In the last years of the Western Jin Dynasty, the princes rose up one after another, and ethnic minorities such as xiongnu and Xianbei continued to invade the Central Plains. Suddenly, the country was in turmoil and the people were displaced. In order to escape the war and save his life, the Emperor of the Western Jin Dynasty led the royal family and its ministers to flee south, and finally, the capital was set at Jiankang, which began the history of the Eastern Jin Dynasty. With the migration of the royal family of the Western Jin Dynasty, some Han Chinese living in the area north of the Yangtze River also began to relocate to the south one after another.
Among them, nearly 70% of Han Chinese moved to the south, while the remaining 30% of Han people could not relocate temporarily for various reasons. Seeing this opportunity, the Hu people took advantage of the chaos to invade the Central Plains. Although the Han people who stayed behind vigorously resisted, it was difficult to compare with the Hu people who were good at riding and shooting. After that, it was even more in order to retaliate against the Han people, whenever they attacked a city, the Hu people went on a killing spree and slaughtered the city in a frenzy.
After several bloody massacres, the Hu people became more and more unscrupulous, believing that simple and brutal acts of slaughter could no longer meet their needs, so the Hu people began to regard killing as a kind of performance art and spiritual enjoyment, and used it to obtain psychological satisfaction. Whenever a Han Chinese was killed, the Hu people cut the meat off the corpse, cooked it with the lamb, and then tasted it carefully.
Some Hu people even cut off the heads of beautiful women, put them on plates, and invited everyone to watch. In this way, the number of Han Chinese decreased sharply. In order to save their lives, the Han people began to take up arms to resist. During this period, some Han leaders established an army, such as Chen Wu's establishment of the "Beggar Army". Despite this, the Hu people did not have the slightest fear, but killed the Han people even more brutally. Soon after, Chen Wu was killed.
Moreover, Ran Zhan, a general in the Beggars Army, was captured by the Hu people and turned to serve the Hu people, becoming a general in the Hu tribe. In this regard, the beggar army officially declared defeat. Later, Ran Zhan died, and his son Ran Min inherited his mantle and served the Hu people. After that, Ran Min made several great contributions to the Hu people's annexation of the Central Plains and received rewards. Even so, he could not bear the behavior of the Hu people in killing the Han people.
After some ideological struggle, Ran Min decided to return to the Central Plains to help the Han repel the Hu people. Therefore, in order to regain the confidence of the Han people and arouse the combat effectiveness of the Han people, Ran Min issued the famous "Order to Kill Hu" in history.
Next, we will talk in detail about the specific content of the "killing order" and its role.
In fact, the order to kill Hu is divided into three orders:
First, "Inside and outside the six Yi, those who dare to call weapons behead them." The general meaning of this sentence is: Whether it is within or outside the country, as long as there are Hu people holding weapons, they will be killed. After this decree was issued, the Han people could justifiably take up arms and kill the Hu people. In the end, in the face of the strong counterattack of the Han, the Hu people were powerless to resist and had to flee north.
Second, "Those who share the same heart with the officials stay, and those who do not have different hearts allow them to leave." The meaning of this sentence is that people who have the same mind as the government stay, and people with different hearts let them leave. So, what is the mind of the government? How can we have the same mind as the government? This is not clearly stated in the decree.
Third, "If a Han person kills a Hu person, he can receive a reward on the head of the Hu person." After this decree was promulgated, the Han people even wantonly slaughtered the Hu people to avenge the death of their compatriots. According to historical records, the decree was issued in just one day, and tens of thousands of Hu people were beheaded in the city. In the end, in the face of the almost crazy retaliation of the Han, the Hu people were powerless to resist. Under these circumstances, the Hu had to withdraw to the grasslands and flee north.
According to records, on the way back to the grasslands, people can often see some Hu people who are seriously ill and hungry and cold. At that time, nearly 80% of the Hu people who invaded the Central Plains died in the revenge of the Han people, and only two adults saved their lives and returned to the grassland.
So, what is the role of the "Killing Hu Order"?
First of all, a large number of Hu people were killed, and ethnic minorities such as the Xiongnu, Xiongnu and Qiang were almost exterminated. According to statistics, millions of Hu civilians and soldiers died in the killing order. Among them, the Karma people were slaughtered to the highest extent, and almost suffered the disaster of extinction. At the same time, the Five Hu and Sixteen Kingdoms, which once dominated for a while, were destroyed, and their strength was greatly reversed, and they no longer had the previous scenery, and it was difficult to recover in a short period of time.
Second, this order further deepened the contradictions between the Han chinese and other ethnic minorities. After this massacre, an insurmountable gap was formed between the Han chinese and other ethnic groups. From then on, the Central Plains Dynasty regarded the northern nomads as a political threat and once attempted to eradicate them completely.
Moreover, it also saved the lives of millions of Han Chinese. The appearance of the hu order to kill Made the Hu people jealous and did not dare to wantonly mutilate the Han people anymore, thus saving the lives of millions of Han people and saving them from a difficult situation.
Finally, there is the establishment of a new dynasty. Through the hatred and massacre of the Hu people by the Han people, Ran Min established himself as emperor, with the capital Yecheng ,the state name Great Wei ( 大魏 ) , known historically as Ran Wei ( Ran Wei ) . Soon after, the Hu tribes allied with each other to fight against Ran Wei. However, because Ran Min was proficient in the art of war, the Hu people were repeatedly defeated. In this regard, Ran Min was somewhat complacent.
His military division had advised him not to love quick battles and quick decisions, but Ran Min felt that his strength was already comparable to that of the Hu people, so he did not adopt the opinion of the military division. In the end, Ran Wei's army was defeated and the dynasty collapsed.
It can be said that the sudden rise and fall of the Ran Wei regime also made the subsequent northern Hu regime increase its vigilance against Han generals. Later, except for the Later Yan chancellor Feng Bao, who launched a coup d'état to eliminate the Murong regime that had returned to Liaodong and establish the Northern Yan imperial court, in the entire hundred years of war, no Han commander could control an army in the Hu regime and rise in the Central Plains like Ran Min.
Resources:
[Book of Jin, Volume 177, Zaiji No. 7, Book of Wei, Vol. 95, Liechuan No. 83, Spring and Autumn of the Sixteen Kingdoms, Volume II, Later Zhao Lu]