Yelu Chucai, bright since childhood, erudite and talented, has assisted Genghis Khan, Wokotai father and son for more than 30 years, and the official to the middle of the order. He was humble and conscientious in his dealings with public affairs, and often wrote letters to relieve the suffering of the people.
Although he is a high-ranking official, he is clean and self-conscious, not greedy or corrupt, and self-disciplined with honesty and frugality. He advocated the Confucian way of governing the country, formulated various governance strategies, and made outstanding contributions to the stability and development of the Mongol Khanate, which was deeply admired by later generations.
At this point, we can't help but ask, who is Yelu Chucai, and what deeds and contributions has he made?
Show promise
In the first year of Jin Zhangzong's Ming Chang (1190), in a noble bureaucratic family in Jinzhongdu (now Beijing), a small life was born, and he was Yelu Chucai.
When we mention the surname "Yelu", we often think of Khitan or Liao, because its founding emperor Liao Taizu was named Yelu Abaoji. Retrospectively, Yelu Chucai is the ninth grandson of Yelu Abaoji.
Chu Cai's father, Ye Luxu, held an important position in the Jin Dynasty. "Yuan Wen Class" records Yelu as follows: "Through the Six Classics, the Book of Hundred Schools, especially in "Yi" and "Taixuan", as for the theory of Yin and Yang Fang Technique, the technique of calendar pushing, all insightful. ”
His literary talents were deeply loved and appreciated by Jin Shizong, and he was very proficient in Khitan culture, Han culture and Jurchen culture, and was once the editor of the National Academy of History.
Jerod is sincere and kind to people, and his courage is beyond the reach of ordinary people. Yuan Haowen commented on him: "When it comes to things, it is a non-beneficial disease, but the reason lies in it, and there is no retreat." ”
When Yelu Chucai was born, Yelu was close to the age of sixtieth, and he was very happy to have a son, and said: "I am sixty years old and have this son, and my family is a thousand miles away, and he will become a great weapon one day, and it should be used in foreign countries." "It's the high hopes given to this child.
He also used the allusion in "The Biography of the Zuo Family in the Spring and Autumn Period" that "although Chu is talented, Jin is practical" (this allusion says that during the Spring and Autumn Period, the criminal law of Chu was strict, and many scholars fled from Chu and defected to Jin, and in the struggle for hegemony between Jin and Chu, they gave advice to the Jin State, so that the Chu State was passive.
At that time, people said: Although Chu is talented, Jin is practical, and named his son "Chu Cai". Later, Yelu Chucai took the word Jinqing, which was also based on this allusion.
Because Chu Cai once followed the old man Wan Song to learn Buddhism, the old man Wan Song named him Zhan Ran Jushi, and gave him the name of the law from the source. And because Chu Cai's family lives in Yuquan Mountain in the northwest of Yanjing, he is called Yuquan Jushi.
Unfortunately, when Yelu Chucai was three years old, his father died, and his mother, Yang, raised him single-handedly. Yelu Chucai's family has been an official for generations, and he is deeply influenced by Han culture, forming a family style of reading and knowing etiquette.
Under the education of his mother, Chu Cai was influenced by Confucianism since he was a child, and his ideal was to "cultivate oneself, unite one's family, govern the country, and level the world" in accordance with Confucian doctrine.
A good family education, coupled with intelligence and diligence, made Yelu Chucai a young man who was erudite and talented, able to write poetry and literature. ”
According to the system of the Jin Dynasty, the son of the prime minister could be awarded the post of provincial governor through an internal examination, and the so-called provincial peng was the auxiliary official of the central provinces, which belonged to Enyin as an official.
Chu Cai's father was a scholar and a second product, and he was the same consul as the governor, and he was the prime minister's Zuo Er (equivalent to the deputy prime minister). Therefore, Chu Cai can completely embark on a career through this shortcut.
However, this did not conform to Yelu Chucai's outlook on life, and he wanted to take the imperial examination and become a useful person for the country with his true talents. At that time, Jin Zhangzong personally asked the candidates about the trial and many other things, among which only Yelu Chucai's answer was excellent. As a result, he was appointed as the Tongzhi of Kaizhou (present-day Puyang, Henan).
