Anecdote of the Fifth Queen Mother

Chapter 28 Empress Dowager Xiao (6)
Empress Dowager Xiao had three sons and three daughters.The three sons are in order: Longxu, Longqing and Longyou; the order of the three daughters is: Avalokitesvara, Longevity and Longevity.Among these sons and daughters, although Longxu is the eldest son, the Queen Mother does not favor him, but his younger brother Longqing, eldest sister and younger sister are more favored by the Queen Mother.Longqing, born in Qiyi, was crowned King Heng at the age of eight, and the Tonghe Zhongguan paid homage to Nanjing and stayed behind. Xia Shi often followed the Queen Mother to hide in the Liangdian in the north of Tanshan Mountain. He has a palace guard.There were only thirteen palace guards in the Liao Dynasty, but there were four palace guards built by the Empress Dowager Shan (Longxu, Longqing, Han Derang, and the Queen Mother herself), which shows how powerful and domineering she is.Avalokitesvara, the princess of Wei, and later the princess of Qi.It looks exactly like the Empress Dowager Xiao when she was young, and she can please her mother, so she is very favored.During the reign of Tonghe, he married Xiao Jixian, Prime Minister of Beifu.When she got married, the queen mother gave her slaves ten thousand mouths.Yanshounv is the youngest daughter of the Empress Dowager. She is "serious in nature, very womanly, and not proud of being favored" ("Liao History Princess Biao"). Therefore, the Empress Dowager regards her as a jewel in her palm, but she is weak and sick. She was only 21 years old. Gone.

However, the queen mother loves her children, but she is never arrogant, especially for Longxu.Longxu is the crown prince, and the emperor has not yet ruled in person. Naturally, he cannot be spoiled like other children.It is to temper him to become a generation of monarch who can succeed her cause, so the education of Longxu is more harsh and strict than other children.As small as dressing and riding horses, the queen mother has to personally take care of it; as big as life and conduct, the queen mother also has a lot of control.Even Longxu couldn't ask for money and goods from the treasury at will, and all gifts to his ministers had to be reviewed and approved by the Queen Mother.

The Empress Dowager has been in charge for 27 years, during which time Longxu has already grown up.However, since most of the country's major affairs are handled by the queen mother, and the queen mother is very strict and Longxu is afraid of three points, Longxu generally does not participate in the government affairs, and sometimes simply lets go. This is undoubtedly a kind of relief for the queen mother who likes to seize power .Longxu ignored the government and seemed extremely leisurely. Apart from practicing painting, rhythm and riding and shooting, most of the time he indulged himself and indulged in wine and sex.Shengzong had a total of twenty children (six males and fourteen females), and he was the emperor with the most children among the nine emperors of the Liao Dynasty. It must have a lot to do with this.Especially like to ride horses and play ball, playing a one-person role is a bit uncontrollable.Longxu was so indulgent, the Queen Mother's mood was very contradictory.The contradiction is that Longxu indulges in lust and has no struggle for power, which makes her let go of power, which is a joy; but if this goes on for a long time, Longxu will become a mediocre person, which is in line with her high hopes for Longxu—— —It is a far cry from becoming a generation of monarchs who can do something.She felt apprehensive.Just at this time, Ma Dechen, a Han official, wrote a letter to persuade Longxu. In his admonition, he used Tang Taizong and Xuanzong as models, advising Shengzong not to be "a respectful person who is light on ten thousand vehicles, just for the sake of momentary pleasure. Like the Empress Dowager of Sheji? ("Liao History · Ma Dechen Biography"). The Empress Dowager thought so deeply, so she also advised Longxu: "The former sage said that desires cannot be indulged. My son is the master of the world. In case there is a change in the title of the prong, it is suitable for worry, and I am deeply refrained from it. "("Liao History Chronicle") Of course, more often, it is a merciless reprimand.

