The background and ending of the battle to unify the north in the Northern Wei Dynasty

The background of the Northern Wei Dynasty’s battle to unify the north, and the outcome of the Northern Wei Dynasty’s battle to unify the north.

From the first year of the Northern Wei Dynasty (386) to the fifth year of Taiyan (439), the battle to unify the north took place in northern China and the Yellow River Basin. After a series of battles, the Northern Wei Dynasty finally completed the great cause of unifying the north. ?

Background introduction to the battle to unify the north in the Northern Wei Dynasty

The Tuoba clan is a branch of the Xianbei tribal alliance and originally lived near the Daxingan Mountains in the Nenjiang River Basin of Heilongjiang Province. Later, it gradually moved southward, and in the fourth year of Xiankang in the Eastern Jin Dynasty (338), the Dai Kingdom was established in the area of ??Hucheng (now northeast of Datong, Shanxi Province). The king of Dai was Tuoba Shiyiqian, who was later attacked and destroyed by the former Qin Dynasty.

After the Battle of Feishui, in the first month of the eleventh year of Taiyuan (386) in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Tuoba Gui rebuilt the Dai Kingdom in Niuchuan (now southwest of Hohhot, Inner Mongolia). In the same year, he moved the capital to Shengle (now Helinge, Inner Mongolia). Erbei Tuchengzi), the country's name was changed to Wei, and it was called the Northern Wei in history. Tuobagui is Emperor Taizu Daowu.

Tuoba Gui was called the Queen of Wei. While working on farming and reviving the people, he also embarked on a campaign to unify the tribes in the desert (that is, the Great Desert, starting from the western foot of the Xing'an Mountains in the east and ending at the eastern end of the Tianshan Mountains in the west). They defeated Kumoxi in the east, Gaoche in the west, and destroyed Liu Weichen, another tribe of the Xiongnu. They successively conquered some nomadic tribes in the north and captured a large number of people and livestock, making the Tuoba tribe quickly become stronger.

The outcome of the battle to unify the north in the Northern Wei Dynasty

In May of the fifth year of Wei Taiyan (439), Tuoba Tao led troops in the western suburbs of Pingcheng. In June, he led his troops to the west to attack Beiliang. Wang Jian of Yongchang and other governors of the army marched together with Wang Su of Changshan as the vanguard. King Leping did not wait for the other governors to follow. The Wei army made good progress, and the Beiliang army retreated. In August, Tuoba Tao led the Wei army to the city of Guzang. Brother Mu Jian's son Zu Gaocheng surrendered to Wei, and the Wei army immediately launched a siege of the city.

In September, Juqu Muqian led about 5,000 civil and military men and surrendered in front of the Northern Wei army. The Wei army occupied Guzang, and divided its troops to pursue the remaining forces of Beiliang in Zhangye, Jiuquan and other places. Beiliang was destroyed.

At this point, the Northern Wei Dynasty unified the north, and the 135-year division of the Sixteen Kingdoms since the end of the Western Jin Dynasty came to an end. As a result, it stood side by side with the Liu Song regime in the south, forming a confrontation between the Southern and Northern Dynasties. The fifth year of Taiyan, the year when Wei destroyed Northern Liang in 439 AD, is considered the beginning of the Southern and Northern Dynasties.

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