A turning point in life
Yelu Chucai thought that he would rise step by step with his talent from now on, but who knew that the life path in front of him was not smooth.
At that time, the Jin Dynasty in the north and the Southern Song Dynasty in the south faced off. And the Jin country, where Yelu Chucai is located, has declined from its heyday. In the later period of Jin Zhangzong's reign, the bureaucracy became corrupt and degenerate, and the class and national contradictions were very acute.
At the same time, the Mongol steppe tribes attached to it gradually became stronger and stronger, and constantly rebelled against the rule of the Jin Dynasty, which seriously depleted its military and financial resources, making it even worse.
In 1206, Genghis Khan unified the steppe tribes and established the Great Mongol State, which posed a great threat to the rule of the Jin dynasty. The Great Mongolian State was the predecessor of the Yuan Dynasty. Later, Kublai Khan proclaimed the emperor to establish the Yuan Dynasty and posthumously crowned Genghis Khan as the Yuan Taizu.
Beginning in 1211, Genghis Khan led his troops to the south to invade gold, and drove straight into the city, besieging Yanjing, the capital of China, and capturing many prefectures, counties and towns such as Shanxi, Hebei, and Shandong. The cowardly and incompetent King Wanyan Yongji was unable to organize resistance to the Mongol army and was later killed by his generals who had returned from the front.
After Jin Xuanzong finished Yan Xun's accession to the throne, the emperor also lacked the confidence to hold on to the central capital, so he paid gold silk to the Mongol army and sent the princess and relatives in exchange for a temporary easing of the situation.
Then, he fled in a hurry and fled to Bianjing (now Kaifeng, Henan), leaving Prime Minister Yan Chenghui to preside over the defense of Yanjing. Yelu Chucai was also left in Yanjing and served as a member of the left and right divisions of Shangshu Province.
In 1215, the Mongol army captured Yanjing, and Yelu Chucai, along with the people of Yanjing, became a subject under Mongol rule. This was something he did not expect, and it also dealt a great blow to his ambition to make a contribution, and it became a turning point in his life.
After that, Yelu Chucai abandoned all affairs and put an end to travel. Fortunately, thanks to the persuasion of one person, he was able to regain his strength, and this person was his teacher, the old man Wan Song. The old man Wan Song was a famous Zen monk at that time, and he was both fluent in Confucianism and Buddhism.
Chu Cai followed the old man Wan Song for nearly three years and gradually freed himself from depression. He once again set his ambition to use what he had learned in his life to make due contributions.
He wrote a well-known essay "The Legend of the Poor Le Nunnery", which stated that his ideal was to assist a monarch like Yao Shun and make the people blessed; The political goal he pursued was to be guided by Confucianism and practice the art of governing the country and securing the country.
With such ideals and ambitions, Yelu Chucai picked himself up from the initial blow and looked for an opportunity to realize the value of life.
辅佐成吉思汗
Yelu Chucai's knowledge and talents were already well known at the time, so he was recommended to Genghis Khan. Genghis Khan was also a lover of talents, and immediately sent people to Yanjing to invite Yelu Chucai to come.
Yelu Chucai readily agreed, believing that he had met the Holy Lord Mingjun, and from then on he could show his talent for governing the country, realize his political ideals, and help the Mongol rulers create a peaceful and prosperous era.
He said in the poem "Pingyang Zhang Yansheng Seeing and Sending Mail": "The Holy Lord won the Central Plains, and the Ming edict begged Wang Zuo." Hu Ran swims in the North Sea, and cannot lie in the south sun", expressing his mood at this moment, and at the same time comparing himself to a figure like Zhuge Liang.
So, Chu Cai left his hometown, left Yongguan, and came to Mobei to meet Genghis Khan. Yelu Chu is a burly man, with a black beard hanging down on his chest, a loud voice, and extraordinary conversation. Genghis Khan was very happy when he saw it, and let him go with him for consultation.
There was a man named Chang Bajin, who was a skilled bow-making craftsman, and he proudly said to Genghis Khan that the country was currently fighting a war and using force, and Yelu Chucai was just a scholar, so what was the use! Yelu Chucai replied that of course it was necessary to use a bow-making craftsman to control the bow.
