Zi Zhi Tong Jian

Chapter 62 The Later Han Dynasty: Bloodbath on the Great Liang (2)
Ji Chou, Zhan Yanze, and his son lived in Beishi, and Gao Xun was still ordered to be imprisoned.The descendants of the scholar-bureaucrats that Yan Ze had killed before were all weeping with their sticks, and then criticized them and threw them at them with sticks.Xun ordered his wrists to be unlocked, and his heart to be sacrificed to the dead.People in the city fight for their brains to get their marrow, and eat their flesh.

【Translation】

The Emperor of Later Jin put these treasures back into the inner treasury immediately, and allocated some of them to Zhang Yanze; Zhang Yanze selected rare treasures from them, and sealed up the rest for the Khitan.Zhang Yanze sent Li Jun, the commander of Crane Control, to lead the troops to guard the Later Jin Emperor, so the Later Jin Emperor lost contact with the outside world.Princess Wuzhi, the aunt of the Later Jin Emperor, managed to bribe the gatekeeper so that she could come in and bid farewell to him, embraced and wept, and then returned home and hanged herself to death.The emperor and queen mother of the later Jin Dynasty had to show Zhang Yanze the memorials to Lord Khitan before they dared to send them out.

That evening, Zhang Yanze ordered Sang Weihan to be beheaded, put a belt around his neck, and told the Khitan Lord that he hanged himself.Lord Khitan said: "I didn't mean to kill Sang Weihan, why would he do that!" Then he sent a rich pension to his family.

Both Gao Xingzhou and Fu Yanqing surrendered in the Khitan lord's tooth tent.Lord Khitan had lost to Fu Yanqing in the Battle of Yangcheng, so he questioned Fu Yanqing about this matter. Fu Yanqing said: "At that time, I only knew how to fight for Lord Jin. Today, life or death is up to your arrangement." Lord Khitan smiled slightly. ordered his release.

In the 12th year of Tianfu (AD 947), Gao Xun sued Yelu Deguang, Lord of Khitan, against Zhang Yanze for killing his family members.The Khitan Lord was also very annoyed at Zhang Yanze's plundering of the capital, and immediately ordered Zhang Yanze and the supervisor Fu Zhu'er to be arrested.The Khitan Lord announced Zhang Yanze's crimes in front of all the officials, and asked: "Should Zhang Yanze be executed?" All the officials said in unison: "Should be executed." .

On the third day of the first lunar month, the Lord Khitan ordered Zhang Yanze and Fu Zhu'er to be beheaded in Beishi, and appointed Gao Xun as the beheading officer.The descendants of the scholar-bureaucrats that Zhang Yanze had killed before all carried funeral sticks, howled and cursed loudly, and beat Zhang Yanze's bones with the funeral sticks.Gao Xun ordered his wrists to be cut off, and then his body was taken out of the chains, and his heart was cut open to pay homage to those he killed.The townspeople scrambled to smash his head, extract his brains, mince his flesh and eat it.

[Comment and Analysis]

Zhang Yanze used to be a general in the Later Tang and Later Jin, but later he betrayed Later Jin and took refuge in Khitan.He even led troops to loot Daliang, the capital of the Jin Dynasty, which finally aroused resentment.After Zhang Yanze occupied Daliang, he searched for money everywhere, burned, killed and looted, killed ministers who had quarrels with him, and killed Sang Weihan, whom Yelu Deguang admired very much.All civil and military officials demanded that he be executed, and all the people in the city rushed to submit petitions to report Zhang Yanze's crimes. It was so outrageous that Yelu Deguang had no choice but to order him to be killed.

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[Original text]

Emperor Gaozu of the Later Han Dynasty Rui Wen Sheng Wu Zhao Su Xiao Emperor Tianfu 12th Year
At the beginning, when Du Chongwei surrendered to Khitan with the Jin army, the Khitan Lord collected millions of his armor and stored them in Hengzhou, drove tens of thousands of horses back to his country, and sent Chongwei to follow him to the south.And the river, the Khitan lord feared that the Jin soldiers would change, and wanted to take the river with Hu cavalry.Or remonstrated: "There are still many Jin soldiers in other places. If you hear that all those who surrendered will die, they will all refuse their orders. If you don't care about them, Xu will think about their strategies." The Khitan Lord envoys Chongwei to station Chenqiao with his troops.It will snow for a long time, the officials have nothing to give, the soldiers are cold and starved, resenting the prestige, and weeping together.Every time Chongwei came out, people on the road scolded him.

