Monarchs and heroes, one to prevent the occurrence of such things as "yellow robe plus body", the other to try to make "yellow robe plus body" become a reality, the result of mutual attack and defense transfer makes the relationship between the king and the general always in a high tension.
For those meritorious generals who have an army and are famous and famous, it is pure wishful thinking to make them endure loneliness, "the waves cannot afford to swear, the concubines are ancient well water", and do not breed covetousness and hopelessness. In the depths of their consciousness, to be emperors and kings to come to the world, "only to be blessed, only to be mighty", the temptation to single-handedly kill and seize the power is too great, how can not resist, can only "follow the feelings". Therefore, many of them are willing to risk destroying their families and destroying their families, and find ways to fight to the death for this attractive prospect. Their philosophy of life has long been broken by the great warlord (who is also a great ambitionist) of the Eastern Jin Dynasty: "Neither can it be passed on to future generations, nor can it be enough to restore the stink of Wanzaiye!" ”
The basic rule of the game in politics is that if there are ten times the benefits, you will not hesitate to try it, and if there are a hundred times the benefits, you can frantically open up the old books. Therefore, with the desperate mentality of "the prince of the winner, the thief of the loser", there have been some powerful heroes in all dynasties who are uneasy about their positions, and they want to jump out to direct a farce of seizing power by force. Such figures abound in history, in addition to the famous Guo Wei, Zhao Kuangyin and others, there are also Wang Dun, Huan Wen, Huan Xuan and other sub-magnitude guys. It's just that Wang Dun, Huan Wen and others are not as lucky as Zhao Kuangyin, they "have lost everything for the mountain", and watched their imperial dreams mercilessly shattered a step away from the dragon chair. The so-called "green mountains can't stay, after all, the east flows"!
In 316 (the fourth year of Jianxing), the decadent Western Jin Dynasty was finally overthrown under the influence of civil strife and the armed attack of ethnic minority nobles. The bureaucrats in the south and the leaders of the northern warrior clans who fled south embraced Sima Rui, the king of the Jin dynasty, as the king of the Jin Dynasty, and officially ascended the throne the following year as emperor for the Jin Yuan Emperor, with the capital established in Jiankang (present-day Nanjing, Jiangsu), known in history as the "Eastern Jin Dynasty".
The Eastern Jin Dynasty can largely be said to be a joint ruling body of the Mengmen clan. In his book "The Politics of Door Valves in the Eastern Jin Dynasty", Mr. Tian Yuqing defined the politics of the Eastern Jin Dynasty as a typical "door valve politics", which is not published. Sima Rui, the king of the western Jin Dynasty, who was not very close to the emperor of the Western Jin Dynasty, was able to become emperor, and the representative figures of the northern warrior clan, the Lang Evil Wang Dao, and his brother Wang Dun's Yi Dai were indispensable, one singing white face and one red face, one article and one martial art, using political strategy and using the backing of force, Sima Rui, who had mediocre qualifications, ordinary experience, and undefeated grace, was sent to the emperor's throne. Sima Rui knew that he would repay the favor and return the favor to Li, and also rewarded the Wang brothers with the high-ranking official Houlu. He appointed Wang Dao as the chancellor, in charge of the central government, the lifeblood of finance and economics, and the appointment and dismissal of personnel; he ordered Wang Dun to be the general of Zhendong, and to supervise the military affairs of the six prefectures of Jiangsu, Yang, Jing, Xiang, Jiao, and Guangzhou (almost including the entire territory of the Eastern Jin Dynasty at that time), and the history of Jiangzhou, control the military power of the whole country, and control the conquest of the world. The power of the Wang brothers was so hot that at that time there was a saying that "the king and the horse share the world".
The most convincing evidence in this regard is that when Sima Rui first ascended the throne and accepted the worship of the courtiers and officials, he actually let Wang Dao "ascend to the throne and sit together" (although the sleek and shrewd, old and sophisticated Wang Dao himself very sensibly resigned). The high status and authoritarian weight of the Wang brothers in the Eastern Jin Dynasty can be seen here.
