Portrait of Tuo Lei
When I first got to know Tuo Lei, a historical figure, I saw it in the martial arts novel "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" written by Jin Yong. He and the protagonist Guo Jing grew up together on the Mongolian grasslands, and became a pair of good brothers sharing weal and woe.
According to the records in " Yuanshi ", Genghis Khan's sons have a total of 6 clear records, namely Zhuchi, Chagatai, Ogedai, Tuo Lei, Uluchi and Kuolejian. Among them, the first four were born to his legitimate wife Borte , and Uluchi and Kuolejian (whose biological mother was the concubine Hulan) were born to other concubines, and both of them died young as concubines.
Tuo Lei was the fourth son of Genghis Khan and his wife Bortie. He once participated in the attack on the Jin Kingdom and the large-scale Western Expedition, and made numerous military exploits. And Regarding the cause of death of Tuo Lei in history, it is recorded in the historical material "Secret History of Mongolia" :
Song Lizong In the fourth year of Shaoding (AD 1231), Genghis Khan's third son, Wokuotai, who was already the Great Khan of the Mongol Empire, led the Mongolian army to conquer the Kingdom of Jin. On the way to victory, he suffered from a very strange disease and could not even speak for a while.
In this case, everyone thought that Wokuotai was possessed by an evil spirit, and immediately called in wizards to exorcise him. The wizards reported: "This is because the property of the people of the Jin Kingdom was plundered, the cities and towns were destroyed, and the gods of their earth and rivers were very angry and caused trouble."
Seeing that Wokuotai's condition became more and more serious, the wizards began to practice divination and asked the gods how to save Wokuotai from the torture of the disease. When they asked, "Can use Wokuotai's relatives as stand-ins for ?" Wokuotai suddenly opened his eyes and was able to speak.
Ogotai asked the wizard: " What is the current situation? "
The wizard stepped forward and replied: " The only way is to let your relatives take your place. Please ask the Khan to make a decision now! "
So, Ogedai issued an edict and asked: " Which prince will accompany me? "
drag Lei stepped forward and replied: " If my brother has misfortune, the tribes of the Mongol Empire will be isolated, and the Kingdom of Jin will be more comfortable. I am willing to redeem my brother on your behalf. Please ask the wizards to recite the incantation! "
With his younger brother as a substitute, Ogedei ordered the wizards to start reciting the incantation repeatedly, and Tuo Lei also drank the so-called "divine water" amidst the sound of incantations.
In this way, Tuo Lei's life came to an end.
Before his death, Tuolei begged Wokuotai and said: "Brother Hehan please take care of the orphans, young nephews and widowed sisters-in-law until they can be self-reliant."
This is the death of Tuolei recorded in the book "The Secret History of Mongolia". Judging from the description alone, it is full of pictures, much like a literary script created by a writer. However, the original version of "Secret History of Mongolia" is the "Golden Book" written in Mongolian characters. It is the hereditary history book of Genghis Khan's family and has been treasured in the palace.
At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, when Zhu Yuanzhang led an army to besiege Yuan Dadu (today's Beijing), the Emperor of the Yuan Dynasty, Tuohuan Tiemul, fled in a hurry before he could take the "Secret History of Mongolia" with him. Therefore, it fell into the hands of Zhu Yuanzhang, and he sent someone to compile and translate it in Chinese.
Wo Kuotai portrait
What is the reason for Tuo Lei’s death?
According to historical records in the book "Secret History of Mongolia", Tolei died in 1232 AD at the age of 40.So, did he voluntarily sacrifice his life for Wokuotai because of the anger of the gods of the Jin Kingdom? Or was he sentenced to death because Wokuotai couldn't tolerate his great achievements and shocked the master?
Judging from our contemporary understanding, Tuo Lei listened to the shaman's divination and willingly died for Ogodei to atone for his sins. I am afraid it is difficult for everyone to accept this statement. As Tuo Lei's brother, Wo Kuotai should first introduce this person and what his relationship is with Tuo Lei.
Whether it is recorded in historical records or described in folk novels, it is unanimously written that Ogedei was a magnanimous man and was personally designated as his successor by Genghis Khan.
In addition, Tuo Lei has always respected and loved Wokuotai, and Wokuotai also took great care of Tuo Lei's wife and children. In the eyes of outsiders, this is a perfect pair of brothers.
However, despite the deep feelings between the two brothers, Wo Kuotai still could not tolerate the existence of his younger brother Tuo Lei, so he added poison to the so-called "divine water". This was also a common phenomenon under the imperial power system in the ancient feudal period.
