Chapter 8 8. Discern the current situation: Shi Jingtang is also wise

Countless heroes appeared in the Five Dynasties period, but all kinds of freaks were also of different shapes and colors, forming a colorful picture, showing the unique social history and culture at that time.Among them, there is a monarch whose name has been left in history and who has been reviled by all ages. He is the founding monarch of the later Jin Dynasty, Shi Jingtang.As the "Emperor Son", he has shocked the past and the present. He has not only become a representative figure whose reputation has been lost throughout the ages, but also left a long-term hidden danger to future generations because of his lack of integrity.The Central Plains region has been exposed to the horseshoes of the Khitan and Liao people for a long time, so that in the past four hundred years, countless courageous warriors have gone forward and sacrificed to regain the lost land, all because of him.

Throughout Shi Jingtang's life, he was not born with soft bones.In his youth, he once led the army to break through the siege, and rescued Emperor Zhuangzong of the Tang Dynasty Li Cunxu several times.For Li Siyuan, Emperor Mingzong of the later Tang Dynasty, Shi Jingtang was a rare and important general. He not only rescued Li Siyuan from danger, but also played an important role in his road to becoming emperor. When Li Siyuan was still a general in the later Tang Dynasty, Shi Jingtang won Li Siyuan's favor because of his contribution to rescue and became his confidant.Not only let him command the soldiers of Zuo Shejun, but also marry his daughter to Shi Jingtang.After Li Cunxu fulfilled Li Keyong's wishes, the government was gradually abandoned. Zhuang Zong was obsessed with opera, reused actors and jealous of important officials, which led to chaos in the court.

In 926 AD, Li Cunxu unjustly killed the general Guo Chongtao because he believed the actor's slander, which caused an uproar in the court.And Li Siyuan, who had always been suspected, also began to become precarious.At this time, Zhao Zaili, the commander of Xiaojie in the later Tang Dynasty, had a mutiny in Weizhou. Li Cunxu ordered Li Siyuan to lead his troops to suppress it. Shi Jingtang, as Li Siyuan's capable general, also followed. Li Siyuan was charged with the emperor's order, and went all the way to Weizhou, intending to capture Zhao Zaili and bring him back to the court.But as soon as his troops arrived at the city of Weizhou, Wang Caijie, Zhao Tingying and others under his command rebelled, and joined forces with Zhao Zaili.

Wang Caijie and Zhao Tingying knelt down in front of Li Siyuan's tent and said to him: "Now the emperor is so stupid that he uses actors and actresses, but treats the soldiers who fought for the country and bleed their blood. If this continues, what future is there for the country? And General Guo Chongtao was killed , it is precisely because he holds the military power, don't you think that this fate will be your turn next?" Li Siyuan said solemnly: "The emperor has always valued me, and I am entrusted by the late emperor. As long as we are upright, why should we be afraid of being slandered by traitors!"

Zhao Tingying said: "You are open-minded, but it is difficult to prevent the emperor from being narrow-minded. Now I am waiting to defect to Zhao Zaili, not to seek my own glory and wealth, but to be able to recommend you as emperor." Li Siyuan was very angry with this proposal and refused it straight away.He said to the generals who were about to defect to the enemy: "You are now treasonous and defecting to the enemy. You are already rebellious, but now you want to pull me together. This is to make me bear the eternal infamy. I only want to die on the battlefield loyal to the country. I will never do anything that betrays the court."

Seeing that Li Siyuan could not be persuaded, everyone found his son-in-law Shi Jingtang who had always been trusted, and asked him to persuade him. Shi Jingtang dismissed the generals and said to Li Siyuan: "We were attacking Zhao Zaili, but we didn't expect all the generals to join him. What are you going to do now?" Li Siyuan said helplessly: "I have no way to lead the army, which led to this situation. Now, I can only go back and plead guilty to the emperor and accept the punishment I deserve." Shi Jingtang smiled and said: "The army under the general's command is all traitorous, and the general himself went back to the court to plead guilty, claiming that he had no intention of treason, do you think anyone will believe such a thing?"

Li Siyuan couldn't answer this question, he could only sigh helplessly. Shi Jingtang went on to say: "It is a well-known fact that the emperor is in a daze and the court guidelines are disordered. The reason why you have been unwilling to accept it is because you have accepted the entrustment of the late emperor and are unwilling to do things that violate the court guidelines. But we In troubled times, if you can't even protect your own life, what's the use of loyalty?" It's not that Li Siyuan is ignorant of the chaos in the government, it's just that he has been upright all his life, and he doesn't want to lose his fame and infamy later.Shi Jingtang, as a confidant, also understands this kind of psychology very well.Therefore, he said to Li Siyuan: "Your allegiance from generation to generation is not for your own glory and wealth, but for the hope that the people can live a good life. Now that the emperor is so stupid, why do you still ask him for the name of 'loyalty'?" What about becoming a minister? Zhao Zaili has already sent someone to send a letter, expressing his willingness to elect you as emperor. As long as you nod, everyone is willing to fight bravely for you, and they will do anything!"