As the saying goes: "The human heart is not enough for the snake to swallow the elephant", "a mountain looks at the mountain high", and man's desire is endless. This was still somewhat restrained in Wang Dao, because after all, he was a civilian official, and his courage was slightly smaller, plus he was politically savvy, understood the importance of gains and losses, and knew that coveting the throne would only cause internal turmoil, so that the Eastern Jin Dynasty, which had just begun to take shape and was just on the right track, would be destroyed, and "the skin did not exist, Mao would be attached", if the Eastern Jin Dynasty was finished, the good life of the Wang family would come to an end. Therefore, his basic purpose is to "calm down and be at ease" (Jin Shu Wang Dao Biography). Although he monopolized power, he did not have the ambition of usurping and standing on his own.
However, his clan brother Wang Dun was completely different, he was a martial artist, who had stumbled and climbed out of the pile of dead people, and only recognized one reason, that is, he used the sword and gun in his hand to sweep the world and do whatever he wanted. The position of the Son of Heaven in the Eastern Jin Dynasty was supported by his force, and if he wanted to protect it, he would escort it, and if he did not meet his own wishes, he would jump ship against the water, and if the opportunity was coincidental, he might as well practice the "bold words" of Xiang Yu, the king of Western Chu: "He can take his place." Judging from the verses of Cao Mengde who used iron ruyi to beat the pot with iron ruyi after he was drunk, and even the subconscious act of breaking the mouth of the pot, Wang Dunsu's ambition is an indisputable fact, it is nothing more than a lack of an opportunity to have a seizure!
However, the actions of Sima Rui, the emperor of the Jin Dynasty, made Wang Dun determined to take off the mask of "wearing one heart and one wing". It is true that Emperor JinYuan relied on the Wang brothers to ascend to the throne, but, like any monarch, he also liked to be arbitrary and self-controlled, and believed in the principle of "the weapon of the country, not to show people", so the Wang brothers, especially Wang Dun, who was in charge of military power, also had to play the dangerous political game of crossing the river and demolishing the bridge. He was dissatisfied with the arrogance of the Wang clan and always wanted to weaken the power of the Wang clan. In order to achieve this goal, he quoted Liu Kui, who made good use of the well-received Liu Kui, and the drunken and wanton Diao Cooperative confidants, and secretly made military arrangements against Wang Dun: to enrich the military strength of the central imperial court, to release the northern displaced people who had become servants in the Yangzhou area, and to organize them into an army; to appoint Dai Yuan, the leader of the warrior clan in the Jiangnan region, as the general of Zhenxi, the military of Yan, Yu, You, Ji, Yong, and the six prefectures, and liu Kui as the general of Zhenbei, and the military of Qing and Xuzhou, each leading tens of thousands of people, stationed in Hefei and Sikou. Defend against Wang Dun's military forces in the middle of the Yangtze River.
Wang Dun was worried that he could not find an excuse to take advantage of the fire and robbery and usurp power in chaos, and now when he saw that Emperor Jinyuan had the intention of defending himself or even condemning himself, he immediately caught him and did not let go, "You are not merciful, I am not righteous", it is you Sima Rui who first developed a jealous heart, then blame me for turning my face and not recognizing people. "Small is not a gentleman", "no poison is not a husband", so he took the opportunity to plot to usurp the throne by opposing Liu Kui and Diao Xie and suing wang for the wronged "Qing Jun's side". In 322, Wang Dun raised an army at Wuchang and went down the river to capture Jiankang in one fell swoop, killing Dai Yuan, Diao Xie, and others. Liu Kui saw that the situation was not good, and he could not care about the kindness of Emperor Jin Yuan's knowledge of himself, so he left his master, fled in a daze, and defected to Shi Le.
