History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 1026: Recovering from a Serious Illness
【Recovering from a serious illness】

One day in February of the 969th year of the Liao Dynasty (2), Yelü Xian entered the palace to pay his respects to Emperor Muzong, Yelü Jing. It is not known whether Emperor Muzong was awake or not, but he was in an extremely happy mood at the time, and he even pointed at Yelü Xian and said to his attendants: "My son has grown up, and you can take over the government."

Yelü Xian was the second son of Emperor Shizong, Yelü Ruan, and the nephew of Emperor Muzong. Since Emperor Muzong was not interested in women, he had no children, so his words sounded like he was designating an heir. However, Emperor Muzong did not explain much, but packed his bags and went out hunting. He successfully hunted a bear, and then got drunk. That night, he was assassinated...

Emperor Muzong was drinking with his brother-in-law Xiao Siwen and others at the time, so Xiao Siwen was the first to get the bad news. Xiao Siwen blocked the news, then rode as fast as he could to meet his close accomplices, and immediately decided to support Xiao Siwen's good friend, Yelu Xian, so Xiao Siwen, Nuli, Gao Xun and others led a thousand cavalrymen to escort Yelu Xian to the palace.

At dawn, several people finally arrived at the crime scene. Beside Muzong's body, Yelu Xian fell to the ground and cried bitterly.

Nuli, Gao Xun, Xiao Siwen and others had purple lips, which was caused by trying their best to hold back the corners of their mouths. They tried their best to suppress their inner ecstasy and act as grief-stricken as possible. If they laughed accidentally, it would be a sign of extreme sorrow and joy. The three of them led the ministers to persuade the emperor to ascend the throne. The country cannot be without a king for a day, please ask Comrade Yelu Xian to inherit the throne.

After some procedural refusals, Yelu Xian ascended the throne in front of Emperor Muzong's coffin and became Emperor Jingzong of Liao.

Jingzong was the second son of Shizong. When Shizong suffered the "Huoshendian Incident", Jingzong was still a 4-year-old baby. The cruel Yelu Chage killed Shizong and then killed Shizong's Empress Huaijie Xiao (Jingzong's biological mother). Then he hunted down and killed dissidents including Jingzong, intending to wipe out the roots and consolidate his future rule.

In desperation, a cook named Liu Jieli wrapped the four-year-old Jingzong in a felt wrapper and hid him in a pile of firewood. He escaped Yelu Chage's search and saved his life. However, the great shock still left Jingzong with a chronic illness.

After Emperor Muzong ascended the throne, he raised him in Yongxing Palace. Instead of killing the son of the previous emperor, Emperor Muzong took good care of him. Even 18 years later, Emperor Muzong pointed to the 22-year-old Emperor Jingzong and said, "My son has grown up and can be entrusted with the government." Comparing Song Taizong's attitude towards Zhao Dezhao and Zhao Defang horizontally, we can only say that nomadic peoples are simple and kind-hearted. Of course, as we have analyzed in the previous article, the broad-mindedness of the Liao emperors was also related to their relatively weak ruling power.

The previous article detailed the repeated rebellions of the royal family during the reign of Emperor Muzong and Emperor Muzong's suppression. At that time, royal nobles and civil and military officials discussed state affairs and accused Emperor Muzong of being incompetent and inaction. Influenced by this atmosphere, Emperor Jingzong also talked about such topics with his confidants Han Kuangsi, Nuli and others.

Yelu Xianshi immediately reminded him to stay away from these people and these topics, so as not to arouse Muzong's suspicion. So Jingzong stopped talking about politics from then on, and did not cause any trouble.

It should be noted that Jingzong's name was Yelü Xian, and the one who advised him was Yelü Xianshi. Yelü Xianshi was also a prominent figure. His father was the King of the Northern Courtyard and Yuyue, named Yelü Lubugu, and was the nephew of Taizu Abaoji. His greatest achievement was the creation of Khitan script, the Khitan version of Cangjie.

Yelu Xianshi loved reading since childhood, was well-informed and was a rare scholar among the Khitans, and was highly regarded by Yelu Wuzhi. During the reign of Emperor Muzong, Yelu Xianshi knew that the water here was too deep, so he took the initiative to stay away from politics, reading, hunting, and traveling every day, adhering to the attitude of "not discussing state affairs", and also advised Emperor Jingzong to stay away from this muddy water and protect himself.

In fact, we have reason to believe that Jingzong was not just complaining and grumbling at the beginning. The "Jingzong Party" with Nuli, Gao Xun, Xiao Siwen, Han Kuangsi and others as its backbone also conspired to overthrow Muzong and support Jingzong.

When the news of Emperor Muzong's assassination came, the "Emperor Jingzong's Party" quickly seized the opportunity and supported Emperor Jingzong to ascend the throne in front of his coffin.

After Jingzong ascended the throne, he first carried out a purge of the "Muzong Party", beheading Yelu Yila Ge, the chief inspector of the palace, Xiao Wuli, the right leather room secretary, and others for "lax guarding".

Yelu Yila Ge was a "commoner friend" of Emperor Muzong and one of his few direct confidants. Facing numerous rebellions by the royal family, Emperor Muzong lacked a person to vent his feelings to and also needed someone to share his heart and give him advice. Yelu Yila Ge was that person. Historical records say that Emperor Muzong "had to consult with him on all confidential matters." This is indirect evidence for my evaluation of Emperor Muzong. Emperor Muzong was not really lying down because of his incompetence. "Lying down" was his means, and he also wanted to struggle to save himself.

