Emperor Wu of Zhou Conquers Northern Qi

Yuwen Hu had failed twice against Northern Qi and was finally killed by Emperor Wu of Northern Zhou, Yuwen Yong.

Yuwen Yong now controlled the state himself. Before attacking Qi again, he first strengthened Northern Zhou from within.

Emperor Wu Does Three Things First

After taking power, Yuwen Yong carried out three major policies.

The first was suppressing Buddhism and Daoism.

In 574, Emperor Wu ordered both religions abolished within the state, destroyed images, forced monks, nuns, and Daoist priests to return to lay life, and transferred temple property to the state and nobles.

This action later became one of the famous persecutions of Buddhism associated with rulers named Wu and one later Zhou emperor.

His motive was mainly fiscal and military, not personal hatred.

Buddhism had become widespread in Northern Zhou. Many people who entered the clergy no longer paid taxes or served in the army, while temples accumulated land and wealth.

The state lost tax revenue and soldiers.

Similar problems existed in the Southern Dynasties and Northern Qi. The southern thinker Fan Zhen had attacked Buddhist ideas in his treatise on the extinction of the spirit and also criticized the way many people escaped labor and tax obligations.

This was the issue Yuwen Yong cared about. More clergy meant fewer registered workers and soldiers. Richer temples meant less wealth under direct state control.

When an official warned that offending the Buddha might send him to hell, Yuwen Yong answered that if the people could live in peace, he did not fear hell.

The suppression went forward. Large numbers of temples were destroyed, and many clergy returned to registered household life, becoming laborers, taxpayers, and potential soldiers.

The second policy was reforming the fubing military system.

The fubing system had strong Xianbei military roots. Earlier, fubing soldiers were mainly Xianbei, while Han Chinese farmers more often supplied grain and labor.

This created problems. The military base was limited, armies could decay, and military authority could remain in commanders' private networks.

In 573, Emperor Wu broadened recruitment. Farmers who received state-allocated land could also become fubing soldiers.

The soldier himself could be exempt from tax and labor obligations, and his household could receive reduced burdens.

This expanded the army and helped turn fubing into a force held more directly by the state.

The third policy was diplomacy.

In the south, Northern Zhou kept relations with Chen. In the north, it maintained marriage ties with the Turks.

Emperor Wu's empress was the Turkic princess Ashina.

At first he did not favor her. Later his niece reminded him that the realm was not yet settled. If he wanted to handle Jiangnan and the eastern lands, he still needed Turkic help.

Yuwen Yong understood and began treating the empress more carefully, preserving the relationship with the Turks.

This niece later married Li Yuan and gave birth to Li Shimin. At this moment, she was speaking about strategy more than family affection.

Northern Zhou wanted to destroy Northern Qi in the east and pressure Chen in the south. It could not afford a new Turkic enemy in the north.

All three policies pointed toward one goal: defeating Northern Qi.

Northern Qi Cuts Down Its Own Great Wall

While Northern Zhou prepared, Northern Qi was still consuming itself.

After Gao Zhan died, his son Gao Wei took the throne.

Northern Qi emperors had already gained a reputation for cruelty and absurdity. Gao Wei pushed that habit further. Flatterers and petty favorites gained power, while loyal ministers and great commanders suffered.

Among Northern Qi's three great commanders, Duan Shao died of old age. Huluguang and Prince Lanling Gao Changgong were not so lucky.

Huluguang came first.

The Northern Zhou general Wei Xiaokuan had fought him many times and could not defeat him, so he used slander. He composed two children's songs and sent people into Ye to have children sing them.

One line spoke of "bright moon" shining on Chang'an. Huluguang's courtesy name was Mingyue, Bright Moon, so the song could be read as a prophecy that he would dominate Chang'an.

Huluguang's enemy Zu Ting heard the songs and explained them to Gao Wei in the most dangerous way.

He tied other phrases in the songs to himself and Gao Wei's wet nurse, claiming the whole matter predicted Huluguang's rebellion. Gao Wei was already suspicious and was persuaded.

In 572, Gao Wei pretended to reward Huluguang with a fine horse and summoned him to the palace to give thanks.

Liu Taozhi, a palace killer used by Northern Qi emperors against ministers, ambushed him. Huluguang had long experience in battle and did not fall at once. Several strong men were called in and strangled him with a bowstring.

After Huluguang died, Gao Wei exterminated his clan.

When his household was searched, people found that this commander of years had almost no wealth.

With Huluguang gone, only Prince Lanling remained among the great commanders.

Prince Lanling Is Poisoned

Prince Lanling, Gao Changgong, was a grandson of Gao Huan and a son of Gao Cheng. He was famous for his handsome face and often wore a mask in battle.

At Mangshan, he had led 500 cavalry into the Zhou formation and reached Jinyong city, becoming a hero among Northern Qi soldiers.

They even composed the dance-song Prince Lanling Enters the Battle Formation for him.

But high merit endangered a subject, especially in Northern Qi.

After Gao Wei heard the song, he once asked Gao Changgong whether he would regret going so deep into the enemy formation if things went wrong.

Gao Changgong casually replied that family affairs were dear to him, so he rushed forward without noticing.

The words alarmed Gao Wei.

"Family affairs" could sound as if the Northern Qi realm was his own family business too. Gao Wei's suspicion deepened.

Gao Changgong understood the danger. He tried accepting bribes to damage his reputation and feigned illness to withdraw, but it did not save him.

In 573, Gao Wei sent him poisoned wine.

