In 290 AD, Sima Yan died of illness, and the idiot prince Sima Zheng succeeded to the throne as Emperor Hui of Jin. The "Rebellion of the Eight Kings" within the imperial family for power and profit immediately broke out. After that, the war in the Central Plains almost did not stop, until several princes who held real power were defeated and killed one after another, and the chaos gradually stopped. Sima Yue became the ultimate victor of this royal brawl, but he was too late to be happy. Because of the rebellion of ethnic minorities in the Jin Dynasty, the massacre of Han soldiers and civilians was wantonly carried out, and the banner of overthrowing Sima Shi's rule was raised.
In 304, Liu Yuan and Li Xiong successively became kings. In particular, Liu Yuan claimed to be empress dowager, and almost never stopped attacking the Jin Dynasty. In 310, Liu Yuan had died of illness, and Liu Cong killed Liu He and usurped the throne, and sent troops to attack the Jin capital Luoyang. The following year, Sima Yue, the final victor of the Rebellion of the Eight Kings, was surrounded by Shi Le on his way to escape and killed. Along with Sima Yue, there was also an elite army of tens of thousands of people, which was the last elite force of the Western Jin court. In July of the same year, the empty defensive Luoyang was breached and Emperor Huai of Jin was captured.
In 313, Sima Ye, with the support of the remnants of the Western Jin Dynasty, proclaimed himself emperor in Chang'an, as emperor of the Jin Dynasty. The imperial court ordered the 700,000-strong army led by Sima Rui and Liu Kun to attack Pingyang in three ways. As a result, Sima Rui, who was the commander of this battle, disobeyed the order at the instigation of the shi clan. Sima Yi had no choice but to fight against Liu Cong's Xiongnu army with difficulty. Since proclaiming himself emperor, Emperor Huan of Jin has been in a difficult situation. History said: "In Chang'an City, there are not hundreds of households, the walls are decadent, and the artemisia is in line." The imperial court did not have a carriage and horse stamp uniform, only the number of the Sang version. The only brigade of the people, the public and private cars, the lack of equipment, the lack of transportation and feeding" ("Jin Shu Shu Emperor Ji"), and even the remnants of the looted materials left over from the tomb of the Han Emperor were also included in the Inner Province. The Han lord Liu Cong's offensive against Chang'an had not been reduced, and although Sima Yi, the emperor of the Jin Dynasty, had made Sima Rui a chancellor and begged for help many times, he had never been able to expect a single soldier from Jiangnan. In November 316, under the siege of the Han army, the Jin Emperor was cut off inside and outside, and the soldiers were exhausted and forced to surrender. Chang'an was not guarded, and the news that "The Han Dynasty was going north" reached Jiankang, and Sima Rui could not account to the world if he did not express it again.
Sima Rui is Sima Yi's uncle, a man who is inconsistent, hypocritical, and good at acting. When Sima Rui first arrived in Jiangnan, he had neither meritorious reputation nor ability, nor was his status noble enough, so he was despised by the Jiangnan Shi clan, and he almost did not establish a foothold in Jiankang, and he may even be excluded or killed. Fortunately, under the planning of the minister Wang Dao, Sima Rui performed a big drama, he dressed up as a leading figure supported by the northern clans, posed a great pomp, and took advantage of the festival to appear in public. Sima Rui's battle suddenly shocked the southern clans present. From then on, no one in Jiangnan dared to neglect Sima Rui. Sima Rui used some more means to gradually establish a foothold in Jiangnan.
When the news of Emperor Huan's capture reached Jiankang, Sima Rui began to display his acting specialties again. He first pretended to lead his generals to camp out, pretending to lead the army to the Northern Expedition, and at the same time issued a message to the four sides, claiming to save Emperor Huan. However, a few days later, Sima Rui still did not have any real military action. After a long time, No matter how realistic Sima Rui's performance was, he was still seen as a fake Northern Expedition. So the voices of cursing and questioning Sima Rui were everywhere.
In order to end the scene, Sima Rui still did not admit that he was pretending, and continued to act: Because the grain and grass logistics could not keep up, the army could not move forward for a long time. At the same time, Sima Rui gave Chun Yubo, the governor of the Chancellor's Mansion, the charge of "Caoyun Audit Period" and beheaded him. However, this kind of clumsy deception was difficult to show the eyes and ears of the world, and for a while "the people were noisy, the soldiers and women looked at each other, and xian knew their wrongs" ("The Biography of Liu Kui in the Book of Jin"), and even Sima Rui's confidant Liu Kui came forward to be unfair to Chun Yu Boming, demanding that Zhou Ying, Liu Yin, and others related to this matter be punished. The matter reached a bad end, and Wang Dao, who gave Sima Rui advice, was forced to take responsibility and requested his dismissal. Sima Rui finally admitted that it was his fault to wrongfully kill Chun Yubo, but said that those implicated in the case would no longer pursue him. In this way, Sima Rui staged a pretend farce and prevaricated the northern expedition to save the country. Later, Emperor Huan of Jin was killed, and Sima Rui became emperor at Jiankang.