Chapter 136 Shulü Ping

Han Dynasty, the fourth year of Yuanshou.

Liu Che laughed: "So, this Yelu Bei is another prince whose achievements and reputation are not as good as his brother's?"

It is not known whether Yelu Abaoji discovered the problems between his sons during his lifetime, or whether he thought about whether the crown prince could successfully ascend the throne - perhaps he did, but perhaps in his eyes such a problem was not too serious, or perhaps he felt that even if something went wrong, the Khitan would be able to get through it smoothly.

Yelu Deguang's own strength and reputation was one of the reasons, but what were the other reasons? Could it be that this was the reason why Yelu Abaoji thought there was no need to worry too much and should deal with it in advance?
"After all, Yelu Abaoji and Li Yuan are still different." He thought for a long time, but finally ended up speaking in another direction.

The ministers were stunned for a moment, then quickly agreed, saying that it was indeed the case.

It is indeed different, so this struggle for the throne occurred after Abaoji's death, rather than breaking out during his lifetime.

Qing Dynasty, the 28th year of Kangxi's reign.

If we talk about someone who understands such an environment, Kangxi is definitely one of them.

Although he lived in the Qing Dynasty and did not experience the political situation of the early Qing Dynasty, the Qing Dynasty's own history books recorded the situation in the early Qing Dynasty very clearly, not to mention the various crises he faced when he ascended the throne as a young ruler.

The system of hereditary election, which was then transformed into a hereditary system of the throne, posed a fundamental threat to imperial power.

How different was the Qing dynasty's election system from today's? Emperor Taizong had to consult with the eight princes, and the several great beiles had their own troops. The eight banners were simply the private property of each banner owner, and were used by each banner owner to fight against the central government...

Until now, although the leaders of the royal family banners have been weakened several times, Kangxi continues to strengthen his control over the Eight Banners.

[Another reason is the support of Empress Shulü Ping.

As the founding queen of Khitan, Shulü Ping was not a weak woman who depended on Yelü Abaoji. On the contrary, she was sharp and decisive, with a strong political vision and skills, and a firm and decisive character to match.

In the Khitan tribe, the status of wives was also very important. They often had to participate in the daily activities of the tribe, assist their husbands in politics and military affairs, and also control the rear when their husbands went out to fight.

Therefore, Shulü often participated in military campaigns and commanded various affairs of the troops. She had extraordinary talents and accumulated a lot of popularity and power.

Once, when Yelu Abaoji went on an expedition to attack the Dangxiang, the two Shiwei tribes of Huangtou and Choubo thought that the Khitan was weak internally and launched an attack. After Shulü Ping learned the news, she reorganized her troops and prepared for battle. She then defeated the enemy and frightened all the barbarians with her prestige.

In addition, Han Yanhui, a Han Chinese hero who founded the Khitan Empire and served four generations of emperors, was also protected by Shulü Ping, and then Yelü Abaoji came to communicate with him and reused him. 】

(The Queen of Earth is dignified and resolute, and has great talents and strategies.)
(Empress Shulü Ping cut off her own wrist and shocked the court and the public. She was a ruthless person.)

The early years of the Han Dynasty.

Liu Bang smiled and said steadily: "Of course the founding queen is important, and only a woman like this can bear such a heavy responsibility."

Although he doted on Concubine Qi, he did not think that she could become the empress and take on the responsibilities of a empress - the empress was not a concubine, but someone who really had to participate in politics. Her mind, heart, words and deeds would all carry strong political significance.

He was not sure about the dynasties in later times, but at least this was the case in the Han Dynasty today.

Lu Zhi snorted coldly and did not comment on his words. She just said, "The queen of any generation is important." The burden of the founding queen is indeed heavy, but does it mean that the queen will no longer need to play her role in the future?
Whether it is daily political activities or managing state affairs under special circumstances, a queen with a clear mind and skills is needed.

Xiao He smiled and said, "I think that in the Khitan and Liao dynasties, the role of the queen will always be very important." This is different from some other later dynasties they have seen.

Tang Dynasty, Zhenguan period.

Li Shimin immediately thought of his wife - although she could not be considered the founding queen, she had helped him so much! Thinking of the hardships she had suffered following him over the years, his eyes suddenly turned red and he wanted to cry.

And the founding queen, his own mother, had died before the establishment of the Tang Dynasty, so she was unable to enjoy the honor of being a queen...

His tears really fell.

Empress Changsun hurriedly comforted him, coaxing and persuading him, and Li Shimin's mood finally changed.

After the sadness, he began to think about the information revealed by the miracle: "Han people are the heroes of the founding of the country? It seems that at that time, the interactions between the Hu and Han peoples were extensive."

