[Just as the Northern Wei Dynasty was preparing for the Northern Expedition to Rouran, Xi Jin, who stayed in Guanzhong and was determined to destroy Xia, went wrong.

The Northern Wei army, which intended to exterminate the remnants of the Xia Kingdom, was indeed smooth sailing at the beginning, and even captured the Xia lord Helianchang and sent him back to Pingcheng.

But then, because of his meritorious service, Xi Jin ventured into pursuit of the Xia army to Pingliang, and was defeated by the new Xia lord Helianding, who had just ascended the throne, and Xi Jin himself was captured. The Xia army took advantage of the situation to counterattack and reoccupy Chang'an. 】

[There have been huge changes in the situation in Guanzhong, Xi Jin was defeated and captured, Chang'an was gained and lost, and almost all the results of the previous two personal expeditions were in vain, so you can imagine how angry and depressed Tuoba Tao was in his heart.

But what made him even more uncomfortable was still to come, because Rouran once again rode into the Cypriot with more than 10,000 horsemen to plunder the border; At the same time, there was a rebellion of Ding Ling in Dingzhou, Hebei; Shangdang Li Yu rebelled, killed Taishou, and proclaimed himself the supreme king. 】

[In the face of the turmoil one after another, Tuoba Tao ordered his uncle Sun Jian to lead the army from Pingcheng to Shangdang to quell the rebellion, and the Hanoi defenders supported Shangdang to extinguish Li Yu, while he himself personally managed the troops to fight Rouran in the north.

In April of the second year of the Northern Wei Dynasty (429 AD), Tuoba Tao sacrificed to the sky in the southern suburbs and prepared to go on an expedition.

However, the internal and external ministers and the Empress Dowager all dissuaded Tuoba Tao from personally crusading against Rouran in times of turmoil.

Zhang Yuan and Xu Wei of Taishi Ling said with astronomical advice: "Today, the age of the three yin, the stars attack the moon, Taibai is in the west, you can't raise troops, and the Northern Expedition will be defeated." Although grams, it is not conducive to the on. ”

But at this critical moment when a major choice needs to be made, Cui Hao stood up, and he strongly advised Tuoba Tao to personally recruit Rouran, saying: "Yang is virtue, yin is punishment, so the solar eclipse cultivates virtue and the lunar eclipse cultivates punishment." The husband and the king are tortured, and the small ones are wanton in the cities and courts, and the big ones are in the wilderness. Today, he sent troops to seek revenge for his guilt, so he repaired the punishment. The ministers stole and watched astronomy, compared with the past few years, the moon covered the pleiades, and it is still the same. Its occupation, three years of the Son of Heaven broke the country. Worms, high cars, and the crowd of heads. May Your Majesty have no doubts. ”

The two sides began to have a heated debate in front of Tuobatao.

Since Cui Hao is also an extremely authoritative person in astronomy, Zhang Yuan changed the direction of advice and said: "Rouran is a desolate land, and the land they get cannot be cultivated, and their people are stupid and do not listen to education, and it is useless to get it, so why do you want to mobilize the people to fight?" ”

Does this kind of exhortation sound familiar? That's right, this is the words of many pedantic literati in all dynasties who advised the emperor. 】

[Cui Hao retorted: "Your rhetoric is the outdated remarks of the corrupt Confucians of the Han Dynasty, and when Rouran surrendered in the past, he also obeyed the orders of the imperial court, why can't they be allowed to obey orders again now?] ”

Then Cui Hao threw out a killer idea: "Everyone in the world says that Zhang Yuan and Xu Wei are familiar with mathematics, and they will write tomorrow." So may I ask, when you were in Tongwan City in the past, did you ever notice that the Xia Kingdom was about to fall?

If you haven't paid attention, then what qualifications do you have to say "tomorrow text".

If you noticed, then why didn't you give advice to Lord Xia? Isn't that infidelity? ”】

"Tsk. Cui Hao's remarks are really murderous! ”

"Even 'Mathematics, Tomorrow's Text' can't make a completely accurate prediction, right?"

"In any case, Cui Hao's words did completely trample Zhang Yuan and Xu Wei under their feet, after all, they are subordinates."

[After retreating from the dynasty, a minister asked Cui Hao worriedly: "Now that the Southern Dynasty is about to move, the country does not take precautions to raise the north to fight.

If Rouran escapes again, the division will be useless, and the Southern Dynasty will take the opportunity to go on a northern expedition, won't we be in danger? ”

Cui Hao replied with great certainty: "Impossible." Rouran often harassed the border, and if they were not dealt with first, they would not be able to defend against the south with peace of mind.

The southern army was mainly infantry, and our army was mostly cavalry, and their speed was much inferior to ours. Moreover, even if the Southern Dynasties took the opportunity to invade and seize our land, they would not be able to defend it.

