Ashina Helu
Emperor Wen did not maintain as submissive a relationship with the Göktürks, which brought resentment from the Göktürks' "Ϊšbara qaγan" Ashina Helu. The qaγan's wife, the Xianbei princess Qianjin, Yuwen Zhao's daughter, particularly hated Emperor Wen for destroying the Northern Zhou. Ashina Helu therefore carried out a series of border attacks against Sui, allied with Gao Baoning (), the former Northern Qi general who was still holding Ying Province (營州, roughly modern Zhaoyang, Liaoning). In response, under advice from the general Zhangsun Sheng (), Emperor Wen carried out the strategy of placating Ashina Helu's subordinate qaγans—his uncle Datou Khan Ashina Dianjue (), cousin Abo Khan Ashina Daxianbian (), and brother Ashina Chuluohou () – to create dissension within the Göktürks, and gradually, the strategy worked, causing the Göktürks to be unable to take unified actions against Sui.