Chapter 10 Chapter 10: The Northern Wei Dynasty Was Made in This Way

There is a saying: "He who eats the last can eat the best." The same is true for history, especially the history of northern China from the Five Hu and Sixteen Kingdoms to the confrontation between the Southern and Northern Dynasties. Looking at the changes in the political situation in northern China after the Five Hu and Sixteen Kingdoms, it really corresponds to this sentence. The changes in various regimes can really be said to be the waves of the Yangtze River pushing the waves ahead, and the waves of the front lapping on the beach.From the beginning of the turmoil in the north at the end of the 3rd century AD to the beginning of the Southern and Northern Dynasties in the middle of the 5th century AD, the earliest regimes in the north were basically photographed on the beach.Take the minority regimes of the Five Hu and Sixteen Kingdoms as an example. The so-called "Five Hu" - Xiongnu Xianbei Jie Di Qiang, no matter how fierce the troubles were at the beginning and how outstanding the military exploits were, by the middle of the 5th century AD, they were basically invincible. Stop cooking.The Xiongnu regime, which first began to resist the rule of the Western Jin Dynasty, mostly merged into the Han and Xianbei during the 5th century AD. In the Southern and Northern Dynasties, there were only Er Zhu Rong in the north and Hou Jing in the south. In the end, the Han and other ethnic groups were integrated into the rebellion in the north and the south.After the demise of the regime, most of the other ethnic groups lived together with the Han people in the Central Plains and became a branch of the Chinese nation. They are no longer the protagonists of history. The only ones left on the stage of history are the "five The Xianbei in "Hu".Even for the Xianbei, most of the main branches such as "Baibu Xianbei" and "Murong Xianbei" in the early days were scattered. It was an inconspicuous tribe in the early Xianbei of the "Five Hu and Sixteen Kingdoms" that really became the protagonist in the Northern and Southern Dynasties. : Tuoba Xianbei.

In the early days of the Five Hu and Sixteen Kingdoms, the power of the Xianbei was relatively weak among them, and as a branch of the Xianbei, Tuoba Xianbei could not be smaller. During the struggle for hegemony of the Sixteen Hu Kingdoms, they kept a low profile and eventually grew stronger, accomplishing a great cause that no regime in the Five Hu and Sixteen Kingdoms era could accomplish: ending the wars in the north, establishing a long-term stable and peaceful northern regime, and bringing prosperity to the whole of northern China. Come prosper.In fact, Tuoba Xianbei not only completed the unification of the north with the weakest force, but also used the method of active Sinicization, and finally merged into the surging blood of the Chinese nation. After centuries of wars in China, it finally moved towards the unification of the north and the south. Among them, Tuoba Xianbei and the Northern Wei regime established by them are the most critical link in connecting the past and the future.

The history of Tuoba Xianbei, compared with the history of other Xianbei tribes, can be said to be extremely short.To understand Tuoba Xianbei, we might as well first sort out the history of the Xianbei nation, one of the protagonists of the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties. When it comes to the Xianbei, it is generally accepted that it is an ancient nation in Chinese history, and there have been many debates among historians about the origin of the Xianbei.There is a saying that they themselves are descendants of Yan and Huang and lived in the north. For example, in the "Book of Wei", it is said that the Xianbei people are descendants of the Yellow Emperor's young son, Changyi; It was some pretexts made by the Xianbei people in order to win the support of the northern gentry after they entered the Central Plains.Before Xianbei came to power, historians of the Eastern Han Dynasty generally believed that the Xianbei nation should be a branch of the Donghu nation that stood side by side with the Xiongnu in the early years. As early as the Warring States Period, it had contact with Yan State, one of the Seven Heroes of the Warring States Period.For example, Chen Shou, the famous historian of the Eastern Han Dynasty who wrote "Three Kingdoms", is the holder of this view.According to the Xianbei people themselves, their ancestors lived in a place called "Xianbei Mountain". After being destroyed by the Huns in the early years, their tribes dispersed and migrated.Xianbei really appeared as an independent nation in the late Eastern Han Dynasty. After the Xiongnu was destroyed by the Eastern Han Dynasty, the Xianbei people quickly moved south and filled the gap left by the Huns. At that time, Xianbei was still one of the minority nationalities under the Eastern Han Dynasty. Adopt a policy of surrender, and their tribes are also very mixed, including Baibu Xianbei, Murong Xianbei and other tribes.

