The history of Empress Xiao Yanyan of the Liao Dynasty, what kind of person and life merits is Empress Xiao?
Xiao Yanyan (箫匳, 953 AD – 1009 AD) was originally surnamed Bali (巴里氏), but was given the surname 箫 by the Emperor of the Liao Dynasty because of his ancestors. Born in the steppe of the Khitan tribe, she has been smart and clever since childhood, does not drag mud and water, and has a spirit of not giving up until the goal is reached, and it is precisely because her personality has deeply won the love of his father Zhen Siwen, such a person is liked by Yelüxian (Liaojingzong) and Han Derang, and still has the support and trust of Han Derang after the death of Yelüxian. Politicians, reformers, and military men of the Liao.
In 969, when Emperor Muzong of Liao was killed by his neighbors while hunting in Montenegro, Xiao Yanyan's father Xiao Siwen pushed Yelü Xian to the throne, and as a meritorious minister, Xiao Siwen was named the King of Wei, and his daughter Xiao Yanyan was elected to the imperial palace, first as an imperial concubine, and soon as an empress. However, Liao Jingzong was very weak since he was a child, and Xiao Yanyan, who was not yet twenty years old, acted as the state administrator and actually became the de facto ruler. Xiao Yanyan received permission from Emperor Jingzong of Liao to govern the country and exerted her shrewd talents. Under her administration, the development of Daliao became more and more prosperous, and the border defense strength was gradually enhanced, and the surrounding territory was also expanded. But such a woman, her husband Yelü Xian, died and her father was also murdered by the adulterers, leaving a child twelve years old. The people and subjects of a nation, all the weight is pressed on the shoulders of this thin woman. In 982, his eldest son Yelü Longxu succeeded to the throne for the Liao Shengzong, and the following year he changed the Yuan Dynasty to unification. Empress Dowager Emperor. He reigned from 969 (the first year of Boryeong) to 1009 (the 27th year of reunification) and lasted for forty years.
Empress Xiao's exploits
When the Holy Sect ascended the throne, when the formal mother and widow were weak and the country was in turmoil, some sinister kings and masters were always watching the throne, and in the face of such a grim form, Empress Xiao could only establish her feet and consolidate her ruling position by taking correct and decisive measures. She knew that if she wanted to control the country, she must grasp the power of the army and put an end to the hidden danger of collusion and rebellion of the kings. She first placed her cronies in charge of the central anti-counterfeiting post, ordered her confidants Han Derang and Yelü Xieyun to preside over the imperial government as privy councillors of the Southern and Northern Yuan, and appointed Yelü Xiuge as the remaining guard in Nanjing, responsible for the border defense military; then, she issued an order that the princes of the clan should "return to the first place and not be allowed to have private banquets", seizing the military power of the princes of the clan. At the same time, the families of the princes of each clan were summoned to the palace as hostages. This not only stabilized its own political power, but also solved the hidden dangers of infighting.
However, even if the current young emperor was only eleven or twelve years old, the Song Kingdom soon launched the "Yongxi Northern Expedition". In order to boost the morale of her generals, Empress Xiao personally went to the battlefield and defeated the Song commander Cao Bin at Qigou Pass, so that the morale of the Liao army was greatly increased, and in one fell swoop, she reclaimed the territory occupied by the Song army, and in the following years Xiao Yanyan sent troops to attack the Song and captured the entire territory of Hebei, that is, yanyun twelve prefectures.
In the end, the Song state was defeated by the Liao state, and finally had to quell the war by way of peace talks, and in 1004 AD, the two countries signed a contract at the city of Liaoyuan, known in history as the "Alliance of Liaoyuan". According to the contract, the Song Kingdom paid tribute to the Liao State every year for 200,000 silk and 100,000 taels of silver. The Song Dynasty was actually a long-term peace with a small economic price. The Alliance of Liaoyuan is the most well-known thing in history for Empress Xiao, and its historical significance is very important. After that, the empress dowager advocated learning Han culture from the Liao state, and the Liao and Song dynasties carried out economic exchanges and commercial trade through the "Yuchang", thus promoting the economic and cultural exchanges and development between the north and the south. The process of national integration has been accelerated. And cut the law to make stricter changes, the people live and work in peace, and wars do not start frequently.