History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 833: Three Levels

【Three levels】

On March 959, 3, the sixth year of Xian De, Chai Rong was ordered to visit Cangzhou.

On the 22nd, Han Tong and others were ordered to lead the navy and the army as the vanguard. Han Tong lived up to expectations and immediately dredged the waterway after arriving in Cangzhou, pushing the defense position to Yong'an County, Cangzhou. A total of siltation points were dredged, allowing the navy to reach Yingzhou and Mozhou directly and penetrate deep into the territory of Liao.

On April 4, Chai Rong arrived in Cangzhou and led tens of thousands of troops to the Liao territory that day. The action was so swift that no news leaked out at all. According to records, the local people did not know about Chai Rong's personal expedition until they saw the emperor's guard of honor. In other words, the Khitans were completely unprepared for Chai Rong's expedition.

This Northern Expedition was Chai Rong's most glorious moment. If the three expeditions to Huainan were like crushing defeat, then the Northern Expedition to Khitan was like a tiger among a flock of sheep, easy and enjoyable.

On April 4, Wang Hong, the governor of Ningzhou, surrendered.

On the 20th, Chai Rong appointed Han Tong as the commander-in-chief of the land army and Zhao Kuangyin as the commander-in-chief of the navy, and both land and sea forces were dispatched simultaneously.

On the 22nd, Chai Rong sailed northward, and the warships of the Later Zhou Dynasty were connected end to end, stretching for dozens of miles. This was the ace navy of the Later Zhou Dynasty, and it was the invincible fleet that defeated the Southern Tang Dynasty, which was famous for its navy. Now, they appeared in the waters of the north, which was even more invincible. For the nomadic people, it was simply a dimensionality reduction attack.

On the 26th, the Later Zhou army arrived at Yijin Pass, and the Khitan garrison commander Zhong Yanhui opened the pass and surrendered;
The Later Zhou navy continued to move westward. The waters here could no longer support the huge ships, so Chai Rong abandoned the huge ships and ran ashore. Chai Rong led the way, deep into the enemy territory, and slept in the countryside that night. He had less than 500 personal cavalrymen around him, and was surrounded by Khitan rangers. However, the Khitan cavalry did not dare to move forward rashly. Chai Rong was also calm and fearless.

On the 28th, Zhao Kuangyin arrived at Waqiao Pass first, and the Khitan garrison commander Yao Neibin opened the gate and surrendered;
On the 29th, Liu Chuxin, the governor of Mozhou, surrendered the city;
On May 5, Li Chongjin, a general of the Later Zhou Dynasty, led his troops to join the alliance, and Gao Yanhui, the governor of Yingzhou, surrendered the city.

At this point, in just over a month, the Later Zhou Dynasty pacified all the land south of Waqiao Pass, and gained three states, 17 counties, and 18,360 households. The most brilliant thing was that there was no battle, no casualties, and not even a single arrow was fired, and all the cities and passes surrendered.

So, on May 5, Chai Rong summoned all the generals to discuss the recovery of Youzhou.

Unexpectedly, all the generals were unanimous in opposing the continuation of the military campaign and advocated stopping while the going was good.

Chai Rong was very unhappy.

Don't fight? It's not my character to not fight! Chai Rong ignored all the opinions and sent Liu Chongjin, the general of the imperial army, as the vanguard to station in Gu'an County, Zhuozhou.

Afterwards, Chai Rong personally went to the front line to supervise the construction of the pontoon bridge.

That night, Chai Rong returned to Waqiao Pass to rest, but he suddenly fell ill. "That night, the emperor was ill."

Because Chai Rong suddenly fell ill, he had to follow the public opinion and decided to return to the capital.

On May 5, Sun Xingyou, the governor of Dingzhou, reported that he had captured Yizhou and captured Li Zaiqin, the governor, alive and presented him to the imperial court. Chai Rong ordered him to be beheaded in public.

Sun Xingyou, the leader of the "Langyashan Revolutionary Base", and his brother Sun Fangjian used the evil cult to form a gang and occupy Langyashan. They were originally a great concern for the government. During the "Jin-Liao War", the brothers Sun Fangjian and Sun Xingyou became a model of a prodigal son, led their troops to deal with the Khitan, and repeatedly went deep into the Khitan territory to carry out sneak attacks. During the Later Han Dynasty, they continued to fight against the Khitans. Until today's Later Zhou Dynasty, Dingzhou Sun Xingyou is still the vanguard of the Central Plains to conquer the Khitan.

