As mentioned above in the first paragraph of the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the story of northern Wei and Liu Song, two emperors of similar age and young succession to the throne, Tuoba Tao had four tables, mixed with the great ambition of Ronghua to repel Rouran as soon as he succeeded to the throne, and then destroyed Helian Huxia, Feng's Northern Yan, and Northern Liang of the Depression Canal Department, and Western Qin was also confused by hu xia he who had exhausted his qi number, and then Tuoba Tao was also overwhelmed by the fierce Lianfa henchmen Rouran, and destroyed his elite and beat him to the point of submission. To say more, before the destruction of the Feng clan of Northern Yan, the Yan lord Feng Hong, in the northern Wei wei, took the initiative to marry his sister to Tuoba Tao to show goodwill, and later northern Yan destroyed the Feng royal clan and entered the Northern Wei harem, and six or seven years later, Feng Hong's daughter-in-law gave birth to a daughter in the Northern Wei harem, and this woman would become the actual master of the Northern Wei.
Liu Yilong of the Liu Song Dynasty also rose to the throne a year after Tuoba Jue succeeded to the throne, and the prince who was not the chosen one felt inexplicable pressure and a sense of crisis on the first day of his reign as emperor, although he soon destroyed the powerful ministers, returned the power to himself, and inherited his father's inheritance to continue the past, achieving a period of YuanJia rule of Guotai Min'an, but the insecurity in his bones did not disappear. This insecurity made him a multifaceted personality, on the one hand, he was a very accomplished Mingjun, on the other hand, he trusted his own people, especially the military aspects, this personality led to Yuan Jia's first Northern Expedition when he was nepotistic, and he completely failed, and later, under the deception of his ruling brother Liu Yikang, he killed the Tan Daoji family and his relatives, and personally cast another tragedy that would not end well.
After reading the first two chapters of the story, I think the officials have a more profound story about Xin Renjie's famous "Yong Yu Le", the qi of the upper que and the failure of the lower one are deeply shocking, and Liu Song seems to have too much in common with the Southern Song Dynasty after the end of the year, so when everyone remembers the deeds of Yue Fei, please remember that before him, there was also a famous general who suffered the same encounter as him.
Sighing or regretting, the flames of the Southern and Northern Dynasties continued to burn.
1. Yuanjia Northern Expedition
After Tan Daoji's death, Liu Yikang removed the last famous minister and began to get carried away. At this time, a number of his cronies also jumped out, plotting to usurp the throne and stand on their own when Liu Yilong was seriously ill, and over time, the conspiracy turned into a conspiracy, and the whole government became increasingly chaotic, and Liu Yilong on the sickbed knew this and was extremely dissatisfied, and the two brothers were rising in disgust. Finally, in the seventeenth year of Yuan Jia and 440 AD, Liu Yilong attacked again, and the autumn wind swept away the leaves and killed Liu Yikang's henchmen, forcing him to withdraw from Jiangzhou, and then Liu Yilong handed over the government to his fifth brother Liu Yigong, and the power returned to Liu Yilong again. The sick tiger is still a tiger, and Liu Yilong, who has rich experience in struggle and lacks a sense of security by nature, can still shock the mountains and rivers when he makes a threat.
After recovering from his illness, Liu Yilong once again revived his spirits and tried to carry out the Second Northern Expedition. In 444, Liu Yilong began to frequently dispatch troops, with the left army general Xu Qiong as the Yanzhou Assassin History, from Pengcheng to Dongping, with the general Shen Tian as the Jizhou Assassin History, moved to Jinan, and then took the third son Liu Jun the King of Wuling as the Yongzhou Assassin History, Zhen Xiangyang, and the Southern Yu Prefecture was merged into Yu Prefecture, and the fourth son Liu Shuo, the King of Nanping, was the Assassin history of Yuzhou, and zhen Shouyang. Two years later, the mighty Northern Wei began to invade the border, and Tuoba Na, the king of Sorghum, led a large army to plunder the three prefectures of Yan, Qing, and Ji, and abducted more than a thousand people, Liu Yilong saw the situation and immediately put the Northern Expedition on the agenda and consulted the Qunchen on the strategy of the Northern Expedition. In this regard, Yushi Zhongcheng He Chengtian had his own views, and he stated his opinion on the "Theory of the Real Edge", saying that if he wanted to completely solve the border problem with Northern Wei, he should make the people have a reserve, and the wild had a valley, and then divide the fate and summon, lead the tiger brigade, and make a total of 100,000 soldiers, so that in one fell swoop, it would not be enough to be a little diligent to the king and the master, so as to work for the world. If there are repeated conquests, only to have to go deep into the army, kill the enemy and break the army, and the troubles are not exhausted, then the trapped beasts will think of fighting and the battle of revenge will be completed. In general, He Chengtian did not advocate conquest, but advocated the development of the economy, benevolent government and people's security, Guotai was people's security, and Min'an was strong, and then a large army could go north and flatten Northern Wei in one fell swoop. In the face of He Chengtian's proposal, Liu Yilong, who was eager to make contributions, did not accept it. However, many ministers who tended to be inflamed and attached to the forces, represented by Xuan Mo, the Prince of Pengcheng Taishou, saw through Liu Yilong's determination to the Northern Expedition, repeatedly wrote to support the Northern Expedition, and even fooled Liu Yilong into saying that if the Central Plains were unified, they could seal Mount Taishan, and Qingshi left his name, and Liu Yilong was greatly excited and determined to go north.
