There is only one truth to the matter, and both parties to the lawsuit insist on their own words, swearing to the sky. Obviously, one party lied. The difficult question posed in front of Shi Jingtang was how to determine who had lied.
Shi Jingtang smiled coldly, "Isn't this simple? Kill the horse, cut open its belly and scrape its intestines. If there is grain in it, kill the soldiers; if not, kill the shrew."
So the war horse was slaughtered in the hall. Under the witness of everyone, there was not a grain of grain in the horse's intestines. Subsequently, the peasant woman who complained was executed.
As soon as this case came out, "the country was in a state of solemnity, and no one dared to bully anyone." No one in the Hedong area dared to blackmail anyone anymore.
Whether he was in charge of Hedong or Zhenzhou, Shi Jingtang always acted in this way, attaching great importance to the education of the people, especially "filial piety". According to records, if the parents are still alive and the unfaithful sons fight for the family property, the unfaithful sons will be sentenced to death.
During the feudal period, "filial piety" was the highest moral standard of conduct, and there was zero tolerance in the law. For example, as mentioned above, An Chongrong once settled a "disobedient case", which also reflects the ancients' emphasis on "filial piety". Those who were unfilial to their parents would be executed immediately.
When we evaluate a historical figure, we cannot use modern values to apply them mechanically, but must comply with the historical environment and humanistic environment at that time. This is the basic quality of the correct materialist view of history.
In history books, if you look at someone's biography, if it is introduced at the beginning that this person is very filial to his parents, then you don't even need to read the rest of the content. He must be a loyal minister and righteous man. On the contrary, if it is said at the beginning that he is unfilial to his parents, There is no need to read the following paragraphs about "denying his offerings in the countryside". He must be a heinous traitor and villain.
History books cherish words like gold, and often describe his life's merits and demerits in just a few or hundreds of words, so not a single word is redundant. Why should we emphasize his filial piety to his parents? It's because this is the value system of the ancients.
Similarly, for the evaluation of an official, integrity and diligence in political affairs are also very important factors. In being diligent in political affairs, the education of the people is the most important criterion, even higher than integrity. In the evaluation of the people, In education, "filial piety" is the highest criterion.
Therefore, if the biography of an official talks about how he persuaded people to practice filial piety, then there is no need to read the subsequent story. He must be a good official. Shi Jingtang is such an official.
Regarding his political actions after becoming emperor, we have already described in detail when he ascended the throne. In short, good governance. Tax reductions and amnesties were routine tasks. Regardless of past grievances, ministers from Li Congke's period were re-employed, and even the "Bedroom Six", Li Congke's immediate cronies, were spared.
Shi Jingtang also played a huge role in promoting the process of Chinese history. He introduced foreign forces deeply into the Han Dynasty of the Central Plains, which increased the Khitan's influence on the Central Plains unprecedentedly and aggravated the chaos in the Central Plains region. The strong intervention of the Khitan people greatly impacted the faith of the Central Plains people, destroying thousands of years of cultural accumulation and national pride, causing that generation to fall into a crisis of faith, with their spiritual pillars crumbling, and people shouting in confusion and fear. Soul torture: "Who rules the Central Plains?"
Simply speaking, the civilization process of the Khitan people was not as good as that of the Central Plains. No more advanced ideas were born, and no revolutionary ideas or systems were evolved. We can try to make a comparison with modern times. If the Khitans at that time had “Mr. Advanced, with military power as the backing of cultural power and ideological weapons, then the Central Plains at that time may really be destroyed, the "Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms" will stop at the third generation, and the land of China will be unified under a dynasty called "Liao" middle.
This kind of obscenity is not meaningless, but it is to illustrate the huge hidden dangers that Shi Jingtang's behavior of attracting wolves into the Central Plains civilization brought to the civilization of the Central Plains.
Many people insisted on overturning Shi Jingtang's verdict out of grandstanding and unconventionality. They said that Shi Jingtang's reputation as a "traitor" was a deliberate attempt by the Song Dynasty to discredit him, because after the Khitans took control of the Sixteenth Prefecture of Youyun, they formed a military influence on the Song Dynasty. Huge pressure has been a century-long nightmare for the people of the Song Dynasty. In order to cover up their incompetence, the civil and military officials of the Song Dynasty blamed Shi Jingtang for the defeat, which meant that if Shi Jingtang had not ceded the Youyun Sixteen States, our Song Dynasty would have destroyed the Khitan and unified the world.
Seek common ground while reserving differences. Time cannot precipitate the truth, only a steady stream of knowledge and an independent brain can restore the truth.
After Shi Jingtang's death, he asked his lonely ministers to read out the legacy, and the "big-eyed" King Shi Chonggui of Qi inherited the throne and ascended the throne in front of the coffin.
There are also minor disputes in history about Shi Jingtang's true "legacy". For example, "Zi Zhi Tong Jian" states that Shi Jingtang's true legacy is for his youngest son Shi Chongrui to ascend the throne; "Records of Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty" states that Shi Jingtang wanted to return to the Li family, Let Li Siyuan's youngest son Li Congyi ascend the throne.
We don’t need to rush to research, let’s take a look at these two scandal candidates: Shi Chongrui and Li Congyi. Suddenly I realized that this was not a matter of research, it was a need for political struggle. In particular, the saying of "returning to the Li family" comes from the "Records of Han Emperor Gaozu". The "Han Emperor" here is not Liu Bang, but the "Later Han Emperor" Liu Zhiyuan as we call him.
Both statements are obviously motivated by political needs and serve the political struggle.
Speaking of Shi Jingtang's heir to the throne, one has to sympathize with Shi Jingtang. On the way to the throne, he was almost beheaded by everyone in his family.
Shi Jingtang was born in a barbarian family and his family was humble. Not only can no one accurately tell his family lineage, but no one can even know too many stories about his father and brothers. The only sporadic records that remain are divided into different opinions.
Even the royal historians of the Northern Song Dynasty were unable to verify it. The "Old History of the Five Dynasties" only roughly verified that Shi Jingtang had two uncles, one elder brother, six younger brothers, seven sons, and two grandsons. The deeds of these people are almost never recorded in the history books. Authoritative history books only mention a few words and save their names. For example, among the "one brother and six brothers", only three of them can be verified to be related to Shi Jingtang, namely Shi Jingwei. , Shi Jingyun, and Shi Jinghui are the cousins of Shi Jingtang. The father of the first two is Shi Wanyou, and the father of the latter is Shi Wanquan.
Regarding Shi Jingtang’s family lineage, there are three interesting or weird things worth mentioning:
1. Treat him as his own brother
Shi Jingtang's brothers all ranked "Jing", and his nephews ranked "Chong". But there is an exception. Shi Jingtang loves his youngest brother very much. How much does he love him? Give him the word "heavy" and treat him like a biological son. This person is Shi Chongyin. At first glance, he thought he was his son or nephew, but he was actually his younger brother.
It's scary to think about it carefully, is he really Shi Jingtang's younger brother? Perhaps there is an unknown, extremely dirty and unethical story hidden behind it, but it is a love story that the broad masses of the people love to hear.
