During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, the world fell into a state of division, with constant wars and chaos, and endless fighting. However, the chaotic world produced heroes, and a large number of heroes emerged during the Southern and Northern Dynasties, including an emperor, who can be called the most courageous, he was born in the grassroots, but through his own continuous efforts, he finally became the founding emperor, during which he also killed the king! So who was the bravest emperor of the Southern and Northern Dynasties?
This person is Liu Yu, the founding emperor of the Southern Dynasty Liu Song! According to records, Liu Yu was a descendant of Liu Jiao, the king of Chu, the younger brother of Liu Bang of Han Gaozu, but his family was not well-off. In 363, when Liu Yu was born, his mother died of a childbirth disease, and Liu Yu's father, Liu Qiao, did not invite the nursing mother, and once wanted to throw the child away. Fortunately, one of Liu Yu's uncles in the same clan also gave birth to a child, "unscheduled, but weaned, and self-supporting GaoZu (referring to Liu Yu)". Later, Liu Yu was fostered in his uncle's house, so he was called "slave".
After Liu Yu became an adult, due to his family's poverty, he once made a living by selling straw shoes at a stall and relying on this to support his family. Due to his poor life, Liu Yu also contracted gambling and often poured out his family wealth in the casino, so the townspeople looked down on him and thought he was a scoundrel. Once, Liu Yu played with diao kui of the Jingkou clan, and as a result, Liu Yu owed a gambling debt of 30,000 yuan. Unable to pay off his gambling debts, Liu Yu was tied up and beaten and almost died.
After that, Liu Yu changed his mind and joined the Beifu Army, and because of his outstanding performance, he soon became the Sima of the champion general Sun Wujie. In 399, Sun En raised an army in Jiangdong and rebelled against the Eastern Jin court. The famous general Liu Gaozhi of the Northern Prefecture army led an army to suppress it, and Liu Yu was appointed to join the army at that time. In the course of the battle with Sun En's rebel army, Liu Yu, with most of his men killed and wounded, "fought with a long knife in his hand and killed and wounded a lot", and with the support of friendly troops, he greatly destroyed Sun En.
Liu Yu fought bravely, rushed to the front in every battle, and the discipline of the army was strict, so he won the support of the people, and he himself gradually became a famous general in the Beifu Army. However, in 404, Huan Xuan deposed the Eastern Jin Emperor and established himself as emperor. After Liu Yu heard the news, he made an alliance with seventy-two people, and then gathered more than a hundred people to start an incident. After a bloody battle, Liu Yu finally invaded Jiankang and re-established the Eastern Jin Emperor.
Although Liu Yu became a powerful vassal of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, he faced internal and external troubles, so he began to fight everywhere. In 409, Liu Yu personally led an army in the Northern Expedition to attack the Southern Yan regime that had divided the Shandong region. The following year, Liu Yu attacked Guanggu City, captured the Southern Yan emperor Murong Chao, and put him to death. In the same year, Liu Yubanshi returned to the dynasty and engaged Lu Xun, who had divided Lingnan, and destroyed him. 413. Liu Yu sent troops to destroy the Shu regime that had divided Bashu, and its monarch committed suicide.
Later, Liu Yu eliminated Liu Yi and Sima Xiuzhi, the two major political enemies within the Eastern Jin Dynasty. In 416, Liu Yu once again led an army in the Northern Expedition, attacking invincible and invincible along the way, and using the Moon Array to break the Northern Wei cavalry. Finally, in the following year, Chang'an was occupied, the Later Qin regime was destroyed, and the monarch Yao Hong was captured and killed. After establishing a series of meritorious deeds, Liu Yu began a plan to usurp the throne, first poisoning Sima Dezong, the emperor of Jin'an, and then deposing Sima Dewen, the emperor of Jin, and ascending the throne in 420, at the age of 58. Xin Has a poem in which he praises Liu Yu, "Jinge Iron Horse, Swallowing Thousands of Miles Like a Tiger".
References: 1. Book of Song, 2. History of the South, 3. Zizhi Tongjian