The midsummer season is very hot, and the air seems to be filled with a restless atmosphere. After being informed, Li Chongju entered the palace to see the ceremony. He did not care to enjoy the coolness in the palace, and solemnly said to Liu Chengyou: "Your Majesty, there is news from the north. The Khitan The chaos has been settled!”
This statement immediately attracted all Liu Chengyou's attention. He narrowed his eyes and said, "Didn't I say before that the two sides are still entangled? How to break the situation?"
Li Chongju said: "Liao general Yelu Xiezhen led three thousand light cavalry, detoured six hundred miles, and attacked directly at the rear of the rebels. Yelu Xiyin and others did not notice, and were attacked from both sides. They were defeated and the rebellion ended!"
Hearing this, Liu Chengyou smiled. Although his tone was a little pity, his mentality seemed to be very stable, and he said: "I have known for a long time that the rebels will not be the opponent of the Khitan ministers. However, the Khitan rebellion lasted for four months. It’s enough…”
Regarding this rebellion within the Liao Kingdom, generally speaking, it was a major outbreak of long-standing conflicts in the Khitan over the issue of succession to the throne, and Yelu Xiyin was only a representative figure. If there had not been this Han-Liao War, and if the outcome of the war had not worsened, it would not have reached this level.
At first, after the rebellion in Beijing failed, Yelu Xiyin fled and, together with a group of party members, quickly gathered a rebel army in Fuyu City, seventy miles away to the west, and gathered tens of thousands of people. Afterwards, they launched another attack on Linhuang Mansion, hoping to seize the capital and control the center. Although the rebellion in the city was defeated before it was reported by the timid, there were still some insiders inside.
However, it was Xiao Haili who was responsible for the safety of going to Beijing. When faced with changes, he could actively respond and take decisive measures to extinguish the conspiracy and save Shangjing. Under such circumstances, there was nothing Yelv Xiyin could do.
Yelu Xiyin was blocked in Shangjing City for seven days. Under Xiao Haili's tight and powerful control, the plan of internal and external cooperation was declared bankrupt. As for the storm, there was no chance of success.
The rebels were not without capable men. Under such circumstances, Yelv Xiyin listened to the suggestion and began to send envoys widely to contact the Khitan tribes, spread rumors, and encourage the war-weary tribes to resist the Liao Emperor Yelv Jing.
During the fierce war between the Han and Liao Dynasties, the nobles and tribesmen of the Khitan did indeed suffer great losses and accumulated resentment. Coupled with the news that was difficult to distinguish between true and false, Yelu Xiyin held up the "Shu Lu Hou" He raised a banner and invited his father Yelu Lihu to come out. There were so many princes and nobles as helpers, but it still confused many people and took refuge in Yelu Xiyin. The Xi people's turmoil in the south of Linhuang Mansion was also the result of Yelu Xiyin's instigation.
When Yelujing led the army back, Yeluxiyin's strength in Linhuang Mansion in Shangjing continued to expand, and he almost completely controlled its surroundings, cut off its transportation, and wanted to make an emergency landing. However, Xiao Haili lost sight of current affairs and always stood firm, appeasing and controlling. Relying on complete defenses, sufficient food and grass, and the elite army left by Yelujing, he firmly guarded the capital of Liao.
In Xiao Haili's view, Yelu Xiyin was impetuous, ambitious and lacking in talent. For his own selfish interests, he brazenly launched a rebellion regardless of the overall situation of the country, which caused heavy losses to the subjects of the country and even led to the decline of the country. How could such a person succeed? How could he be allowed to succeed? Therefore, Xiao Haili devoted himself wholeheartedly to the fight against the rebels, leaving Yelu Xiyin with no choice but to do so.
With the early return of Yelu Xiezhen from behind, he entered the city, brought the emperor's edict and reported the situation ahead, and finally calmed down the majority of people in Beijing. With the assistance of Yelu Xiezhen, the defense became stronger.
Yelu Xiyin's rebels made a lot of noise, but they were ultimately a mob. The temporarily assembled army could not maintain strict military discipline, and it was difficult to achieve effective unity of command. If a key breakthrough cannot be achieved, defeat is not far away.
In fact, if the retreat plan of the Liao army fighting in the south goes smoothly and the troops return, it will be enough to level it. However, Yang Ye's pursuit and the disastrous defeat at Duanyunling made the Liao army's situation worse.
As for Yan Yun, although he is in a state of abandonment, he still has to leave a lot of troops in the southern affairs, not only to rest and regroup, but also to monitor the movements of the Han army, so as to be prepared once it leaves the fortress and moves north.
Therefore, the only ones who actually followed Yelv Jing back to the north to put down the rebellion were the Pishi Army, an army of less than 50,000 people. Moreover, under the continuous blows, the morale of the military fluctuated and morale was low.
By the time the Xi people settled in the area, they had already reached the end of their strength. Fortunately, when the emperor returned and the army arrived, King Xi, who had been hesitant at first, wisely chose to support the orthodox Liao Emperor and cooperated with him to suppress the increasingly unstable Xi Ren tribes.
Considering the fatigue of the army, Yelujing listened to Han Deshu's suggestion and temporarily rested in the Songshan area and stabilized the Xi people first. Because he did not miss the opportunity to go to Beijing, it bought him a lot of time. Although the situation in the country was bad, many rumors were self-defeating with his return.
