mrs. Huarui, was waiting in front of the bed in a coma. His dearest brother Zhao Guangyi came to visit the patient. The beauty was touching, and Guangyi was in control for a while and wanted to do something wrong. Huarui struggled, and woke Emperor Taizu up. So he was furious, so Zhao Guangyi killed someone... Do you need to analyze anything more? Change Zhao Guangyi to Yang Guang, and Taizu became Yang Jian, and everything was right.

Monk Wen Ying's "Suan Xiangshanye Record" is the original source of the story of "Axe Sound and Candle Shadow": Zhao Kuangyin was still a commoner and met a Taoist priest in Guanhe. The Taoist priest had accurately predicted the date of the Chenqiao mutiny of Zhao Kuangyin and the yellow robe, so Zhao Kuangyin was very superstitious about him. However, after Zhao Kuangyin became emperor, the person disappeared. It was not until 976 that he suddenly appeared again. Zhao Kuangyin was overjoyed and asked him directly, "I have been asking you something, how long can I live?" The Taoist priest replied.

On the night of October 20, 2019, if the weather is sunny, you can live for another 12 years. If it is cloudy, you should deal with it quickly." Zhao Kuangyin kept these words in mind. On that night, he climbed to Taiqing Pavilion in the palace alone. The moon was bright. He was a little happy just now, but unexpectedly, the haze suddenly rose and the sky and the earth changed sharply. In a moment, heavy snow and hail fell from the sky... Zhao Kuangyin was shocked and urgently summoned his younger brother Zhao Guangyi. Two people entered the palace, repelled all the eunuchs, palace maids and guards, and began to drink.

The people guarding outside could only see the shadows of the window lattice from afar. Zhao Guangyi stood up from time to time and retreated, as if he was rushing to avoid something. However, he couldn't hear or see clearly. By the time they finished drinking, it was already three o'clock. The snow outside the hall was several inches thick. The Zhao brothers walked out. Everyone saw Zhao Kuangyin poked the snow with a pillar axe and said to Zhao Guangyi, "It's easy to do! It's easy to do." After the emperor returned to the hall alone to untied his clothes and sleep, breathing like thunder. At the fifth o'clock, it was almost dawn, and the guards outside the hall could no longer hear any sound. Song Taizu had died in his sleep. That night, Zhao Guangyi was always in the palace. He immediately ascended the throne in front of his brother's coffin and became the second emperor of the Song Dynasty.

Let’s refer to Master Sima Guang’s "The Legend of the Condor Heroes". Unfortunately, Mr. Sima’s masterpiece begins with “Gui Chou, the Shang Cang collapsed in the Wansui Hall”. It only describes what happened after Zhao Kuangyin’s death, and will never involve any secrets about the death of Taizu.

There is a fundamental difference between the stories told by Mr. Sima and Monk Wenying. Wenying said that on the night when Song Taizu died, Zhao Guangyi was in the palace and drank with his brother at the same table. Sima Guang said that Zhao Guangyi was not in the palace that night and stayed in his palace honestly. Until... a eunuch named Wang Jien came to him.

That night after Zhao Kuangyin's death, his queen Song ordered the eunuch Wang Ji'en to leave the palace and summon the Guizhou defense envoy Zhao Defang into the palace. Obviously, this was summoning him to ascend the throne in Lingqian. But it is said that the eunuch named Wang thought about it and remembered that Zhao Kuangyin had been alive for so many years, and he advocated that Zhao Guangyi would take over. So he took his own initiative and put Zhao Defang aside and went directly to the Jin Palace to summon Zhao Guangyi.

According to Master Sima, all of this was the self-decision of the eunuch Wang Jien. Zhao Guangyi was cheated like Zhao Kuangyin on the night of Chenqiao back then... without responsibility...

