斛律光
During much of Emperor Wucheng's and Gao Wei's reign up to this point, rival Northern Zhou had gradually encroached on Northern Qi territory, making minor gains on the borders. In winter 570, Hulü Guang launched a counterattack and captured significant amounts of territory north of the Fen River (汾水, flowing through modern Linfen, Shanxi). He then also defeated Northern Zhou troops at Yiyang (宜陽, in modern Luoyang, Henan). On his way back to the capital Yecheng (鄴城, in modern Handan, Hebei), Gao Wei ordered his troops demobilized even though many of the soldiers had not received rewards. However, he received an order to demobilize his troops. Hulü Guang submitted a secret petition to Gao Wei, requesting the emperor to send imperial messengers to the army to honor the soldiers. Gao Wei did not act immediately, however, and the army approached Yecheng without receiving any words from the emperor. Gao Wei was displeased that Hulü Guang brought the army close to the capital, and he summoned Hulü to the palace before sending messengers to honor the soldiers and demobilizing them.