However, because Wang Dao and other major courtiers did not want to expand the turmoil and endangered the fundamental interests of the Gaomen clan, they did not cooperate with Wang Dun, saying that they would rather die for loyal subjects than live for rogues." Wang Dun was unable to realize his usurpation ambitions for a while, so he had to retreat to the Wuchang base camp.
In 323, The Jinyuan Emperor Sima Rui died of grief and illness, and emperor Ming of Jin succeeded to the throne, Wang Dao assisted the government, Wang Dun thought that there was an opportunity to take advantage of it, stepped up the usurpation plot, moved from Wuchang to The town of Gushu (present-day Dangtu, Anhui), and led yangzhou mu himself. The following year, Wang Dun was seriously ill, and there were not many days left, and Emperor Ming of Jin, who had already hated him to the bone, took the opportunity to issue an edict to send a large army to attack Wang Dun. Wang Dun was not willing to sit still, and made a desperate bet, sending an army to attack Jiankang.
However, at this time, the news of his illness had been circulated in the army, and the army was scattered and its strength was sharply frustrated, and as a result, the army was hindered under the city of Jiankang. Wang Dun saw that his intention to usurp the throne was difficult to realize, and his anxiety and anger were mixed, and his illness turned heavy, so that he could not be cured. A bloody military coup was finally put to rest.
Although Wang Dun died, the sharp contradictions between the kings and generals within the Eastern Jin Dynasty were not really soothed, which can be described as "the tree wants to be quiet and the wind is not stopping", which is also the inevitable result of the conflict between the imperial autocracy and the centrifugal tendency of the general power. Sure enough, not long after, there were incidents of Su Jun supporting the self-reliance of the army, coveting non-hopes, and the hereditary evil case of Yu Yi wanting to open the town. Although these rebellions have been stopped in time for various reasons, their occurrence has already shown that there are many people who are trying to stir up the situation and change the world, lest the world not be chaotic. Therefore, when Huan Wen and Huan Xuan took charge of the soldiers, a new repertoire of plotting to usurp the throne was staged.
Huan Wen was one of the most talented military figures in the Eastern Jin Dynasty. He was born into a family of eunuchs, married Princess Nankang, the daughter of emperor Ming of Jin, and moved to Xuzhou to assassinate Shi, and later replaced Yu Yi in the strategic jingzhou.
This man is definitely a good hand in the military and is determined to recover the Central Plains. But he was also a great ambitionist, and after he had grasped a part of the military power, he deliberately managed his own territory and seized greater power, hoping to further enhance his personal prestige through continuous military victories, so as to find opportunities to establish himself as emperor on behalf of Jin.
It is precisely because of such wolf ambitions that he is full of interest and affection for Wang Dun's behavior, imitates Wang Dun's practices everywhere, and has infinite sympathy for Wang Dun's "grand ambitions" without reward. Shi Zaiqi was "conceited in talent and long-cherished in his ambitions", and once "touched the pillow and said: 'Neither can it be passed on to future generations, nor can it be enough to restore the stink of Wanzaiye!'" Tasting the tomb of Wang Dun, he looked at it: "Man, man." His heart is like that. The face of the ambitionist jumped on the paper and was about to come out.
Serving as the Assassin of Jingzhou was an important starting point for Huan Wen to put his personal ambitions into practice. He has a huge stage to show his fists and feet, and he will not let it sit idle there. In 347, Huan Wen commanded troops to attack the State of Chenghan and captured Li Shi, the lord of the Han State, bringing Shu land back under the control of the Eastern Jin Dynasty. This military victory greatly boosted Huan Wen's prestige, and his ambitions became more and more inflated, trying to continue to work hard and take the opportunity to go north and gain greater political capital for himself.