The strength of Xianbei began in the Eastern Han Dynasty when Dou Xian defeated the Northern Huns, and then in the battle of Jinwei Mountain, he wiped out the remnants of the Northern Huns and forced the Northern Huns to move westward.The scale of this war was small, but it became a major event that changed the pattern of the northern grasslands.The Xianbei people took the opportunity to expand to the original territory of the Huns, and their strength increased rapidly. By the time of the Three Kingdoms period, the Xianbei people had "collected all the old places of the Huns".Because of the vast territory, their branches are very scattered. Although they belong to the same ethnic group, different Xianbei tribes also have different nomadic areas. Among them, the active area of ​​Tuoba Xianbei is in today's Hetao Grassland area, and later moved inland. A place in Pingcheng, Shanxi.From the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty to the early Western Jin Dynasty, Xianbei was only a loose tribal alliance, not a complete steppe khanate. Neither the tribal tightness nor the degree of unity could compare with the early Xiongnu khanate. Therefore, in terms of strength, Not enough to pose a fatal threat to the Central Plains.In fact, except for a few limited wars at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty and the Cao Wei era, most of the time, the Xianbei people surrendered to the Central Plains Dynasty.This relationship is different from that of the Xiongnu and other ethnic groups. The mainstream peace between them and the Central Plains dynasty also made them more recognized by the Central Plains scholars and people after they entered the Han Dynasty.

Another difference between the Xianbei and other ethnic minorities is that although they started later than other minority regimes, they started much higher.When other minority regimes were still in the slave system, or even just entered the slave system, the Xianbei people had already been feudalized since the Three Kingdoms era.Especially at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty and the Cao Wei era when there were wars in the north, a large number of Han people fled north to the grassland areas, bringing with them advanced agricultural production technology. It is said that although they are inferior to other ethnic minorities in terms of strength, they are moving faster than most ethnic minority regimes in terms of civilization.In the early days of the Five Hu and Sixteen Kingdoms, many Xianbei tribes still adopted a strategy of submission or even loyalty to the Jin Dynasty as the "central government".For example, the famous Xianbei national hero Duan Pidan once helped Liu Kun fight against the minority regime in the north, and even died in defense of the Jin Dynasty.As for the famous Murong Xianbei regime, it was also a courtier of the Eastern Jin Dynasty. Especially in the war with Ran Min, it was precisely because Murong Xianbei took the initiative to surrender to the Eastern Jin Dynasty that the Eastern Jin Dynasty did not assist the Ran Min regime, which was also Han. The Murong Xianbei regime was fighting for the front.In the middle and late period of the Five Hu and Sixteen Kingdoms, as the regimes of other ethnic minorities gradually weakened, the Xianbei people became stronger and stronger in the Central Plains. Nanliang, who developed the regime, and Xiqin, the Qifu tribe, but most of these regimes were short-lived. In the end, it was the humble Tuoba Xianbei tribe in the early days and the regime they established-the Northern Wei Dynasty.

Like other Xianbei ethnic groups, Tuoba Xianbei has a written history, which also began in the Eastern Han Dynasty, but much later than other tribes. The ancestors of Tuoba Xianbei can be traced back to a person named Liwei.After defeating the Northern Huns in the Eastern Han Dynasty, Liwei seized the opportunity and led the tribes through hardships. They moved from the Liaohe area to the Hetao grassland area originally belonged to the Huns, and began to settle and develop here. This early migration history is Tuoba Xianbei. Later, after the founding of the People's Republic of China, it has been proud of the "nine difficulties and eight obstacles".According to the records of Cui Hao, a famous minister of the Northern Wei Dynasty, the relocation of Tuoba Xianbei was mainly due to the severe snowstorm disaster in the Liaohe River Basin in their original hometown. The Road to Survival".When they finally arrived at the Hetao Grassland from the Liaohe River after going through hardships, the population of the entire Tuoba Xianbei tribe actually decreased by three quarters. Tuoba Xianbei developed under such a difficult and difficult situation.

It was also this migration that made Tuoba Xianbei's starting point of development fundamentally different from other Xianbei ethnic groups.At that time, the Hetao Grassland area was not a purely nomadic settlement, and there were still a large number of Han people who lived on farming.It is also because of this that the feudalization of Tuoba Xianbei was earlier than other ethnic groups, and the mutual connection between them and the Han people was closer than other ethnic groups. In fact, it was these two points that determined Tuoba Xianbei. Ba Xianbei later unified the fate of the north.