"What do you think of the Liao's policy towards the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun? Will they be loyal to the Song Dynasty?" He asked. After all, judging from the current policies of the Khitan, they still value the Han people and are willing to give up some of their interests. Their long history near the Tang Dynasty also gave them a certain foundation for sinicization.

Cheng Zhijie said carelessly: "Of course, after all, they are Han Chinese, how can they not think about their own dynasty?..." He scratched his head and thought of something, "However, this depends on the situation in the Song Dynasty. If this side is a mess..."

Everyone agreed with Cheng Zhijie's point of view.

It is normal to be inclined towards the Han dynasty, but after all, ordinary people have to survive, and the final outcome is determined by the policies and capabilities of the Song Dynasty.

[On the other hand, there is the tribal power held by Shulü Ping.

The Khitan and later Liao Dynasty always maintained the tribal structure, which included four royal tents - the Great Heng Tent and the Heng Tent Sanfu Clan. The Great Heng Tent was the descendant of Taizu Yelü Abaoji and was also the most core tent; the Heng Tent Sanfu Clan was the descendant of Yelü Abaoji's uncles Yanmu, Shilu and Abaoji's brothers.

The Yaonian Nine Tents Clan is the descendant of the nine Yaonian Khans.

As well as the King's Uncle's Account and the King's Uncle's Separate Department.

Among them, the Guojiu Zhang is the tribe controlled by Shulü Ping, which actually includes two tribes - Bali and Yishiyi. Shulü Ping's paternal clan is the Bali clan, which is divided into two branches, Dafu and Shaofu; and her mother's ex-husband's clan is the Yishiyi clan, which is divided into two branches, Daweng and Xiaoweng. The Guojiu Biebu was founded during the reign of Emperor Shizong of Liao, who turned his mother's paternal clan into a new Guojiu tribe, called Guojiu Biebu.

Both of these uncles of the emperor were given the surname Xiao.

By the way, the Guojiu Account and Guojiu Biebu are also called "the clan of the hind", and the corresponding ones are the three Yelu clans of the royal family: Dahe clan, Yaoyan clan, and Shili clan, which is the surname of Yelu Abaoji's ancestors. And "the royal family only intermarries with the clan of the hind", that is, the royal family Yelu clan and the clan of the hind have intermarried for generations.

This, to a certain extent, formed a political structure of "co-governance" between the royal family and the descendants.

This can also be seen from the festival customs. On February 1st, the Zhonghe Festival is celebrated. The Xiao clan, the uncle of the emperor, holds a banquet to entertain the Yelu clan, the uncle of the emperor. This is a regular event. On June 18th, the Yelu clan holds a banquet to entertain the Xiao clan, the uncle of the emperor.

Now is the early days of the Khitan nation. Although the political structure of the Liao Dynasty has not yet been fully formed, the power in the hands of Empress Shulü Ping is still strong. 】

(The empress dowagers of the Liao Dynasty were all very powerful. There was also an Empress Dowager Xiao who played the role of Emperor Taizong of Song, Zhao Guangyi, in the previous scene. His donkey cart was knocked so hard that it drifted. He earned the title of "God of Carts of Gaoliang River" and passed it down to later generations.)
Song Dynasty, Emperor Taizong of Song
Zhao Guangyi was immediately broken by the barrage of bullets from the sky, and Hong Wen issued a warning!
(Don’t let me know whose comment this is, or you’ll be in trouble)

Qin Dynasty.

Ying Zheng couldn't help but feel a little surprised at the structure of the Liao Dynasty.

Although the marriage between Qin and Chu lasted for a long time and several generations of queens and queen mothers came from Chu, it was different from the absolute intermarriage in the Liao Dynasty.

The royal family only intermarries with the royal family... That is to say, unless there are any unexpected events, the empresses of all emperors have the surname Xiao, and are either from the emperor's uncle's account or from another branch of the emperor's uncle's family. The same is true for all the princesses. The sons of the emperor's uncle's account and other branches of the emperor's uncle's family all marry women from the Yelu clan.

"With such a marriage relationship...it's no wonder that the empress and queen mother of the Liao Dynasty were able to wield considerable power and participate in government affairs." Fusu spoke. Such a system did expand his horizons. Daqin had never seen such a way of intermarriage before.

Since the two have been intermarrying for generations, what about the government? The Yelu family must have occupied many official positions, so wouldn't the Xiao family have occupied many as well? In this case, the basis for "co-governance" in the court was established.

Under such institutional conditions, the queen held tremendous power, and the emperor was able to gain a great deal of benefits through his marriage relationship, controlling all parties and turning the entire upper class into a stable group - although there would be internal struggles, no irreversible major turmoil would occur.

