A Fractured South and a Reckless North
After the Northern Wei unified northern China in 439 CE, it stood face-to-face with the Liu Song dynasty in the south – a rivalry destined for war.
Emperor Wu of Song died after only two years on the throne. His teenage son, Liu Yifu, proved unfit: he played tavern-keeper in the palace, ignored state affairs, and scoffed at ministers like Xu Xianzhi, Fu Liang, and Xie Hui. Fearing collapse, they staged a coup in 424, deposing – and later executing – the boy emperor. They installed Liu Yilong, Emperor Wu’s third son, as Emperor Wen of Song.
Yet Emperor Wen, though capable in governance, was deeply suspicious. Once secure, he turned on his benefactors: Xu, Fu, and Xie were executed, and even the brilliant general Tan Daoji – the “Great Wall of Song” – was falsely accused and killed. On his deathbed, Tan Daoji had cried: “You are destroying your own ten-thousand-li wall!”
Years later, as Northern Wei troops massed on the Yangtze, Emperor Wen would bitterly recall those words.
The Ill-Fated Northern Expedition
By the 450s, Liu Song had grown strong. Determined to reclaim lost territories north of the Huai River – seized by Wei during Emperor Wu’s death – Emperor Wen launched a grand northern expedition.
He was especially swayed by Wang Xuanmo, governor of Ruyin, who boasted:”With proper strategy, we can march to Langjuxu Mountain and offer sacrifices like Huo Qubing!” (Langjuxu was where Huo Qubing celebrated victory over the Xiongnu under Emperor Wu of Han.)
But Wang Xuanmo proved disastrous. While the western army under Liu Yuanjing captured Tong Pass and neared Chang’an, Wang’s eastern force besieged Huatai (modern Hua County, Henan). Though locals welcomed them with food and recruits, Wang demanded one bolt of cloth and 800 pears per household. His troops looted and burned – turning allies into enemies.
When winter froze the Yellow River, Emperor Taiwu of Northern Wei counterattacked with overwhelming force. Wang Xuanmo fled by night; Liu Yuanjing withdrew. The Wei army bypassed fortified cities and surged south – reaching the Yangtze at Guabu (southeast of Luhe, Jiangsu).
Panic gripped Jiankang. Emperor Wen ordered martial law, conscripted every able man, and sealed the river. From the city walls, he gazed north at endless Wei encampments and sighed to minister Jiang Zhan:
“Few supported this campaign. This is my fault… If Tan Daoji were alive, how could they have reached here?”
But the expected invasion never came.
The Unexpected Stand at Xuyi
Unbeknownst to both emperors, fate would be decided not at the Yangtze – but at the small fortress of Xuyi (near Hongze Lake, Jiangsu).
Its new magistrate, Shen Pu, had spent months preparing: reinforcing walls, digging moats, stockpiling grain, forging weapons. When neighbors fled, his subordinates urged retreat:”It’s just a tiny town – why risk everything?”
Shen Pu replied firmly:
“If the enemy scorns us as insignificant, we need not flee. If they think us weak – that’s our chance for glory!”
With only 2,000 men, he stood ready.
Then came General Zang Zhi, defeated upstream, leading 700 ragged survivors. His officers warned Shen Pu:”Letting them in divides credit if we win – and overcrowds escape boats if we lose.”
But Shen Pu opened the gates:
“In the same boat, we must cross the river together. How can I shut out brothers-in-arms for fear of shared glory?”
Zang Zhi, stunned by the city’s readiness, pledged:”I’ll stand with you till death!”
Insult, Siege, and Psychological Warfare
Word reached Emperor Taiwu: Xuyi held vast grain stores. He dispatched a detachment to seize it – then continued south. But when his main army retreated from the Yangtze, he learned the city still stood.
Furious, he encircled Xuyi with a seven-li-long wall, filled its moats with earth from Dongshan Hill, built a floating bridge, and cut off water supplies. Then he sent Zang Zhi a taunting letter:
“My army has arrived. Send wine to comfort my troops – and I’ll reward you.”
Zang Zhi responded by sending back a barrel of human urine.
Enraged, Emperor Taiwu escalated:
“I don’t care if you kill my soldiers! The northeast troops are Dingling and Hu rebels; the south are Di and Qiang bandits. Slay them all – I’ll be rid of troublemakers!”
This rare admission of internal ethnic tensions was a fatal blunder.
Zang Zhi seized the opening. He wrote back defiantly:
“You won’t return alive. If I catch you, I’ll parade you on a donkey through Jiankang and execute you! And to your men: kill ‘Fox-Li’ (Boli, the emperor’s childhood name), and I’ll grant 10,000 households, 10,000 bolts of silk!”
Copies of this letter were scattered among Wei ranks – sowing doubt and dissent.
The Unbreakable Walls
The siege turned brutal.
Wei used hook-carts to scale walls – Song soldiers shot arrows, dropped stones, then hauled the carts inside at night.
Ramming towers shook the earth – but the walls, thanks to Shen Pu, shed only “a few sheng of soil.”
Finally, Emperor Taiwu ordered bare-chested assaults: soldiers climbed under penalty of death. Corpses piled so high they nearly matched the ramparts.
Disease spread in the Wei camp. Reports arrived: Song reinforcements were coming by river and land. Fearing encirclement, Emperor Taiwu burned his siege engines and fled.
Xuyi had held – against an empire.
Both Zang Zhi and Shen Pu credited each other in victory memorials. Emperor Wen rewarded them both – but knew the truth: the northern expedition had failed. The north remained lost; the south was exhausted. No one spoke of northern campaigns again.
The Tyrant’s End
Humiliated, Emperor Taiwu returned to Pingcheng – only to meet his doom.
His favorite eunuch, Zong Ai, had long feared the crown prince Tuoba Huang. Fabricating a plot, he convinced the emperor to execute dozens of the prince’s staff. The prince died of shock. When Emperor Taiwu discovered the deception, remorse consumed him.
Terrified of punishment, Zong Ai struck first – assassinating the emperor while he slept drunk.
Thus fell the conqueror who unified the north – not in battle, but at the hands of a scheming servant, undone by paranoia, cruelty, and the unyielding defiance of a small town called Xuyi.
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