The Hedong War made Shi Jingtang and Jing Yanguang successful, turning him from a frightened bird into a hot "strength faction" boss in just six years.
That's why Feng Daocai found Jing Yanguang immediately to inquire about his attitude and win his support.
Don't underestimate this secret meeting. Feng Dao is the chief prime minister and represents the civil service group; Jing Yanguang is the commander-in-chief of the Forbidden Army. Although he cannot represent the local vassal towns or completely represent the army, the Forbidden Army has the advantage of being close to the water. If they want to kill the emperor, the local The army in the feudal town had no time to react.
Only when these two people reach a consensus can a smooth transition of state power be possible.
The meeting went very smoothly, with no differences between the two and a high degree of unity of opinion. They believe that the country is in a troubled time, with natural and man-made disasters, internal and external troubles, and that little kid Shi Chongrui, who is still peeing on the bed and eating his fingers, cannot shoulder this great and arduous historical mission, and must find someone older. Preside over state affairs.
"Big-eyed cute" Shi Chonggui was already in his thirties (29 years old at the time), and the two of them had always decided to support Shi Chonggui to inherit the throne.
On June 13, the seventh year of Tianfu (942), Shi Jingtang died.
Feng Dao, Jing Yanguang and other Gu Ming ministers read out the legacy and ordered Qi King Shi Chonggui to assume the throne of emperor in front of his coffin.
Shi Chonggui exudes the wild nature of the Shatuo people and likes to ride horses and shoot arrows. When Shi Jingtang was stationed in Hedong, he hired senior teachers to serve as Shi Chonggui's tutor and teach him the Book of Rites. Shi Chonggui had well-developed limbs but a simple mind, and was one of the poor academics. In this regard, Shi Chonggui not only showed no shame, but also said plausibly: "Studying is not what our family should do!"
When playing the lute to a cow, is it the cow's fault or the fault of the player?
During the Hedong War, Shi Chonggui was praised by Shi Jingtang for his ability to make suggestions for Shi Jingtang and to go to the front line in person despite the danger.
After the siege of Taiyuan was lifted, the Khitan canonized Shi Jingtang as the Emperor of the Central Plains, then reorganized the army and prepared to go south to attack Luoyang. According to custom, at this time, left-behind officers were placed in the rear nest. The "son emperor" Shi Jingtang did not dare to be expert, so he asked Yelu Deguang to ask his father to appoint a candidate to stay in Taiyuan.
Yelu Deguang asked Shi Jingtang to call out all his disciples, glance at them, and then pointed at Shi Chonggui and said, "This man with big eyes is the best." So he left Shi Chonggui as the guard in Taiyuan and took charge of the rear area.
In the third year of Tianfu (938), he was granted the title of Prefect of Kaifeng (Bianzhou), the title of King Zheng, and the title of prime minister; in the sixth year of Tianfu (941), he was granted the title of Prefect of Guangjin (Weizhou) and the title of King of Qi.
On June 13, the seventh year of Tianfu (942), on the day of Shi Jingtang's death, he ascended the throne in front of his coffin. The "Old History of the Five Dynasties" calls him the "young emperor", and the "New History of the Five Dynasties" calls him the "chu emperor".
According to the usual practice, Shi Chonggui also had to find some "divine will" to prove that he was destined by heaven. Therefore, according to his close friends, during his short stay in Weizhou, the Heshuo area suffered from a severe drought, so Shi Jingtang sent Shi Chonggui to Bailongtan to pray for rain. Shi Chonggui prayed devoutly. Suddenly, a white line appeared at the bottom of the pool. Dragon, rain fell from the sky that night, and people were amazed.
Knock on the blackboard and highlight the key points: Shi Chonggui can move heaven and summon dragons, so Shi Chonggui is the right one.
After Shi Chonggui ascended the throne, routine operations were naturally indispensable. In addition to the mysterious packaging mentioned above, practical measures were also needed to win over the support of all parties.