In 448, Liu Yilong made Liu Jun the general of Anbei and the assassin of Xuzhou, and the town guarded Pengcheng, and the following year, with the sixth son Liu Shi the Prince of Jinling as the rear general, Yongzhou Thorn History, and the town guarded Xiangyang, and then the entire Liu Song Dynasty was fully empowered to make preparations for the Northern Expedition, in view of Xiangyang as a military town on the border of Song and Wei, Liu Yilong wanted to broaden his resources, and he was the military government of Jiangzhou, Wenwu was given Yongzhou, and Xiangzhou entered Taiwan to pay taxes and miscellaneous goods, and gave Xiangyang. Even local taxes are not needed, and Liu Yilong can be said to have made a big determination.
With that, the Northern Wei came first.
In February 450, Tuoba Tao personally led a hundred thousand troops to rush south, Liu Song's four counties too defensive Qi Qi abandoned the city and fled, a thousand miles, Tuoba Tao took advantage of the situation to besiege Henan Runan, the defender Chen Xian with less than a thousand troops desperately resisted, but let the Wei army besiege the city for more than 40 days and could not break the city, after Liu Song reinforcements marched, Tuoba Tao lamented that Liu Song still had the strength, so he withdrew to the north.
After the Retreat of the Wei Army after the Siege of Runan, Liu Yilong misjudged the situation, believing that the Wei army was timid, so he immediately launched the Second Northern Expedition.
First, let's take a look at Liu Song's platoon. The Eastern Route Army was commanded by the auxiliary general Xiao Bin, totaling 60,000 people, and the Ningshuo general Wang Xuanmo and others led 10,000 water troops as the vanguard, through Huaisi into the Yellow River, attacked the important towns of Huatai and Qilei, and liu jun, the king of Wuling, commanded the army of Qing, Ji, Xu, and Yansizhou. The Zhonglu Army, led by the hussar general Wang Fanghui, the Jianwu general Liu Kangzu, the right army joined the army Liang Tan, and the former crown prince Zuo Wei led Zang Qian, led the forbidden army and 100,000 infantry and cavalry, and directly approached Xuchang and Luoyang, and the troops led by Liu Shuo, the king of Nanping, followed by their subordinates. The Western Route Army, led by Liu Shi, the King of Jinling, led an attack on Hongnong (弘農, in present-day Lingbao, Henan) and marched straight to Chang'an, while the troops led by Liu Xiuzhi of Liangzhou, Southern Qin, and Northern Qin attacked the outskirts of Chang'an. In addition, Liu Yilong also sent his fifth brother Liu Yigong to Pengcheng to unify the dispatch.
From this point of view, Liu Yilong's Yuanjia Second Northern Expedition can be said to be the strength of the whole country, even his own housekeeper forbidden army has been put in, the total strength of the army is close to 300,000, the scale is not comparable to the first Northern Expedition, looking at this posture, Liu Yilong is sworn to fight with northern Wei.
Let's take a look at the process.
In July, the Eastern Route Army took the lead in attacking the Wei army, Xiao Bin's subordinate Shen Yuanji led an army to attack Fan Gao, the Northern Wei defenders abandoned the city and fled, the Song army immediately occupied Puwei, at the same time, the Song general Cui Meng attacked Shandong Guangrao, and the Wei general also abandoned the city and fled. Xiao Bin, the commander of the Eastern Route Army, then entered The Yellow River crossing more than a hundred miles southwest of the slippery road and ordered Wang Xuanmo to attack the slippery platform along the west side of the river, and Wang Xuanmo ordered Zhong to leave Taishou and also make the correct suggestions to Yanzhi during the first Northern Expedition, and entered and occupied the Yellow River crossing more than a hundred miles southwest of the slippery platform, and then the large army attacked the sliding platform, and the Song army had a large number of generals and excellent equipment, and the sliding platform was in danger. On the side of the Zhonglu Army, Liu Shuo ordered his army to attack Changge in Henan in two ways, and Wei Jingzhou assassinated Shi Lushuang to plot to surrender to the Song, and the Song army occupied Changge. On the other hand, the generals Wang Yang'er and Zhi Tanzhi of the Zhonglu Army defeated the Wei army one after another and occupied Xingyang, Henan, and the Wei general Cangchao fled to Tiger Prison, and Liu Shuo ordered Liu Kangzu to lead a large army as a front army and a successor, and the combined army attacked Tiger Prison. On the western route army, Liu Shi sent his generals from Xiangyang to march north separately, and in October, the Song army captured Hongnong, and then the Song army attacked Sanmenxia, and 20,000 Wei troops rushed to the aid of the stars, and the two sides launched a fierce battle. The Song army won a great victory, beheading more than 3,000 wei troops, capturing more than 2,000 prisoners, and conquering Sanmenxia. When the fierce battle of Sanmenxia was in full swing, pang Faqi, the general of the Western Route Army, led an army to capture Tongguan in one fell swoop, and for a time, Guanzhong was attacked everywhere, and the four mountains and Qiang and Hu Xian all asked for help.
Judging from the previous battle results, Liu Song's three major armies in the east, central and western regions have all won, the Eastern Route Army has captured the important town of Qilei and besieged Slippery Platform, and the Middle Route Army has besieged Tiger Prison, especially the Western Route Army has besieged the important town of Lianke, and the capture of Tongguan has caused a shock in Guanzhong, and everything seems to be very favorable.