The fate of Tuoba Xianbei changed again. It began in 261 AD, when Tuoba Xianbei's prince Desert Khan was sent to the Central Plains regime as a hostage. At this time, the Central Plains regime happened to be the era of Cao Wei's rule. He won the appreciation of the Cao Wei regime, and since then, the exchanges between Tuoba Xianbei and the Central Plains have become increasingly close, and the history records that the two sides "exchanged what we need".At this time, the most important significance of Tuoba Xianbei to Cao Wei is: Cao Wei started with cavalry in the military, and Tuoba Xianbei can provide Cao Wei with sufficient horses. At the same time, the advanced agricultural production technology of the Central Plains has also begun to spread to Tuoba Xianbei area.When Desert Khan was a hostage in Luoyang, he also became friends with many political leaders in Luoyang at that time. The most important one was Sima Yan, Emperor Wu of Jin who later replaced Cao Wei, and his "public relations" finally paid off. After defeating Cao Wei and establishing the Western Jin Dynasty, Desert Khan was finally allowed to return to his hometown in Hetao.This happened in 275 AD. Desert Khan lived in Luoyang for 15 years. Not only was he deeply influenced by Han culture, but even his living customs were completely sinicized.After returning to his hometown, as a prince, he strongly advocated learning the advanced culture of the Han nationality and reforming the backward tribal system.His proposition was opposed by the nobles within Tuoba Xianbei at that time, and the two sides had a conflict for the first time. Desert Khan found sadly that when he returned to his hometown, which he thought about day and night, his own proposition was not accepted by the people in his hometown. .Under this kind of depression, shortly after he returned, he returned to Luoyang under the pretext of being a missionary, and settled in Luoyang for another two years. Until 277 AD, Desert Khan's father was seriously ill and wanted to take him back to the tribe to ascend the throne. Desert Khan, intending to flex his muscles, embarked on the road to his hometown again.This time he was ambitious. Although his good friends in Luoyang were worried that there would be accidents during the trip, Desert Khan didn't care. Before leaving, he shot down the birds in the sky with a slingshot and expressed reform to his friends. Xianbei old customs, the determination to learn the advanced culture of the Central Plains.However, things were not as good as he imagined. On the way back, Desert Khan was ambushed by the old-fashioned faction of the tribe, and was killed in Shanxi. The place where he was killed was later the capital of the Northern Wei Dynasty established by Tuoba Xianbei—Pingcheng, Shanxi.This is how Tuoba Xianbei's Sinicization process began with blood.

The death of Desert Khan did not change the general trend of Tuoba Xianbei's Sinicization. After Desert Khan's death, it was Desert Khan's son Qilu who finally ascended to the throne of Tuoba Xianbei chief.This Qilu is another figure who inherited the past and ushered in the future among the leaders of Tuoba Xianbei.At this time, it was the late period of the Western Jin Dynasty, and the war continued in the north. A large number of farmers from the Central Plains fled to the Hetao area where Tuoba Xianbei was located. Qilu, who had a deep political vision, not only happily accepted these refugees from the Central Plains, but also allocated them land.At that time, farmers in the north migrated to the territory of Tuoba Xianbei, similar to the later Qing Dynasty. These foreign populations even exceeded the population of Tuoba Xianbei's own nation. At that time, many nobles in Tuoba Xianbei were worried about this situation and would threaten Tuoba Xianbei ruled here, but Chilu replied: "If you want to achieve great things, you must have the mind to achieve great things." Not only that, Tuoba Xianbei at that time also had trade relations with many big businessmen in the north. Contacts, not only to communicate with each other, but also to use them to collect information on the Central Plains. Although they are weak at this time, they have always had ideas about the Central Plains.

