The scrolls of history unfold slowly, and we will gradually discover that history will always have some commonalities. For example, the emperor's choice of the crown prince, most emperors choose the focus of the heir, not only his personal conduct, but also his personal ability.
But in history, there was such an emperor who originally had 26 sons, and in addition to those who died prematurely, he also had more than a dozen normal sons. Why did he finally choose a stupid son as emperor?
This emperor was Sima Yan, the Emperor wu of Jin who established the Jin Dynasty. As the founding emperor of the Jin Dynasty, Emperor Wu of Jin can be described as having outstanding ability and long-term vision. His chosen successor, Sima Zheng, was just the opposite, demented and dull.
And the world was in chaos, and the people were starving to death, and the emperor said, "Why don't you eat meat?" This sentence originates from the Book of Jin and the Chronicle of Emperor Hui, and is also from the mouth of Sima Zheng.
Roughly speaking, that is, when there was a famine, the people had no food to eat, only to dig up grass roots and eat tree bark, and many people starved to death because of this, and the news reached the ears of Sima Zheng in the palace, and he was greatly puzzled, so he said: The people are hungry and have no rice to eat, so why not eat meat porridge?
Wang Fuzhi's evaluation of Sima Zheng: "The foolishness of Emperor Hui, ancient and modern, is matchless, and the country is dead because of it." "Since Sima Zheng is so demented and stupid, then why did Sima Yan, the emperor of jinwu, want to make this stupid son the crown prince?"
The following author will analyze in detail from three points the reason why Emperor Wu of Jinwu made Sima Zheng the crown prince.
First of all, the first point is that Sima Zheng mistakenly became the eldest son of a concubine, and the empress's mother was extremely fond of him.
Since the beginning of the Zhou Dynasty, successive dynasties have basically followed the inheritance system of establishing the long as the first, that is, "li concubine is not based on the sage, and the lizi is expensive but not long". That is to say, sons born to a proper wife have the right of first refusal to inherit the throne, and in order of age and age, and regardless of their talents, they can choose a suitable heir among the sons only if the right wife has no children or no heirs.
So when it came to the Jin Dynasty, it was naturally the same. Empress Wuyuan Yang Yan and Sima Yan, emperor of the Jin Dynasty, had a deep affection, and the two gave birth to three sons and three daughters, and the eldest son, Sima Yan, the Prince of Biling, died at the age of two.
The Book of Jin, Vol. 64, Liechuan No. 34, records that Biling mourned the king's tracks, the character was correct, and he first worshiped the riding lieutenant, and died at the age of two.
The second son was Sima Zheng, and at this time, Sima Zheng was already the eldest son. According to the system of establishing concubines for the sake of length, Emperor Wu of Jin then made Sima Zheng, who was later nine years old, crown prince.
Secondly, the second point was that Emperor Wu of Jin never carefully understood Sima Zheng's stupidity, believing that he was only slow to react. Emperor Wu of Jin also hesitated to make Sima Zheng the crown prince, and he deliberately made some examination questions to examine Sima Zheng, but gave Sima Zheng three days.
Sima Zheng had a cunning wife, Jia Nanfeng, who went to great lengths to find several knowledgeable people to help Sima Zheng. Emperor Wu of Jin was very satisfied with Sima Zheng's answer, believing that Sima Zheng was not actually stupid, but on the contrary, he was knowledgeable and had the ability to govern the country, so he wanted to make him crown prince.
It is recorded in detail in the Book of Jin that Emperor Wu repeatedly expressed doubts about Sima Zheng's ability and tested his ability many times, and Sima Zheng passed these tests one by one under the advice of Crown Princess Jia Nanfeng and his courtiers.
The last third point is the reason for Emperor Wu of Jin himself, who in his old age, coveted pleasure, and did not carefully examine whether Sima Zheng was worthy of heavy responsibilities and became a qualified crown prince.
In addition, before empress Dowager Wuyuan Yang Yan died, she knew that Emperor Wu of Jin favored Lady Hu and was afraid that she would be made empress in the future, worried that the position of the crown prince Sima Zheng was unstable. So on his deathbed, emperor Wu of Jin said on his knees: "Yang Zhi, the daughter of uncle Yang Jun, is both talented and beautiful, and may His Majesty choose her to prepare the Sixth Palace." ”
And weeping sadly, Emperor Wu of Jin agreed to her with tears.
Book of Jin, Vol. 31, Liechuan No. 1: After a disease, see Lady Emperor Suxing Hu, afraid of the future, worried about the prince's uneasiness. On his deathbed, the Pillow Emperor said: "Uncle Jun's daughter and male yin have virtue, may Your Majesty prepare for the sixth palace." "Because of the weeping, the emperor wept and promised.
After the death of Emperor Wu of Jin, Sima Zheng smoothly became emperor, and the crown princess Jia Nanfeng was made empress. Sima Zheng was really stupid, obedient to Jia Nanfeng's words, and Jia Hou took advantage of the opportunity to monopolize power, and even faked Sima Zheng's edicts to suppress and persecute political enemies and people in the imperial family, and the Western Jin Dynasty began to gradually become turbulent and tortuous.
Because Empress Jia Nanfeng interfered in politics and power, the sons of the Sima family were forced to embark on the road of resistance and began to rise up to seize power, and the famous Rebellion of the Eight Kings in history began. Sixteen years of wolf smoke, the people have no place to live.
The "Rebellion of the Eight Kings" was one of the most serious imperial civil unrest in Chinese history, when the social economy was severely damaged, leading to the fall of the Western Jin Dynasty and the turmoil of the past three hundred years, which led to the subsequent China into the period of the Five Hu and Sixteen Kingdoms (Wuhu Chaohua).
Emperor Wu of Jin established the Western Jin Dynasty in 265 and was destroyed by the northern barbarians in 316, surviving only 51 years.
The Rebellion of the Eight Kings in the last years of the Western Jin Dynasty caused a serious injury to the Vitality of the Western Jin Dynasty, and the ethnic groups that migrated inland took the opportunity to raise troops, resulting in the situation of Wuhu Chaos, and a large number of people and clans began to cross south.
The Western Jin Dynasty was a brief unification during the long period of division between the Southern and Northern Dynasties of Wei and Jin, which can really be described as a "flash in the pan".
References: Book of Jin, Vol. 31, Liechuan No. 1, JinShu Vol. 64, Liechuan Xxxi4