晋高祖石敬瑭死后，刘知远预感到天下将要大乱，所以着力经营太原。为加强自己的实力，他处死了吐谷浑首领白承福，夺取了大量的财富及数千匹良马。契丹军南下攻打后晋兵临汴梁时，刘知远既不出兵救援，也不抗击契丹，而是冷眼旁观、静观其变。等到契丹攻下汴梁，灭亡后晋后，他派人奉表于契丹皇帝辽太宗耶律德光，辽太宗呼其为儿，并赐与木拐，相当于中原王朝赐给重要大臣的几杖。辽太宗在开封称帝，正式立国号为辽。
当晋出帝石重贵一行被辽兵押解北上时，他假装悲愤，率亲兵说要营救晋出帝，实际走到寿阳便又转回太原。然后他亲率大军乘中原空虚之际渡过黄河，进入洛阳，杀死辽扶植的傀儡李从益母子，以绝人望。随后将都城设在汴梁。
刘知远称帝后，他的旧日僚佐均成为朝廷重臣，占据各大要害部门。杨邠、郭威任正副枢密使，苏逢吉、苏禹任宰相，王章任三司使，史弘肇任侍卫亲军马步军都指挥使兼平章事。这些人中除郭威外其馀均为蛮横无知、贪暴残酷之徒。如宰相苏逢吉，早在河东为慕僚时，刘知远命其静狱以祈福，实际上是要他释放囚犯，而他却把全部囚徒统统处死，号曰“净狱”。当了宰相以后，仍不改旧习，曾草诏要将为盗者的本家和四邻、保人全族处斩，有人驳斥说：“为盗者族诛，已不合王法，何况邻保，这样做不是太过分了吗？”苏逢吉不得已，才勉强删去“全族”二字。
至于史弘肇更是残暴绝伦，他掌握禁军兵权，警卫都邑，只要稍有违犯法纪，不问罪之轻重，便处以极刑。甚至太白星白昼出现，因为有人仰观，就被处以腰斩。有一百姓因酒醉与一军士发生冲突，也被诬以妖言惑众而斩首。至于断舌、决口、抽筋、折足等酷刑，几乎每日不断。
王章任三司使负责理财，惟知暴敛，致使百姓因此而破产者比比皆是。旧制，两税征粮时，每一斛加收二升，称之为“鼠雀耗”，而王章命令加收二斗，相当于以往的十倍；旧制，官库出纳钱物，每贯只给八百文，百姓交税也是如此，每百文只交八十文，称之为“短陌钱”，而王章规定官库给钱每百文只给七十七文，但百姓交税每百文仍交八十文。后汉还规定私贩盐、矾、酒曲者，不论数量多少，统统处以死罪。
中央大员如此，上行下效，地方官员更加残暴。青州节度使刘铢执法残酷，行刑时，双杖齐下，谓之“合欢杖”；他还根据犯人年龄的大小决定杖数，而不问罪之轻重，谓之“随年杖”。卫州刺史叶仁鲁捕盗时，往往将普通平民当成盗贼杀戮，或挑断脚筋，抛弃山谷，致使这些人“宛转号呼，累日而死”。西京留守王守恩为了聚敛钱财，胡乱收税，税目之多，包括上厕所，上街行乞，都要交税，甚至连死人的灵柩，如不交钱，也不准出城埋葬。有时还放纵部下，强抢或偷盗人家钱财。因此后汉的统治是五代十国中最残暴的，百姓极度困苦，以致卖儿贴妇都不能度日。
刘知远只当了一年皇帝就病死了，其子刘承祐继位，史称汉隐帝。
汉隐帝年幼，朝政被勋旧大臣杨邠、史弘肇、王章、郭威所把持，武夫掌权歧视文臣，遭致内部矛盾不断。这些武夫悍将，个个专横跋扈，议论朝政时，吵吵嚷嚷，大呼小叫，根本不把皇帝放在眼里，使汉隐帝难于忍受。这些人只知舞枪弄刀，却根本不懂安邦定国的道理，有时争吵起来，甚至拔刀动剑，几乎闹出人命。
各种跋扈行为使汉隐帝实在忍无可忍，于是和亲信商议，伏兵殿门，趁杨邠、史弘肇、王章三人上朝之时，一举将他们杀死，尽灭其族。又派人刺杀镇守邺都的郭威，郭威闻讯遂举兵反抗，率领大军杀奔汴梁，击败了后汉禁军。汉隐帝落荒而逃，途中被杀。郭威进入汴州后请太后临朝称制，并决定迎立刘知远之侄武宁节度使刘赟为帝。就在刘赟动身前往汴梁时郭威指使人假报契丹入寇，自己率大军出京迎敌，行至中途，兵士哗变，将黄袍披在郭威身上，拥立郭威为帝，然后转回汴梁。
刘赟行至宋州时郭威已抢先一步进入汴梁，逼迫太后下诏封自己为“监国”，总揽朝政大权，并以太后名义下诏废黜了刘赟，降封刘赟为开府议同三司、检校太师上柱国、湘阴公，又遣部将郭崇威到宋州将刘赟囚禁在当地。公元951年，郭威正式登上皇帝宝座，年号广顺，国号周，史称后周。
After THE death OF SHI JingTANG, EmperorGaOZu of Jin Dynasty, Liu Zhiyuan had a PREmonition THAT the world WOULD BE INchaos, so HE concentrated ON running Taiyuan. To strengthen his own strength,he executed the Tuyuhun leader Bai Chengfu and seized a great deal of wealth andthousands of good horses. When the Khitan army marched south to attack thelater Jin army and arrived in Bianliang, Liu Zhiyuan did not send troops torescue or fight against the Khitan. Instead, he looked on coldly and waited tosee what happened. After the Khitan seized Bianliang and destroyed the LaterJin, he sent a table to the Khitan Emperor, Taizong of Liao, who called him hisson and gave him wooden crutches, which were equivalent to several staves givenby the Central Plains emperor to important ministers. Emperor Taizongproclaimed himself emperor in Kaifeng and formally established his kingdom asLiao.