Once during Yi hunting, Longxu's courtiers thought they were far away from the palace, so they teased Longxu, flirting with evil and laughing.Later, the queen mother found out about this matter, so she called those courtiers to "responsibly" and reprimanded Longxu in court, making it difficult for Longxu to step down for a while.

In order to make the "ZTE" business she started continue behind her, the Empress Dowager Xiao knew that it was not enough to cultivate Longxu by admonition and reprimand. She began to consciously cultivate Longxu in terms of thought and quality. emotions, and impart practical experience. "History of Liao·Criminal Law" says: "(Xiao Tai) called the system later, listened carefully, and tried to persuade the emperor to be lenient in the law. The emperor is strong, he is good at learning state affairs, and he is determined to govern." In every war, he often brought Longxu to fight together In addition to precepts and deeds, the queen mother often urged him to read more books, and recommended historical books about the rise and fall of the Tang Dynasty to Longxu.From then on, Longxu liked to read "Zhenguan Political Leaders", and his knowledge improved greatly.

With the passage of time to the late period of the queen mother's system, Longxu has become the "big emperor" in his thirties. Although Longxu is filial and the queen mother is in power, he cannot yet face the court completely as the king of a country, but After all, the Empress Dowager is getting older, and it is inconvenient for her to personally intervene in every detail. Many matters are handled by Long Xu. Of course, the Empress Dowager still needs to make decisions on important issues.

Roughly after the alliance between Chanyuan and the death of the Empress Dowager, this period was the transitional period for the Empress Dowager to hand over power to Shengzong.From what the former leader Lu Zhen saw and heard when he was ordered to envoy Liao, it is not difficult for us to see one aspect of this handover.At that time, the holy sect was basically independent.

Empress Dowager Xiao has supported the entire Northern Dynasty since she took power as a young widowed regent.Time has passed unknowingly for more than twenty years, and Empress Dowager Xiao has become an old grandmother with gray temples.Due to day and night toil, her physical condition was weakening day by day.In December of the 27th year of Tonghe (AD 1009), the Empress Dowager Xiao finally fell ill. She passed away less than a month after she handed over important affairs of state affairs to Liao Shengzong.

Longxu caressed the coffin and mourned greatly, "If you cry, you will vomit blood. All the ministers, please change the Yuan Dynasty. If you don't allow it, the final order will be three years."During the final system, the coffin of the mother was transferred to the Qianling of the father Emperor Jingzong, and the posthumous posthumous posthumous posthumous posthumous posthumous posthumous posthumous posthumous posthumous posthumous posthumous posthumous posthumous posthumous posthumous posthumous posthumous title of "Queen Wisdom" in the 21st year of Chongxi (1052 A.D.).

After finishing the funeral, Shengzong was determined to inherit his mother's last wish, and strive to govern, to be on par with the Central Plains Dynasty, and set the pursuit of Tang Chao Song as the goal of governing the country.At the same time, internally, the empress dowager's established policy of loose governance continued to be implemented; externally, the empress dowager's foreign policy of reconciling the Northern Song Dynasty was pursued.It is known as the Holy Emperor in history: "Responsible for grievances, promotion of talent, investigation of corruption, restraint of extravagance, record of the descendants of the dead, revitalization of the poverty of the tribes, responsibility for catering to the crime of infidelity, but the return of Korean women's joy, and the return of the Liao Dynasty. The emperor has been in power for a long time, and his name is endless, and he is the only one!" ("Liao History·Sheng Zongji") If the Empress Dowager Xiao knew it underground, she would definitely laugh and comfort herself under the nine springs.

Eleven, Chengtian governance achievements

At the end of December 1009 AD, Kaifeng, the capital of the Northern Song Dynasty, was not as noisy and commotioned as it used to be, and the streets and alleys seemed a bit deserted.The ministers of the imperial court did not go to the court, but wore mourning clothes and went in and out of the capital pavilion from time to time. What happened? It turned out that the Northern Song Dynasty government was mourning for Zhenzong Zhao Heng's aunt, Empress Dowager Xiao.

