History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 651 Guo Wei Patrols the Border
The Khitan sent troops to attack but failed to win.

Later, Sun Fangjian sent people to express his allegiance to the Later Han Dynasty, and was appointed as the Jiedushi of Dingzhou Yiwu Army by the Later Han Dynasty, ordering him to resist the Khitan. The Later Han Dynasty also sent Liu Zaiming, the commander of Zhenzhou Chengde Army, to lead an army to support Sun Fangjian and attack Dingzhou.

At this time, the Khitan commanders of Dingzhou were Yelu Langwu and Yelu Malu, who had escaped from Zhenzhou. When they heard that the Later Han was coming, they immediately looted the city of Dingzhou, dragged the entire city's people with them to the north, and set a fire before leaving, a typical "Three Alls Policy".

After Sun Fangjian received the news of the Khitan retreat, he immediately led hundreds of his men from Langshan to Dingzhou and took over the empty city. He then submitted a petition to the court, recommending his younger brother Sun Xingyou to be the governor of Yizhou and Sun Fangyu to be the governor of Taizhou. The court approved it.

For a period of time thereafter, the Sun brothers of Langshan became the gate gods of the northern gate of the Later Han Dynasty. They repelled the Khitan's attacks several times, recovered some prefectures and counties that had fallen during the Later Jin Dynasty, and expanded the territory of the Later Han Dynasty northward.

After Yelu Ma'ao and others returned to the country, Yelu Ruan blamed him for the loss of troops and generals, the loss of power and the humiliation of the country. Yelu Ma'ao confronted Yelu Ruan in person and retorted that it was because the country appointed Han people as officials that the country had come to this point.

Yelu Ma'ao, his father was Yelu La'ge, Yelu La'ge was Yelu Abaoji's younger brother. In other words, Yelu Ma'ao was a cousin of Yelu Bei and Yelu Deguang, and was Yelu Ruan's uncle. He grew up in the palace and had a very close relationship with Yelu Deguang, and was a typical "Taizong Party".

Yelu Ruan ascended the throne by rejecting the "Taizong Party" and the "Queen Mother Party", and he did not have much good feelings towards his uncle. Now, his uncle Yelu Ma'ao has lost cities and lands, and lost the territory of the Central Plains. Not only does he have no intention of repenting, but he also makes irresponsible remarks about the central government, which is simply courting death.

Yelu Ma's behavior was a disrespect and challenge to Yelu Ruan's authority and bottom line.

Yelu Ruan poisoned him to death with poisoned wine.

The story of how Yelu Ruan attacked his political enemies and consolidated the imperial power after the "Crossing Agreement" will be presented later.

The "three towns in the Central Plains rebelled successively". Li Jing of the Southern Tang, who had always coveted the Central Plains but was unable to launch a northern expedition, sent envoys to visit the Khitan and presented a secret letter in a wax ball, requesting the two countries to join forces and attack the Later Han from the north and the south while the Central Plains was in turmoil.

In September of the second year of Qianyou (949), Yelu Ruan convened a meeting in front of the emperor, and the emperor and his ministers reached a consensus: go south!

In October, the Khitans mobilized a large army and made a comeback with great momentum. They headed straight for Beizhou and carried out widespread burning, killing and looting in Beizhou, Weizhou, Xingzhou and Mingzhou. Among them, Comrade Shi Wanshan, the governor of Shenzhou, died for his country.

At that time, Suo Wanjin led 700 cavalrymen to station in Shenzhou for defense, and thousands of cavalrymen attacked the east gate of Shenzhou. Shi Wanshan and his sons led more than 100 people to counterattack, and actually killed thousands of Khitan soldiers. They then pursued the victory, but they did not expect that this was a feigned defeat by the Khitans to lure the enemy. After chasing them for more than ten miles, they suddenly ambushed them.

Shi Wanshan hurriedly asked Suo Wanjin for help, but Suo Wanjin did not move his troops and did not help, resulting in the annihilation of Shi Wanshan's entire army. Afterwards, the court posthumously awarded Shi Wanshan the title of Grand Tutor.

The situation in Hebei suddenly became tense, and the governors of the prefectures and counties could only close the city walls to protect themselves and were completely unable to fight back.

Li Jing of Southern Tang also sent troops to cross the Huai River from Shouzhou to the north to respond to the Khitan.

Bai Fu, a general of Yingzhou in the Later Han Dynasty, took up the battle and repelled the Southern Tang. Wang Wangan, the governor of Mizhou, then counterattacked directly into the territory of Southern Tang, captured Dishui Town under the jurisdiction of Haizhou of Southern Tang, and carried out systematic destruction in retaliation. He then requested the court to send additional reinforcements in order to teach Southern Tang a profound lesson. The court sent Guo Qiong, the former governor of Yizhou, to lead the imperial guards to provide support. Wang Wangan and Guo Qiong penetrated deep into the heart of Southern Tang and wreaked havoc on Haizhou.

