At the Battle of Yaoshan in 543, Eastern Wei missed the best time to destroy Western Wei. As a result, the relieved Western Wei plotted to attack Eastern Wei together with the Rouran head soldier Khan. Gao Huan was worried about this, so he came up with a marriage strategy. In 545, Gao Huan sent Du Bi (杜弼), the prince of Xingtailang, to send an envoy to Rouran, hoping that his eldest son, Gao Cheng, would marry Princess Rouran. As a result, the First Soldier Khan thought that Gao Huan lacked sincerity, and the First Soldier Khan said to Du Bi, "You High King can personally marry our princess Rouran." "This is embarrassing for Gao Huan.
Gao Huan's wife is Lou Shi, the wife of Tiefa. When he was still a poor boy, Lou Shi took a look at Gao Huan's heroic spirit and insisted on marrying. With the support of the Lou family, Gao Huan had his first job as a horse captain and had money to make friends with the heroes of Huaishuo Town. After Lou Shi heard about Rouran's marriage, he took the initiative to say to Gao Huan: "Your marriage is a major national event, please do not hesitate." Brother-in-law Wei Jing and eldest son Gao Cheng, who came out of Huaishuo Town together, also advised Gao Huan to focus on the overall situation. So Gao Huan married Rouran's creeping princess. When the princess came to Yecheng, Gao Huan personally greeted her, and Lou also took the initiative to give up the position of the main room. Lou Shi said to Gao Huan, "The princess will definitely find out about our relationship, and in the future, the king will not associate with me." Gao Huan was touched and bowed down to his wife to thank him.
Creep Princess
Knowing that Gao Huan was the real power of Eastern Wei, Rouran Khan sent his younger brother Bald Tujia to escort the princess in order to better control Eastern Wei, and warned him: "If you don't see my grandson, you don't come back." This kind of political marriage also made Gao Huan very distressed. The creeping princess has a strong personality and does not speak Chinese all her life, only soft language. Although Gao Huan can speak Xianbei language, the two are basically unable to communicate. And Bald Tujia is always staring at "his own task". Once, Gao Huan was ill and could not go to sleep with the princess. Bald Tujia was very complaining, forcing Gao Huan to go to the princess to accompany her.
As strong as Gao Huan, it is also necessary to see the face of the country to be angry with this, which is the helplessness of a politician. Gao Huan and the princess did not give birth to a man and a half daughter after all, and later after Gao Huan's death, Gao Cheng married the princess according to the customs of the Rouran Desert and gave birth to a daughter. In the same year that she gave birth to her daughter, the princess also died.
Wang Sizheng built Yubi City and built various defensive measures in Yubi City, making Yubi a barrier on the road of Eastern Wei to attack Western Wei, and at the same time becoming the seat of governance of Western Wei and The State of Wei. Yuwen Tai wanted to replace Wang Sizheng with the position of shoujing prefecture, so he asked him to recommend a candidate to take over in his place and assassinate shi shi. Wang Sizheng recommended Wei Xiaokuan. At this time, Wei Xiaokuan was 37 years old and nearly 40 years old. You know, Yuwen Tai is only two years older than Wei Xiaokuan. Most of the generals of the same age are already ranked as pillar states and great generals. What is it that makes this future figure who is ranked among the ancient Chinese military masters depressed at this time?
In terms of origin, in the Guan Long Group, Wei Xiaokuan can be said to be the best. He is from the Tuas clan, Kyo shō Waiss. The origins of the Jingzhao Wei clan can be traced back to the Western Han Dynasty, earlier than the first-class scholar clan of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the Guanzhong Hongnong Yang Clan (Yang Xiu's family in the Three Kingdoms period). Its family has been born for generations, which can be described as a flowing power, and the iron Jingzhao Webster.