Tuo Lei
There are three main reasons why Wokuotai cannot tolerate the existence of Tuo Lei:
- The first reason: personal strength
Regardless of the number of troops in charge or the wealth of the territory being sealed, Tuo Lei's strength far exceeds that of Wokuotai.
Since 1206 AD, Genghis Khan has begun to implement internal rewards for his four legitimate sons. Among them, five thousand households each were awarded to Wokuotai and Tuolei, which meant that they had the right to collect taxes from more than five thousand households. It can be seen that Tuo Lei at this time is already equivalent to Wokuotai's strength.
Until the death of Genghis Khan in 1227 AD, the remaining 129,000 Mongolian troops were distributed. Tolei was assigned to 101,000 people, and the remaining 28,000 were given to the eldest son Jochi, the second son Chagatai, and the third son Ogedai. From this point, it can be seen that the tow mine, which has an absolute advantage in strength, completely crushed Wokuotai.
Genghis Khan loved his four legitimate sons very much, but when it came to marching and fighting, Tuo Lei was undoubtedly the best among the four. According to Persian historian Zhifeni wrote in the book "History of the Conquerors of the World":
"Genghis Khan assigned different powers to his four sons according to their talents. Jochi was in charge of hunting, Chagatai was in charge of laws and regulations, Ogodei was in charge of government affairs, and the fourth son Torre was in charge of the Mongolian army."
Genghis Khan
It is also recorded in the "Historical Collection" written by another Persian historian Rashid:
"After Genghis Khan examined the talents of his sons, he arranged for them. However, he hesitated about the arrangement of the Khan throne. Sometimes he thought of the magnanimous, generous and wise third son Ogedai, and sometimes he thought of the brave and resourceful youngest son Tuo Lei. After repeated weighing, he said: "The affairs of the Khan throne and the country are very difficult, let Ogedai manage it!" My palace tent, family, army, jewelry, etc. are all under the control of Tuo Lei."
The territory allocated to Tuo Lei is the center of the entire Mongol Empire, including the source of the Onan River and all the territory of Mongolia itself. This shows how much Genghis Khan compensated his young son.
Not only that, when Genghis Khan was still alive, only Tuolei, one of the four sons, always followed his father. Therefore, in the eyes of many people, Genghis Khan was deliberately cultivating Tuo Lei so that he could inherit his throne in the future.
- The second reason: the legal system at that time
The legal system implemented by the Mongolian Empire at that time was the same as that of many nomadic peoples in the world, which was the "inheritance system from the first wife and the youngest son", and Tuolei was the youngest son born to Genghis Khan and his first wife Borte.
In the previous dynasties, the " eldest son inheritance system " was implemented, that is, the eldest son born from the first wife served as the successor. The reason why Mongolia adopted the "first wife inheritance system" was based on the social conditions at that time.
We all know that the marriages of ancient nomadic tribes were different from those of the mature Han people at the same time. Nomadic women cannot guarantee their virginity when they get married. Therefore, the lineage of the eldest son born is naturally doubtful.
Take Genghis Khan's first wife Borte as an example. Borte was once captured by the Merqi tribe and gave birth to her eldest son Jochi on the way back from release. Therefore, many people at the time questioned in their hearts: "Whether Jochi is Genghis Khan's biological son."
When Genghis Khan was alive, the second son Chagatai had a bad relationship with his eldest brother Jochi. He even said in public many times: "Jochi, you are a member of the mer beggar tribe.”
Generally speaking, the “legacy of inheritance” system was a monogamous marriage system in the Mongolian Empire, which could guarantee the chastity of the wife, and gradually gave way to the “primogeniture system”. After all, the eldest son’s life experience and experience were much better than those of the youngest son.
In 1226 AD, when Ogedai's sons Kuoduan and Guiyou asked for rewards from their grandfather Genghis Khan, Genghis Khan replied: "All my property has been handed over to Torre, and now he is the head of the family.".
It can be seen from here that in Genghis Khan's later years, Tolei had already become the "head of the family".
- The third reason: After two years of torpedoing and supervising the country, if the Khuliltai conference is held for election voting, he will definitely win
In 1219 AD, Genghis Khan led the Mongolian army to the west to Khwarazm . Before setting off, he discussed with his sons the issue of the successor to the throne.