Empress Dowager Xiao entered the palace and became a queen, assisted Jingzong for 13 years, and was proclaimed in the court for 27 years. She was active on the historical stage of the Liao Dynasty for forty springs and autumns (AD 969-1009).It can be said that she is the second empress after Wu Zetian, but the ceremony of adding a yellow robe was not held.

Although there are many accidental factors in her appearance, these factors are contained in the inevitability of the historical development process of the Liao Dynasty.It was the turning point in the history of the Liao Dynasty during the contest between feudalism and slavery that chose her. She only contributed to the historical trend of "rejuvenation" based on her talents and virtues, which made the history of the Liao Dynasty decline from the middle. Moving towards ZTE has created a prosperous era.

"Twenty Departments of Taizu" is the form of social organization in which the Khitan entered slavery during the Yelu Abaoji period.After Abaoji, Taizu of the Liao Dynasty, unified the eight tribes of the Yaozhan clan, he expanded to all directions.Taizu of the Liao Dynasty organized all the conquered Shiwei people, Zubu people, Tuyuhun people, Shatuo people, Dangxiang people, Turkic people, and captured Han people under the palace tent of the Khitan people as slaves.With the growth of Khitan feudalization and the needs of social and economic development, Empress Dowager Xiao changed the captive household slaves who belonged to the palace accounts into tribal civilians according to the new historical conditions, and placed them under the jurisdiction of the government.In addition, the old tribes were divided into new tribes due to reproduction, and they were unified in the northern and southern prefectures and became tribal civilians, and they were sent to guard the frontier.During the reign of the Empress Dowager, due to many wars with the Song Dynasty, a large number of people were captured in each war. But at this time, the Empress Dowager Xiao no longer made the newly conquered tribes slaves, but dealt with the new tribes according to their original living customs. , making it a civilian.Throughout the reorganization, Empress Dowager Xiao and Emperor Shengzong of Liao successively implemented a series of measures to ease class conflicts, whether in various tribes or in various states and counties; whether in pastoral areas or agricultural areas, generally speaking, oppression , Exploitation has been reduced and the social status of slaves has been improved.Empress Dowager Xiao's loose policy actually attracted the people in the Northern Song Dynasty, and many poor people came to join in groups.For example, in February of the first year of Tonghe (AD 983), people from more than 34 villages along the border between the Northern Song Dynasty and the Liao Dynasty crossed the border and defected to the Liao Dynasty. In May of the same year, more than a thousand households came to join them.These people are also making up examples.The Queen Mother's practice of reorganizing the tribe was continued and completed by the Holy Emperor.Historically known as the "[-] Holy Ancestors".

Judging from the fact that the tribes were established twice before and after, it is obvious that the "34 tribes of the Holy Ancestor" are not just an expansion of the original tribes, but liberate slaves and move towards feudalism.The academic community has not yet reached a final conclusion on this issue.Mr. Chen said in the "Khitan Social and Economic History Draft": "Although it is not certain that the adaptation is the boundary marker of the two forms. But it is undeniable that the change from the palaces to the government is a progressive change."Therefore, this policy of Empress Dowager Xiao undoubtedly played an important role in the historical development of the Liao Dynasty.

The Daliao Empire established by the Khitan nobles, due to the different geographical environments of the areas under its jurisdiction, the country's economic development level is quite uneven.When the Khitan nationality rose up in the early years, the main economic activities were fishing, hunting and animal husbandry. Until the founding of the Khitan nationality, animal husbandry was still the most important economic sector.However, from the period of Abaoji, the Liao court began to attach importance to agriculture, but their development was mainly limited to the original agricultural areas, such as the Yanyun area.Empress Dowager Xiao's contribution was not limited to continuing to develop the original agricultural areas, but to supervise, reward and support agricultural production in non-agricultural areas outside Yanyun area.

