History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 563 Relationship breakdown
【Xiangzhou Ending】

Just two months after Shi Chonggui came to power, Xiangzhou presented him with a great gift: the recapture of Xiangzhou led to the suicide immolation of the entire clan of the rebel An Congjin.

In November of the sixth year of Tianfu (941), An Congjin took advantage of Shi Jingtang's trip to Weizhou in the north to launch a rebellion in Xiangzhou, hoping to take advantage of the opportunity.

Unexpectedly, this was Shi Jingtang's way of playing hard to get. He had already left a blank transfer order for Shi Chonggui, who stayed in Bianzhou, and arranged an emergency plan. When the news of the rebellion in Xiangzhou came, the emergency plan was quickly activated. Zhang Cong'en, Jiao Jixun, Guo Jinhai and others led the central imperial army to the south from Bianzhou; Gao Xingzhou, Song Yanyun and others went south from Luoyang. It was like a divine army descending from the sky, which caught An Congjin off guard.

An Congjin lost the first battle and retreated to Xiangzhou. The war then entered a stalemate.

An Congjin was trapped in an isolated city and sent his younger brother An Conggui to sneak out of the city to meet the reinforcements from Junzhou. As a result, An Conggui was captured alive by Jiao Jixun, and after his feet were cut off, he was put into Xiangzhou City.

Afterwards, the two sides just kept wasting time.

"Come in if you can."

"Come out if you can."

It was not until June of the seventh year of Tianfu (942), half a year after the siege, that Gao Xingzhou reported from the front line of Xiangzhou that An Congjin, who was at the end of his rope, was still making a last-ditch effort. He sent his aide (observation judge) Li Guangtu to sneak out of the city to ask for help, but he was captured by our army and taken to the capital.

Shi Jingtang had no time to deal with this, because he left us prematurely on June 6.

After Shi Chonggui ascended the throne, he issued a general amnesty, in which he specifically named An Congjin of Xiangzhou. He said that as long as An Congjin repented and surrendered, he would guarantee the safety of him and his followers, and would also show them more favor by allowing them to be promoted, make money, have no worries about food and clothing, and live out their lives in peace.

Surrender, I will not let you down, just like the late emperor would not let Fan Yanguang down.

When the time came to August, Xiangzhou's food supply was cut off. An Congjin had no soldiers to help him from outside, and no grains of rice from inside. His morale was low and he was on the verge of collapse.

Outside the city, Commander-in-Chief Gao Xingzhou was waiting for Xiangzhou City to fall, but one of his generals woke him up with a word.

"The army has been besieging the city for nearly a year. The food and grass of the Xiangzhou rebels have been cut off. Our army's logistical supplies have also been consumed greatly. The soldiers and civilians have long been exhausted. Why not take advantage of this opportunity to put pressure on the city and force them to surrender early? Don't forget, the emperor has taken over now..."

"Oh——" Gao Xingzhou suddenly realized.

The generals in charge of siege actually shouldered enormous pressure, which did not come from the battlefield but from the rear, especially when the siege battle reached a stalemate.

Because at this time, the emperor will inevitably be suspicious of the commander-in-chief on the front line, thinking that the commander is raising the enemy and using the rebels to threaten the court. If a villain takes the opportunity to slander at this time, the commander-in-chief on the front line will basically be finished. There are too many such stories, where the commander did not die in the hail of bullets on the front line, but was stabbed in the back by his own people.

Furthermore, the country is now in financial difficulties, lacking money and food. The Xiangzhou front is undoubtedly a gold-eating beast. The court is likely to announce a withdrawal because it can no longer support it, just like Emperor Mingzong's expedition to Jingnan ended in vain. In this case, the commander of the front will also be impeached and dismissed for "ineffective expedition".

Therefore, Gao Xingzhou could not wait, he had to quickly take over Xiangzhou, otherwise he would not end well.

