In Daning Palace, Kaifeng Prefecture, Tokyo, the life of the son emperor Shi Jingtang has come to an end.
In fact, the last time when the news came that Zhang Zhao and Yelu Deguang were brothers, Shi Jingtang was deeply hurt.
He fell off the throne in Daning Palace, vomited blood, and suffered a slight stroke at that time.
However, after being nursed back to health, he was able to slowly regain control of his health. Just when his health began to improve, Zhang Zhao gave him a second blow.
That is, he proclaimed himself king and spread the message to the world, so that all the kings in the world could appreciate Shi Jingtang's ugly appearance again.
Although before this, everyone knew about Shi Jingtang's betrayal of Yanyun Sixteenth Prefecture and his father's affair with the Khitan.
But this time Zhang Zhao completely tore off all the fig leaves from Shi Jingtang and publicly executed him in public.
Moreover, the speed of information dissemination was not very fast at this time. Farther south, the eunuch Dynasty Nanhan was amusing himself.
As well as Duan Siping, the former military governor of Tonghai in the Later Jin Dynasty who had just established the Dali Kingdom, and Wu Quan, the military governor of Jinghai Navy who had established a separate regime, they actually didn't know much about these things.
As for Zhang Zhao's transmission this time, it directly brought Shi Jingtang to Khitan in the north and South China Sea in the south, completely bringing him into disrepute.
The matter of establishing himself as the Heavenly King of Liang Kingdom pushed Shi Jingtang into an abyss.
Originally, Zhang Zhao returned to the country with the righteousness of the Eighteen States, and Shi Jingtang's Later Jin Dynasty openly recovered Longyou, Hexi, which had been briefly recovered since the Tubo occupation of Hexi, except during the Zhang Yichao period.
This actually greatly enhanced the emperor's reputation.
To a certain extent, it offsets the fact that Shi Jingtang's father was in Khitan and betrayed the Sixteenth Prefecture of Yanyun.
But this time Zhang Zhao founded the country and instantly took back all the honor he had given Shi Jingtang before.
For Shi Jingtang, in order to get the honor of returning to the eighteen states of Longyou in Hexi Province, he really sacrificed the territory of Qinzhou Xiongwu Army and his sister-in-law Princess Yongle.
As a result, Zhang Zhaobai prostituted him and took away the glory of returning from the Eighteen States, and made him make a big fool of himself. It can be said that he lost his wife and lost his army.
What made Shi Jingtang even more intolerable was that Zhang Zhao had become his uncle.
In fact, the emperor was very confused. With Zhang Zhao's strength, even Shi Jingtang could only be Yelu Deguang's son. Why could Zhang Zhao be Yelu Deguang's younger brother?
Besides Zhang Zhao, the most painful final blow came from Liu Zhiyuan.
Just when Zhang Zhao was preparing for the scientific expedition in Hexi, Liu Zhiyuan sent Guo Wei to completely convince Bai Chengfu, the former deputy governor of Yinshan during the Tang Dynasty.
Bai Chengfu, Helian Hailong, Bai Kejiu and others instigated the Tuyuhun, Turks and other tribes in Khitan territory to go south and seek refuge.
Liu Zhiyuan recruited his people and got close to 150,000 Tuyuhun and other herdsmen from various tribes. These people were skilled in bow and horse, and Liu Zhiyuan's strength increased greatly from then on.
In fact, before Liu Zhiyuan returned to Taiyuan, the strength of Hedong Town was no longer very strong.
Because several groups of warriors from Hedong supported the new emperor and went south to proclaim himself emperor, the population in the Hedong area was greatly reduced.
When Shi Jingtang raised troops in Taiyuan, only thirty or so thousand people followed him south.
Therefore, although Shi Jingtang clearly knew that Liu Zhiyuan was not very reliable, he still sent him back to Hedong to serve as Jiedushi and stay in Beijing.
The plan in his mind was that because of the lack of population in the Hedong area, before Liu Zhiyuan got Bai Chengfu and other Tuyuhun tribes, the number of people under his rule was only four to five million, and he lacked warriors.
It is not easy to draw out 10,000 or 20,000 combat soldiers. He has no strength to fall out with Shi Jingtang, so he can only act as a large border garrison commander.
But this time, after Liu Zhiyuan completely conquered the Tuyuhun tribe, he also absorbed the Han and Hu peoples such as Yunzhou and Daizhou who were unwilling to surrender to the Khitan.
Now not only did he have the qualifications to challenge Shi Jingtang, but he could even oppose the Khitans.
In February 941, Yelu Deguang was so angry that Liu Zhiyuan recruited various Tuyuhun tribes to go south.
