Hedong's military power increased, self-sufficiency and taxation, and its strength rose
1. The contradiction between Li Keyong and Zheng Congyan After the Huangchao Rebellion, the military strength of the Hedong region continued to grow, and the self-sufficient financial situation made it stronger and stronger.
In the first year of Guangming (880), the Huangchao army began to attack Chang'an, and the Tang army's army was defeated due to weak combat effectiveness and improper command, and the Huangchao army occupied almost most of the territory of the Tang Dynasty.
At this time, the rule of the Tang Dynasty was under serious threat, and Tang Xizong was forced to flee in a hurry, and at the same time ordered Zheng Congyan to send troops to rescue. Zheng Congyan decided to let Chen Jingsi, the superintendent of the Daibei, lead the incorporated Shatuo to rescue first.
At that time, Li Youjin, the governor of Shatuo, was stationed in the Xingtang Army, and Li Keyong led a thousand soldiers to wander around. At this time, Chen Jingsi, the Daibei Supervisor, led the Shatuo chieftain Li Youjin and the troops of Sage, Anqing, and Tuyuhun to assist the Beijing Division.
However, when they were about to cross the river to Jiangzhou, Qu Zhi, also a member of the Shatuo tribe, suggested that he temporarily return to Daibei to recruit soldiers in order to deal with the current situation. Therefore, Chen Jingsi and Li Youjin agreed to his suggestion and returned to Yanmen together.
Thirty thousand soldiers were recruited in Daibei, and they were rough and fierce and difficult to manage. Li Youjin proposed to let Li Guochang and his son take command, believing that their military talents were unrivaled and the people would follow.
After the emperor's approval, Li Guochang and his son were appointed as the Daizhou Assassins and Xinzhou Soldiers. Li Keyong led 50,000 soldiers and horses south, and when he passed through Taiyuan, he asked Zheng Congyan, the envoy of Hedong Jiedu, for material support, but Zheng Congyan was not active, which led to contradictions.
Li Keyong clashed with Zheng Congyan and even attacked Jinyang. This shows that the Tang officials did not trust the Shatuo army led by Li Keyong, but still had to rely on them to eliminate the Huangchao rebels.
In 882 A.D., Wang Chucun, the envoy of Yiwu Jiedu, and Wang Chongrong, the envoy of Hezhong Jiedu, jointly sent a message to Li Keyong, asking them to send troops together to defeat the Huangchao army. Li Keyong led 35,000 soldiers and horses of "Xin, Dai, Wei, Shuo, and Tatar" to the rescue of the Beijing Division.
Emperor Tang named Li Keyong as the envoy of the Yanmen Festival, and gave him the two states of Xin and Dai. After that, Li Keyong led 40,000 soldiers and horses to defeat the Huangchao army in the river and was promoted to the envoy of the Yanmen Festival.
In the third year of Zhonghe (883 AD), Li Keyong served as the commander of the northeast camp, stationed in Tongzhou, and fought a fierce battle with the enemy army in Liangtianpo, and won the first place after defeating the enemy army.
In April of the same year, the Huangchao Army was destroyed, and the political situation in the late Tang Dynasty, which had been in turmoil, came to an end. At the same time, the Shatuo tribe is once again attracting attention. Tang Tingfeng Li Keyong was the envoy of the Hedong Festival.
After the end of the Huangchao Rebellion, given the geographical location of the Hedong region, it not only defended the Heshuo Domain, but also regained the responsibility of defending the frontier. The special geographical location and long historical origin of the Hedong region made it a powerful feudal town in the north in the late Tang Dynasty.
The second point is that the military power of the Shatuo tribe in the Hedong region has grown, and the tax is self-sufficient, and its strength is increasing day by day, and finally embarking on the road of secession. Shatuo returned to Hedong after suppressing the Huangchao Uprising, and soon re-emerged in Hedong.
At this time, Li Keyong had been appointed as the envoy of Hedong Jiedu and mastered the core power of Hedong, and the Shatuo tribe began to dominate the Hedong forces.
