Chapter 15 Northern Wei Tuoba

At the end of the 5th century A.D., Emperor Xiaowen Yuanhong of the Northern Wei Dynasty launched a Sinicization movement, which was unique and rare in Chinese and foreign history.He decided to move the capital to Luoyang in 493 A.D., and issued an imperial edict the following year.He also forbade Hufu to break the Xianbei language, and if he used "the language of the northern vulgar to the court", he would be dismissed from office.His own surname was Tuoba, but he changed his surname to Yuan.Other Xianbei Murong Yuchi and other surnames were also changed to monosyllable Chinese surnames.Yuan Hong was born in 467 AD and ascended to the throne at the age of 4.He was raised by the civilized empress dowager since he was a child, so in the first 20 years of being emperor, she was also in charge of the court affairs. This empress dowager, according to her title, should be old-fashioned, but in fact she seemed to be underage when she began to listen to politics. 30 years old.Her family background can be traced back to the Feng family of Beiyan, and she was also one of the imperial courts founded by the Han people during the "Five Hu and Sixteen Kingdoms" period.Later, the two empresses of Yuan Hong were also the daughters of the Feng family, and he used the name of "marriage with the same surname" to marry his six imperial brothers together with the prominent officials of the Han Dynasty in his dynasty, and their spouses were also appointed by the emperor. It's like "the second younger brother, Shiping Wang Xie, can pinting Weiqing Longxi Li Chong's daughter; the younger brother Beihai Wang Xiang, can pining the official's doctor Zheng Yi in Xingyang".The half-dozen younger brothers who married before were all reduced to concubines.

From a long-term historical point of view: this historical site is only the end of the activities of the Tuoba people in the Northern Wei Dynasty in China. The reunification has done a basic job.And in the subtle stage, a mysterious woman takes the lead.It can be seen that the evolution of history is sometimes unpredictable.It is just a long-term rationality in history, and it was not something that people at that time could personally predict.It will take thousands of years for us to connect some seemingly irrelevant deeds before we can be precise. 369 years after the fall of the Han Dynasty, China could not be unified.At that time, the population always moved from north to south, and from west to east. The majority of the Han people could not compete with the power presided over by nature.Although the ethnic minorities in the north are good at cavalry tactics, they cannot cross the water marsh areas such as the Huai River and the Han River.And the way of life of the nomads cannot be used as a model for the unification of China.The Qin and Han-type empires ruled a large number of small farmers with bureaucratic institutions, but during the split period, the rich families of the Han people and the chieftains of the Yi and Di all set up their own stoves, hindering the government's power to collect taxes from the whole people.Coupled with the differences in the languages ​​of various nationalities, it has created obstacles to unification.

Tuoba broke this deadlock.The reason why they are able to do this is not that they have a high level of education, but because of their simple humanistic conditions, they can start from the most basic business and solve problems with primitive style, so they unexpectedly became a tool for China's reunification. The Tuoba belonged to the Xianbei species, who moved in Inner Mongolia in the 3rd century AD.At the end of the century it began to gather near Holinger, when there was no writing, let alone written law, and no private property.At the beginning of the 4th century, at the invitation of the Jin general Liu Kun, they participated in the Chinese civil war, and their tribe was stationed in the area a hundred miles south of the Great Wall in the north of Shanxi.Although they claim to have "more than 200,000 people under control", the total population does not seem to exceed one million, and is even far lower than this number.

In the 4th century AD, it was the climax of the "Five Random Chinas". Although the Tuoba family invested, they never took the initiative.They didn't show up again until Fu Jian's Feishui battle was unfavorable and the Great Northern Alliance collapsed.In 386 AD, Tuoba Gui claimed to be the acting king, and began to look like an independent country.Their policy at that time was to first build an agricultural foundation inside and outside the Great Wall, and its farmers were forced to weave by the conquered nations.At this time, Quanluo often fought with other ethnic minorities, and every time they wiped out the opponent's personnel, horses, cattle and sheep.For the captured tribal chiefs, they were brutally executed. For example, in 391 A.D., the Potiefu (that is, the mixed race of the Huns and Xianbei) Liu Weichen "received more than 5,000 people from the clan of Weichen's children and killed them all." ".For the others, "the cattle are given to each of them, and the field is dictated by dictation". "Wei Shu" Shihuo Zhi said that it has fields within the Gina, and "in the four directions and four dimensions outside it, eight commanders were set up to supervise them, to persuade them to teach farming, and to measure and adjust their income, thinking that the palace is the most".In 396 A.D., Pingcheng (Datong, Shanxi Province) was made the capital, and the Tuoba clan acted as a conqueror, "immigrating the people from six prefectures in Shandong and more than 360,000 craftsmen and more than 100,000 skillful people from Koryo to serve as the capital. "Some books are also called thirty-six "departments".If a large number of people are divided into bureaus, there are signs of serfs in the country.Such conquest and transformation did not stop until the beginning of the 5th century.For example, in 413 A.D., the "Yueqin Beini Tribe" was broken, and "the farm equipment was given, and the land was received by mouth".The other narrations of "Laijiang" and "Naifu" are endless. "Wei Shu" Taizu Ji and Taizong Ji mentioned 31 such cases, of which 13 had household registrations, with a total of 110,000 households.It can be seen that the Tuoba clan established a new agricultural base and took it as the foundation.Only when the time is not ripe and you don't aspire to the Central Plains can you use this economic power as capital to consolidate the north first.