What a hero Liu Yu was back then, after the Northern Expedition, he left his beloved son, supplemented by good generals, tens of thousands of elite soldiers, and still couldn't defend it, so that the whole army was wiped out, not to mention that Liu Yilong was far inferior to his father! ”】

[With the full support of Cui Hao, Tuoba Tao made a decisive Northern Expedition against public opinion.

And his road to the north was also very smooth, the panicked Rouran tribe was scattered again, and another nomadic tribe, Gaoche, even teamed up with the Wei army to take advantage of the fire and rob.

The Wei army pursued Rouran all the way to Zhuo Evil Mountain, but the generals were afraid of insufficient supplies, so Rouran counterattacked and advised Tuoba Tao to return to the division.

Kou Qianzhi, the "national teacher" who accompanied the army, advised Tuoba Tao with Cui Hao's remarks when he sent troops: "Rouran is used to being scattered in summer, and there is no large army to fight, and this time it will definitely be a complete victory, but I am afraid that the generals will not take the risk of going deeper."

However, Tuoba Tao did not listen, but chose the class teacher.

In October, arriving in the capital Pingcheng, the Wei army harvested so much that it reached the point where the horses, cattle, sheep and felt skins of the whole country were cheap.

Soon after returning to Pingcheng, Tuoba Tao heard the news from the captives that made him regret it: "The Khan of Rouran Sushenggai died of anger, and the remnants of the tribes in Zhuo Evil Mountain were scattered, roobling in the valley, and the wild animals were scattered, and no one watched them. If the pursuing Wei army advanced for two more days, Rouran would be completely destroyed. ”

Repeatedly three points were said by Cui Hao, Tuoba Tao finally realized Cui Hao's power, so he entered Cui Hao as the general of the service, special advancement, and Fujun, and personally issued an edict to Zhu Shangshu and said: "All military plans, what you Cao can't decide, should be consulted Hao, and then implemented." ”】

[Soon after pacifying Dingrou, Liu Song suddenly sent an envoy to demand the recovery of the land that Liu Yu had occupied but was taken by the Northern Wei Dynasty.

In fact, this kind of negotiation is actually impossible to succeed, after all, who will spit out the fat that has been eaten in the stomach?

Therefore, this is just a trick of Liu Yilong, the emperor of the Liu Song Dynasty, to salute first and then to soldier.

Sure enough, in March of the second year of Yanhe of the Northern Wei Dynasty (430 AD), Liu Yilong, after making enough diplomatic courtesies, took advantage of the rising water in spring and summer to issue an edict to the Northern Expedition! 】

[Coming to the menacing Song army, the Wei army began to cross the river to the north, abandoned Henan but began to cross the river to the north, and strategically abandoned Henan.

Only in July, the Song army had achieved its set goal and occupied all the areas from Tongguan in the west to Zhuanqi in the east.

The Song army did not expect that the Northern Expedition would go so smoothly from top to bottom, and the Northern Wei Dynasty almost did not make any decent resistance, so the Song army was jubilant, only Wang Zhongde was worried that the Wei army would go south after the Yellow River froze in winter. 】

[On the Northern Wei side, even if Tuoba Tao had set a plan for a winter counteroffensive at the beginning, it was almost broken, because the generals who had withdrawn from Henan tried to send troops first and directly fight the Song army.

In the end, it was Cui Hao who blocked this proposal, and he analyzed to Tuoba Tao: "The army in the northwest of the imperial court made great contributions when attacking Tongwan and conquering Rouran, and the southern generals were red-eyed, so they hoped to send troops to the south to plunder. However, now that it is the height of summer, our army must not adapt to the water and soil, and should carry out the original plan, and only after winter can we send troops south. ”

It was under Cui Hao's persuasion that Tuoba Tao ordered the Henan garrison to cross the river to the north.

However, Cui Hao was persuaded once, but he still couldn't persuade the second time.

After the generals of Henan returned to Hebei, they wrote again, hoping to use the name of Sima Chuzhi and others of the Eastern Jin Dynasty in Wei to lure the people in the Southern Dynasty, and at the same time send all the troops south of Youzhou to build boats and prepare to cross the river.

Cui Hao persuaded again: "The generals hope to recapture Henan as soon as possible with momentum, but if it is in the name of recovering the Jin Dynasty, then Liu Yilong, under fear, will definitely go all out to wage war with our country, so that not only can not quickly recapture Henan, but will expand the scale of the war." ”

However, the ministers all thought that the proposal of the Henan guards was feasible, and Tuoba Tao was difficult to discuss, so he issued an edict: "The three prefectures of Hebei, Ding, and Xiang will build 3,000 ships, and the troops south of Jianyouzhou will gather on the river to prepare for it." ”】

(End of chapter)