Zhao Dejun was only a hundred miles away from Jin'an Village, but he did not contact Zhang Jingda, and he did not send out surprise troops to carry out guerrilla harassment of the Khitan army, steal camps, rob villages, and cut off food routes.
He mainly did two things. First, he kept asking Li Congke for money, food, soldiers, and power. The key point was to win over Zhenzhou as the German military governor for his adopted son Zhao Yanshou. His reasons were very good. Because Zhenzhou Chengdejun is a transportation hub connecting Youzhou and Hedong. The second is to secretly communicate with the Khitan and lobby the Khitan to help him conquer the world.
Prior to this, Li Congke had received Fan Yanguang's report and knew what Zhao Dejun had done. Li Congke has been a soldier all his life, how could he not understand Zhao Dejun's operation? After receiving Zhao Dejun's report, he was furious, but he still controlled his emotions and declined politely: "Comrade Zhao Yanshou is fighting side by side with you, charging on the front line. Where does he have time to sit in Zhenzhou? When Shi Jingtang is eliminated, I will naturally I will comply with your request."
Zhao Dejun found that he could not get credit, so he continued to send troops, saying that he must be appointed before sending troops.
Li Congke was furious. Facing Zhao Dejun's memorial, which was shaking from left to right, he said: "The Zhao family insists on asking for the Zhenzhou Jieyue. What's the point? What do they want to do? If they can defeat the Khitan and suppress the rebels, even if they want to sit with me, I am also willing to accept the Dragon Throne. But if you want to support yourself as a bandit, and use your enemies to threaten the king, I will be afraid that both the dog and the rabbit will be killed!"
In the end, Li Congke did not agree to Zhao Dejun's request, and even personally attacked Zhao Dejun and his son. Zhao Dejun was very unhappy.
Later, Zhao Dejun presented Li Congke with armor, war horses, bows and arrows, and an edict from Yelu Deguang to Zhao Dejun, saying that it was a gift from Yelu Deguang to him because he had sent envoys to persuade the Khitans to withdraw their troops and had made some progress. Deguang was very happy, so he gave me these things in return.
Zhao Dejun used this to claim credit, proving that although his army did not enter the battlefield, he actively worked hard on the diplomatic front and served the court, so - just reward me with a Zhenzhou Jiedushi.
The truth is quite the opposite. Zhao Dejun did send an envoy. He asked the Khitan to appoint him as the lord of the Han Dynasty in the Central Plains and replace Li Congke as emperor.
In return, Zhao Dejun gave "Three Major Rules for Yan and Zhao's Treason":
First, I am willing to form a brotherly country with the Khitan and build a good alliance forever;
2. Pay filial piety to the Khitan with a certain amount of gold, jade, money, and silk every year;
Third, retain Hedong Shi Jingtang.
The reason why Zhao Dejun wanted to retain Shi Jingtang was not out of generosity and kindness, but to reduce the cost of war, or in other words, to reduce the cost of his betrayal.
According to the comparison of strength on paper, Zhao Dejun could challenge Li Congke alone if there was no interference from a third party. Therefore, Zhao Dejun's plan was to let Shi Jingtang deal with Zhang Jingda in Jin'an Village by himself, and challenge Li Congke alone, while the Khitan people only had to sit back and watch the tigers fight, and support Zhao Dejun to reap the benefits.
Zhao Dejun's three conditions are very pragmatic.
Yelu Deguang penetrated deep into the enemy's territory, but could not quickly eat up the main force of the Later Tang Dynasty in Jin'an Village. Because the Khitan army implemented a bold "leapfrog tactic", Daizhou and Xinzhou were in the rear, threatening the Khitan army's logistics supply line and The route of advance and retreat, and Fan Yanguang and Zhao Dejun led the army to appear on the flank of the Khitan army. Once they support Jin'an Village or block the retreat route in the Daibei area, Yelu Deguang will annihilate the entire army.
So after receiving the conditions offered by Zhao Dejun, Yelu Deguang was moved and planned to accept it.
