At the time when Zhang Zhao was reclaiming wasteland in Liangzhou, building water conservancy projects, expanding roads, and not dispersing the original six ministries to various places, he appointed the leaders of each tribe as magistrates and county captains.
Luoyang, the eastern capital of the Later Tang Dynasty, was in extreme panic.
On the ninth day of November, Zhang Jingda, the envoy to the north of the Later Tang Dynasty, was killed by the rebel general Yang Guangyuan. The commanding envoy An Shenxin and the Zhenwu Army envoy An Chongrong also surrendered to Shi Jingtang.
Gao Xingzhou, Fu Yanqing and other generals had no choice but to retreat to Hebei.
Just three days after Yang Guangyuan surrendered to Shi Jingtang, Shi Jingtang proclaimed himself emperor in Liuyuan, Taiyuan.
However, although he defeated the army of the Later Tang Dynasty, Shi Jingtang's position at this time was not stable.
Because the Khitan leader Yelu Deguang thought Shi Jingtang was a hero.
Uh! I don’t know where he came from this knowledge? Maybe he wanted to be a hero’s father?
In any case, Yelu Deguang thought that Shi Jingtang was not easy to control, so he did not want to make him emperor at first.
At the same time, something even more troublesome for Shi Jingtang happened. Lulong, the military envoy of the Later Tang Dynasty, and King Zhao De of Peiping heard the news that Shi Jingtang had seduced the Khitan invaders and proclaimed himself emperor, and they immediately felt that they could do it too.
So he sent envoys to bribe the Khitan officials with huge amounts of gold and silk, hoping that Yelv Deguang would abandon Shi Jingtang and make him emperor.
You really have to take the exam even if you want to be your godson! When Yelu Deguang heard the news, and with the praise of the ministers around him, he also fell in love with Zhao Dejun.
Because this person is not as good as Shi Jingtang in terms of ability, appearance, or reputation. If he is made emperor, he will definitely be more respectful. From now on, won't the Khitan people in the Central Plains be able to enter and exit as they please?
When Shi Jingtang heard the news, he was greatly frightened. Since he had already made the decision to proclaim himself emperor and sell Yanyun Sixteen States, his face and other things naturally didn't matter.
So he urgently ordered his secretary-general and confidant Sang Weihan to go see the Khitan leader Yelu Deguang.
Sang Weihan was even more shameless than his master Shi Jingtang. He knelt in front of Yelu Deguang's tent from morning to night and begged, crying bitterly and without dignity. He kept crying to Yelu Deguang about Shi Jingtang's loyalty.
.
Yelu Deguang saw that Sang Weihan was so spineless, and by extension, Shi Jingtang was probably even worse.
At the same time, because Zhao Dejun was in Lulong at this time, if things failed, he could still continue to be his Lulong military envoy. Shi Jingtang had no way out and could only follow the Khitan people to the dark side.
So Yelu Deguang finally agreed to make Shi Jingtang emperor.
Later, after the Tang court lost 110,000 people including Zhang Jingda, the envoy to the north, there were only more than 10,000 troops left in Luoyang, the eastern capital.
To resist the Khitan, it is necessary to recruit troops from Henan Province, Guannai Province and Xijing Chang'an to serve the king.
The conduct of the warriors of the Five Dynasties was very clear to everyone from the last emperor Li Congke to the beggars and refugees in Luoyang.
At this time, I am afraid that even the imperial guards and soldiers guarding the palace do not have much loyalty at all. How can they dare to recruit a large army to serve the king?
Once he is recruited, he will probably die not only at the hands of Shi Jingtang, but also among the insurrectionary soldiers.
So the last emperor Li Congke simply let it go and drank in the palace every day. Seeing the saint like this, the whole court suddenly became disloyal.
On November 25th, at Yelvbei's Mansion in Chengfufang, east of Luoyang Palace City, the eldest son of Yelu Abaoji was surrounded by more than ten soldiers from the later Tang Dynasty, Ma Bu, in his bedroom.
Yelubei's hair was disheveled, he looked up to the sky and screamed, feeling extremely regretful. When the eminent monk Long Bian from Hexi Province asked him to leave temporarily to avoid the danger of swordsmanship, Yelubei refused without hesitation.
Because he didn't think there was anything wrong with him at all, he was just secretly happy in his heart.