Han Dynasty, during the first year before Emperor Wen.

Liu Heng was a little surprised: "Such an alliance..."

This is a very stable and long-term alliance - even traditional festivals have to be added to maintain the alliance. Moreover, the state uncle's tent held a banquet to welcome the state clan Yelu, which was itself excessive; but in the end, the Yelu clan also held a banquet to welcome the state uncle's clan Xiao.

This gave Liu Qi the feeling that it was very much like the ancient legend of two tribes marrying each other, which was passed down from generation to generation and continued uninterruptedly.

He said to Liu Heng: "It is precisely because of the various traditions of the Khitan people that the succession method that we are accustomed to is not yet deeply rooted in their hearts. It is also because of their own traditions that the queen has a very high decision-making power over the successor and military and national affairs."

The Yelu clan of the royal family and the Xiao clan of the royal uncle's family had been intermarried for generations. No matter how many tribes the Xiao clan had, the overall performance was that the Xiao clan occupied a lot of power in Khitan - this was reflected in the inner court, naturally, as the powerful force of the queen and the queen mother.

This is a possibility that other dynasties do not have.

The power of the empress of the Han Dynasty was the highest among all dynasties, but she could not do what Shulü Ping did, who openly demanded a change of the throne candidate when there was a clear crown prince, the crown prince was not young, had a group of supporters, and had done no wrong.

Frankly speaking, although their family has always said that it is not easy to be a crown prince and the emperor is not shy about deposing and enthroning the crown prince, even if the emperor wants to depose and enthronize the crown prince, he usually has to find a reasonable reason.

Liu Heng smiled and said, "This Empress Shulü's title is Empress of Earth, and before that the title appeared at the same time as Liao Taizu's title of Emperor of Heaven." Although it is not a new thing for emperors and empresses to give themselves all kinds of messy titles in later generations, there are still some differences between "Heaven" and "Earth".

It is not surprising that Yelu Abaoji gave himself the title of Heavenly Emperor, but he gave Shulü Ping the title of Empress - on the one hand, Shulü Ping's personal ability was obviously outstanding; on the other hand, Shulü Ping's status in his heart and in the hearts of the Khitan nobles were obviously quite high.

Apart from anything else, after Yelü Abaoji's death, when Crown Prince Yelü Bei was still alive, it was Shulü Ping who became the regent. Her power can be seen from this.

Tang Dynasty, Zhenguan period.

Li Shimin was somewhat puzzled. "Even so, Yelu Bei is, after all, a crown prince with great achievements. Would the forces supporting him be so different from those supporting the other side? Could it be that most of the traditional Khitan nobles did not choose to stand on his side?"

For the Khitan at this time, the ones who could influence the succession of the throne were still the original Khitan nobles, and the power of the Han people could not be considered the core in this matter.

This Yelu Bei, he will not deviate from the core demands of the Khitan nobles, right?
Liao Dynasty, the first year of Huihe.

Yelu Deguang did not care about the analysis of his successful ascension to the throne. Instead, he continued to smile: "My mother is sharp and decisive, and has made great contributions to the establishment of the Liao Dynasty. Now that the Liao Dynasty has this foundation, it is also inseparable from the painstaking efforts of my mother."

Just kidding. Although he and Shulü Ping did have significant differences in attitude towards the Central Plains, it did not mean that he thought that all of Shulü Ping's practices were wrong and inappropriate. His ascension to the throne was indeed inseparable from Shulü Ping's full support. And now that he was leading his army to fight outside, many things in the rear still depended on Shulü Ping to handle.

He didn't think there was anything wrong with the intermarriage rules between the Yelu and Xiao families. They in the Liao Dynasty had their own situation and were not like those people in the Central Plains.

Besides, it is not completely impossible to have intermarriage with other families.

Seeing Han Yanhui again, he smiled and said, "Duke Lu is not only my father's assistant minister, but also my most trusted minister. I need to consult him about the newly conquered Yanyun area and ask him for advice on how to govern it."

He was very satisfied with Han ministers such as Han Yanhui and Han Zhigu who had made great contributions to the Liao Dynasty. He was not stingy in rewarding them and benefiting their descendants, allowing them to become hereditary aristocratic groups of the Liao Dynasty.

As for the other clan of the uncle of the state… In addition to the Bali and Yishiyi clans, which clan did Emperor Shizong of Liao turn into the clan of the uncle of the state? Why did he establish another clan? It seemed to be in opposition to the original clan of the uncle of the state. So, why was he in opposition?

Which emperor of the Liao Dynasty was this Emperor Shizong?

(End of this chapter)