Dynasties of ChinaFive Dynasties and Ten KingdomsLater Jin Dynasty
Tianfu · Reign 936—942
The Khitan troops destroyed the Later Tang Dynasty and ceded territory to the emperor in exchange for the throne. From then on, the sixteen states of Yanyun fell into the hands of the Khitan.
Shi Jingtang is a native of Shatuo, his ancestral home is Taiyuan. He joined the army as a young man. He was brave and steady and was highly appreciated by Li Siyuan. He married Mingzong's daughter and followed Mingzong to fight for many years. He served as the governor of Hedong Province and other positions. After Li Congke seized the throne in 934, the two were suspicious of each other. In May 936, Li Congke ordered him to move the town. He then raised troops in Taiyuan, asked for help from Khitan, promised to become a vassal, and ceded sixteen states such as You and Yun, and received 300,000 pieces of silk every year.
Khitan leader Yelü Deguang personally led his army southward and defeated the Tang army. In November, he was appointed emperor of the Jin Dynasty. He respected Yelü Deguang, who was ten years younger than him, as his father and called himself "son emperor". After the eleventh month of the leap year, Tang Dynasty fell and he made Kaifeng the capital. During his reign, he was humble and courteous to Khitan and paid constant tribute every year. The vassals and towns in the country were dissatisfied, and Fan Yanguang, An Zhongrong and others rebelled one after another. He died of illness in June 942, and was succeeded by his adopted son Shi Zhonggui.
PoliticsTaiyuan raises troops
After May, the Last Emperor of the Tang Dynasty ordered Shi Jingtang to move to Yunzhou, but he refused to obey the order. He claimed that the Last Emperor was not Mingzong's son and rebelled. Later Tang sent Zhang Jingda to lead an army to besiege Taiyuan, and he immediately sent envoys north to seek help from Khitan.
DiplomacyCeded Yanyun Sixteen Prefectures
He sent Sang Weihan to draw up a petition to declare himself a minister and son to the Khitan, and promised to cede sixteen states including You and Yun after the event was completed, and to lose 300,000 pieces of silk every year. Yelü Deguang agreed to send troops and in November he was appointed emperor of the Jin Dynasty in Taiyuan.
Lasting legacyThe Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun were approximately equivalent to today's Beijing, the north of Tianjin, and the north of Hebei and Shanxi. Beijing has since become Khitan and Nanjing, and the Central Plains Dynasty failed to recover them all for more than four hundred years.
MilitaryTaiyuan rescued the siege and destroyed the Tang Dynasty
After the Khitan army was defeated outside Taiyuan City, Tang general Zhang Jingda besieged him in Jin'an Village. Yang Guangyuan killed Zhang Jingda and surrendered the enemy. The Khitan and Jin armies marched south, and the Last Emperor of the Tang Dynasty set himself on fire in the eleventh month of the month. Shi Jingtang entered Luoyang and soon moved the capital to Kaifeng.
PoliticsTaking Sang Weihan as the phase
After Shi Jingtang entered Luo, he appointed Sang Weihan as the privy envoy, and later as Zhongshu Ling, presiding over the government affairs. Sang Weihan advocated doing things to the Khitan in order to protect the territory and the people, rectify the finances in domestic affairs, reward farmers and mulberry trees, and stabilize the country slightly.
MilitaryPut down the Fan Yanguang Rebellion
Tianxiong Jiedu envoy Fan Yanguang was dissatisfied with the imperial court and raised troops in Weizhou. He was defeated by Yang Guangyuan and others and surrendered, but was later killed. Since then, the vassal towns in various places were still unruly, and the imperial court had to comfort them in many ways, making it difficult to make progress in reducing the vassal state.
MilitaryAn Zhongrong raised troops
Chengde Jiedu envoy An Zhongrong was dissatisfied with the imperial court's service to the Khitan, so he petitioned for war, detained and killed the Khitan envoys. He then raised troops in Zhenzhou and was defeated by the imperial army. He was defeated and killed, and his head was sent to the Khitan.
PeopleDied of illness
In June, Jingtang died of illness in Yedu at the age of fifty-one. During his lifetime, he was interested in his youngest son Shi Chongrui, but the powerful minister Feng Dao and others supported his older adopted son King Qi Shi Zhonggui. After the latter came to the throne, his relationship with the Khitan deteriorated sharply.
A native of Luoyang, Henan, he drafted a petition asking for help from the Khitan and helped Shi Jingtang found the country. He advocated the use of peace with the Khitan and worked hard to govern him. He was later alienated by Shi Zhonggui and killed in 947 when the Khitan defeated the Jin Dynasty.
The second son of Taizu of the Liao Dynasty, he helped establish Shi Jingtang, gained the sixteen prefectures of Yanyun, and changed the country's name to Liao. In 947, after its destruction, the Jin Dynasty settled in Kaifeng. He soon retreated and died of illness.
Born in the army, he once said, "What kind of emperor would you rather have? He who has strong soldiers and horses will do it." He opposed professing vassalage to the Khitan and raised an army in 942, but was defeated and killed.