However, as the conflict between the eldest son Jochi and the second son Chagatai became public, a duel even broke out between the two. Under this situation, Ogedei acted as a peacemaker in the dispute between the two brothers. Coupled with his mature and steady character, he was designated by Genghis Khan as the successor of the next Great Khan.
According to the Mongolian laws at the time, although Genghis Khan designated Ogedai to succeed the Great Khan, the legitimacy of Ogedai's appointment as Great Khan still had to be voted on by the Khuriltai Conference.
It is for this reason that Genghis Khan had to make two preparations. If Wokuotai could not succeed as the Great Khan, he would still have to follow the "succession system of direct wife and young son" and Tuo Lei would succeed the Great Khan.
Therefore, Genghis Khan specially asked him to supervise the country for two years in order to train him.
The so-called Kuriltai Conference originated in 1206 AD. It was a conference established by Genghis Khan when he conquered the Mongol Empire. The name and status of "Genghis Khan" were established at the Kuriltai Conference. Every subsequent Great Khan who ascended the throne had to be endorsed by this conference.
The reason why the Khuriltai Conference was so important was because the Mongol Empire at that time had not yet formed a complete successor system. Therefore, when electing the next successor to the throne, it had to be recommended at the Kuliltai Conference, otherwise it would be illegal.
At the Kuriltai Conference held in 1229 AD, Ogedai gained the legitimacy of the Khan throne and began to take charge of the entire Mongol Empire.
Khuriltai Conference
According to the accounts of Persian historians, at this conference, the Mongolian kings followed the decision of Genghis Khan during his lifetime and unanimously elected Ogedai as the Great Khan of the Mongol Empire. However, there are different records in "Yelü Chucai Biography of Yuan History". Tuo Lei once said this:
"Things have not yet been settled, so don't choose a date."
According to the original plan of the Khulletai Conference, the conference should end on August 24, 1229 AD, and a new successor to the throne of Khan should be elected.However, until August 22, the meeting still did not decide who should be elected to succeed the Khan. Tolei even proposed to choose another time to hold the Khuliltai Conference.
From this historical record, we can see that not all the kings unanimously supported O Kuotai as the new Great Khan. Of course, his biggest competitor was Tuo Lei.
Therefore, Ogedei said some humble words at the Khuliltai Conference, directly stating the great threat that tow mines pose to him. He said this:
"Although Genghis Khan's edict is here, there are still my brothers and uncles, who are more qualified than me. Furthermore, according to Mongolian customs, the youngest son of the eldest son is the father's heir, and Tuo Lei is the youngest son of the eldest queen (the great queen), and he always serves day and night. Serving Genghis Khan, I have heard and witnessed all his laws. How can I inherit the throne of Khan when these people are still alive!"
In addition, Tuo Lei has been in charge of the country for two years and has huge influence among the people. Many people support Tuo Lei to inherit the throne of Khan.
However, Genghis Khan's last order was to let Ogedai inherit the throne. In order to maintain Ogedai's prestige, minister Yelu Chucai, who was deeply influenced by Confucianism , came up with an idea. At the Khuliltai Conference, Yelu Chucai specially invited Tuo Lei to read out Genghis Khan's will, and Tuo Lei also said: "I firmly support the successor designated by my father as the new Great Khan of the Mongol Empire."
In this way, with the support of Tolei, Chagatai and his uncle Ochijin, Ogedai successfully ascended the throne of the Great Khan of the Mongolian Empire.
At the enthronement ceremony of Wokuotai, Tuo Lei personally raised his glass to celebrate his brother.
Therefore, the reason why Wokuotai could not tolerate Tuo Lei's survival was not because he was not loyal enough, but because he held more than 80% of the Mongol Empire's army in his hands. For Ogedai, as long as Tuo Lei survives for one day, it is a threat. He may launch a military coup at any time to seize the position of the Great Khan.
Maybe Tuo Lei knew from the beginning that the cup of "miraculous water" was a cup of poison, but in order to stabilize his brother's position, he had to drink it.
There are several theories circulating among the people regarding the cause of Tuo Lei’s death. Whether he was loyal to the emperor and his brother, sincerely died in taking the blame for Ogedai, or he was poisoned and died by Ogedai, but in the eyes of the authors of "History of the Yuan Dynasty", "Historical Collection" and "Secret History of Mongolia", he was a hero worthy of respect.
From another perspective, with the death of Tuo Lei, Ogedei can sit down and secure his position with peace of mind, which not only maintains the absolute authority of the Mongol Khan, but also ensures the high degree of unity of the Mongol Empire.
