The Western Wei Wang Sizheng defeated Yingchuan, why didn't Yuwentai rescue it with all his strength? Lose the present and win the future

1. Originally the confidant of Emperor Xiaowu, but became the strongest fan town of the Western Wei Dynasty

At the end of the Southern and Northern Dynasties, the Northern Wei split into Eastern Wei and Western Wei. Both countries regarded each other as thieves who robbed the country and fought for years. However, there is a military commander who made great contributions to the Western Wei Dynasty, but he was still old in the Eastern Wei Dynasty. In this treacherous age, it is really amazing.

Wang Sizheng, born in the famous Taiyuan Wang family. Taiyuan Wangs are divided into two branches, one is Jinyang Wangs, and the other is Qixian Wangs. The ancestor of the Wang family in Qixian was Situ Wang Yun who killed Dong Zhuo in the late Eastern Han Dynasty. Wang Sizheng came from the Wang family in Qixian. At the end of the Northern Wei Dynasty, the six towns rebelled and the world was in chaos. Wang Sizheng followed Beihai Wang Yuanhao (the one who later surrendered to Nanliang to guide Chen Qingzhi in the Northern Expedition) to conquer the ugly slaves. Yuanxiu, who was still the King of Binh Duong, heard about Wang Sizheng's name for a long time, so he hired him as a doorman.

After Gao Huan eliminated the Erzhu clan, as he had previously supported the clan of Bohai Taishou Yuen Long, he was only the fifth grandson of Taiwu Emperor Tuoba Tao, who was a family member, so he wanted to find a royal family to support him. emperor. In the end, Gao Huan selected the Pingyang Wang Yuanxiu who was hiding in the folks, and Pingyang Wang became Emperor Xiaowu. Wang Sizheng, with the merits of Conglong, entered Qixian County. Wang Sizheng was very loyal to the Wei family, and Emperor Xiaowu regarded it as a confidant, letting him be the general in the army and command the imperial army. Later Emperor Xiaowu and Gao Huan met in battle. Seeing failure, Wang Sizheng persuaded Emperor Xiaowu to go to the west of Guanzhong and defect to Yuwentai. On the way to the west, Emperor Xiaowu's army was scattered everywhere, and Wang Sizheng persisted in escorting Emperor Xiaowu to Chang'an safely.

王思政

When Emperor Xiaowu was in Luoyang, Gao Huan at least respected him. Unexpectedly, Yu Wentai's patience was not as good as Gao Huan's. Only three months later, Yu Wentai couldn't stand Emperor Xiaowu's arrogance and poisoned Yuan Xiu. As a confidant of Emperor Wu, Wang Sizheng was very upset. However, Yu Wentai did not cleanse Wang Sizheng, but instead used it for two reasons:

First, Wang Sizheng was Emperor Xiaowu Yuan Cong, famous for his loyalty to the world, and loved soldiers, and he was very prestigious in the army. In the fourth year of the Western Wei Dynasty (538), the Battle of the River Bridge broke out in the Eastern and Western Wei Dynasty. As a result, the Western Wei was defeated. Wang Sizheng was seriously injured and passed out on the battlefield. Because Wang Sizheng was wearing an old armor, he fell in the sea of ​​corpses and was not found. In the evening, Wang Sizheng's generals thought he was dead, so they cried to find Wang Sizheng on the battlefield and found him alive, so they rescued him. This shows the weight of Wang Sizheng in the hearts of soldiers.

Second, the strong enemy is on the side. Xiao Liang and the Eastern Wei dynasty are watching. The Western Wei, as the weakest of the three kingdoms, is at the time of employment. The reuse of Wang Sizheng can gather the hearts of the old ministers of the Wei family, which is conducive to the integration and unity between the Wuchuan military group of the six towns of the original Heba Yue family and the old ministers of Emperor Wu.

Facts have proved how wise Yuwentai is not to kill Wang Sizheng. Because Wang Sizheng not only has excellent military capabilities, but also has a very strategic and strategic vision.

Wang Sizheng led the army several times. After passing through Shanxi, he found an excellent defense place, so he built a city on the spot, which is the famous Yubi City. The Yubi fortress has a dangerous terrain and is easy to defend and difficult to attack. It fundamentally eliminated the possibility of the Eastern Wei Dynasty from attacking the Western Wei Dynasty from the direction of Fen and Jiang in Shanxi. It embodies Wang Sizheng's unique strategic vision. Later, Wei Xiaokuan, who succeeded Wang Sizheng in defending Yubi, became famous in this battle. He defeated Gao Huan and killed 70,000 people in the Eastern Wei Army with thousands.

