Chapter 157 Yelu Deguang (End)

Han Dynasty, the fourth year of Yuanshou.

Liu Che affirmed: "This can indeed be considered a tribe." With such a large number of participants, officials in charge of handling affairs, and guards responsible for protection and temporary combat; and the presence of the royal family and the uncle-in-law's family in the horizontal tent also allowed this "tribe" to intermarry normally without being affected by geography.

And the conditions for setting up this Hanluduo... are there as many Hanluduo as there are emperors? Liu Che thought, but exceptions cannot be ruled out. For example, the queen mother is the regent and rules the country - after all, there are many such cases in the Han Dynasty. Since the queen mother needs to handle various affairs, will they also set up a Hanluduo of their own? Or an existence similar to Hanluduo?

"However, is it possible that because the Liao Dynasty was a nomadic dynasty, it treated ancestor worship differently from the Central Plains?" asked a minister, who was obviously very concerned about this point.

That’s ancestor worship!
Liu Che looked at him with disdain, thinking that this man didn't seem to be able to use his brain: "Can't they put the ancestral temple and the place of sacrifice in the temporary palace?" Since the basic system is the mobile court, what's so difficult about ancestor worship? Wouldn't it be enough to turn the ancestral temple into something that can be carried around?

However, this kind of traveling around is not without its benefits. At least it makes it very convenient for the emperor to inspect the government affairs and situations in various places and select talents from various places - if the Liao Dynasty did not implement the imperial examination on a large scale; even if the imperial examination was implemented, he might be able to discover some valuable talents in the local areas.

[The emperor's Hanluduo had all kinds of officials accompanying him from various important institutions, and these officials were also called "court officials."

Officials from all over the country belonged to local officials. The officials in the five capitals that the Liao Dynasty eventually had were called capital officials. Capital officials were only capital officials, not court officials. To some extent, capital officials had also become local officials, but their ranks were higher than those of other local officials.

For officials of the Liao Dynasty, becoming an official of the imperial palace was called "entering the court", while changing from an official of the imperial palace to an official of various capital cities was called "leaving".

When the emperor arrived in a capital city, he would not stay there for a long time. He would leave after a short stay and continue to move to other places. Sometimes, the emperor would not stay in the palace after arriving in a capital city, but would still live in his tent. Even if he stayed in the palace, these palaces were still called "temporary palaces".

The imperial tribes that followed the emperor in his migrations basically still existed in tribal tents, stationed outside the city.
The same is true for all government offices. Except for some government offices that have garrisons in the city, which may move into the government offices in the city, the rest of the government offices do not move into the city, but remain stationed outside the city to handle affairs.

The early years of the Han Dynasty.

Liu Bang did feel a certain surprise from the unique system of the Liao Dynasty.

At this time, the Han Dynasty had just been founded and various systems were in their infancy. Although Liu Bang and others had already adopted the basic structure created by Qin Shihuang for a large part of the system, they also made some adjustments based on the situation of the Han Dynasty at that time, such as the division of counties and kingdoms to a certain extent.

Although later dynasties also created different systems, most of them could be used as references - the Han Dynasty; but in the early years of the Qin and Han dynasties, the monarchs and ministers were groping forward step by step, and at the same time, they were also willing to have some different systems as references.

Even if it can't be used on the big man, it can broaden your thinking and expand some of the limitations that may exist in your mind, right?

Therefore, Liu Bang and his companions were quite interested in the "nomadic system" of the Liao Dynasty. Now it seems that they did not disappoint them. The Liao Dynasty was really quite different.

Being able to rule a piece of land for more than 200 years with such an administrative system that was absolutely different from most dynasties, it was obvious that this system was quite valuable, at least it was very suitable for the Liao Dynasty itself.

"If so, then the Liao Dynasty's imperial palace tribe must be extremely large," Liu Bang said, "and the various Hanluduo, the central court, and the main tribes must have accompanied them in large numbers. When the Liao Dynasty was destroyed by the Jin Dynasty in the future, it must have been the Jin Dynasty's army that defeated the emperor's imperial court."

It is obvious that the core of the Liao Dynasty was not in any capital. Even if the Jin army captured all the capitals, it would have dealt a devastating blow to the Liao Dynasty's national strength, but it could not be considered to have completely destroyed the core of the Liao Dynasty - only when the emperor's temporary court and the emperor's Hanluduo were destroyed could the goal be achieved.

How should I put it? This is indeed a good way to preserve the continuation of the national lifeline. After all, they migrate in four seasons, and they are probably used to carrying large amounts of supplies and personnel, so they have quite a bit of experience... However, this system is not suitable for the Han Dynasty.

Han Dynasty, the fourth year of Yuanshou.

