He thereafter ruled ably and built up the power of his military, destroying the rivaling Northern Qi dynasty in 577 and annexing its territory.

His death the next year, however, ended his ambitions of uniting China, and under the reign of his erratic son Emperor Xuan (Yuwen Yun), Northern Zhou itself soon deteriorated and was usurped by Yang Jian, who founded the Sui dynasty, in 581.

He was born at Yuwen Tai's then-headquarters at Tong Province (同州, roughly modern Weinan, Shaanxi).

During six years his father entrusted him and his brother to general Li Xian for his protection and education, as the court had become too dangerous.

Yuwen Jue took the throne as Emperor Xiaomin, but used the alternative title of "Heavenly Prince" (Tian Wang).

In 560, Yuwen Hu, apprehensive of Emperor Ming's abilities, had the imperial chef Li An (李安) poison him with sugar cookies.

The study's authors also could reconstruct how he looked like, determining him to have had "a typical East or Northeast Asian facial appearance".

In exchange, Chen gave the city of Lushan (魯山, in modern Wuhan, Hubei) to Northern Zhou.

In spring 563, while on a visit to Yuan Province (原州, roughly modern Guyuan, Ningxia), Emperor Wu suddenly returned to the capital Chang'an without explanation.

One of his attendants, Houmochen Chong (侯莫陳崇) the Duke of Liang, speculated to his associates that Yuwen Hu had died.

In order to celebrate Lady Yan's return, Emperor Wu issued a general pardon, and prostrated himself before her as an ordinary nephew would.

In 566, the non-Chinese tribes of Xin Province (信州, modern eastern Chongqing) rebelled and captured Baidicheng, under the leadership of the chieftains Ran Lingxian (冉令賢) and Xiang Wuziwang (向五子王).

The general Hua Jiao (華皎), the governor of Xiang Province (roughly modern Changsha, Hunan), felt uneasy, and therefore sought aid from Northern Zhou and Western Liang.

In spring 568, a major storm at Tujue's headquarters inflicted substantial damage, and Ashina Qijin took it as a sign of divine displeasure at his rescission of the marriage agreement with Northern Zhou.

Perhaps in light of the new adversarial relationship with Chen, when Northern Qi made peace overtures in fall 568, Northern Zhou accepted, and there was peace between the states for about a year, until fall 569, when Emperor Wu's brother Yuwen Xian the Prince of Qi led an army to siege Northern Qi's city of Yiyang (宜陽, in modern Luoyang, Henan) -- and for more than a year, the two states would engage in struggle for the control of Yiyang.

Meanwhile, in fall 570, the Chen general Zhang Zhaoda (章昭達) put siege to Jiangling, nearly capturing it, but was eventually fought off by Northern Zhou and Western Liang's joint forces.

Also in 571, Hua went to Chang'an, and on the way, he met Yuwen Zhi at Xiang Province (襄州, roughly modern Xiangfan, Hubei), suggesting to Yuwen Zhi that Western Liang was in such a desperate shape that if Northern Zhou wanted to see it preserved, Northern Zhou should lend some land to Western Liang.

Once they reached her palace, Yuwen Hu, pursuant to Emperor Wu's request, started reading the Jiu Gao.

In response, Emperor Wu selected staff members for Crown Prince Yun who were known for their strict conduct.

In fall 574, while Emperor Wu was at Yunyang (雲陽, in modern Xianyang, Shaanxi), Yuwen Zhi, who had long resented not receiving more authority, rebelled at Chang'an.

Believing Northern Qi to have been substantially weakened not only by Hulü's death but also by the successful campaign that Chen waged against it in 573 (capturing the provinces between the Yangtze River and the Huai River), by 575, Emperor Wu was seriously considering a major campaign against Northern Qi.

Yet the campaign would bring another deterioration of the relationship between father and son, as Wang Gui, who officially served as the crown prince's lieutenant (along with Yuwen Xiaobo) but was in charge of the operation, reported a matter of immoral acts that the crown prince and his associates Zheng Yi (鄭譯) and Wang Duan (王端) engaged in.

The Northern Qi emperor Gao Wei soon advanced toward Pingyang with a large army, and Emperor Wu, not wanting to engage Gao Wei's army directly, withdrew, leaving the general Liang Shiyan (梁士彥) in charge of defending Pingyang.

Emperor Wu, after reorganizing his forces, relaunched his army and headed for Pingyang, seeking to lift the siege.

However, after the victory, Gao Yanzong's army went into a celebration, and he was unable to reorganize it, and Emperor Wu soon defeated and captured him, and headed for Yecheng.

In light of Northern Qi's defeat, Chen, then ruled by Chen Xu (who had deposed Emperor Fei and took the throne himself as Emperor Xuan), launched an attack commanded by Wu Mingche on Pengcheng (modern Xuzhou, Jiangsu), an important city on the former Chen/Northern Qi border.

By summer 578, Emperor Wu was engaging in military campaigns on two fronts: against Tujue in the north and against Chen in the south.

Emperor Wu was buried at the Northern Zhou Qiaoling Mausoleum, together with his Turkic wife, Empress Ashina.