In 1219, Genghis Khan prepared for the western expedition, and before leaving, Genghis Khan finally decided to appoint his third son, Wokoutai, as the khan's heir to the throne. And took him with him to conquest the Kingdom of Hua Lazi. On the way back, Genghis Khan passed on his many years of military experience to Wokoutai one by one, and then pointed to a Wokoutai and said: "This person is a gift from heaven to mongolia, after I die, the military affairs, you must listen to his opinions more." ”
Yuan Shi Vol. 146 Yun:
(Taizu) refers to Chu Cai as Emperor Taizong: "This man gave my family heavenly." Thereafter, the military and the state should be entrusted with the government. ”
The man that Genghis Khan was referring to was Yerushalayim.
Historically, Yelü Chucai was a very amazing man, he was originally a Khitan man, but he grew up in the Jin Kingdom and finally served the Mongols. What is more special is that he made great contributions to the Han people, and some people even believe that Yelü Chucai is a "saint" ignored by history.
Wang Shizhen once commented on Yelü Chucai: "His benevolence covers the heavens and the earth. In this article, the author will share yelü Chucai with you on the basis of historical materials, hoping to show the "benevolence" of this saint and his great influence on Chinese history through factual analysis.
<h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" data-track="9" > first, although it is chu and has material, it is practical</h1>
There is a saying in the "Spring and Autumn of the Zuo Dynasty": "Although Chu has materials, Jin is practical." This means that the Chu state was full of talents, but it was forced to flee the Jin state and become the pillar of the Jin state.
Yelü Chucai is not only named "Chu Cai", but also takes the word "Jinqing", which shows that his name has great meaning.
According to the History of the Yuan:
Yelü Chucai, Zi Jinqing, the eighth grandson of King Dan of Liaodong. Father, to learn to act Kim Sejong, especially to see the personal appointment, the final Shang Shu Right Cheng.
Yelü Chucai was the eighth grandson of Yelü Bei, king of Dongdan in the Liao Kingdom. Yelü Bei was the eldest son of Yelü Abaoji, the ancestor of Liao, that is to say, Yelü Chucai was actually the ninth grandson of Yelü Abaoji. Yelü Chucai's father was named Yelü Repeated, and after the Liao Kingdom was destroyed by the Jin Kingdom, Yelü Repeatedly served as the Right Minister of Shangshu in the Jin Dynasty.
Yelü Chucai was born when his father was 60 years old, the so-called "old man has a son", the father is very happy, Yelü repeatedly named his son Yelü Chucai, but also hoped that his son could remember that he was a Liao, but at the same time hoped that he would not fall into the hatred of the Jin Kingdom to destroy the Liao.
A few years later, Yerushalayim became a guest of Genghis Khan, who asked him:
"Liao, Jin Shiqiu, degenerate into Ru Xuezhi?"
This means: The Kingdom of Jin once destroyed your mother country, the Liao Kingdom, how about I avenge your hatred?
Unexpectedly, Yelü Chucai said: "Since my father became a minister of the Jin Dynasty, I also served as an official in the Jin Dynasty, and since I am a human subject, can I seek revenge on the monarch?" After listening to it, Genghis Khan was overwhelmed with emotion and had more respect for Yelü Chucai.
When Yelü Chucai was 3 years old, his father died, and he followed his mother Yang Shi for his life. After all, her mother is the wife of the Right Minister, her mind and insight are not ordinary women, she attaches great importance to the education of Yelü Chucai, for the growth of her son, she endured the pain of sending Yelü Chucai to Lushan Xianzhou Academy to receive orthodox Confucian education, this educational process, affected Yelü Chucai's life. All his subsequent political achievements were influenced by Confucianism.
In the Jin Dynasty, because Yelü Chucai was the son of the Right Chancellor, he was eligible to accept the favor, but Yelü Chucai insisted on taking the path of the imperial examination, and in 1206 AD (the sixth year of the Jin Dynasty), Yelü Chucai participated in the imperial examination and was reused by Jin Zhangzong.
Nine years later, Genghis Khan invaded the Jin Dynasty's Zhongdu (Beijing), at this time the Jin Dynasty, long without the arrogance of the Song Dynasty, in front of the Mongols, Jin Xuanzong blindly bowed his knees and tried to pay tribute and seek peace.
