Chapter 188 Chapter 187: Emperor Wu Yuwenyong

Yu Wenyong was the third emperor of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, whose name was Ni Luotu.He is the fourth son of Yu Wentai, born in the ninth year of Datong (543 AD). After Yu Wenyong ascended the throne, he decided to concentrate on doing a good job in internal affairs, strengthening the national power, eliminating the Northern Qi Dynasty, and unifying the North.At that time, the politics of the Northern Qi Dynasty was very dark. The emperor and ministers only cared about sex and ignored the government affairs. The situation of the country went from bad to worse and gradually lost its economic and military advantages.The common people are miserable, longing for unity and a stable life.Seeing that the time had come to eliminate Northern Qi, he sent people to spend a lot of money to bribe some officials and people in Northern Qi to act as spies to spy on Northern Qi's military intelligence.In order to fight for the Turkic coalition to attack Qi, Yang Jian and Wang Qing were sent to contact the Turkic leader Mugan Khan Qijin and asked Mugan's daughter Ashina to be the queen.Northern Qi was terrified when they heard the news, and hastily sent envoys with a large sum of money to propose marriage to Turkic.Khan Mugan was greedy for Northern Qi's money, and planned to detain Yang Jian and Wang Qing and hand them over to Northern Qi for disposal.Fortunately, Yang Jian was not afraid in the face of danger, and stated the pros and cons, so that Mugan Khan was at a loss for words, so he changed his mind and agreed to join forces with the Northern Zhou Dynasty to attack the Northern Qi Dynasty.In October of the third year of Baoding (563 A.D.), Yang Zhong of the Zhu State of the Northern Zhou Dynasty led 10,000 cavalry and the Turkic allied forces to attack Qi from the north road, and Da Xiwu led 30,000 cavalry to outflank Qi from the south road. Shanxi Taiyuan) join forces.The Northern Army led by Yang Zhong was heroic and invincible, conquering more than 20 cities in the Northern Qi Dynasty one after another.It's a pity that when they attacked Jinyang, the Turkic army saw that the Qi army was strong and refused to fight, so they took the lead in retreating, which resulted in the defeat of the Zhou army.After hearing the news, Zhou Jun of the South Road had no choice but to retreat, and the first large-scale war against Qi failed.

This defeat made Yu Wenyong feel very sorry. He wanted to immediately organize troops to attack the Northern Qi Dynasty, but Yu Wenhu, who held the real power of the country, was not so active. In order to facilitate his ambition, Yu Wenyong began to solve the problem of Yu Wenhu.Yuwenhu has been in power since Yuwentai's death. He thinks he is the emperor's brother and the founding father of the country, and he is becoming more and more domineering.His prime minister's mansion has more guards than the imperial palace, and without his warrant, the emperor would not be able to mobilize troops.His son and his subordinates were greedy, cruel and arrogant, which aroused public outrage.He always regards Yu Wenyong as his elder brother, so that every time Yu Wenyong meets Yu Wenhu in the palace, he always treats him like a younger brother.When the two went to visit the queen mother together, the queen mother often gave Yu Wenhu a seat and asked Yu Wenyong to stand beside him.For all this, Yu Wenyong saw it in his eyes and kept it in his heart, but because the time did not come, he had to pretend to be deaf and dumb, and did not intervene.As time went on, many ministers also felt that Yu Wenhu was not good enough, and even Yu Jicai, who was very close to him, persuaded him to return to the emperor and go home to retire.Since then, Yu Wenhu has alienated Yu Jicai.

Yu Wenyong's younger brother Wei Gong Yu Wenzhi has always had a close relationship with Yu Wenhu. Later, he was dismissed by Yu Wenhu because of his defeat in the Battle of Zhuankou. He also held a grudge and urged Yu Wenyong to kill Yu Wenhu, hoping to replace him The status of Otsuka Zai.Yu Wenyong knew that the time was ripe, so he secretly plotted with Wei Gongzhi, Yuwen Shenju, the doctor of the right palace, Wang Gui, the doctor of the internal history, and Yuwen Xiaobo, the right servant, to kill Yuwenhu.One day in March of the first year of Jiande (572 A.D.), Yu Wenhu returned to Chang'an from Tongzhou.After Yu Wenyong met in Wen'an Hall, he planned to take Yu Wenhu to visit the queen mother again, and said to him: "The queen mother is old and likes to drink. Although I have advised her to quit drinking many times, she will not listen. My brother will go to court today. She, I hope I can persuade her again." As he spoke, he took out from his bosom the famous "Jiugao" written by King Zhou Cheng urging people not to brew and drink too much, and handed it to Yu Wenhu, asking him to "admonish the queen mother with this".After arriving at Hanren Hall, Yu Wenhu read "Jiu Gao" in front of the Queen Mother according to Yu Wenyong's instructions.Taking advantage of his unpreparedness, Yu Wenyong swung the jade pot behind him and hit him on the head suddenly, and Yu Wenhu fell to the ground in response.Emperor Wu took out his sword and asked eunuch He Quan to kill Yu Wenhu.Where has He Quan experienced such a scene?While terrified, Yu Wenhu was not hurt by a few slashes.At this time, Yu Wenzhi, who was hiding in the hall, jumped out, raised the knife in his hand and dropped it. Yu Wenhu immediately turned his head into a different place and became a ghost under the knife.Yu Wenyong ordered his grandson Lan and others to act quickly to kill Yu Wenhu's sons, brothers and cronies.From then on, Yu Wenyong began to personally take over the government.