The Khitan Lord still wanted to punish the Jin soldiers.Zhao Yanshou said to the Khitan master, "The emperor personally risked a stone to take the state of Jin. If he wants to have it for himself, will he take it for others?" I can only get it, how can it be someone else!" Yanshou said: "There is Tang in the south of the state of Jin, and Shu in the west. They are often enemies, and the emperor knows it?" Yi, Mi, and Qin and Feng in the west extend thousands of miles, bordering Wu and Shu, and are often garrisoned by soldiers. The south is hot and humid, and the people of the upper country cannot live. It drives north to return every day, as in the case of Jin. If there is no army to guard it, Wu and Shu will join forces to invade the enemy. If so, is it not for others to take it?" The Khitan Lord said: "I don't know. But what can we do?" Yanshou said: "Chen Qiao's surrender can be divided. With the garrison in the south, Wu and Shu cannot be troubled." The Khitan Lord said: "I used to be in Shangdang, but when I was cut off, I learned that I was awarded Jin by soldiers from Tang Dynasty. After that, I returned to be a warlord, and fought against me in the north. I have worked hard for many years. I am lucky to have entered my hands today, if I don’t get rid of it at this time, how can I keep it as a future trouble?” Yanshou said: “The soldiers of the Jin Dynasty stayed in Henan and did not ask for their wives, so I have this worry. If you know now He moved his home between Heng, Ding, Yun, and Shuo, and every year divided the envoys into the south, so why worry about it changing! This is the best policy." The Khitan master said happily: "Good! Only the king will deal with it." It was Chen Qiao's soldiers who were spared and sent back to the camp.

【Translation】

The 12th year of Tianfu, Emperor Gaozu of the Later Han Dynasty (947 AD)
At first, after Du Chongwei led the late Jin army to surrender to Khitan, the Khitan Lord confiscated all their weapons and armor, there were millions of them, and stored them in Hengzhou; then sent people to drive tens of thousands of horses to the north Return to the country; and send Du Chongwei to lead his men to follow him to the south.When the group arrived at the bank of the Yellow River, the Lord Khitan saw that there were many soldiers of the Later Jin who had surrendered, fearing that something might happen, he tried to have his cavalry drive them all into the Yellow River.Someone advised: "There are still many Jin soldiers in other places. If they know that those who surrendered are dead, they will definitely resist to the end; so it is better to appease them first, and then slowly think of a safe solution." Let Du Chongwei lead his troops to garrison in Chenqiao.It happened that it snowed for a long time, and the food and pay were not supplied. The soldiers were hungry and cold because of this, and they all felt resentful towards Du Chongwei, and then hugged each other and cried; every time Du Chongwei walked out of the tent, the soldiers on the road would yell at him .

The Khitan Lord still wanted to kill all the descendants of the Later Jin Dynasty.Zhao Yanshou said to him: "Your Majesty personally led the troops to attack the country of Jin at the risk of flying arrows and flowing rocks. Do you intend to take it for yourself, or do you intend to capture it for others?" After hearing this, Lord Khitan's face changed drastically, and he said: "My Leading the whole country's troops to march south together, I haven't taken off my armor for five years, and I just got it now, how can it be for others!" Zhao Yanshou said: "Jin has Tang in the south and Shu in the west, and they often hate each other. Your Majesty knows too, right?" Khitan Master replied: "Yes." Zhao Yanshou said again: "The state of Jin stretches for thousands of miles from Yizhou and Mizhou in the east to Qinzhou and Fengzhou in the west. It is often necessary to send troops to defend against the border. The south is hot and humid, and the northerners are not used to living there. After a while, you drive back to the north, leaving such a vast and boundless territory of Jin. There will be no one to guard, and Wu and Shu will surely take advantage of it. As for entering, wouldn’t that mean conquering the country for others?” Lord Khitan said: “I didn’t think about it. So in your opinion, what should I do?” Zhao Yanshou said: “Chen The surrendered troops at the bridge can be separated to guard the southern border, so that Wu and Shu will not cause future troubles." The Khitan Lord said: "I used to be in the Shangdang. My mistake was that I was not decisive enough, and I handed over all the Tang soldiers Jin. I didn't expect them to turn against me and fight against me from the north. It took me so many years of hard work to finally defeat them. Now that the appointment has fallen into my hands, don't we take this opportunity to eradicate them completely? Can it be kept as a future trouble?" Zhao Yanshou said: "In the past, the Jin soldiers were left in the south of the Yellow River, but their wives were not taken as hostages. That's why there is such a disaster. Now if all their homes are moved to Between Heng, Ding, Yun, and Shuo prefectures, let them take turns guarding the southern frontier every year, and they are afraid that they will not succeed in a sudden change! This is the best policy." After hearing this, Lord Khitan said very happily: "Yes! Then completely follow the rules of King Yan. Go and handle it as you wish!" Chen Qiao's surrendered soldiers were immediately exempted and sent back to the barracks.

[Comment and Analysis]

Zhao Yanshou's words saved the lives of so many soldiers who surrendered from the later Jin Dynasty. It is really "saving a life is better than building a seven-level pagoda"!The Khitan people grew up on horseback. After occupying the Central Plains, they didn't know how to govern at all. They still adopted the old methods of burning, killing and looting everywhere. The people of the Central Plains hated them very much.Yelu Deguang only stayed in the Central Plains for three months. The three-month rule was a failure, but it is undeniable that the Khitan nation has risen and become the most powerful enemy of the Central Plains regimes.

(End of this chapter)