But the problem is the slide.
Besieging the slide is Wang Xuanmo, a favorite minister who can only talk on paper, just when the Pace of the Central and Western Route Army festival is kai, he has been besieging the slide for more than ten days and has not been able to conquer it. At the beginning of the siege, Liu Song zhu would use rockets to shoot the city with more thatched houses in the city, ignite the grass houses, let the slip platform be exchanged inside and outside, and then take advantage of the situation to attack the city, but Wang Xuanmo did not allow it, and lost the best fighter to attack the slip platform quickly. In October, Wei reinforcements rushed to the slide, and Yuan Huzhi attacked it strongly, so as to make a quick decision, otherwise the overall situation would be affected by the slide. He advised Wang Xuanmo that when Emperor Wu (referring to Liu Yu) besieged Guanggu, there were also many dead and wounded, and the situation was critical at that time, and in order to make a quick decision, Emperor Wu did not hesitate to slaughter the city to save the emergency. Wang Xuanmo did not allow it, and once again felt sorry for Yuan. Later, the generals again proposed to send a car as a battalion to resist the Northern Wei rescue cavalry, but Wang Xuanmo did not allow it. In this way, one excellent fighter after another was missed by Liu Yilong's favorite minister Wang Xuanmo, and the powerful and well-equipped Song army stayed outside the city of Shuitai for three months.
For Tuoba Tao, don't say three months, one month is enough.
During the time when the Song army besieged the slippery platform and could not be stopped, Tuoba Tao began to frequently dispatch troops, and on the seventh day of October, he personally led a large army into the old place of Fangtou, and Fangtou was just west of the sliding platform. After tuoba Tao arrived at Fangtou, he learned that it was Wang Xuanmo who besieged the city, and his heart was already clear, and the first order he issued was not to send rescue troops to rescue the slide, but to urgently order the general Sun Zhen to lead 5,000 elite horses to cross the Yellow River and cut off Wang Xuanmo's retreat. After that, he sent Marquis Lu Zhen of Guannei to infiltrate the city of Shuitai by night with several spies to appease the defenders and observe the movements of the Song army. The next day, Tuoba Tao personally came to the front line, led a large army across the Yellow River, and directly attacked the Song army, which Tuoba Tao did not come to save the slide, but to fight Wang Xuanmo. Hundreds of thousands of Wei troops looked majestic, the sound of drums and trumpets shook the earth, and looked at it from a distance, like a torrent, Wang Xuanmo saw that his heart was terrified, and even abandoned the army and fled directly.
Poor Generals of the Song Army, after seeing that the lord general fled, the army was in disarray, and the Wei army took advantage of the situation to attack, won a great victory, beheaded more than 10,000 people, and captured countless military equipment, and Tuoba Tao immediately entered Dongping, Shandong. Subsequently, the Song warships captured by the Wei army were connected by iron cables, forming a full three blockade lines on the Surface of the Yellow River (think about how many warships the Wei army captured) in an attempt to cut off the retreat of the water army led by Xiyuan Huzhi, who was stationed in The Slippery Terrace. When Wang Xuanmo ran, I left quietly, not taking away a cloud, and did not tell Yuan Huzhi. By the time Akigo learned of the army's defeat, the retreat had been completely cut off. In a state of great danger, the soldiers of the Wall Protection took advantage of the rapid flow of the river and ordered them to be cut with a long axe if they encountered an iron rope. Under the decisive leadership of Yuan huzhi, the Song army fought fiercely and bravely, and the whole army actually broke through the three blockade lines to successfully break through, and then the yuanhuzhi pointed out the losses, and the whole army actually lost only one warship.
What is a gap, that is a gap.
After Wang Xuanmo fled to Tianyu, he heard that the front-line army had been defeated miserably, and the commander Xiao Bin was so angry that he vomited blood and wanted to behead Wang Xuanmo's pig, but was dissuaded by Shen Qingzhi, a lieutenant of the Crown Prince's infantry, after all, Wang Xuanmo was a red man in front of Liu Yilong, and if he killed him hastily, it would be difficult to account to the emperor. Subsequently, in the face of Xiao Bin's decision to stick to the decision, Shen Qingzhi once again dissuaded him: Fu went deep into the Kou Realm, demanded whatever he wanted, and retreated to such a defeat, how could he stay for a long time. Now Qing and Ji are weak, and sit in the isolated city, if the people pass east, the East African countries will also have it. Probably the meaning is that there is no point in staying here, if the Wei army bypasses us and advances eastward, Qingzhou Jizhou will be in danger. At this time, Liu Yilong sent an edict ordering Xiao Bin not to retreat. Shen Qingzhi also said that the edict came from a distance, and the situation was different. After much thought, Xiao Bin finally heeded Shen Qingzhi's advice and re-deployed his defenses, using Wang Xuanmo to guard the broken hammer, and Yuan to guard Qingkou (清口, in present-day Dongpingxi, Shandong, where Qingshui entered the Yellow River), while he himself led a large army to retreat to Jinan. At this point, the defeat of the Eastern Route Army was a foregone conclusion, and soon after, Liu Yigong, who was sitting in Xiangcheng to oversee the Northern Expedition, used the pickaxe to defend the isolated city, which must not be defended, and summoned Wang Xuanmo to retreat, and the pickaxe fell into the hands of the Wei army. The poor and strong Eastern Route Army fought a fierce battle for several months, and the final result was a complete failure to stand still.
