History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 678 Zhou Ge Han Ming 4
Under the guidance of Zheng Gong, Liu Chong, under the pretext of guarding against the Khitan, openly repaired the city, stored grass and grain, recruited soldiers and horses, and at the same time suspended tribute to the court, laying the foundation for the future Northern Han regime.

After Liu Chengyou was assassinated, Liu Chong discussed countermeasures with his staff. At that time, almost everyone said that Guo Wei's rebellion was obvious, and we should immediately go to the capital to support the king, drive Guo Wei away, and then... you, the emperor's uncle, will inherit the throne.

Liu Chong hesitated. "Well... hasn't Guo Wei openly rebelled yet? Doesn't he want to establish a descendant of the Liu family as emperor? Is it appropriate for us to do this? Will Guo Wei accuse us of treason?"

This is the important node in the previous article. Guo Wei knelt down to Feng Dao, the "Grand Tutor of the Han Dynasty", as the "Han Dynasty Minister", and Feng Dao accepted it calmly. Then Empress Dowager Li discussed the successor to the throne with the ministers, listed four candidates, and Liu Yun of Xuzhou won.

Guo Wei did not want to become emperor immediately, but the time was not yet ripe, especially for this uncle Liu, Liu Chong of Hedong. Hedong was a good place. Since the Later Tang Dynasty, it was the birthplace of three dynasties and gave birth to three founding emperors. The geographical location here was important, and the people were tough. Its governors had broad cities and strong soldiers and horses, and they all had the strength to compete for the Central Plains. If they fell back, they could also establish their own kingdom.

Guo Wei made this series of fake moves in order to paralyze people like Liu Chong.

Guo Wei was also young and a rural non-mainstream figure. He once had a tattoo on his neck, a sparrow, and was known as "Guo Que'er" in the underworld. Guo Wei pulled down his collar to the envoy, pointed at the tattoo on his neck, and said, "Since ancient times, has there been an emperor with a tattoo (Since ancient times, there has been a tattooed emperor)?"

After listening to the envoy's statement, Liu Chong believed it to be true, and thought that Guo Wei could never rebel. He really should have looked through the newspapers of previous years. The last person who used this method of proof by contradiction was Yang Guangyuan.

When Liu Chong heard that his own son Liu Yun was finally established as the new emperor, he was overjoyed and said to his attendants with a smile: "My son is the emperor, what else can I be dissatisfied with?" He immediately gave up the idea of ​​using troops and ordered that no one should mention leading troops south in the future.

But everyone in the world, except Liu Chong, knew that Guo Wei was not sincere in wanting to establish Liu Yun as the emperor. This was definitely a delaying tactic.

His deputy mayor of Taiyuan, Li Xiang, tried his best to persuade Liu Chong not to be fooled by Guo Wei, saying that Guo Wei had raised an army and invaded the capital, and forced Liu Chengyou to death, so he would definitely not be a minister of the Han Dynasty, and would definitely not establish a descendant of the Liu family as the throne. You might as well lead your troops south to Taihang Mountain, control Mengzhou and other dangerous passes along the Yellow River, and see whether Liu Yun of Xuzhou can ascend the throne smoothly. If he can, then we will return the same way. If there is any mistake, we will go to Beijing to defend the king as soon as possible!

Unexpectedly, Liu Chong flew into a rage and cursed Li Xiang for alienating his father and his son, and then ordered Li Xiang to be beheaded in public. All indecisive people have this problem: they are always hesitant when doing the right thing, and they always make a decisive decision when doing the wrong thing.

If Liu Chong followed Li Xiang's advice, Guo Wei would have to think carefully about it.

When Li Xiang was dragged to the execution ground, he was heartbroken and cried out to the sky: "I have great talent, but I gave advice to a big idiot. I deserve to die! I pity my seriously ill wife. She can't take care of herself. If I die, she can't live alone!"

Liu Chong thought it made sense.

"Then let's die together." Li Xiang and his sick wife were beheaded at the same time. Afterwards, Liu Chong carefully recorded the cause and effect of the incident and reported it to Queen Mother Li to show his absolute loyalty to the court. Please Queen Mother, I, Liu Chong, will be a good boy.

