Chapter 80 Chapter Five: Empress Dowager Chengtian

The Empress Dowager Chengtian made great use of Hanchens to carry out the New Deal, but was strongly opposed by many Khitan nobles. They even attempted to launch a rebellion to overthrow the rule of the Empress Dowager Chengtian and Liao Shengzong.So, how will the Empress Dowager Chengtian resolve this crisis? At this time, Liao paid more attention to strengthening the monarchy and changing the situation of nobles supporting their own soldiers.Weakened by what?The first is to formulate laws to make the royal family and descendants equal to the ministers of the Han nationality, and to cancel all the legal privileges of the Khitan nobles such as tribal traditions and customs. In this way, without legal protection, the nobles cannot do whatever they want.

The other is to develop agricultural production.The acquisition of Youyun Sixteen Prefectures gave Liao a solid base area, and the importance of farming and settlement to Khitan cannot be overstated.If you engage in farming, you will no longer cause the nation to perish due to natural disasters such as windstorms, snowstorms, and hailstorms.I was originally stronger than you in terms of military strength, and my economy was on par with yours. I also farmed and settled down, and my cultural level was not too far behind yours.In this way, I naturally have the advantage.The Liao Dynasty paid great attention to the development of agricultural production. They recruited experts who could farm, like the so-called agricultural production models and farming kings, to spread their production experience to various places, and even recruited refugees from the Song Dynasty to develop agricultural production.Didn't the Song Dynasty not give you land?I have a lot of land here, so come and farm here.In this way, the farming civilization of the Liao developed, and the gap between the economy and the Song Dynasty became smaller and smaller.Today we can see many exquisite cultural relics of the Liao Dynasty, such as porcelain, Buddha statues, etc., with exquisite craftsmanship.Liao's agriculture developed, and farming civilization was the core of Central Plains civilization, and the degree of Sinicization of Liao was further deepened.

Empress Dowager Chengtian, with the assistance of a group of civil and military officials, made Khitan's economy, culture, and national strength unprecedentedly improved. The Liao Dynasty developed from a frontier regime and a nomadic regime to a large country in the Central Plains. This turning point should be in the era of Empress Dowager Xiao Completed.Empress Dowager Xiao was ordered when her mother, widow and son were weak, and finally ushered in her peak moment-the Chanyuan Alliance, which forced the Song Dynasty to negotiate a peace, created a 120-year peace situation, consolidated the rule of the Liao Dynasty, and reversed the reign of Emperor Shizong. , Mu Zong since the decline of the situation.

During the reign of Queen Mother Xiao and after her death, the Liao Dynasty ushered in its heyday. "Emperor Tianzuo's Benji IV in the History of Liao Dynasty" believes: "Since Shengzong, he has cultivated politics internally and expanded the frontiers externally. Since then, Shenguo and neighbors have been good, and the surroundings have been peaceful. The foundation that has been maintained for more than two hundred years has come from itself!" Shengzong Since then, the Liao Dynasty has been politically clear, expanded its territory, and had a good relationship with the Song Dynasty.And it was the Empress Dowager Xiao who laid this foundation.

A few years after the Chanyuan Alliance, Empress Dowager Xiao completely handed over the power to Emperor Shengzong.After Shengzong came to power, the Empress Dowager Xiao, a generation of outstanding female politicians, passed away.So after Shengzong succeeded to the throne, what happened in the Liao Kingdom, and how is the state affairs of the Liao Kingdom?