Chapter 9 (Chapter 9) Feng Dao

The Five Dynasties is a so-called era that regards human life as trivial.Feng Dao served five dynasties and ten monarchs, but is there really a dynasty and emperor worthy of his loyalty?Feng Dao may take it as his duty to take care of the people, so he intends to take on this responsibility. 【If you look at a passerby on a reverse journey】 The Tang Dynasty founded by Gaozu Li Yuan accepted the abdication of the Sui Dynasty, and finally came to an end after 290 years.Zhu Quanzhong accepted the abdication of Emperor Zhaoxuan of Tang Dynasty in the fourth year of Tianyou (907 AD).The abdication during the founding of the country (618 A.D.) and the abdication during the subjugation of the country are both like farces.And those who surrendered were killed immediately.

Emperor Gong of the Sui Dynasty, who gave up to Li Yuan, passed away in the following year, at the age of fifteen, so he should have been killed.Emperor Zhaoxuan of Tang Dynasty was poisoned to death in the second year after his abdication, that is, at the age of seventeen.The regime of Zhu Quanzhong (Later Liang) who was murdered was a short-lived dynasty that lasted only 16 years, so it was clearly written as poisoning.Had the regime lasted longer, royal historians of the dynasty would have deftly concealed the fact of the killing. Feng Dao (A.D. 882︱954) was born in Jingcheng County, Yingzhou. There is a Jinghe Village about 150 kilometers south of Beijing today, which is said to be nearby.

His ancestors (ancestors) were farmers and Confucians, and they did not persevere in their careers. As recorded in the "Old History of the Five Dynasties", his family background was a farming family, and sometimes he was a grassroots official.So he was definitely not from a famous family. In the Tang Dynasty, Chang'an was the capital.The vicinity of Beijing (then Youzhou) can be said to be close to the border.An Lushan rebelled from this, and after the rebellion was settled, the rebel cadres who returned were still appointed as local Jiedu envoys.Jiedushi was a military and political officer set up on the border in the Tang Dynasty.He can appoint and dismiss officials at will in the territory, and the taxes collected do not have to be sent to the central government.Simply put, warlords.

The Tang court also intended to centralize, but the warlords resisted with the backing of Hebei's old practices in Hebei.However, the three towns in Hebei (the main three Jiedushi) are not necessarily hereditary. They were once supported by soldiers and then abolished. The so-called Yanzhao Elegy Scholar.From Hebei to Shanxi, the atmosphere of Ren Xia is very strong, and it is famous for often producing strong men. Since the time of Jiedushi, there has been a slightly desolate place. Born in such a land, Feng Dao engaged in academic research, and when he grew up, he became a low-level official under the local warlord.Both the old and the new history of the Five Dynasties began to describe Liu Shouguang's experience when he joined the army.Liu Shouguang became the Lulong Army Jiedu envoy in this place, which happened to be the year when the Tang Dynasty fell.

After the fall of the Tang Dynasty, in half a century, the Central Plains had five dynasties, and ten local regimes were established.Historians call this era the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms.Feng Dao started his career as a bureaucrat exactly in the year when the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms began, and then served five dynasties, eight surnames, and eleven monarchs.Although described as an abnormal character, people like Feng Dao were not considered abnormal in the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms era. Sima Guang of the Northern Song Dynasty described in "Zi Zhi Tong Jian": (Feng) Dao is the prime minister, has lived through five dynasties, and has eight surnames. mediocre

This passage is criticizing Feng Dao for being like the owner of a hotel, no matter what kind of guest (monarch) he faces, he always greets him with a smile and rubs his hands.The small kindness that Sima Guang mentioned seems to refer to the peaceful transfer of power as much as possible, and to prevent the people from being affected by the flames of war to a minimum.And the so-called great integrity means that a virgin (virtuous woman) does not follow a second husband, and a loyal minister does not serve a second ruler. Zhao Yi of the Qing Dynasty also attacked him in "Notes on the Twenty-Two Histories":

Seeing the death of the king and the death of the country, it is not disdainful. Fang claims to be the old man of Changle, and he is proud of the rank of officials he has obtained.It can be said that there is shame in the world. In his later years, Feng Dao wrote an article called "Old Changle's Self-narration", which listed the official positions he was appointed by various dynasties and the honors and titles he was awarded, which was criticized as shameless.Changle is the name of the county where he was born, but it may be taken as the meaning of eternal happiness, so it is considered shameless.

