Tuoba Tao was a hero of the Northern Wei Dynasty. He was praised by the emperors of the Liu Song Dynasty as a grassland hero as famous as Mao Dun and Tan Shihuai.

However, even though the Liu Song Dynasty had a high opinion of Tuoba Tao, it still did not let go of the potential opponent of the Northern Wei Dynasty. As a famous saying in the book: There are no eternal enemies and friends, only eternal interests. After a brief exchange of tributes, the Northern Wei and Liu Song finally ushered in the first decisive battle. In the first year of the change, Tuoba Tao prepared to compete in the Central Plains to deal with the surrounding forces.

In 428 AD, Tuoba Tao changed the name of Yuanshenmeng. "锺", with the same pronunciation as the old one, refers to the bull elk, which means that starting from this year, Tuoba Tao will officially start to compete for deer in the Central Plains.

In the first month of the first year of Shenmeng, Tuoba Tao rectified the administration of officials and demoted all the county guards and county magistrates who violated laws and disciplines in the country in accordance with the law, and replaced them with loyal and good ministers. In this way , Tuoba Tao successfully reduced the number of corrupt people and accumulated a large amount of military expenditures for the conquest of other regimes such as Liu Song.

In February 428 AD, He Lianchang of Hu Xia retreated to Pingliang. Sikong Xijin of the Northern Wei Dynasty took advantage of the victory to pursue him and marched to Anding. However, as the saying goes, if you don't chase the enemy, you will win. Helianchang, who was forced to the dead end, turned back and defeated the general Qiudui of the Northern Wei Dynasty. Shi Anjie, the supervisor of the army, saw that the situation was not good, led his troops to fight, and captured He Lianchang. Hu Xia's soldiers did not want to be leaderless, so they appointed Helian Ding, who was more familiar with the art of war, as king, and they all moved to Pingliang together.

In order to show his benevolence and take into account the face of Queen Helian, Tuoba Tao sent his attendant Gu Bi to personally welcome Helian Chang. As a prisoner, He Lianchang was sent to the Northern Wei Dynasty according to the etiquette of the Northern Wei Dynasty. of the capital.

At the same time, Sikong Xijin continued to pursue Helianding, but was captured alive by Helianding using military tactics in Mamaoling. Qiudui was guarding grain and grass in Anding before, but when he heard that, Xijin was captured alive. He abandoned his helmet and armor and fled to Puban. When Tuoba Tao heard this, he became furious and ordered An Jie to kill Qiu Dui.

Seeing that Helianding had two brushes, Tuoba Tao realized that it was not the right time to take action, so he accepted Helianding's tribute and formed an alliance with Hu Xia. In the same year, Tuoba Tao started farming again. In Hexi, he accepted the congratulatory gift from Yang Xuan, the king of Southern Qin.

In June of the same year, Hu Chief Butian of Bingzhou heard the news of Tuoba Tao's defeat, so he led his subordinates to rebel. Tuoba Tao sent Huainan Duke Beijin to suppress it personally, which made the people's Emotions were soothed.

In 428 AD, Rouran Khan Datan, who heard about Tuoba Tao's setback, sent his son to lead more than 10,000 cavalry into the fortress, hoping to wait for an opportunity to counterattack the Northern Wei Dynasty. After Tuoba Tao heard about it, he immediately went to chase them, but Da Tan and others ran away.

There are dishonest people like Rouran Khan, and there are honest people. Jin Ya, the Xiutu Hu chief in Shangjun, heard the news that Bu Tian was suppressed, so he obediently surrendered to the Northern Wei Dynasty and saw the backwardness. Realizing that he was bound to be beaten, Tuoba Tao once again farmed Niuchuan. Liu Song took the opportunity to march into Hulao Pass, and after encountering resistance, the two parties temporarily reconciled

The appearance of Helian Ding gave Liu Yilong the idea of ????being able to easily deal with Tuoba Tao, so he sent Wang Zhongde to attack him. Jiyang and Chen Liu of the Northern Wei Dynasty later sent Wang Xuanmo and Zhu Lingxiu to lead two thousand infantry and cavalry to attack Xingyang, and they were about to attack Hulao Pass.