In 308 AD, the talented Qilu completed the unification of the tribes in Hetao. Although the Tuoba Xianbei regime at this time was just a nomadic alliance, the form of this nomad was quite different from ordinary nomads.In this regime, there are both the Xianbei nomadic tribe as the ruler and the Han peasants as the producer, of which the latter has accounted for about 70%.Under such circumstances, Chilu adopted the policy of "separation of soldiers and civilians", that is, the Han people specialize in farming, and all the cultivated land is divided into areas. On average, each piece of cultivated land must support a part of the Xianbei army. This kind of Han people farming land, The division of labor between the Xianbei people became the political and economic system that later ran through the entire Northern Wei Dynasty and even the Eastern Wei and Northern Qi dynasties. Two famous farming and warfare policies in Chinese history—the Fubing system and the land equalization system evolved on this basis. , in the reintegration of China's feudal economy in the Southern and Northern Dynasties, Tuoba Xianbei was actually a pathfinder.

Although he was the leader in policy, Tuoba Xianbei was still a weak person in the early Five Hu and Sixteen Kingdoms era, constantly attached to various factions.During this period, Chilu's policy was to unite with the Jin Dynasty and deal with the minority regimes in the north.In 310 AD, Chilu accepted the canonization of the Jin Dynasty and became the "king" of the north. For a long time, he was an important force in the Jin Dynasty to contain the Northern Wuhu regime.Together with the famous general Liu Kun, he opened up a "base area behind the enemy" in the north and took the opportunity to strengthen his own strength.At the same time, he also recruited a large number of Han scholars, forming a think tank composed of Han people around him, and the power even overwhelmed the various chiefs in the tribe. This kind of bold reform is bound to cause a backlash.This time it was his son who opposed him. As a result, Chilu died in his son's murder, and then a civil war broke out in Tuoba Xianbei. The "new people", that is, the attached Han people, and the Xianbei aristocrats who supported the Han ethnicity clashed fiercely, triggering a 22-year civil war.However, Chilu's policy had an important impact on the "image" of the entire Tuoba Xianbei.In the hearts of the people in the Central Plains, Tuoba Xianbei was not a traitor who rebelled, but on the contrary, he was a "loyalty" who supported the Eastern Jin Dynasty. played a very important role. After Qilu's death, Tuoba Xianbei's civil war lasted for 22 years, and these 22 years were also a temporary low tide period for Tuoba Xianbei.Until 338 A.D., a great hero appeared again in Tuoba Xianbei——Shi Yiqian. He was Qilu's grandnephew and a person who inherited the Sinicization ideals of his ancestors.When Shi Yiqian was 19 years old, he was sent as a hostage to the Hou Zhao regime established by Shi Le, a member of the Jie tribe. He lived in Xingtai, the capital of Hou Zhao, for 10 years, and escaped only after Hou Zhao fell into civil strife.In the past 10 years, just like his grandfather Desert Khan, he saw the strength of the Han civilization with his own eyes, and he had the ideal of reforming his own tribe and realizing Sinicization.After escaping from Hou Zhao, Shi Yiqian inherited the title of "Dai Wang" conferred by the Eastern Jin Dynasty as he wished, and then he began drastic reforms.He appointed Han Yanfeng, Xu Qian and others, and began to carry out a comprehensive feudal reform of Tuoba Xianbei, including setting up positions according to the official positions of Han people, setting salary levels, and formulating his own laws with reference to the laws of the Eastern Jin Dynasty.Although these reforms were very rough, Tuoba Xianbei at this time was no longer a nomadic tribe, but a civilized feudal country.In 340 AD, Tuoba Xianbei established the capital in Shengle, which marked that Tuoba Xianbei officially changed from nomadic to agricultural settlement.Shi Yiqian is a person who attaches great importance to agriculture. He regards rewarding farming as a key point, and even takes out the government's treasury to buy seeds in other areas, and then distributes them to the people to cultivate wasteland.In order to promote the development of agriculture, he also issued a policy of rewarding land, recruiting people from the territory of other regimes. As a result, the people in his area once "returned like running water", and the agricultural economy of Tuoba Xianbei flourished like this up. In terms of time, Tuoba Xianbei's transformation into a feudal state was much later than other regimes in the "Five Hus", but the development of Tuoba Xianbei should be more in line with the theory of "late effect".Although most of the other regimes of the Five Hu and Sixteen Kingdoms started feudalization, most of their feudalization was a