In the same year (938), after shi Jingyao destroyed the Later Tang, he ceded the sixteen prefectures of Yanyun to the Khitan (Liao state) according to the agreement. As a result, with the continuous expansion of the liao rule area, especially after obtaining the vast Yanyun Sixteen Prefectures, which originally belonged to the Han territory, how to rule this vast and multi-ethnic country became the top priority for The Liao Taizong Yelü Deguang at that time.
For Emperor Taizong of Liao at that time, the Jing, Xi, Dangxiang and other ethnic groups were not a great threat to the Liao state, and there was no need to administer them in a special way, because even if they rebelled, the Liao state could easily suppress it, but there was only one ethnic exception, that is, the Han nationality. For the Khitans, the population base of the Han nationality is really too large (according to Mr. Menggutoli, as of the fourth year of Tianqing (1114), the total population of Liao was 8.4 million, of which 1.5 million Were Khitans, accounting for 18%, and Han Chinese were 3.3 million, accounting for 39%. It can be seen that the number of Han people in Liaodi at that time was much higher than that of the Khitan people, and there were also many Han dynasties in the Central Plains, and once the Han people in their territory should merge with the Han Dynasty in the Central Plains, this would definitely be a huge threat to the Liao State.
Therefore, in order to appease these Han people in the territory of the Liao State, and also to consolidate the liao state's rule over the territory originally belonging to the Han people, Emperor Taizong of Liao established the ruling policy of "ruling according to customs" (similar to the current "one country, two systems"), and implemented the basic national policy of "dividing the Rule of the Han Dynasty", that is, "governing the Khitan with the state system and treating the Han people with the Han system".
Yerushalayim light
For example, in the "ceremonial etiquette", when the Emperor of the Liao Dynasty ascended the throne, he adopted two sets of ceremonies, one set of the Khitan national tradition of "Chai Book Ceremony", and the other set was to imitate the "Great Book Ceremony" held when the Emperor of the Han Family in the Central Plains ascended the throne. For example, in the legal system, in the sixth year of the Book of Gods (921), Taizu of Liao issued an edict: "The chancellor decreed the laws of the Khitan and Zhuyi, and the Han people broke the laws." At that time, the Khitans who violated the law were tried by the police patrol court according to the Khitan law; the Han people violated the law, according to the Han law, and were tried by the county officials of the prefecture where they were located. For example, in the system of electing officials, the Liao Dynasty also adopted two methods, the northern officials were supplemented by the shixuan (similar to the Han "Shiqing Shilu" system), while the southern officials were selected by the imperial examination.
Of course, the above is just a simple introduction, you may have heard of the official position of "King of the Southern Courtyard", what is this for? And this needs to be talked about well about the political system of the Liao Dynasty. Therefore, next we will first talk about the political system of the Lower Liao Dynasty in detail, because only by understanding this can we understand the meaning and authority of the official position of "King of the Southern Courtyard".
In terms of political system, the Liao state established a complete set of dual-track bureaucratic institutions of "division and rule of Han" at both the central and local levels. In the central government, the Liao Dynasty adopted the system of north-south officials, divided into southern officials and northern officials, and the reason why they were called so was because their offices were located in the south and north of the emperor's tent hall, respectively.
According to the "History of Liao, Hundred Officials": "The official system of the Liao state is divided into the north and the south, and the government of the palace, tribes, and subordinate states is governed in the north; and the han people's prefectures, taxes, and military and horse affairs are ruled in the south." According to the customs, it is appropriate to rule", the northern official office is in charge of Khitan affairs, managing the affairs of the emperor's palace, Khitan tribes and vassal states; the southern official office is in charge of Han affairs, managing the administration, taxation, and armament logistics of the Han settlements in Yanyun Sixteen Prefectures.
Schematic diagram of the expansion of the Liao state
Among them, the Northern Official's Office consists of the Northern Imperial Household Officer, the Northern Imperial Accounting Officer, the Northern Imperial Household Accounting Officer, the Northern Imperial Household Official, the Northern Imperial Household Official, the Northern Face Clan Official, the Northern MillIng Bureau Smelting and Pastoral Stables and other officials, the Northern Officer, the Northern Border Defense Officer, the Northern Imperial Officer, and the Northern Subordinate State Official. Among them, the Northern and Northern Privy Councils (in charge of military affairs), the Khitan Southern Privy Council (in charge of civil affairs), the Northern and Southern Privy Councils (in charge of civil affairs), the Southern and Northern Prime Ministers' Office (to assist the Khitan Northern and Southern Privy Councils in handling military and political affairs), the Great Royal Court of the North and the South (in charge of the military and political affairs of the clan), the Xuanhui Southern and Northern Courtyards (in charge of the imperial offerings and errands of the Southern and Northern Courtyards), the Greater YueFu (no position, shi zai: "Those who have great merit are not granted, the Liao state honors officials, there are three dukes in the south of Judah", similar to the three dukes), the Great Ti Yinsi (in charge of the political and religious affairs of the imperial family), Yi Li Bi Yuan (in charge of the prison), Da Lin Ya Yuan (in charge of wen han affairs), enemy Lie Ma Du Si (in charge of etiquette), Wen Ban Si, Azha Cut, etc. are the most important decision-making bodies of the Liao state.
Then there are the southern official offices with the southern facing officials, the southern Beijing officials, the southern Dafan officials, the southern Fangzhou officials, the southern branch officials, the southern financial officials, the southern officers, the southern border guards, and so on. Among them, like the northern officials, especially the southern imperial officials are the most important, and the Three Divisions Mansion, the Three Gongfu, the Han Privy Council (in charge of the government of the Han soldiers and horses), Zhongshu Province, Menxia Province, Shangshu Province, Yushitai, Hanlin Yuan (in charge of the affairs of Tianzi Wenhan), the GuoshiYuan, the Guozijian, and the Donggong Three Divisions Mansion are all the administrative organs with the highest status and the greatest power set up by the Liao state in the Han Dynasty.
