Chapter 155: Yelu Deguang's Death
[On the way, the Crown Prince sent an envoy to inquire about the situation and arrangements in the army - yes, the Crown Prince, Yelu Honggu, also known as Yelu Lihu, the third son of Shulü Ping and Yelu Abaoji.

In March of the fifth year of Tianxian, Yelu Deguang appointed him as the crown prince, called Shouchang Crown Prince, and concurrently served as the Grand Marshal of the Army. When Yelu Deguang was on a campaign, Yelu Lihu would usually stay behind.

Yelu Deguang also responded to this: first he sent 200,000 troops to subdue Du Chongwei and Zhang Yanze and captured Zhenzhou. Then he entered Bianjing, dismissed those who were in office but did nothing, and appointed those who were talented.

At the same time, the old officials were preserved, but they were lazy and muddle-headed, like the nests left empty after the fledglings flew away. In addition, thieves gathered in rebellion wherever they went in the Central Plains, and the civil engineering work was not stopped for a moment, military supplies could not be supplied on time, and the people could not bear the dispatch. Hedong has not yet surrendered, and the generals in the west are also affiliated with each other.

I have been thinking about how to deal with the situation day and night, and I found that there are only three things: treat all officials with sincerity, coordinate the morale of the army, and appease the people.

Now there are 76 places that have submitted to me, with a population of 1,090,118. If it weren't for the hot weather and the unsuitable soil in Bianzhou, I could easily bring peace to the world in just one year.

Now Zhenzhou has been renamed Zhongjing to facilitate the imperial tour. As for the expedition to Hedong and other matters, we will leave it for later. 】

Ming Dynasty, during the Hongwu period.

"Crown Prince, that makes sense," Zhu Di concluded. "After all, Liao was just entering the imperial system at that time, not a tribe. It's normal to let your brother be the crown prince. Besides," he looked at his brothers, "I remember that the descendants of Liao Taizong should have been very young at that time, right?"

"That's right. When Emperor Taizong of Liao established Crown Prince Shouchang, Emperor Muzong of Liao seemed not to have been born yet." Zhu Chong nodded affirmatively.

Zhu Gang was different. He was thinking about another question: "Did Yelu Bei flee to Later Tang in the fifth year of Tianxian?" Could it be related to the fact that Yelu Deguang established his younger brother as the crown prince and had a successor?

Liao Dynasty, the fifth year of Baoning.

Liao Jingzong Yelu Xian and Xiao Chuo both felt very sorry that Emperor Taizong's plan to march south failed - this could be said to be the best opportunity for their Liao Dynasty to march south and rule the Central Plains since its founding.

Emperor Taizong had great prestige and was able to unify the people's hearts and minds at home and suppress the officials and tribes. However, the Central Plains itself was in chaos, the military strength was greatly damaged, and the local vassal states all had their own little thoughts... Such a great opportunity was eventually lost from the Liao Dynasty. What a pity.

As for later times, although there were still calls for the Liao Dynasty to move south to the Central Plains for a period of time, the domestic political situation was turbulent at that time, and the various parties were fighting endlessly. It was impossible to organize a complete and overall strategy to move south like during the reign of Emperor Taizong. Later, the political situation gradually stabilized, but the Central Plains had gradually moved towards unification, and it was no longer possible to take advantage of the situation as before.

The domestic political situation was turbulent... Or maybe it was just too unfortunate that Emperor Taizong died, too suddenly, and not in the palace. Although the crown prince was established at that time, the Liao nobles at that time, as Tianmu said, had just transformed from the tribal alliance in the past. How could they be willing to follow the imperial system to pass on the throne?
Even if there was no threat from Empress Yingtian, they would probably not be willing to pass the throne to the Crown Prince according to the normal succession model. Instead, they would rather seize the power of selecting the successor through various means.

This was exactly what happened to Sejong, and the reason for his assassination was also due to this situation.

Thinking of the consolidation of the imperial system by several generations of emperors over the years, Yelu Xian sighed to Xiao Chuo: "Yan Yan, the succession of the throne of the Liao Dynasty should be stable now that it has come to me."

Xiao Chuo affirmed his words and said gently: "Of course it is so. Isn't this what our ancestors have worked so hard for? Mingzhen, our Wenshu Nu is the Holy Emperor." From the current perspective, at least there is no problem with the inheritance of the throne between Yelu Xian and Yelu Longxu, father and son. And their eldest son, Yelu Longxu, has the temple name of the Holy Emperor... At least the throne will not fall into the hands of other branches.

Otherwise, like Emperor Muzong, his mausoleum was never newly built, but he was buried in the Huai Mausoleum of Emperor Taizong.

However, although the throne should not fall into the hands of side branches, it is hard to say whether various disputes and rebellions will arise within Yelu Longxu's branch.

