Chapter 173 The Fate of the Later Jin and Liao Dynasties

After a brief stay in Liaodong, the Liao emperor returned to the Liao Kingdom.

Before leaving, he was even more respectful to Liu Fu, and he was also much more polite to Zhuge Liangxuan, Xun Yu, Fang Xuanling, and Hai Rui who were by Liu Fu's side.

From the Liao emperor's polite demeanor as he departed, Zhuge Liang immediately concluded:

"Upon returning this time, the Liao emperor will surely submit to the Han dynasty, and the Liao kingdom will be returned to the Later Han. The matter can be temporarily settled."

Upon hearing Zhuge Liang's assessment, Xun Yu agreed.

At the same time, Liu Fu was also filled with emotion.

From the day he transmigrated as a hostage to the day the Liao emperor is about to submit and pay tribute, it has only been a year.

But so much has happened in that year; the Later Han Dynasty was so weak just a year ago.

The emperor, Liu Laowu, was even more troubled by this!

Not a single official in the court believed that the Later Jin and Liao dynasties could be defeated.

At that time, Liu Laowu was at a loss when faced with the arrogant and domineering envoys of the Later Jin and Liao dynasties in the imperial court.

At that time, he had no confidence at all. Who could have imagined that just one year later, such a huge change would have occurred, and the balance of power would have shifted dramatically.

Just as the Liao emperor returned to discuss the matter with all his ministers, news from the Later Jin was constantly being relayed back to Liaodong.

The struggle between the Crown Prince and the Third Prince of the Later Jin Dynasty was nearing its end.

When Liu Fu went to the Later Jin, he directly demolished their capital and kidnapped their emperor back to Liaodong.

This incident had a huge impact, especially since Liu Fu had always supported the Third Prince's succession to the throne, as he had personally designated him.

This is why many civil and military officials in the Later Jin court were willing to support the Third Prince, because if the Third Prince, whom Liu Fu supported, continued to be a puppet emperor in the Later Jin in the future, they could also get a share of the spoils.

After all, it's for the sake of future prospects, which is understandable.

Don't even mention that the Crown Prince of the Later Jin had some imperial edict left by the late emperor; that's nothing compared to Liu Fu.

If they had truly defeated Liu Fu, the Later Jin emperor wouldn't have been captured and taken to Liaodong, becoming the greatest disgrace to the entire nation.

With the support of this group, the Third Prince fought many brilliant battles from the very beginning, causing more than half of the Later Jin Crown Prince's main force to collapse, leaving them with almost no ability to resist.

Just when everyone thought the Third Prince would win and kill the Crown Prince, no one expected that the Third Prince, who had been suppressed by the Crown Prince before and lacked sufficient training, would make a serious mistake.

This gave the Crown Prince of Later Jin a chance to breathe, and the two sides resumed their mutual attacks until recently when the Crown Prince of Later Jin was beheaded, and the Third Prince finally won a Pyrrhic victory.

But at this moment, the Second Prince, who had always kept a low profile, suddenly attacked and killed the Third Prince with a sword just as he was about to board the plane.

At this moment, Liu Fu received a letter of surrender from the second prince of the Later Jin dynasty.

This vast Later Jin dynasty ended up with such a tragic fratricidal conflict, but for Liu Fu, it was nothing serious.

In fact, it didn't matter to him who was the emperor of the Later Jin. He only needed a puppet emperor who could submit a letter of surrender and pay tribute.

The rest is up to you.

The Liao emperor was also surprised that just as he returned to discuss matters with his court officials, the Later Jin had taken the lead and submitted a letter of surrender to the Later Han.

The Liao emperor originally wanted to be the first, but unexpectedly, the second prince of the Later Jin took the lead.

Moreover, the second prince of the Later Jin was even more sensible. After killing his older and younger brothers, he completely controlled the entire Later Jin under his control.

However, he did not immediately ascend the throne.

Instead, he brought a large gift to see Liu Fu.

After arriving in Liaodong, he first received Liu Fu's permission, and then went to the Later Han court to meet Emperor Liu Laowu.

After obtaining permission from both the Later Han emperor and the Eighth Prince, the Second Prince of the Later Jin chose to return and ascend the throne, and immediately sent three years' worth of tribute gifts and silver.

The Second Prince of Later Jin handled the matter so discreetly that even Liu Fu was slightly surprised; this guy was indeed incredibly steady in his actions.

From this perspective, neither the Crown Prince nor the Third Prince of the Later Jin Dynasty are nearly as inexperienced as the Second Prince.

Not to mention the Third Prince and the Crown Prince, even the Liao Emperor was instantly killed by this Second Prince.

Upon seeing that the Later Jin had taken the lead, the Liao emperor immediately began preparing to submit a letter of surrender.

But the ministers at this time continued to oppose it.

"Your Majesty, our Great Liao is at the height of its power, why would we surrender to the Later Han? This is something I truly cannot understand!"

"Yes, our Liao people's ancestors paid a bloody price to seize this vast land, and now we are going to hand it over to the Later Han Dynasty and become their subjects. How can we tolerate this?"

"Your Majesty is confused! If Your Majesty insists on doing this, then this old minister will die today as a loyal subject who remonstrates to the death. I will smash my head against this golden palace and die!"

"Does Your Majesty intend to become a sinner for the entire Liao Dynasty?"

…………

The Liao court is now in complete chaos.

Even the Liao emperor himself did not expect this. He anticipated that there would be some resistance to this matter, but he believed that it could be quelled.

Unexpectedly, the resistance was so great that almost nine out of ten court officials opposed the matter.

Moreover, all the Liao royal family members he had never met before now united and came before him, constantly trying to persuade him.

Faced with these elders' questioning, scolding, and even cursing.

The Liao emperor is now feeling the immense pressure.

But in the end, he endured all the infamy and handed over a letter of surrender to Liu Fu.

Within ten days, the two foreign states of Later Jin and Liao simultaneously submitted surrender documents to Later Han, expressing their willingness to become vassals and pay tribute. When Liu Laowu received the memorials, he was momentarily convinced that he was dreaming.

"I mean, this is all unbelievable. Could it be a dream? It doesn't seem real at all!"

To be honest, in less than a year, it went from a completely disadvantaged country to the strongest country in the world, and directly annexed the Liao and Later Jin.

Make them submit and pay tribute!

It's perfectly normal for Liu Laowu, an emperor, to feel like he was dreaming about something like this.

Even if it were any other emperor, he would definitely feel the same way, as if he were dreaming, and be afraid that his beautiful dream would end.

After all, he accomplished so much in less than a year. Which emperor in history could have done that?

Not a single one!

Except for Liu Fu!

At this time, Liu Laowu gradually felt that he was getting old and should enjoy his later years and do some things he liked.

He suddenly had an idea: he should hand over the throne to Liu Fu sooner rather than later, so that he could do what he wanted to do...