[A half-shameful minister]
When Yelu Deguang led his army back to the north, the highest official of Yunzhou, Sha Yanxun, the military governor of Datong, came out of the city to greet him and expressed his acceptance of the organizational arrangement and recognition of the cession agreement of the "Sixteen Youyun Prefectures".
Yelu Deguang enthusiastically retained Sha Yanxun in the army and refused to let him return to the city. At this time, the Khitan people still did not have enough self-confidence. They were really worried that the "Sixteen States of Youyun" would cut off their retreat and try to catch turtles in an urn. That's why they used the strategy of "capture the thief first, capture the king" to control their superiors. In this way, even if they encounter resistance, it will be a small problem with scattered power and easy disintegration.
Sha Yanxun's staff member Wu Luan, the judge of Jiedu, was filled with righteous indignation when he saw the Khitans detaining the chief. He summoned his tribe and made a generous speech, saying how could we, a country of etiquette and a heavenly country, surrender to the barbarians?
Everyone was so angry that they recommended Wu Luan to temporarily handle state affairs. Wu Luan ordered the city gates to be closed and refused to hand over the city to the Khitans.
The Khitan immediately launched a strong attack on Yunzhou. Wu Luan led his men to resist tenaciously, and the Khitans could not attack for a long time.
The resistance in Yunzhou set an example for other compatriots in the "Sixteen Youyun Prefectures". Among them, Guo Chongwei, the commander-in-chief of the Yingzhou Cavalry, gave up the army and rode south alone. At that time, the "Sixteen Youyun Prefectures" were already Khitan territory at a legal level. Guo Chongwei's behavior was equivalent to "smuggling" and was comparable to climbing over the Berlin Wall.
Wu Luan of Yunzhou held on for more than half a year, but the Khitan could not break through. Wu Luan sent people to take a small road and contacted Shi Jingtang, asking him to send troops to support and keep Yunzhou in the Central Plains.
Shi Jingtang personally appealed to Khitan's father for mercy, and finally peacefully resolved the Yunzhou crisis. The solution is: Yunzhou will still be ceded to the Khitan as agreed, and the Khitan will allow Wu Luan to return to the Central Plains. Shi Jingtang appoints Wu Luan as the deputy envoy of the Wuning Army in Xuzhou.
When the Khitan passed through Xinzhou, they ordered Qu Zhang, the military envoy of the Weise Army in Xinzhou, to search for the people and pay 100,000 yuan for "military labor expenses".
However, Qu Zhang's nightmare had just begun.
In the land of the "Sixteen Youyun Prefectures", there are many ethnic minority tribes living together. Among them, there is a "Xixi" tribe living in Gui Prefecture (now Huailai County, Hebei Province).
When Yelu Abaoji unified the northern grasslands, Shiwei, Xi and other tribes surrendered to the Khitan one after another. They became second-class citizens in the Khitan and suffered from exploitation and oppression. One of the chiefs of the Xi tribe, named Quzhu, could not bear the oppression and led his people. He moved westward and joined Liu Rengong in Youzhou at that time, and was settled in Guizhou. This Xi tribe was called "Xixi".
After the death of Zhu Zhu, his son swept away the throne and took over the throne. After Li Cunxu destroyed Liu Shouguang in Youzhou, the "Xixi" tribe, led by Saola, expressed their allegiance to Li Cunxu. Li Cunxu readily accepted it, implemented a restrained and gentle policy, offered generous comfort, and gave Saola the name "Li Shaowei".
Saola married the sister of Zhubulu, a Khitan chief. Later, Zhubulu committed a crime in Khitan and fled in fear of the crime. He went to Guizhou to find his brother-in-law Xixi who was raiding the army. The Khitan conducted a cross-border pursuit and launched an attack on the raids, but failed.
Later, during the period of Mingzong Li Siyuan, the Later Tang Dynasty became stronger and showed strong diplomacy towards Khitan. The Khitan was in a weak position and was unable to deal with Zhubulu's defection to Guizhou.
After Sa La died, his son dragged Sa La to the throne.
Now, Zhubulu has also passed away. He dragged La La out of the city to surrender and expressed his apology and surrender to Yelu Deguang. Yelu Deguang comforted Lala with kind words and said to him: "What crime do you have? The guilty ones are Saola and Zhubulu." Then he ordered people to dig up the grave and dig out the bones of the two people. Ash.