Later, in the 9th year of Datong (543), the Manshan War broke out between the Eastern and Western Wei Dynasty. As a result, the Western Wei Dynasty collapsed and the regime was once in jeopardy. Wang Sizheng was in danger and defended Hongnong, the gateway to Guanzhong. He comforted the soldiers, stabilized the hearts of the people, and at the same time ordered the gates to be opened wide, playing a realistic version of the empty city strategy. General Liu Fengsheng of the Eastern Wei Dynasty led his army to attack, afraid of fraud and did not dare to attack, so he withdrew. Later, Wang Sizheng rebuilt Hongnong's defense facilities, and Hongnong became a fortress.

Later, Yuwentai simply let Wang Sizheng govern Jingzhou, with the right to act cheaply. The Western Wei Dynasty is located in the Western Wei Dynasty, the land is barren, and the degree of prosperity is far less than that of the Eastern Wei Dynasty. Jingzhou under its system is only equivalent to the northern part of Jingzhou in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, which is near the original Nanyang County in the late Han Dynasty. For the Western Wei Dynasty, this is the bridgehead of the Western Wei Dynasty's aggressive and eloquent land in Henan. In the thirteenth year of Datong (547), after the death of Gao Huan, Hou Jing rebelled in Daxingtai, Henan in the Eastern Wei Dynasty. At this time, Hou Jing ruled the Henan region of the Eastern Wei Dynasty for ten years, and surrendered to the Southern Liang and the Western Wei Dynasty simultaneously from the land of Henan.Three Kingdoms War. Due to Hou Jing's insidious cunning, Yu Wentai hesitated and only granted Hou Jing a series of official positions without substantial assistance. Wang Sizheng thought this was a godsend, so he led more than 10,000 troops from Jingzhou headquarters to Yingchuan. Yu Wentai sent Zhao Gui and Li Bi to help after watching Wang Sizheng's attack. In the game with Liang Jun and Hou Jingjun, the Western Wei Dynasty won a big victory and fully occupied Yingchuan and other seven prefectures and twelve towns. After this battle, Yuwentai granted Wang Sizheng to all the official posts originally granted to Hou Jing.

Since then, Wang Sizheng has been the governor of Henan and has officially become the Hou Jing of the Western Wei Dynasty. As a non-Yuwen descendant, he became the strongest vassal in the Western Wei Dynasty.

Second, Yingchuan was defeated, and the old Eastern Wei

The Eastern Wei could not allow the Western Wei to occupy the land of Henan. In the fourteenth year of the Western Wei Dynasty (548, the sixth year of Wuding in the Eastern Wei Dynasty), Gao Cheng sent three generals, Taiwei Gao Yue, Murong Shaozong, and Liu Fengsheng, to attack Yingchuan with 100,000 troops. As a general under Gao Huan’s account, Gao Yue basically participated in all major battles. This time, he spent 100,000 on Wang Sizheng's headquarters with more than 10,000 people, full of confidence, besieged the city on all sides, and stormed the city gate. But Wang Sizheng didn't even want to defend himself. He directly opened the gate to meet the enemy in a field battle and defeated Gao Yue's vanguard troops. Gao Yue changed his tactics, rested two earthen hills outside the city of Changsha, Yingchuan County, and shot arrows and flints into the city from the volcano. As a result, Wang Sizheng recruited warriors and occupied two earthen mountains in one fell swoop.

In this way, the Eastern Wei Dynasty still failed to conquer Yingchuan for one year. As Wang Sizheng's old opponent, Liu Fengsheng, a general who escaped from Guanlong and went to Gao Huan, thought of Yixue Hongnong's shame, so he built a barrage above Weishui and poured water into Yingchuan city. In an instant, the Yingchuan city wall collapsed in many places and was precarious. Wang Sizheng and the soldiers shared the joys and sorrows and defended tenaciously, but in an absolute disadvantaged situation, spiritual motivation was difficult to work. Seeing Yingchuan was about to fall, a miracle happened.

Murong Shaozong, the cousin of the Erzhu family, has been hidden in the snow since surrendering to Gao Huan. Gao Huan left it to his son Gao Cheng to deal with Hou Jing. Sure enough, as soon as Murong Shaozong came out of the mountain, he defeated Hou Jing and successfully led the disaster to Nanliang. At this time, Yingchuan had become a vast ocean, and Wang Sizheng even ordered the soldiers to hang the pot to cook. Murong Shaozong and Liu Fengsheng took the big boat and ordered the soldiers to sit on the boat and shoot arrows into the city. As a result, a violent wind suddenly broke, breaking the rope of the boat where Murong Shaozong and Liu Fengsheng were riding. The ship floated along the direction of the wind towards the gate of Yingchuan Changsha. The soldiers of the Western Wei Dynasty who had been out of food for a long time suddenly felt energetic when they saw the two generals of the opposing team throw themselves into the net. They hooked the boat with a long hook, and then all arrows were fired. Murong Shaozong, the northern Bingzhou man who was at the peak of his life, was not good at water and drowned after diving into the river. Although Liu Fengsheng jumped through water, he was shot to death by the Western Wei Army.

