Chapter 43 2. Murong Baiyao took Qingzhou

A major "tradition" of Chinese historiography is that almost without exception, there must be a dirty history when a heroine is in power.In the Han regime, there were Empress Lu of the Western Han Dynasty, Empress Wu Zetian and Empress Wei of the Tang Dynasty, while in the Hu regime there were the Empress Dowager Xiao of the Great Liao Dynasty and the Empress Dowager Cixi of the Qing Dynasty. Regardless of whether these women succeeded or failed, their private lives were always the most criticized part of future generations.Of course, Empress Dowager Feng Wenming did not have any reason to make an exception.

Out of the traditional consciousness of patriarchy, the feudal rulers have always tried their best to suppress the phenomenon of the Queen Mother being in power.In order to prevent the imperial power from being sidelined, Tuobagui created the rule of "the death of the son and mother", which did have some effects objectively.Ironically, however, the only two reigns of the Queen Mother in the Northern Wei Dynasty had a huge impact on it. The former directly led to the comprehensive Sinicization of its political system, and the latter directly led to the decline and split of its regime.Tuoba Gui, who was more than half a century ago, would never have expected such far-reaching future events.

It is true that in a patriarchal society, in order to maintain her rule, a woman will inevitably offend a group of people and hurt the interests of a group of people, and her actions may not be all right or all wrong; A female ruler, she has the same normal living needs as a male ruler, and a male emperor can have three thousand beauties, so why can't she satisfy her own desires.Regarding those criticisms and harsh criticisms, we will mention them later, but we are more concerned about what major events this young empress dowager, who is less than 30 years old, has done to change future generations. In other words, she During his reign, what so-called contributions to the Northern Wei regime were made.

The truth is, what the Wenming Empress Dowager Feng was able to accomplish during her reign was actually a lot of things that her male predecessors wanted to do but were unable to do.Nearly one hundred years after the founding of the Northern Wei Dynasty, fundamental qualitative changes finally began to take place. The first is to expand the territory. We should not forget that advancing Wei's southern border from the Yellow River basin to the Huai River basin has been a dreamed goal since the time of Tuobasi.Tuoba Si's Southern Expedition had little effect because it focused too much on attacking the city; Tuoba Tao's Southern Expedition, because of insufficient preparation and lack of confidence in attacking the city, even though he drank horses from the Yangtze River, still could not obtain the victory in the Huai River Basin. One inch of land; Emperor Wencheng Tuoba Jun had been on strike for many years, and there were only small-scale border conflicts, and it was even more difficult to unilaterally change the status quo.Empress Dowager Feng took power and realized the rule of Huaihe River in the Southern Dynasty. Although it was thanks to the civil strife in Liu Song Dynasty, it also had the credit of the Northern Wei Dynasty's use of troops.

Liu Song's important towns north of the Huai River are mainly two, Pengcheng to the east and Xuanhu to the west. In the past, the Song army used these two places as their bases in the Northern Expedition.After Liu Zixun's rebellion was put down, Shouyang, an important town in Huainan, was also quickly put down.Xue An, the governor of Xuzhou who originally supported Liu Zixun, was in Pengcheng, and Chang Zhenqi, the prefect of Runan, was in Xuanhu. Fearing that the court would settle accounts after the fall, they surrendered to Xiancheng in the Northern Wei Dynasty. (This is the biggest political defeat of Song Ming Emperor Liu Yu. It has been discussed in the previous part and will not be detailed here.)

Wei Yuan, the general sent by the Northern Wei Dynasty to receive Xuzhou, was a very experienced general. He used both soft and hard tactics to repel the army of Song State and completed the task brilliantly.Although Liu Song still has dozens of cities in Qing, Ji, and Yanzhou north of Pengcheng and Xuanhu, their connection with the south has been cut off, and it is no longer possible to defend themselves. Surrender to Wei Yuan. Liu Yu regretted his wrong decision, and he was unwilling to lose the Huaibei counties easily.Shen Wenbing, the younger brother of Shen Wenxiu, the governor of Qingzhou who surrendered to the Northern Wei Dynasty, served as a general in the court. Liu Yu sent him and General Liu Huaizhen of the Fuguo to take the imperial edict and lead an army of 3,000 horses to go north to Qingzhou to surrender Shen Wenxiu.

Liu Huaizhen said to his subordinates: "Although Shen Wenxiu wanted to surrender Qingzhou to Suolu, how could the people in Qidi (that is, today's Shandong) be willing to wear left jackets (that is, wear Hu people's clothes)! Now that our army is moving forward, we should Propagating mighty virtue everywhere, you will be invincible and invincible!" Liu Huaizhen was right. People in Qingzhou, Jizhou and other places were not stable. The Northern Wei Dynasty had just acquired these territories, so they had to directly appoint the former Liu Song guards, and they could not conduct effective management for a while.Shen Wenxiu didn't accept his younger brother's persuasion at first, but the subordinate generals had no heart to fight.Liu Huaizhen's army was small, but did not encounter any resistance.The defenses of the cities in Qingzhou retreated or collapsed, and they were no match at all. Shen Wenxiu had no choice but to surrender to the Liu Song court, and Cui Daogu, the governor of Jizhou, also asked to surrender.

