History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 502: The Last Emperor's Doomsday
【The Last Emperor’s End】

The Later Tang army in Jin'an Village had been besieged for more than eighty days. Although Gao Xingzhou and Fu Yanqing led their troops to try to break out many times, they were unsuccessful.

Now Jin'an Village has run out of food and grass. Due to the lack of fodder, the soldiers can only demolish the thatched houses, wash the horse manure, wash out the undigested straw fiber, recycle it, and mix it with wood chips to make up for the shortage, "cut wood and sift manure to feed their horses." People eat dirt, horses eat manure.

Even so, the war horses were still so hungry that they ate each other's fur. Almost all of their tails and manes were eaten away, and each one looked like Ge You.

The horses that starved to death became food for the soldiers.

In this way, under Zhang Jingda's extremely firm fighting will, 50,000 people still persisted in resistance and waited for reinforcements from the court.

Gradually, deputy generals Yang Guangyuan, An Shenqi and others wavered in their will and persuaded Zhang Jingda to surrender.

Zhang Jingda flatly refused, saying that he was deeply in the emperor's favor, and that he had led the army to fight but lost the battle, which was an unforgivable crime, so how could he surrender to the enemy? I believe that reinforcements will definitely arrive. If we really reach the point of desperation, you can chop off my head, take it out and surrender to the Khitans, and then go your separate ways.

Zhang Jingda was ready to die with equanimity and his words were powerful.

An Shenqi was filled with shame, but Yang Guangyuan kept giving him looks, suggesting that they should work together to kill Zhang Jingda now. An Shenqi was overwhelmed with emotions, lowered his head, and did not respond to Yang Guangyuan's gaze.

Gao Xingzhou saw through Yang Guangyuan's thoughts, so he led his trusted subordinates and followed Zhang Jingda closely, becoming his personal bodyguard.

Because Yang Guangyuan was Gao Xingzhou's superior, it was not convenient for Gao Xingzhou to expose and report Yang Guangyuan or to tell him the truth in person. After all, "eye contact" cannot be used as evidence. Therefore, Gao Xingzhou's actions caused Zhang Jingda to misunderstand.

Zhang Jingda said to the people around him: "Why does Gao Xingzhou always follow me? What does he want to do?"

After Gao Xingzhou heard this, he no longer dared to act as a bodyguard without permission. So Yang Guangyuan finally got the chance to take action.

Zhang Jingda held a military meeting every day, and all the generals had to attend. On this day, Yang Guangyuan was very active and was the first to arrive at the scene. Zhang Jingda was very pleased. Just as he was about to exchange pleasantries, Yang Guangyuan took advantage of his unpreparedness and killed Zhang Jingda with a knife. Then he cut off his head and gave it to the Khitan as a token of surrender.

There are also records that Yang Guangyuan once proposed to break out with all his strength, saying that instead of continuing to waste time like this, where the men and horses would starve to death, it would be better to fight the Khitans, at least there would be a 30% survival rate. Zhang Jingda refused and insisted on waiting for the arrival of reinforcements. So Yang Guangyuan killed them.

But no matter what is said, it cannot change the fact that "Yang Guangyuan and An Shenqi killed Zhang Jingda and surrendered their troops to the Khitan."

Zhang Jingda was born in Daizhou. His father, Zhang Shen, served Li Keyong and later died in the army. Zhang Jingda was skilled in riding and shooting since he was a child. Li Cunxu had long heard of his great name, so he let him succeed his father's position and continue to serve in the army. In the war in which Li Cunxu overthrew the Later Liang Dynasty, Zhang Jingda made great contributions and was promoted to the position of Minister of Works. Since the reign of Emperor Mingzong, Zhang Jingda's activities have basically been in the Daibei area, dealing with the Khitans. At that time, the Khitans repeatedly invaded the south, and Zhang Jingda's tough attitude and decisive means of killing made the Khitans quite afraid. Historical records record that "the Khitans did not dare to herd in the south, and the people on the border relied on him."

