Western Jin Dynasty: 266-316 years, a total of four emperors, 51 years of succession, and later the Eastern Jin Dynasty together known as the Jin Dynasty. The Western Jin Dynasty was a short-lived dynasty, and the time to truly unify China was even shorter, from the destruction of Sun Wu in 280 to the fall of the Western Jin Dynasty in 316, only 37 years.
< h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > Sima Yan usurped power and established the Western Jin Dynasty</h1>
The founder of the Sima clan was Sima Yi, a powerful minister of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period, and Sima Yi's family had been a high-ranking official of the Han Dynasty for generations, so when Cao Cao first wanted to use Sima Yi, Sima Yi refused. Later, under the pressure of Cao Cao, he took up his post.
Sima Yi, with his own strategy, won the trust and support of cao cao, Cao Pi, and cao rui's grandchildren, resisting Sun Wu in the east, rejecting Shu Han in the west, and Liaodong in the north. It should be said that Cao Cao was still on guard against Sima Yi at all times, and Cao Pi and Cao Rui trusted Sima Yi very much. After Cao Rui's death, he left his youngest son Cao Fangtuo alone with Sima Yi and Cao Shuang.
Through the Gaopingling Incident, Sima Yi eradicated the cao clan and took sole control of the imperial government. After Sima Yi's death, his sons Sima Shi and Sima Zhao took over the reins of power. Sima Shi deposed Emperor Cao Fang, who was dissatisfied with his dictatorship, and created Cao Fang. Cao Huan was dissatisfied with Sima Zhao's dictatorship, and Sima Zhao deposed Cao Zhao and established Cao Zhao. During the reign of Sima Shi and Sima Zhao, Emperor Cao Wei became a puppet of Sima Shi.
In 263, Sima Zhao led a large army to destroy Shu, and Liu Chan, the lord of the Shu Han Dynasty, surrendered. In 265, Sima Zhao died and was succeeded by his son Sima Yan.
In 266, Sima Yan forced the Wei Emperor Cao Huan to issue an edict "Zen Concession". In front of Emperor Wei Yuandi was a single-choice question, and he had no ability to resist and could only do so. Sima Yan, on the other hand, pretended to resign repeatedly, and finally became emperor as he wished under the repeated "persuasion" of his close ministers, and was known as Emperor Wu of Jin. After Sima Yan usurped the throne, he changed the name of the state to Jin, and established the capital Luoyang, which was called the Western Jin Dynasty.
<h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" > went south to destroy Wu and unify the country</h1>
A mountain does not allow two tigers, and a country does not tolerate two kings. Although Sima Yan was proclaimed emperor, there was still an emperor in the southern state of Wu, and the reigner at this time was Sun Hao (Sun Quan's grandson). Sima Yan actively planned a war to eliminate Sun Wu in order to achieve the great cause of unifying the whole country.
Sima Yan formulated a series of measures to eliminate Wu: politically, treat the surrendered Shu Han lord Liu Chan and his subjects well, and consolidate Jin's rule in Shu land; economically, improve internal affairs and hoard grain; militarily, send Shangshu Zuo's servant Yang Hu to supervise the military of Jingzhou in Xiangyang; the general Wei Huan of The Eastern Expedition to oversee the qingzhou military in Linzi; and the zhendong general Sima Ling to supervise the military of Xuzhou in xiapi.
Sun Wu had considerable economic and military strength, and the water army had a clear advantage. However, Sun Hao was faint and cruel, profligate, and proud of the strength of the water army and the loose guard. Only with the help of generals such as Lu Kang, who could fight well and were loyal to the State of Wu, was able to maintain the power of the State of Wu.
In view of this situation, Yang Hu extended great favors to the Wu army and psychologically disintegrated the Wu army, and from time to time the Wu army surrendered to the Jin army.
