Seeking a new translation of the full text of Jing Yanguang in the History of the Five Dynasties

Reference translation of classical Chinese:

Jing Yanguang, courtesy name Hangchuan, was born in Shaanzhou (now Sanmenxia City, Henan Province). His father, Jing Jian, was good at archery. He once taught his son Jing Yanguang: "If you can't shoot an arrow into the iron, it's better not to shoot at all." Therefore, Jing Yanguang was praised for his extraordinary arm strength. He served in the army of Zhu Youjie (stationed in Shaanzhou) of the Later Liang Dynasty. (Later) Zhu Youjie was imprisoned for treason, and Jing Yanguang escaped. Later, he followed the general Wang Yanzhang to participate in the battle in Zhongdu. (In the fierce battle between the Later Liang and the banks of the Yellow River in the Later Tang Dynasty) Wang Yanzhang was defeated. Jing Yanguang was also wounded in several places, and finally fled back to Bianzhou (the capital of the Later Liang Dynasty) alone.

When Li Siyuan, Mingzong of the Later Tang Dynasty, succeeded to the throne, the guard Zhu Shouyin rebelled in Bianzhou (he did not obey Li Siyuan's orders). Jin Gaozu Shi Jingtang was the deputy envoy of the Sixth Army at the time, responsible for dealing with those who followed Zhu Shouyin to participate in the rebellion. Jing Yanguang was implicated in the Bianzhou Military Academy and was about to be executed. Shi Jingtang cherished his talent, so he secretly released him to escape, and later made him a general. When Shi Jingtang proclaimed himself emperor, he appointed Jing Yanguang as the commander of the guards and the army, and concurrently as the training envoy of the Guozhou regiment and the military governor of Ningjiang. In the fourth year of Tianfu, Jing Yanguang was sent to be in charge of Yicheng affairs, and then transferred to Baoyi. He was also called as a bodyguard, Ma Bujundu Yuhou, and was reassigned to guard the three cities of Heyang. He was moved to be the commander of Mabujundu, and also in charge of Tianping affairs. . After the death of Emperor Gaozu of the Jin Dynasty, Emperor Shi Chonggui succeeded to the throne. Because Jing Yanguang had contributed to this matter, he always boasted of his achievements. When Emperor Shi Chonggui succeeded to the throne, the ministers of Jin discussed and reported the matter to Khitan and expressed their submission as ministers. Only Jing Yanguang did not agree (to do this) and just called him grandson in the letter. The ministers all knew that was not possible but could not change (his approach). As expected, the Khitan was very angry and blamed Jin for this matter many times. Jing Yanguang said to Qiao Ying, the Khitan envoy: "Our previous emperor was established by you in the Northern Dynasty, so you can call him a minister, but now the new emperor was established by us in the Central Plains. You can't." You can't be called a minister by calling yourself a grandson. Besides, we in the Jin Kingdom now have a hundred thousand people sharpening their swords. If you want to fight, come and fight. If you are unlucky enough to be defeated by your grandson in the future, you will be laughed at by the world!" Qiao Ying knew what he said. It would definitely lead to a war between the two countries. I was afraid that there would be no evidence in the future, so I asked Jing Yanguang to write down what he just said on paper to prevent forgetting. Jing Yanguang asked him to write the letter and give it to Qiao Ying. Qiao Ying hid the letter in her collar and took it back. She told the Khitan exactly what Jing Yanguang said, which made the Khitan even more angry.

In the spring of the next year, the Khitan invaded. Jing Yanguang followed the Emperor Chu's Northern Expedition and served as the imperial envoy, confronting the Khitan between Chan and Wei. Pioneer Shi Gongba encountered enemy troops in Qicheng. Gao Xingzhou and Fu Yanqing's troops were too small to rescue them. They sent people on fast horses to ask Jing Yanguang to increase his troops, but Jing Yanguang did not move. (Shi Gongba and others) The three generals were heavily surrounded, and Emperor Chu personally led the army to rescue them. Only then were the three generals able to break out of the siege, and they all cried out to Emperor Chu for their grievances. However, Jing Yanguang was in control of the military and was proud of himself. All the generals obeyed his orders, and even the emperor could not interfere with him. The Khitan once shouted to the Jin people: "Jing Yanguang, we are here to fight, why don't you come out quickly to fight?" At this time, all the generals fought with all their strength, but Jing Yanguang did not engage the enemy. After the Khitan had left, Jing Yanguang stayed behind closed doors and did not dare to come out. Because of Jing Yanguang's words, the Khitan and the Later Jin Dynasty fell out. All orders and campaigns came from Jing Yanguang alone, and no other ministers of the Later Jin Dynasty could interfere. Therefore, all the Khitan letters and slogans always used Jing Yanguang as the author. Excuse. After the Khitan evacuated, when the emperor returned to the capital, he transferred Jing Yanguang to serve as the governor of Henan and to serve as a local official in Luoyang, Xijing.

After Jing Yanguang arrived in Luoyang, he was depressed and unhappy and felt very frustrated. Seeing that the Later Jin Dynasty was weakening day by day, he guessed that he would not be able to fight against the Khitan, so he drank all night long to drown his sorrows, built luxurious houses on a large scale, arranged people to play music and dance in the yard, and did whatever he wanted. The later emperor also regretted it and sent the enshrining officer Zhang Hui to bring a memorial to the Khitan to proclaim himself a vassal to seek peace. The Khitan leader Yelu Deguang replied: "Call Sang Weihan and Jing Yanguang to come and cede Zhenzhou and Dingzhou to me. , then we can negotiate for peace." Later Jin knew that was not possible, so he stopped asking for peace. When the Khitan army reached the middle of the Yellow River, Jing Yanguang was leading troops to gather in the south of the Yellow River. When he heard that Du Chongwei had surrendered, he withdrew his army.

Yelu Deguang led his army to invade the capital of Later Jin Dynasty. When he reached Xiangzhou, he sent thousands of cavalry and surrender troops from Later Jin Dynasty across the Yellow River to Luoyang to capture Jing Yanguang (who provoked the trouble).

(Yelu Deguang) told (general): "If Jing Yanguang runs south to Wu or west to Shu, you must pursue him and capture him for me." But Jing Yanguang took care of him. In order to protect the safety of his family, he did not seek death himself. When the enemy cavalry suddenly arrived, he rode a fast horse with Yan Pi to Fengqiu to meet Yelu Deguang. (Jing Yanguang) was imprisoned together with Yan Pi. Jing Yanguang said: "Yan Pi is my agent, and he follows me according to his duties. What crime did he have to be imprisoned for?" Yan Pi was then released. Yelu Deguang accused Jing Yanguang and said: "The reason for the discord between the north and the south is all because of you!" He called Qiao Ying to confront him. Jing Yanguang refused to admit it at first, but Qiao Ying took out the hidden treasure from Bai Ji's collar. In that letter, Jing Yanguang finally admitted (that he had said that). So Yelu Deguang asked people to imprison him. It was planned to escort him all the way to Khitan and then to Chenqiao, where he would rest at a commoner's house. At ten o'clock in the middle of the night, Jing Yanguang strangled his own throat and committed suicide while the guards were not paying attention. Jing Yanguang was only fifty-six years old when he died.