History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 605 Who rules the Central Plains 2
Zhao Yanshou continued, "Yes, but did you know, Your Majesty, that there is a Southern Tang (Huainan) to the south of the Later Jin Dynasty and a Later Shu to the west?"

"Nonsense, of course I know. What's wrong?"

"The territory of the Later Jin Dynasty extends to the sea in the east and borders Qin and Feng in the west. The border is thousands of miles long and borders Southern Tang and Later Shu, so it must be heavily defended. The climate in the south is hot and humid, which the Khitan people cannot stand. If one day, Your Majesty leads the Khitan cavalry back north, will you still send people to guard the thousands of miles of border? Aren't you worried that Southern Tang and Later Shu will take advantage of the situation? Your Majesty, do you want to leave the results of today's battle to Southern Tang or give them to Later Shu?"

"This..." Yelu Deguang took a breath of cold air. The world is a chess game. This is not a single-player game, nor is it a one-on-one duel between the Khitan and the Later Jin. This is a massively multiplayer online game. "What can I do?"

Zhao Yanshou said: "It would be better to send the surrendered soldiers from Chenqiao to the southern border to guard against Southern Tang and Later Shu."

Yelu Deguang was frank and told Zhao Yanshou the truth: "I did the same thing before. I gave all the surrendered soldiers of the Later Tang Dynasty to Shi Jingtang. What happened? His son bit me back, so we had to go through thousands of hardships and dangers before we barely won. Now, I don't want to make the same mistake again."

Zhao Yanshou waved his hands, "Similar but not the same. In the past, you handed over the army to Shi Jingtang, but did not take their wives and children as hostages, so they easily betrayed. Now, if we settle the families of these surrendered soldiers and generals in Zhenzhou, Dingzhou and other Heshuo areas, and then let them take turns to garrison the border, we can eliminate the hidden dangers."

Yelu Deguang clapped his hands and exclaimed, "You are such a talented person!"

This strategy was not original to Zhao Yanshou. It has existed in the Central Plains dynasties since ancient times. For example, it is often mentioned at the beginning of this book that the Tang court sent soldiers from today's Shandong and Jiangsu areas to today's Gansu, Sichuan and other places for rotation, generally every three years. The most well-known of these is of course the "Pang Xun Rebellion", where they were sent from today's Xuzhou, Jiangsu to Guilin, Guangxi for garrison.

Yelu Deguang had never heard of this old trick of the Central Plains.

Zhao Yanshou proposed this method to stop the massacre, of course, he had his own plans, after all, Yelu Deguang once promised to let him become the ruler of the Central Plains. Zhao Yanshou's real purpose was to leave the seeds of revolution for himself.

In any case, no matter what Zhao Yanshou's true intention was, his words saved the lives of 200,000 surrendered soldiers, and this cannot be erased.

2. Treeweed

Since ancient times, the way to establish power has always been through killing. Zhang Li and other Han Chinese civil officials suggested that Yelu Deguang should do a good job of public relations and show his gentle and lovely side, which was contrary to Yelu Deguang's cognition. Like many nomadic leaders, Yelu Deguang was more superstitious about violence, rather than the etiquette and morality advocated by Confucian scholars in the Central Plains.

Even when winning people's hearts, it is done through killing, showing kindness under the butcher's knife.

2.1 On the second day of the first lunar month, Yang Chengxun was killed to avenge Yang Guangyuan who had rebelled against Jin and surrendered to Liao;
2.2 On the third day of the first lunar month, Zhang Yanze was killed, and "the people of Bian were very happy";
2.3 On the ninth day of the first lunar month, Li Yanshen and the eunuch Qin Jimin were killed. These two were the murderers of Yelü Bei under the order of Li Congke.