After Genghis Khan occupied Zhongdu, he immediately summoned Yelü Chucai to come because he had long heard of Yelü Chucai's name. At this meeting between Genghis Khan and Yelü Chucai, the YuanShi recorded only 10 words:
Taizu Dingyan, smelling his name, summoned him.
However, in the Steppe Empire, it is recorded in slight detail:
After the occupation of Beijing, Genghis Khan selected a Khitan prince, Yelü Chucai, who won Genghis Khan's favor with his "eight feet long body and beautiful hair".
Genghis Khan was one of the most ambitious kings in Chinese history, and coincidentally, Yelü Chucai was familiar with the history of scriptures and had the talent of Fang Du. When the two met, Liu Bang had the feeling of meeting Zhang Liang, and soon complemented each other.
Next, Yelü Chucai, a Khitan man, after serving as a minister of the Jin Kingdom for 9 years, became the guest of the Mongol Great Khan and played an irreplaceable role in the hegemony of Genghis Khan's father and son.
<h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" data-track="9" > second, Fang Du's talent, the minister of sheji</h1>
Also Wang Zuozhicai, in Chinese history, Yelü Chucai's fame is not as great as Zhang Liang, Fang Xuanling, Liu Ji and other famous, but this does not mean that Yelü Chucai's ability is inferior to theirs.
The "History of the Yuan" once said that Yelü Chucai was "a book of Bo Jiqun, bypassing astronomy, geography, legal calendar, number of techniques, and the theories of shi lao and medical bu", which means that Yelü Chucai was not only familiar with poetry and books, proficient in Confucianism, but also knew astronomy and geography, and was also proficient in Buddhism, Taoism, and medicine. For example, the Biography of Yuan Shi Yelü Chucai records:
The Western Regions Calendar People Played May Looking at the Night Moon when the Eclipse, Chu Cai said: "No." "The pawn does not corrode. In October next year, Chu Cai said that the month should be eclipsed, and the people in the Western Regions would not be eclipsed, and the fruit would be eclipsed by eight points.
This means that there was a person in the Western Regions who was proficient in the calendar, and said that there must have been a lunar eclipse on the fifteenth day of May, and After analyzing it, Yelü Chucai said: "There must have been no lunar eclipse on the fifteenth day of May." "And it did happen. In October of the following year, Yelü Chucai said that there was a lunar eclipse, and the people of the Western Regions held a negative attitude, and as a result, Yelü Chucai's words came true again.
It can be seen that Yelü Chucai's study of astronomy was already the top level at that time. In 1219 AD, Yelü Chucai followed Genghis Khan on his western expedition, genghis Khan took him as a military master, and consulted Yelü Chucai in everything, and Yelü Chucai also knew everything, gave advice, and fully assisted Genghis Khan. In June of that year, when Genghis Khan was approaching the enemy, the weather suddenly changed. History records that "on the day of the flag, rain and snow were three feet", it was the height of summer in June, the sky fell heavy snow, very abnormal, the Mongol generals were muttering in their hearts, persuading Genghis Khan to retreat. Seeing that the soldiers were demoralized, Yelü Chucai deliberately said to everyone:
"The qi of the underworld is seen in the middle of summer, and the march to defeat the enemy is also."
This means that this kind of weather is conducive to our victory over the enemy. After listening to it, the soldiers were deeply encouraged and indeed defeated the enemy.
In 1226, Genghis Khan led his generals to attack Western Xia and attack Western Xia Lingwu. After the city was destroyed, all the generals and soldiers were vying for beauty and money. Yelü Chucai was not at all interested in these two things, but what he wanted to fight for was the "suicide note" and "rhubarb", the so-called "suicide note", which referred to the books, household registrations, and map materials left by the rulers of the Western Xia, and "rhubarb", which was a medicinal material for treating the plague. The Biography of Yuan Shi Yelü ChuCai Yun:
Cheng shu dong, from the lower lingwu, the generals will fight for their children's golden veils, and Chu Cai will receive the suicide note and rhubarb medicinal materials. Even if the soldier is sick and sick, he will be cured of rhubarb.
Not long after, an epidemic broke out in the army, and the rhubarb and other medicinal materials collected in advance by Yelü Chucai were used, saving the lives of tens of thousands of Mongolian soldiers. The books and materials collected by Yelü Chucai also played a key role in the process of the Mongols ruling the Western Xia.