Liu Yu said that he would not blame them for the past, and reappointed them as the governors of the two states.However, at this time he made another serious mistake and asked Liu Huaizhen and others to withdraw their infantry and cavalry. In this way, the northern and southern troops could not meet, and Liu Song lost his last chance to continue to control these two states. The Northern Wei Dynasty was just the opposite.The Xianbei people assembled a powerful military force in just one month (the organization speed of the Xianbei cavalry is indeed fast, which is very beneficial for them to seize the opportunity), and with Sun Ling, the general of Pingdong, as the forward, they drove to Qingzhou and led the five Wan's backing up the army was another worthy figure of the Murong family - Murong Baiyao.

Murong Baiyao is the great-great-great-grandson of Murong Hao, the founding monarch of the former Yan Kingdom. Since he was a descendant of a concubine, he was not involved in the several internal strife in the Yan Kingdom. When the Northern Wei Dynasty attacked Houyan, his father defected to the Northern Wei Dynasty. As a local official in the Northern Wei Dynasty, he was honest and upright, and was posthumously named a Duke after his death. Murong Baiyao inherited his father's character. When Emperor Wencheng Tuoba Jun was in power, he was also a minister in the local government. He enforced the law like a mountain, and was very upright and upright.After the fall of Yi Hun, he was still reused.Faced with the sudden rebellion and surrender in Qingzhou, Empress Dowager Feng appointed him as an envoy and governor of the military, stationed troops in Fufen, and marched in search of gaps.

The first city to bear the brunt was Wuyan (now Dongpingdong, Shandong). Shen Zhuan, the prefect of Dongping who guarded Wuyan, was originally from the north. When the Northern Wei Dynasty attacked Houyan, his family fled south across the Yellow River and was adopted by Liu Song.The cavalry of the Northern Wei Dynasty had just crossed the Yellow River, and the siege equipment was not ready. The generals thought it was not appropriate to advance lightly. Li Fan, the left Sima of Murong Baiyao, had a different opinion. He said: "Now our army is rushing long distances and penetrating deep into the enemy's territory. We must not stay here and miss the opportunity. At this time, Shen Zhuan must have thought that our army came too fast to attack the city, so he relaxed. Be vigilant, thinking that you can defend the city with a few weak soldiers. We just show weakness to them, purge the elite soldiers, catch them by surprise, and conquer them in one battle."

