The Battle of Shuishui was a watershed in the Sixteen Kingdoms of the Eastern Jin Dynasty. Former Qin's Heavenly King Jian Jian, with the assistance of Wang Meng, destroyed Murong Shi's Former Yan, Tuoba's Daiguo, Yang's Qiuchi, and Zhang's Qianliang, subdued the Qiang yao clan and Murong Shi's Tuguhun, and at the same time invaded Bashu and took the small states of Qiong, Qi, and Yelang. The unification of the North was completed.
Immediately after, Wang Meng died, and Jian Jian supported this great family business alone. Under his command, the Xiongnu, Han, Qiang, Xianbei, Qiang, Xianbei, Qiang, and so on, under his operation, Former Qin became a multi-ethnic dynasty.
But you can't just live so plainly, right? In the 8th year after Wang Meng's death, Jian Jian finally couldn't bear it, he wanted to go south to attack the Eastern Jin Dynasty and complete the cause of world unification!
First, the Battle of Shuishui directly blinded Jian Jian.
Before Wang Meng died, he repeatedly instructed Jian Jian: Boss, the Jin Dynasty is not easy to mess with, after I die, don't go south to attack the Jin Dynasty!
Jian Jian nodded his head repeatedly at that time, not daring to forget Wang Meng's reminder at all. But after a long time, Jian Jian was a bit unable to hold back: Can the eldest husband live in half of the country? Forget about the ambition to dominate the world?
In addition, there are many villains blowing wind around Jian Jian: Wang Meng is a Han Chinese, and he is naturally facing the Jin Dynasty! In fact, the strength of my Great Qin, under the operation of the boss you, has far surpassed the Jin Dynasty! If you don't shoot at this time, when will you stay?
In addition, the humble Murong Chui and Yao Cang of the Qiang clan had been instigating Jian Jian to go south to destroy the Jin. In the end, Jian Jian still chose to shoot. He planned to take the Eastern Jin Dynasty in one fell swoop, so he directly sent 1.12 million troops, planning to encroach on the Eastern Jin Dynasty. The general arrangement goes like this:
Jian Jian himself led 600,000 infantry and 270,000 cavalry as the main army. Jian Jian's younger brother Zhi Rong led an army of 250,000 as the vanguard. Thus the total number of soldiers and horses exceeded 1.12 million. In fact, more than 300,000 people reached the battlefield.
The capital in the hands of Xie An of the Eastern Jin Dynasty was really pitiful, and there were only 80,000 people and horses in his hands that could be mobilized. Moreover, the Eastern Jin Dynasty was not united within itself, and the Huan family of the Jingzhou department and the Xie family of the Jiankang department could not eat in a pot at all. Xie An wanted to mobilize the Huan family's army, which was very difficult.
Under such conditions, Xie An had to use all 80,000 troops on the blade. The Eastern Jin Dynasty army was divided into three ways:
The first route was led by Xie Xuan, who commanded the front line as the forward governor.
The second route was led by Xie Yan, Huan Yi and others, and cooperated with Xie Xuan in battle.
The third route was Hu Bin leading 5,000 water troops to aid Shouyang.
This kind of downwind crushing situation, for Jian Jian, there is simply no pressure. Several times the strength of the other side was enough to deter the Eastern Jin Clique. But what Jian Jian did not expect was that the Eastern Jin Dynasty played infernal affairs with him:
Zhu Xu, who had already defected to Former Qin, could be said to be in Cao Ying's heart in Han. Jian Jian asked him to persuade Xie Shi to surrender, but Zhu Xu ran away but began to persuade Xie Shi to take the initiative to attack, as long as the forward troops of Former Qin were scattered, the millions of troops behind him would be easy to deal with.
After Zhu Xu returned, he declared that he had failed to persuade him to surrender. Jian Jian planned to attack again while the Jin army was halfway across the water, so Jian Jian asked his troops to retreat a little bit. As a result, Zhu Xu seized the opportunity and immediately ran to the back of the Former Qin army with a group of people shouting: The Qin army has been defeated! The Qin army was defeated!
