The Five Later Han Dynasty was the shortest-lasting orthodox dynasty in ancient Chinese history – from the founding of the Later Han Dynasty to its collapse, it lasted for a total of four years. And this dynasty can essentially be seen as a dynasty built on a speculative basis.
The history books say that Liu Zhiyuan is ugly. Although ugliness can be considered a minus for both men and women, for men, the degree of influence of ugliness is relatively limited. For example, Liu Zhiyuan is an example: although he is ugly, he has a successful career, so ugliness is not a big deal.
I have always believed in the truth of taking history as a mirror. From a historical point of view, whether ancient or modern, if you want to mix well, you must have "hard currency" in your hands. However, the concept of hard currency is also very different in different historical periods.
For example, in troubled times such as the late Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties, developing in the army was the way to obtain hard currency. Therefore, during the Five Dynasties period, whether it was studying, doing business, or farming, it was not as promising as being a soldier. After all, the characteristics of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms are that the martial artists are in charge, and the scholars belong to the unpleasant category. Traders and peasant women, on the other hand, were provided for by predators.
Of course, when it comes to this, some people have to say that after all, joining the army is a matter of success, and it is still unreliable. But in other words, the so-called future, on the one hand, you need to choose the right track, and on the other hand, you must be in a good ecological niche in the track. In ancient times, those who started by reading books were proportionally very small.
According to his own characteristics, Liu Zhiyuan chose the track of joining the army. In the end, Liu Zhiyuan became Shi Jingjian's subordinate, and in the process of fighting with Shi Jingjian, he made great contributions to Shi Jingjin many times, for which he was trusted and appreciated by Shi Jingjian: Shi Jingjiao appreciated Liu Zhiyuan's military talent, and also believed in Liu Zhiyuan's loyalty to himself. So when Shi Jingjiao became the emperor, Liu Zhiyuan naturally became an important minister of the Later Jin court.
Of course, Liu Zhiyuan also felt that his life had reached its peak at this time.
After Shi Jingjiao's death, Shi Chonggui became the new emperor of the Later Jin Dynasty. Shi Chonggui was an angry Qing emperor, and he had always felt unhappy that the Later Jin Dynasty wanted to be a vassal to the Khitan. Therefore, after Shi Chonggui became the emperor, he had to shout and kill the Khitan. Sure enough, driven by Shi Chonggui's actions, a war broke out between the Later Jin and the Khitan. Shi Chonggui's direct army was annihilated by the Khitan. The Khitan army also drove straight into the Later Jin Dynasty.
Of course, at this time, it was the Later Jin Dynasty that the emperor's direct army was wiped out, but there were still many troops under generals like Liu Zhiyuan. However, Liu Zhiyuan felt that Shi Chonggui did not trust him, and there was no need to consume his strength in order to save Shi Chonggui, so Liu Zhiyuan, like other Later Jin generals, chose to sit idly by and watch the Khitan invasion. In this way, the Later Jin perished. Shi Chonggui also became a captive of the Khitans, and did not die in the Khitan until the early years of the Northern Song Dynasty.
After the fall of the Khitan and the Later Jin Dynasty, the Khitan Emperor Yelu Deguang planned to rule the Central Plains directly, and came to Kaifeng for this purpose. Of course, Liu Zhiyuan has been secretly concerned about all this. Because Liu Zhiyuan felt: If Yelu Deguang and others sit firmly in the world of the Central Plains, then he will honestly be a loyal minister to the Khitan, and if Yelu Deguang can't sit steadily, then he will be embarrassed, and he will be able to restore the name of the Later Jin Dynasty and drive the Khitans out.
In short, Liu Zhiyuan has a speculative plan.
Sure enough, as Liu Zhiyuan calculated, the Khitans did not have a foothold in the Central Plains. So the Khitans could only evacuate the Central Plains. Of course, before retreating, the Khitans found Li Congyi, the clan of the Later Tang Dynasty, and canonized him as the new emperor, on the grounds that the Later Tang Dynasty was restored. And Liu Zhiyuan restored Shi Jingjiao's era name and declared himself emperor. But what is interesting is that when Liu Zhiyuan was called emperor at that time, the country name used was still Jin. This shows that Liu Zhiyuan wants to show his attitude: he is a loyal minister of Shi Jingjiao, and he is also loyal to the Later Jin Dynasty. However, when Liu Zhiyuan killed the puppet Later Tang Emperor ordained by the Khitans, he changed the name of the country to Han, which is the Later Han.
Judging from the establishment of the Later Han Dynasty, the Later Han Dynasty was a dynasty born on the basis of speculation.