In 936 AD, Shi Jingtang, the governor of Hedong (Shanxi) in the Five Dynasties, turned to Yelvdeguang, Emperor Taizong of Liao for help in order to overthrow Li Congke, the emperor of the later Tang Dynasty. Shi Jingtang promised that as long as the Liao Emperor helped me kill Li Congke, I would cede sixteen states, such as Youzhou (Beijing) and Yunzhou (Shanxi Datong), to the Liao State after I became the emperor of the Central Plains.
Sixteen states of Youyun, located at the southern foot of Yanshan Mountains, is an important strategic barrier in the Central Plains, mainly in the plains. The Central Plains Dynasty lost sixteen states in Youyun, and its strategic defense against Liao was extremely passive, which greatly affected the Northern Song Dynasty.
Twenty-three years later, after Zhou Shizong and Chai Rong conquered the most powerful Southern Tang Dynasty, they arrived in Liao and were invincible. It's a pity that God didn't let the Central Plains recover from Youyan. When Chai Rong was preparing to attack Youzhou, he suddenly fell ill and had to take his troops back to North Korea. He soon died and the throne was taken away by General Zhao Kuangyin.
So, let's assume: If Chai Rong didn't die young, could he recover the sixteen states of Youyun?
There are many factors to win or lose the war, the most important of which is the integration ability of the commanders of both sides.
Let's start with Chai Rong. Chai Rong is the adopted son of Guo Wei, Zhou Taizu. He has been selling umbrellas and tea since he was a child, and he knows the folk bad style like the back of his hand. Therefore, after he succeeded to the throne, he carried out various reforms with great momentum, and the effect was very good. Especially in the military field, Chai Rong has built a world-beater imperial army. Sima Guang praised him in Zi Zhi Tong Jian: "The superiority of foot soldiers is unparalleled in modern times. They conquered all directions and won in all directions. "
Chai Rong has a characteristic of fighting, and likes to take risks with soldiers. When Shouzhou (Shouxian County, Huainan, Anhui Province) was wooing, Zhou Jun was stationed at the gate, and Chai Rong actually let Liu Ren, the general of the Southern Tang Dynasty, who was an archer, shoot himself. Everyone advised him not to take risks, but Chai Rong said, "One arrow can kill one day, and there will be no son of heaven in the world!" So domineering!
With such an emperor, all three armed forces are willing to serve Chai Rong. Zhao Yiwen said: As long as Sejong doesn't die early, I absolutely dare not have any ideas. I am willing to be a general of the Zhou Dynasty.
Let's take a look at Chai Rong's opponent, Liao Yelujing.
Yelujing is the son of Yeludeguang, Emperor Taizong of Liao Dynasty. After his cousin Yeluduan of Liao Taizong was killed, Yelujing was the son of Zheng Miao Taizong and successfully became the emperor. However, the emperors and subjects of Liao Dynasty did not like this emperor in all.
Ruan of Liao Sezong loves to drink, and his emotions are all in the wine. Beat and scold officials when they are drunk. Lu Ye Jiing has done more than his cousin at this point. The happiest thing of his day is that he is drunk and unconscious, not to mention dealing with state affairs, and his eyes are hard to open. To this end, the Liao people gave Yelujing a very interesting nickname, called "Sleeping King".
Ye Lvjing also has several hobbies: she likes playing ball games and catching rabbits. As long as it doesn't affect national affairs, these are personal hobbies. Zhu Zhanji, Emperor Xuanzong of the Ming Dynasty, was a great monarch and liked to play cricket. But the terrible thing is that Yale only wants to play, and the national affairs are basically ruined. Every day, most people around Yelujing are snobs, and gentlemen stay away from them.
To make matters worse, do you think it's okay to stay away from Yale? Unless I die! "Sleeping King" to see which minister is not pleasing to the eye, kill! "Liao Shi Mu Zongji" records that "there is no shortage of alcohol and greed for hunting. There is no reward or punishment, and the government does not look at it, but it is murderous. " Yelu Jing ran amok, killing people like hemp, killing people like hemp. Minister Guo commented: "greed is insatiable, and if you don't care about state affairs, the world will be in chaos."
Later, Jin died in Liao country, and officials of Zhongshu wrote to his cousin in the latter Zhou Dynasty to persuade Guo Wei to send troops to attack Liao. The reason is: "(Ye Lujing) is only good at bowing his head, indulging in domestic love, and has no ambition in all directions. It depends. It's different. Intimate and noble, I still have different ambitions. " But at that time, Guo Wei was too young to make a move.
Guo Wei and Yelujing succeeded to the throne almost at the same time, and both became emperors in 95 1. Guo Wei died after more than three years in office, that is to say, when Yeleshi first ascended the throne, his bad habits were not fully revealed, and Liao people were more patient with him. But in 959 AD, Yelujing was in office for nine years, and he did a lot of bad things, and people's resentment had already boiled. Chai Rong seized this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and attacked Liao on a large scale. As Mr. Lv Simian said, "Zhou Shizong is the meeting of the decline of Qidan, and Mu Zong is the most confused meeting of Liao country."
These two emperors, one is a powerful monarch and the other is an absurd bad monarch, can be said to be completely one-sided.
Let's talk about another angle: can Qidan fight?
The answer is, of course, yes. However, in the face of the Central Plains Dynasty, the Khitans won the battle, but they were mostly rubbed on the ground.
Let's give a few examples:
In August of 9 17, Li Siyuan, the general of the state of Jin (the predecessor of the later Tang Dynasty, who controlled Shanxi, Hebei, Shandong and Henan), led 3000 cavalry to meet 1 10,000 qidan cavalry, and the result was adowa of the qidan army.
In 92 1 year, Li, the king of Jin, led troops and killed thousands of Qidan troops.
In May 928, Tang Jun (formerly known as Jin Jun) killed thousands of people in the Khitan army; In June, more than 1000 Khitans were killed; In July, killed more than seven thousand people; In August, Tang Jun killed thousands of Khitan soldiers outside Youzhou, and then killed them, killing more than half of them.
In 944 AD, the Khitan army went south to attack the late Jin Dynasty, and the Jin army was surrounded by the Khitan army in Baituanwei village. 8 jin j fought back, killed the qidan army and almost captured the qidan emperor yelvdeguang alive.
Chai Rong's military capability is not worse than those of Li, Li Siyuan, and after the reform of Chai Rong, his strength is world-beater, which is more than enough to deal with the Qidan army.
When Zhou Jun was in the Northern Expedition, the commander of the three customs surrendered without fighting. Some people will say that the commanders of the three passes are all Han Chinese, so let's take a look at the performance of the Khitans in Youzhou: I heard that Zhou Jun thundered the Northern Expedition, and the Khitans in Youzhou ran away overnight. "Those who were in Youzhou even fled at night." You know, Zhou Jun was still far from Youzhou at this time. When Zhou Jun arrived at Waqiaoguan, the people in Youzhou, regardless of the Han Dynasty, ran into the Western Hills in fear and hid.
How can the Khitan army, whose morale is so low, resist the attack of Zhou Jun, whose morale is like a rainbow? Xiao Siwen, commander-in-chief of the Khitan in Youzhou City (father of Xiao Yanyan) was scared to death.
Besides, Yelujing was terrified when he learned that Zhou Jun had attacked Youzhou. Can you expect such a bad king to lead the Khitans to resist Chai Rong's invincible Zhou Jun? Stop joking.
Unfortunately, heaven forbid you to return to the Central Plains. Chai Rong suddenly fell ill and died soon. Even Zhou Jiangshan was taken away, and sixteen states of deep and remote clouds became the eternal pain in DaSong's heart.