History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 628 Hell Mode Start 2
In this interview, Wei Renpu's talents were demonstrated. He possessed meticulous observation, a photographic memory, and outstanding logical analysis skills. Based on what he had seen, heard, and experienced with his own eyes, he summarized and used logical reasoning to explain in detail the current military and political situation within Khitan. His words were coherent and reasonable.

Guo Wei couldn't help but look at him with admiration, so he strongly recommended him to Liu Zhiyuan, saying that Wei Renpu was definitely a rare talent!
Liu Zhiyuan reinstated Wei Renpu to his original post and promoted him according to his abilities after he entered Bianzhou.

A good horse is rare, and a good horse trainer is rare. Guo Wei praised Wei Renpu and became a noble person in Wei Renpu's life. The two also forged a deep revolutionary friendship. Later, Wei Renpu's talent was indeed appreciated by Liu Zhiyuan, and he rose to prominence all the way. In just over a year, Wei Renpu was promoted from a grassroots clerk to the State Council. Just half a year later, when Liu Zhiyuan passed away, Wei Renpu and Guo Wei had become important ministers entrusted with the care of the young emperor.

Later, Wei Renpu assisted Guo Wei in establishing the Later Zhou Dynasty and became a founding hero. He served as Privy Councilor and Prime Minister. He died in the early years of the Northern Song Dynasty. His three sons also served as officials in the Northern Song Dynasty. Among them, the third son Wei Xianxin became the son-in-law of the Northern Song Dynasty and married Princess Yongqing, the daughter of Emperor Taizu of Song.

These are later stories. In short, when Liu Zhiyuan was about to enter Bian, Wei Renpu made the most correct decision in his life, abandoning Du Chongwei and joining Liu Zhiyuan. Sometimes, choice is more important than effort. Efforts determine the distance of progress, while choices determine the direction of progress.

On June 6, the civil and military officials of Bianzhou, led by Prime Minister Dou Zhengu, went to Xingyang (now Xingyang City, Henan Province) to welcome Liu Zhiyuan. Xingyang is between Bianzhou and Luoyang, closer to Luoyang, so the officials of Bianzhou can be said to have welcomed him from afar.

On June 6, Liu Zhiyuan officially arrived in Bianzhou, and various prefectures and towns of the former Later Jin Dynasty came to pay their respects one after another to express their submission.

On June 6, Liu Zhiyuan issued an edict, granting amnesty to the country and changing the country's name to "Da Han". He continued to use the year name "The 15th Year of Tianfu" because he did not dare to forget the kindness of the Later Jin Dynasty.

As usual, Liu Zhiyuan was no longer a short, poor and ugly loser, but he transformed himself into "Uncle Liu", and the clue could be seen from the name of his country.

According to convention, the name of the dynasty should be the title of the founding monarch in the previous dynasty, such as Liang Wang Zhu Wen established "Daliang". Liu Zhiyuan was named "Beiping Wang" in the Later Jin Dynasty, and was previously named "Taiyuan Wang", but Liu Zhiyuan did not accept it.

Liu Zhiyuan used the name "Da Jin" at the beginning of the founding of the country, but now changed it to "Da Han", making people mistakenly believe that he was a relative of the Han Dynasty, so he could rule the Central Plains legitimately. However, he did not posthumously acknowledge his ancestors and did not say that he was a "descendant of King Jing of Zhongshan" because he had a small problem - he was a Shatuo.

Although he has a Chinese name, "his ancestors were from the Shatuo tribe." Interestingly, the "Five Dynasties Collection" says that Liu Zhiyuan's fourth-generation ancestor Liu Tuan was the eighth son of Liu Zhuang, the Emperor Xianzong of the Eastern Han Dynasty (i.e. Emperor Ming of the Han Dynasty, the second emperor of the Eastern Han Dynasty, and the fourth son of Emperor Guangwu of the Han Dynasty, Liu Xiu), and the descendant of Liu Bing, the Prince of Huaiyang.

In the intercalary seventh month, Liu Zhiyuan issued an edict to build six royal ancestral temples, one for Emperor Gaozu of Han, Liu Bang, Emperor Guangwu of Han, Liu Xiu, and Liu Zhiyuan's four generations of ancestors (father, grandfather, great-grandfather, and great-great-grandfather). It also hinted to people that my brother was a relative of the Han Dynasty and worked for Emperor Liu.

