Although Zhu Wen's Houliang did not inherit all the territory of the Tang Dynasty, the establishment of Houliang was still a victory. The refusal of Hedong, Fengxiang, Xichuan and Huainan to admit is also completely in line with expectations. They can only be counted as "accounts receivable" on the balance sheet and not as losses.
In addition, the centrist forces on both sides of the aisle recognized the legitimate status of the Later Liang without exception, and paid tribute to the Later Liang. It can be said that the Later Liang achieved a more substantial unification than the Tang Dynasty.
At this point, the Later Liang Dynasty and the Tang Dynasty can already get full marks. The recognition from Youzhou and the Khitan outside the Great Wall became a bonus for the Later Liang Dynasty and a windfall. Below we will briefly describe the origins of these two new pro-Zhu factions.
[Green Bull White Horse Muye Mountain, Eight Parts Unify Khitan]
In the Konoha Mountain at the intersection of the Xilamulun River (Huangshui) and the Laoha River (Tu River) with lush water plants and picturesque scenery, a goddess riding a green bull met a young man riding a white horse. A man falls in love and has eight sons. The eight sons multiplied and multiplied and became the "Eight Khitan Tribes".
This is a beautiful legend of the Khitan people about their ancestors.
The earliest record of "Khitan" can be found in "Book of Wei", which intersected with the civilization of the Central Plains during the Southern and Northern Dynasties. Thereafter, there were records of the Khitan nation in the Sui, Tang and Five Dynasties, but they were mostly found in "Foreign Biography" and "Biography of Siyi·Beidi" , until the Yuan Dynasty, the famous minister Tuotuo compiled the history of the country and established the guiding ideology that Liao, Jin, and Song were each orthodox, so the "History of Liao" was born, one of the "Twenty-Four Histories", which also shows that the Khitan people have since Accepted by the Central Plains civilization, the Khitan people were also regarded as "Chinese", and the history of the Khitan people also became an important part of Chinese civilization.
Like many ethnic minorities, the research and textual research on the early history of the Khitan has always been one of the difficult problems in the field of history. There are many reasons. For example, the early Khitan people did not have writing, and the so-called "history" was only passed down orally and there was a lack of documentation. Most of those recorded in the annals of history are people and events that closely intersect with the Central Plains, lacking coherence; their names, official names, etc. are all transliterated, which brings certain troubles to historical research.
Therefore, completely sorting out the history of the Khitan and other ethnic minorities is more difficult than climbing to the sky.
Since this book is titled "Past Events of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms", it will focus mainly on the game and historical development process of various ethnic groups and political forces during the Five Dynasties period. It will try its best to comprehensively and carefully sort out the internal connections and logic, so as to Mainly linear narrative, easy to read and understand. The purpose is to focus on the big and let go of the small, seek common ground while reserving differences. In principle, we will not go into depth about Nanzhao, Khitan, etc., but only select the intersection with the Central Plains civilization. While maintaining the integrity, try to take into account the individual Integrity.
According to the historical records of the Central Plains, the Eight Khitan Tribes were eight independent tribes that sometimes attacked each other and sometimes joined forces to invade the south. During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, they invaded the newly established Northern Qi regime, but suffered a disastrous defeat and had to submit to the Northern Qi regime. From then on, the suzerain-vassal relationship between Khitan and the Central Plains Dynasty was established.
After the establishment of the Sui Dynasty, the Khitan continued to pay tribute to the Sui vassals;
At the end of the Sui Dynasty, there was great chaos in the Central Plains, and a powerful nomadic people - the Turks - emerged outside the Great Wall. The Turks swept across what is now northern Asia, and the Khitans were forced to surrender to the Turks and pay tribute;
After the establishment of the Tang Dynasty, the northern nomadic peoples attached themselves to the Tang Dynasty. Emperor Taizong Li Shimin of the Tang Dynasty was also called the "Khan of Heaven". The Khitan people were no exception. They paid homage to the Tang Dynasty. The Tang Dynasty canonized the Khitan leader as "Songmo Governor". He married the daughter of the clan and married the nephew's country forever. He used marriage methods to win over the Khitan people and gave them the national surname. Therefore, many Khitan nobles were surnamed "Li", such as the core members who later participated in pacifying the "Anshi Rebellion" General Li Guangbi was a Khitan who was given the national surname;
Wu Zetian changed the Tang Dynasty to Zhou Dynasty, and the Khitan Li Jinzhong (apparently a name given by the Tang Dynasty) launched a rebellion. Wu Zetian was furious and ordered Li Jinzhong to be renamed Li Jinmie and sent troops to suppress it.