On May 5, Chai Rong promoted Waqiao Pass to Xiongzhou and assigned Rongcheng County and Guiyi County of Zhuozhou to Xiongzhou. Waqiao Pass is a strategic location between the Central Plains and Youzhou. When Zhu Wen attacked Liu Rengong of Youzhou, Waqiao Pass was a star pass. Chai Rong gave it a new name, Xiongzhou, and today, it has a household name - Xiong'an.

Yijinguan was promoted to Bazhou, and Wen'an and Dacheng counties were ceded to it. Thousands of civilians from Dizhou and Binzhou were mobilized to build the new Bazhou city, and General Han Tong was ordered to supervise the progress of the project.

Han Lingkun was appointed as the commander-in-chief of Bazhou, and Chen Sirang was appointed as the commander-in-chief of Xiongzhou, and each of them led their troops to garrison.

Xiongzhou and Bazhou, from the names, we can see that Chai Rong's determination to march north has not been extinguished. Recovering the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun is still one of Chai Rong's strategic goals.

Facing the sudden attack from the Later Zhou, the Khitan sent General Xiao Siwen to lead the defense. Emperor Muzong of Liao, Yelü Jing, also went to Youzhou in person to take charge. He also sent a thousand-mile fast horse to gallop to Taiyuan Prefecture in Hedong, and ordered Liu Chengjun of the Northern Han to send troops to the rear of the Later Zhou to contain it.

When it comes to Xiao Siwen, everyone may be unfamiliar with him, but when it comes to his daughter, she is known to everyone, young and old. She is the famous "Empress Dowager Xiao" in storytelling and romance - Xiao Yanyan, the Khitan female warrior who brought the Liao Kingdom into its heyday and made the people of the Central Plains suffer. She is the "Empress Dowager Xiao" in works such as "The Yang Family Generals", "The Empress Dowager of the Liao Dynasty" and "Silang Visits His Mother".

After hearing that the Later Zhou had withdrawn its troops, the Khitans finally breathed a sigh of relief.

General Li Chongjin was ordered to teach the Northern Han a lesson. He led his troops out of Tumen Pass and beheaded more than 2,000 people. Li Yun, the governor of Xizhaoyi Army in Luzhou, conquered Liaozhou and captured the governor Zhang Pi alive. Yang Tingzhang (Guo Wei's elder brother-in-law), the governor of Jianxiong Army in Jinzhou, led his troops to invade the Northern Han territory and surrendered 13 castles and strongholds...

The Northern Han was badly betrayed by their Khitan father.

When Chai Rong retreated to Chanzhou, his condition worsened, and he stopped in Chanzhou, and all the ministers were not allowed to see him. As a result, people were in a state of panic, and all kinds of speculation and rumors were prevalent. At that time, only one person could get close to Chai Rong, and that person was Chai Rong's brother-in-law, Zhang Yongde, who was then the governor of Chanzhou.

The ministers came to Zhang Yongde one after another, saying that the country was not settled, and the country was basically empty. The princes of all directions were lucky that there was a change in the capital. Chanzhou was only a step away from the capital, so why didn't they return to the capital quickly? If His Majesty had any accident, wouldn't the country be destroyed?
To put it simply, it was a request for Chai Rong to immediately designate the heir to the throne.

Zhang Yongde was simple-minded and thought what the ministers said made sense, so he told Chai Rong about it.

Chai Rong, who was lying on the sickbed, looked haggard. He was shocked when he heard this and immediately asked Zhang Yongde, "Who told you to say this?"

Zhang Yongde realized that the situation was not good, so he had to answer truthfully and said that everyone outside was saying so now.

Chai Rong sighed, lowered his head and said nothing, with an indescribable sadness on his face. After a long silence, he slowly said, "I know you are being used. Others can't see through it, but can't you? You are so stupid!"

On the same day, Chai Rong ordered his troops to return to the capital.

There are many interpretations of this conversation.

First, let's look at the original words of the ministers, "...Now Chan and Bian are very close to each other..." Many sources translate "爾" as "远", and then translate this sentence into Chanzhou and Bianzhou are very far apart, once Bianzhou changes, what will happen. This is a low-level mistake. 爾 means close.

Chanzhou and Bianzhou were originally separated by a river and were very close; and looking at the original text later, "...looking back at the hard work of day and night and the late return here..." it also shows that the journey between the two places is only a day's journey.

However, translating "近" into "远" would not cause too much deviation from the main idea. It doesn't matter. There was almost no objection to the ministers' intention, which was to force Chai Rong to establish a crown prince. The most critical and controversial part was Chai Rong's words to Zhang Yongde:

"I know you must be taught by others, but you don't understand my intention! However, seeing that you are poor and unworthy, how can you be worthy of this!"

