History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 615 Sejong's Succession 2
Shi Hongzhao pursued the victory and defeated Cui Tingxun and Geng Chongmei. Geng Chongmei retreated to Huaizhou, while Cui Tingxun returned to attack Heyang, defeated Wu Xingde, and recovered Heyang.

The Khitans were already in disarray. After the mistaken killing of Fang Shilang, they also mistakenly killed Pan Huan.

Liu Xi abandoned Luoyang and fled. Xiao Han, the commander-in-chief who stayed behind in Bianzhou, sent General Gao Mouhan to lead troops to escort Liu Xi back to Luoyang. After Gao Mouhan arrived in Luoyang, he suspected that Pan Huan was colluding with the rebels both inside and outside the army, so he killed Pan Huan without any evidence and just based on speculation.

The chaos in the Central Plains had spread to the northern grasslands. Empress Dowager Shulü wrote a letter in the name of her younger brother, Yelü Lihu, to inquire about the current situation in the Central Plains.

This was not just a polite greeting or a polite exchange of words among ordinary people, but an important political inquiry. Taking advantage of the loss of the Central Plains, Empress Dowager Shulü was intent on taking back the imperial power.

Yelu Deguang was mentally prepared. When accepting the wine from Empress Dowager Shulü in congratulations, he did not dare to sit down and drink it. Instead, he put on a show in front of his close ministers, expressing that he had always respected the empress dowager and was always closely involved in the highest power system of Khitan with Empress Dowager Shulü as the core.

When Yelu Deguang left Bianzhou, he openly told people around him that he did not want to stay in the Central Plains, and that it was more interesting to hunt on the grasslands. The Central Plains was too dull and boring.

Listen to the sound of the words and the rhythm of the gongs and drums. Yelu Deguang said this to Empress Dowager Shulü, meaning that he had never thought of using the Central Plains to get rid of her supervision..."

In his reply, Yelu Deguang truthfully reported on his work in recent months:

——(Take credit first) The initial progress was very smooth. I recruited the main forces of the Central Plains led by Du Chongwei and Zhang Yanze to surrender, and took over Zhenzhou and entered Bianzhou. Then I selected talented people from the surrendered civil and military officials to continue to serve our Great Liao;
——(Complaining again) But the Central Plains has been in chaos for a long time, and the situation is a mess; there are countless bandits and rebellions in various places, and the people are full of complaints, and everyone hates the Khitan; and Liu Zhiyuan of Hedong is taking the lead and opposing us, and people from all over the country are responding...

——(Seeking credit again) This time we went south, we occupied a total of 76 states, with 1,091,118 households of people;
——(Whitewashing) It was only because the heat in Bianzhou made the Khitans uncomfortable with the climate and water that they returned to the capital;

——(Give me another chance) If you give me another year, I promise to bring peace to the world!
——(Self-criticism) My mistakes were mainly in the following three aspects: extorting money from the people; robbing the people of their homes; placing the governors of various places under house arrest;
——（PPT）By summarizing my experience and lessons, I have come up with three magic weapons for governing the Central Plains: win the hearts of the officials; coordinate with the military; and appease the people. I will change Zhenzhou to Zhongjing, and use it as the frontline headquarters to attack Liu Zhiyuan of Hedong.

This is a standard example of a subordinate who has made a mistake and is self-critical to his superior. Yelu Deguang did not want to admit defeat or be sentenced to political death. He tried to persuade his mother to give him another chance. "I think I can still be saved!"

Perhaps, Empress Dowager Shulü could give him a chance, but God wouldn't.

When Yelu Deguang arrived in Lincheng (now Lincheng County, Hebei Province), he suddenly fell ill and had a high fever. When he reached Luancheng (now Luancheng County, Hebei Province), his condition worsened sharply and the high fever would not subside.

The attendants piled ice all over Yelu Deguang's body, including his limbs, abdomen, chest... and stuffed ice into his mouth. But it was all to no avail.

On April 4, Yelu Deguang died of illness in a forest in the north of Luancheng at the age of 21. The people of the Central Plains celebrated enthusiastically as if it were the New Year. God finally opened his eyes! In order to express their hatred for this foreign leader, the people of the Central Plains gave this forest a mighty and domineering name - Sha Hulin.

The evaluation of Yelu Deguang in the History of Liao cannot be said to be a generalization, but it is at least terrible. It has basically no reference value. It praises his great achievements to the extreme, but downplays his war crimes and even forcibly beautifies them.

I will try my best to give my personal evaluation of him in an objective and fair manner:
First of all, his achievements and abilities are unquestionable.

Internally, Yelu Deguang used political tactics to get rid of his puppet role and gradually escaped from the strong control of Empress Dowager Shulü.

Externally, his deeds are even more noteworthy. He overthrew the Central Plains regime twice, installed the puppet emperor Shi Jingtang, and "controlled the Han with the Han." For the first time, he made the Central Plains dynasty pay tribute to the nomadic regime, and the Khitan became the "Celestial Empire." Finally, he directly entered the Central Plains, ascended the throne in Bianzhou and proclaimed himself emperor, setting an insurmountable monument for nomadic civilization.

Secondly, his fault is obvious.

He was a master at conquering the country, but a novice at ruling it. Even he himself gave an accurate answer, which was the "three mistakes" that were highly praised in the History of Liao. Yelu Deguang was not stupid. He knew very well that plundering the people would lose the support of the people and greatly increase the management cost of the Central Plains, but he still did it without hesitation.

Again, politicians only care about politics. Yelu Deguang allowed his soldiers to "rob the grass and grain" and plunder money even though he knew that his tyranny would lose the support of the people. This was his best choice after careful consideration and it was also his only correct choice.

Yelu Deguang's purpose of invading the south was not to liberate the people of the Central Plains or to plant the red flag all over the country. His purpose, as we have mentioned many times, was to get rid of the control of Empress Dowager Shulü and seize the supreme power of Khitan. Through this war, he accumulated military merits and reputation, cultivated his own direct lineage, and made his wings stronger.

The army that followed him south, whether it was the Khitan people or other vassal tribes, had a simple purpose, which was to rob money, food, and women. They didn't care about politics, they only cared about interests, and we would support whoever could lead us to rob the spoils.

In order to win their support, Yelu Deguang had to satisfy their demands and indulge them in looting. The reason was the same as Li Keyong indulged the Shatuo cavalry in looting. At that time, the young Li Cunxu proposed to restrain these soldiers in order to win the hearts of the people. Li Keyong told his son the truth in a serious tone.

Yelu Deguang was the emperor of the Liao Dynasty and also the leader of the alliance of various tribes on the grassland. He represented the interests of the tribal chiefs and leaders of various tribes, rather than the people, especially the people of the Central Plains.

Finally, Yelu Deguang, who is "a dying man who speaks well", really summed up the twelve-character motto of "using the Han to control the Han". The three methods are aimed at his "three mistakes". To sum up, it is nothing more than doing a good job in public relations, creating a people-friendly personality for the Khitan, and making the people in the Central Plains turn their hatred towards the Khitan into love.

(End of this chapter)