History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 602: Young Emperor's Northern Hunt 1
When Yelu Deguang entered the city gate, the residents of Bianzhou were terrified and ran around shouting. The situation was out of control. Yelu Deguang climbed up a tall building and asked the interpreter to help him shout to the people: "We are also working as humans, not as ghosts. You guys, don't be afraid. The imperial army will bring you a happy life. Besides, it wasn't us who had to come here. It was obviously you Han people who led me here."

Arriving at the south gate of the imperial palace, Yelu Deguang dismounted and saluted before entering. He walked around inside and left the palace in the evening, setting up his tent outside the city.

The next day, on the second day of the first lunar month, Yelu Deguang arrested Yang Guangyuan's eldest son Yang Chengxun, sentenced him to death for "killing his father and rebelling against Liao", chopped him into a pulp, and distributed it to the soldiers to eat raw. He then appointed Yang Guangyuan's second son Yang Chengxin as the governor of Qingzhou Pinglu Army and assigned Yang Guangyuan's old troops to him.

After Yelu Deguang entered Bianzhou, he immediately set up a special task force to investigate Sang Weihan's death. The case was solved in just one day, because the marks on the neck of the corpse were obviously not caused by hanging.

At this time, Gao Xun, whose uncle and brother were brutally killed by Zhang Yanze, ran to Yelu Deguang and cried about Zhang Yanze's atrocities. Zhang Yanze's various despicable deeds in Bianzhou surfaced.

Yelu Deguang ordered the arrest of Zhang Yanze, and then asked all civil and military officials whether this man should be put to death.

Everyone said in unison, "Damn it!"

On the third day of the first lunar month, Zhang Yanze was taken to the northern city of Bianzhou and beheaded in public. Yelu Deguang specially ordered Gao Xun to supervise the execution. The descendants of the victims killed by Zhang Yanze, wearing heavy mourning, holding the spirit tablets, cried and wailed at the execution ground, cursed this evil devil with the most vicious prophecies, and beat him to the ground with sticks.

Gao Xun ordered his men to chop off his hands, remove the handcuffs, and then cut open his stomach and dig out his heart to offer sacrifices to all the souls he had killed. The people competed to hit his head until his skull was broken, and then cut off his flesh and ate it.

If Yelu Deguang wanted to rule the Central Plains, he had to win the favor of the Han people in the Central Plains. So on his way south, he always put in a generous and benevolent attitude to comfort the officials, the army and the people. He also took some time to choose the vanguard officer in Bianzhou. He wanted to find a person who was highly respected in the Later Jin Dynasty to accurately convey this signal of peace and lay the foundation for his future rule over the Central Plains.

Unexpectedly, Zhang Yanze did the opposite, bringing slaughter and terror to Bianzhou and intensifying ethnic conflicts. Yelu Deguang had to sacrifice Zhang Yanze to make up for his mistakes and barely reshape the image of the Khitan people as glorious, correct, generous and people-loving.

On the fifth day of the first lunar month, Yelu Deguang conferred the title of "Unfaithful Marquis" on Shi Chonggui and moved him to Huanglong Prefecture.

Huanglongfu, located in Nong'an County, Gaoguanchun City, Jilin Province, was originally Fuyufu of Bohai State. Yelu Abaoji died of illness here on his way back from annexing Bohai State. It is said that a yellow dragon appeared in the sky, so the Khitan people changed Fuyufu's name to Huanglongfu, telling people that Yelu Abaoji turned into a dragon and ascended to heaven.

The two emperors Huizong and Qinzong of the Northern Song Dynasty were captured by the Jin people and taken north, where they were also imprisoned here.

Yelu Deguang sent someone to tell the Queen Mother of Later Jin, saying, "I heard that Shi Chonggui did not listen to you, which led to this situation today. You don't have to go to the north."

