There was a heated discussion among the soldiers: "The emperor is still too young to handle state affairs. Who will look after our interests if we risk our lives for the country? Better help General Zhao onto the throne before the northern expedition." Seeing the soldiers in action, Zhao Kuangyi and Zhao Pu immediately sent a messenger to ride to the capital, to make a secret appointment with Shi Shouxin and Wang Shenqi, two commanders of the Royal Guards, to say that Shi and Wang should act in coordination when Zhao returned to Bianliang.
In Chenqiao, both officers and soldiers stayed awake all night, while Zhao Kuangyin pretended to take to bed after too much wine. At dawn Zhao Kuangyi, Zhao Pu and some other officers, burst in, weapons in hand, shouting: "We have no sovereign to rely on. We want His Excellency to be our sovereign! "While shouting, they crowded around Zhao Kuangyin, who kept pretending to yawn, and pulled the Dragon Robe around him. Then all those present fell down on their knees and began to kowtow to Zhao, shouting in unison, "Your Maje:,ty!" This is the historical anecdote "Dragon Robe of the Chenqiao Mutiny." That year, Zhao Kuangyin was 34 years old.
Zhao Kuangyin, now in the Dragon Robe, led his contingents of troops back to the capital and met no resistance along the way. The troops marched into Kaifeng. That very afternoon after their arrival, a solemn ceremony to hand over state power took place in the imperial palace. Zhao Kuangyin ascended the throne, proclaiming the establishment of Song, with Kaifeng as its capital, renaming it "East Capital." This became the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127) of history.
After his ascension, Zhao Kuangyin, as Song Emperor Taizu, had no illusions of having no worries from then on. He knew he had to first stabilize the court, before he could divert his energy to end the chaotic state of affairs caused by disobedient warlords entrenched in different areas, so as to unify the country, and finally resist the state of Liao in the north, which was growing more and more powerful.
One day he summoned his favorite subject, Zhao Pu, and asked him to deliberate on the causes for incessant wars and social calamities in the decades after the late Tang Dynasty. Zhao replied: "I believe the main reason lies in the fact that the local warlords are too powerful, causing a situation where the sovereign is weak while the subjects are strong. If we could reduce local warlord power, and claim back their military compliance, the country would become stable."
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