Chapter 153: The Fall of the Later Jin Dynasty
Liao Dynasty, the first year of Huihe.

Yelu Deguang laughed heartily: "Great! After the Zhongdu Bridge, the Later Jin will no longer have the strength to fight. Our army will be able to march straight into the capital!" What's the point of lining up on the Yellow River? The morale of the army has been shaken. Will those Jiedushi fight to the death for Shi Chonggui?
If the Jiedushi would fight to the death for Shi Chonggui, then theoretically the Later Jin Dynasty should not have been established in the first place - if the Jiedushis everywhere had not surrendered one after another, how could Shi Jingtang have gone straight to Luoyang and then established a dynasty?

Therefore, when the army directly under Shi Chonggui surrendered, the troops and cities led by the Jiedushi were negligible. And the capital was now short of troops.

He secretly sighed that the method of promising these generals and governors in the Central Plains that they would be made emperors was really useful. Perhaps the core reason for their surrender was not to become emperors, but if they could become emperors, it would definitely make their surrender sincere and even make them willing to serve their country from the bottom of their hearts.

For example, Zhao Yanshou.

Yelu Deguang knew himself and also had some understanding of Zhao Yanshou. If he appointed Zhao Yanshou as the Southern Privy Councilor for his connections and power in the Yanyun area, and to appease him and the Han people, then he must have had some explanation for why he was used in this series of wars in the south and why he worked so hard.

But it may not be fulfilled in the end.

[On the tenth day of the twelfth month, the Later Jin army, led by Du Chongwei, Li Shouzhen, Zhang Yanze and others, formally surrendered.

Yelu Deguang led tens of thousands of cavalrymen to the top of a nearby mountain and accepted the surrender of the Later Jin army.

Afterwards, he asked Zhao Yanshou to go to the Later Jin camp to comfort the soldiers, saying, "All the Han soldiers are yours, you should comfort them personally." He also gave him an ochre robe with a dragon and phoenix.

Of course, Yelu Deguang did not leave anyone out, and he also gave a red robe to Du Chongwei, who promised to become emperor. However, it was Zhao Yanshou who inspected the military camp.

Later, when the situation was basically stable, Yelu Deguang granted Du Chongwei the positions of Taifu and Yedu garrison commander, and granted Li Shouzhen the position of Tianping Army Jiedushi, while the positions of the other generals remained unchanged. The surrendered Later Jin army was divided into two halves, one half under the command of Du Chongwei and the other half under the command of Zhao Yanshou.

Afterwards, Yelu Deguang turned around and went to Hengzhou, which surrendered. Having solved the big problem behind him, Yelu Deguang began to march south at this time. But ahead of the army and at a very fast speed were two thousand cavalrymen led by the Imperial Censor Yelu Jieli, the Military Supervisor Fu Guier, and Zhang Yanze. They carried Yelu Deguang's edict, which was to inform Shi Chonggui's mother, the Empress Dowager Li of the Later Jin Dynasty, to appease the people in the capital of the Later Jin Dynasty. 】

Khitan, the second year of Tianxian.

Yelu Abaoji agreed with Yelu Deguang's special edict to appease the people in the capital of the Later Jin Dynasty: "That's right. After all, my Great Khitan is not going to do anything to the people of the Central Plains, the ministers and officials. I just want to punish Shi's ungrateful behavior. Moreover, although Shi wants to deny it, he and my Great Khitan do have a monarch-subject, father-son, and grandson relationship."

Yelu Abaoji knew very well that although he did have a desire for the Central Plains, he did not intend to plunder the Central Plains, but rather to stabilize his rule. In this case, he could not burn, kill, and plunder the Central Plains. It was fine to rob the grass and valleys during the war, but now that he really wanted to destroy the Later Jin Dynasty, he still had to maintain his image.

Shulü Ping also agreed. She adhered to the idea of ​​grassland-based development and did not want to cause unnecessary conflicts in the Central Plains and waste unnecessary energy.

If the people in the capital of the Later Jin Dynasty were panic-stricken and full of hostility towards the Khitan, wouldn't that delay the Khitan? Wouldn't it add various difficulties to the originally smooth process? There is no need.

Yelu Abaoji thought of another aspect: "Since there are always some among these military governors in the Central Plains who are eager to ascend the throne, why don't we, the Great Khitan, secretly participate in it from now on?" Although the power of the Later Tang is still very strong and the emperor can still control the various vassal states, there will always be a day when an emperor will be unable to do so.

They, the Khitan, did not need to provoke the central government of the Later Tang Dynasty now, they only needed to push it secretly. Although they had sent spies to the Later Tang Dynasty to gather information in the past, their goals were not as clear as they are now.

Eastern Han Dynasty, the 17th year of Jianwu.

Liu Xiu felt a little pain in his teeth: "So, this is another peaceful surrender?"

