"Book of Wei·Biography of Cui Hao" records a conversation between Emperor Yuan of Ming and Cui Hao and Cui Hao and on the issue of successor.
Emperor Mingyuan revealed his worries to Cui Hao, that he was in poor health and was suffering from old illnesses. The princes were young and ignorant, what would this country do in the future?
Cui Hao is worthy of being an old man in politics. He first comforted Emperor Mingyuan and said that you are in a prosperous and prosperous manner, and you are at a time when you make great achievements. Don’t think about it randomly, everything will be fine. The following statement changes, saying that if something goes wrong, in order to ensure the long-term stability of the country and the country, we should imitate the Han system and enthrone the crown prince as soon as possible.
Cui Hao, who was born in , Han , is naturally very familiar with the traditional prince system of Han people, and for the Xianbei Tuoba tribe, this prince system is very unfamiliar. Fortunately, both generations of Tuoba Gui and his son were devoted to the Chineseization of the Han Dynasty, and during their reign they actively learned the advanced system of the Han Dynasty. Therefore, Cui Hao proposed the prince system and gained the recognition of Emperor Mingyuan without too much explanation.
Moreover, while Cui Hao clearly proposed to enthrone the crown prince, he should also let the crown prince supervise the state and reign the army accordingly, which involves the traditional "prince's supervision system" of the Han Dynasty.
In order to explain the benefits of the prince's reign, Cui Hao explained again, saying that the late emperor (Tuoba Gui) did not enthrone the prince's reign in time when he was in power, which resulted in the rebellion of the King of Qinghe and the country was almost destroyed. Now Your Majesty should enthrone the crown prince as soon as possible and select loyal and virtuous ministers to be the crown prince’s master, and at the same time let the crown prince try to handle government affairs.
"Into all the worlds, out of the military affairs, supervise the country and govern the army, six handles are in hand" - "Book of Wei·Biography of Cui Hao"
In this way, Your Majesty should rest assured, the country has a long king, the people have a place to go, and the destiny of heaven Determined. Finally, Cui Hao clearly pointed out that the eldest son of the emperor Tuoba Tao is the most suitable candidate, and suggested that Emperor Mingyuan enthrone Tuoba Tao as the crown prince as soon as possible, so as to stabilize the hearts of the people inside and outside the court and the country.
Cui Hao's suggestion gave Emperor Mingyuan a reassurance and strengthened his determination to appoint the prince as soon as possible.
In April of the seventh year of Taichang (422), Emperor Yuan of Ming enthroned the eldest son of the emperor Tuoba Tao as King of Taiping. In May, Tuoba Tao was granted the crown prince and appointed him as the regent of the country. In the same month, Liu Yu, the founding king of the Liu Song Dynasty, died of illness, and was posthumously named , Emperor Wu of Song, and the crown prince , Liu Yifu , ascended the throne, and many court officials were dissatisfied, and the court and the country were undercurrents.
Why did Emperor Mingyuan so eager to enthrone the crown prince and allow him to supervise the regent? There are two completely different statements in history books, and they are both from the mouths of Emperor Mingyuan himself, which is puzzling.
The first statement is that Emperor Mingyuan claimed that he was suffering from old illness, was in poor health, and was unable to deal with complicated government affairs, so he had to let the prince take over as soon as possible. This statement is recorded in many biography of " Wei Shu ", such as Taizong Ji, Cui Hao Chuan and Changsun Song Chuan all mentioned the health status of Emperor Mingyuan.
Historical facts also confirm this. Just one year after the crown prince was appointed, Emperor Mingyuan suddenly passed away. It can be seen that Emperor Mingyuan was eager to retire and indeed had health considerations.
However, the second statement also appears in the above biography at the same time. In "Book of Wei·Biography of Cui Hao", Emperor Ming Yuan clearly stated that he appointed the crown prince and the regent in order to free up his hands to concentrate on launching a foreign war.
"I marched with you Cao in the four realms, defeated the rebellion and submission, and you will be able to achieve the goal of the world."
these two statements are obviously contradictory. If we follow the first statement, Emperor Mingyuan should "go out of the way and act in vain and be loyal to the gods." Prospering longevity.” If we follow the second statement, Emperor Yuan of Ming should "marche into the four realms and conquer the rebellion and surrender". So should he retreat to the second line or go to the front line?
Judging from the later historical facts, the first statement is more reliable, but the second statement is also correct, because Emperor Mingyuan did launch a large-scale war against Song after his retirement. The war lasted for a full year and it was not over two months before his death.
