History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 418: Broken Wrist Queen Mother
7. Khitan

An Zhonghui, out of selfish interests, planned to kill Kang Fu by borrowing a knife to kill someone, but it brought an unexpected gain to the Later Tang Empire, which gained actual control over the northwest region, made the countries in the Western Regions turn towards China again, and enhanced the international reputation of the Later Tang Empire.

Another unexpected gain for the Later Tang Empire came from the northeast, the old friend of the Shatuo people - the Khitan.

The story of the founding of the Khitan state and Yelu Abaoji's enthronement has been described in detail in the previous article.

The conflicts in the Central Plains at the end of the Tang Dynasty provided a golden opportunity for the rise of the Khitan. A large number of Han people "went to Guandong" to escape the war, which brought a lot of productivity and talents like Han Yanhui to the grasslands outside the Great Wall. Comrade Yelu Abaoji, an outstanding minority leader in Chinese history, came into being. With the strong assistance of Han advisers such as Han Yanhui, he finally established a huge empire in the grasslands outside the Great Wall - the Liao Dynasty.

Many people, influenced by Mr. Jin Yong's martial arts novels, have a preconceived contempt for and hatred of the Liao Dynasty established by the Khitans, believing that they are barbaric, backward, cruel, cunning... and the big villains of our Central Plains civilization.

In fact, this is a big misunderstanding. The level of civilization of the Liao Dynasty is beyond our imagination, and its influence on the course of history is far beyond our existing prejudices. It can even be said that the Khitans played a much greater role in promoting that period of history than the people of the Central Plains at the same time.

First of all, the Liao Dynasty was an empire established by a nomadic people, the Khitans. Moreover, they founded the country and proclaimed their empire on the grasslands, rather than after entering the Central Plains. This is a unique feat.

Another great feat of the Khitans was to create their own writing system. Other nomadic peoples basically borrowed the writing systems of other ethnic groups, and the consequence of doing so was that they were quickly assimilated by the other ethnic groups. However, the Khitans created their own writing system, the Khitan script, based on Chinese characters, which enabled the Khitan civilization to continue and be passed down, and to have a strong vitality.

Secondly, the Liao Dynasty had nine emperors and lasted for more than 53 years. This achievement is considered excellent in the long history of the Central Plains civilization, and the politics is quite stable. We can make a horizontal comparison. The "Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms" of the same period are only the "Five Dynasties" in the Yellow River Basin, with a total of 5 years of history, 8 dynasties, 14 surnames and emperors, and this does not include the separatist regimes in the south. Even in a vertical comparison, it can be compared with the Tang and Song dynasties.

The 9 emperors and more than years only refer to the recognized main body of the Great Liao Dynasty. If the Western Liao Dynasty of "Dashi's Western Expedition" is included, it would be even more extraordinary.

The influence of the Liao Dynasty and the Western Liao Dynasty on Central Asia and West Asia is enough to subvert our old cognition. The pronunciation of "China" in Russian is the transliteration of "Khitan", which shows the strength of Khitan civilization. There is another unreliable saying that "China" in English does not mean porcelain, but the transliteration of "Khitan".

In short, the real Khitans in history were by no means barbarians who ate raw meat and drank blood. They played a positive role in the course of Chinese history.

After Yelu Abaoji completed the integration of the grasslands outside the Great Wall, he set his sights on the Central Plains in the south. He carried out guerrilla attacks for a long time, always waiting for an opportunity to move south and take advantage of the situation.

Under pressure from the Khitan, the Central Plains dynasty attached great importance to the management of Hebei and sent generals to guard it. During the reign of Li Cunxu, Zhao Dejun was the governor of Youzhou Lulong Army. Although Zhao Dejun was a fierce general, he was not famous enough, so he sent Li Siyuan, a meritorious veteran, to guard the Chengde Army in Zhenzhou. The two supported each other and guarded the northern territory for the empire.

At the same time, Yelu Abaoji was also making strategic plans for invading the Central Plains from the south.

At that time, the Khitan had conquered many tribes such as the Shiwei, Xi, Tatar, and Heichezi, but to the east there were still the Jurchen tribes and the Bohai Kingdom established by the Mohe people, whose geographical location was roughly equivalent to today's Northeast region, the northeastern part of the Korean Peninsula, and the Russian Far East.