He sent Khitan envoys to Jinyang to ask Liu Zhiyuan for Bai Chengfu and others.
Liu Zhiyuan did not stay in Jinyang on the pretext of inspecting the defense. Guo Wei and others who stayed in Jinyang perfunctory and delayed the Khitan envoys on the grounds that Liu Zhiyuan was absent and could not make the decision.
Yelv Deguang had no choice but to send an envoy south to Tokyo again to question Shi Jingtang and ask him to order Liu Zhiyuan to release Bai Chengfu and other troops to Khitan.
Shi Jingtang had no choice but to send someone to give orders to Liu Zhiyuan.
As a result, the Khitan envoy went to Jinyang with Shi Jingtang's imperial edict, but Liu Zhiyuan avoided seeing him as usual.
Shi Jingtang had no choice but to send his confidant Zhang Cheng, an old acquaintance of Liu Zhiyuan, to mediate.
Liu Zhiyuan couldn't hide, so he scolded Shi Jingtang for being so groveling in front of the Khitan envoys, and bluntly said that Bai Chengfu and others were already Tang children as early as the Great Dynasty.
Now that they are unwilling to live in Khitan and are determined to return to Tang Dynasty, Liu Zhiyuan will definitely not be able to expel them again.
The enraged Khitan envoy returned to Kaifeng Mansion in Tokyo for the third time, and this time he even received a sharp rebuke from Yelu Deguang.
At this time, Shi Jingtang was seriously ill and could not get out of bed for more than ten days. He could only shed tears and speak to the Khitan envoy on his bed.
"Liu Zhiyuan from Hedong is like a rebellious son in his family. Kong Wu is strong and doesn't listen to his father's words. What can he do?"
To be honest, this is really miserable. The majestic emperor was forced to do this by all parties.
There was Khitan, a tyrannical father, urging him unceremoniously, and Liu Zhiyuan, a rebellious son below, who didn't care about Shi Jingtang's life or death at all.
The son emperor was caught in the middle and suffered humiliation but could do nothing.
After the Khitan envoy had no choice but to leave, Shi Jingtang, who was hit hard by Liu Zhiyuan and Zhang Zhao, could no longer hold on.
In the Daning Palace, a candle as thick as an arm was dancing with dim light, as if it foreshadowed the fate of Shi Jingtang, the later Jin dynasty.
Feng Dao was summoned from home and went to the palace overnight, knowing that something was probably going to be wrong.
When he arrived, Shi Jingtang's expression further confirmed his judgment.
The emperor leaned with his back on the bed, and two palace maids behind him supported him hard to prevent him from falling.
His face was not pale, but a golden paper color that looked unhealthy.
Shi Jingtang, who was speechless when he saw Feng Dao coming in, quickly asked his chamberlain to carry his seventh son, Shi Chongrui, who was just over one year old, into Feng Dao's arms.
During the Zhang Congbin Rebellion in the past, all of Shi Jingtang's heirs had been killed. This one-year-old Shi Chongrui was Shi Jingtang's only son.
The palace attendants on the left and right looked at Shi Jingtang's appearance and all shed tears.
Although the emperor here is shameless and has shortcomings, he is still good to the people around him.
Looking around, Shi Jingtang asked someone to carry Shi Chongrui into Feng Dao's arms. Although he didn't speak, everyone knew what he meant.
Feng Dao looked at Shi Jingtang and thought about Shi Jingtang's kindness to him in the past. Although he wanted to throw Shi Chongrui to the ground immediately, he did not do so in the end.
But I couldn't help but sigh in my heart, Zheng Wang Shi Chonggui is already twenty-seven years old.
Although he is not a wise master, he still has the appearance of being successful.
Moreover, even if Shi Chonggui has no ability, he is still better than Shi Chongrui who is over one year old!
Feng Dao could only think to himself that if he could spare Shi Chongrui's life, then it would not be in vain for Shi Jingtang and his ministers to fight.
As for supporting Shi Chongrui to become emperor, don't even think about it. He, Feng Dao, couldn't do it even if he wanted to.
Although Shi Jingtang could not speak, seeing Feng Dao's expression and seeing that Feng Dao did not put Shi Chongrui on the ground, but still held him tightly in his arms, he immediately felt more at ease.
He knew that even if Feng Dao could not support Shi Chongrui as emperor, he could at least help save Shi Chongrui's life.
Because he knew that his adopted son Shi Chonggui was not such a ruthless person. As long as someone advised him, he would definitely not harm Shi Chongrui.
The only thing to worry about is that Shi Chonggui likes to listen to impassioned words and has insufficient understanding of himself.
I'm afraid that after his death, Shi Chonggui will provoke the Khitan people.
Thinking of this, Shi Jingtang used all his strength to raise his hand slightly.