Genghis Khan was very happy when he heard this, and he put more importance to Yelu Chucai, and did not call him by his name, but only called him "Wutu Saheli," which means long-haired man.
When Genghis Khan went west, Yelu Chucai traveled westward with the army, wading through the desert, crossing the Tianshan Mountains, garrisoning Central Asia, and engaging in specific and trivial affairs such as answering questions, observing astrological aspects, predicting good fortune and evil, and drafting edicts.
His personality, his knowledge, and his views had a subtle influence on Genghis Khan, and he won the trust, respect and appreciation of the rulers.
In his later years, Genghis Khan repeatedly said to his son Ogedei: "This person (referring to Yelu Chucai) was given to my family by heaven, and you can entrust him with the management of the country in the future." It can be seen that in the eyes of the Mongol rulers, Yelu Chucai has become a suitable person to assist him in governing the country.
During the period of assisting Genghis Khan, Chu Cai also actively understood the situation of Mongolian society and the situation in various regions, and also had his own views on some problems and solutions at that time, and made necessary preparations for the implementation of his political ideas in the future.
Yanjing quelled the turmoil
In 1227, Genghis Khan died of illness, and his third son Ogedai succeeded to the throne. According to the old Mongolian custom, the successor of the Great Khan was elected by the Kuriltai Assembly. Before the election of the Kuriltai Assembly, the youngest son kept the business. Therefore, after the death of Genghis Khan, the four sons dragged the thunder to supervise the country. Soon, Yelu Chucai was ordered to Yanjing to control the thieves and stabilize the social order.
At that time, in Yanjing, the bureaucracy was rampant, so that the "thieves" who had a relationship with the officials were also unscrupulous, and thieves were rampant.
Therefore, with Tachar as the envoy, Tuo Lei went to Yanjing with Yelu Chucai, wanting to completely rectify the social order here. With Shang Fang's sword in hand, Yelu Chucai is full of confidence in Yanjing's rectification, but the difficulty and resistance can also be imagined.
Yelu Chucai obtained a large amount of information through the interview, and further confirmed the background of the robbers, and finally focused on the relatives of the governor of Yanjing, Shi Moxian Debu, and some children of the family. After the clues and incriminating evidence were clear, Yelu Chucai ordered them to be arrested and imprisoned. For a time, the capital shook.
Shi Mo Xian Debu and others continued to intercede, and even began to bribe the envoy Tachar. In this regard, Yelu Chucai not only did not back down, but instead offered benefits to Tachar.
In the end, Tachar also sensed the seriousness of the situation, and according to Yelu Chucai's opinion, he executed 16 chief evildoers, which played a role in killing one hundred people. Since then, "thieves have been holding their breath", and Yanjing's social security has rapidly improved. Yelu Chucai's governance ability has been vividly demonstrated.
During this period, Yelu Chucai also completed his travelogue "Journey to the West" with the army on his expedition to the west. The first part of the book records the geography, climate, products, and customs of the mountains and rivers in present-day Central Asia and the northwest of the continent.
At the end of the second part, he clearly put forward a series of strategies for governing the country and developing production, such as "establishing the system, discussing rituals and music, establishing temples, building palaces, establishing schools, setting up imperial examinations, pulling out seclusions, promoting virtuous and virtuous people, seeking righteousness, persuading farmers and mulberries, suppressing laziness, provincial punishments, thin endowments, honoring names, reprimanding vertical and horizontal, removing redundant personnel, deposing cool officials, advocating filial piety, and helping the poor and poor".
In a sense, this is his well-thought-out platform for governance.
Deep-receptive and proactive reform
In the spring of 1229, Yelu Chucai completed his mission in Yanjing and returned to Hara and Lin. In the autumn of that year, the Mongolian clan nobles gathered on the banks of the Khulun River, convened the Kurultai Assembly, and elected Ogedai as the Great Khan (i.e., Yuan Taizong) in accordance with Genghis Khan's will.
Yelu Chucai's participation in this large-scale rally in a special capacity is enough to show his important influence and political status.
