Wei Xiaokuan
His final campaign, in 580, saw him siding with the regent Yang Jian against the general Yuchi Jiong in Northern Zhou's civil war, allowing Yang to defeat Yuchi and (after Wei's death) take over the throne as Sui dynasty's Emperor Wen.
More so than other prominent generals at the time, Wei was known for using atypical strategies in both offense and defense, including extensive use of espionage and forgeries to undermine the morale of opposing forces.
He served as an officer under Zhangxun Chengye (長孫承業) the Duke of Fengyi and contributed to the army's success, and he was given a post as a teacher at the national university in Luoyang, and then an acting commandery governor.
In the subsequent reign of Emperor Xiaowu (532–535), Wei was given the task of defending Jing Province, although he was not then governor.
In 542, Wei was made the governor of Jin Province (晉州, roughly modern Linfen, Shanxi), and by the recommendation of the prominent general Wang Sizheng (王思政), was given by Yuwen Tai the responsibility of defending the important fort of Yubi (玉壁, in modern Yuncheng, Shanxi), which Wang himself had defended earlier.
In 546, Gao Huan launched a major attack on the Western Wei, starting the Battle of Yubi [zh].
Gao was unable to capture the fort after 60 days of siege, and he grew angry and ill and was forced to withdraw.
In 556, when Yuwen Tai was carrying out a tour of the northern provinces, he returned Wei to the responsibility of defending Yubi.
During this tenure, Wei was said to be gracious to the people of the province while continuing to effectively employ a network of spies.
For example, when his officer Xu Pen (許盆) defected to Northern Qi, Wei sent spies after him, and was quickly able to have him killed.
In order to cut off the route of their raids, Wei sent his officer Yao Yue (姚岳) to build a fort near the Fen River.
By 572, however, Hulü was in conflict with the powerful officials Zu Ting and Mu Tipo, both of whom were trusted by the Northern Qi emperor Gao Wei.
After Hulü's death, Emperor Wu (who had ambushed and killed Yuwen Hu earlier that year and assumed power himself) became particularly ambitious at conquering Northern Qi, and seeing this, Wei submitted three strategies for conquering Northern Qi to Emperor Wu.
In 576, when Emperor Wu launched a major attack on Northern Qi, he visited Yubi and praised Wei for his defense of the fort.
Later that year, Emperor Xuan made Wei Xiaokuan in charge of Xu Province (徐州, roughly modern Xuzhou, Jiangsu) and the surrounding provinces, and Wei subsequently participated in the campaign against rival Chen dynasty that allowed Northern Zhou to seize the region between the Yangtze River and Huai River from Chen.
When Wei approached Xiang Province, he realized this, and he pretended to be ill, and instead tried to flee to Luoyang—on the way, leaving instruction to each post to give feasts to Yuchi's soldiers if they gave chase.
He first defeated Yuchi's general Xue Gongli (薛公禮), who was attacking Huai Province (懷州, roughly modern Zhengzhou, Henan), and then crossed the Yellow River north.