In the Hedong region, Li Keyong led the Shatuo tribe to start their foundation and establish their own power. The Hedong Jiedu caused the political forces in the jurisdiction and within it to be controlled by Shatuo, and the forces in other regions also began to recognize and use the Hedong regional forces to refer to Shatuo's control area.
Zhu Wen once warned Luo Hongxin, the commander of the Wei Bo Festival, that "Hedong has the ambition to swallow Heshuo, and your territory will be in danger." Hedong at this time refers to the separatist forces of Shatuo in Hedong during the period of Li Keyong.
Subsequently, Wei Bojie Marshal He Delun followed Zhang Yan's advice and surrendered to the Hedong forces led by Li Cunqiao, on the grounds that "although I have a large number of soldiers, I need support, and the king of Hedong Jin commanded 100,000 soldiers and horses, committed to restoring the Tang Dynasty, and had a feud with the Great Liang."
At this time, Zhu Quanzhong also rose in the Bianliang region, and the history of the late Tang Dynasty began to move towards a war between the forces in the Hedong region led by Shatuo Li Keyong and the forces in the Bianliang region led by Zhu Quanzhong in Bianzhou.
The two towns of Hezhong and Zhaoyi became the areas of contention between the two at this stage, but because Zhu Quanzhong's power was stronger, Zhaoyi Town and Hezhong Town were once subordinate to the forces led by Zhu Quanzhong, rather than under the control of Shatuo's forces.
However, the Hedong Jiedu Envoy and the Daibei Jiedu Envoy were still under the leadership of Li Keyong, the king of Jin, and the area controlled by the Shatuo forces also included the jurisdiction of the Hedong Jiedu Envoy and the Daibei Jiedu Envoy.
In the last years of the Later Tang Dynasty, Shi Jingjiao's collusion with the Khitan eventually led to the fall of the Later Tang Dynasty. Shi Jingjiao's ancestors have served in Hedong many times, so they have a certain foundation in Hedong.
And Shi Jingjiao himself was appreciated by Later Tang Mingzong when he was the assassin of Daizhou in Hedong, and Later Tang Mingzong also married Princess Yongning to him. In the second year of Changxing (931), the Khitan, Turkic, and Tuyuhun invaded the frontier, and the soldiers guarding the border had no generals.
Li Congrong, the king of Qin, suggested that Shi Jingjiao lead the army to stabilize Yunzhong, Shuofang and other places, so Shi Jingjiao invited himself to lead the troops. In the third year of Changxing (932), Shi Jingjiao was appointed as the envoy of Hedong Jiedu, and concurrently served as the head of Datong, Zhangguo, Zhenwu, Weisai and other armies.
Due to the frequent disturbance of Yunzhou, Ulzhou and other places by the Khitan at that time, the Later Tang Dynasty court appointed Shi Jingjiao to sit in Hedong to prevent the Khitan from further invading the Hedong region. Shi Jingjiao was also promoted to the positions of Hedong Jiedu envoy and Taiyuan Yin.
However, the suspicion between the envoy and the emperor soon began. In May of the first year of the Qing Dynasty (934), Shi Jingjiao concurrently served as the envoy of Taiyuan Jiedu, and also managed the armies of Datong, Zhangguo and other places, at this time his subordinates had already shouted "Long live" in front of the imperial court envoys, and Shi Jingjiao had the strength to usurp the throne at this time.
He began to prepare for the overthrow of the Later Tang Dynasty, and gradually formed a separatist force with the Hedong region as the core, and his own Hedong force. However, in the third year of the Qing Dynasty (936), the emperor transferred Shi Jingjiao to serve as the envoy of Yunzhou Jiedu, and the two sides fell into a state of mutual suspicion.
Xue Wenyu advocated that whether Hedong moved or not, it would pose a threat to the Later Tang Dynasty, and suggested that it should be dealt with in advance. The emperor agreed with his views and transferred Shi Jingjiao from Hedong to be appointed as the envoy of the Tianping Festival.
