Led by Zhao Dejun and his son, all Han people were suspected by Empress Dowager Shulu and were highly regarded by Yelu Deguang. The Han people, especially the Han generals and counselors who surrendered during the southern expedition, became Yelu Deguang's weapons against Queen Mother Shulu.
For example, Zhao Siwen was the one who forced Empress Dowager Shulu to cut off her wrist. He was appointed by Yelu Deguang to stay in Youzhou and temporarily succeeded Zhao Dejun.
Zhao Siwen was in Cao's camp and his heart was with the Han. He did not surrender voluntarily, but was captured by Yelu Abaoji during the battle with the Khitans and was forced to work for the Khitans. Zhao Siwen's son Zhao Yanzhao served in the Later Jin Dynasty and was appointed governor of Qizhou (now Wuji County, Hebei Province) by Shi Jingtang.
Zhao Siwen secretly contacted Zhao Yanzhao and said that there was a very dangerous situation inside the Khitan (Queen Mother Shulu VS Yelu Deguang), and something big would happen sooner or later. He was willing to give Youzhou to the Jin Dynasty and let the Sixteen Youyun Provinces return to the embrace of the motherland.
This is why the Queen Mother Shulu hates and is suspicious of the Han people. She is not of my race and her heart must be different!
Zhao Siwen stayed in the Khitan Central Committee and personally experienced the bloody purges of Empress Shulu, abolishing elders and establishing young ones, and personally forced Empress Shulu to cut off her wrists. He also saw clearly the careful thinking behind Yelu Deguang's "hawkish" ideas. , gained insight into the huge hidden dangers in the Khitan core power circle.
His prophecy came true soon after. In order to gain power, Queen Mother Shulu almost launched a civil war, which brought Khitan to the brink of disintegration and collapse. This is something we will discuss in detail later.
Faced with Zhao Siwen's request to return to the country, Shi Jingtang refused without hesitation. The main reason was that the time was not ripe and Shi Jingtang simply did not have the strength to forcibly take back the "Sixteen Youyun Provinces" and fall out with the Khitan. Furthermore, what if Zhao Siwen is fishing for law enforcement?
After Zhao Dejun died, Yelu Deguang ordered Zhao Yanshou to take charge of Youzhou.
Empress Dowager Shulu also disliked Zhao Yanshou, but Yelv Deguang vigorously promoted Zhao Yanshou on the grounds of "using the Han to control the Han", appointed him as the governor of the Lulong Army in Youzhou, and granted him the title of King of Yan, and later the title of King of Wei. Added Privy Envoy and Political Order...
It is hard to imagine that a prisoner could become a general, a prime minister, and a king. Behind this lies Yelu Deguang's profound political wisdom.
What Zhao Yanshou never forgets is the Hedong War. His father originally had great hopes of becoming the lord of the Central Plains, but because of his incomplete betrayal, he allowed the thief Shi Jingtang to become the emperor. He was trapped in the Northern Kingdom and died of depression. Therefore, Zhao Yanshou urged to go south and devoted himself to launching a war against the later Jin Dynasty.
This played right into Yelu Deguang's plan. Yelu Deguang regarded Zhao Yanshou as a tool man.
Every time Shi Jingtang gave gifts and bribes to the Khitan, he always sent generous gifts to Zhao Yanshou, but this could not stop Zhao Yanshou from encouraging the Khitan to go south to destroy the Jin Dynasty.
Don't be afraid of thieves stealing, just be afraid of thieves missing you. Although Zhao Yanshou did not cause much trouble during the Shi Jingtang period, his existence always cast a dark cloud over the heads of the later Jin Dynasty.
2. "Is it my turn?"
In the last years of Mingzong's reign, there were four powerful kings: Zhao Dejun, Shi Jingtang, Li Congke, and Fan Yanguang. The above rankings are based on overall strength.
After Li Conghou came to the throne, he was unable to effectively balance the disputes among the major interest groups within the central government, let alone effectively restrain local powerful vassals. Therefore, he was quickly overthrown by Li Congke, and the "powerful faction" changed from the Four Heavenly Kings to the "Last Emperor's Three Giants". That is, Zhao Dejun, Shi Jingtang, and Fan Yanguang.
