A year later, an opportunity came to the Southern Tang Dynasty: Li Shouzhen rebelled. This also belongs to the third problem, that is, foreign troubles caused by internal strife, internal rebels colluding with external forces, and interfering in the domestic affairs of the country.
Shu and Huai have always been the two most troublesome problems for the Central Plains Dynasty. But the biggest foreign threat to the Later Han regime was its powerful enemy in the north, the Khitan.
Although the Khitan experienced the "grandfather and grandson regime" and peacefully resolved disputes with the "Crossing Pact", and then entered the "post-Crossing Pact" era, Yelu Ruan also faced surging internal troubles and internal strife, but this did not affect the Khitan's attitude toward The covet of the Central Plains.
Firstly, the Khitan family has a richer family background. It is said that a skinny camel is bigger than a horse. Even if it is plagued by internal troubles, it can always use its spare time to harass the Central Plains. Secondly, Yelu Ruan also regards launching foreign wars as a means to divert domestic conflicts.
The Khitan's southern invasion will be detailed in the following article.
In addition, Gao Congjie, the "Gao Laizi" of Jingnan who has been a professional rogue for thirty years, has also made a splash with his presence. Jingnan has always been a small country with weak troops, and its comprehensive strength ranks last among the "Ten Kingdoms", but this does not affect the ambitions of the "Gaolaizi" at all.
Gao Congjie was well aware of Liu Zhiyuan's predicament in hell mode, and even took the initiative to launch an aggressive war against the Later Han Dynasty. This kind of behavior is like Ah San in the early 1960s and Vietnam in the late 1970s. The Jingnan kid is disobedient and deserves a spanking. Soon, Gao Congjie was taught by Liu Zhiyuan to start a new life.
Ma Xifan, the top leader of the Nanchu regime in Tanzhou, and Qian Hongzuo, the top leader of the Wuyue Kingdom in Hangzhou, died when Liu Zhiyuan entered Bian. They were also faced with the transfer and transition of the highest power and had no time to take care of themselves. Moreover, Nanchu and Wuyue have long been friendly neighbors of the Central Plains Dynasty, because they do not directly border the Central Plains Dynasty, but are separated by Houshu, Huainan, and Jingnan. Make friends at a distance and attack at close range.
As for the Southern Han Dynasty in Guangzhou, it has long been separated from the Central Plains and is in a state of severed diplomatic relations. There is almost no intersection and it is located in a remote location. The turmoil in the Central Plains cannot spread to Lingnan.
The Min government in Fujian also made close contacts with distant countries. Forced by the blockade and threats from Wuyue, Huainan, Southern Han, Southern Chu and other countries, it always respected the Central Plains dynasty. It was also "isolated" due to its remote location.
To sum up, this is the dilemma Liu Zhiyuan faces internally and externally. Very embarrassing.
In the consolation edict, Liu Zhiyuan expressed amnesty for the whole country, releasing the labor force, resuming production and operations, and restoring the domestic economy;
All officials appointed by the Khitan people will be recognized by the new government and will no longer be transferred. Please rest assured;
National tax exemption, last year's arrears of rent and taxes will be written off in one stroke, Bianzhou and Luoyang will be exempted from taxes this summer within a hundred miles of each other; for places a hundred miles away, house taxes will be halved;
Those who were demoted by the Later Jin Dynasty and Khitan before they had time to leave for their posts do not need to go to their posts, and the order of demotion will be revoked; those who have already arrived at the demoted posts will be hired on the basis of their ability;
Anyone who has been sentenced to exile before will be pardoned and returned home; anyone whose home has been confiscated will be released as appropriate according to the actual situation...
In the new year and the new atmosphere, although the Later Han Dynasty was in thorns, the people were still rejoicing and congratulating each other. Look, our Han emperor still cherishes the people, unlike the Hulu barbarian chief.
When the Khitan army retreated, the easternmost defense line of the "First Island Chain" was Gao Tangying, the military governor of Xiangzhou. After hearing the news that Liu Zhiyuan was going south, Gao Tangying also became a wise man who knew current affairs. He sent people to contact Liu Zhiyuan secretly and expressed his willingness to surrender the city.