After the defeat of the Eastern Route Army, Liu Yilong believed that the Eastern Route Army had been defeated and retreated, the Wei army had penetrated deep into the southern territory, and the Western Route Army could not advance alone, so the Western Route Army returned to the division in its entirety, so Hongnong, Sanmenxia, and Tongguan all fell, and the brilliant achievements of the Western Route Army were lost in the blink of an eye. At this point, the Song army, which had previously attacked the city like a bamboo, had all retreated except for the Middle Route Army, which was besieging Tiger Prison, and the all-out attack ended in failure, and the turning point of victory and defeat was the slippery platform. If you have played chess, there will be two important experiences, one is that the fighter is fleeting, if you are not sure, there will be trouble; the other is to accidentally lose the game.
The game is like a chess game.
Before the war was over, just as the Song army was retreating in an all-round way and turning from attack to defense, Tuoba Tao began to turn from defense to attack, and the five-way army was about to prepare for the invasion of Liu Song's hinterland: the first route was for his nephew Yongchang Wang Tuoba Ren to lead his army from Luoyang to force An Wei Shouyang; the second route was for Chang Sun Zhen to lead the army to force An Wei Huaiyuan; the third route was for the fifth route, the fifth route was for The fifth son, The King Tuoba Jian of Chu, to lead the army to force An Wei Fengyang; the fourth route was for the Gaoliang king Tuoba Na to lead the army from Qingzhou to force Xia Pi; the fifth route Tuoba Tao personally led a large army from Dongping, Shandong to force Shandong Zouping.
The Five Roads Army, like the Five Streams, instantly attacked the territory of Liu Song.
In early November, Tuoba Tao's army attacked Zouping, the song counties of Taishou surrendered, and the Wei army occupied Zouping. At the same time, the Chu king Tuoba Jian entered Xiaocheng (present-day Xiao County, Jiangsu), and his other troops entered The other gate of Pengcheng (present-day Pei County, Jiangsu), and Liu Jun, the king of Wuling, who was guarding Pengcheng, and Liu Yigong, who remained in Pengcheng to command the overall situation, also rushed to Xiaocheng and Liucheng respectively, and Liu Yigong's two armies and horses met unexpectedly with the Wei army, all the way defeated, and won a difficult victory along the way, at this time the Wei army stationed in Xiaocheng was only ten miles away from Pengcheng, Liu Yigong saw that the Wei army was strong and wanted to flee south, and was dissuaded by Zhang Chang, who was then the taishou of Pei County, Zhang Chang said, There is a lack of food in the city now, and the people are salty and affectionate, but they are strict with the jiong, and they want to go to Mo Cong'er. If you move your feet, you will scatter and go where you want to go, and where you want to go, why can you get it? Although the army is now short of food, it is still not exhausted day and night, and it is cheaper to measure its desires, and it is cheaper for the time being. After hearing this, Liu Jun felt that what he said was reasonable, and also urged Liu Yigong to stay, Liu Yigong decided to hold on, and after Tuoba Tao led a large army to come, the two Wei armies stormed Pengcheng, the Song army fortified the city and defended itself, and the Wei army could not conquer it for a while.
When the Wei army approached Pengcheng, the 80,000 cavalry of Tuoba Ren of the First Route Army set out from Luoyang and swept through Runan, Henan, the county seat, and went straight to Shouyang, Liu Yilong feared that Liu Shuo, the fourth son of shoushou in the town, was besieged, so he urgently ordered Liu Kangzu, the general of the Zhonglu Army who was besieging Tiger Prison at this time, to quickly return to his division and return to Shouyang, Liu Kangzu's army was wrapped in dumplings by Tuoba Ren's 80,000 troops more than ten miles away from Shouyang, and at this time Liu Kangzu only had more than 8,000 people. Liu Zhi's men saw that there was a huge disparity between the enemy and us, and suggested avoiding the elite of the Wei army and rushing from the small road to Shouyang, Liu Kangzu said angrily: Kou Jin sent himself, and he did not return to the Laowang Division, although there were many dogs and sheep, it was easy to destroy. My soldiers practiced their weapons, went to Shouyang to cut dozens of miles, and the reinforcements were found, and there was no trouble. After saying this, he ordered the generals to continue along the avenue to Shouyang, and the Wei army attacked the Song army on all sides with many servants, and Liu Kangzu personally led the army to fight for a day and a night, killing more than 10,000 enemy people. Tuoba Ren saw that Kang zu was brave, so he divided the cavalry into three groups, took turns to attack, and burned the Song army car camp with hay transported by horses, Liu Kangzu roared and swung his sword to encourage the soldiers to fight to the death, but in the end, because they were outnumbered, the entire Army of the Song Army was destroyed, Liu Kangzu fought to the exhaustion, his body was wounded by ten wounds, and he fell to his horse and died. Later, Tuoba Ren formally besieged Shouyang and divided his troops to attack Huaiyuan and Zhong Li, and Liu Shuo ordered his generals to burn down the four prefectures of Shouyang City and defend themselves, and the two sides once again faced off.
At the end of November, the Wei army's five-way army all arrived at the Huaishui line and assembled, and Tuoba Tao, in view of the strong momentum of the Song forces in Pengcheng and Shouyang, decided to abandon the two places and let the army collectively cross the Huaishui River to the south, pointing to the hinterland of the Yangtze River.