One of Yelu Chucai's special identities was to choose the time of the Great Khan's accession to the throne in the form of divination. The 24th of August had been chosen, but on the 22nd of August, "the discussion was still pending."
Yelu Chucai dared to stand up in the face of the thunder that had been in prison for more than two years, and said: "The great plan of this sect should be decided as soon as possible. Tuo Lei said: "The matter is still unsettled, don't choose a day?" Yelu Chucai replied: "There is no auspicious day. ”
It means that this day is indispensable, forcing Tuo Lei to have no way to retreat, so he has to arrange it according to the time of Yelu Chucai's "divination". Therefore, "the policy was decided and the ritual system was established".
In addition, although the Mongols at that time were divided into high and low, the ritual system that ruled the upper class was still a blank. In Yelu Chucai's view, to help the Mongol rulers govern the world, it is first necessary to establish a complete system of etiquette and music, and reform the etiquette system.
This is also the result of his deep influence on Confucianism. For the ritual procedures of the throne of the Great Khan, Yelu Chucai guided the traditional Chinese political and cultural aspects, so that the Mongolian upper class gradually formed a strict sense of monarchy and ministers, and proposed the court ritual of "the royal family respects the elders and orders to worship in the class".
On the day of his accession to the throne, Ogedei's elder brother Chagatai led the royal family and his ministers to worship under the tent. After the ceremony, Chagatai stroked Yelu Chucai's shoulder and said, "Shinsha Jichen also." ”
Since then, the Mongol Khanate has had a bow to the Khan, and traditional court etiquette has also begun to be integrated into it. Yelu Chucai also instilled the idea of forgiveness into Ogedai, which combined the traditional culture of the Central Plains with the culture of the Mongolian people, and strengthened cultural exchanges and integration.
After Ogedai came to power, Yelu Chucai became his "think tank". Yelu Chucai once told Genghis Khan that "the world cannot be ruled immediately", and the Mongols must restrain their tyrannical behavior and implement traditional culture, and solidify their rule with culture.
Ogedai also attached great importance to this wise advice, and he asked Yelu Chucai to assist him in handling military and political affairs and implementing a series of reforms.
One of the major "characteristics" of the Mongol expedition to the west and south was the looting of the property of the people in the settled areas, which was very unfavorable to maintaining the rule and even provoked the local people to revolt.
The reason for this is that after the Mongol rulers entered the agricultural areas of the Central Plains, they still did not get rid of the nomadic habit of plundering. In addition, they were busy with conquest and did not manage the Central Plains region well, which made the officials indulgent, and they always plundered their property everywhere they went, and the rich "invested a huge amount of money", while the government reserves were empty.
Some old-fashioned aristocrats even proposed: "It's useless to get Han Chinese." It is better to kill them and vacate the farmland so that the grass and trees can grow and be used as pasture. ”
If this is done, the agricultural economy of the Central Plains will be unprecedentedly destroyed, the common people will face a catastrophe, Chinese society will suffer an unprecedented regression, and the rule of the Mongol aristocracy will not be maintained.
Yelu Chucai realized the seriousness of the problem, and in the face of the major issues related to the survival of millions of lives and the society, of course he could not be silent, so he stepped forward and said-for-tat: "With such a vast land and abundant products, you can get anything you need.
It's just that it's not well governed, so how can it be said that it's useless?" He also calculated an account for Ogedai, and if the land tax, commercial tax, salt, iron, and wine taxes in this area were evenly determined, he could get 500,000 taels of silver, 80,000 horses of silk, and 400,000 stones of grain every year.
After hearing this, Taizong said suspiciously: "If it is really like what you said, the country's expenses will be enough." In that case, you should try it first. As a result, Yelu Chucai set up ten-way tax collection offices in Yanjing, Xuande (now Xuanhua, Hebei), Xijing (now Datong, Shanxi), Taiyuan, Jinan and other places.
The chiefs of the various tax collection offices are called tax collectors, and they are all selected and appointed by Yelu Chucai from among the scholars of the Central Plains. At the same time, the amount of salt, wine, miscellaneous taxes, and land taxes was established, which were collected by the various tax collectors.
