History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 617 Sejong's Succession 4
Now Yelu Deguang suddenly died of illness on his way back to the capital, and the generals at all levels were panicked. The first thing they thought of was to send Yelu Deguang's body back to Khitan.

It was summer and the weather was getting hot. In order to preserve the body, the Khitans mummified Yelu Deguang. According to historical records, they cut open his stomach, took out his internal organs, stuffed several buckets of salt into his stomach, made it into salted meat, and transported it back to the north. The people in the Central Plains at that time called it "Emperor of Jerky", which means the Emperor of Jerky Meat or the Emperor of Bacon.

When Yelu Deguang's mummy was transported to Linhuang Prefecture in Shangjing, Empress Dowager Shulü did not cry or shed a single tear when facing the tragic condition of her own son, which was very consistent with the temperament of the strong woman "Empress Dowager with Broken Wrist".

She looked at Yelu Deguang's coffin expressionlessly and said coldly, "I will bury you after the dust settles."

She had no time to feel sad, because politicians only saw politics, not family and tears.

Although Empress Dowager Shulü was not sad, the generals who followed Yelu Deguang southward were all as sad as if they had lost their parents. It was not because they had deep feelings for Yelu Deguang, but because they were afraid of the cold-blooded Empress Dowager Shulü.

The intentions of Empress Dowager Shulü were well known in Khitan, because when Taizu Yelü Abaoji passed away, she had already exposed her cards to the Khitan nobles. She wanted to take power, and for this, she did not hesitate to raise the butcher knife against her opponents. Hundreds of Khitan nobles were slaughtered, and she even chopped off her own wrists without blinking an eye.

Now that Emperor Taizong Yelü Deguang has passed away, a similar tragedy is about to happen again.

Logically speaking, these nobles who had experienced Empress Dowager Shulü's methods would not oppose any of her proposals, because those who dared to oppose had died in the last purge. These fish that slipped through the net all became frightened birds, and were silent, so there was no need for Empress Dowager Shulü to bloodbath the Khitan political arena again.

But the actual situation was quite special. Yelu Deguang did not die peacefully in Shangjing Linhuangfu, but died suddenly during the southern expedition. This army was Yelu Deguang's direct line, and it was the political and military capital he had cultivated for a long time to fight against Empress Dowager Shulü. It was his wings that were briefly strengthened. These people were "emperor party" and were dissidents in the eyes of Empress Dowager Shulü.

Not to mention Empress Dowager Shulü, no matter who is in power, the first thing they have to clean up is the group of "veteran meritorious officials" who went south.

The reason why they did not take action immediately was because their armed forces were all the elite of Khitan. Empress Dowager Shulü did not dare to turn against them rashly. She could only endure and not get angry, waiting for them to return to Khitan homeland as planned, and then disarm and hand over power as planned, and then... was Empress Dowager Shulü's fatal question - Do you miss the late emperor?

This group of Khitan noble generals who went south have been holding secret meetings frequently in recent days to discuss this issue: how to avoid being purged by Empress Dowager Shulü.

Soon, everyone reached a consensus: if they wanted to avoid being purged by Empress Dowager Shulü, they must not let Empress Dowager Shulü take power; if they wanted to prevent Empress Dowager Shulü from taking power, they must support someone outside the "Empress Dowager Party" as the new emperor.

The new emperor must meet the following conditions at the same time:
1. There must be reasonable conditions for succession, such as royal family members, or the closer the royal bloodline, the better. Liu Huangshu can be tolerated, but Li Huangsan's great-uncle cannot be tolerated;
2. This person must be in the team heading south, so that he can focus on taking the lead.

