Chapter 51 Chapter Fifty-One Dominates the North

The phenomenon that the regimes in the north belonged to short-lived dynasties has been explained earlier, and the article also added that "such regimes as 'Dai', which are almost only outside the Great Wall, are exceptions."Although it is an exception, the era has barely lasted for more than half a century - more than sixty years - that's all.The first generation was the Tuoba tribe regime in the Xianbei nationality.Its ancestor was Tuoba Yilu who was named the acting king in the third year of Jianxing at the end of the Western Jin Dynasty (315 A.D.). In 376 A.D., Shi Yiqian (the grandson of Tuobafu, Yilu's younger brother) was defeated by Fu Jian of the former Qin Dynasty and died.The reason why it is an exception is that Dai Yu was revived ten years after the death of the country.

Five years before being destroyed by the former Qin Dynasty, there was a rebellion incident among the Tuoba tribe.A general named Changsun Jin attempted to kill Shi Yijian.At that time, Shi Yijian's son Shi stood up to protect his father, and finally subdued him after fighting with the eldest grandson Jin.Of course Changsun Jin was sentenced to death, but Shi was also seriously injured and died in May of this year.Shi's wife, He Shi, gave birth in July, and her son was named Gui. When the dynasty fell, Tuoba Gui was only six years old; ten years later, the Tuoba tribe jointly supported the sixteen-year-old Gui to carry out the great cause of revival.This happened in 386 AD.The revival of the Dai Kingdom was due to the fact that the former Qin Dynasty was defeated by Feishui three years ago and was no longer able to rule the border areas.

Tuoba Gui changed the country name to Wei, but he didn't seem to completely abandon the country name.On the wall of the Dunhuang Grotto Temple, there is an example of connecting the two country titles together as "Da Dai Da Wei...".The Wei of the Tuoba tribe is generally called the "Northern Wei" to distinguish it from the Wei of the Cao family. Tuobagui was the founder of the Northern Wei Dynasty, Emperor Daowu. The Murong tribe, who are also of the Xianbei nationality, entered the Central Plains very early and had some contact with Chinese civilization, so they are quite civilized.Because the Tuoba tribe has always been blocked outside the Great Wall, they have not lost their uncivilized brave nature, and frequently wield their weapons to show off violence-this is not difficult to get a glimpse of Changsun Jin's treason.

This kind of bravery is a headache for maintaining the order of the regime, but it can exert the power to frighten the enemy in foreign wars. The Tuoba tribe outside the Great Wall frequently fought with the Tiefu tribe of the surrounding Huns and the Gaoche tribe and Zhuzhu tribe of the Turkish family. These are nomadic peoples who are more uncivilized than the Tuoba tribe.Every time the Tuoba tribe wins, they capture countless livestock as spoils of war.Outside the Great Wall, livestock could be used as payment for hiring warriors. —Help us, and I will give you ten thousand sheep. Such a sentence can immediately recruit thousands of soldiers.

The lack of soldiers is also one of the reasons why the northern regimes are weak and short-lived.Every time the Tuoba tribe fights a war, its strength will increase.What's more, due to the political situation at that time, they could avoid worries about fighting outside the Great Wall. In the south of the Tuoba Tribe, there are forces such as the Xianbei Dugu Tribe and Xiyan, but the Xiyan never attacked the back of the Tuoba Tribe.On the one hand, this is because the Tuoba tribe had an alliance with Hou Yan established by Murong Chui; on the other hand, Xi Yan was established by Murong Chong, a handsome young man favored by Fu Jian. He was also killed by Murong Yong.Among the weak Five Hu and Sixteen Kingdoms, Xiyan was especially weak and short-lived. Therefore, some historians did not even include it in the Sixteen Kingdoms.

After the Feishui War, Houyan was established by Murongchui, who couldn't bear to kill Fu Jian.From this incident, we can know that it is a moral and civilized regime.It is good to have a sense of morality, but in such a chaotic world, power trumps everything after all, because the law of the jungle has become the iron law of this era. Xiyan was finally destroyed by Houyan.Later Yan formed an alliance with the Northern Wei Dynasty of the Tuoba tribe in order to deal with Xiyan.Now that the Western Yan has been eliminated, the alliance between the Later Yan and the Northern Wei Dynasty is naturally unnecessary.

Not only that, because the middleman Xiyan disappeared, there was an obvious hostile relationship between Later Yan and Northern Wei. In the past, the Northern Wei Dynasty was a reliable ally for Hou Yan, but now it has become the most terrible enemy.Murong Chui, a hero in troubled times, is a person with rich experience and is very popular. Therefore, under his rule, Houyan's national power is so strong that one cannot underestimate it. However, looking at it from another angle, this means that Houyan was under Murong Chui's dictatorship.Murong Chui died in Shanggu, Shanxi in 396 AD.After Prince Murong Bao came to the throne, Houyan lost its dictator, and its national strength declined sharply during the war with the Northern Wei Dynasty.