However, Feng Dao did not welcome the five dynasties well.If in a peaceful era, he was not from a family background, he might end up as a grassroots bureaucrat all his life.At best, he retired as a magistrate in his later years. In an era where five dynasties have been replaced within fifty years, how should people live?The replacement of the five dynasties cannot be said to be Feng Dao's responsibility.Being able to survive in such an era is also one of his strengths.Although Changle is a place name, can't it be said that it is a thorough optimism? 【Plowing other people's fields at night】

Since there are not many people who can write articles, it should be very common for people with a little knowledge to become the affairs officers of the local warlords.The so-called joining the army was a subordinate official of the local government in the Tang Dynasty, but a grassroots civil servant. What kind of person was Liu Shouguang who he turned to in the first place? Zhu Quanzhong, who wiped out the Tang Dynasty, was established and proclaimed himself emperor of Liang, but Li Keyong, the governor of Jinyang in Shanxi Province, was from the Shatuo tribe of the Turkic family, and had enough power to resist Zhu Quanzhong.The second-rate warlord sandwiched between these two powerhouses was Liu Shouguang.

His father, Liu Rengong, was originally a general of Lulong's Jiedushi. With the help of Jinyang Li Keyong, he seized the position of Jiedushi.It is said that Liu Shouguang was exiled for having an affair with his father's concubine Luo Shi. Later, he attacked and imprisoned his father and killed his brother Liu Shouwen. He was a very bad person. Liu Shouguang was not satisfied with Jiedushi, and claimed to be emperor.He said that he would cut off the opponents, and he cut a subordinate Sun He into eight pieces.Liu Shouguang, who claimed to be Emperor Dayan, annexed Yiding to gain emperor-like power.At this time, Feng Dao was the one who opposed sending troops to Yi Ding.

Opposing Liu Shouguang after Sun He was chopped into eight pieces is an act of recklessness.This is not like what Sima Guang described, the innkeeper who rubs his hands and smiles to greet any guest.Maybe the status of joining the army is very low, and Feng Dao was just imprisoned. Yi Ding Jiedu envoy Wang Chuzhi, who was attacked by Liu Shouguang, asked Jin Wang for help.After Li Keyong died, the young Li Cunxu succeeded him as King of Jin.Li Cunxu immediately sent reinforcements, Liu Shouguang was defeated, and his family was killed.Although Liu Shouguang claimed to be the Emperor of Yan, no one recognized the Yan Dynasty, so it could not be regarded as the dynasty that Feng Dao joined.If the Yan Dynasty is also counted, it will be the Six Dynasties.Liu Shouguang's cadres were probably also punished, but Feng Dao was not held accountable because he was in prison.It's not just luck. Feng Dao then became Li Cunxu's undercover.The one who valued him was the old eunuch Zhang Chengye.Before Zhu Quanzhong destroyed the Tang Dynasty, he killed all the eunuchs, but some eunuchs survived because they were sent to other places.In order to supervise the army of local Jiedu envoys, the Tang Dynasty sent eunuchs to serve as envoys.Zhang Chengye was sent to Li Keyong, and because he was honest and capable, he was deeply trusted.Although the central government ordered the eunuch to be killed, Li Keyong hid him in the temple. After the fall of the Tang Dynasty, Zhang Chengye became the military supervisor again. After Li Keyong died, he supported his heir Li Cunxu.Since Li Cunxu was only seventeen years old, he once discussed to use Li Ke's younger brother.Li Cunxu, who was supported, trusted Zhang Chengye very much, and naturally treated him very courteously.Feng Dao is considered a rare figure.This can be said to be luck, but it can also be said that Zhang Chengye has a discerning eye for people. The Secretary of Hedong Jieduzhang was Feng Dao's initial position under the nomination of Zhang Chengye.This position has to deal with paperwork, but sometimes it also needs to write the oral instructions of Jin Wang Li Cunxu into words, in short, it is a secretary-general. Li Cunxu likes to eat with army cadres, and the number of generals and officers who are entertained gradually increases.So a man named Guo Chongtao asked Li Cunxu to reduce the number of people.Li Cunxu was furious and said: Can't the way of eating be