Since the establishment of the Great Song Dynasty, Youyun Sixteen Prefectures have been the pain of the entire Song Dynasty, and the cause of this "pain" can never be bypassed by two people: Shi Jingyao, the Ancestor of the Later Jin Dynasty, and Yelü Deguang, emperor Taizong of Liao.
Yelü Deguang (November 25, 902 – May 15, 947) was the second son of The Liao Taizu Yelü Abaoji, and the second emperor of the Liao Dynasty, who led the Liao Dynasty to the Central Plains, and ordered the renaming of "Khitan" to "Liao", establishing the original version of "one country, two systems" - governing the Khitan with the state system, treating the Han people with the Han system, and establishing two sets of ruling institutions, divided into two systems, "Southern Officials" and "Northern Officials", which managed the Khitan and nomadic peoples and the Han people in Yanyun Sixteen Prefectures and other places. This measure has undoubtedly added to the integration of ethnic minorities and Han culture in the Central Plains.
However, such a monarch with great talent and great talent was not the first heir to the throne at the beginning, and the reason why he could become emperor was inseparable from the support of his mother, Empress Taizu Shu Luping. Empress Taizu Shu Luping was a woman with very strong Khitan traditional thinking, and her wrist miracle was tough, known for "simple and decisive, with a strong strategy", in 926 AD, Emperor Taizu Yelü Abaoji died on the way back to China, suddenly turbulent in the government and the opposition, according to the khitan past tradition, as long as there is power and strength can be the emperor, the major groups rub their fists and prepare to compete. At this time, Shu Luping took the shot, she first tricked people in the name of a meeting, and killed the more jumpy people in the name of martyrdom for the former emperor, and the killing was hundreds of people. The living man stopped doing it, so he questioned her, "You are Taizu's wife, why don't you go down to accompany Emperor Xian?" At this time, Shu Luping showed her decisive side, first saying that the children were still weak, and the country had no master, so I couldn't go, which meant that I had to help watch. Then he drew out a golden sword, faced his right hand with a knife, cut off his right hand, and ordered someone to send it to the imperial tomb to be buried on his behalf. What is fierce? This is called fierce, a woman is so fierce, the men present are frightened, all admired, so with the support of the "Queen of Broken Wrists", Yelü Deguang successfully sat on the throne.
After Emperor Taizong ascended to the throne, he naturally wanted to expand, or like his father, he took advantage of the infighting in the Central Plains forces and used troops in the name of reinforcements on one side to profit from it. Although most of the surrounding ethnic minorities had submitted, Emperor Taizong's goal was still the imperial dynasty of the Central Plains, the Later Tang. However, the black-clad "crow army" of the Later Tang Dynasty can be said to be a relatively powerful field army at that time, while the Khitan did not have it, and if they could not win the battle, they could only harass and wait for the opportunity. Sure enough, Kung Fu paid off, and in 936 AD, Later Tang Jiedu made Shi Jingyao rebel, and was recruited by Later Tang and besieged in Taiyuan, Shanxi. In order to get rid of the difficulties, he asked for help from the Khitan and not only called himself a tribute and ceded land, but also called the empress dowager "Emperor Er" and honored Yelü Deguang, who was 11 years younger than himself, as "Father Emperor". It is worthy of the ceiling inside the emperor.
After Shi Jingyao's death, his adopted son Shi Chonggui succeeded to the throne, unwilling to be called a vassal, but only willing to be called a grandson. Emperor Taizong of Liao immediately sent troops to destroy the Later Jin dynasty in 947 AD, and it was also in this year that Yelü Deguang entered Kaifeng, received congratulations with Han etiquette, and changed the Khitan to "Great Liao", and the Khitan entered its heyday.
Perhaps believing that his merits were perfect, Emperor Taizong in his heyday did not seize the opportunity to carry out cultural unification, but even though the troops burned and plundered, in the name of herding horses, they plundered everywhere, called "threshing grass", excluding Han chens and their close followers, causing serious ethnic contradictions. At this time, Liu Zhiyuan also took advantage of the situation to claim the title of emperor and establish the Later Han Dynasty. Yelü Deguang saw that it was difficult for him to gain a foothold here, so he had to return to the north, and the Liao Dynasty's central plains rule ended hastily. Later, he concluded that he had three major faults: the first was to loot money and wealth everywhere; second, to harass the people by threshing grass; and the third was not to repatriate the thrifty rulers to govern the towns.
But before he could perform it again, he fell ill and died on the way to the march, killing Hu Lin in present-day Luancheng, Hebei Province, at the age of 46. And when she was critically ill, Empress Dowager Shu Luping, who was far away in Shangjing in the Liao Dynasty, sent a message: To be born to see people, to die to see corpses. In order not to be sent to the emperor for burial by the "broken wrist empress", everyone followed the advice of the imperial cook and used the method of marinating "bacon" to make the body of Yelü Deguang into a dry corpse, and called it "emperor". This was the first and only emperor in Chinese history to become a "mummy".
Looking at his life, it can be said that he was a monarch with great talent, but unfortunately, no emperor should have a national tolerance, conniving with his subordinates, and finally lost the opportunity to truly enter the world. In Chinese history, if you want to truly enter the world, you must adapt to the culture of the Central Plains, use culture to govern the people, and use peace and contentment to maintain peace in the world. Although the Liao Dynasty said that it had a heart, it did not integrate and adapt like the Qing Dynasty in the end, which can only be said to be regrettable.
【Reference Book: The Complete Biography of the Chinese Emperor】
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