History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 611 Liu Zhiyuan Becomes Emperor 2
In fact, "Liu Zhiyuan's enthronement" was an event within Yelu Deguang's plan, and the Khitans were at least sufficiently mentally prepared.

Du Chongwei and his elite troops from the Central Plains surrendered and were temporarily disarmed. There were almost no soldiers left in the Central Plains to fight, and they were terrified of the Khitan cavalry. The local vassal states came forward one after another to pledge their allegiance and submission. At this time, the Khitan had a huge advantage over Liu Zhiyuan of Hedong both militarily and politically.

Yelu Deguang thought that he should take this opportunity to destroy the remaining Jin forces and take over Hedong in one go. He should cut the Gordian knot and avoid more trouble. Yelu Deguang had realized that the Khitans were not welcome, so he was more eager to take over Liu Zhiyuan.

Yelu Deguang was too superstitious about the use of force, and the people were full of resentment. His solution was not to resolve the "resentment", but to massacre the "people". I cannot solve your problem, but I can solve you.

Before the showdown, Yelu Deguang deployed troops to guard the dangerous passes in and out of Hedong, and sent troops to approach Taiyuan. Only then did he show his hand to Liu Zhiyuan and force him to rebel.

The most interesting thing is that at the beginning, when Liu Zhiyuan expressed his submission to the Khitan, Yelu Deguang issued an imperial edict to praise him with great fanfare, calling on the people of the whole country to learn from Comrade Liu Zhiyuan who was aware of the times. The official responsible for drafting the edict completed the draft and submitted it to Yelu Deguang for review. Yelu Deguang picked up the pen and added the word "er" before the three words "Liu Zhiyuan".

After learning that Liu Zhiyuan had proclaimed himself emperor, Yelu Deguang responded quickly by appointing translator Geng Chongmei as Jiedushi of Xizhaoyi Army in Luzhou, Gao Tangying as Jiedushi of Xiangzhou, and Cui Yanxun as Jiedushi of Heyang, firmly curbing Liu Zhiyuan's southward momentum in Hedong.

A great battle for the Central Plains has once again begun.

The main reason why Yelu Deguang kept Shi Chonggui was to lay a minefield for the Central Plains, just like the later capture of Emperor Huizong and Emperor Qinzong by the Jin Kingdom. As long as Shi Chonggui was still alive, any Central Plains person (such as Liu Zhiyuan) who claimed to be an emperor could be labeled as treason.

Liu Zhiyuan was deeply poisoned by Shi Chonggui, so when he proclaimed himself emperor, he did not dare to change the country's name, and continued to use "Jin". He only changed the reign title, changing the fourth year of Kaiyun to the twelfth year of Tianfu, and continued to use the reign title of Shi Jingtang's period. This was because denying Shi Chonggui was Liu Zhiyuan's legal basis.

So some people are hypocritical and say that Liu Zhiyuan should be counted as the third emperor of the Later Jin Dynasty. It's painful.

Liu Zhiyuan announced to the world: All localities that were committing illegal acts of extorting money from the people at the request of the Khitans must stop immediately; all Han people who were forced to serve as military and political leaders in various places must immediately report to Taiyuan and pay their respects; all Khitan leaders and envoys must be executed on the spot!

Liu Zhiyuan became the leader of the Central Plains people's resistance against the Khitan, and officials from all over the country expressed their allegiance.

During the Jin-Liao War, Shi Chonggui ordered the formation of the "Tianwei Army", stipulating that every seven households would provide one soldier, and the remaining six households would provide financial support. However, this makeshift Tianwei Army had no combat effectiveness at all, so it was disbanded after a year. However, the court required every seven households to contribute 10,000 yuan to support the regular army, and all the weapons and armor they had previously made were confiscated.

The imperial court's disarmament was very unsuccessful. It focused on confiscating supplies and money, but ignored the resettlement of the soldiers. As a result, many members of the Tianwei Army wandered into the mountains and forests and became bandits.