Portrait of Wei Xiaokuan
However, it was the origin that was too good, if at this time it was still the Northern Wei of the Yuan imperial family, then Wei Xiaokuan would definitely be able to stand out. However, at this time, Western Wei was the domain of Yuwen Tai, a warrior of the Six Towns. Under the Western Wei system, those who ranked as pillar states and great generals were either the soldiers who followed Erzhu Tianguang into the pass under the Erzhu Rong system, such as Li Hu, Hou Mochen Chong, and especially Zhao Gui, who supported Yuwen Tai. Either it was the Yuan Cong characters recruited after Yuwen Tai's departure, these people have always been Yuwen Tai's subordinates, such as Yu Jin's time in Xia Prefecture, the governor of Xia Prefecture, Shi, Yu Wentai's direct subordinates. For example, the three brothers Li Xian, Li Yuan, and Li Mu of the Li clan of the Hao clan of Longxi were recruited into their own shogunate by Yuwen Tai early on. However, the status of Jingzhao Weishi was too high, and at that time, Yuwen Tai could recruit Su Qi of the Jingzhao Su clan (this is the aggregator of online literary rumors in recent years, which we will talk about in the next few issues) as a staff member, how can Jingzhao Weishi look up to YuwenTai? By the time Yuwen Tai was still the Assassin of Xia Prefecture, Wei Xiaokuan had already been recruited to become a "General of Shizhong" and "Xuanwei General" under the Northern Wei imperial court system. After Emperor Xiaowu moved west to Guanzhong, Jingzhao Weishi naturally got close to Wang Sizheng and others who followed Emperor Wei. This is also why Wang Sizheng's prestige is extremely high, and Yuwen Tai does not dare not use it, but he is not allowed to rank in the Eight Pillars State. And the candidate recommended by Wang Sizheng when he was transferred away from Yubi was naturally also a person close to him, Wei Xiaokuan. Of course, this recommendation was also controversial at the time.
Prior to this, Wei Xiaokuan's comparative record was that in the early years of Emperor Xiaowu of Northern Wei, he served as the sheriff of Jingzhou Yanyang County, and at that time had a good relationship with Dugu Xin, who was also the shou of Xinye County. After the establishment of Western Wei, Yuwen Tai was defeated and retreated after the Battle of Heqiao, and ordered Wei Xiaokuan to guard Yiyang County on the border. He cleverly falsified the surrender letter of the Eastern Wei general Niu Daoheng, so that another Eastern Wei general, Duan Chen and Niu Daoheng, were suspicious of each other and seized the opportunity to attack and capture the two in one fell swoop. Duan Chen was a confidant of Gao Huanxin's followers during the period of the rebellion, and Duan Chen was captured, which caused Eastern Wei to suffer a lot of blows. So this time, can Wei Xiaokuan succeed Wang Sizheng in guarding the Jade Wall?
In 546 (the twelfth year of the Reign of the Western Wei Dynasty and the fourth year of the Reign of Emperor Xiaojing of the Eastern Wei Dynasty), Gao Huan was already 51 years old, while Yuwen Tai was only 39 years old. In order to save the mistake of the last Battle of Yaoshan and not to leave the strongest enemy to his son Gao Cheng, Gao Huan resolutely led the main force to attack Yubi City from the Fenhe River again. Hou Jing of Daxingtai, Henan, was sent to attack Qiziling from Henan. Perhaps because the losses in the Battle of Yaoshan were too heavy, or perhaps because of the strongness of Yubi City, Western Wei Yuwen tai did not send reinforcements to rescue him this time.
Yubi War Situation Map
Why did Gao Huan attack Yubi first? Yubi City is in the southwest of present-day Jishan County, Shanxi Province, with dangerous terrain, north of the Fenhe River Valley, west of the Yellow River Gorge, east and south surrounded by the Shuishui River, is a convex in the middle of the so-called "Emei Terrace". Controlling this area, for Western Wei, it is possible to retreat to defend Chang'an, and to attack the Eastern Wei military town of Jinyang. Whoever occupies this place has the military initiative. It can be said that Wang Sizheng's vision was extremely poisonous at that time, and he could see the value of this place at a glance. Since the construction of Yubi City, for Eastern Wei Gao huan, if it is in the throat, it will be eliminated quickly.
Soon, Gao Huan commanded the Eastern Wei army to surround Yubi. However, Wei Xiaokuan refused to fight and held the city wall to death. There was no water source in Yubi City, and the Western Wei army had to draw water from the Fenhe River. The Eastern Wei army then broke the upper reaches of the Fenhe River overnight, and it took only one day to divert it away from Yubi City. In view of the high terrain of Yubi City and the heavy losses of the yang attack, Gao Huan ordered the Eastern Wei army to pile up an earthen mountain south of Yubi City, hoping to directly attack from the tushan mountain. Wei Xiaokuan saw the move and asked people to tie wood to the castle tower, raise the height of the city tower, and let the Western Wei army throw flint stones on the mountain on the long wood. When Gao Huan saw this, he said to Wei Xiaokuan, "Even if you make the city tower high to the sky, I will still dig a hole in the ground to conquer the jade wall." ”
To the south was the Shuishui River, and it was impossible to dig tunnels, so Gao Huan moved to the north of the city and dug the ground to attack. The north of the city was originally a place with high mountains and valleys, and Wei Xiaokuan had dug a long ditch early on to block the Eastern Wei soldiers who came out of the tunnel. Poor Eastern Wei soldiers who had just climbed out of the tunnel, as soon as they emerged, they were stabbed and killed by oncoming spears. Wei Xiaokuan piled up firewood outside the ditch and from time to time pushed it into the tunnel, and a large number of Eastern Wei soldiers were burned in the tunnel. The Eastern Wei army dug more than twenty tunnels under the city wall, supported by wooden planks during the excavation process, and then withdrew at the same time, and the Yubi city wall collapsed.