free?Then he said that he would retire to Taiyuan, and ordered to write it down and publish it.Feng Dao, the secretary in charge who was called in, just held the pen and did not draft.Under Li Cunxu's urging, he stood up and said: Guo Chongtao's remonstrance cannot be regarded as a major demerit, it is enough for the king to refuse, why should it be announced to everyone?If the enemy finds out, they will think that our monarch and his ministers are at odds.Please think again. It is dangerous to persuade a prince in anger.It is not difficult to write the monarch's words into an article according to the order, but Feng Dao chose to take risks at this time.Guo Chongtao, the aforementioned admonisher, apologized soon after, and the matter ended here. Zhu Quanzhong of Houliang was killed by his own son Zhu Yougui in 912 AD.Like the eunuchs at that time, the warlords had many adopted sons, also called false sons. Although they were not related by blood, they were expected to be the sons of Giri and were loyal.Since eunuchs can't have children, they are naturally adopted sons, but this is not the case with warlords.Zhu Quanzhong doted on the wife of his adoptive son Zhu Youwen, and wanted Zhu Youwen to succeed him, so he was killed by his own son.But Yougui was also killed by his own brother Youzhen, who was the Emperor of Later Liang (renamed Zhen).This was the last emperor of the Later Liang Dynasty, and a fierce battle broke out between him and Li Cunxu. Li Cunxu can no longer be satisfied with the title of King Jin, and he plans to ascend the throne and proclaim himself emperor.It was Zhang Chengye who tried his best to dissuade him from this plan.But the old eunuch died in 922 AD at the age of seventy-seven.In the second year, Li Cunxu took the throne and took Tang as the title of the country. Later historians called it Later Tang.Li Cunxu is Zhuangzong of the Later Tang Dynasty. In the new dynasty, Feng Dao was appointed as a Hanlin bachelor with the qualification of the household minister.The Hanlin Bachelor is the advisor who drafted the edict, which is extremely important, but this is an official outside the official system, so he was given the title of Minister of the Ministry of Households. In the year of the founding of the Later Tang Dynasty, Zhuang Zong destroyed Hou Liang and moved his capital to Luoyang.In the battle against Houliang, Feng Dao also joined the army. Like ordinary soldiers, he lived in a simple house and slept on straw.In war, the rape of women has always been accepted.Although Feng Dao had received captured women as gifts from the generals, after he accepted them, he asked them about their families and sent them back. Soon after the victory, Feng Dao lost his father and served three years of mourning, during which he naturally resigned from all official positions.This was when he was forty-two to forty-four years old.When he was in mourning in his hometown, he worked in the fields with a shovel and firewood on his back.Whenever someone left his field alone, he helped him till it at night.This is the spirit of sincerity and total dedication. During Feng Dao's mourning period, Zhuang Zong got rid of criticism.If the king of Jin is the emperor, the name of the country should be designated as Jin according to the previous practice.But Zhuang Zong was obsessed with the Tang Dynasty. He imitated the Tang system and sent eunuchs to the army commanders in various places to supervise the army. As a result, the brave Shatuo generals were very dissatisfied.The hero who won the crusade against Sichuan was Guo Chongtao, who offended Longyan by saying in the early years that he wanted to reduce the number of food companions. However, Zhuangzong listened to the eunuch's slander and killed him.In addition, Zhuang Zong may have imitated Tang Xuanzong, who was good at rhythm, and he was good at opera actors and singers.It might be possible in the Tang Dynasty like Xuanzong, but in the later Tang Dynasty, even the payment of soldiers' salaries was often delayed. Rebellions broke out everywhere, and Li Siyuan, who went to suppress the rebellion in Weizhou, was surrounded by troops and attacked Luoyang.Prior to this, Zhuang Zong had been killed by a man who was promoted to general after being an actor. Li Siyuan is the adopted son of Li Keyong, who is qualified to become the emperor of the later Tang Dynasty.Since he was already sixty years old, he was quite hesitant, and was urged by his son-in-law Shi Jingtang to make up his mind.This is Tang Mingzong, one of the few Mingjun in the Five Dynasties. 