Both sides expressed their attitude, agreeing to reconciliation and opposing civil war. After several days of envoy exchanges, the details of the talks were finalized, and then the leaders of both sides formally met.
As soon as they met, the two sides were at war with each other as expected, blaming and quarreling with each other, and the peace talks were about to break down.
At the critical moment, Queen Mother Shulu made a soft concession. She found Yelu Housekeeper and asked him to mediate. Because in comparison, Queen Mother Shulu was in a weak position after all, and she really did not want to fight. As for "breaking up the vote", it was a desperate strategy that would only increase her infamy. To Queen Mother Shulu, hostages are like today's nuclear weapons. We must have them, but if we can't use them, we won't use them.
The purpose of Queen Mother Shulu, a political veteran, is to defeat the opponent, not to retaliate against the opponent. She wants to change from passive to active, so whenever there is a deadlock, she will actively seek a breakthrough and let Yelu Wuzhi mediate.
This wave of operations by Yelv House can be called a textbook mediation.
A successful mediator cannot do without two essential elements: first, he must be highly respected and must be recognized and respected by both parties; second, he must be fair and impartial, without favoring any party.
The identity of Yelu Wuzhi is also introduced. He meets the first criterion; on the second criterion, he does even more impeccably.
He first said what he wanted to say most for Yelu Ruan, "When Taizu passed away, why did the Queen Mother abolish the eldest son and establish a young one?"
The Empress Dowager Shulu immediately changed her face and looked unhappy. She thought to herself, "Where are you from? Don't you want to help me?" "It's because of Taizu's decree."
Yelu Wuzhi then turned to Yelu Ruan and asked Queen Mother Shulu what she wanted to say most, "Why did the king make the decision without consulting the parents in advance?"
Whether it is an intermediary or a matchmaker, the function of the matchmaker is to act as a buffer between the conflicting parties, that is, to help the parties to say what they want to say but are not comfortable saying directly, some words that are not very pleasant, and some words that appear to be small-minded and low-level. , so that both parties can retain each other's dignity in conflicts and leave each other with steps to retreat, instead of just being a microphone and a porter of conflicts.
After being buffered by Yelu House, the sharp conflicts between the two sides have always been within a controllable range.
Yelu Ruan's level is far inferior to that of Queen Mother Shulu. Faced with this question, the correct answer should be something like "It's not that I want to stand alone, but that the ministers support me. They insist on forcing me to be emperor", "The army is outside and its master is lost. The morale of the military is weakened. In order to gather the morale of the military and prevent the country's elite from falling apart"... In short, it is necessary to use "apology" to carry out a wave of marketing and whitewash the mistakes as successes, even if they are strong words. Like so much corporate PR these days, it’s shameless.
On the surface, Yelvwuzhi questioned both parties, but in reality, he asked both parties to defend themselves. Looking at the Empress Dowager Shulu, there are many Taoist references, such as "Taizu's will", which makes the principled error of abolishing the elders and establishing the younger ones clear and reasonable although there is no way to verify it.
However, Yelu Ruan cleverly avoided all the correct answers and even opened his mouth to reply: "When my grandfather died, the throne should have been passed on to my father. Now I take back what is rightfully mine, what's wrong with that? "
Yelu Ruan's words seemed like he was arguing, but in fact he admitted that he was "tampering" and was just emphasizing that his tampering was justified.
For example, a murder suspect defended himself in court: "I did not kill for fun, but to vent my hatred." The defense lawyer was also at a loss.
Everyone was shocked. They didn't expect that Yelu Ruan's level was only bronze.
Seeing everyone's shocked and speechless expressions, Yelu Ruan thought that he was speechless because of his own refutation, so he became more enthusiastic and continued: "Back then, my father was not only deprived of the throne, but also forced to abandon the country and travel far away. Go away and live in a foreign country..."
Yelu Housekeeper quickly stopped and started grinding with his bare buttocks and spinning in circles, which was embarrassing. "Your father called it treason and surrendered to the enemy, and you still publicized it as a positive example? Let's put aside the old grudges for the moment, let's talk about this time. When you, the grandson, saw your grandma, you were rude and contradicted your own. Grandma, did you do the right thing?"
Yelu Ruan's arrogance suddenly disappeared, and the dwarf was half a head in an instant.
Queen Shulu showed a proud look on her back, saying in her heart that Yelu Housekeeper was mine after all, and she would still help me deflect at the critical moment.
Yelu Wuzhi immediately turned his head and said to Empress Dowager Shulu: "Listen to what I have to say first - when Taizu Yanjia was here, it was because you abolished the elders and established the younger ones that you laid the foundation for today's disaster. , until now, you still pretend to have Taizu’s will and don’t want to repent——"
In order to dethrone elders and establish younger ones, how many people were killed and how many innocent souls died. Only a few years have passed, and an even greater bloody storm is about to start. It is all the result of you, the old queen!
As soon as she said this, Queen Mother Shulu also lost her temper.
Suppressing the arrogance of both parties is one of the main responsibilities of the intermediary. The person concerned must be made to feel that he is at fault, so that he will be willing to make concessions.
"Now, it's called reconciliation, but what's the reality? Everyone insists on their own opinions, and there is no sincerity! If this continues, how can we reconcile? Since you all want to fight, okay, then what's the point of talking? Hurry up and fight!"
The more Yelu Wuzhi talked, the more excited he became, so much so that he threw the wat tablet in his hand to the ground angrily and said with a "slap", "What's the point of talking about? Beat me!"
Throwing something in front of the Queen Mother and the Emperor is considered impolite and is a capital offense.
Everyone was shocked by Yelu Wuzhi's actions.
At this time, it was Queen Mother Shulu who was the first to break the deadlock and took the initiative to bend down and pick up the wat tablet that he threw on the ground. With tears streaming down her face, she said: "I assisted Taizu in establishing the foundation and encountered the 'Brothers' Rebellion'. I am Having experienced it myself, I know very well the fatal harm that civil war can have on a nation. It has only been a few years, and we Khitan people are determined not to fight another civil war!"
Please pay attention to these three small details in this historical record: Every time things reached a deadlock and could not progress, the Queen Mother Shulu always sought a breakthrough; the Queen Mother Shulu used "self-blame" to convey an important message in Versailles—— I am the founding father of the country, and I have put a tight curse on Yelu Ruan - whoever provokes civil war today will be the eternal sinner of Khitan.
Her original words were: "Xiang Taizu was revolted by his brothers, and the world was devastated. The devastation has not recovered. Is it possible to be mediocre?"
In less than twenty words, he dug three huge holes for his opponent. Yelu Ruan is dwarfed by him, as different as clouds and mud.
The old queen mother didn't cry when she chopped off her wrists, and she didn't shed tears when the white-haired man gave the black-haired man a gift. Now when Yelu Wuzhi said something, the old queen mother actually cried. Queen Mother Shulu cried, the ninth greatest man-made miracle in the world.
Queen Mother Shulu made a high profile, and Yelu Ruan certainly could not be defeated, so she rushed forward, picked up the wat tablet, and cried: "Although my father defected to the enemy country, he did not do anything to harm the country. But today I did it (referring to calling myself a soldier and committing a crime)."
