Fifteen hundred years ago, there was a powerful Yu Dynasty in the Central Plains, founded by Gao Yan (Yu Taizu), which lasted for 350 years and then declined. In the last years, the Hu people in the north rose up and captured the northern part of the Central Plains. The Central Plains regime moved southward and became the Xiaoyu Dynasty.
The young emperor of the Xiaoyu Dynasty had no power, and princes from all over the country fought for power for more than ten years. In the end, the young emperor abdicated as King Donglin, and the dynasty fell apart. After that, the Central Plains formed the five kingdoms of Donglin, Western Sui, Beiyang, Southern Tang and Zhongxia. The Hu people in the north also ended their chaos, converted into Chinese and established their country, forming ten political regimes including the Lezheng clan of Daqi and the Helian clan of Daxuan.
This was the first great national integration, and the fifteen kingdoms united vertically and horizontally, similar to the Spring and Autumn Period, and was called the "Little Spring and Autumn Period." The ten small countries are dependent on the five big countries, and the overlord of the five big countries can command the four countries and receive tribute from the ten small countries.
During the Little Spring and Autumn Period, the Donglin Kingdom was the hegemon at first, and it lasted for seventy years before being replaced by the Western Sui Dynasty. The Western Sui Dynasty lasted for fifty years, and then lost its position to Beiyang. Emperor Beiyang was wise and brave in his early years, but after becoming hegemon he became complacent and was replaced by the Southern Tang Dynasty in just twenty years.
