The deepest impression of the Western Wei Northern Zhou in later generations, except for Emperor Wu and the Buddha, was the Eight Pillar Kingdom and the twelve generals. Since Yuwen Tai was given the title of Pillar State in the first year of the Great Ruler, the Pillar State and the Great General began to become the representative names of the Western Wei military.
In fact, the Eight Pillars State and the Twelve Great Generals were senior leadership positions in the Western Wei Army. As with the process of forming the prefectural military system, the Eight Pillars Kingdom and the Twelve Great Generals did not appear all at once. Since Yuwen Tai was the commander of the whole army in the Eight Pillars Kingdom and Yuan Xin was the representative of the sect, there were only 6 people who actually led the troops, hereinafter referred to as the Six Pillars State.
When the military system began to germinate in the eighth year of the reign (542), the so-called Pillar State was only Yuwen Tai, and the Pillar State was the commander of the entire army at this time. Of the remaining five, Yu Jin had the highest status and was given the post of general for his rebellion against Hu Liu Ping. The other 5 later generals of the Pillar State, Zhao Gui, Duguxin, Li Hu, Li Yi, Hou Mo, and Chen Chong were only Kaifu. Around fifteen years ago, six people were promoted to generals of the Pillar State.
In his early years in the Northern Wei army, Yu Jin participated in the counterinsurgency against the Six Towns Uprising, and was the mastermind of Yuanshen, the king of Guangyang of Northern Wei. Later, with the Erzhu clan fighting Gao Huan, the Erzhu clan was destroyed, Yu Jin fled into Guanzhong to attach himself to He Bayue, and since then he has been associated with Yuwen Tai. Yu Jin was the most resourceful general in the Western Wei army, and he was wanted by Empress Dowager Ling of Northern Wei at an early age for his strategy, and Wei Mo greeted Emperor Xiaowu to Yuwen Taijian in order to occupy political positions. He has successively held administrative positions such as Prime Minister Changshi (侾不長史), Xingtai Shangshu, and Shangshu Zuo Servant Shot, and has always been an important assistant to Yuwen Tai's decision-making. Later, he made accurate predictions about Hou Jing's rebellion and Southern Liang's Xiao Yi war defense, and Yuwen Hu took the lead in expressing support as a pillar state when he was in power, which shows that he has excellent insight and far-reaching strategy. In the fifteenth year of the reign (549), he was promoted to the rank of general of the Pillar State. Due to his strategic bias and low background, although he was the first to be promoted to the rank of general, he was promoted to the post of general.
Li Bi was born in the Erzhu clan, and was subordinate to Hou Mo Chen Yue during the Guanzhong Rebellion. During Yuwen Tai's crusade against Hou Mo Chen Yue, the key battle of Qinzhou, he counterattacked and made great contributions to Yuwen Tai. Li Yixiao is brave and good at fighting, riding and shooting well, and is the one who has the most pro-Yaishi and front-line charges among the six pillar countries. He served as a vanguard in several battles against Eastern Wei, especially in Henan, where he fought Hou Jing on several occasions. The Battle of Shayuan, which led 60 cavalry to cross the Eastern Wei Dynasty's 200,000-strong array is a classic, and the Battle of Heqiao set a record for killing the enemy's vanguard general. In the fourteenth year of the reign, he was directly promoted from a hussar general to a pillar general.
Duguxin's signature was Jin Medal's father-in-law, and his three daughters were married to Yuwen Tai's son Emperor Ming of Northern Zhou, Li Hu's son Li Xiang (father of Tang Gaozu Li Yuan), and the son of the general Yang Zhong Yang Jian of Sui. But Duguxin did not start his family with his daughters, on the contrary, he was able to marry his three daughters to three wealthy families precisely because of his own status. Duguxin's grandfather was a town general in Wuchuan, and together with He Basheng and Yuwen Tai, he murdered Wei Kegu, the rebel general of the Six Towns who supported the army. Later, Duguxin was appointed to garrison Jingzhou, so he became acquainted with He Basheng. When Yuwen Tai received the remnants of He Bayue, Duguxin, as He Basheng's representative, also came to receive it, but unfortunately he was one step late. Although they are both from Wuchuan, Duguxin and Yuwen Tai have a faint disagreement, probably starting from the struggle for control of the Heba Legion. During the five years of the reign, Duguxin succeeded after the death of Nianxian, the highest military and political governor of Longyou, and served in Longyou for 11 years, during which he was the only one of the six pillar states except for leading the Longyou soldiers and horses to fight Heqiao, Huangshan, and the sixteenth year of the reign (550) to destroy Northern Qi. Duguxin's military ability was unquestionable, and under his rule, the dissident forces in the Hexi Corridor were gradually leveled, and Longyou basically maintained a stable development situation. Duguxin was promoted to the rank of Pillar State in the fourteenth year of the reign.
