History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 598: The Fall of the Later Jin Dynasty 1
In the picture, Du Chongwei is wearing a dragon robe, his face is filled with the expression exclusive to traitors. If his ears were not blocking his view, the corners of his mouth would stretch to the back of his head; the person helping him put on the dragon robe is Zhao Yanshou, who also has a weird smile on his face, a smirk, a mockery, and from his treacherous sidelong glance, it can be seen that he is up to no good; in the distance, the Khitan central army tent is depicted, with a laughing man sitting dimly inside, he is Yelu Deguang; and around the picture, serving as the background, is a group of Han officers and soldiers with complex expressions, they are either afraid, confused, grieving, or hateful.

After helping Du Chongwei put on the dragon robe, Zhao Yanshou led him in the army to show off, and repeatedly told the surrendered soldiers and generals: "Look, do you recognize him? Your commander will soon be your emperor. Don't worry, the emperor of the Central Plains should be a Central Plains person. Once you enter Bianzhou, the Khitans will not take a single needle or thread, and everything will belong to you!"

At that time, the officers and soldiers were furious and there was the danger of a mutiny at any time. When everyone saw that Du Chongwei was going to be the emperor, their emotions gradually calmed down. Since it was not the destruction of the country and the race, but just an internal transfer of the highest power, they should accept it calmly. Isn't this just a repeat of the "Hedong War", the man surnamed Shi was trying to seize the throne from his father-in-law, and the man surnamed Du was trying to seize the throne from his brother-in-law.

Du Chongwei led 200,000 people to accept the reorganization, and Yelu Deguang led tens of thousands of cavalry to participate in the surrender ceremony. Du Chongwei respectfully walked to Yelu Deguang's horse and presented his sword and seal, and Yelu Deguang accepted them while sitting on horseback. Later, Du Chongwei was promoted to Taifu and Weizhou garrison commander; Li Shouzhen was promoted to Si Tu and Yunzhou Tianping Army Jiedushi. From Du Chongwei and Li Shouzhen onwards, all the officers and soldiers of the army were reinstated and kept their posts.

Du Chongwei served as a guide for the Khitan army and came to the city of Zhenzhou to persuade the defending general Wang Zhou, who immediately surrendered the city.

Yelu Deguang was not in a hurry to go south, but first cleared the rear, so he sent people westward to persuade Daizhou to surrender. Daizhou Governor Wang Hui surrendered the city.

Before this, the Khitan had attacked Yizhou many times. Yizhou governor Guo Lin resisted tenaciously and defeated the Khitan repeatedly. Yelu Deguang sighed many times, saying that I have the ability to conquer the world, but this man is strangling me.

Now, Yelu Deguang also sent people to Yizhou to persuade Guo Lin to surrender, but Guo Lin refused to surrender, so he was killed by his subordinates. Zhang Jingda's tragedy was repeated.

Li Yin, the governor of Yiwu Army in Dingzhou, and Fang Tai, the governor of Xingzhou, also surrendered to the Khitan.

With Du Chongwei's defection to the enemy, the land north of the Yellow River changed overnight. Except for the Weizhou Wei Bo Army and the Cangzhou Yichang Army in the east, all the land north of the Yellow River and west of Taihang Mountains became Khitan-occupied areas.

Yelu Deguang divided Du Chongwei's 200,000 surrendered soldiers into two groups, with half still led by Du Chongwei and the other half led by Zhao Yanshou. He then sent Zhang Yanze to lead 2,000 elite cavalrymen, holding an imperial edict, to Bianzhou.

At first, Yelu Deguang wanted to send Huangfu Yu to do this job. Huangfu Yu declined politely, and after he withdrew, he sighed to his confidants: "As a general, I cannot die for my country at this point, which is shameful. How can I turn around and force my lord?"

Afterwards, Huangfu Yu planned to die by fasting. He did not eat or drink for several days, but still did not die. Huangfu Yu said weakly to those around him: "How can I have the face to return to Bianzhou?" Then he used all his strength to pinch his own throat and strangled to death.