If the above-mentioned conquered population were once serfs, then according to Shihuo Zhi, after 426 they gradually acquired the status of small owner farmers.Up to that day, "the commanders of miscellaneous camps and households are all over the world, they are not subordinate to guarding the governor, the tax and service are not regular, and the household registration is disordered." This year, all these military surveillance personnel were abolished. It is a clear evidence of entering the stage of bureaucratic control. It is not easy to find a fixed answer as to when the Tuoba clan was sinicized.Judging from the existing texts, they first obtained the advisors of the Han people, who were promoted from the descendants and captives, and relied only on their astronomical and astrological talents.After taking Pingcheng as the capital of the country, building buildings, laws and regulations, and food for the community, one step guides the other.It is unavoidable to set up a doctor of the Five Classics and an imperial school.When he moved to various places to "guard the heroes and officials" to become the capital, he must rely on their management and organizational capabilities.It's just that the agricultural society of the Northern Wei Dynasty (it was called Wei in 424, and it was called the Northern Wei Dynasty in history books to avoid duplication with Cao Cao's Wei) was formed by artificial incubation, and it seemed that chemical juice was made in a test tube, and various factors were pre-determined. Therefore, a regime with complete system and not monopolized by private forces has been preserved.

It was not until 424 that Tuoba Tao was proclaimed emperor. Not long after he came to the throne, he promulgated more than a thousand Chinese characters. Kaiqiu".It can be seen that the new imperial court not only paid attention to cultural relics, but also began to use multi-ethnic languages ​​as a tool for unification. Tuoba Tao unified North China and ended the situation of the Five Hu and Sixteen Kingdoms.In areas of the majority Han people, it is always difficult to be effectively controlled by the absolute imperial power because of the aristocratic clan.In 428 A.D., Tuoba Tao "made many illegal acts according to the order of the world, and selected loyal and good people to replace them", and he already seemed to have completely solved this problem. Four years later, "Fanyang Luxuan, Boling Cui Chuo, Zhaojun Li Ling, Hejian Xingying, Bohai Gaoyun, Guangping Youya, Taiyuan Zhang Wei, etc. are all virtuous and handsome, crowned states".His name is Mucai, but he actually forced hundreds of people to work as unpaid errands in Pingcheng and held them as hostages. In 450, there was even more Cui Hao.Situ Cuihao wrote "National Records", which was too factual and straightforward. There were inappropriate descriptions of the Xianbei people and the royal family, and the text was published on the suburban altar as a stone tablet.When the emperor was furious, Cui Hao's family was wiped out, including Cui's in-laws, including the Lu family in Fanyang, the Guo family in Taiyuan, the Liu family in Hedong, and also the "Yiqi clan".Tuoba Tao even claimed that he wanted to do better, so he killed several thousand more people.Regardless of whether the ancestor Taiwu Emperor Tuoba Tao had a plan or no plan, his expropriation of talents and literary inquisition have dealt a major blow to the wealthy families of the Han people in North China.Even the households that have not been affected have fully accepted the warning of this disposal, and will never dare to obstruct the administration of the central government.One of the tricks in this is that the emperor controls tens of millions of soldiers and civilians, and does not allow other civil organizations to interfere. There is no difference between the aristocratic Chinese and the barbarian chiefs.

Not long after this incident happened, the Northern Wei Dynasty began to march south, intending to use the power of North China to sweep the Song Dynasty of the Southern Dynasty (that is, the Song Dynasty of Song Qi Liang Chen Zhi Song).When recruiting soldiers, one out of every three cents, two out of five cents, the wealth of the wealthy family is 400,000 yuan and 200,000 yuan for monks and nuns.However, Tuoba Tao's army, with the cavalry of ethnic minorities driving out the infantry of the Han people as the vanguard, still did not have a good supply system, and it was still conscripted on the spot.He couldn't attack the cities in northern Jiangsu, and still marched on the north bank of the Yangtze River. In the end, he lingered near the water, still unable to do anything, so he had to retreat northward.The Southern Dynasties were also devastated by this battle and were unable to pursue it. Therefore, the unification of the country would take more than a century.