【Practical things】 Don't cut down on doing good, don't be arrogant if you are capable, and don't be ashamed to wear robes if you are honest and poor. The system (emperor's decree) when Mingzong promoted Feng Dao as prime minister was written like this.It is said that Mingzong is not good at competing with others, and he also trusts Feng Dao who is similar to himself.There are many prime ministers, and Feng Dao is just one of them, but Mingzong treats Feng Dao differently. Mingzong, who was born as a commoner of the Shatuo nationality, was illiterate.It was Feng Dao who explained all kinds of difficult articles for him in a simple way. Mingzong completely reformed the Tang-style system left by Zhuangzong, simplified the organization, and eliminated eunuchs.In addition, he beheaded Kong Qian, the prime minister who made the people exhausted, and abolished the strict law.Kong Qian levied heavy taxes and strictly collected them in order to maintain Zhuangzong's extravagant life.This is the job of the prime minister.If Feng Dao had not been in mourning and served as prime minister, perhaps he would have had to do the same. When Mingzong came to the throne, he was already very old. He reigned for eight years and died of illness in 933 AD. The second son Li Congrong heard crying in the palace and thought his father had passed away, so he prepared to lead his troops to ascend the throne, but Mingzong was not dead at that time.Since the eldest son was dead, it was not difficult for the second son to ascend the throne according to the order, but he was too impatient and brought the army into the palace while the emperor was alive, so he was killed as a traitor.After Mingzong's death, the third son Conghou succeeded to the throne.Congrong seemed too impatient, but in that era, the right to inherit could be obtained by strength. Li Conghou who came to the throne was Emperor Min, and his reputation and prestige were the weakest in the Later Tang Dynasty.Mingzong's adopted son Li Congke and son-in-law Shi Jingtang were two powerful men in the Later Tang Dynasty. The former served as the local Jiedu envoy in Fengxiang and the latter in Hedong respectively.Emperor Min transferred the feudal towns of the two men in order to weaken their power. Li Congke raised the flag to rebel in Fengxiang, and all the troops who went to crusade took refuge in Li Congke.It was not easy for Emperor Min to escape alone. The date of Emperor Min's escape was March 28. On March 29th, Feng Dao ordered Lu Dao, a scholar in the middle school, to write a persuasive essay.The so-called persuasive articles are articles that praise the other party's virtues and implore him to ascend the throne.It is a formality that the usurper has to ascend the throne after accepting it.It is the work of Zhongshu Sheren to produce important documents.Director Lu objected on the grounds that he should wait for the Queen Mother's order.At that time, Feng Dao said a famous saying: Be pragmatic. Meaning it should be realistic. Director Lu retorted, what if Li Congke observes the festival just to face the saint? However, Feng Dao asked him to write even so.Because Fengxiang Jiedu envoy Li Congke raised the flag to rebel, brought the government army under his command, and came to Luoyang.This should be more than just reference.Check it out!Feng Dao said. Persuasion was carried out on April 3, Li Congke ascended the throne on April 6, and Emperor Min, who was in exile on the 9th, was killed. It can be said that he was in exile, because the emperor was still alive before April 9th.Even so, the minister persuaded someone else to take the throne. Isn't this minister a big treason?Among the historians of later generations, some people attached great importance to this date and attacked Feng Dao. An emperor who cannot maintain the country does not need to be regarded as an emperor. Feng Dao, who is seeking truth from facts, said so. Since he served as the prime minister of five dynasties and eight surnames, he is inevitably regarded as an opportunist.However, judging from the behavior of Feng Dao and Director Lu, it was Director Lu who was on the sidelines, while Feng Dao faced the reality squarely and expressed his attitude. The emperor who abandoned the country is no longer an emperor.Let's face it, that's