Wang Jien came to the palace of King Jin, but suddenly found someone in front of the palace. When he saw it, it was Cheng Dexuan. Wang Jien immediately asked you what you were doing here? Cheng replied, "I was sleeping in Xinlingfang, and suddenly I heard someone calling me outside, saying that it was King Jin summoned me. When I went out to see it, there was no one. When I went to bed, I shouted again. So I was scared and wondered if King Jin was sick, so I came to see it." Cheng Dexuan was good at doctors and was well versed in medicine. Wang Jien stopped talking anymore and directly asked for a visit. It was late at night, and Zhao Guangyi immediately met. He heard that his brother was dead and asked him to enter the palace to ascend the throne immediately. He was "shocked and hesitant." At this time, Wang Jien became anxious and shouted, "If you delay any more, you will give it to others in vain." Zhao Guangyi came out immediately. It was heavy snowfall at that time, and he and Wang Jien, Cheng Dexuan and his three men walked into the palace on foot. After entering, Wang Jien thought that Zhao Guangyi would "please wait for the King of Jin. I, Wang Jien, went in and inform you." In the heavy snow, Zhao Guangyi didn't say anything. Cheng Dexuan said 8 words, "You should go straight forward, why wait for it?" So the three people went directly to the Wansui Palace. Empress Song, who was guarding the emperor's body in the hall, heard that Wang Jien came back, "Defang came." Unexpectedly, Wang Jien's answer was "The King of Jin has arrived." Empress Song's reaction was "shocked". After she immediately said, "My mother and son's fate is entrusted to the official family." The official family is a special name for the emperor by the Song people. In other words, after seeing Zhao Guangyi, Empress Song immediately changed her words to call him the emperor, and begged for mercy clearly and handed over the lives of her and all the descendants of Zhao Kuangyin.

At this time, Zhao Guangyi's reaction was very compatible with his usual "benevolence". He cried and said, "Please protect wealth and honor together, don't worry." Then he ascended the throne in front of his brother's coffin and became the second emperor of the Song Dynasty.

The above is the description of Sima Guang's version of "Zhao Guangyi's attainment". In the master's writing, there is no trace of "the sound of axe and candle shadows". The reason why Zhao Guangyi was able to take over the throne before his nephew Zhao Defang was entirely due to the self-righteous act of eunuch Wang Ji'en and the proactive courtesy of Queen Song. Even walking into the Wansui Hall where his brother's body was parked was due to Cheng Dexuan's forced. From beginning to end, he did not take the initiative, let alone talk about any wrongdoing.

When people analyze the sound of axes and candles, they always think of why Zhao Guangyi left the seat from time to time to hide under the candlelight? It seemed that he was refusing something, that is, what was his brother forcing him? After contacting the later drinks, Zhao Kuangyin sent him out of the hall, and publicly said to him in the heavy snow, "It's easy to do! It's easy to do" that he could only come to a conclusion, that is, Zhao Kuangyin asked Zhao Guangyi to be the emperor, but he refused, but his brother forced him more than once. Even until the two separated, Zhao Kuangyin continued to force "It's good to do! It's just that he was repeatedly instructing his younger brother to take over the important task of governing the empire.

Of course, "easy to do" can also be interpreted as "the good thing you did" and directly reminded that Zhao Guangyi poisoned his brother at the dinner table. After that, he repeatedly avoided his brother because Zhao Kuangyin had already discovered something was wrong and wanted to get rid of Zhao Guangyi by himself. As the candlelight was shaken, people outside could not see clearly whether Zhao Guangyi was hiding or Zhao Kuangyin was staggering forward? But how to explain what happened later? At least Zhao Kuangyin had come to the hall after the wine party, poked the snow with an axe, and said "easy to do". At that time, could he order Zhao Guangyi to be taken down immediately?

If Zhao Guangyi did kill his brother that night, then Zhao Guangyi would definitely ask: How did I kill him? Can you give me a trick first? There are two tricks: 1 axe and 2 poisonous wine.

Let’s talk about the axe first. Of course, what Zhao Kuangyin often holds is not a tomahawk for killing people on the battlefield. It is a very popular "Yuzhu Axe" that was played with stationery supplies in his hands. Some people say it is a handicraft or a toy, and it cannot be killed at all. But there are also questions: 1 If you cannot kill people, how can you knock off other people’s front teeth casually? Is it because Zhao Kuangyin is born with magical martial arts and his techniques are unique? Or are the front teeth of those ministers particularly fragile? Things that can knock off other people’s front teeth should be enough to kill someone. 2 The jade pillar axe is very small and can only be played with in his hands? Then how did Zhao Kuangyin stand in the snow and poke the snow with an axe? Could it be that Zhao Kuangyin also had both hands over his knees?

If Zhao Kuangyin was killed by his younger brother with an axe, the body would have been blurred and bloody and clear. This may also explain why Queen Song begged for mercy immediately when she saw Zhao Guangyi's face - she understood that if she did not immediately express her support, she would die even worse than Zhao Kuangyin.