At this point, the forward troops are still fighting, and the follow-up troops have become a pot of porridge. In an instant, there were countless people trampling on each other, and a million Former Qin troops were crushed by 80,000 Northern Fu soldiers!
Jian Jian was completely confused: What is the situation? Is the million-strong army of the Fallen so finished?
Second, Murong Chui escorted Jian Jian to the north, giving Jian Jian the confidence to reinvigorate himself.
How many people were killed by the Former Qin army cannot be counted, but it is absolutely chaotic. Jian Jian was unable to command the army anymore, so he fled the scene in a hurry, and was shot with an arrow before leaving.
After trotting all the way to Huaibei, he finally met Murong Chui's troops. Murong Chui was the Prince of Former Yan, and was forced by Former Yan's vassals to be cornered before defecting to Jianjian.
Now that Murong Chui was in such a state of disarray, Murong Chui could have completely turned his back on Jian Jian and slaughtered him to declare himself. However, Murong Chui also thought of Jian Jian's tolerance for him in those years, and he could not bear it. Therefore, he escorted Jian Jian all the way north with 30,000 troops.
Back in Luoyang, Jian Jian gathered more than 100,000 soldiers and horses, and a number of soldiers and horses continued to gather in Luoyang. Obviously, Jian Jian had the capital to restore the foundation in his hands.
He announced amnesty for the world and reassured the families of the casualties, but none of the families of the fallen soldiers were required to pay taxes to the imperial court. If this continues, Former Qin of Jianjian will return to its former prosperity, and there should be no big problem. But something went wrong at this time!
Third, the Xianbei, Qiang, and Ding ethnic groups rebelled one after another.
First, Murong Chui of the Xianbei clan and Zhai Bin of the Ding Zhi clan.
Murong Chui was righteous enough, and in the Battle of Shuishui, the 30,000 troops in his hands were unscathed, but he did not take these soldiers and horses for himself, but returned all the troops to Jian Jian.
Jian Jian was still touched for a while at that time, and felt that good people had good rewards! As a result, Murong Chui had the idea of starting his own business. It is too tiring to work for people, and I am worried about being suspected, so it is better to go out and do it alone.
At that time, Zhai Bin, a Ding zhiren, took advantage of the defeat of Qin before the Battle of Shuishui and led his clan to rebel near Luoyang. Before Jian Jian could dispatch his men to quell the rebellion, he asked Murong Chui to lead his troops to deal with Zhai Bin.
Murong Chui was like a fish entering the sea, and that was a joy! He happily set off with a large group of men and horses, never wanting to come back and regain his life. After Murong Chui arrived in Yecheng, he began to recruit troops, and instantly gathered more than 8,000 people, which was his entrepreneurial capital.
Jian Jian was still urging Murong Chui to put down the rebellion, but Murong Chui slaughtered former Qin's general Fei long at the front! This is good, a blatant showdown. Murong Chui did not twist and squeeze, and he and Zhai Bin, the Ding Zhiren, united together, and were publicly promoted as the allies, and collectively rebelled against Qin.
The Xianbei Murong clan betrayed Murong Jian, who was truly powerless, and he could not even bear to kill Murong Clan's clan that remained in Chang'an. As a result, the gang also set a trap to murder Jian Jian, what do you say that Jian Jian's kindness has been exchanged for? After that, Jian Jian exterminated the Murong clan in Chang'an City, but he was no longer able to prevent Murong Chui from establishing the Later Yan Empire.
Second, Yao Cang of the Qiang people.
Seeing that Murong Was in full swing, yao Cang, the leader of the Qiang clan, was also a little hungry. He simply pulled up an army in his tribe, and together with the backbone members left to him by his father and brother, he instantly formed a powerful military force.
After Jian Jian learned about it, he almost vomited blood. After Defeating Yao Xiang, Jian Jian not only did not kill Yao Xiang's relatives, but also entrusted them with heavy responsibilities. Yao Xiang's younger brother Yao Cang mixed well in Former Qin, and now it is The kindness of Jian Jian in the past who harmed him.