This time, the second brother Yelu Deguang entered the Central Plains. Although their relationship was not very good before, the Central Plains is so vast.
It would be impossible for Yelu Deguang to stay in the Central Plains for a long time even if he entered the Central Plains. However, he had lived in the Central Plains for many years and had no conflicts of interest. He was even more reliable than Shi Jingtang and others.
As long as Yelu Deguang kept a few thousand soldiers and horses, granted him the title of king, and obtained a few military governors, it would not be much better than returning to the poor land of Dandong, so he was not willing to leave.
As a result, the last emperor Li Congke had already seen his little thoughts, so before preparing to end his life, he secretly ordered his bodyguards to go to Yelubei Mansion and 'invite' him to go to Xuanwu Tower to burn with him.
How could Yelvbei be willing to submit? If he wanted to die, why would he have crossed the ocean from Dongdan to Later Tang?
At this time, he had no choice but to grab the arm of Li Yanshen, the commander of the Mabu army who came to capture him, and burst into tears.
"The commander wants to kill someone? If he can show his noble hand, when Shi Hedong enters the eastern capital, someone will beg for high-ranking officials and generous salary in front of him. Even if he is sent to a feudal town, he will not know."
Li Yanshen sneered a few times. He was originally a member of the clan of the last emperor Li Congke, and he had long hated the Khitans in his heart. Without Shi Jingtang to attract the Khitans to the capital, how could Luoyang be in such a situation?
Without saying much at that moment, he stabbed Yelube directly in the chest and abdomen with a long knife.
Yelubei grabbed the sharp blade with both hands, and his fingers were cut off. He looked to the west and screamed miserably: "I regret that I didn't listen to the words of the eminent monks in Hexi and ended up in this situation!"
Having said that, this famous cultural figure in Khitan history preserved a large number of ancient books in the late Tang Dynasty, and even many unique copies that were not found in the Central Plains. He was good at painting, could write poems in Khitan script, and at the same time was extremely violent.
Rotten, fell to the ground and died.
On November 26, the second day after killing Yelvbei, after hearing the news that the Khitan people had established Shi Jingtang as emperor, An Shenxin, An Chongrong, Yang Guangyuan and others had all surrendered.
The fifty-two-year-old last emperor Li Congke did not want to fall into the hands of Shi Jingtang and the Khitans, so he took the imperial seal, his mother Queen Mother Cao, his wife Queen Liu, Prince Li Chongmei and others to the Xuanwu Tower and burned himself to death.
Before Shi Jingtang entered Luoyang, the Later Tang Dynasty collapsed in the thirteenth year after its founding.
At this time, Long Bian took Yelu Bei's young daughter Yelu Abli, less than a hundred miles away from Luoyang.
Fortunately, Longbian was protected by his identity as a eminent monk. The officers and soldiers along the way were strong and did not dare to question him, so he could return to Liangzhou as quickly as possible westward.
Long Bian left, but Pei Yuan stayed in Luoyang. When he left Liangzhou, Zhang Zhao sent twenty warriors to escort him back east.
Originally, Pei Yuan's first stop was to return to the Pei family's territory in Wenxi, Hedong, to recruit talents for Zhang Zhao.
However, after the great changes in the Central Plains, Pei Yuan was shaken and made a somewhat crazy decision.
If the Later Tang Dynasty was still stable, it would definitely not allow Guiyi Army Shi to concurrently serve as the Hexi Jiedu Envoy, even if he stayed behind.
But if he could ask Zhang Zhao to be granted the title of Military Envoy to Hexi Province as soon as Shi Jingtang entered the Eastern Capital, then Shi Jingtang's foundation was not stable, he had a reputation on his head, and his position was not stable, and he was suddenly invited to Liangzhou, Hexi Province.
If you return, I will definitely agree with you.
So Pei Yuan simply decided to take the risk and stay in the east without leaving. He was going to submit a petition for the title as soon as Shi Jingtang entered the city, and quickly won the official position of Hexi Jiedushi for Zhang Zhao.
Looking at Pei Yuan's fierce expression, Luo Yu'er couldn't help but be stunned for a moment.
He was the commander of the twenty warriors who escorted Pei Yuandong back this time, and he was also from Zhang Zhao's personal guard Hanshandu.
