History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 492 The Four Deadly Sins

【Four Deadly Sins】

The last time we saw an emperor and his ministers cursing each other in official historical records was during the reign of Emperor Xizong of Tang and Gao Pian.

Li Congke must have been really angry. Looking at his brief reply, he really spoke without thinking, like spitting feces at others, hurting the enemy by a thousand and hurting himself by eight hundred.

This war of words lasted only a short time, mainly for two reasons: first, both sides were dishonorable and had dirty bottoms. They were just pushing the mill with bare bottoms - going around in circles and being shameful; second, the relationship between the two sides broke down and the court had already dispatched troops, so they had to strike first and avoid quarreling if they could instead take action.

Shi Jingtang summoned his staff and made an impassioned speech, listing the four sins of the court:

First, breaking one’s promise.

When Shi Jingtang left Luoyang for Hedong, Li Congke promised him, "I will be in charge of the North Gate with you, and there will be no discussion of my removal or change for the rest of my life." The emperor said with his own mouth that he would let me stay in Hedong and would neither dismiss me nor move me. However, he has now moved me to Yunzhou.

Second, misunderstanding and suspicion.

The "Xinzhou Wansui Oolong Case" caused Li Congke to be more suspicious of Shi Jingtang, which was probably the fuse of the order to move the town. Although Shi Jingtang killed 36 soldiers, it could not dispel Li Congke's doubts.

Third, speaking inappropriately after drinking.

The princess went to Luoyang to attend Li Congke's birthday party. After getting drunk, Li Congke said to the princess in public, "You are eager to return home, and you want to rebel with Shi Lang." The truth came out after drinking. Under the influence of alcohol, Li Congke took off his disguise. In Shi Jingtang's words, "It is clear that he doubts me."

Fourth, the government was in chaos.

Li Congke was close to villains and distant from wise ministers. The political situation was dark and the court was full of treacherous villains.

Afterwards, Shi Jingtang cried and complained about his grievances: "I am loyal to the court and have never had any second thoughts! However, the court has taken the initiative to start a war. If I don't take any action, I can only sit and wait for death. What's more, Taiyuan is located in a strategic location with sufficient food and grass. What am I afraid of? If the court can tolerate me, I am willing to serve it; if it dares to resort to force, don't blame me for being rude!"

Shi Jingtang's group was mainly divided into two factions. One faction, led by Zhao Ying, advocated obeying the imperial edict and going to Yunzhou to take up a post. The other faction, led by Duan Xiyao, Sang Weihan, and Liu Zhiyuan, advocated disobeying the imperial edict and going to war with the court. Xue Rong, an aide to the court, said that he was just a scholar and did not understand military affairs, so he chose to abstain.

Among them, the chief strategist Sang Weihan offered Shi Jingtang a crucial strategy: to collude with the Khitan for assistance.

A vigorous war to annihilate a country is about to begin. This war is of great significance. Its nature is to mobilize forces from abroad to support domestic anti-government forces, overthrow the legitimate regime, and establish a puppet new regime. Does it sound like something that the Lighthouse Country often does?
This battle also gave birth to a famous traitorous regime on Chinese land - the Later Jin Dynasty.

Because this period of history is relatively unpopular, many people subjectively ignore and disdain it, and have preconceived ideas, believing that the Khitan army was invincible and the Central Plains army was fragile. Therefore, the Khitan army marched southward and crushed the enemy with ease. Li Congke of the Later Tang Dynasty was defeated, and Shi Jingtang established the Later Jin Dynasty.

This is a serious misunderstanding.

In fact, this history had many opportunities to be rewritten. The Khitan army was not so invincible, and the Khitan people's will to fight was not so firm (why would they work for Shi Jingtang?), and the Later Tang army was also enough to pose a fatal threat to the Khitan army. The Later Tang also had an ultimate weapon to win - Yelu Bei.

The Khitan army actually fought very cautiously, and even prepared to abandon Shi Jingtang and flee in panic. However, the final result was still that Shi Jingtang established the Later Jin Dynasty, and Li Congke's country was destroyed and he died. It is a pity. Next, I will elaborate on the reasons from different perspectives.

At the beginning of Shi Jingtang's rebellion, he listed the "four sins" of Li Congke's court, giving his rebellious behavior a legal cloak and making himself seem justified and with a legitimate reason.

On May 5, Li Congke issued an imperial edict to deprive Shi Jingtang of all his official positions and titles, and ordered Zhang Jingda and others to lead troops to attack. The war officially began.

As soon as the war broke out, the commander-in-chief of the vanguard army, An Shenxin, rebelled on the battlefield, and led hundreds of personal guards including An Yuanxin to join Shi Jingtang.

The reason was that An Yuanxin, a general of the imperial army stationed in Daizhou, was a good friend of Zhang Lang, the governor of Daizhou. After hearing the news of the outbreak of the war, An Yuanxin secretly told Zhang Lang: "I think Shi Jingtang is a loyal and honest elder. He will definitely win the war in the end. It is best for us to secretly submit to him to protect ourselves."

Zhang Lang flatly refused.

An Yuanxin wanted to assassinate Zhang Lang, but his plot was exposed, so he led his troops to flee to An Shenxin. The two Ans then burned, killed and looted in their garrison, and then fled to Taiyuan hand in hand.

An Shenxin was the nephew of the old hero An Jinquan and had a close personal relationship with Shi Jingtang.

Shi Jingtang received the two Ans and asked An Yuanxin: "How do you know that I will win in the end? At present, the court is powerful, and I am weak."

An Yuanxin replied: "I don't understand astrology or destiny. But I do know one thing: a man cannot stand without trust, let alone a king who governs the world. Now, Li Congke has broken his promise to you (a crime). You are his relative, comrade-in-arms, and a meritorious official of the country. If he can even let you down, how much more can we, who are distant and humble, fail? Therefore, I assert that Li Congke will definitely fail!"

Shi Jingtang was overjoyed when he heard this and trusted him even more.

When two armies were at war, it was common for generals to defect. Some commanders handled the situation very well, using a little trick to kill someone with a borrowed knife, making the local commander suspicious of their own traitorous generals and then killing them.

However, the actions of the imperial army were extremely stupid. They arrested Er'an and all the wives, children and elders of all the defecting soldiers, took them to the outskirts of Taiyuan city, and beheaded them all.

This was done to vent anger and to frighten the soldiers and warn them not to defect. But there were two major drawbacks: first, it strengthened the fighting spirit of the defecting soldiers, and their deep hatred forced them to be loyal to the enemy; second, it helped the defecting soldiers to surrender, so that the enemy no longer suspected that they were pretending to surrender.

The history books say that Shi Jingtang trusted Er An and the soldiers they brought with him very much and let them continue to lead the troops. They had no choice but to trust him, as Li Congke killed their entire family.

After Li Congke issued the order to start war, he sent people to search for the hostages and relatives of Shi Jingtang left in Luoyang.

Among them, Shi Jingtang's two sons, Shi Chongying and Shi Chongyin, fled to the countryside and hid in people's homes. They were caught and beheaded, along with their entire family.

Shi Jingtang's younger brother Shi Jingde killed his wife and children with his own hands, then fled, but was also caught and executed (some say he committed suicide).
Shi Jingtang's cousin Shi Jingwei committed suicide.

(End of this chapter)