History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 902 The Last Straw
The Last Straw

If Liu Chengjun wants to be independent, he must first get rid of the control of his Khitan father, and if he wants to get rid of the control of the Khitan, he must first be "independent and autonomous." This is a strange logic question of which came first, the chicken or the egg.

During Liu Chong's time, the internal and foreign affairs of Northern Han were subject to the six-character policy: ask for instructions early and report frequently. Everything was under the control of Khitan, and Liu Chong just followed orders. According to the agreement in advance, Northern Han had to pay a considerable amount of "protection fee" to Khitan every year, and on festivals or other celebrations, it had to prepare generous gifts as a tribute to Khitan...

Political manipulation, economic exploitation, military threats and intimidation... Under the control of the Khitan, the Northern Han could only serve as a military buffer zone between the great powers, a bargaining chip in diplomatic negotiations, and a geopolitical chess piece. It could never achieve "independence" and "autonomy" because this was not in the interests of the Khitan father.

In fact, Shi Chonggui had already set an example for Liu Chengjun and provided him with lessons to learn from, but Liu Chengjun did not pay enough attention to it. On the contrary, the Khitans seriously summed up the lessons of Shi Chonggui's betrayal and finally strangled Liu Chengjun's resistance in the cradle.

Since Liu Chengjun ascended the throne, he consciously distanced himself from the Khitans, avoided gatherings, reduced unnecessary contacts, and gradually reduced requests for instructions and reports, which gave him a certain degree of autonomy and independence. In fact, although Liu Chong asked for instructions and reported on every detail, the Khitans could not cover everything and stick to everything. They would not interfere with the "details". As long as there were no problems with the "big things", the Khitans only cared about your attitude. A big country needs face.

In addition to the decrease in the frequency of exchanges, Liu Chengjun's words in his letters became less humble, and the envoys' etiquette became increasingly simplified and perfunctory.

The Khitans at this time were in a low point, depressed and turbulent, and had no time to care for their rebellious son.

After several years of crazy testing on the brink of death, Liu Chengjun faced the "Battle of Ze Lu". Liu Chengjun regarded this as a turning point for the Northern Han Dynasty to become completely independent, strong and prosperous, so he mobilized the elite troops from all over the country to go south to assist Li Yun.

However, the reality did not match expectations. After the "Battle of Zelu", the Northern Han became more dependent on the protection of the Khitans. From this moment on, the Northern Han began to constantly "send envoys to Liao" and "report Song's invasion to Liao"...

The "Battle of Ze Lu" also made the Khitans see clearly that Liu Chengjun was a traitor. This guy really wanted to be the second Shi Chonggui.

Although they were dissatisfied with the Northern Han, in order to curb the power of the Central Plains, the Khitans had to send troops to help the Northern Han. This made Liu Chengjun make a strategic misjudgment, making him think that the Khitans did not see through his little tricks; secondly, under the control of the Central Plains, the Khitans would not give up the Northern Han. It is said that the Northern Han abused the Liao thousands of times, but the Khitans treated the Han as their first love.

Applying the current situation, Liu Chengjun is like Ze Lian's driver.

As a result, Liu Chengjun pushed forward internal reforms more boldly, suppressing and excluding the "previous emperor's faction" and promoting his own direct lineage.

We can draw an analogy with the Later Jin Dynasty. The "previous emperor's faction" was a witness of the times. Most of them were "pro-Liao faction". It was precisely because of their pro-Liao advocacy and active promotion that they won the strong support of the Liao Kingdom and established their own regime. However, Shi Chonggui denounced them as traitors, traitors, and traitors, and promoted a group of "anti-Liao faction", so the national line was modified.

Liu Chengjun also rejected the "previous emperor's faction", and its core figure Duan Chang was brutally murdered.

What kind of behavior is this? He picked up the bowl to eat meat, and put down the bowl to curse his mother. Eat the master, drink the master, and still want to rebel against the master? The Liao Kingdom was furious and decided to put pressure on Liu Chengjun.

The Liao Kingdom’s method of exerting pressure was relatively mild—detaining envoys. After the failure of the counterattack on Leping (963), the Northern Han Dynasty was eager to obtain more military assistance from the Liao Kingdom, so it continuously “sent envoys to the Liao Kingdom” to ask for reinforcements. The Liao Kingdom’s attitude gradually became colder. From the beginning, it responded to every request, but gradually, it had to be called for again and again before the Liao Kingdom would come out and half-conceal its face (withdrawing troops when encountering the Song army). Now, the Liao Kingdom has simply stopped sending troops.