The translation of this sentence is crucial, especially the translation of the words "poor" and "evil", which are of paramount importance.

Let's lay the groundwork first and then give a precise interpretation later.

After Chai Rong returned to Beijing, he first made Fu Yanqing's second daughter the empress, then named the eldest son Chai Zongxun the Prince of Liang, and the second son Chai Zongrang the Duke of Yan; Wang Yanchao, the governor of Chang'an Yongxing Army, moved his headquarters to Fengxiang, and Li Hongyi was appointed as the governor of Chang'an Yongxing Army; Han Tong was appointed as the deputy commander of the imperial guards, and Zhao Kuangyin was appointed as the chief inspector of the palace; the former chief inspector of the palace, Zhang Yongde, was dismissed from his military post...

If you want to understand this series of operations, you have to tell a supernatural event: During the period when Chai Rong was in charge of the three passes, someone dug a wooden sign in the ground with the three characters "Dianjian Zuo" written on it, which actually means "Dianjian Zuo Tianzi". Some sources say that the five characters written on the wooden sign are "Dianjian Zuo Tianzi", which is a fallacy.

The history books clearly state that it was just the three words "Dianjianzuo", so "the onlookers were unable to guess what it was", and no one knew what it meant.

Fu Yanqing's father was Li Cunshen, a famous general of the Later Tang Dynasty and the adopted son of Li Keyong. He has been introduced before and will not be repeated here. In addition to holding titles such as the descendant of a general and a veteran of four dynasties, Fu Yanqing also holds a folk title of "the strongest father-in-law in history".

He had three daughters. The eldest daughter, Fu, first married Li Shouzhen of Hezhong, and later married Chai Rong with the help of Guo Wei. Unfortunately, she died of illness during the expedition to Huai River at the age of 26.

Fu Yanqing's second daughter also married Chai Rong and was now named queen; while Fu Yanqing's youngest daughter married a general and finally moved away from the palace. Unexpectedly, a few years later, she also accidentally became queen, because the general's name was Zhao Guangyi.

With all three daughters becoming queens, Fu Yanqing can be said to be the strongest father-in-law in history.

Fu Yanqing was stationed in Weizhou at the time, shouldering the heavy responsibility of resisting the Khitan. He had a large army, was in charge of an important town in the north, and was highly respected. Therefore, Chai Rong made his daughter the queen to win his heart and let him guard the northern gate for the Later Zhou with peace of mind.
Wang Yanchao's father was Wang Zhongba, a general under Huang Chao. Wang Zhongba later surrendered to the Tang Dynasty and successfully came ashore to clean up his name. Wang Yanchao was born in the Later Liang Dynasty and joined the army during the Later Tang Dynasty. He is still a veteran of four dynasties. The direct reason for his relocation to Fengxiang was the death of the former Fengxiang Jiedushi, and Li Hongyi, who succeeded him in Chang'an, was Liu Zhiyuan's brother-in-law.

Next came the most crucial personnel arrangement: Zhang Yongde was demoted to his military post, while Zhao Kuangyin and Han Tong took command of the imperial guards.

In fact, there was another key figure who had been transferred after the end of the Huai River Expedition. This person was Li Chongjin.

Zhang Yongde was the only son-in-law of Emperor Taizu Guo Wei. In the late Han Dynasty, Guo Wei was brutally murdered, his sons were all killed, two of his three daughters died young, and his only daughter married Zhang Yongde.
Li Chongjin, Guo Wei's nephew, is the son of Guo Wei's sister.

When Guo Wei passed the throne to Chai Rong, these two people were the most threatening to the throne, especially Li Chongjin. When Guo Wei was dying, he specifically asked Li Chongjin to perform the great ceremony of monarch and subject to Chai Rong to clarify the positions of monarch and subject in order to prevent Li Chongjin from coveting the throne.

Chai Rong's attitude towards the two was also very subtle. He let the two jointly lead the imperial guards to check and balance each other, and the conflict between the two was also public. They often threw dirty water at each other and accused each other of having ulterior motives. The more the two quarreled, the happier Chai Rong was.

After Huainan was pacified, Li Chongjin was settled in Huainan to guard the southern gate for the Later Zhou Dynasty.

Now, it is time to reveal the foreshadowing of the previous chapter. During the Northern Expedition, Chai Rong accidentally got a wooden plaque with the words "Dianjianzuo" written on it, and the "Dianqian Du Dianjian" at that time was Zhang Yongde. It is said that Chai Rong did not take it seriously at the time, and just laughed it off and ignored it. In fact, Chai Rong's heart was full of ups and downs, and his thoughts were in turmoil.

