History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 846 Scam
【scam】

The mainstream view often points the finger at Prime Minister Fan Zhi, saying that after receiving the news of the Khitan's southward advance, he hastily sent troops without distinguishing the truth from the false, and failed to see through Zhao Kuangyin's conspiracy in time.

Objectively speaking, we cannot blame Fan Zhi for being stupid or naive, because the lie of "Khitan invasion of the south" was so true that it was impossible for people not to believe it.

First, the ancients said that sending troops during a funeral is a great injustice. However, both the Khitan and the Northern Han had a fine tradition of sending troops during a funeral, and there was a precedent for this. For example, wasn’t the "Battle of Gaoping" launched when Guo Wei passed away and Chai Rong ascended the throne?
Secondly, just half a year ago, Chai Rong conquered three passes in the north and launched a surprise attack on the Khitan, taking over all the land south of Waqiao Pass and heading straight for the Liao Dynasty's Nanjing - Youzhou. As the saying goes, if you hit someone with a punch, you must be on guard against a kick. How could the Khitan give up? It was completely reasonable for them to accumulate strength in half a year, organize a counterattack, and launch a retaliatory military action.

Third, the official memorials sent by the important border towns of Zhenzhou and Dingzhou were not gossip or rumors, so they had a certain degree of reliability.

Fourth, as early as half a year ago, on the fourth day after Chai Zongxun ascended the throne, the Khitan launched guerrilla attacks on the Zhenzhou area. "Han Lingkun, the commander of the northern troops, reported and defeated 500 Khitan cavalry in the north of Bazhou."

Therefore, it is easy to understand why Fan Zhi and others "cannot distinguish between true and false". If you accuse him of not distinguishing between true and false, he should ask you in return, "How do you distinguish?"

Why send Zhao Kuangyin?

After the military reforms by Comrade Chai Rong, the elite troops of the empire were in the Imperial Guards, which were divided into two independent parts, namely the Imperial Guards Division and the Imperial Guards Division. Their highest officers were the Imperial Guards Cavalry and Infantry Commander and the Imperial Guards Inspector. The Imperial Guards Cavalry and Infantry Commander was Li Chongjin, but he was in Yangzhou, and only the Imperial Guards Inspector Zhao Kuangyin was in the capital.

It was reasonable for Zhao Kuangyin to lead the imperial army north to meet the enemy. Of course, someone else could have taken the lead, such as the 6-and-a-half-year-old Chai Baobao.

Why did he hand over all his elite troops to Zhao Kuangyin?

Faced with a powerful enemy and lacking the BUFF of Chai Rong's personal expedition, Zhao Kuangyin's proposal to have more troops was also within a reasonable range.

Everything seems reasonable, except for one most important question that has been overlooked - where are the Liao-Han invading armies?
At the end of this month, on January 29th, Zhenzhou sent the latest report: "Both the Khitan and Northern Han armies have fled."

Khitan and Northern Han were simply MVP gold medal assists. They came at the right time and left at the right time. In comparison, Khitan's performance in Guo Wei's "Chanzhou Mutiny" could only be a silver medal assist.

Very good at acting.

Now, let us turn into detectives and look for clues in the vast amount of literature and materials to expose the suspect, Zhao Kuangyin.

"History of Song Dynasty" is of course a one-sided account of the people in the Central Plains. As mentioned above, it is not credible. Let us look through the authoritative history book of the Liao Dynasty - "History of Liao" to look for clues.

As a result...the "History of Liao" did not mention this "invasion" at all.

No problem, we opened the "Khitan History" again, and sure enough, we made a surprising discovery this time. The "Khitan History" actually recorded this "invasion", but after the surprise, we were disappointed to find that this clue was not useless, but at least it was useless because it quoted and copied the "Song History". It was incredible.

We can't get any useful clues from the Liao Kingdom, so we will now interrogate another important witness - the Northern Han.

Finally, we found an important clue in the Northern Han Dynasty. The "Ten Kingdoms Spring and Autumn Annals" clearly recorded:
"In November of the third year of Tianhui, the Liao army planned to join forces with our troops to attack the two states of Zhou Zhending."

