Xiao Feng Is Made Prince of Chu and Appointed Southern Bureau Privy Councilor marks the moment when Xiao Feng’s personal loyalty and battlefield authority are converted into formal power in the Liao Empire. After helping YeLu HongJi suppress a rebellion, Xiao Feng is appointed Prince of Chu and Lord of the Southern Chancellery. The honor saves his sworn brother’s rule, but it also places him inside the imperial machinery and binds him to a southern campaign he does not wish to wage.

Causes and Political Background

The appointment follows a succession crisis rooted in the Liao court’s history. YeLu HongJi’s grandfather, YeLu LongXu, had designated his elder son YeLu ZongZhen as successor, although the empress favored her second son, YeLu ZhongYuan. ZhongYuan did not take the throne; instead, he supported his brother, who later named him royal emperor brother and next in line. When YeLu ZongZhen died, however, the succession passed to his son HongJi. HongJi compensated his uncle with the title of royal emperor uncle, supreme command of the army, and extraordinary court privileges, while ZhongYuan’s son YeLu NieLuGu received the Prince of Chu title and command of the Southern Chancellery. These overlapping claims and appointments left the uncle and cousin with immense military power beside HongJi’s own authority.

The crisis became open rebellion when a scout brought HongJi an edict proclaiming ZhongYuan emperor and denouncing HongJi as a false ruler who had usurped the throne. The claim drew force from the disputed succession and from the uncle’s command over the army. HongJi had only about 100,000 troops with him, against the 500,000 led north by his uncle and cousin. The empire’s military chain of command thus turned a dynastic grievance into an immediate threat to the emperor and his family.

From Rebellion to Appointment

When the rebellion was reported, HongJi responded with a calm order to break camp and return at once. The bugle warning had traveled from signal station to signal station until it reached the encampment, and the army’s previously noisy gathering fell silent. HongJi’s officers transmitted the order through the ranks, and the troops began their march south in formation. Yet the threat grew: the rebels’ edict challenged his legitimacy, and soldiers feared for their families in the capital. Their grief spread through the camp until the cries of the troops left HongJi acutely aware that morale had broken.

The next morning, facing the rebel force, HongJi promised promotion and rewards, put on golden armor and a helmet, and personally led his troops. His presence restored some of the soldiers’ courage. Xiao Feng rode beside him with bow and spear as his personal bodyguard, while the Flying Bear troops protected AhZi at the rear. In the fighting that followed, Xiao Feng’s intervention helped turn the crisis: the Prince of Chu was killed, and Xiao Feng captured the royal emperor uncle. With the rebellion’s leaders in custody, the uncle urged the rebels to lay down their weapons and seek the emperor’s pardon. The armed opposition disarmed, leaving HongJi able to reclaim authority without continuing the battle.

The Grant and Its Terms

HongJi greeted Xiao Feng with relief, clasped both his hands, and declared that he would share his country with his sworn brother. When the uncle knelt to ask forgiveness, HongJi sought Xiao Feng’s counsel. Xiao Feng advised pardoning him first, arguing that calming the troops’ morale mattered more than punishment. HongJi accepted the recommendation and immediately ordered that Xiao Feng be made Prince of Chu and appointed Lord of the Southern Chancellery, with command over the rebel army for its return to the capital.

Xiao Feng was startled. He had acted to save his brother, not to acquire rank, and he tried to decline the appointment, stressing that he did not know how to serve as an official. HongJi answered that the title and office represented the highest position in the Liao Empire and even threatened, in his exuberance, to yield the throne if Xiao Feng still refused. Recognizing that the political crisis was not yet fully settled, Xiao Feng knelt and accepted the order, while asking to be forgiven for his unfamiliarity with court procedure. HongJi then appointed YeLu MoGe Chancellor of the Southern Chancellery to assist him with its affairs and ordered MoGe to lead the former rebel army back to the capital under Xiao Feng’s authority.

Consolidating Authority

The appointment was more than a reward announced in the aftermath of battle: Xiao Feng had to make the new chain of command work. He met officials and subordinate commanders of the Southern Chancellery, many of whom had served the Prince of Chu and joined the rebellion. They respected Xiao Feng’s demonstrated courage, feared his fighting ability, and had little personal loyalty to their former commander, whose harshness had won him few adherents. Their participation in the revolt also left them fearful of punishment. Together, these circumstances made them willing to follow the newly appointed Lord of the Southern Chancellery.

Xiao Feng told them that the emperor had pardoned their rebellion and instructed them to put the past behind them and remain loyal. One white-bearded general explained that the royal emperor uncle and his son had held his family and threatened to behead them if he refused to rebel. The exchange shows the difficult work behind the appointment: restoring imperial control required not only issuing orders but also dealing with officials whose disloyalty had been compelled by threats against their families.

The Office and Its Burden

After more than a month occupied by officials, tribal leaders, and foreign envoys seeking his favor, Xiao Feng was summoned by HongJi and told to base himself in Nanjing. The emperor expected him, as Lord of the Southern Chancellery, to keep the conquest of the Song in view and to lead an invasion if political disorder created a suitable opportunity. HongJi acknowledged that the recent rebellion had weakened Liao and that the Song was not then an easy target, but he still treated eventual southern expansion as part of Xiao Feng’s charge.

Xiao Feng accepted the order, yet his response exposed the divide between sworn loyalty and the demands of state office. Raised in the south, he was reluctant to lead a campaign against the Song; he also found the court’s use of wealth and political influence foreign to the direct violence and ambushes he had encountered in the martial world. Rather than immediately break with HongJi, he reasoned that he should go to Nanjing and wait, hoping to seek resignation later. The appointment therefore secures HongJi’s government while placing Xiao Feng in a position whose strategic duties pull against his loyalties and upbringing.