On the first day of December, the Wei army marched south in unison across Huaihuai, and the flames of war were instantly burned along the Yangtze River: Tuoba Na, the king of Gaoliang, came out of Huai'an, the king of Yongchang Tuoba Ren came out of Hengjiang (present-day Hexian County, Anhui), Lu Xiu came out of Yangzhou, and Tuoba Tao personally led the main army to Guabu (present-day Kuahbu, Liuhe District, Nanjing, Jiangsu). When the Wei army crossed the Huai River, they learned that xuyi city was full of grain and grass, so they attacked xuyi. Xuyi Taishou Shen Pu and the fierce general Zang Qian struggled to resist, the Wei army could not attack for a long time and had to flee around the city, continuing to advance south, in the process of the southern advance, the Wei army burned and plundered along the road, and many city guards in the Yangtze River Basin of the Song Kingdom fled in the wind, and on December 15, Tuoba Tao's army rushed all the way to Guabu, across the river from the Song capital Jiankang, just a stone's throw away. Liu Yilong stood in the Jiankang City Tower, looking at Wei Jun in the distance, suddenly remembered Tan Daoji, and couldn't help but say: If Tan Daoji is here, it will not be here again.
After the Northern Wei army arrived at the north bank of the Yangtze River one after another, they demolished people's houses, cut reeds to build rafts, and claimed to cross the river and destroy Liu Song. Jiankang was shaken throughout the whole process, and the civil and military officials were panicked, and Liu Yilong ordered martial law inside and outside Jiankang, and Zhuang Ding in the Danyang area of Xifa was a soldier, and all the sons and daughters of the prince should serve. The general Liu Zunkao and other troops guarded Jiankangjin, and the water army patrolled along the river day and night, and for a time, the entire Liu Song kingdom was around, up to the lake, down to Caizhou, Chen Ship's camp, zhou qianjiang riverbank, from the quarry to Jiyang, six or seven hundred miles, ships covered the river, and the flag and armor star candles. Liu Yilong then ordered the crown prince Liu Shao to send the water army out of the town of Shicheng, Danyang Yin Xuzhan to guard Shicang City, and the official Shangshu Jiangzhan to lead the military.
Although Tuoba Tao claimed to cross the river, he was actually just bluffing, because he knew in his heart that the Wei army fought all the way from the north bank of the Yellow River to the north bank of the Yangtze River, and even passed through Liu Songqing, Ji, Yan, Xu, Yu, and Yan Liuzhou, and the soldiers would be tired, and moreover, the large army would burn and loot along the way to replenish the army's food, and was strongly dissatisfied by the people of Jianghuai, and the resistance became more and more intense, and later the people of Jianghuai adopted the method of clearing the field to fight against the Wei army, and the Wei army gained less and less, and gradually the military resources were short, and the people and horses were hungry, and it had become the end of the strong crossbow. At the same time, in front of the Wei army, there were the Yangtze River Graben and the powerful Liu Song Water Division, and then there were the main cities of the Liu Song Dynasty that had not been breached, and it was inevitable that there would be worries about the enemy in the back. In view of this, Tuoba Tao clearly knew that the strategic goal of the Northern Wei Qi soldiers rushing into the Yangtze River to frighten Liu Song had been achieved, and if they continued to be strong, they were bound to be self-defeating and set themselves on fire.
In the twenty-eighth year of Yuan Jia, that is, on the second day of the first lunar month in 451 AD, the Wei army plundered 50,000 households in Jiangnan, burned the lushe and withdrew its army to the north. On the way back, in order to solve the problem of military food, the Wei army once again besieged Xuyi, and the defending general Zang Qian again led his soldiers to resist to the death, and the Wei army built a long siege, and used hook cars, punching cars and other equipment to continuously attack the city, and the Song army desperately resisted. The Wei army was flesh thin to climb the city, divided into generations, fell and rose again, there were no retreaters, killing and injuring thousands, corpses and city peace, so it attacked for more than twenty days, but Xuyi City remained unmoving. In February, Tuoba Tao saw that the plague was gradually rising in the army, and he also got that the Defenders of Pengcheng had cut off their way back and sent the water army from the sea into Huaishui to attack, and felt bad, so he retreated from Xuyi and quickly returned to the north. When the road reached Pengcheng, Liu Yigong was afraid that the Wei army was too strong to intercept it, so the Wei army imprisoned more than 10,000 households that had been plundered on the hillside of Pengcheng tens of miles away, and the next day, Liu Yilong ordered Liu Yigong to intercept the Wei army with all his might, and he was extremely reluctant to send his generals to fight, but the Wei army had already learned of this news, killed more than 10,000 unarmed households in advance, and then withdrew into the north without fear.
At this point, Yuan Jia's second Northern Expedition ended, this battle, Liu Song initially seized the lead, the momentum was compelling, the situation was very good, but because the guanxi node Huaxian could not be captured in time, giving Northern Wei enough time to gather the army, and then the assembled Wei army suddenly attacked, Wang Xuanmo timidly fled, and the Wei army easily destroyed the Song army besieging Huaxian County, resulting in a sharp turn in the entire war situation. Then, hundreds of thousands of northern Wei cavalry drove straight down, and the autumn wind swept through the land of Liu Song's six states like leaves, directly approaching the Jingshi Jiankang, and finally took the initiative to withdraw the army and declared the end of the war.