Most of the generals under Genghis Khan were strong generals who were good at killing, and Yelü Chucai seemed out of place among them, but his eyes were as wise as Temujin, and he knew the difference of Yelü Chucai by observing Yelü Chucai's every move.
Under Genghis Khan, there was a man named Chang Bajin, who was good at making bows and arrows, so every time he saw Yelü Chucai, he was very contemptuous. Chang Bajin once said to Yelü Chucai: "The Mongols are shangwu, and only those who make bows and arrows like me will be of great use. ”
In fact, Chang Bajin not only represents him alone, he almost represents the generals of the vast majority of people under Genghis Khan. Unexpectedly, Yerushalayim said:
"The bow must be ruled by a bowsmith, but can those who are in the world not use the craftsmen to rule the world?"
This means that craftsmen are still needed to repair bows and arrows, so don't you need craftsmen to govern the world?
Yerushalayim spoke to the generals speechless. When Genghis Khan heard Yelü Chucai's words, he attached more importance to Yelü Chucai.
In 1227 AD, due to the Western Xia's betrayal of the alliance, Genghis Khan, after defeating the main force of the Western Xia, turned to attack the Jin Kingdom, and soon after, Genghis Khan died of illness at Liupan Mountain. Before his death, Genghis Khan gathered his sons to his side, hoping that they would all obey the leadership of Wokoutai, and at the same time, he hoped that Wokoutai would listen to Yelü Chucai's opinions when things happened, as if he regarded Yelü Chucai as a trusted minister.
Genghis Khan was 66 years old when he died, his sons all had their own power, and according to the system of feudal society, Wokoutai was undoubtedly the heir to the Khan's throne. However, according to the Mongol tribal council system (Kuriletai system), the heir to the Khan's throne had to pass the final decision of the Kuriletai, so the position of Great Khan of the Mongols was effectively vacant within two years of Genghis Khan's death, during which time Genghis Khan's fourth son Torre had been overseeing the country.
Two years later ( in the autumn of 1229 ) , the Mongol kings held a general assembly to elect a new Great Khan. At that time, Genghis Khan's eldest son, Shuchi, had died, and some of the nobles supported Torre, and in this way, Wokoutai and Torre formed two camps. The General Assembly lasted more than 40 days. Chhagatai, the second son of Genghis Khan, knew that there was no hope of succeeding to the throne, and decided to support Wokoutai. For a time, Torre was weak and had to stand on the nest.
In this conference, Yerushalayim played a key role. He first went to Torre and hoped that Torre would take a stand as soon as possible, and Torre wanted to delay for a while in order to try to change, but Yelü Chucai was so tight that he finally had to give in and honor The Great Khan. Then, Yelü Chucai went to Chagatai again and said to Chagatai, "Since you have established the Third Brother Wokoutai, you must make an example for the other kings to see, so as to benefit the unity of Mongolia." The History of the Yuan records:
Therefore, the decision was made, and the ceremonial system was established, which was to tell the prince Chagatai: "Although the king is a brother, the throne is also a subject, and it should be worshiped." If the king worships, he will not dare not worship. "The king is deeply aware. And on the throne, the king led the royal family and his courtiers to worship the account. Having retired, Wang Fu Chu said, "Zhenshe Jichen also." "The worship of the monarchy began from this point on.
This means that when Wokoutai succeeded to the Khan's throne, Yelü Chucai advised Chagatai: "Although you are the brother of the Great Khan, you should also bow down to the Great Khan with the courtesy of a courtier." Chagatai obeyed the words of Yelü Chucai, and was the first to bow down to Wokoutai, and the other kings and ministers saw it and also bowed down one after another, and thus the Khanship of Wokoutai was consolidated. Since then, everyone has praised Yelü Chucai as a "minister of the society".
It has to be said that Genghis Khan regarded Yelü Chucai as a minister of trust, and this choice was extremely correct. At the time when Wokoutai succeeded to the Khan's throne, Yelü Chucai insisted on Genghis Khan's will on the one hand, and on the other hand, he mediated with the princes. Yelü Chucai not only ensured the smooth succession of the Khanate, but also made an indelible contribution to the stability of the Mongol tribes.
