#History in ancient books#In the late Southern and Northern Dynasties, the north was divided into Eastern Wei and Western Wei, plus the Xiaoliang Empire in the south, and the world formed another typical three-legged era after Wei Shu Wu. In terms of comprehensive national strength, Eastern Wei was the strongest, Southern Liang was second, and Western Wei was the weakest.
Eastern Wei, Western Wei and Southern Liang
Because the Liang Dynasty was separated from the Western Wei Dynasty in the north by the natural barrier of the Qinling Mountains, there were not many official contacts, coupled with Gao Huan's pressure, Western Wei had no intention of extending its hand to Southern Liang for the time being, except for self-preservation.
The Liang Dynasty had maintained peaceful and friendly exchanges with Eastern Wei for more than ten years. In order to contend with his mortal enemy, Yuwen Tai of Western Wei, Gao Huan, the de facto head of Eastern Wei, adopted a policy of peace and friendship towards the forces in the south, and the envoys of the two sides exchanged considerable relations.
"In the past 50 years, nothing has happened to Jiang Biao" is a reflection of this situation. However, in 547-556, a ten-year-long Houjing Rebellion was nothing less than a great upheaval that completely disrupted the three-legged pattern, and the Southern Dynasty became increasingly unable to compete with the forces in the north.
Previously, the two northern regimes and the southern regimes faced off roughly along the traditional north-south geographical dividing line, the Qinling-Huaihe River line. After the Houjing Rebellion, Southern Liang was replaced by the Chen Dynasty, which lost a large area of land north of the Yangtze River and the lands of Hanzhong and Liangchuan, and its territory was reduced to the smallest since the Six Dynasties, and both northern regimes extended their territory to the Yangtze River.
The Yuwen regime, which was originally the weakest of the three parties, took the opportunity to greatly expand its territory, and its strength swelled to the point that it could be compared with the Qin state before Yingzheng ascended the throne, and the trend of unifying the world from north to south was irreversible.
It can be said that Hou Jing, a traitor of Eastern Wei and a disaster star of Southern Liang, the "great general of the universe", single-handedly changed China's political pattern at that time and the future historical trend.
Houjing's Rebellion
Hou Jing was a member of the Qiang tribe in the Five Hus, who, like Gao Huan, was from Huaishuo Town, and defected to Erzhurong in his early years to work with Murong Shaozong. Murong Shaozong's ancestor was a famous ancestor, and Murong Ke, the former Yan emperor who was known as the "first general of the Sixteen Kingdoms".
Hou Jing's comprehension of the art of war is naturally first-class. Murong Shaozong's family has a deep background, plus he has read a few more years, so his tactical literacy is very high. At first, Hou Jing humbly learned the art of war from him, but soon after, Murong Shaozong came to consult Hou Jing whenever he had questions about the formation of troops.
Er Zhurong was very important to Hou Jing, and Hou Jing, as the forerunner of Er Zhurong, participated in the suppression of the "Hebei Uprising", the most powerful after the "Six Towns Uprising" in the late Wei Dynasty, and began to show its strength in this turbulent world.
After Erzhurong's death, because there was no leader who could single-handedly take the lead, the illustrious Erzhu clan soon declined. Originally Gao Huan's rebel lord under Er Zhurong, he entered the capital Luoyang in 534 AD, and since then he has taken great power and become the de facto master of Northern Wei.
Hou Jing was one of Gao Huan's close friends, and after Hou Jing led the crowd to join Gao Huan, he was entrusted with a heavy task and became Gao Huan's right-hand man to eradicate opposition forces in various places. It was also at this time that Northern Wei split into Eastern Wei and Western Wei.
Therefore, Hou Jing began to appear on the stage of history during the great turmoil of the late Wei dynasty, and before betraying Eastern Wei, he participated in no less than 100 wars in northern China, and was also a long-term general. Except for Chen Qingyi's loss of armor and abandonment, the rest of the battles were rarely defeated. Hou Jing in the history books: "The bow horse is not his strength, but more strategic." "He fights with his brain.
Hou Jing
However, his long-term military career did not make Hou Jing a hero who looked at the world, but his level of military use was polished to perfection, as sinister and cunning as a hungry wolf.
For example, in the Battle of Heqiao outside Luoyang, the Eastern Wei general Gao Ao Cao despised Yuwen Tai, and as a result, he lost his head. But before Gao Huan could lead his army from the north bank of the Yellow River to reverse the defeat, the battle was over. Yuwen Tai was defeated and retreated, and Western Wei lost 60,000 soldiers.
According to records, the two armies set up a long formation that day, far apart from each other. Just when the two armies were in a very critical state of stalemate, Hou Jing suddenly ordered people to shout in the east: "The 'Black Otter' (Yuwen Tai's nickname) has been captured alive!" When the Western Wei soldiers were confused about the situation, there was another sound from the west: "The 'black otter' has been captured!" , accompanied by bursts of cheers.
As a result, Yuwen Tai, who was overseeing the battle in China, could not clear up the rumors before his army could disperse. The soldiers were defeated, and it was useless for Ren Yuwen Tai to shout and break his throat. Although this record is a wild history, it is indeed very similar to Hou Jing's combat style: soldiers are not tired of deceit!
In the later period of Gao Huan's reign of Eastern Wei, the fierce generals who started with him had basically been lost, and only Hou Jing could rely on it. However, from his method of using troops, it can be seen that he is a person, and a dangerous guy like Hou Jing will naturally become a role that the hero needs to guard against; If you want to use him, you can't help but guard against him.
Gao Huan
At this time, Gao Huan's talent was enough to control Hou Jing, and he used Yang Mou. Hou Jing once said to Gao Huan, "I wish to get 30,000 soldiers, run amok in the world, cross the river to capture Xiao Yan, and make him the abbot of Taiping Temple (Taiping Temple is in Yecheng)!" Therefore, Gao Huan did not let Hou Jing stay in the political core, but sent him to govern the Henan region as a foreign aid and left arm of the Gao clique.
The area south of the Yellow River in Eastern Wei, bordered by Hangu Pass in the west, and the Huai River line in the south and the Liang Dynasty in the south, had a total of thirteen prefectures, accounting for about one-third of the land area of Eastern Wei and a population of more than one million. It is also a traditional farming area in China, and salt is also produced near the sea. After many years of entrenched operation, Hou Jing has formed a force here that cannot be underestimated.
However, the particularity of Henan's geography can ensure that Hou Jing will not be allowed to pull up the banner and stand on his own. This is the so-called "land of four battles", separated from the Gao family forces by a Yellow River to the north, and after the Yellow River freezes in winter, cavalry can drive straight in; To the west is the Tongguan Heavenly Danger of Western Wei, and there is no danger in Henan; To the south, the Huai River valley is densely packed with water, which is most suitable for the Southern Korean army to fight.
Henan is caught in the midst of three forces, and there is no way to defend it, and it is impossible to gain a foothold. If Hou Jing wanted to rebel against Eastern Wei, he would have to sacrifice Henan to join the other two, and if he did, it would immediately attract the intervention of the three parties. Therefore, when Gao Huan was alive, Hou Jing could only act as the eagle dog of the Gao Group.
Historical chess game
However, people are not as good as heavenly calculations, and in the first month of 547, Gao Huan died of illness in his home in Jinyang, and Hou Jing, who lost his suppression, immediately betrayed the Gao regime. Since Henan was not enough to stand on its own, Hou Jing successively dragged Xiao Liang's forces in the south and Yuwen forces in Western Wei into this chess game, causing violent shocks in the situation in the Three Kingdoms.