History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 560 "Big Eyes Cute" Succession 7
July

Dingzhou reported, "The people of the tribe were captured, killed and displaced one after another, about 5,000 households."

Qingzhou reported, "One hundred and twelve families were killed."

Yizhou reported, "Huainan... should meet the bandit leader Chang Zhiji."

The uprising army of hungry people in the present-day Shandong and Jiangsu areas received support from the Huainan forces. Please don't misunderstand, the Huainan forces did not provide humanitarian assistance, but sent troops to respond to them, and cooperated internally and externally to seize the land of the Later Jin Dynasty.

July

"The Yangliukou River broke through the west bank, and the water was forty miles wide."

"All the river water and rainwater from Gushu County in Songzhou flowed eastward, drowning the autumn crops."

"Since the beginning of summer, tens of thousands of people have starved to death in the prefectures and counties of Henan and Hebei. Bandits have sprung up and plundered counties and towns. The heavy rains have continued, and the rivers and lakes have overflowed, damaging the autumn crops."

Last year, there was a drought and a locust plague caused by the drought. This year, there is a peasant uprising caused by floods and famine. In less than two months, tens of thousands of people starved to death. The disaster also affected the autumn sowing. If nothing unexpected happens, there will be no food left to survive the winter.

July

"The rain in Qinzhou has lasted for more than two decades."

"Yedu (Weizhou) has a rainfall of one zhang."

"Floods hit Luojing (Luoyang), Zhengzhou, and Beizhou."

"In Yedu, Xiajin and Linqing counties, 3,300 people starved to death."

"Thieves entered Linpu and Feixian."

-- In September, Henan, Hebei, and Guanxi states reported that "the heavy rains continued, the ditches and rivers overflowed, the water entered the city walls and damaged the autumn crops."

At the end of the year, the Later Jin Dynasty surrendered to the Khitan in full, and the Later Jin regime was declared extinct.

5. The Young Emperor’s Reign

During the more than four years that Shi Chonggui was emperor, there were all kinds of natural and man-made disasters. Internally, there were the above-mentioned continuous disasters, and externally, there was an unprecedented and fierce war with the Khitan for many years. The word "war" basically runs through the "Chronicle of the Young Emperor".

We strike while the iron is hot and begin by coping with natural disasters, analyzing the internal affairs of Shi Chonggui's regime, and gradually uncovering the mystery of this king who lost his country.

5.1 Disaster Response
At first, when it came to dealing with natural disasters, Shi Chonggui was not much different from other emperors. After all, the world was his, and the people were his subjects. When the people were affected by the disaster, the emperor would of course provide relief and comfort.

Generally speaking, it means tax reduction and exemption, and then opening warehouses to release grain, which are relatively practical. Occasionally, there will be spiritual measures, such as issuing a "self-criticism edict". If a set of combined punches still does not improve, then there will be riots among the hungry people and bandits will rise up without a doubt.

At first, Shi Chonggui did follow the general routine. He announced amnesty, exempted taxes in disaster-stricken areas, and made policy-based grants (such as exchanging locusts for an equal volume of official grain) more than once. He also issued a "self-blame edict."

The seventh year of Tianfu (942)

——In July, the tax exemption system was lowered, and “wherever there are insects and locusts in the country, rent and taxes will be exempted.”

——In August, the rebellion of An Congjin in Xiangzhou was put down
"The emperor granted the people in Xiangzhou two hu of millet for the rich and one hu for the poor, as they had been under siege for a long time." "The emperor exempted the people in Xiangzhou from house taxes in summer and autumn this year, and exempted the rent and taxes for the camps outside the city for two years."

The eighth year of Tianfu (943)

-- In the first month, an imperial decree was issued to open the granaries and release grain to help the victims of the disaster. At the same time, it was stipulated that "those who have stored grain should share it equally and lend it to help the poor."

This is an imperial decree to rob the rich and help the poor. Of course, I don't deny that the emperor's starting point is good, hoping that the people of the world can help each other and overcome difficulties together. But it is very difficult to implement. What standards are used to judge "people who have stored grain" and "poor people" who receive relief? Obviously, it depends on local officials, which leaves a lot of room for corrupt officials to display their power.

