History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 629 Hell Mode Start 3
A year later, Southern Tang got its chance: Li Shouzhen rebelled. This also belongs to the third problem, that is, external troubles caused by internal strife, internal traitors colluding with external forces to interfere in the country's internal affairs.

Shu and Huai have always been the two biggest headaches for the Central Plains dynasties. But the biggest external threat to the Later Han regime was the powerful enemy in the north - Khitan.

Although the Khitan experienced the "ancestor-grandson regime" and peacefully resolved disputes with the "Crossing Treaty", and then entered the "Post-Crossing Treaty" era, Yelu Ruan also faced surging internal troubles and civil strife, but this did not affect the Khitan's coveting of the Central Plains at all.

Firstly, the Khitan had more financial resources, and as the saying goes, a lean camel is bigger than a horse. Even if they were plagued by internal troubles, they could always use their spare time to harass the Central Plains. Secondly, Yelu Ruan also regarded launching foreign wars as a means of diverting domestic conflicts.

The Khitan's invasion to the south will be elaborated in detail later.

In addition, Gao Conghui, a professional rogue in Jingnan for 30 years, also made a splash and made his presence felt. Jingnan has always been a small country with weak soldiers and ranked last in comprehensive strength among the "Ten Kingdoms", but this did not affect the ambitions of the "Gao Laizi" at all.

Gao Conghui was well aware of Liu Zhiyuan's dilemma in hell mode, and he took the initiative to launch an aggressive war against the Later Han Dynasty. This behavior is like that of Ah San in the early 1960s and Vietnam in the late 1970s. The children in Jingnan are disobedient, so they should be spanked. Soon, Gao Conghui was educated by Liu Zhiyuan to be a good person again.

Ma Xifan, the highest leader of the Nanchu regime in Tanzhou, and Qian Hongzuo, the highest leader of the Wuyue Kingdom in Hangzhou, died in the year when Liu Zhiyuan entered Bian. They were also facing the transfer and transition of the highest power and were unable to take care of themselves. Moreover, Nanchu and Wuyue Kingdom had long been friendly neighbors of the Central Plains Dynasty, because they did not directly border the Central Plains Dynasty, but were separated by Hou Shu, Huainan, and Jingnan. Make friends with distant countries and attack nearby ones.

As for the Southern Han regime in Guangzhou, it had long since severed ties with the Central Plains and had almost no interactions with them. In addition, it was located in a remote area, so the turmoil in the Central Plains could not affect Lingnan.

The Min regime in Fujian also made friends with distant countries and attacked nearby ones. It was forced to respect the Central Plains dynasty due to the blockade and threats from Wuyue, Huainan, Southern Han, Southern Chu and other countries. It was also "isolated from the world" due to its remote location.

To sum up, this is the dilemma Liu Zhiyuan is facing, trapped both internally and externally. It’s very embarrassing.

In the consolation edict, Liu Zhiyuan expressed the need to grant amnesty to the entire nation, release the labor force, resume production and management, and restore the domestic economy;

All officials appointed by the Khitans will be recognized by the new government and will not be transferred. Please rest assured.

The whole country will be exempted from taxes. Last year's overdue rent and taxes will be written off. Bianzhou and Luoyang will be exempted from taxes within a radius of 100 miles this summer. For places beyond 100 miles, the house tax will be reduced by half.
Those who were demoted by the Later Jin or Khitan and have not yet had time to take up their posts are no longer required to take up their posts, and their orders to demote them will be rescinded; those who have already arrived at their demoted posts will be employed according to their abilities;

All those who were previously sentenced to exile were pardoned and allowed to return home; all those whose homes were confiscated were released according to the actual circumstances...

New Year, new atmosphere. Although the Later Han Dynasty was facing difficulties, the people were still joyful and congratulated each other. You see, our Han emperor still cares about the people, unlike those barbarian chieftains.