Zhang Yanze gladly accepted the order, then headed south quickly, speeding day and night.

When the news reached Bianzhou, Shi Chonggui was shocked and panicked. He hurriedly summoned Feng Yu, Li Yantao and Li Song to discuss countermeasures. Everyone could only come up with one solution, which was to order Liu Zhiyuan from Hedong, the last straw of the empire, to rush to Beijing to rescue the emperor. However, Zhang Yanze arrived at the gate of Bianzhou the next morning.

At this time, the entire force of Bianzhou only had 500 imperial guards, which was no match for Zhang Yanze. Zhang Yanze quickly occupied the south gate of the imperial palace, set up a command center, and announced that he had taken over Bianzhou.

Shi Chonggui knew that the situation was hopeless, so he personally drew his sword and drove his wife, children, and more than ten palace maids to the palace, preparing to pay tribute to Li Congke and burn the whole family. He was stopped by the general Xue Chao, because Zhang Yanze had already sent in Yelu Deguang's handwritten letter, which was written to the empress dowager.

In the letter to the empress dowager, he said it was an attempt to appease the emperor, but in reality it was full of threats and intimidation. "I have a hair-combing maid who stole a medicine bag and fled to Jin. Are they now? When I fought in Yangcheng, I lost a Xi carriage. Is it now?" He also asked whether the Khitan soldiers who had been captured by the Later Jin were now, and whether Sang Weihan and Jing Yanguang, old friends of the Khitan people were now.

Shi Chonggui put out the fire and ordered all the doors of the palace to be opened. He sat in the imperial garden with the empress, concubines and others and cried to each other. He summoned the Hanlin scholar Fan Zhi and ordered him to draft a letter of surrender, praying that Yelu Deguang would show mercy and spare the lives of him and his son.

In the surrender letter, Shi Chonggui called himself a grandson and a subject, made a profound self-examination and self-criticism to his grandfather Yelu Deguang, helped Yelu Deguang recall the past of the "Hedong War", and thanked his grandfather for his great kindness to the Shi family;

Then he made a false excuse, saying that he was young and ignorant, and left all the state affairs to the generals and ministers. He didn't expect that they would betray Grandpa's kindness and lead to the current situation. Now I, your grandson, plan to go to the suburbs to welcome Grandpa with the ceremony of losing the country and wait for Grandpa's decision. I have sent my eldest son Shi Yanxu and the second son Shi Yanbao to deliver the imperial seal to you first.

Fan Zhi also helped the empress dowager draft a letter of surrender, also using the "Hedong War" as an excuse, and praying that Yelu Deguang would forgive the young and ignorant Shi Chonggui.

Yelu Deguang was very satisfied and replied very domineeringly: "Don't worry, I will find a place to eat." Don't worry, I will keep you and your mother alive.

The people of Bianzhou experienced the feeling of being slaves of a conquered nation. After the Khitans entered the city, they burned, killed, looted, and committed all kinds of evil. However, the person who did the most evil was not the leader of the Khitan advance army, Yelu Jieli, but the Han surrendered general Zhang Yanze. He was the main culprit in the "Zhang Yanze case" that Shi Jingtang withstood pressure from all sides and tried his best to save. Let's see how he "repays" Shi Jingtang's descendants with practical actions.

Shi Chonggui sent someone to summon Zhang Yanze to discuss something with him. Zhang Yanze refused, saying he was too ashamed to see the emperor. Shi Chonggui sent someone to summon him again, almost begging him to come and see him. Zhang Yanze smiled but said nothing, refusing to meet him.

Afterwards, Zhang Yanze escorted Shi Chonggui and other members of the royal family to Kaifeng Prefecture for detention to vacate the palace for Yelu Deguang. The order was so urgent that they were violently driven out of the palace without even having time to pack their toiletries and clothes. There was crying inside and outside the palace.

(End of this chapter)