In Chinese history, there have been many tyrant-like figures, such as Dong Zhuo and Cao Cao in the Three Kingdoms period, Dolgun in the early Qing Dynasty, Yuan Shikai in the late Qing Dynasty and early Ming Dynasty, etc. Although they were not emperors, they held military and political power, had strong political influence, and could influence and even influence the decisions of the emperor. Huan Wen in the Eastern Jin Dynasty was also such a heroic figure.
Huan Wen's ancestor was Huan Rong, a famous scholar during the Eastern Han Dynasty, whose father Huan Yi had participated in the suppression of Su Jun's rebellion, but was killed by rebels. Jiang Bo, the county magistrate of Jing County, helped the rebels plan and participated in the killing of Huan Yi. That year, Huan Wen was fifteen years old and was originally a teenage hero, but a decision made him change completely. That is, he decided to kill Jiang Bo, avenge his father, and every night he slept, he had to press his weapon under the pillow to remind himself.
However, not long after, Jiang Bo died of illness. However, Jiang Bo also had three sons, and just as the so-called father's debts were repaid, Huan Wen decided to kill Jiang Bo's three sons to avenge his father. Disguised as a hanger, he came to Jiang Bo's home to mourn. Jiang Bo's eldest son came to greet him, and Huan Wen was surprised and killed him. Jiang Bo's family was suddenly in chaos, and the remaining two sons saw each other, knew that the other party had come to take revenge, and quickly ran outside, but in the end they were chased by Huan Wen and killed.
Huan Wen's deeds have been praised by many scholars, and Huan Wen himself has become famous because of this. As an adult, Huan Wen inherited his father's title and married Princess Nankang. With the help of his status as a horse, Huan Wen was soon promoted to Langya Taishou (琅琊太守) and a general of the Auxiliary State. A few years later, the imperial court also made Huan Wen the Assassin of Xuzhou, leading troops to garrison Linhuai and assisting the Jingzhou Assassin Shi Yu in the Northern Expedition. After Yu Yi's death, Huan Wen was promoted to the post of Assassin of Jingzhou and took control of the military power in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River.
Soon after he was promoted to the rank of Assassin of Jingzhou, Huan Wen wrote to the imperial court and requested a western expedition. However, after the letter, the imperial court had not yet replied, and Huan Wen had already led troops to the west. When the imperial court learned of this, it was deeply worried. However, at that time, the Chenghan Dynasty was gradually declining, and the emperor Li Shi was faint and incompetent. After Huan Wen sent troops, he attacked the city and plundered the land all the way, and finally smoothly pacified the Shu land. After the pacification, Huan Wen appointed local sages to appease the people of Shu, and the local peace was soon restored.
The success of the Western Expedition shocked Huan Wensheng, and no one in the imperial court dared to match it. The imperial court was also aware of Huan Wen's threat, so it summoned Yin Hao to the court and granted him military and political powers, hoping to use Yin Hao to contain Huan Wen. However, Huan Wen did not care, he thought that Yin Hao would not do anything, so he continued to expand his army in his own garrison to wait for time. Sure enough, Yin Hao led the army several times in the Northern Expedition, but all of them ended in failure. The imperial court was very dissatisfied with this, and Huan Wen took the opportunity to write a letter, chen saying that Yin Hao was guilty. In the end, Yin Hao was reduced to a shuren, and the power of the imperial government was held by Huan Wen.
After Huan Wen came to power, he carried out three Northern Expeditions. Huan Wen's first target was Former Qin, and at the beginning of the war, Huan Wen led the Jin army to attack the city and capture the land, recovering many lost lands. However, because of the lone army, the supply of grain and grass was insufficient, resulting in the failure of the Northern Expedition. The second target was Yao Xiang, and this time Huan Wen won a great victory and recovered a lot of lost land. The third target was Former Yan, but because of the drought in the north, the waterways were not accessible, and the grain and grass could not be supplied, and it ended in failure.
Huan Wen's original plan was to take advantage of the Northern Expedition to establish meritorious service, accept the seal of jiuxi after returning to the dynasty, and then seize the opportunity to seize power. However, the failure of the Third Northern Expedition frustrated Huan Wen's plans. However, Huan Wen did not intend to stop there, he asked his own subordinates to discuss countermeasures, and Xi Chao suggested that he follow Yi Yin's example and show his authority by deposing and establishing the emperor. Huan Wen adopted Xi Chao's suggestion.
Shortly thereafter, Huan Wen brought troops into the dynasty and forced Sima Yi to give up the throne, but Sima Yi did not dare to resist and had to abdicate. Huan Wen personally went to Huiji to welcome Sima Yu into the dynasty and proclaimed him emperor. Huan Wen deposed the emperor without authorization, which made the imperial court panic, and no one dared to compete with Huan Wen anymore.
After Sima Yu succeeded to the throne, he made Huan Wen a chancellor and asked him to stay in the capital to assist in political affairs, but Huan Wen refused to accept it and led his army back to the garrison. Sima Yu sent someone to summon him to the court and seal him wanhuyi at the same time, but Huan Wen still refused to accept it. Later, Sima Yu was critically ill and urgently summoned Huan Wen to enter the dynasty, and issued four edicts overnight, but Huan Wen still insisted on refusing to enter the dynasty. In the end, Sima Yu had to pass on the edict and let Huan Wen be regent. However, it was opposed by the courtiers, and finally changed the regency to an auxiliary government, following the example of Zhuge Liang and Wang Dao. Not long after this edict came out, Sima Yu died.
Huan Wen refused to enter the dynasty, hoping that Sima Yu would give him the throne or let him be regent, but because of the opposition of the courtiers, Huan Wen's plan was once again frustrated. However, the whole court was still afraid of Huan Wen's power, and after Sima Yu's death, he did not dare to support the emperor. Later, thanks to Wang Biao's efforts, Sima Yao was able to succeed to the throne. After Sima Yao succeeded to the throne, another courtier proposed to make Huan Wen regent, but was resolutely opposed by Wang Biao and others.
Until Huan Wen's death, his son Huan Xuan inherited the title, and later forced Emperor An of Jin to abdicate the throne, established huan chu, and posthumously crowned huan wen as emperor Xuanwu. What Huan Wen wanted to do all his life but did not dare to do was finally completed by his son.