History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 523 "Is it my turn?"

All Han people, led by Zhao Dejun and his son, were suspected by Empress Dowager Shulü, but valued by Yelu Deguang. Han people, especially Han generals and advisers who surrendered during the southern expedition, became weapons for Yelu Deguang to resist Empress Dowager Shulü.

For example, Zhao Siwen was the one who forced Empress Dowager Shulü to cut off her wrist. He was appointed by Yelu Deguang as the governor of Youzhou and temporarily replaced Zhao Dejun.

Zhao Siwen was in Cao's camp but his heart was with Han. He did not surrender voluntarily, but was captured by Yelu Abaoji during the battle with Khitan and was forced to work for Khitan. Zhao Siwen's son Zhao Yanzhao served in the Later Jin Dynasty and was appointed as the governor of Qizhou (now Wuji County, Hebei Province) by Shi Jingtang.

Zhao Siwen secretly contacted Zhao Yanzhao and said that there was a very dangerous situation within Khitan (Empress Dowager Shulü VS Yelü Deguang) and that something big would happen sooner or later. He was willing to offer Youzhou to the Later Jin Dynasty and let the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun return to the embrace of the motherland.

This is why Empress Dowager Shulü hated and was suspicious of the Han people. Those who are not of our race must have different hearts!
Zhao Siwen had served in the Khitan central government and had personally experienced Empress Dowager Shulü's bloody purge, the dethronement of the eldest son and the enthronement of the youngest son. He also personally forced Empress Dowager Shulü to cut off her wrist. He also saw through the subtle thoughts behind Yelu Deguang's "hawkish" propositions and had insight into the huge hidden dangers in the Khitan's core power circle.

His prediction came true soon after. In order to gain power, Empress Dowager Shulü almost started a civil war, which brought the Khitan to the brink of disintegration and collapse. This is a later story, which we will describe in detail later.

Faced with Zhao Siwen's request to return to China, Shi Jingtang rejected it without hesitation. The main reason was that the time was not ripe, and Shi Jingtang did not have the strength to forcibly take back the "Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun" and turn against the Khitan. Moreover, what if Zhao Siwen was a sting operation?

After Zhao Dejun's death, Yelu Deguang ordered Zhao Yanshou to take charge of Youzhou.

Empress Dowager Shulü also disliked Zhao Yanshou, but Yelu Deguang vigorously promoted Zhao Yanshou on the grounds of "using the Han to control the Han", and appointed him as Jiedushi of Youzhou Lulong Army, and named him King of Yan, and later King of Wei, and also added Privy Councilor and Political Affairs Order...

It is hard to imagine that a prisoner could become a general, a prime minister, and be given the title of a king. Behind this is Yelu Deguang's profound political wisdom.

What Zhao Yanshou couldn't forget was the Hedong War. His father had a great chance to become the ruler of the Central Plains, but because he didn't sell out his country thoroughly, he let the thief Shi Jingtang become the emperor, and he himself was trapped in the north and died of depression. So Zhao Yanshou urged to go south and launched a war against the Later Jin Dynasty.

This was exactly what Yelu Deguang wanted. Yelu Deguang used Zhao Yanshou as a tool.

Every time Shi Jingtang gave gifts and bribes to the Khitan, he would always send generous gifts to Zhao Yanshou, but this could not stop Zhao Yanshou from instigating the Khitan to go south to destroy the Jin Dynasty.

Although Zhao Yanshou did not cause much trouble during Shi Jingtang's reign, his presence always cast a dark cloud over the Later Jin Dynasty.

2. “Is it my turn now?”

The four great kings of the Ming Dynasty were Zhao Dejun, Shi Jingtang, Li Congke, and Fan Yanguang. The above ranking is based on comprehensive strength.

After Li Conghou ascended the throne, he was unable to effectively balance the disputes among the major interest groups within the central government, nor could he effectively restrain the powerful local vassals. As a result, he was soon overthrown by Li Congke. The "powerful group" changed from the Four Heavenly Kings to the "Three Giants of the Last Emperor", namely Zhao Dejun, Shi Jingtang and Fan Yanguang.