Zhao Gui was born in Wuchuan Town, and settled in Wuchuan from his grandfather's generation, and had a good relationship with the Yuwen Tai family. During the Six Towns Rebellion, Zhao Gui was held hostage by the rebels, and later traveled through the Erzhu clan to Hebayue's tent. After Hou Mo Chen Yue assassinated He Bayue, when the generals were confused, Zhao Gui was the first to propose Ying Yuwen Tai as the military master, which established his absolutely stable position in the Yuwen Tai Group. Although Zhao Gui was in the army for many years, it seemed that the field front was not his strength, and he had a record of defeat as the commander of the first army in the two large-scale battles of Heqiao and Huangshan. Later, he was rescued in the Battle of Yingchuan, but he failed to play his due role. Even in terms of personal martial bravery, he was not as good as Hou Mo, Chen Chong, Li Yi, Duguxin and others who dared to ride alone and kill. It can be seen that Zhao Gui's pillar state is more due to political status. Zhao Gui's title of pillar state should be fifteen years after the unification.
Li Hu was also from Wuchuan, and his ancestors were the Li clan of Western Liang, and after the Northern Wei unified the north, the ancestors of the Li family slowly migrated to Wuchuan. After the Liuzhen Uprising, Li Hu became He Bayue's general, Zhao Gui and other generals welcomed Yuwen Tai as the main one, Li Hu did not agree, so he fled south to find He Basheng to command the rest of He Bayue, and when he returned to Guanzhong , he was captured by Gao Huan's army and sent to Emperor Xiaowu, who asked Li Hu to return to Guanzhong to contact Yuwen Tai. It can be seen that Yuwen Tai and Li Hu also have a certain distance. Later, Li Hu's contributions in Western Wei were not very prominent, and his strategy was not as good as Yu Jin, Wu was inferior to Li Yi, and he was not as good as Duguxin for government, and he was able to be promoted to the pillar state, probably because he was qualified on the one hand, and on the other hand, he commanded some of his troops, and was a major shareholder when the Wuchuan Army started. The Book of Zhou and the Northern History all listed him at the top of the pillar kingdoms, only because of the ancestors of the Li and Tang royal families.
Hou Mo Chen Chong was also a native of Wuchuan, originally a general of He Bayue's army, and conspired with Zhao Gui to welcome Yuwen Tai as the military leader. Hou Mo Chen Chong was a brave general, and when he accompanied He Bayue to quell the rebellion in Guanzhong , he rode out on his horse and captured the thief and the first ten thousand ugly slaves in battle. He made great achievements in pacifying Longyou County, the Battle of Xiaoguan, the Battle of Shayuan, and the Battle of Heqiao. This brave general lacked strategy, and the city government was not deep, and he was later forced to die by Yuwen Shu for this reason. After being promoted to the Pillar Country for fifteen years, he has always ranked last in the Pillar Country.
These six pillar states were of the same qualifications and ages as Yuwen Tai, plus each had a branch in long-term conquests, and each had a line of forces in the Western Wei and Northern Zhou regimes. When Western Wei was founded, the Six Pillar Kingdoms and Yuwen Tai worked together to defend against foreign enemies and played an active role, and their generals and descendants later spread throughout the court and the public, either leading troops to fight, or holding great power, or marrying the Yuwen clan as a Qin and Jin dynasty, and the prestige of the Eight Pillar Kingdom extended to the early Tang Dynasty.
On the side of the twelve generals. There were 3 people in the Yuan Wei dynasty, Yuan Zan, Yuan Yu, and Yuan Kuo, and Yuan Kuo later ascended the throne as Emperor Gong of Western Wei. These three men did not actually lead the troops. The other 9 people are Hou Mo Chen Shun, Yu Wendao, Da Xiwu, Yang Zhong, Wang Xiong, Li Yuan, He Lanxiang, Yu Wengui, and Dou Luning.
Daxi Wu was good at riding and shooting, brave, experienced in unified army operations, participated in the great wars of Western Wei, and the father and son often served as the defenders of military towns such as Huazhou, Yubi, and Yuanzhou, which shows the trust of the imperial court. In the seventeenth year of the reign, he led an army to the south of Hanzhong and captured it, making great achievements, becoming one of the few generals in the sequence of twelve generals to expand the territory of the country.
Yang Zhong was known for his bravery, but because he initially served under Duguxin and spent three years as a prisoner in the Liang Dynasty, he had a low starting point in the Western Wei army. His people are brave and famous for their ability to coerce tigers. Because of his ability to fight well, Yang Zhong came to the top and made great achievements in capturing the second county of Suilu. By the time of Emperor Wu, he had gone hand in hand with Daxiwu, laying a good foundation for his son Yang Jian's future career.
Wang Xiong was also a brave general, leading the army alone to take the Ankang and Shangyong counties of the Liang Dynasty. But unfortunately, this general was no longer a hero in his twilight years, and was killed by an arrow by the famous Northern Qi general Hu Luguang during Yuwen Hu's large-scale siege of Luoyang, becoming the only one of the twelve generals to die at the hands of the enemy.