This is probably the last thing Emperor Mingyuan did for the prince before his death.
Liu Yu passed away and the news that Liu Yifu ascended the throne soon reached Emperor Mingyuan, which was undoubtedly a great news for him.Emperor Mingyuan has always been obsessed with the vast land south of the Yellow River. He has long wanted to seize important central fortresses such as Huatai and Hulao , but he was struggling that there was no suitable opportunity. This time, the throne of Liu Song changed, the turbulent and panic in the court, which just gave Emperor Mingyuan an excellent opportunity.
But launching a foreign war is a major event for the country after all, and Emperor Mingyuan was also very cautious. To be on the safe side, he summoned important officials in the court to discuss the matter.
First he solicited the opinions of the first Han minister Cui Hao.
Pingcheng West Palace, Emperor Mingyuan and Cui Hao had a long talk. Cui Hao had a very clear attitude and opposed sending troops to attack Liu Song.
Cui Hao pointed out: "Your Majesty did not accept Liu Yu's contributions, but Liu Yu also repaid his wife and served Your Majesty. Now that Liu Yu has passed away from illness, if Your Majesty takes advantage of the funeral, he will be ridiculed by others. What's more, if Ru Ru's Majesty wins without force. I can't decide Jiangnan in one battle, I'm afraid I will stay and take advantage of others' danger, and I will take advantage of the bad reputation of taking advantage of others, and damage the holy name. I feel very worthless for Your Majesty."
Emperor Mingyuan was unhappy, but he still patiently listened to Cui Hao's words. Highly opinion.
Cui Hao believes that someone should be sent to Jinling to mourn, convey Your Majesty’s respect and love for the people of Jiangnan, to show our great virtues, and to lay Your Majesty’s benevolence in Jiangzuo , and everyone in Jiangzuo’s fathers and elders have the virtues. This is A soldier who defeats others without fighting.
Cui Hao changed his tone and began to scare Emperor Mingyuan: "Liu Yu had just died, and his party members had not yet been separated. If he attacked Song at this time, the people would join forces to resist the battle. If the attack was strong, the casualties would be great. The victory or defeat was unpredictable and it was not advisable. It would be better to delay for the time being. When the strong ministers in Jiangzuo fought for power and disputes broke out, they suddenly took action and a battle decided to make the world."
Emperor Mingyuan was a Xianbei after all, and he disagreed with Cui Hao's deep-rooted Confucian way of thinking, "Etiquette is not criticized." funeral"? Who stipulates this? Take it out and take two steps.
Mingyuan Emperor pushed Cui Hao back with just one sentence.
"Liu Yu took advantage of Yao Xingxin's death and sent troops to attack and destroy him. Now I'm taking advantage of Liu Yu's death, what's wrong?" ①
Cui Hao was not a good-looking lamp, so he pushed back: "It's not the same thing, Yao Xing died, and the sons fought for power and profit, and Liu Yu took advantage of the chaos to destroy it. There is no chaos in Jiangnan now, it cannot be compared, and there is no comparison. "
Cui Hao's arguments did not convince Emperor Mingyuan, he was unwilling to give up This time, he made up his mind to fight this battle.
The next day, in the court, Emperor Mingyuan announced the decision to the southern expedition and finalized the main generals of the three armies on the spot:
Sikong Xi Jin was the commander-in-chief of the Song Dynasty, and was awarded the title of general of the army, and was appointed as the governor of Yangzhou;
Send General Song Bing, Jiaozhou The governor Zhou Ji, General Wu Bing, and the governor of Guangzhou Gongsun Biao and others sent troops together;
Although Emperor Mingyuan decided to fight, how to fight was a job with high technical content. There was no way, and he had to invite those court officials to discuss it. , The topic is a topic essay:
"On the advantages and disadvantages of attacking Song and siegeing cities and plundering land"
To put it bluntly, it is to sweep the city first or attack the city first. This is a multiple-choice question.
The commander-in-chief of this military operation Xi Jin advocated siege first, but Cui Hao opposed it and advocated plundering the land first. He pointed out that the southerners were good at defending the city. At that time, the former Qin attacked Xiangyang (now Xiangyang, Hubei), but the siege was not broken for several years.
Cui Hao believes that if a large army is dispatched to siege a small city without competing, it will not only damage the morale of the army, but also easily be attacked by the enemy inside and outside and fall into danger. It is better to divide the troops to plunder the land, advance to the side of the Huaihe River, set up an official army, collect grain on the spot, and make long-term plans. In this way, Luoyang , Hulao Pass , and the sliding platform hangs alone in a corner. If you can't wait for the rescue, you will be defeated in a long time.