Huo Qubing felt that the Liao Dynasty's system clearly showed one thing: "They must have a lot of horses..."

If there were not enough horses for constant communication and delivery of documents, how could such a "mobile court" system be maintained?
The emperor was always migrating, and so were all the people in the palace tribe. Although this migration would not be urgent and not everyone would necessarily travel on horseback, a large number of horses would inevitably be needed for transportation.

Huo Qubing thought about the territory occupied by the Liao Dynasty and couldn't help thinking, as expected, it is easier to have a large number of horses in the grasslands in the north? How many horses can the Xiongnu contribute to the Han Dynasty in the next northern expedition? I hope they can work harder.

(Hun: ...smile)
Ming Dynasty, during the Hongwu period.

Zhu Di sighed: "Not only did the Liao Dynasty handle daily affairs and hold court meetings, but even the ceremony of selecting candidates for the imperial examination was held in the temporary palace..." Of course, the same was true for summoning envoys from various countries. This really makes people sigh at the Liao Dynasty's implementation of the temporary court system.

"Speaking of which, the Liao system of mobile courts and the four-season napping seemed to have really helped the emperor escape when the country was destroyed." Zhu Gang held a positive attitude towards the effectiveness of the Liao system. The Liao Dynasty had been established for two hundred years, and Emperor Tianzuo was still able to escape like that at that time. If we count from the time he fled to Jiashan on the battlefield, until he was finally captured by Wanyan Loushi, it took a full three years.

Three years was not a short time considering the Liao Dynasty's crushing defeat and the Jin army's collapse at the first blow.

"Emperor Tianzuo? Was he named King of the Seaside?" Zhu Su looked at several people, and after receiving affirmative nods, he asked a question that seemed a bit far-fetched, but seemed to make some sense, "Why do I feel that Jin seems to like to give people in this situation a title related to the sea? King of the Seaside, King Hailing..."

A Liao Dynasty last emperor, can also be considered a deposed emperor; a Jin Dynasty deposed emperor...

This system of traveling to the court also created opportunities for the Liao emperors to inspect local affairs, investigate the people's sentiments, assess the performance of officials, and select talents. Wherever the emperor visited, local and nearby officials would come to the court to pay homage, which also became a fixed system to a certain extent.

The impact of the Xingchao system was not only reflected in the handling of court affairs, but also had an impact on daily jurisdiction in areas such as population administration.

After the Privy Council was formally established, it gradually became the highest administrative body of the Liao Dynasty, and was divided into two parts: the Northern Privy Council was in charge of the military and civil affairs of the Khitan tribe, and the Southern Privy Council was in charge of the military and civil affairs of the Han people, Bohai people, etc. However, apart from these two parts, there was another part of power in the Liao Dynasty that was not under the control of the Privy Council, that is, the military and civil affairs of the people belonging to Hanluduo.

This is exactly related to the system of the imperial court. The Khitan imperial court was responsible for the military and civil affairs of the Khitan people in Hanluduo, and the Han imperial court was responsible for the military and civil affairs of the Han people and Bohai people in Hanluduo.

Tang Dynasty, Zhenguan period.

"So, doesn't this mean that in addition to the normal administrative agencies, an independent agency equivalent to the Privy Council has been established?" Changsun Wuji said. This simply means that the "Xinggongdu Deployment" is the most core part of the emperor's system.

Were there similar positions in the Central Plains dynasties? Yes, but they were basically in the inner court, that is, they were responsible for managing palace personnel. They did have a certain influence on power, but usually within the regulations.

However, the unique imperial court of the Liao Dynasty and the imperial palace tribes greatly expanded the power of the "employee commander" - they were in charge of a large-scale, economic, political and military power, which could be called a tribe. More importantly, this tribe was the emperor's confidant and the center of the emperor and the royal family's economic and military power.

The palaces are all deployed, and there is no need to exceed regulations. Their normal power scope is enough to cause a huge impact.

Fang Xuanling agreed with him that the imperial palace had enormous political influence: "So, to some extent, the Liao Dynasty had two important parallel institutions, one was the Privy Council and the other was the imperial palace."

Whether it was the Khitan palace or the Han palace, it was obviously not under the jurisdiction of the Privy Council, but was directly under the emperor.

As for the frequent rebellions and conspiracy during the Liao Dynasty, did all the imperial palaces participate in them?

[Therefore, Xingchao was the heart of the entire Liao Dynasty.

All political and ceremonial activities were held in the temporary court, and there was a complete set of procedures; all important political changes and struggles also took place in the temporary palace. Even when the Jin Dynasty finally destroyed the Liao Dynasty and destroyed the Liao regime, it continued to pursue the temporary court where Emperor Tianzuo was, and did not stop just because it captured the Five Capitals.

