Chapter 65 Taiwu Emperor Tuoba Tao's Faintness in His Last Years

After Tuoba Tao destroyed Beiliang, he never stopped militarily. In 445, he led troops to destroy Gai Wu, the Huren of Lushui; in 446, Tuoba Tao sent troops to attack the three prefectures of Yan, Qing, and Ji in the Southern Dynasties, killing and looting wantonly; Ministry; in 449, taking advantage of Rouran Khan's new mourning, Tuoba Tao sent out another three-way army to attack people because of the mourning; in early 450, the Northern Wei Dynasty sent 100,000 cavalry to attack the Song State, besieging the city and trapping the enemy, killing and injuring countless civilians.So far, Tuoba Tao seems to have become addicted to attacking and conquering, fanatically superstitious about military conquest.

One of the cruel acts: Cui Hao, the Minister of the Han nationality In 450, Liu Yilong, the emperor of the Song Dynasty in the Southern Dynasty, thought that Yuanjia had been prosperous for nearly 30 years, and his national power was unprecedented.Before the war broke out, Emperor Taiwu had just exterminated the Han minister Cui Hao. Speaking of this Cui Hao, he is the most regrettable intellectual.This person served as Emperor Daowu, Mingyuan, and Taiwu of the Northern Wei Dynasty. Whether it was to pacify the northern countries or fight against the Southern Dynasty, Cui Hao's strategies played a decisive role in the victory of the Northern Wei army.

Cui Hao is slender and white, looks like a beautiful woman, has a sensitive nature, and often compares himself to Zhang Liang.After the great victory in Pingliang, Emperor Taiwu held Cui Hao at a grand banquet and said to Juqu Mengxun's envoy: "The Cui Gong you mentioned is the one in front of you. The beauty of talent and strategy is incomparable today. I must consult him before doing anything. Cui Gong's opinion is a matter of success or failure, and there is no discrepancy at all." After accumulating meritorious service, Cui Haoguan went to Situ.Just such a master who is good at strategy, but not good at self-planning.He believed in Taoism himself, so he satirized Emperor Taiwu to destroy Buddhism.Tuoba Tao obeyed his advice and found an opportunity to massacre monks and destroy Buddhist temples across the country, becoming a famous one among the "Three Wu and One Sect" emperors who exterminated Buddhism.At that time, there were countless people who believed in Buddhism, from the princes and ministers to the common people in the Northern Wei Dynasty. Cui Hao offended a large number of Xianbei nobles by doing this.

When Cui Hao majored in the history of the country, he also directly wrote about the original, not avoiding taboos, and the content involved many historical facts of the killings, brutality and promiscuity of the ancestors of the Wei Dynasty.The literati liked meritorious deeds, and Cui Hao engraved the history of the country on the stone tablet, costing three million silver and one hundred and thirty steps, in order to make the content pass down from generation to generation. The nobles of Xianbei, the kings, and the officials who hated Cui Hao spoke up one after another, which made Taiwu Emperor Tuoba Tao furious. This uncivilized barbarian warrior is not the heroic and powerful Emperor Fu Jian after all. He not only punished Cui Haoquan The family, and the family of Fanyang Lu, Hedong Liu and Taiyuan Guo who are related to Cui Hao by marriage.

Before his execution, Cui Hao was imprisoned in a wooden cage in the south of the city. Dozens of soldiers yelled and urinated on his head on the stage.This kind of experience has never been encountered by literati heroes for thousands of years, so that Wei Fafa, who wrote "Book of Wei", sighed: Cui Hao's talents are extensive, he studies heaven and man, and makes political and political plans, which is second to none in his time. This is why he compares himself to Zifang.It belongs to the autumn when Emperor Taizong was in power, and it was the day when Shizu managed it. He obeyed his words, and it was summer in Ningkuo District.Encounter is both long and diligent, and diligence is also luxuriant.Although the conspiracy is overwhelming, the prestige has not shaken the Lord.Encounter at the end of the road, so insecure.How can the people hate it when all the birds hide their bows?The fullness of the utensils must be generalized, and the evil will cause disaster?What kind of people suffer from Scoo, sad husband!

The emperor of the Northern Wei Dynasty liked to kill his opponents or subordinates from the beginning of Emperor Daowu. After he conquered Zhongshan, the capital of the Yan Kingdom, he took the idea of ​​killing his younger brother Tuobagu, Cheng Tong, Fu Gaoba and other Yi clans, and slowly killed them with a big knife. Frustrated to death; after the victory of the crusade against Liu Weichen, more than 5,000 people from Weichen's clan were killed and thrown into the Yellow River.In the era of Emperor Taiwu, it was even more "prosperous". Cui Hao, who had made the most contributions to Wei, even killed his in-laws.Then, after Northern Qi Gaoyang destroyed Wei, thousands of members of Wei's royal family were all slaughtered, probably because their ancestors were easy to kill!

