Chapter 418: The Death of the Child Emperor

In the Daning Palace at Kaifeng Prefecture, the Eastern Capital, the life of the Child Emperor Shi Jingtang had reached its end.

In truth, when word had earlier arrived that Zhang Zhao and Yelu Deguang had sworn brotherhood, Shi Jingtang had already been dealt a heavy blow.

He had fallen from the imperial throne in Daning Palace and vomited blood, suffering at the time a slight stroke.

Later, however, after recuperation, he was still able to manage affairs slowly, and just as his health began to show some improvement, Zhang Zhao dealt him a second blow.

That was Zhang Zhao declaring himself king and sending letters throughout the realm, letting every ruler under heaven savor once more the spectacle of Shi Jingtang's disgrace.

Although before this, everyone already knew that Shi Jingtang had sold away the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan-Yun and served the Khitan as a son serves a father.

But this time Zhang Zhao completely tore away every last shred of covering from Shi Jingtang and publicly executed him before a great crowd.

Moreover, the speed at which information traveled in those days was not very fast, so farther south, the self-amusing eunuch dynasty of Southern Han.

As well as Duan Siping, the former Later Jin Military Governor of Tonghai who had just founded the Kingdom of Dali, and Wu Quan, the Military Governor of Jinghai who had carved out his own independent domain, were in fact not very clear on these matters.

And this letter from Zhang Zhao directly made Shi Jingtang utterly disgraced from the Khitan in the north to the Southern Sea in the south.

The matter of his proclaiming himself Heavenly King of Liang pushed Shi Jingtang into an abyss of ten thousand fathoms.

Originally speaking, when Zhang Zhao returned to the nation with the great cause of the eighteen prefectures, Shi Jingtang's Later Jin had, on the surface, recovered Hexi and Longyou, which had been lost since the Tibetans seized Hexi, apart from the brief recovery during Zhang Yichao's time.

This had in fact greatly enhanced the Child Emperor's prestige.

To a certain extent, it offset the matters of Shi Jingtang serving the Khitan as a son and selling away the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan-Yun.

But this time, when Zhang Zhao founded his state, he instantly took back all the glory he had previously granted Shi Jingtang.

For Shi Jingtang, in order to obtain the glory of recovering the eighteen prefectures of Hexi and Longyou, he had in truth paid with the territory of Qinzhou's Xiongwu Army and his sister-in-law, Princess Yongle.

In the end, Zhang Zhao had taken him for a ride, withdrawing the glory of the eighteen prefectures' return and making him a laughingstock besides — one could say he lost the lady and lost the troops.

What Shi Jingtang found even harder to bear was that Zhang Zhao had also become his uncle.

In truth, the Child Emperor could not understand it at all. With strength like Zhang Zhao's, he, Shi Jingtang, could only be a son to Yelu Deguang — what gave Zhang Zhao the right to be Yelu Deguang's younger brother?

And apart from Zhang Zhao, the most agonizing final blow came from Liu Zhiyuan.

Just as Zhang Zhao was preparing the Hexi civil examinations, Liu Zhiyuan sent Guo Wei to thoroughly win over Bai Chengfu, the former Deputy Commander of Yinshan from the Tang period.

Bai Chengfu, along with Helian Hailong, Bai Kejiu, and others, stirred up the Tuyuhun, Turks, and other tribes within Khitan territory to come south and submit.

Liu Zhiyuan gathered their masses and obtained close to one hundred fifty thousand Tuyuhun and other tribal herders. These men were skilled with bow and horse, and from then on Liu Zhiyuan's strength greatly increased.

In truth, before Liu Zhiyuan returned to Taiyuan, the strength of Hedong Circuit was already not very great.

Because wave after wave of Hedong warriors had proclaimed new emperors and marched south to take the throne, greatly reducing the population of the Hedong region.

By the time Shi Jingtang raised troops at Taiyuan, only some thirty thousand men had followed him south.

Therefore, although Shi Jingtang clearly knew Liu Zhiyuan was not entirely reliable, he still sent him back to Hedong as Military Governor and Defender of the Northern Capital.

His calculation was that, given the scarcity of population in the Hedong region, before Liu Zhiyuan obtained the Tuyuhun tribes such as Bai Chengfu's, the people under his rule numbered only four to five hundred thousand, and they lacked warriors.

It would not be easy to draw out ten or twenty thousand fighting men, and he had no strength at all to break with Shi Jingtang; he could only obediently serve as an oversized border-defending Military Governor.

But this time, after Liu Zhiyuan had thoroughly won over the Tuyuhun tribes, he also absorbed the Han and barbarian peoples of Yunzhou, Daizhou, and other places who refused to submit to the Khitan.

Now he not only had the standing to challenge Shi Jingtang, but could even sing a different tune to the Khitan.

In the second month of 941, Yelu Deguang was so enraged by Liu Zhiyuan's move to recruit the Tuyuhun tribes southward that smoke poured from his seven orifices.

He sent Khitan envoys to Jinyang to demand that Liu Zhiyuan hand over Bai Chengfu and the others.