Li Congke integrated the power resources within the central government and basically solved the central government's interest redistribution problem. When dealing with the problem of local powerful vassals, he once again eliminated mistakes and made Shi Jingtang's rebellion successful.
After the Hedong War, Shi Jingtang, one of the "Big Three", sat in the Jinluan Palace, while Zhao Dejun and his son were captured and headed north. Among the four powerful kings, only Fan Yanguang, who was relatively weak, remained.
This "weakness" is only relative to the "Big Three". Compared with other warlords in feudal towns, Fan Yanguang's strength can definitely be called a eldest brother level.
The reason why Shi Jingtang did not liquidate the "remaining party of Li Congke" and reused the generals who were demoted during Li Congke's period, such as Yang Guangyuan, An Congjin and others, was to a certain extent to balance Fan Yanguang.
However, history is very humorous. These surrendered generals who were used as pawns by Shi Jingtang eventually joined the ranks of the rebels. This is something.
When Shi Jingtang took control of Luoyang, the situation in the world was turbulent, and local generals took advantage of the chaos to do some disgraceful things.
For example, Menduo, a low-ranking military officer in Tongzhou, launched a mutiny, killed Yang Hanbin, the Jiedushi envoy, looted the city and set fire to the city;
Lu Wenjin, the military envoy of the Anyuan Army in Anzhou, rebelled against the country and surrendered to the enemy, and led his troops to Huainan;
In Zhenzhou Yamen, Mi Qiong, the Marquis of Yu, made a rebellion. He chased Li Yanqi, the deputy envoy, and killed Hu Zhang, the commander of the capital.
Let’s talk briefly about Anzhou Lu Wenjin. Lu Wenjin was a "former traitor" who turned back as a prodigal son. As early as the Later Liang Dynasty, he killed Li Cunxu's younger brother Li Cunju, defected to the Khitan, and guided the Khitan to continue to invade the Central Plains. After Li Siyuan came to the throne, he completely changed his past, and after secretly contacting Li Siyuan, he "dressed and dressed" "Southern Crossing", taking the people, livestock, pots and pans from the occupied areas, risking their lives to break through the Khitan pass and return to their homeland in the Central Plains.
In the later Tangli towns of Huazhou and Luzhou, after Li Congke ascended the throne, he moved the towns to Anzhou. Shi Jingtang ascended the throne with the help of the Khitans, and Lu Wenjin was greatly frightened, especially Yelu Deguang's attitude of executing "Khitan Yin Anzhi" on the outskirts of Luzhou. He was afraid that he would be liquidated and retaliated by the Khitans, and he was "uneasy".
Therefore, Lu Wenjin killed his marching commander Feng Zhizhao (also said Feng Zhifei, also said Yao Zhizhao), and led his troops to defect to Xu Zhigao in Huainan.
Although Lu Wenjin had a history of treason, since his return, he had changed his mind and turned a new leaf. He was quite good at governance and had a good reputation. His rebellion was also for a reason. He escaped from the Khitan puppet regime because he offended the Khitan. He was deeply sympathetic, so he As he passed through various checkpoints, everyone gave him the green light without any obstruction.
Huainan also sent two thousand troops to respond.
Later Jin Dynasty Shi Jingtang and Huainan Xu Zhigao cooperated tacitly and allowed Lu Wenjin to defect safely into the Huainan territory without using weapons.
Then we will focus on Mi Qiong’s mutiny:
During the Hedong War, Li Congke ordered Zhao Dejun to provide support, but Zhao Dejun violated the order, changed the marching route, crossed Heshuo, and annexed the troops along the way. Among them, Dong Wenqi, the military commander of Zhenzhou Chengde Army, was taken away by him. Later, Zhao Dejun continued to Shangshu requested that Zhao Yanshou be appointed as the governor of Zhenzhou Chengde Army to replace Dong Wenqi.
When Zhao Dejun was defeated in Luzhou and surrendered to the Khitan, Dong Wenqi became a Khitan prisoner and his whereabouts are unknown ever since.
Dong Wenqi was an official who was extremely corrupt and extorted. He had a huge fortune, many concubines, and his life was extremely corrupt. The inherent curse of ill-gotten wealth brought disaster to Dong Wenqi's family.
