Text/Qinghe
In 926, Liao Taizu Yelü Abaoji died of illness on the way back from the Eastern Expedition to the Bohai Sea. Under the manipulation of his wife Shu Luping, the originally designated crown prince Yelü Bei failed to succeed to the throne as he wished, but the second son Yelü Deguang became emperor. After Yelü Deguang's death, the third son, Yelü Lihu, also participated in the battle for the throne with the support of Shu Luping.
The recently popular Tang Yan's new drama "Yan Yuntai" always mentions the "three branches of the Taizu lineage", referring to the three branches of Yelü Bei, Yelü Deguang, and Yelü Lihu.
Therefore, for more than 40 years after Apaoji's death, the throne was circumvented between the two branches of Yelü Bei and Yelü Deguang, until his great-grandson, the fifth emperor of Daliao, Jingzong Yelüxian succeeded to the throne, and the inheritance of the imperial throne was stabilized in the Yelü bei lineage, and the inheritance system of the eldest son was basically established.
Today, let's take a look at how the emperors after Yelü Abaoji successfully ascended to the throne in the bloody battle for the throne.
In 916, Yelü Abaoji unified the other seven Khitan departments, fixed the era name "Divine Book", and officially established the Khitan state. He and Empress Shu Luping's eldest son, Yelü Bei, were naturally crown prince.
In 926, after Yelü Abaoji conquered the Bohai state, he changed the name of the Bohai state to Dongdan, which was equivalent to a semi-independent regime. Crown Prince Yelü Bei was made the King of Dongdan and administered the affairs of Dongdan. Moreover, Jeroboam was given the crown of the Son of Heaven and the honorific title of "Emperor of Man".
Ah Baoji's own honorific title was "Heavenly Emperor", and Shu Luping was "Empress Di". Calling Jeroboam the "Emperor of Man" is actually an allusion to "heaven, earth, and man" to determine the lofty status of the crown prince.
Unfortunately, not long after, Apaoji died of illness on the way back. It is reasonable to say that at this time, it should be succeeded by the crown prince Yelü Bei, but unexpectedly, the old mother Shu Luping was in the capacity of the regent empress dowager, and the dynasty was in power for more than a year.
This Shu Luping, known in history as Empress Yingtian, supported Abaoji in his early years to quell the rebellion and unify the various ministries, and repeatedly advised Abaoji, and was a powerful figure.
Shu Luping did not like to respect the Han family culture and attach importance to the "Wenzhi" of the eldest son Yelü Bei, and was bent on letting the second son Yelü Deguang succeed to the throne. To this end, after she became regent, she first used thunderous means to eliminate dissidents, deterring the courtiers, and leaving behind the legend of "broken wrist empress". After that, he pretended to direct a "public push" drama.
She asked her two sons to stand on horseback in front of the tent, and then said to the ministers, "The second son loves me, and I don't know what to stand, and Ru Cao chooses who can be established to hold on to him."
My two sons are very good, I love them so much, I don't know who to appoint as emperor, or you can choose, who you think is suitable to be an emperor, whoever you think is suitable to be an emperor will be the horse.
Yelü Bei was the crown prince of Liao Taizu and was given the title of "Emperor of Man", so it was not logical for him to succeed to the throne? Now Shu Luping let everyone choose, isn't this a clear intention to establish a second son? Fearful of Shu Lupin's power, most of them catered to her and took charge of yerushalayim's horse.
Yelü Bei originally thought that the throne was in his own pocket, but he did not expect that the cooked duck was going to fly, but he did not have the strength to compete with his mother, so he could only "ask the empress dowager to give way" and took the initiative to give the throne to Yelü Deguang, later Liao Taizong.
Emperor Taizong of Liao reigned for twenty years, and it was also in his hands that Shi Jingyi offered Yanyun Sixteen Prefectures to Daliao. In 947, Yelü Deguang fell ill and died on his way back to Jin after the Southern Expedition.
The highest-ranking and closest relative of the clans that accompanied him on his southern expedition was his eldest nephew Yelü Nguyen, the son of Yelü Be, who had been robbed of the throne by him.
In terms of identity, Yelü Nguyen was the eldest son of the "Human Emperor" who was forced to abdicate and give way to Xian, and his qualifications were very full. Moreover, Yelü Nguyen himself is also intelligent and tolerant, and he is very popular. Therefore, several important courtiers of the clan embraced Yelü Ruan as emperor in front of the coffin of Emperor Taizong of Liao.
When Yelü Nguyen's old grandmother, the powerful Empress Shulu, learned of this, she was very angry. She had always wanted her third son Li Hu to succeed to the throne, and had previously ordered Emperor Taizong of Liao to make Li Hu the emperor's brother-in-law, but she did not expect to be strong by her eldest grandson.
Shu Luping first ordered Li Hu to lead an army to attack Yelü Ruan, and after Li Hu was defeated in Taide, Shu Lu's grandmother personally went into battle to block Yelü Ruan at Huanghe Shiqiao (southwest of present-day Bahrain Right Banner, Inner Mongolia), and also took the family members of the group of ministers as hostages.
Fortunately, Meng's father Fang Zongzong's important minister Yelü Wuqing, circumvented the two armies, mediated and persuaded peace in every way, and finally reached a cross-border treaty, and Shu Luhou and Li Hu were forced to recognize Yelü Nguyen's throne.
In this battle between uncles and nephews, although Li Hu had the support of his strong mother Empress Shulu, he eventually lost.