The leaky house was hit by continuous rain and Liu Song's invasion, which made the Dingzhou people Xianyu Taiyang and Zhai Qiao have a wrong idea. They led more than 2,000 households to rebel and entered the Xishan Mountains. , robbed county and county government offices everywhere in the area, and the Northern Wei Dynasty sent state government troops to conquer them, but they suffered repeated defeats. Fortunately, Shusun Jian arrived in time and put down the rebellion.

In the first month of 429 AD, Helianding's younger brother Helianjun came to seek refuge with Tuoba Tao because of discord with Helianding. Later, under Shusun Jian's armed attack, Ding Lingren Xianyu Taiyang and others came to the capital to surrender and were forgiven by Tuoba Tao.

In February of the same year, Li Yu, a member of the Shangdang Party, thought that rebellion could be forgiven, so he also gathered people to rebel and killed the local prefect. Li Yu called himself the supreme king and appointed his cronies as generals. He and the marshal were easily defeated by the Hanoi garrison. Li Yu fled to the mountains, was reported by the local mountain people, and was captured and given to Tuoba Tao. Tuoba Tao immediately killed him and told the tribe with his life that not all rebellions can be forgiven.

In 429 AD, Liu Song temporarily gave up war and sent people to pay tribute as a sign of friendship. Seeing that Liu Song was no longer taking action, Tuoba Tao continued his northern expedition to Rouran, and at the same time sent Chang Sun Song and others to stay in the capital, and went to conquer Rouran with Chang Sun Han.

This time, Tuoba Tao once again chose the light cavalry tactic of giving up food and grass, and burned down the houses of the Rouran people in Lishui. The Rouran people were so frightened that they fled westward. After all, housing prices are also very expensive. . Taking advantage of Tuoba Tao's personal campaign to conquer Rouran, Helianding invaded Tongwan again and only wandered around Houni City before returning home.

In the autumn of 429 AD, Tuoba Tao sent An Yuan to conquer Rouran again, and established farming in Hexi. He placed the captured Rouran and Hu Xia people in Monan. These captives were called the new people of the Northern Wei Dynasty. Their homeland stretched from Ruyuan in the east to Wuyuan and Yinshan in the west. It was an area of ??three thousand miles. These people were later guarded by Changsun Han, Liu Jie, Anyuan and Gu Bi. Recuperate and recuperate under the wings of the Northern Wei Dynasty. After Tuoba Tao changed his reign name, he made a lot of preparations to deal with Liu Song.

1. Tuoba Tao promptly learned lessons from foreign wars and promoted some new generals.

In 428 AD, Tuoba Tao sent his general Wei Juan to attack Helianchang, but Helianchang was defeated and fled to Pingliang. As a result, Xi Jin, Qiu Dui, E Qing and others marched blindly, and their horses suddenly contracted the plague, their food and grass were cut off, and they were surrounded by barriers.

Tuoba Tao sent Qiu Dui to borrow food from the people. As a result, Qiu Dui's soldiers failed to observe military discipline and robbed the people. He Lianchang took the opportunity to attack Qiu Dui and captured hundreds of cavalrymen. . He Lianchang took advantage of the victory to pursue, imitating Qiu Dui, and came to rob the people of the Northern Wei Dynasty every day, and did not allow the herdsmen of the Northern Wei Dynasty to graze, which made the soldiers of the Northern Wei Dynasty very worried.

Shi Anjie, the censor of the army, decided to go out to break out of the siege, but Xi Jin insisted on waiting for Tuoba Tao's assistance. Later, An Jie, Wei Jue and other new generals insisted on breaking out. When He Lianchang came to attack the city again, An Jie Jie led the death squad in pursuit. Just as the dust was flying in the sky, He Lianchang was blinded. In the end, he accidentally fell off his horse and was captured alive by the death squads of the Northern Wei Dynasty.

After this incident, Xi Jin thought that he had been surpassed by a deputy general, and he was so embarrassed that he decided to catch Helian Ding himself. Zongzheng Eqing thought this was inappropriate and wanted Xi Jin to pursue Helianding along the water source. However, Xi Jin refused and insisted on pursuing from the desert.

When they arrived at Mamaoling, Helianding was about to run away, but one of Xi Jin’s young generals was punished by Xi Jin. The young general held a grudge and fled to Helianding’s residence. The army was already running out of food and fodder and lacked water, so he told Helianding.

