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Yelu Longyun (Dewei, Dilu, Zhixin)〉 Yelu Boguzhe, Xiao Yanga, Wu Bai, Xiao Changge, and Yelu Hugu (Morlugu)〉
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Yelu Longyun was born Han Derang, son of Kuangsi, the Southwestern Frontier Pacification Commissioner. In the nineteenth year of the Tonghe era, he was granted the name Dechang. In the twenty-second year, he was granted the imperial surname Yelu. In the twenty-eighth year, he was again granted the name Longyun. Steady and weighty in bearing, resourceful in counsel, versed in the principles of governance, and eager to win merit through great undertakings. In service to Emperor Jingzong he won renown for scrupulous conduct. He rose through Eastern Head Attendant Officer and Han Chinese Affairs Commissioner of the Privy Council to Shangjing Imperial City Commissioner, received the honorary title of Zhangde Army Military Commissioner, and succeeded his father Kuangsi as Shangjing Military Governor with full charge of capital affairs—an appointment that brought him wide acclaim. Soon afterward he again took his father's place as defender of the Southern Capital, to the envy of his contemporaries. When Song forces seized Hedong and pressed into Yan, the Five Yuan detailed commandants Xidi and Grand General Xiaotaogu were driven back in defeat. The Song army laid siege to the city, its summons and threats pressing hard, and loyalty within the walls began to falter. Longyun took the ramparts himself and held the defenses day and night. Relief arrived and the siege was broken. At Gaoliang River the Song army was routed in flight; Longyun cut off their retreat and shattered them once more. For these services he was made Liaoxing Army Military Commissioner and summoned to the Southern Chancellery as Privy Councilor.
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景宗疾大漸，與耶律斜軫俱受顧命，立梁王為帝，皇后為皇太后，稱制。 隆運總宿衛事，太后益寵任之。 統和元年，加開府儀同三司，兼政事令。 四年，宋遣曹彬、米信將十萬眾來侵，隆運從太后出師敗之，加守司空，封楚國公。 師還，與北府宰相室昉共執國政。 上言山西四州數被兵，加以歲饑，宜輕稅賦以來流民，從之。 六年，太后觀擊鞠，胡裏室突隆運墜馬，命立斬之。 詔率師伐宋，圍沙堆，敵乘夜來襲，隆運嚴軍以待，敗走之，封楚王。 九年，復言燕人挾奸，茍免賦役，貴族因為囊橐，可遣北院宣徽使趙智戒諭，從之。 十一年，丁母憂，詔強起之。 明年，室昉致政，以隆運代為北府宰相，仍領樞密使，監修國史，賜興化功臣。 十二年六月，奏三京諸鞫獄官吏，多因請托，曲加寬貸，或妄行搒掠，乞行禁止。 上可其奏。 又表請任賢去邪，太后喜曰：「進賢輔政，真大臣之職。」 優加賜賚。 服闋，加守太保、兼政事令。 會北院樞密使耶律斜軫薨，詔隆運兼之。 久之，拜大丞相，進王齊，總二樞府事。 以南京、平州歲不登，奏免百姓農器錢，及請平諸郡商賈價，並從之。 二十二年，從太后南征，及河，許宋成而還。 徙王晉，賜姓，出宮籍，隸橫帳季父房後，乃改賜今名，位親王上，賜田宅及陪葬地。 從伐高麗還，得末疾，帝與後臨視醫藥。 薨，年七十一。 贈尚書令，謚文忠，官給葬具，建廟乾陵側。 無子。 清寧三年，以魏王貼不子耶魯為嗣。 天祚立，以皇子敖盧斡繼之。 弟德威，侄制心。
When Emperor Jingzong fell gravely ill, he and Yelu Xiezhen together received the dying command: they enthroned the Prince of Liang as emperor, made the empress the empress dowager, and she assumed regency. Longyun took overall charge of the palace guards, and the empress dowager favored and trusted him all the more. In the first year of the Tonghe era he was given the additional title Director of the Office with Peerage and made concurrent Administrator of Affairs. In the fourth year, when Song sent Cao Bin and Mi Xin with a hundred thousand men to invade, Longyun accompanied the empress dowager on campaign and routed them. He received the additional title Defender of the Minister of Works and was enfeoffed as Duke of Chu. After the army returned, he and Northern Chancellery Chancellor Shi Fang jointly directed state affairs. He memorialized that the four Shanxi prefectures had repeatedly suffered warfare and, with famine added, taxes and levies should be lightened to draw back displaced people, and the court approved. In the sixth year, while the empress dowager watched a cuju match, Hu Lishi charged out and knocked Longyun from his horse; she ordered him beheaded on the spot. Ordered to lead troops against Song, he besieged Shadui. When the enemy attacked by night, Longyun held the army in strict readiness, routed them, and was enfeoffed as Prince of Chu. In the ninth year he again memorialized that people in Yan harbored malfeasance, sought to evade taxes and corvée, and the nobility profited from it; Northern Chancellery Palace Attendant Commissioner Zhao Zhi could be sent to admonish them, and the court approved. In the eleventh year, when