Chapter 252 Chapter 251: Ancestor Liu Chong

Liu Min, originally named Chong, was the same mother and brother of Liu Zhiyuan, the great ancestor of the Later Han Dynasty.Shatuo people.Born in the second year of Tang Qianning (895 AD), and died in the first year of Zhou Xiande (954 AD). When Liu Chong was young, he was known as a rascal, addicted to alcohol, and liked to gamble. He was tattooed as a soldier for a crime, and he followed his elder brother Zhiyuan to fight everywhere.In the late Jin Dynasty, Liu Zhiyuan served as the Jiedu envoy of Hedong and made him the command envoy of Ma Budu.Zhiyuan Jianhan, and appointed him as Taiyuan Yin.Emperor Yin ascended the throne and granted the Jiedu envoy of Hedong and the order of Zhongshu.

Liu Chong and Guo Wei had always been at odds with each other. Since the imperial dynasty was hidden and Guo Wei was in charge of the government, Liu Chong stopped offering money and gifts, and recruited soldiers in many ways in an attempt to become self-reliant.In the third year of Qianyou (950 A.D.), Emperor Yin was killed, and Liu Chong actively prepared to raise troops to attack Guo Wei.But soon, news came from Kaifeng that Guo Wei and all the ministers followed the Queen Mother's will to make Liu Chong's eldest son Liu Yun emperor.At that time, everyone knew that Guo Wei was not sincere, but Liu Chong was determined to be the Supreme Emperor, so he was dazzled by the news, and said to his subordinates: "My son is the emperor, what can I ask for?" Inquire about reality.But at this time, Liu Yun was arrested in Songzhou (now Shangqiu South, Henan).Guo Wei himself ascended the throne and proclaimed himself emperor, establishing the Later Zhou Dynasty.

Liu Chong became angry from embarrassment, and in the first month of the spring of the following year, he himself assumed the throne in Jinyang.However, the Hedong land was narrow and the people were few. Although Liu Chong proclaimed himself emperor, he only owned land in 11 prefectures including Bing, Fen, Qi, and Dai.After proclaiming emperor, with the establishment of hundreds of officials, the salaries of officials are not as good as before.The prime minister only has a monthly salary of 100 min, and the Jiedushi 30 min, and the salaries of the rest of the officials are even meager. Regarding this situation, Liu Chong decided to follow Shi Jingtang's approach and use Khitan's power to contend with Hou Zhou, and Khitan also wanted to take advantage of the contradiction between Hou Han and Hou Zhou to profit from it.

In July of this year, the Lord of Liao sent an envoy to canonize him as "Emperor of Great Han Shenwu", Liu Chong also changed his name to Min, and the attachment relationship between Northern Han and Liao was formally established. Having won the backing of the Liao Kingdom, Liu Chong immediately prepared to use troops against the Later Zhou Dynasty.At the beginning of the seventh year of Qianyou in the Northern Han Dynasty, Guo Wei died of illness, and his adopted son Chai Rong succeeded to the throne. Liu Chong thought that the opportunity had come again, and immediately sent envoys to Liao, requesting to send troops to attack Zhou together.

At that time, the northeast wind was blowing, and suddenly it turned to the south. Li Yi, the Sitian supervisor, reported to Liu Chong: "It's time to fight." Liu Chong immediately ordered his troops to advance.Wang Dezhong, a direct scholar of the Privy Council, stopped Liu Chong and advised, "How can you go out to fight with the wind like this? Li Yi should be killed."But Liu Chong said: "I have decided this matter, old scholar, if you talk nonsense again, your head will be cut off." After speaking, Zhang Yuanhui ordered the Eastern Army to attack Zhou Youjun.Zhou Jun didn't expect that the Han army would go up against the wind, panicked for a while, and retreated one after another.Liu Chong was so proud that he immediately asked people to offer wine and food, and called musicians to have fun with wine in the tooth tent.Unexpectedly, Chai Rong personally led more than 50 cavalry to rush in front of him, and Liu Chong hurriedly led the Chinese army to retreat slightly.That night, Hou Zhou's army arrived and attacked Liu Chong overnight. The Han army was defeated again and retreated to Gaoping.On the 18th, Chai Rong hurried to Luzhou, cutting off the retreat of the Han army.Liu Chong dressed up in disguise, put on a bamboo hat, rode on a yellow lile horse presented by Khitan, and fled northward by a path from Diaohuangling.

On May 3, the Zhou army arrived at the foot of Jinyang city, and the banner circled the city for 40 miles.Liu Chong ordered his son's guards to command Liu Chengjun to organize the defense.From time to time, there were rumors that the prefectures and counties had fallen, and the people welcomed Zhou Jun's intelligence. Liu Chong was worried all day long and couldn't feel at ease.On the 17th, the besieging Zhou army retreated due to lack of food and grass, and Liu Chong finally breathed a sigh of relief.But the hasty escape not long ago and the humiliation of this siege dealt him too much blow.As soon as Zhou Bing retreated, Liu Chong became ill and handed over state affairs to Cheng Jun.

In November, Liu Chong died at the age of 60.Buried in Jiaocheng (now Jiaocheng, Shanxi) Beishan.