Along with Wanyan Aguta, there is also his lifelong opponent Yelu Dashi,

In the third year of Liao Daozong Da'an (1087), Yelu Dashi was born in Shangjing, he is the eighth grandson of Liao Taizu Yelu Abaoji, who has been studious since he was a child, and is good at riding and shooting. He is also fluent in Chinese and Khitan. In the fifth year of Tianqing (1115), Yelu Dashi Jinshi, entered the Hanlin Academy, and served as the Hanlin Chengzhi, he was the only Khitan Jinshi in the Liao Dynasty recorded in the "History of Liao". Later, he successively served as the assassin of Tai and Xiang, and the envoy of the Liaoxing Army.

In 1122 (the second year of Emperor Tianzuo of Liao), the Jin soldiers invaded the south and conquered Zhongjing, but Emperor Tianzuo did not dare to stay behind and fled west into the clouds. Shi Dashi and others stayed in Nanjing and were attacked by Jin and Song. In order to calm the hearts of the people and insist on resistance, Dashi supported Yeluchun to ascend the throne and called Tianxi Emperor, and later called Northern Liao. Yeluchun appointed Oishi as the military commander and was responsible for the guard.

Dashi analyzed the situation at that time and decided to declare himself a minister to Jin and make peace with the Northern Song Dynasty. However, the Northern Song monarchs and ministers thought that this was a good opportunity to recapture the sixteen states of Yanyun and sent 200,000 troops to attack Nanjing. Dashi led the army to meet the battle, defeated the Song army in the Baigou River, soon Yeluchun died of illness, his wife Xiao Defei regent, the Song soldiers came back to attack, a surprise attack on Nanjing City, in the street battle the Liao army won again, so that the soldiers' hearts were revived.

In April 1123, Oishi led his army to resist near Longmenbi in Fengshengzhou and was captured, forcing the Jin soldiers to lead the way to attack Emperor Tianzuo's Qingzun camp. After escaping from the Golden Camp, he defected to Emperor Tianzuo in September. Emperor Tianzuo could not forgive Dashi for setting up another emperor without authorization, nor could he accept Dashi's opinion of "raising troops and waiting for time", which made Dashi deeply suspicious. In the summer of 1124, when Emperor Tianzuo was preparing to send troops to fight a decisive battle with Jin, Dashi killed Xiao Yixue and Po Likuo, and led 200 of his own soldiers to flee.

In 1134, Ahmad Khan of the Eastern Qarakhanid State died, and his son Ibrahim Khan was unpopular, causing a rebellion among the Khamli and Qarluqs, and he was forced to invite Western Liao to send troops to help quell the rebellion. Dashi quickly pacified Kangli and Qarluq, and reduced the Eastern Qarakhanid State to vassals, ceding the area around its northern frontier as a territory directly under the Western Liao. In that year, Dashi set its capital in Barasagon (now Kyrgystok Mark), and changed the year name to the first year of Kangguo.

In 1141, the control area of Western Liao stretched from Gaochang in the east to the Caspian Sea in the west, and became the overlord of Central Asia. In 1143, Yelu Dashi died of illness at the age of fifty-seven, and the temple name was "Dezong".

Followers of different religions have different theories about Jerodashi's religious beliefs, with the author of the History of the World Conquerors Zifeni saying that he "secretly became a Muslim", another historian, Ibn al-Asir, saying that he was a Manichaean, and even Nestorian Christians hailing him as the legendary priestly king John. The reason for this may be because he has shown extreme tolerance.

In his area of rule, he did not forcibly promote any faith and treated different religions equally. Islam, Buddhism, Nestorianism, Manichaeism, shamanism and other religions have won many followers in Western Liao. For his subjects and vassal tribes, Oshi demanded that they pay their tribute on time, and sent a "shahena" (prison state) to oversee it, and their leader was to hang a silver medal to show his submission. The rest of the situation is governed according to the original model. In addition, he also adopted the official system of the Liao Dynasty in the north and south, and governed the agricultural inhabitants in the south and the nomadic inhabitants in the north according to their customs. Each household pays a tax of one dinar.

As a result of these tolerant measures, Western Liao won the hearts of the people and soon developed into the leading power in Central Asia.

