Chapter 142

Han Dynasty, during the first year before Emperor Wen.

Liu Heng took the opportunity to ask Liu Qi: "Qi'er, what do you think Yelu Deguang should do about the Yanyun region that suddenly belonged to the Khitan?"

Although the Khitan took over the city legitimately, rather than through war.

Liu Qi thought about it and was not sure: "First, and the best way is not to force the people in Yanyun area to change their lifestyle and cultural customs immediately, and not to directly impose Khitan traditions and governance on Yanyun area."

Doing so would certainly provoke resistance. It was not that the Khitan could not suppress the local resistance, but that the Khitan was still developing gradually and was not suitable for directly facing large-scale turmoil. Moreover, although the Yanyun area was ceded by the Later Jin Dynasty, there must be many people in the Central Plains who were eyeing it. If Yanyun was turbulent on a large scale, wouldn't it be their opportunity?

"Moreover, Emperor Taizu of Liao had his own trusted Han ministers, and Emperor Taizong of Liao, Yelü Deguang, should have had some as well. At least the Han ministers who surrendered and served in the government during the reign of Emperor Taizu can still be used. We can try to let the Han ministers govern Yanyun..." Liu Qi had a headache, because he still didn't know what the Khitan's own governance methods and official system were like. He could only say that they were definitely different from those in the Central Plains.

The Yaonian clan had eight Khitan tribes, so there should not have been major changes during the Yelu clan's time. Even after the founding of the country, there were still four royal clans and the uncle-in-law clan, which clearly showed that the original Khitan division system had not been abandoned.

Liu Qi flipped through his own records, which were all the parts he thought were more critical: "The Diela tribe was the predecessor of the Northern Court and the Southern Court of the Northern Court... So, the Khitan and Liao Dynasty systems had the distinction between Northern and Southern Courts? The Yanyun area belonged to the south, and Yelu Deguang chose to divide the north and south, the Khitan and the Han people?"

[On the 9th day of the 11th month, the ministers gave the Empress Dowager a title of honor; on the 23rd day, the ministers gave Yelu Deguang a title of honor; then, Yelu Deguang issued a general amnesty and changed the reign title to Huitong. Therefore, the 12th year of Tianxian was also the first year of Huitong.

Afterwards, the Later Jin sent Zhao Ying to offer congratulations and presented the map and household register of the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun.

After receiving the map of the formal transfer of the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun, Yelu Deguang changed the original Khitan imperial capital to Shangjing (Lindong Town, Balin Left Banner, Chifeng City, Inner Mongolia), also known as Linhuang Prefecture; promoted Youzhou to Nanjing; and changed the original Nanjing to Dongjing (Liaoyang, Liaoning).

In addition, a general adjustment was made to the official system: Yilijin of the North and South Courts and the Yishi was promoted to king, the chief clerk was made a magistrate, the magistrate was made a governor, the governor was made a Jiedushi, the second minister Tiliji was made a prime minister, Dalagan was made a deputy governor, Madu was made a county magistrate, and the county Dalagan was made a horseman...

At the same time, Yelu Deguang added a number of official positions that did not exist in the Khitan: Xuanhui, Gemenshi, Konghe, Kesheng, Yushi Dafu, Zhongcheng, Shiyu, Panguan, Wenbanyashu...

It can be said that these measures taken by Yelu Deguang were in line with the Khitan people themselves. "All officials were modeled after China." "After obtaining sixteen states in Yan and Dai, they adopted the Tang system and re-established the three southern provinces, six ministries, offices, courts, temples, prisons, various guards, and the Eastern Palace."

Tang Dynasty, Zhenguan period.

Li Shimin smiled and said, "The Tang system... Although they are indeed a foreign race, it also shows the perfection of his Tang system!"

"However, 're-establishing the South', did Emperor Taizong of Liao really separate the official system between the north and the south, and govern the Han area and the traditional Khitan area separately?" It must be said that one country with two systems, although it may not sound like a pleasant thing at first, but if you think about it carefully, it is still in line with the situation of Khitan at that time.

They wanted to maintain the Khitan tradition and did not want the Khitan people, who had just established their country and had not yet completed their ideological transformation, to suffer a strong impact. They also needed to learn the system and culture of the Central Plains and wanted to take over the Yanyun area...

Fang Xuanling also thought so: "Could this be the place where Emperor Taizong of Liao laid the foundation for the Liao Dynasty system as mentioned in the opening chapter? The northern and southern official system, the division of Khitan and Han people... I think that promoting Youzhou to Nanjing was also to facilitate the governance of this area."

Song Dynasty, Kaibao period.

