Chapter 24: The Twelfth Year of Tianfu

A new dynasty had been established, and a new emperor had ascended the throne—everything should have taken on a fresh look. But the people of Jinyang soon discovered that, aside from Liu Zhiyuan transforming from the Prince of Beiping into the Emperor, nothing else seemed to have changed much.

The officials were still the same officials, the army was still the same army, and atop the walls of Jinyang, the new banners that flew high still bore the character "Jin."

Liu Zhiyuan was in no hurry to change the name of the state. In order to demonstrate his succession to the legitimacy of the Later Jin, he only abolished the "Kaiyun" era name, instead reviving the "Tianfu" era name used by Gaozu of the Jin, Shi Jingtang, and proclaimed it the twelfth year of Tianfu. Moreover, before the assembled ministers, he said with a wistful tone: "I cannot bear to forget the Jin."

Of course, a new official always lights three fires of reform. Having just ascended the throne, how could Liu Zhiyuan possibly do nothing at all? First, he issued an edict exempting the people of Jinyang from all miscellaneous taxes beyond the two annual levies for the current year, in order to repay their support in elevating him.

Originally, Liu Zhiyuan, in a moment of hot-headedness, had wanted to exempt all taxes entirely, but Wang Zhang strenuously dissuaded him. The state was in peril, and this was precisely a time of heavy expenditure of money and grain. The wealth of Hedong came largely from the Taiyuan prefecture—if the taxes of Jinyang were waived, the losses would be far too great.

At the same time, Liu Zhiyuan dispatched envoys along dozens of routes, sending them to the various prefectures to proclaim to the realm the news of his ascension. For the prefectures and counties near Hedong, such as Jinzhou and Luzhou, he sent several dedicated officials to issue edicts commanding their submission. These two prefectures, Jin and Lu, sat astride the main route south from Hedong, and they shared one thing in common: their Military Governors had both gone to Bianliang to pay homage to Yelu Deguang.

Thereafter, Liu Zhiyuan issued two more edicts in succession, proclaiming to the realm. The first said: "All levies of money and silk exacted by the Khitan in the various circuits are hereby abolished. Those Jin officials who were coerced into serving as envoys shall not be questioned, but are ordered to come to the imperial presence. As for the remaining Khitan, wherever they are found, they shall be put to death."

This was a complete declaration of rupture with the Khitan, drawing a clear line between friend and foe. The officials, soldiers, and commoners of the various circuits and prefectures had suffered deeply under Yelu Deguang's "money-levy orders" and "grass-cutting" raids. By striking at the very thing that pained the people of the Central Plains most, this new emperor of his could naturally rally great popular support in a short time and win the recognition of the common folk.

As for those "coerced ones," whether or not they truly had been coerced, they were all worth winning over. And that final sentence, in this age, could fairly be called a proper "order to slay the barbarians."

It was easy to imagine that once this edict of Liu Zhiyuan's spread through the realm, it would surely achieve excellent results. The surviving ministers and scholars of the Later Jin in the Central Plains and Hebei, as well as those roving heroes of the jianghu who had risen with the tide, would certainly respond.

In fact, even before Liu Zhiyuan had proclaimed himself emperor, in Shanzhou west of the pass, someone had already been the first in the realm to raise the call, formally setting off a wave of resistance against Khitan rule.

As for the third edict, it raised the banner of righteousness in Jinyang, summoning the wise and the brave from across the realm to join in a common campaign against the Khitan. This was essentially a recruitment order, but wrapped in the righteous banner of destroying the Khitan, and given the current climate, it would prove highly effective.

The suggestion to recruit soldiers had come from Liu Chengyou. In recent days, many people had come to Hedong to seek refuge with Liu Zhiyuan because of the turmoil in the Central Plains and Hebei. Among these people, some possessed strategic cunning, others martial valor—there was no shortage of talent.

Liu Zhiyuan decisively accepted Liu Chengyou's suggestion. He too was concerned about the insufficiency of his forces. To deal with the Khitan, the fifty thousand infantry and cavalry of Hedong were far from enough.

Moreover, even if the Khitan were driven out, there would still need to be enough strength to suppress the realm. Those regional Military Governors of the Shi Jin would not necessarily all submit willingly to Liu Zhiyuan—or rather, someone would surely rise up against him. The successive dynastic changes of Liang, Tang, and Jin had all gone this way, and when it came to Liu Zhiyuan's turn, it would be no exception.

