Abstract: The so-called major events in the world will be united for a long time, and the unity will be divided for a long time, and from the great unification of the Tang Dynasty into the strife and chaos of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, an event occurred that deeply hurt the Han people in the Central Plains. This matter was led by the Later Tang general Shi Jingyao, who won Khitan aid in the sixteen prefectures of Yanyun and successfully established the Later Jin regime, but it also caused more than 400 years of infestation in the Central Plains, and the iron horses of Liao, Jin, and Mongolia went south unimpeded, affecting the historical regional pattern of the Song dynasty. Shi Jingyao's act of confessing to being a thief as a father also made him stink for thousands of years, and he has since been nailed to the pillar of shame of history.
Five generations prologue
In 907, Zhu Wen established himself on the Tang Dynasty and established the Great Liang, known in history as the Later Liang, which opened the prelude to the five dynasties of chaos. The Rebellion of the Five Dynasties stemmed from the self-esteem of the local forces, and the biggest hidden danger facing Zhu Wen was Li Keyong, the leader of the Northwest Shatuo. The Shatuo people also became a more active ethnic minority during the Five Dynasties period, they were originally a branch of the Western Turks living in the Dzungar Basin of Xinjiang, China, and by the middle of the Tang Dynasty, they attached Guanlong and became a more important military force in the middle and late Tang Dynasty. Its representative figure was Li Keyong, who helped Tang suppress the Huangchao rebellion, and it was precisely because of this suppression that Li Keyong was promoted by the envoy of Hedong Jiedushi; later in the second year of Qianning (895), King Qin, Li Ke, Li Maozhen, Wang Xingyu, and Han Jian, three commanders of the forced palace, rescued Tang Zhaozong, so he was crowned king of Jin, and was able to establish himself in Taiyuan and achieve a division of one side.
Stills of Juwen
The conflict between Li Keyong and Zhu Wen began with the Yellow Nest Rebellion, when Li Keyong used Shatuo soldiers to drive Huang Chao to Shandong, and after the pursuit of the army to Meet Huang Chao's general Zhu Wen in Bian Prefecture (Kaifeng), Zhu Wen had been favored by Li Keyong to break the siege, so he did not mobilize his troops and set up a banquet at Shangyuanyi to drink and reminisce. Although this banquet did not have the original intention of the Hongmen banquet, it caused Zhu Wen to kill because Ofe used drunken gaffe, and Zhu Wen let Li Ke set fire to it while he was asleep, but the rainstorm made him escape the disaster. From then on, the two formed a situation of confrontation between Zhu and Li, and after Zhu Wen replaced Tang Liliang, Li Ke used Tang Lizong to present himself as Tang Lizong's room, vowing to revive the Tang Dynasty and eliminate Zhu Wen. He Nai Zhuangzhi died before he was paid, so he had to confess this Zhuangzhi to his son Li Cunxun as a dying wish.
Li Ke drew by hand
Li Cunxun was a strange man in the Five Dynasties period, as a Shatuo, but deeply influenced by Han culture, history records that he "read the Spring and Autumn by hand" since childhood, and like his father, he was skilled in bow horses, at the same time, he was also a master of music, and he is still regarded as the "ancestor of opera" by later generations of opera groups. Li Ke had three last wishes, one to destroy Zhu Wen, the second to cut down the Khitans, and the third to seize Youzhou. Li Cunxun fulfilled three paternal orders with his military talents and established the Later Tang in 923. Then, he failed to transform from a military expert to a politician, and emulated Tang Taizong, opened the pension mode in his old age, indulged in sound and color, and reused officials, resulting in the abolition of state politics and the rise of public resentment. It is precisely for this reason that Guo Congqian, the pro-military commander of lingguan, launched a mutiny in 926, at this time Li Cunxun had already rebelled and left, and when the rebels entered Miyagi, Wen and Wu all abandoned the king and fled, leaving Li Cunxun alone with more than a dozen lingguans to resist, and was eventually shot and killed.
