Recall that there are always people in Shandong who are causing trouble, such as Huang Chao and Wang Normal University. If their goal is Bianzhou, Luoyang, and Chang'an in the west, then Yunzhou, Yanzhou, Puzhou, and Caozhou are important strategic points of contention; and if If they want to unite with the Huainan forces in the south, or the Huainan forces go north to support, then Suzhou, Xuzhou, and Yizhou will become hot spots.
Yang Guangyuan's plan was to collude with the Khitan in the north, so the northwest line leading to and from the Shandong Peninsula became Yang Guangyuan's lifeline. The first stop on this route is Dizhou. After Dizhou is Cangzhou, and after Cangzhou is Youzhou.
Huang Chao went to the west, Wang Shifan went to the south, and Yang Guangyuan went to the north.
Therefore, although Dizhou has a low presence, it firmly holds Qingzhou's neck to the north. Yang Guangyuan immediately secretly contacted Li Qiong, the governor of Dizhou, but was flatly rejected by Li Qiong.
Li Qiong stood unswervingly on the side of the central court, making Yang Guangyuan a turtle in the urn before the war broke out.
Yang Guangyuan's second effort was, of course, to collude with the Khitans. Due to the dangerous land route, Yang Guangyuan specially sent people to cross the sea with books, from the Shandong Peninsula across the Bohai Bay, and landed in today's Liaoning Province.
Shi Jingtang made a bad start for the world, refreshed people's understanding, and started a new mode of seizing power, which is "traitoring the country for glory", selling the interests of the motherland to the Khitan in exchange for the support of the Khitan people, thus Become the emperor of the Central Plains. Therefore, the rebels in the Later Jin Dynasty generally followed suit, not only Fan Yanguang and Yang Guangyuan, but also Zhao Yanshou who was trapped in Khitan, and even the "patriot" An Chongrong who shouted "anti-Liao".
Yang Guangyuan not only expressed his willingness to be the second Shi Jingtang to the Khitan, but also leaked all the truth and falsehoods in the Central Plains, saying that the Central Plains region had been plagued by disasters for many years, the finances were empty, and the people were exhausted. The regime of the Later Jin Dynasty was already a shabby house full of holes and crumbling. If someone kicks it outside, it will collapse. "Dad, come on."
In Khitan, the Empress Dowager Shulu wanted to follow the conservative "line of supporting the Jin", so she had a very unfriendly attitude towards the Han people who surrendered generals. For example, she used a venomous tongue to attack Zhao Dejun, which caused Zhao Dejun to die of depression less than two years after he was captured. On the contrary, Yelu Deguang placed special emphasis on Han surrendered generals, such as Zhao Dejun's adopted son Zhao Yanshou, and Zhao Siwen who forced the Empress Dowager Shulu to cut off her wrist.
On the surface, Yelu Deguang's reason was to appease the Han groups within the territory and implement the basic national policy of "separation of Tibet and Han" (one country, two systems). In fact, he secretly cultivated a group of "Destroyer Jin Factions" because they were often the most active in destroying Jin. By promoting the vanguard of the Jin Dynasty, advancing the war against the Central Plains, and using the war to gather power, this was Yelu Deguang's big move.
Especially Zhao Yanshou, since Shi Jingtang came to the throne, he has been constantly instigating in front of Yelu Deguang, seizing every opportunity, and sparing no effort to slander Shi Jingtang, such as killing the Daliao envoy (the real culprit behind the scenes was Huainan Xu Zhigao, who framed the blame on the Later Jin Dynasty) , recruiting surrenders and recruiting rebels (Tuyuhun defection incident), harassing Nanjing (An Chongrong's invasion of Youzhou incident), and all the hostile acts done by An Chongrong, etc.
Nowadays, Yang Guangyuan and other traitors of the later Jin Dynasty have secretly communicated with the Khitan, telling the truth and falsehoods. Coupled with Jing Yanguang's various provocative behaviors, public opinion in Daliao is boiling, and calls for fighting south are rising. Thanks to Jing Yanguang's gift, Yelu Deguang doesn't even need to be manufactured artificially.
