History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 419: Broken Wrist Queen Mother 2
When Yelü Abaoji founded the country, he took the "Three Talents" of the Central Plains civilization as his model, calling himself "Emperor of Heaven", his wife Shulü Ping "Empress of Earth", his eldest son Yelü Bei "Emperor of Man", and designated Yelü Bei as the crown prince as the legal successor to the Liao Dynasty.

Then the problem was simple. Now that Yelü Abaoji had ascended the throne, it was time for Yelü Bei to inherit the throne. However, the problem lay with Shulü Ping, who firmly opposed Yelü Bei's succession.

She said to her ministers: "My sons are still young and cannot run the government, so I will rule the country. When they grow up, I will let them rule the country."

Yes, Yelu Bei was too young at that time, only 28 years old, and didn’t understand much.

This Shulü Ping was no pretty vase. In the 5,000-year history of China, she could be considered an outstanding female leader and definitely a ruthless character, whose ruthlessness was not inferior to any emperor.

The Khitan people were also in awe of her and even made up a legend about her: "The Green Ox Gives Way." It is said that when she was a little girl, she was walking on the road one day and met a woman riding a green ox. When the woman saw Shulü Ping, she was so frightened that she dodged in panic and disappeared in the blink of an eye, leaving behind a nursery rhyme that goes: "The Green Ox Woman Once Gave Way."

The status of the woman riding a green bull in Khitan culture is similar to that of Nuwa in Chinese civilization. Legend has it that the ancestors of the Khitan people were a girl riding a green bull and a boy riding a white horse. The "white horse and green bull" met at Mount Muye and gave birth to eight children, who later became the "Eight Khitan Tribes".

When the Qingniu women saw Shulü Ping, they would quickly make way for her, which shows her status in the hearts of the Khitan people.

During the "Brothers' Rebellion", Yelu Abaoji repeatedly pardoned his brothers who led the rebellion. However, after suppressing the rebellion for the third time, Shulü Ping showed a tough attitude and demanded severe punishment. In the end, although Yelu Abaoji's brothers were spared from death, all their subordinates were brutally executed. Since then, there has been no more internal strife in the Yelu clan.

Shulü Ping's strength and iron fist first emerged during the "Rebellion of Brothers".

Later, Yelu Abaoji led the main force across the desert to conquer the Dangxiang people. The Huangtou and Choubo (the Khitans also liked to give foreign tribes names similar to "Quanrong") of the Shiwei took advantage of the situation to attack the Khitans. At that time, the main forces of the Khitans were all out, and the interior was empty. Shulü Ping personally led the tribes to organize resistance and successfully repelled the Shiwei people.

After this battle, Shulü Ping became famous among the barbarians, and even Yelu Abaoji looked at her differently.

Previously, Youzhou Liu Shouguang sent Han Yanhui to ask for help, but Yelu Abaoji was angry and refused to bow, and detained him, wanting to make him herd horses. When Shulü Ping heard about it, she hurriedly interceded for Han Yanhui, saying that this man was both talented and courageous, a rare talent, so why humiliate him?
Yelu Abaoji then realized his mistake, and quickly apologized to Han Yanhui and sincerely asked him to be his adviser. From then on, Han Yanhui became Yelu Abaoji's right-hand man and made great contributions to the founding of the Liao Dynasty. Shulü Ping should also have half of this military medal.

Many historical documents have recorded such an incident:

Huainan sent someone to give Yelu Abaoji a secret weapon - fierce fire oil, which was said to burn violently and was not afraid of water. The more water was poured on it, the stronger the fire would be. This fierce fire oil had a devastating killing power against tall city walls and camps, and solved the problem that had troubled the Khitan for many years. When the Khitan cavalry faced the city walls of the Central Plains, they would no longer be helpless.

Therefore, Yelu Abaoji wanted to use this weapon to invade the Central Plains. Shulü Ping stopped him in time and told him that he should not start a war just to test a new weapon. Finally, the impulsive Yelu Abaoji calmed down and did not send troops south.

Obviously, this record is to use Yelu Abaoji's impulsiveness to set off Shulü Ping's calmness. This incident was recorded in many authoritative historical books such as "Zizhi Tongjian", "Old Five Dynasties History", and "Liao History", and it is so convincing that it seems to be true. It is generally believed that the incident occurred in the third year of Zhenming (917); according to research, the "fierce oil" should be today's petroleum.

However, the History of Liao says that the one who offered the fierce fire oil was "Li Fan, the ruler of Wu". This Li Fan was Xu Zhigao. When Xu Zhigao became the "ruler" in 937 AD, the grass on Yelü Abaoji's grave was already tall. Moreover, after Xu Zhigao usurped Wu, he changed the country's name, first "Qi" and then "Tang".

Of course, the "Wu" in "Wu Lord" mentioned by the Khitans should be understood as a place name rather than a country name, which can explain why Xu Zhigao sent the fierce kerosene. But the problem is that Yelu Abaoji was no longer alive at that time.

The Zizhi Tongjian and other books put this event 20 years earlier, saying that it was sent by Yang Wei in 917. This makes some sense.

But another question is, Yelu Abaoji might be impulsive, but would he be stupid? How much flaming oil did Huainan send? Was it one or two cans of samples or trial products, or was it enough for several carts and ships to support the losses of a large-scale war?

The real essence of this story is the second half. Shulü Ping dissuaded Yelu Abaoji from going south, but pointed out a clear way for him. In short, it was a strategy to tire out the enemy.

Shulü Ping pointed to a tree outside the tent and asked, "Can a tree live without bark?"

Yelu Abaoji said of course he couldn't survive.

Shulü Ping said: "The people of Youzhou will soon be like this tree. Why should we fight a battle to capture a city that we are not good at? We should play to our strengths and avoid our weaknesses. We should make use of the advantages of the Khitan cavalry and conduct guerrilla warfare to harass the food supply routes and the soldiers and civilians who are out gathering firewood in Youzhou. The city will be cut off from food and wages. In a few years, they will naturally surrender on their own initiative."

Shulü Ping also pointed out that if a large-scale war was launched to the south and no victory was achieved, not only would the Central Plains people laugh at them, but their prestige would also be destroyed. This huge and loose tribal alliance led by the Khitan would fall apart overnight, and all tribes would rebel. After 30 years of hard work, they would be back to the days before liberation overnight!
Yelu Abaoji suddenly realized and strongly agreed with Shulü Ping's "strategy of tiring the enemy".

From then on, the Khitan army began to carry out organized harassment and soft siege on Youzhou, which indeed put Youzhou into a dilemma of food and grass cut off. The Khitan cavalry were elusive, coming and going without a trace, and the Later Tang army was unable to capture them, nor could they launch a decisive battle. They were unable to use their strength, wasting manpower and material resources in vain, and there was indeed no good way to deal with it.

All of this is the credit of Shulü Ping. Zhu Wen, Li Keyong, and Yelu Abaoji all illustrate a truth for us: great heroes and real men must listen to their wives. If the wife is a virtuous wife, the man will definitely achieve great things. But if the wife is not virtuous, please look at Li Cunxu, who lost his country and family in three years and died in disgrace.

Once they have power, they don't want to give it up. After Yelü Abaoji died, Shulü Ping started to think about not letting her son Yelü Bei succeed her.

(End of this chapter)