History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 575: Fifteen Generals of the Liao Dynasty Part 2
After nearly three months of rest, Shi Chonggui completed the correction of the central line through a mild political purge. He placed the next stage of military focus on clearing out Yang Guangyuan in Qingzhou and achieved initial results. He also successfully set a fire in the Khitan backyard.

Although natural disasters continued to increase and large numbers of people fled and starved to death, overall, the Later Jin Dynasty managed to survive this devastating disaster.

Shi Chonggui was quite satisfied with this, so on July 7, he ascended the Chongyuan Hall and announced a general amnesty and a change of the reign title, changing the ninth year of Tianfu to the first year of Kaiyun. The country was about to start a good fortune.

As a result, the stone dragon was struck by lightning, which broke its head. Hundreds of people were killed in the capital city.

Shi Chonggui sent Jing Yanguang out of the capital and promoted Sang Weihan, Li Song, He Ning, Liu Xu and others. It seems that the "pro-Liao faction" has occupied the high ground of the civil service group again. However, what is interesting is that the "anti-Liao faction" is not anti-Liao, and the "pro-Liao faction" is not pro-Liao, which is both incredible and reasonable.

According to historical records, Jing Yanguang was frightened in the Battle of Qicheng. The Khitan cavalry rushed to Jing Yanguang's camp, challenged the enemy, and called out Jing Yanguang by name, "Don't you have 100,000 swords? Do you want to fight us? We are here, come out!"

The keyboard warrior Jing Yanguang immediately became a coward, closing the gates of the village tightly and not daring to fight. Being timid was also one of the reasons why he did not help Gao Xingzhou and others. This was also a common problem of all keyboard warriors since ancient times.

Sang Weihan, who has always been regarded as a "pro-Liao element", showed a firm belief in the struggle and took proactive measures to resist.

More than three months after returning to the highest level of power in the central government, Shi Chonggui, with the help of Sang Weihan, drafted the "Fifteen Generals to Defend against Liao". Here is this mighty and domineering list:
Liu Zhiyuan, Du Chongwei, Zhang Cong'en, Jing Yanguang, Zhao Zaili, An Shuqian, An Shenxin, An Shenqi, Fu Yanqing, Huangfu Yu, Zhang Yanze, Wang Tingyin, Song Yanjun, Tian Wu, Pan Huan.

It is obvious that this list was drawn up by politicians, because it contains the political wisdom of balancing the various factions and taking care of all parties.

The most convincing one is Jing Yanguang. The second is a hidden clue, that is Liu Zhiyuan.

Liu Zhiyuan was appointed as the "Northern Camp Commander-in-Chief", the commander-in-chief of the Northern Expedition, and was listed as the first of the "Fifteen Generals to Defend against Liao", but in reality he was not given the corresponding power. He was a commander-in-chief in name only, and military decisions could be avoided from him. Liu Zhiyuan felt that he was isolated and excluded. Obviously, he was suspected.

Putting Liu Zhiyuan in a very high position, but holding him in name only, and not using him, was a political tactic that killed three birds with one stone.

First, Liu Zhiyuan was Shi Jingtang's direct confidant, a hero who assisted him in his mission, and highly respected. If Shi Chonggui excluded him from the core power circle, especially from the core of the military system, it would chill the hearts of all the meritorious old ministers, making people pessimistic and desperate and sighing "a new emperor, a new minister", which would be unfavorable to Shi Chonggui in public opinion;
Secondly, if one day Shi Chonggui really needs Liu Zhiyuan to come out of retirement, it will not be awkward, and it will prevent Liu Zhiyuan from making trouble and raising the price.

Third, the troops assembled in Hebei can either go north to resist the Khitan or go west to conquer Hedong.

Although Shi Chonggui was suspicious of Liu Zhiyuan and intended to distance himself from him, Liu Zhiyuan still topped the list of the "Fifteen Generals to Defend against Liao". This was the political wisdom of Shi Chonggui and Sang Weihan.