Now he finally understands why Pei Yuan was able to gain Zhang Zhao's trust and respect in a short period of time. This guy is really desperate for his life!
Luoyang is the capital of the imperial court. Once Shi Jingtang's rebels enter the city, it is difficult to say that they will not kill and loot.
There are only about twenty of them, and the rebels number at least tens of thousands. If chaos breaks out, there is no way they can protect themselves.
As a former member of Shandu, Luo Yu'er also understood that if he could get the official position of Hexi Jiedushi for Zhang Zhao, it would definitely be a great achievement, and it would be very beneficial to Zhang Zhao's future development, so he quickly
I quickly supported Pei Yuan’s opinion.
"Now that Pei Sheren has decided, we must make preparations. My ten brothers and I immediately went out to stock up on supplies.
Pei Sheren will bring ten other brothers to strengthen the protection of the post house and arrange patrols. If any scoundrels come to harass them, kill them!"
Pei Yuan was not nervous at all, he nodded towards Luo Yu'er.
"Don't worry, Luo Dutou. We are envoys from the west. I think that although Shi Hedong is shameless, he can be regarded as a hero.
As long as he has some ambition and wants to maintain his position as emperor, he won't do anything to us.
We only need to survive the most difficult first ten days, and it will be safe once Shi Hedong enters the city.
It is a pity that it is said that the imperial seal passed down by the Holy Admiral was also brought to Xuanwu Gate and burned together. If this thing can be found and presented to Shi Jingtang, it may be possible for the military envoy to capture Qinzhou Xiongwu Jiedushi, or Yizhou Changyi
Jiedushi’s territory.”
Luo Yu'er couldn't help but twitch her mouth. It was a problem for the twenty of them to protect themselves. Pei Yuan actually wanted to find the imperial seal for the king. These two people were worthy of being kings and ministers who could come together.
....
Just when great changes occurred in Luoyang, the eastern capital, and Shi Jingtang was about to sit on the throne, Jia Yanchang, the envoy of the Guiyi Army, had just arrived in Weizhou.
The angel who came with Jia Lianchang was a household inspector under Zhongshu's sect.
The inspector had a sad face and was not very happy. If he was assigned the task of conferring a title on a town in normal times, it would definitely not be his turn.
However, when they set off, the imperial court was already in a state of turmoil. The Privy Council and the bigwigs under Zhongshu's sect were either busy leaving the city to escape or preparing to curry favor with the new master.
No one wants to go to Dunhuang, Hexi Province at this time, which is thousands of miles away!
Therefore, the important task of canonizing a foreign town as a Jiedu fell into the hands of an inspector from the Household Department of Zhongshu Men like him.
They traveled all the way west and crossed the border of Qinzhou in a few days. Once they left Qinzhou, they were no longer under the control of the Central Plains court. Lanzhou and Weizhou, which were adjacent to Qinzhou, belonged to the territory of Hexi Province.
The Xiongwu Jiedu envoy Ya Bing who had escorted them all the way also returned to Qinzhou at this time and was no longer escorting them along the way.
This Hubu inspector named Fan Zhi could only follow Jia Yanchang, the chief envoy of the Guiyi Army, and marched from Qinzhou to Weizhou and Lanzhou with more than 20 guards and 40 to 50 mules and horses.
Fortunately, Weizhou is not the territory of the Later Tang Dynasty, but it is close to Qinzhou.
Although cities such as Longxi and Xiangwu were occupied by the Qiang people, there were also many Han people who were somewhat in awe of the imperial angels.
But as soon as they arrived in Lanzhou, things started to happen frequently. There was Weizhou between Lanzhou and the imperial court, and they were far less in awe of the seemingly powerful Central Plains imperial court.
According to the division of strength at this time, it should be part of Liangzhou Aimo.
But what is the reality? There is no unified nation at all. It is just a concept of identity.
The leading Limo Liugu tribe in Liangzhou could not control the Momo in Lanzhou at all. Naturally, it was difficult for Zhang Zhao's influence to reach here.
Fortunately, this was the period of the Five Dynasties. As a scholar who started his career as a scholar, and even passed the Jinshi, his style was not weak.
To be more precise, it was only after the mid-Northern Song Dynasty that Han literati gradually became weak.