Liu Zhiyuan, using the pretext of inspecting defenses, did not remain in Jinyang. Guo Wei and the others left to guard Jinyang, on the grounds that Liu Zhiyuan was absent and they could not make decisions, fobbed off and stalled the Khitan envoys.

Yelu Deguang, having no other recourse, could only send envoys south once more to the Eastern Capital to rebuke Shi Jingtang, demanding that he order Liu Zhiyuan to release Bai Chengfu and the other groups back to the Khitan.

Shi Jingtang had no choice but to send men to issue orders to Liu Zhiyuan.

In the end, the Khitan envoys carried Shi Jingtang's imperial edict to Jinyang, and Liu Zhiyuan as usual avoided meeting them.

Shi Jingtang had no choice but to send a trusted aide, Liu Zhiyuan's old acquaintance Zhang Cheng, to mediate.

Liu Zhiyuan could not evade him, so he simply denounced Shi Jingtang to his face before the Khitan envoys for groveling and bowing, and stated plainly that Bai Chengfu and the others had been sons of Tang since the time of the Great Dynasty.

Now that they were unwilling to live under the Khitan and had set their hearts on returning to Tang, he, Liu Zhiyuan, could not possibly drive them out again.

The Khitan envoy, blazing with fury, returned to Kaifeng Prefecture, the Eastern Capital, for the third time, this time bringing Yelu Deguang's harsh rebuke.

By this time, Shi Jingtang was already gravely ill and had been unable to rise from bed for more than ten days. He could only weep and say to the Khitan envoy from his sickbed.

"Liu Zhiyuan of Hedong is like a rebellious son in one's household. He is strong and fierce, yet will not heed his father's words — what is to be done?"

To speak truthfully, this was truly wretched beyond measure: the majestic Son of Heaven driven to such a state by all sides.

Above, there was the brutal father, the Khitan, urging him without the slightest courtesy; below, there was the rebellious son Liu Zhiyuan, who cared nothing whether Shi Jingtang lived or died.

The Child Emperor was caught in the middle, enduring every humiliation with no recourse.

And after the Khitan envoy had no choice but to leave, Shi Jingtang, struck by the double blows of Liu Zhiyuan and Zhang Zhao, could hold on no longer.

In Daning Palace, a candle as thick as a child's arm cast only a flickering dim yellow light, as if foretelling the fate of Shi Jingtang's Later Jin dynasty.

Feng Dao was roused from his home and summoned to the palace in the middle of the night, and in his heart he knew things were very likely dire.

By the time he arrived, Shi Jingtang's complexion confirmed his judgment.

The Child Emperor leaned back against a folding couch, supported firmly from behind by two palace maids, which alone kept him from collapsing.

His face was not a ghastly white, but a layer of unhealthy gold-foil color.

Seeing Feng Dao enter, Shi Jingtang, who could no longer speak, hurriedly had an attendant place his seventh son, Shi Chongrui, barely over a year old, into Feng Dao's arms.

In the old days, during the rebellion of Zhang Congbin, Shi Jingtang's children had been slaughtered to the last, so this one-year-old Shi Chongrui was Shi Jingtang's only son.

The attendants and palace servants to either side, seeing Shi Jingtang's condition, all wept without ceasing.

Though this Child Emperor was shameless and deficient in great matters of principle, he had treated those around him rather well.

Those around him watched as Shi Jingtang had Shi Chongrui placed in Feng Dao's arms; though he did not speak, everyone understood what he meant.

Feng Dao looked at Shi Jingtang and thought of the kindness Shi Jingtang had shown him in the past. Although in his heart he wished he could dash Shi Chongrui to the ground at once, in the end he did not do so.

He could only sigh inwardly: Zheng Wang Shi Chonggui was already twenty-seven years old.

Though he could not be called a wise or brilliant sovereign, he did have the look of one who could preserve what had been built.

Besides, even if Shi Chonggui lacked ability, he was still far better than Shi Chongrui, who was barely over a year old!

Feng Dao could only think to himself that if he could preserve Shi Chongrui's life, then he would not have failed the bond of lord and minister he had shared with Shi Jingtang.

As for supporting Shi Chongrui to ascend the throne and become emperor, that was utterly out of the question. Even if Feng Dao wanted to, he could not accomplish it.

Though Shi Jingtang could not speak, when he saw Feng Dao's expression, and saw that Feng Dao had not set Shi Chongrui down but still held him tightly in his arms, more than half his heart was immediately set at ease.

He knew that even if Feng Dao could not support Shi Chongrui as emperor, he could at least help preserve Shi Chongrui's life.

For he knew that his adopted son Shi Chonggui was not so ruthless and cruel a person. As long as someone remonstrated with him, he would surely not insist on harming Shi Chongrui.

The only thing to worry about was that Shi Chonggui liked to hear impassioned, stirring words, and had an insufficient understanding of his own limitations.

He feared that after his death, Shi Chonggui would go provoke the Khitan.

Thinking of this, Shi Jingtang summoned all the strength in his body and slightly raised his hand.