<h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" data-track="9" >3, Kong Mengzhiren, save all people with one person</h1>
The reason why Yerushalayim is great is not because of his talent, but because he has a benevolent heart, and his benevolent heart has saved at least millions of people. When Yelü Chucai assisted Genghis Khan and Wokoutai father and son, he always implemented the Confucian benevolent heart.
In 1224 AD, so the son of the former Mahabharata, Zalandin Minburnu, fled to the Indus River, Genghis Khan led the famous generals such as Zhebetsu and Subutai to invade the East Indies, and the Mongols plundered and killed in this land, and the blood flowed into a river, and Yelü Chucai dissuaded him several times, but failed.
One day, a "monster" appeared in this ancient land, which had only one horn, shaped like a deer, but had a ponytail and could make a human voice. Genghis Khan was shocked when he saw it, he knew that the military master was well-informed, and asked Yelü Chucai. Yerushalayim took the opportunity to say:
"This beast also, with its horned end, can speak in all directions, and is good at killing evil, and this heaven has sent a charm to his majesty." The Son of His Majesty's Heaven, the son of His Majesty, is willing to inherit the heart of Heaven and the life of the whole people. ”
Meaning, this is the beast of auspiciousness, and it does not like to kill. The Great Khan saw this beast here, indicating that the heavens sent it down to warn us not to kill in vain. I hope that the Great Khan will obey the will of heaven and save the people here.
Genghis Khan listened, pondered for a long time, ordered the slaughter to stop, and the class teacher.
Yelü Chucai was a Confucian scholar who did not speak strangely and chaotically, so why did he disobey his own ideas and say that this was a "beast" sent from heaven? Because in order to make Genghis Khan give up killing, Yelü Chucai preferred to go against his own heart and falsely claim that this was the meaning of heaven. As a result, it really worked.
The Tao Te Ching says, "The Tao is born from the heart, and this is the extraordinary Way." "The Tao in the heart of Yerushalayim is not the analects and the Meanness, but the lives of thousands of beings.
As mentioned above, when Genghis Khan and others invaded Western Xia, Yelü Chucai did not rob money and beautiful women, but collected a lot of rhubarb that cured and saved people. In fact, this story has a follow-up, in the era of Genghis Khan, there was no systematic restraint on officials, after Genghis Khan withdrew his troops, the officials he left behind mastered the power of life and death, and the local people randomly robbed and plundered, annexed fields, and occupied the people's women as a common thing, which happened frequently. YuanShi Yun:
Chu Cai wept when he heard this, that is, he entered the music, please forbidden the prefecture and county, not to be sealed, not to be requisitioned, the prisoner who is a great extortion must be reported, and the offender will die, so the wind of greed is slightly broken.
The Biography of Yelü Chucai is very long, and this is the only word that records Yelü Chucai's weeping. He wept not for himself, but for the sake of the local people. In order to solve this problem, Yelü Chucai wrote to Genghis Khan and asked Genghis Khan to issue an order that all states and counties should not recruit civilians at will, not kill people at will, and even if they committed a capital crime, they should be reported before they could be executed. Thanks to the efforts of Yelü Chucai, the local people finally came out of their panic and returned to peace.
After the death of Genghis Khan, Wo Kuotai accelerated the plan of "destroying the Jin Dynasty and the Song Dynasty", at that time, the Southern Song Dynasty was in a quiet corner, most of the north of China was under the control of the Jin Dynasty, and in the process of destroying the Jin Dynasty and the Song Dynasty, wo Kuotai was still displaced by the people of the Central Plains. The Biography of Yuan Shi Yelü Chucai records:
In the Central Plains, many people mistakenly touched the forbidden net, and the national law did not have a pardon. Chu Cai asked for a wanton proposal, and the crowd thought it was roundabout, and Chu Cai calmly and calmly spoke for the emperor.
The Mongols occupied the Central Plains and issued special decrees belonging to the Mongols, but because the people of the Central Plains were not familiar with these laws, they mistakenly touched the forbidden net. Because of the harshness of the law, many people were not only executed, but also involved in their relatives. Yelü Chucai was serving as Zhongshu Ling (Zai Chancellor) at the time, and he repeatedly wrote to the people of Wokoutai to forgive these people. At that time, the important ministers under Wo Kuotai all thought that Yelü Chucai was nosy, after all, it was "the people of other countries" who died, and had nothing to do with themselves. Yelü Chucai did not give up, he persuaded many times, and finally persuaded Wokoutai.