In short, this unique administrative system of the Liao Dynasty was also a great contribution of Yelu Deguang. On the basis of Yelu Abaoji, Yelu Deguang further rooted this system, making it eventually become the basic system throughout the Liao Dynasty.

Liao Dynasty, the first year of Huihe.

Yelu Deguang did not think that the content of this passage was a good thing: he also hoped that the Jin Dynasty would consider the conquest of the Five Capitals as a success! In this way, at least many important things of his Liao Dynasty could be preserved.

He thought that his story was about to end, as he had already talked about his death... As for his own problem, the miracle had actually given the answer: go south and inherit.

Going south, he himself summed up the problem in the miracle, and now he is quite clear about one thing: he missed the great opportunity to enter the Central Plains, or at least occupy a piece of land, and the Liao Dynasty may not have any good opportunities in the future. Until the establishment of the Song Dynasty and the Northern Expedition, the Liao Dynasty still guarded the Yanyun area and failed to expand southward.

This is an opportunity I missed!

As for the issue of succession… Although it is true that Yelu Ruan relied on the power of the nobles to ascend to the throne, which led to very bad consequences, this also had something to do with himself - arranging an heir is, after all, one of the emperor's responsibilities, and I failed to ensure an orderly inheritance of the Liao throne, so I should also bear some responsibility for those consequences.

[This live broadcast ends here, see you next time]

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"Research on the Political and Military System of the Khitan Dynasty" is written by Yang Ruowei. This book systematically introduces the Liao Dynasty, a country that does not have many detailed documentary records. It covers the Orudo system and its establishment, administrative system, capital establishment and military system. It is a very suitable introductory book for studying the Liao Dynasty.

Compared with other nomadic states such as Mongolia and Jin, the Ordo system of the Liao Dynasty was still very distinctive. This was the "Ordo Law" founded by Yelu Abaoji. That is, by setting up official households, a military and production group was formed around the palace, thereby protecting the emperor's safety while providing an important economic source for the palace. The official households were also like members of other tribes, both civilians and soldiers, but they belonged to the royal family and had a heavier and more arduous task - serving the royal family. When the emperor went on an expedition, they formed a entourage, and when there was a special need, they were also sent out with other tribal armies to fight on the battlefield.

Along with the emergence of the Orudo system came its palace corvée.

Orudo prefectures and counties refer to ① newly established prefectures and counties for various reasons during the reign of the Orudo leader; ② after the death of the Orudo leader, the emperor who succeeded to the throne set up the prefectures and counties as tomb-serving households and subordinated them to the former Orudo; ③ the prefectures and counties originally subordinated to a certain capital road were assigned to Orudo, or the prefectures and counties originally subordinated to a certain Orudo were changed to another Orudo; ④ some military prefectures under the head were confiscated for various reasons and subordinated to Orudo. The people and households of these prefectures and counties are the households of Orudo prefectures and counties. The Liao emperors spent most of their time on the grasslands every year, "migrating with the sun" and "living in a place without peace", so a large amount of manpower and material resources were needed to serve the constantly moving Orudo. Therefore, the prefectures and counties subordinate to the various Orudos would be conscripted for corvée, that is, palace corvée. This unique economic situation of squeezing surplus labor from the households of the prefectures and counties subordinate to Orudo reflects the subordinate relationship between the prefectures and counties and Orudo.

The above-mentioned Orudo system also shows that the Liao Dynasty did not need a fixed capital - although the Liao Dynasty had Shangjing, Nanjing, Dongjing, Xijing and Zhongjing.

Shangjing was the capital city built at the beginning of the founding of the country at the instigation and planning of the Han people as a symbol of the country. The other four capitals were built under specific circumstances as a ruling center to pacify new areas and ethnic minorities (Dongjing-Bohai, Xijing-Western Xia, Nanjing-Han Dynasty). The emperor himself did not live in the capital city, nor did he often visit the capital city. The ruling center was not in the capital city guarded by the garrisons of the other capitals, but in the emperor's palace. The emperor and the capital city were separated.

Such nomadic characteristics also created a system to maintain the nomadic tradition - the four-season hunting. The Liao emperor had relatively fixed places for fishing, hunting, riding and shooting, and hunting in all four seasons. At the same time, this was also an opportunity for the Liao emperor to inspect local affairs, investigate the people's sentiments, evaluate the performance of officials, and select talents.

The Liao Dynasty itself had complex and special systems, and the relevant historical materials were extremely limited. In addition, the quality of the Liao History, which is the basis for the research, was very poor, making the study of Liao history very difficult, and there are few references. Based on the nomadic characteristics of the Liao Dynasty, this book gives readers a simple outline of a country that moved with the sun.

(End of this chapter)