Who should they drag into the war? Everyone quickly locked on the best candidate in the army, and this person's qualifications were simply the standard answer! This person was Yelu Ruan. As mentioned earlier, Yelu Ruan was the eldest son and grandson of Liao Taizu Yelu Abaoji. He had always been brought by his second uncle Yelu Deguang to accompany the army to the war. This time he followed the army south and happened to be in the army!
So, the King of the Southern Courtyard, Yelu Hou, secretly met with the King of the Northern Courtyard, Yelu Wa, and said that the country cannot be without a king for a day. If it is up to Queen Mother Shulü, she will definitely enthrone Yelu Lihu. Yelu Lihu is cruel and tyrannical. If he ascends the throne, people like you and me will surely die without a burial place. We should immediately support Yelu Ruan and make it a fait accompli.

The Southern Courtyard King and the Northern Courtyard King were positions set up by Yelü Abaoji. Initially, Yelü Abaoji divided the Diela tribe he was in into two parts, the Five Courtyards and the Six Courtyards, and appointed Yilijin (equivalent to the prime minister in the Han system) to each. Later, the Five Courtyards and the Six Courtyards were changed to the Southern Courtyard King and the Northern Courtyard King. They were in charge of military and administrative work.

There are also some views that the Kings of the South and North Courts are equivalent to the "Privy Envoy" in the Han system. In short, they are senior officials who hold real power and whose status and power are second only to the Khan (Emperor).

Puguzhi, the father of Yelu Hou, the King of the Southern Court, once served as Yilijin of the Six Courts.

Yelu Wa, the King of the Northern Court, had an even more distinguished family background. His great-grandfather was Yelu Jundeshi, the grandfather of Yelu Abaoji, and his grandfather was Yelu Shilu, the third uncle of Yelu Abaoji. His father, Yelu Wansi, also served as the King of the Southern Court. In terms of seniority, he and Yelu Deguang were uncles.

Yelu Hou and Yelu Wa were from prominent families in Khitan, held high positions and held real power. The attitudes of these two people would largely determine the selection of the new ruler.

They quickly reached a consensus and unanimously opposed the accession of Yelu Lihu to the throne under the manipulation of Empress Dowager Shulü. Who was Yelu Lihu and why was he unanimously opposed by all the ministers?
Yelu Lihu was the third son of Yelu Abaoji. He was the favorite of Empress Dowager Shulü and the most useless of the three brothers. The eldest brother, Yelu Bei, was famous for his "literary" skills, the second brother, Yelu Deguang, was famous for his "military" skills, and Yelu Lihu was notorious for his cruelty and tyranny.

According to historical records, Yelu Lihu was "brave and strong, but cruel by nature". How cruel was he? Answer: "He would tattoo people's faces or throw them into water or fire when he was slightly angry". He was very cruel to his attendants and palace maids. If he was not satisfied with something, he would tattoo people's faces, cook them in hot pot or barbecue them, or even worse, dig out their eyes or torture them to death. In short, according to today's saying, he was an out-and-out psychopath who enjoyed killing people.

When the three brothers were still children, Yelu Abaoji secretly observed their sleeping positions and found that the eldest and second oldest slept on the outside to protect the third brother from the wind, while Yelu Lihu cowered and hid behind his two elder brothers. Yelu Abaoji said to Empress Dowager Shulü at the time: "He must be inferior to the others!" This child is useless.

Another time, there was heavy snow outside and the cold was unbearable. Yelu Abaoji ordered his three sons to go out to collect firewood as a test.

The result of the test was: the second son, Yelu Deguang, was the first to come back to report, but he was not picky and the firewood he brought back was a mixed bag;
The eldest, Yelu Bei, came back the second time. He carefully selected the firewood, discarding only the dry and usable ones, and breaking them into pieces of similar length and thickness, then stacking and bundling them. They looked great for sale, like a show of salesmanship.

The third brother, Yelu Lihu, was the last one to come back, and he returned almost empty-handed. Apparently he was afraid of the severe cold and did not collect firewood at all. After coming back, he put his hands in his sleeves and "stood with his hands in his sleeves."

Yelu Abaoji's evaluation of his three sons is: the eldest son is clever, the second son is successful, and the youngest son is not up to standard. The general meaning is that the eldest and the second son each have their own merits and are worth mentioning, but the third son is not up to standard!
(End of this chapter)