But this can only be a pure assumption. Thousands of years later, Zhao Kuangyin's corpse in Yongchang Tomb had turned into ashes. Can it be clear that he was injured by what weapon?

Let’s look at poisonous wine. Combined with Zhao Guangyi’s performance in his past and future lives (Meng Chang, Li Yu, and Qian Chu’s death method) it would be strange if he didn’t prescribe medicine to his brother. Moreover, there are countless clues to this in the stories of Wen Ying and Sima Guang.

"Suxi Xiangshanye Records" mentions that after Zhao Kuangyin sent Zhao Guangyi away, he returned to the hall to remove his belt and went to bed. After that, his nose was like thunder, and the color of the body was "the jade color was as bright as Tang Mu" and his voice abnormality was not all manifestations of poisoning?

"The Legend of the Condor Heroes" Even if Mr. Sima Guang "has been a venerable person and hides him for the wise", he also revealed an extremely important clue of "poison".

The key is Cheng Dexuan, who was guarding outside the King of Jin's mansion in advance. Cheng, who was sleeping well, someone outside the door asked him to see King of Jin, but no one got up, but he still shouted. He was panicked until he took the initiative to run outside the master's house gate in a snowy day, waiting for King of Jin to get sick and he could go in to treat... Mr. Sima, you treat everyone as a pig's head, right? In fact, this little official in Kaifeng Prefecture has special skills that are beyond the reach of others. He is well versed in medicine and therefore becomes Zhao Guangyi's confidant. Combined with his specific performance that night, it can be completely confirmed that the sudden appearance of this person was by no means accidental - everything was planned.

Just imagine, if a minor official did not prepare in advance, how dare he say such tough and even fierce words in the palace - "You should go straight forward, why not wait for it?" This is completely something that only the conspirators, or even the responsible person, would say.

"History of the Song Dynasty: Biography of Ma Shao" also records such an incident: Ma Shao, who is familiar with astronomy and divination, was good friends with Cheng Dexuan, but at that time, the Song Dynasty strictly prohibited "private astronomy" so Cheng Dexuan generally did not walk with him, let alone let him approach Kaifeng Prefecture. But in the middle of October 19, Ma Shao suddenly came to find Cheng Dexuan. "Tomorrow is the great time for the King of Jin, I will tell you." Cheng Dexuan reacted that he was "I am afraid of being shocked." He hid Ma Shao in a secret room and hurriedly reported to Zhao Guangyi. Zhao Guangyi asked Cheng Dexuan to watch Ma Shao and said that he would report to the emperor's brother tomorrow in order to resolve his own explanation. But the next day, Zhao Guangyi was admitted to the throne by Zhao Kuangyin's will. It was really a "good time", so Ma Shao was released and appointed as the chief clerk of the Sitian Supervisory.

Is the matter not relevant? Can this conclusion be inferred: Before the night of the incident, the Jin royal family had some premeditated Zhao Kuangyin's death. Like Cheng Dexuan, when he heard Ma Shao's "prophecy", he immediately thought that the rebellion had been leaked. All he could do was lock Ma Shao up first and then report to Zhao Guangyi immediately. Zhao Guangyi was even more panicked, and even thought of the thief calling for catching the thief and reporting Ma Shao to his brother in order to make his innocence.

Next we will investigate Zhao Guangyi's motive for the crime. Let's move forward. Zhao Kuangyin was completely suppressed by his younger brother's five words "being virtuous but not being dangerous" in Luoyang. What did he do after returning to Kaifeng? Historical records show that in July 976, Zhao Kuangyin "three lucky Guangmei Mansions"

This is extremely abnormal. In ancient times, the emperor would not go to a certain minister's house casually. It represented the great honor of "the noble family is generous, and the favor of Gao Houlong". Don't think that Zhao Kuangyin would go to Zhao Pu's house to eat meat and drink wine casually, and think this is very common. In fact, Zhao Kuangyin's number of visits to Zhao Guangyi's house can be counted with one finger - "Wang Xingren and Xiao, Yin Jing's fifteenth year, was in charge of common affairs. The emperor was lucky enough to his house, and his kindness was very generous."

In the past 15 years, Zhao Kuangyin only "lucky for his mansion". However, in one month, he went to his fourth brother Zhao Guangmei's house three times. This is an extremely sensitive political symbol - Emperor Zhao Kuangyin of the Song Dynasty has actively and obviously shown goodwill to his fourth brother.