His military prowess has always been praised, and he insisted on "raising troops and waiting for the time", and although he suffered repeated failures, he was good at seizing the opportunity and rising with defeat. He first led a city of mourning soldiers to break 100,000 Song troops in Yanjing, and then led hundreds of iron horsemen to open thousands of miles of land in Central Asia, extending the national honor of the Yelu clan for nearly a hundred years.

After settling the rear, Dashi decided to go east to the Jin Dynasty in the hope of restoring the country. In the summer of 1134, Dashi assigned his general Xiao Hulira to lead an army of 70,000 troops, but was forced to withdraw due to the death of many cattle and horses. Oishi also completely shifted the focus of its expansion to the Western Islamic world.

In 1137, Oishi led an army to invade the Western Black Khanate and routed the enemy's main force at Kuyu. The Western Qarakhanids appealed to their suzerain, the Seljuk Turkic Empire, for help. The Seljuk Turkic Sultan Sanga called on the Islamic world to wage a holy war against the pagans of Western Liao, gathered about 100,000 soldiers from Khorasan, Ghazni and other countries, and fought a decisive battle with Dashi Katwan near Samarkand in July 1141. As a result of the decisive battle, the Muslim coalition was defeated, and Sanja was spared. Oishi led his army in pursuit as far as Qierman (near present-day Samarkand). After this battle, the Seljuk Turkic forces withdrew from Central Asia, and the original states of Western Qarakhanid and Khorezm were both part of Western Liao. Western Liao became the hegemon of Central Asia.

In 1122 (the second year of Baoda), the Jin soldiers were approaching day by day, Emperor Tianzuo was exiled, and Dashi and his ministers established Yeluchun, the king of Qin and Jin, as emperor. Chun died, and his wife Xiao Defei was appointed as 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 and said, "I'm not dead yet, how dare you establish Ye Luchun?" Oishi replied, "Your Majesty has the strength of the whole country, and he cannot stop the enemy, so he has abandoned the country and fled far away, causing the people to live in misery." Even if ten Yeluchun are established, they are all descendants of Taizu, wouldn't it be better to beg others to forgive their lives? The emperor was speechless, gave him food and wine, and forgave his sins.

Dashi couldn't feel at ease in his heart, so he killed Xiao Yixue and Po Likuo, established himself as the king, and led 200 iron horsemen to escape by night. I walked north for three days, crossed the black water, and saw Bai Dada and stabilized the bed Gu'er. He offered four hundred horses, twenty camels, and a number of sheep. Heading west to the city of Kedun, the garrison was stationed at the Beiting Duhufu, gathering the seven prefectures of Weiwu, Chongde, Huifan, Xin, Dalin, Zihe, and Huo, as well as the seven prefectures of Dahuangmurowei, Dira, Wang Jira, Chachira, Yexi, Nose Gude, Nira, Dara, Damili, Mierji, Hezhu, Wuguli, Zubu, Pusuwan, Tanggu, Kumusi, Xidi, and the people of the eighteen kings, and told them: "My ancestors have gone through difficulties to create a great cause, and have gone through nine generations and two hundred years.

As vassals, the Jin people persecuted our country, slaughtered our people, slaughtered and destroyed our cities, and made our Emperor Tianzuo flee for refuge. I am now traveling westward with the help of the forces of the Tibetan tribes to destroy our enemies and restore our territory. Do any of you think about our country, about our society, and about those who work together to save your father and help the people in their suffering? So he got more than 10,000 elite soldiers, set up officials, arranged armor, and prepared honor guards.

On the first day of February in 1130 (or 1131), the green ox and white horse were sacrificed to the heavens and the earth and the ancestors, and the procession marched westward. First of all, he wrote to the Uighur king Bilgo, saying: "In the past, Emperor Taizu of our country sent an envoy to Ganzhou when he passed through the city of Buguhan, and sent an edict to your ancestor Wumu, saying: 'Do you miss your homeland, I can restore it for you immediately, are you worried that you will not be able to go back, I already own this land.' I have it, and you have it.

