Liu Zhiyuan (895-948), the founding emperor of the Later Han Dynasty, was a native of Taiyuan Shatuo and came from a poor background. Before joining the army, he herded horses for people, was good at riding and shooting, and after joining the army, he was initially a pawn in Li Siyuan's army, and then followed Li Siyuan's general Shi Jingyao as a general, brave and strategic, brave in battle, helped Shi Jingyao to seize the world, and established the Later Jin. Shi Jingyao was proclaimed empress dowager, and Liu Zhiyuan was made an envoy of Hedong Jiedushi, with heavy troops in his hands. After Shi Jingyao's death, Shi Chonggui took the throne and made Liu Zhiyuan the post of Inspector of the Taishi and Zhongshu Ling, and from then on he reigned supreme in Hedong.
Portrait of Liu Zhiyuan
In 947, the Khitan army marched south, and Shi Chonggui was captured and sent to the northern kingdom, where the Later Jin dynasty collapsed. The Khitan Emperor Yelü Deguang entered the Central Plains and became the new master of Bieliang.
Due to the large number of warhorses in the Khitan army and the need for a large amount of hay, the Khitan soldiers went out of the city to plunder and act in a reckless manner on the pretext of finding hay for the warhorses, and the people of Shandong, Henan Province, were deeply harmed and humiliated. As a result, the activities of the Khitan people in various places disappeared one after another. Yelü Deguang had no intention of staying in Bieliang for a long time, leaving Xiao Han stationed in Bieliang, preparing to return to the capital with looted property, but when he reached Luancheng in Hebei, he fell ill and died, and because the emperor died on the way home, civil unrest began to occur in the Khitan country.
In 947, Liu Zhiyuan of Hedong was proclaimed emperor in Jinyang, with the name of Han and the historical title of Later Han Gaozu. When he became emperor, he wanted to grant amnesty to the world and reward the three armies, but during the Five Dynasties period, due to years of war and chaos, people ate horses and made, where was the surplus silver money to be distributed to the soldiers? Forced to be helpless, Liu Zhiyuan planned to levy taxes on the people, and Liu Zhiyuan's wife, Li Shi, heard about the tax increase, immediately dissuaded him, and mobilized the harem to take out all the private money and give it to her husband Liu Zhiyuan as a reward for the salaries of the three armies, so that the defenders of Hedong would be stable and their morale would be greatly increased. Li Shi is the famous "Li Sanniang" that often appears on various opera stages, and Li Sanniang is Liu Chengyou's birth mother.
When Liu Zhiyuan heard the death letter of the Khitan Emperor Yelü Deguang, at the suggestion of the general Guo Wei, he immediately sent troops, and the army went straight to Henan. The Khitan defenders throughout Henan had no intention of fighting because of civil unrest in the country, and quickly withdrew to the north without a fight.
In the twelfth year of Later Han Tianfu (947), the Later Han army easily marched into the city of Bieliang, and Liu Zhiyuan became the new master of Bieliang.
However, there was one person who did not want to submit to Liu Zhiyuan, this person was Shi Chonggui's uncle Du Chongwei, Du Chongwei's seniority was similar to Liu Zhiyuan' qualifications, and he was once Shi Jingyao's right-hand man, after Shi Jingyao's death, during Shi Chonggui's reign, Du Chongwei had led troops to defeat the Khitan soldiers, so Du Chongwei was also regarded as a great military achievement. However, in the later Later Jin dynasty, civil unrest occurred, and began to exclude the powerful ministers Du Chongwei, Liu Zhiyuan and others, and Du Chongwei, in a fit of rage, defected to the Khitans. Now that the Khitans have run away, Du Chongwei has no place to go, and Du Chongwei will certainly not surrender to Hou Han again. As a result, Liu Zhiyuan personally marched and led a large army to destroy Du Chongwei who was guarding Yecheng. After the battle, Du Chongwei was captured and sent back to Bieliang City, and Liu Zhiyuan returned triumphantly.
History changed at this moment, when Liu Zhiyuan's eldest son, Liu Chengxun, suddenly fell ill and died at the age of 26. Liu Chengxun was The key training object of Liu Zhiyuan, loyal and talented, complete in both culture and martial arts, and ready to take over the throne. The eldest son died, Liu Zhiyuan was anxious, overly sad and indignant, and seriously ill. Liu Zhiyuan, who was seriously ill, knew that his death date was approaching, and he was busy summoning four ministers, Tuo Gu, who were: Guo Wei, Shi Hongzhao, Yang Ying, and Wang Zhang.
In 948, Liu Zhiyuan died and reigned for only ten months, at the age of 54. His second son, Liu Chengyou, who was only 18 years old, ascended the throne and was known as the "Later Han Emperor Yin".
Liu Chengyou (930-951), a member of the Shatuo people. In order not to be bound by the auxiliary ministers, in 950, Liu Chengyou ordered the killing of the auxiliary ministers Yang Ying, Shi Hongzhao, and Wang Zhang, and the three tribes of them. Liu Chengyou also sent people to booby-trap Guo Wei stationed in Wei Prefecture, and the plot was discovered by Guo Wei, so Guo Wei raised an army on the side of Qing Jun and marched into Bieliang. Liu Chengyou was horrified when he heard guo Wei's army enter the army, and ordered That Guo Wei's family members who remained in the capital be beheaded, including the three sons of Guo Wei's adopted son Chai Rong. Liu Chengyou personally led his troops out of the city to fight with Guo Wei, and after the defeat of the soldiers, he wanted to flee back to the city, but unexpectedly, the gates of the capital were closed, and the defenders of the city also rebelled, Liu Chengyou had to flee to the northwest, and was killed by his subordinates halfway, at the age of 21.
Guo Wei Images
After Guo Wei attacked the city, the soldiers frantically plundered in the city, Guo Wei entered the palace to meet Empress Li and asked Empress Li to supervise the country, and three days later, Guo Wei issued a military order to stop the riots of the soldiers, and Fengliang gradually returned to calm.
Later Han is the five dynasties and ten kingdoms period of the shortest dynasty, just 4 years, Liu Zhiyuan reigned only ten months, if Liu Chengxun did not die young, perhaps Liu Zhiyuan's reign will be longer, with Liu Zhiyuan's ability to govern the country, the Later Han may develop and grow, maybe there will be no Later Zhou, Northern Song dynasty, etc., but history does not assume, history is such ups and downs, such intriguing!