Just two months ago, Shi Chonggui stood in the Bianzhou Palace, high-spirited, and solemnly declared to the people of the world: "First take Ying and Mo to stabilize Guannan; then recover You and Yan, and pacify the north of Saibei." Swallowing mountains and rivers with great ambition.
However, only two months later, the person standing in the same position and giving lectures to all the civil and military officials was the Emperor of the Liao Kingdom - Emperor Taizong Yelu Deguang of the Liao Dynasty. The huge contrast is really sad.
On the first day of the first lunar month in 947 AD, in the Chongyuan Hall of the Bianzhou Imperial Palace, the most sacred forbidden land for the Central Plains people, a foreign leader accepted the congratulations of hundreds of civil and military officials.
Yelu Deguang ushered in the peak of his life. He was aloft, admiring the officials who were prostrate on the ground and vying to show their loyalty, and slowly raised his arms, "Everyone loves me!"
"Long live thanks!"
Yelu Deguang's prestige in Khitan reached its peak. His brilliance was slightly inferior to that of his father Yelu Abaoji who destroyed the Bohai Kingdom. Each of them ranked first among the nomadic leaders of the past and present.
He is full of pride, but also has a kind of entanglement that is difficult to express. That's how to deal with the power in your hands, or how to balance power at home.
The reason why he went south was to get rid of the control of his mother, Queen Mother Shulu. Now, he has achieved half of it. He established unparalleled achievements, established supreme authority, opened up territory for the Khitan, and laid a land that was comparable to the Khitan in terms of land area but whose comprehensive strength far exceeded the Khitan itself. what's next?
According to Yelu Deguang's original idea, he did not plan to leave after coming this time. He wanted to re-enthrone and proclaim himself emperor in the Central Plains of Han and become the emperor of the Central Plains people. In this way, he would completely get rid of the control of Queen Mother Shulu. .
Therefore, before entering Bianzhou, Yelu Deguang secretly made arrangements to prepare for ruling the Central Plains.
1. Those who are not of my race must have different minds.
This is the creed that Yelu Deguang has always adhered to. Throughout his life, Yelu Deguang never truly trusted the Han people, whether they were civil servants or military generals. At different historical periods and for different purposes, Yelu Deguang also expressed his trust in the Han people, entrusted him with important responsibilities, promoted him to a higher position, praised him by name across the country, and called on the people across the country to learn from a certain comrade. But this was just one example. kind of attitude.
For example, his great counselor Zhang Li. Zhang Li was a Hanlin scholar in the Later Tang Dynasty. During the "Hedong War", Li Congke ordered him to be Zhao Dejun's counselor to defeat Shi Jingtang. Later, he became a Khitan prisoner after Zhao Dejun surrendered.
When the Khitan people interrogated the prisoners, Zhang Li was neither humble nor arrogant, and he was upright, which left a deep impression on the Khitan people. So Yelu Deguang interviewed him in person and found that Zhang Li was a gentleman with culture and integrity, so he was deeply employed. At that time, some people compared Yelu Deguang to Yelu Abaoji and Zhang Li to Han Yanhui.
But not long after, Zhang Li really paid tribute to Han Yanhui, and took advantage of the lax security of the Khitan army to escape secretly. However, he was not as lucky as Han Yanhui, and was captured by patrolling cavalry on the way.
When Zhang Li was escorted to Yelu Deguang, Yelu Deguang did not show any sign of anger. Instead, he asked with great concern the reason for his departure.
Zhang Li replied that he was not accustomed to the climate, living in northerners' tents, and eating northerners' food, so he wanted to return to the Central Plains.
Yelu Deguang made a self-examination in person, apologized to Zhang Li, and ordered the person in charge, Gao Yanying, to come over and reprimanded him face to face: "I often tell you that it was not easy for me to get the assistance of this god-given talent. You gave him special care, how did you do it?" Gao Yanying was beaten on the spot and apologized to Zhang Li.
Zhang Li was so moved that he could not be more moved. From then on, he assisted Yelu Deguang loyally and wisely, actively made suggestions, and was soon promoted to the Hanlin Chengzhi and Minister of the Ministry of Personnel of the Liao Kingdom, entering the core power circle.
However, Yelu Deguang's virtuous corporal and his good deeds were just methods in his political struggle. For example, people like Zhang Li were educated and resourceful, but they had no foundation or background, and had no contact with the Khitan nobles. Therefore, these Han civil servants had no scruples and dared to give direct advice. Therefore, it was easy for Yelu Deguang to use him as a weapon to deal with the deep-rooted Khitan noble class headed by the Queen Mother Shulu.
This is the reason why Han civilian officials are re-employed and Han people are demoted to generals. Therefore, during the Jin-Liao War, Zhao Siwen's son Zhao Yanzhao, who forced the Queen Mother Shulu to cut off her wrist, was appointed as the vanguard general.
During the process of annihilating the Jin Dynasty, Zhang Li suggested that Yelu Deguang do a good job in political propaganda and image public relations. He should not burn, kill, and loot the people of the Central Plains, but should show a benevolent and caring attitude to win the hearts and minds of the people. This suggestion was quite reasonable, but it was rejected by Yelu Deguang. Because Yelv Deguang no longer has to pretend.
After entering Bian, he tried his best to dissuade Yelu Deguang from some wrong practices, but was also rejected, and he himself eventually died because of these words, which will be mentioned later.
After Du Chongwei surrendered, the 200,000 surrendered troops and generals became a serious problem for Yelu Deguang. He first confiscated all the weapons, armor, and horses from the surrendered soldiers, and transported them all back to Khitan, leaving them to follow the army southward with bare hands.
When he reached the bank of the Yellow River, Yelu Deguang formulated a horrifying massacre plan. He planned to have the Khitan cavalry drive them from three sides and drive all 200,000 people into the Yellow River and drown them.
Zhang Li tried hard to dissuade him, saying that in addition to these 200,000 elites, there were many local troops scattered across the country. If they heard the news that the Khitan was about to surrender, they would definitely resist desperately. In this way, the Khitan would not be able to conquer the Central Plains at all. To gain a foothold, please arrange them properly, set an example for the military and civilians of the world, and win people's hearts.
Yelu Deguang then gave up the idea of massacre and ordered Du Chongwei to lead them to station in Chenqiao. In order to prevent them from mutiny, he specially asked Du Chongwei to wear dragon robes to appease his soldiers, saying that after Yelu Deguang stabilized the situation in Bianzhou, Let Du Chongwei be your emperor.
However, Yelu Deguang transported all their food and supplies and did not provide them with food supplies. It snowed heavily. The soldiers were hungry and cold. They huddled together, cried and began to resent Du Chongwei. Whenever Du Chongwei visited the camp to comfort him, the soldiers would stab him in the back and curse in the dark.
Yelu Deguang was always worried about this group of people. After much thought, he still felt that they should all be killed to eliminate future troubles forever.
At this time, a man jumped out to plead for the surrendered soldiers. This man was Zhao Yanshou.
Zhao Yanshou asked Yelu Deguang angrily, "Your Majesty is willing to risk his own power to seize the world. Do you want to hand over the country and the country to others?"
Yelu Deguang was agitated, "I mobilized the entire country's troops and marched southward without taking off my helmet or clothing. It has been five years. I finally conquered a territory, why should I give it to others?"
