Chapter 406: Who Is the True Master of Men

At Yedu, An Zhongrong's rebellion was put down, and Du Chongwei had slaughtered Zhenzhou into a white wasteland, so the north was pacified.

To the south, the rebellion of An Congjin, Military Governor of Shannan West Circuit, was also suppressed.

It turned out that after Xiangzhou had been besieged for eight months, the city's grain and fodder were exhausted, there was no relief force from outside, and the naval forces of Ma Chu and Jingnan kept adding troops.

An Congjin and his sons had no way out in heaven or on earth, and at last Gao Xingzhou and the others broke through the city walls. An and his sons, brothers, and several dozen family members were killed, and the rebellion was put down.

But Shi Jingtang's good mood ended there. Two months earlier, Shi Jingtang, citing Du Chongwei's great victory over An Zhongrong, had promoted Du Chongwei to Commander of the Palace Guard Cavalry and Infantry, Military Governor of Zhongwu at Xuzhou, and Chief Minister.

Perhaps he felt that Liu Zhiyuan's taking in Bai Chengfu's forces and cutting off An Zhongrong's retreat had been meritorious.

Or perhaps Du Chongwei was simply too unpresentable, so Shi Jingtang also granted Liu Zhiyuan the title of Chief Minister.

As a result, Liu Zhiyuan flew into a rage in Taiyuan. He believed Shi Jingtang was freeloading off his prestige to clear the way for Du Chongwei.

So whenever an envoy from Shi Jingtang arrived, Liu Zhiyuan would shut the gates of the Taiyuan government office, refusing Shi Jingtang's rewards four times in a row.

When Shi Jingtang got word of this, he cursed Liu Zhiyuan furiously at Yedu.

"Zhiyuan may have merit, but Chongwei is Our brother-in-law and has also rendered great service. How dare Liu Zhiyuan, as a subject, refuse his sovereign's decree like this?"

Zhao Ying, the Commissioner of Military Affairs at his side, urgently tried to dissuade Shi Jingtang: "Your Majesty, when you were at Jinyang, you had no more than five thousand troops and were attacked by over a hundred thousand Tang soldiers, your position more precarious than morning dew. Had Zhiyuan not been as firm as iron and stone, how could the great enterprise have been accomplished?

Why cast him aside over a small fault! I fear that if these words leak out, they will not display the magnanimity of a sovereign."

In history, this scene took place before Liu Zhiyuan had returned to Taiyuan, while he was serving as Military Governor of Zhongwu Army at Songzhou.

At that time Liu Zhiyuan did not yet have the capital to challenge Shi Jingtang, so he was quickly frightened into submitting a memorial of apology.

But now, An Zhongrong had risen early, and Liu Zhiyuan had also gone to Taiyuan ahead of schedule, holding thirty thousand troops and having won the allegiance of a new generation of Daibei nobles. He did not fear Shi Jingtang in the least, and Shi Jingtang could do nothing to him.

So the Child Emperor could only use Zhao Ying's words to climb down gracefully and drop the matter.

A few days later, more bad news came from Luoyang. Fan Yanguang, who had once raised troops in rebellion but had been pardoned by Shi Jingtang, enfeoffed as Prince of Dongping Commandery and Grand Preceptor to the Crown Prince, and granted an iron writ of immunity, had fallen into water and died.

Although Fan Yanguang had rebelled against Shi Jingtang, he was after all a comrade who had once followed Li Siyuan together with Shi Jingtang.

Shi Jingtang was about to send an envoy to console Fan Yanguang's family, but at that moment, the true cause of Fan Yanguang's death arrived.

It turned out that Fan Yanguang, knowing he had offended Shi Jingtang, had after surrendering asked Shi Jingtang for an iron writ of immunity — what common folk call a death-exemption golden tablet — and Shi Jingtang had generously granted it.

So Fan Yanguang knew his life was safe, and very tactfully resigned all his posts, taking his wealth and goods home to retire.

Shi Jingtang also appreciated Fan Yanguang's tact, and so had him move to the Western Capital, Luoyang.

But as ill luck would have it, Yang Guangyuan — the one who had sought out a physiognomist to read his face — happened to be transferred from Military Governor of Pinglu and Ziqing to Defender of the Western Capital and Military Governor of the three garrisons of Heyang.

Yang Guangyuan coveted Fan Yanguang's family property, so he ordered his son Zhang Chengxun to take armed soldiers into Fan Yanguang's home and force him to kill himself.

Fan Yanguang held up the iron writ and cried, "The Son of Heaven has granted me immunity from death!"

Yang Chengxun then had his armed soldiers seize Fan Yanguang, put him on a horse, and as they crossed the floating bridge over the Yi River, Yang Chengxun and the others deliberately startled the horse beneath Fan Yanguang. The warhorse panicked and threw Fan Yanguang from its back.

