Chapter 291 Chapter 290 Sejong Yeluruan

Liao Shizong, surnamed Yelu, given name Ruan, small character Wuyu.He is the nephew of Taizong Yelu Deguang, the eldest son of Dongdan King Yelubei, and his mother, Empress Rouzhen, Pushi.Born in the third year of Liao Shenchu ​​(AD 918), he was killed in September of the fifth year of Tianlu (AD 951).He reigned from 947 to 951 AD. Yelu Ruan was born in Linhuang Mansion, Shangjing.When he grows up, he has a magnificent appearance, is lenient on the inside and strict on the outside, and is good at riding and shooting.He was generous, and Taizong often gave him silk and other things, which were often given to his relatives and friends immediately. From this, he gained a reputation as a "good giver", and he got along very well with his colleagues. In the imperial court, the prestige is also getting higher and higher.

In the ninth year of Huitong (946 A.D.), Yeluruan was ordered to follow Taizong's southern expedition to Jin Dynasty.He led the army to cut through the passes, attack the cities, and made many military exploits.In the spring of the following year, Emperor Taizong changed the Yuan Dynasty from the Jin Dynasty, amnesty the world, and rewarded all officials and generals. Yeluruan was named Yongkang King, and then returned to Beijing from Taizong North.After Taizong died of illness in Luancheng, the Liao and Han generals conspired and plotted, either to support a new lord, or to seek self-reliance.At that time, King Yeluhou of the Southern Academy and King Yeluwa of the Northern Academy, who were in command of the Khitan army, reasoned that Emperor Taizong's eldest son Shou'an King Yelujing, Taizong's younger brother Yelu Lihu, and Empress Dowager Shulu stayed in the capital and could not hear from each other. Discuss to find a new master.They went to see Yelu Ruan together and explained their intention of pushing Dai.

Although Yeluruan didn't have the imperial edict of Emperor Taizong, he saw that something was going wrong and wanted to accept the support of the generals, but he was worried about the queen mother and hesitated.An Tuan, counselor of Yeluruan, said: "Since the two great kings knew that the late emperor wanted to make King Yongkang the second heir and establish him as the emperor, there should be no worries. The king of Yongkang is wise and his heart belongs to him. Today's matter should be done quickly rather than delayed. If Bingming is the Empress Dowager, the Empress Dowager will establish Li Hu. Li Hu is cruel, and everyone knows that if he succeeds, the society will not know what will happen." Yeluhou said: "This statement is very true!" So Yeluwa, Yeluhou He summoned the whole army, explained his intention to support Yelu Ruan as emperor, and ordered the army to say: "King Yongkang is the eldest son of the Emperor of Man, who belongs to heaven and man, and should be established as emperor. If anyone refuses to obey, he will be punished by military law!" Because after Taizu's death, the Empress Dowager Shulu had killed hundreds of generals and officials, and they were afraid of being harmed when they returned to the north, so they all obeyed their orders happily.Yeluruan then took the emperor's throne in front of Taizong's coffin, and received congratulations from all the generals and soldiers.

In May, all generals and ministers of Liao and Han gathered in the Hengzhou official office, and Yelu Antuan read out Taizong's "legacy": "Yongkang King, grandson of Emperor Dasheng (Yelü Abaoji), eldest son of King Renhuang, beloved by the Empress Dowager, and returned by everyone , you can take the throne in Zhongjing." Then Yelu Ruan Shengfu accepted the congratulations from all the officials and generals.He still ordered Liao Jiang Ma Da to stay behind in Zhongjing and continue to lead the troops northward.When they arrived in Dingzhou (now Dingxian County, Hebei Province), they ordered the emperor's uncles Yelu Tiande, Yelu Shuogu and others to send Taizong's coffin back to Beijing first, so as to find out about the Empress Dowager.

The Empress Dowager Shulu was very angry when she heard that Yeluruan was the emperor in Shangjing.Although she loved Yeluruan very much, she couldn't tolerate him arbitrarily establishing himself as emperor, so she ordered Li Hu, Tiande and others to lead troops south to seize the throne. After hearing that the Empress Dowager sent troops, Yeluruan led the troops to Nanjing (now Beijing), and sent Yili Jin Anduan and Brother Xiangwen Liu from the Fifth Academy of the Royal Family to fight against Li Hu.An Duanjun met Li Hujun in Taidequan, and the two sides fought.At this time, because many generals and their relatives were in the army of Yeluruan and Lihu respectively, when the battle broke out, father, son and brother were bound to kill each other.The soldiers showed a strong feeling of war weariness, Li Yantao, the Han general and platoon envoy sent by the Empress Dowager Shulu, also led his troops to defect and surrendered Yelu Ruan, and the Empress Dowager's army was demoralized.Seeing this situation, Yeluruan sent his general, Lang Junqinde, to cross the river to meet the Empress Dowager Shulu and express his willingness to reconcile.However, Yelu Lihu arrested all the family members of Yelu Ruan's generals who stayed in Shangjing, causing rumors to spread in the capital.The Empress Dowager Shulu ordered someone to write a letter, and handed it over to Wu Zhi to meet with Yelu Ruan to make peace.

