How did the Gao Huan family defeat the Er-Zhu coalition forces in the late Northern Wei Dynasty?
Gao Huan was from Bohai Bei (now Jingxian County, Hebei Province) and was a Han Chinese from Xianbei. Gao Huan was good at mediating the conflicts between the Xianbei people and other ethnic groups, and controlled the political power through military power. In 531, Gao Huan led his troops to attack Yecheng, dug tunnels, and the city fell, and captured Liu Dan, the governor of Xiangzhou.
Gao welcomed Anding Wang Yuanlang as the king and led hundreds of officials to Yecheng to defend it. Yuen Long appointed Gao Huan as prime minister, general of Zhuguo, and grand master. This caused dissatisfaction with the Erzhu family, who was in charge of the heavy army. The Erzhu family made an appointment to please each other. In 532, Erzhu Tianguang came from Chang'an, Erzhu Zhao came from Jinyang, Erzhu Dulu came from Luoyang, and Erzhu Zhongyuan came from Dongjun. They joined forces in Yecheng and stationed troops on both sides of the Yuan River to attack Gao Huan with an army of 200,000. At this time, Gao Huan was outnumbered, with only 30,000 infantry and 2,000 cavalry. After careful planning, Gao Huan asked the Minister of Civil Affairs, Feng Longzhi, to guard Yecheng. He personally led his troops to form a circular formation against Hanling Mountain, and tied together cattle, donkeys and other large livestock to block the return route, as a sign of a deadly battle.
A fierce battle began. Gao Huan led the central army, the governor Gao Aocao led the left army, and Gao Yue led the right army. They launched a fierce attack on the enemy with the force of mountains and tsunamis. Gao Yue took 500 cavalry as the vanguard, charging and fighting fiercely in the front, followed by the rear troops. Gao Aocao then attacked with more than a thousand cavalry from Suyuan and swept away the enemy. Erzhu's army couldn't resist, threw away their helmets and armor, and fled in defeat. Amidst the deafening drum beats and earth-shattering shouts of killing, Erzhu's troops surrendered one after another. Soon, Erzhu Dulu and Erzhu Tianguang were captured alive by Gao Huan. Gao Huan went to Luoyang and imprisoned Emperor Jiemin. He established Wang Yuanxiu of Pingyang as Emperor Xiaowu. He imprisoned Erzhu Dulu and Erzhu Tianguang and sent them to Luoyang, where they were executed in the city.
After Gao Huan defeated the Erzhu coalition, he built Dingguo Temple on Hanling Mountain (there is also a saying that Dingguo Temple is in Yecheng), and built another temple 28 miles southwest of today's Anyang City. A high platform to celebrate. This platform is called the Skull Platform, and it is also called the Dule Platform. After the Dingguo Temple was built, Gao Huan asked the imperial censor Wen Zisheng to write an inscription praising his military exploits in defeating the Erzhu family. Wen Zisheng was a quick thinker, and the inscriptions he wrote mostly used couplets, which were majestic and passionate. When he read them, he felt as if he was there, heard his voice, and saw a vivid battlefield scene.
Later, Nanchen sent an envoy to the north. When the envoy went to Hanling Mountain southeast of Yecheng and read Wen Zisheng's inscription, he was so amazed that he copied the inscription and kept it. When the envoy returned to Nanchen, his colleagues asked who were the outstanding figures in the Northern Dynasties. The envoy replied: "Only the Han Ling piece of stone!" The "piece of stone" he was referring to was the stone tablet engraved with Wen Zisheng's writings. Since then, not only Wen Zisheng's reputation has become more far-reaching, but the "Hanling Stone" has also become a major scenic spot in Anyang.
Gao Huan defeated the Erzhu coalition forces and laid the foundation for his rule. His son Gao Yang was Emperor Wenxuan, the founder of Northern Qi. Gao Yang ruled brutally, killing dissenters and using people's power to expand Santai and the palace in Yedu. The brutal rule of Northern Qi finally led to its demise. In 577, the Northern Qi Dynasty was destroyed by the Northern Zhou Dynasty.