During the 27 years of Empress Dowager Xiao's regency, more than 986 edicts were issued to reduce or exempt taxes.Some are promulgated to the whole country, and some are aimed at a certain area alone. For example, in August of the fourth year of Tonghe (AD [-]), "Using Shifang and Hande's confession, Shanxi will be rented this year" ("Liao History Shengzong Ji").Shanxi refers to the prefectures and counties west of the northern end of the Taihang Mountains.In October of the same year, "The king of the Nanyuan stayed behind and said, and the people of the Nanyuan tribe rented Fu this year" ("Liao History·Shengzong Ji").The ministries of the South Institute are mainly distributed in Shanghai, Tokyo, Xijing and Nanjing.Appropriate adjustments were also made to some production relations in the economic sector at that time, that is, the reorganization along with the tribes changed the original slave-like "head-down households" into serf-like "second-tax households", and the exploitation methods also changed. Change.It is no longer to occupy all the surplus labor of labor producers without compensation, but to adopt the feudal form of exploitation by collecting land rent.The state also provided money, food, and cattle to help poor households produce, and also sent experienced farmers to teach farming knowledge, and warned the Liao army in the form of edicts not to hinder agricultural production when hunting, let alone allow livestock to damage crops .This series of measures conducive to agricultural production has mobilized the enthusiasm of the people of all ethnic groups to develop agriculture. With the hard work of the people of all ethnic groups, after decades, agricultural production has generally spread to more than half of the country under the rule of the Liao Dynasty. In this area, the weedy fields in the past seem to be a prosperous scene of agricultural economy, with men farming and women weaving, and the smoke from cooking
After about a few years, a man who lived in the countryside and was called Master Sigong wrote a long poem "Song of Drunken Righteousness".There are a few lines in the poem that describe the rural scenery: "I love the farmer in Nancun, the mountain stream is hidden and hidden. The village is winding through the gate of the people, and the old and young warehouses are busy. Mountain vegetable vinegar. Shake the wine with the poor autumn, and there are countless flowers beside the fence. The village family will not abandon it to accompany them, and it happens to be Dongbifu this year. Liao Wen) From the perspective of today or from the tradition of the Han people, there is nothing novel about these poems reflecting the countryside, but from the perspective of the Liao Dynasty, it is a remarkable change.Because from the nomadic nomadism of living in no fixed place to the settlement to engage in farming, this is undoubtedly tantamount to climbing another level on the ladder of civilization.From this point of view, the Empress Dowager Xiao's active advocacy of the development of agriculture is undoubtedly due to the Liao Dynasty and history.

Around this time, the Liao Kingdom continued to use brutal force to expand its influence, forcing the surrounding local regimes of "Gaochang, Kucha, Khotan, Ganzhou, Shazhou, and Liangzhou" to be formed every three years. A large mission of more than 40 people paid tribute to the Liao Dynasty.The Khitan also showed their strength by giving back items worth no less than [-] guan every time.

Roughly at this time, "Khitan" became the name of China for many ethnic groups in Central Asia and even Eurasia, and some foreign languages ​​still do so.

In addition, as far as the development of social contradictions is concerned, the social contradictions composed of contradictions between opposing classes, contradictions within the ruling class, and contradictions among ethnic groups during the Regency of the Empress Dowager Xiao were relatively flat in the entire history of the Liao Dynasty. In this stage, all kinds of resistance that were too large and directly threatened its rule rarely occurred.Of course, this is inseparable from the relaxed politics under the auspices of the Empress Dowager, but the fact that the state apparatus was further strengthened when the Empress Dowager was in charge cannot be ignored.

Empress Dowager Xiao passed away forever, but the Khitan nation followed the path she pioneered and continued to advance towards the established goal of history—civilization, and finally integrated into the big family of the Chinese nation together with the virgin land they reclaimed. History has not forgotten her.

Of course, history will never forget that she was a "historical figure" in the feudal era, and her life must bear the unique class brand of that era.

(End of this chapter)