More than a thousand years ago, after the "Anshi Rebellion", the Tang Dynasty fell apart and became weak, and the land of China entered the dark era; at the same time, a nomadic people in the north rose up and established a powerful country, and this country was the Khitan (also known as the Liao State).
Khitan (Liao) kingdom
Speaking of Khitan, we have to mention its founding father, 11 Yelü Abaoji (hereinafter referred to as Apaoji). After successfully unifying the eight Khitan divisions, Shi Zai Abaoji's resourcefulness and bravery were good at war, and after successfully unifying the eight khitans, his fame spread far and wide, so that his neighbors in the north only knew about Khitan and did not know that there was China, in other words, the light of Apaoji blocked the surrounding line of sight.
Not only that, but there are many mysterious places in Apaoji, and it is said that he can predict his own death.
For example, on June 18, the third year of Tianzan (924), when he summoned the empress, the crown prince, the prime minister, and the leaders of the Khitan tribes, he said: "Heaven has sent down to prison, and the people have been sent ... After three years, when the age is in Chengshu, it is early autumn, and there will be a place to return...".
What does that mean? Three years later, in the year of Chengshu (926), in the early autumn, on July 27 (September 6), he will die on time.
Enigmatic Apaoji, let's get closer to him.
Portrait of Jeroboam
<h1>Is it a myth? </h1>
In 872, a Khitan woman named Xiao Yan had a dream that the sun on the grassland fell into her arms, so she became pregnant. On the day of delivery, the tent was sprinkled with glow and smelled, and Xiao Yan only gave birth to a baby boy, and this baby boy was Apaoji.
The legend opens, and the vision does not stop.
Apaoji came out of the womb, the body is like a three-year-old baby, cut off the umbilical cord, and can crawl on the ground; after three months, he can walk without support; he can speak after just over a hundred days, and his speech is amazing, and the opening involves major national affairs; he claims to have the protection of the gods around him, and he can also predict the prophet.
When the legend saw this, the author could not help but be dumbfounded. But this kind of dumbness is not ridicule, but a deep admiration for the frankness and frankness of the northern peoples, one by one, whether it is a totem or adoration, they always use their hearts to salute and worship, and the reverence for the gods is rooted in the brain, as if flowing in the blood.
Khitan warriors
<h1>warrior</h1>
The "History of Liao" also records this Khitan warrior, saying that he was "nine feet long, plump and sharp, shooting at people, and passing three hundred pounds of bows."
In fact, this account tends to be more true, so he gained the trust of his uncle, Jeroboam. And Yu Yue, who was then in the Yaoyuan clan at the time, because of Apaoji's large body and courage and knowledge, naturally became the Tart Horse Marmoset Shali (Guard Officer) of the Haruka clan, and from then on, with this team of guards, it rose rapidly.
Next, his uncle was killed by the enemy, and Apaoji inherited the throne from Yu, and then conquered the neighboring tribes such as Xiaohuangmuwei, Yuewu, Ugu, Liumu, and Bishadi, and won a great victory each time, and was called "A-Lord Shari" (Shari, Khitan for Langjun).
In 901, after the Khanate of Chende, Apaoji was appointed as the head of the headquarters Yi Liyi (military leader), and from then on, he took the reins of his horse and specialized in conquest, and began the southern conquest of the northern war and the road of opening up the territory.
In the same year, Dabu Mu Wei, Yu Yu, and Ye Shuai had jurisdiction over the assassin brothers, and entered the Great Dielie Mansion to leave the house;
In 902, he led 400,000 troops to hedong, captured nine counties, and captured 95,000 livestock, with uncountable weight;
In 903, the Jurchens of the Northern Expedition captured 300 households; they took the Huaiyuan army in hedong in the south and occupied Jibei (present-day northern Hebei), and they received a large amount of people and property, returning with a full load; they were promoted to the position of general governor of military affairs and became the actual manipulator of the tribal alliance;
In 904, he ambushed Liu Rengong, captured his adopted son Zhao Ba, and took advantage of the victory to pursue Murong Weibu;
In 905, when the Tang Dynasty was dying, Abaoji, at the invitation of Li Keyong, the envoy of Hedong Jiedu, led 70,000 light horses to Yunzhou, and married as brothers- at this time, the Khitan Iron Horse was already famous, which made the Tang Dynasty defenders around the Yellow River feel frightened.
Khitan Iron Horse
<h1>babirusa</h1>
In 906, Zhu Wen, the Emperor of Later Liang, a generation of mixed-generation demon kings and later later, came to make friends with them with books, belts, and treasures; in December of the same year, The Khan of Chendeyi died of illness and was elected as the Khan of the Yaoyuan clan.
Apaoji finally stepped onto the Khitan stage.
In those years, the Central Plains were full of wars, and the flocks of heroes were chasing deer, and A Baoji conformed to the situation of the times, and together with Li Cunxun, Zhu Wen and others later exiled the world, becoming a giant of the times. After two attacks on Youzhou, although he was defeated, he saw the strategic value of this important land, and finally his son Yelü Deguang completed this mission and obtained the "Yanyun Sixteen Prefectures" from Shi Jingtang.
As far as the world was concerned, Apaoji led the Khitan tribes to rise up, stand proudly at the head of the tide, and shine brightly in that turbulent era, and indeed he was a hero. Therefore, it is not surprising that the Khitan is dominating the north.
Here's a point to add: the Liao state is the Khitan state, because the Liao state is the dynasty established by the Khitan people, and the Khitan people have repeatedly used these two national names for the next two hundred and nineteen years.
Portrait of Zhu Wen of the Later Liang
<h1>Counterinsurgency</h1>
In the first month of the second year of Kaiping (908), Abaoji was promoted to the position of Grand Chief of the Khitans, and that is, the emperor, began his first nine-year term (selling a Guanzi).