Wei Xiaokuan remained calm and composed, letting the army prop up the wooden fence of the tent in the collapsed place, and then letting the archers shoot arrows in the back. The Eastern Wei army had no choice but to use the siege chariot. The head of this chariot was extremely sharp, and the destructive power was extremely great, and the Western Wei army could not resist it for a while. Wei Xiaokuan was in a hurry, and ordered the Western Wei army to quickly collect cloth and weave them into a thick and huge drapery, and then ordered people to hang in the air and open in the direction of the siege vehicle. Because the drapery was thick and soft, the siege car could not play the slightest destructive role after hitting it. Gao Huan saw this and asked the army to tie flammable materials to long poles and hang them on the car, and set them on fire in an attempt to burn the curtain. Wei Xiaokuan immediately ordered the army to make a very sharp and long hook, and used the hook to hit the long rod with flammable materials tied to the ground from a distance. The Eastern Wei army failed to attack the city again, and all of Gao Huan's siege moves were made, and Wei Xiaokuan did not seem to have done his best. Gao Huan was helpless, and Wei Xiaokuan enjoyed it.
Battle of Yubi
Soon, the Western Wei army even launched a counterattack and captured tushan, which the Eastern Wei army had worked so hard to build in the south of the city. Gao Huan smiled bitterly, and if he could not win on the battlefield, he could only look forward to negotiations. He sent Zu Jue to persuade Wei Xiaokuan to surrender. Zu Jue (祖珽), from the Fanyang Zu clan, whose father was the Eastern Wei general Zu Ying .e., was a general of the Eastern Wei Protectorate. Both father and son are brilliant and talented. After Gao Huan became the Chancellor of Eastern Wei, he greatly appreciated Zu Jue's "Ode to Qing De" and immediately summoned him and entrusted it to reuse. At this moment, Zu Jue came to the yubi city and shouted at Wei Xiaokuan: "Wei Taishou is guarding the isolated city alone, and there are no reinforcements, the city will eventually fall, why not surrender?" ”
Wei Xiaokuan smiled and replied, "The jade wall is as solid as a rock, the soldiers and grain are more than enough, the attackers are in vain, the guards are waiting for work, and I Wei Xiaokuan defended the city for less than a month to ask for help, don't you look down on me?" I'm very worried about whether you people can go back, how can my cousin Kansai boy be a coward and surrender? Wei Xiaokuan's sonorous and powerful answer made the morale of the Eastern Wei army even more degraded. Zu Jue then shouted to the people in the city, "Wei Xiaokuan enjoys fame and fortune, glory and wealth, and it is okay to do so, but why do you soldiers and people also follow him to find death?" After saying this, he wrote on the cloth, "Whoever captures wei Xiaokuan, worships the lieutenant, seals the duke of kaiguo county, and rewards ten thousand silk horses" and orders people to shoot into the city. After Wei Xiaokuan received it, he laughed and wrote on the back of the cloth that "whoever kills Gao Huan will also receive the same reward" and shoots back outside the city.
Wei Xiaokuan
When the battle came to this point, Gao Huan had never had such a difficult time in his life. Eastern Wei besieged Yubi for more than fifty days, and the casualties reached a staggering 70,000. Thanks to the thick foundation of the Eastern Wei family, otherwise it would be almost time to change the dynasty at this time if it were any regime. Gao Huan looked at the piles of corpses of the Eastern Wei army and fell ill in one breath, and the Eastern Wei army immediately retreated in its entirety. In this battle, without the rescue of the Western Wei Central Army, Wei Xiaokuan won a great victory by relying on the city of Yubi to resist the overall situation of Eastern Wei on one side. Wei Xiaokuan was famous all over the world, and the Western Wei government promoted him to the rank of Grand General of the Hussars, Kaifu Yi Tongsan Division, and feudal loyal dukes. Only then did the Western Wei generals recognize Wang Sizheng's ability to recognize people.
On the way to the retreat, it was rumored in the Eastern Wei army that Wei Xiaokuan had killed Gao Huan with a crossbow, and Eastern Wei had no choice but to withdraw. After Gao Huan heard the rumors, he endured illness and pain, toured the whole army, and let the general Hu Lujin sing a humble folk song "Song of Shule" in order to boost morale. This song was originally in Xianbei language, but after being translated into Chinese, it has been passed down through the ages, and has been selected for the "Lefu Poetry Collection" compiled by later generations during the Northern Song Dynasty:
The River of Shule, under the Yin Mountain; the sky is like a vault, the cage covers the four fields; the sky is clear, the wild is vast, and the wind blows grass and the grass is low to see cattle and sheep.