Tuoba Tao, who was a latecomer to make a plan, realized the wish of drinking horses on the Yangtze River to frighten Liu Song, while Liu Yilong, who was full of confidence, ended up only with a Yuanjia grass and a hasty northern Gu ending.
Wang Fuzhi of the Qing Dynasty once summed up incisively the Northern Expedition of Yuanjia: Yuanjia's Northern Expedition, Emperor Wen's treachery, the cultivation of internal rule, and the use of it for six years by the people, can not be said to be without its tools; Tuoba Clan Vahelian, cutting down the worm (Rouran), hitting high cars, soldiers tired in the northwest, prepared to relax in the southeast, can not be said to be timeless; but the land is not defended, disintegrating and shrinking, the soldiers are annihilated and abandoned, and the land of Huai right is lost, why not? Will not be its people also. The Tao is not enough to dispel the cuteness of rebellion, and the wisdom is not enough to control the heroes, so it is necessary to destroy the Heroes and Climb into the Soft; then the world will abstain from being bold and clever, and the anger of the people will sit on it; therefore, there is no available talent in the world, to protect the country and not enough, and to fight with the cunning to live and die in the Middle Plains!
Reading this, I miss the unjustly deceased Tan Daoji again.
Second, the same destination
The vigorous war was over, Tuoba Tao and Liu Yilong came to the peak and trough of their lives respectively, and the two people who basically inherited the emperor at the same time must have a very different state of mind, but before they could continue to plan for their fate and the dynasty in their hands, the two had a similar ending in a hurry and unexpectedly.
At this time, Tuoba Tao was already more than forty years old, and in the more than twenty years of his succession, he had conquered the north, swept the clouds to see the sun, unified the north, and then defeated Liu Song twice, drove straight in, drank horses on the Yangtze River, it can be said that he was outstanding in martial arts, and he was in the middle age, but at this time he also exposed the shortcomings of grumpy and wanton killing, and Cui Hao, who had been unmatched in wisdom in the three dynasties, was angered by Long Yan and was tragically exterminated because of the matter of repairing the history of the country. The ambitious young man Tuoba Tao, who aspired to set the four tables and mix one Ronghua, has gone away, and is replaced by a tyrant who is tyrannical and impermanent and self-conscious. Just the second year after the end of the Wei and Song Wars, he unexpectedly ushered in the end of his life.
It all started with a eunuch.
Speaking of eunuchs, which are quite a deformed product of the dynasty with Chinese characteristics, many people will think of them, such as Zhao Gao at the end of qin, the eunuch dictatorship at the end of the Han Dynasty and the end of the Tang Dynasty, such as the endless eunuchs of the Ming Dynasty such as Wang Zhen, Liu Jin, Wei Zhongxian, such as the little plum in the late Qing Dynasty, many people may ignore that in fact, during the period of Tuoba Tao's reign during the Southern and Northern Dynasties, northern Wei also produced a great eunuch, who was no inferior to Liu Wei and the like, and even created two major records in the history of eunuchs in The Chinese Dynasty.
His name was Zong Ai.
Zong Ai became a eunuch due to sin when he was young, Tuoba Tao saw that he was quick to react and thoughtful, so he stayed by his side to serve, and soon after Zong Ai took care of Tuoba Tao with his excellent ability, so he was promoted to the position of Zhongchang attendant in charge of the emperor's daily life. Later, Tuoba Tao drank the Yangtze River when the great feudal army was a hero, and even named Zong Ai the Duke of Qin County, and later Tuoba Tao went north to march, and appointed the crown prince Tuoba Huang as the overseer of the country, but Zong Ai, who held the power of the inner court, often interfered with the prince's administrative policy, and later had a disagreement with Tuoba Huang's close subjects, at this time Zong Ai was afraid that Tuoba Huang would be unfavorable to him after succeeding to the throne, so he framed the prince and his subordinates for intending a certain law. After Tuoba Tao returned to Beijing, he listened to Emperor Zhong's rumors, and involuntarily rectified the Prince's Mansion, killing many of the prince's close subjects, and Tuoba Huang died of illness. Later, Tuoba Tao knew that Tuoba Huang did not have any different intentions, and often regretted his original actions, and Zong Ai was afraid of being cursed at this time, so he began to plot a rebellion.
The bridge section that has been repeated countless times in history is being staged in the Northern Wei Dynasty, and it is really easy for a eunuch who holds the power of the inner court to kill the emperor.
On the fifth day of the first month of February in 452, Zong Ai suddenly rebelled and killed Tuoba Tao, the process of which is unknown. Tuoba Tao, who had been proud of his life in the north and south, died at the hands of a eunuch in this way, which was really lamentable, and Tuoba Si died at the age of 45, and was later known as Emperor Taiwu of Wei. The "History of the North" evaluates Tuoba Taoyue: Taiwu is clever and majestic, and Welling Jieli. With the resources of the second world, the spirit of conquest, Sui Rong Xuan went out in all directions, circling around and danger. Pingqin, Long, Sweeping Tongwan, Liaohai, Danghe source. Nanyi Lotus, Northern Worm Extinction, Kuding Four Tables, Mixed One Hua Rong. It is also a great martial art. So there was the cause of Wei, and the hundred kings of Guangmai. Is it not the divine wisdom of the economy, but the fate of the world? As for the beginning, the East Reserve is not the end, and the end is the end of the provocation, the solidification of the defense, and the loss of thought.