Later generations of experts who studied the history of the Northern Wei Dynasty all delved into Cui Hao's execution, thinking that this incident was the result of "the contradiction and struggle between Hu and Han" within the upper ruling class of the Northern Wei Dynasty. Indeed, after Cui Hao came to power, he "organized the human relations and distinguished the surnames and clans", which raised the status of the noble families of the Han people and restrained the domineering of the Xianbei nobles to a certain extent.However, in essence, all actions of Cui Hao served the imperial rule of the Northern Wei Dynasty, but in the later period, he was "smug" because he was always favored by Emperor Taiwu, and finally dared to compete with the prince for the official position, "the school won the top", They completely forgot the Taoist purpose of "protecting one's life wisely" and "retiring after success".Despite such "mistakes", the author believes that Tuoba Tao did not always deliberately want to kill Cui Hao, who is a "Han nationality".It has always been believed that the killing of Cui Hao by Emperor Taiwu was an outbreak of racial conflicts in which the Xianbei nobles retaliated against the Han people.

In his later years, Emperor Taiwu conquered Sike, and already felt that he was the almighty emperor of the world.Coupled with many years of alcoholism, and the moody temperament of the middle-aged man, he can kill whoever he wants, and kill whoever he wants, and he is really in a state of madness.Cui Hao was unlucky, when someone accused him of revising the history of the country for "violently exaggerating the country's evil". In a fit of anger, Emperor Taiwu took the initiative to do such a cruel and heinous act. In a sense, Cui Hao was the last person who dared to write the history of the country directly. Dare to write directly about the emperor and his affairs.

Regarding Cui Hao, there is another theory in the historical circles, that is, this Han minister in the Northern Wei Dynasty has been deliberately planning to save China and restore the secret map: First, in the second year of Shenrui, Emperor Ming Yuan wanted to move the capital to Yecheng, but Cui Hao stopped it, probably because he did not want the barbarians from the Northern Dynasties to settle in the old China and harm the local Han people; Second, after Liu Yu defeated Qin, Emperor Ming and Yuan wanted to send troops, and Cui Hao tried his best to dissuade them, also out of "selfishness" of favoring the Han army;

Third, Emperor Ming and Yuan established the crown prince, and Cui Hao advocated the establishment of Tuoba Tao, precisely because his biological mother was a Han, and he hoped that this "Han species" would be beneficial to the Han people in the future.Unexpectedly, when this person grows up, he has a 100% Xianbei temper, and is cruel and easy to kill; Fourth, Cui Hao fully supported Emperor Ming Yuan and Emperor Taiwu's Northern Expedition to the barbarians, but Cui Hao always opposed it when he wanted to go south, "it's really a Chinese plan"; Fifth, when Tuoba Tao attacked Helianxia Kingdom, the wind and rain continued, and the soldiers were hungry and thirsty. Cui Hao tried his best to persuade Wei to attack. In fact, he hoped that Wei State would be defeated.