Murong Baiyao nodded and said, "One day's dominance against the enemy will be a disaster for generations! If our army slows down its advance, it will be difficult to deal with them when the people's hearts are stabilized. What Li Sima said is absolutely true." He ordered the army approaching Wuyan to pretend to retreat, and the farther and farther away from the city, Shen Zhuan gradually became unprepared.At nightfall, Murong Baiyao urgently issued a military order, and carefully arranged the actions of various ministries. When it was dawn, he returned to the city and launched an attack.Shen Zhuan failed to organize effective fortifications and was attacked and killed by the Wei army. After the city was broken, according to the custom of the Xianbei people, the men in the city were to be enslaved, and the women were to be collected as military rewards.Li Fan dissuaded him: "The State of Qi was known as Eastern Qin in ancient times. If we don't work hard to manage it, I'm afraid it will not be so easy to pacify it. Now that we have just occupied Wuyan, it is a good time to let the common people feel the grace of the emperor. We should pay them a good price. Propagate faith, give help, if you win the hearts of the people, Qingzhou and Jizhou will naturally be in your hands." Murong Baiyao praised it very much, released all the captured ordinary people, and sent his troops to attack Feicheng in the northeast of Wuyan. Li Fan offered advice to Murong Baiyao again: "Although Feicheng is not big, it will take some time to attack it. Even if it is defeated, it is nothing special. If it is not defeated by accident, it will damage the army's prestige. I think Why don't you send a letter to the defenders of Feicheng, telling them the details of our capture of Wuyan, and tell them to surrender if they don't fight; even if they don't surrender, they will definitely flee and dare not resist any more." Murong Baiyao acted according to his plan, and the defenders of Feicheng were really shocked by the momentum of the Wei army, and fled without fighting. The Wei army won a complete victory and obtained a large amount of food as military supplies.Murong Baiyao praised Li Fan excitedly: "With the help of Qing on this trip, the land of the Three Qis is not certain." Taking advantage of the victory, the Wei army marched forward, charged with cavalry, and captured Migou and Yuanmiao (both in the west of Shandong today).It only took about ten days for Murong Baiyao to go down to the four cities. The Song army in the Shandong area was all terrified, and their faces changed when they talked about Murong Baiyao. Only it took some effort to fight Shengcheng (now southwest of Changqing, Shandong).Fang Chongji, the governor of Bingzhou who guarded Shengcheng, refused to surrender, and there were only 700 defenders in the city.Murong Baiyao built a long siege and fought steadily, taking over half a month to capture the city.Fang Chongji fled at night, Murong Baiyao followed the advice of Han Qilin, who joined the army, to appease the people in Shengcheng, let them resume their old jobs, and treated Fang Chongji's mother and wife with courtesy.What is paid is bit by bit, and what is harvested is the hearts of the people.Not long after, Fang Chongji, who retreated to Panyang (now southwest of Zibo, Shandong), offered his city to Murong Baiyao and redeemed his family. After clearing several small towns on the border, the Wei army marched straight in.Cui Dao, the governor of Jizhou, was sticking to Licheng (now Jinan, Shandong), and Shen Wenxiu, the governor of Qingzhou, was guarding Dongyang City. They were both directly exposed to the front of the Wei army, and they were extremely critical. (What needs to be said is that Jizhou and Qingzhou in the Liu and Song Dynasties actually governed the same area, which is basically equivalent to Qingzhou in the Han Dynasty. The real Jizhou is in Hebei. Since the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the Southern Dynasties have not controlled it. Qingzhou is also It was recovered after Liu Yu captured Nanyan, so Qingzhou and Jizhou were put together to receive refugees from the north and the south.) Only then did Liu Yu, who was slow to react, think of sending Shen Youzhi and others to attack Pengcheng to save Qingzhou.However, in the autumn of this year, the Qing and Si rivers dried up, the water transportation was not smooth, and the grain road was blocked, so the Song army was unable to march.At first Liu Yu gave strict orders to go north, but then he began to repent and sent someone to call Shen Youzhi back to his teacher.How could Wei Yuan, who was guarding Pengcheng in the Northern Wei Dynasty, let go of such an opportunity? He sent his general Kong Bogong to pursue him, defeated Shen Youzhi, and drove the Song army to Huainan. Xuzhou's barrier hindered Liu Song's reinforcements. Murong Baiyao entered and besieged Licheng, and took Dongcheng in the second year of Huangxing in the Northern Wei Dynasty (AD 468).Cui Daogu couldn't continue to support him, so he had to surrender with his face bound. Murong Baiyao untied him and sent him to Pingcheng. Murong Baiyao's vanguard was led by Changsun Ling, and they had already attacked Dongyang City.Shen Wenxiu had already sent envoys to surrender, but Changsun Ling didn't know what to do, and after entering the outer city of Dongyang, he allowed the soldiers to loot everywhere.Shen Wenxiu was furious, and immediately ordered the soldiers to close the city and refuse to defend. Changsun Ling repeatedly attacked Dongyang, but was still unable to take it down. After Murong Baiyao captured Licheng, when he heard what Changsun Ling had done, he hated this prodigal son so much.He had no choice but to take the experience of besieging Licheng and surrounded Dongyang City. Song Ming Emperor Liu Yu's plan was frustrated many times, and he still didn't give up. He appointed Shen Wenxiu's younger brother Shen Wenjing as the general of the auxiliary country, and then went north by sea to help Dongyang City (there is no way, the land route is impassable).After the Song army landed, they reached Buqicheng (now northwest of Laoshan, Shandong), and the Wei army had already cut off their back road.Shen Wenjingying defended the city on its own, unable to stop the successive attacks of the Wei army, the city was broken, and Shen Wenjing was killed. Dongyang City endured another half a year.In the absence of foreign aid, Shen Wenxiu fought day and night with his soldiers. This last fortress of the Southern Dynasty in the north was not broken by the Wei army until the spring of the third year of Huangxing (AD 469). On the day the city was broken, Shen Wenxiu looked up to the sky and sighed that the sky would not help me. She took off her armor and battle robe, changed into clothes for receiving guests, and sat in the main hall. The soldiers of the Northern Wei Dynasty came up to him, put their knives on his neck and asked, "Quickly tell me, where is Shen Wenxiu, governor of Qingzhou?" Shen Wenxiu replied sharply: "I am!" The soldiers of the Northern Wei Dynasty never thought that the middle-aged man with haggard face but bright eyes was Shen Wenxiu, who had given them headaches for several years. They were stunned, and after a while, they took off his clothes, tied him up and went to see Murong Bai Yao.Wei Bing pushed and pushed him, forcing him to kneel down to Murong Baiyao. Shen Wenxiu looked disdainful, and said: "We are ministers of the two countries, why should I kneel before him?" Murong Baiyao laughed out loud, not caring about Shen Wenxiu's unreasonableness, secretly rejoicing that Liu Yu had such a general, but he couldn't trust him.He asked the soldiers to return the clothes to Shen Wenxiu, arranged meals for him, and sent them to Pingcheng. At this time, Tuo Bahong was already in charge of the government, and he treated several generals of the Song Dynasty well.Shen Wenxiu rebelled several times, and Tuo Bahong also pardoned his crimes. Later, he appreciated his mighty and unyielding integrity, and worshiped him as a doctor. The last battle between Song and Wei—the Battle of Qingzhou ended here.Murong Baiyao made outstanding achievements and was worshiped as envoy, governor of Qing, Qi, East Xuzhou military forces, Qingzhou governor, and was awarded the highest title of King of Jinan.