Cui Hao's suggestion seemed very prescient in hindsight, but unfortunately it was not adopted. Emperor Mingyuan finally adopted Xi Jin's proposal to conquer the city. After the strategic thinking is determined, the rest is to start the war machine.
Emperor Mingyuan chose a zodiac auspicious day, and the army set off from Pingcheng to the south, officially kicking off the first large-scale war between Southern and Northern Dynasties .
In September of the seventh year of Taichang (the third year of Yongchu in the Song Dynasty, 422), Sikong Xi Jin and others led 20,000 infantry and cavalry across the Yellow River and besieged Huatai, an important military town in Liu Song (now Hua County, Henan). Wang Jingdu, the prefect of Dongjun of Liu Song, insisted on defending and surrendering. The Wei army took turns to attack the city. Apart from the loss of soldiers and generals, he didn't even climb up the city wall. Xi Jin, who was helpless, remembered Cui Hao's words to remind him, "The southerners are good at defending the city." I don't know what I think. There is no better way to fight the battle like this. Xi Jin could only conquer the city and send a letter to the emperor Feige, asking for reinforcements.
After receiving Xi Jin's letter of help, Emperor Mingyuan turned green. He fought like this bird, but he still had the face to ask for reinforcements! Emperor Yuan of Ming immediately wrote a letter to scold Xi Jin, "resulting in blaming him."
The problem is that you are so happy to scold, this sliding platform is still as stable as Mount Tai.
Mingyuan Emperor slapped his forehead and lamented "The coach is incompetent, the emperor is exhausted. It seems that I have to take action in person to handle it."
Leave at will, Mingyuan Emperor immediately mobilized a large army to lead the team and set off.
Xi Jin's life outside the city was not easy, and Wang Jingdu in the city was not much better. Seeing that the Wei army was siegeing the city was getting tighter and it was difficult for him to defend the wading platform by his own efforts, he hurriedly sent someone to guard Hulao Pass (now Shinyang City, Henan Province, Xingyang City, Henan Province The , Sizhou governor Mao Dezu asked for help, and Mao Dezu sent Sima Zhai Guang to bring three thousand people to reinforce.
The news that Emperor Mingyuan was in charge of the army was soon spread to the front line camp. A cold sweat broke out on Xi Jin's forehead. He was not good at taking the army and losing his troops, forcing the emperor to take action himself. He, the head coach, is probably going to be over.
In order to reduce the guilt, Xi Jin made a harsh statement and must take down the glide before the emperor arrives, otherwise military law will be carried out.
Under Xi Jin's full supervision, the Wei army launched a new round of offensives. The tide of Xianbei people rushed to the broken city wall again and again. With the advantage of numerical numbers, they finally opened a hole. The influx of Wei army quickly controlled it. After completing the whole city, Wang Jingdu was forced to break through the siege and walk south, and the slid platform was lost.
Then the Wei army struck while the iron was hot, defeated Zhai Guang's reinforcements, and headed straight for Hulao Pass. Mao Dezu was a powerful general in , Eastern Jin , and Hulao Pass was in a dangerous terrain, and one man was in a pass without any progress. Therefore, after several rounds of war, the Wei army made no progress and was once again trapped under the strong city.
Xi Jin was depressed, and he had insomnia that night.
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① Liu Yu destroyed Later Qin : In August of the 12th year of Yixi of the Eastern Jin Dynasty (the first year of Yonghe in the Later Qin Dynasty, 416), Liu Yu, the Grand Marshal of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, led the Jin army to conquer Chang'an , and captured the Later Qin Emperor Yao, Yao Hong, the Later Qin Dynasty was destroyed.
② Huatai: Ancient place name, now Huaxian, Henan. In ancient times, there were , Hua's builds here, and later generations changed it to a city, which was tall and strong. Since the end of the Han Dynasty, it has been a military rush. Northern Wei became a military center when it was time to do so, and Murong De once established his capital here. In the early days of the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the Yellow River was diverted toward to the north, so the sliding platform was located on the south bank of the Yellow River.
③ Hulao Pass: the name of ancient pass, also known as Sishui Pass, Chenggao Pass, and Gugu Pass. It has been the eastern gate of Luoyang since ancient times. Located in the northwest of Sishui Town, Xingyang City, Henan Province today. It is named after the Zhou King Mu builds a solid place to raise tigers here. Tang Dynasty changed its name to Wulaoguan to avoid the name of Gaozu Li Yuan grandfather Li Hu.
