Reign of Western Xia's Renzong in the Qianyou Era (1170s)

Timeline

1. 1170Xingqing Prefecture imperial palace · NingxiaThe powerful minister Ren Dejing had controlled the court for years and even sought to partition the state, demanding that Renzong keep Lingxia while he took Guazhou and Shazhou. Renzong sent envoys to seek aid from Emperor Shizong of Jin, and the Jin court refused to invest Ren Dejing. In the eighth month of the first year of Qianyou, Ren Dejing secretly plotted a coup; Renzong, assisted by Jin troops, decisively struck and executed Ren Dejing and his followers, changing the era name to Qianyou.
2. 1171–1179Western Xia territories · NorthwestAfter the coup, Renzong continued to establish schools and hold examinations, venerate Confucianism and Buddhism, and compile the Tiansheng Code, maintaining relative peace with Jin and Song. During the Qianyou era Western Xia's power reached its peak, Tangut culture and Buddhist art flourished, and most northwestern tribes submitted to Western Xia.