Shi Chonggui's suspicion of Liu Zhiyuan was not groundless, nor was it simply "a new emperor, a new minister". In the Battle of Qicheng, Liu Zhiyuan repeatedly disobeyed the emperor's orders, which prevented the Later Jin Dynasty from completing the strategic encirclement of the Khitan main force. Now, Liu Zhiyuan suddenly felt unprecedented fear, because the court was deploying troops in Hebei for a legitimate reason - to resist the Khitan, and making an unprecedented military mobilization. For all these key issues such as troop mobilization and military deployment, Shi Chonggui bypassed Liu Zhiyuan, and Liu Zhiyuan knew nothing about it.

The Khitans left, so... who knows if Shi Chonggui is not targeting him? With just one order from Shi Chonggui, the troops in Hebei can be divided into multiple groups to encircle Taiyuan.

The thought was so terrifying that Liu Zhiyuan couldn't sleep or eat.

His trusted general Guo Wei analyzed and planned for him, and believed that he should preserve his strength and split off from Hedong. Because Hedong was one of the few places in the Central Plains that could produce a large number of war horses, and the terrain was dangerous and the people were tough, both Li Keyong and Shi Jingtang ascended the throne here, so Liu Zhiyuan had better not participate in the Shandong battlefield, and stay west of Taihang Mountain, grow slowly, and don't be reckless.

After the list of the "Fifteen Generals to Defend the Liao Dynasty" was announced, a highly respected frontier official suddenly submitted a petition to the court to express his dissatisfaction, saying that he was not too old and could still serve the country, so why was he not on the list? What did the court mean?
This person is none other than Feng Hui, the governor of the Shuofang Army in Lingzhou. He is a character with low popularity but high screen time, and is our most unfamiliar old acquaintance. Not only does he have a very high screen time, but he also appears in major historical events, and is the millennial extra standing next to the leading actor in key scenes. He is there, but no one pays attention to him.

Here, let's briefly review Comrade Feng Hui's personal resume. I believe most people will sincerely say "Wow, it turns out to be him!"

Feng Hui, a native of Weizhou, was born during the reign of Emperor Zhaozong of Tang. He joined the army when he was young and became a captain under Yang Shihou, the governor of Weizhou. He was incorporated into the famous "Silver Spear Xiejiedu".

When Emperor Zhuangzong entered Wei, Li Cunxu annexed Weizhou and reorganized the Yinqiang Xiejiedu into his own personal guard. Feng Hui also switched to serve the Hedong Group and participated in the confrontation between Liang and Jin along the river.

Because he felt that the salary and benefits in Hedong were too low, he took advantage of the situation and fled to the south bank, rejoined the army of Later Liang, and was incorporated into the subordinates of "Wang Tieqiang" Wang Yanzhang.

When Emperor Zhuangzong entered Bian, Feng Hui was at the top of the list of the Hedong Group to be liquidated. Feng Hui took the initiative to surrender himself, and Li Cunxu pardoned him.

Feng Hui repaid Li Cunxu's kindness of not killing him with practical actions. He first followed Li Siyuan to quell the rebellion in Luzhou and captured the rebel leader Yang Li alive; the following year, he followed Li Jiji and Guo Chongtao to attack Shu and was awarded the title of Governor of Kuizhou for his merits.

As soon as he took office, he encountered Gao Jichang of Jingnan who was trying to seize Kui, Zhong, Wan and other states by force. Feng Hui held on to the city and defeated Gao Jichang repeatedly.

During the reign of Emperor Mingzong, he was changed to the governor of Xingzhou. Just after he took office, the two Sichuans rebelled. Dong Zhang of Dongchuan and Meng Zhixiang of Xichuan joined forces to rebel and attacked Xingzhou. Feng Hui was outnumbered and was forced to flee to Fengxiang. He was convicted by the court and demoted to Tongzhou, where he worked as a government official and was demoted from mayor to a minor clerk.

(End of this chapter)