Yelu Xian and Xiao Chuo were both well aware of this. To be honest, although they were not very happy with their descendants engaging in internal strife, they also knew that these things were difficult to prevent. They were just thinking about one thing: In the future, when the Liao Dynasty was destroyed by the Jurchens, apart from various corruptions, was the struggle among the upper class also a major reason?
[Yelü Deguang's summary and reflection were very accurate, and his ideas on how to act in the future were equally good, but unfortunately, no matter how good his ideas were, he had no chance to put them into practice.

In fact, after this, the entire Liao Dynasty basically lost the opportunity to implement Yelu Deguang's idea of ​​ruling the Central Plains.

On April 13, Yelu Deguang was stationed in Gaoyi and began to become seriously ill.

On April 22, after arriving in Luancheng, Yelu Deguang's condition worsened and he died in Luancheng at the age of 46.

On the first day of September, Yelu Deguang was buried in Huailing and given the temple name Taizong.

He inherited the foundation left by his father and grandfather, and soon he settled many places, and people from far and near were influenced. He established the name of the country, prepared laws and regulations, sorted out various affairs, reviewed the names and facts, recorded prisoners, taught farming and weaving, and provided support for widows and widowers. He personally led an expedition to the State of Jin, and bound the nobles. He can be said to have both great power and virtue, and his wisdom and strategy are rare.

Later, during the Tonghe reign of Emperor Shengzong of Liao, he was honored with the posthumous title of Xiaowu, and during the Chongxi reign of Emperor Xingzong of Liao, he was honored with the posthumous title of Emperor Xiaowu Huiwen.

Liao Dynasty, the first year of Huihe.

no no!
Yelu Deguang felt as if his spine was being hit, and all the hair on his body stood up, and he almost broke out in a cold sweat - how could this be?! He couldn't...

Although he tried hard to maintain his calm appearance, this was already his limit, as his heart was already raging with rage and could hardly be contained.

What made him lose his composure was not the news of his own death, but the fact that he died on his way back after destroying the Later Jin Dynasty. It was only Luancheng! He had not yet reached Yingzhou and Mozhou, let alone Youzhou and Nanjing. Why couldn't he hold on for a little longer?
Yelu Deguang knew very well how terrible the consequences would be if he passed away in Luancheng, far away from the core political area of ​​the Liao Dynasty and his own palace. He was surrounded by traditional Liao nobles who controlled armies. They did respect him, but once he passed away, many of these people who still more or less thought about the aristocratic style of the past would easily form alliances and control the armies - these were all the elite soldiers of the Liao Dynasty!

However, his own younger brother, Yelu Honggu, who was the rightful crown prince, was still far away in the territory of the Liao Dynasty and had no influence on what would happen after his death. As for these nobles, many of them did not want to see their mother's power continue - if the power of Shulü's line and his own line continued, how could they seize power and wealth from it?
Not to mention his own children. Calculating the time, in the first year of Datong, his eldest son Shulü was only about fifteen years old. He would most likely not follow him in the southern expedition, and naturally would not be able to control the situation immediately after his death. And the nobles... were most likely unwilling to wait until the return of the Liao Dynasty to support him.

Then, everything was very clear: his death in Luancheng brought an unparalleled political storm to the Liao Dynasty, a storm in which the army that was marching south at that time was led by nobles who opposed Shulü's faction, opposed the nobles losing their traditional power, did not want to see the emperor gain more power and wanted to profit from it, and eventually won.

But this storm will not end after they support Wu Yu to ascend the throne - of course it is Wu Yu, the eldest son of his eldest brother. His own offspring are not good enough, and Li Hu is also ruled out, so only Yelu Bei's offspring are left. Among them, Yelu Ruan's probability is much higher than his brothers. Yelu Deguang cast his eyes on the confidant ministers who watched the sky curtain with him. Most of them were Khitans, that is, Khitan nobles, and they all bowed their heads at this time. They are all smart people. What I thought of, they also thought of it. How can I not make an attitude of apology at this time?
On the contrary, the few scattered Han ministers were not as panicked as they were - the succession to the throne of the Liao Dynasty had nothing to do with them.

Yelu Deguang was a little dazed. He knew clearly that there would always be rebellions among the Liao nobles. Even if he passed the throne smoothly to the person he wanted, and even if the succession of the Liao had been basically stabilized a hundred years later, it would not affect the possibility that the Liao nobles would launch rebellions.

But are you clear about these, Wu Yu? Or rather, you are clear about them, but can you suppress them? Will you also fall for this reason that can allow you to ascend the throne?
You have to know that, apart from those nobles who supported you in ascending the throne but each had their own agenda, you don't have a stable and strong enough force of your own.

Yelu Deguang had no time to think about how to preserve his body and send it back to the Liao Dynasty for burial after he died in Luancheng in the summer...
-
Not only Yelu Deguang, and not only the rulers and ministers of the dynasties after this period who knew about the turmoil after the death of Emperor Taizong of Liao, but also those rulers and ministers before the Liao Dynasty, all realized that Yelu Deguang's death in Luancheng outside the Liao Dynasty would be a very bad thing.

Han Dynasty, the fourth year of Yuanshou.