But the word "Khi—" of "Khitan" stuck in his throat. No matter how he strained with all his might, he simply could not force it out, until his face flushed crimson with urgency.

The inner attendants at his side hurried over to pat his back. Only then did Feng Dao set Shi Chongrui down and step forward a few paces, wanting to hear what Shi Jingtang was trying to say.

But at that very moment, a surge of strength came from nowhere, and Shi Jingtang felt his whole body relax.

Then he shuddered. Shi Jingtang knew that for a patient like him, long bedridden with grave illness, to suddenly recover all his vigor could only mean the final rally before death.

At that thought, the Child Emperor summoned every last ounce of strength and shouted out the two words: "Khitan!"

Feng Dao before him wept like rain, and hurriedly knelt prostrate on the ground, saying in a loud voice,

"Your servant will do everything in his power to dissuade the Prince of Zheng from provoking the Khitan!"

After Feng Dao finished speaking, Shi Jingtang nodded lightly, and his gaze began to scatter.

At that moment, Shi Jingtang's wife, who had long been waiting outside—the third daughter of Li Siyuan, Emperor Mingzong of the Later Tang, Princess Yongning, now Empress Li of the Later Jin—came wailing and running in.

Shi Jingtang, knowing his final hour had come, rested his head upon Empress Li's shoulder.

In that last instant, he saw all things through with complete clarity.

As far as Shi Jingtang was concerned, there had been both grievances and debts between him and Zhang Zhao.

But in truth, those whom Shi Jingtang had failed, and those who had failed Shi Jingtang, were many.

Judging by the harm done to Shi Jingtang, Zhang Zhao was far less culpable than Li Congke, Zhang Congbin, and the rest.

The former had driven him to the point where he had no choice but to serve the Khitan as a son and risk rebellion just to save his life; the latter had slaughtered his children to the last.

By ordinary reckoning, the harm Zhang Zhao had done to Shi Jingtang was not even as great as that done by Liu Zhiyuan.

For Liu Zhiyuan had been raised up step by step by Shi Jingtang's own hand. Without Shi Jingtang, there would have been no Liu Zhiyuan of today—yet Liu Zhiyuan had still betrayed him without the slightest mercy.

As for Zhang Zhao, by contrast, there was actually little grievance between him and Shi Jingtang.

The return of the eighteen prefectures of Hexi and Longyou to the nation back then could even be called one of the few shining moments in Shi Jingtang's life.

Yet Shi Jingtang's hatred for Zhang Zhao was clearly far greater than his hatred for Li Congke, Zhang Congbin, Liu Zhiyuan, and the others.

Before this, Shi Jingtang himself did not know why. But now, he suddenly understood.

It was not hatred—or rather, not entirely hatred. It was hatred mixed with intense envy.

A young hero, ranging across the Western Regions. Reclaiming his ancestral lands, his might shaking Hexi. Holding the moral high ground, with soldiers under his command who fought to the death, and a vision that reached far ahead.

Others might not know it, but Shi Jingtang could feel it: Zhang Zhao's future held limitless possibilities. Even setting aside the unification of all under heaven, he at least had the ability to become another Zhu Quanzhong.

And all of this was precisely what Shi Jingtang—who had served the Khitan as a son and sold out his country for glory—lacked most, and craved most desperately.

In that moment, he finally understood it all. What he felt toward Zhang Zhao was a desperate longing to trade places with him, and envy, jealousy, and hatred.

"Yongle! Yongle!" Shi Jingtang whispered, utterly feeble, into Empress Li's ear.

The Yongle he spoke of was none other than Empress Li's fifteenth younger sister, who had married Zhang Zhao's adopted son Murong Xinzhang and was now in Hexi.

Empress Li and Princess Yongle were more than twenty years apart in age. When Li Siyuan died, Princess Yongle was still babbling in baby talk.

It was Empress Li who had always looked after Princess Yongle. Princess Yongle was like a daughter to her and Shi Jingtang.

Thinking of this, Empress Li assumed Shi Jingtang wanted to see Princess Yongle one last time.

So she nodded, and said through her tears, "Do not fret, Sanlang. I will send someone to Hexi at once to summon Yongle back."

Shi Jingtang shook his head with great effort. What he had wanted to say was that Princess Yongle would be Empress Li's support from now on.

But no matter how he opened his mouth, no sound would come.

Carrying this final regret, the Child Emperor walked to the end of his shameless yet complicated life.

Judging from his personal experience alone, he was worthy of sympathy. He had never actually thought of rebelling and becoming emperor, but reality—and Li Congke—had forced him onto this road.

But after Shi Jingtang set out upon this road, his act of selling away the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan-Yun brought grave disaster upon the China of later generations.

For the first time, the people of the Central Plains lost the protection of the Yan Mountains and the Yin Mountains—if Zhang Zhao could not change this situation,

then it would still be as it was in history: the court of the Central Plains would have to devote the vast majority of its energy to the grim task of defending against northern nomadic cavalry charging straight down from the flat, open plains of Hebei.

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