it.If he adopts a wait-and-see attitude, he will not be able to serve in five dynasties and eight surnames.It can be said that he was able to do so because he focused on reality. Li Congke, who ascended the throne, was the last emperor of the Later Tang Dynasty. Shi Jingtang, one of the two powerful men, did not remain silent.Li Congke was Mingzong's adopted son and had no blood relationship; but Shi Jingtang was Mingzong's son-in-law, and he considered himself a closer relative of Mingzong than Li Congke. The last emperor wanted to weaken the strength of this powerful figure, so he ordered him to be transferred from Hedong to Tianping.Shi Jingtang followed the advice of his general Liu Zhiyuan and refused the order.To launch a rebellion, Shi Jingtang was not strong enough, so he relied on the strength of the Khitan tribe.The Khitan is a Mongolian ethnic group that has always been subject to the Tang Dynasty. The head of the Khitan, Yelu Abaoji, became independent after the fall of the Tang Dynasty.Although the Khitan is a nomadic people, there are Han farmers in its territory, and its political organization is also divided into two groups. For Shi Jingtang who launched a rebellion, the late Emperor of Tang Dynasty sent general Zhang Jingda to besiege him in Jinyang.The Khitan, who accepted Shi Jingtang's request, sent 50,000 cavalry reinforcements. As a result, the Tang army killed General Zhang Jingda and surrendered to the Khitan army. After the Khitan army was incorporated, the Tang troops descended from Jinyang and stormed southward into Luoyang, followed by Shi Jingtang.At the end of the later Tang Dynasty, the emperor set fire to himself in the Xuanwu Building in Luoyang and died, and the empress and empress dowager also died.The queen wanted to burn the palace, but was stopped by the prince Li Chongmei.If the palace is burned, the new emperor may have to build a new palace, and the people will suffer because of it.There should be no resentment left after death.The queen obeyed him.The last emperor, Li Congke, was fifty-one years old and died fourteen years after Tang Xianguo. Shi Jingtang, the envoy of Hedong Jiedu, is the emperor, and his country is named Jin, which is what historians call the Later Jin Dynasty.The following year (AD 927) moved the capital from Kaifeng to Luoyang. After Shi Jingtang got rid of Zhang Yanlang and others who promoted the policy of reducing feudal vassals, the crimes of all officials were ignored.Feng Dao was not the only one who changed his official position from the later Tang Dynasty to the later Jin Dynasty. Most of the officials remained in their original positions. 【Only the emperor saved】 In the year when the capital was moved from the Later Jin Dynasty, Khitan named the country Liao with a Chinese flavor. The Later Jin Dynasty was a weak regime that was finally able to establish a country with the aid of the Khitan Liao Dynasty.In order to obtain assistance, it ceded the sixteen prefectures of Yanyun, agreed to donate 300,000 horses of silk to Liao every year, and then became a minister. Three years after the founding of the Later Jin Dynasty (938 A.D.), Feng Dao was appointed as the envoy of the Khitan Empress Dowager.Because the Khitan wanted to register the queen mother, the chief prime minister Feng Dao became the emissary.This is a dangerous task. The Khitan people established the Liao Dynasty in the era of Taizong Yelu Deguang after the death of Taizu Yelu Abaoji.Originally, the nomads were ruled by Khitan officials, and the peasants were ruled by Han officials, but after the acquisition of Yanyun Sixteen Prefectures, there was no longer enough capable Han officials.One of the dangers of Feng Dao's mission is being forced to stay. Sure enough, Liao Taizong asked Feng Dao to stay in the country.At first he refused, but Feng Dao was caught in a dilemma for fear of damaging the diplomatic relations between Liao and Later Jin. Emperor Taizong of the Liao Dynasty treated Feng Dao well-known all over the world and bestowed many gold utensils.Feng Dao sold all these gold wares and bought charcoal to pile up like a mountain.Because the harsh winter is coming.Feng Dao put on a posture of staying for a long time.Taizong finally noticed Feng Dao's mood and allowed him to return home.Despite this, Feng Dao has repeatedly written letters, expressing his hope to stay.After Emperor Taizong of Liao insisted on his return, he