After Tuoba Tao's death, several ministers of the Northern Wei Dynasty secretly announced that they were preparing to establish a new monarch, but these ministers disagreed on the selection of a new prince, and some people thought that Tuoba Tao, the son of the late crown prince Tuoba Huang, was still young, so they planned to establish Tuoba Tao's third son Tuoba Han as emperor, but other ministers believed that although Tuoba Tao was young, he was indeed the grandson of the emperor and should inherit the unification, and the two factions of ministers argued endlessly about this, and there was no result. After Zong Ai learned of this news, he calculated that he had indirectly murdered Tuoba Huang, if his son succeeded to the throne, he would definitely die, and he Pingsu was very disgusted with Tuoba Han, neither of which was an ideal candidate for the throne, so he instead chose Tuoba Yu, the youngest son of Tuoba Tao, who was close to him. After the decision, Zong Ai secretly welcomed Tuoba Yu from the small gate of the palace into the harem, and then falsely passed on the edict of Empress Helian (daughter of Helian Bobo, Empress Tuoba Tao) to support Tuoba Yu to succeed to the throne, and then Zong Ai hunted down several important courtiers in the court, killed Tuoba Han, and officially supported Tuoba Yu to ascend the throne. After Tuoba Yu succeeded to the throne, he made Zong Ai the Grand Sima (大司馬), the Great General (大將軍), and the Taishi (太師), and the Prince of Feng Yi (冯翊王).
The story is not over, after Zong Ai supported Tuoba Yu to succeed to the throne, he held great power inside and outside, leaned forward to the world, and was arrogant, at this time Tuoba Yu was worried that Zong Ai would usurp power like Zhao Gao at the end of Qin, so he plotted to cut his power, and after Zong Ai learned about it, he moved to kill.
On the first day of October 452, Zong Ai took advantage of Tuoba Yu's sacrifice to the Zong Temple and sent his henchmen to kill Tuoba Yu at night. As a result, Zong Ai created two major records in the history of eunuchs in the Chinese dynasty, the only eunuch who was crowned king, and the only eunuch who killed two emperors in a row.
After Tuoba Yu's death, Yulin Langzhong Liu Ni, Crown Prince Fu Youya, and Shangshu Changsun Thirsty Marquis of the Palace immediately led the forbidden army to guard the palace, and then Shangshu Luli and Liu Niqi welcomed Tuoba Liang into the palace and became emperor, and Tuoba Liang immediately sent a forbidden army to kill Zong Ai, using five punishments to destroy his three clans. Soon after, the thirteen-year-old Tuoba Mao chose feng shi, the daughter of the Feng clan of northern Yan in the harem, as a nobleman, and this year, Feng was only twelve years old.
After hearing of the civil unrest in the Northern Wei court and the death of Tuoba Tao, Liu Yilong was so excited that he felt that his opportunity to be ashamed of himself had come, so in July of the same year, with the support of Lu Shuang, who rebelled against Wei and surrendered to the Song during the Second Northern Expedition and was reused, hastily ordered the Third Northern Expedition. Subsequently, he appointed Xiao Siyan to oversee Zhang Yong of Jizhou to attack The Eastern Route Army, lu shuang and Lu Xiu brothers to lead 40,000 troops to luoyang and Tiger Prison for the western route army, and Zang Zheng and Liu Yuanjing to attack Tongguan for the middle route army. At the beginning of the war, the Western Route Army led by Lu Shuang soon captured Changshe (長社, in present-day Changge, Henan), and defeated the Wei general Tuoba Shulan at Dasuo City, and then besieged Hu prison; but the Eastern Route Army, which had a fine tradition, once again dropped its chain, And Zhang Yongjun was unable to attack The Siege Army was delayed, and later the Wei army dug tunnels out of the city, set fire to the Song army camp and siege equipment, and seriously damaged the passage for the Song army to attack. Zhang Yong suddenly remembered Wang Xuanmo, who besieged Huaxian County, so he copied Wang Xuanmo's actions and suddenly fled without telling everyone. The commander-in-chief Xiao Si saw that Zhang Yong could not attack Zhang Yong for a long time and fled, and Qing and Xu Erzhou failed to harvest, so in August he led his army back to Jinan. Lu Shuang waited to see that the Eastern Route Army took the lead in retreating, so he withdrew at the same time as Zang Zhi and Liu Yuanjing, and Yuanjia's third Northern Expedition was so hasty.
If yuanjia's third conquest is really something worth mentioning, there is no doubt that there is a 26-year-old partial general in the Middle Road Army led by Zang Qian and Liu Yuanjing, whose name is Xiao Daocheng.
After the third Northern Expedition, Liu Yilong's ambition to win the Central Plains was already out of reach, and he, like his old rival Tuoba Tao, quickly ushered in the end of his life.
The cause of Liu Yilong's death was his two rather unconscious sons.