Solu Hetini helped the Tuo Lei lineage regain power
After Tuo Lei's death, his wife Solu Hetini made a great contribution to the maintenance of the Tuo Lei lineage and the subsequent handover of the Meng Yuan throne. Even Zhifeni commented in the "History of World Conquerors": "If women are like Soluhoteni, then women are better than men."
Soluhoteni was the niece of Wang Han, the king of the Keleyid tribe. Later, the tribe of Wang Han was conquered by Genghis Khan's Mongolian army, and she was given to Tuolei as his wife.
Because she had witnessed her tribe's rise from strength to destruction, as well as the melee between tribes, Soluheteni understood the principle of the law of the jungle and strengthened her will to survive.
In 1226 AD, when the Mongolian army attacked Xixia , Tuoluheteni fell ill. Tuo Lei even asked for a few days off and ran home to take care of her. It can be seen that the relationship between the couple is very deep, and even the true love in life today is nothing more than that.
Luheteni gave birth to four sons for Tuo Lei. are Mengge , Kublai Khan , Hulagu and Ali Buge . The achievements of the four are :
- Meng Ge served as the fourth great khan of the Mongol Empire;
- Kublai Khan was the fifth great khan of the Mongol Empire and the founding emperor of the Yuan Dynasty;
- Hulagu founded the Ilkhanate in West Asia;
- In April 1260 AD, Ali Buge was elected as the great khan by the nobles in Harahorin, the capital of the Mongolian Empire.
It is precisely because all four sons of Luheteni were monarchs that later historians called her "the mother of the four emperors".
After Tuo Lei's death, in accordance with the Mongolian legal tradition of "accepting stepmarriage", Wo Kuotai planned to remarry Solu Heteni to his eldest son Guyu. However, she politely and resolutely rejected Ogodei's proposal of marriage on the pretext that her sons were still underage.
In this way, the risk of the Tuo Lei lineage being annexed by the Wokuotai family was directly avoided, and the independent status of the Tuo Lei lineage was still maintained.
It can be said that all interactions between Luheteni and the Ogedei family were a game, and the scope of the game was within the legal scope of the Mongol Empire. On the matter of "accepting step marriages", she adopted a tactful and resolute attitude. Being tactful would not make enemies, but being resolute was to preserve the strength of the Tuo Lei family.
Wogotai is also a smart man. Since Luheteni is unwilling to marry his son, he will weaken the power of the Tuolei family. Therefore, Wokuotai ordered that all the more than a thousand Xuedi tribes and 2,000 Sule tribes that Tuolei had been in charge of during his lifetime were handed over to his second son Kuoduan.
Wokuotai's behavior aroused dissatisfaction among the soldiers of the two tribes. They came to Soluheteni one after another. Soluheteni comforted them and said: "Three thousand tribesmen are only a small number. We cannot do it because of this." This incident caused criticism against Ogedai. What's more, Ogedai is now our great khan, and we are all his subjects. "
Through this incident, both Ogedai and Kuoduan were grateful to Soluheteni.
Not only that, Luheteni also actively sought foreign aid. When Tuolei was still alive, she had a close relationship with her eldest brother Jochi, so she won over Jochi's eldest son Batu. It was with Batu's support and help that Meng Ge took the position of Great Khan of the Mongol Empire, returning the power to the Tuo Lei lineage.
In 1248 AD, Guiyou, who had succeeded Ogedei as the Great Khan of the Mongolian Empire, died on the way to conquer Batu. Since the Mongol Empire was leaderless, Batu, as the eldest brother, convened the Khuliltai Conference and planned to nominate a new Great Khan.
Seeing this scene, Soluheteni, who was good at observing the current situation, immediately ordered his eldest son Meng Ge to meet with Batu to strengthen the unity with Jochi's lineage. It was under her hard and soft tactics that Batu decisively ordered to support Meng Ge as the Great Khan of the Mongol Empire. Anyone who dared not comply would be immediately executed.
With the accession of Tuo Lei's eldest son Meng Ge, it also symbolized the official end of the rule of the Ogedai line. Soluheteni fully demonstrated his wisdom and perseverance under the framework of the legal system at that time, and made great contributions to the Tuo Lei lineage to regain power.
References
- Ming Dynasty·Song Lian and Wang Ye's "History of the Yuan Dynasty"
- Persia Zhifeni's "History of the Conquerors of the World"
- Persian Rashid's "Historical Collection"
- "Secret History of Mongolia"
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