Under such circumstances, Empress Dowager Shulu's "line of supporting Jin" gradually became untenable. If she continued to obstruct the war blindly, I am afraid that Empress Dowager Shulu would be scolded as a "Liao traitor" by the Khitan people.
Therefore, Yelu Deguang responded to the time of the day and the public opinion, and naturally started the "Sin-Liao War".
In November of the eighth year of Tianfu (943), it is said that the Khitan's left-behind Yelu Di Nian captured the spies of the Later Jin Dynasty and learned that the Later Jin Dynasty was preparing to take the initiative to attack the Khitan. Therefore, the next month (December), Yelu Deguang personally led the army and stationed in Youzhou, setting Youzhou as the general headquarters to "negotiate the attack on Jin".
In fact, this "espionage case" was most likely directed and staged by the Khitans, because the place where the spies were captured was Linhuang Mansion in Shangjing, the capital of the Khitans. Moreover, through a large amount of historical facts and reasoning analysis, Shi Chonggui did not intend to take any serious action with the Khitans. Plan, just when the war broke out, Shi Chonggui sent several waves of envoys to seek peace and explanation because he heard the news that the Khitan was going to take action.
On the first day of the first lunar month of the ninth year of Tianfu (944), on the first day of the new year, Yelu Deguang, Taizong of the Liao Dynasty, divided his troops into two groups and went south into the territory of the Later Jin Dynasty on the grounds that the Later Jin Dynasty unilaterally broke the treaty.
One group, led by Zhao Yanshou and Zhao Yanzhao, commanded an army of 50,000, and headed south from Youzhou as the main attack direction; the other group was led by the emperor's uncle Yelu Anduan (younger brother of Yelu Abaoji) and the emperor's nephew Yeluwan (the second son of Yelu Lihu). Depart from Yunzhou, go south to Yanmen Pass, and attack Taiyuan Prefecture in Hedong.
This is the first battle among the "three major battles" of the Shanxi-Liao War. It is divided into two battlefields, the main battlefield of Heshuo and the auxiliary battlefield of Hedong. Because they are separated by Taihang Mountain in the middle, we use Taihang Mountain as a reference, simply called They are called "Shandong Battlefield" and "Shanxi Battlefield".
It should also be noted that Zhao Yanzhao and Zhao Yanshou are not brothers. Zhao Yanzhao is Zhao Siwen's son. Zhao Siwen forced the Queen Mother Shulu to cut off her wrist, while Yelu Deguang used his son as a vanguard officer. Without analysis, you would not know that the Liao Kingdom was also full of line struggles. Yelu Deguang's efforts to resist the control of Queen Mother Shulu are also evident.
Before the army set off, Yelv Deguang promised Zhao Yanshou lovingly and solemnly that as long as the Later Jin Dynasty is overthrown, I will make you the lord of the Central Plains. You must take good care of the Central Plains for the Khitan and be good.
Yelu Deguang also pointed at Zhao Yanshou many times in front of the Han people who surrendered their troops and generals, and said: "This man is your future new master. You must assist him well!" In this way, the Han people's doubts about surrendering their troops and generals were raised. He was dissuaded, knowing that the Khitans did not intend to destroy the Central Plains people, but only helped the Central Plains people to replace their puppet emperor, so the hostility gradually disappeared.
In the ninth year of Tianfu (944), the happiest person in the world was Zhao Yanshou. He received a promise from Emperor Jinkou of the Liao Kingdom that he would soon be enthroned as the Emperor of the Central Plains. Of course, there is a prerequisite, which is to destroy the Jin Dynasty first.
As a result, Zhao Yanshou became the bravest and hardest-working Khitan general in the Jin-Liao War. Through the following narrative, we should realize that it was not Yelu Deguang who truly defeated the Later Jin Dynasty, but the Han general Zhao Yanshou.
So can Zhao Yanshou really get his wish, successfully pay tribute to Shi Jingtang, and establish a "Later Yan" or "Later Wei"? How will Yelu Deguang face the promise he once made?
Let’s look at the Khitan’s battle to destroy the Jin Dynasty – the “Three Major Battles”.
