History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 510 Shi Jingtang's Struggle 5
The Khitan rejected this request. In order to save face for the Later Jin Dynasty and appease its lost emotions, it sent envoys to deliver a batch of gifts in June.

In the exchanges between the Later Jin Dynasty and the Khitan, Shi Jingtang could be said to be servile and submissive. In the memorials he submitted, Shi Jingtang always called himself "minister" and "son emperor", and affectionately called Yelu Deguang "father emperor".

Later, Yelu Deguang told him that from now on he could just call himself "son", as it would make our family seem more intimate, while it would seem awkward to call him "minister".

As the saying goes, a minister of a superior state should be the ruler of a subordinate state. Whenever an envoy from the Liao Kingdom arrived, Shi Jingtang would lower himself and respectfully accept the imperial edict.

Whenever he sent envoys to visit Khitan, he had to bribe Khitan dignitaries lavishly, including Empress Dowager Shulü, Yelu Lihu, the King of the Southern Courtyard, the King of the Northern Courtyard, Han Yanhui, etc. He bribed all the Khitan dignitaries indiscriminately and even gave generous gifts to Zhao Yanshou.

Despite this, whenever Shi Jingtang made the slightest mistake, the Khitan would send envoys to rebuke and reprimand him, and Shi Jingtang would have to swallow his anger and accept the teachings of his Khitan father with his head lowered. The Khitan envoys' behavior of "rebuking in accordance with the emperor's order" was also reported by the Later Jin government as "the Khitan sent envoys to recruit".

The Liao envoys were treated like the emperor in the Later Jin Dynasty, bossing around and shouting orders. When the Later Jin envoys arrived in Khitan, they were treated like grandsons. The Liao officials in charge of receiving them were arrogant, either mocking or abusing them.

The envoys of the Later Jin Dynasty suffered humiliation in the Liao Kingdom, and reported to Shi Jingtang after returning home. The whole country, from officials to ordinary people, thought it was a great shame and were indignant. However, Shi Jingtang was like a pair of pants, and he could hold up anything.

1.4 Praise
After Shi Jingtang entered Luoyang, he could not wait to order Sang Weihan to write an inscription to praise Yelu Deguang.

In the first month of the third year of Tianfu (938), he ordered He Ning, a scholar of the Duanming Palace, to write the "Monument to the Sacred Virtues and Divine Merits".

Yelu Deguang was very happy that his son was so well behaved, so in June he sent an envoy to confer the title of "Emperor Yingwu Mingyi" on Shi Jingtang, giving him a glorious title of "deeply understanding righteousness" as a commendation.

Shi Jingtang was flattered and, in line with the principle of repaying a drop of favor with a spring of gratitude, he bought one and got two for free. In September, he sent Feng Dao, Liu Shu and others to lead a delegation to present the title of emperor to Yelu Deguang and Empress Dowager Shulü.

The title given to Empress Dowager Shulü was "Empress Dowager Guangde Zhiren Zhaolie Chongjian Yingtian", and the title given to Yelu Deguang was "Emperor Ruiwen Shenwu Fatian Qiyun Mingde Zhangxin Zhidao Guangjing Zhaoxiao Sisheng".

I really racked my brains and used all the words to praise the emperor. The price is fair and I am honest with everyone.

Shi Jingtang's flattery was brilliant. Yelu Deguang was so excited that he directly ordered a change of the reign title, changing "the 13th year of Tianxian" to "the first year of Huitong", and reduced certain tributes from the Later Jin Dynasty (the coins of the four border states). The Later Jin Dynasty also quickly sent envoys to express its gratitude.

In short, the official reports of the Later Jin Dynasty were very evasive, omitting many facts that were detrimental to the image of the regime. To understand the Later Jin regime more comprehensively, we need to look for clues in the History of Liao.

2. Dad, Khitan
2.1 A son has only one father; a father can have many sons.

Although Shi Jingtang knelt down to serve the Khitan, the Khitan never seriously considered Shi Jingtang's interests. The Khitan, of course, had to put the interests of the Khitan people first.