Wang Sizheng later found the bodies of the two and buried them with ceremonies. The morale of the Eastern Wei army was low.

The famous general Murong Shaozong

The Eastern Wei regime is actually the Gao clan regime, mainly relying on the Xianbei soldiers of the Jinyang Overlord to run the army, and the civil servants of the Han family. Gao Cheng participated in political affairs when he was a teenager, and established the cultural system of the Eastern Wei Dynasty, and used Han bureaucrats to rectify the nobles. It can be said that the bureaucrats of the Han family are the direct line of Gao Cheng. After Gao Huan's death, the Jinyang Overlord's soldiers represented by Gao Yue, Hu Lujin, and Duan Shao recognized the status of Gao Cheng's successor, but they were not necessarily convinced in their hearts because Gao Cheng did not have martial arts. I heard that after Murong Shaozong and Liu Fengsheng died in the battle, Yuan Gao Huan’s confidant Chen Yuankang said to Gao Cheng: “Since you came to power, the king, you have not made outstanding achievements. Although you defeated Hou Jing, it is our family affair, not Foreign enemy. Now Yingchuan's achievements should be done by the king himself." Chen Yuankang's words hit Gao Cheng's arms, and Gao Cheng personally led an attack on Yingchuan County with one hundred thousand foot rides, and surrounded the county governor Changshe city.

The Great General of the Eastern Wei Dynasty and the King of Qi Gaocheng came to the battlefield and announced who could capture Wang Sizheng and seal the marquis alive. If Wang Sizheng committed suicide, then none of his soldiers would remain. The Eastern Wei Army drew water to irrigate the city, and there was no place to stand in the city. Wang Sizheng led the army to withdraw from the Changsha and went to the Tushan Mountain to continue the defense. Knowing that he had failed, he said to the generals: "I have tried my best. I can only die to report the country." After that, he bowed to the west twice and raised his sword. Prepare to slay yourself. The soldiers cried and stopped Wang Sizheng. At this time, Gao Cheng sent Zhao Yanshen to the Tushan Mountain and gave it to Wang Sizheng.Bai Yufan, to show sincerity to persuade surrender. Zhao Yanshen is Gao Cheng's confidant. When Hou Jing rebelled, Gao Cheng entrusted Jinyang and his family to Zhao Yanshen. Wang Sizheng surrendered in order to protect his own army with only three thousand soldiers remaining. Gao Cheng finally entered Yingchuan as a winner and changed his name to Zhengzhou.

Because Wang Sizheng was a follower of Emperor Xiaowu Yuanxiu, and the Eastern Wei Dynasty had always claimed to inherit from Emperor Xiaowu, Gao Cheng treated Wang Sizheng favorably and praised him as a loyal minister. Later, after the establishment of the Northern Qi Dynasty, Wang Sizheng was awarded the Third Division of Yitong, and he was the elder of the Eastern Wei Dynasty and Northern Qi Dynasty.

3. This is a war that loses the present and wins the future

Wang Sizheng has defended Yingchuan for nearly two years. Why didn't Yu Wentai, the power minister of the Western Wei Dynasty, give full rescue? There is a view that because Wang Sizheng is a confidant of Emperor Xiaowu, and Yu Wentai wants to take this opportunity to remove Wang Sizheng. Du Shao believes that this kind of conspiracy theory is purely nonsense. If Yu Wentai wanted to get rid of Wang Sizheng, it would have been better to get rid of Wang Sizheng directly. Why bother to reuse Wang Sizheng and even let him dominate Henan? Yuwentai has absolutely no reason to remove him in such a way that damages national power.

As mentioned in the previous article, the Western Wei Dynasty is located in Xifeng, the land is barren, and it is longing for a lush land in Henan. So, why didn't Yuwentai make every effort to rescue Yingchuan? In fact, behind this is the epitome of the weak national power of the Western Wei Dynasty.

Western Wei's right minister Yuwentai

In the Ninth Year of Datong (543), the Mangshan War broke out. The Western Wei's army suffered a devastating blow. The original Xianbei soldiers suffered heavy casualties. After this battle, Yuwentai created a government military system, absorbed the local Han tycoons into the army, and shared the military power that previously belonged to the Xianbei people with the Han tycoons. However, the soldiers were newly recruited from the upper-class families of Guanlong Han, and they would not immediately form combat power. So we see that after nine years of Datong, the Western Wei Dynasty has no record of large-scale military deployment. In the Twelfth Year of Datong (546), Wei Xiaokuan, who was trapped in Yubi, was besieged by Gao Huan's army, but Yuwentai never sent an army to rescue him. Before Hou Jing surrendered, the Western Wei Dynasty only sent more than ten thousand reinforcements after Wang Sizheng had already attacked. Because the reorganized Western Wei army at this time was in a period of pain, its combat power was not enough to compete with the mature Jinyang Overlord Army of the Eastern Wei Dynasty. Yuwentai chose forbearance.