Liu Yilong's eldest son was named Liu Shao, who was made crown prince at the age of six, and Liu Yilong attached great importance to this son, pampered him in every way, and responded to his son's needs, and later took the initiative to increase the number of guards in the Eastern Palace, so that the Number of Guards in the Eastern Palace exceeded 10,000, exceeding the number of the Emperor's forbidden army. Liu Shao's birth mother, Empress Yuan, died of jealousy of Liu Yilong's favored concubine Pan Shufei," causing Liu Shao to hate Pan Shufei's mother and son to the bone, and Pan Shufei's son was Liu Yilong's second son Liu Mao. When he grew up, Liu Mao was a powerful prince and worried about the disaster in the future, so he befriended the Eastern Palace, and finally became a sworn enemy with his eldest brother Liu Shao. After Liu Mao committed incest with his half-sister Princess Haiyan (this one sounds very salty), Liu Yilong learned of it and killed Princess Haiyan's mother, Jiang Meiren, and hated Liu Mao from then on. Liu Mao was terrified in his heart, afraid of the disaster, so he tried to find a way to protect himself.
At that time, there was a witch Yan Daoyu in Wuxing, who claimed to be able to channel spirits and ghosts, but was implicated in her husband's crime and was not included in the official government. Liu Shao and Liu Mao met Yan Daoyu through their sister Princess Dongyang's concubine Queen Parrot, and under a sudden attack, the two brothers were convinced of her Daofa. Because the brothers usually have many faults, there are ghosts in their hearts who are worried about being found and punished by their father, and then Liu Mao has greatly promoted the situation, so the two secretly buried a jade statue in the form of Liu Yilong in front of the Hanzhang Hall under the instigation of the witch Yan Daoyu, and cursed Liu Yilong with witchcraft. In the twenty-ninth year of Yuan Jia, the matter was revealed, and Liu Yilong, who loved his son, did not punish the brothers, and as a result, the brothers actually hid Yan Daoyu privately, and when the matter leaked, Liu Yilong was furious and extremely distressed, and prepared to depose the prince and kill Liu Mao. As a result, when Liu Yilong was discussing the selection of a new crown prince with the chancellor, everyone had a candidate, and it was difficult to make up his mind for a while, just at this time, Liu Yilong actually informed Liu Mao's birth mother Pan Shufei of this matter, and Pan immediately informed the Liu brothers of the matter, and Liu Shao liu mao decided to launch a coup.
On the evening of February 20, 453, the 30th year of Yuan Jia, Liu Shao ordered his confidant Zhang Chaozhi to gather more than 2,000 of his cronies and soldiers to prepare for the uprising in the early morning of the next day, and summoned Xiao Bin, Yuan Shu, and Yin Zhongsu, who had participated in the Second Northern Expedition, to the Eastern Palace overnight to assist. In the early morning of the next day, Liu Shao and Xiao Bin led tens of thousands of Eastern Palace troops into the imperial palace on the pretext of crusading against anti-thieves, and successfully entered the forbidden palace where Liu Yilong was located. Since the night before, Liu Yilong and his close minister Xu Zhanzhi had been discussing the selection of a new crown prince all night, and the candles in the harem were still lit when Liu Shao's army invaded. Zhang Chaozhi and others raised their knives into the temple, kicked open the temple door, and personally went forward to slash and kill Liu Yilong, Liu Yilong woke up and raised his hand to sit on a stool to defend himself, and was cruelly cut off five fingers, and then Liu Yilong was killed by Zhang Chaozhi at the age of 47, known as Emperor Wen of Song. Sima Guang commented: Emperor Wen was diligent in his rule, and his sons were good lords of Chengping; without measuring his strength, he provoked strong Hu, and made his masters and apprentices annihilate in Henan, and Rong Ma drank in Jiangjin. And its end, the fox is indecisive, and the pawn is a scourge, is it not more than enough to write and not enough to be martial?
Poor Liu Yilong, a lifelong cautious, insecurity shadow filled his heart for a full thirty years, he only trusted his confidants, trusted the clan, trusted his heirs, but in the end he was killed by two beloved sons and one confidant, which has to be said to be a great irony.
After Liu Yilong's death, Liu Shao quickly succeeded to the throne, at this time, Liu Yilong's third son Liu Junzheng led an army to conquer the rebellious Xiyang barbarians at Wuzhou (present-day Hubei). At this time, Liu Jun's subordinate Dong Yuansi returned to the military camp after returning to Beijing to report for duty, and informed Liu Jun of the news of Liu Shao's father, Liu Jun cried incessantly, and after regaining his senses, Liu Jun, while ordering Dong Yuansi to enter the court, expressed his support for the new emperor Liu Shao, in order to paralyze his brother, and on the other hand ordered the general Shen Qingzhi to recall all the soldiers and horses that were suppressing the barbarians on the front line, and prepared to raise an army to rebel. At this time, Liu Shao secretly ordered his former subordinate Shen Qingzhi to assassinate Liu Jun, but Shen told him the truth, and Liu Jun appointed Shen Qingzhi as a general and officially raised troops.
Soon, Liu Jun officially raised an army from Jiangling and successively conquered Nanzhou, Lizhou and other places, the army directly approached Jiankang, and the general Zang Zhi and others raised the banner of righteousness. Because Liu Jun had been guarding the town for many years, most of his generals had been experienced in the battlefield for a long time, and their combat effectiveness was incomparably strong, so they were invincible. In May, Liu Jun captured Jiankang and beheaded Liu Shao, Liu Mao, Xiao Bin and other culprits, Liu Yigong was on the verge of defecting, and all twelve sons were killed by Liu Shao, so he escaped the disaster, and then Liu Jun officially took the throne.
At this point, the Flames of the Southern and Northern Dynasties came to an end, and the Northern Wei and Liu Song dynasties all changed their new masters, and how will the next story develop.