At the end of Li Congke's career, Zhao Dejun's strength was on par with Shi Jingtang, and could even be said to be better than Shi Jingtang, so Li Congke thought of driving a tiger away from a wolf and letting Zhao Dejun fight against Shi Jingtang.
Being poor means wanting to change. Shi Jingtang, who was at the end of his rope, could only rely on treason to save himself, so he actively colluded with the Khitan. The ambitious Zhao Dejun also made the same move.
As mentioned earlier, in fact, Zhao Dejun was better than Shi Jingtang in terms of colluding with the Khitan. As early as the Ming Dynasty, Zhao Dejun had been flirting with the Khitan and maintained frequent and friendly secret contacts in private. "History of Liao: The Benji of Taizong" clearly records the friendly interaction between Zhao Dejun and the Khitan.
After the Hedong War broke out, Zhao Dejun brazenly annexed the Later Tang army in the Heshuo area to support the bandits. He also threatened Shi Jingtang and the Khitan in an attempt to annex the entire north of the Yellow River. At that time, Zhao Dejun's military strength, sphere of influence, and relationship with the Khitans all surpassed Shi Jingtang. In the end, the Khitans chose to give up easy things and help Shi Jingtang without hesitation.
We have analyzed the reasons, and to put it bluntly, Shi Jingtang became more traitorous and ceded large tracts of territory to the Khitan.
Although Zhao Dejun controlled a large area of land east of the Taihang Mountains and had a large number of troops, Yang Guangyuan of Jin'an Village suddenly killed Zhang Jingda and surrendered to the Khitan. The Khitan cavalry quickly went south.
Zhao Dejun was only about a hundred miles away from Jin'an Village. The incident happened so suddenly that Zhao Dejun was caught off guard and fled in panic. As soon as he escaped to Luzhou, he was overtaken by the Khitan and later surrendered.
If it weren't for the authoritative official history, which is written in black and white and conclusively stated, who would have believed that the truth was so dramatic, and the movie would not dare to show it like this. The strongest boy band in the Central Plains, the most powerful warlord of the feudal town, surrendered in such a confused manner.
Zhao Dejun and his son were taken as prisoners of war and escorted back to Khitan.
The Empress Dowager Shulu personally interrogated and denounced him.
Zhao Dejun was an old man. After seeing Empress Dowager Shulu, he knelt down, bowed his head, and said respectfully: "I should have come to protect Lord Ming a long time ago. Today I bother Lord Ming to bring me here in person. It's really shameful." It's a capital crime." He thought he had shot a colorful lotus fart.
Empress Dowager Shulu was wise and powerful, capable of bringing peace and stability to the country with her literary skills and military ability. She was a rare strong woman in the entire history of China. She was even inferior to Wu Zetian. How could she be deceived by his sweet words? Queen Mother Shulu smiled coldly and asked, "Where did I bring you from?"
"Taiyuan."
"Huh?" Empress Dowager Shulu pretended to be surprised and asked, "Aren't you in Youzhou? Why did you appear in Taiyuan?"
Asking questions knowingly, Zhao Dejun was keenly aware of the cold murderous aura coming from Queen Mother Shulu, and had an unknown premonition. He could only bite the bullet and answer truthfully: "By order of the Emperor of Tang..."
Empress Dowager Shulu raised her eyebrows and said angrily: "So, you are still a good boy who is loyal to the emperor? To tell you the truth, when the Khitan army went south, our senior officials had reached a secret consensus, that is, once Zhao Dejun takes action, the Khitan will immediately Retreat and abandon Shi Jingtang in Hedong (if King Zhao leads troops north to Yuguan, it is urgent to lead them back, as Taiyuan cannot be saved)."
As we have explained before, what the Empress Dowager Shulu said is true. The Khitan people have never sincerely wanted to help Shi Jingtang, and there is no reason to work for Shi Jingtang. Once they encounter the stubborn resistance of the Central Plains, especially if Youzhou "takes the back road", the Khitan people will Will not hesitate to perform "Saigon Iron Fist".