But soon, Liu Yun was deposed as Duke of Xiangyin. Liu Chong realized that things were not going well and hurriedly sent envoys to Bianzhou, begging Comrade Guo Wei to show mercy and spare Liu Yun's life no matter what, and begging him to take Liu Yun to Hedong.

Guo Wei responded to Liu Chong by saying that Liu Yun was still staying in Songzhou and he had sent someone to meet him. He would definitely arrange a good place for Liu Yun. He said that Liu Yun should rest assured that as long as he performed his duties faithfully, he would be crowned a king and guard Hedong forever. At the same time, he sent someone to tell Li Hongyi, the governor of Songzhou, to kill Liu Yun immediately.

On the day Liu Yun was killed (the 16th day of the first lunar month), Liu Chong ascended the throne in Taiyuan and proclaimed himself emperor. He continued to use the country's name "Da Han" and the reign title was "Qianyou" of Liu Chengyou. It was known in history as the "Northern Han" and was one of the "Ten Kingdoms" and the only separatist regime in the north among the "Ten Kingdoms".

There is no doubt that the Northern Han regime and the Central Plains dynasties (Later Zhou and Song) are irreconcilable. The relationship between the two is the same as the relationship between Liu Bei of Shu Han and Cao Wei. The Northern Han regime colluded with the Khitan and threatened the Central Plains dynasties for a long time. It was a major concern for the Later Zhou and Song dynasties. It existed for 28 years and was eventually destroyed by Song Taizong Zhao Guangyi.

At this point, it is not difficult for us to understand the small detail at the beginning, that is, is the image of Liu Chong in the history books real? Not necessarily. The Song Dynasty completed the unification of the motherland, inherited the "Five Dynasties", and ended the "Ten Kingdoms". The Northern Han regime was the only local separatist regime in the "Ten Kingdoms" that had a deep hatred with the Song Dynasty. And it was the royal historian of the Song Dynasty who wrote this history.

2.4 Yanzhou Murong Yanchao
Murong Yanchao was Liu Zhiyuan's half brother, a Tuyuhun man with mixed blood: dark skin, pockmarked face, and curly beard. He should be similar to today's Central Asians or Arabs. He once used the surname Yan (the adopted son of Yan Bao, a surrendered general of the Later Liang Dynasty), so he was nicknamed "Yan Kunlun".

He first followed Li Siyuan and was promoted to governor. Later, he was dismissed for corruption and bribery. According to the law at that time, he should be sentenced to death. Liu Zhiyuan pleaded for him, and the death penalty was commuted to exile in Fangzhou.

His corruption problem should have occurred during the Later Jin Dynasty. Liu Zhiyuan once saved the life of Jin Gaozu Shi Jingtang. For details, see the previous article "Emperors in the same frame". So Liu Zhiyuan still had to take his face into consideration.

After being exiled to Fangzhou, Murong Yanchao faded out of the historical stage. It was not until Liu Zhiyuan proclaimed himself emperor in Hedong that Murong Yanchao was overjoyed and escaped from Fangzhou overnight and ran back to Hedong in one breath. His status also jumped from a prisoner to the governor of Zhenning Army in Chanzhou.

Obviously, this kind of promotion was not convincing, especially not to Guo Wei, Shi Hongzhao, and Yang Bin. So in the next war against Du Chongwei of Weizhou, Liu Zhiyuan appointed Murong Yanchao as deputy commander-in-chief and the famous general Gao Xingzhou as commander-in-chief to go to the war.

Murong Yanchao was eager to show his merit, so he advocated a reckless advance and insisted on an immediate strong attack and a quick victory. However, the veteran general Gao Xingzhou judged the situation and made plans, advocating to besiege the exhausted enemy. The two of them had serious unhappiness, and Murong Yanchao reported to Liu Zhiyuan that Gao Xingzhou was deliberately passive and indulged the enemy because he was a relative of Du Chongwei, and slandered Gao Xingzhou for secretly communicating with Du Chongwei.

(End of this chapter)