At first, Yeluruan said some angry words because the queen mother was too partial to Li Hu. After repeated persuasion by Yelu Wuzhi, the resentment finally resolved, and Yelu Haisi was sent to see the queen mother again.The two sides went back and forth for several days before agreeing to strike and negotiate a peace.Yeluruan's throne was finally recognized by the Empress Dowager Shulu and other Khitan nobles. In the seventh month of the first year of Datong (AD 947), Yeluruan entered Shangjing and formally implemented his rule.However, Yelu Lihu did not give up, and still indirectly and directly relied on the support of the Empress Dowager Shulu, joined forces with the party, and then sought to seize power.In order to completely attack the opposition, Yeluruan took decisive and tough measures, and moved Li Hu and the Queen Mother to Zuzhou (now west of Shifang Village, Balin Zuo Banner, Inner Mongolia) on the charge of "seeking to abolish the establishment" and imprisoned them.Added titles to Yeluhou, Yeluwa and others who once supported him.At the same time, Yelu Ruan's respected mother Xiao was the empress dowager, and the relatives of the mother's family were designated as the country's uncle account.The posthumous posthumous birth father, Yelubei, was the emperor of the kingdom.In September of the same year, Yeluruan held the enthronement ceremony reserved by the Khitan, accepted the honorary titles given by the officials, called the emperor granted by heaven, changed his Yuan to Tianlu, and initially established his rule.

However, Yelu Ruan's imperial rule was not completely stabilized.Because of his admiration for the culture of the Central Plains, he used Han scholars in politics, and he trusted and surrendered to the Jin army in military affairs, which gradually aroused the dissatisfaction of the Khitan nobles.In the first month of the second year of Tianlu (AD 948), Xiao Han, the nephew of the Empress Dowager Shulu, and Yelu Tiande, the second son of Taizong, Yelu Liuge, and Yelu Pendu (Both Liuge and Pendu belonged to Yindishi, the fourth younger brother of Taizu) son) and others conspired to rebel and launched a coup to seize power, which was learned by Yelu Ruan.He ordered the estate to interrogate them separately.Killed Tiande, exiled Brother Liu to the frontier, punished Pendu to go to the jurisdiction of Goss (west of Lake Baikal in today's Soviet Union), Xiao Han was released after being punished with a stick.In the first month of the third year of Tianlu, Xiao Han and Abri wrote a letter together to contact Ming Wang Anduan, and rebelled again.Unexpectedly, the letter was intercepted by Yeluwu, and Yelu Ruan was accompanied.Yeluruan could no longer tolerate Xiao Han without repentance and insisted on going his own way. He ordered Xiao Han to be executed, Abuli was put in prison, and Anduan was demoted to lead the tribal army.Abuli died in prison.

After Yelu Ruan stabilized his rule, he concentrated his energy on looking south to the Central Plains.At this time, major changes had taken place in the Central Plains.At the same time that Emperor Taizong ascended the throne in Kaifeng, Liu Zhiyuan, the governor of Hedong in the Later Tang Dynasty, also proclaimed himself emperor in Jinyang (southwest of Taiyuan City, Shanxi today), and established the Later Han Dynasty.In September of the third year of Tianlu, Yelu Ruan called a group of ministers to discuss a large-scale sending of troops to the south.In October, General Yelu Ruan led his troops to attack Gaolao Town in Beizhou (now south of Qinghe County, Hebei), and plundered Yedu (now west of Linzhang, Hebei), Nangong, Tangyang (now northwest of Xinhe County, Hebei), Shenyang Zhouzhou (now Shenxian County, Hebei Province) and several other prefectures, after killing Wanshan, the governor of Shenzhou in the Han Dynasty, captured many.In the autumn of the following year, Yeluruan personally led troops to invade the south again, captured Anping, Neiqiu, Shulu and other cities, and returned them as prisoners.

In September of the fifth year of Tianlu, Yeluruan was preparing to march south, but unexpectedly rebelled again.Chagaoben was named the King of Taining by Yelu Ruan because of his support.When Xiao Han was still in rebellion, Cha Ge got Yelu Ruan's favor because he exposed his father An Duan's involvement in Xiao Han's rebellion, and allowed him to stay in the court, where he was extremely useful.But behind the scenes, Chaga was active in plotting to seize power.Tiyin Yeluwuzhi saw that Chage had ulterior motives and reminded Yeluruan to pay attention.Yeluruan didn't believe it, but this time the Southern Expedition will still be carried out by the Chagar Commander.

On September 4th, the Yelu Ruan army went to Xianggu Mountain in Guihua Prefecture (now Xuanhua, Hebei Province), and made a sacrifice to Yelubei with the Empress Dowager Xiao.Seeing this situation, Chacut conspired with Yelvpendu, who had been punished for rebellion before, and took the opportunity to launch a rebellion.That night, in the dead of night, Chagao and Pendu led their confidant soldiers to break into the tents of Yeluruan and Empress Dowager Xiao respectively, killed them, and established themselves as emperors. Yelu Ruan seized the throne in the coup and was killed in the coup. He died at the age of 34 and reigned for only 5 years.In October of the first year of Yingli (951 A.D.), Yeluruan was buried in Wulu Mountain, a Western doctor in Xianzhou (now Beizhen, Liaoning), and the mausoleum was called Xianling.In the second year of Yingli, he was posthumously named "Emperor Xiaohe" and the temple name was "Sejong".In the 26th year of Tonghe (AD 1008), the posthumous title "Emperor Xiaohe Zhuangxian" was added.