In the year when the powerful enemy Murong Chui died, Wei Wang Tuoba Gui, instigated by his officials, called himself "Emperor", raised the banner of the Son of Heaven, and changed his Yuan to Huangshi. Tuoba initially used a place called Shengle as its base, which belonged to Yunzhong County, Bingzhou, about 50 kilometers south of Hohhot, the central city of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region today, Helinger County.It was not until Tuoba Yilu's time that it moved southeast from here, set up its base in Pingcheng, and crossed the line of the Great Wall on the way south.Pingcheng is now Datong City, Shanxi Province.

Tuobagui was attacked by Houyan and retreated from Pingcheng. At the critical moment of life and death, Houyan Murongchui passed away suddenly at this time. This is really a reversal of the situation for the Northern Wei Dynasty. Murong Bao, the crown prince of Later Yan, came to the throne, as recorded in the history books: ——The prince's lack of talent is known to the world. This person is really incompetent, and of course he lacks the ability to lead.Murong Chui is deeply worried about this, but because Bao's son Hui is very good, he looks up to him, and repeatedly stated in his last words that "he will be his heir".

However, Murong Bao doted on the youngest son and made him the crown prince.As a result, of course, there were intra-family disputes over the issue of inheritance rights.The battle of flesh and blood immediately unfolded in front of the enemy; after that, the royal family Murong De stood on his own, and he was the Lord of Nanyan who was later attacked by Liu Yu and died. Taking advantage of the internal turmoil in Houyan, Tuobagui went south to capture Taiyuan and took the land north of the Yellow River under his control.Originally, the Tuoba clan in the Northern Wei Dynasty maintained its regime by plundering nomadic peoples on the border. Due to the expansion of its territory, it has now come to a situation where it has to be transformed into a country in the Central Plains.