When the Jin emperor Shi Zhonggui line wasescorted north by Liao soldiers, he pretended to be angry, the rate of soldierssaid to rescue the Jin emperor, actually went to Shouyang and then turned backto Taiyuan. Then he led his own army to cross the Yellow River when the CentralPlains were empty, entered Luoyang, and killed the puppet Li Congyi and hisson, in order to impress people. The capital was then located in Bianliang.
After Liu Zhiyuan declared himself emperor,his former subordinates all became important officials in the court, occupyingthe key departments. Yang Wei and GUO Wei acted as PREFect and Deputy PREFect,SU Fengji and SU Yu AS PRIME MINISTER, WANG Zhang AS third prefect, and ShiHongzhao as commander and commander of the BODYGUARD Army, the Cavalry and theMarching Army. Except for Guo Wei, all of them are ignorant, greedy and cruel.For example, Prime Minister Su Fengji, as early as when he was an officer ofLiao in Hedong, Liu Zhiyuan ordered him to stay in prison to pray forblessings. In fact, he wanted him to release the prisoners, but he put all theprisoners to death, called "clean prison". When he became the prime minister,he still did not change his old habits. Zeng Chao ordered that the thief'sfamily, the neighbors and the whole family of the guarantor should be executed.Some people refuted, "It is not the king's law to punish the thief'sfamily, let alone the neighbors. Su Fengji had to reluctantly delete the"whole family" two words.
As for Shi Hongzhao, he was extremelycruel. He controlled the military and guarded the city, and he would beexecuted for any slight violation of the law and discipline, regardless of theseverity of the crime. Even when the white star appeared by day, it was cut inhalf because someone looked up to it. There is a common people because of drunkconflict with a sergeant, was falsely decapitated to deceive people. As for thebroken tongue, breaches, cramps, broken feet and other torture, almost daily.