hasty transformation from nomads after obtaining land and establishing political power. The result was that the transformation was incomplete and a large number of barbaric slaves were retained. system, and even caused the people under the rule to resist, and most of the regimes were short-lived. Shi Le's post-Zhao regime is an example.In contrast, the process of Tuoba Xianbei seems to be slower than other regimes, but it came more smoothly. From Shi Yiqian's great-grandfather to himself, it has been proceeding in an orderly manner, and has always been supported by the northern scholar-bureaucrat family. support.Therefore, only Tuoba Xianbei can finally successfully establish a strong and lasting feudal empire through Sinicization reforms. Like his ancestors, Shi Yiqian's reforms were not smooth sailing, and he also faced powerful enemies.When Shi Yiqian was in power, he launched a war of conquest against the Gaoche tribe, and pacified the Chile tribe, which also belonged to the Xianbei lineage. After the fall of Later Zhao, Shiyiqian once planned to compete in the Central Plains, but his tribal chiefs strongly opposed it. Even if they refuse to send troops to support, they can only give up.In fact, it was a very good opportunity for Tuoba Xianbei at that time. After the fall of Later Zhao, wars broke out in the north again, and the Southern Dynasties and Eastern Jin regimes were unable to go north. Instead, a new war was triggered. At this time, Tuoba Xianbei itself had the support of the Han people in the north and a strong army. Even if it could not get the whole north, it could expand its own strength.After the fall of Later Zhao, it was replaced by the famous former Qin regime, Fu Jian, who was also deeply Sinicized, and began to sweep the north with his strong military strength.In 367 A.D., Fu Jian launched an attack on Tuoba Xianbei. Shi Yiqian fled to Mobei and was attacked by the Gaoche Department. At this time, Tuoba Xianbei repeated the predicament of "nine difficulties and eight obstacles" in the early years .Drought broke out in the northern grassland at this time, the tribe could not even find water in Mobei, and civil strife broke out again under the desperate situation. The old nobles who opposed Shiyiqian's Hanization reform made another attack, killed Shiyiqian and surrendered to Fu Jian's former Qin regime and Tuoba Xianbei's sinicization reforms ended in failure again.Fortunately, however, they have completed the change from a tribe to a feudal dynasty, and the rebellion of the conservative nobles, although ruined Shiyiqian who was determined to reform, saved the entire Tuoba Xianbei family from the doom of extinction and were able to He survived under Fu Jian's rule. Tuoba Xianbei's re-development and growth was after the famous Battle of Feishui.In 383 A.D., the Battle of Feishui broke out between the former Qin regime in the north and the Eastern Jin regime in the south. As a result, the Eastern Jin regime defeated the former Qin's 830,000 army with 80,000 troops, and staged a famous Chinese history. myth.The originally unified northern land fell apart again, and the various countries that Fu Jian conquered were restored one after another, including Tuoba Xianbei and the Dai Kingdom they established back then. It was the famous Tuoba Gui who led Tuoba Xianbei to complete the great cause of restoring the country.He is another important figure in Tuoba Xianbei's journey to glory.As a direct descendant of the Tuoba family, in 386 AD, Tuobagui was supported by his subordinates to successfully restore the country and regained the title of "Daiwang". It doesn't matter, he changed it to "Wei" again.In fact, this name change itself was a "political balance". At that time, the Xianbei nobles who supported Tuoba Gui were quite a few conservatives. The new name was changed to meet their demands.Tuoba Gui was the grandson of Shi Yiqian, and finally inherited Shi Yiqian's unfinished Sinicization ideal. In the history of the Northern Wei Dynasty, he was called Emperor Wei Daowu. After Tuobagui founded the country, he quickly defeated the Tiefo tribe that had attacked Shiyiqian and avenged his grandfather.The Tiefo tribe was the regime of the Huns, and later established the famous Xia Kingdom in the Central Plains, and a famous monarch Helian Bobo emerged.Being defeated by Tuobagui at this time also doomed them to be destroyed by the Tuoba family in the end. After defeating the Tiefo regime, Tuoba Gui regained control of the Hetao Grassland area. In this way, the largest horse production base in the north at that time was firmly in his hands.In the wars between the Northern and Southern Dynasties, especially the wars in the Central Plains, the superiority of cavalry will become the key to victory or defeat.At this time, Houyan, who also belonged to the Xianbei ethnic regime, asked for horses from Tuoba Gui. This Houyan was built by the Murong family, and its territory included today's Hebei, Shandong, Shanxi, and