Of course, if we follow this line of thought and insist on being hypocritical, then I really need to change the formulation of the above question: If Shi Chonggui has a high moral character and merits over the Three Emperors, has surpassed the Five Emperors, has good political skills and good weather, then the Later Jin Dynasty may really be able to avoid the fate of the country, but... …The initiative is still not in the hands of later Jin.
The obscene meaning is as follows: Shi Chonggui worked hard to become stronger, matching the standards of Yao, Shun, Yu, Tang, Wen and Wu, and the later Jin Dynasty became rich and powerful. Although Yelu Deguang was determined to invade the Central Plains from the south, his long-term offensive was fruitless. Therefore, if the Khitan was the first to be dragged down by the war, the tribe fell apart, and the Yelv clan broke away from each other, a new khan and emperor might be elected; or, if the Queen Mother Shulu passed away, Yelv Deguang would naturally secure the Khitan throne, that is, No longer eager to go south to destroy Jin...
As long as the Later Jin Dynasty is strong enough, it can completely defeat the Khitan, and the Later Jin Dynasty will cover the Later Han Dynasty and the Later Zhou Dynasty. Then "Emperor Min of the Later Jin Dynasty" or "Emperor Ai of the Later Jin Dynasty" will be rebelled by Zhao Kuangyin to seize power and enter the Northern Song Dynasty.
But no matter what, the initiative in this war is always in the hands of Yelu Deguang. In other words, the fate of the later Jin Dynasty was in Yelu Deguang's hands. This is the "luck of national subjugation" mentioned above.
The responsibility for the demise of the Later Jin Dynasty cannot be entirely attributed to Shi Chonggui, but Shi Chonggui also bears an unshirkable responsibility. As the king of a subjugated country, Shi Chonggui not only did not have all the shortcomings of a subjugated king, but also successfully bypassed all the advantages of a wise holy master.
The internal reason for Shi Chonggui's country's subjugation can be summed up in one sentence: The person you love hurts you the most.
Although he has behaviors such as extravagance, lust for pleasure, etc., but judging from the standards of a subjugated king, he has been very restrained. For being lustful, Wang Zongyan dumped him eighteen times; for being extravagant, he also gave up his C position for Li Cunxu. The most fatal mistake he made was hiring the wrong people.
When he first came to the throne, he doted on Jing Yanguang. Because Jing Yanguang had the merit of supporting the establishment and had the power of the imperial army, Shi Chonggui's favor towards him was more out of fear than gratitude. He did it out of necessity and also used his anti-Liao rhetoric to carry out line struggles. Thereby regaining power and controlling the court's right to speak.
With the consolidation of imperial power, Shi Chonggui will begin to deploy his own direct lineage. It was during this period that his fatal mistake was made.
Shi Chonggui, like most of the "second generation emperors" during the Five Dynasties period, lacked a long-term military career and lacked prestige in both the administrative and military systems. His direct relatives were basically aides who stayed behind, and their quantity was small but their quality was poor. Low. Therefore, the veterans of the former dynasty who hold heavy troops and are in important towns are both a threat and a resource, and the choice of such resources depends on blood relationship. This is the unanimous choice of the "second generation of emperors".
Shi Chonggui used this method to select the two most trustworthy comrades: Du Chongwei and Feng Yu.
Du Chongwei is Shi Jingtang's brother-in-law and Shi Chonggui's uncle. The family does not speak the same language. Shi Jingtang himself took good care of Du Chongwei and often gave him opportunities to gain experience and reputation.
For example, during the Fan Yanguang rebellion in the early days of Shi Jingtang, Du Chongwei rose from a small Forbidden Army general to become a Jiedushi, Tongping Zhangshi, and the commander of the Guards and Mabu Command, serving as a general and prime minister, and commanding the Forbidden Army.
Later, An Chongrong of Zhenzhou rebelled, and Shi Jingtang arranged for Du Chongwei to brush up his seniority and confer his merits on Zhenzhou to become the military governor of the German Army.