Li Cunxun hand-drawn
Another incident that occurred at the same time as the Lingguan Rebellion was that Li Siyuan "merged" with the local rebels, and Li Siyuan was Li Ke's adopted son, li Cunxun's elder brother, who mutinied in 926 when his subordinates mutinied and were taken hostage into the rebel city, and the news that Li Siyuan was conspiring with the rebels to rebel. After Li Siyuan fled the rebel capital, his subordinates were divided into two factions, one faction suggested returning to Beijing to explain the rebellion, and the other faction thought that the explanation was too pale and weak, and it was better to be external in order to protect himself, and it was Li Siyuan's son-in-law Shi Jingyao who proposed to protect himself. Li Siyuan eventually followed Shi Jingyao's advice and captured the important town of Bian Prefecture, and Li Cunxun returned to The Beijing Division without any results, just in time to encounter the rebellion of the Lingguan and was in a different place. Li Siyuan saw the opportunity to rush into Beijing, quell Guo Congqian's rebellious army, and ascended the throne under the pretext of overseeing the state, in order to serve Later Tang Mingzong.
The work is just beginning
Shi Jingyao was named the "founding duke" for his meritorious service, which was Li Siyuan's political feedback, and of course became a summary of the first half of Shi Jingyao's life. As early as the first year of Jingfu (892), Shi Jingyao was favored by Li Siyuan for his bravery and good fighting, and not only took his daughter Xu Zhi, but also adopted her as his loyal general, li Siyuan, who was then the assassin of Dai prefecture, had a pro-army of "left shooting army", and It was in this pro-army that Shi Jingyao started his military career. At the time of the Tang-Liang war, Shi Jingyao repeatedly rescued Li Cunxun and Li Si from danger, and repeatedly made meritorious achievements in the War of Conquest of Liang, and together with Li Congke formed Li Siyuan's right and left arm for building meritorious service.
Li Siyuan hand-drawn
In the third year of Tiancheng (928), Shi Jingyao was appointed as the Inspector Taifu(taifu), Tongzhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi (同中書門下平章事), Yidu (邺都) and Tianxiong Junjie (天雄軍節度使), and later added the title of Inspector Taifu (太尉), and in April of the first year of Changxing (930), he also served as the deputy envoy of the Six Armies, that is, the deputy commander of the Forbidden Army of the Beijing Division; in June, he was appointed as the envoy of Heyang Jiedushi and also held the military power; he was the first person to be the general of the Later Tang Dynasty. Because Li Siyuan's eldest son Li Congjing died before the Lingguan Rebellion, the second son Li Congrong was vigorously cultivated by Li Siyuan and wanted to become a crown prince. At the same time as Shi Jingyao, he was promoted to the position of Inspector and Imperial Counselor, Tianxiong Army Jiedushi Envoy, and Tongzhang Pingshi; In the first year of Changxing, he was awarded Henan Yin, sentenced to the Guards of the Sixth Army, and appointed the Grand Marshal of the Terracotta Army; Changxing served as Zhongshu Ling for three years, and was divided into classes with the prime minister and took the right, so it can be seen from this comparison that Li Siyuan relied on Shi Jingyao on the one hand, and on the other hand, he also exercised restraint, and the key to temperance was his own son.
However, in the fourth year of Changxing (933), Li Congrong, the King of Qin, who was already Shang Shuling, ushered in the opportunity to take the throne, at this time Li Siyuan was seriously ill, although he had been ill for a long time, he had not died for a long time, and what was close to the sky was the most likely to make people mad, and Li Congrong, who was anxious, had a plan to plot to usurp the throne. His first step was to support Shi Jingyao, who was heavily armed, and lie to the Northern Khitan to attack the border, and non-Shi Jingyao could not resist. Shi Jingyao also saw through the double reed drama of the Li family's father and son, and he took the initiative to ask Miao to go north. The so-called impatient could not eat hot tofu, Li Congrong did not succeed, he could have successfully inherited the unification of his mutiny failed, the throne changed to the third brother Li Conghou's hands. After Li Conghou succeeded to the throne, he began to transfer the jiedushi envoys, which targeted both Shi Jingyao and Li Congke. Shi Jingyao ran Hedong for many years, Li Congke ran Shaanxi for several years, Li Conghou ordered Li Congke to be the emissary of Hedong Jiedushi, and Shi Jingyao was transferred to Zhenzhou (Zhengding) in Hebei Province. Li Congke did not move, and immediately launched the Qiyang Mutiny, Shi Jingyao also opposed Li Conghou, intercepted Li Conghou who had fled Luoyang, and sent him to Li Congke to ask for merit and persuasion, at this point, the Later Tang Throne once again changed hands to Li Congke.