Could it be that Zhao Kuangyin returned from sacrifice to his father and suddenly felt that his elder brother was like his father, and he wanted to give his fourth brother a deep and passionate fatherly love to his fourth brother who had lacked fatherly love since childhood? The joke was a little too big. Anyone with a little political mind would immediately understand that this was Zhao Kuangyin focusing on cultivating his fourth brother and allowing him to appear on the political stage. There was only one role, which was to restrain King Zhao Guangyi of Jin.

Thinking about the dispute between Zhao Pu and Zhao Guangyi back then, I broke the political balance, drove Zhao Pu away, and let Zhao Guangyi dominate it. Until later, he dared to challenge me and demolish my position. Then let Guangmei become the second Guangyi? What? Guangmei has no contribution? Then what is Guangyi's contribution? Guangmei has no foundation? I will focus on cultivating it, and I will be more attentive than when I was cultivating Guangyi. How can things not be successful? Once successful, Guangyi is decentralized, and I will be honest and at ease from now on. After all, Guangmei's foundation is still shallow, and I will absorb it.

The lesson that made Guangyi Ou big at the beginning, grasp the right measure. If things can develop according to this idea, how wonderful it would be... Dividing Guangyi's authority is equivalent to removing his ambitions. He and Guangmei have no unreasonable thoughts from then on, and they are my good brothers. In addition, I sent Dezhao to welcome Qian Chu and Defang to host the wedding banquet before, and my sons would also go to the front desk smoothly. So, the clouds of the day would spread out... What's more, I did another thing to make the plan work smoothly.

When he went to the Northern Han Dynasty, I believe many people were wondering why Zhao Kuangyin was so anxious? According to the past rules, every time he destroyed a separatist power, he would spend 2-3 years to digest it, resolve local conflicts, and completely transform that land into the Song Dynasty. Then why did Zhao Kuangyin decide to send troops to the Northern Han Dynasty only half a year after pacifying a superpower like the Southern Tang Dynasty?

Perhaps the following factor is what he attaches most importance to in many considerations: he must use another big victory to continue to enhance his prestige and reach a glorious peak that is beyond the reach of a time, and then no matter what he does, he can suppress the entire officialdom. For example, if he abolishes the King of Jin or simply kills Zhao Guangyi.

Even if it is not so violent, through this war, the entire officialdom can be mobilized to serve himself, and the officialdom power cultivated by Zhao Guangyi as Kaifeng Yin for many years has been reduced to the lowest point... Looking at everything, we can draw a conclusion that Zhao Kuangyin is still considering the overall situation and thinking about how to make a smooth transition and achieve the goal of weakening Zhao Guangyi.

So from Zhao Guangyi's standpoint, if the Northern Expedition was successful and the world was unified, the emperor's brother's achievements would be chasing the Tiankhan Li Shimin. At that time, no matter how much kindness he had ever given, and if he had made friends with him, no one would have accompanied him to do this. What's more, the fourth brother Guangmei would immediately emerge in the officialdom. With the emperor's deliberate cultivation, it would be too easy... The most deadly thing was Dezhao and Defang. At the age of 26 and 18, they were both adults, especially Dezhao, who had been born even the emperor's grandson. Since the emperor had begun to push them to the front, there was no possibility of suddenly stopping.

Then you can only take a risk! Otherwise, the only thing waiting for you is euthanasia! What is the so-called dangerous move? History has proved that Zhao Kuangyin suddenly died when his career was at its peak of glory. Is this really a coincidence? Or, as some modern scholars say, Zhao Kuangyin had a problem with his family's genes, and he added his own good wine, causing stroke, myocardial infarction and other sudden diseases? It's a joke. I'll ask if you have a problem with Zhao Kuangyin's genes after a thousand years? Can you find the Zhao family again? Or is it because the descendants of the big bitch are crazy or stupid, some set fire to the palace after going crazy, and some suddenly become a genius? Or Dezhao, Defang's early death is here to make a judgment? Hell! What does that have to do with Zhao Kuangyin?

Perhaps the only loophole in Zhao Kuangyin's plan was that he never thought that his "kind, kind and sincere, kind and respectful brother" would suddenly kill him. He would stop his plan from being realized by ending his life!

In fact, even if everything is exactly as Master Sima said, it is impossible to justify itself in the most critical place - the person Empress Song was going to call him at that time was Zhao Defang, no matter what, it was not Defang's third uncle!