Liu Che, who had just witnessed the conflict between himself and the crown prince, could not help but sigh for the unfortunate death of Yelu Deguang: "Something is going to happen to the Liao Dynasty. They were not stable in the first place, and Yelu Deguang died in Luancheng when he was still leading a large army."

Even for a Han dynasty with greater stability, the death of an emperor outside the capital would still cause considerable turmoil, speculation, suspicion, and ambition. What about a foreign dynasty like the Liao Dynasty, which had a lot of grassland customs and traditional aristocrats?

You Yilijins already hold the military power of each tribe. Even though Yelu Abaoji and Yelu Deguang have been gradually weakened, they will be able to take the initiative again in the vacuum period after the emperor's death.

Liu Che also thought of the candidate for succession: it must be Yelu Bei's offspring. Such a person must rely on these nobles... But once this door is opened, it cannot be easily stopped.

He suddenly thought, isn't this somewhat similar to what the Han people did back then? Although they are not the same, this kind of search for a candidate who is different from the original ruling power and does not have much power of his own is similar in nature.

However, not everyone has the ability like Emperor Taizong of the Han Dynasty.

Moreover, in the Liao Dynasty, a group of people were all descendants of Taizu, or descendants of ancestors, belonging to the horizontal royal family, and there were also several state uncles...

[As soon as Yelu Deguang passed away, the people who were actually in power were not in the army, so the Liao army that had not yet returned to the Liao Dynasty began to stir.

In the ninth year of Huitong, when Yelu Deguang led his troops south, Yelu Bei's eldest son Yelu Ruan followed him. After the fall of the Later Jin Dynasty and the change of the reign title to Datong, Yelu Ruan was granted the title of King of Yongkang in February.

And now, the one in the army is none other than Yelü Ruan, the Prince of Yongkang. And Yelü Ruan is precisely the eldest son of Yelü Bei, and is neither the heir that Shulü Ping intended nor the biological son of Yelü Deguang.

He cannot stand together with the power that now occupies the core, and will certainly not continue to employ those people; and similarly, Yelu Bei has long been dead, and his power has been cleared several times by Shulü Ping and Yelu Deguang, and is far less powerful than that of the Crown Prince Yelu Honggu or Yelu Deguang's eldest son, Prince Shou'an Yelu Jing.

Soon, some people began to think about supporting Yelu Ruan, and Yelu Ruan himself also yearned for the throne.

At that time, there was a man who was serving as a guard and was secretly summoned by Yelu Ruan to discuss the matter. He was Yelu Antuan.

Yelu Antuan's attitude was very clear: "Your Majesty is wise, kind and forgiving, and you are the eldest son of the human emperor. Although the late emperor has lived a long and healthy life, most of the people in the world rely on you. If you don't stop now, it will be too late to regret." You should make a decision quickly, of course, the decision to inherit the throne.

Then, he did something big: he spread false news of the death of the crown prince Yelü Honggu in the army.

(You will cause endless civil unrest in my Liao Dynasty if you behave like this!)
(The emperor takes turns to do it! If I succeed, I will be supreme!)

Khitan, the second year of Tianxian.

Shulü Ping's expression sank. She could see clearly that if these senior generals and hundreds of thousands of soldiers really reached a consensus and jointly nominated Yelu Ruan to succeed the throne, her own strength might not be able to compete - in other words, she would lose miserably in this political struggle.

What will be the outcome for the losers in the political struggle?

Yelü Abaoji was also unhappy. He did not think that Yelü Ruan had no qualifications to succeed to the throne. They were all his descendants, so of course they could succeed. Moreover, Yelü Ruan was the eldest son of Yelü Bei, and Yelü Bei had not been deposed or expelled from the clan.

What made him unhappy were the nobles who were bent on expanding their power. He had spent so much effort and energy to transform the Khitan from a tribe into a country. Didn't these people's actions after Yelu Deguang's death make his efforts go to waste?
Moreover, this is different from Shulü Ping's change of heir - after all, she has the identity of his wife and the emperor's mother, and has the legal support that conforms to the current system, rather than the legal basis of the aristocratic alliance to establish the Khan that the nobles want to recreate.

"Once this door is opened, it can't be closed." Shulü Ping was also dissatisfied with those people, "Those in the Great Horizontal Tent all want to try whether they can become the emperor."

Taizong had only just begun his reign at that time, so Yelu Abaoji's sons and nephews were still closely related by blood, and they also belonged to the Four Horizontal Tents... So, since Yelu Ruan could be pushed up, why couldn't they?

Yelu Abaoji understood this, and he began to think about whether he should try to further weaken the power of those nobles... Although the Khitans are always the foundation, there are some areas where he can make use of other people.

After making the decision, Yelu Abaoji said, "I just feel that Wu Yu...may be retaliated against."

They, the Khitan, were different from the Central Plains dynasties. The Central Plains dynasties might be able to use political means and the monarch's forbearance to at least ensure that their power was balanced with that of the other side and to maintain the security of their core in four or five years - but here, four or five years might be able to achieve a balance in the court, but it would definitely not be enough to guarantee their own security.

(End of this chapter)