——how should I do it? Tuobagui was greatly confused.He didn't know how to communicate with farming peoples, and he felt helpless. ——What you don’t know, let someone who knows handle it! Tuoba Gui decided how to build the Central Plains country, and handed it over to the Han bureaucrats.Because he knew that he didn't understand, Emperor Daowu Tuobagui didn't interfere much with the bureaucrats.A bureaucracy that is fully empowered, of course, can play a big role because of this.It is generally praised that there are many capable Han bureaucrats around Emperor Daowu. In fact, it is because the Han bureaucrats have enough space to display their talents. Emperor Daowu moved the professional and technical personnel obtained in various wars to Pingcheng, the capital of the country.It is said that more than 100,000 such professional and technical personnel were concentrated in Pingcheng.For example, the occupation of Dunhuang brought a large number of craftsmen who had been engaged in grotto construction back to Pingcheng.The Yungang Grottoes, built near Pingcheng, still exist today, and most of the technicians who built the caves are artisans brought back from Dunhuang. Forcing a large number of people to emigrate can be said to be the heirloom of the Northern Wei Dynasty.In the period beyond the Great Wall, they also used coercive means to force nomads to become warriors, and thus established a powerful military state.Now, in order to build the Central Plains country, they brought a large number of farmers from Koryo by force to engage in farming. According to the dictation of the land, they calculated the head count and distributed the land and cattle to the farmers, hoping to make agriculture develop.Due to the great turmoil since the Three Kingdoms period, the agricultural population has dropped sharply. Even if there is land, there are often no people to cultivate it; at the same time, farmers cannot engage in farming operations with peace of mind.The policy of the Northern Wei Dynasty was to forcibly bring in people, starting from the land near the capital with relatively stable law and order, and gradually expanding the agricultural land. This rather bold policy was proposed by Han bureaucrats such as Cui Hong and Deng Yuan. "If you fail, you fail. It's nothing. Anyway, this is a matter of the kingdom of barbarians..." Having been fully authorized by Emperor Daowu, they hold this idea, so they can let go to promote this bold policy.As a result, the Northern Wei Dynasty grew into a major force that dominated the entire northern part of China.The regimes of the sixteen countries established in the past all aimed to dominate the entire northern part of China, but none of them succeeded.Fu Jian of the former Qin Dynasty saw that success was in sight, but because of his defeat in Feishui, everything came to naught. Emperor Daowu's governance was at the same time as Emperor Xiaowu and Emperor An of the Eastern Jin Dynasty in the south, and it was also when Liu Yu suddenly raised his head. Daowu Emperor Tuobagui was also a "hero and lustful".The ethics of the Xianbei people are not bound by many moral norms like the Han people. When he was young, he once went to the Helan tribe of his mother's natal family, and there he fell in love with his mother's younger sister. "I must take her back. Mom, help me find a way!" Emperor Daowu begged hard to his mother. "No, she is too beautiful." Mother replied, "Too beautiful is sometimes not a good thing. Besides, she is already someone else's wife." If it was a Han Chinese, they would definitely use the incestuous relationship between aunts and nephews as the first reason for objection, but Emperor Daowu's mother used "too beautiful" as the reason. Emperor Daowu would not give up just because his mother objected.He secretly killed the aunt's husband and brought her into the harem. This is Mrs. He, and she gave birth to a son named Shao. Emperor Daowu selected the best one among his many sons, and as his successor, he was the son of Liu Guiren, named Si.The rule of the head of the Tuoba tribe is that once the successor is decided, his biological mother must be given death.The purpose of setting this regulation is to protect the country from the disaster of foreign relatives, so the killing of the new monarch's mother is taken as a precaution.This cruel regulation was not only seen in the peoples outside the Great Wall. When Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty established the crown prince, he also killed his biological mother, Mrs. Gouyi. Emperor Daowu called his son Tuoba Si, told him about naming his successor, and declared: "Your mother can no longer live, this is for the long-term sake of the country." Tuoba Si was a dutiful son, and after listening to his father's words, he fell down in tears on the spot. "What's there to cry about! It's not a baby, isn't it embarrassing to cry like this?" Because Emperor Daowu scolded him sharply, Tuoba Si could only hold back his tears, but his shoulders were trembling.After returning to the residence, he felt sad again, and burst into tears again. ——Cry day and night. The history books record the extent of his grief in this way. "What?...Crying all day long! I didn't expect this son to be so cowardly. Isn't this disappointing me!...Call him right away!" Emperor Daowu ordered angrily. Emperor Daowu has been very angry recently.Maybe it was a symptom of hysteria, but his situation was more "violent" than that.This is probably due to the side effects caused by taking the "Hanshi Powder" prepared by the imperial physician and said to have the effect of immortality?His moods vary greatly, and he often talks alone all night or does not eat for days.Some retainers were repeatedly killed on the grounds that they walked badly or spoke badly. Crown Prince Tuoba Si heard his father's summons and was about to enter the palace immediately, but was desperately dissuaded by the attendants with nervous expressions: "You must not enter the palace now, you will undoubtedly die if you enter!" "But, my father summoned me, how could I not go?" "Your Majesty is not in an ordinary state at the moment, it can be said that he is seriously ill... You must not enter the palace until your condition improves." "However, how can the emperor's order be disobeyed?" "Even if you disobey the emperor's order, it's better than dying in vain. You'd better hide temporarily and wait for the opportunity!" "yes……" Eighteen-year-old Tuoba Si followed the advice of his retainers and decided to hide temporarily. At this time, Mrs. He's life, Tuoba Shao, has heard of doing evil things in the market.Shao, who is two years younger than the Crown Prince, is a scoundrel who is often criticized by the people for causing trouble.Now he was committing murder and robbery again. "The prince is still young, this is an unintentional crime..." Someone begged for mercy, so Emperor Daowu only hung him upside down in the well, punished him and spared him.However, Emperor Daowu did not stop because of this. He imprisoned Mrs. He on the grounds that his son's misconduct was the mother's responsibility.Mrs. He, who was imprisoned, secretly sent envoys to her son Shao. "Mother is about to be killed, and you will not escape the fate of being killed sooner or later. If Mother and you want to survive, there is only one way." Although Tuoba Shao is a rascal, he understands what his mother means.If the mother and son want to survive, killing the violent father is the only way.One late night, Shao sneaked into Tiananmen Square with a group of confidantes and eunuchs. "A thief has broken in! Come, everyone!" Emperor Daowu heard the shouts of the guards and was killed by Shao's subordinates when he walked out of the bedroom to get weapons. The next day, Shao summoned all the officials at the south gate. "I have an uncle and a brother, who are you going to follow?" He threatened the ministers with such words.As a result, no one expressed willingness to follow the scoundrel Shao.So he took out cloth and other things from the palace treasury and distributed them to the royal family and ministers in an attempt to win their favor. Tuoba Si, who lived outside to avoid his furious father, rushed back to Pingcheng immediately when he heard of the incident. "The crown prince is back!" The residents of Pingcheng boiled when they heard the news.The people of Pingcheng trembled under the rule of the half-mad Emperor Daowu, and were extremely dissatisfied under the ravages of the bad boy Tuoba Shao, so they had the feeling of seeing light in the dark. The imperial guards, who were so excited by this, immediately arrested Shao and sent him to the crown prince in the west of the city.The crown prince's heirs killed Shao and his mother He Shi, and executed more than a dozen people who participated in the rebellion.After the murderer of Emperor Daowu was put to death, he was chopped into pieces of meat for the officials to eat. Crown Prince Tuoba Si ascended the throne immediately, held an amnesty, and changed the Yuan to Yongxing, the second emperor of the Northern Wei Dynasty, Ming Yuan Emperor. This happened in November 409 AD.