Of course, Zhao Guangyi can say that I was forced, Wang Ji'en and Cheng Dexuan, two traitors, were forced by him, just like his brother was involuntarily in the Chenqiao mutiny, but do you want whatever others gave you? You lie in the coffin you gave you? So you should not pretend to be a bitch! The robber is just a robber, not to be embarrassed at all. After all, it is also a very complex and difficult labor effort, not everyone can do it. What's more, in this world, the only one who can steal and rob without any psychological guilt is - Emperor

Position! There is a living example in front of you: Zhao Kuangyin. When he grabbed the throne from the 8-year-old Chai Zongxun, was everyone convinced? It is not necessarily true? If he was not a heroic talent and brought unity and stability to our nation, what would we regard him as? So even if Zhao Guangyi killed his brother and seized the throne, he could not be considered as a shame. Moreover, the matter of his killing of his brother cannot be determined. Compared with Li Shimin's public killing of his elder brother and third brother in broad daylight, and Tian Khan can always enjoy his reputation, why can't Zhao Guangyi be forgiven?

Because of the little difference here, Li Shimin did not kill his elder brother and third brother, not only would he not be able to obtain the throne, but he would not even be able to save his life. However, Zhao Guangyi did not have this crisis.

History records that Zhao Guangyi's family is very high and has no water source. His brother sent craftsmen to work on a large wheel to "stimulate gold and water in the first place" and "see several times to help him fight." Zhao Guangyi got drunk in the palace and could not ride a horse. His brother personally helped him down the palace steps and saw the guard "holding the stirrups out." Zhao Guangyi was seriously ill and was so coma that he didn't even recognize him. His brother hurried to cure him. At that time, Zhao Guangyi still felt pain in his coma. His brother took the lit moxa velvet and burned it on the same part of his body to sense it.

The pain level... This way, from Chen time to You time, until Zhao Guangyi woke up from sweating, Zhao Kuangyin returned to the palace... All kinds of kindness are hard to count. It can even be said that Zhao Kuangyin was not good to his son and younger brother. Until his death, Zhao Dezhao was not a king, and Zhao Defang was just a defensive envoy of a state... And Zhao Guangyi was already the Yin and King of Jin who were above the prime minister. You can still bear to take action with such a mountain of kindness. This is not usurping the throne, disobedience! This is not fighting for power, but losing all conscience!

After that snowy night, Zhao Guangyi was no longer the same person he used to. His mind was disillusioned with a rebellion that destroyed all consciences. After that night, after betraying his dearest brother, what else could he not do? So he forced Zhao Dezhao to death in 979, Zhao Defang to death in 981, Zhao Tingmei to death in 984, and Zhao Yuanzuo, who drove his eldest son crazy in 985... and then doubted everyone in the world. Is it still difficult?

At this point, it should be the only correct explanation in history that "History of Liao" appeared! The Khitans were not vague at all and said directly - "Zhao Jing is independent"

The "Book of the History of the Song Dynasty" compiled by the Mongols concluded that Zhao Kuangyin "The five seasons of chaos were extremely chaotic. The Song Dynasty Taizu became a member of the rank of the Nine Five, and he was the country, and he was the kingdom, and he was not very different from the Jin, Han, and Zhou? He also issued orders, and famous generals of the vassal states, and obeyed the orders. The countries in all directions were eradicated in order. This was not easy to be achieved by human power. Since Jianlong, the military power of the vassal states was interpreted, and the officials were responsible for the law, and the source of turbid chaos was blocked.

From the ruler to the rank of the emperor and the office, I personally guided myself. I worked hard to promote agriculture and study, carefully punish and restrain, and rested with the world. At the end of Piping, I achieved success in governance and preparation, rituals and music. I reigned for 17 years, and I had a foundation of more than 300 years, and passed on to the descendants of the descendants. There were rules in the world. So I surrendered to the three generations. I studied the rule of declaring cultural relics and the style of morality and benevolence and righteousness. The Song Dynasty and the Han and Tang Dynasties had no choice but to give in. Wuhu! If the monarch who started a business and ruled by the rule of business, it would be far away."

But can the final conclusion of the founding emperor of the Song Dynasty? No! Because his life was suddenly ended, the destiny, authority and even the policy program of the Song Dynasty were suddenly turned, which even led to the fate of our entire nation slid into an unpredictable abyss.
Chapter completed!