Sixth, Tuoba Tao was going to attack the Juqu family in Beiliang. Cui Hao quoted the content of the Han Dynasty to explain that the local water and grass have always been luxuriant. Victory or defeat is uncertain, maybe Cui Hao's original intention was also to hope that the Northern Wei Dynasty would be defeated; Wait, all the above are speculations by later generations. Although the author thinks there is some truth, I dare not believe it. I only hope that readers can judge according to their own understanding. Brutal Act II: Crazy Southward Invasion In April 450, after thousands of people with four surnames including Cui Hao were killed, Tuoba Tao led Ma Nanzheng in September.In the battle of sliding platform, I met Wang Xuanmo who repeatedly wrote to the Northern Expedition and made Song Wendi Liu Yilong have the idea of ​​"confusing the wolf to live in the Xu".The Wei army advanced at a speed of one or two hundred miles per day, winning successive battles, causing countless casualties among soldiers and civilians in the Southern Dynasties. Tuoba Tao's army pointed directly at Jiankang period. Generals Xue Andu, Zeng Fangping, Liu Kangzu and others of the Song Dynasty tried their best to fight to the death and rescued some troops and cities, but overall they could not withstand the offensive of the Northern Wei army.The Wei army quickly attacked the Yangtze River, demolished houses, cut down reeds, and declared that they would build boats to cross the river. Residents in Jiankang City were horrified, and they put their valuables into baskets one after another, standing on their shoulders, ready to flee for their lives when the city was destroyed.Liu Yilong, Emperor Wen of the Song Dynasty, who had been recruited by himself, boarded the stone city, his face was full of worry, and he regretted killing Tan Daoji, a general who could fight.The two sides held each other for a long time, and the Wei army was short of supplies, so one night they raised fire along the river to intimidate them, and retreated after burning all the houses. In the spring of 451, the Wei army attacked Xuyi City on the way back to the army, and Zang Zhi, Minister of Song Dynasty, defended the city.Tuoba Tao shouted to Zang Zhi carelessly outside the city, wanting to taste the fine wine of the southern country. Zang Zhi hanged two large altars of excrement and urine from the city and gave them to Wei Jun.Tuoba Tao was furious. One night, he built a long wall outside the city to surround the city, cut off the water and land transportation, and transported earth and rocks from Dongshan Mountain to fill up the moat. In addition, he wrote to Zang Zhi: "The soldiers attacking the city now are not from our Xianbei tribe. In the northeast of the city are the Dingling and Hu people, and in the south are the Di and Qiang tribes. If the Dingling soldiers die, it will reduce the number of our troops. The thieves in Zhaojun area of ​​Changshan in the Great Wei Dynasty (the Dingling people often rebelled in the mountains of Changshan and Zhaojun); the Hu soldiers died, and the Bingzhou thieves disappeared (the Hu people love to occupy the Bingzhou area to rebel); Di people and Qiang soldiers If they die, the Guanzhong thieves can be wiped out (Although the Di and Qiang clans are extinct, they are prosperous and live in Guanzhong). Aiqing, if you kill them all for me, it will be of great help to me." Zang Zhi replied, and said in awe-inspiring way: "Now I am fully aware of your treachery. The nursery rhyme says 'The captive horse drinks the river water, and the Buddha raccoon (Tuoba Tao's nickname) dies in the year of death'. I hope you are lucky enough to be killed by the rebels. If you are unlucky, He was captured by me and tied to a donkey to be sent to the city to ask for execution. If the world has no spirit, I will be captured by you, and I can be killed at will, which is enough to serve the dynasty. Now that the spring rain has fallen and the army is four, don’t rush to run back. But please attack the city with peace of mind. If there is a lack of food, I will give you some military rations. You gave me the swords as a gift, and wait for me to use them to hack at you!" Tuoba Tao was furious when he saw the letter, and sent fishing carts and chariots to attack the city, but they couldn't break the city.After Shuqiong, Tuoba Tao sent soldiers to take turns to attack the city in hand-to-hand combat at the expense of human life. There was a Xianbei supervising team behind him, and the soldiers died before and after.In the end, there were tens of thousands of casualties, and the pile of dead bodies was as high as the city wall of Xuyi, but they were still repelled by the brave and tenacious soldiers and civilians of the Southern Dynasty, and the city would not be pulled out for thirty days. Spring is the time when epidemics frequently occur. Wei Jun was not acclimatized to the environment and fell ill many times.He was also afraid that the Song Dynasty navy would enter the sea from the Huai River and join Pengcheng's army to attack, so Tuoba Tao burned his attack equipment and retreated.On the way back to the teacher, the Wei army killed and wounded the local people beyond measure. The young and middle-aged adults were killed immediately, and the babies ran through the spears, waving and circling for joy.And Wei Jun himself also killed and injured more than half of his men and horses during the Southern Expedition, and the people of the country resented. When Wei Taiwu Emperor Tuoba Tao attacked the south, the crown prince Tuobahuang supervised the country.Tuoba Tao has a favored eunuch named Zong Ai, who has a dangerous and violent nature, and has done many illegal things in the name of the emperor. The relationship between him and Dao Sheng and others is tense. Zong Ai fabricated the charges against the crown prince's officials. Emperor Taiwu was furious and executed Dao Sheng and others. Many officials under the crown prince were executed in succession. Huang died of fright, at the age of twenty-four. Not long after, Tuoba Tao recalled the benefits of this son-in-law again, and often shed tears thinking about it.The Zhongchang Shizong who served him every day was suspicious and hated in love, fearing that one day the irritable emperor would pursue the past and blame himself for the prince's death.So the great eunuch acted preemptively, leading someone to sneak into the Yong'an Palace at night and killed the famous and invincible Tuoba Tao, who was forty-five years old at the time. Regarding the martial arts Emperor Taiwu of the Northern Wei Dynasty, it is recorded in the history books: "The emperor... is pure and frugal, he is not good at delicacy, and his food is good; The officers and men were afraid to obey, and tried their best. The officials asked to build up the capital and build the palace. The emperor said: "There is a saying in the ancients: "There is no danger in virtue." He is sensitive in listening and observation, and never hides from others. Rewards do not disobey baseness, punishments do not shy away from honor. Although the one he loves very much, he will never be lenient or false. However, he is cruel, and the result is killing, and he often regrets after killing." Twenty years later, Tuoba Huang's eldest great-grandson Tuoba Hong (Yuan Hong) succeeded to the throne and fully Sinicized. For the first time in Chinese history, the great integration of the Chinese nation was accelerated to the greatest extent, and it laid the foundation for the prosperity of the Sui and Tang Dynasties. With a solid foundation, the Xianbei people who entered the Central Plains with purebred Hu people have merged and disappeared into the rolling blood of the Chinese family, from appearance to culture.