First, Li Hu himself was cruel and unpopular. Second, after Yelü Abaoji was elected as a khan by the Khitan Eight Ministries in 907, he had the idea of using Han law to change the system of electing khans to a hereditary system. Later, the Khitan state was established by unifying the tribes and establishing Yelü Bei as the "crown prince", which was obviously to emulate the primogeniture system of the Central Plains Dynasty.
The core of the primogeniture system is its stability, trying to ensure that the throne is passed on from one line to another. Later, due to the strong intervention of Empress Shulu, she was succeeded by her second son Yelü Deguang. Nowadays, Empress Shulu actually had to change the throne to the third branch according to her personal preferences, which was not very reasonable in itself, and naturally did not get the support of the clan nobles.
However, Emperor Yelü Nguyen of Liao, who had been on the throne for less than five years, died in a rebellion.
In 951, at the request of Liu Chong, the new emperor of the Northern Han Dynasty, Yelü Nguyen led his men south to prepare to help him attack Later Zhou. In September, he arrived at Xianggu Mountain in Naturalized Prefecture and stayed at Vulcan Lake at night. While Yelü Nguyen was drunk, his cousin Yelü Chac was quietly brewing a coup d'état.
Cha Xie's father was An Duan, the fifth brother of Liao Taizu, who had tried to rebel two years earlier, but was discovered before he could act. Yelü Chakra was very cunning, and he took the initiative to expose his father's crimes to Yelü Nguyen, weeping bitterly, and deceived Yelü Nguyen's trust, so that he was not implicated by his father.
Yerushalayim was obedient on the surface, but in private he was plotting to usurp the throne, which allowed him to seize the opportunity. At the Vulcan Palace, Yelü Cha led his troops to kill Yelü Ruan, Empress Xiao, Empress Xiao, Concubine Zhen, and others, and established himself as emperor.
Unfortunately, Yelü Cha cut off the king and usurped the throne, and his name was not justified, and before he could seize the throne, he was ousted from power by Yelü Wu and Yelü Jing and others. The one who reaps the fruits of victory in the end and succeeds to the throne is Jeroboam.
And Yelü Jing was the eldest son of Emperor Taizong of Liao, so the throne was so upside down that it was transferred from the line of emperors and kings to the line of Emperor Taizong of Liao.
Unlike his father and grandfather, Yelü Jing was a tyrannical emperor. In the later period of his reign, he turned his days and nights upside down, slept during the day, drank all night, and was a mess of the government and wasteland, and was nicknamed "Sleeping King".
Yelü Jing was even more cruel to his close attendants, and he indiscriminately killed them at every turn, causing everyone around him to panic, and he did not know when the butcher's knife fell on his head.
In February of the nineteenth year of Yelü Jing's reign (969), he went hunting in Huaizhou (present-day Balin Right Banner, Inner Mongolia) and stayed in the palace under the Black Mountain. Yelü Jing was very happy to hunt during the day, but at night, as usual, he was very drunk, and he was not willing to sit still, and six people, including the close attendant brother, the flower brother of the man, and the cook (cook) Singu, took advantage of the time to deliver food, and even joined forces to kill Ye Lu Jing, and the "sleeping king" cried out for his life.
The History of Liao records that Yelü Jing was "weak in physique and despised women", so he had no children, and always raised his nephew, Yelü Xian, the son of Emperor Shizong of Liao, as his heir. Earlier, he had said to Yelü Xian, "My son is an adult and can pay for the affairs of the country." ”
Therefore, after Muzong's death, Yelüxian led the Flying Dragon Envoy Daughter Li, the Attendant Xiao Siwen, and the Southern Privy Counsellor Gao Xun to lead a thousand cavalrymen to rush to the Black Mountain, and in the same month, with the support of the ministers, that is, the emperor's throne, which was later Liaojingzong.
Yerushalayim is also an interesting person. When he was four years old, he was struck by the fire god Diancha, and the imperial cook ShangShi (official name) Liu Xieli wrapped him in felt and hid him in the pile of firewood, and the little guy retrieved a life, and was later adopted by Muzong in Yongxing Palace.
Yelü Xian was very dissatisfied when he saw Mu Zong's daily drunkenness and neglect of government, and when he privately discussed current affairs, his words were often sarcastic, and the minister Yelü Xianshi rushed to stop him after hearing this, and Yelü Xian also understood it, and never said such words again.
Therefore, in addition to being very righteous in name, YelüXian was able to successfully ascend to the throne, but also because he himself had a relatively high political attainment. At a young age, he knew how to observe the color of words and restrain his sharp edges, so that he could always win the love and trust of his uncle; and he was lenient and knew how to win the hearts of the people, which won the support of all forces and smoothly took over the throne at the critical moment of the unexpected death of the former emperor.
After Emperor Jingzong ascended the throne, the political hierarchy adopted a tolerant policy toward the rebellious clans, diplomatically eased relations with the south, and in internal affairs, the Qing officials ruled, the criminal law was lenient, and the use of talents was used.
The stability of the imperial power is conducive to the concentrated development of internal affairs, and the development of social economy is also conducive to the smooth transition of the upper class.
Since then, the throne has been passed down in the Yelübei lineage, and in the two generations of Jingzong and Shengzong father and son, Daliao has moved from turmoil to stability and then to full prosperity, and Liaojingzong is also known as the "Lord of Zhongxing".
Resources:
Detachment: History of Liao
Ye Longli et al.: Chronicles of the Khitan Kingdom
Ouyang Xiu: History of the New Five Dynasties