History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 783: The Rebellion of Vulcan Pond 1
[Vulcan Rebellion]

Emperor Shizong of Liao, Yelu Ruan, relied on the "Crossing Agreement" to ascend the throne, but he did not gain widespread support from the Khitan nobles. It can be seen from the several rebellions mentioned above that people of the Taizu generation (Yelu Anduan), the Taizong generation (Yelu Liuge, Yelu Pendu), and the Shizong generation (Yelu Tiande) did not recognize Yelu Ruan's throne.

The weak Yelu Ruan did not dare and did not have the ability to launch a large-scale political purge. He only liquidated the "Empress Dowager Party" in a relatively mild manner. This was because the "Empress Dowager Party" had too many enemies, and the liquidation of the "Empress Dowager Party" could gain the support of the "Prince Party" and the "Empress Taizong Party".

As for the "Prince Party" and "Taizong Party", Yelu Ruan would never dare to offend them. His gentle attitude towards the rebels also reveals his lack of confidence.

From this perspective, the situation of Emperor Shizong Yelu Ruan was somewhat similar to that of Emperor Taizong Yelu Deguang. In short, although he was the emperor of the Liao Dynasty, he lacked a foundation among the Khitan nobles and did not receive their support. Therefore, if Emperor Shizong Yelu Ruan wanted to consolidate his power, he could only turn his attention to the Central Plains in the south.

Yelu Ruan vigorously promoted the surrendered generals from the Central Plains and used them to suppress the veteran generals, which was an old tactic.

For example, among the list of people who received rewards at the beginning of his accession to the throne, there was a Han surrendered general named Gao Xun, who was appointed as the Privy Councilor of the Southern Court.

Gao Xun was the son of Gao Xintao, the King of Beiping in the Later Jin Dynasty. He surrendered to Liao with Du Chongwei and was highly valued by Emperor Taizong Yelü Deguang. Gao Xun can be regarded as a representative of the surrendered generals in the Central Plains.

However, the practice of reusing surrendered generals from the Central Plains and alienating the Khitan nobles further deepened the contradiction between Yelu Ruan and the Khitan nobles, making him more isolated.

In addition to reusing surrendered generals from the Central Plains, the most direct way to gain power was, of course, to go south and invade the Central Plains, like Emperor Taizong Yelu Deguang did.

The Central Plains regime at that time was the Later Han Dynasty. Yelu Ruan and Liu Zhiyuan ascended the throne successively, but Liu Zhiyuan died more than half a year after he became emperor, and his son Liu Chengyou succeeded him. Li Jing of the Southern Tang Dynasty sent envoys to visit Khitan to congratulate Yelu Ruan on taking the job of emperor. At the same time, he presented a wax ball letter and secretly discussed a joint attack on the Later Han Dynasty.

However, the difference between Sejong and Taejong is that Taejong received widespread support from the nobles when he went south. What about Sejong?

Once bitten by a snake, one will be afraid of ropes for ten years. The Khitan nobles who had just returned from the Central Plains were generally opposed to going south. After the war, they should rest and recuperate, and should not start a war.

Yelu Ruan used a little trick and ordered the army to tour the south, ostensibly to appease and inspect the border, but in fact to wait for an opportunity to cross the border to plunder and make small moves in order to test the attitude of the opposition.

The Khitans were good at harassment and looting on this scale, and in a series of small-scale military operations, the Khitan army gained a lot of benefits. In one of them, the Khitan army penetrated into Beizhou and Shenzhou and killed the governor of Shenzhou. The tentacles had already extended into the hinterland of Hebei and were close to Weizhou.

This military action was mentioned when the main story of the Later Han Dynasty was told, and thus there was the story of Guo Wei being ordered to go north to patrol the border and resist the Khitan.

Li Jing of Southern Tang sent another envoy to congratulate the Khitan brothers on their "great victory in Hebei" and again proposed to attack the Later Han from both the north and the south.

However, the attitude of the Khitan nobles remained the same, agreeing to guerrilla looting and opposing large-scale wars of annihilation. Sejong still faced great resistance in his southward march.

Soon after, Guo Wei overthrew the Later Han Dynasty and established the Later Zhou Dynasty. He then sent people to visit the Khitan to seek good neighborliness and friendship. The Khitan gave good horses as gifts in return as a token of friendship. The diplomatic relations between the two countries were normalized.

