In the previous issue, we said that Zong Ai, the eunuch who killed Tuoba Tao, the Emperor Taiwu of northern Wei, used his power to establish Tuoba Tao's son Tuoba Yu as emperor. After feeling the threat from Tuoba Yu, Zong Ai repeated the trick and killed Tuoba Yu.
After Tuoba Yu's death, the northern Wei regime once again had a vacuum, and who would be the next successor became another problem.
In the history books, the process of selecting a successor this time is almost no record, and we only know that Shangshu Changsun Thirsty Marquis and Shangshu Lu Li and others in the palace embraced Tuoba Li as emperor. As we said last time, Zong Ai himself did not want to establish Tuoba Liang, because Tuoba Tao was the son of Tuoba Tao's eldest son Tuoba Huang, and Tuoba Huang was indirectly killed by Zong Ai, so Tuoba Hao's ascension to the throne was not good news for Zong Ai.
It is reasonable to say that if Tuoba Mao wants to ascend the throne, he will naturally face the obstruction of Zong Ai. However, just after Tuoba Yu's death, Tuoba Yu soon ascended the throne and did not see the obstacle of Zong Ai, which is also a historical mystery.
After Tuoba Lian ascended the throne, Zong Ai's good days also came to an end. Soon, Zong Ai was killed and the three tribes were destroyed.
Here is another mystery: at this time, Tuoba Mao was only 13 years old. It is very difficult for a 13-year-old child to kill the powerful and the zongai of the two emperors. And the history books are again brushed over, as if Tuoba Mao can get it done with a single sentence, which is impossible.
Moreover, as mentioned above, Tuoba Mao's ascension to the throne was not hindered by Zong'ai. It can be seen that there must be a hidden force behind Tuoba Mao, which eventually pushed Zong Ai to a far-reaching and pushed the Northern Wei Dynasty back to the right track (as for where this force came from, this issue is relatively deep, and this article will not be discussed).
During the Tuoba Tao period, the Northern Wei Dynasty, although militarily very strong, unified northern China. However, we all understand one truth: war is actually burning money. Even the rich dynasty left behind by Wen Jingzhizhi was squandered by Emperor Wu of Han, let alone the Northern Wei during the Southern and Northern Dynasties?
Therefore, at the time of Tuoba Mao's ascension to the throne, the entire Northern Wei Dynasty was in a dangerous period of people's livelihood.
At this time, the Northern Wei court and most of the neighboring countries established diplomacy, reducing wars and giving the people the opportunity to recuperate.
At the same time, the war that has to be fought is still inevitable. At that time, Rouran, west of the Northern Wei Dynasty, was always a huge threat. In 458, Tuoba Mao led an army of 100,000 to attack Rouran. After crossing the long desert, Northern Wei and Rouran engaged in a fierce battle, and finally beat Rouran completely out of temper, and the commander of the other departments, Wu Zhu and others surrendered to Northern Wei.
On the other hand, unlike his grandfather Tuoba Tao's extermination of Buddhism, Tuoba Tao was willing to revive Buddhism. With his approval, the Northern Wei Built one of the four famous Chinese grottoes, the Yungang Grottoes, in Datong, Shanxi.
Because the Tuoba clan was a Xianbei person, in the territory of Northern Wei, the Xianbei people had always been a High Han person. During the Tuoba Period, the contradictions between the Han and Xianbei ethnic groups intensified.
Faced with this situation, Tuoba Mao insisted on fighting the defeated Xianbei officials and strove to establish a politically clean dynasty. He also often visited the people to understand the sufferings of the people.
Under his rule, the Northern Wei Dynasty flourished and its national strength increased day by day.
However, at this time, Tuoba Mao died young. He reigned for only 13 years, and with a grand blueprint in mind, he died at the age of 26.
After Tuoba Mao's death, what direction will the Northern Wei dynasty develop? We'll talk about it in the next episode