History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 898: Tianhui's New Policy (Part )

【Tianhui New Deal】

During the Battle of Gaoping, Liu Chong went through untold hardships, played the script-killing game of Lost on Journey, and fled back to Taiyuan in a panic. The elderly Liu Chong could not withstand the double blow of physical and mental trauma, and fell ill after returning to Taiyuan. He died at the end of that year (November). Before his death, he ordered his second son Liu Chengjun (his eldest son Liu Yun had been killed by Guo Wei long ago) to succeed him.

Liu Chong is a controversial figure. Those who curse him criticize him harshly, while those who sympathize with him praise him for his loyalty and righteousness.

The most criticized one is the "Old History of the Five Dynasties" (Xue Juzheng). This is not difficult to understand, because Comrade Xue Juzheng was born in the Later Liang Dynasty, and was a Jinshi in the Later Tang Dynasty. He served in the Later Jin, Later Han, Later Zhou, and Northern Song. He reached the peak of his career in the Northern Song Dynasty and became a prime minister. This "Old History of the Five Dynasties" was written during the reign of Emperor Taizu of Song. At that time, the Northern Han Dynasty had not yet been recovered. His political stance is determined by his buttocks. Let's first look at Xue Juzheng's evaluation of Liu Chong in the "Old History of the Five Dynasties":

"Liu Chong stole the title of false king after his country was destroyed, which shows that he has no measure. Although the main evil has been killed, the evil still exists. The situation is weak and the people are suffering. How can we wait for the country to fall?"

This is not the objective evaluation that a historian should have; it's clearly the scolding of a shrew.

Therefore, in the later "New History of the Five Dynasties" (Ouyang Xiu), a more objective and fair evaluation was made.

The mainstream opinion at that time was to criticize Liu Chong for not taking the loss of his country as a vengeance, but the killing of his son as a vengeance. What this meant was that when Guo Wei destroyed the Later Han Dynasty and deceived him into saying that he would establish his son Liu Yun as the new king, he did not resist, but believed Guo Wei and lost the best opportunity to overthrow Guo Wei. After Guo Wei killed Liu Yun, he chose to rebel, but ultimately failed to shake the Central Plains because he lost the opportunity. Therefore, it is said that Liu Chong "did not take the loss of his king as a vengeance, but the killing of his son as a vengeance."

In response, Ouyang Xiu refuted it sharply.

First, the Han Dynasty (the Queen Mother) had issued an edict to establish Liu Yun as the new emperor. Although this was mixed with the conspiracy of Guo Wei's group, it was reasonable and legal to invite Liu Yun to Bian and inherit the throne. Liu Chong certainly had no reason to send troops, otherwise Liu Chong would become a "traitor" who usurped the throne. Only when Guo Wei killed Liu Yun and exposed his fox tail did Liu Chong have a reason to resist. In other words, Liu Chong not only did not lose his "morality", but was a defender of traditional morality, public order and good customs, and laws.

Secondly, after Liu Chong established his rule over Hedong, he “refused to yield to Zhou”. No matter how different the national strengths were, Northern Han was always irreconcilable with Later Zhou and would never compromise or make concessions. Based on this alone, Northern Han was “different from the other nine states”. Northern Han was the weakest of the ten states, but it had the most unwavering will to fight.

Finally, although Liu Chong proclaimed himself emperor, he never changed the country's name or even the reign title until his death. He still used "Qianyou" of Liu Chengyou, the last emperor of the Later Han Dynasty. It was not until Liu Chengjun succeeded to the throne that he changed the reign title and did not establish a ancestral temple... He publicly stated many times that he was only temporarily keeping the imperial power for the Later Han regime and continuing the bloodline of the Han Dynasty.

