History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 522: "Ex-boyfriend" disturbs the situation 2
At the end of Li Congke's term, Zhao Dejun's strength was comparable to that of Shi Jingtang, and it could even be said that he was better than Shi Jingtang, so Li Congke thought of riding a tiger to drive away a wolf and let Zhao Dejun fight Shi Jingtang.

Shi Jingtang, who was at the end of his rope, could only rely on selling out his country to save himself, so he actively colluded with the Khitan. Zhao Dejun, who had different ideas, also made the same move.

As mentioned above, Zhao Dejun was actually better than Shi Jingtang in colluding with the Khitan. As early as the reign of Emperor Mingzong, Zhao Dejun had already flirted with the Khitan and maintained frequent and friendly secret exchanges in private. The "History of Liao Dynasty: The Chronicle of Emperor Taizong" clearly recorded the friendly interactions between Zhao Dejun and the Khitan.

After the outbreak of the Hedong War, Zhao Dejun brazenly annexed the Later Tang army in the Heshuo area, nurturing the enemy and threatening Shi Jingtang and the Khitan in an attempt to annex the entire north of the Yellow River. At that time, Zhao Dejun's military strength, sphere of influence, and relationship with the Khitan all surpassed Shi Jingtang's, but in the end, the Khitans chose to give up the easy and seek the difficult, and resolutely funded Shi Jingtang.

We have analyzed the reasons. To put it bluntly, Shi Jingtang sold out his country more thoroughly and ceded large tracts of territory to the Khitan.

Although Zhao Dejun controlled a large area of ​​land east of Taihang Mountain and had a large number of troops at his disposal, he did not expect that Yang Guangyuan of Jin'an Village would suddenly kill Zhang Jingda and surrender to the Khitan, and the Khitan cavalry quickly moved south.

Zhao Dejun was only about a hundred miles away from Jin'an Village. The incident happened so suddenly that Zhao Dejun was caught off guard. In panic, he fled in a hurry. As soon as he fled to Luzhou, he was caught up by the Khitan and then surrendered.

If it weren't for the authoritative official history written in black and white, who would have believed that the truth was so dramatic? Movies wouldn't dare to portray it this way, that the strongest boy band in the Central Plains and the most powerful warlords actually surrendered in such a confused manner.

Zhao Dejun and his son were taken back to Khitan as prisoners of war.

Empress Dowager Shulü personally interrogated and questioned him.

Zhao Dejun was a seasoned man. After seeing the Empress Dowager Shulü, he fell to his knees, bowed his head and said respectfully: "I should have come to support you long ago. Today you have troubled me to come here in person. I deserve the death penalty." He thought he was flattering her.

Empress Dowager Shulü was wise and brave, able to maintain peace and stability through both civil and military means. She was a rare strong woman in the entire history of China. Even Wu Zetian was inferior to her. How could she be deceived by his sweet words? Empress Dowager Shulü smiled coldly and asked, "Where did you get you from?"

"Taiyuan."

"Huh?" Empress Dowager Shulü pretended to be surprised and asked, "Aren't you in Youzhou? Why are you in Taiyuan?"

Zhao Dejun was asking despite knowing the answer. He was keenly aware of the cold murderous aura coming from Empress Dowager Shulü. He had a vague foreboding and could only bite the bullet and answer truthfully: "By order of the Emperor of Tang..."

Empress Dowager Shulü raised her eyebrows and said angrily, "So you are still a loyal child? To tell you the truth, when the Khitan army marched south, our top leaders had reached a secret consensus, that is, once Zhao Dejun took action, the Khitan would immediately retreat and abandon Shi Jingtang in Hedong (if King Zhao led his troops north to Yuguan, they must be led back urgently, Taiyuan cannot be saved)."

As we explained in the previous article, what Empress Dowager Shulü said was true. The Khitans never really wanted to help Shi Jingtang, nor did they have any reason to work for him. Once they encountered stubborn resistance from the Central Plains, especially if Youzhou "cut off the rear", the Khitans would not hesitate to stage the "Saigon Iron Fist".

Great minds think alike, Li Congke did indeed order Zhao Dejun to attack the Khitans, but Zhao Dejun played the game of holding his master hostage. Zhao Dejun insisted on dressing himself up as a loyal minister, and suddenly ran into the muzzle of Empress Dowager Shulü's gun.

"By order of the Emperor of Tang? Humph, let me ask you again. I heard that you asked my son to make you the ruler of Central Plains. Is that true?"

Zhao Dejun dared not deny it. Empress Dowager Shulü raised her hand and patted her chest, "You are still pretending to be a loyal minister. Doesn't your conscience hurt? Even if you want to be the emperor, you should first repel our Khitans, and then it won't be too late to plan to be the emperor. As a minister, you betrayed your master. Not only did you fail to repel the foreign enemy, but you took advantage of the chaos to seek benefits and used the enemy to threaten your master. Are you still a human being? Do you still have the face to live?"

Zhao Dejun was so frightened that he kowtowed like a chicken, trembling and shaking as he said, "Well... I am willing to give all the property and land deeds of Youzhou to the Khitan..."

Empress Dowager Shulü was almost amused by his anger. "Oh? Where are the gold, silver and treasures?"

"No, they were all brought back with the army."

Empress Dowager Shulü's eyes widened. "That's called spoils of war! You offered it to us? Even you are a captive and a slave. Even you are our Khitan property."

"Yes... the Queen Mother's advice is..."

"What about the farmhouse?"

"This... is in Youzhou. I don't want the land in Youzhou anymore. I'll give it all to you..."

"Nonsense! The Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun are already our Khitan territory. They are originally ours. Why are you offering them to us?"

The slick Zhao Dejun met his match and was scolded by Empress Dowager Shulü, which made him very depressed. From then on, he "became depressed and ate little, and died of depression in Khitan within a year."

In 1956, an epitaph was accidentally discovered outside Yongdingmen in Chongwen District, Beijing, which led to the excavation of Zhao Dejun's tomb. Many cultural relics and murals were unearthed, especially the epitaph, which is of great archaeological value.

There is a key but easily overlooked question here: Why was Empress Dowager Shulü so bad towards Zhao Dejun?

Zhao Dejun had long maintained an ambiguous relationship with the Khitan as an "underground lover". Even when they met on the battlefield in Hedong, they did not tear each other apart, and there was no direct conflict. Zhao Dejun immediately surrendered. Why did he still suffer the cold eyes of Empress Dowager Shulü? Did Empress Dowager Shulü really despise him?

The reason why Empress Dowager Shulü excluded Zhao Dejun was due to the need for political factional struggle. After Empress Dowager Shulü supported her second son Yelü Deguang, Yelü Deguang was submissive to his mother on the surface, but in fact he was ready to make a move, and his only means of resistance was to march south to conquer the Central Plains.

The suppression of Empress Dowager Shulü and the resistance of Yelu Deguang are the golden keys to studying the foreign policy of Khitan Taizong and the hidden clues to the affairs of the Central Plains.

In order to establish prestige, control military power and consolidate power through military means, Yelu Deguang became a "hawkish" emperor. He was keen to march south and advocated dealing with the Central Plains issues with a tough attitude and means. In contrast, Empress Dowager Shulü became a "dovish" leader and opposed a blind expedition to the south.

Zhao Dejun, Zhao Yanshou and others were Han generals captured by Yelu Deguang during the Southern Expedition. They belonged to the "Emperor Party" and were Yelu Deguang's men, which is why they were ostracized and suppressed by the "Empress Dowager Party".

(End of this chapter)