Stills of Shi Jingyao
Shi Jingyao was once again made Taiyuan Yin, Beijing Liushou, and Hedong Jiedushi for his meritorious service; he was also the commander-in-chief of the Hanma Infantry Army in Datong, Zhenwu, Zhangguo, Weisai, and other places, which also completely laid the foundation for Shi Jingyao's self-reliance in Hedong. However, Li Congke had a grudge against this founding hero, which seems to be the usual practice in the history of the five generations, and whenever a new monarch takes office, it will definitely hit the former emperor's old subjects, but there is one exception, that is, Feng Dao, who has served ten monarchs, will not be repeated here. Shi Jingyao knew li Congke's mustard, after all, Li Congke was also born as a thrifty envoy and was well aware of the threat of local military commanders, so Shi Jingyao stayed in the Beijing Division for a long time, and did not dare to mention the matter of returning to Hedong, like a caged bird, melancholy to the point of skinny bones. At this time, Shi Jingyao's wife Li Shi played an important role, she told Li Congke through Empress Cao that her husband was seriously ill, had become skinny and bone-covered, and wanted to return to Hedong to recuperate, Li Congke thought that the seriously ill Shi Jingyao was already a dying person, so she released the tiger back to the mountain, and this release became a scourge for the Later Tang.
Had to reverse
After Shi Jingyao returned to Hedong, although he was a man with his tail between his legs, it was difficult to lift the jealousy in Li Congke's heart if he did not die for a day, and one day Li Congke wanted to return home as soon as possible after attending Li Congke's banquet, and Li Congke asked her through wine whether she wanted to go back to plot a rebellion with Shi Jingyao. This incident has changed Shi Jingyao's attitude, he knows that low-key behavior is not the solution to the problem, only their own strength can protect themselves, such as Li Siyuan to Li Cunxun. Therefore, in the name of khitan offense, he demanded a large amount of military food from Li Congke for emergency needs, and took the initiative to propose to Li Congke to transfer away from Hedong, thus testing Li Congke's wishes. At this time, Li Congke was seduced by his close minister Xue Wentong, and believed that Shi Jingyao would rebel, so he accepted Shi Jingyao's "request for transfer", and urged him to do so urgently. Shi Jingyao therefore turned his face, calling Li Congke's throne illegitimate, and demanded that Li Congke give way to Li Siyuan's own son Li Congyi, which led to Li Congke's conquest army.
Shi Jingyao comic picture
Li Congke marched into Taiyuan with the famous general Zhang Jingda as his commander, besieged the city of Taiyuan for several months until Shi Jingyao ran out of grain and grass, Shi Jingyao had no way but to ask for help from the Khitan in the north, as a return for help, Shi Jingyao promised the Khitan Emperor Yelü Deguang to cede Yanyun Sixteen Prefectures, and paid tribute every year, emperor Yi'er claimed to be emperor. At that time, the Khitan sought the opportunity to go south, often subject to the obstacles of the Yanyun terrain and the Great Wall, and gladly agreed to this opportunity. Yelü Deguang personally commanded the Khitan army from Yanmen Pass south to relieve the siege, defeated the Later Tang army, and in 936 established Shi Jingyao as emperor, with the state name jin, that is, the third generation of later Jin in the fifth dynasty. After Shi Jingyao ascended the throne, he fulfilled his promise to cede the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun to the Khitan and honored Yelü Deguang, who was 11 years younger than himself, as his father.
Map of the situation in the Later Jin and Khitan Dynasties
"It is okay to call a vassal too much, to be too generous with a father," to be generous to a gold, to be self-sufficient to serve as a soldier, not to allow his soil to be in the field, for fear that the next day will be a great trouble for China, and there will be no remorse!" ——Liu Zhiyuan; History of the New Five Dynasties
Shi Jingyao's recognition of the thief as his father was still an act of self-help, losing the integrity of a military general, and his cession of Yanyun Sixteen Prefectures brought more than 400 years of passive situation to the Central Plains. The strategic position of Yanyun Sixteen Prefectures for the Central Plains Dynasty can only be stubbornly guarded and cannot be discarded, and there is a saying that "if the north of the mountain is lost, it will bring disaster to Yanyun, and if you lose Yanyun, you will bring disaster to the Central Plains". After the Khitan obtained the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun, they began to go south to live with the Han people, which was a fusion of nomadic culture and agricultural civilization, in terms of military affairs, the Khitan moved from the north of the Great Wall to the south of the Great Wall, and the hinterland of the Central Plains completely lost the natural barrier to resist the nomadic iron horse, providing convenience for the nomadic people to plunder wealth in the south, and also made the Khitan stronger and developed into the Liao State. In fact, regarding the cession of Yanyun Sixteen Prefectures, Shi Jingyao's close general Liu Zhiyuan had long been dissuaded, saying that the Khitan was very profitable, as long as gold and silver could be used as reinforcements, it was not easy to cede Yanyun to cause trouble in Middle-earth, but Shi Jingyao held the big tree of Khitan and died of depression, which was a disaster for his children and grandchildren.