And when Wang Sizheng was just besieged by Gao Yue, Murong Shaozong, and Liu Fengsheng, Yuwentai actually sent reinforcements. He sent Zhao Gui to lead the Western Wei and Southeastern Zhous to rescue. But at that time the strongholds around Yingchuan were all occupied by the Eastern Wei Dynasty, and Zhao Gui was unable to move forward after arriving at Rangcheng (now Dengzhou, Henan). It can be seen that Wang Sizheng is still more important to Yuwentai than Wei Xiaokuan of Yubi back then. However, due to limited strength, Yuwentai conservatively chose the "point-to-stop" rescue method, using only the southeast army, and after encountering difficulties, it stagnated and did not try its best. Because the Western Wei Dynasty could not bet on national luck.

Formal picture around Yingchuan County

Another thing also reflects Yu Wentai's conservativeness after the Mangshan War. Just after Wang Sizheng took power in Henan, he wanted to move the office of Xingtai rule from Xiangcheng in Jingzhou to Changsha in Yingchuan County. However, Yuwentai and Minister Cui You believed that Yingchuan was close to the enemy's Eastern Wei and Nanliang, which was a protruding part, and there was no danger of mountains and rivers, which was not conducive to defense. It is better to keep the office in Xiangcheng, and then send another general to defend Yingchuan. But Wang Sizheng believes that if he does not personally defend Yingchuan, then Yingchuan cannot be defended. So he agreed with Yuwentai: "If the enemy attacked from the water within one year, and from land within three years, the court would be better than sending troops to rescue." Yuwentai saw Wang Sizheng so decisive, and then agreed to him. After Wang Sizheng's defeat, Yuwentai regretted not listening to Cui You's words. It can be seen that Yuwentai disagrees with Wang Sizheng's risky behavior in his heart. In Yuwentai's heart, steady development is the last word. After the Battle of Yingchuan, the Western Wei Army completely withdrew from Henan to avoid conflict with the Eastern Wei.

Then, why is it said that the "Battle of Yingchuan" is a war that lost the present and won the future?

Western Wei and Eastern Wei, Yuwentai and Gao Huan, the original military structure is very similar. Yuwentai took He Bayue's army from the Erzhu family who had entered the Pass from the west as his team, and accepted the soldiers from Wuchuan Township in Six Towns and the Yuan Cong ministers brought by Emperor Xiaowu. Gao HuanSoldiers from Huaisho Town in Six Towns and the rest of the Uprising in Six Towns served as the team members, and they included the military power of Hebei Han and former officials of the Erzhu family. In other words, in the beginning, both the Guanlong Military Group in the Western Wei Dynasty and the Jinyang Overlord in the Eastern Wei Dynasty almost always had Xianbei soldiers as their backbone and formed huge interest groups.

In the face of Yingchuan’s predicament, he might change to any leader and would not give up lightly. However, Yuwentai reluctantly gave up the rescue of general Wang Sizheng, and avoided another devastating blow to the main force of the Western Wei army at that time, and won a precious opportunity for reform for the Western Wei Dynasty by forbearing and strong. After that, Yuwentai repeatedly tolerated the Eastern Wei Dynasty and saw the right time. Taking advantage of the Nanliang Houjing Rebellion, he fully captured the rich areas of Yizhou, Xiangyang and Jiangling in the Nanliang, thus reversing the power gap with the Eastern Wei Dynasty. During this period, the military system became more and more mature, becoming a powerful force that could rival the overlord army of the Eastern Wei Dynasty. However, the Han Dynasty and the original Xianbei soldiers gradually merged perfectly, and the Guanlong Group was reborn in Nirvana and worked together to lay a solid foundation for the future establishment of the Northern Zhou, Sui and Tang Dynasties.

Looking back at the Eastern Wei victorious all the way, although tactically victorious all the way, it lacks a grand strategy for long-term development. After this battle, Gao Cheng's prestige reached its peak. But the more victorious, the more arrogant the Xianbei soldiers of the Eastern Wei Dynasty. However, Gao Cheng, who personally established the Northern Wei Dynasty Wenzhi, and his successor Gao Yang, adopted a strategy of letting the Han family and the Xianbei soldiers check and balance each other. They missed the opportunity to merge the two into one. In the end, the demise of the Northern Qi Dynasty was This kind of infighting. Later, the Northern Qi victorious all the way, suddenly perished. It can be seen that it is very important for a good leader to have a calm mind and long-term vision.