Gao Changgong sighed that he had served loyally and still reached this end. His wife urged him to ask the emperor for an audience, perhaps to change his fate.

He shook his head. What reason was left to see the emperor?

He drank the poison and died.

Northern Qi had cut away Huluguang and Prince Lanling with its own hands.

When Emperor Wu of Zhou heard the news, he knew the opportunity had come.

The First Campaign Does Not Finish Qi

In 575, Emperor Wu led 180,000 troops against Northern Qi.

Zhou advanced and took more than thirty Qi cities, reaching Jinyong.

But Jinyong's defenders resisted fiercely, and Zhou could not take the city quickly.

Then news came that Emperor Wu was ill. Northern Qi reinforcements also arrived.

Northern Zhou had to abandon the cities it had taken and withdraw.

The first campaign did not succeed, but it taught Yuwen Yong something. Attacking a strong city directly could stall the army. To destroy Qi, he needed to strike at its foundation.

The next year, Northern Zhou attacked again.

Emperor Wu judged that the previous failure came from not taking Jinzhou first. Jinzhou, near Pingyang, was a key gateway to the old Gao family base.

If Zhou seized Pingyang, Northern Qi would have to send heavy forces to rescue it. Zhou could defeat the reinforcements and then push east.

So he divided the army into three groups, personally led the center into Qi territory, and ordered commanders to hold key points against Qi relief forces.

Soon Zhou reached Pingyang.

The Qi governor of Jinzhou opened the city and surrendered.

Pingyang fell to Northern Zhou.

This time Emperor Wu had learned from the earlier failure. He appointed Liang Shiyan governor of Jinzhou and left elite troops to hold Pingyang.

Gao Wei Loses the Moment

Where was Gao Wei when Pingyang was in danger?

He was hunting at Tianchi with his favorite consort Feng Xiaolian.

Feng Xiaolian had once been a palace attendant and was later presented to Gao Wei. She was beautiful and talented, and Gao Wei was deeply infatuated.

He favored her so much that he held her in his arms even during court audiences, leaving behind the phrase about a jade body displayed.

Her moods affected his judgment. When Zhou troops pressed the frontier, the hunt still mattered more than military reports.

Messengers came from morning to noon warning that Jinzhou was in danger, but the chancellor stopped them from disturbing the emperor's hunt.

At dusk, another messenger reported that Pingyang had fallen. Only then did Gao Wei hear.

He prepared to leave at once.

Feng Xiaolian said the hunt was not finished and that one should not stop halfway through.

Gao Wei listened.

Only after the hunt satisfied her did he move toward Pingyang.

When Northern Qi finally surrounded Pingyang, Liang Shiyan was ready to defend to the death. Qi attacked day and night and dug tunnels. A section of wall collapsed, and Qi was about to break in.

At that moment, Gao Wei ordered the attack stopped.

He wanted Feng Xiaolian to come watch the battle. She still had to dress and prepare.

Battlefield chances vanish quickly. Liang Shiyan immediately mobilized everyone inside the city, tearing down houses and carrying stones to seal the breach.

When Feng Xiaolian finally arrived, Qi attacked again and could no longer enter.

Gao Wei had thrown away Northern Qi's best chance to recover Pingyang.

Defeat at Pingyang

Emperor Wu arrived with Zhou reinforcements and attacked Qi fiercely.

Gao Wei and Feng Xiaolian watched from behind the lines. When the eastern side of the Qi army moved slightly backward, Gao Wei fled first with her.

Once the emperor ran, the whole Qi army collapsed.

Gao Wei returned to Jinyang. Zhou troops soon reached the city.

Officials urged him to defend Jinyang. He refused and fled at night with a few guards.

Jinyang was the old Gao family base. If Gao Wei would not defend even that, Northern Qi morale could not survive.

He wanted to flee to the Turks, but his followers did not want to go. Many deserted on the road.

In the end, he returned to Ye with only a small group.

Zhou surrounded Jinyang. The Qi commanders left there enthroned Gao Yanzong and kept resisting. Emperor Wu entered the city and captured him.

Northern Qi's main defensive line had collapsed.

Northern Qi Falls

At Ye, Gao Wei heard diviners speak of a change of rule. He abdicated to his crown prince Gao Heng and called himself retired emperor.

In early 577, Gao Heng took the throne as Northern Qi's child ruler.

Changing emperors no longer mattered.

Zhou kept pressing toward Ye. Qi forces fought and lost. Ye soon fell.

Gao Wei fled with Gao Heng to Jizhou and then tried to continue toward Qingzhou, hoping to reach Chen in the south.

But local officials in Jizhou handed him over to Northern Zhou.

He had fled from Jinyang to Ye and from Ye toward Qingzhou. Fewer people remained with him at every stage. Local commanders were now turning toward Zhou.

Zhou forces captured Gao Wei and Gao Heng near Qingzhou.

Northern Qi ended.

From Gao Yang to the child ruler Gao Heng, Northern Qi had passed through six emperors and lasted twenty-eight years. Since Eastern Wei and Western Wei split, the north had been divided for nearly half a century.

With Emperor Wu's conquest of Northern Qi, the north was unified again.

He still wanted to strike the Turks in the north and Chen in the south. But soon, while campaigning against the Turks, he fell ill and died.

He did not reunify all under Heaven. But Northern Zhou now held a unified northern territory, a stronger military system, and the institutions that would make reunification possible.

Next, the Sui dynasty would appear and bring the divided realm together again.