Therefore, Zhang Jingda was a descendant of a martyr, a meritorious veteran who had served four dynasties (Zhuangzong, Mingzong, Emperor Min, and Emperor Mo), and an old enemy of the Khitan people... He had a strong character and was nicknamed "Zhang Shengtie". He was a hero who fought against the Liao Dynasty and vowed not to surrender to the Liao Dynasty. Upon learning of Zhang Jingda's martyrdom, Li Congke was extremely sad, because with Zhang Jingda's death, he would lose the most important bargaining chip - Jin'an Village, and Shi Jingtang and the Khitan coalition could march south without any worries.

Success or failure does not determine a hero's status. Although Zhang Jingda did not win the Hedong War, he was still highly praised by later generations, even by the enemy camp.

The Old History of the Five Dynasties evaluated him as "a loyal minister in modern times". The "modern times" here has a different meaning from what we call "modern times" today, because that was a term used by people in the Song Dynasty, and generally refers to the period of history from the end of the Tang Dynasty to the beginning of the Song Dynasty.

Ouyang Xiu's "New History of the Five Dynasties" directly included him in the "Biography of Death" and praised him.

Yelu Deguang also mourned for this former enemy for a long time, ordered people to bury his body, burned incense and offered sacrifices to him personally, and said to the Khitan generals and the surrendered generals of Jin'an Village (especially Yang Guangyuan and others): "Learn from Comrade Zhang Jingda!"

The most interesting thing is Shi Jingtang's attitude. He provided financial support to Zhang Jingda's family and gave them preferential treatment, but he did not posthumously confer titles or honors on him. This is because it involves a political issue: your behavior can be affirmed, but your political stance must be denied.

Yelu Deguang despised spineless people like Yang Guangyuan. At the surrender ceremony, he said to them sarcastically: "You are really super foodies! You can eat 10,000 war horses without salt and cheese as condiments!" Yang Guangyuan and others were speechless and their faces turned red with shame.

In fact, by the time of surrender, there were still more than 5,000 war horses alive. Yelu Deguang transported the war horses and all 50,000 sets of weapons and armor back to Khitan, handed over the surrendered soldiers and generals to Shi Jingtang, and encouraged them: "Serve your master well!"

When the news of Jin'an Village's surrender came, the cavalry commander Kang Sili died in anger.

Kang Sili can be called a "living fossil of the Later Tang Dynasty". He served five rulers of the Later Tang Dynasty. He first served Li Keyong as a junior cavalry general. Later, he served Li Cunxu. He was present in almost all of the "three major battles". He made countless contributions and was promoted repeatedly. He has many similarities with Zhang Jingda. For example, although they were both military generals, they never had "tyranny" in the local area. Instead, they were considerate of the people and had a good reputation.

After Li Siyuan proclaimed himself emperor, he promoted him to be the Jiedushi of Baoyi Army in Shanzhou.

When Li Congke rebelled, Kang Sili had only 500 soldiers under his command, but he still had to hold the city. However, the soldiers left the city to surrender one after another, and Kang Sili was unable to stop them, so he had to open the city and surrender. It was precisely because he had "no intention of surrendering at first" that he was ignored by Li Congke, demoted and dismissed, and finally thrown into the ranks of the imperial guards, and "retired" gloriously.

It was not until Zhang Jingda was defeated and surrounded in Jin'an Village that Li Congke had no generals left to send, so he was forced to recruit a group of veteran generals like Kang Sili.

Although Kang Sili was suspected and oppressed by Li Congke, he still had a heart loyal to the emperor and the country. At the age of 63, he led the cavalry troops north to provide support. After hearing the news that Yang Guangyuan killed Zhang Jingda and surrendered to the Khitan, he became sick due to worry and anger, and his old illness relapsed, and he died in the army.

After the fall of Jinan Village, Li Congke lost the power to resist and the bargaining chip, and what awaits him is ruthless beating.

(End of this chapter)