History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 1028: The Rise of the Later Clan
[The Rise of the Clan]

After the "Xiao Siwen assassination case", Emperor Shizong's two concubines, Chuoli and Pu Ge, were sentenced to death for "drawing a circle to curse you" (Yanmei). This case also left only this sentence.

A few years after Xiao Siwen's death, core members of the "Jingzong Party" Gao Xun and Nuli were also killed.

Gao Xun, originally a member of the Later Jin Dynasty, surrendered to the Liao Kingdom with Du Chongwei. He was shrewd and alert, good at scheming, liked to make friends with the powerful, and was good at dealing with people. Since Emperor Taizong, Gao Xun, a Han surrendered general, has been repeatedly valued and promoted to Privy Councilor and Minister of State Affairs. In the early years of Emperor Muzong, he was even granted the title of King of Zhao, and then he was stationed in Youzhou and became the governor of Nanjing.

During his stay in Youzhou, Gao Xun repeatedly defeated the Central Plains' attempts, and petitioned the court to take the initiative to attack and destroy the Central Plains' construction of the northern defense line. He was promoted to the position of the Southern Court Privy Council for his meritorious service. Later, he was awarded the title of King of Qin for his meritorious service in supporting Jingzong.

A few years later, Gao Xun submitted a memorial to Emperor Jingzong, requesting that the wasteland outside Youzhou City be developed into rice fields to increase production and income and consolidate national defense.

Jingzong was very happy and intended to approve it. However, a man named Yelu Kun shouted that it was not possible, saying that Gao Xun had other intentions and that this was a prelude to rebellion. It was a good thing to reclaim wasteland and grow crops, but why did they have to grow rice? If Youzhou rebelled, how would the royal cavalry cross the paddy fields?

Jingzong suddenly realized and immediately rejected Gao Xun's request.

Soon, a horrific case was uncovered in the palace: Yelu Zhimo's wife had made poison (privately made poison).

Yelu Zhimo, also known as Yelu Zhimu, was the third son of Emperor Shizong. He was smart and studious, proficient in Chinese and could write poetry. In the late years of Emperor Muzong, he had an affair with a palace maid, which angered Emperor Muzong. He first beat him with hundreds of sticks, blinded one of his eyes, castrated him, and finally threw him into prison to sentence him to death.

After Jingzong ascended the throne, he pardoned Yelu Zhimo, named him the Prince of Ning, and gave him the palace maid who had an affair with him. In the eighth year of Baoning (976), Zhimo's wife Anzhi was arrested for secretly making poison. In ancient times, secretly making poison was a capital crime, so on July 7, Princess Anzhi was executed, and Yelu Zhimo was implicated, stripped of his title and exiled.

Coincidentally, while investigating the case of Ning Wangfei making poison, the Liao police also uncovered another case related to poison: Gao Xun gave poison to Xiao Chuoli, the son-in-law of the emperor. By the way, four years later in 4, the Liao army invaded the Song Dynasty from three directions, and Xiao Chuoli, the son-in-law of the emperor, was killed instantly by Yang Ye at Yanmen Pass.

Gao Xun was demoted and exiled. A year later, something happened in Nuli as well.

Nvli was originally an unknown horse breeder. His place of work was in Jingzong's mansion, thus he became an old official of Jingzong's mansion. Jingzong treated him very well, "treated him very well", and Nvli was also very happy to climb up the high branch, "and also fell in love with him". Although Nvli was of humble status and low position, she was often with Muzong because of work. Many people believed that this was the important reason why Jingzong was willing to respect the wise and humble and condescend to make friends with her. Anyone who coveted the throne must try his best to win over the people around the emperor, because they can grasp the emperor's dynamics.

After Jingzong ascended the throne, he promoted Nvli to the position of the commander of the imperial palace, the chief of government affairs, and the chief of the imperial guards, and regarded him as his confidant. The powerful officials in the court also tried to curry favor with him, and even Liu Jiyuan of the Northern Han Dynasty found an opportunity to bribe Nvli with a large sum of money.

Faced with bribes from all sides, Nuli revealed her greedy nature, and she was greedy and demanding. She and her good friend Xiao Abudi were like-minded. Their greed had no bottom line and became a popular Internet meme in Liao Dynasty. It is said that a few cockleburs (a Chinese herbal medicine with thorns) were accidentally stuck on someone's fur coat. People pointed at these cockleburs and joked, "If you meet Nuli and Abudi, you must take them all." They would taste the saltiness of the manure carts passing by their door.

