bookrandom Chapter 373: Liao Kingdom's Shocking Changes
Chapter 373: Liao Kingdom's Shocking Changes
In 1086 AD, the first year of Yuanyou in the Song Dynasty and the second year of Da'an in the Liao Dynasty, a coup d'état that affected the situation in both the Song and Liao countries quietly unfolded in the Liao Kingdom.
In the Song Dynasty, Emperor Shenzong passed away in March of the eighth year of Yuanfeng. After nine months of adaptation and with the assistance of court officials, the ten-year-old Emperor Zhezong firmly sat on the throne.
But for the current little emperor, his task is to read more, learn more, and observe the development of the situation in the world.
Based on the solid reform foundation and strong national strength laid by his grandfather and father, what the young Emperor Zhezong has to do now is to accumulate himself until he reaches adulthood and show his own fangs.
Of course, during this period, Han also personally took care of the health of this little emperor who had the potential to be a "hero".
After all, this little emperor was the type who died young at the age of 25. He had a son, but he died when he was only three months old. It was really tragic.
Therefore, Han Ming required the young Emperor Zhezong to exercise every day, eat balanced meals at all times, and most importantly, practice martial arts.
Not only must one achieve success in culture, but there are also fixed requirements in martial arts.
In short, he wanted to train Emperor Cheoljong, who already had the "potential to be a great emperor", into a more powerful figure than in the original history.
Emperor Zhezong's time passed in such a sufficient daily course, but he had no complaints at all. He was grateful for his teacher's careful teaching and repeated care.
The stability of the Song Dynasty is only relative. Relative to whom?
Of course it’s the lingering neighbor to the north!
Since the five-pronged attack on Xia at the end of Emperor Renzong's reign, the strategic offensive and defensive strategies between Song and Liao have changed again and again.
At the beginning, the Song Dynasty was mostly on the defensive. Even in the first large-scale battle during the reign of Emperor Yingzong, the Song Dynasty was fighting defensive battles and surprise attacks on its own borders and lands.
It was not until the Yuanfeng Northern Expedition during the reign of Emperor Shenzong that the offensive and defensive situation changed. The Song army acted recklessly on Liao territory, and the Liao army was forced to fight a defensive battle.
Although the Northern Expedition of the Song Dynasty failed in the later period, from the overall situation, the offensive and defensive momentum of the Song and Liao dynasties was different.
The Liao Kingdom could no longer invade the Song Dynasty as it did in the past. The situation where a small group of Liao troops beat the Song army to flee in panic or even captured cities and plundered land has disappeared.
The vast grassland empire neighbor in the north has now become a spent force and can no longer challenge the Central Plains dynasty in the south that has recovered from its illness and regained its vitality.
The strong external military pressure and the Song Dynasty's relentless pressure led to the major grassland ethnic groups rising up one after another and constantly challenging the Liao Kingdom's ruling position on the grassland, which further aggravated the Liao Kingdom's decline.
At this time, Yelu Yixin, as the prime minister, was in power and witnessed the decline of the Liao royal family.
In addition, he is now in power and Queen Xiao Guanyin is unwilling to go along with him, which gradually changes his mind.
On the first day of the first lunar month in the first year of the Xianyong reign, Prince of Liang Yelu Jun was canonized as the Crown Prince. This made Yelu Yixin even more panicked, fearing that Xiao Guanyin and Yelu Jun would attack him together.
For this reason, Yelu Yixin did not hesitate to enter the scene in person and plotted to frame Xiao Guanyin's family.
At the end of the Xianyong period, Xiao Guanyin was alienated by the emperor for advising him not to hunt in the autumn mountains. She wrote ten poems of Huixinyuan to express her resentment and melancholy.
"Huixinyuan" is full of lingering emotions. Xiao Guanyin asked the court musician Zhao Weiyi to compose music for it and summoned him often. Then rumors began to spread in the harem that the two were in love.
On June 1075, the first year of the Dakang reign (August 8, 10), Crown Prince Yelu Jun began to participate in state affairs, and subsequently the laws and regulations were improved, and were praised by both the court and the people.
Yelu Yixin knew that his situation was becoming increasingly serious, so he became more eager to plot against Empress Xiao and the prince. When he learned that Shan Ding hated the empress, he colluded with her to murder Xiao Guanyin.
Shan Deng was originally a maid in Yelu Chongyuan's household. She could play the zheng, but she always competed with the court musician Zhao Weiyi for her skill, but was never used.
Xiao Guanyin summoned her to play twenty-eight tunes for four days. After the competition, Shan Deng felt inferior.
Shan Deng often complained to his sister Qingzi, who happened to be Yelu Yixin's mistress, so Yelu Yixin naturally found out about it soon.
Yelu Hongji once summoned Shan Deng to play music, perhaps because he wanted to favor her.
Xiao Guanyin said: "She is a maid of a traitor. There is no guarantee that she will not avenge her master like Yu Rang did in the Spring and Autumn Period." So Yelu Hongji did not get too close to her.
As a result, Shan Deng felt resentful and resented Xiao Guanyin for being so meddling and obstructing.
Then Shan Deng and Yelu Yixin conspired with each other and ordered people to write the vulgar and obscene "Ten Fragrance Poems".
Shan Deng deceived Xiao Guanyin into saying that this was written by "Teli Jian" (Queen) of Song State, and asked the Queen to "write it herself". In this way, the poem and calligraphy can be called "two masterpieces".
Xiao Guanyin was unaware of the plot, so after writing for him, she also wrote her own seven-character quatrain "Nostalgia".
The poem goes: "In the palace, only the Zhao family's beauties are counted; the rain and the lingering clouds have misled the King of Han. Only the moon knows the truth; it once watched birds flying into Zhaoyang."