pretended to reluctantly leave Liao.On the way home, he dragged on for another two months before leaving the country.A colleague asked: We all want to fly back quickly, why are you so slow? Feng Dao replied: No matter how fast you are, if the other party is worried, you can catch up in one day.It is safe to walk slowly. After completing the important task, Feng Dao won the great trust of Shi Jingtang, the great ancestor of the later Jin Dynasty. In 942 AD, Shi Jingtang died, and his heir was still young.But the emperor left a suicide note to recall Liu Zhiyuan, the Jiedu envoy of Hedong who had an army, and planned to let him assist the young emperor.However, Jing Yanguang, the governor of Tianping, tore up the letter on the grounds that it was difficult to assist the young emperor in this troubled world.Then he embraced Shi Chonggui, Shi Jingtang's nephew.This is the second emperor of the Later Jin Dynasty. Feng Dao also agreed to support the establishment of an emperor, but Jing Yanguang took the initiative.He took a tough stance against Liao's claims, and he no longer professed his vassalship in the documents for letting the emperor ascend the throne, so Liao sent envoys to question him.In the Later Jin Dynasty, when the hardliners were in power, the opinion of the faction opposed to obeying the humiliating agreement became the mainstream, and the relationship with the Liao Dynasty broke down. During the heated debate between the main war faction and the main peace faction in the later Jin temple, Feng Dao's attitude was that civilian officials should stay out of the situation when making military decisions.As a result, he was squeezed out by the advocates of war, and Feng Dao was expelled by the central government, demoted to Tongzhou Jiedushi, and later kicked to Dengzhou. Later Jin was no match for Liao in terms of force.Although good at fighting, the country is gradually being encroached on.It turned out that the east of Jinyang, the largest army in the later Jin Dynasty, stood still.Liu Zhiyuan, envoy of Hedong Jiedu, already knew that Shi Jingtang had made a will to assist the young emperor, but the people in Kaifeng tore it up, so he refused to cooperate. Yelu Deguang, Emperor Taizong of the Liao Dynasty, personally entered Kaifeng and captured Emperor Shi Chonggui. The Liao army plundered all over Henan and tried their best to commit violence.Therefore, he died in the eleventh year of the founding of the Later Jin Dynasty. As soon as the Later Jin Dynasty fell, Liu Zhiyuan, the Jiedu envoy of Hedong, ascended the throne in Jinyang, and the name of the country was Han, which historians called the Later Han.However, starting from Emperor Guangwu (25th︱57th AD), the dynasty that lasted about 200 years was also called the Later Han Dynasty, which is easy to confuse.The longer period of the former Han and the later Han were called the Western Han and the Eastern Han respectively according to the location of their capitals (Chang'an and Luoyang), which was also to distinguish them from the later Han of the Five Dynasties. As soon as the Khitan army occupied Kaifeng, Feng Dao returned from Dengzhou, where he was serving, to meet Emperor Taizong Yelu Deguang.It has been eight years since Feng Dao went to Liao as an envoy.Taizong appointed him as Taifu, which is an important position at the prime minister level. After occupying Kaifeng, Yelu Deguang intended to use it as a base to dominate the Central Plains.However, he violated the dual rule policy of the Khitan regime.The original principle was that the Han nationality was governed by Han officials, but he let the Khitan people manage it.In the military-political situation shortly after the expedition, this approach led to resistance from the Han people, and guerrilla activities flourished.If the guerrillas resisted, the Khitan army would carry out retaliatory massacres.But a policy of terror cannot suppress resistance.Just when he was about to fall into hell, Feng Dao stepped forward and said to Yelu Deguang: At this time, the people, the Buddha will not be able to save them again.Only the emperor was saved. Some historians of later generations criticized Feng Dao's words, saying that he flattered foreign leaders.But Feng Dao's words were not wrong at all.The only one who could stop the massacre was Yelu Deguang at this time.As long as the emperor gives an order, the Khitan soldiers will stop killing. Regarding