Your ancestors immediately expressed their gratitude, saying that the country had moved here for more than ten generations, and that the military and civilians were nostalgic for the existing king and did not want to move to another place, so I could not return to my homeland. This shows that our country has been friendly with your country for many years. Now I am going west to the Great Eclipse, and I will borrow the way from your country, and you must not be suspicious. When he received the letter, he immediately went to the inn to greet him, feasted for three days, and before he left, offered six hundred horses, a hundred camels, and three thousand sheep, and offered his descendants as hostages to be sent to the land. Wherever they passed, they were defeated by the enemy, and pacified by the subjugation. On the march of thousands of miles, several nations were attached, and the camels, horses, cattle, sheep, and goods they obtained were innumerable. The army is getting stronger and the morale is getting higher and higher.

To Xun Sigan, the countries of the Western Regions jointly raised 100,000 troops, known as Kuershan, and came to resist the war. The two armies were about two miles apart. Oishi told the soldiers: "Although there are many enemy troops but there is no plan, if you attack it, you will not be able to save each other, and our army will definitely win." "Send the king of the Sixth Academy, Xiao Huli, and the deputy envoy Yelu Songshan to lead 2,500 troops to attack its right flank, and the privy deputy envoy Xiao Ra Abu, the envoy Yelu Shuxue and others to lead 2,500 troops to attack its left flank; Lead the crowd to attack the middle lane. The three armies attacked together, and Kuershan was defeated, and the corpse was ambushed for dozens of miles. The Dashi garrison was in Xunsigan for a total of 90 days, and returned to the king to surrender and contribute local products.

Traveling west to Qierman, the civil and military officials set up Dashi as the emperor, and ascended the throne on February 5, 1134, Chinese New Year's Eve eight years old, known as Geerhan. He also presented the Han system with the honorific title of Emperor Tianyou, and changed the Yuan to Yanqing. His grandfather was Emperor Heiyuan, his grandmother was Empress Xuanyi, and Concubine Xiao was appointed Empress Zhaode. So he said to the hundred officials: "I have traveled 30,000 miles with you, trekked through mountains and rivers across the desert, and traveled hard day and night. Relying on the blessing of my ancestors, you and the strength of others, I took the liberty of ascending to the throne. Your fathers and fathers should have mercy on the aftermath so that they can share in the glory. "The grandfathers and fathers of the forty-nine people below Xiao Lira have different titles and rewards.

On the issue of the route of Yelu Dashi's westward expedition, many researchers have joined the discussion. This article takes the records of Sun Zhongduan's Northern Envoy as the core of the analysis, supplemented by the investigation of the traffic west of Jinshan, to prove that the Khitan army once moved from "Ye Mili" to "Yinshan", and then turned into the "Uighur State" when encountering obstacles. The relevant arguments are that the reason for rejecting the records of Central Asian writers such as the History of the World Conquerors in the History of Liao is not valid, and the so-called "Uighur Road" and "Broken Leaf Road" are not a shortcut due to the difficulty of crossing the desert.

The term "Hui" used by Liu Qi and his contemporaries Yelu Chucai and others is more likely to refer to "Wu'er" and the same Caucasian race in Central and West Asia as them. Yelu Dashi had already marched into the "Gilligis" before the Jin army attacked, so once it was defeated, it would go west to the "wing only water". The twists and turns of his entourage to the west can also be evidenced by his words to his subordinates, "I traveled 30,000 miles with Qing and others and trekked through the desert".

The route of Yelu Dashi's westward expedition is quite different in academic circles. To sum up, there are three main ones: first, represented by the seventh lecture of the Russian scholar William Barthold's "Twelve Lectures on the Turkic History of Central Asia" "The Turkic Culture of Western Liao and Keshihar": the western expedition is divided into two routes: the southern route is divided into two routes: the southern route goes southwest of "Hanghai Mountain" and present-day Hangai Mountain, crosses the southern section of Jinshan and present-day Altai Mountains, turns south and enters the area of Jimsar County and Turpan City in present-day Xinjiang, and then enters the southern foot of "Yinshan" and present-day mountain to Keshiheer and present-day Kashgar City;

The northern route traveled northwest of "Hanghai Mountain", crossed the "Greedy Mountain" and the western section of the present-day Sayan Mountains, entered the area of "Jiligis" and present-day Kizil and Abakan cities in Russia, withdrew after being frustrated, and then crossed the "Jinshan" and "Yizhishui" and the present-day Irtysh River to reach "Yemili" and present-day Emin County, Xinjiang1. 2. Represented by Mr. Zhou Liangxiao's article "Several Questions on the History of Western Liao": The South Road is only a partial division, while the North Road is the main force 2. 3. Represented by Mr. Qian Boquan's article "A Study on the Westward Route of Yelu Dashi": "Yu Dajun's views attach too much importance to the records of Persian and Arab historians, so that his own views are basically the same as those of Barthold, but he only staggers the time of his southward expedition to the Tarim Basin and the northern expedition to Kyrgyzstan."

