Chapter Eighty-Nine: Drinking the Yangtze River

Since the Northern Wei Dynasty destroyed the Northern Liang and unified the north, the Northern Wei Emperor Tuoba Tao was naturally unwilling to follow in the footsteps of the former Qin Emperor Fu Jian, although he wanted to dominate the world, but he still maintained restraint, spent ten years vigorously to get rid of bad political habits, imitated the Han system to formulate the national code system, reused the Han scholars, suppressed the remnants of the Sixteen Kingdoms, so that the rebellion of the Hu people in various parts of the Northern Wei Kingdom was quelled, and the centripetal force of the dynasty was gradually strengthened.

In 450 AD, the Northern Wei Emperor Tuoba Tao thought that the contradictions between the tribes had subsided and the national strength was enough to pacify the south of the Yangtze River, so he personally led 100,000 horse infantry to crusade against Liu Song of the Southern Dynasty, and marched to attack the city of Liu Song (Shangcai, Henan).

However, the Liu Song Dynasty was also under the governance of Emperor Liu Yilong, and after more than 30 years of Yuan Jia's rule, the national strength was at its peak, and the army and the people were united. Liu Song Hanggu City Defender Chen Xian held the city, the army and the people hated the enemy, the Northern Wei army suffered heavy casualties, Tuoba Tao saw this, knew that it was not easy to capture Jiangnan, and then led the troops back to the court, trying to find an opportunity to move.

The Northern Wei army retreated, and Liu Yilong, the emperor of the Liu Song Dynasty, was overjoyed when he heard it, so he took the opportunity to expedition north to the Central Plains, and then ordered all the armies south of the Yangtze River to advance by land and water to the Central Plains.

The Northern Wei Emperor Tuoba Tao, who had just returned to the country, heard the news, not to be outdone, and personally led the whole country to cross the Yellow River to meet the battle, and the main forces of the two armies met at the slippery platform, and the Liu Song army was defeated and retreated. Although the rest of the armies of the Northern Expedition of Liu and Song won one after another, the Emperor of Liu Song, Liu Yilong, feared that the lone army would go deeper, so he issued an edict to recall the troops and horses of the Northern Expedition.

In 451 AD, the Northern Wei Emperor Tuoba Tao saw that Liu Song's Northern Expeditionary army was retreating, so he personally led the army of 600,000 to the south, planning to annex Jiangnan in one go. However, the soldiers and civilians in all parts of the Liu and Song dynasties held on to the city, and the Northern Wei army attacked the city one after another, and Tuoba Tao was naturally unwilling to return again in vain, so he led the army to bypass the cities of the Liu and Song dynasties along the way, and directly led the army to cross the Huai River and enter the Yangtze River.

The war report reached Jianye, the whole country was shocked in the Liu Song Dynasty, and the emperor Liu Yilong immediately ordered the ministers of the Jiangnan clan, the common people, and every household to send men as soldiers, along the Yangtze River, to block the Northern Wei army from going south.

The Northern Wei army because of the marching army, successive sieges were blocked, along the way the counties are in the hands of Liu Song, lonely in the enemy's territory, grain and grass transport is extremely difficult, into the north bank of the Yangtze River, Tuoba Tao knew that the army in the grain and grass will be exhausted, unable to cross the river to fight.

One night, Tuoba Tao tossed and turned, difficult to sleep, then took several entourage, patrolled along the river, its stationing on the bank of the Ma River, looking at the land south of the Yangtze River, only to see the river wide, the warships are dense, the south bank of the military camp is tightly organized, the bonfires are clustered, recalling his youth to ascend the throne, the north attack Rouran, the east to destroy the North Yan, the west to die in the north Liang, more than 30 years, the years, he has passed the year of knowing the destiny of heaven, and now the south is conquering Liu Song, but the lonely army is deep, the grain and grass will be exhausted, the great cause of unifying the world is ruined, pondering for a long time, Tuoba Tao sighed in his heart, and then ordered the Tianming class to return to the dynasty.

On the way back to the army, due to the lack of food and grass, the counties of Liu Song were burned, killed and looted along the way, and the Liu Song army also launched a siege and pursuit of the Northern Wei army, and the Northern Wei army suffered heavy losses. And the land south of the Yangtze River was also full of depression and slaughter because of the attack and plunder of the Northern Wei army.

After this battle, Liu Song and Northern Wei were both defeated, Liu Song of the Southern Dynasty was powerless against the Northern Expedition, and the Northern Dynasty and Northern Wei also sighed at the invasion of the South, and the two countries reached a confrontation situation.

Tuoba Tao, the emperor of the Northern Wei Dynasty who returned to Pingcheng, knew that the great cause of reunification was difficult to accomplish, and he was extremely resentful in his heart, and gradually became moody, irritable and killed, so that he often killed innocents indiscriminately, and his close ministers looked sideways at him.

At the beginning of 352 A.D., the eunuch Zong Ai, who was favored by the Northern Wei Emperor Tuoba Tao, had always been at odds with the crown prince Tuoba Huang, and often framed the prince in front of Tuoba Tao, Tuoba Tao ordered the rectification of the East Palace, and killed dozens of close ministers of the prince, so that the prince died of grief and illness, Tuoba Tao loved his son very much, often blamed himself, and then reprimanded Zong Ai, Zong Ai was afraid that he would be killed by Tuoba Tao, so he took the opportunity to sneak into Tuoba Tao's dormitory, and killed Tuoba Tao while he was asleep.

Because of the vacancy of the crown prince's position, Zong Ai immediately supported Tuoba Tao's youngest son Tuoba Yu, who was good with him, to succeed him, and held the power of the Northern Wei Dynasty himself, but Tuoba Yu was afraid of Zong Ai's power and wanted to cut his authority, but Zong Ai noticed it.

At the end of the same year, Zong Ai took the opportunity of Tuoba Yu's sacrifice to the temple and killed him.

At this time, the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty of the Northern Wei Dynasty heard the news, and they were afraid of reproducing the chaos of Zhao Gao, so they supported Tuoba Tao's eldest grandson Tuoba Jun to succeed to the throne, and after Tuoba Jun ascended the throne, he executed Zongai with the support of the ministers and took back the power of the court. And in view of the fact that the Northern Wei Dynasty fought for many years and the people were tired, Tuoba Jun took the resignation of the army and the rest of the people as the established national policy, so that the remnants of the Sixteen Kingdoms, who were originally ready to move because of the civil strife in the Northern Wei Dynasty, gradually stabilized.

However, the Northern Wei Emperor Tuoba Jun, who had reigned for only more than ten years, died of illness.

If you know whether there will be a rebirth in the Northern Wei Dynasty, and where the remnants of the Sixteen Kingdoms and their clans will eventually return, please see the next chapter.