The Southern Tang's performance during the Jin and Han dynasties was like a toad lying on the back of one's foot, not biting anyone but disgusting. When the enemy comes, the general will stop him; when the water comes, the earth will cover it. The one sent by Liu Chengyou to resist the Khitan was naturally Comrade Guo Wei, the great hero who had just returned from suppressing the rebellion.

On October 10, the court sent Guo Wei to lead troops to patrol the border in the north, and Xuanhui Envoy Wang Jun continued to serve as the military supervisor.

When the Khitans heard the news that Guo Wei was heading north, they immediately returned north with the spoils they had captured.

Guo Wei first went to Weizhou and then to Xingzhou, while Wang Jun divided his troops and attacked Zhenzhou and Dingzhou to search for the stragglers of the Khitan. Later, Guo Wei assembled the main force and tried to counterattack into the Khitan territory, but Liu Chengyou hurriedly issued an edict to stop him and ordered him to return to the court.

In order to strengthen the central power, Liu Chengyou planned to summon all the military governors to the capital on the occasion of a general reward. As it happened, the military governors from all over the country submitted petitions, requesting to go to the capital to meet the emperor and wish him a happy birthday (March 3). Liu Chengyou went with the flow and approved all the petitions.

In March of the third year of Qianyou (950), local governors came to Bianzhou one after another. Liu Chengyou held a banquet for all his officials in Yongfu Hall, with singing and dancing. Then, Liu Chengyou performed a great relocation: Gao Xingzhou of Weizhou moved to Yunzhou; Fu Yanqing of Yanzhou moved to Qingzhou; Murong Yanchao of Yunzhou moved to Yanzhou; Xue Huairang of Xingzhou moved to Tongzhou; Zhe Congyuan of Fuzhou moved to Dengzhou; Liu Ci of Huazhou moved to Xingzhou; Yang Xin of Anzhou moved to Fuzhou; Wang Lingwen of Beizhou moved to Anzhou...

Among a series of personnel transfers, the transfer of one person shocked the court and the public. This person was Wang Rao, the governor of Fuzhou. Because Wang Rao was a "follower of Li Shouzhen". When Li Shouzhen rebelled, Wang Rao secretly colluded with him. Everyone thought that according to convention, Wang Rao should be assigned a retirement and leisure position, such as being thrown into the ranks of the imperial guards. However, the result was that he was promoted instead of being demoted, from the governor of Fuzhou to the governor of Huazhou, and from the alternate member of the third-level war zone to the full-time position of the first-level war zone.

The reason was that after Wang Rao came to Beijing, he bribed the person in power (Shi Hongzhao) heavily.

Because of the Khitan invasion, the court appointed Guo Wei as the governor of Weizhou, and ordered that the troops, money, food and fodder of all the states in Hebei be subject to Guo Wei's dispatch.

Guo Wei suddenly became the uncrowned king north of the Yellow River.

On May 5, Guo Wei bid farewell to Liu Chengyou and led his troops to Weizhou. Before leaving, Guo Wei gave Liu Chengyou a "former letter of departure":
“The Queen Mother has followed the late Emperor for many years and has experienced countless storms. Your Majesty is still young and immature. If you have any confusion at work, you should consult the Queen Mother and follow her instructions. Don’t act on your own!

In addition, Your Majesty must be close to wise ministers and stay away from villains. Don't fail to distinguish between loyalty and treachery and be ignorant of good and evil!
Yang Bin, Shi Hongzhao, Su Fengji and others are all old subordinates of the late emperor. They are capable and loyal. Your Majesty should be open-hearted with them, trust them and make use of them, instead of hanging out with a bunch of young brats and treacherous villains all day long!
As for the Northern Defense against Khitan, I will certainly do my best. Your Majesty, just give me more power, and you should worry less about other things. "

In a word: listen to your mother, listen to your uncles, listen to me, what do you know, you little brat? Shut up.

Although it is not as eloquent as Zhuge Liang's "Before and After the Departure of the Emperor", the meaning is almost the same, that is, the old ministers of the previous dynasty who hold military power put on the attitude of elders and scolded the young master with the tone of "it's all for your own good".

Liu Chengyou was so frightened that he dared not breathe, but listened attentively and said yes repeatedly. However, in fact, the trust between the monarch and his subjects had reached a critical point, and any disturbance would trigger a major change.

This great change happened in less than half a year. Its rapid outbreak, tragic scale and huge impact were beyond the expectations of all participants, including the initiator. It was like Pandora's box, which was out of control.

(End of this chapter)