In short, when people with the surname Li proclaimed themselves emperor, the name of their country was generally "Tang" (such as the Southern Tang in Huainan), while people with the surname Liu liked to use "Han".

The situation at the beginning of the Later Han Dynasty was glorious on the surface, but riddled with problems on the inside, which can also be regarded as a difficult start. Liu Zhiyuan faced challenges from all sides.

First of all, its legal system is not correct.

We have already analyzed this point, and Liu Zhiyuan's solution is also quite clever, which is to replace concepts, guide public opinion, transform internal contradictions among the people into national contradictions, and strengthen his own legitimacy through nationalism.

Second, there is the fiscal deficit.

In the previous article, when describing Shi Chonggui's internal affairs, a lot of space has been used to introduce the natural disasters and endless exploitation of the court in the late Later Jin Dynasty. On this basis, the war with the Khitan for nearly five years made the central finances even worse. After the war, the new masters of the Central Plains, the Khitan, not only did not work to recover from the trauma of the war, but instead intensified it, sucking the marrow out of the bones, and draining the last drop of blood from the Central Plains.

The Later Han Dynasty was established on the basis of such poverty, so the fiscal deficit that Liu Zhiyuan had to face was much more serious than that of Shi Chonggui.

Third, there are undercurrents of internal troubles.

Although various prefectures and towns in the country (formerly under the control of the Later Jin Dynasty) expressed their submission, the loyalty of these "heroes" was very limited.

Especially people like Du Chongwei, who once served the Khitan sincerely and were genuine traitors and collaborators. They were very worried that Liu Zhiyuan would counterattack and hold them accountable for their treasonous acts, so they called him brother but held weapons in their hands, and rebellion could happen at any time.

Finally, there are serious external threats.

Hou Shu was undoubtedly the biggest beneficiary during the rise and fall of Jin, Liao and Han. During this great catastrophe, Hou Shu encroached on the western territory of the Central Plains dynasty, occupied all the land south of Dasan Pass, and its greedy tentacles even extended to Fengxiang and Chang'an.

In the year when Liu Zhiyuan entered Bianzhou, Meng Chang of Later Shu used both military threats and political inducements to coerce and lure the high-ranking officials of the Later Han Dynasty to surrender, such as Hou Yi, the governor of Fengxiang.

At the end of the year, Hou Shu appointed two surrendered generals from the Central Plains as commanders: Zhang Qianzhao as the Northern Camp Recruiting and Appeasement Envoy, and He Chongjian as his deputy. They led a large army from Chengdu, with flags stretching for dozens of miles.

Zhang Qianzhao was a general who surrendered to the Later Shu when Li Congke proclaimed himself emperor; He Jiancheng was a general who surrendered to the Later Shu when the Khitan destroyed the Later Jin. The two are now accomplices of the tiger and have become the chief and deputy marshals who invaded the motherland.

The Later Shu army attacked Fengxiang from multiple directions, and sent troops out of Ziwu Valley to respond to the rebel Zhao Kuangzan in Chang'an. Zhao Kuangzan was the son of Zhao Yanshou. His rebellion belonged to the third point mentioned above, Liu Zhiyuan's internal troubles. On the surface, he submitted to Liu Zhiyuan, but secretly colluded with foreign forces to invade the Later Han.

Finally, trapped in heavy siege and isolated, Fengxiang Jiedushi Hou Yi chose to surrender. Thus, Fengxiang and Chang'an, the two major cities in the western part of the empire, fell into the hands of the Later Shu.

This was not the end. In order to show their loyalty to their new master, Hou Yi and Zhao Kuangzan jointly submitted a petition requesting that Hou Shu continue to send troops eastward to first conquer Guanzhong and then pacify the Central Plains.

What a big ambition.

Huainan was also unwilling to be left out. Long before Liu Zhiyuan entered Bianzhou, Li Jing of Southern Tang had planned to send troops to the Central Plains to get a share of the pie in the chaos of Jin and Liao. At that time, Southern Tang was stuck in the quagmire of the Fujian War. After he extricated himself, Liu Zhiyuan had already successfully entered Bianzhou, and "upon hearing that the Han had entered Bianzhou, the troops did not go out." However, the commander-in-chief of the Northern Expedition, Li Jinquan, "still held the title and did not change it." The organization of the commander-in-chief of the Northern Expedition was retained, which shows that Li Jing had not completely given up, but was waiting for an opportunity and ready to make a move.

(End of this chapter)