Yelü Chucai's greatest contribution to the people of the Central Plains was not only that he managed to save many people, but also that he preserved Han culture.
The Mongols destroyed the Jin Dynasty, on the one hand, because they had a feud with the Jin Dynasty, and on the other hand, they also wanted to expand their territory. However, they only wanted to destroy the Jin Dynasty, and as for what this vast land was used for after the destruction of the Jin Dynasty, the Mongols did not seem to think much about it. Under WoKoutai's command, there was a close minister named Beidi, who once gave Wokoutai an idea:
"The Han people have nothing to help the country, but they can empty their people to think that they are pastures." (From the YuanShi)
This means that the Mongols live by nomadic herders, and the places where these Han Chinese live do not mean much to the Mongols. It would be better to transform all of northern China into Pastures for the Mongols.
If this proposal is implemented, it will not only subvert the ancient Chinese pattern and cause irreversible damage to the ecology, but more seriously, the Han culture will be destroyed.
Yelü Chucai was a Khitan who had been a vassal of the Jin Dynasty and now served under the Mongol Khan, and his relationship with the Han chinese was not so deep, but he did not approve of this. Yelü Chucai knew that the vital interests of the Mongols were at stake in this matter, and as a "foreigner", it was difficult for him to persuade the Mongol Khan. Therefore, he decided to change the way to persuade WoKoutai, and he calculated an account for Wokoutai. "History of the Yuan":
"Your Majesty will go south, and the military supplies should be funded, and the interests of the Central Plains land tax, commercial tax, salt, wine, iron smelting, and mountains and mountains will be determined, and the silver will be 500,000 taels, 80,000 horses, and more than 400,000 stones, which is enough to supply.
What Yelü Chucai meant was that the Mongols would have to go on a conquest in the future, and the people of the Central Plains could provide materials and property that the Mongols could not match.
Wo Kuotai thought about it in his heart, and felt that Yelü Chucai had a reason, so he gave up the idea of turning the agricultural land into a pasture.
In 1232, Wo Kuotai ordered the general Subutai to besiege Fenjing (at that time the Jin Dynasty had moved the capital to Fenjing), Subutai besieged the city for many days, and attacked Fenjing with difficulty, in order to vent his anger, Subutai ordered the slaughter of the city. At that time, there were 2.5 million soldiers and civilians in the capital city, a huge number. After hearing this, Yelü Chucai tried to persuade him dozens of times, and finally went to Wokoutai, where Yelü Chucai said, "Isn't the purpose of our taking down the city is for the people and the land, and if all 2.5 million people in the city are slaughtered, what is the use of us for a wasteland?" After some lobbying by Yelü Chucai, in the end, Su Butai gave in and only slaughtered the Yan clan.
Although Yelü Chucai was unable to completely stop the massacre of Subutai, he saved more than 2 million people. With the strength of one person, saving millions of people, such a feat is enough to stand forever.
In the traditional thinking of many people, only the Song Dynasty is the Chinese orthodoxy, in fact, whether it is the Liao, Jin, Western Xia, Yuan Dynasty, are all part of Chinese history.
Yerushalayim used the "beast" as an excuse to stop genghis Khan's massacre;
Yelü Chucai relied on his wisdom to avoid the catastrophe of Han culture;
Yerushalayim saved millions of people by himself.
Isn't such a Jeroboam great?
The Analects says, "Fan Chi asked Ren. Zi Yue: 'Lover. ’”
Confucius and Mencius established and developed Confucianism, they constantly explained to the princes what "benevolence" is, unfortunately, Confucius and Mengmeng never had a perfect opportunity to practice their own ideas, Yelü Chucai is different, he has the opportunity, he uses practical actions to interpret what is "benevolence".
The author believes that if Confucius led barbarism to civilization through theory, then Yelü Chucai was the practitioner of benevolent love who led the barbaric slaughter of nomadic peoples. No matter what the outcome of Yerushalayim was, he tried and succeeded, the people he saved were concrete, and the civilization he saved was real. Confucius was the "most holy", Mencius was the "sub-saint", and Yerushalayim was the neglected saint.
