What remains unchanged is foreign policy.
Since the end of the Tang Dynasty, the Huainan forces, under the leadership of Yang Xingmi, have been incompatible with Zhu Wen, the representative of the Central Plains forces. After Zhu Wen became emperor, the Huainan forces regarded the Central Plains Dynasty as their imaginary strategic enemy. Opposing the Central Plains Dynasty was the consistent political correctness of the Huainan forces.
In fact, this hostility continued until the final demise of the Huainan forces (Li Yu, the later master of the Southern Tang Dynasty).
The diplomatic strategy of the Huainan forces also continued. Starting from Yang Xingmi, then Xu Wen, then Xu Zhigao, and the descendants of the Li family, they were all strictly implemented, that is, to disrupt the Central Plains and reap profits.
Shu and Huainan were a thorn in the side of the Central Plains court. Once there was nothing in the Central Plains, the emperors of the Central Plains began to think about conquering Shu and conquering Huaihe. Therefore, they must not let the Central Plains emperor idle, and he must be burned out. If there is nothing, just find something for him, such as intercepting and killing the Khitan envoys mentioned above, and framing them for the Later Jin Dynasty.
The relationship between the Later Jin Dynasty and the Khitan was very special, fundamentally different from that of the Later Liang and Later Tang Dynasties. It needed to work harder to maintain its relationship with the Khitan, so the diplomatic focus of the Huainan forces was to sow discord and give the Khitan eyesore. Dedicated and persistent.
3.3.2 Southern Han Dynasty
A very arrogant existence.
Liu Yan took over the Lingnan area from his brother Liu Yin. After several years of war, he basically controlled today's Guangdong and Guangxi areas. He proclaimed himself emperor during the period of Zhu Youzhen of the Later Liang Dynasty and established the Southern Han Dynasty. When Li Cunxu came to Luoyang, Liu Yan was very scared at first and hurriedly sent people all the way to Luoyang to pay homage to the dock. Only after hearing the story of Li Cunxu "playing music and dancing again" did he feel relieved. From that time on, Liu Yan never stopped. Then send an envoy to Luoyang.
In the later Tang Dynasty, Liu Yan behaved extremely coldly. After Shi Jingtang proclaimed himself emperor, he sent envoys to inform him, but Liu Yan was very cold and ignored him. Emperor of the Central Plains? Huh, who do you love, is it none of my business?
Shi Jingtang did not grant any more titles to Liu Yan. The two sides never met again.
Although Liu Yan of the Southern Han Dynasty did not have contacts with the Later Jin Dynasty, he attached great importance to relations with neighboring countries and actively improved relations with Hunan (Nanchu), Huainan, Min and Wuyue. He was a socialite in South China.
But to Hou Jin, he was arrogant and cold.
3.3.3 Fujian
During the reign of Emperor Mingzong Li Siyuan, Wang Yanjun (the second son of Wang Shenzhi) in the separatist Fujian area proclaimed himself emperor and established the "Great Fujian Kingdom". However, the later Tang Dynasty did not recognize it and immediately severed diplomatic relations with it.
During the period of the last emperor Li Congke, Wang Jipeng killed his father and seized power. Wang Jipeng immediately sent an envoy to submit a memorial to the Later Tang Dynasty, requesting the restoration of old friendship and the recognition of the Central Plains. It was October of the second year of Qingtai (935), and it was March of the third year of Qingtai (936) when Li Congke received this report.
Li Congke was naturally very happy, because although Wang Yanjun and his son separated southern Fujian, they "still claimed the vassal status in the imperial court." However, the two sides did not reach an agreement on the detailed issues, and there was no chance to discuss it at all, because more than half a year later, Li Congke burned himself to death, and the Later Tang Dynasty also perished.
Therefore, after Shi Jingtang was established, Wang Jipeng continued to show his goodwill to the Central Plains and wanted to further ease the relationship with the Central Plains. He proposed to set up an office such as the "Damin Office in Dajin" or an embassy in Luoyang. This is the legacy of Li Congke’s period.
