Facing this interview, Wei Renpu's talent was demonstrated. He has meticulous observation, photographic memory, and outstanding logical analysis ability. Based on what he has seen, heard, and experienced, he summarized Induction and logical reasoning explain the current internal military and political situation of Khitan in detail, and it is clear and logical.
Guo Wei couldn't help but admire him with admiration, so he strongly recommended it to Liu Zhiyuan, saying that Wei Renpu was definitely a rare talent!
Liu Zhiyuan reinstated Wei Renpu to his post and promoted him according to his merits after he entered Bianzhou.
A thousand-mile horse does not always come, and neither does Bole. Guo Wei praised Wei Renpu highly and became a noble person in Wei Renpu's life, and the two formed a profound revolutionary friendship. Later, Wei Renpu's talents were indeed appreciated by Liu Zhiyuan, and he rose all the way to 90,000 miles, which can be said to be a meteoric rise. In just over a year, Wei Renpu was promoted from a grassroots clerk to the State Council. Just half a year later, he was promoted to the State Council. When Liu Zhiyuan died, Wei Renpu and Guo Wei were already independent and important ministers.
Later, Wei Renpu assisted Guo Wei to create the Later Zhou Dynasty, became the founding father, and served successively as privy envoy and prime minister. He died in the early years of the Northern Song Dynasty, and his three sons also served as officials in the Northern Song Dynasty. The third son, Wei Xianxin, also became the Prince Consort of the Northern Song Dynasty, and he was the daughter of Emperor Taizu of the Song Dynasty, Princess Yongqing.
These are things for later. In short, when Liu Zhiyuan was about to enter Bian, Wei Renpu made the most correct decision in his life, abandoning Du Chongwei and joining Liu Zhiyuan. Sometimes, choice is more important than hard work. Effort determines the distance to move forward, but choice determines the direction to move forward.
On June 8, all civil and military officials from Bianzhou, led by Prime Minister Dou Zhengu, collectively went to Xingyang (today's Xingyang City, Henan Province) to greet Liu Zhiyuan. Xingyang is between Bianzhou and Luoyang, closer to the Luoyang side, so the ministers of Bianzhou can be said to be welcomed from afar.
On June 11, Liu Zhiyuan officially arrived in Bianzhou, and various provinces and towns from the former Jin Dynasty came to pay homage to the dock one after another to express their submission.
On June 15, Liu Zhiyuan issued an edict to grant amnesty to the whole country. He changed the country's name to "Dahan" and continued to use the year name of "Twelve Years of Tianfu" because he did not dare to forget the kindness of the later Jin Dynasty.
As usual, Liu Zhiyuan is no longer a short, poor, and counterattacking diaosi. He has transformed into "Uncle Liu Huang." This can be seen from his national title.
According to convention, the title of this dynasty should be the title of the founding king in the previous dynasty, such as Liang Wang Zhu Wen who established "Daliang". Liu Zhiyuan was granted the title of "King of Peiping" in the Later Jin Dynasty. He was also granted the title of "King of Taiyuan" before, but Liu Zhiyuan did not accept it.
At the beginning of the founding of the country, Liu Zhiyuan used the country's title of "Da Jin", but now it was changed to "Da Han", which made people mistakenly think that he was a member of the Han Dynasty, so he ruled the Central Plains legitimately. But he himself did not recognize his ancestors posthumously, and he did not say that he was "Queen Jing of Zhongshan" because he had a little problem - he was from Shatuo.
Although he has a Han name, "he was originally from the Shatuo tribe." Interestingly, the "Meetings of the Five Dynasties" says that Liu Zhiyuan's fourth-generation ancestor Liu Tuan was the eighth son of Liu Zhuang and the Huai Emperor of the Eastern Han Dynasty. After Yang Wang Liu Bing.
In the intercalary month of July, Liu Zhiyuan issued an edict to build six royal ancestral temples, including Liu Bang, Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty, Liu Xiu, Emperor Guangwu of the Han Dynasty, and Liu Zhiyuan's four generations of descendants (father, grandfather, great-grandfather, and great-grandfather). It is also hinting to people: I am a clan member of the Han Dynasty, and I work for Uncle Liu Huang.
In short, when people surnamed Li call themselves emperor, their country name is usually "Tang" (such as the Southern Tang Dynasty in Huainan), while people surnamed Liu like to use "Han".