The heroes saw the same thing. Li Congke did order Zhao Dejun to seize the Khitan people's retreat, but Zhao Dejun acted like a bandit and held his master hostage. Zhao Dejun wanted to dress himself up as a loyal minister, but suddenly he ran into the gun of Queen Mother Shulu.
"By order of the Emperor of Tang? Humph, let me ask you again. I heard that you asked my son to make you the Lord of the Central Plains. Is this true?"
Zhao Dejun did not dare to deny it.
Empress Dowager Shulu raised her hand and patted her chest, "Won't your conscience hurt if you keep pretending to be a loyal minister? Even if you want to be the emperor, it's not too late for you to defeat our Khitan first, and then make plans to become the emperor. As a human subject, you betrayed the lord. Not only were you unable to repel the foreign enemies, but you took advantage of the chaos to seek profits and used the enemies to threaten the lord. Are you still a fucking human? Are you still embarrassed to be alive?"
Zhao Dejun was so frightened that he kowtowed like a chicken and broke rice. He trembled and said in a trembling voice: "Well... I am willing to dedicate all of Youzhou's property and land deeds to the Khitan..."
Queen Mother Shulu was almost angry at him, "Oh? Where are the gold and silver treasures?"
"No, they were all brought back with the army."
Queen Mother Shulu's almond-shaped eyes widened, "That's called booty! Is that what you offered? Even you are a prisoner and a slave, and even you are the property of our Khitan."
"Yes...what the Queen Mother wants to teach you is..."
"What about Tianzhai?"
"This... is in Youzhou. I don't want the land in Youzhou anymore. I'll give it all to you..."
"Nonsense! The Sixteenth Province of Youyun is already my Khitan territory, and it is our family's property. Why do you 'offer' it!"
The smooth-talking Zhao Dejun met his opponent and was scolded by Empress Dowager Shulu, which made him very depressed. From then on, he was "depressed and did not eat much, and died with age." Within a year, he died in Khitan in melancholy.
In 1956, an epitaph was accidentally unearthed outside Yongding Gate in Chongwen District, Beijing, and Zhao Dejun's tomb was excavated. Many cultural relics and murals were unearthed, especially the epitaph, which is of great archaeological value.
There is a key question here that is easily overlooked: why the Queen Mother Shulu had such a bad attitude towards Zhao Dejun.
Zhao Dejun has maintained an ambiguous relationship with the Khitan as an "underground lover" for a long time. Even when they met in battle on the Hedong battlefield, they did not break up and no direct conflict broke out. Zhao Dejun immediately surrendered and submitted. Then why do you still have to suffer the cold eyes of Queen Mother Shulu? Could it be that Queen Mother Shulu really despised him as a person?
The reason why Queen Mother Shulu excluded Zhao Dejun was out of the need of political factional fighting. After Empress Dowager Shulu supported her second son Yelu Deguang, Yelu Deguang appeared to be submissive to his mother, but in fact he was ready to take action. His only means of resistance was to go south to conquer the Central Plains.
Empress Dowager Shulu's suppression and Yelv Deguang's resistance are the golden key to studying the foreign policy of the Khitan Taizong period and the hidden clues to the affairs of the Central Plains.
In order to establish prestige, control military power, and gather power through military means, Yelu Deguang became a "hawkish" emperor, keen to go south, and advocated a tough attitude and means to deal with issues in the Central Plains; in contrast, Queen Mother Shulu became a "dove" Leader, opposed to the blind expedition to the south.
Zhao Dejun, Zhao Yanshou, etc. were Han generals who were captured by Yelu Deguang during the Southern Expedition. They belonged to the "Emperor Party" and were members of Yelu Deguang, so they were squeezed and suppressed by the "Queen Mother Party".
