On June 3, 1031, Emperor Yelü Longxu of Liao died at the age of 61 at the Great Axe River Palace.
At this time, the Crown Prince of the Liao Kingdom, Yelü Zongzhen (the father of Qiao Feng's eldest brother Yelü Hongji in the Eight Parts of the Heavenly Dragon), was only 15 years old, and he had an adoptive mother, Xiao Bodhisattva, the Empress of the Liao Kingdom, and his birth mother was the noble concubine Xiao Yun (nòu), who was snatched by the empress as his son as soon as he was born, and the hatred of taking the son naturally made Xiao Yunjin's heart run wild, and the two women were in the same water and fire for more than ten years in the next ten years.
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Let's start with this Brother Xiao Bodhisattva.
First of all, her origin, her aunt is also her mother-in-law is the most famous Empress Xiao in history - Xiao Yanyan, and her uncle is Xiao Yanyan's lover, Han Derang, the first powerful minister of the Liao Kingdom, such a woman who dares to compete with her in the harem?
After the deaths of Xiao Yanyan and Han Derang, Xiao Bodhisattva immediately became the most powerful and powerful woman in the Liao Kingdom, look at his honorific title - "Empress Qi Tian". It can be said that her power is almost equal to that of the emperor Yelü Longxu himself, and history calls her "setting up the palace, supplementing the subordinates of officials, and issuing religious orders", that is, she herself can issue edicts and appoint and dismiss officials like Yelü Longxu, and even the driving car is "dragon head and tail, decorated with gold", complete Tianzi specifications.
However, Xiao Bodhisattva was so powerful that she eventually encountered a natural enemy even more powerful than her, this person was Xiao Yunjin, the granddaughter of Agu Jin, the first empress of the Liao Dynasty and the younger brother of Empress Dowager Shu Luping. As the saying goes, a mother is precious to a son, and Xiao Bodhisattva did not give birth to a son for so many years, but Xiao Yunjin gave birth to two sons to Yelü Longxu, Yelü Zongzhen and Yelü Zongyuan (that is, the uncle of the Liao Emperor who later rebelled against Yelü Hongji, that is, the benevolent brother who was captured by Qiao Feng in the "Eight Parts of the Heavenly Dragon", and he was renamed Yelü Chongyuan after Yelü Zongzhen ascended the throne).
Of course, Yelü Longxu was very happy to have a son, and Xiao Yunjin was immediately named "Shunsheng Yuanfei". The contradiction between Xiao Yunjin and Brother Xiao Bodhisattva also arose from this, because Yelü Longxu took the newborn Yelü Zongzhen to raise Brother Xiao Bodhisattva as a son. Xiao Yunjin was furious, I was pregnant for ten months and gave birth to such a dragon species, but in the blink of an eye, I became someone else's son, and this person is still her own love enemy, how can she endure this hatred and this evil breath?
Xiao Bodhisattva didn't care about this, she was the empress, you Xiao Yunjin's son I robbed, what can you do? At the suggestion of Xiao Bodhisattva, Yelü Zongzhen was officially crowned crown prince of the Liao State at the age of 5.
In order to balance the strength of the various nobles within the Liao state, Yelü Longxu also raised the status of the Xiao Yunjin family, and Xiao Yunjin's brothers entered the power center of the Liao state and began to compete with the xiao bodhisattva family's power in the dynasty.
What he did not expect was that the consequences of Yelü Longxu's actions were self-defeating, he originally wanted to maintain the balance of forces between the various parties, but in fact, the contradiction between the two major families of Xiao Bodhisattva and Xiao Yunjin became more and more irreconcilable, and this contradiction was most intuitively reflected in the various open and secret struggles between the two Xiao sisters in the harem.
After a long time of layout, Xiao Yunjin finally laid down a dead hand on Xiao Bodhisattva Brother one day, and she learned a secret of Xiao Bodhisattva Through a eunuch named Zhao Anren who was secretly installed next to Xiao Bodhisattva, that is, Xiao Bodhisattva Secretly had an affair with two musicians who were good at playing pipa. So one day Yelü Longxu saw a report letter on his bed that anonymously exposed Xiao Bodhisattva's disobedience to women. But Yelü Longxu concluded that Xiao Yunjin was deliberately framing Brother Xiao Bodhisattva, so he did not make any handling and response to this matter.