Henan. A formidable enemy of Bagui.In 395 A.D., Emperor Murong Chui of Hou Yan sent his prince Murong Bao to command heavy troops to attack Tuoba Gui. He deliberately retreated steadily, and lured Murong Bao to the north bank of the Yellow River by using the tactic of luring the enemy deep.In November of that year, Murong Bao, who was struggling to attack far away, was exhausted and decided to withdraw his troops first. Tuobagui seized the opportunity to quickly outflank the enemy with 20,000 light cavalry, and surrounded the enemy on the way back. Murong Bao was wiped out in a fierce battle 80,000 troops.Murong Bao only escaped with his own body. After this battle, more than 50,000 people were captured in Yan, and most of them were buried alive by Tuobagui.In the second year, Tuobagui took advantage of the victory to pursue and captured Houyan's Hebei territory in one fell swoop, and the remaining forces of Houyan had to flee to the Liaodong area.In 398 AD, Tuoba Gui established his capital in Pingcheng, Shanxi, which was also the capital for a long time after the Northern Wei Dynasty. The war with Houyan established Tuoba Gui's status as a strong man in the Northern Wei Dynasty, especially his military strength.At this time, another important problem facing Tuobagui was economic poverty. The Hebei, Shanxi and Hetao areas he occupied were all relatively economically backward areas in the north. Especially after years of war damage, the economy was even more depressed. In this situation, Tuoba Gui adopted the policy of "garrisoning the fields".Since 394 AD, he has continuously sent troops to farm in the Hetao area. After the destruction of Houyan, he placed hundreds of thousands of captured Han people around Pingcheng, Shanxi.At this time, he created an original policy called "Dividing land by counting mouths", that is, allocating land and cattle according to the number of people. This decision seems simple, but it has far-reaching significance for the entire Southern and Northern Dynasties. began to form.When the Central Plains fell into war and the Southern Dynasties regime was monopolized by the gentry and the economy became increasingly rigid, Tuobagui adopted an advanced agricultural policy that surpassed all regimes. Don, both had far-reaching influences.The direct meaning at that time was that Inner Mongolia and the northern part of Hebei Province, which were originally a pasture, were riddled with rice paddies, and the abandoned land was recultivated, and northern agriculture began to recover and develop. After the fall of the regime, Tuoba Gui, like his grandfather, began to win over the Han scholar-bureaucrats. At that time, the Han people in Houyan formed villages to protect themselves and resist Tuoba Gui.In this regard, Tuobagui adopted a wooing policy. He took the initiative to woo the Zhang family and the Cui family, the two largest families in Hebei. With the support of these two families, he quickly stabilized his rule in the northern Han area.But like his grandfather, at this time Tuoba Xianbei's internal riots against Sinicization occurred again. In 397 AD, Tuoba Gui's cousin Tuoba Shun launched a rebellion in the cloud in the name of Tuoba Gui's destruction of the ancestral system. , Although they were suppressed, the riots of the Xianbei nobles continued one after another.Even Tuobagui himself did not avoid the tragedy of his grandfather. In his later years, because several of his brothers opposed him one after another, his spirit fell into depression, and he even had to use "cold food powder" to relieve his mental pain. to the point of insanity.But the opposition did not stop because of his distress. In 409 AD, Tuoba Gui's son Tuoba Shao launched a rebellion and killed Tuoba Gui. The Northern Wei Dynasty suddenly reached a turning point in history.At the critical moment, Tuoba Gui's prince, Tuoba Si, defeated Tuoba Shao with the support of the Sinicization faction, and finally regained power.The Northern Wei Dynasty also avoided this historical reef. The unification of the north in the Northern Wei Dynasty was completed by Tuoba Tao, Emperor Taiwu of the later Wei Dynasty.Tuobasi before this was a lord of success. When he was in power, what he did most was to build the Great Wall in the north, develop agriculture, and honor the scholar-bureaucrats.Especially in order to avoid the tragedies of the predecessors, his son Tuoba Tao has received authentic Han education since he was very young, and hired a Han Confucian to teach him. He sincerely hopes that he can educate a British lord who can unify the north. .In the end he did it, but in the end, perhaps beyond his expectations, what he cultivated was not a benevolent monarch, but the most terrifying war monster in the last years of the Five Hu and Sixteen Kingdoms. Tuoba Si passed away in 423 A.D. He was also one of the few emperors in the history of Tuoba Xianbei who could have a "good death". Later, 13-year-old Tuoba Tao succeeded to