Huo Lujin sang emotionally, Gao Huan listened and sang along with the music, remembering his life of fighting horses, at this time he could not help a descendant Wei Xiaokuan, the feeling of pity suddenly arose, and he could not help but cry bitterly. After returning to Jinyang, Gao Huan became more and more ill, and felt that Gao Huan, who had not had much time, summoned his eldest son Gao Cheng to meet in Jinyang. Gao Huan began to prepare for the aftermath.
The person Gao Huan couldn't let go of was not his eldest son Gao Cheng, but the general Hou Jing. Like Gao Huan, Hou Jing also came from Huaishuo Town in Liuzhen. At that time, he sat on an equal footing with Gao Huan under Erzhu Rong's account. After Gao Huan gained power, Hou Jing surrendered to Gao Huan and repeatedly asked to lead troops to attack Yuwen Tai. Hou Jing himself was born deformed, and his right foot was shorter than his left foot, so he was shorter than riding and shooting, but he was good at scheming. Gao Huan's generals, such as Peng Le and Gao Ao Cao, Hou Jing looked down on them at all. In the Great War of The East and the West, due to the repeated defeats of Eastern Wei, Gao Huan felt powerless, and had to use Hou Jing to rule Henan and become an independent feudal town in Eastern Wei. At the time of the Battle of Yubi, Hou Jing had already paid homage to Eastern Wei Situ, henan general, and Henan Daxingtai.
Houjing Images
Hou Jing had always been stubborn, and even Gao Huan's heir Gao Cheng looked down on him. He once deliberately said to Sima Ziru, a major minister of Eastern Wei, "King Gao is still alive, and I dare not have a different heart. King Gao has died, and I can't listen to that humble boy! Here Xianbei Xiao'er refers to Gao Cheng, which reflects that although Gao Huan pretended to recognize the Bohai Gao clan as the ancestor, the Eastern Wei soldiers actually thought that Gao Huan was a Xianbei person. Gao Huan was seriously ill, and Gao Cheng wanted to get rid of Hou Jing, so he wrote a letter to Hou Jing in the name of Gao Huan to summon him. Who knows, Hou Jing is outside the town of Fan, in order to prevent others from dividing, he agreed with Gao Huan to add a black dot to the correspondence. Hou Jing saw that there was no black dot on the letter, and immediately realized that the "humble child" had come to make things happen. So he secretly gathered his army and prepared for rebellion.
Gao Huan woke up from his sickbed one day and saw Gao Cheng with a worried face, and he was obviously not worried about his illness. So he asked Gao Cheng, "Are you worried about Hou Jing's rebellion?" Gao Cheng nodded.
Gao Huan then said: "Hou Jing has been despotic in Henan for fourteen years, only I can control him, I am dead, he will definitely rebel." Among those I have left you, Cudigan and Hulujin are loyal and will never fail you. But Zhu Hun Daoyuan and Liu Fengsheng came from afar, and they will not turn their backs on you. Pan Xiangle said thickly, Han Rail Geng was stupid, and both of them would help the Gao family. Peng Le, his heart is difficult to guess, you have to beware of him. It seems that Gao Huan is still angry about the fact that Peng Le, the former warrior, secretly let Gon went of Yuwen Tai.
Finally, Gao Huan said, "None of these people are Hou Jing's opponents, and the only one who can defeat Hou Jing in the world is Murong Shaozong. When he surrendered to me, I have not reused him, and it is precisely to leave him to you to deal with Hou Jing! Among the Gao clans, only Duan Shao, a child with wisdom and courage, is loyal and benevolent, he is a material that can be built, and you will have to discuss major military matters with him in the future. During the Great War of Yaoshan Mountain, I did not listen to Chen Yuankang's advice, did not cut the grass and remove the roots, and left you with hidden dangers. ”
Gao Huan, the strongest tyrant after Erzhu Rong, died in Jinyang in 547 at the age of fifty-two. Gao Huan rose from poverty, emerged in the Six Towns Uprising, and eventually became a generation of hegemony. However, after he met his real rival Yuwen Tai, he failed more than he succeeded, and finally failed to achieve his political ideals in his lifetime, leaving endless hidden dangers for his descendants. He had aspired to be "Cao Cao", but both martial arts and Wenzhi were far away from Cao Cao, the Emperor of Weiwu, especially Wenzhi, and perhaps in the chaotic world, Gao Huan was too late to do these things. Later, after the establishment of the Northern Qi Dynasty, Gao Huan was posthumously honored as Emperor Shenwu and the temple name Gaozu.