The Song Dynasty is arguably one of the most controversial dynasties in Chinese history.
Admirers praised the Song Dynasty for not killing ministers, developing trade, and flourishing culture; condemners believe that the Song Dynasty's military strength was weak, and the loss of power and humiliation of the country was the highest in the history of the dynasty, and even during the Northern Song Dynasty, it was beaten by a woman from the Liao state next door to ask for peace.
In this issue, we will not talk about the advantages and disadvantages of the Song Dynasty, and talk about this strange woman of the Liao Kingdom alone: Empress Xiao!
Speaking of Empress Xiao of the Great Liao, everyone who has heard of the Yang family general knows that although Empress Xiao is a villain, she is good at using strategy and amazing skills, and in the whole world of the Liao Kingdom, the Yelü clan actually let Empress Xiao have the final say, which is also a rare existence in history, it can be said that Empress Xiao is probably not inferior to Empress Lü and Wu Zetian among the women in history.
<h1>Born in a family of magnates, he remarried to an emperor due to political marriage</h1>
If we want to mention the Xiao family, we must say yelü Abaoji, the founding emperor of the Liao Dynasty.
Yelü Abaoji greatly admired Liu Bang, the ancestor of Han Gao, and he also very much recognized Xiao He who accompanied Liu Bang to fight the world, so Abaoji himself became emperor, and he gave several heroes who followed him to fight the world the surname of "Xiao" in honor of Xiao He.
Apaoji also made a rule that the descendants of the Yelü Dynasty must be the Xiao clan. That is to say, no matter who became the emperor, the empress could only be the Xiao family.
In the history of the Liao State, because of this provision, it can be said that countless Empress Xiao and Empress Xiao have emerged.
Picture note: Liao Taizu Yelü Abaoji sculpture
However, there is a person who directly monopolizes the title of "Empress Xiao", but whenever someone mentions Empress Xiao, the first thing people think of is Empress Dowager Xiao, nicknamed Xiao Yanyan.
Since emperor Taizong Yelü Deguang died of illness on the way to the south (the first and only emperor in Chinese history to be mummified [bacon] after his death), the Liao state has been caught in the struggle for the throne for more than twenty years, and the Yelü royal family has been in conflict with each other and strife.
Eventually, with the help of Xiao Siwen, a great nobleman of the Liao State, and Han Kuangsi, Yelüxian picked up the leak and ascended to the throne, which was Liao Jingzong.
Xiao Siwen's third daughter, Xiao Wei, was a well-known talented woman who was already betrothed to Han Kuangsi's son Han Derang at that time. However, after Yelüxian was proclaimed emperor, in order to win over the Xiao family, Xiao Qi was included in the harem, first selected as a noble concubine, and later made empress, and later became Empress Xiao.
Photo note: Liaojingzong Yelüxian
<h1>Her husband was too weak to ascend to the court, and Xiao Wei was alone in charge of state affairs</h1>
Xiao Yu has been quite favored since entering the palace, and her talent and family confidence are enough for her to live in peace in the harem, giving birth to three sons and three daughters in just ten years. But what the young empress really wanted was not the power of the harem, but the control of the former dynasty.
Although Yelü Xian found the right moment to seize the throne in one fell swoop, his physical condition did not allow him to run the government for a long time. At the age of four, he witnessed his father being assassinated in a court struggle, which left an indelible psychological shadow on him. After becoming emperor, he was busy with affairs, and the depression in his heart eventually evolved into a disease of wind paralysis.
However, the country could not be left without a monarch for a day, and Yelüxian could not go to the court due to illness, so Xiao Qi, who was deeply trusted by the emperor, began to deal with the government.
Picture note: Empress Xiao in the film and television drama
The history books of the Liao State record that the politics of criminal law and military affairs were all left to Empress Xiao to decide. After Xiao Qi came to power, the first thing to do was to reform the country. She believed in the principle of employing people without doubt, and those who abided by the credit would definitely be rewarded, so the social economy and culture of the Liao state developed rapidly, so that the people harvested enough grain during the autumn harvest season. Later, the emperor trusted her more and more, and Yelü Xian, who wanted to retire early, issued an edict: what the empress said was her will.
His wife's excessive ability allowed Jeroboam to gradually let go of his grasp of power and begin to enjoy his life. It may have been suppressed for too long before, and the emperor was really unconscious later. His body improved slightly, and he began to go out hunting.
Unable to heed any advice, Jeroboam, who did as he pleased, died of overwork at the age of thirty-five. Xiao Yu put his eldest son Yelü Longxu on the throne, the year when the young emperor was only eleven years old, and Xiao Yu was promoted to Empress Xiao and began his twenty-seven years of obedience to the government.
<h1>Relying on a sentence of doubt about the lord and the country, he successfully won over the important ministers of the DPRK and The Chinese Government to stabilize the situation</h1>
In recent years, because of the emergence of costume film and television dramas, most people have learned the story of Dayu'er and Dolgun, and the most impressive fragment is Xiaozhuang's request to Dolgun to assist Fulin.
As everyone knows, a thousand years ago, Empress Xiao had already begun to use this trick. Thinking that in the future, orphans and widows would stay in the palace, and if there were no trustworthy loyal ministers around, the future life would certainly not be better, Xiao Yu quickly summoned his close minister Yelü Xieyun and his first love Han Derang and began to cry.