At the local level, the Liao state also had two parallel systems, namely the tribal system and the prefecture and county system, the Khitan and the northern tribes implemented the tribal system, and the Yanyun Sixteen Prefecture Han Settlements followed the administrative system of the Han Dynasty and implemented the prefecture and county system, of which the prefectures were divided into five levels according to their size and the importance of their location.
Generally speaking, the characteristics of the northern and southern official systems set up by the Liao State are that "the Han does not rule the Han, the Han does not rule the Han, and the Han does not rule differently."
After briefly introducing the northern and southern official systems of the Liao State, let's go back to the official position of "Great King of the Southern Courtyard".
The Great King of the Southern Courtyard belongs to the Northern Imperial Office and is the highest official of the Southern Imperial Court. The "History of Liao, Hundred Officials" says: "Fan Liao Dynasty officials, Northern Privy Counsellorial Guards, Southern Privy Counsellors, Northern and Southern Second Kings See household departments, Yi Li Bi Shi Punishment Department, Xuanhui Shi Gong Department, Enemy LiemaDu Shi Li Department, Northern and Southern Prefecture Prime Ministers in short", simply put, in the Liao Kingdom, the Southern Royal Court resembles the household department of the Central Plains Dynasty, and the "History of Liao" describes his duties very succinctly, that is, a sentence of "dividing the administration of the clan and the people", to the effect that he is in charge of the military and political affairs of his own clan.
The predecessor of the King of the Southern Courtyard was the Six Courtyards Ministry. In the first year of Tianzan (922), the Liao Taizu Yelü Abaoji, fearing that the Dieshi department would be too powerful and difficult to control in the future, so he divided it into two departments, the Fifth Yuan and the Sixth Yuan, and each set up a yi and a distancing to unify it. In the same year (938), Emperor Taizong of Liao renamed "Yi Li Wei" to The Great King, of which the Five Yuanbu Yi Li Wei was the Great King of the Northern Courtyard, and the Sixth YuanBu Yi Li Wei was the Great King of the Southern Courtyard. During the Liao Dynasty, the King of Nanyuan was the supreme ruler of the military and political affairs of the Four Stone Lie (similar to the townships of the Central Plains Dynasty) such as Lazy, Azo, Hui NaBa, and Hui Na A La.
Jeroboam
The first is the military government, and the main military affairs controlled by the King of the Southern Courtyard are undoubtedly the "southern part of the town", that is, against the Song Dynasty. During the Liao Dynasty, in the Liao court's "defensive four directions" layout, the army of the Six Courtyards under the command of the King of the Southern Courtyard was the absolute main force responsible for the frontal hard resistance to the Song army, and was the elite of the elite of the Liao state. When there was no war with the Song Dynasty, the King of the Southern Courtyard and the King of the Northern Courtyard were responsible for preventing the invasion of the Song Dynasty, and once there was a war with the Song Dynasty, the southern and northern courtyard armies led by the king of the southern courtyard and the king of the northern courtyard were the main forces attacking the Song army.
Then there are civil affairs, and there are three main points in the civil administration of the Southern Yuan King: First, the household registration management of the people of the Ministry of the Yuan, just now we also said that the army composed of the people of the Six Houses and The People's Offices is the elite of the Elite of the Liao State, and at that time, the liao state conscripted soldiers were based on the hukou, that is, how many people of the six ministries and departments could be drawn by the Liao State as soldiers, which depended on the number of the hukou of the six ministries, and this means that the number of the hukou of the six ministries and departments determined the strength of the Liao army. Therefore, at that time, the King of the Southern Yuan, in the civil affairs, his first task was to do everything possible to increase the population of the Six Houses, and at the same time try to find out the exact number of household registrations of the Six Houses, so as to increase the military strength of the Liao.
The second is to develop the animal husbandry industry of the hospital. Animal husbandry is the most important production activity of the Liao state, when the Liao Taizu founded the country, it established a relatively complete herd system, after which the emperor of the Liao state attached great importance to the development of his own animal husbandry, the Liao state also successively set up pastures in the north of Yanjing, Shangjing, Zhongjing, and Xijing, and then sent Khitan tribes to graze. At that time, the Six Courtyards under the command of the King of the Southern Courtyard already had the responsibility of grazing, and when there was no war, the Six Courtyards needed to obey the instructions of the Liaoting and go to a certain pasture for grazing, and there were people of the Six Courtyards engaged in animal husbandry production north of Yanyun, the Xilamulun River, and the Laoha River Valley. The duty of the King of the Southern Courtyard was to organize, supervise, and verify the animal husbandry production tasks assigned by the imperial court to the people of the academy.
Generally speaking, the authority of the King of the Southern Courtyard is relatively large, as the direct leader of the most elite army of the Six Courtyards of the Liao Kingdom, and also the management of the most powerful Six-Yuan Department of the Khitan Tribes, in the Liao State, which is mainly based on the rule of the tribe, the power of the King of the Southern Courtyard is high, and the status can be imagined.
Of course, although the King of the Southern Yuan is named the Great King, his status and authority are still below them compared with the Privy Counsellor of the Northern Yuan, the Privy Counsellor of the Southern Yuan, the Left and Right Prime Ministers of the Northern Province, and the Left and Right Prime Ministers of the Southern Province. Moreover, the highest military and political organs of the Liao State were the Privy Council of the North and the South and the Prime Minister's Office of the North and the South, rather than the Great King's Court of the North and the South.