But Fan Yanguang was lucky and grabbed a corner of the floating bridge, so he did not fall into the water. Yang Chengxun simply ordered the soldiers to push him into the river and drown him.

Afterward, Yang Guangyuan killed Fan Yanguang's entire family, took their wealth and goods, and reported to Shi Jingtang that Fan Yanguang had fallen into water and died.

When Shi Jingtang heard the true cause of Fan Yanguang's death, he was silent for a long time. Fan Yanguang was not only his old brother, but also a minister he had personally granted an iron writ of immunity. Just because he coveted his wealth, Yang Guangyuan had dared to kill him.

This was not merely a matter of flouting law and order — it was utter and complete contempt for Shi Jingtang himself.

He was the Son of Heaven, yet he could not protect Fan Yanguang, who held an iron writ. This proved that Yang Guangyuan did not take him seriously at all, and the dignity of the Son of Heaven had been swept to the ground.

Shi Jingtang very much wanted to send a great army to punish Yang Guangyuan, but after three successive rebellions — An Zhongrong, An Congjin, and Li Quanjin —

Shi Jingtang could no longer spare any troops to deal with Yang Guangyuan, who held twenty thousand soldiers. He could only swallow his broken teeth and bear it.

At the end of the fourth month, the ruler of Min, Wang Chang, sent Zheng Yuanbi and Lin En as envoys to Kaifeng and then to Yedu, but their words were extremely disrespectful.

The Min ruler Wang Chang actually demanded that the Later Jin treat the Min kingdom with the rites of an equal state, and mocked the Central Plains, saying the throne of the North Star Emperor had shifted too often.

Shi Jingtang, who had a bellyful of pent-up rage with nowhere to vent it, finally found an outlet. Min was remote and could not even hold all of the Min territory, yet now it came to run wild before Shi Jingtang.

The furious Child Emperor ordered the Min envoys Zheng Yuanbi and Lin En beaten and thrown into prison, and sent an envoy to the Min king Wang Chang, ordering him to explain himself — that is, to submit a memorial of self-defense — with the clear implication that if he did not explain clearly, troops would be sent to attack.

At the end of the fifth month, seeing that the Hebei region was pacified, Shi Jingtang set out with his carriage, leading the victorious imperial guards in a grand show of force as he returned south from Yedu.

After arriving at the Eastern Capital, Kaifeng Prefecture, Shi Jingtang lavishly rewarded the generals and soldiers, had An Zhongrong's head pickled, and considerately sent an envoy to deliver it to Yelu Deguang.

But no sooner had the envoy to the Khitan set out than a Khitan envoy arrived at the Eastern Capital.

At this time, the forty-eight-year-old Shi Jingtang, worn out from continuous travel and having caught a chill, was already in very poor health. But hearing that a Khitan envoy had come, he still dragged his sick body to summon the envoy in for an audience.

Although the Khitan envoy's expression was somewhat strange, Shi Jingtang did not notice. Instead, because this envoy was quite respectful, he felt a moment of happiness — in the past, Khitan envoys had been arrogant, overbearing, and rude.

But that happiness soon came to an end.

"It kills me!"

Before he had finished reading the edict written in Yelu Deguang's own hand, Shi Jingtang let out a terrible cry in the Chengtian Hall of the Daning Palace and toppled straight off the imperial throne.

Commissioner of Military Affairs He Ning, Chief Minister Feng Dao, Hanlin Academician Zhao Ying, and the others turned pale with shock and hurried over to help Shi Jingtang up.

The sharp-eyed Feng Dao quietly stole a glance at the contents of the Khitan edict.

The content was very simple — it merely reported one matter, "nothing more."

On the fifteenth of the fifth month, His Majesty and the King of Han swore an oath at Yuanyang Lake, pledging to be brothers.

The King of Han honored Empress Dowager Yingtian as his imperial mother, offering tribute of silk, tea, sugar, and the like.

Empress Dowager Yingtian bestowed upon the King of Han gold, jewels, and jade, as well as the robes of a Khitan prince, called him her son, and commanded that he and His Majesty each guard east and west without encroaching on one another, and that annual envoys and tribute would suffice.

Feng Dao was stunned. Looking at Shi Jingtang, blood seeping from the corner of his mouth and his body still twitching slightly, his mouth wailed and shouted for physicians, but in his heart he could not make sense of it.

Zhang Zhao of Hexi — even if he held all of Hexi and Longyou and had taken Dingnan Army, compared to the Khitan he was still just a warlord with twenty or thirty thousand men.

Why would Yelu Deguang, with the dignity of the emperor of the great Khitan state, swear brotherhood with someone like Zhang Zhao?

It was not only Feng Dao who did not understand — Murong Xinzhang and Li Cunhui did not understand either.