In the second year, the tax collectors of all walks of life presented the account books of the collected gold and grain to Okodai, and when Okotai saw it, it was exactly the same as the amount originally set by Yelu Chucai.
He was greatly astonished, but even more pleased, and pointed to Yelu Chucai and praised, "You have not left me, but you have collected so much gold, silver, silk, and grain. Is there anyone as capable as you among the ministers of the Jin Dynasty?"
In order to show his respect for Yelu Chucai, he personally poured wine and sent it to Chu Cai, and at the same time solemnly handed over the big seal of Zhongshu Province to him and let him be responsible for handling daily government affairs.
It should be pointed out here that before the formal establishment of the Yuan Dynasty, the official positions of the Mongol Khanate were not customized, and they were often set up according to people and events. At this time, the Zhongshu Province was actually set up to deal with daily government affairs, manage the Central Plains region, and take charge of Chinese documents and books.
When Kublai Khan, the ancestor of the Yuan dynasty, established the official system, Zhongshu Province became the highest administrative body in the country. However, during the Mongol Khanate, the status of the governor of Zhongshu Province was also very high.
Yelu Chucai was reused, setting a precedent for the Mongol rulers to appoint civil servants. From then on, he was able to carry forward his political ideas step by step, so as to promote the development of the Mongol Khanate and the economic and cultural exchanges between various ethnic groups.
Since there were no fixed rules to follow, and there were no necessary institutional restrictions, the magistrates went their own way, wantonly committed lawlessness, plundered at will, killed the people, and amassed wealth; The Mongol aristocracy and meritorious men often interfered in local administration and acted as a prestige.
In response to this situation, Yelu Chucai proposed reform measures, that is, the local governors no longer lead the army and the people, but adopt the division of military and civilian rule, and suggested that prefectures and counties should set up governors to be in charge of civil affairs, and ten thousand households should be set up to manage military affairs, and the collection of taxes should be the responsibility of the tax collection office.
The military, government, and financial powers are divided into different institutions, and each institution is not subordinate to each other, so that they can contain and supervise each other, and jointly be responsible to the Mongol Great Khan, so as to prevent the local officials from being arrogant and difficult to control.
It was also stipulated that without the order of the Great Khan, the magistrate could not arbitrarily collect taxes, and violators were punished. At the same time, the power of the Mongol aristocracy was restricted, and they were not allowed to interfere in local administrative affairs at will.
At that time, officials and generals had no income, and their income depended mainly on war plunder or rewards from the Great Khan. As a result, it was quite common to embezzle public property, extort the common people, and give gifts to the governors up to the Great Khan.
Yelu Chucai believes that this kind of thing that harms the interests of the people and the state must be prohibited, and corresponding laws and regulations must be formulated to restrain it.
He proposed to Ogedai the strategy of "rewarding and punishing the officials", "giving them the most money", and "examining the palace", so that the officials had a fixed income to maintain their lives, and then carried out the necessary supervision and assessment on them, so as to rectify the rule of officials, stabilize the order, and strengthen the rule.
As a politician who governed the country with Confucianism, Yelu Chucai compared the Wenchen who ruled the country to "the craftsman who ruled the world", and he once said to Taizong: "Skilled craftsmen must be selected to make utensils, and Confucian ministers must be appointed to consolidate the rule." ”
And put forward the suggestion of opening a science and technology. Ogedai agreed with him. At that time, the imperial examination set up three subjects: classics, words, and strategies, and all Confucian scholars could participate, even those who were captured in the war.
It can be said that the restoration of the imperial examination improved the status of Confucian scholars, and even more discovered and recruited a large number of talents for the state. Yang Huan is one of them. He won the first place in the two subjects of resignation and strategy respectively, and Yelu Chucai appointed him as the director of the Henan Road Tax Collection Office and the honest visiting envoy.
When he took office, he visited people of insight to discuss governance strategies, reduce taxes, and allow the people to recuperate. He has been an official for ten years and has made remarkable achievements.
With the assistance of Yelu Chucai, the system of the Mongol Khanate was increasingly perfected, and its rule over the Central Plains became increasingly stable, laying the foundation for the establishment of the Yuan Dynasty.