When I talked about this in the previous article, I made a bold guess that Yelu Ruan might have a secret agreement with Guo Wei, or a tacit understanding between politicians, that is, Yelu Ruan harassed Hebei in the Central Plains, only robbed things but did not occupy land, to create panic, while Guo Wei deliberately magnified this threat and nurtured the enemy to protect himself.

In this way, Yelu Ruan reaped benefits, improved his reputation in the Liao Kingdom, and consolidated his own power; while Guo Wei also increased his power and domestic voice.

After Guo Wei proclaimed himself emperor, Liu Chong, the governor of Hedong, immediately established the "Northern Han" and sent people to visit the Khitan to request the title. The emergence of the Northern Han gave Emperor Shizong a breakthrough. Therefore, Yelu Ruan immediately expressed his recognition of Liu Chong's Northern Han regime.

This move blatantly violates the international relations norms of "One Central Plains" and the general consensus of the international community. It is a blatant interference in the internal affairs of the Central Plains and a ruthless trampling and blatant provocation of the national sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Central Plains.

In response, Guo Wei sent envoys to Khitan to lodge a solemn protest with the Shizong authorities and urged the relevant parties to face up to this serious political issue.

Yelu Ruan detained the envoys of the Later Zhou Dynasty. The Later Zhou Dynasty expressed deep regret for this. The relationship between Zhou and Liao, which had just been put on the right track, immediately encountered an unprecedented crisis.

Later Zhou was facing huge survival pressure. Liu Chong of Hedong established his own regime and established the Northern Han regime. Murong Yanchao of Yanzhou also established his own regime and refused to submit to the regime. Liu Chong of Northern Han and Murong Yanchao of Yanzhou kept asking the Khitan to send troops to jointly deal with Guo Wei of Later Zhou. The Southern Tang also sent envoys to request the joint attack on Later Zhou from the north and the south.

Yelu Ruan was planning to launch a large-scale war to the south, so the so-called "Zhou-Liao relationship" or "Zhou-Liao friendship" was a joke in Yelu Ruan's view.

Yelu Ruan detained the envoys of the Later Zhou Dynasty, made a gesture of goodwill to Liu Chong of the Northern Han Dynasty, and expressed support for the Hedong counter-revolutionary rebel group.

After gaining the support of Khitan, Liu Chongyong of Northern Han served as the vanguard and pioneer in the southward march and dispatched a large army to attack Later Zhou. As a result, he was defeated and had to ask Khitan for help urgently.

Yelu Ruan first sent high-ranking officials such as Gao Xun to serve as envoys to Taiyuan to formally enthrone Liu Chong as "The Divine and Martial Emperor of the Han Dynasty", paying tribute to Taizong's enthronement of Shi Jingtang.

Afterwards, amid the constant cries for help from the Northern Han, Yelu Ruan finally led the army himself and forcibly pushed forward the decision to march south, preparing to pay tribute to Emperor Taizong's feat of destroying the Later Jin in one fell swoop.

There are not many details left in history books about Emperor Shizong Yelu Ruan's journey south, but all of them are negative, including "History of Liao" and "History of Khitan".

This was a blind gamble by Yelu Ruan, because Yelu Ruan urgently needed to divert domestic conflicts through foreign wars. In other words, Yelu Ruan was diverting the Khitan nobles' opposition to him by leading the "march south".

History has given us the correct answer more than once: anyone who attempts to divert domestic conflicts through external expansion will end up in an even more tragic failure.

If you want to expand abroad, you must have a basic element, that is, centralization. However, Yelu Ruan wanted to achieve centralization through foreign wars, reversing cause and effect and trying to get something for nothing.

According to historical records, the Khitan "tribes were all unwilling to invade the south, but the Khitan leader forced them to do so."

Speed ​​is of the essence in war, and the Khitan nobles were unwilling to move south, so Yelu Ruan moved very slowly. The army procrastinated, stopped and started, and it took two months to arrive near the border.

Next, a major event in Chinese history occurred - the Huoshendian Rebellion.

Thanks to my old friend “江湖刘白” for the reward and support!

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(End of this chapter)