10,000 of such persons as eunuchs, Xiongnu, singers, dancers, magicians, and slaves, received honors beyond propriety. Hundreds of non-members of the imperial Gao clan received creations as princes. The high rank of Kaifu (開府) included more than 1,000, and the rank of Yitong (儀同) was filled innumerably. There were more than 20 generals of the imperial guards. There were tens of imperial attendants. Even dogs, horses, eagles, and hunting cocks received official posts, and were allowed to enjoy the food portions of their salaries. The servants attended the emperor at all times and think of nothing but to please the emperor. A musical can cost over 100 million coins. Later, after the imperial treasury was exhausted, he used the commanderies and counties as awards, giving two to three commanderies or six to seven counties at each time, to allow the servants to auction off the governor and magistrate posts and pocket the proceeds. Therefore, the commandery governors and county magistrates were largely wealthy merchants who find ways to extract and extort from the people, and the people could not live. Emperor Wu of Northern Zhou had long wanted to destroy Northern Qi, and he launched a major attack in fall 575. Several of his generals suggested attacking Jinyang, but he instead attacked Luoyang. However, when he laid siege to the fortress Zhongtan (second character not in Unicode), it was well-defended by the Northern Qi general Fu Fu (傅伏), and Emperor Wu became ill during the siege and withdrew. During the meantime, however, Chen forces, commanded by Wu, commenced a new attack, putting Pengcheng (彭城, in modern Xuzhou, Jiangsu) under siege. (For the rest of Northern Qi's existence, however, Wu would not be able to actually capture Pengcheng.) In winter 576, Northern Zhou's Emperor Wu again launched another major attack on Northern Qi, putting Pingyang (平陽, in modern Linfen, Shanxi) under siege and then capturing it. At the time the news of Northern Zhou's attack on Pingyang arrived, Gao Wei was hunting at Qilian Lake (祁連池, in modern Xinzhou, Shanxi) with Consort Feng, and Gao Anagong, not believing the matter to be serious, did not report the news to Gao Wei. Only after Pingyang fell did Gao Anagong give Gao Wei the news. Gao Wei gathered his troops and headed for Pingyang, and Emperor Wu, believing Gao Wei's troops to be still strong, withdrew but put the general Liang Shiyan (梁士彥)