In the tenth year of Jingzong's reign, Nüli was reported to have hidden weapons and armor. It was said that she had hidden 500 sets of armor. During a further search, an important letter was found in Nüli's home. It turned out to be a letter of involvement in the murder of Xiao Siwen. It turned out that Nüli and Gao Xun were also the masterminds!
As a result, Nuli was sentenced to death, and Gao Xun was also executed. Among them, Gao Xun, a Han surrendered general, was slightly special. His case was a criminal case with civil lawsuits attached, and all of Gao Xun's property was transferred to Xiao Siwen's family, which was considered civil compensation.

It is indeed shocking. What is shocking is not that Nuli and Gao Xun murdered Xiao Siwen, but that they actually carefully kept the letters for a full ten years instead of destroying them in a fire afterwards. It is simply unbelievable.

Letters are easily destroyed and even easier to be "discovered" or invented.

At first glance, the stories of Nuri and Gohoon seem to be commonplace since the reign of King Sejong, "the one who loves me hurts me the most", and the meritorious officials of the Yidae clan deliberately want to overthrow the new king they support. However, the situation of the reign of King Gyeongjong is quite different. It is the core of the reign of King Taejo and King Taejong, which is disguised as the political struggle of the reigns of King Sejong and King Mujong. In plain words, it is a game between the "Emperor's Party" and the "Queen's Party".

There is a key time node here - the eighth year of Baoning (976). In February of this year, the Liao Dynasty's Hanlin scholars received a work instruction, "Write that the empress also refers to herself as 'I' and 'I', and make it a fixed pattern." In other words, the empress referred to herself as "I".

At this point, the tip of the iceberg finally emerged as the ultimate boss, Xiao Chuo, the third daughter of Xiao Siwen and the queen of Emperor Jingzong, or the "Empress Dowager Xiao Yanyan of the Liao Dynasty" in the story of "The Generals of the Yang Family". After a fierce competition, the "Queen's Party" with Xiao Chuo as the core stood out and formed a crushing advantage over other forces. From then on, the "national destiny" of the Liao Dynasty ended its low-level fluctuations and began to rise under the leadership of the "Queen's Party". Xiao Siwen is the golden key to studying this period. Through the description of his family lineage, we can already peek into the intricate relationship between him and the major nobles of the Liao Dynasty. Perhaps Xiao Siwen was indeed lacking in civil and military affairs, but he was definitely an old driver in the operation of human resources, such as recommending Yelu Xizhen and protecting Han Kuangsi.

Yelu Xizhen, who has appeared many times in the previous article, is a rare general who has made remarkable achievements in the war against the Song Dynasty. At first, Yelu Xizhen was not taken seriously. It was because of Xiao Siwen's strong recommendation that Yelu Xizhen was able to step onto the historical stage and become a famous general of the Jingzong Dynasty. Xiao Siwen was very kind to Yelu Xizhen.

Han Kuangsi was the third son of Han Zhigu, a founding hero of the Liao Dynasty. At the end of the Tang Dynasty, Han Zhigu, who was only 6 years old, was abducted by the brother of the "broken-arm empress dowager" Shulü Ping, and then went to the Yelu clan of the Diela tribe as a dowry when Shulü Ping got married. Han Zhigu was smart and studious, and gradually became famous. Yelu Abaoji, who was eager to find talents, regarded this Han slave as his think tank, and Han Zhigu's fate was reversed from then on.

Han Kuangsi was good at medicine and became the personal physician of the "broken-arm empress dowager" Shulü Ping. Shulü Ping treated him as her nephew and doted on him. During the reign of Emperor Muzong (the tenth year of the Yingli calendar, 960), Yelu Xiyin rebelled, and his father Yelu Lihu and Han Kuangsi were both involved. Lihu died in prison, Xiyin was imprisoned, and Han Kuangsi "ignored it". Afterwards, Han Kuangsi consciously resigned and went home to reflect on himself. During this period, he became closer and closer to Emperor Jingzong. This also echoes a previous point: Emperor Jingzong liked to win over people around the emperor, such as Bi Ma Wen and the imperial physician.