As soon as this matter came out, the contradiction between the two Xiao sisters became public, and both sides wanted to put each other to death and then hurry, and at this time, Yelü Longxu was already terminally ill. After knowing that he was not far from death, Yelü Longxu specially instructed his son Yelü Zongzhen: "The queen has been in love with me for forty years, and she has raised you to adulthood, after death, you and your birth mother must not harm her, let alone kill her!" ”
Before his death, Yelü Longxu left a testament: ordering Yelü Zongzhen to inherit the throne, Xiao Bodhisattvage as the empress dowager, and Xiao Yunjin as the imperial concubine.
After doing all this, Yelü Longxu walked away with concerns about the future and fate of the empire. Unfortunately, when he still had his last breath, his little wife Xiao Yunjin had already taken off.
As the true birth mother of Yelüzong who was about to ascend the throne and become emperor, Xiao Yunjin ran directly to Xiao Bodhisattva's brother and pointed at the other party's nose and scolded: "Old thief, your good days are coming to an end, and when Your Majesty dies, I see who else can cover you!" ”
With the support of the family forces, Xiao Yunjin first put her son on the emperor's throne, and then directly established herself as the empress dowager of the Liao state and took over the military power, and then she began the great purge of Xiao Bodhisattva and his family.
Among the three auxiliary ministers selected by Yelü Longxu, Xiao Xiaomu and Xiao Xiaoxian were both brothers of Xiao Yunjin, which doomed Xiao Bodhisattva's fate and end. Under their conspiracy and instruction, Xiao Qibu, the chancellor of the Northern Province of liao, and Xiao Pi, the horse of the Liao state, were exposed by their subordinates for their rebellion, saying that they were ready to support Xiao Bodhisattva as empress dowager and re-elect someone else as emperor of the Liao state.
Both Xiao Qibu and Xiao Pi were members of Xiao Bodhisattva's family, the former being Xiao Bodhisattva's cousin, while the latter was Xiao Bodhisattva's brother, and his wife was Xiao Yunjin's eldest daughter, that is to say, this Xiao Pi was Xiao Yunjin's son-in-law. The blood and kinship of the Liao royal family is a huge and complicated spider web that can kill a large number of brain cells, which is simply a close relative. The result is a bunch of people killing and killing, and everyone is actually a nest of people, and all the people who climb up the relationship are relatives.
On the grounds of rebellion, Xiao Yunjin ordered the arrest of Xiao Qibu and Xiao Pi and sent to prison for interrogation. On June 25, 1031, Xiao Qibu and Xiao Pi were killed for treason against seven people, and in their "confessions" they also implicated Xiao Bodhisattva.
Upon learning of this, the young emperor Yelü Zongzhen, who had no real power in his hands, came to intercede for Xiao Bodhisattva: "Empress Xian served her father for many years and raised me, and this empress dowager's position should have been hers, but now that she has not only lost the position of empress dowager, you will also put her under house arrest. ”
Seeing that her son had actually interceded for the enemy, Xiao Yunjin was furious, and she replied: "If this person is not removed, it will be a disaster, and sooner or later your old wife and I will die in her hands!" ”
Yelü Zongzhen was still not going to give up, and he said again: "She has no son, and she is old, what threat can she pose if she is kept?" Can't I still protect you? ”
This time, Xiao Yunjin directly stopped taking care of his son. What do you little farts know? Moreover, old lady, I am now the empress dowager, the whole Liao country I have the final say, you give the old lady I roll aside and stay!
For various reasons and considerations, Xiao Yunjin finally temporarily put down the butcher's knife, she spared Xiao Bodhisattva's life, and finally ordered Xiao Bodhisattva to be placed under house arrest in Shangjing (present-day Lindong Town, BalinZuoqi, Inner Mongolia).
In March of the following year, Emperor Yelüzong traveled to Shangjing in the Liao Kingdom to hunt for the Spring Festival. Fearing that his son would show mercy after meeting his adoptive mother, Xiao Yunjin secretly sent someone to secretly go to Xiao Bodhisattva's place to give him death. In the face of death, Brother Xiao Bodhisattva said to the messenger with great composure: "I am not guilty, this is known to the whole world, you want me to die is not impossible, but can you wait for me to bathe and change clothes?" ”
The Messenger was silent, and then withdrew. By the time the emissary returned, Brother Xiao Bodhisattva had already committed suicide and was not yet 50 years old.
