In ancient China, whenever there was a chaotic world, the benevolent lord was always very few. In particular, in the five dynasties and ten kingdoms where "the people's livelihood has been the most tragic situation since China" (Qian Mu), although there are countless emperors in the north and south of the world who have sung and sung me, only Li Siyuan of the Later Tang Dynasty and Chai Rong of the Later Zhou Dynasty can be praised by later generations. However, there is one person whose deeds are not inferior to the above two people at all, and it can even be said that without him, there would be no series of reforms by Zhou Shizong later, and it would be impossible to have the prosperity of the Northern Song Dynasty, but today it is rarely mentioned - this is the founder of the Later Zhou, Zhou Taizu Guo Wei.
Although he was born into the army, believed in force, and fought a piece of heaven and earth with his fists in the chaotic world, it was this person who sat on the dragon chair for less than three years (February 951 to the first month of 954) not only worked hard to eliminate all kinds of accumulated shortcomings since the end of the Tang Dynasty, but also opened a window of hope for the people who were deeply in the water, and also used his broad mind to set an example for future generations of benevolent kings.
Regarding the history of Guo Wei's development, I think everyone is familiar with it. This soldier, who was once a mess, will be pushed to the center of the stage of history because of the storm. However, after his yellow robe was added, facing the Kaifeng Yin Liu Ba, who ordered the massacre of his family, although he experienced a fierce ideological struggle, he finally killed only Liu Ba and pardoned all his relatives. Even for Su Fengji, who forced him onto the road of rebellion, Guo Wei spared his family, not killing one, not even going to prison.
At that time, even if Guo Wei cut these two people off the door, public opinion would not have anything to say. But he did not raise the butcher's knife of revenge with supreme authority. Later, Guo Wei also specially promulgated a law that one person who was guilty, his nine ethnic groups were innocent, and strictly prevented the people from sitting down. In the past, the property and land of lawbreakers confiscated by the government were all returned to their families, so that they could have the capital to live. This instruction makes us read it hundreds of years later, and we can also feel the strong human touch.
Although Zhao Kuangyin, the grandfather of the Song Dynasty, who later painted the gourd and added the same yellow robe, was praised as a benevolent prince by countless literati in later generations, for those who had given him unpleasant memories, Old Zhao did not let go of anyone, and the most unfortunate thing was to be humiliated in public. If it weren't for Pan Mei's death, he would even have killed Zhou Shizong's four young sons to avoid the consequences.
Emperor Xuan of Han was also a Renjun who was talked about by historians, but he did not spare a single member of the Huo family when he liquidated Huo Guang, the "Emperor Taishang". They are all facing the enemy, are these benevolent monarchs dwarfed by Guo Wei?