It is true that Yelu Deguang did not punish and drag his father and uncle, but he also opened the coffins of his father and uncle, slaughtered their corpses, crushed their bones and scattered their ashes. The Khitan's cruelty is still shocking.
The tribes of the Xi tribe became even more afraid of the Khitans and chose to defect one after another.
At this time, Yelv Deguang ordered Qu Zhang, the governor of the Xinzhou Weisai Army, to lead his troops to attack them one by one and help the Khitan pacify the Xi tribes. He also promised Qu Zhang that he would find a general who could replace him as soon as possible and then release him back to the Central Plains.
Qu Zhang was "very brave and powerful", nicknamed "Hu Chi". He had been in Xinzhou for nearly ten years since March of the third year of Emperor Tiancheng's reign in the Ming Dynasty (928). In the Khitan's opinion, he is the best candidate to conquer the "Sixteen States of Youyun".
Sure enough, Qu Zhang quickly subdued all the Xi tribes. Later, he was transferred to the Yunzhou front line and was responsible for attacking Wuluan in Yunzhou.
With Shi Jingtang's appearance and the reconciliation of Yunzhou, Qu Zhang had already made a lot of contributions to the Khitan, but the Khitan broke his promise and still refused to let Qu Zhang return to the Central Plains.
Qu Zhang finally saw through the true face of imperialism, his dreams were shattered, and his spiritual world collapsed. He became depressed and unhappy, and soon died of sorrow and anger.
Wu Luan, Qu Zhang, etc. are the epitome of the vast number of Central Plains people in that period. Although the Khitan had an advantage militarily, they were completely crushed by the Central Plains culturally.
A poem written by Chen Liang in the Song Dynasty is a confession of the values of the Central Plains people, "Shui Diao Ge Tou·Send the Envoy of Zhang Demao to the Captives":
"Yao's capital, Shun's soil, and Yu's enfeoffment should all be equal to one and a half shameful ministers." (Excerpt)
Three emperors rule the world, and five emperors are kings. The land of China has a long history and has outstanding people. Our national pride and sense of superiority do not allow us to surrender to the barbarians!
"Why should Hu Yun ask? The sun will come from within."
The Khitan exerted a strong influence on the civilization of the Central Plains. Not only did they establish a puppet regime in the Central Plains, but they also directly took over the Central Plains a few years later. They wanted to include the entire Central Plains into the Khitan territory and annihilate the Han people in the Central Plains. The formation of the "Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms" is extremely closely related to the Khitan's foreign strategy.
Usually, people have a misunderstanding, that is, the chaos of the Five Dynasties was a concentrated outbreak of historical problems left over from the Tang Dynasty, and the rapid change of dynasties was the inevitable result of the separatism of vassal towns in the Tang Dynasty. Therefore, it was only solved when Zhao Kuangyin, the Taizu of the Song Dynasty, "released his military power with a glass of wine" This problem also allowed the Song Dynasty to last long.
There is nothing wrong with this statement. It just puts too much emphasis on the subjective initiative of the Central Plains people and ignores another major factor - the Khitan.
To be precise, the combination of the historical problems left over from the Tang Dynasty - the separatist rule of vassal towns and the external interference of the Khitan's power - led to the chaotic situation of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms in the Central Plains.
Due to the unpopularity of the "Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms", the Khitan was unpopular during this period. When mentioning the Khitan, most people probably think of the Khitan in the Northern Song Dynasty at the first time. It is the Khitan in Jin Yong's martial arts. They think that the "Liao Kingdom" of the Khitan people was a nomadic regime that existed in the Northern Song Dynasty.
In fact, the Khitan had its highlight moment during the "Five Dynasties" period. They first interfered in the internal affairs of the Central Plains, indirectly overthrew the Later Tang Dynasty and established the Later Jin Dynasty. A few years later, they took action themselves, directly overthrowing the Later Jin Dynasty and taking control of Bianzhou. It was also the entry into Bianzhou that gave the Central Plains people a taste of what it was like to be slaves to the subjugation of their country. Therefore, during the Northern Song Dynasty, the Han people in the Central Plains resisted the Khitan with great determination, and national hatred exploded.
When we focus on the "Five Dynasties" period, we will really ask "who rules the Central Plains?" Is it the Central Plains people or the Khitan people? I believe that at the time, this was not a question that seems so ridiculous today. Many people will be confused and confused.
The patriotic poet Chen Liang answered this historical question with his sonorous and powerful voice:
"Why should Hu Yun ask? The sun will come from within."