During the reign of Emperor Jingzong, Han Kuangsi committed many serious mistakes, but he was able to turn danger into safety under the protection of the "Empress Party". Xiao Siwen had a close relationship with Han Kuangsi, and Xiao Siwen's daughter Xiao Chuo had an even closer relationship with Han Kuangsi's son Han Derang. The scandal between Xiao Chuo, who was already "Empress Dowager Xiao" at the time, and Han Derang was not only known to everyone in Liao, but also a hot topic on the streets of Song.

Put Xiao Siwen's network back to Emperor Muzong's reign, and then pick out a few things to list:

The eldest son-in-law Yelu Yansa Ge, the second son-in-law Yelu Xiyin; and the good friend Han Kuangsi. Both sons-in-law were enthusiasts of rebellion, and one of Xiyin's rebellions directly involved Han Kuangsi;
Jingzong loved to win over people around the emperor, such as Nuli and Han Kuangsi, and he also loved to make friends with powerful generals such as Gao Xun. Of course, he was more willing to make friends with Xiao Siwen, who had a huge network of resources;

Jingzong had discussed "rebellion" with others (such as Han Kuangsi) many times;
On the day Emperor Muzong was murdered, it was Xiao Siwen who "brought wine to celebrate his birthday" and got him drunk. Afterwards, it was Xiao Siwen and others who first arrived at the crime scene and supported Emperor Jingzong to ascend the throne in front of his coffin.
The "murderers" who killed Muzong were not arrested until four years later. Public opinion at the time always accused Jingzong of failing to handle the case properly.

These are also the small details mentioned earlier that can be used as indirect evidence.

The assassination of Emperor Muzong may not be that simple. Although Emperor Muzong "ruled by inaction" and lay low for 18 years, the rise of the "Jingzong Party" and their increasingly uncontrollable desire for power created an irreconcilable contradiction with Emperor Muzong's age. Emperor Muzong was young and strong, in his thirties, and theoretically it would not be too difficult for him to hold on for another twenty or thirty years. The "Jingzong Party" could not wait for Emperor Muzong to die, so they had to help him die.

The "Jingzong Party" subsequently split into two major factions. One was centered around Xiao Siwen, which we will call the "Emperor Party", while the other could be loosely called the "Emperor Party". The two factions engaged in internal strife over the distribution of interests.

The first to launch the attack were the Emperor's Party, who assassinated Xiao Siwen, the core figure of the Empress' Party. However, they never thought that Xiao Siwen's daughter, Xiao Chuo, was the truly formidable figure, not only far surpassing her father in both civil and military affairs, but also reaching the pinnacle in networking with her gender advantage.

Xiao Chuo was the empress of Emperor Jingzong, and theoretically she was also a major shareholder of the "Emperor's Party", which was quite a bug, just like two football teams on the field were from the same club. Based on this point, Xiao Chuo was already invincible, and the collapse of the "Emperor's Party" was only a matter of time.

Xiao Chuo inherited her father's network resources and the political legacy of the "Empress's Party". She was also the Empress, so she was able to call on the resources of the "Emperor's Party". She also maintained an ambiguous relationship with Han Kuangsi's son Han Derang, and was thus deeply bound to Han Kuangsi's family group... The "Emperor's Party" would not be slow to collapse.

Sure enough, after just a few years, Jingzong was sidelined by Xiao Chuo, and the diehard elements of the "Emperor's Party" such as Nuli and Gao Xun who had attached themselves to Jingzong were ruthlessly eliminated. After Nuli and Gao Xun were eliminated, Jingzong completely lost his left and right arms and became a lonely man, and Empress Xiao Chuo dared to openly call herself "I".

The Khitan people themselves explained that Jingzong suffered from epilepsy due to the great shock he received in the "Huoshendian Incident" when he was 4 years old, and was often unable to handle state affairs, so they had to hand over the full power to the empress. The "Khitan State History" records that "all punishments and rewards, political affairs, military operations and pursuits were decided by the empress, and the emperor lay on his bed, with his hands folded."

But… Jingzong also loved hunting, and had the same charm as Muzong back then. So some people questioned how a sickly man who had difficulty sitting and talking could ride and hunt? Could it be that you and I who don’t want to go to school or work are weak as soon as we go to work, but strong as ever as if we were on vacation?

Then historians explained that epilepsy was an intermittent seizure…

Well, I almost believed it.

(End of this chapter)