Stills of the Mongolian Iron Rider
The affliction of cutting the land
In the sixth year of Xiande (959), Later Zhou Shizong Chai Rong tried to recover Yanyun, and regrettably died in Kaifeng after capturing Sanzhou sanguan; after the founding of the Northern Song Dynasty, he was afraid of the Khitan iron horse, and there was no danger to defend, so he had to plant trees outside the capital City of Bianjing, and Zhao Kuangyin, the grandfather of the Song Dynasty, set up a "pile vault" in the inner capital treasury to redeem Yanyun with money, but the Liao state would not give up this strategic area of wanli; in the fourth year of the Taiping Revival (979), Emperor Taizong of Song moved to Youzhou in an attempt to recover the Yanyun region in one fell swoop, and in the Gaoliang River (高粱河) Beijing Xizhimenwai) was defeated, Song Taizong himself was also wounded by an arrow; the Northern Song And Liao fought here for several years, but they have not been able to recover the lost land, and by the time of Song Zhenzong, the signing of the alliance of The Yuanyuan was considered to have bought peace with money, and this diplomatic choice was nothing more than that it could not be recovered and could not be bought, so it would pay enough protection fees every year to temporarily reduce the strategic attributes of Yanyun Sixteen Prefectures.
Yanyun Sixteen States
In the fourth year of Xuanhe (1122), Song and Jin signed an "alliance on the sea", the basis of the Song-Jin alliance was the ownership of Yanyun Sixteen Prefectures after the Liao, after Jin Taizu finished Yan Ah Bone and drove Emperor Liao Tianzuo to the west of Yanshan, Jin returned Yanjing, Zhuozhou, Yizhou, Tanzhou, Shunzhou, Jingzhou, and Jizhou south of the Taihang Mountains as promised, but after Ah Bone was killed, Jin turned to the Song, and occupied the Yanjing area in the seventh year of Xuanhe (1125), and the following year there was the shame of Jingkang, and the Song room moved south to a corner of the city. It can be seen that the foreign policy of the Song Dynasty was greatly influenced by the Yanyun stronghold, and at the same time, it shows that it was militarily subject to the opening of the door to the region. Later, the Jin Mongols also competed fiercely here, and the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun were occupied by non-Han rulers for 455 years, until August of the first year of Ming Hongwu (1368), when Xu Da and Chang Yuchun conquered the Capital of Yuan, yanyun sixteen prefectures were re-incorporated into the Han sphere of influence.
"But Shi Jingyao begs for mercy on foreign tribes, is not ashamed, and is the same subject, if he is not opposed, since he is already an emperor, he is sealed, although he is forced by the Tang court, he cannot but act perversely, but his reputation is at stake, and it is advisable to take it lightly" - Cai Dongfan
Shi Jingyao's choice to cut land brought more than 400 years of intrusion to the Han people in the Central Plains, so he also became one of the most notorious figures in Chinese history, and "'Er Emperor'" and 'Traitor'" became the evaluation of him by later generations. But then again, in the five generations of chaotic times, the change of power or political power is frequent, the killing of fathers and brothers often occurs, Shi Jingyao was originally a Shatuo person, he did not have Chinese feelings when he was born in the army, and he was in danger of dying, and he chose to submit to the Khitan in an urgent and chaotic way, which is an objective tendency, the Han and Tang Dynasties still have the title of foreign subjects and the precedent of Nagong, as a poor man, he just lacks some integrity, and it is understandable that he is willing to be a "child emperor". But his deeds of ceding Yanyun Sixteen Prefectures have become strong evidence of the ten thousand years of stench, as Liu Zhiyuan advised, perhaps the historical pattern of the Song and Liaoxia Jinyuan will be different, and the development of agricultural civilization in the Central Plains may be more prosperous.
Resources:
History of Song. Geography
History of the Old Five Dynasties. Tangzhuang Zongji
History of the New Five Dynasties. Jinmoto Ki
Zizhi Tongjian. Volume 280
"Emperor Shi Jingyao"; Zongheng Shanxi Network; 2014-12-24