the throne. Originally, he was not pleased by his father, because he was born in Cui A group of Han officials led by Hao supported him, and finally retained the qualification of "heir".In his youth, Tuoba Tao was smart and heroic, with both civil and military skills, and he also respected the Han civil servants in the Northern Wei court, because Tuoba Tao's mother was Han, which also made the Han officials agree with him and believed that he would be a great scholar in the future. Mingjun's good materials have been carefully cultivated since then.As for the hope that after he ascends the throne, he will greatly Sinicize, respect Confucianism and Confucianism, and guide the Xianbei people to integrate into the Han civilization, that is self-evident. But what happened later proved that what they cultivated was not only a good young man with gentle manners, but the most ferocious war monster north of the Yellow River.It is estimated that they didn't even have time to repent - they were all killed by Tuoba Tao later. There are many ferocious beasts in the Five Hus and Sixteen Kingdoms, and Tuoba Tao has the highest achievement, not because of his bravery, but because he has the highest IQ. Therefore, he has completed what the ferocious men and beasts have not done before - ending the Five Hus and Sixteen country era. The first step is to take Bei Rouran first. Rouran is entrenched in Mobei, and has harassed the northern border for many years, the Five Hu and Sixteen Kingdoms, and the Xianbei and Huns for so many generations of emperors, there is nothing they can do about this grassland arrogance. The 14-year-old Tuoba Tao did not believe in evil, and he was determined to start a war with Rouran. When the news came out, the pot was blown up. Except for the minister Cui Hao, all the courtiers said no. The reason is very simple. The first is to make people afraid Well, the second is to conquer the north with all the power of the country. What should the southern countries do if they invade? But Tuoba Tao made up his mind: if the softness is not eliminated, the rear will be difficult to level, and the unification of the north will be out of the question.Besides, our Xianbei cavalry also came down from the grassland, so we were afraid of him being a bird. As it turns out, he was right. Xianbei's five-route army marched together, and Rouran also gathered the elite of the country. The two families fought in the dark on the grassland. At the most dangerous moment, Tuoba Tao's army fell into the siege of Rouran's people. Slashing, killing the enemy until rivers of blood flowed, Rouran Khan was so frightened that he ran away wildly, and hundreds of thousands of Rouran elites collapsed across the board.After this battle, the strength of the Rouran nation, which has ravaged northern China for decades, was greatly damaged, and it has never recovered. The 14-year-old Tuoba Tao rode his horse to the grassland, proclaiming to the world with a bloody saber: I am the real master of the north. Don't know who Rouran is?It doesn't matter, there was a tribe called Avar in the history of Eastern Europe. In the sixth and seventh centuries AD, they ran across the European grasslands and were invincible. They almost wiped out the most powerful Eastern Roman Empire in the West.They are the descendants of the Rouran people, who moved westward after being defeated by the Northern Wei Dynasty, but repaired all the "historical powers" in Europe. The Mongolian plateau is really talented since ancient times. The 14-year-old Tuoba Tao dared to start a war with such an opponent and win the battle when he was surrounded by powerful enemies. Rouran stopped cooking, and Helian Xiaguo, the Xiongnu entrenched in Kansai, also made snacks. The Huns are very self-aware. When they see Tuoba Tao coming to attack, they quickly come to a strong wall to clear the field. Knowing that you are strong, they will not come out to fight you. can't you?Tuoba Taogui, first sent the old, the weak, the sick and the disabled to show weakness in front of Tongwan City, an important town in the Xia Kingdom, and the Huns chased them out with feverish heads.In this battle, Tuoba Tao continued to carry forward the beast style, took the lead to kill people, was shot down by others, and almost "sacrificed his life for the country", Tuoba Tao was worthy of being a beast. People are stupid, what kind of monster is this!Then things will be easy to handle, the enemy collapses, breaks the city, wipes out, and collects all the land in Guanzhong. Then, Tuoba Tao didn't even wipe off the blood, turned the blade, and hit Rouran again. After two rounds of devastating blows, Rouran finally wiped away her tears and fled west!The Rouran tribe migrated to the distant lands in the west one after another, and it was difficult to pose a threat to the Central Plains. Of course, the Romans were out of luck (this is a later story). Tuoba Tao didn't stop, and then took the other two big northern