After pro-government, Yu Wenyong focused on domestic adjustments, developed production, absorbed farmers from the average land to serve as government soldiers, expanded armaments, and strengthened his strength. In July of the fourth year of Jiande (575 A.D.), Yu Wenyong officially issued an edict to crusade against the Northern Qi Dynasty.He mobilized 180,000 troops to go to Qi, with Wang Chun, Sima Xiaonan, and Da Xizhen as the former commanders of the three armies, Yu Wensheng, Hou Mo, Chen Chong, and Yu Wenzhao as the latter three army commanders, and Yu Wenxian and Yang Jian led the attack. Fully advance to the north.Yu Wenyong personally led 60,000 troops to Heyin (now Mengjin County, Henan).The military discipline of the Northern Zhou Dynasty was strict, and officers and soldiers were prohibited from trampling crops, cutting down trees, and looting people's property in the territory of Northern Qi Dynasty. Anyone who violated the order would be beheaded.Soon, the Northern Zhou Dynasty captured Heyin, Luokou (now Gong County, Henan Province) and Heyang (now Mengjin County, Henan Province), but was blocked when attacking Ludan City (now Mengjin County, Henan Province). More than 20 days passed. There is still no breakthrough on the battlefield.Yu Wenyong was so anxious that he suddenly fell ill and had to retreat back to Chang'an to recuperate.Although Yu Yi, Yu Wenxian and other generals conquered more than 30 cities in the Northern Qi Dynasty one after another, they finally gave up and returned to Zhou Tu.

Although this expedition did not achieve the goal of destroying Qi, it greatly dampened the vitality of Northern Qi, and it also made Yu Wenyong clearly see that Northern Qi had no strength to contend with Northern Zhou. In the first month of the sixth year of Jiande (577 A.D.), Yecheng was captured by the Northern Zhou Dynasty. Gao Wei, the Queen of Qi, and Gao Heng, the King of Qi, fled to Qingzhou, where they were chased by Zhou Shi and captured.Northern Qi officially perished.In the Northern Zhou Dynasty, there were 50 states, 162 counties, 380 counties, and 3,032,500 households.Yu Wenyong finally realized his long-cherished wish for many years and unified the north, laying the foundation for the unification of the country by the Sui Dynasty.

After destroying the Northern Qi Dynasty, Yu Wenyong did not take credit for himself.He is still committed to the development of the Northern Zhou Dynasty.He continued to implement the policy of exterminating Buddhism in the Northern Qi area, turning more than 40,000 temples in the entire Central Plains into residences for princes and princes, and more than 3 million monks and nuns have all become government registered households.He ordered the release of slaves and miscellaneous households, which increased their enthusiasm for production.He also advocated frugality, often wearing cloth royal robes and quilts, and canceled those gorgeous decorations in the palace.And reduce the number of maids, leaving only 10 concubines in the harem.

In May of the first year of Xuanzheng (578 A.D.), Yu Wenyong personally led an army to crusade against the Turks who harassed the border of the Northern Zhou Dynasty.Years of war made him sick from overwork, and he fell ill in Yunyang Palace during the march.He had a premonition that it would be difficult for him to recover, so he ordered his master Yuwen Xiaobo to come to see him as soon as possible and tell him what to do next.That night, he appointed Yuwen Xiaobo as the senior doctor of the Siwei, commanding the Suwei Army, and responsible for guarding the capital in case of accidents.Later, Yu Wenyong's condition continued to deteriorate. In June, he passed away on the night of returning to Chang'an at the age of 36.Buried in Xiaoling Mausoleum, the temple name is "Gaozu" and the posthumous title is "Emperor Wu".