In 272, Emperor Wu of Jin followed Yang Hu's advice and reinstated Wang Hao as the Assassin of Yi prefecture, and dudu yi and Liang Erzhou military governors. Emperor Wu of Jin ordered Wang Mao to build a large number of warships in Bashu and train the water army. The large warship built by the Jin army is 120 steps long, can carry more than 2,000 people, opens doors on all sides, and can ride on horseback on board. A year later, Wang Mao's water army "flourished in boats, which had never existed since ancient times", and provided an important military force to achieve the annihilation of Wu.
In 274, Sun Wu's general Lu Kang (陸抗) once again strengthened his defenses against Sun Hao, but Sun Hao believed that Jin was powerless to attack Wu and still did not attach importance to military vigilance. In the same year, Lu Kang died, and Sun Hao replaced Zhang Zheng, the governor of Xiling, with a divisive plan in the Middle And Jin Dynasty, which further weakened the western garrison.
In 276, the preparations for the Jin Dynasty to conquer Wu were basically completed, and the general Yang Hu of the Southern Expedition asked Wu to be cut down. Just as Sima Yan was preparing to launch a large army to destroy Wu, the leader of the Xianbei tribe was rebelling against Jin. Jin used a divisive strategy to alienate the father-son relationship between the Xianbei chieftains, and eventually the Xianbei chieftains were depressed, and the threat of Xianbei to Jin was lifted. In 278, Yang Hu died, and Emperor Wu of Jin, on the recommendation of Yang Hu during his lifetime, succeeded Du as the general of Zhengnan and the governor of Jingzhou.
In 279, Sima Yan adopted the plan drawn up by Yang Hu before his death, sending 200,000 troops, and the troops marched into the Eastern Wu Sixth Road army in six routes, led by Sima Ling, Wang Hun, Wang Rong, Hu Fen, Du Pre, and Wang Mao. The six-way Jin army, in a five-vertical and one-horizontal layout, advanced simultaneously on land and water, ready to take the entire State of Wu in one fell swoop. In particular, the land and water army of Wang Hao's army, which had been preparing for 7 years, was finally able to realize the strategic design of going down the river and directly attacking Wudu Jianye. The State of Wu hurriedly ordered the blockade of the dangerous points in the middle of the river, but did not persist for several months, and the State of Wu was fully attacked.
In 280, Sun Hao tied his hands and pulled the coffin and went to surrender in front of Wang Mao's army. At this point, the Jin army defeated Sun Wu in just over four months and surrendered 230,000 Wu troops. The Eastern Wu regime thus ended, and the Three Kingdoms became history completely, and Sima Yan unified the whole country.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > the rule of Taikang</h1>
Taikang, the third era name of Sima Yan, emperor of the Jin Dynasty, was used for a total of 10 years from 280 to 289.
In 280, Emperor Wu of Jin completed the great cause of unification and changed his name to Yuan Taikang. Emperor Wu of Jin, who had just realized the great cause of reunification, devoted himself to the development of Jin and formulated a series of political and economic measures, and the social economy of the Western Jin Dynasty was rapidly restored and developed.
According to records, at that time, the family was full of people, cattle and horses were everywhere, and there was a scene of social prosperity, people living and working in peace and contentment, and the rise of peace in the world. Because the era name was "Taikang", this period was called "The Rule of Taikang". ”
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > corrupting the ruling class</h1>
Emperor Wu of Jin successfully obtained the throne through the "Zen throne", which was inseparable from the support of the family clan. Therefore, Sima Yan claimed that the series of political and economic measures formulated by the empress dowager were carried out on the premise of strengthening autocratic rule and protecting the interests of the gentry. For example, the Jiupin Zhongzheng system and the Yin custom system are both designed to ensure the power and interests of the warrior clan. The purpose of sima clan's formulation of these preferential measures for the shi clan was to gain the long-term support of the shi clan and thus ensure the perpetuation of the Sima clan's regime.