countries-Beiyan of Feng Hong of the Han Dynasty and Beiliang of Juqu Mujian of the Huns.At this time in the north, a few fierce men were defeated and died, and the rest were all small fish and shrimp characters. Who can stop the Xianbei elite soldiers?After Beiyan finished playing, Beiliang collapsed, and then Gai Wu from Lushuihu and Yanqi from the Western Regions.In 450 A.D., Tuoba Tao started his army as a young man, and after 27 years of conquests from the south to the north, he finally established a huge empire that unified the north and owned today’s Liaodong, Central Plains, Shaanxi, Gansu, Qinghai, and even the eastern part of the Western Regions—the Northern Wei Dynasty, which also established the Southern and Northern Dynasties. The big pattern of a century of confrontation.This achievement is unprecedented on the stage where the Five Hu and Sixteen Kingdoms are chaotically fighting for hegemony. All this is done for one reason - military genius! When Tuoba Tao used soldiers, he used the word "violent". Every time he fought, he was the first to go up and kill people. His generals were also trained by him to be brave and easy to kill.More importantly, Tuoba Tao was educated by Han Confucianism since he was a child, and he didn't learn the same thing as being tolerant, benevolent and filial.Such a brave and strategic commander, who can win!Such a ferocious beast, it is not enough to say that he is a tiger with wings, he is just like an invincible fire-breathing dragon in Western mythology. Now there is only one opponent left: Liu Song. This is also the opponent he wants to defeat the most, not only because of the glory of dominating the world, but also because of the humiliation of his grandfather's defeat in front of the Han army!This bad debt will naturally be left to myself to settle. He knows that this opponent is formidable, Liu Yu's illustrious martial arts are on display, and he also knows that Liu Song is at the apex of the "Yuanjia Prosperous Age", but after decades of peace, you seem to have forgotten the war, and you can stop my hundred battles Is it a lion? But this time, he fell into a big fight! Southern Expedition!Tuoba Tao showed great power and led an army of 500,000 to enter the territory of the Southern Dynasty. This kind of plot is quite similar to his previous countless battles. It seems that the history of siege and land grabbing and slaughtering the enemy country is going to repeat itself. But this time was really different. After crossing the Yangtze River, Tuoba Tao was surprised to find that the Xianbei army, which was advancing triumphantly, seemed to be entangled by countless ropes and could not move. Resistance, resistance everywhere, people in the south of the Yangtze River who can carry guns, come out every household to fight with Xianbei people.The guerrillas and the regular army greeted each other back and forth, fighting until blood clotted their elbows and did not retreat.In front of a small town called Xuyi, the mighty Xianbei army finally stopped charging. This small town dealt a heavy blow to Tuoba Tao with tenacious resistance, but stood still after dozens of days of tragic offensive and defensive battles!The exhausted Tuoba Tao finally collapsed, he fell powerlessly on the dragon chariot, and weakly issued an order to retreat! Xuyi, the only city that Tuoba Tao did not conquer in his life, will be recorded in the annals of history forever in the name of glory! Don't blame it, don't blame it, just blame Tuoba Tao for being too beastly! Tuoba Tao is a man with excellent military strategy and strategy, and he is also a beast in governing the country.He abused tyranny, oppressed the Han people, massacred civil servants of the Han nationality in the north, and even the outstanding mentors such as Cui Hao slaughtered the whole clan. The resistance of the Han people in the Yellow River Basin was everywhere.When he marched south, where the army of the Northern Wei Dynasty passed by, there were thousands of miles of red land and many bones. His 24-year-old son was frightened to death.This kind of tyranny, like the bravery of his troops, is rare in the world, and it is really appropriate to call him a beast.If he continues like this, he will unify the Xianbei Empire in the north, and I am afraid that he will repeat the old path of the death of the second generation. In 452 AD, the tyrannical Tuoba Tao was killed by the eunuchs around him. This accident announced the death of a famous commander, but saved the life of the Northern Wei Empire. Emperor Wencheng of Wei, who succeeded Tuoba Tao, was a benevolent and benevolent monarch. He eased ethnic conflicts, rested with the people, and kept his side calm, finally guarding the foundation laid by his grandfather.The Northern Wei Dynasty, with its stable rule, finally opened the curtain of the battle between the Northern and Southern Dynasties.鲜卑民族，也从此以汉化的方式，伴随之后历代北魏君主政策性的改革，渐渐融合到汉民族澎湃不息的血液中。 拓跋焘纵然禽兽，却是这一伟大过程的奠基者，历史会永远记住他，因他暴虐的恶名和不朽的武功。