History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 504: The Last Emperor Died for His Country
Yelu Deguang comforted and appeased the father and son with kind words.

Zhao Dejun and his son knelt down and kowtowed to Shi Jingtang, expressing their submission. Zhao Dejun even shamelessly approached Shi Jingtang and said, "It's been a long time since we last met. How have you been?"

Shi Jingtang turned his head away, without even looking at him, let alone saying a word to him.

"Hehehe..." Zhao Dejun laughed twice. As long as he was not embarrassed, others would be embarrassed.

In fact, the one who should be embarrassed at this time is Shi Jingtang. Shi Jingtang is not only embarrassed, but also a little afraid. Because although Shi Jingtang won the competition, his victory was not glorious, and he did not have any technical content. He sat on the throne of the emperor of the Central Plains by selling out national interests and with the support of barbarians and foreigners.

Shameless and despicable, he will be infamous for eternity.

Since Shi Jingtang could sell out his country, then Zhao Dejun could also sell out his country, and so could Fan Yanguang, Yang Guangyuan, and so on... Anyone could sell out his country, and the one who sold out the country most thoroughly would be supported by the Khitans, and could face south and back north, claim to be the only one in power, and get a taste of being an emperor.

This is where Shi Jingtang felt guilty. He was afraid that he would not be able to stay as emperor for long, nor would he be comfortable.

Yelu Deguang eased the embarrassment with fear. He asked Zhao Dejun: "Where is the 'Silver Saddle Khitan Special Regiment' (Silver Saddle Khitan Direct) that you set up in Youzhou?"

Zhao Dejun pointed it out to him. Yelu Deguang waved his hand and took 3,000 soldiers of the "Silver Saddle Khitan Special Regiment" to the western suburbs and beheaded them all.

Since Zhao Dejun took charge of Youzhou, he has been fighting against Khitan for many years and has received many fleeing Khitan soldiers. Zhao Dejun carefully selected them and "placed the brave Khitan soldiers who surrendered as Silver Saddle Khitan Guards". This special regiment composed of Khitan soldiers has a total of 3,000 people. It is an elite force with explosive combat effectiveness. It is Zhao Dejun's ace elite. This time, he was ordered to support Hedong and brought this regiment with him.

To Yelu Deguang, these 3,000 people were the scum and traitors of the Khitan, so he killed them all to serve as a warning to others.

Traitors are hated by every nation.

Yelu Deguang killed three thousand Khitan traitors, which made Shi Jingtang, Zhao Dejun and all the Han soldiers and generals who surrendered terrified.

Afterwards, Yelu Deguang locked Zhao Dejun and Zhao Yanshou with iron chains and escorted them back to Khitan.

After Zhao Dejun and his son surrendered, the remaining task was to kill Li Congke, who was at low health. Shi Jingtang reorganized his troops and prepared to go south to finish off Li Congke.

Yelu Deguang personally gave him a farewell party and said, "I personally led the righteous army to travel thousands of miles to fight for justice. Now, the great cause has been basically accomplished. If I continue to lead the Khitan army southward, I am afraid it will cause misunderstandings among the people of the world, and the people south of the Yellow River will be greatly panicked. It is better for you to lead the Han officers and soldiers southward yourself, so that the people of Henan will be more receptive."

So, Yelu Deguang sent the Khitan general So-and-so to lead 5,000 cavalry to escort Shi Jingtang across the river.

As for this international friend "someone", "Zizhi Tongjian" wrote "Tai Xiang Wen" and "Old Five Dynasties History" wrote "Da Xiang Gun". Obviously, this is the transliteration of Khitan language, not the transliteration of a person's name, but the official name, similar to "Yili Jin" and "Yu Yue", which means a general. The name of this person is given in "History of Liao" - Dilibi. As soon as you hear the name, you know that he is a very powerful character, "the enemy will be killed immediately".

A few years ago, Dilibi was accused of "criticizing the emperor" and was thrown into prison. Six months later, this guy actually escaped from prison and was caught. After careful investigation, it was found that he was falsely accused six months ago, so he was acquitted. Very cool.

