Chapter 56 Borrowing Bandits

In 376 A.D., the former Qin destroyed the dynasty, when the former Qin emperor Fu Jian moved the dynasty to Chang'an, but, remembering that Tuoba Shiyiqian's grandson Tuoba was only six years old, he left Tuoba in the ministry and handed over to his mother He to raise, Fu Jian thought that when he grew up, he would be grateful to himself because of his kindness to the Tuoba department.

Fu Jian also handed over the territory of the original country to Liu Weichen, the chief of the Xiongnu Tiefu tribe and Liu Kuren, the chief of the Xianbei Dugu tribe, who were attached to the former Qin. Tuoba and his mother, He, were under the command of Liu Kuren. Liu Kuren was kind and kind, treated Tuoba Jue's mother and son very politely, and helped Tuoba Jue, who was growing up, to collect his subordinates.

However, after the fiasco of Fu Jianshui, the north fell back into division. Liu Kuren led his troops to help Former Qin fight against the fledgling Later Yan, but was soon defeated and killed, and his brother Liu Toujun led his men.

In 385 AD, Liu Xian, the son of Liu Kuren, murdered Liu Tou's family to stand on his own, and wanted to take advantage of Tuoba's youth to kill him and annex his subordinates. However, the matter was not confidential, and Tuoba Jue's mother, He, learned of Liu Xian's intentions, so she asked Liu Xian to drink, drunk him, and let Tuoba Jue and the former minister Sun Qian and others flee to the Helan Department of the mother clan by night, and the He family soon took the opportunity to return to the Helan Ministry. However, many people in the Helan Department knew that the Tuoba Department was strong, and they attached themselves to Tuoba Jue, and He's brother He Ran was jealous and hateful, and tried to kill Tuoba Jue, but the matter was leaked, and the He clan came forward to stop it.

In February 386, the Helan tribe convened the Xianbei tribes to hold a tribal assembly in Niuchuan (present-day Hohhot). The tribes elected Tuoba as the leader and inherited the throne. Soon, Tuoba led his subordinates to return to Shengle (Inner Mongolia and Lingel County), and promoted agriculture to allow his subordinates to recuperate.

In April of the same year, Tuoba Jue was renamed King of Wei and known as the Northern Wei Dynasty in history.

At this time, Tuoba's uncle Tuoba Cave tried to replace Tuoba Cave, so he led his troops and Dugu Liu Xian to jointly crusade against Tuoba, Tuoba's subordinate Yu Huan and others even intended to kill Tuoba Jue in response to Tuoba Cave, but someone leaked secrets again, Tuoba Jue killed Yu Huan and other five people, but his subordinates were panicked, and many people were attached to the Helan Department, Tuoba Jue led the rest of his troops to move to Yinshan to defend Tuoba Cave and Liu Xian's coalition army, and sent an envoy to Houyan Murong Chui for help.

Murong Chui learned that Tuoba Jue asked for help, that he had just established the country as emperor, and that he also wanted to control the northern grasslands and Xianbei tribes, so he sent his son Murong Lin to lead an army of 6,000 to aid Tuoba Jue.

In October of the same year, Tuoba Cave and Liu Xian led their troops to approach the Tuoba camp, and the Tuoba people were panicked and wanted to disperse. In order to stabilize the hearts of the Tuoba Commanders, Murong Lin hurriedly sent an envoy back to the Tuoba camp. Soon, Tuoba Jue led his troops, joined the Houyan reinforcements, and defeated the combined forces of Tuoba Gulu and Liu Xian. Tuoba Cave fled west with the remnants of the army, attached to the Xiongnu Tiefu Tribe, and was killed by Liu Weichen, the chief of the Tiefu Tribe, and Tuoba Jue received his subordinates. Liu Xian led the remnants to retreat to Mayi.

In June 387 AD, Tuoba Jue again asked Murong Chui to crusade against Liu Xian, and Murong Chui was very annoyed by Liu Xian's snatching of Liu Weichen, the chief of the Xiongnu Tiefu Tribe, to pay him tribute, so he ordered Murong Lin and Murong Kai to lead the army to attack Liu Xian with Tuoba Jue's troops, and defeated Liu Xian in Mize (now Shuo County, Shanxi). Tuoba finally eliminated the fierce enemy of the grassland. After two years of conquest, Tuoba Jue merged Kucaoxi, Gaoche and other departments, and its strength gradually became stronger.

At the beginning of 390 A.D., Tuoba Jue led his troops to the west to conquer the Gaoche Yuan Su Division, and won a great victory, capturing more than 200,000 people and livestock, which greatly strengthened the combat strength of Tuoba Jue's cavalry.

In April of the same year, Tuoba Jue again asked Houyan to send troops to attack the Helan Division, and the Helan Department united with the Tuoba and Suxi Divisions, and the Tuoba Jue Houyan coalition army fought in Yixin Mountain (now Erenhot, Inner Mongolia), and the Helan, Sutu, and Suxi three combined forces were defeated, and the Helan Department surrendered to Tuoba Jue, and the two departments of Hetu and Suxi surrendered to Houyan.

In October 391 AD, feeling that he was full-fledged, Tuoba led his army to attack his northern rival, Rouran. After the food was exhausted, he ate and prepared his war horses, and finally defeated Rouran at Nanbed Mountain, and captured half of his troops, forcing his leader to surrender. Softly defeated, Tuoba Jue no longer has any worries.

Soon, Tuoba Jue marched into the army to feud with the Xiongnu Tiefu Department, and attacked its capital on behalf of the city, Liu Weichen, the chief of the Tiefu Department, was defeated, and was killed by his subordinates after fleeing, and his son Liu Bobo led the remnants to defect to the Later Qin Emperor Yao Chang.

After this war, Tuoba Jue had annexed many powerful tribes, the national strength of the Northern Wei Dynasty increased greatly, and the Xianbei tribes south of the Yellow River also surrendered.

Just when Tuoba Jue, with the help of the Later Yan Emperor Murong Chui, gradually unified the grassland tribes, his relationship with the Later Yan was also undergoing subtle changes, and the ambitious Tuoba Jue had begun to sprout the heart of dominating the Central Plains; The scheming Murong Trai also wanted to control the northern grasslands. Just after the two sides pacified the Helan Ministry, the Later Yan Emperor Murong Chui detained Tuoba Yao, the envoy of the Northern Wei Dynasty, and asked the Northern Wei for a famous horse, but Tuoba Jue categorically refused, so that the alliance between the Later Yan and the Northern Wei came to an abrupt end.

If you want to know how Yan handled the relationship with Tuoba Jue's Northern Wei Dynasty after Murong Chui, please see the next chapter.