Zhao Guangmei looked at the new official positions created by Yelu Deguang in the sky, and compared them with the current situation of the Liao Kingdom. Although his Song Dynasty had indeed been collecting intelligence on the Liao Kingdom, he did not pay too much attention to when each official position was established. After all, this was not the top priority.

So he discovered a key: "Privy Council... There was no Privy Council in Liao Dynasty at that time?" The highest authority under the emperor of Liao Dynasty was the Privy Council. Although it was divided into two courts, the north and south courts, they only governed different places and there was not much difference in the core. The emperor of Liao Dynasty had to discuss military and national affairs with them.

However, it was unexpected that by the time of Emperor Taizong of Liao, when he acquired the Yanyun area, the Liao Kingdom had not yet established the Privy Council.

However, it is also true that this time, the two courts in the north and south that the Liao Kingdom originally had were changed from Yilijin to the King, and Xuanhui was also established at this time. It would take some time for the Privy Council to appear.

Zhao Kuangyin said: "It was probably during the reign of Emperor Shizong of Liao that they formally established the Privy Council." Although theoretically Yelu Deguang should have done this, it was his fault that he died suddenly.

Otherwise, according to the development trend of the Liao Dynasty's official system at that time and the existence of the title of "Privy Councilor", Yelu Deguang would have formally established the Privy Council sooner or later.

[The Khitans had experience in governing non-Khitan peoples, or in other words, experience in governing non-Khitan nomadic peoples.

During the reign of Emperor Taizu of Liao, Yelü Abaoji, he conquered a large amount of land. Apart from the traditional nomadic territory, there were many areas with non-nomadic lifestyles. The most representative one was the Bohai Kingdom.

There are two main lifestyles in the Bohai Kingdom. The northern part is mainly based on fishing and hunting, which is still relatively primitive; but the southern region is dominated by agriculture, and farming is widespread. Such areas are very close to the traditional lifestyle of the Han people in the Central Plains.

In addition, the Han people living in Khitan territory were not rare. On the one hand, the Khitan had repeatedly invaded foreign countries and captured people and brought them back to the grasslands.

On the other hand, since the end of the Tang Dynasty, the Central Plains region has been divided into warlords, and various places have been attacking each other, the political situation is turbulent, and social production has been severely damaged; in addition, some local governments have ruled brutally, such as Liu Shouguang of Northern Yan, "the people of Yan suffered from Liu Shouguang's cruelty, and many soldiers surrendered to the Khitan."

At this time, under the governance of Yelü Abaoji, the Khitan people in the grasslands outside the Great Wall vigorously absorbed various populations, including the Han people. The policy of "governing according to local customs" was implemented for the Han people who migrated from the north, that is, "building cities in accordance with Tangzhou and counties for them to live in".

This was undoubtedly very attractive to the Han people in the Central Plains who had suffered from the war. Therefore, a large number of Han soldiers and civilians fled or surrendered to the Khitan territory to avoid disaster or for survival and profit.

During this period, the Khitans followed their original policies and basically achieved a situation where "Han people lived and worked in peace, and fewer people fled." 】 Early Han Dynasty.

Liu Bang was very open-minded about the fact that many Han people defected to the Khitan.

After all, the fundamental reason for this situation is the constant chaos, frequent wars and cruel monarchs in the Central Plains. For ordinary people and soldiers, everything they do is just for survival, to stay alive, and to avoid losing their lives one day.

In a situation where the future is uncertain, even if the Khitan is not a traditional power in the Central Plains, so what? - Moreover, regardless of whether the Khitan discriminates against the Han people in daily life, in terms of policy, the Han people are not required to change their living habits, but are governed according to their customs... In this case, why not go and give it a try?
If there were no war and the country was not in danger, even if the Khitans discriminated against the Han people, it would still be better than the Central Plains at that time.

This cannot be called treason. For ordinary people, it is equivalent to a local famine and migrating to another place to make a living. Given the character and habits of the people in the Central Plains, it is usually impossible for them to leave their original land and migrate around unless they really feel they have no choice.

Of course, these are all ordinary people. As for those dignitaries and nobles who took the initiative to surrender to the Khitan, most of them wanted to make huge profits from it.

Song Dynasty, Kaibao period.

Zhao Kuangyin was somewhat dissatisfied with those Han people who were not captured or abducted to the Liao Kingdom, but migrated there on their own initiative.

But he knew very well that it was an inevitable product of the social situation at that time. Those who had permanent property and aristocratic families might have various small thoughts, but those people at the bottom really just wanted to survive.

Just like now, there are people in Liao who are dissatisfied with the policies and officials and quietly run back to their Song Dynasty, but there are also people in Song Dynasty who are dissatisfied with Song Dynasty and want to run to Liao Dynasty. Of course, the situation is still much better than that of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period.