The situation of the founding of the Later Han Dynasty was glorious on the outside but full of holes on the inside. It can also be regarded as the start of the hard mode. Liu Zhiyuan faces all-round challenges.
First of all, its legal system is incorrect.
We have already analyzed this point, and Liu Zhiyuan’s solution is relatively clever, which is to secretly change concepts, guide public opinion, transform internal contradictions among the people into national contradictions, and strengthen his own rationality through nationalism.
Secondly, there is the fiscal deficit.
When describing Shi Chonggui's internal affairs in the previous article, a lot of space has been spent on the natural disasters in the late Jin Dynasty and the endless exploitation by the imperial court. On this basis, the army continued to cause disasters, and the Khitan fought a war of national annihilation for nearly five years. Adding insult to injury.
After the war, the new master of the Central Plains, the Khitan, not only did not devote themselves to restoring the wounds of the war, but instead intensified their efforts to break the bones and suck out the marrow, draining the last drop of blood from the Han lands in the Central Plains.
The Later Han Dynasty was built on this kind of poverty and poverty, so the fiscal deficit Liu Zhiyuan had to face was far more serious than Shi Chonggui.
Third, there are undercurrents of internal worries.
Although various provinces and towns in the country (formerly controlled by the Later Jin Dynasty) have expressed their submission, the loyalty of these "heroes" is very limited.
Especially Du Chongwei, who once served the Khitan sincerely and was a true traitor and traitor. They were very worried that Liu Zhiyuan would counterattack and pursue their treasonous acts. Therefore, they called brother brother and touched the guy in his hands to rebel. It can happen at any time.
Finally, there is a serious foreign invasion.
Hou Shu was undoubtedly the biggest beneficiary of the rise and fall of Jin, Liao and Han. During this catastrophe, Hou Shu encroached on the western territory of the Central Plains Dynasty, occupying all the land south of Dashan Pass, and even extended its greedy tentacles. Arrived at Fengxiang and Chang'an.
In the year when Liu Zhiyuan entered Bian, Meng Chang of the Later Shu Dynasty used threats of force and political inducement to surrender to coerce and induce the feudal officials of the Later Han Dynasty to surrender, such as Fengxiang Jiedushi Hou Yi.
At the end of the year, Hou Shu put two surrendered generals from the Central Plains in command: Zhang Qianzhao as the northern camp to recruit pacifiers, and He Jianjian as his deputy, leading the army from Chengdu, with banners stretching for dozens of miles.
Zhang Qianzhao was a general who surrendered to Shu when Li Congke became emperor; He Jianzhuan was a general who surrendered to Shu when the Khitan destroyed Later Jin. The two are now working together as the main force and become the deputy marshals who invaded the motherland.
The army of Hou Shu attacked Fengxiang from multiple directions, and then sent troops out of Ziwu Valley to echo the rebel Zhao Kuangzan in Chang'an. Zhao Kuangzan was the son of Zhao Yanshou. His rebellion fell into the third item mentioned above. Liu Zhiyuan's internal worries were that he surrendered to Liu Zhiyuan on the surface, but secretly colluded with foreign forces to invade the Later Han Dynasty.
In the end, Fengxiang Jiedushi Hou Yi, who was surrounded and isolated, chose to surrender. At this point, Fengxiang and Chang'an, the two major towns in the western part of the empire, fell into the hands of Laoshu.
This was not over yet. In order to express their loyalty to the new master, Hou Yi and Zhao Kuangzan jointly submitted a request to Hou Shu to continue sending troops to the east, first to secure Guanzhong, and then to level the Central Plains.
What a big ambition.
Huainan was not willing to be left alone. Long before Liu Zhiyuan entered Bian, Li Jing of the Southern Tang Dynasty planned to send troops to the Central Plains to get a share of the chaos in the Shanxi and Liao Dynasties. At that time, the Southern Tang Dynasty was trapped in the quagmire of the Fujian War. After he got out, Liu Zhiyuan He had successfully entered Bianzhou. "He heard that the Han troops entered Bianzhou, but the troops did not leave." However, the commander-in-chief of the Northern Expedition, Li Jinquan, "still did not change his title." The establishment of the commander-in-chief of the Northern Expedition was retained, which shows that Li Jing did not give up completely, but was waiting for an opportunity. Ready to go, ready to move.