he entered mourning for his mother, an edict forcibly recalled him to office. The following year Shi Fang retired, and Longyun replaced him as Northern Chancellery Chancellor while retaining the Privy Council, supervising compilation of the national history, and receiving the merit title Xinghua. In the sixth month of the twelfth year he memorialized that judicial officers in the three capitals often, through patronage, bent cases to grant undue leniency or recklessly beat and plunder, and asked that this be forbidden. The emperor approved the memorial. He also memorialized requesting appointment of the worthy and removal of the corrupt. The empress dowager said with pleasure, "To advance the worthy and assist governance is truly the duty of a great minister." He received especially generous gifts and rewards. When mourning ended, he received the additional titles Defender of the Grand Mentor and concurrent Administrator of Affairs. When Northern Chancellery Privy Councilor Yelu Xiezhen died, an edict ordered Longyun to hold the post concurrently. Before long he was appointed Grand Chancellor, advanced to Prince of Qi, and took overall charge of both privy councils. Because Nanjing and Pingzhou had poor harvests, he memorialized to exempt the people from the farm-implement levy and requested standardization of merchant prices in the various commanderies; both were approved. In the twenty-second year he accompanied the empress dowager on the southern campaign; reaching the river, Song sued for peace and the army withdrew. He was transferred to Prince of Jin, granted the imperial surname, removed from the palace register, and attached to the Horizontal-Banner Younger-Father house. He was then granted his present name, ranked above the imperial princes, and given fields, residences, and burial land beside the imperial tombs. Returning from the campaign against Goryeo, he contracted a terminal illness; the emperor and empress came in person to oversee his medical care. He died at seventy-one. He was posthumously appointed Director of the Masters of Writing, supplied with funeral goods by the state, and given the posthumous title Wenzhong; a temple was built beside Qianling. He had no sons. In the third year of Qingning, Yelu, son of Prince of Wei Tiebu, was made his heir. When Tianzuo succeeded, Prince Aoluwo was made his successor. His younger brother was Dewei; his nephew was Zhixin.
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Dewei was stern and unbending by nature and excelled at mounted archery. Early in the Baoning era he served as Shangjing Imperial City Commissioner and Ruzhou Defense Commissioner before being appointed Northern Chancellery Palace Attendant Commissioner. Near the close of Qianheng he was mourning his father but was pressed back into service and given provisional command as Southwestern Pacification Commissioner. At the opening of Tonghe, when Tangut bands raided the frontier, he drove them off in a single engagement. He received the grant of a sword and authority to act at discretion, taking command of the Tielubu and Dilie corps armies. For suppressing Shaoguge he was formally confirmed as Pacification Commissioner. When Li Jiqian of Xiazhou broke with Song and offered allegiance to Liao, Dewei urged that he be received. Once Jiqian was secured, the frontier peoples followed in turn, and an edict sealed in the imperial script praised and rewarded him. With Privy Councilor Yelu Shanbu he defeated the Song commander Yang Jiye and was raised to Director of the Office with Peerage and Acting Administrator of Affairs Below the Gate. Before long, as many strongholds in Shanxi fell, his command was stripped from him. Jiqian, having taken bribes, nursed secret disloyalty. Ordered to lead troops and reason with him, Dewei found Jiqian pleading a western campaign and refusing to appear. Dewei marched to Lingzhou, carried off captives and plunder, and returned. He died at fifty-five and was posthumously made concurrent Palace Attendant. His son Yunjin rose to Zhangguo Army Military Commissioner. He had two grandsons: Xieshi and Dilu. Xieshi ended his career as Privy Councilor.