In fact, the emperor's throne at this time was only an empty shelf, because the Khitan still had an unusual way to go before forming a state or dynasty; because this nomadic people had to go through the transformation from slave society to feudal society, and Apaoji was the practitioner of this great transformation.
Previously, the Khitan tribes practiced a family election system, that is, the election of khans by popular election. However, after Apaochi became khan, he planned to visit the Central Plains, make his descendants hereditary replacement, establish a permanent dynasty, and deprive other ministries of the right to vote.
As soon as the plan landed, it was strongly protested by the four brothers of Jeroboam, and as a result, the four of them jointly rebelled, and the "Rebellion of the Brothers" occurred. Apaoji was overwhelmed, but he could not bear to kill them, so after the counter-rebellion, he invited the four of them to climb the mountain together, swore an oath to the Heavenly Alliance, and after degrading the Yi Li of the Jeru Thorn Gedi Thorn Department, he pardoned them.
But the brothers, led by Jeroboam, did not appreciate it.
The ministries rebelled again in March 912 and July 913, almost removing Apaoji from the throne. It was not until May 914 that it was appeased. After repeated counter-rebellions, Apaoji paid a heavy price, the tribe originally had 10,000 horses, and by the end of the rebellion, most of the people on the grassland could only graze on foot.
Khitan war horses
<h1>Clear all obstacles</h1>
The civil unrest in this tribe has just subsided, and the other seven departments are eager to try. But this time, Apaoji used conspiratorial and bloody means one by one, because the strength of the Remote Ministry alone was not enough to compete with the Seven Khitan Tribes, so under the compulsion of the Leaders of the Seven Tribes, Apaoji had to hand over the banner representing the supreme power and agreed to abdicate. However, he made a set.
He said to the leaders of the seven tribes: "I have been in the position of khan for nine years, and there are many Han chinese under my subordinates, and I want to take one myself to govern Seoul, can I?" ”。
The crowd agreed.
When Apaoji arrived at the territory, he began to lead the Han people to cultivate, build cities and pools, and provide scarce salt and iron for the seven departments, which was economically developed for a time and unique.
Soon, he began to plot, sending people to tell the leaders of the seven departments: "I have a salt pond, and I always supply the various departments. But everyone only knows that it is convenient to eat salt, but they don't know that the salt pond also has a master, you should come to treat me and my subordinates! ”。
Subsequently, the leaders of the seven tribes gathered in the salt pond with cattle and wine, and after some guessing of the fist order, when they were drunk, Apaoji's men rushed up... Remove all obstacles. This is the bloody "Salt Pond Alliance".
Khitan cavalry
<h1>Great Khitan</h1>
In 916, Apaoji officially ascended to the throne and established the Great Khitan State. At the same time, a series of measures were introduced.
Abaoji admired Zhongyuan and worshipped Liu Bang and his subordinate Xiao He, so he changed his name to Liu Yi, in other words, Yelü was equivalent to Liu Yi; at the same time, he gave his mother and grandmother the original Bali clan and the Yimu clan the Xiao surname, which is why the later Khitan empresses all had the surname Xiao.
In order to effectively manage the Khitans and Han People, Abaoji set up a set of parallel institutions one by one, the northern officials "ruled the Khitan with the state system"; the southern officials "treated the Han people with the Han system". In this way, we can understand the official title of Qiao Feng's "Nanyuan Great King" in the "Eight Parts of the Heavenly Dragon". Moreover, Apaoji will choose different places to live in the two places every year for four seasons, known in history as "four hours of bowls", which looks like "nomadic" on the surface, but in fact it is a kind of clever inspection.
In addition, Abaoji was proficient in Chinese, and appointed Han Zhigu, Han Yanhui, and Kang Moji as counselors, almost copying the six-part system of the three provinces of the Tang Dynasty: setting up prefectures and counties, licheng Wu, fixing taxes, promulgating the "Prison Law", creating khitan scripts, and building the imperial capital of Shangjing; Xingkong Temple, Buddhist temple, Taoist temple, etc., partially realizing the transformation of nomadic tribes to agricultural civilization.
Looking at the millennium, Jeroboam is indeed a great figure.
Khitan script
<h1>About that prophecy</h1>
On September 26, 926, Apaoji died on the way back from the Bohai State. Regarding his death, combined with the previous text, later generations consider it not to be a normal death.
Therefore, the modern scholar Wang Xiaofu believes that this is the result of the Khitan tribe's acceptance of Manichaeanism from the Uighur tribe. In order to mold himself into a Manichaean saint, Apaochi set his own death date in the form of "prophecy", and on the day of the early autumn of Chengshu, he asked the empress to carry out her will, kill herself, dedicate herself to religion, and embody the "brilliance" of human nature.
Another scholar, Luo Xin, after examining the political traditions of the nomadic peoples, believed that before the Khitan Great Khan succeeded to the throne, his cronies deliberately strangled him with ropes, and when he was confused, he asked him how many years he could be a khan, and if the new khan answered more than the number of times he had been a khan, he would have to die.
Apparently, Apaoji must have gone through this ritual, and his answer was "nine years."
Therefore, from 907 to 916, Apaoji experienced the first nine years on the khanate throne; after the expiration of the reign of emperor to 924, he experienced the second nine years; and then, on the grounds of completing the uncompetited cause of destroying the Bohai Kingdom, he asked the empress and the crown prince for another three years, so that the time of his death was set, that is, "... Three years later, in the early autumn..."
If this is the real cause of Apaoji's death, people can't help but be awe-struck as the commander of the eight khitan departments, using their lives to fulfill their promises, return their souls to the Khitans, and let the country stand on his shoulders for two hundred and nineteen years.
Reference: History of Liao