The Queen Mother replied: "Shi Chonggui was very filial to me. His mistake was to disobey the will of the late emperor and sever the friendly relations between the two countries. Today, the Emperor Aweng (a special honorific for Yelu Deguang) has shown mercy and spared his life. If a mother does not follow her son, where can she go?"

Therefore, the Empress Dowager, Shi Chonggui, Empress Feng, the Emperor's younger brother Shi Chongrui, and the princes Shi Yanxu and Shi Yanbao moved with their entire families.

On the seventh day of the first lunar month, Shi Chonggui and all members of the royal family were transferred to Fengshan Temple for detention. Fengshan Temple was heavily guarded and no one was allowed to approach. Yelu Deguang often sent people to express his condolences. Whenever Shi Chonggui's family heard that Yelu Deguang had sent envoys, they were terrified, fearing that they would be silenced. He was detained for more than ten days, and heavy snow kept falling during this period. Although Yelu Deguang expressed his condolences, he did not provide any food. In Fengshan Temple, apart from the snow on the ground and the snowflakes flying in the sky, there was only the biting northwest wind. Shi Chonggui and his family suffered a double blow both physically and mentally.

The Queen Mother sent someone to ask for some food from the abbot of the temple, but the abbot refused. The Queen Mother was sad and angry, and questioned them, saying that I often come to you to give alms, and each time I provide for tens of thousands of monks. Now that we are in trouble, don’t you monks who are based on compassion know how to repay us?
"And Amitabha, good, good," the big monk pointed to the outside of the door, "Who knows what the temper of the Khitan people is like? If they blame us, we can't afford it. Please forgive us. It's a sin, a sin."

Shi Chonggui secretly begged the guards and barely got a little bit of food.

On the 17th day of the first lunar month, 300 Khitan cavalrymen escorted Shi Chonggui and others to the north, and ordered Zhao Ying, Feng Yu, and Li Yantao to accompany them. Along the way, the Khitans still did not provide any food. Officials from counties along the way wanted to provide food, but were rejected by the Khitans.

Along the way, the palace maids were responsible for picking wild grass and fruits. Shi Chonggui and the Queen Mother were so hungry that they could only kill livestock and eat them half-cooked to satisfy their hunger.

Shi Chonggui walked alone on his own land. None of the officials who used to sing praises around him dared to see him off. Only Li Gu knelt on the roadside to greet him, crying with Shi Chonggui, blaming himself for his incompetence and bringing disgrace to His Majesty, and presented all the things he brought with him.

Come on, my Great Jin is dead, what’s the point of saying all this.

When Shi Chonggui passed by Zhongdu Bridge, he saw the ruined military camp left behind by Du Chongwei. He was overwhelmed with emotions and wailed to the sky, "How have our Shi family wronged you? You have caused our family to be broken up, Oh, God!" He then left in tears.

When he arrived at Ji County (today's Jizhou District, Tianjin), which is the border between the Later Jin Dynasty and the Khitan, Shi Chonggui looked back when passing a bridge. He knew that he would never be able to return to his homeland alive, and he was completely desperate, so he named the bridge - the Homecoming Bridge.

More than a hundred years later, the two emperors Huizong and Qinzong of the Northern Song Dynasty also came north from here. The locals told them that this was the Homecoming Bridge, named after Shi Chonggui, the young emperor of the Later Jin Dynasty. The two emperors also had mixed feelings in their hearts.

When they arrived in Youzhou, the people in the city all ran to the sides of the road, vying to see the appearance of the emperor who had lost his country. When they saw the emperor's miserable appearance, they all shook their heads and sighed.

After a short stop to rest, they continued on their way to Jinzhou (now Jinzhou City, Liaoning Province), where the Khitans forced Shi Chonggui and others to kneel before the portrait of Yelü Abaoji. For Shi Chonggui, this was an unbearable humiliation.

Shi Chonggui cried out, "Xue Chao, you have really screwed me over! Why did you stop me? It would have been better if you had let me die to avoid the humiliation today."

If you want to die, it's not too late now.

(End of this chapter)