When Shi Jingtang got the news, he was greatly frightened, so he sent Sang Weihan to meet with Yelv Deguang, and then proposed the "Three Major Proposals for Hedong Traitors" which were even more humiliating and humiliating to the country:
First, he is willing to form a father-son kingdom with the Khitan, and Shi Jingtang will serve the Khitan as a father;
Second, pay tribute to the Khitan 300,000 pieces of silk every year;
Third, cede the land of Youzhou, Yunzhou and other sixteen states to the Khitan.
This is the darkest moment in Chinese history, when two big bosses compete to betray the country. Zhao Dejun obviously did not fully enter the state of "traitor" and wanted to make money while standing. In comparison, Shi Jingtang has a deeper understanding of the role of a "traitor" and is willing to make money on his knees. Business is not shabby.
First of all, Zhao Dejun and Yelu Deguang are brothers, and Shi Jingtang is willing to recognize Yelu Deguang as his father.
There is a saying that Zhao Dejun is indeed the same generation as Yelv Deguang, and Shi Jingtang is indeed a generation younger than Yelu Deguang.
Because Li Keyong and Yelu Abaoji were brothers, they were of the same generation; Li Siyuan was Li Keyong's adopted son, and Yelu Deguang was the son of Yelu Abaoji, so Li Siyuan and Yelu Deguang were of the same generation. The relationship between Zhao Dejun, Shi Jingtang and Li Siyuan is the entry point:
Shi Jingtang is Li Siyuan's son-in-law, one generation younger than Li Siyuan, and one generation younger than Yelu Deguang;
Zhao Dejun's adopted son Zhao Yanshou was Li Siyuan's son-in-law. Zhao Dejun and Li Siyuan were sons and daughters. They were the same generation as Yelu Deguang.
Of course, politicians don't worry about ethics. It doesn't matter if they call them brother or father. What if they call them grandpa? The key is to look at the third item.
The land of the Sixteen Prefectures ceded by Shi Jingtang is today's large area of Beijing, Tianjin, most of Hebei, and northern Shanxi. Because it includes Youzhou, Yunzhou, etc., it is collectively called the "Sixteen Youyun Prefectures", and because the territory under the jurisdiction of the Lulong Army in Youzhou is the ancient Yan land, it is also called the "Sixteen Yanyun Prefectures".
With the cession of these lands, the Khitan forces penetrated deeply into the Central Plains and Han Dynasty for the first time, and into the Great Plains of North China. This is not only a thousand-mile fertile land, but also a thousand-mile plain. For the Khitan cavalry who can fight quickly and maneuver, it is simply an ideal paradise. .
From a military point of view, the grassland nomads have reached the farming areas south of the Great Wall, and the Central Plains area is no longer dangerous to the north of the Yellow River. If the Khitans want to go south again in the future, it will be easy;
Economically speaking, the Khitan, with the help of the Han counselor Han Yanhui, had long ago developed the dual-card dual-standby system of "division between Fan and Han", which is very similar to our today's one country, two systems. After years of operation, it has gradually adapted to farming. With civilized management, after acquiring these lands, there will be no embarrassing situation of incompatibility, and the Khitan people can make good use of these lands for productive work;
Politically speaking, Yelu Deguang originally wanted to use foreign military operations to strengthen his own strength, and finally get rid of the control of his mother, Queen Mother Shulu, and get rid of the fate of a puppet. The feat of obtaining the "Sixteen Youyun Provinces" will greatly enhance Yelu Deguang's reputation within the Khitan, and his achievements can be compared with that of Taizu Yelu Abaoji who annexed the Bohai Kingdom.
Therefore, the conditions proposed by Shi Jingtang for ceding the "Sixteen Youyun States" were an absolutely irresistible temptation for Yelv Deguang.
Zhao Dejun's plan was sound and pragmatic, while Shi Jingtang's plan was crazy.
A gentleman can never defeat a gangster, and a politician can never defeat a traitor. Because for the former, the bottom line is a constraint, while for the latter, it is a tool.