Li Yuan is the second eldest of the three Li brothers of Yuanzhou and is the representative of Longyou Haoqiang. The Wonju Li clan had a close relationship with the Yuwen clan, and Yuwen Tai's fourth son Yuwen Yong and fifth son Yuwen Xian were fostered in Li Xian's house because Rong Ma was unable to take care of him. The three Li brothers were in charge of the Yuanzhou Assassination History for a long time, until Li Yuan's son Li Zhi participated in the plot of Emperor Ming of Northern Zhou to kill Yuwen Hu, and Li Yuan was given death, and the treatment of the Li family was slightly reduced.
Yuwen Dao is the eldest son of Yuwen Tai's eldest brother and is the older member of the Yuwen royal family (born in 511, 6 years younger than Yuwen Tai). Because the Yuwen clan was not prosperous, Yuwen Dao was deeply trusted by Yuwen Tai and held the important post of commander of the Janissaries for many years, and Yuwen Taifan led the army to fight, and he took on the task of staying behind. After Duguxin was transferred from Longyou, he succeeded him as the Assassin of Qinzhou, guarding Longyou, and was the only representative of the Yuwen clan at the level of the twelve great generals.
He Lanxiang is Yuwen Tai's nephew and has slightly junior qualifications. Dou Luning, Hou Mo Chen Shun did not make meritorious achievements. Yuwen Gui and Yuwen Tai were not of the same lineage, and were awarded the title of general for their bravery in battle, and his son Yuwen Kai was known for his good construction in the Sui Dynasty.
Compared with the group of generals of Eastern Wei and Northern Qi, the group of Western Wei generals represented by the Six Pillars State and the Twelve Great Generals had many excellent characteristics, the most prominent of which was the generally high level of strategy. Eastern Wei was able to be a handsome talent on his own, mainly Hou Jing and Hu Lujin in the early stage, and Duan Shao, Hu Luguang, and Gao Changgong in the later period, especially the latter three made Northern Zhou suffer a lot. But these five people did not take much advantage in the general pattern of east-west confrontation, but let Western Wei and Northern Zhou slowly encroach on a lot of territory in the decades of attacking and killing me. Although the incompetence of the two successive generations of monarchs of Emperor Wucheng and Later Lord of Northern Qi accounted for a certain proportion, the fighting and killing of the frontier was the business of the generals, and most of the responsibility for the loss of the territory was attributed to the generals. Before Western Wei, there were Yu Jin, Duguxin, Li Yi, Da Xiwu, Yang Zhong, Wang Sizheng and others, and later Wei Xiaokuan, Yuwen Xian, Wei Chixian, Wang Zhuo, Yuwen Shenju and others, although these generals were not as famous as Hou Jing and Hu Luguang, and they may not be as good as when they fought alone, but they could generally focus on the general situation of the confrontation between the Three Kingdoms, make reasonable judgments and assist Yuwen Tai to complete a specific campaign operation. Like Duguxin's rule over Longyou, Yu Jinping's strategy of Jiangling, Wang Sizheng's fortress tactics and proposal to take Henan, and Wei Xiaokuan's Pingqi strategy, some may not have made the trip because of the situation, but most of them reflect the generals' clear judgment of the situation. At the same time, many of the Northern Zhou generals of Western Wei had a record of leading troops alone to occupy large areas of enemy territory. For Eastern Wei and Northern Qi, it was also civil strife in the south, and it was also the same sending of troops to conquer, only to obtain the limited land in Huainan, and it was also recaptured by the stabilized Southern Dynasty. A single king of Northern Zhou can capture Wu Mingche, the strongest general of Southern Chen, alive, and basically eliminate the main force of Southern Chen. Solidly and pragmatically open up the territory, this is the biggest role of the generals!
It should be noted that the military rank system of Zhu Guo and Great Generals began to slowly transform into commanders around the Western Wei Dynasty. After Li Hu's death in the seventeenth year of the reign, his position of pillar state was ready to be awarded to the meritorious general Da Xiwu, but Da Xiwu saw that Yuwen Tai wanted to gradually withdraw military power, and gave the position of pillar state to Yuan Zixiao, who was the Yuan Wei clan chamber, and it is impossible to verify who this pillar state general gave to, but it can be seen that Li Hu's military strength should be taken over Yuwen Tai. After Emperor Min of Zhou ascended the throne, Daxiwu, Yuwen Gui, He Lanxiang, Li Yuan, Dou Luning, and Yuwen Yu (Yuwen Tai's eldest son) and Yuwen Chi (Yuwen Tai's nephew), who were not generals, were all granted the position of Zhuguo, Yuwen Yu and Wei Chiyi were obviously not leading generals, and from about this time on, Zhuguo and Generals officially became official titles rather than actual posts. This is also one of the reasons why the Eight Pillars State and the Twelve Great Generals in later generations specifically refer to Yuwen Tai, Da Xiwu and others.