History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 585 Du Chongwei 2
Under Du Chongwei's cruel and brutal exploitation, a large number of people in Zhenzhou fled. So someone reminded him to restrain himself appropriately, otherwise he would be the only one left in Zhenzhou.

One day, Du Chongwei was strolling in a busy street. Pointing at the few pedestrians, he said to the people around him, "There are still quite a few people here. Why are there rumors that I've driven all the people away?"

During the Jin-Liao War, whenever there was any sign of trouble, Du Chongwei would take advantage of the situation and impose levies on the people and officials under the pretext of strengthening border defense. The money of the poor and the rich was all my, Du Chongwei's money.

Whenever he discovered that a rich man had rare treasures, beautiful concubines, or fine horses, Du Chongwei would use all means to seize them. His most common trick was to arrest the person, fabricate some charges against him, kill him, and then take over all the person's property and beautiful women.

Whenever Khitan troops entered the country, even if there were only a few dozen scout cavalrymen coming to investigate, Du Chongwei would immediately close the city gates and stay in the city, not daring to go out to fight.

Obviously, the previous counterinsurgency war was really led by experts, and he was only responsible for lying down and gaining experience.

Over time, the Khitans also looked down on Du Chongwei, a coward who valued money more than anything else. Sometimes, several Khitan cavalrymen escorted hundreds of Han people and marched northward under the city of Zhenzhou, deliberately provoking Du Chongwei. The captured Han people raised their heads and cried out to the city wall, but Du Chongwei just stretched his neck, stared, and watched calmly, allowing his people to be taken to the grassland as slaves.

At any time, retreat would only lead to the perpetrators becoming more violent. Du Chongwei's cruel indifference and cowardice did not win the invaders' mercy. The Khitans became more unscrupulous in killing the people of Zhenzhou. They burned, killed, looted, and committed all kinds of evil wherever they went. Many villages were ruthlessly massacred. Historical records record that "for a thousand miles, bones were scattered like grass, and almost all villages were destroyed."

Hebei was the main battlefield of the two campaigns, especially the Zhenzhou Chengde Army, where there was no one in the area for thousands of miles, and the people hated Du Chongwei so much that their hatred for him even exceeded their hatred for the Khitans.

Du Chongwei knew this very well. He was terrified, fearing the Khitans who might come south at any time, and the people of Zhenzhou who would rise up in rebellion. So he kept petitioning the court, requesting to be allowed to meet the emperor, hoping to escape from this troubled place as soon as possible.

Since the middle of the Tang Dynasty, the situation of separatist regimes gradually formed and spread rapidly, and the emperor wanted the separatist regime to come to the court. But in general, if the separatist regime warlords took the initiative to ask for an audience with the central government, the emperor would still decline politely and issue an imperial decree to refuse, in order to prove to the separatist regime that the court had no suspicion of him and to appease his emotions, because in most cases, the separatist regime's report to the capital was a test of the court. If the emperor agreed, the separatist regime would most likely rebel immediately.

If the warlords really wanted to come to the capital to pay homage, there was only one situation: they encountered a mutiny, or there was a great risk of mutiny, and they could no longer stay there, so they were forced to seek refuge in the central government.

Shi Chonggui would of course also refuse to approve the request. Comrade Du Chongwei is loyal to the emperor and patriotic. The organization trusts you very much and the local area cannot do without you. You don't have to come all the way to Beijing in person to report on your work. If necessary, just send a young comrade to show your appreciation.

However, Du Chongwei did not dare to stay even a minute longer. Without the emperor's permission, he skipped work, left Zhenzhou with his troops and money, and went to the capital.

Deserting from duty is a capital offense.

Today, Jin and Liao are still at war. Zhenzhou is located on the border between the two countries. It is a strategic town with great importance. However, Du Chongwei left without authorization and abandoned the strategic town. This is intolerable.

Ministers in the court submitted memorials to impeach Du Chongwei and demanded severe punishment. Sang Weihan settled old scores for Shi Chonggui, saying that Du Chongwei usually relied on his status as a royal relative to do many illegal things. His Majesty had always tolerated and condoned him, wasn't it because he hoped that he could contribute to the country? But when the war broke out, he acted as a coward and timid, not only did he not achieve any success, but now he has even deserted his post and fled from the battlefield. He hoped that His Majesty would take this opportunity to remove his military power to avoid future troubles.

They didn't say to kill Du Chongwei, they just stripped him of his military power. Anyway, he didn't dare to go to the battlefield to defend his country.

Even so, Shi Chonggui was very unhappy.

Sang Weihan had no choice but to make another concession and said that he would give Du Chongwei a smaller military town near the capital instead, and not give him the important military stronghold.

Shi Chonggui was angry and said that he was my aunt, how could he betray the court? He came to the capital just to reunite with my aunt. Who dares to say anything?
From then on, Sang Weihan never dared to participate in discussions of national affairs again. He claimed that he was suffering from a serious illness - athlete's foot, and was unable to perform his duties, so he submitted a petition requesting to resign and retire.

Sang Weihan was not angry with Shi Chonggui, he was really scared. It will be mentioned later that Shi Chonggui favored royal relatives, such as Du Chongwei and Feng Yu, and they repeatedly slandered and framed Sang Weihan in order to fight for power. Three people make a tiger, and Shi Chonggui gradually alienated Sang Weihan. This is the political struggle in the late Later Jin Dynasty. Sang Weihan knew that he could not compete with them, so he chose to withdraw and surrender to the "royal relatives gang".

After Du Chongwei entered the capital, he showed off his magic skills again, which made the civil and military officials exclaim that the city knows how to play:
Du Chongwei presented Shi Chonggui with an armed force of 4,000 men, along with their weapons and armor, etc. He also presented 100,000 hu of grain and 200,000 bundles of fodder.

He was very supportive of Shi Chonggui. "See, my uncle is still the most loyal one!"

However, one detail must be explained here. These grains and fodders were not presented in kind, but "presented in account books". The grains and fodders were all in Zhenzhou, and Du Chongwei kept them for the court. They were only transferred to the court on paper. A blank check.

As for the handling of this 4,000-man armed force, it was an even more high-end operation: Shi Chonggui reorganized the cavalry of these 4,000 people into the "Saint Guarding Special Battalion" and the infantry into the "National Protection Special Battalion", and then allocated these two battalions to Du Chongwei to serve as his personal guard...

After a roundabout way, the troops were still his own. But Gao Duan had gone a roundabout way because the troops were legally the imperial guards, so the military pay was allocated by the central government. In the name of offering troops to the imperial court, in reality he was asking the imperial court to reimburse him for his military expenses.

For example, a company boss bought a plane and then leased it to his own company at a high rent. The contract stipulates that all expenses incurred in the use and maintenance of the plane shall be borne by the company, and the owner of the company can only use it during the lease period... What is the operation of renting it to yourself? Simply put, on the one hand, it is to avoid taxes, turning the cost of high-end luxury goods into "costs" on the company's accounts and reducing the "profits" on the books; on the other hand, it is to avoid risks. If the company goes bankrupt, the plane will not be seized, frozen, or offset against debts, because it is not the company's property, but the boss's personal property...

The so-called capital game that looks dazzling was actually played by the bastard Du Chongwei more than a thousand years ago.

(End of this chapter)