In this situation, Li Siyuan knew that he had no choice, and returning to Beijing to plead guilty was just a temporary thought.What Shi Jingtang said was very reasonable, Li Cunxu was already dissatisfied with himself, and now that his general defected, he would definitely not let him go.He was an upright and upright person, but under Shi Jingtang's persuasion, he had no choice but to agree to follow the army's morale and raise troops against Tang. The generals were very happy to see that Li Siyuan agreed to become emperor.Shi Jingtang first asked for orders to occupy Bianzhou, because its geographical location was close to Luoyang, as long as Bianzhou was controlled, it would be easy to take Luoyang directly.Li Siyuan sent him to be the vanguard, and Shi Jingtang really lived up to expectations. After occupying Bianzhou, he quickly captured Luoyang and welcomed Li Siyuan to enter the city to proclaim himself emperor.The unpopular Emperor Zhuangzong of the Later Tang Dynasty, Li Cunxu, was killed in the chaos, and the emperor's baton was passed to Li Siyuan, Emperor Mingzong of the Later Tang Dynasty.

In this coup, Shi Jingtang performed outstandingly. In order to reward him, Li Siyuan appointed him as the Jiedu envoy of the Baoyi Army.The envoys of the Sixth Army were the highest positions in the imperial army, Shi Jingtang was appointed as the deputy, and Li Siyuan's eldest son Li Congrong was the person who held the principal position. Shi Jingtang who received the appointment did not seem very happy, on the contrary, his brows were tightly furrowed.Sang Weihan, the counselor beside him, was puzzled, so he asked him: "Since the general has been appointed, why is he not happy?"

Shi Jingtang said: "Now I have outstanding military achievements, and I am often praised in the court. The title of 'Xingfu Hero' is just a false name, and no one is jealous. Only being named the deputy envoy of the Sixth Army makes me It's a headache." Sang Weihan said: "You have military power in your hands. This is why everyone respects you. It also shows that the emperor trusts you very much. Why do you have a headache because of this?" Shi Jingtang said: "You only know the superficial glamor of this position, but you have forgotten who is in charge of the main position? Prince Li Congrong is an incompetent and jealous person. Although he has no achievements, but because he is the eldest son of the emperor, he was established as the crown prince. So I have always been arrogant and domineering, looking down on the old officials in the court. Working with him will inevitably cause some conflicts, won't this lead me into disputes?"

Sang Weihan was deeply impressed by Shi Jingtang's foresight and foresight, and hurriedly asked, "Then what are your plans?" Shi Jingtang said: "Now that the new dynasty has just been established, there are still many opportunities to reward meritorious deeds. Why should I be greedy for a while? Tomorrow I plan to write a memorial to decline the post of deputy envoy." Just as Shi Jingtang expected, Li Congrong had a lot of contempt for the imperial court as the prince, and later he committed treasonous acts in order to succeed to the throne, and was punished by Li Siyuan.During this process, Shi Jingtang rushed to the front again and showed outstanding talent. Li Siyuan appreciated him even more and named him Jiedu envoy of Hedong.With the continuous growth of his position and military power, Shi Jingtang's strength began to grow gradually.In 933 A.D., when Li Siyuan, Emperor Ming of the Later Tang Dynasty died and Emperor Min of the Later Tang Dynasty Li Conghou succeeded to the throne, Shi Jingtang had already supported himself, and he and Li Siyuan's adopted son Lu Wang Li Congke became the two major forces in the Later Tang Dynasty. In the constant battles, it is inevitable that the strength of the generals who hold military power will gradually expand.It was through this approach that Shi Jingtang went from a brave young general to a hidden danger in the court who held a lot of power.Emperor Min of the later Tang Dynasty was very jealous of him and Li Congke, and tried to suppress him, which finally led to Li Congke's rebellion, killing Li Conghou and replacing him.Shi Jingtang asked Li Congke to abdicate to Li Congyi, the king of Xu, on the grounds that Li Congke was an adopted son and was not qualified to inherit the throne.Li Congke was furious, and ordered Jianxiong Jiedu Envoy Zhang Jingda to serve as a recruiting envoy to suppress Shi Jingtang in Taiyuan. At that time, Shi Jingtang had famous generals Liu Zhiyuan and counselor Sang Weihan under Shi Jingtang's banner. In order to ensure that he could defeat Li Congke smoothly, Sang Weihan drafted a memorial and asked Khitan for help in spite of everyone's opposition. He then ceded all the states north of Yanmen Pass to Khitan.Yelu Deguang, the leader of the Liao Dynasty, was overjoyed and supported Zhang Jingda with heavy troops. In November 936 AD, Shi Jingtang was named the emperor of Jin Dynasty. Shi Jingtang's seven years as emperor were seven years of humiliation. He not only ceded the sixteen prefectures of Yanyun and made them the base for the Liao to plunder the Central Plains, which caused more than four hundred years of harm. Khitan and what you need.Those people of insight who were ashamed to be the ministers of the Khitan all cut off their contacts with the Later Jin Dynasty one after another. war between.In 942 A.D., General Liu Zhiyuan fled back to Hedong because he couldn't bear this humiliation. He became an enemy of Khitan and Later Jin. Shi Jingtang, who dared not offend both sides, died of grief and anger. Throughout Shi Jingtang's life, his bravery and extraordinary strategy in his youth laid the foundation for his fortune.In the early days of Mingzong in the later Tang Dynasty, he also behaved very honestly and won the respect of many people.By the time it was established in the later Jin Dynasty, its servile attitude and behavior of admitting a thief as a father and betraying the country for glory completely led it to a situation where it would be beyond redemption, and it became the accusation of thousands of people.In the era of frequent wars, although many people did anything for their own benefit, and most of them were still called "heroes", Shi Jingtang's bottomless unscrupulousness could only bring him eternal infamy.