The state of Fujian wanted to restore good relations with the Central Plains dynasty. But there is a key question here, what is the nature of "old good"?
The Central Plains Dynasty believed that it was of course a return to the relationship at the end of the Tang Dynasty, that is, Wang Jipeng governed Fujian as the "Fujian Jiedu Envoy" of the later Jin Dynasty. In his letter to Li Congke, Wang Jipeng also called himself the "Fujian Jiedushi Envoy";
Wang Jipeng believed that since his father Wang Yanjun had been emperor for many years and he inherited his father's legacy as his son, he should be on an equal footing with the "Emperor of Jin" as the "Emperor of the Great Fujian Kingdom".
An "old good", each expresses it.
Wang Jipeng came up with a clever buffering method: he used the words of his younger brother Wang Jigong to express his gratitude to the later Jin Dynasty, to the effect that my brother had succeeded to his father's throne and was loved by the people and supported by the armed forces.
This is like finding a "matchmaker" when discussing marriage. Indirect dialogue through an intermediary can effectively alleviate conflicts.
Since the end of the Tang Dynasty, there have been few interactions between the Fujian Kingdom and the Central Plains Dynasty, and they have basically been limited to showing goodwill in the distance. The transition from separatism to independence for the Fujian Kingdom was a matter of course, and it did not occur in the Later Jin Dynasty. It was a legacy of history. Even if Shi Jingtang recognized the Min Kingdom, he would not be burdened with the infamy of losing territory (all sixteen Youyun states were ceded) , this is no big deal).
Therefore, Shi Jingtang followed the current and made Wang Jipeng the king of Fujian, adding 15,000 households to the city. gave Fujian a positive response.
As we will talk about later, Wang Jipeng's ascension to the throne was a "patricide to seize power." The Fujian state was originally self-reliant and the legal system was not correct. Wang Jipeng also killed his father to seize power through a bloody palace coup, making his name even more unfair and inconsistent. At this time, , as the orthodox dynasty of the Central Plains in the traditional sense, the recognition of the Later Jin Dynasty is crucial, and it is related to the political foundation of the Fujian regime.
After receiving the title of "King of Fujian", Wang Jipeng immediately expressed his sincerity to the Later Jin Dynasty:
Five thousand taels of platinum, six sets of gold utensils (weight unknown), three thousand taels of silver utensils with gold flowers, twenty kilograms of pearls, thirty rhinoceros horns, fifty pairs of silver ponytails, and twenty ivory Roots, 80 kilograms of tea, 10,000 kilograms of fragrant medicine, silver spears, bows and arrows and other weapons, various seafood and countless other specialties...
What is political advantage? This is the most intuitive manifestation. It’s simply a cash withdrawal.
Such a large number of treasures were delivered to Luoyang, which exceeded Shi Jingtang's expectations, so he decided to repay this important customer and give some small gifts, so he named Wang Jigong "Linhai County King" and gave Wang Jipeng an ocher robe (the emperor Exclusive skin). He sent You Sanqi Chang to serve Lu Shen as a ceremonial envoy to Fujian.
Next, there is another historical fog: Jin and Fujian turned against each other.
Living in harmony is in the common interest of both countries. The leaders of the two countries have reached a consensus and made relevant efforts, achieving phased results, and things are moving steadily towards a happy and happy ending. However, at this critical moment, Wang Jipeng suddenly turned against him, and relations between the two countries quickly fell to a freezing point.
It's simply unbelievable, and the people who eat melons say they can't understand it. After all, in the early efforts, Shi Jingtang only paid lip service, while Wang Jipeng spent real money and made substantial contributions.
Regarding Wang Jipeng's huge change in attitude, history books have given some reasons, but instead of answering questions, these reasons have added more question marks to this fog. The following will briefly describe the clues given in historical materials:
