One
After the death of Tuoba heir, he was succeeded by his son Tuoba Tao. Tuoba Tao was only 16 years old at the time, and he succeeded to the throne as a teenager like his grandfather Tuoba and his father Tuoba Hei. Like his grandparents, Tuoba Tao pushed the Northern Wei Dynasty to a higher level.
Tuoba Tao had good luck and took over one of the most powerful empires in the north. However, the Northern Wei Empire, although powerful, was only one of several northern secession regimes.
After the fall of the former Qin, after years of mutual annexation in the north, there were several major regimes of the Northern Wei, Northern Liang, Northern Yan, Xia and Western Qin. Among them, the Northern Wei Dynasty occupied most of the present-day Shanxi and Hebei and parts of Henan and Shandong, and was the most powerful. The Xia State established by Helian Bobo, a descendant of the Xiongnu who had a feud with the Northern Wei Dynasty, occupied most of Shaanxi, that is, the Guanzhong region in ancient times, and was second only to the Northern Wei Dynasty in power. The Northern Yan was a remnant of the Later Yan (another remnant of the Later Yan, the Southern Yan, who perished during Liu Yu's Northern Expedition), occupying the area of what is now the Beijing-Tianjin region and the area of Liaodong. Western Qin and Northern Liang were the separatist regimes in the area of Gansu and Qinghai today. On the side of the couch, how can others be allowed to snore? After Tuoba Tao succeeded to the throne, he took the reunification of the north as the goal of struggle.
Reunification should be spoken with fists, and whoever has a hard fist will have hope of unifying the world.
In order to sharpen a pair of hard fists, Tuoba Tao attaches great importance to army building.
The long-term nomadic hunting life has trained Tuoba Xianbei's strong physique and superb riding and archery ability. The Northern Wei army had very strong combat effectiveness, especially the cavalry, which could be regarded as a magic weapon for the Northern Wei Dynasty to defeat the enemy. With the advantages of hardware, Tuoba Tao has worked software construction. He often promoted generals from among ordinary soldiers, encouraged soldiers to fight bravely, and promoted soldiers who showed bravery in battle, or promoted them to knighthood, or rewarded them with people, livestock, gold, silver, antiques, silk and other goods; Linhuai Gongqiudui is an old Xianbei nobleman, an old minister of several dynasties, and a servant. While fighting against the Xia Kingdom, Qiu Dui heard rumors of defeat at the front and fled. Tuoba Tao did not hesitate to decapitate the mound pile. Fufeng Gong Tuoba and eight others were also beheaded for stealing military supplies.
Tuoba Tao strictly administers the army, first of all, he leads by example and is strict with himself. In every battle, he not only drove the expedition himself, but also took the lead - it is estimated that the young man is young and has good physical strength. For example, in the fourth year of Shiguang (427), Tuoba Tao personally led 30,000 light cavalry to raid the capital of the Xia Kingdom. On the way, he and his officers and soldiers braved the wind and sand, endured hunger and thirst, and personally participated in the vicious battle under the city of Tongwan. During the battle, Tuobatao's mount fell to the ground with all his strength, bringing his master to the ground. After Tuoba Tao got on his horse, he continued to fight, killing more than ten Xia soldiers, and later suffered a bloody battle. Seeing Tuoba Tao charging forward with his life, the officers and soldiers of the Northern Wei Dynasty also killed the enemy bravely, "to serve the life of people and to move forward."
Of course, Tuoba Tao is not a martial artist who blindly refuses to be militaristic, and knows that the superstructure is inseparable from the economic base. While he was busy with the war, he did not relax economic production. The Northern Wei Dynasty ruled many ethnic groups and people, Tuoba Tao respected the customs and habits of various ethnic groups, governed the people but did not force the people to change their customs, and pursued production efficiency but did not force uniformity. In a word, Tuoba Tao "carried out a variety of operations" "according to local conditions", not only developing the animal husbandry of Xianbei and other ethnic minorities, but also respecting the farming and commerce of the Han people.
Soon, the Northern Wei Dynasty was strong, and the gap between the Northern Wei Dynasty and other separatist regimes was getting farther and farther. The time is ripe for reunification! Who will be eliminated first?
The Xianbei generals represented by Changsun Song, Changsun Han, Xi Jin, etc., advocated attacking Rouran first. The emerging nomadic people continued to infest the northern borders of the Northern Wei Dynasty and increasingly became a major problem for the Northern Wei Dynasty. The Xianbei generals, who were also born into nomadic peoples, were eager to compete with the Rourans, and plundered livestock to replenish their military needs. Minister Liu Jie and others advocated fighting the Northern Yan first, because the Northern Yan was the weakest. It is human nature to do things first and then to be difficult. Taichangqing (the official in charge of the ceremonies of the temple) Cui Hao did the opposite, believing that the most powerful Helian Clan's Great Xia regime should be attacked first. Cui Hao's reason is that the Great Xia regime is brutal and unreasonable, and has lost the hearts of the people, and it seems to be powerful but it is not difficult to defeat. Tuoba Tao resolutely accepted Cui Hao's proposition, and personally led the army to cross the Yellow River to attack Tongwancheng, the capital of the Xia State, and sounded the gong and drum of unification.
The Northern Wei campaign's campaign against Bactria did not begin well. Tuoba Tao personally failed to break through the Tongwan City, and only captured more than 100,000 cattle and horses. The Helian Huns also had quite a strong army. In order to destroy the living force of the Xia army, Tuoba Tao attacked Tongwan again in the fourth year of Shiguang (427). This time, he only led a small force to feint and attack the city, and then pretended to be defeated and retreated, luring the Xia army to leave Tongwan City to pursue. Tuoba Tao had already ambushed the main force in the valley outside the city, and waited for the Xia army to leave the city and deal with the enemy outside the city. Helian Chang of the Xia State saw that the Northern Wei army was "defeated" and did not go out of the city to pursue. He was worried that this was Tuobatao's strategy to lure the enemy. Cui Hao offered advice to Tuoba Tao, and deliberately let the soldiers who committed capital crimes escape and reported that the Wei army had run out of food and grass, and the sergeants and soldiers only ate vegetables every day, and the baggage supplies were still in the rear, and the infantry had not arrived. Helian Chang was finally fooled, overjoyed, and personally led his troops out of the city to pursue. This time, he fell for Tuobatao's scheme. The well-trained and well-prepared main force of the Northern Wei Dynasty dealt a fatal blow to the Xia army. It was in this fierce battle that Tuoba Tao fell from his horse and was hit by a stray arrow, but he still fought bloodily, boosted morale, and eliminated the main force of the Xia army. Helian Chang fled in embarrassment, abandoned Tongwancheng and fled to the area of what is now Gansu. The remnants of the Xia army fled into Tongwan City. Tuoba Tao rushed into the city with a small retinue mixed with the defeated army of the Xia army—probably to get a salary from the bottom of the kettle. The Huns sensed that the Wei army had infiltrated the city, closed all the gates, and searched everywhere. Tuoba Tao and his entourage broke into the palace, got the woman's skirt, put on makeup, went out of the city, and finally escaped. The next day, he commanded a large army to storm Tongwancheng, and finally occupied the capital of the Xia Kingdom, and the Xiongnu princes, ministers, generals, and concubines became prisoners. After this battle, the defeat of the Xia Kingdom was decided.
Tuoba Tao inspected Tongwan City after the war, and saw the capital city that Helian Bo drove out countless flesh and blood to build for decades, and sighed: "The Xia country has a small territory and a small population, but it abuses the people's power to build such a capital, how can there be a reason for immortality?"
To the south, the Wei army occupied Chang'an. The Xia State was still struggling, fighting a protracted war in the west and the Northern Wei. In the following year (428), the Wei army captured Helianchang in Longxi. Helian was enthroned as emperor in Longxi and continued to resist the Wei army. He once defeated the Northern Wei army and recaptured Chang'an. Two years later, the Northern Wei Dynasty finally recovered Chang'an and pacified the Guanzhong region. Helian fled westward, and in 431 forced the end of the begging twilight to surrender and destroyed the Western Qin. However, the Northern Wei army came one after another, and Helian Ding was afraid of the Wei army and did not dare to engage in battle, so he continued to flee to the Qinghai area. In June of the same year, Helian Ding was captured by Tuyuhun. The Xia Kingdom perished.
In the second year of the fall of the Xia Kingdom (432), the Northern Wei Dynasty continued to attack the Northern Yan and besieged its capital Helong (present-day Chaoyang, Liaoning). Emperor Feng Hong of Northern Yan was defeated in successive battles, and in the second year of Taeyeon (436), he set a fire to the palace and fortress of Helong, and fled to Goryeo (Joseon). Feng Honghou was killed by the Koreans. The Northern Yan perished.
Among the sixteen regimes, there is only one Beiliang left. Liang Lord Fuqu Meng Xun had no confidence in his own strength, and constantly attached himself to the strong people of the Central Plains. Whoever is strong, he will be a vassal to whomever he wants, in order to survive. When Liu Yu destroyed Hou Qin, he was worried that his territory would not be guaranteed, and he was very panicked. He saw the Han minister Liu Xiang's face happy when he was doing the work, and scolded: "You dare to be so happy when you heard that Liu Yu entered the customs!" and killed him. He first proclaimed himself a vassal to the Eastern Jin Dynasty and Liu Song, and then to the Northern Wei Dynasty after the rise of the Northern Wei Dynasty. In 433, he died, and finally retained his territory during his lifetime. Six years later (the fifth year of Taiyan, 439), Tuoba Tao personally conquered Northern Liang and besieged its capital Guzang (present-day Wuwei, Gansu). The Liang lord who succeeded to the throne, Fuqu Muqian, united with the Rouran people to defend the city without surrendering, hoping that the invasion of Rouran could force the Northern Wei to withdraw its troops. Unexpectedly, Rouran could only harass the border of the Northern Wei Dynasty and could not shake the overall situation. Tuoba Tao was bent on destroying Beiliang and hurried to attack the city. The frustrated canal herdsman was trapped in the lonely city for a month and a half, and the mountains and rivers fell from exhaustion. Northern Liang perished, and the Sixteen Kingdoms ended.
Although Beiliang is small, the significance of eliminating it is not small. First of all, Beiliang occupies the Hexi region, the main transportation route between the Central Plains and the Western Regions. After the Northern Wei Dynasty destroyed the Northern Liang, it was more convenient to access the Western Regions, and the countries in the Western Regions submitted to the Northern Wei Dynasty one after another, which made the latter's influence increase dramatically. Secondly, for more than 100 years since Zhang Rail seized Hexi at the end of the Jin Dynasty, the Hexi region was relatively stable. There are many people in the Central Plains who have taken refuge in Hexi, and many of them are scholars, and poetry and books have been passed down from generation to generation. After the fall of the Northern Liang, the Northern Wei Dynasty moved these literati to Pingcheng. They played an important role in the Sinicization process of the Northern Wei Dynasty.
At this point, Tuoba Tao basically unified the north.
Two
It must be pointed out that the unity of Tuoba Tao is formal and fragile.
The north has been divided for hundreds of years, and dozens of regimes have fought each other, leaving behind various contradictions. Tuoba Tao's severance of other separatist regimes only removed superficial obstacles to unification. Deep-seated ethnic and financial problems are even more fatal and more difficult to solve. Tuobatao's mastery lies in the fact that he not only defeated other heroes, but also greatly alleviated the deep-seated contradictions. There are many people who can do the first point, but not many people can finish a little bit at the same time. Tuoba Tao, a young man from an ethnic minority, can take care of both, which is really commendable.
Let's take a look at the deep-seated contradictions that Tuoba Tao faces. There are mainly four major issues: Rouran, ethnicity, income, and the threat to the south.
Rouran is an ethnic minority that emerged in the north after Xianbei. When the Xianbei people were in full swing in their southward development, the vacated Saibei grassland was occupied by Rouran. By the beginning of the Northern Wei Dynasty, Rouran had occupied a vast area of land from the Korean Peninsula in the east, to the Western Regions in the west, to Siberia in the north, and to the Great Wall in the south, and became a new confidant of the Central Plains Dynasty. As soon as Tuoba Tao succeeded to the throne, Rouran did not give him face and sent troops to harass him. Tuoba Tao personally met the battle, but was surrounded by Rouran cavalry for a full fifty times. Thanks to the desperate killing of the enemy by the soldiers of the Northern Wei Dynasty, Tuoba Tao escaped from danger. The Northern Wei Dynasty's policy towards Rouran followed the principle of "seeking change while maintaining stability", establishing military towns in various parts of the north, on the premise of holding the existing territory, and then actively attacking at the right time. Tuoba Tao launched no less than 10 campaigns against Rouran. The Northern Wei Dynasty organized death squads, and the soldiers only brought a limited number of days of food to go deep behind the enemy, and with the determination to become a benevolent person if they did not succeed, they gave Rouran a big blow. Especially in 429, Tuoba Tao defeated Rouran and achieved a strategic victory. The Northern Wei Dynasty captured hundreds of thousands of Rouran soldiers and civilians, millions of cattle and sheep, moved them south, and settled them in the north and south of the border. The rest of Rouran fled north and fled to the Mobei region. Tribes such as Gaoche, who were originally attached to Rouran (a northern nomad who is said to ride a wheel named because of its high wheels), changed course and took refuge in the Northern Wei Dynasty. Rouran's vitality was greatly damaged. However, they still did not give up the "very promising" cause of invading the Northern Wei Dynasty.
The Northern Wei Dynasty's war against Rouran consumed a lot of materials and manpower. Therefore, many people in the government and the opposition opposed taking the initiative to attack Rouran, believing that Rouran was located in a remote area, and even if land was obtained, it could not be cultivated, and the captive population could not be directly driven, and advocated passively building military towns to defend them. Tuoba Tao, with the support of Cui Hao, repeatedly attacked Rouran, although he failed to eradicate the Rouran forces, but basically lifted the threat from the north, and eliminated a major worry about domestic and foreign affairs.
The second national issue began in the last years of the Western Jin Dynasty. In the north, there are Han, Xiongnu, Di, Qiang, Xianbei, Qian, Tu and other ethnic groups. Secession wars are often accompanied by ethnic vendettas, which lead to very tense ethnic relations in the north.
Like the Sixteen Kingdoms regimes that suppressed foreign races, the Northern Wei Dynasty also pursued a policy of ethnic repression, respecting the Xianbei people, forcibly relocating other ethnic groups to strengthen control, and killing foreign forces that resisted. Many people of different races were punished by the Northern Wei Dynasty as miscellaneous households in various government camps, for the yamen to drive and enslave, and were even forced to serve in the army as cannon fodder. When Tuoba Tao used troops in Guanzhong and Longxi, he levied and extorted from the people of Guanzhong in order to raise military supplies. Therefore, after the apparent unification, the ethnic contradictions of the Northern Wei Dynasty were fierce, especially in the Guanzhong region.
The rebellion of the people in Guanzhong occurred repeatedly, and the Northern Wei Dynasty could only control important military towns such as Chang'an and Xingcheng, but failed to achieve effective rule. In September of the sixth year of Taiping Zhenjun (445), the people of Lu Shuihu of the other Xiongnu tribes revolted under the leadership of Gai Wu. The people of all ethnic groups in Guanzhong responded one after another, and the rebel army quickly expanded to more than 100,000 people, and divided the troops into three routes to force Chang'an. When the people of Henan, Shanxi and other places in the eastern part of the Kanto heard the news, they also responded one after another, occupied Hongnong and other places, and entered Tongguan. For a time, the beacon fire burned all over half of the Northern Wei Dynasty. Tuoba Tao did not dare to slack off, and urgently dispatched troops to suppress the uprising. Even the cavalry of the newly annexed Gaoche tribe was ordered to fight south from the Inner Mongolia region, which shows the wide range of Tuoba Tao's deployment, and also shows the great impact of the Gaiwu uprising.
Unfortunately, despite its momentum, the Gai-Wu uprising did not have a clear development strategy. The rebel army moved around, but did not conquer strategic points such as Chang'an and Tongguan, nor did it build a definite defensive line. This gave Tuoba Tao plenty of time to deploy his troops. He first dispatched troops to Chang'an to defend it, and then sent troops to guard Weibei, and strictly ordered that the situation in Guanzhong must be prevented from further deteriorating. Tuoba Tao led the main force to clear the uprisings in Shanxi and Henan first. In the first month of the following year (446), Tuoba Tao successfully cut off the connection between Guanzhong and the Kwantung rebels, and then took advantage of the rebels' unpreparedness to launch a surprise attack and suppress the Kwantung uprising. In February, Tuoba Tao crossed the Yellow River non-stop and killed Guanzhong. When Gai Wu heard the news, he retreated north, and was surrounded by the Wei army in Xingcheng, with heavy losses. In August, Gai Wu was killed in his twenties. Some say that he was betrayed by his relatives, while others say that he was killed by the rebels of Tugo. However, after that, there were constantly rebel armies who continued to fight under the banner of Gai Wu, and it took two more years for the Northern Wei Dynasty to completely stabilize the situation in Guanzhong.
In the course of the suppression, Tuoba Tao brutally killed the people who responded to the uprising. In order to shock people's hearts, the slaughter of the city is also not hesitating. In the period that followed, the people of all ethnic groups succumbed to violence, and the wave of uprisings gradually subsided.
The outbreak of the great uprising made Tuoba Tao aware of the embarrassment of the state's finances. Martial arts are inseparable from the material foundation. The perennial conquest overstretched the northern people, who were not wealthy, and the violent conquest of the Northern Wei Dynasty was an important reason for the great uprising of all ethnic groups in Guanzhong. But Tuoba Tao also has his unspeakable secrets, the state has a very limited household registration, and the taxes shared to everyone are naturally heavy. Therefore, the top priority is to increase the number of household registrations, and only by increasing the number of people who are subject to tax collection can we increase income.