Cao Wei's power came through "Zen concessions", and Sima Shi's power was obtained through the "Zen position", sima Yan had to be jealous of the power of the family clan, and he was also worried that the power of the shi clan would be taken away. In order to prevent the usurpation of power, Sima Yan learned from the lesson that Emperor Cao Wei's family was weak and could only watch Sima Shi seize power, and made Sima Shi's relatives king, so that they had military and political power. However, the kings supported themselves and formed a divided force, laying the foundation for the "Rebellion of the Eight Kings".
Soon after the destruction of Wu, Sima Yan gradually slackened political affairs and was absurd. There were already many beautiful women in his harem, and after the destruction of Wu, he took in thousands of people in Sun Hao's harem, so that as many as tens of thousands of people in the harem, they didn't know which one to be lucky to be lucky. Emperor Wu of Jin often rode in a sheep cart to see where the sheep went.
"What is good on the top will be very bad on the bottom." The royalty and nobility of the Western Jin Dynasty held most of the wealth of the country, and they enjoyed it wantonly, extravagantly and lasciviously, and the trend of competing for wealth prevailed. In order to maintain this extravagant life, the bureaucratic class is seriously corrupt and constantly oppresses and exploits the working people, and the class contradictions are prominent.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > the Rebellion of the Eight Kings</h1>
Jia Nanfeng seized power
In 290, Sima Yan died, and the crown prince Sima Zheng succeeded to the throne, and was known as Emperor Hui of Jin.
Emperor Hui of Jin was an incompetent emperor and the original author of "Why Not Eat Meat".
One year there was a famine, and many people starved to death. The chancellor passed the news to Emperor Hui of Jin, who was greatly puzzled when he heard this, and asked, "The people are hungry without corn, so why don't they eat minced meat?" (The people are hungry and have no rice to eat, so why not eat porridge?) The emperor of a central empire should have been aware of the situation, and the Jin Hui Emperor was so absurd that the chaos of the Jin Dynasty's government was also conceivable.
Sima Yan's original intention was to let Sima Liang, the king of Runan, and Yang Jun (Empress Yang Zhi's father) jointly assist in the government, so that the clan and foreign relatives could balance each other. However, Yang Jun and the empress joined forces to tamper with the edict, and in the edict, yang Jun was the only assistant minister.
Yang Jun once had power in the opposition, and Empress Jia Nanfeng wanted to intervene in politics, but was obstructed by Yang Jun. Jia Nanfeng was the daughter of Jia Chong, the founding minister of the Western Jin Dynasty, with an ugly appearance but strong political ambitions. Sima Zheng's temperament was dull but not abolished, and it was inseparable from Jia Nanfeng's operation behind him. Jia Nanfeng first joined forces with Sima Liang, the king of Runan, to deal with Yang Jun, but Sima Liang did not agree, and later she joined forces with Sima Wei, the king of Chu, to bring troops into the dynasty, and asked Sima Zheng to issue an edict to plot against Yang Jun for treason. In 291, Yang Jun was killed, Empress Dowager Yang Zhi was deposed as a Shuren, and the Yang clan was exterminated.
Sima Liang and Sima Wei were killed
After the destruction of the Yang clan, the power of the imperial government was jointly held by Sima Liang, the king of Runan, and the elder chancellor Wei Wan, with Sima Wei, the king of Chu, serving as the Wei general, and Jia Nanfeng and Jia's relatives also began to intervene in politics. Jia Nanfeng was violent in temperament, and she saw the contradictions between the clans and deliberately provoked them, which eventually triggered the "Rebellion of the Eight Kings".
Sima Liang, the king of Runan, and Sima Wei, the king of Chu, as well as the auxiliary chancellor Wei Wan, were all killed in this struggle, and from then on, Jia Nanfeng ruled.
Jia Nanfeng ruled for 8 years, and the government was relatively stable, but Jia Nanfeng had no sons, and the crown prince was born to another concubine of Emperor Hui of Jin, which made her very uneasy.
