History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 618 Sejong's Succession 5
However, the powerful and influential Empress Dowager Shulü only favored Yelü Lihu.

Some people say that this is because the traditions of the Han and the barbarians are different. The Han people in the Central Plains take the eldest son as the heir, so there is the system of primogeniture, while nomadic peoples often have the youngest son inherit the family business, so Empress Dowager Shulü favored the old and the youngest.

Maybe this is the reason, but the more important reason is that I love him because he is a waste.

Yelu Lihu was incompetent at everything except eating. He could only torture and kill servants who had no ability to resist. He could not maintain peace and stability in the country through civil or military means, and he had no ambition to conquer the world. Therefore, once he ascended the throne, Empress Dowager Shulü could naturally rule the country from behind the scenes.

The more useless Yelu Lihu was, the more dependent he was on Empress Dowager Shulü.

The reason why I value you is precisely because you are useless.

Empress Dowager Shulü deposed the eldest son and enthroned the youngest son, forcing the ambitious eldest son Yelü Bei to leave and enthroning Yelü Deguang. Although Yelü Deguang was respectful and obedient on the surface, he actually tried his best to get rid of Empress Dowager Shulü's control. So when Yelü Deguang was still in power, Empress Dowager Shulü named Yelü Lihu as the "Crown Prince" and made it clear that Yelü Lihu was the legal heir to the throne.

Everyone in Khitan knew about Yelu Lihu's cruelty and tyranny. Especially for the troops heading south, the powerful Khitan nobles, with Yelu Hou and Yelu Wa as the core, reached a consensus: Yelu Lihu must not be allowed to ascend the throne!

When Yelu Hou, Yelu Wa and others approached Yelu Ruan, Yelu Ruan refused. He frankly expressed his concerns, because the "Crown Prince" Yelu Lihu was still in the capital, and legally he should be the one to ascend the throne; even if Yelu Lihu was not allowed to ascend the throne, according to the rule of primogeniture, Yelu Deguang's son Yelu Tiande should succeed. How could it be my turn? No, no.

Yelu Hou and Yelu Wa certainly knew that he would have this concern, so they made some preparations in advance and asked Yelu Tiande and Yelu Deguang's direct confidants Yelu Shuogu, Yelu Jieli and others to escort Yelu Deguang's coffin back to Shangjing to report the death first. In fact, this was equivalent to sending away the "former emperor's party", especially Yelu Deguang's son Yelu Tiande, because with him around, it would be impossible to establish someone else.

But what should we do about Yelu Lihu?
At this time, Yelu Andan, who was in charge of guard work in the Khitan Palace, came to the front line. His arrival finally continued the history of the Liao Dynasty.

This Yelu Andan was also a highly respected and powerful person. His great-grandfather was Yelu Yanmu, the eldest son of Yelu Jundeshi, and the uncle of Yelu Abaoji. His grandfather Yelu Lubuchu was the Yilijin of the original department. His father Yelu Dieli was first the Tiyin (in charge of the internal affairs of the royal family) and later the Yilijin of the Southern Courtyard. His father Yelu Dieli was crucial to the course of Liao history, which will be explained later.

Yelu Antuan was very mature and shrewd at a young age. Yelu Deguang admired him very much and once said to others that this child would become a great man in the future. Let's take a look at his opening remarks in the history books:

"He speaks little and laughs little, values ​​his promises, follows the rules and regulations, and is extremely filial to his mother."

According to the rules we have summarized before, generally at the beginning of a person's biography, if there are words praising him for being filial to his parents (being extremely filial to his mother), this person must be a good person; if there are words like taciturn, serious, and well-behaved, then he will definitely become a great person in the future.

This time, he did something big.

Since he did not follow the army southward, but stayed in the palace, he was familiar with the court's movements and knew the strengths and weaknesses of Empress Dowager Shulü. When he came to the front on a business trip, Yelu Ruan secretly met with him, asked about the court's internal affairs in detail, and also frankly expressed his concerns.

"It's not that I don't want to be the emperor, but... according to the system of primogeniture, Yelu Tiande should succeed to the throne..."

"Stop!" Yelu Antuan interrupted, "The eldest son inherits the throne? If you really want to follow the eldest son inherit the throne, when Taizu passed away, your father should have inherited the throne. A hundred years after your father passed away, you should have inherited the throne. You are the eldest son and grandson of Emperor Taizu, and the throne should have been yours!" Yelu Ruan rolled his eyes, "That's right! Second uncle originally stole the throne from my father, and now it's time to return it to its original owner."

Yelu Antuan continued to persuade him, "Your Majesty (King Yongkang), you are wise, generous, kind, and magnanimous. You are the people's choice and the people's hope. If you hesitate for a moment, you will regret it in the future."

Excluding the "Yelu Tiande" in his heart, Yelu Ruan still has another heart - Yelu Lihu.

Yelu Antuan had a solution. He took advantage of his itinerary (coming from the capital) and spread rumors to the army: Yelu Lihu was dead!

The officers and soldiers had no doubt about this and "all believed it."

Yelu Lihu died, and the shackles of "Crown Prince" were broken. Nothing could stop Yelu Ruan's yearning for the throne.

Yelu Antuan knew that he could not support Yelu Ruan to ascend the throne successfully by himself, and the lie would be exposed one day. So, Yelu Ruan secretly found two powerful people and planned to drag them into the water.

The two big men that Yelu Ruan found were the King of the Southern Courtyard, Yelu Hou, and the King of the Northern Courtyard, Yelu Wa.

Yelu Ruan was timid and hesitant in his words, trying to sound out the two men's attitude cautiously. However, he saw that the two military leaders both had elusive and strange smiles on their faces, looking at him with a smile. This expression and this atmosphere made Yelu Antuan feel uneasy.

"Hehe, this is what it means if we are not from the same family, we will not enter the same door. What a coincidence, we two brothers also have the same idea! Don't be afraid, we are grasshoppers in the same boat."

Yelu Antuan then breathed a sigh of relief, "Then I won't hide it anymore. I've already spread rumors about Yelu Lihu's death. I need you two to make your attitude clear. Let's support Yelu Ruan to ascend the throne."

Coincidentally, Yelu Wa and Yelu Hou had just spread a rumor: before the death of the late Emperor Yelu Deguang, he had designated Yelu Ruan to succeed the throne!
The two kings patted their chests and promised: "With our support, I don't think anyone in the army would dare to oppose! But... I'm afraid the old queen will oppose..."

Yelu Ruan also made his position clear to them: Empress Dowager Shulü meant to establish Yelu Lihu. If that fellow ascended the throne, would you and I have any hope of survival? The country and people of the Liao Dynasty would probably be ruined by him. We are not only doing this for our own glory and wealth, we are doing this for the country and people of the Liao Dynasty!
This conspiracy was very successful. The military representatives, the two kings, and the court representative, Yelu Antuan, successfully formed a group, commonly known as internal and external collusion. There was no more obstacle on Yelu Ruan's path to succession.

As mentioned in the previous article, Zhao Yanshou intended to secede from Zhenzhou and forge an imperial edict to proclaim himself emperor. His confidants told him that the Khitan high-ranking officials had been holding secret meetings frequently recently, and they suspected that they were detrimental to Zhao Yanshou. In fact, they were referring to the contacts between Yelu Hou, Yelu Wa and others.

Zhao Yanshou's group was obviously being sentimental. Who would care about little Zhao Yanshou at this time? They were busy with important things.

(End of this chapter)