She hugged the young emperor and said: One of us is a woman who has just lost her husband, the other is a young child, and there are many powerful people in the clan now, but the border has not yet been peaceful, and I really don't know what the future will be?
After hearing this, Yelü Xieyun and Han Dezhen naturally promised the empress dowager to do their best to assist the emperor and deprive the clan of military power and power.
Yelü Was a descendant of the heroes of the Kai Dynasty, and when he was young, because he did not like to be an official, he traveled in all directions, and although he had chivalry, he was not welcomed by the nobility. Later, it was The abbot Xiao Siwen who recommended his ability to govern the country to the emperor, and he was at ease to stay in the dynasty and gradually become a general of Yelü from an officer.
He himself was still a relative of Empress Xiao, and was Empress Xiao's niece and son-in-law, and Empress Xiao attached great importance to him. She had two amber cups, and usually the ministers were rewarded with a glass of wine, but the Jeremiah could drink innumerable amounts until they were full, and the ministers in the court regarded this as a reward.
Han Derang is Empress Xiao's former fiancé, and the two have known each other for a long time, and this time they naturally spared no effort to help each other.
Empress Xiao once said to Han Derang that you should regard the little emperor as your son: "I often promise to marry a son, and I wish to reconcile the old and be good, then the young lord will be the country, and ruzi will also be."
The northern customs were more civilized, and they soon rekindled their old feelings after the death of Yelü Deguang, publicly showing their relationship.
There are also relevant records in the history books that Empress Xiao often let Han Derang enter her account to discuss major state affairs together, resting and eating together like a husband and wife. A nobleman, Hu Limu, accidentally injured Han Dejang while playing polo, and she immediately executed this person on the spot.
When a banquet was held to entertain the courtiers, they also attended as male and female hosts. Even The emperor Yelü Longxu gave him a few rods of iron coupons for his "father's affairs", did not worship in the court, did not tend to the temple, and specially guarded hundreds of people left and right.
Han Derang was given the surname Yelü and made him a veritable royal family, and even after his death, his mausoleum was buried next to Empress Xiao.
In addition to these two important ministers, another jericho man, Jericho, was also reused. He was responsible for guarding the border with the Liao state of Nanjing. Since then, Empress Xiao's political team has gradually formed a scale, the military and politics have been grasped, and the country has gradually stabilized.
<h1>Reverse the situation in song and Liao, and sign the alliance of Liaoyuan</h1>
Since the death of the Liao Emperor, Zhao Guangyi, who had misjudged the combat effectiveness of the new emperor and Empress Xiao, began the Second Northern Expedition, and he wanted to retake Yunzhou.
At the beginning of this war, the Liao army was defeated one after another, but Empress Xiao was not in danger and adjusted her strategy in time. Yelü Hugo defeated the pro-Song Emperor Zhao Guangyi at the Battle of Gaoliang River, and defeated the Song army in many battles, and even the famous general Yang Ye was captured by the Liao army, and finally died of hunger strike. Empress Xiao admired Yang Ye's loyalty and set up a temple for him as a souvenir.
Photo note: The widely circulated Song and Liao dynasty novel "Yang JiaJun" has been remade into film and television works many times
In the autumn of 1004 (the first year of Emperor Zhenzong of Song's reign), Empress Xiao of the Liao State and Emperor Shengzong of Liao led a large army south into the Song territory, and Song Zhenzong once wanted to flee south to save his life, but was forcibly changed to the imperial conquest by the chancellor Kou Zhun in order to boost morale.
After Song Zhenzong arrived at the battlefield, he actually did not have any certainty in his heart in the face of the huge Liao army. However, it was fortunate that the Song army shot the Liao Nanjing unified army with a crossbow on the front line in Liaozhou, so that Empress Xiao also faced the problem of the main general being killed and the lack of talents.
So both sides wanted to end the war and proposed peace talks, and finally reached an agreement: Song Zhenzong called Empress Xiao an uncle, married Yelü Longxu as a brother, and paid 300,000 coins to the Liao state every year, known as the Alliance of Liaoyuan.
<h1>epilogue:</h1>
Empress Xiao controlled the government for nearly forty years in her lifetime, and her greatest contribution was to sign the Alliance with the Song Dynasty and leave a huge fortune for future generations. However, because of her tough political methods, there has been a great controversy in history about her evaluation.
The "History of Liao" compiled by the Yuan Dynasty praised her for governing the country well and being good at listening to favorable advice, so the court ministers would do their best to assist her;
The Song Dynasty's history books on the Liao state slammed her for being cruel by nature and liking to use intrigue and trickery.
No matter which of the two sides is more convincing, one thing cannot be denied: during Empress Xiao's reign, the Liao state made great progress in economy, culture, and military.
The strength and prosperity of the Liao state should be thanked to Empress Xiao, and the decline of the Great Song Dynasty should be blamed on the emperor of the Song Dynasty for not being powerful! If the Emperor of the Song Dynasty had half the ability of Xiao Yanyan, how could there be an alliance of Yuanyuan and the shame of Jing Kang?
In fact, whether it is for liao or song, only when they are strong can they truly protect their own interests, which is really strong. Is that right?