Yelu Deguang's entry into Kaifeng, his mother, the Empress Dowager, originally disapproved. In addition, after winter's attack, summer came in a blink of an eye.The fierce resistance of the Han people was also quite difficult, and Yelu Deguang finally decided to return to Linhuang Mansion.Linhuangfu, the capital of Liao, is located near the present-day Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and the provincial border of Liaoning Province. On the way back to the north, Yelu Deguang died in Luancheng. Yeluwu, the nephew in the army, wanted to be embraced by the soldiers to take the throne immediately. This was Liao Shizong.There are also Yelu Deguang's prince and emperor's younger brother in Linhuang Mansion in the capital. Sejong decided to overthrow them first, and then hold a funeral for the late emperor. Yelu Deguang's cousin, Yelu Mapo, is serving as a left-behind in Zhongjing in Hengzhou (Zhengding County, Hebei Province).Feng Dao and others were also brought there. After the Khitan army retreated, Liu Zhiyuan, Emperor of the Later Han Dynasty, entered Kaifeng, and bureaucrats and soldiers from the Later Jin Dynasty came to seek refuge.Feng Dao and others probably also eagerly hoped to return to Kaifeng, but they still stayed in Hengzhou in Liao after all.Liao Shizong, who returned to the capital, sent someone to urge Feng Dao and others to enter Beijing for the funeral of the late emperor. Yeluma, who stayed behind in Zhongjing in Hengzhou, lost the hearts of the people due to tyranny and injustice, causing a rebellion, and Feng Dao was finally able to return to Kaifeng.Liu Zhiyuan, Emperor of the Later Han Dynasty, bestowed on him the title of Master Shou, a position higher than that of a prime minister, but similar to an honorary title.It is said that because Feng Dao ignored the fact that the edict was torn up, Liu Zhiyuan kept him in mind, so he didn't expect the sixty-seven-year-old prime minister to handle the actual affairs. [The country is the most important, the king is the lightest] Liu Zhiyuan died one year after ascending the throne, and his son Liu Chengyou ascended the throne at the age of eighteen.This is Emperor Yin of the Later Han Dynasty, who still holds the position of Master Shou with Feng Dao. Feng Dao wrote "Old Changle's Self-narration" when he took up this idle job. Emperor Yin of the Later Han Dynasty was afraid of generals who supported soldiers, and it is said that he had the intention to eliminate these people.Guo Wei, who quelled the chaos caused by Jiedushi, marched towards Kaifeng as soon as he learned of the emperor's intentions.Before Guo Wei broke into Kaifeng, Emperor Yin had been killed by his retainers. Guo Wei, who entered Kaifeng, wanted to establish Liu Zhiyuan's nephew Liu Yun in Xuzhou, so he sent Feng Dao to meet him. At that time, the news of the Khitan army going south had already come. Guo Wei led his army to Chanzhou (Puyang, Henan Province), was supported by his subordinates, and returned to Kaifeng to take the throne. This is Taizu of the Later Zhou Dynasty.Feng Dao finally welcomed Liu Yun to Xuzhou, and the throne had already been taken.People around Liu Yun believed that Feng Dao had lied to the monarch and wanted to kill him.But Feng Dao is leisurely and comfortable, without any fear.Liu Yun also made a rescue for him: This matter has nothing to do with Mr. Feng. Only then did Feng Dao regain his life. Liu Yun was killed not long after, which can be said to be a common occurrence in troubled times. Later Zhou Taizu Guo Wei treated Feng Dao very politely.In the year Guo Wei came to the throne (951 A.D.), Feng Dao was already seventy years old.The perished Later Han was also the shortest-lived dynasty among the Five Dynasties. Taizu of the Later Zhou Dynasty died three years after he ascended the throne. Empress Chai's elder brother had a son named Chai Rong, who succeeded him as the adopted son of Taizu.This is Shizong of the Later Zhou Dynasty, known as the Mingjun of the Five Dynasties.Sejong was also devoted to internal affairs, but it was a pity that he died at the age of 39 in 959 AD.Later, the Jiedu envoy Zhao Kuangyin, who was supported by the army, founded the Song Dynasty and opened the long-term regime of the Northern and Southern Song Dynasty for a total of 300 years. Feng Dao's last job was to serve as the mountain mausoleum envoy of Guo Wei, Emperor Taizu of the Later Zhou Dynasty. He