Summoning of the Great General of the Great Qin Empire

Chapter 211

Along with Wanyan Aguda came out his lifelong opponent Yelu Dashi,

In the third year of Da'an (1087), Emperor Daozong of Liao Dynasty, Yelu Dashi was born in Shangjing. He was the eighth grandson of Yelu Abaoji, Taizu of Liao Dynasty. He was studious and good at riding and shooting since he was a child.Also proficient in Chinese and Khitan.In the fifth year of Tianqing (1115), he was a Jinshi in Yelu Dashi, entered the Imperial Academy, and served as the Imperial Academy. He was the only Khitan Jinshi in the Liao Dynasty recorded in "Liao History".Later, he successively served as the governor of Taizhou and Xiangzhou, and the Jiedu envoy of Liao Xingjun.

In 1122 (the second year of Emperor Tianzuo Baoda of the Liao Dynasty), Jin soldiers invaded south and conquered Zhongjing. Emperor Tianzuo did not dare to stay behind and fled west into the clouds.When Shi Dashi and others stayed in Nanjing, they were attacked by Jin and Song.In order to calm people's hearts and persist in resistance, Dashi supported Yeluchun to the throne, calling him Emperor Tianxi, and later called Beiliao.Yeluchun appointed Dashi as the military commander, responsible for guarding.

Dashi analyzed the situation at that time and decided to submit to Jin and form a friendship with the Northern Song Dynasty.However, the monarchs and ministers of the Northern Song Dynasty believed that this was a good opportunity to regain the sixteen prefectures of Yanyun, and sent 20 troops to attack Nanjing.Dashi led the army to fight and defeated the Song army in Baigou River. Soon Yeluchun died of illness, and his wife Xiao Defei took over as regent. Song soldiers came back to attack Nanjing by surprise.

In April 1123, Dashi led the army to resist and was captured near the Longmen Wall in Fengsheng Prefecture. He was forced to lead the Jin soldiers to attack Emperor Tianzuo's Qingzhong Camp.Later, he escaped from Jinying and defected to Emperor Tianzuo in September.Emperor Tianzuo could not forgive Dashi for arbitrarily setting up another emperor, nor could he accept Dashi's opinion of "raising soldiers for time", which made Dashi deeply suspicious. In the summer of 1124, when Emperor Tianzuo was about to send troops to a decisive battle with Jin, Dashi killed two generals Xiao Yixue and Po Likuo, and fled with 200 soldiers.

In 1134, Ahmad Khan of the Eastern Kara Khanate died, and his son Ibrahim Khan was unpopular, causing the Kangli and Geluolu people to rebel, and was forced to invite Xiliao to send troops to help quell the rebellion.Dashi quickly pacified Kangli and Ge Luolu, and reduced the Eastern Kara Khanate to a vassal, and ceded its northern Xinjiang area as the territory directly under the jurisdiction of Xiliao.At that time, the capital of Dashi was established in Balasagun (now Kyrgyzstan Mark), and the name was changed to the first year of Kangguo.

In 1141, Xiliao controlled an area reaching Gaochang in the east and the Caspian Sea in the west, becoming the overlord of Central Asia. In 1143, Yelu Dashi died of illness at the age of 57, and his temple was named "Dezong".

Believers of different religions have different opinions about the religious beliefs of Yelu Dashi himself. The author of "History of the Conqueror of the World", Jufeni, believes that he "secretly became a leader". Asir also said that he was a Manichaean, and some Nestorians even praised him as the legendary Priest John.The reason for this may be that he displayed extreme tolerance.

In the area under his rule, he did not impose any beliefs and treated different religions equally. Christianity, Buddhism, Nestorianism, Manichaeism, Shamanism and other religions have won many believers in Xiliao.For its vassal states and vassal tribes, Dashi required them to pay tribute on time, and dispatched a "shahena" (supervisor) to supervise them, and their leaders had to hang silver medals to express their submission.All other aspects are governed according to the original model.In addition, he also adopted the north-south official system of the Liao Dynasty, governing the farming residents in the south and the nomadic residents in the north according to their customs.Each household pays a dinar tax.

Because of his tolerant measures, Xiliao won the hearts of the people and quickly developed into the leading power in Central Asia. Even Genghis Khan's important minister Yelu Chucai praised him as "a respectful of culture and education, which people in the Western Regions still think about."