Jia Nanfeng's jealousy was very strong, and when he was a princess, he was almost deposed because of the murder of a pregnant concubine. In 299, Jia Nanfeng began to persecute and depose The Crown Prince, who was very famous, and Jia Nanfeng's move caused opposition from the clan. Some clan relatives plotted to restore the crown prince, and Sima Lun, the king of Zhao, took the opportunity to provoke Jia Nanfeng to kill the prince, and with the intention of restoring the crown prince to the throne, the prince was killed.
After the crown prince was killed, Sima Lun and others forged the emperor's edict and deposed Jia Nanfeng as a shuren in the name of killing the prince, and later poisoned her. Thereafter, Sima Lun took power.
Sima Lun was in turmoil
In the first month of 301, Sima Lun deposed Emperor Hui of Jin and established himself as emperor, and Emperor Hui of Jin was placed under house arrest. Sima Lun had no political prestige or ability to govern the country, which immediately triggered the Rebellion of the Three Kings.
Sima Ran, the King of Qi, joined forces with Sima Yong, the King of Hejian and Sima Ying, the King of Chengdu, to take the opportunity to raise an army against Sima Lun. Sima Lunxing counterattacked and was soon defeated, killing nearly 100,000 people. Sima Lun was first imprisoned and then poisoned.
Sima Yan rebelled against Sima Ran
In April 301, Sima Ran welcomed Sima Zheng to the throne. Sima Ran served as the Grand Sima and presided over the imperial government. Sima Yong (yóng) and Sima Ying were made high-ranking dukes. After Sima Ran seized power, he not only did not do "political" affairs, but also indulged in female sex, and as a result, he was given an excuse for the king of the domain to crusade.
In 302, Sima Qi (yì) attacked the imperial palace in a car and attacked Sima Ran in the name of Feng Tianzi. Sima Ran was defeated and killed, and most of his henchmen were wiped out of the three tribes, and Sima Qi monopolized power.
Sima Yong attacked Sima Qi
Sima Qi, seeing that Sima Qi was monopolizing power, was dissatisfied, so he sent people to assassinate Sima Qi many times.
In 303, Sima Ying's generals led Zhang Fang with 70,000 troops and Sima Ying's army of more than 200,000 to attack Luoyang. Initially Sima Qi won, but the situation soon reversed.
In early 304, Sima Yue, the king of the Eastern Seas who was serving as a sikong in the imperial court, took advantage of the fatigue of Sima Qi's army, colluded with the generals of the Forbidden Army, captured Sima Qi at night, and handed him over to Sima Qi's generals, resulting in Sima Qi being roasted to death.
After Sima Qi's death, Sima Ying's official paid homage to Xiang Xiang, Sima Ying's official was promoted to Dazai, and Sima Yue was made Shang Shu Ling. After that, the crown prince Sima Qin was deposed, and Sima Ying was made the emperor's brother-in-law, still serving as a chancellor.
Sima Yue rebelled against Sima Ying
Sima Yue was very dissatisfied with Sima Ying's dictatorship, and soon gathered more than 100,000 soldiers to fight Sima Ying with Emperor Hui of Jin. Sima Ying sent 50,000 troops to resist the battle, defeated Sima Yue, and captured Emperor Hui of Jin.
After Sima Yue's army was defeated, his brother Ma Teng, who was in charge of the Prefecture Assassin Shi Dongying Company, killed Sima Ying's Youzhou Assassin Shi He Yan. So Sima Ying sent an army to attack Sima Teng. Sima Teng and Wang Jun combined with the forces of the foreign Karasuma and Qizhu to attack Sima Ying. Sima Ying's army was defeated by Qian zhu.
After Sima Ying's army was defeated, he and dozens of generals fled back to Luoyang with Emperor Hui of Jin overnight. Luoyang was controlled by Sima Yong's general Zhang Fang, who in turn held Emperor Hui of Jin hostage. When Sima Ying arrived in Chang'an, Sima Ying deposed Sima Ying's imperial brother-in-law and demanded that Sima Ying return to his fiefdom. Sima Yong controlled the government and served as Dazai.