Of course, Liu Zhiyuan expressed his welcome and warm welcome, so he passed a message to Gao Tangying, saying that as long as he was willing to return from his lost ways and make meritorious deeds, all his past sins and responsibilities would naturally be wiped out.
However, before the envoys could bring the good news back to Xiangzhou, a mutiny broke out in Xiangzhou and Gao Tangying was killed.
The Khitans had previously assigned two generals of the Forbidden Army, Wang Jihong and Fan Hui, to lead their troops to garrison Xiangzhou. When Du Chongwei, Li Shouzhen, and Zhang Yanze surrendered, the Khitan people confiscated all the weapons and armor of these 200,000 people in order to prevent them from surrendering and rebelling, and packed them back to the Khitan mainland. They originally planned to kill them all, but under the attack of Zhang Li and Zhao Yanshou, After trying his best to dissuade them, Yelu Deguang finally gave up the idea of massacre, but he was still worried about them, so he sent them to different places in batches to reduce their power to the greatest extent.
Therefore, Wang Jihong, Fan Hui and the troops they brought did not have half a piece of armor on their bodies, and did not have half an inch of weapons in their hands. They were just a group of karate athletes.
Jiedushi Gao Tangying was very kind to the two of them. Not only did he provide them with good food and drink, he also opened the armory, distributed weapons and armor to them, and helped them arm themselves. The two of them also expressed their gratitude to Gao Tangying and were willing to work hard to repay him, blah blah blah. Gao Tangying regarded the two as his confidants.
Now, Gao Tangying surrendered to Liu Zhiyuan. Wang Jihong and Fan Hui saw the opportunity to get promoted and make a fortune, so they killed Gao Tangying without hesitation. Later, Wang Jihong claimed that the German troops in Xiangzhou had stayed behind, and sent an envoy to report to Liu Zhiyuan, saying that Gao Tangying was capricious and did not sincerely surrender. I discovered it in time and dealt with it in time.
Therefore, Liu Zhiyuan appointed Wang Jihong as the post of Xiangzhou Zhangde Army and Fan Hui as the governor of Cizhou.
When Xiangzhou returned to the Han Dynasty, Gao Fengming, the governor of the Anguo Army in Xingzhou in the north, felt unprecedented fear, so he entrusted military and political power to Liu Duo, the commander-in-chief of the Xingzhou army, and moved his strategy to Zhenzhou.
It should be noted that when Liu Zhiyuan entered Bian, that is, at the beginning of the establishment of the Later Han Dynasty, the Khitan still occupied most of the territory north of the Yellow River, such as Xiangzhou, Xingzhou, Zhenzhou and other places just mentioned above. If Weizhou occupied by Du Chongwei is added, then the three towns of Heshuo (Weizhou Weibo Army, Zhenzhou Chengde Army, Dingzhou Yiwu Army) and Xingzhou Dongzhao Yijun were all under the control of the Khitans.
The territory of the early Later Han Dynasty was like an "L", with Hedong on the vertical line and Henan on the bottom horizontal line.
Achieving the reunification of the motherland, at least restoring the territory of the Later Jin Dynasty, is Liu Zhiyuan's top priority. Xiangzhou is a bridgehead extending into the Heshuo area. Using Xiangzhou as a springboard, we can recover Xingzhou to the north and Weizhou to the east, and then Zhenzhou and Dingzhou in sequence.
Just as the Liu Zhiyuan Group was racking its brains to plan its next battle plan, three good news suddenly came, which provided a small turning point for Liu Zhiyuan's unification cause.
First, there are rumors that Zhao Yanshou has been executed by the Khitans. In fact, Zhao Yanshou is still alive, but was placed under house arrest and died two years later. But Liu Zhiyuan needs such rumors, and we even have reason to believe that the rumors of Zhao Yanshou's death are This was done by Liu Zhiyuan Group.