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Dilu, whose style name was Zunning. Raised in the palace as a child, he was appointed Junior General. Early in the Chongxi era he served in turn as Northern Chancellery Palace Attendant Commissioner, Right Linya, and Deputy Chief Inspector, was appointed Privy Councilor, transferred to Northwestern Frontier Pacification Commissioner, enfeoffed as Prince of Qishui, and requested a reduction of three thousand two hundred and eighty men from the military register. Later, for privately taking an otter-fur coat from a Uyghur envoy and privately taking Zubu tribute goods, when the matter came to light he was beaten with the great staff, stripped of his title, and dismissed from office. Before long he was recalled to office as Northern Chancellery Palace Attendant Commissioner. In the nineteenth year he was made Chief Detailed Commandant of the Ugu and Dilie tribes; soon afterward he became Detailed Commandant of the Northeast Route and was enfeoffed as Prince of Huntong. At the beginning of Qingning he was transferred to Prince of Deng and promoted to Southern Chancellery Chancellor. On grounds of age he requested retirement, and his title was changed to Prince of Han. He died during the Dakang era at eighty.
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Dilu possessed a clear, penetrating grace of manner. Emperor Shengzong treated him as a son, and Emperor Xingzong honored him with the courtesy owed an elder brother; the higher he rose, the more modest he became. He first served as Chief Inspector. On a hunt at Black Ridge in the imperial train he brought down a bear. The emperor, merry with wine, said to Dilu: "Do you have any request?" He answered: "Your subject already enjoys wealth and rank beyond his desert; I dare not ask for more. Only this: my uncle was favored in the former reign, but after his death his unworthy son was condemned and the family estate confiscated. For the seasonal offerings, if one grandson among them might be pardoned to preside at the ancestral rites, your subject's wish would be complete." An edict cleared the register and restored the confiscated property. His son Yanwu became Nanjing Commander of the Foot Soldiers.
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Zhixin, whose childhood name was Khan Slave. His father Dechong was a physician who could read illness at a glance from a patient's face and bearing; he rose through successive posts to Wuding Army Military Commissioner. Zhixin excelled at training hawks and falcons. During the Tonghe era he was made prefect of Guihua. In the Kaitai era he was appointed Shangjing Military Governor, promoted to Commander of the Han Chinese Imperial Palace Detachment, and enfeoffed as Prince of Qishui. As the empress's younger brother, his favor at court grew day by day. Deputy Privy Councilor Xiao Hezhuo dominated affairs. Zhixin memorialized that Hezhuo was shallow in judgment and lax in conduct. The emperor said nothing. Whenever palace banquets grew convivial, he would withdraw. The empress, displeased, said: "Are you unhappy?" Zhixin answered: "Those who enjoy favor and high rank seldom keep them long—that is what troubles me!" In the Taiping era he served in turn as Zhongjing Military Governor, Privy Councilor, and Nanjing Military Governor, was transferred to Prince of Yan, and was promoted to Grand Prince of the Southern Chancellery. Some urged Zhixin to take up Buddhism. He replied: "I do not know the Buddhist teachings; only that when the heart is without selfishness, one draws near to them." One day he bathed, changed his garments, and lay down. His household heard the sound of pipes and strings; alarmed, they entered and found he had already passed away. He was fifty-three years old. He was posthumously made Administrator of Affairs and enfeoffed as Prince of Chen.
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守上京時，酒禁方嚴，有捕獲私醞者，一飲而盡，笑而不詰。 卒之日，部民若哀父母。
While he held Shangjing, the ban on wine was strictly enforced. When a man caught brewing in secret was brought before him, Zhixin drained the cup in one draft, laughed, and let the matter drop. On the day he died, the people under his rule grieved as though they had lost father and mother.