If the Khitans marched south in large numbers, their rear would be left empty, and the Jurchens and Bohai could take advantage of the situation and move in. This was Yelü Abaoji's biggest concern, and one of the main reasons why the Khitans did not dare to march further south.

If you want to destroy the Central Plains, you must first destroy Bohai. Yelu Abaoji listed the conquest of Bohai as the primary strategic goal of the Liao Dynasty. When Li Cunxu was trying his best to destroy the Later Liang, the Khitan also started a round of highlights under the rule of Yelu Abaoji, defeating the Tuyuhun, Zubu, Uighur, Dangxiang and other tribes outside the Great Wall, and entered a prosperous era with all nations coming to pay tribute.

The "History of Liao Dynasty: Chronicle of Taizu" records that in 924 and 925 alone, the Arab states, the Uighur states, Japan, Goryeo, and Silla sent envoys to pay tribute. Japan, Goryeo, and Silla (small countries on the Korean Peninsula) were considered neighbors of the Liao Dynasty, but the arrival of the Arab state (the Arab Empire) was enough for the Khitans to brag about.

Of course, according to the general nature of historians, equal exchanges and gift exchanges between two countries would also be recorded by their own historians as "tribute from a certain country." Even if the Arab Empire did not come to pay tribute, but was just an ordinary diplomatic activity, it also shows that in that distant place, the Arabs had at least heard of the reputation of the Khitans and were willing to have contact with them.

In 924 AD, Yelu Abaoji finally took action against Bohai. In order to conceal his true strategic intentions, he sent the traitor Lu Wenjin to harass the border of the Later Tang Dynasty and tie down the Later Tang Dynasty's energy. He himself led the main force to attack Bohai.

Perhaps it was because politicians saw things in the same light, or perhaps it was a tacit understanding between Li Cunxu and Yelü Abaoji. The Khitan pretended to attack Hebei, while the main attack was on Bohai; Li Cunxu also used his spare time to deal with Hebei, while transferring the main force to the southwest to attack Former Shu.

Both of them won, Li Cunxu destroyed the Former Shu and Yelu Abaoji destroyed the Bohai Kingdom.

In 926 AD, Yelü Abaoji finally destroyed the Bohai Kingdom, which had been established for more than years, and unified the areas outside the Great Wall. He then changed the reign title, issued a general amnesty, and sent envoys to the Later Tang to announce the pacification of the Bohai Kingdom.

Yelu Abaoji announced the establishment of the Dongdan Kingdom (meaning "Eastern Khitan") in Fuyu City (now Siping City, Jilin Province), the capital of the Bohai Kingdom, and ordered his eldest son Yelu Bei to be the king of Dongdan and guard the place; while his second son Yelu Deguang was appointed "Left Prime Minister" and followed the army back to Beijing.

In the same year, the envoys of the Later Tang Dynasty reported that Li Cunxu died in a military mutiny, and the new emperor Li Siyuan ascended the throne.

Yelu Abaoji had just destroyed the Bohai Kingdom, and his next target was the Central Plains. Seeing that the Central Plains was so chaotic and weak, he took the opportunity to show off his military power and made a huge demand. He directly proposed to draw the Yellow River as the boundary with the Later Tang Dynasty, and all the land north of the Yellow River would belong to the Khitan.

The envoys of the Later Tang Dynasty argued with reason and refused to agree, so Yelu Abaoji made concessions and demanded the cession of the three towns in Hebei (Lulong Army in Youzhou, Chengde Army in Zhenzhou, and Yiwu Army in Dingzhou). Yao Kun still refused to agree.

If you don't give it to me, I'll have to take it myself.

However, as fate would have it, just when Yelu Abaoji was preparing to return from the Kingdom of Dongdan, he suddenly fell ill. A few days later, due to ineffective medical treatment, he died in Fuyu City of the Kingdom of Dongdan at the age of 55.

Yelu Abaoji died between two rivers southwest of Fuyu City. Later, a "Shengtian Hall" was built here, and Fuyu City was renamed "Huanglongfu".

After Yelü Abaoji died, his wife Shulü Ping took power.

This woman is not simple.

(End of this chapter)