In order to reduce such situations as much as possible... Zhao Kuangyin thought about it and found that it all came down to a few things: First, the Song Dynasty itself must be strong enough and satisfy or accustomed to the people, and at the same time, the government policies must be promoted. In this way, the people of the Song Dynasty can understand the court and gradually attract the Han people of the Liao Dynasty to return to the Song Dynasty.

Secondly, we must strengthen border control and promptly stop those who want to sneak into the Liao Kingdom.

...Ah, we also have to be nicer to the Han people who return to the Song Dynasty from the Liao Kingdom, so as to attract them to return to the Song Dynasty.

[With the previous experience here and a group of Han ministers to assist, Yelu Deguang himself, while making use of the Khitan base, did not reject the appointment of Han people. Therefore, from the time when he took over Yanyun and officially governed, the Khitan formed a new and unique governance system, which he continued to use in the future, and the same was true for the newly acquired lands.

The system I formed based on the national conditions of the Khitan is: division between the north and the south, or control of both the north and the south.

Officials were divided into north and south, and the Khitans were governed by the national system, while the Han people were treated by the Han system. The national system was simple, while the Han system followed the old customs.

The Liao Dynasty divided its government into the North and South Courts. The North Court governed the palace, tribes, and vassal states, while the South Court governed the Han people's prefectures and counties, taxes, and military affairs. They governed according to local customs and were very appropriate.

This approach was flexible enough to meet actual needs. It not only preserved the inherent system of the Khitan people, so that it would not fail due to a big step, but also combined the Han system, so that the people originally in the Han area could live in peace.

Since the central administration has decided to adopt the method of dividing the north and the south, and the Khitan and Han peoples, the local administration relative to the central government must naturally be equal.

Therefore, in local administration, the Khitan and other northern nomadic peoples still implemented the tribal system, and the hierarchical methods such as "tribe" and "account" continued to be used; while the areas in the south where Han people lived and originally belonged to the Han area implemented the prefecture and county system in accordance with the Tang system.

To sum it up in general, "the barbarians cannot govern the Han, the Han cannot govern the barbarians, and the barbarians and the Han are governed differently."

The core of this set of policies is to take Khitan nomadism as the foundation and supplement it with Han agricultural civilization. Reflected in the personnel composition, it is to add the Han landlord class into the ruling circle without shaking the interests of the Khitan nobles, so as to achieve the result of further integration of the two sides. 】

(Yelü Deguang promoted cultural exchanges with the Han people, promoted the development of Khitan agriculture, promoted the improvement of Khitan’s own ethnic culture, and improved the political system. He was a virtuous and pioneering monarch who connected the past and the future.)
(Yes, it had an important influence on Liao.)
Eastern Han Dynasty, the 17th year of Jianwu.

Liu Xiu felt that the last few sentences in the sky curtain were the fundamental reasons for the emergence and implementation of such a system.

"Groups that hold power in one area must always be given the opportunity to participate in the distribution of benefits." He sighed secretly. Sometimes, even the imperial power cannot effectively eliminate these forces. If both sides suffer losses, then the emperor's position and the dynasty will not last long.

And the Liao Dynasty... just as Tianmu said, they never gave up their nomadic base, nor did they intend to completely sinicize - the Khitan nobles were the core, and the Yelu, Xiao and other tribes were their real people.

But, can we ignore the Han landlords in Yanyun and other regions? Impossible.

If this were really done, the Liao Dynasty's rule over this land would not last long. Ordinary people would not actively rebel against the court unless something unexpected happened, and at most they would secretly flee; but these landlords and clans were different.

Therefore, the most important thing about the division between the north and the south, and the southern treating the Han people according to the Han system, is not to let the local Han people live in peace, but to send a signal to those Han ethnic groups:

You see, we in the Liao Dynasty respect you, and we in the Liao Dynasty are willing to give you opportunities to rise and participate in politics! So, just wait and wait to join the Southern Officials and govern the Han area. Don't rush to rebel. You will have what you originally had in the future!
Only when these landlord families are stabilized can the Han people in the Yanyun area move towards stability.

Moreover, as part of the Central Plains, the Yanyun region still had some technologies that were superior to those of the Liao Dynasty, which had just transformed from a tribe into a country, and many of these technologies were still in the hands of these large tribes. If these people were not appeased, those technologies might not be able to be handed over intact to the Liao Dynasty.

He rubbed his forehead and thought: "So, I remember that the Song Dynasty had an imperial examination. If the Liao Dynasty wanted to stabilize these Han clans, it should also open up the imperial examination, right?"

(End of this chapter)