The northern steppes have never been lonely since the Xiongnu. At the end of the Tang Dynasty, another emerging steppe regime arose in the north, exerting an important influence on the Central Plains Dynasty. Moreover, this regime occupied the last line of defense in the north of the Central Plains Dynasty, the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun, and from then on it was still in chaos with the Central Plains. This was the northern nomadic regime of the Khitans, the later Liao state. As a northern steppe regime, the Liao state influenced the rise and fall of the Central Plains Dynasty, but it itself died in the white mountains and black water northeast hegemons.
Khitan
The former Tang Dynasty's Song Desert Governor's Mansion
The Khitan was originally under the administration of the Tang Dynasty, and was administered by the Tang Empire to set up the Song Desert Governor's Office. But with the decline of the Tang Dynasty, it slowly fell out of jurisdiction. It can be said that from the end of the Tang Dynasty to the beginning of the Five Dynasties, the Khitan grew barbarically. At this time, the Khitan was not yet a whole, and there were different tribes composed of attacks on each other. In a state of loose tribes without the control of the Central Plains Dynasty, the Khitan needed a leader who could lead them to a better life. This leader also appeared at the right time, not sooner nor later, that is, Jeroboam.
Yelü Apaochi conquered many Khitan tribes by war and held great power. With the strength of the power, it began to affect the situation in the Central Plains. The two most powerful military groups at the end of the Tang Dynasty were all friends with them, which shows that the Khitan has already stepped onto the stage of history under the leadership of Yelü Abaoji. In 905 AD, Hedong Jiedu made Li Ke worship with Yelü Abaoji. The following year, Zhu Wen sent someone to send money to Yelü Abaoji.
Jeroboam
In 916 AD, Yelü Abaoji, who had surrendered many tribes and pacified opposition forces, became the Khitan Emperor, and the Khitan was now moving towards a powerful regime.
After establishing the regime, Yelü Abaoji was ambitious and conquered the northeast region and incorporated it into the Khitan territory. But on the way home, the founding monarch of the Khitan died of illness, and the newly rising steppe regime was about to undergo a power transition.
Occupy the most important defensive line in the Central Plains
After yelü Abaoji's death, instead of following the primogeniture system of the Central Plains Dynasty, he chose his second son Yelü Deguang as the new Khitan emperor. Yelü Deguang succeeded to the throne and did a great thing, affecting the fate of the Central Plains for one or two hundred years in the future.
During the reign of Yelü Deguang, the Khitan really unified, and after the unification of the interior, the Khitan attention turned to the south. After all, when he was his father, he had the idea of entering the Central Plains. Just as Yelü Deguang was preparing to attack the Central Plains, someone provided great convenience to facilitate his smooth participation in the central plains political change.
In 936, Comrade Shi Jingyao, who was appointed as the envoy of the Later Tang Dynasty, in order to protect himself and replace the Later Tang, went so far as to be a vassal of the Khitan and gave the Khitan sixteen prefectures of Youyun, the natural defense line in the north. Under such temptation, the Khitan successfully intervened in the affairs of the Central Plains.
Later Jin
Although Shi Jingyao relied on the Khitan to establish the Later Jin, the Later Jin was also destroyed by the Khitans. After the fall of the Jin Dynasty, Yelü Deguang did not enter the Central Plains as he wished (changing the khitan name to Liao in Kaifeng City), and when he returned to Liao, he fell ill and died halfway (like his father, he died of illness halfway home).
Relatively stable three major political regimes
After yelü Deguang's death, the Liao regime was unstable. First, Yelü Lihu and Yelü Nguyen competed for the throne, and Yelü Nguyen became the victor, that is, Emperor Shizong of Liao, but his actions made his cousin Yelü Cha unhappy, so he was killed by him. Yelü Cha cut off yelü jing, the son of yelü de guang, and finally yelü jing succeeded to the throne as Liaomuzong. Emperor Muzong of Liao was also killed, and Yelü Ruan's son Yelü Xian was made emperor for Emperor Jingzong of Liao. At this point, the civil unrest in Liaoning came to a temporary end, and the Liao state began to enter a period of stable development.