After Yelu Deguang entered Bianzhou, he sent the noble sons and trusted retainers of Khitan to various towns and states to serve as Jiedushi and governors. However, these top leaders who were parachuted into the local areas did not know how to govern, did not understand the local customs, and did not bother to study and delve into the localities. They were only focused on plundering money, like greedy vampires, and did not care about the lives of the people.

As a result, uprisings broke out in various places, with the scale ranging from a few hundred people to tens of thousands of people, and the former members of the Tianwei Army became an important part of them.

The rebels occupied the prefectures and counties and killed Khitan officials. Although there were guerrillas everywhere who were fighting against the Khitan, they lacked a unified leadership and fought on their own. In addition to killing Khitan officials, they also robbed Han people.

After Liu Zhiyuan proclaimed himself emperor, leaders of the rebel armies in various places submitted petitions to Liu Zhiyuan, expressing their willingness to accept his leadership.

Liang Hui, the leader of the rebel army in Fuyang County under the jurisdiction of Cizhou, had hundreds of men under his command and surrendered to Liu Zhiyuan. Li Gu, the governor of Cizhou, secretly submitted a memorial to Liu Zhiyuan, suggesting that he let Liang Hui attack Xiangzhou.

When recruiting local armed forces, they must be strictly screened and strictly checked. They cannot be indiscriminate, otherwise there will be endless troubles, such as the recruitment of Black Wind Village in "Bright Sword". Xiangzhou is a test for Liang Hui from the organization, and also a token of Liang Hui's surrender.

Liang Hui attached great importance to this test of organization. He first conducted an investigation in Xiangzhou and learned that Gao Tangying, the governor appointed by Khitan, had not yet arrived, the city was empty, and there were a large number of weapons in the armory. So Liang Hui attacked Xiangzhou under cover of night, killed hundreds of Khitan soldiers, and took over Xiangzhou. Later, Liang Hui claimed to be the governor of Xiangzhou and reported to Liu Zhiyuan about the process of capturing the city.

The defense line set up by Yelu Deguang to block Hedong was torn open in the southeast.

Liu Zhiyuan sent his confidant Shi Hongzhao to attack Daizhou. Shi Hongzhao took the opportunity to kill Wang Hui, the governor of Daizhou who had defected to the Khitan. The defense line in the northeast of Hedong was also torn open.

Liu Zhiyuan sent Zhang Yanhong to lobby Luo Conglang, deputy governor of Jianxiong Army in Jinzhou.

Jinzhou Jiedushi Liu Zaiming accepted the Khitans' political inducement to surrender and went to Bianzhou to report and pay his respects. Before leaving, he ordered Jiedushi Luo Conglang to act as the Jinzhou governor.

Zhang Yanhong explained the national justice to Luo Conglang, but Luo Conglang was stubborn and arrested all of Zhang Yanhong and his party. Yao Kechou, a general of Jinzhou, killed Luo Conglang, and the people also killed Zhao Xi, the "money collector" sent by the Khitan to extort money. Afterwards, the generals recommended Yao Kechou as the governor of Jinzhou, and Yao Kechou expressed his allegiance to Liu Zhiyuan.

Jinzhou is to the west of Luzhou, and is located on the southwest side of the defense line blocking Hedong. A gap has also been torn here.

Prior to this, Zhang Cong'en, the governor of Xizhaoyi Army in Luzhou, was afraid of the Khitan, so he surrendered to the Khitan and sent envoys to Hedong to invite Liu Zhiyuan to visit Bianzhou. At that time, Liu Zhiyuan replied that Hedong was a small land with weak soldiers and could not fight against the powerful Khitan. Of course, he had to surrender to the Khitan. You go first, I will deal with the work at hand and then come.

Zhang Cong'en thought it made sense, so he packed his bags and rushed to Bianzhou.

His aide Gao Fang tried to dissuade him, saying that you are a royal relative of the Later Jin Dynasty (Zhang Cong'en was the emperor's father-in-law. When Shi Jingtang was in charge of Hedong, he married his daughter to Shi Chonggui. Zhang died before Shi Chonggui ascended the throne and was posthumously named Empress Zhang. Other records say that Empress Zhang was the daughter of Zhang Congxun, the son of Zhang Cong'en). Anyone can defect to the army, but you, old man!

(End of this chapter)