Yelu Yixin was overjoyed when he learned about this, and immediately took advantage of the situation to order Dan Deng to accuse Zhao Weiyi of having an affair with the queen.
Emperor Daozong, Yelu Hongji, believed the slander and angrily scolded Xiao Guanyin. He hit Empress Xiao with the "Iron Bone Flower", almost killing her.
Later, Yelu Hongji sent Vice-Chancellor Zhang Xiaojie and Yelu Yixin to jointly try the case, and the two tortured Xiao Guanyin.
Yelu Yixin tortured Zhao Weiyi with various tortures such as piercing him with nails and roasting him with charcoal fire. He also captured Gao Changming, an artist from the imperial music troupe, and tortured him severely. Both of them confessed under torture.
On the third day of the eleventh month of the first year of the Dakang period (December 1075, 12), before the trial was about to begin, Deputy Privy Councilor Xiao Weixin angrily rebuked Yelu Yixin and Zhang Xiaojie in order to save Xiao Guanyin's life.
"As ministers, you should expose the treacherous and corrupt, clear the name of the accusation, and execute this person (Shan Deng) to repay the country and restore order. Why do you so readily assume that you have understood their feelings? I hope you will give it more thought."
But they returned empty-handed, so Yelu Yixin and Zhang Xiaojie immediately submitted a memorial, and Emperor Dao Zong Yelu Hongji was hesitant for a while.
Zhang Xiaojie reported that the three words "Zhao Weiyi" were included in the two lines of the poem "Nostalgia", "There are only a few Zhao family makeups in the palace" and "Only the moon knows the truth".
It is also claimed that Zhao Weiyi and Han Ming, Duke of Wei of the Song Dynasty, have similar eyebrows.
When these words were spoken, Yelu Hongji was furious. The person he hated most in most of his life was Han Ming. Even though the other party was a talented writer and was deeply loved by the literary world, he still hated him very much.
Now, hearing that his own queen actually favored a palace musician just because of a so-called "eyebrow and facial features", Yelu Hongji was so angry that he almost had a myocardial infarction.
So, Emperor Dao Zong, just like in history, ordered Xiao Guanyin to commit suicide.
Xiao Guanyin's one son and four daughters knelt down and begged to die in their place, but were rejected by Emperor Daozong Yelü Hongji.
In the original history, after the story ended here, Xiao Guanyin wanted to see Dao Zong for the last time before committing suicide, but unfortunately he was not allowed. So he wrote a "Suicide Song" and died with regret.
Later, Emperor Dao Zong of Liao, Yelü Hongji, was still not satisfied, so he ordered his men to strip Xiao Guanyin of her clothes, wrap her body in a reed mat and send it back to the Xiao family.
When Crown Prince Yelu Jun learned about this, he fell to the ground and cried, declaring that he would take revenge on Yelu Yixin.
As a result, Yelu Yixin found out and began to plan to murder the crown prince.
In the third year of Dakang (1077), Yelu Yixin falsely accused Crown Prince Yelu Jun of plotting to seize the throne. Yelu Hongji, regardless of the Crown Prince's repeated defenses, imprisoned him.
Soon, Yelu Yixin sent someone to assassinate the prince and falsely reported that the prince had died of illness.
Yelu Hongji wanted to summon the prince's wife, and Yelu Yixin killed the prince's wife to silence her.
By falsely accusing the crown prince of plotting to depose the crown prince, Yi Xin brutally attacked officials who were unwilling to submit to him. Xiao Yanshou and others were killed, while Yelu Shiliu and others were exiled to the border.
Yelu Yixin and Zhang Xiaojie were authoritarian and chaotic, and were constantly corrupt and accepting bribes. Only officials who flattered them could be promoted and recommended, while those who were loyal, upright and outspoken were often demoted, and the atmosphere in the court was very bad.
Later, a woman named Li came to Yelu Hongji to "hostage Google", and Yelu Hongji took the prince's children into the palace.
In July of the fifth year of the Dakang reign (1079), Yelu Yixin took advantage of Yelu Hongji's hunting trip to murder the emperor's grandson Yelu Yanshi. Yelu Hongji accepted the advice of his ministers and ordered the emperor's grandson to go hunting with him in the autumn, thus thwarting Yixin's conspiracy.
In the seventh year of Dakang (1081), Yelu Hongji realized that he had been deceived and dismissed Yelu Yixin and his followers.
In the ninth year of Dakang (1083), Yelu Hongji posthumously conferred the title of Crown Prince Zhaohuai on the late Crown Prince Yelu Jun and reburied him with the rites of an emperor.
In October of the same year, Yelu Yixin attempted to escape to the Song Dynasty with his hidden weapons for refuge, but his plan was discovered and he was executed.
In the end, Yelu Jun's son Yelu Yanxi ascended the throne and became the last emperor of the Liao Dynasty - Emperor Tianzuo of Liao, the Liao emperor who was overthrown by Wanyan Aguda.
Although neither Xiao Guanyin nor Yelu Jun escaped death in history, this time is different.
Due to the appearance of Han Ming, the story line has been completely disrupted.
After Zhang Xiaojie said that Zhao Weiyi and Han Ming had similar facial features, the Houdang members began to plot another way out - to escape from the Liao Kingdom!
In 1086 AD, in March of the first year of Yuanyou in the Song Dynasty, just when Han Ming and other ministers were discussing the opening of a special imperial examination to recruit officials, the Border Pacification Office under the jurisdiction of the Northern Theater Command delivered a piece of information.
The intelligence was simple: Xiao Guanyin, Yelu Jun, and others wanted to seek political asylum in the Song Dynasty...