We have reason to believe that those who are robbed are not necessarily rich people, and those who receive relief are not necessarily poor people. For example, some people drive Mercedes-Benz and BMW cars to receive subsistence allowances and public housing, while some poor people cannot receive them due to material problems.

The sutra is a good sutra, but it was misrepresented by the bad monk.

——In June, the imperial court sent dozens of special commissioners from the central government to various prefectures and counties to forcibly plunder the people's food.

These special commissioners from the central government were as harsh and cruel as wolves and tigers. If they found anyone who dared to hide grain, they would be killed on the spot. This was the court openly robbing the people.

The direct consequence of this forced requisition of food rations from the people was that in September of this year, "twenty-seven prefectures and counties were infested with locusts, and hundreds of thousands of people starved to death." Hundreds of thousands of people starved to death in just one month. The locusts indicated that they could not take all the blame.

With the official outbreak of the war with Khitan at the end of the year, the finances of the Later Jin court became even tighter, and there was a serious shortage of strategic materials such as food, military pay, and war horses. As a result, Shi Chonggui's exploitation of the people became even more severe.

The first year of Kaiyun (944)

——In the first month, “the emperor ordered the use of all public and private horses in the country to support the cavalry.”

Steal horses from the people.

——In March, "the emperor issued an edict to recruit local soldiers from all over the country. Every seven households would send one soldier, and six households would provide the soldiers. They would also provide their own weapons, and the army would be named "Wuding".

Forced conscription required the common people to either serve as soldiers on the front lines or pay money. As for the militiamen who went to the front lines, their age and physical condition were not important, and they had to provide their own armor, weapons, and horses, "buy a horse in the east market, a saddle in the west market, a bridle in the south market, and a long whip in the north market."

The militiaman who went to the front line might be an old farmer in his 40s or 50s, or a weak and sickly person, but he was sent to be cannon fodder. It is conceivable how strong the fighting capacity of this "Wuding Army" was.

——In April, “4 civil and military officials were ordered to go to various provinces and prefectures to collect money and silk for military use.”

Then send special commissioners from the central government to the local areas to grab money.

Whether it was the imperial order to seize grain or the imperial order to seize money, the enthusiasm of local officials was quite high. The court issued different targets to various places based on factors such as the economic development level of each place. Don't worry, all places exceeded the targets.

The imperial court knew that a steady stream of income would lead to long-term benefits, but the ruthless officials wanted to drain the pond to catch all the fish.

For example, in Luoyang, the imperial court assigned a task target of 20 strings of cash. Jing Yanguang, the then governor of Luoyang, quickly robbed 37 strings of cash from the people and was not going to stop. His staff Lu Yi could not stand it any longer and advised him that the country was in serious trouble and he had no choice but to plunder the people. You are already a general and a prime minister, and your status has reached the pinnacle. What else can you not be satisfied with? You are so greedy, aren't you afraid that you will bring trouble to your descendants in the future?

Jing Yanguang was so ashamed that he stopped at 37 strings of cash.

Of course, these 37 strings of cash may not be the actual amount. The reason why officials at all levels are efficient is that they can rob money under the banner of the emperor and then pocket the money. A large part of the money that exceeds the target goes into their own pockets.

Another example is An Shenxin, the governor of Yanzhou. He had previously imposed levies on local people on the pretext of building city walls and dealing with wars, and extorted a lot of money. When the central government's special commissioner arrived in Yanzhou, An Shenxin happened to be out of the office, and the central government's target for Yanzhou was 10 strings of cash. The special commissioner arrested An Shenxin's warehouse manager and ordered him to open the warehouse, which was full of money baskets (large bamboo baskets for storing grain or cash, some as big as houses). The special commissioner opened one of the money baskets at random, and the money inside exceeded 10 strings of cash. The special commissioner stood there in a daze, looking at the warehouse full of money baskets, and couldn't help but sigh, how much of the people's blood and sweat this grandson had extorted!

(End of this chapter)