Wang Zhang was in charge of financialmanagement. However, he knew how to collect money excessively, so that peoplewent bankrupt everywhere. The old system, two taxes when grain, each dendrobiumadded two liters, called "rat finch consumption", and Wang Zhangcommand added two dou, equivalent to the previous ten times; In the old system,the official Treasury paid only 800 yuan for money and goods, and the commonpeople paid only 80 yuan for every 100 yuan, which was called "short roadmoney". However, the royal chapter stipulated that the official Treasurypaid only 77 yuan for every 100 yuan, but the common people still paid 80 yuanfor every 100 yuan. The Later Han Dynasty also stipulated that those whopeddled salt, alum and wine yeast, regardless of the amount, would be punishedby death.
The central bosses are so effective thatlocal officials are even more brutal. Qingzhou schedule to make Liu Zhu cruellaw enforcement, execution, double staff, called "Huan staff"; Healso decides the number of rods according to the age of the prisoner, but doesnot ask the severity of the crime, which is called "with the yearrod". When Ye Renlu, the governor of Weizhou, was trying to capture thieves,he would kill ordinary people as thieves, or cut off hamstrings and abandon thevalley, so that these people "died day after day with a cry". Inorder to collect money, Wang Shouen, who remained in Xijing, collected taxes atrandom. He had to pay taxes on many things, including going to the toilet andbegging on the street. Even the coffin of the dead was not allowed to go out ofthe city to be buried without paying money. Sometimes he indulged hissubordinates and robbed or stole money from others. Therefore, the rule of theLater Han Dynasty was the most tyrannical among the five Dynasties and tenStates. The people were so poor that even the women who sold their childrencould not survive.
Liu Zhiyuan was emperor for only one yearbefore he died of illness and was succeeded by his son Liu Chengyou, known inhistory as Emperor Yin of the Han Dynasty.
When Emperor Yin was young, the court wascontrolled by the former ministers Yang Bin, Shi Hongzhao, Wang Zhang and GuoWei, as a result of which the rulers discriminated against the civil servants,leading to repeated internal conflicts. All of them were overbearing anddomineering. When discussing the government, they made noise and shouted, andignored the emperor at all, which made Emperor Yin unbearable. These peopleonly know how to dance a gun and make a knife, but they don't know the truth ofa peaceful country at all. Sometimes they quarreled and even pulled out asword, almost causing death.
Emperor Yin could not bear the abusivebehavior any more, so he consulted with his aides to raid the gate of thepalace for the attendance of Yang, Shi Hongzhao and Wang Zhang, killing themall at once. He also sent someone to assassinate Guo Wei, who was guardingYidu. Upon hearing the news, Guo Wei rebelled and led a large army toBianliang, defeating the Banning army of Later Han Dynasty. Emperor Yin fled indefeat and was killed on the way. Guo Wei into Bianzhou after the EmpressDowager said the system, and decided to set up Liu Zhiyuan's nephew Wuning LiuYun as the emperor. When Liu Yun left for Bianliang, Guo Wei ordered falsereport of Kidan invasion, his army out of Beijing to meet the enemy, halfway,soldiers mutinied, will be Huang pao on Guo Wei, Guo Wei was crowned emperor,and then returned to Bianliang.
Liu Yun went to Songzhou Guo Wei has beenthe first step into the Bianliang, forced the queen mother under the imperialseal for his "supervision", the general power of the government, andafter the name of the edit deposed Liu Yun, Liu Yun down to open the house withthree division, inspection school Taishi on the column, Xiangyin, and sent GuoChongwei to Songzhou Liu Yun imprisoned in the local. In 951, Guo Weiofficially ascended the throne of Emperor, with the reign title Guangshun andthe kingdom name Zhou, known as the Later Zhou in history.