History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 553: Jin Zu 2
There was only one truth to the matter, but both parties in the lawsuit insisted on their own version of the truth, and both were very sure of their statements and swore to the heavens. Obviously, one of them was lying. Shi Jingtang was faced with a difficult problem: how to determine who was lying.

Shi Jingtang smiled coldly, "Isn't this simple? Kill the horse, cut open its belly and scrape out its intestines. If there is millet inside, kill the soldier; if not, kill the shrew."

So the warhorse was slaughtered in court, and everyone witnessed that there was not a grain of millet in the horse's intestines. Afterwards, the peasant woman who filed the complaint was beheaded immediately.

After this case came to light, "the whole area was in a state of solemnity, and no one dared to speak of lies." No one in the Hedong area dared to blackmail anyone anymore.

Shi Jingtang always followed this style of conduct, whether he was in charge of Hedong or Zhenzhou, and attached great importance to the education of the people, especially "filial piety". According to records, any rebellious sons who fought over the inheritance of their parents while they were still alive would be sentenced to death.

In the feudal period, "filial piety" was the highest moral standard of behavior, and there was no tolerance in the law. For example, An Zhongrong once judged a "disobedience case" as mentioned above, which also indirectly reflects the importance of "filial piety" in ancient times. Those who were unfilial to their parents would be executed immediately.

When we evaluate a historical figure, we cannot mechanically apply modern values, but must follow the historical and cultural environment of the time. This is the basic quality of a correct materialist view of history.

In history books, if you read someone's biography, if the beginning introduces that this person is very filial to his parents, then you don't even need to read the rest of the content, he must be a loyal minister and a righteous man. On the contrary, if the beginning says that he is unfilial to his parents, such as "cutting off their food and supplies in the village", then you don't even need to read the rest of the content, he must be an unforgivable traitor and a big villain.

Historical books are very concise with words, and often a person's life's merits and demerits can be described in just dozens or hundreds of words, so no word is redundant. Why do we need to emphasize that he respected his parents? It is because this was the value system of the ancients.

Similarly, when judging an official, integrity, diligence in government affairs, etc. are also very important factors. Among diligence in government affairs, educating the people is the most important criterion, even higher than integrity. Among educating the people, "filial piety" is the highest criterion.

Therefore, if the official's biography tells how he persuaded the people to practice filial piety, then there is no need to read the rest of the story, he must be a good official. Shi Jingtang was such an official.

As for his political measures after becoming emperor, we have already described them in detail when he ascended the throne. In short, he was a good ruler. Tax cuts and amnesty were his daily routine. He put aside past grudges, reused ministers from the Li Congke period, and even gave Li Congke's direct confidants, the "Six Inspectors of the Sleeping Room," a break.

Shi Jingtang also played a huge role in promoting the course of Chinese history. He introduced foreign forces into the Central Plains, which led to an unprecedented increase in the influence of the Khitan on the Central Plains and aggravated the chaos in the Central Plains. The strong intervention of the Khitans had a great impact on the beliefs of the people of the Central Plains, destroying the cultural accumulation and national pride of thousands of years, causing that generation to fall into a crisis of faith, with their spiritual pillars shaky. In confusion and fear, people asked the soul-searching question: "Who rules the Central Plains?"

The Khitans’ civilization process was not as advanced as that of the Central Plains, and they did not develop more advanced ideas, revolutionary ideas or systems. We can try to make a comparison with modern times. If the Khitans at that time had “Mr. Democracy” and “Mr. Science”, or the spring breeze of Bolsheviks blew - it’s just a metaphor, that is, if the Khitans’ civilization was more advanced than that of the Central Plains, and their military power was backed by cultural power and ideological weapons, then the Central Plains at that time might have been destroyed, the “Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms” would have stopped at the third generation, and the Chinese land would have been unified in a dynasty called “Liao”.

This kind of fantasy is not meaningless, but is to illustrate the huge hidden dangers that Shi Jingtang's behavior of inviting wolves into the house brought to the Central Plains civilization. Many people, out of sensationalism and originality, have to reverse the verdict on Shi Jingtang, saying that Shi Jingtang's infamy as a "traitor" was a deliberate smear against him by the people of the Song Dynasty, because after the Khitans took control of the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun, they put tremendous pressure on the Song Dynasty militarily, which was a nightmare for the people of the Song Dynasty for a hundred years. In order to cover up their own incompetence, the civil and military officials of the Song Dynasty put the blame for the defeat on Shi Jingtang, meaning that if Shi Jingtang had not ceded the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun, our Song Dynasty would have destroyed the Khitan and unified the world long ago.

Seek common ground while reserving differences. Time cannot precipitate the truth, only the continuous flow of knowledge and an independent brain can restore the truth.

After Shi Jingtang's death, he entrusted an important minister to read out his will, and Shi Chonggui, the "big-eyed and cute" Prince of Qi, inherited the throne and ascended the throne in front of his coffin.

There has been some controversy in history about Shi Jingtang's true "last will". For example, "Zizhi Tongjian" says that Shi Jingtang's true last will was to let his youngest son Shi Chongrui ascend the throne; "Records of Emperor Gaozu of Han" says that Shi Jingtang wanted to return power to the Li family and let Li Siyuan's youngest son Li Congyi ascend the throne.

We don't need to rush to verify it, just look at these two rumored candidates: Shi Chongrui and Li Congyi. Suddenly, I realized that there is no need to verify it, this is the need of political struggle. In particular, the saying of "returning power to the Li family" comes from "The Records of Emperor Gaozu of Han Dynasty". The "Emperor Gaozu of Han Dynasty" here is not Liu Bang, but Liu Zhiyuan, the "Emperor Gaozu of Later Han Dynasty" in our mouth.

Both statements are obviously based on political needs and serve the political struggle.

Speaking of Shi Jingtang's heir to the throne, we have to sympathize with Shi Jingtang. On the road to the throne, almost all of his family members were executed.

Shi Jingtang was born into a barbarian family and his family was humble. Not only could no one accurately tell his family lineage, no one even knew much about the stories about his father and brothers. The few scattered records that remained were full of different opinions and there was no consensus.

Even the royal historians of the Northern Song Dynasty could not verify it. The Old History of the Five Dynasties only roughly verified that Shi Jingtang had two uncles, one elder brother, six younger brothers, seven sons, and two grandsons. The deeds of these people are almost not recorded in the history books. The authoritative history books only talk about them in a few words and keep their names. For example, among the "one brother and six younger brothers", only three of them can be verified to have a kinship with Shi Jingtang, that is, Shi Jingwei, Shi Jingyun, and Shi Jinghui are Shi Jingtang's cousins. The fathers of the first two are Shi Wanyou, and the father of the latter is Shi Wanquan.

There are three interesting or strange things about Shi Jingtang's family lineage that are worth mentioning:
1. A younger brother whom I treat as my own son
Shi Jingtang's brothers were all named "Jing", while his sons and nephews were named "Chong". But there was an exception. Shi Jingtang loved his youngest brother very much. How much did he love him? He named him "Chong" and treated him like his own son. This person was Shi Chongyin. At first glance, you might think he was his son or nephew, but he was actually his younger brother.

It is terrifying to think about it carefully. Is he really Shi Jingtang's brother? Perhaps there is a dark, extremely dirty, immoral and yet popular love story behind it.

(End of this chapter)