When the Khitan army retreated, the easternmost defense line of the "first island chain" was Gao Tangying, the governor of Xiangzhou. After hearing the news that Liu Zhiyuan was heading south, Gao Tangying also became a wise man who knew the current situation. He sent someone to contact Liu Zhiyuan secretly and expressed his willingness to surrender the city. Liu Zhiyuan of course welcomed it warmly, so he passed on a message to Gao Tangying that as long as he was willing to turn back and make meritorious contributions, his previous crimes would be written off.

However, before the envoy brought the good news back to Xiangzhou, a mutiny broke out in Xiangzhou and Gao Tangying was killed.

The Khitans had previously assigned two imperial guards generals, Wang Jihong and Fan Hui, to garrison Xiangzhou. When Du Chongwei, Li Shouzhen, and Zhang Yanze surrendered, the Khitans confiscated all the weapons and armor of the 200,000 soldiers and sent them back to the Khitan homeland in order to prevent them from defecting. They originally planned to kill them all, but under the strong persuasion of Zhang Li and Zhao Yanshou, Yelu Deguang finally gave up the idea of ​​a massacre, but he was still worried about them, so he sent them to different places in batches to minimize their power.

So Wang Jihong, Fan Hui and the army they brought had no armor on their bodies, no weapons in their hands, and were just a group of karate athletes.

Jiedushi Gao Tangying treated the two very well. Not only did he provide them with good food and drink, he also opened the armory and distributed weapons and armor to them to help them arm themselves. The two also expressed their gratitude to Gao Tangying, saying that they were willing to work hard for him and repay him. Gao Tangying then regarded the two as his confidants.

Now, Gao Tangying surrendered the city and submitted to Liu Zhiyuan. Wang Jihong and Fan Hui saw the opportunity to get promoted and make money, and they killed Gao Tangying without hesitation. Afterwards, Wang Jihong claimed to be the governor of Zhangde Army in Xiangzhou, and sent an envoy to report to Liu Zhiyuan that Gao Tangying was fickle and did not really surrender, but was discovered and dealt with in time.

Therefore, Liu Zhiyuan appointed Wang Jihong as the commander of Zhangde Army in Xiangzhou, and appointed Fan Hui as the governor of Cizhou.

When Xiangzhou returned to the Han Dynasty, Gao Fengming, the governor of the Anguo Army of Xingzhou in the north, was filled with unprecedented fear. He entrusted the military and political power to Liu Duo, the commander-in-chief of the Xingzhou army, and shifted his strategy to Zhenzhou.

It should be noted that when Liu Zhiyuan entered Bian, that is, at the beginning of the establishment of the Later Han regime, the Khitan still occupied most of the territory north of the Yellow River, such as Xiangzhou, Xingzhou, Zhenzhou and other places mentioned above. If Weizhou occupied by Du Chongwei is added, then the former three towns of Heshuo (Weizhou Weizhou Army, Zhenzhou Chengde Army, Dingzhou Yiwu Army) and Xingzhou Dongzhao Yi Army were all under the control of the Khitan.

The territory of the early Later Han Dynasty was like an "L", with Hedong standing vertically and Henan at the bottom horizontally.

Realizing the reunification of the motherland, or at least restoring the territory of the Later Jin Dynasty, was Liu Zhiyuan's top priority. Xiangzhou was a bridgehead extending into the Heshuo area. With Xiangzhou as a springboard, he could recover Xingzhou to the north, Weizhou to the east, and then Zhenzhou and Dingzhou in turn.

Just as Liu Zhiyuan's group was racking their brains to plan their next battle plan, three pieces of good news suddenly came, providing a small turning point for Liu Zhiyuan's cause of unification.

First, there were rumors that Zhao Yanshou had been executed by the Khitans. In fact, Zhao Yanshou was still alive, but was under house arrest. He was imprisoned and died two years later. However, Liu Zhiyuan needed such rumors. We even have reason to believe that the rumors of Zhao Yanshou's death were spread by Liu Zhiyuan's group.

(End of this chapter)