"Tianhui" was the reign title of Liu Chengjun of the Northern Han Dynasty. The third year of Tianhui was 959, the year when Chai Rong died. According to the "Ten Kingdoms Spring and Autumn Annals", in November of that year, the Liao Kingdom asked the Northern Han Dynasty to attack the two states of Zhending in the Later Zhou Dynasty. And then... nothing happened. It was a "plot" to send troops, not a real one.

A weird guy.

The clues are interrupted here, but we can already figure out the clues based on the clues we have now. The analysis results are given below:
In November 959, the Liao Kingdom did send people to invite the Northern Han to come south. It is possible that they sent an envoy to convey the message, or it is possible that the Liao Kingdom directly dispatched troops to join forces in Taiyuan. However, even if the Liao Kingdom dispatched troops, it does not mean that the Liao people wanted to start a war. Their purpose was to blackmail the Northern Han.

"I, Khitan Dad, want to send money."

Previously, the Liao people had used the pretext of attacking Luzhou to blackmail the Northern Han. So this time, the Khitan father used the pretext of attacking Zhen and Ding to blackmail the Northern Han, which was reasonable and legal. This is why the official record of the Northern Han only has "conspiracy to attack Zhou with our troops", and there is no follow-up. The Liao and Han invasion of Zhen and Ding in the south was not groundless, but was used by the Zhao Kuangyin group with ulterior motives to make use of the issue.

The Liao people met with the Northern Han to discuss the attack on Zhen and Ding in November 959. More than a month later, on January 11, 960, Bianzhou received a report that the Liao and Han were invading the south.

Please note that this memorial was an official document sent by the supreme commanders of Zhenzhou and Dingzhou. It was not a rumor or hearsay, and it was extremely urgent (a quick memorial), and the court could not afford to send anyone to verify and review it, so Prime Minister Fan Zhi and others chose to believe it.

At this point, the jury unanimously agreed that the accusation that Prime Minister Fan Zhi and others "failed to distinguish between truth and falsehood" was not valid.

Zhao Kuangyin's group took advantage of the situation to hype up the "Liao-Han invasion of the south". Why were they so sure that this was a blackmail by the Liao Kingdom against the Northern Han? What if they really did it?
The answer may subvert some people's cognition: Zhao Kuangyin was not sure of the Liao Kingdom's true motives.

In other words, not only Fan Zhi and others "could not distinguish between truth and falsehood", but even the chief director Zhao Kuangyin "could not distinguish between truth and falsehood".

There is a detail that needs to be explained here. When Zhao Kuangyin led the main force slowly to Chenqiao Station, he sent his deputy, Comrade Murong Yanzhao, the deputy inspector of the palace, to rush to the front line of Zhenzhou.

Some people's explanation is that Murong Yanzhao and Zhao Kuangyin were not of the same mind, so Zhao Kuangyin deliberately sent him away to avoid hindering the plot of the "Chenqiao Mutiny".

In fact, Murong Yanzhao and Zhao Kuangyin were close friends. Murong Yanzhao was a few years older than Zhao Kuangyin, and Zhao Kuangyin always treated him as a brother. When Zhao Kuangyin became the chief inspector of the palace, and Murong Yanzhao became the deputy chief inspector of the palace, Zhao Kuangyin did not show off his authority as a leader, but continued to respect him as a brother. Even after Zhao Kuangyin became emperor, he "still called him brother."

So why did Zhao Kuangyin send this close friend away? This is the key to the problem we just mentioned - Zhao Kuangyin's group also did not know the real intentions of the Liao Kingdom. Murong Yanzhao led a part of the elite cavalry to the front line of Zhenzhou as soon as possible to prepare for both situations.

After Zhao Kuangyin returned to Bianzhou and proclaimed himself emperor, he immediately sent people to the Zhenzhou front line to give Murong Yanzhao the privilege of "acting at his own discretion" and let him patrol the north gate with Han Lingkun to prevent the Liao Kingdom from invading from the south.

To go a little deeper, since Zhao Kuangyin was not sure whether the "Liao-Han invasion to the south" was true or not, why did he rush to seize power? If the Liao Kingdom really went south, wouldn't it be a disaster for the Song Dynasty, which was not yet stable?
If you lose your horse, you will know no blessings.