His military ability has always been praised by people. He insisted on "raising troops and waiting for the time".He first took the lead in defeating [-] Song troops in Yanjing in one city, and then led hundreds of cavalry to drive thousands of miles of land in Central Asia, extending the Yelu clan's kingdom for nearly a hundred years.

After stabilizing the rear, Dashi decided to conquer the Jin Dynasty, hoping to restore the country. In the summer of 1134, Dashi appointed his general Xiao Orila to lead an army of [-] to the expedition, but was forced to withdraw due to the deaths of cattle and horses.Dashi also completely shifted the focus of expansion to the Western world.

In 1137, Dashi led his army to invade the Xihei Khanate and defeated the main force of the enemy in Kuzen.The Western Kara Khanate then asked for help from its suzerain, the Seljuk Turkic Empire.The Seljuk Turkic Sultan Sangha called on the entire world to launch a holy war against the pagans in Xiliao. He gathered more than 1141 soldiers from Khorasan, Ghazni and other countries. In July 7, he fought with Dashi in Samar Battle of Katwan near Erkhan.As a result of the decisive battle, the Japanese coalition forces suffered a disastrous defeat, and Sanja only escaped with his own life.Dashi led his army to pursue Qierman (near today's Samarkand).After this war, the forces of the Seljuk Turks withdrew from Central Asia, and the original countries of the Western Kara Khanate and Khwarazm belonged to the Western Liao Dynasty.Xiliao became the overlord of Central Asia.

In 1122 (the second year of Baoda), the Jin soldiers approached day by day, Emperor Tianzuo went into exile, and Dashi and all the ministers established Yeluchun, king of Qin and Jin, as emperor.When Chun died, his wife Xiao Defei was made the queen mother to guard Yanjing.When the Jin soldiers arrived, Concubine Xiao De returned to Tianzuo. Tianzuo was angry, killed Concubine De and blamed Dashi, saying: "I am not dead, how dare you establish Yeluchun?" Dashi replied: "Your Majesty owns the whole country. Power, you can't stop the enemy, abandon the country and flee far away, causing the people to live in dire straits. Even if there are ten Yeluchuns, they are all descendants of Taizu, wouldn't it be better to beg others to forgive their lives?" The emperor Speechless, give wine and food, and forgive his sins.

Dashi couldn't feel at ease, so he killed Xiao Yixue and Po Likuo, made himself king, and led two hundred cavalry to flee at night.After walking northward for three days, crossing the Black Water, I saw Bai Dada stabbing bed Gu'er.Chuang Gu'er offered four hundred horses, twenty camels and some sheep.Go westward to Kedun City, garrison in Beiting Duhufu, gather Weiwu, Chongde, Huifan, Xin, Dalin, Zihe, Tuo and other seven prefectures, as well as Rhubarb Shiwei, Dili, Wangjila, and Chachi Assassination, Yexi, Bigude, Nila, Dalaguai, Damili, Mierji, Hezhu, Uguri, Zub, Pusuwan, Tanggu, Humusi, Xide, Jiuerbi ten The eight kings told them: "My ancestors have gone through hardships and made great achievements, and they have gone through nine generations and 200 years.

As vassals of the Jin people, they persecuted our country, slaughtered our people, slaughtered and destroyed our cities, and made our Emperor Tianzuo flee outside. Thinking of these, I am heartbroken day and night.Now I am going westward in righteousness, and I want to use the power of the tribes to wipe out our enemies and restore our country's territory.Are there any of you who care about our country, worry about our country, think about saving the king and father together, and helping the people in suffering? "So he got more than [-] elite soldiers, set up officials, arranged armor, and prepared ceremonial equipment.

On Jiawu Day in February 1130 (or 1131), green cattle and white horses were used to sacrifice heaven, earth and ancestors, and the team was reorganized and marched westward.First write to the Uighur king Bi Lege, saying: "In the past, the emperor Taizu of our country sent envoys to Ganzhou when he passed through the city of Buguhan on his northern expedition, and sent an edict to your ancestor Wumu, saying: 'Do you miss your homeland? I can restore it for you right away. Are you worried that you can’t go back? I already own this land. I own it, and you own it.