At that time, a large number of hukou in the north were controlled by aristocratic bureaucrats, dock fort owners, temple monks, etc. In troubled times, people are attached to the strong, work for the strong, and do not contribute to the country. The bureaucracy and aristocracy relied on the privilege of possessing slaves and maids, and Tuoba Tao could not be deprived of them for a while, and the landlords of the dock fort had their own side and were armed, and Tuoba Tao could not solve it suddenly. And the large number of labor, land and property controlled by the temple and the monks went into the calculation of Tuobatao.
Tuoba Tao changed his previous reverence for Buddhism and forced the temple economy to be brought under the control of the imperial court. During the crusade against Beiliang, in order to solve the problem of insufficient soldiers, he ordered all monks under the age of 50 to return to the world and join the army. In the first month of the fifth year of Taiping Zhenjun (444), Tuoba Tao officially ordered the "ban on Buddha".
The fourth major problem facing Tuoba Tao is the threat from the South. As early as when Tuoba Tao was trying his best to cut off the separatist powers, the Liu Song Dynasty in the south had a lot of "ideas" and wanted to take advantage of the civil war in the north to reap the benefits of the fishermen. In the twenty-seventh year of Liu Song Yuanjia (the eleventh year of Taiping Zhenjun of the Northern Wei Dynasty, 450 years), Liu Yilong, Emperor Wen of the Song Dynasty, launched the vigorous "Yuanjia Northern Expedition", which was very angry and swallowed rivers and mountains and completed its achievements in one battle. The Song army also achieved some success at first, but was soon defeated by Tuoba Tao's imperial conquest. At the end of that year, Tuoba Tao took the officers and soldiers of the Northern Wei Dynasty to drink the Yangtze River and point fingers at the Song capital Jiankang (now Nanjing). The Northern Expedition became Tuoba Tao's Southern Expedition. In the end, both the north and the south paid huge casualties, and a balance of power was reached in the Huainan area (see the content of the Yuanjia Northern Expedition later).
This was the period when the military strength of the Northern Wei Dynasty was at its strongest. Riding a horse and galloping on the north bank of the Yangtze River, Tuoba Tao also reached the peak of his martial arts.
Three
Tuoba Tao is a brave and heroic person, with a successful career, but there is a flaw in his character, that is, he is short-tempered. After people reach middle age, Tuoba Tao's temper is getting worse and worse. When ordinary people lose their temper, they smash things, and at most hit people. If Tuoba Tao loses his temper, the consequences will be very serious. He kills people every time he gets angry, and he kills too much, causing the people around him to tremble all day long, worrying about when he will become the ghost of the temperamental emperor. Tuoba Tao often regrets it after killing people, but he just can't change his temper.
It is said that Tuoba Tao did things himself, often led troops outside, and left the prince Tuoba Huang to supervise the country in the capital Pingcheng and preside over the operation of the government. Tuoba Huang is old, and naturally a group of people have gathered around him to assist him. But Tuoba Tao didn't worry about letting the prince do it, but trusted the eunuch Zong Ai and let Zong Ai stay in Pingcheng Palace to do nonsense. The Tuoba Huang Group restricts Zongai from time to time, and there is a conflict between the two sides.
In the second year of Zhengping (452), Zong Ai slandered Tuoba Tao and framed the auxiliary ministers around the crown prince for misbehaving. Tuoba Tao did not distinguish between the true and the false, so he executed them. The crown prince Tuoba Huang was greatly frightened, worried that his father was going to operate on him next, and he died of fear at the age of 24. It was later found out that neither the prince nor the people around him had any misdeeds. Tuoba Tao couldn't regret it, and cried under the blow of the white-haired man sending the black-haired man.
At this moment, it was Zong Ai's turn to be afraid. He was afraid that Tuoba Tao would cure his false accusations, so he decided to strike first. One dark night, Zong Ai killed Tuoba Tao in his bed while he was asleep. A generation of heroes of the Northern Wei Dynasty, a Tuoba Tao who did not change his face in the face of tens of thousands of enemy troops and galloped through a hundred bloody battles in the north and south, died in a daze at the hands of a cronie eunuch at the age of 45.
(Excerpted from "The Northern and Southern Dynasties Turned Out to Be Like This", Zhang Cheng/Author, Modern Publishing House/Publishing)