History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 604 Who rules the Central Plains 1
Just two months ago, Shi Chonggui stood in the Bianzhou Palace, full of high spirits, and solemnly declared to the people of the world: "First, we will take Ying and Mo, and stabilize the south of the Guan Pass; then we will recover You and Yan, and pacify the north of the Great Wall." He was full of ambition and lofty aspirations.

However, just two months later, the person standing in the same position and giving lectures to civil and military officials was the Liao emperor, Taizong of Liao, Yelü Deguang. The huge contrast is really sad.

On the first day of the first lunar month in 947 AD, in the Chongyuan Hall of the Bianzhou Imperial Palace, the most sacred forbidden place for people in the Central Plains, a foreign leader accepted congratulations from civil and military officials.

Yelu Deguang reached the peak of his life. He stood high above, admiring the officials who were prostrating themselves on the ground to show their loyalty, and slowly raised his arms, "My dear ministers, please stand up!"

"Long live thanks!"

Yelu Deguang's prestige in Khitan reached its peak. His brilliance made his father Yelu Abaoji, who destroyed the Bohai Kingdom, look slightly inferior. They were both the best among the leaders of nomadic peoples throughout history.

He was full of ambition, but he also had a dilemma that was hard to express. That was how to handle the power in his hands, or how to balance the power in the country.

The reason he went south was to get rid of the control of his mother, Empress Dowager Shulü, and now he has achieved half of it. He has made great achievements, established supreme authority, expanded the territory for the Khitan, and conquered a land area comparable to that of the Khitan, but with a comprehensive strength far exceeding that of the Khitan mainland. What's next?
According to Yelu Deguang's original idea, he did not plan to leave this time he came. He wanted to ascend the throne again in the Central Plains and become the emperor of the Central Plains people. In this way, he would completely get rid of the control of Empress Dowager Shulü.

Therefore, long before entering Bianzhou, Yelu Deguang secretly made plans to prepare for ruling the Central Plains.

1. Those who are not of my race must have different hearts.

This is the creed that Yelu Deguang always adhered to. Throughout his life, Yelu Deguang never truly trusted the Han people, whether they were civil officials or military generals. In different historical periods and for different purposes, Yelu Deguang also expressed his trust in the Han people, entrusted them with important tasks, promoted them to higher positions, praised them by name, and called on the people of the country to learn from Comrade So-and-so, but this was just a gesture.

For example, his great counselor Zhang Li. Zhang Li was a Hanlin scholar in the Later Tang Dynasty. During the "Hedong War", Li Congke ordered him to be Zhao Dejun's counselor to fight against Shi Jingtang. Later, he became a Khitan prisoner with Zhao Dejun's surrender.

When the Khitans interrogated the captives, Zhang Li was neither humble nor arrogant, and was upright and incorruptible, which left a deep impression on the Khitans. So Yelu Deguang personally interviewed him and found that he was a gentleman with culture and integrity, so he gave him a high position. At that time, some people compared Yelu Deguang to Yelu Abaoji and Zhang Li to Han Yanhui.

But not long after, Zhang Li really paid tribute to Han Yanhui, and secretly escaped when the Khitan army took advantage of the fact that the guards were not strict. However, his luck was not as good as Han Yanhui, and he was captured by patrolling cavalry halfway.

When Zhang Li was brought before Yelu Deguang, Yelu Deguang did not show any sign of anger. Instead, he asked him with great concern why he left.

Zhang Li replied that he was not used to the climate there, living in the northerners' tents, or eating the northerners' food, so he wanted to return to the Central Plains.

Yelu Deguang made a self-examination in person, apologized to Zhang Li, and ordered the person in charge Gao Yanying to come over and scolded him in person: "I often tell you that I finally got the assistance of this God-given talent, and asked you to give him special care. What did you do?" He beat Gao Yanying on the spot and apologized to Zhang Li. Zhang Li was deeply moved. From then on, he assisted Yelu Deguang with all his loyalty and wisdom, actively made suggestions, and was soon promoted to the Hanlin Imperial Secretary and Minister of Personnel of the Liao Dynasty, entering the core power circle.

However, Yelu Deguang's respect for the wise and humble, or his willingness to accept good advice, were just means in his political struggle. For example, people like Zhang Li, who were educated and intelligent, had no foundation or background, and had no connection with the Khitan nobles, so these Han civil officials had no scruples and dared to speak out. Therefore, they were easily used as guns by Yelu Deguang to deal with the deep-rooted Khitan noble class headed by Empress Dowager Shulü.

The same principle applies to the use of Han Chinese civil officials and Han Chinese surrendered generals. Therefore, during the Jin-Liao War, Zhao Yanzhao, the son of Zhao Siwen who forced Empress Dowager Shulü to cut off her wrist, was appointed as the vanguard general.

During the process of destroying Jin, Zhang Li suggested that Yelu Deguang should do a good job in political propaganda and image public relations, not to burn, kill or plunder the people of the Central Plains, but to put on a gesture of benevolence and love for the people in order to win the hearts of the people. This suggestion was quite reasonable, but was rejected by Yelu Deguang because Yelu Deguang no longer needed to pretend.

After entering Bian, he tried his best to dissuade Yelu Deguang from some wrong practices, but was also rejected. He himself eventually lost his life because of these words, which will be mentioned later.

After Du Chongwei surrendered, the 200,000 surrendered soldiers and generals became Yelu Deguang's biggest concern. He first confiscated all the weapons, armor, and horses of the surrendered soldiers and transported them all back to Khitan, leaving them to follow the army southward with bare hands.

When they reached the bank of the Yellow River, Yelu Deguang formulated a horrific massacre plan. He planned to have the Khitan cavalry drive the 200,000 people from three sides and drive them into the Yellow River to drown.

Zhang Li tried hard to dissuade him, saying that in addition to these 200,000 elite troops, there were many local troops scattered throughout the country. If they heard the news that the Khitan killed the surrendered, they would definitely fight to the death. In this way, the Khitan would not be able to gain a foothold in the Central Plains. Please properly settle them, set an example for the military and civilians all over the world, and win the hearts of the people.

Only then did Yelu Deguang give up the idea of ​​a massacre and ordered Du Chongwei to lead them to station in Chenqiao. In order to prevent them from mutiny, he also asked Du Chongwei to wear a dragon robe to appease his soldiers, saying that after Yelu Deguang stabilized the situation in Bianzhou, he would let Du Chongwei be their emperor.

However, Yelu Deguang took away all their food and supplies, and did not provide them with food. It snowed heavily, and the surrendered soldiers were starving and cold. They huddled together, crying and began to resent Du Chongwei. Whenever Du Chongwei patrolled the camp to comfort them, the soldiers would stab him in the back and curse him in the dark.

Yelu Deguang was always worried about this group of people. After much thought, he felt that they should all be slaughtered to eliminate the trouble forever.

At this time, a man jumped out and pleaded for the surrendered soldiers. This man was Zhao Yanshou.

Zhao Yanshou asked Yelu Deguang in a sarcastic tone, "Your Majesty braved the arrows and stones to seize the world. Do you want to hand over the country to others?"

Yelu Deguang was shocked. "I mobilized the whole country's troops and marched south without taking off my helmet or armor for five years. I finally conquered this piece of land. Why should I give it to others?"

(End of this chapter)