Du Chongwei may not have much ability in fighting, but when it comes to bullying the people, he is not only extremely capable, but also insane.
After taking office in Zhenzhou, Du Chongwei first took all of An Chongrong's property as his own. This money should have been regarded as trophies and turned over to the treasury in accordance with the law. Du Chongwei not only embezzled the money, but also embezzled all of Zhenzhou's treasury. .
This wave of operations caused great controversy in the court, and ministers impeached Du Chongwei for his illegal behavior of embezzling public funds. Shi Jingtang turned a blind eye, closed one eye, and simply ignored it.
After devouring An Chongrong's private property and Zhenzhou's public funds, Du Chongwei put his greedy hands into the pockets of the people of Zhenzhou, imposing excessive levies and exorbitant taxes.
Even if we encounter a major disaster, we will show no mercy. According to Du Chongwei's logic, after a disaster, the people should double their taxes to help the government provide disaster relief.
In the eighth year of Tianfu (943), Shi Chonggui had just ascended the throne. There was a drought in the first half of the year, and a flood in the second half of the year. The locust plague spread all over the country and lasted for a long time. The people went into exile one after another, and even some county magistrates were forced to go into exile. In order to maintain the operation of the state machinery and support the army, Shi Chonggui ordered the forced requisition of food from the people, which resulted in hundreds of thousands of people starving to death.
In fact, in the order at that time, Zhenzhou and Dingzhou were not included in the so-called "national grain requisition list". Because this was the hardest-hit area in this round of disasters and itself was in need of relief, Shi Chonggui granted special mercy and exempted the two towns from the task of collecting grain.
After all, Shi Chonggui was the supreme ruler of this empire. His exploitation of the people was based on scientific considerations and required long-term and sustainable exploitation. When forcibly expropriating people's money and food, it is not a one-size-fits-all approach across the country, but different quotas are apportioned based on actual regional differences.
For example, this time, the Zhenzhou Chengde Army and the Dingzhou Volunteer Army were specifically exempted from the tasks; even the famous targets of suppression had relatively reasonable limits.
Just when the miserable people of Zhenzhou breathed a sigh of relief and wanted to call out to the emperor, their parents, Mr. Du Chongwei, was extremely patriotic and angrily went to court, saying that the whole country is a game of chess. The country is in trouble and all parties are supporting us. Why should we? Can’t Zhenzhou lend a helping hand? Du Chongwei strongly demanded that Shi Chonggui treat everyone equally, and insisted that Zhenzhou should collect grain from the people like other places.
With the help of Du Chongwei's staff Wang Xu, the Zhenzhou grain collection team worked overtime and selflessly with extremely high efficiency, and soon collected one million dendrobium grains. However, the imperial court's target was only 300,000 dendrobium.
Therefore, Du Chongwei turned over 300,000 dendrobium in accordance with the law, and the remaining 700,000 dendrobium went into his own pocket. However, Du Chongwei's appetite was not yet satisfied, so he sent another aide, Li Ma, to continue collecting grain and obtained another one million hu of dendrobium.
The emperor wanted to continue to exploit, but officials like Du Chongwei fished all the water, killed chickens to get eggs, and raped the people's bones and sucked out their marrow. Unfortunately, Du Chongwei's behavior is not an isolated case, but a common phenomenon. The imperial court only asked the people of Zhenzhou to donate 300,000 yuan, but Du Chongwei collected 2 million yuan.
The next year, Du Chongwei sold the grain to the people of Zhenzhou at a high price and cut a handful of leeks. The common people of Chengde Army in Zhenzhou are having a hard time, but Du Chongwei is full of fat.
After Dingzhou officials learned about it, they asked Ma Quanjie, the governor of Jiedu, whether they should follow Du Chongwei's approach and make a fortune. Ma Quanjie angrily scolded his staff, saying that if you are an official and do not make decisions for the people, it is better to go home and plant sweet potatoes. There is no one to imitate, but to imitate that beast named Du Chongwei!