Sima Yue and Sima Yue fought for power
Sima Yue originally wanted to curry favor with Sima Yue and asked Emperor Hui of Jin to issue an edict to make Sima Yue a taifu and assist him in the administration, but Sima Yue refused. Unable to curry favor, Sima Yue actively prepared to attack Sima Yue.
In 305, Sima Yue coerced Emperor Hui of Jin into issuing an edict deposing Sima Yue and others, and Sima Yue raised an army in the name of King Qin's return to the old capital Luoyang.
In 306, Sima Yue led the princes and the Xianbei generals Xu Fuli and Ju Cisu to attack Chang'an, and Sima Yue and Sima Ying were defeated. Sima Yue welcomed Emperor Hui of Jin back to Luoyang, and Emperor Hui of Jin promoted Sima Yue to the position of Taifu Lu Shangshu and ordered Sima Ying to be arrested. Soon, Neither Sima Ying nor his two sons were killed.
Emperor Hui of Jin died
In 307, Emperor Hui of Jin died suddenly, and was succeeded by his younger brother Sima Chi (chì), known as Emperor Huai of Jin. Sima Yue assisted the government.
After Emperor Huai of Jin succeeded to the throne, he immediately issued an edict to let Sima Yong return to the imperial court as a situ. On his way back to Beijing, Sima Yong was strangled to death in a car by a general sent by Sima Mo the Prince of Nanyang, and all three of his sons were killed. With the death of Sima Yue, Sima Yue took control of the imperial situation, and the Rebellion of the Eight Kings ended.
The Rebellion of the Eight Kings was widespread, ostensibly ending in Sima Yue's victory, but in fact leading to the crisis of the demise of Sima Yue's rule. From 291 to 306, 16 years of infighting caused internal and external contradictions in the Jin Dynasty, which was already in crisis, to erupt in tandem and the country to chaos. More seriously, the Rebellion of the Eight Kings made the Hu people who moved in from the border and the princes who divided the territories see the opportunity to stand on their own, and the Western Jin Dynasty gradually entered the era of the Great Division of the Five Hu Chaos and the Sixteen Kingdoms.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > five nonsense, the Western Jin Dynasty towards extinction</h1>
The long-term civil strife of the ruling class has led to the lives of innocent people living in dire straits, especially the ethnic minorities who have moved inland have been bullied by the gentry class.
When the gentry class was in civil strife, some of the ethnic minorities led the rebellion one after another and stood on their own. For example, in 304, Li Xiong of the Hu clan declared himself king in Yizhou, and two years later he was called emperor, with the state name Cheng; in 304, the Xiongnu leader Liu Yuan established himself, and four years later he was called emperor, with the name Han, and divided the southwestern shanxi. (Liu Yuan: Mao Dun is single to his descendants. During the Western Han Dynasty, Liu Bang married TonDan Yu and was about brothers with Mouton Shan Yu as a daughter of the Emperor, and thereafter, the descendants of Mouton Shan Yu were all surnamed Liu. In order to expand his territory, Liu Yuan ordered his son Liu Cong to attack Luoyang, and Shi Le and Wang Mi plundered Guandong. Shi Le attacked the city strategically, and the momentum was huge, shaking the Western Jin Dynasty and the opposition, and many people returned to him. In 310, Liu Yuan died, and Liu Cong killed the new emperor Liu He and established himself.
In 311, Sima Yue died of illness, and Wang Yan led his army to bury the feudal state, but was attacked by Shi Le's army halfway through. In this battle, the Jin army was severely damaged, and the elite of the army and the important ministers of the DPRK were killed. At the same time, Liu Cong and Wang Mi attacked Luoyang, and the officials and people of Luoyang were slaughtered, and Emperor Huai of Jin was also taken captive, which is known in history as the "Disaster of Yongjia".