Because he and Emperor Muzong were childhood friends, Yelu Yila Ge was one of the few people who dared to advise Emperor Muzong. At that time, a chicken farmer accidentally injured a chicken. He fled for fear of being killed, but was still arrested. According to Emperor Muzong's opinion, of course he should be sentenced to death. Is there any need to ask? Yelu Yila Ge hurriedly advised, saying that according to the law, he should not be sentenced to death. Unexpectedly, Emperor Muzong did not give him any face and killed the chicken farmer. What's more, Emperor Muzong also gave the chicken farmer's body to Yelu Yila Ge, saying, "I'll take your old friend!" Another time, a deer was lost in the deer farm. According to the law, the deer farm manager was sentenced to death. Yelu Yila Ge once again advised bitterly, saying that "people are more valuable than animals". After a long and hard persuasion, he finally convinced Emperor Muzong, and the deer farm manager temporarily saved his life.

Emperor Muzong trusted Yelu Yila Ge very much, and favored him to the point of being disrespectful to his elders. According to Liao custom, deer with "spike horns" were very sacred, and only the emperor could shoot them. Once when hunting, a split-horned deer appeared. Emperor Muzong was so happy that he asked Yelu Yila Ge to shoot it. Yelu Yila Ge hurriedly apologized:
"Your Majesty, only the emperor can shoot this deer. I swear..."

"What do you mean by 'subject'? We are brothers. Why are you being so polite to me? Shoot!"

Yelu Yilagu was ordered to shoot a stag with horns and hit it with one arrow.

Muzong was very happy (he was very pleased), and immediately gave him 100 taels of gold and silver each, 100 famous horses, and a piece of land called "Mazhen" to the east of the Black Mountain.

Yelu Yila Ge was very close to Emperor Muzong, which meant that his life, death, honor and disgrace were closely tied to Emperor Muzong. As long as Emperor Muzong died, no matter who succeeded him, Yelu Yila Ge would be the first target. The way the "Jingzong Party" dealt with problems was simple, crude and effective, and they eliminated the emperor physically.

When Yelu Yanxiage, the younger brother of Emperor Muzong and the second son of Emperor Taizong, heard the bad news, he immediately fled for fear of punishment and sought political asylum among the Shatuo tribe.

Yelu Yansa Ge had rebelled during the reign of Emperor Muzong. Perhaps he had colluded with Emperor Jingzong and others. In short, perhaps he was worried that Emperor Jingzong would kill him, so he defected at the first opportunity. Emperor Jingzong made a promise to him and invited him to return to China. After some persuasion, Yelu Yansa Ge returned to China and surrendered. Emperor Jingzong said that he would not hold him accountable for the past and made him the King of Qi.

However, before Yansa Ge returned to the country, Jingzong executed an official named Nianmu Gun for "secretly supporting Yansa Ge". Nianmu Gun's official position was Yilibi, in charge of criminal justice, which was almost the same as the Minister of Justice. He was a close confidant of Yansa Ge. Yansa Ge could be pardoned and even promoted to the title of king, while his followers must be eradicated, which would not only eliminate hidden dangers but also avoid causing panic among various factions. Jingzong's political skills were very clever.

While attacking political enemies, he also promoted his own direct line. Xiao Siwen, a meritorious official who supported the emperor, was appointed as the Northern Court Privy Councilor and Prime Minister of the Northern Court, and was named the King of Wei; Gao Xun, the Privy Councilor of the Southern Court, was named the King of Qin; Nüli was given the title of Political Affairs Order, Guarding Grand Marshal, and the Commander of the Imperial Palace; Han Kuangsi was given the title of Special Advancement, and was appointed as the Co-Prime Minister of Political Affairs, and later served as the Governor of Nanjing and was named the King of Yan; Han Kuangmei (Han Kuangsi's younger brother) was appointed as the Commander of the Nanjing Army, and was named the King of Ye; Yelu Xianshi was appointed as the Recruiting Envoy of the Northwest Route...

As the chief contributor to the throne, Xiao Siwen was also awarded an additional title - father-in-law of the emperor. Jingzong summoned his third daughter into the palace as a noble concubine, and soon made her queen.

In addition to Yansa Ge, all the nobles of the imperial clan were granted the title of king: Xiyin (the eldest son of Yelu Lihu) was granted the title of King of Song, Longxian (the fourth son of Yelu Bei) was granted the title of King of Ping, Shao (the third son of Yelu Bei) was granted the title of King of Wu, Daoyin (the fifth son of Yelu Bei) was granted the title of King of Shu, Bishe (the fifth son of Taizong) was granted the title of King of Yue, Dilie (the fourth son of Taizong) was granted the title of King of Ji, and Wan (the second son of Yelu Lihu) was granted the title of King of Wei. This included the three branches of Taizu's lineage and united all the forces that could be united.

These princes have basically appeared in the previous article, and all of them have illuminated the history books with their glorious images of rebellion and rebellion. The heroes competed for supremacy, and the king died in the hands of Jingzong, so he promoted these living ancestors, hoping that these uncles would stop here.

By cracking down on dissidents, promoting his own people, and winning over the centrists, Jingzong successfully completed the transition of power.

However, just over a year later, the harmonious atmosphere was broken - Jingzong's father-in-law Xiao Siwen was assassinated.

Thanks to my old friend “江湖刘白” for the monthly ticket support!

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(End of this chapter)