The route of Yelu Dashi's westward journey was to pass through the Uighur kingdom of Xizhou, advance westward along the northern foot of the Tianshan Mountains, and reach the city of Yemili in the northwest. Three years later, he went south from Ye Mili to the valley of Yili, and then west to the city of Balasahun. There is no north to the Kyrgyz region, and no south to the Tarim Basin".

A careful reading of Mr. Qian Boquan's article shows that there are two basic points of the "new theory". The first is to use Chinese records to exclude Persia and Arab's records: "Since ancient times, China has had a strict and serious system of recording and revising history, and the compilation of the "History of Liao" and "History of Jin" is based on archives and actual records. Therefore, it is an indisputable fact that Jerodashi traveled westward through the territory of the Uighur Khanate in Western Prefecture.

Central Asia and the West have never had a tradition of official history recording and revision, and most of the relevant historical books are from private hands, so their reliability is naturally not as good as that of Chinese documents. Therefore, neither Zhifeni nor Ibn Asir recorded the historical fact that Jerodashi passed through the Uighurs in Western State, which shows that the records of Muslim historians also have certain limitations." The second is to negate the other plans of the westward route with the so-called historical and geographical knowledge: "Since the goal of the westward journey of Yelu Dashi is the northern region of the Qarakhanid Dynasty centered on the city of Balasahun;

Anyone familiar with the history and geography of northern China and the Western Regions will immediately think of the most convenient route: starting from the city of Kedun in the middle of the Mongolian plateau, passing through the southern foothills of the Altai Mountains and the northern foothills of the eastern Tianshan Mountains, to Beshbali, the capital of the Uighur kingdom in Western China, this road was the Uighur road opened in the middle of the Tang Dynasty. Then go west along the northern foot of the Tianshan Mountains from Beshbali, cross the Dengnuletai Pass in Jinghe County, Xinjiang, reach the Ili River Valley, and then pass west through the south bank of Issyk-Kul Lake, and go west to Balasahun City, which is a very prosperous passage in the Tang Dynasty, because the end point is the Broken Leaf City not far west of Balasahun, so it is called the Broken Leaf Road.

For the first point, it is not an exaggeration to say that this "perception" is too biased. It is difficult to dismiss books such as Zhifeni's History of the Conquest of the World, which was one of the major historical works of Central Asia at that time, as Jaboyle put it in the preface to the English translation: "The History of the Conquerors of the World was begun in 1252 or 1253 at Harahorim; and Zhifeni was still writing it in 1260". “

To quote Bartod, his work has not yet received the valuation it deserves". It is significant that Rasht (Historia) is often content to follow his predecessors almost word for word in his history of this period. Zhifeni also had the convenience of visiting East Asia twice. Most of his reports on the Turks and Mongols must have been collected at the court of the Mongol king, and during his travels there."

In terms of "History of Liao" and "History of Jin", the materials of the Yuan people were already incomplete when they revised history. Su Tianjue's "Zixi Manuscript" Volume 25 "Three Historical Questions": "Jin died, Marshal Zhang Hourou packed up Jin Shi and returned to the north, and the Central Unification was sent to the History Institute at the beginning, and at that time it was already recorded by Taizong and Xizong." "Jin Zhuchen has passed on Xu Lichuan above the third grade, but he has no career, and the book is only a matter of official years. There are many people below the fourth grade, but there is no history. Ask for a book.

If the ministers of the prime minister died in the time of Taizong, Xizong, and Weiwang, although they have been officials for many years, there is nothing to consider today"6. When Yelu Dashi was founded, the Liao Society was in ruins, and the rule of Jin did not include the desert to the north. It is impossible to be the old collection of the Yelu clan and the Wanyan clan, and of course it cannot be touched by the light of "our country has had a strict and serious system of recording and repairing history since ancient times".

(End of chapter)