Li Congke integrated the power resources within the central government and basically solved the problem of interest redistribution in the central government. However, when dealing with the problem of powerful local vassals, he once again avoided mistakes, which led to the success of Shi Jingtang's rebellion.

After the Hedong War, Shi Jingtang, one of the "Big Three", sat on the throne, while Zhao Dejun and his son were captured and taken north. Of the four powerful kings, only Fan Yanguang, the weakest, remained. This "weakness" was only relative to the "Big Three". Compared with other warlords, Fan Yanguang's strength was definitely at the level of a big brother.

The reason why Shi Jingtang did not liquidate the "remnants of Li Congke" and reused the surrendered generals from the Li Congke period, such as Yang Guangyuan, An Congjin and others, was to a certain extent to balance Fan Yanguang.

However, history is very humorous. These surrendered generals who were used as pawns by Shi Jingtang eventually joined the ranks of the rebellion. This is a later story.

When Shi Jingtang first took control of Luoyang, the situation in the world was turbulent and local generals took advantage of the chaos to do some not-so-glorious things.

For example, Menduo, a low-ranking officer in Tongzhou, launched a mutiny, killed the governor Yang Hanbin, looted the city, and set fire to it;

Lu Wenjin, the governor of Anzhou and Anyuan, betrayed his country and defected to the enemy, leading his troops to Huainan.
Mi Qiong, the chief military official in charge of Zhenzhou, started a rebellion, expelled the deputy envoy Li Yanqi, and killed the commander-in-chief Hu Zhang.

Let me first briefly talk about Anzhou Lu Wenjin. Lu Wenjin was a "former traitor" who turned over a new leaf. As early as the Later Liang Dynasty, he killed Li Cunxu's brother Li Cunju, defected to the Khitan, and led the Khitan to continue to invade the Central Plains. After Li Siyuan ascended the throne, he changed his ways, secretly contacted Li Siyuan, and "crossed the river to the south", taking the people, livestock, pots and pans in the occupied areas, risking his life to break through the Khitan checkpoints and return to his homeland in the Central Plains.

During the Later Tang Dynasty, he served in Huazhou and Luzhou. After Li Congke ascended the throne, he moved to Anzhou. Shi Jingtang ascended the throne with the help of the Khitan. Lu Wenjin was terrified, especially because of Yelu Deguang's attitude of executing "Khitan Yin'anzhi" in the suburbs of Luzhou. He was afraid that he would be retaliated by the Khitans and was "terrified and uneasy".

So, Lu Wenjin killed his military commander Feng Zhizhao (also recorded as Feng Zhifei, or Yao Zhizhao), and led his personal soldiers to defect to Xu Zhigao in Huainan.

Although Lu Wenjin had a history of treason, he had turned over a new leaf and implemented good policies since his return, and his reputation was very good. His rebellion was also due to reasons. He fled from the Khitan puppet regime because he had offended the Khitan, and was deeply sympathized with by the people. Therefore, when he passed through various checkpoints, everyone gave him the green light and did not stop him.

Huainan also sent two thousand troops to provide support.

Shi Jingtang of the Later Jin Dynasty and Xu Zhigao of Huainan cooperated well and allowed Lu Wenjin to escape safely into the territory of Huainan without fighting.

Then we will focus on Mi Qiong's mutiny:

During the Hedong War, Li Congke ordered Zhao Dejun to provide support, but Zhao Dejun disobeyed the order, arbitrarily changed the marching route, crossed Heshuo, and annexed troops along the way. Among them, Dong Wenqi, the governor of Zhenzhou Chengde Army, was taken away by him. Later, Zhao Dejun repeatedly submitted memorials requesting that Zhao Yanshou be appointed as the governor of Zhenzhou Chengde Army to replace Dong Wenqi.

When Zhao Dejun retreated to Luzhou and surrendered to the Khitan, Dong Wenqi became a Khitan prisoner and his whereabouts have been unknown since then.

Dong Wenqi was a corrupt official who collected a lot of money, had many concubines, and lived a very corrupt and decadent life. The curse of ill-gotten wealth brought disaster to Dong Wenqi's family.

(End of this chapter)