Therefore, Gao Xingzhou immediately mobilized the entire army and suddenly launched a fierce attack on Xiangzhou City. After more than half a year of stalemate, the dead silent battlefield ushered in passionate shouts. The Central Army was surprised to see that Commander-in-Chief Gao Xingzhou and Imperial Army General Liu Ci actually rushed to the front and took the lead in climbing the city wall. The morale of the Central Army instantly exploded, and the soldiers shouted and rushed forward.

The Xiangzhou defenders had lost all their fighting spirit and morale. Facing the sudden and fierce attack of the Central Army, they surrendered one after another. An Congjin saw that the situation was hopeless, so he led his entire family to move to a high building and burned themselves to death. His son An Hongzan was captured alive and beheaded.

[Broken relationship]

The battle of Xiangzhou was over, but Jing Yanguang, who was engaged in the "line struggle", was not idle. He was actively provoking another larger-scale war.

When Shi Chonggui first ascended the throne, he discussed with his ministers how to write a letter of condolence to the Liao Emperor Yelu Deguang.

Logically speaking, the format of a memorial should be used, and Shi Chonggui should pledge his allegiance and claim to be a grandson of the Liao Dynasty.

Jing Yanguang jumped out and objected loudly, thinking that it was not possible to pay homage to the barbarians, so there was no need to use memorials, a casual letter would be enough, and it was okay to call himself grandson.

At that time, Sang Weihan was still serving as a governor in Chang'an. Because Shi Jingtang had indulged Yang Guangyuan in his later years, Sang Weihan was exiled. Li Song, the second most important figure of the "pro-Liao faction", was in the court.

Li Song really insisted on taking the "pro-Liao" line, emphasizing that submitting to the Liao Dynasty was an agreement between the previous emperor and Yelu Deguang, and it could not be violated without reason. Moreover, we are not currently prepared for a war with the Liao Dynasty. If a war breaks out, we will suffer.

Jing Yanguan and Li Song refused to give in to each other, and the issue of "submission" became the first contest between the pro-Liao faction and the anti-Liao faction.

During this period, the sophisticated Feng Dao stated that he would not take sides or express his opinion, and remained ambiguous so as not to offend anyone.

In the end, Shi Chonggui adopted Jing Yanguang's suggestion because Li Song was a "remnant of Li Congke" and Jing Yanguang was a meritorious official who supported him to ascend the throne.

After receiving the letter, Yelu Deguang flew into a rage and sent an envoy to reprimand his disobedient grandson, "Why didn't you report to me first? How dare you, your grandson, take the throne without permission? Did you get your grandfather's permission?"

Jing Yanguang grabbed the brush, splashed ink on it, and cursed back in person, using arrogant and harsh words.

"Calling himself grandson instead of subject" was the first major offense that the Later Jin Dynasty committed against the Khitan.

The second is the "Qiao Rong incident."

Qiao Rong was originally a low-ranking officer in Heyang. During the Hedong War, he was transferred to Zhao Yanshou by Li Congke and followed Zhao Yanshou north to support Jin'an Village.

At that time, after Zhao Yanshou and his adoptive father Zhao Dejun joined forces, they stayed together, watching the fire from the other side of the river and threatening the court. After Zhao Dejun and Zhao Yanshou were captured, Qiao Rong was also escorted to Khitan.

Because of his intelligence and ability, he was soon appointed by the Khitan as a "Huitushi", a foreign trade official, responsible for trade between the two countries.

The previous article introduced the "Huituwu" and "Huitushi". They not only monopolized the trade between the two countries, but also served as important intelligence centers, the bridgehead for the Khitan economic invasion, and the invisible weapon for turning the Later Jin into an economic colony.

Jing Yanguang instigated Shi Chonggui to seal off the "Huituwu" and arrest the Huitu envoy Qiao Rong. He also confiscated all the money and goods in the Huituwu warehouse, raided Qiao Rong's house, and confiscated all his property.

Not only did we capture the "traitor", we destroyed the enemy spy organization, and made a lot of money. This deal is really a good deal!
(End of this chapter)