Wu Mingche
In 573, Emperor Xuan wanted to launch a campaign against Northern Qi to capture the region between the Yangtze River and the Huai River. The officials that he discussed with had diverse opinions, but Wu Mingche was the one who advocated quick action. Emperor Xuan decided to carry out attack, and because Chunyu Liang was the senior general, most officials believed that he should command the mission. Xu Ling (), however, advocated making Wu the commanding general, pointing out that Wu was a good general and that his family was from north of the Yangtze and therefore he was familiar with the customs of the region. Emperor Xuan therefore put Wu in charge of the main assault, while putting the general Huang Fachu (name not in Unicode) in charge of the secondary front. Wu quickly captured his home commandery (Qin Commandery). Northern Qi sent forces commanded by the general Wei Pohu () to try to stop Wu's advance, but Wu's subordinate Xiao Mohe defeated a group of Northern Qi's best warriors, leading to the Northern Qi army's collapse. Most of the territory south of the Huai River was quickly captured, and as Qin Commandery was Wu's home commandery, Emperor Xuan, in order to honor him, ordered him to publicly offer a sacrifice of an ox, a pig, and a sheep to his ancestors. By fall 573, Wu had the important city of Shouyang (壽陽, in modern Lu'an, Anhui), defending by Wang Lin, under siege, and although he could not capture it quickly, he did when the Northern Qi relief force commanded by Pi Jinghe () arrived but was hesitant to engage him. He captured Wang, Lu Qian (), Kezhuhun Daoyu (), and Li Taotu (). Pi fled, and Wu captured his horses and camels. Because many of Wu's officers were Wang's subordinates and respected him, Wu became apprehensive and executed Wang, delivering the other Northern Qi officials to Jiankang. The region between the Yangtze and the Huai was now entirely in Chen hands, and Emperor Xuan created Wu the greater title of Duke of Nanping. He also put Wu in charge of the six provinces making up of the region. (In order to confer the honors on Wu, he had a high platform built near Shouyang and had Wu ascend the platform to accept these honors, and the entire army felt honored on Wu's account.)