In 313, Emperor Huai of Jin was killed, and his nephew Sima Yi succeeded to the throne in Chang'an, known as Emperor Huan of Jin.
After Emperor Huan of Jin ascended the throne, Liu Cong sent Liu Yao to continue to attack Chang'an. In 316, Emperor Huan of Jin surrendered, and was finally humiliated and killed, and the Western Jin Dynasty was destroyed. Since then, each ethnic group has successively established its own country, known in history as the "Five Hu Sixteen Kingdoms".
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > the Western Jin Dynasty could easily annex the Three Kingdoms and establish a unified central dynasty, why couldn't it be defended? </h1>
01. The answer is actually in the question, and the main reason for the rapid demise of the Western Jin Dynasty is that Jiangshan came too easily.
Throughout Chinese history, the establishment of a unified central dynasty has often been "fighting the world on horseback", and it has to go through the bloody struggle of countless people. For example, the King of Qin "swept the Liuhe", and Liu Bang rebelled against Qin for eight years. In this way, Sima Shi's Western Jin Dynasty came more easily.
As soon as Sima Zhao died, he handed over all the power in his hands to his son Sima Yan, and Sima Yan, who held military power and power, moved his mouth, and the puppet emperor Cao Yan hurried to "Zen Concession". As a result, Jiangshan changed from the surname "Wei" to "Jin", and history turned another page. This is the first reason why the Western Jin Dynasty can't hold on: it's too easy to get!
Although it is difficult to get the world on horseback, the people who guard the country are more attentive. It is easy to get, but it is difficult to keep.
Sima Yan claimed to be empress, and the first problem he faced was how to distribute power. Sima Yan inherited Cao Wei Jiangshan, who came from the Eastern Han Dynasty "Zen Concession", and such a young Western Jin Dynasty also inherited the family lineage since the Han Dynasty. In order to appease the clan to obey the rule of the Western Jin Dynasty, Sima Yan had to give them more privileges and benefits.
To give the shi clan privileges, it was necessary to have corresponding privileges to balance, and Sima Yan divided more clan disciples as kings, allowing them to defend the capital.
The sub-feudal system made the Zhou Dynasty move from unification to dispersion, and also because of the sub-feudalism, there was a "Rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms" during the Han Jing Emperor period, and the drawbacks of the sub-feudal system were obvious, while Sima Yan did not balance the clan relatives. In this way, the princes of the Western Jin Dynasty formed a divided force, laying the foundation for the "Rebellion of the Eight Kings".
02. The demise of the Sima clan is inseparable from the corruption of the ruling class.
The warriors had to maintain a luxurious life, from the imperial palace to the hundred officials fighting each other for wealth. And the cake is only so big, and more is distributed to the gentry, and only from the poor lower classes can be exploited, so that the class contradictions are highlighted. The "Five Hu Chaohua" is the oppression and exploitation of ethnic minorities by the scholars, which has aroused the resistance of ethnic minorities.
Sima Yan began to govern Jiangshan conscientiously, but after annexing Sun Wu, he began to indulge his selfish desires and did not restrain hundreds of officials, resulting in internal corruption in the Western Jin Dynasty. This was an important reason for the rapid demise of the Sima clan.
03. Improper arrangement of successors
Sima Yan was even more cautious about the arrangement of the successor, not only was the crown prince incompetent, but the orphan ministers were also greedy and incompetent, and the princess was greedy and jealous.
When Sima Yan was alive, the forces of all parties were still balanced. Once Sima Yan died, his successor Sima Zheng was unable to take power, and Empress Jia Nanfeng and the chancellor Yang Jun seized power, eventually triggering the "Rebellion of the Eight Kings".
"If you are cautious in the end, you will not be defeated." Unfortunately, Sima Yan failed to remember his original intention, and the result was that "the upper liang was not correct and the lower liang was crooked", the Western Jin Dynasty quickly perished, and China entered a period of great division.
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