Your ancestors immediately expressed their gratitude, thinking that the country had been moved here for more than ten generations. The soldiers and the people were nostalgic for the existing king and were unwilling to move to another place, so I could not return to my homeland.This shows that our country has a good relationship with your country for many years.Now I am going west to Dashi, borrowing from your country, you must not be suspicious. "After Belgo received the letter, he immediately went to the guest house to welcome him and held a banquet for three days. Before leaving, he donated [-] horses, [-] camels, and [-] sheep, and also offered to use his descendants as hostages as vassals. Sent to the outside of the country. Wherever they passed, the enemies were defeated and those who surrendered were pacified. After marching thousands of miles, several countries surrendered, and they obtained countless camels, horses, cattle, sheep, and property. The army became stronger and stronger. Morale was on the rise.

At Xunsigan, all countries in the Western Regions joined forces to raise 500 troops, known as Huershan, and came to resist the war.The distance between the two armies was about two miles.Dashi said to the generals, "Although the enemy army is numerous, but there is no plan, if we attack it, we will be unable to save each other from head to toe. Our army will definitely win." 500 people attacked his right flank, and the deputy privy envoy Xiao Laabu, recruiter Yelu Shuxue and others led [-] troops to attack his left flank;The three armies attacked together, and suddenly Ershan was defeated, and her corpse lay for dozens of miles.Dashi garrisoned for [-] days in Xunsi, and returned to the king to surrender and contribute local products.

Traveling westward to Qierman, civil and military officials named Dashi as emperor. He ascended the throne on February 1134, 38. He was 49 years old and was known as Ge Erhan.It was also enshrined in the Han system as Emperor Tianyou, and it was changed to Yanqing in Yuan Dynasty.The posthumous grandfather was Emperor Siyuan, the grandmother was Empress Xuanyi, and the Yuan concubine Xiao was named Empress Zhaode.So he said to the officials, "I traveled [-] miles with you, crossed mountains and rivers and crossed deserts, and walked hard day and night. Relying on the blessings of our ancestors, and the strength of you and others, I took the liberty to ascend to the throne. Your ancestors and fathers all It should be saved for the aftermath, so as to share the glory." The grandfathers and fathers of the [-] people from Xiao Ori assassination have different titles and rewards.

Many researchers have joined in the discussion on the route of the western expedition of Yelu Dashi and his party.This article takes my ancient Sun Zhongduan's "North Envoy Records" as the core of the analysis, supplemented by the investigation of the traffic to the west of Jinshan Mountain, and proves that the Khitan army once went from "Ye Mili" to "Yin Mountain" and turned into the "Uyghur Kingdom" when encountering obstacles.There are still related arguments: the reasons for rejecting the records of Central Asian writers such as "History of the Conqueror of the World" recorded in "Liao History" are not valid, and the so-called "Uyghur Road" and "Broken Leaf Road" are difficult to cross through the desert. , is not a shortcut.

The term "Huihe" used by Liu Qi and his contemporaries Yelu Chucai, etc., is more likely to refer to "Weiwuer" and the same race as the Central and West Asian Caucasians.Yelu Dashi had already marched into "Jilijisi" before the Jin army came, so once it lost, it would go west to "Yizhishui".The twists and turns of his expedition to the west can also be circumstantial evidence from what he said to his ministers, "I and Qing traveled [-] miles and trekked across the desert".

There are quite different opinions in the academic circles about the route of Yelu Dashi's western expedition.To sum up, there are roughly three main ones: [-]. Represented by Russian scholar William Barthold's "Twelve Lectures on Turkic History in Central Asia", Lecture [-] "The Turkic Culture of Xiliao and Keshihar": Western Expeditions South and North Roads: The south route is "Hanghai Mountain", which is also known as Hangai Mountain, and goes southwest, crosses Jinshan Mountain, which is also known as the southern section of Altai Mountain, turns south and enters Weiwuer, which is now Jimsar County and Turpan City in Xinjiang, and then along the "Yin Mountain" is also today's southern foot of the mountain, but it is also today's Kashgar City;
North Route "Hanghai Mountain" goes northwest, crosses "Tanman Mountain" which is also the west section of Sayan Mountain, enters "Giligisi" which is also the area of ​​Kyzyl and Abakan in Russia, exits after being frustrated, and then goes west and crosses " "Jinshan" and "Yizhishui" are now the Irtysh River, and "Ye Mili" is also now Emin County, Xinjiang1. Represented by Mr. Zhou Liangxiao's article "Some Questions About the History of Western Liao Dynasty": The South Road is just a partial division, while the North Road is the main force.2. Take Mr. Qian Boquan's article "Research on the Westward Route of Yelu Dashi" as the representative: "Yu Dajun's views pay too much attention to the records of Persian and Arab historians, so that his own opinions are basically the same as those of Barthold, except that he went south to Tarim. Basin and the time of the northern expedition to Kyrgyzstan are just staggered."