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耶律勃古哲，字蒲奴隱，六院夷離堇蒲古只之後。 勇悍，善治生。 保寧中，為天德軍節度使，歷南京侍衛馬步軍都指揮使。 以討平党項羌阿理撒米、仆裏鱉米，遷南院大王。 聖宗即位，太后稱制，會群臣議軍國事，勃古哲上疏陳便宜數事，稱旨，即日兼領山西路諸州事。 統和四年，宋將曹彬等侵燕，勃古哲擊之甚力，賜輸忠保節致主功臣，總知山西五州。 會有告勃古哲曲法虐民者，按之有狀，以大杖決之。 八年，為南京統軍使，卒。 子爻裏，官至詳穩。 蕭陽阿，字稍隱。 端毅簡嚴，識遼、漢字，通天文、相法。 父卒，自五蕃部親挽喪車至奚王嶺，人稱其孝。 年十九，為本班郎君。 歷鐵林、鐵鷂、大鷹三軍詳穩。 乾統元年，由烏古敵烈部屯田太保為易州刺史。 幸臣劉彥良嘗以事至州，怙寵恣橫，為陽阿所沮。 彥良歸，妄加毀訾，尋遣人代陽阿。 州民千餘詣闕請留，即日授武安州觀察使。 歷烏古涅裏、順義、彰信等軍節度使，權知東北路統軍使事。 聞耶律狼不、鐸魯斡等叛，獨引麾下三十餘人追捕之，身被二創，生擒十餘人，送之行在。 坐不獲首惡，免官。 未幾，權南京留守，卒。
Yelu Boguzhe, whose style name was Punuyin, was a descendant of Puguzhi, Chancellery Commissioner of the Six Yuan. Brave and fierce, he was skilled at managing livelihood. During Baoning he served as Tiande Army Military Commissioner and then as Nanjing Commander of the Palace Guard Cavalry and Infantry. For suppressing the Tangut chiefs Ali Sami and Pulibie Mi, he was promoted to Grand Prince of the Southern Chancellery. When Emperor Shengzong succeeded and the empress dowager assumed regency, ministers met to deliberate on military and state affairs. Boguzhe submitted a memorial with several expedient proposals; it pleased the throne, and that same day he was given concurrent charge of the western-circuit prefectures of Shanxi. In the fourth year of Tonghe, when Song generals led by Cao Bin invaded Yan, Boguzhe struck them hard. He received the merit title of Loyal Submission, Integrity Preservation, and Sovereign Service and was given overall charge of the five Shanxi prefectures. When someone reported that Boguzhe had bent the law and abused the people, investigation found grounds, and he was beaten with the great staff. In the eighth year he became Nanjing Grand General and died. His son Yaoli rose to detailed commandant. Xiao Yanga, whose style name was Shaoyin. Upright, resolute, concise, and stern, he knew Khitan and Chinese script and was versed in astronomy and physiognomy. When his father died, he personally drew the funeral cart from the Five Fan tribes to Xiwang Ridge, and people praised his filial devotion. At nineteen he became an attendant of his corps. He served in turn as detailed commandant of the Iron Forest, Iron Hawk, and Great Hawk armies. In the first year of Qiantong he went from Grand Guardian of the Ugu and Dilie tribal garrisons to prefect of Yi Prefecture. The favored minister Liu Yanliang once came to the prefecture on business and, relying on imperial favor, acted wantonly; Yanga blocked him. Yanliang returned and slandered him without cause; before long an envoy was sent to replace Yanga. More than a thousand people of the prefecture went to court asking that he remain, and that same day he was appointed Observation Commissioner of Wu'an Prefecture. He served in turn as military commissioner of the Wugu Nieli, Shunyi, and Zhangxin armies and was given provisional charge of Northeast Route grand general affairs. Hearing that Yelu Langbu, Duoluwo, and others had rebelled, he alone led a little more than thirty men in pursuit. He received two wounds, captured more than ten men alive, and sent them to the imperial camp. Because he failed to capture the chief culprit, he was dismissed from office. Before long he served provisionally as Nanjing Military Governor and died.