This wooden sign, like the book hidden in the belly of a fish and the fox's cry at the campfire, is definitely a human product. So who made it? There are several possibilities:
First, it was Zhang Yongde who did it. In other words, Zhang Yongde had the intention of rebellion, so he secretly sent people to create this talisman and prophecy to incite public opinion;
Second, someone deliberately framed Zhang Yongde and fabricated "evidence" that Zhang Yongde intended to rebel, killing him with a borrowed knife.

So the question is, who is so eager to get rid of Zhang Yongde? The prime suspect is of course his old rival Li Chongjin.

Chai Rong was in seclusion in Chanzhou, perhaps at this time he was thinking hard about the doorway, who was the one who had the intention of rebellion, Zhang Yongde, or Li Chongjin? Or someone else?

And it was at this time that Zhang Yongde foolishly came to persuade him to appoint a crown prince as soon as possible...

Chai Rong was only 39 years old at the time. Generally speaking, people of this age do not need to make a will or arrange their funeral affairs. So when Zhang Yongde said this, Chai Rong was shocked at first, thinking, could it really be you?
Zhang Yongde was the governor of Chanzhou. As the saying goes, a strong dragon cannot defeat a local snake. This local snake was a threat to seize power and was suspected of being a "supervisor". Now he came to force the emperor to abdicate... How could Chai Rong not be shocked?

However, Chai Rong knew him well enough to know that he was a fool with no strategy, so he tried to test him: "This doesn't sound like you. Someone must be behind this."

As expected, Zhang Yongde was being used.

Chai Rong then fell silent, and after a long time he sighed and said, "You really don't know my good intentions. Seeing that you are so "poor", you are "unworthy of this."

Many people don't quite understand this sentence. The key points are in the words "poor" and "evil". In fact, the pronunciation of "evil" here should be "wu" instead of "hungry". It does not mean evil or bad, but means "how can it be".

So what Chai Rong meant was: Looking at your naive look, you are definitely not the mastermind!
In other words, Chai Rong at least understood one thing: the person who wanted to usurp power was not Zhang Yongde.

Who was the one who wanted to usurp power? This question was the big trouble that troubled Chai Rong and the real reason why he was so angry. It was a pity that Zhang Yongde was very stupid and naive. He would never understand the puzzles of politicians.

Since Zhang Yongde had no intention of usurping power, why did he have to be kicked out of the Central Imperial Guards? This was the second reason why Chai Rong remained silent for a long time. He was too simple-minded and too easy to be exploited.

Previously, Zhang Yongde and Li Chongjin had restrained each other and achieved an ecological balance in the Central Imperial Guards of the Later Zhou Dynasty. Now, with Li Chongjin in charge of the local area, the Central Imperial Guards have become dominated by Zhang Yongde alone, and he is so easily exploited, so isn't he a time bomb in the palace? He was sold and helped others count the money.

Moreover, removing Zhang Yongde from military power could also appease Li Chongjin who was far away in Huainan. Otherwise, if Li Chongjin caused trouble in Huainan, the harm to the country would be earthquake-level. In fact, Li Chongjin did rebel against the court later, but that is another story.

The two commander-in-chief positions of the central imperial guards became vacant. After careful consideration, Chai Rong promoted two trustworthy comrades: Han Tong and Zhao Kuangyin.

We all know what happened next. Chai Rong, who was wise and brave throughout his life, was slapped in the face in the end. It was the trustworthy comrade Zhao Kuangyin who usurped his country.

On June 6, Chai Rong's condition deteriorated rapidly. He hurriedly summoned Prime Minister Fan Zhi and others to the palace, entrusted them with his care, and asked them to make Comrade Wang Zhuo the prime minister. On the same day, he died in the Wansui Hall at the age of 19, leaving us too early.

On June 6, the will was read: Comrade Chai Zongxun, the Prince of Liang, ascended the throne in front of the coffin. On that day, Chai Zongxun, who was only 22 years old, ascended the throne and became the third emperor of the Later Zhou Empire.

Chai Rong never understood until his death who was the mastermind behind the "Dianjian Zuo". He would not have thought that the honest people Fan Zhi and others who were carefully selected would collude and violate the will by not appointing Wang Zhu as prime minister. He would not have thought that the thick-browed and big-eyed Zhao Kuangyin would also betray the revolution...

(End of this chapter)