1. Winning over the Forbidden Army officers
The reason why Shi Chonggui was able to successfully succeed to the throne was largely due to the support of the Forbidden Army (Jing Yanguang), so Shi Chonggui reciprocated the favor immediately and gave the Forbidden Army soldiers a meaning: on the third day of his accession (June 15th) ), ordered the rewards to be given to the officers and soldiers of the Forbidden Army, ranging from the lowest five guan to the highest one hundred guan according to their rank.
2. Shepun
In addition to the imperial guards around him who want to win over, other domestic military and political leaders cannot be vague.
2.1 "Big Three"
Hedong Liu Zhiyuan, Shi Jingtang's absolute direct general, has been Shi Jingtang's trusted subordinate since the Later Liang Dynasty. When "Five Dragons forced Wang Yanzhang to death", the reins of Shi Jingtang's horse broke, Liu Zhiyuan exchanged horses with him, saving Shi Jingtang's life; Li Congke plotted a rebellion and invaded Luoyang At that time, in the "Weizhou Incident", Liu Zhiyuan saved Shi Jingtang's life again; in the Hedong War, Liu Zhiyuan defeated many with less and made countless contributions.
No matter in terms of qualifications, military achievements, or personal abilities, Liu Zhiyuan was the well-deserved first general of the Later Jin Dynasty, and he could stand alone. It is said that when Shi Jingtang was dying, he summoned Liu Zhiyuan to the capital, intending to use him as a trusted minister, but nothing came of it. Finally, the reasons will be detailed later.
In short, in the military system of the Later Jin Dynasty, if Liu Zhiyuan was ranked second, no one would dare to be ranked first.
Zhenzhou Du Chongwei, Shi Jingtang's brother-in-law, was favored due to nepotism. Shi Jingtang had good intentions and helped him gain experience, such as pacifying Zhenzhou An Chongrong.
If we evaluate him by the standards of a general, Du Chongwei cannot even reach the third-rate level. We can appreciate his military talent in the following article. He is a kind of special kind of genius who helps the enemy to achieve better results.
Just because he relied on nepotism to rise to the top, he was as famous as Liu Zhiyuan, and Liu Zhiyuan was so angry that he almost disobeyed the order.
Although Yang Guangyuan from Qingzhou was a general, he used his personal acting skills to pacify Fan Yanguang from Weizhou, and he still had a large number of troops. Even Shi Jingtang was afraid of him. For example, in the "Zhang Yanze Major Case", Zhang Yanze's cruelty and tyranny angered the heavens, people, and gods. , the civil and military joint forces of the DPRK and China insisted on the death penalty. Just because Zhang Yanze and Yang Guangyuan were sons and daughters, Shi Jingtang actually withstood the pressure from all parties and preserved Zhang Yanze, which shows the great power of Yang Guangyuan.
Shi Jingtang worked hard, and with the help of Sang Weihan, he finally managed to move Yang Guangyuan's power from Weizhou to Luoyang and then to Qingzhou by dividing Weibo and moving the universe. This weakened Yang Guangyuan's strength to a certain extent and at the same time made He was farther away from the capital, so that even if he had other ideas, the court would have enough time to deal with it.
Liu Zhiyuan, Du Chongwei, and Yang Guangyuan were the "three giants" when Shi Chonggui came to the throne, and they were also the local vassal towns that Shi Chonggui wanted to win over most urgently. All three of them were promoted to official positions and noble houses, and their houses were increased.
2.2 The contribution of support
Jing Yanguang and Feng Dao were the first pushers for Shi Chonggui's smooth accession to the throne, and they undisputedly contributed to his success. Shi Chonggui gave Jing Yanguang special promotion and Tong Zhongshu's sect. In this way, Jing Yanguang also had the lofty power of "coming out of generals and becoming prime ministers".
Jing Yanguang, a villain who succeeded in his ambition, monopolized the merits of his support, became extremely powerful and arrogant. He ordered that the people were not allowed to discuss state affairs, especially Shi Chonggui's accession to the throne, because some people at that time said that Shi Jingtang's legacy was to let Shi Chongrui ascend the throne. In order to demonstrate his authority, he gave the civil and military officials a show of dismount. When the officials entered the palace to mourn, Jing Yanguang ordered them to dismount far away from the palace gate. The officials were photographed by his power, and they all obeyed obediently. .