After Xiao Bodhisattva's death, Xiao Yunjin also ordered his guards and slaves and other subordinates to be executed, and Xiao Bodhisattva was finally buried in Zuzhou (present-day Balin, Inner Mongolia) in the White Horse Mountain.
After clearing the network of political and love enemies and extreme power for many years, Xiao Yunjin felt that he was soft but so refreshing. She began to reward her own people and cronies, and she posthumously honored her great-grandfather as the King of Lanling, her father as the King of Qi, and her brothers as kings. In addition to Jia Enyu's own clan relatives, Xiao Yunjin later gave more than forty slaves and attendants who had followed her all official positions, and all of them were high-ranking military officials in charge of soldiers and horses.
The male relatives and servants of the family have received great benefits and benefits, and the sisters in the family naturally cannot be left behind.
Xiao Yunjin's sister Lady Qin Guo had been widowed for many years but her heart was still in the spring, and during this period, there was no shortage of rumors about her affair, and Xiao Yunjin felt that it was not a matter of going on like this. When he learned that his sister had been coveting the "beauty" allowed by Yelüzong, the king of Changsha County, Xiao Yunjin asked Yelüzong to marry his sister, but was refused, saying that he already had a wife. Xiao Yunjin smiled slightly, this is too easy to handle. She directly sent someone to kill Yelü Zongyun's wife, and then forced Yelü Zongyun to marry Lady Qin, who was more than twenty years older than him.
Who is this Jeroboam? He was the nephew of Emperor Yelü Longxu of Liao and the son of Yelü Longqing, the brother-in-law of the Liao Emperor at that time. But so what? With Xiao Yunjin's current power, do you dare to disobey? People had to bow their heads under the eaves, and Yelü Zongyun could only marry Lady Qin, who was older than his mother.
The sister's problem is solved, and the sister's problem cannot be delayed. Similarly, Xiao Yunjin's sister Lady Jinguo has been married twice, and at this time there is also a lack of men to serve. This old woman was also full of lust, and the person she had a crush on was Geng Yuanji, a household attendant in the Liao Kingdom, and a beautiful man like Yelü Zongyun. Seeing that her sister hugged the beautiful man, Mrs. Jinguo was also itching in her heart, and she found Xiao Yunjin to ask him to fulfill her beautiful deeds. Xiao Yunjin was still the old way, she killed Geng Yuanji's wife, and then let Geng Yuanji marry her sister.
As the saying goes, many acts of injustice will kill themselves, and Xiao Yunjin's actions can be said to have caused resentment throughout the Liao Kingdom, and finally even her son of the emperor who was gradually becoming an adult resented her. After all, Yelü Zongzhen was the emperor of the Liao State, and as he grew older, he also longed to truly hold power, which contradicted Xiao Yunjin, who controlled the government and refused to let go.
Seeing that his son, who had been raised by his lover, was becoming increasingly difficult to balance, Xiao Yunjin decided to set up his younger son Yelü Chongyuan as emperor.
In May 1034, Xiao Yunjin, who had actually controlled the liao monarchy for three years, negotiated with several of his powerful brothers to depose the 18-year-old Yelü Zongzhen and replace him with Yelü Chongyuan. However, after calculating everything, Xiao Yunjin missed a point, that is, her two sons were really brotherly.
Before the coup was carried out, Yelü Chongyuan secretly came to tell Yelü Zongzhen: "Big brother, tell you something, my mother and a few uncles decided to abolish you, and then let me be the emperor. By the way, don't say I told you about it! ”
Jeroboam was first horrified, then angry!
After a conspiracy with the eunuchs, Yelü Zongzhen decided to strike first. He led his Emperor's Guards out of the palace first, and then summoned his uncle, the first minister of the Liao State at this time and the Privy Counsellor of the Northern Yuan of the Liao State, Xiao Xiaoxian, to his own face to question the abolition. In front of Yelü Zong's really huge Guards Legion, Xiao Xiaoxian, who went to the meeting with a single sword, was speechless on the spot and could only acquiesce.
After settling his uncle, Yelü Zongzhen sent soldiers to directly arrest his defenseless mother, then collected her empress dowager seal, and then expelled her mother from the capital, letting her go to Gyeongju (in the territory of the Right Banner of Bahrain, north of present-day Chifeng City, Inner Mongolia) to guard the tomb of her father Yelü Longxu and send special personnel to monitor her residence.
At this point, Yelü Zongzhen truly grasped the military and political power of the Liao state, and the Liao state also returned to peace after the death of Yelü Longxu for three years.