Before that, it was normal for literati to be generals and prime ministers. Most scholars could bend a bow and shoot arrows from a distance, and draw a sword to kill people at a close distance. They still had these basic skills, at least they were not lacking in courage.
Even the poets such as Du Fu and Bai Juyi in our impression are far from professional soldiers, but they are by no means weak scholars.
But Fan Zhi, who grew up in the Zhengzhou area of the Central Plains, saw the rough and tough folk customs of Hexi for the first time.
They carried the banner of the imperial court and the banner of the Qinzhou Jiedu Envoy, but they would still be peeped at with malicious intent from time to time, or even directly robbed.
Fortunately, Fan Zhi discovered that the twenty-odd knights led by the Guiyi Army envoy were very brave.
They all had good horses and strong bows. Even when faced with dozens, hundreds, or even hundreds of barbarian cavalry coming to plunder, they still dared to take the initiative and fire their bows left and right.
After traveling westward for more than sixty miles, they were constantly repelling the Hu Qi around them. Seeing this situation, Fan Zhi felt relieved. He even had the leisure to praise Jia Yanchang who was beside him.
"I also heard in Dongdu that Zhang Taibao of the Guiyi Army was an unparalleled hero. Now that I see your envoy's son-in-law being so brave, I know that his words are true!"
Jia Yanchang was very satisfied with Fan Zhi, the angel who came to be canonized by the Central Plains court. Although his official position was not high, he had a correspondingly low airs and it was very pleasant to get along with him all the way.
So Jia Yanchang wanted to remind Fan Zhi to prevent him from being confused about the situation when he arrived in Hexi, so Jia Yanchang pointed at the knights guarding him and said with a smile.
"The angel is ridiculous, but the ones guarding us right now are not the knights who returned to the rebel army."
Fan Zhi was confused and asked, "Isn't your envoy the envoy of the rebel army? Why are these brave knights not the knights of the rebel army?"
Jia Yanchang pondered for a moment, "Does the angel know why this time when a certain person came to the court, he only asked Guasha and Shazhou to observe and deal with the Tibetan envoys for Duke Cao Yuanzhong?"
Fan Zhi shook his head. This was indeed strange. The surrounding vassals had always asked for the title, and they all wished that the bigger the request would be, the better. How could they lower the title to themselves?
The so-called observation and handling of the envoys who were detained by the Tibetans in the two prefectures of Guasha was several levels worse than the envoys who returned to the rebel army.
Moreover, this also abandoned the righteous flag of the Guiyi Army, which had been hard-earned by joining the six counties of Hexi since Zhang Yichao, which is really puzzling.
But he also felt that Jia Zhengshi, who returned to the Yijun Army, might be trying to remind him of something.
Fan Zhi did not dare to be careless. Although he was an angel of the court, he was not a high official. Moreover, the Tang Dynasty was in a state of turmoil. After he returned, he did not know whether the court would still be there.
Even if the court is still there, if he is just a household inspector who has traveled thousands of miles to Hexi and something goes wrong, such as being intercepted and killed by Mo Mo, the court will not be able to do anything about it even if it wants to. At most, the generals will take the opportunity to kill a few small tribes.
Just cover your face and that's it
So Fan Zhi quickly bowed his hand and lowered his status, "In that case, I would also like to ask Jia Yamen to clarify my doubts."
Jia Yanchang pretended to think hard for a long time, and then sighed to Fan Zhi: "If angels were not loyal and fell in love with so-and-so, so-and-so should not be in contact with outsiders, but since they are in love, so-and-so will take the risk."
The person who is now in charge of the Guiyi Army is not Cao Yuanzhonggong, but the son-in-law of Cao Yuanzhonggong. Zhang Yichao, the great hero who surrendered to Hexi in the past, Zhang Taibao's great-grandson Zhang Zhao, and Zhang Erlangjun are the envoys of the Guiyi Army invited this time.
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Moreover, Commander Zhang is not at Shazhou Dunhuang, but is waiting for us in Liangzhou, not far from here."
Fan Zhi was immediately shocked. If what Jia Yanchang said was true, it meant that the Guiyi Army had actually taken control of Liangzhou again. Could it be that they had unified Hexi again?
This is definitely not a blessing for the imperial court!
This was the first thought that came to Fan Zhi's mind, and he felt a lot more heavy about this trip to the west.
This chapter has been completed!