died at the age of seventy-three in 954 AD when he accepted this appointment. The most unforgetable achievement of Feng Dao is that he was the first to advocate the printing of Jiujing woodblock printing, which took 21 years and was completed one year before his death.Printing is a Chinese invention, and printing began to exert its power because of Feng Dao's career, and the subsequent cultural prosperity depends on it. In this way, Feng Dao went through the Later Tang, Later Jin, Liao, Later Han, and Later Wu dynasties. The average life span of each dynasty was ten years, and there were regimes that lasted only four years like the Later Zhou Dynasty.In that era, it was probably not uncommon to have more than one high-ranking official in one dynasty. The Five Dynasties was a so-called era of indiscriminate punishment, and Feng Dao, who served as the supreme minister and survived to preserve his life, was really not a simple character. There are two official histories that record the events of the Five Dynasties: the Old History of the Five Dynasties and the New History of the Five Dynasties. "Old History of the Five Dynasties" mainly selects the actual records of the Five Dynasties, and reflects the atmosphere at that time in the narrative. "New History of the Five Dynasties" was compiled by Ouyang Xiu, with the Confucian ethics of the Song Dynasty as the editorial policy, and his evaluation of Feng Dao was also extremely severe: He is shameless The "Old History of the Five Dynasties" edited by Xue Juzheng said: (Feng) The fulfillment of Taoism has the style of the ancients. (Feng) Dao's universe is so powerful that he has won the body of a minister.However, the four dynasties, the six emperors, can they be loyal? After appreciating Feng Dao's performance and tolerance in this passage, he added: It's just from the moral point of view of loyalty, there may be a little problem.The book counts the dynasties in which he served as four dynasties after deducting the Liao Dynasty of Khitan, and counts the emperors he served as actual prime ministers rather than prime ministers as six emperors.This algorithm can also be regarded as a kind of goodwill towards Feng Dao. The most enthusiastic defender of Feng Dao was Li Zhuowu, a heretical thinker in the late Ming Dynasty.He wrote a collection of character reviews "Cangshu" in sixty-eight volumes, with Feng Dao as the final volume.There is a paragraph in it that reads: Mencius said: The country is the most important thing, and the monarch is the least, so believe in what he says. (Feng) I know it.Those who live in the husband's community are meant to secure the people, and those who live in the country are meant to support the people.The people can be raised in peace, and then the responsibilities of the monarch and ministers will be blocked.The king can't take care of the people, but the ministers alone can take care of the people. The monarch cannot take care of the people, but the ministers must take care of the people.why?As Mencius said, the country is the highest mission, that is, to provide for the people.Compared with being loyal to the monarch, it is the prime minister's responsibility to take care of the people. Feng Dao served five dynasties and ten monarchs, but is there really a dynasty and emperor worthy of his loyalty?Feng Dao may take it as his duty to take care of the people, so he intends to take on this responsibility.When the Khitan occupied Kaifeng, Feng Dao, who was in Dengzhou, did not escape.What drove him to do this may have been a premonition that the Holocaust was coming and a belief that it was his job to stop it. Sima Guang dismissed this matter as a small good, and focused on big festivals; while Feng Dao regarded saving the people as a great good, and regarded loyalty to the monarch as a small festival. Li Zhuowu said that the regime change of the Five Dynasties was carried out under the table. Although there were wars, there was no tragic sacrifice for a city.If the retainers of the old dynasty kept their festivals, the people would be involved in the flames of war.Therefore, the prime ministers of the old dynasty tried their best to persuade the new emperor to avoid chaos. And the people who are free from the suffering of Feng Dy (knife and arrow), (Feng) Daowu has the power to support them. Li Zhuowu said.But he also stated that this approach is limited to troubled times like the Five Dynasties.