There were people with ulterior motives within the Later Jin Dynasty who also wanted to learn from Shi Jingtang and sell out the Central Plains to the Khitan in order to gain the support of the Khitans and overthrow Shi Jingtang and become emperor themselves. This content will be elaborated in detail later.

There were also people within the Khitan who coveted the lord of the Central Plains, such as Zhao Yanshou. They actively provoked the relationship between the Later Jin and the Khitan, and also wanted to use the power of the Khitan to overthrow Shi Jingtang and replace him. At the same time, there were also serious "third parties interfering", such as the Huainan forces and Wuyue. Especially the Huainan forces, they were eager to see the Central Plains dynasty and the Khitan fight each other so as to profit from it. In the diplomatic activities of the Khitan, in addition to the Later Jin, the Huainan forces were the most active and active foreign friends.

In order to instigate a fallout between the Khitan and the Later Jin, the Huainan forces even came up with an extremely despicable and dirty trick: framing others.

In May of the second year of Tianfu (937), Xu Zhigao of Huainan adopted the strategy of his chief strategist Song Qiqiu and sent envoys to visit Khitan by sea, presenting a large number of beautiful women, gold and silver treasures to establish friendship with Khitan. Subsequently, the two countries launched close and friendly international exchanges.

In August of the third year of Tianfu (938), the Khitan sent Gao Ba, a native of Youzhou, to lead a delegation to Huainan. An old subordinate of Gao Pian, also named Gao Ba, was tricked by Yang Xingmi at the "Hongmen Banquet" and they just had the same name.

Xu Zhigao extended a warm hospitality and gave the Khitan delegation extremely generous rewards. Gao Ba and others were all smiling and frankly said that Huainan was an old friend of the Khitan people and that they believed that the two countries had a long-standing friendship that would last forever, blah blah.

Xu Zhigao escorted them out of the country with courtesy and asked them to help convey his cordial greetings to Yelu Deguang.

Compared with the sea route where the mortality rate is as high as 50%, the Khitan delegation chose the safer land route. After all, the route was the territory of the Later Jin Dynasty and friendly countries.

What they didn't know was that Xu Zhigao adopted Song Qiqiu's vicious plan and ambushed a team of special forces in the Houjin-controlled area north of the Huai River, killing Gao Ba and others halfway and taking back all the gold and silver treasures given to them.

The Khitans immediately set up a special task force and traveled to the Huai River for an on-site investigation.

Gao Ba had a son named Gao Gan who survived and hid in Haozhou. As a survivor, he told the investigation team the whole story in detail: we were received with high-level courtesy in Huainan, Huainan was so good to us, the rewards were so generous, and we expressed our good wishes and blessings for the friendship between the two countries... On the way back, we were eating hot pot and singing songs, when we were suddenly robbed by bandits!
The incident occurred in the area controlled by the Later Jin Dynasty, so the Khitan special investigation team quickly concluded: It was done by the Later Jin Dynasty!

This incident seriously affected the diplomatic relations between the Later Jin Dynasty and the Khitan. Shi Jingtang had no way to defend himself and could only pay a huge amount of compensation and apologize to the Khitan in a humble and sincere manner.

On the south bank of the Huai River, Xu Zhigao and Song Qiuqiu smiled at each other and proudly recorded it in the history books:
"There was indeed a rift between the Khitans and the Jin people."

2.2 Listen to your father

2.2.1 Participation Center
By supporting Shi Jingtang, the Khitan received 300,000 yuan in money and silk every year, as well as the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun. On this basis, the Khitan did not give up interfering in the internal affairs of the Later Jin Dynasty.

For example, he helped Shi Jingtang designate his successor - Shi Chonggui.

Strictly speaking, Yelu Deguang did not designate Shi Chonggui as the crown prince. He only made him the governor of Taiyuan. However, according to convention, anyone who served as the "governor" of the capital or an important town was usually the heir to the throne, just like the "Grand Marshal of the Army" or the "Judge of the Six Armies and Guards". Although he was not the crown prince in the legal sense, everyone understood it tacitly.

(End of this chapter)