The westbound route of Yelu Dashi is: through the Xizhou Uyghur Kingdom, go west along the northern foot of Tianshan Mountain, and reach Yemili City in the northwest.Three years later, Ye Mili went south to the Yili River Basin, and then went west to Balasahun City.There is no going north to the Kyrgyz region, nor south to the Tarim Basin."

After carefully reading Mr. Qian Boquan's article, there are two basic points of the "new theory".First, Chinese records are used to exclude Persian and Arab records: “Our country has had a strict and serious history recording and compilation system since ancient times. The compilation of "History of Liao" and "History of Jin" is based on archives and records. Even in When editing and deleting, there may be errors in dates and details, but there will never be any problems with the important historical facts. Therefore, it is an undoubted fact that the Yelu Dashi traveled westward and passed through the territory of the Xizhou Uighur Khanate.

There has never been a tradition of official history recording and revision in Central Asia and the West. Most of the relevant historical books are from private hands, and their reliability is naturally not as good as that of Chinese literature.Therefore, neither Jufeni nor Ibn Asir recorded the historical fact that the Yelv Dashi Road passed through Xizhou Uyghurs, so it can be seen that the records of the historians of the Islamic Republic also have certain limitations.” The second is the so-called His historical and geographical knowledge negates other plans for the westward route: "Since the target of Yelu Dashi's westward journey is Dashi, the northern area of ​​the Karahan Dynasty centered on Balasahun City;

Then, anyone who is familiar with the history and geography of northern China and the Western Regions in ancient China will immediately think of the most convenient route: starting from Ketun City in the central part of the Mongolian Plateau, passing through the southern foot of the Altai Mountains and the northern foothills of the Eastern Tianshan Mountains, to the Uighur Kingdom of Xizhou Don't lose eight miles to the capital city, this road is the Uighur Road opened in the middle of Tang Dynasty.Then go westward along the northern foot of Tianshan Mountain from Bieshabali, pass through the Dennuletai Mountain Pass in Jinghe County, Xinjiang today, reach the Yili River Basin, then pass through the south bank of Issyk Lake in the west, and reach Balasahun City in the west. The very prosperous passage in the Tang Dynasty was called Suiye Road because the end point was Suiye City not far to the west of Bala Sahun.

Regarding the first point, it is no exaggeration to say that this "sense" is too biased.It is difficult to easily deny such books as one of the major historical works of Central Asia at that time, such as Jaffney's "History of the Conquest of the World", just as Boyle (JA Boyle) said in the preface of the English translation: ""History of the Conqueror of the World" was written in 1252. Or began writing it in Karakorim in 1253; and Juvaini was still writing it in 1260". "

To quote Barthold, his work has not yet been valued as it should be”. “Significantly, in his history of this period, Rasht (Historical Collection) is often content to follow almost verbatim his senior.It is even more convenient for Zhifei Ni to visit East Asia twice.Most of his reports on the Turks and Mongols must have been gathered at the court of the Mongol kings and on his travels there."

In terms of "History of Liao Dynasty" and "History of Jin Dynasty", the materials were incomplete when the people of Yuan Dynasty compiled history.Su Tianjue's "Zixi Manuscript" Volume [-] "Three History Questions": "Jin died, Marshal Zhang Hourou packed up the Jin history and returned to the north, and sent it to the Academy of History at the beginning of the Central Committee. At that time, the records of Taizong and Xizong were missing." "Followers of the third rank and above are the only ones to make biography, but most of them have no career, and what they write is just a record of the official years. There are many who are below the fourth rank, but the history does not record it. Ask for a book when you visit.

Ruofu’s generals and ministers died in the time of Taizong, Xizong, and King Wei. Although they have been in office for many years, they still have no research.” 6. When Yelu Dashi founded the country, the Liao Society was in ruins, and Jin’s rule did not include the desert. To the north. It is impossible to be the old collection of the courts of the Yelu family and the Wanyan family, and of course it cannot be said that "my country has had a strict and serious history recording and compiling system since ancient times".

(End of this chapter)