Yelu Ji

Yelu Ji is a Khitan noble and commander whose capture by Xiao Feng leads not to ransom or punishment but to sworn brotherhood. Their bond gives Xiao Feng a personal stake in the Liao succession crisis, connecting an encounter on the frontier to the rebellion that threatens Emperor Yelu Hongji.

Identity and Background

Yelu Ji is identified as a Khitan noble, and his military position is apparent when he leads a force against AguDa and the Jurchen. A red-robed commander, he directs Khitan troops as they spread into two wings and attempt to cut off AguDa’s escape. Xiao Feng intervenes on the Jurchen side, disarming and driving off attackers while avoiding lethal force against Khitans, whom he recognizes as his own people.

The account establishes Yelu Ji’s family’s high standing in Liao but does not explicitly identify him as Yelu ZhongYuan’s son. It does identify his cousin Yelu NieLuGu as the son of Yelu ZhongYuan, placing the captured noble within the political family at the center of the later rebellion. That distinction matters: Yelu Ji’s personal relationship with Xiao Feng is directly narrated, while the precise link between Yelu Ji and the succession dispute is supplied through the broader family history rather than a stated role in the coup.

Capture and Release

During the clash, Yelu Ji’s men surround Xiao Feng, who advances through the weapons directed at him. He uses a broken spear to deflect attacks, disables two guards by returning their javelins, and forces Yelu Ji from his horse. After taking control of a mounted horse and holding Yelu Ji under his arm, Xiao Feng orders the Khitan force to retreat. He also holds a broken spear to Yelu Ji’s cheek when the surrounding soldiers demand their leader’s release, making clear that they must choose between pressing the attack and risking his life.

AguDa and the Jurchen bring the captive to their camp, where Yelu Ji remains upright and defiant. He initially rejects HeLiBu’s authority to question him, insisting that capture does not give the Jurchen leader the right to demand his name or rank. Once before Xiao Feng, however, he kneels and acknowledges defeat. He offers 50 liang of gold, 500 liang of silver, and 30 horses for his release. AguDa’s uncle PoLaSu proposes raising the ransom tenfold, but Yelu Ji accepts the increased demand without hesitation.

Xiao Feng refuses to treat the ransom as the point of the encounter. He says that he respects brave men and will release Yelu Ji because he regards him as a hero, not because he expects payment. When Yelu Ji offers to increase the ransom again, Xiao Feng objects that a friend should not mistake his conduct for a desire for wealth. Yelu Ji lays down his weapons, dismounts, and kneels in gratitude; Xiao Feng kneels in return, explaining that he will not accept worship from a friend. The exchange reverses their positions: the captive is no longer merely a defeated commander, and the victor refuses the status of master over him.

Sworn Brotherhood and Identity

Yelu Ji responds to Xiao Feng’s offer of friendship by asking to become his sworn brother. Xiao Feng, who says he is 31, learns that Yelu Ji is 13 years older and addresses him as elder brother. The two make the bond through a formal rite: they plant three arrows in the ground, light their tail feathers as incense, and worship heaven eight times before acknowledging one another as brothers.

The ceremony carries particular weight for Xiao Feng. The narrative recalls that his years in the Beggar Society had placed him within a strict hierarchy, where advancement depended on accumulated service; he had not found a companion with whom to swear brotherhood until his earlier meeting with Duan Yu in Wuxi. Now, after losing his former standing in the Central Plains and having no settled home, he recognizes in Yelu Ji a brave and worthy companion. Their brotherhood answers personal isolation with an explicit bond of mutual respect.

Yelu Ji notices that Xiao Feng’s surname resembles a Khitan surname. Xiao Feng then discloses that he is Khitan and reveals the green wolf-head tattoo on his chest. The disclosure makes shared ethnic identity part of their new intimacy, but the scene does not reduce their friendship to ethnicity: Yelu Ji has first recognized Xiao Feng’s skill and character, and Xiao Feng has already chosen to spare him and reject payment.

Family and the Liao Succession Crisis

The political history surrounding Yelu Ji’s family reaches back to his grandfather, Yelu LongXu, the ruler remembered as the Holy Emperor. When LongXu’s death approached, he designated his eldest son, Yelu ZongZhen, to succeed him, although the empress favored her second son, Yelu ZhongYuan, and sought to place him on the throne. ZhongYuan supported his brother instead and kept the empress’s scheme quiet. ZongZhen later rewarded him with the status of royal emperor brother and made him next in the line of succession.

The succession did not pass to ZhongYuan after ZongZhen’s death: ZongZhen’s son Yelu Hongji became emperor. Hongji then compensated his uncle by granting him the title of royal emperor uncle, reaffirming his place as heir, placing the army under his command, and granting exceptional court privileges. He also appointed ZhongYuan’s son Yelu NieLuGu Prince of Chu and gave him control of military affairs in the Southern Chancellery. Thus authority in Liao is divided among close relatives whose positions rest on a history of deferred claims, compensation, and delegated military power.

When a chain of urgent bugle calls reaches Yelu Hongji’s hunting camp, the emperor learns that rebellion has broken out in the capital. Yelu NieLuGu has proclaimed his father emperor and issued an edict declaring Hongji illegitimate. The family history makes the accusation potent: ZhongYuan had once been close to the throne, and his command over the army gave the rebellion substantial force. Hongji is accompanied by the Lord of the Northern Chancellery, but only about 100,000 troops are with him, against an opposing force reported at 500,000.

Yelu Ji is not shown directing the rebellion or taking part in its campaign. His importance to this part of the story is relational: through his brotherhood with Xiao Feng, the account has already made clear how personal ties cross the same Khitan political world that the succession conflict divides. The revolt is led by his cousin, while the account’s explanation of the family’s contested history centers on his cousin’s father.

Military Crisis and Narrative Significance

The crisis is fought not only through command and numbers but through loyalty, family ties, and the institutions that hold the army together. Hongji orders his forces to form a stockade and positions about 10,000 archers behind its wooden defenses. As the rebels close in, the defenders’ volleys inflict losses, but the enemy’s numbers and pressure threaten to overwhelm them. Hongji’s visible presence in golden armor helps restore his soldiers’ courage during the battle.

The emperor’s policy of allowing soldiers’ families to live in the capital has served two purposes: it has rewarded their loyalty and helped keep the troops under imperial control. During the rebellion, that policy becomes a liability. The rebels bring forward 30,000 captured relatives from a larger population of more than 200,000, and threaten to kill them unless the defenders surrender. Soldiers begin leaving the stockade to reach their families; the flight grows from hundreds to thousands, until an estimated 60,000 to 70,000 have crossed over. Hongji retreats north-west with the remaining force, while the civilians’ presence prevents the rebels from pursuing at once.

Yelu Ji’s story therefore introduces the trust between Xiao Feng and a Khitan brother before that trust is tested against the demands of Liao’s state and war. The captured commander’s acceptance of defeat, Xiao Feng’s refusal of ransom, and their arrow-and-incense oath establish a relationship founded on mutual regard rather than hierarchy. The later rebellion, rooted in inherited succession arrangements and sustained by military command, shows the larger political world into which that friendship is drawn.