Without the military assistance from the Liao Kingdom, the Northern Han Dynasty was on the verge of destruction, and Liu Chengjun had no choice but to continue sending envoys with a thick face.

The Liao Kingdom detained the envoys and then sent a letter to the court, listing the "three major crimes" of the Northern Han Dynasty and severely condemning them. The "three major crimes" were: changing the reign title without authorization, supporting Li Yun, and killing Duan Chang. When Liu Chengjun first ascended the throne, he continued to use "Qianyou" until he was released from mourning for three years. He abandoned "Qianyou" which symbolized the orthodoxy of the Later Han Dynasty, and did not respect the reign title "Yingli" of the Celestial Empire - the Liao Kingdom, but created his own reign title "Tianhui". The political significance of changing the reign title is self-evident, and this is the red line for the Liao Kingdom.

In terms of assisting Li Yun, the Liao people even pointed out bluntly that Liu Chengjun "had some ambitions." To expand his own wings, to develop his subordinates secretly, to expand his own power, who could you hide from with just this little trick? This was also the red line of the Liao Kingdom.

The killing of Duan Chang was a representative event of the climax of the factional struggle in the Northern Han Dynasty, symbolizing Liu Chengjun's purge of the internal "pro-Liao faction" and the modification of the country's pro-Liao line. Its purpose was to weaken the influence of the Liao Kingdom on the Northern Han Dynasty and get rid of the Liao Kingdom's manipulation, which was of course the Liao Kingdom's red line.

Liu Chengjun was stepping on the red line in all three matters, and was going further and further down the road to death. He mistook the Liao people's silence for stupidity and their overall thinking for helplessness. Once a chess piece thinks of itself as the chess player, it is not far from death.

The Liao people were fed up with Liu Chengjun, just as they were with Shi Chonggui. But with the lesson of Shi Chonggui, the Liao people did not plan to launch a large-scale military strike for the time being, but took a compromise approach: detaining envoys and scolding them in letters. When a father beats his son, he only wants to teach him a lesson, not to kill him.

Liu Chengjun was guilty of his crime. When he saw these three crimes, especially the four-character evaluation of Li Yun's assistance - "coveting something", he was immediately frightened. He thought he was the Monkey King who could go to heaven and earth and transform into 72 forms, but he never thought that the Khitan was actually the Tathagata Buddha. He raised his palm and sneered, "I will just watch you pretend to be cool."

Liu Chengjun was very anxious, and in order to show his sincerity, he specially sent his adopted son, who was also his nephew (Liu Yun's son), Liu Jiwen, to visit the Liao Kingdom. He used the excuse of "father concealing for his son" to defend Liu Chengjun, saying that his son had made a mistake, and as a father he should bear more responsibility.

The Liao people detained Liu Jiwen again and no longer sent Liao envoys to Northern Han. All envoys from Northern Han who came to Liao were detained and not sent back (since then, Khitan envoys did not come, and those who went were always detained, so all the ministers were afraid of being sent to the north).

The relationship between Han and Liao fell to a freezing point, and diplomatic relations were essentially severed. The next step would be to declare war. This made Zhao Kuangyin smell an opportunity, so he sent Cao Bin, Li Jixun and others to launch a tentative attack on Northern Han, besieging Shizhou and Liaozhou, and achieving a great victory.

Sure enough, the Liao Kingdom put the overall situation first and sent the King of the Southern Court, Yelu Tale, to lead 60,000 cavalry to support the Northern Han and repel the Song army.

Afterwards, Zhao Kuangyin shifted his strategic focus to conquering Shu.

During this period, Northern Han's dependence on Liao continued to increase, while Liao became increasingly disgusted with Northern Han, and the relationship between the two countries was very delicate.

In July 968, Liu Chengjun, who was in a state of panic, finally fell ill and could not get up. Liu Chengjun summoned his trusted minister Guo Wuwei to the Qinzheng Pavilion, held his hand and entrusted his son to him, and then he died of illness at the age of 7, leaving us too early.

The overall evaluation of Liu Chengjun in historical records is quite positive. It is said that he was diligent in governing, loved the people and respected scholars, and was able to maintain peace in the country despite constant wars.

Liu Chengjun was determined to break free from the control of the Liao Kingdom and let Northern Han embark on an independent development model. However, things did not go as he wished. Liu Chengjun gambled all the national strength on Li Yun, but ended up losing miserably. He not only damaged his vitality, but also offended the Liao Kingdom. He was exhausted and passed away at the age of 43.

After Liu Chengjun died, his adopted son Liu Jie'en ascended the throne.

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

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(End of this chapter)