During this period, the Central Plains was the period when the Song was carrying out the unification war, and the Liao inevitably collided directly with the Song. Liao and Song had been fighting for nearly thirty years, winning and losing each other. During the reign of Emperor Zhenzong of Song, Liao and Song signed an alliance with Song yuan, no longer fighting with Song, and should focus on economic development and at the same time conduct peaceful trade with Song. Moreover, this status quo has been maintained for more than a hundred years, and there has been no large-scale war between the Liao and the Song, and the two sides are more economic and cultural exchanges.
The Alliance of the Abyss
At the same time, the Western Xia, which was sandwiched between the Liao and the Song, also appeared because of its relatively strong strength, so there was a pattern of Liao, Western Xia and Song standing side by side. This pattern is also relatively stable, maintaining until new forces enter.
Liao, Western Xia and Song
The Northern Scramble for Hegemony failed
After the truce with the Song, although the Liao no longer had large-scale foreign wars, it entered a period of decline. During the reign of Emperor Xingzong of Liao and Emperor Daozong of Liao, there was political corruption and civil strife. This was the case until the last emperor of the Liao State succeeded to the throne.
In 1101 AD, Emperor Daozong of Liao died, and the throne of the Liao State was inherited by Yelü Yanxi, who was also the Tianzuo Emperor and the last emperor of the Liao State. After Yelü Yanxi, who survived the internal conspiracy of the Liao state, came to power, it did not bring surprises to the Liao, but helped to accelerate the demise of the Liao.
After Yelü Yanxi came to power, the traitors were in charge, and he himself only took care of the mountains and rivers, and did not fulfill his duty as an emperor. Within the Liao state in this state, various contradictions were prominent, and they evolved into rebellions and uprisings.
In 1114 AD, the Jurchen clan under the Liao state rebelled, led by its leader Guanyan Akuta. At the beginning, Yan Ah Bone said that he wanted to oppose Liao, but Yelü Yanxi did not take it seriously. Then the facts woke him up, but he woke up too late.
The following year, Yan Akuta established the Jin Dynasty and formally launched a comprehensive war against the Liao. At this time, Liao could be described as a leak in the house and rained overnight, and the external war with Jin was constantly defeated, but internally various rebellions and divisions were staged.
The chaos within the Liao quickly put Jin in a dominant position, and basically the outcome of the Liao war could be predicted, coupled with the signing of the maritime alliance agreement between Jin and Song, which broke emperor Tianzuo's desire to ask Song for help.
In 1125, the Liaotianzuo Emperor Yelü Yanxi was captured by the Jin army, and the Liao fell and Jin began to dominate the north.
Alliance of the Seas
The Liao (Khitan) was established because of the decline of the Central Plains Dynasty, the development was due to the chaos of the Central Plains, and the demise was due to the internal corruption and decline and the encounter of the new and powerful jin state.
It can be said that after the signing of the peace agreement with the Song Dynasty, many of the rulers who succeeded to the Liao dynasty did not deal well with their internal problems, and expanded the problems, causing sharp class contradictions and leading to political instability.
Eventually, corrupt rule led to rebellions everywhere, including the long-oppressed Jurchens, and Jin and Song joined forces to essentially deprive liao of the only help they could turn to. In this way, internal rebellions continued, and external Jin and Song sieges were laid out, and Liao Yan could not be extinguished.
Although the Liao was destroyed, the remnants of the Liao state did not disappear on the map of Asia, and the Yelü family successively established a series of "Liao regimes", including the Northern Liao, the Western Liao, and the Later Liao. Among them, the Western Liao was the most powerful, once becoming the hegemon of Central Asia, but eventually it was annihilated in front of the hegemon of Eurasia.
Western Liao