After Liu Chong became emperor, he promoted his favorite general Zhang Yuanhui to the position of Jiedushi of Wuning Army. At the ceremony of conferring titles, Liu Chong wore a dragon robe, and all civil and military officials wore formal attire. Flags were flying, and people congratulated each other. Only Liu Chong did not smile at all, but looked worried. He said to Zhang Yuanhui: "I will not bow down to Guo Gong for the sake of the cause of Emperor Gaozu and the injustice of Yun. I hope to work hard with you to avenge our country! As for becoming emperor, I have no choice. But what kind of emperor am I, and what kind of Jiedushi are you?" This is Liu Chong's true confession. It is not that I overestimate my own ability to resist the powerful Central Plains with the tiny Hedong, but it is the hatred of the country and family. All my efforts are to restore the Han Dynasty. Separatist and emperor is just a temporary expedient. How can I be considered an emperor? Don't really think of yourself as a Jiedushi!
Ouyang Xiu concluded: "Isn't it pitiable that Min (Liu Chong) had such an ambition!" Liu Chong's life was indeed not easy and he deserves people's respect.

Liu Chong's biggest stain was not claiming his own throne as emperor, but his joining the Khitan. The infamy of being a "traitor" could never be washed away.

There are differences in historical records about the time of Liu Chong's death. Some say it was in the spring of the second year of Xiande of the Later Zhou Dynasty (955), while others say it was around winter. The History of Liao records that it was November 955. The Records of Emperor Shizong of Zhou and the Old History of the Five Dynasties support the November of 11 (Yimao). Therefore, later historical books mostly adopted this view, but Wang Baoheng said in Records of Jinyang that Liu Chong died in the year of the "Battle of Gaoping" (955, Jiayin). After the defeat, Liu Chong became ill due to worry and overwork and died in the winter of that year.

Wang Baoheng served as an official beside Liu Chong of the Northern Han Dynasty, and became a secretary of the Central Secretariat and a direct scholar of the Imperial Academy in the late Northern Han Dynasty. Therefore, Wang Baoheng's "Records of Jinyang" is more valuable for reference. Therefore, "Spring and Autumn Annals of the Ten Kingdoms" adopted Wang Baoheng's statement, and this book also follows this statement, that is, Liu Chong died in November 954.

Another piece of evidence is that Liu Chengjun changed the era name after three years of mourning. Liu Chengjun changed the era name to "Tianhui" in 957 (Dingsi), which is exactly 954 (Jiayin) three years ago. So far, we can almost be completely sure that Liu Chong died in the Jiayin year in 954 AD.

After Liu Chengjun succeeded to the throne at the age of 29, he sent envoys to the Liao Kingdom to express his condolences, calling himself a son. Emperor Muzong of Liao also called him "the child emperor", which consolidated the close relationship between father and son and the country.

Liu Chengjun took over a mess full of holes. As detailed in the previous article, after winning the "Battle of Gaoping", Chai Rong took advantage of the victory to surround Taiyuan and almost completely wiped out the Northern Han Dynasty in one go. With the timely rescue of the Khitan father, the Northern Han Dynasty was able to escape with a sliver of blood and survive. It was also for this reason that Liu Chong died of fear and anger. Liu Chengjun can be said to have been appointed at the time of defeat and ordered in the midst of danger.

Liu Chengjun's top priority was to cling to his Khitan father, so he sent envoys to request that Emperor Muzong of Liao be given the title of "Emperor Tianshun", but the Liao Kingdom refused.

In addition to clinging to his Khitan father, Liu Chengjun also actively sought external aid, and hit it off with Hou Shu, and agreed to attack the Central Plains (Later Zhou) together.

After two or three years of hectic work, he finally stabilized his position in 957. In this year, Chai Rong was already caught in the tug-of-war of "Three Expeditions to Huainan". He was fighting in Huainan and had no time to look north. Liu Chengjun's crisis was temporarily resolved, so he officially opened an era that belonged to him - the Tianhui New Deal.

Thanks to my old friend “江湖刘白” for the monthly ticket support!

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(End of this chapter)