Zhao Kuangyin had considered this issue. If the Liao people really invaded the south, it would not be a bad thing for the emerging Song Dynasty.

Please refer to Liu Zhiyuan's founding of the Later Han Dynasty. If it weren't for the Liao people acting as human shields, a mere Hedong Jiedushi would not have been able to conquer the Central Plains in less than half a year.

Zhao Kuangyin replaced Chai Zongxun, and the Song Dynasty replaced the Zhou Dynasty. These were internal affairs of the Central Plains people and internal contradictions among the people. The Khitan invasion to the south was a national contradiction. If the Khitan went south, then the Central Plains, regardless of north or south, and regardless of age, would all have the responsibility to defend the land and fight the war, and would all be determined to sacrifice everything... The local vassal states and the common people would unite and face the outside world in unison. By then, Zhao Kuangyin would be the supreme commander in the fight against the Liao Dynasty, and anyone who opposed Zhao Kuangyin would be called a "traitor". Zhao Kuangyin would hold high the banner of nationalism and patriotism, shout slogans such as "respect the king and repel the barbarians" and "follow the emperor to command the disobedient", and clear all obstacles on the road to the throne.

Let's think about it from another perspective: those who opposed Zhao Kuangyin had only two options: one was to support the Zhou Dynasty and assist Chai Zongxun; the other was to establish themselves as a powerful force and compete with Zhao Kuangyin for the throne.

Let’s look at the second path first.

According to the ranking of strength at that time, the elite of the empire was in the imperial guards, and the elite of the imperial guards was in Zhao Kuangyin. But from the perspective of military strength, there was almost no one in the Later Zhou Dynasty who could fight Zhao Kuangyin alone. This topic will be discussed in detail later. In short, if Zhao Kuangyin must be pulled off the throne, he can only form a group.

Then the question arises again, if two, three or even more of you unite and overthrow Zhao Kuangyin, who will be the new emperor? If it is you, will the others be willing? If it is the others, what are you trying to do? Zhao Kuangyin cannot replace Chai Zongxun, but Zhang San, Li Si and Wang Ermazi can?
If you insist on becoming the new emperor yourself, there is only one way: learn from Shi Jingtang. Submit to the Khitan, kneel down and call him father, overthrow Zhao Kuangyin through the hands of the Khitan, and then let the Khitan enthrone you as the Lord of the Central Plains.

Think about it, can you bear the eternal infamy of being a "traitor" or a "puppet emperor"?

Let's look at the first path. If it is to support the Zhou Dynasty and assist the young emperor, let alone the difficulties and obstacles, even if Zhao Kuangyin is really killed and Chai Zongxun is put on the throne again, the same question arises: what are you trying to achieve? The one with the surname Chai kneels down and shouts "Long live the emperor", and the one with the surname Zhao also kneels down and shouts "Long live the emperor".

During the chaotic Five Dynasties, people were already accustomed to the change of dynasties. Feng Dao, a "veteran minister of four dynasties", had long taught everyone that "one should be pragmatic".

Some people have also raised the question of why Zhao Kuangyin chose to launch the mutiny half a year after Chai Zongxun ascended the throne, rather than when Chai Rong just passed away, or later?
Now, we can make a bold and reasonable guess: As early as when Chai Rong passed away, or even when Chai Rong was seriously ill, Zhao Kuangyin's group had already conspired to seize power. After several deductions and improvements, the plan was ready except for the east wind. This east wind is precisely the key to seizing power: how to make everyone believe that the country is on the verge of life and death, so that they are willing to hand over all the command of the army to Zhao Kuangyin. When Zhao Kuangyin's group heard the news that Liao colluded with Northern Han and agreed to go south, they were ecstatic - here it comes!
As previously announced, the last volume of this book, "Return to Song Dynasty", was specially updated on National Day, mainly telling the road to unification after the establishment of the Song Dynasty, praying for our great motherland. Unification is no longer far away, and I firmly believe that our generation will witness it with our own eyes.

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(End of this chapter)