In short, a relatively powerful general was sent to lead 5,000 cavalry to "escort" (monitor) Shi Jingtang.

Yelu Deguang himself led the main force to station in Luzhou, watching the battle in Luoyang. If Shi Jingtang was defeated, he would go south to support him; if Shi Jingtang successfully seized power, he would lead his army back north to Khitan.

Shi Jingtang excitedly held Yelu Deguang's hand, tears of gratitude streaming down his face, "They held hands and cried, unable to part for a long time."

Yelu Deguang took off his sable coat and gave it to Shi Jingtang, and also gave him twenty fine horses and twelve hundred war horses. The two men once again swore to heaven: "Our descendants will never forget each other!" Yelu Deguang once again reminded them: "Sang Weihan, Zhao Ying and others are all your founding heroes. If they have not made big mistakes, don't abandon them." Yes, they were not only Shi Jingtang's direct descendants, but also staunch "pro-Liao faction" and defenders of Khitan interests.

Afterwards, Shi Jingtang led his direct descendants in Hedong as well as the surrendered soldiers and generals from Jin'an Village and Luzhou, and headed south.

Two flowers bloom, each with its own beauty. Let's put Shi Jingtang aside for now and talk about Li Congke who was stationed in Heyang.

Li Congke was stationed in Heyang, gathering the remnants of the defeated troops who had retreated from the front line.

For example, the imperial guard general Gao Hanyun.

Zhang Jingda was originally the governor of Jianxiong Army in Jinzhou. Because he was ordered to fight against Taiyuan, Li Congke ordered Gao Hanjun, a general of the imperial army, to station in Jinzhou. After Zhang Jingda died for his country, Tian Chengzhao, the deputy governor of Jinzhou, led his troops to attack Gao Hanjun. Gao Hanjun ordered to stop the resistance, opened the door to welcome Tian Chengzhao, and asked him calmly, "What do you want to do?"

Tian Chengzhao said: "I don't have any other intentions, I just want to support you to be the governor."

Gao Hanjun refused, saying that he did not want to betray the court.

Tian Chengzhao then signaled to his attendants and ordered them to kill Gao Hanyun.

Unexpectedly, all the servants threw their knives to the ground, saying that Mr. Gao’s family had been prestigious officials in the court for generations, so why did they have to kill him?

Tian Chengzhao saw that the situation was not good, so he quickly laughed and said, "I was just joking with you guys just now."

Afterwards, at the call of Gao Hanyun, the soldiers retreated to Luoyang in an orderly manner to join forces with Li Congke.

Fu Yanrao and Zhang Yanqi also fled from the front line to Heyang and advised Li Congke not to stay in Heyang because the Khitan army was marching southward in large numbers and was unstoppable, so it would be better for him to return to Luoyang as soon as possible.

Therefore, Li Congke ordered Heyang Jiedushi Chang Congjian to garrison Heyang South City (located south of the Yellow River) together with Liu Zaiming, cut off the Yellow River floating bridge, and build the first line of defense in the defense of Luoyang.

Afterwards, Li Congke returned to Luoyang.

Two days later, Shi Jingtang arrived in Heyang.

Chang Congjian, who was in charge of organizing the first line of defense, surrendered and had prepared boats for Shi Jingtang to cross the river. Liu Zaiming was also captured alive by his officers and soldiers and presented to Shi Jingtang. Shi Jingtang ordered his release and reinstatement.

Li Congke ordered his trusted confidant Song Shenqian to lead Fu Yanrao, Zhang Yanqi, Liu Yanlang and others, with more than a thousand cavalrymen to Baimapo (close to the Heyang front line). As soon as they arrived at the position, more than fifty cavalrymen broke away from the team, galloped northward, and surrendered to the Jin-Liao coalition forces heading south.

The generals pleaded with Song Shenqian: "We can resist anywhere, why do we have to fight here?"

Yes, there are many places where we can't fight against the Liao. Why do we have to fight against the Liao in places where there are Liao soldiers? Wouldn't it be better to fight against the Liao in places where there are no Liao soldiers?

Song Shenqian knew that if he did not follow the will of the people, all the thousand people would surrender, so he ordered a retreat.

(End of this chapter)