Chapter 39 Chapter Eight Emperor Sejong

The life of the Empress Dowager Shulu is full of legends. Some people say that she is a brave and strategic founding queen, some people say that she is a ruthless queen mother who cut off her wrists, and some people say that she is an eccentric mother who does not know what is right and wrong. The biggest mistake in her life is to spoil her. The youngest son, Yelu Lihu, is the most ineffective.So, how should we evaluate the life of the Empress Dowager Shulu? The life of the Empress Dowager Shulu was full of ups and downs, which was very extraordinary.According to historical records: "Shulu was born after Uighur Nuosi." ("Liao History Foreign Relatives Table") She was not a Khitan, but a descendant of Uighur merchants. She assisted Taizu and worked hard to develop Khitan from a local ethnic regime. As a great empire in northern China, the Khitan was the last emperor of the Nine Kingdoms and lived in the country for 210 years, so her contribution to the establishment of the Khitan Dynasty cannot be denied.Then why did the old lady make such a wrong choice at the most glorious time of her life?Why do you have to talk to Yelu Lihu endlessly?Knowing that the son of a pity will not keep his job, Yelu Lihu is incompetent and incompetent, why do you insist on letting him be the emperor?In fact, at a deeper level, this reflects the value orientation of Khitan at the beginning of the founding of the country.The Empress Dowager Shulu, including Yelu Lihu, represented Khitan's traditional customs, grassland culture and nomadic civilization.Why did she refuse to let Yelvbei be the emperor?As mentioned earlier, Yelubei was devoted to Sinicization, worshiped Confucius, wore the clothes of the Central Plains, read the Four Books and Five Classics, and worked in calligraphy and painting. His calligraphy and painting works were hidden in the secret mansion until the Song Huizong era.Although history cannot be assumed, what will happen if Yelvbei inherits the Datong?The complete Sinicization of the Khitan Dynasty is likely to be short-lived.Therefore, the Empress Dowager Shulu resolutely refused to let him succeed, but let Yelu Deguang succeed. It should be said that it was a wise move to abolish the elders and establish the younger ones.Yelude Guangwentao Wulue is not under Yelubei, and he was born and died with Emperor Taizu, fought many battles, and later destroyed the Later Jin Dynasty. It should be said that Yelude Guang is more suitable to be the successor of Liao Taizu than Yelubei People, so on this point, what the Empress Dowager Shulu did was right.

However, further down the development, the paranoia of the Empress Dowager Shulu became obvious.Such a woman, born in a Uyghur merchant family, is good at calculation. She assisted her husband back then, and may also have experienced the joy of mastering power during the hard work of starting a business.We look at the empresses and concubines who were involved in politics in Chinese history. For them, the most important thing is the power in their hands.After Emperor Taizu passed away and established Taizong, Empress Dowager Shulu did not delegate power.Emperor Taizong was twenty-five years old when he inherited the Datong, which is also an adult by today's standards, but the queen mother is still involved in politics.On the one hand, Emperor Taizong thanked his mother for her cultivation. Without you, I would not be the emperor today. On the other hand, he was also dissatisfied with being controlled by his mother, so he sent troops to the south and became famous. He wanted the ministers of Khitan to see , I know how to fight, I can fight, and I wanted to take back the monarchy from my mother, but I died on the way to the teacher.

After Taizong's death, the paranoia of the Empress Dowager Shulu can be said to be vividly expressed.Why did she insist on setting up Li Hu?Everyone knows he's a piece of shit.But just because he is a waste, the stronger his dependence on me, he can do nothing but kill, beat, and curse, so he will not be like Liao Taizong, who wants to take back the power, his reputation The more stinky you are, the more dependent you are on me.After reporting the law, I feel that such a person meets my requirements, he will not stand on his own at all, no matter how old he is, he will listen to me.In addition, the eldest son of the Han nationality inherits the family business, while the youngest son of the grassland people keeps the family. The Khitan has this tradition. We can see that the throne of the Yuan Dynasty has always been in the hands of the descendants of Tuo Lei, and Tuo Lei is the youngest son of Genghis Khan.

Empress Dowager Shulu's old age was very bleak, and she passed away very bleakly, not as beautiful as when she assisted Taizu and sought to establish Taizong.