He Lian Ding took advantage of the situation and divided his forces to attack Xi Jin. As a result, veteran Xi Jin, Zong Zheng Eqing and others were all captured alive by He Lian Ding. Qiu Dui heard that Xi Jin had also been defeated by the Hu Xia people, so they all fled to Puban. Chang'an, which they finally captured, was captured by Helian Ding. Tuoba Tao was very angry and sent An Jie to guard Puban instead of Qiu Dui. Later, An Jie was named General Jianjie, and Wei Juan was named General Ningbei, which completely changed the army.

Tuoba Tao used both soft and hard tactics, and won himself a lot of diplomatic support through gentle and appeasing means. From 428 to 429 AD, Tuoba Tao successively accepted tribute from Juqu Mengxun, Helianding, Yang Xuan and Mu Suang. Regardless of the past grievances, he appointed Tuoba Jun of Hu Xia and forgave Xianyu, a Ding Ling man. Taiyang.

In 428 AD, Tuoba Tao gave the captive He Lianchang very good courtesy, named He Lianchang General Chang Zhong and Duke of Kuaiji, let He Lianchang live in the West Palace, and kept his supplies All of them were given to He Lianchang, and his sister was also married to He Lianchang.

In order to benefit the Helian family, Tuoba Tao even went to catch deer with Helianchang. Everyone was worried that Helianchang was plotting against Tuoba Tao, but Tuoba Tao still trusted Helianchang very much.

It can be said that if He Lianchang did not rebel in the end, his life would still be very nourishing.

After defeating Rouran, Tuoba Tao decided to move the captured Rouran people to the Northern Wei Dynasty. As a result, the Rouran people were not accustomed to the climate and the climate, and many died of illness. Jia Hu from Liangzhou advised, "Your Majesty, if this continues, these Rouran people will all die." Tuoba Tao felt regretful and determined to find a way to find a nearby place for these people to live.

Afterwards, Tuoba Tao sent Anyuan to attack the Gaoche people and obtained hundreds of thousands of Gaoche people and more than a million livestock. Tuoba Tao put the captured Gaoche people, Rouran people and Hu Xia people in Monan so that these people could rest and recuperate.

The arrival of these new people made the fur produced in the Northern Wei Dynasty cheaper and cheaper. Under such gentle comfort, more and more people came to defect to the Northern Wei Dynasty, and the military power of the Northern Wei Dynasty became stronger and stronger.

3. Tuoba Tao kept a low profile and did not suddenly counterattack Liu Yilong's two small-scale invasions. Instead, he insisted on destroying Rouran and accepting Liu Yilong's tribute.

Since 428 AD, Liu Yilong repeatedly used words or war to provoke the Northern Wei Dynasty, trying to provoke disputes. For example, they once sent troops to invade Xingyang and other places, and directly sent people to tell Tuoba Tao to return the land. Although Tuoba Tao endured Liu Yilong's provocations again and again, he finally wanted to conquer Liu Song.

At this moment, Cui Hao stopped Tuoba Tao's idea. Cui Hao believed that Liu Yilong, who had witnessed He Lianchang's failure, would be cautious and would not make a sneak attack when the Northern Wei Dynasty attacked Rouran. Moreover, Liu Song's military strength is no longer what it used to be. He believes that Liu Yilong's command ability is far inferior to Liu Yu's, let alone Tuoba Tao, and even a sneak attack is doomed to fail.

So Tuoba Tao insisted on conquering Rouran. As expected, Liu Yilong did not attack by surprise, but continued to pay tribute.

However, apparent peace is not peace. Afterwards, Tuoba Tao and Liu Yilong had their first decisive battle in the seventh year of Yuanjia, that is, 430 AD. To make matters worse, because Tuoba Tao often brought He Lianchang to discuss the war, the topic would always accidentally mention He Lianchang's capture, which made He Lianchang feel humiliated and even privately missed his ancestors, and ultimately betrayed Tuoba Tao once again defected to Helianding.

Although he made enemies on many fronts, he was also well prepared. Tuoba Tao finally had the courage to "compete in the Central Plains." Under this circumstance, the Northern Wei ushered in Yuan Jia's first Northern Expedition. This time, he would completely tear off the mask of friendship with Liu Yilong and have a showdown.