The name of the temple and the temple number are important systems in ancient China, and most of them are used to summarize the merits and deeds of the emperor after his death, thus giving a profound commentary. For example, the emperors of the sui dynasty, such as Yang Guang, the emperor of the Sui Dynasty, and Chen Shubao, the emperor of Chen, all had their titles of "evil rumors", while the titles of Ming, Wen, and Wu were used to commend the emperor's contributions. Before the Sui and Tang dynasties, most people used the title to refer to the emperor, but as the number of titles gradually expanded, people turned to the temple number.
The so-called temple number is the name used by the emperor in the Taimiao sacrifice after his death, and in general, its positive and negative meaning is not so strong, so as to avoid the descendants from giving them some unworthy names in order to beautify their fathers and grandfathers. Common temple numbers, roughly Gaozu, Taizu, Taizong, Gaozong and the like, are basically distributed according to the standard of "ancestors have merit and sects have virtue". Among the many temple numbers, there is a word that is very eye-catching, that is, "holy", there is only one emperor in the history of our country whose temple name is "Holy Sect", that is, Yelü Longxu, so what merits did he have?
In the fourth year of Liaobaoning (972), Yelü Longxu was born in Linhuang Province, Shangjing, located in present-day Balinzuo Banner, Inner Mongolia, and according to the Khitan language, his nickname should be "Yelü Wenshunu". According to the "History of Liao", "Emperor Youxi Shuhan, ten years old, was able to write poetry. Both long, ejaculate, xiaoyin rhythm, good painting. That is to say, Yelü Longxu showed a love for calligraphy, poetry and other Han Chinese learning from an early age, and he was also very proficient in archery, music, and painting, which were regarded as compulsory courses for gentlemen by the Central Plains Dynasty.
In the fourth year of Qianheng (982), due to the death of Emperor Jingzong of Liao, yelü Longxu, who was only ten years old, became the new monarch, and before his death, Jingzong appointed Empress Xiao as the regent, that is, the future famous Empress Xiao. The following year, liao changed the name of the country back to "Great Khitan", and in the following years, the Khitan developed steadily under the leadership of Empress Xiao, and as for the young Yelü Longxu, he was not yet at the time of great skill, and most of the time he just followed his mother to learn how to govern the country.
In the fourth year of reunification (986), Zhao Guangyi, the Emperor Taizong of Song, believed that the Khitan monarch was newly lost, and the orphans and widows governing the country must be unstable politically, so he sent a northern expedition to regain the land that had been embezzled by the Khitans, known in history as the "Yongxi Northern Expedition". In the face of the Song Dynasty's three-way army, the fourteen-year-old Yelü Longxu, accompanied by his mother, not only successfully repelled the Song army and captured the famous general Yang Ye, but also further destroyed the defensive line laid out by the Song Dynasty on the north bank of the Yellow River.
After the failure of the Yongxi Northern Expedition, the Song Dynasty began to change from active attack to passive defense, losing the initiative in the Khitan war. Two years later, Yelü Longxu took the initiative to attack, and he sent an army to capture Zhuozhou, Yijin Pass, Great Wall Pass and other places, and stationed the army in the territory of the Song Dynasty. Yelü Longxu attached great importance to the people of the occupied areas, and for this reason, he also specifically ordered that soldiers should not be allowed to cut down the trees of the people. With the gradual victory of the war against the Song Dynasty, the prestige of the Khitan soared, which attracted the Uighurs, Tubo, Dangxiang and other powerful countries to come to pay tribute, and some countries even betrayed the Song Dynasty to come to the annexation.
It has to be said that Yelü Longxu was very righteous to his allies, and when other tribes encountered disasters such as famine, he always sent food and material relief, which led to the gratitude of all countries and closer relations. In the fifteenth year of reunification (997), in order to reclaim the undeveloped wasteland of Luanzhou, Yelü Longxu ordered the local tax exemption for ten years, which aroused the enthusiasm of the people to go to the local development, this policy, although not complicated and clever, was difficult for other rulers from nomadic tribes to think of, which showed that Yelü Longxu still had his own ideas in governing the country.
In order to maintain social stability, Yelü Longxu also did a lot of things: First, he learned from past experience, issued an edict prohibiting the people from privately shaving their homes in order to avoid the taxes of servitude, preserving a lot of fiscal revenue and labor for the country, and avoiding many social problems brought about by the economic expansion of the monasteries; second, he advised the rich to give more charity and help the poor, in order to alleviate the widening gap between the rich and the poor and reduce the social contradictions that the poor could cause.
Third, Yerushalayim opened up the power to fish in the lakes of Tokyo Province, which had been banned for many years, so that the people could have one more way to make a living, also to avoid the emergence of too many displaced people; fourth, he encouraged the people to plant trees, on the one hand, because the sale of timber could produce economic benefits, and on the other hand, because afforestation could improve the environmental conditions of the windy sand in the north; fifth, because of the increasing number of litigation cases, he personally blamed the principals and urged the government agencies to deal with the grievances.
After taking care of the country in an orderly manner, Yelü Longxu turned his attention back to military operations against the Song Dynasty, and in the seventeenth year of reunification (999), he announced a large-scale southern expedition near the end of the year. After a long period of preparation, the Khitan army was overwhelmed and achieved a wonderful victory, and in the following twenty-second year of unification (1004), the Khitan once again raised troops to the south, this time the Song Dynasty was forced to sign the "Tanyuan Alliance", exchanging old coins for peace.
After this battle, the two sides generally maintained a century of peace, and Yelü Longxu devoted his energy to governing the country, and on the basis of the various measures mentioned above, he continued to reform the administration of officials, select talents, improve people's livelihood, and vigorously promote indoctrination, and achieved remarkable results. In the eleventh year of Taiping (1031), Yelü Longxu died of a serious illness at the age of fifty-nine, and his descendants honored him as the "Holy Sect" because of his merits.