2.4 Arrested Liu Jixun and frightened Zhao Zaili to death.

When the Jin and Liao dynasties were at odds, Liu Jixun, the governor of the Kuangguo Army in Tongzhou, was concurrently serving as the envoy of the Northern Court of Xuanhui and participated in the discussion of major national policies. As a result, he was listed as an "anti-Liao element" and a Class A war criminal by Yelu Deguang. When Liu Jixun came to the court to meet with the emperor, Yelu Deguang reprimanded him for undermining the friendship between the two countries and provoking war.

Liu Jixun cried out that he was wronged, saying that he was of low rank and had little power. How could he have a say in such an important court matter? Then he raised his hand and pointed at Feng Dao next to him, "Feng Dao was the prime minister at that time, and Jing Yanguang was the prime minister and privy councilor. It was the result of their agreement. Why didn't you arrest him?" Yelu Deguang was furious, "The bite of a thief is deep in the bone. You dare to talk back? Don't I know Feng Dao? He is a loyal elder and will never gossip!" Then he locked Liu Jixun with an iron chain and took him to the prison, preparing to take him back to Huanglongfu for trial.

Zhao Zaili, then the military governor of Jinchang Army in Chang'an, was on his way to Bianzhou for an audience with the emperor. When he arrived in Luoyang, he said to those around him, "Yelü Deguang has long told people that the reason why Li Cunxu died tragically was because I started the Beizhou mutiny. I, Zhao Zaili, am the culprit who forced Li Cunxu to death! It seems that my trip to Bianzhou this time will be dangerous."

Twenty years ago, Huangfu Hui launched a mutiny in Beizhou, and then captured Weizhou, nominating Zhao Zaili as the leader. Li Siyuan was ordered to suppress the rebellion, resulting in "Emperor Mingzong entering Wei."

Yelu Deguang sent his trusted generals, Yela and Gao Mohan, to garrison Luoyang. Zhao Zaili came to pay him a visit and knelt down and kowtowed from a distance in the courtyard, being extremely respectful. However, Yela and the others did not show any humility or courtesy. They sat upright in the hall and accepted Zhao Zaili's visit in a grand manner.

Zhao Zaili left Luoyang and continued to move eastward. On the 29th of the first lunar month, Zhao Zaili arrived in Zhengzhou. He heard the news that Liu Jixun had been arrested. He was already uneasy and became even more frightened. He secretly hanged himself in the stable that night.

When the news of Zhao Zaili's suicide reached Bianzhou, Yelu Deguang, under the persuasion of the Han civil officials, released Liu Jixun to show that he had forgiven the past and would not launch a counterattack.

After Liu Jixun returned home, he died of grief and anger.

3. Double standards

Yelu Deguang's dilemma is everywhere, which is a problem that any foreign leader who wants to rule the Central Plains must face. If he implements the Central Plains standard (Sinicization), he will lose himself, and power will be gradually divided by the Han ethnic class; if he continues to use the foreign rituals, he will lose his mass base and fall into the ocean of people's war.

Compared with other nomadic leaders who entered the Central Plains, Yelu Deguang had to face an upgraded and advanced version of this problem - there was a hidden boss behind him, Empress Dowager Shulü.

Yelu Deguang had a difficult life.

On the seventh day of the first lunar month, Yelu Deguang moved Shi Chonggui's family into Fengchan Temple for house arrest, replaced all guards at the gates of Bianzhou and the imperial palace with Khitans, and then held an opening ceremony in accordance with Khitan customs and traditions:
A dog was slaughtered at the palace gate and cut into pieces; a bamboo pole was erected in the palace courtyard with sheepskin hung on it. It was said that this could suppress evil spirits. In fact, it was destroying the Feng Shui of the Later Jin Dynasty.

On the ninth day of the first lunar month, Yelu Deguang wore Han Chinese clothing and presided over government work.

On February 2, Yelu Deguang wore the ceremonial robes of the emperor of Central Plains, ascended the throne, changed the reign title, issued a general amnesty, and officially ascended the throne in Central Plains.

Sometimes Han law, sometimes foreign rituals. After Yelu Deguang came to power in Bianzhou, this contradictory approach was reflected in all aspects of government work.

(End of this chapter)