History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 542: Er An's Rebellion 2
At first glance, the meaning seems similar, but the second half of An Zhongrong's self-questioning and answering directly changes the pattern from the vast universe to the cramped fruit core, and falls from the thirty-three heavens into the deep ditch of Guixu.

Chen Sheng and Wu Guang shouted out the spirit of the Internationale: "Generals and ministers are not of the same kind, men should strive to be strong." This shout awakened the lower classes and called on the oppressed and exploited slaves to stand up and fight for their legitimate rights and interests with force, which was of epoch-making and progressive significance.

An Zhongrong's words revealed the bandit's temperament of "robbing money, food and women", full of robber logic.

Even though he said such things, he dared to shout them out publicly and mentioned them to people around him more than once, without worrying at all that they would reach Shi Jingtang's ears.

Therefore, Shi Jingtang easily detected An Zhongrong's evil intentions, and when he divided Wei Bo, he weakened An Zhongrong's strength by carving out a state from the Chengde Army under his rule and transferring his relative and neighbor Huangfu Yu away.

Right in front of An Zhongrong's office building, there is a flagpole several dozen feet high, with a dragon head decoration on top. One day, An Zhongrong held a bow and arrow and said to the people around him: "If I can become the emperor, let me shoot the dragon head with one arrow." After that, he shot an arrow and hit the dragon head.

Recalling the story of Shi Jingtang being the emperor and himself being the governor, An Zhongrong became more and more convinced that he could also be the emperor, and thus became even more arrogant.

When he went to Zhenzhou, it was Mi Qiong who launched a mutiny in Zhenzhou and massacred the family of the former governor Dong Wenqi, and then proclaimed himself as the regent. Shi Jingtang then appointed An Zhongrong as the governor of Zhenzhou and Mi Qiong as the defense envoy of Qizhou.

Before leaving, Shi Jingtang gave An Zhongrong many instructions, saying: "If Mi Qiong refuses to accept the order, you must not take her by force. I will arrange another military garrison for you."

This kind of compromise, concession and weak appeasement was the governing strategy that Shi Jingtang had to adopt under internal and external pressure. It was the correct attitude and posture for a weak leader.

However, An Zhongrong interpreted it as Shi Jingtang's natural cowardice and timidity, and sneered at it, and said proudly to those around him: "Mi Qiong is just an insignificant little character, but Shi Jingtang is so scared! Look at me, I am a general and a prime minister, commanding a large army, and I can scare Shi Jingtang to death!"

To rebel, one must recruit soldiers, gather grass and store grain, build walls and dig trenches, and a series of basic operations. Forming alliances and making alliances is already an advanced version. The weak An Zhongrong found a unique way and found a magic weapon to defeat Shi Jingtang - nationalism and patriotism.

Shi Jingtang served the Khitan wholeheartedly. In response, An Zhongrong accused him of being a traitor. He raised the banner of nationalism, portrayed himself as a patriotic general, and did his best to incite ethnic confrontation.

To this day, in the character entry of a certain website, the evaluation of An Zhongrong is still "Among the civil and military officials of the Later Jin Dynasty, only An Zhongrong was self-reliant and loyal. He clearly opposed Shi Jingtang's servile surrender policy and denounced his traitorous behavior of drinking poison to quench thirst. He did his best to protect the people of the northern tribes and curb the arrogant ambitions of the Khitans. This patriotism and national integrity in resisting foreign aggression deserves praise from future generations."

Alas... the phrase "Every man has his own opinion" has become a fig leaf for many people who lead the way.

An Zhongrong had evil intentions, never truly established ideals and beliefs, had extremely inflated political ambitions, extremely bad political qualities, extremely distorted views on power and political achievements, recklessly discussed the central government's major policies, created and spread political rumors, pretended to obey but secretly disobeyed, deceived superiors and subordinates, and gained political capital; he used all means to achieve his personal political goals and manipulated power; he was arrogant and reckless... An Zhongrong used foreign relations to accuse Shi Jingtang of selling out the country, criticized the Later Jin government for losing power and humiliating the country, etc., and did not investigate whether it was appropriate. Even if the Later Jin regime was a traitor group, it could not change An Zhongrong's true face. "Shi Jingtang is a bad guy" and "An Zhongrong is a bad guy" are two different things. Judging Shi Jingtang as a bad guy does not affect judging An Zhongrong as a bad guy.

Those who uphold nationalism and patriotism are not necessarily good people. Even if you are the thief crying "stop thief", you are still a thief.

Whenever Khitan envoys passed through Zhenzhou on their way to Bianzhou or Luoyang, An Zhongrong would insult them in every way and even kill them, deliberately creating diplomatic incidents for Shi Jingtang, making Shi Jingtang too exhausted to deal with them and forcing him to offer large amounts of financial compensation and apologize to others in a servile manner.

Zhenzhou is located at the border of the two countries. In addition to being an important transportation route between the north and the south, the ethnic situation here is also quite special. The Han and the Fan people live together. The Tang Dynasty implemented a policy of control and appeasement, which made the ethnic minorities live here in a scattered manner. Wars and famines have aggravated their mobility, making the ethnic composition of this area extremely complex, and the relationship between them is also intricate. Obviously, this place has become an ideal breeding ground for separatists.

One of the Tuyuhun tribes happened to be in the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun during the "Hedong War". With Shi Jingtang's territorial cession, they also became second-class citizens of the Khitans. The Khitans always discriminated against the people of the conquered areas, often cruelly exploiting and oppressing them.

An Zhongrong sent people to secretly contact the leader of the Tuyuhun tribe and lure them to go south and return to the Later Jin Dynasty. As a result, more than a thousand tents of the Tuyuhun tribe went south and entered the territory of the Later Jin Dynasty from the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun.

The Khitans were furious and sent envoys to blame Shi Jingtang for violating the treaty and inviting surrender and rebellion.

Shi Jingtang was like a dumb person eating coptis, unable to speak out his bitterness; Zhu Bajie looked in the mirror and found himself in a state of confusion. He offered generous gifts to apologize and sent troops to search for and arrest these illegal immigrants in the mountains and valleys of Taiyuan, Zhenzhou, Xinzhou, Daizhou, etc., and then handed them over to the Khitan.

At this moment, An Zhongrong took advantage of the situation and made a big fuss about it: Look, this traitorous and fake emperor who sold out his country!

Afterwards, An Zhongrong stepped up the intensity: he detained the Khitan envoy Zhela and sent troops to plunder the southern part of Youzhou. He also wrote a memorial stating that the leaders of the Tuyuhun, Turkic, Qibi, Shatuo and other tribes had accused the Khitans of oppressing them and expressed their desire to return to the Central Plains. The Khitans had already begun military mobilization and were said to be preparing to invade the Central Plains from the south. I was ready to be a national hero and would rather perish together with the barbarian invaders.

At that time, a mutiny broke out in Shuozhou, one of the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun. Deputy Jiedushi Zhao Chong expelled Jiedushi Yelu Huali, and the Khitan quickly sent troops to besiege.

An Zhongrong took advantage of the issue to hype up the issue, saying that Zhao Chong was a righteous man who was about to return to the Central Plains. He hoped that the Later Jin court would send troops to comply with the will of heaven and the people's wishes, fight a battle with the Khitan, take back the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun, and rescue the senior generals who were trapped among the barbarians.

This memorial consisted of several thousand words and was also addressed to ministers in the court and local governors. Its general idea was to force Shi Jingtang to turn against the Khitan and provoke a war with the Khitan.

(End of this chapter)