Tuoba Tao was murdered by eunuchs in early 452 AD, and his prince also died strangely, leaving only a 12-year-old grandson to succeed him.Due to the early marriage of Xianbei people, coupled with the short life of these generations of Northern Wei monarchs, there were four emperors representing the five generations in less than 20 years in 471.And the last one is also Tuoba Hong mentioned at the beginning of this article.His biological mother and grandmother were both "remaining as usual" because the Tuoba family quoted Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty's method of "establishing his son to kill his mother". At this time, there was only one "Wencheng Wenming Empress Dowager" with Han blood , between the ages of 29 and 30, who was referred to as the "Empress Dowager of Civilization" in history.

"Wei Shu" said that she "has a lot of wisdom and suspicion, can achieve great things, rewards and punishments for life and death, and decides many people."Tuobahong not only raised and educated her, but also "collapsed until later" and "unknown to be born", that is, he did not know his own life experience until he was 23.Therefore, "everything is insignificant, and everything is given to the Queen Mother."She also produced hundreds of lyrics to educate him, but "there are too many words to pass on", and the content will become a trace of history forever. The biography of "Wei Shu" also said that she "does not behave properly". "Wang Rui went in and out of the bedroom, and after a few years he became the minister's assistant." "Although Li Chong was appointed with a weapon, he was also a veil of favor."Most talented women in Chinese history have always been criticized in their private lives.The above is a double meaning, we can't verify it.It's just that it is true that Feng's citation of bold Han civil servants.Wang Rui can also be counted as "fortunate". He escaped from the cage one day and guarded the tiger with a halberd as the Minister of the Ministry of Officials in a crisis when the guards were overwhelmed. Sparse "cautious punishment" and always advocate the cultural rule method of "rather killing the innocent than pardoning the guilty".On the other hand, Li Chong made the civil administration of the Tuoba regime "Zhou Lihua" and gave its financial management a "Li Kui-style" system, which left long-term consequences for China's political system in the next few hundred years.

This series of "Taihe edicts" includes the salaries of hundreds of officials in 484, but the taxes at this time are still arranged by the family, that is, "the suzerain supervises, so the people are more hidden, and fifty or thirty families are one." household".Therefore, in 485, an edict was issued to equalize the land in the world. In principle, the land is state-owned, and the standard for each family to have land according to the population is established. In 486, three chiefs were established, "five families established a neighbor chief, five neighbors established a district chief, five Li established a party chief, and the chief was chosen by the strong and conscientious villagers."Only in this way can we actually enter the "rent mediocrity adjustment" system.That is to say, small families of self-cultivating farmers are used as the unit of conscription and taxation, and rural organizations use the ideal mathematical formula promulgated by the government as the criterion, and do not recognize the private system in various places, so it is called "the law of mixing the world."

This section of the measure was risky when it was enacted that day.How far it has been practiced is impossible to examine.Only died in 490, and there was no change in the court.Yuanhong's sinicization policy can also be continued, and Li Chong is more creditable. When Luoyang was rebuilt in 493, he actually served as the chief engineer.It's just Yuanhong's plan, no one will take over.He attaches great importance to the navy, and the Xianbei nobles still control the horse breeding areas inside and outside the Great Wall, so they cannot be dismissed suddenly.In the 6th century, there was another coup in Luoyang.The Northern Wei Dynasty was divided into East and West. The Eastern Wei Dynasty was ruled by the Gao family of the Northern Qi Dynasty, and the Western Wei Dynasty was ruled by the Yuwen family of the Northern Zhou Dynasty.However, the evolution of history did not stop for this separatist movement.The unification of China requires a tendency to use the small owner-cultivated peasant society as the governing manager, and it is becoming more and more obvious.The mixture of Han nationality and minority nationalities has never been interrupted.In the Northern Dynasties, nomads were the mainstay. By the 6th century, they also implemented the government military system to mobilize farmers, and also began to build the Great Wall to prevent other ethnic minorities from committing internal crimes. This is a clear proof. Yang Jian, Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty, was of mixed Hu-Han blood.First use the power of the Northern Zhou Dynasty to annex the Northern Qi Dynasty, turn around to solve the Northern Zhou Dynasty, and mobilize the power north of the Yangtze River to sweep the Southern Dynasty. The direction of development is also from west to east, from north to south, and conquer the prosperous and rich regions with simple economic and humanistic regions.This is also the logic of inheriting the historical activities of the Tuoba clan in the Northern Wei Dynasty.Yang Jian's military operations were mainly naval forces, which can also be said to be bestowed by Yuan Hong's move to Luoyang.The Northern Dynasties needed this period of transition in order to make institutional adjustments and absorb the strengths of the South.