But the word "Khitan" in his mouth was always stuck in his throat. No matter how hard he tried his best, he couldn't say it out, and his face turned red with anxiety.
The chamberlain beside him quickly came over to give Shi Jingtang a pat on the back. Feng Dao then put down Shi Chongrui and took a few steps forward to hear what Shi Jingtang wanted to say.
But at this moment, Shi Jingtang felt a burst of strength coming from nowhere.
But he immediately trembled, and Shi Jingtang knew that if a patient like him, who had been suffering from illness for a long time, suddenly regained all his energy, he must have regained his health.
Thinking of this, the emperor used all his strength to shout the word "Khitan".
Feng Dao in front of him was also in tears. He quickly knelt on the ground and said loudly.
"I must do my best to dissuade King Zheng from provoking the Khitans!"
After Feng Dao finished speaking, Shi Jingtang nodded slightly and his eyes began to wander.
At this time, Shi Jingtang's wife, Princess Yongning, the third daughter of Emperor Mingzong of the Later Tang Dynasty Li Siyuan, and Empress Li of the Later Jin Dynasty, who had been waiting outside for a long time, ran in crying.
Shi Jingtang, knowing that his time had come, rested his head on Empress Li's shoulder.
In this last moment, he thought everything through.
For Shi Jingtang, Zhang Zhao and him had their own grievances.
But in fact, there are many people who were let down by Shi Jingtang.
Judging from the damage caused by Cong to Shi Jingtang, Zhang Zhaoyuan is far inferior to Li Congke, Zhang Congbin and others.
The former forced him to the point where he had to serve the Khitan as his father and risked raising an army to save his life, while the latter killed all his descendants.
According to common sense, the damage Zhang Zhao caused to Shi Jingtang was worse than even Liu Zhiyuan's.
Because Liu Zhiyuan was single-handedly promoted by Shi Jingtang, Liu Zhiyuan would not be what he is today without Shi Jingtang, but Liu Zhiyuan still betrayed him mercilessly.
As for Zhang Zhao, Shi Jingtang didn't have much grudge against him.
When Shi Jingtang returned to the eighteen states in Longyou, Hexi Province, it could even be said to be one of the few highlight moments in Shi Jingtang's life.
But Shi Jingtang's hatred for Zhang Zhao was obviously much greater than that of Li Congke, Zhang Congbin, Liu Zhiyuan and others.
Before this, Shi Jingtang himself didn't know why? But now, he suddenly understood.
That's not hate, or it's not completely hate, it's hate mixed with strong feelings of envy.
The young hero travels across the Western Regions. He regains his ancestral property and is powerful in Hexi. He holds great righteousness in his hands, his soldiers are dedicated to their lives, and he has a long-term vision.
Others don't know it, but Shi Jingtang can feel it. Zhang Zhao has unlimited possibilities in the future. Not to mention dominating the world, at least he has the ability to be like Zhu Quanzhong.
And all of this is what Shi Jingtang, whose father is a Khitan and who betrays his country and seeks glory, lacks and desires the most.
At this moment, he finally figured out that he had such extreme longing, envy, and jealousy for Zhang Zhao that he could not wait to replace him with his own body.
"Yongle! Yongle!" Shi Jingtang whispered extremely weakly in Empress Li's ear.
The Yongle he mentioned was Empress Li's fifteenth sister, who was married to Zhang Zhao's adopted son Murong Nobunaga and is currently in Hexi.
The age difference between Empress Li and Princess Yongle was more than 20 years. When Li Siyuan passed away, Princess Yongle was still babbling.
It was Empress Li who had always taken care of Princess Yongle, who was like her and Shi Jingtang's daughter.
Thinking of this, Queen Li thought that Shi Jingtang wanted to see Princess Yongle.
So he nodded and said with tears in his eyes: "Don't be anxious, Sanlang. I will send someone to Hexi to summon Yongle back."
Shi Jingtang shook his head laboriously. He wanted to say that Princess Yongle would be Empress Li's support in the future.
However, no matter how much I opened my mouth, the sound could no longer come out.
With this final regret, the emperor ended his shameless and complicated life.
From a personal experience, he is worthy of sympathy. He actually never thought about rebelling and becoming emperor, but he was forced to embark on this path by reality and Li Congke.
But after Shi Jingtang embarked on this path, his betrayal of the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun brought serious disasters to China in later generations.
For the first time, the people of the Central Plains lost the protection of Yanshan and Yinshan. If Zhang Zhao could not change this situation.
Still, as in history, the Central Plains court could only focus most of its energy on how to defend against the difficult situation of the northern nomadic cavalry charging straight down from the flat plains of Hebei.