The Eastern Jin Dynasty court was not stupid, its political sense of smell could be sensitive, why didn't it see Huan Wen's true intentions! In order to prevent Huan Wen from making meritorious contributions to the Northern Expedition, it cited yin Hao, a well-known Qingtan, to participate in the government and oppose Huan Wen. Unfortunately, Yin Hao (then yangzhou assassin history) with the true color of the scholar was low-minded, his ambition was sparse, he knew nothing about the military, and the Northern Expedition of the leading troops was defeated miserably, Huan Wen took the opportunity to impeach Yin Hao, and the imperial court had no intention of being weak and could not protect him, so he had to dismiss Yin Hao from his post and shake it to the end.
Yin Hao resigned, and Huan Wen's power became increasingly strong, so he could not be copied. So he went on three northern expeditions, attacking Former Qin and attacking Former Yan, and each conquest achieved great results in the early stages, and the soldiers reached Bashang east of Chang'an and recaptured Luoyang, which for a time shocked the world, and the power of the Eastern Jin court was basically controlled by it. In 363, Huan Wen was officially appointed as the Grand Sima and the Governor of Chinese and Foreign Militaries, and the following year he was added yangzhou mu, and in 369 AD, he was concurrently appointed as the assassin of Xu and Yan Erzhou, and from then on, the two prefectures of Jing and Yang were concurrently held by Huan Wen.
At this point, Huan Wen's capital for usurpation and self-reliance was basically available. In order to make his long-cherished wish come true as soon as possible, Huan Wen planned to launch a larger-scale Northern Expedition of Former Yan, in an attempt to use greater military victories to create the necessary and sufficient conditions for his usurpation activities.
"It is better to give friends than to be a domestic slave", which is the common standard of feudal rulers, and the Eastern Jin Dynasty court fully understands what it means for Huanwen Northern Expedition if it is finally won, so it restricts and sabotages his actions at every turn, leaving him in a dilemma. This was already expected by Shen Yin, a strategist of the Former Yan regime: "With (Huan) Wen's momentum today, it seems that he can do something." However, in my view, there will be no success. Why? The Jin Dynasty was weak, (Huan) Wen despotically ruled his country, and the courtiers of the Jin Dynasty may not all be in the same heart with it, so (Huan) Wen's ambitions were unwilling to do so. It will be obstructed to defeat it. ”
The development of the situation was indeed so, Huan Wen's three Northern Expeditions were first victorious and then defeated, and they did not return, especially the last battle to attack Former Qin, which was even more tragically defeated by Fangtou, and the main force of the army suffered heavy losses. The serious military defeat also caused Huan Wen's strength and prestige to decline sharply (which also proved an iron law in traditional Chinese rule: it was never the enemy's strength that defeated a country, a regime, a hero or a traitor, but came from his own internal consumption and trouble)!
Huan Wen was not willing to let his "ambitions" go to waste, and accelerated the steps of usurpation, deposing Emperor Sima Yi in 371 AD, installing Sima Xian as emperor (Emperor Wen of Jin), and the following year appointing Sima Yao as emperor (Emperor Xiaowu of Jin), and asking the imperial court to add nine tins to prepare the final conditions for the self-reliance of Zen and Jin.
However, due to the strong resistance of the Door Valve clan represented by Wang and Xie, Huan Wen fell ill and died before he could fulfill his dream of being an emperor (it seems that even if he was an ambitious man and risked the world to do illegal things, he also needed to have the cost of his body, otherwise he would have to watch the great opportunity to slip away from him). The Eastern Jin Dynasty court finally turned the crisis into safety again.
"A worm with a hundred legs, dead but not stiff", although Huan Wen died, but the power of the Huan clan is still there, and his son Huan Xuan's talent and ability are far inferior to that of his father (which just confirms the truth that "a crab is not as good as a crab"), however, the ambition and greed are no less than those of nai father. He served as the governor of Jingzhou in the last years of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, holding nearly half of the troops of the Eastern Jin Dynasty. Coinciding with a large-scale uprising by Sun En and Lu Xun, attacking the city and plundering the land, robbing and killing officials, the Eastern Jin Dynasty hastily responded and suppressed it with all its might, resulting in the emptiness of the Beijing division and weak defense. Huan Xuan took the opportunity to annex Jingzhou, a strategic location in the upper reaches of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, and occupied two-thirds of the territory of the Eastern Jin Dynasty.