Of course, while Songshan was resting, Yelujing did not let the rebels go, nor could he sit back and watch them rampage. In response to the actions of the rebels, Yelv Jing also sent envoys to launch a political offensive against the Khitan tribes. The return of the righteous master was much better than that of Yelv Xiyin. Soon, a large number of officials and tribes came forward one after another. Expressing sincerity and criticizing the rebels, many others who behaved ambiguously quickly changed their stance. In this way, the rebels' momentum plummeted.
At the same time, Yelujing sent generals such as Yelusha and Han Kuangmei to lead a small army to the north to harass and cooperate with Xiao Haili to defend the city. Faced with political and military pressure, the rebels began to waver and were somewhat at a loss. In the end, Dun's troops went to the capital, but nothing was done.
It was not until April 15th that the Liao Emperor, who had been fully rested, personally led his army northward and marched towards Linhuang Mansion. In this case, Yelu Xiyin's choice turned out to be to withdraw his troops. He led the army and fled all the way north, panicking and finally escaping to the Mantou Mountain area between the Hun River and the Talu River. The soldiers fled, and in the end there were less than 20,000 people left. These people were die-hards and were also among the Liao Emperor He was on the list of unforgivable people, so he had to go all the way to the dark side.
After returning to Beijing, facing an almost collapsed domestic situation, Yelujing had to focus on rebuilding order and providing for the people. As for Yelu Xiyin, leave it to Yelu Sha and Yelu Xiezhen to lead the army to deal with it.
Speaking of Yelusha, he was a Liao general with military talent, but bad luck, a complete unlucky guy. In the process of fighting the Han army, he worked very hard, but he was involved in several heavy losses. Especially in the battle at Duanyunling, 20,000 troops were lost.
Taking into account various factors and the practical difficulties he faced, Yelujing did not deal with Yelusha too harshly, demoting him or reducing his rank, but he still gave him the opportunity to make meritorious deeds.
Only then did he cooperate with Yelu Xiezhen to defeat Yelu Xiyin and put down the rebellion.
"After this chaos, the situation in the Liao Kingdom will probably get worse. Speaking of which, I have to thank Na Yelu Xiyin. If I have the opportunity, I should show my contribution..." After listening to Li Chongju's report, Liu Chengyou said with a smile. Here comes this sentence: "By the way, what happened to Yelu Xiyin? Did he escape?"
Li Chongju replied: "Yelu Xiyin was captured alive and taken to Linhuang Mansion. The Lord of Liao summoned the royal family members, ministers, noble leaders of various tribes, and soldiers and civilians to gather 118 members of the clan, nobles, and other people who participated in the rebellion, starting from Yelu Xiyin's father and son. The generals and leaders will be executed in public!”
"It seems that Yelujing is really angry this time. Such a large-scale and ruthless purge is probably the first time since he took the throne!" Liu Chengyou commented as a bystander: "After this chaos, The prestige of the Lord of Liao will be further weakened, but such a purge will also be beneficial in strengthening and consolidating his power. I just don’t know, is it a blessing or a curse?"
Regarding the emperor's evaluation, Li Chongju did not dare to express his opinion, but only said what he should say and could say: "Your Majesty, during the years when the Lord of Liao was in power, the clan and nobles often conspired to usurp the throne, but they were quickly attacked by him. Peace. For those rebellious ministers, there are few killings, and most of them are imprisoned or exiled. This killing is indeed the first time!"
In the original history, Yelu Xiyin also conspired to rebel, and more than once. Until the time of Jingzong Yelu Xian, he was still killed for rebellion. Regarding Yelu Xiyin, perhaps to appease him, or perhaps for some other reason, Yelujing did not use a killing ground to solve the problem in official history. However, this time, it set off such a large rebellion and caused almost irreparable damage to the Khitan dynasty, and Yelujing's methods became harsh and fierce.
In fact, the biggest problems faced by Yelujing in ruling the Liao Kingdom have always come from the royal family, the four inner tribes, and the ruling core of the Liao Kingdom. And with Yelu Xiyin's talents, how could he have caused such a huge momentum and such serious consequences without the support of others.
After such an incident and purge, at least the opposition forces within the royal family have been weakened by a devastating blow. If you want to rebel again in the future, you have to think more about the consequences.
From this aspect, for Yelujing, this rebellion had the effect of distinguishing enemies from friends and stabilizing the throne, but the price was a bit high. Moreover, it must be on the basis of ensuring the comfort and stability of the entire Liao tribe.
Today, the Liao Kingdom is suffering from internal and external difficulties, wars and rebellions, which have greatly weakened its vitality and lost one tenth of its population. In the large area under its control, except for the Tokyo Road and the northwest tribes who suffered smaller losses, other places have suffered more. Especially the ruling core around Beijing suffered the most.
The country is in chaos, and peace needs to be restored urgently; in the south, troops have been lost and territory has been lost. Although the Han has withdrawn its troops, it is still eyeing it; the tribes in Mobei are also unstable...
Liu Chengyou thought about how to solve this situation for Yelujing, and he came to the conclusion with only one word: difficult! He thought of the situation faced by the Han Dynasty at the beginning of the founding of the country. Of course, the national conditions were different, so there should be differences, but no matter what, the current life of the Liao Kingdom was very difficult.