Their Guiyi Army in Hexi clearly had less than twenty percent of the Khitan's strength, so why would Yelu Deguang be willing to swear brotherhood with Zhang Zhao?

Zhang Zhao laughed heartily and looked at Wu Luan, who rode half a horse-length behind him.

"Administrative Assistant Wu has lived in Yunzhou for generations and certainly understands the Khitan better than these two lads of mine. Tell me, why would Yelu Deguang swear brotherhood with me, and not with someone else?"

Wu Luan also gave a hearty laugh. For more than eight months he had been weighed down with worry, spending every day dreading that the Khitan would break through the walls and that he would be killed and the city sold out.

Now the four thousand men of the Datong Army, together with fourteen thousand family members, plus more than nine thousand commoners of Yunzhou willing to follow them, would all be settled by Zhang Zhao in Xiazhou.

He, Wu Luan, had received the office of Prefect of Xiazhou, and Shao Jingzhi, Troop Commander of the Datong Army, had received the office of Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Datong Garrison of the Guiyi Army.

The remaining officers and soldiers had all received promotions or rewards, and the common people had been granted fields and houses, so their spirits were thoroughly lightened.

"To answer the Great King: in my humble view, apart from the Great King's heroic bearing, which made Yelu Deguang feel he resembled himself, it stems from the tens of thousands of iron cavalry under the Great King's command.

Though the Khitan are a people of fishers and hunters, after their rise they absorbed a great many customs of the steppe peoples.

The north is broad, with immense depth, and compared to the countless fortresses of the Han lands it is more open, so it is better suited to cavalry warfare.

In the Central Plains today, whether it is that Child Emperor or the military governors of the various provinces, or the Meng Shu, Ma Chu, and Southern Tang in the south, all rely mainly on infantry.

If they fight the Khitan, when they win they cannot pursue and slaughter, and when they lose their entire army is often lost.

Therefore, although the Khitan cannot take strong cities and find it hard to crush the court's armies, they do not fear them.

Because whether to fight or withdraw is entirely the Khitan's choice. Although Hebei also has cavalry, compared to the Khitan it has no advantage whatsoever in horsemanship or numbers, and cannot change this situation.

The Great King, by contrast, though he has only thirty to fifty thousand men, has Hexi, which produces fine horses, taller and stronger even than the Khitan's.

Hexi and Longyou have a culture that values mounted archery. The Western Liang iron cavalry is famed throughout the realm, and even Hexi infantry can mount horses and fight.

The Guiyi Army comes and goes like the wind, much like the Khitan. If they were to fall out with the Great King, the Khitan would have to live in constant fear of sudden raids, and Yelu Deguang fears even more that the Great King might become a pillar of the court.

If one or two sage rulers were to emerge in the Central Plains, using the court's imperial guard as heavy infantry and the great horses of Hexi as cavalry,

one force would go out through Hebei and up to Youzhou, another out through Shuozhou and Daizhou north to Yunzhou, and then the great horses of Hexi would strike east through the Zhenwu Army and the Tiande Army.

With the Khitan's entire nation mustering no more than two hundred thousand troops, how could they withstand such a beating? Even the Xiongnu and Turks of old could not have done so!

That is why the Khitan ruler would rather lower his own standing to keep the Great King secure.

Without the Great King's iron cavalry from Hexi and Shuofang to support them, unless there emerges an emperor for the ages like the Taizong Wen Emperor of the former dynasty, or peerless divine generals like Wei Qing and Huo Qubing, for the Central Plains alone to drive out the Khitan, who now hold Yan-Yun, will be difficult!"

"Hahaha!" Zhang Zhao laughed even more heartily.

"Administrative Assistant Wu is indeed far-sighted. That Yelu Deguang would recognize me, this petty king of Hexi, as a younger brother is precisely because he fears I might be won over by the court.

If the court possessed great righteousness and could win the hearts of the brave men of Hexi and Longyou, what worry would there be that a mere Khitan could not be pacified?

It is a pity that they are either blinded by greed, or scheming after petty gains, or bowing and scraping on bended knee. Not one of them is a true lord of men!"

Zhang Zhao knew his analysis was not wrong. Historically, even the Northern Expedition during the Northern Song period, had it been assisted by tens of thousands of Liangzhou warhorses and Shuofang elite cavalry,

then even if Brother Zhao the Second had been as useless as could be, he would still have beaten Xiao Chuo to her knees begging for mercy.

Wu Luan suddenly froze on horseback. He stared fixedly at Zhang Zhao, and an irrepressible thought surged wildly into his mind.

Holding the twenty-eight prefectures of Hexi, Longyou, Lingwu, and Xiasui, commanding tens of thousands of iron cavalry, able to win over fierce and valiant warriors, and at the same time magnanimous, benevolent, and generous in his treatment of scholars, skilled in poetry and prose.

Was such a man a true lord of men?

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