Furthermore, the turmoil in the Central Plains affected the whole realm. The separatist regimes in the south would not stay quiet either, and equally could not be ignored. Gao Conghui had previously sent envoys urging Liu Zhiyuan to take the throne; the Later Shu had simply dispatched troops to occupy the four prefectures of Qin, Feng, Jie, and Cheng; and the Southern Tang had accepted large numbers of Huaibei soldiers and civilians fleeing south. Had it not been for having to clean up the mess in Min, Li Jing might well have plucked up the courage to take a bite out of Huaibei as well.

Liu Chengyou possessed such foresight, and Liu Zhiyuan naturally accepted his counsel with pleasure. He would have no objection to expanding his strength. As for the fiscal pressure that the expansion of forces would bring, that was a headache for Yang Bin, Wang Zhang, and the others to worry about.

Liu Chengyou had mentioned to Liu Zhiyuan that the Khitan had plundered vast wealth from the Central Plains and Hebei. If that wealth could be seized from the Khitan's hands... The words were not spoken fully through, but Liu Zhiyuan was clearly tempted. Still, it stopped there—no matter how covetous he felt, he had to wait for the right opportunity. The Khitan army was ultimately not to be trifled with. Everything must still center on seizing the realm!

After issuing several edicts in succession, Liu Zhiyuan once again revived the plan to "march east." Liu Zhiyuan was not a man to leave things half-done—or perhaps he wanted to finish the play he had started. He declared that he would "rescue and return" Shi Chonggui and the Jin Empress Dowager, treating them with kindness and generosity, to repay the grace of the previous dynasty.

The fifteenth had been delayed by the matter of "proclaiming the emperorship," so a new date for the campaign was set. This time, it was chosen for the eighteenth of the second month.

During these few days, Liu Chengyou was extremely busy, actively selecting elite troops from the various armies of Jinyang to fill out the palace guard. He took this task very seriously—selecting elite soldiers was a rare opportunity.

He had many thoughts on the matter. Liu Zhiyuan's arrangement was to select soldiers to serve as palace troops to guard the imperial city. In Liu Chengyou's view, this had a flavor of establishing a "Palace Army" distinct from the "Imperial Guard," even though Liu Zhiyuan had not yet formally issued an edict elevating the various Hedong command armies to the status of the Imperial Guard.

Even if Liu Zhiyuan had no such intention, Liu Chengyou intended to make the most of this opportunity to pick out elite troops and reorganize the army. How had Zhao Kuangyin risen through the Palace Army? Apart from the trust of Shizong of Zhou, the reorganization of the imperial army had been a crucial step in laying the foundation for his ascent.

With their elite troops being drawn away, the officers of the various Jinyang armies—from the Chief Commanders down to the senior officers—were somewhat displeased, but there was nothing they could do. The Emperor wanted to form a palace guard; who would dare openly refuse? They did not even dare complain before Liu Zhiyuan, and could only swallow their resentment. The Longqi Army, which remained under Liu Chengyou's command, also had a portion drawn off—a considerable number at that, over three hundred men.

The officers and soldiers who were selected, by contrast, were far more excited. Only the strong and fit could be chosen, and to personally guard the Emperor before his throne was an even greater honor. Along with the prestige, the treatment would naturally be nothing less than excellent.

Later developments proved that Liu Zhiyuan had truly only wanted to select some troops to bolster the palace guard. But with Liu Chengyou's handling, it became a matter of gathering the cream of all three armies into a single force. From the various armies, including the Longqi Army, Liu Chengyou assembled a round number—three thousand soldiers in total—to form the new unit.

After personally reviewing them once, Liu Zhiyuan was highly satisfied with their bearing and spirit. He sighed with admiration: "With elite troops like these—I need not many, just thirty thousand—how could I worry about the realm not being pacified?"

Thereupon, Liu Zhiyuan formally decided to establish a new army, and its designation, accepting Liu Chengyou's suggestion, was called the "Konghe Army."

The post of Chief Commander of the Konghe Army did not fall to Liu Chengyou. Liu Zhiyuan favored Li Hongxin, the younger brother of Lady Li, Liu Chengyou's eldest maternal uncle, who served as Chief Commander of the Left Wing of the Xingjie Army.

However, Liu Chengyou harbored no resentment over this. Most of the soldiers were ones he had selected, and although he had made no major moves, he had taken the opportunity to place quite a few low-ranking officers of his own choosing.

For example, there was that Captain Li of the Left Battalion of the First Army of the Longqi. Liu Chengyou had personally received and encouraged him, and had formed a favorable impression of the man.

His name was Li Jian, with the courtesy name Yuanhui.