Shi Jingjiao occupied Taiyuan and prepared to overthrow the Later Tang court, Li Congke sent Zhang Jingda to besiege him, but Shi Jingjiao was not strong enough, so he asked the Khitan for help. After the war between the Khitan and Zhang Jingda, Shi Jingjiao and Yelu Deguang established the title of father and son, and were canonized as emperors.
Shi Jingjiao sat on the throne of the emperor, ceded the land north of Yanmen and Youzhou to the Khitan, and paid 300,000 silk tributes to the Khitan every year. The Later Jin Dynasty began with this, but was eventually destroyed by the Khitan military attack.
The sixteen states ceded by Shi Jingjiao were no longer under the jurisdiction of the Hedong Domain, and the Khitan also entered the Hedong region to develop its own power. Liu Zhiyuan, the ancestor of the Later Han Dynasty, has similarities with Shi Jingjiao, whose ancestors served for Li Keyong, Emperor Wuhuang of the Later Tang Dynasty, and he originally worked for Li Siyuan of the Later Tang Dynasty.
After Liu Zhiyuan succeeded to the throne after Tang Mingzong, he began to serve as a stayer in Beijing, and became his confidant on the way back to Beijing because he saved Jin Gaozu. After Jin Gaozu was appointed as the envoy of Hedong Jiedu, Liu Zhiyuan also became the envoy of Fenyang Jiedu, and advocated that Jin Gaozu Shi Jingjiao replace the Later Tang court.
He participated in the war of Jinyang and defeated Zhang Jingda's troops, making a great contribution to the establishment of the Later Jin Dynasty. At that time, the Khitan lord once praised Liu Zhiyuan and said: "This man is a very loyal army leader, and he cannot be given up unless there is a major reason."
In the sixth year of Tianfu (941), Liu Zhiyuan was appointed as the left-behind guard in Beijing and the envoy of the Hedong Festival. After that, Jin Gaozu died, and the young emperor of the Jin Dynasty ascended the throne, and Liu Zhiyuan served as the Zhongshu Order, and the power leaned towards the government and the opposition.
In the first year of Kaiyun (944), the Khitan attacked the Later Jin Dynasty, and Liu Zhiyuan was ordered to meet the battle. He was based on Hedong's "mountains and rivers are dangerous, customs are martial, and there are many war horses; Stillness is diligent, and moving is practice, this is a necessary condition for becoming a hegemon, what do we have to worry about? ”
The favorable conditions were used to gather the Later Jin soldiers who were defeated by the Khitan. After the First Battle of Yangcheng, Hedong became a place of rich armor, with a total of 50,000 infantry and cavalry.
Overall, Liu Zhiyuan was a brave, loyal, and far-sighted military leader, and his talent and leadership made great contributions to the establishment and development of the Later Jin Dynasty.
When the Khitan army retreated, Liu Zhiyuan was named King of Taiyuan by virtue of his victory in the Hedong region, and firmly controlled this area. After the Khitan army invaded Tokyo, Liu Zhiyuan adopted a strategy of overture and recognized the Khitan Emperor as his father.
After returning to Taiyuan, Liu Zhiyuan began to prepare for the establishment of his own state, and was supported by Sima Zhang Yanwei, the marching army to Hedong. Soon after, Liu Zhiyuan established himself as emperor in Taiyuan.
However, Liu Zhiyuan's ascension to the throne sparked a struggle between the Khitan and him in the Hedong region. The Khitan has always coveted the Hedong region, and even forged documents to deprive Liu Zhiyuan of his official position and title.
To this end, the Khitan sent envoys from Luzhou, Xiangzhou, and Heyang Jiedu to garrison key positions, while Wang Hui, the assassin of Daizhou, took refuge in the Khitan. However, Liu Zhiyuan was not discouraged by this, and he sent Shi Hongzhao to conquer Daiju and occupy Jinju.
After that, the Jiedu envoys in Xiangzhou, Shaanzhou, Luzhou, Danzhou, Yanzhou and other places successively killed the ** appointed by the Khitan and returned to the Later Han. Eventually, even the Khitan-ruled Heyang region joined the Later Han camp.