Yue Fei, a famous general of the Southern Song Dynasty, was posthumously given the nickname "Wu Mu" by Emperor Xiaozong of Song, known as Yue Wu Mu.
"Wu Mu" is a kind of high evaluation, which is used to commend the military generals who defend their families and defend the country, have morality, righteousness and affection. In the Song Dynasty, there were only a few military generals who could obtain the title of Wu Mu, yue fei of the Southern Song Dynasty counted as one, and Cao Wei of the Northern Song Dynasty counted one.
Yue Fei
Cao Wei (曹玮), courtesy name Baochen, was a native of Zhending Lingshou (present-day Hebei Province), born in 973. Cao Wei was born into a family of generals, and his father was Cao Bin, the famous founding hero of the Northern Song Dynasty. In that year, Cao Bin destroyed Later Shu and Southern Tang, and participated in the military campaign against the Northern Han and Liao states, and was appointed as a privy councillor (the highest military commander).
Cao Bin had a total of 7 sons, and the one he valued most was his fourth son, Cao Wei. When Cao Bin goes out, he always likes to take Cao Wei with him. Under the influence of the eyes, Cao Wei quickly grew into an excellent young general, and under the recommendation of his father, he was appointed by the imperial court as the Zhizhou of Weizhou, guarding the northwest frontier.
In 999, Cao Bin was seriously ill, and Song Zhenzong personally went to visit him, gave him medicine, gave him 10,000 taels of silver, and asked what happened. Cao Bin replied, "If you ask me to recommend a candidate, my two sons can serve as generals." Song Zhenzong asked them who was superior and who was inferior, and Cao Bin replied, "Cao Xuan is not as good as Cao Wei." ”
Cao Wei
Cao Xuan was Cao Bin's eldest son.
At the beginning of Cao Wei's defense of the northwest frontier, Li Jiqian, a party leader, betrayed the Northern Song Dynasty and defected to the Liao state. Li Jiqian repeatedly launched attacks on the Northern Song Dynasty in the Hexi region. Cao Wei decided to clean up Li Jiqian.
One year, Li Jiqian led his troops to attack Tubo. Cao Wei heard the news and laid an ambush in advance at Shimenchuan, the place where Li Ji moved back to the division. When Li Jiqian returned, Cao Wei led his troops to intercept and kill Li Jiqian. In this battle, Cao Wei captured a lot.
Li Jiqian
In 1004, Li Jiqian was caught in the tubo Panluozhi's plan and died of his wounds. After Li Jiqian's death, his son Li Deming succeeded him. Cao Wei reported to the imperial court, hoping to take this opportunity to exterminate the Li regime and eliminate the consequences. However, Song Zhenzong was reluctant to send an army to the expedition, but hoped to show favors to the Li clan to appease them.
Cao Wei had no choice but to recruit local tribes in the Hexi region as much as possible and weaken the power of the Li regime. But Rao was so, and decades later, the Li regime still came out of a man named Li Yuanhao and founded the Western Xia Kingdom. The Western Xia Kingdom defeated the Song Dynasty army in the Four Major Battles of Sanchuankou, the Battle of Haoshuichuan, the Battle of Linfufeng, and the Battle of Dingchuanzhai, and in the Battle of Hequ, defeated the Liao army led by Emperor Xingzong of Liao, becoming the third force to stand shoulder to shoulder with the Northern Song Dynasty and the Liao State. That's a story for another day.
When Cao Wei beat the Li regime to the point of temporarily unable to stir up trouble, the Tubo tribes in the Hehuang region were stirring up trouble again. At that time, Li Lizun of the Tubo tribe asked the Song Dynasty to make him Zampu. Cao Wei reported to the imperial court against Li Lizun as Zampu. The imperial court refused Li Lizun's request. Li Lizun was furious, and immediately turned his face and led a large army to invade.
Tibetan army
Cao Wei did not panic. He had confidence in his army. This army is well-trained, well-armed, and far more effective than the Tubo army. Therefore, when Li Lizun led tens of thousands of troops to pounce on him, Cao Wei still leisurely ate his breakfast. When Li Lizun's army was only a few miles away, Cao Wei slowly put on a battle.
As soon as Cao Wei was put on the battlefield, he immediately became decisive. He personally entered the battle, leading an elite cavalry to attack the flank rear of the Tubo army, and then attacked with two wings of cavalry. Under the attack of the elite soldiers of the Northern Song Dynasty, the Tubo army was completely defeated. Cao Wei led the army in a fierce pursuit, chasing for 20 miles until the sandbar did he collect the troops.
In this battle, Cao Wei beheaded more than 1,000 Tubo troops at the cost of more than 220 casualties, and captured more than 33,000 horses, cattle, miscellaneous animals, and weapons.
Song Dynasty army
This battle is known as the "Battle of Sandu Valley". After the war, Cao Wei threatened to shake the northwestern region, and the Tubo people respected him very much, and as soon as they heard his name, they immediately raised their hands and saluted.
Cao Wei, because of his many military achievements, was moved to the Envoy of the Northern Yuan of Xuanhui, the Zhenguo Army, and the Empress Dowager, and signed a letter to the Privy Council.
As we all know, although Yue Fei was loyal to the country, he was restrained by The Prime Minister Qin Juniper. Cao Wei also encountered a similar situation with Yue Fei. In 1020, the chancellor Ding Shu framed Kou Zhun, causing him to be relegated to a foreign country. Ding Zhi's status in the imperial court gradually increased, and many ministers took the initiative to rely on him. Cao Wei did not bother to tie the knot. Ding Yu was very angry and framed him as a henchman of Kou Zhun. As a result, Cao Wei was demoted to an official position one after another without making a mistake, and the lowest was only Laizhou Zhizhou.
Ding Zhi
Fortunately, Ding's "good days" did not last long. In 1023, Ding Shu was impeached by his courtiers for harboring eunuchs, and was demoted to the rank of Yazhou Sihu to join the army. Cao Wei was immediately used, and after several promotions, he served as the emissary of the Zhangwu Army.
However, as she grew older, Cao Wei could no longer charge at the front as before. In 1030, Cao Wei died of illness at the age of 58. When Emperor Renzong of Song heard the news, in order to express his condolences, he announced that he would quit the dynasty for two days, and at the same time add the official position of servant and add the title of "Wu Mu".