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Wu Bai was a man of unknown native commandery. He had been a National University Erudite of Song and was dispatched to administer Xiangzhou. At Tongli Army he was taken prisoner by Liao forces. An edict appointed him Shangjing National University Erudite. He was made magistrate of Linhuang county and then promoted to deputy military commissioner of Guangde Army. Earlier, a suit had accused Chancellor Liu Shenxing of impropriety with his son's wife, Lady Yao, and the authorities had found grounds for punishment. Emperor Shengzong ordered Bai to hear the case, and Bai upheld the accusation. On his return from an embassy to Goryeo he was given provisional charge as Zhongjing Military Governor. Shenxing's sons then held every lever of power. Bai was demoted on the charge that his ruling in a dispute over commoners' household registers had been unjust. Before long he was made Left Vice Director of the Secretariat, put in charge of Privy Council affairs, and appointed Liaoxing Army Military Commissioner. He retired from office and died.
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Xiao Changge, whose style name was Hudujin, was of the imperial maternal uncle's clan. His grandfather Yuezhi was Acting Administrator of Affairs Below the Gate; his father Shilao rose through successive posts to military commissioner. Changge was imposing in stature and sparing of speech. Not until his thirties did he first become an attendant gentleman. He served in turn as general of his clan and prefect of Songshan. In the second year of Shoulong, when his daughter became Princess of Yan, he was appointed Commissioner of the Yongxing Palace. When the princess bore a son, he became Southern Chancellery Palace Attendant Commissioner and soon was made Commander of the Han Chinese Imperial Palace Detachment. At the beginning of Qiantong he received the additional title Grand Mentor of the Heir Apparent and was made detailed commandant of the imperial maternal uncle's house. In the second year he was made Liaoxing Army Military Commissioner, summoned as Northern Chancellery Chancellor, and in recognition of his service at the imperial succession ceremony given the additional concurrent title Palace Attendant. In the first year of Tianqing he retired from office and died; his posthumous title was Qinsu.
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Yelu Hugu, styled Hailin, was grandson of Dilie, Chancellery Commissioner of the Six Yuan. In youth he was quick-witted and held his pledged word sacred. Early in Baoning he entered service as Imperial Cup Attendant. In the tenth year, on returning from an embassy to Song, he reported to the throne that Song intended to seize Hedong. Prince of Yan Han Kuangsi asked: "How do you know?" Hugu replied: "Of every state that bore a rival title, Song has swallowed all—only Hedong remains unconquered. Now Song drills its armies and rehearses for war—the target can only be the Han north." Kuangsi argued strenuously against him, and the court let the warning drop. The following year Song did indeed invade the Northern Han. The emperor, impressed that Hugu could read events ahead, prized him and said: "Kuangsi and I never saw so far." He was appointed prefect of Zhuo. At the opening of Tonghe, when the empress dowager assumed regency, he was summoned to the capital. He fell out with Han Derang over a matter of policy. Derang, enraged, seized a guard's weapon and struck him on the head, killing him outright. His son was Morlugu.
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Morlugu, styled Yaoyin, was intelligent and discerning and a fine archer. At the opening of Tonghe he was made Southern Chancellery Linya. In the fourth year, when Song invaded Yan, the empress dowager took the field in person. Morlugu led the vanguard. A stray arrow struck his hand; he pulled it free and pressed on. Once the empress dowager arrived, Morlugu, too wounded to fight, joined Northern Chancellery Chancellor Xiao Jixian in patrolling the frontier. He rose through successive promotions to Grand Prince of the Northern Chancellery. In the sixth year, on the campaign against Song, he again led the vanguard and, with Yelu Nugua, routed the Song commander Li Zhongji at Dingzhou. He died of illness in camp.
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Appraisal: During Tonghe, Derang held the powers of both general and minister. In defeating enemies, advancing worthy men, and sustaining the state, his achievements were abundant indeed. As for his grant of the imperial surname and name, and his princedoms of Qi and Jin—was this not rather the fruit of favor from the empress dowager? Within the clan, Dewei pacified the Tangut, Dilu restored the ancestral rites, and Zhixin refused unworthy compromise—the family name grew ever brighter. Surely such virtue did not spring from nowhere! As for Bogu's loyalty, Yanga's filial devotion, and Wu Bai's integrity—they too stand among the finest ministers of their generation.