<h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" data-track="9" >4</h1>
When the Mongol army captured all of Henan, many people fled one after another, "seventeen or eighteen", the Mongols stipulated that those who fled not only killed the whole family, but also connected the neighbors. For a time, many people were killed as a result. Some people did not dare to flee and starved to death at home.
Yelü Chucai said to Wokoutai, Since you have taken Henan, the people of Henan are your people. Some people flee because they are dissatisfied with the occupation of their homes, and some people flee because they are too hungry. We cannot kill them because they fled, and we cannot kill hundreds of people because one person fled. Wokoutai eventually repealed the above-mentioned decree.
Yelü Chucai also did a very meaningful thing, he sent someone to find Confucius's fifty-first generation grandson Kong Yuancuo, suggested that Wokoutai seal Kong Yuancuo as a Yan Shenggong, and gave him land to sacrifice to help him return to Qufu, Shandong To worship. After that, Yelü Chucai also suggested that the imperial examination be resumed. This move appeased the northern readers and reduced many bloody conflicts in northern China.
Once, Wokoutai held a meeting of kings, and in front of everyone, Wokoutai made a special toast to Yelü Chucai, saying:
"The reason why Shuo is sincere in his appointment is the order of the first emperor." If it is not Qing, then there is no today in zhongyuan. So the one who has the peace of mind, the power of the Qing dynasty is also. ”
This passage has a high evaluation of Yelü Chucai, and Wo Kuotai believes that the reason why Yelü Chucai was reused in the first place was because of the order of the previous emperor. The implication is that at first, I was not optimistic about Yerushalayim. Unexpectedly, in the pacification and governance of the Central Plains, Yelü Chucai was the person who made the greatest contribution (the picture below is the Yelü Chucai Ancestral Hall).
However, the end of Yelü Chu was not perfect, and in the later period of Wokoutai, Yelü Chu was ostracized by the nobility and became increasingly marginalized. In 1241, Wokoutai died, and Empress Naimazhen took sole power, yelü Chucai was snubbed, and three years later, Yelü Chucai died depressed.
When Yelü Chucai died, many Mongols wept bitterly for him, and many Han scholars and doctors also erected monuments to commemorate him. Zhongshu Ling Yelü Shinto Monument Yun:
"The World Sergeant Doctor did not hesitate to cry and hang himself."
Yelü Chucai assisted Genghis Khan's father and son for more than 30 years, and after so many years of Zhongshu Ling, Empress Naimazhen thought that most of the taxes in the world had been embezzled by Yelü Chucai, so she sent someone to check and found that among the relics of Yelü Chucai, there was nothing but qinqi calligraphy and painting.
Some people's lifelong ambition is to promote their own doctrine, some people's lifelong ambition is to practice their ideals, and Yerushalayim is the latter. The "History of the Yuan" commented that during the Mongolian Yuan period, Yelü Chucai did the following things:
"Set up systems, discuss ceremonial music, establish temples, build palaces, create schools, set up examinations, pull out hermitages, visit the elderly, raise up the virtuous, seek fangzheng, persuade nongsang, suppress laziness, provincial punishment, thin endowment, shangming festivals, rebuke and eliminate redundant personnel, depose cool officials, worship filial piety, and alleviate poverty."
The Tao Te Ching Yun: "Dwell in a good place, have a good heart, be kind and benevolent, be good in words and faith, and govern well in government." ”
All his life, Yerushalayim has been doing one thing, that is, "benevolence." For five thousand years in China, there has never been a shortage of benevolent people, but there are not many people like Yelü Chucai who have believed in it all their lives and practiced it vigorously.
During the Northern Song Dynasty, the great Confucian scholar Zhang Zai once proposed the famous Four Sentences of Hengqu:
Establish a heart for heaven and earth, establish a destiny for the people, continue to learn from the saints, and open up peace for all the worlds.
This sentence is known as the ultimate mission of the reader, and for thousands of years, hundreds of millions of readers have worked towards these four sentences, but there are almost no people who can achieve their wishes. In fact, what Yelü Chucai did was only to "establish a life for the people", although he only achieved one of the four sentences of the horizontal canal, but he was already a saint.