After the strength increased, Huan Xuan's usurpation ambitions were exposed, and he was ready to overthrow the Jin Dynasty by force. The Eastern Jin Dynasty could not tolerate Huan Xuan's actions, and decided to preemptively attack, "shooting people first to shoot horses, and capturing thieves first to capture the king", with Sima Yuanxian as the governor of the conquest, and Liu Gaozhi as the former governor of the Northern Province, sending troops to recruit Huan Xuan.
Huan Xuan went down the slope of the donkey, pushed the boat down the water, quickly raised his troops, and went down the river. He bribed Liu Jiaozhi, causing the Beifu soldiers to surrender without a fight, and won a decisive victory, and then drove straight in, attacking the jingshi Jiankang in one fell swoop, killing the imperial court ministers Sima Daozi and Sima Yuanxian, and controlling all the dynastic government.
By 404 AD, Huan Xuan "anger from the heart, evil to the side of the bold", did not do two without stopping, simply deposed the Jin Emperor, established himself as emperor, the state name Chu.
Unfortunately, Huan Xuan was immoral and incompetent, and could not only attach himself to the people, but also could not intimidate the enemy, so the emperor's throne had not yet sat hot, and he encountered great trouble. Liu Yu, a mid-ranking officer of the Beifu Army, took advantage of huan xuan's unintended letter, the unintended soldiers, and the confusion of the people's minds, and decisively raised an army at Jingkou and launched a fierce attack on Huan Xuan. Huan Xuan struggled to the death and sent troops to suppress the rebels, but was defeated by Liu Yu and Liu Yi's troops. Liu Yu's Northern Soldier Yu Yong kejia took advantage of the victory to attack Jiankang, Huan Xuancang Emperor fled, defeated Jiangling, the rebellion and separation, and the general situation was exhausted. The Jin soldiers followed in pursuit, directly attacked the heart of the heart, attacked Jiangling, killed Huan Xuan, and destroyed the Huan clan. Huan Xuan's brief dream of being an emperor was quickly shattered.
Although Huan Xuan completely failed, what he did was the same as that of his father Huan Wen, which also proved that "those who are strong and strong are the sons of heaven" are the philosophy and political beliefs of many heroes and generals in history. The attractive prospect of "being a noble son of heaven and rich in the world" makes those ambitious people who have made military achievements and have military power often desperately bet and take risks. In short, in the face of rich and powerful, all the courtesies of kings, the friendship of friends, the affection of blood, and the ethics of morality have all been thrown into the javanese country, and there is no meaning to speak of, and there is no other choice but to usurp and reverse usurpation, to kill and to be killed, or to be knife tricks, or to fish and meat. The only difference is that Cao Pi, Sima Yi, Liu Yu, Xiao Daocheng, Xiao Yan, Chen Baxian, Zhao Kuangyin and others laughed to the end and succeeded, "the flying dragon is in the sky"; while Zhong Hui, Wang Dun, Huan Wen, Huan Xuan, Hou Jing, Yang Xuangan and others failed and fell into the abyss of destruction, and could not turn over for thousands of years.
In order to prevent the emergence of such a situation in which heroes force the palace and the courtiers regurgitate themselves, and to sweep away the haze of rebellion that hangs over his head, any monarch will regard the killing of meritorious heroes and the consolidation of a surname as his primary task. This can be said to be the main opportunity for the "rabbit dead dog cooking" tragedy in history to be staged from generation to generation, which makes many people live in the shadow of suspicion, suspicion and terror all day long, and does not expose, pinpoint or even whitewash such a dark side of China's traditional political culture, that is the traitor of history and the scum of civilization! Truly hopeless!