Without this edict, Shi Chonggui might have launched a rebellion, or committed suicide like Li Congke, the last emperor of the Later Tang Dynasty. But with such an edict, as long as Yelu Deguang said something nice in the edict, it was hard to say whether Shi Chonggui would still have the courage to do so.

Thinking of Shi Chonggui, Liu Xiu suddenly remembered that Yelu Deguang cutting off the food supply was equivalent to cutting off the communication channel between the Later Jin army and the court - so, Shi Chonggui would not have to wait until Zhang Yanze led his troops to arrive before he knew that Du Chongwei had surrendered, right?

[And what about the Central Government of the Later Jin Dynasty?]

Ever since Yelu Deguang cut off the food supply and communication channels of the Later Jin army, the imperial court lost control of information from the front line.

On the sixth day of December, Wang Qing was killed in battle, but Shi Chonggui did not receive the news until the thirteenth day. On the tenth day, Du Chongwei led his army to surrender, but Shi Chonggui did not learn about the situation until the sixteenth day.

However, the capital city was short of troops, and even most of the imperial guards had already been sent to the front lines.

It took such a long time to know the situation on the front line, and Shi Chonggui was powerless to turn the tide. He could only fall into panic along with his ministers.

The deployment of troops and the defense along the Yellow River when it was known that the army was stationed south of Zhongdu Bridge became the last straw.

However, facts have proved that after the main force surrendered, these defense lines and these military governors who were stationed on one side were mostly unable to play the role of turning the tide in the end.

The people sent out to investigate and get the news found that on the evening of the 16th, that is, tonight, Zhang Yanze and his 2,000 cavalrymen, who served as messengers and pioneers, had already arrived in Huazhou, south of the Yellow River.

Song Dynasty, Kaibao period.

Zhao Defang could not help but complain: "This news is too delayed." When the situation happened in the front, it took six or seven days for the rear to know the news. With such a big time difference, even if the Liao Kingdom's ability to act was a little weaker, the Later Jin Dynasty would not be able to do anything. Moreover, the Liao Kingdom was very fast.

"All the military forces of the various vassal states in the northern part of the Later Jin Dynasty are concentrated in the northern camp, and most of the imperial guards in the capital are also in the northern camp. Therefore, the moment Du Chongwei led his troops to surrender, the Later Jin Dynasty no longer had any chance." Zhao Kuangyin said calmly.

Except for Liu Zhiyuan's troops who were still garrisoned in his place, the rest of the troops from the northern vassal states and the capital all rushed into the northern camp. Once these hundreds of thousands of troops surrendered, the northern vassal states would naturally surrender as well. There was no possibility of recovery.

As for the southern vassal states… there were fewer of them than in the north, and they could not come to help. Perhaps since the third trip south, Yelu Deguang was not sure that he could destroy the Later Jin in this trip south, but Du Chongwei gave him hope.

"So Du Chongwei is just too outrageous!" Zhao Dezhao concluded, "He had many opportunities, and the northern camp had a strong force, but he just sat back and did nothing, and finally surrendered..."

Putting aside whether Shi Chonggui became overly arrogant and easily believed the enemy's surrender, Du Chongwei alone was outrageous enough - with almost the strongest military force in the Later Jin Dynasty, he was able to achieve such a result. It makes people wonder whether he was Yelu Deguang's spy from the beginning.

Of course, Shi Chonggui himself still had to take responsibility. Du Chongwei had already done so many outrageous and abominable things before this, but he still used him so vigorously. In the end, he dug a big hole for himself.

[Before Shi Chonggui and others could figure out how to save themselves, at midnight on the 16th, Zhang Yanze, who had been in Huazhou before, had already arrived at Fengqiu Gate, the west gate of the north wall of the capital, after a rapid march.

Without any hesitation, Zhang Yanze broke through Fengqiu Gate and went straight into the capital.

Shi Chonggui realized at this time that he had no chance, so he started to prepare to throw himself into the fire, but he failed and was stopped by his schoolmate Xue Chao.

Later, on the morning of the 17th, Zhang Yanze stationed his troops at Mingde Gate, the middle gate on the south side of the palace city, and passed the imperial edict from Yelu Deguang to Empress Dowager Li and others through Kuanren Gate, the east gate of the palace city. Only then did Shi Chonggui give up his self-immolation and order the fireworks to be extinguished.

Afterwards, Shi Chonggui drafted a letter of surrender, calling himself "Sun Nanchen Chonggui" and apologizing to Yelu Deguang.

Song Dynasty, Kaibao period.

Zhao Kuangyin took a deep breath, exhaled, inhaled, exhaled, to calm his emotions.

Although he disliked Shi Jingtang and the Later Jin Dynasty from the bottom of his heart, he couldn't help but feel emotional when he saw Shi Chonggui surrendering to the Liao Kingdom and calling him a grandson.