This war had a profound impact on both the Khitan and the Central Plains Dynasty:
The first is the Khitan. During this war, the Khitan leader was first called Khan, which marked the establishment of the prototype of the Khitan state. It gradually transitioned from the primitive and backward tribal alliance system to the concept of "state". This was a milestone in the history of the Khitan people. ;
Secondly, for the Central Plains Dynasty, it is difficult to imagine that this act of righteousness by the Khitans directly saved the Li and Tang Dynasty. Wu Zetian deposed Li Tang and wanted to pass the throne to the Wu family, so she made her nephews of the Wu family kings and generals, and led troops to put down the rebellion to gain prestige. Unexpectedly, the Wu family's descendants were unable to hold up the wall and were completely defeated. In the end, the rebellion was put down by the old general Li Tang, which made Wu Zetian clearly realize that the Wu family's children were ineffective and should not be entrusted to the country;
Moreover, the slogans of Li Jinzhong and others also demanded that Wu Zetian be restored to the king of Luling (Li Xian, Emperor Zhongzong of the Tang Dynasty) and the government returned to the Li family. This was a hidden pain deep in Wu Zetian's heart, like a lump in her throat, but she had to face it seriously. Finally, before Wu Zetian died, she finally ordered the King of Luling to inherit the throne, returning the throne to Li Shimin's descendants.
During the reign of Emperor Xuanzong and Li Longji, An Lushan actively undermined the good-neighborly relationship between the Tang Dynasty and the Khitan out of his own selfish interests, forcing the Khitan people to become attached to the newly rising Uighur Khanate.
The existence of the Uighur Khanate was relatively short-lived, and the Khitans soon returned to the embrace of the Tang Dynasty, which lasted until the end of the Tang Dynasty.
In the early Khitan period, the political system was a typical military democracy. Below the "tribe" there are clans, and each clan elects a leader of its own clan, called a "lord". The eight "lords" then elect a leader of the tribal alliance to lead the eight Khitan tribes. This leader will also be the "Khan" in the future.
Political power comes from the barrel of a gun, and the "Khan" can only be held by the strongest clan. The first person to serve as khan was the Dahe family of the "He Dahe tribe". Khan's term is three years and can be re-elected. With years of conquests, tribal leaders who are good at fighting gradually have more say. The general marshal (Yiri Jin) who holds military power has abolished the long-standing practice of having the Oga clan serve as khan, and let the Haruka clan Become a Khan.
Although the Khan was from the Yaonan clan, he was just a puppet. The real power of the Khitan was in the hands of the generalissimo.
During the reign of the ninth khan of the Yaonan clan, Yaonan Qinde (also known as the "Khan of Hende Jin"), there was an upheaval in the Central Plains at the end of the Tang Dynasty. The Khitans took this opportunity to conquer Xi and Shiwei, and Invading the Central Plains southward. In the process of invading southward, the people near the water and the towers near the You and Ji areas first get the moon, and the ones near the manure pits smell the smell first.
At that time, Liu Rengong was already in charge of Youzhou.
Although on the battlefield in the Central Plains, Liu Rengong left us with the image of a clown who was aggressive and defeated in battles, and was not a wise warrior, and even slightly mentally retarded in the geopolitical game, he was dazzling on the battlefield outside the Great Wall. , some historians even believe that Liu Rengong made great contributions to the Central Plains Dynasty in resisting the Khitan invasion.
The Youzhou area borders the activity range of the Khitan people. During the long-term integration of the Central Plains civilization and the nomadic civilization, there has been population migration and in-depth cultural exchanges. Of course, military and political intelligence exchanges are also indispensable.
Liu Rengong had a certain understanding of the Khitan people. According to records, Liu Rengong led his elite troops many times to cross the Zhaixing Ridge and launch raids into the hinterland of the Khitan people, which achieved great results. The Khitan people were very interested in this "Youzhou Jiedu" "Make" more fearful.
The most fatal blow to the Khitan was Liu Rengong's act of setting fire to the pasture. According to records, every autumn, Liu Rengong sent people to set fires along the frontier fortress. When the weather was dry and everything was dry, the vast grassland outside the fortress instantly turned into a sea of fire. We can imagine how terrible it is for nomads to have no pasture. Therefore, the Khitan people had no choice but to bribe Liu Rengong with a lot of money and asked him to play with mud in the Northeast instead of playing with fire.
There has long been controversy in the historians, who believe that the so-called surprise attack on Zhaixingling was not enough to cause too much damage to the Khitans, let alone make the Khitans fearful. What really acts as a deterrent should be the act of setting fire to pasture.
After that, the Khitan Khan sent General Qinde to invade the south with 10,000 cavalry. Liu Rengong's son Liu Shouguang held a Hongmen Banquet outside the city of Pingzhou (now Lulong County, Hebei Province), tricked the Khitan generals into attending the banquet, and then took them hostage. The Khitan people were frightened and wailed, and had to pay a high ransom to redeem the hostages. It is known as the "Cattle and Wine Meeting" in history.
The Khitan general in charge of this operation was the famous Yelu Abaoji (also known as "Anba Jian"), the future Taizu of the Liao Dynasty, and the captured general was Abaoji's uncle-- —Xiao Dilu, recorded in the Old History of the Five Dynasties as the "Prince of Khitan Relics".
"Relic", the Khitan transliteration, is also called "Shali", which means that the descendants of Khitan nobles without official positions can be understood as "Master Beile".
According to historical records, Liu Rengong cleverly captured Xiao Dilu, which prevented the Khitan from invading the south for more than ten years. This statement is not very accurate. Because the Khitan people have not invaded the south for more than ten years, it is not because they are afraid of Liu Rengong in Youzhou, but because of a series of "internal troubles" caused by the transfer of the highest power within the Khitan.