You are going to burn yourself?! You are going to burn yourself! How come you decided not to surrender after seeing the edict or the letter of surrender from Yelu Deguang? You decided to bow down and confess your crimes?
In other words, to put it nicely, that attempt at self-immolation was an attempt, but he lost the courage afterwards; to put it bluntly, it was probably just a performance to prove that he still had some courage.

But after you surrendered, your life didn't seem to be much better, and you were instead subjected to a lot of criticism.

The reason why Zhao Kuangyin was so angry was because he unconsciously began to associate - who did he associate with? Of course, it was the two bastards in the interactive video easter egg of the Song Dynasty.

Now think about it, what were those two beasts thinking? How could they surrender instead of committing suicide? If Shi Chonggui, the young emperor of the Later Jin Dynasty, is also included, then Shi Chonggui is a glaring precedent!

The country surrendered and moved to the north. Isn't there an example in front of us? And how Shi Chonggui lived and what kind of life he had are all recorded in history books. Don't those two beasts really think that they will live the same or even worse? Even if they don't want to fall into that miserable life, they should commit suicide.

How can they live with peace of mind?
[With Zhang Yanze and others leading the way, Yelu Deguang led the main force to advance towards the capital of the Later Jin Dynasty at a relatively steady pace, accepting surrenders along the way, including Gao Xingzhou, Fu Yanqing and others.

When they were about to cross the Yellow River, Shi Chonggui expressed his willingness to personally go to the suburbs to greet them. However, Zhang Yanze disagreed and reported the matter to the emperor. Yelu Deguang flatly refused: "There is no two suns in the sky, so how can two emperors meet on the road?"

On the 26th, Yelu Deguang arrived outside the capital and stationed in Chigang.

At this time, Shi Chonggui and his family went out of Fengqiu Gate and tied themselves up with straw ropes and bare their bodies to prepare for an audience with the emperor, but Yelu Deguang still chose to refuse and moved Shi Chonggui and his family to Fengchan Temple for temporary residence. In addition, hundreds of officials of the Later Jin Dynasty wore white clothes and gauze hats and apologized to Yelu Deguang, just like the surrender of the defenders of the Later Jin cities. Yelu Deguang did not make any punishment for the officials, but let them continue to hold their old positions.

On the first day of the first lunar month in the tenth year of Huihe, Yelu Deguang officially entered the capital and went to Chongyuan Hall to accept the congratulations of all officials. The Later Jin Dynasty was declared extinct.

Tang Dynasty, Zhenguan period.

Everyone sighed. Although they knew that the Later Jin Dynasty was going to fall this time, they had never thought that it would fall so easily. That's right, it was easy, with almost no waves.

There was no decent resistance, no excellent decision-making, no thrilling battles on the front line, and the emperor in the rear had no intention of turning the tide... Zhang Yanze rushed into the capital without any obstruction, and Yelu Deguang led the main force to continuously accept surrenders...

Du Ruhui made a positive judgment: "Even if the Later Jin Dynasty is not destroyed by Emperor Taizong of Liao this time, there will always be such a day in the future. It is possible that a local governor will raise the banner of rebellion and destroy the court, just like the other five dynasties in the sky."

Not to mention anything else, it is the arrogance and nepotism of Shi Chonggui in the second half of his reign, coupled with the loyalty index and rebellion probability of the Jiedushi during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, as well as the continuous natural disasters of the Later Jin Dynasty itself... Even without Yelu Deguang, the Later Jin Dynasty would have been gone one day.

"Although Yelu Deguang destroyed the Later Jin Dynasty, it is unlikely that he could stably occupy the Later Jin Dynasty's land." Li Shimin said. This can be seen not only from the story of Song Taizong, but also because he felt that Yelu Deguang, or the Khitan, was not really prepared to rule the Central Plains.

Taking control of the Central Plains is not just talk, nor is it enough to just conquer the land - Yelu Deguang must be prepared ideologically, institutionally, and personnel-wise...

Now, Yelu Deguang might really want to include the territory of the Later Jin Dynasty, but before he really destroyed the Later Jin Dynasty, did he think about how to govern this place? How to balance and handle the relationship between the Khitans and the Han people here? How to deal with the remaining Jiedushi of the Later Jin Dynasty who did not surrender, as well as the surrounding regimes?

Fang Xuanling doubted, "Nomads have always had the habit of foraging for grass and grain, and they often plunder after winning a battle... After entering the capital, will the Khitan army still retain this style of behavior?" Can Yelu Deguang realize it in time and deal with it?
It is not to say that the Han army did not plunder, but once the Khitan plundered, the people would automatically associate them with their alien identity, which would make them even more dissatisfied; moreover, the Han army was sometimes able to reduce such phenomena, but what about the Khitan? They went southward on an expedition. I don’t know if Yelu Deguang would realize the problem. Even if he did, what would he use to appease him?

And right in Taiyuan, there is another Liu Zhiyuan.

Cheng Zhijie chuckled: "I don't know about other things, but at least Du Chongwei and his gang probably won't have any good results."

(End of this chapter)