Therefore, Jian Jian personally led an army of 20,000 to conquest Yao Cang. However, Yao Cang's power quickly expanded, and it actually grew to more than 70,000 people, directly conquering a bunch of generals under Jian Jian.
In desperation, Jian Jian had no choice but to besiege Chang'an. The Former Qin army that coincided with the conquest of Murong Yong was also defeated by Murong Yong, and Jian Jian really couldn't sit still this time. Therefore, he took the initiative to send troops to the Five Generals Mountain, but he was accidentally captured by Yao Cang.
At this time, Yao Cang already had the idea of becoming emperor, so he had been forcing Jian Jian to hand over the Chuanguo Jade Seal. But Jian Jian was a proud man, so he would not give in like this, so soon after, Yao Cang brutally killed Jian Jian.
After the Battle of Shuishui, Former Qin was divided into six.
This is something that no one can imagine, because Gong Jian is an inclusive monarch. The key is that he is very benevolent, destroying a divided regime, and generally will not attack the clan of this regime, so everyone feels that Jian Jian has the style of benevolence.
But it was precisely because of Jian Jian's kindness that a bunch of tyrants came out of his hands. After the Battle of Shuishui, Former Qin collapsed in an instant, existing only at the formal level, and its territory was divided into six.
First, Former Qin.
At that time, Former Qin's territory was already small enough to be calculated according to several cities. Because the speed of losing the city was too fast, it can only be said that after the death of Former Qin, only the areas around Chang'an and Yecheng were left.
After that, Fei Pi and Gong Deng successively claimed the title of emperor, and they fought endlessly with the Later Qin established by Yao Cang. Unfortunately, the fire was still a little worse, and although Yao Cang had nightmares, he was defeated by Yao Cang's son Yao Xing in one fell swoop. Since then, Qin Yi has been in a slump and is heading for extinction.
Second, Hou Yan.
Murong Chui was still more conscientious, and he did not directly attack the core area of Former Qin, but returned to Northern China, intending to recover Former Yan's former territory. Therefore, the territory of Houyan roughly included today's Hebei, Shandong, Liaoning and other places.
Murong Chui's Later Yan was arguably the strongest divided regime at that time. No way, Murong Chui is too capable of fighting, he has been fighting on the battlefield for 58 years in his life, going to the battlefield at the age of 13, dying on the battlefield at the age of 70, and has never lost a battle.
Unfortunately, Murong Chui's son Murong Bao was not able to give a blow and was beaten by Tuoba Jue of Northern Wei without the ability to fight back, and Later Yan gradually withdrew from the stage of history after Northern Wei became strong.
Third, Western Yan.
Murong Chui's nephew Murong Hong saw that his uncle had a good reputation for starting a business. He felt that as the son of the Former Yan Emperor Murong Juan, he should be the orthodoxy of Murong Shi.
Therefore, Murong Hong took advantage of the chaos and also ran to the Shanxi region and established the Western Yan regime. Unfortunately, the strength of Western Yan was too weak, and there was constant civil strife, and Guozuo only had 10 years, but 7 emperors appeared successively. Eventually, he was destroyed by Murong Chui's Later Yan.
Fourth, Later Qin.
After Yao Cang killed Jian Jian, regardless of whether there was a national jade seal or not, he directly announced his ascension to the throne and established Great Qin, known in history as Later Qin. But the Zhi clan definitely wanted to avenge Xue Jian.
Therefore, after Gong Deng succeeded to the throne, he would have to find Yao Cang desperately without saying a word. The process of two people fighting is really interesting:
In the army, He deng set up a tablet for Jian Jian, and as a result, he was victorious in every battle. Yao Cang thought that he had the blessing of Jian Jian, and actually set up a tablet of Jian Jian in his barracks. I really don't know what Yao Cang's brain is doing when it grows, does he expect Gong Jian to bless him?
Many of the generals in Yao Cang's army were the old troops of Yao Jian, so Gong Deng, with his own soldiers and horses, surrounded Yao Cang's military camp and wept bitterly, denouncing Yao Cang's crime of killing the king. As a result, the cheeky Yao Cang actually took the initiative to take his soldiers and cry together. I don't know what to cry, but I don't think it's interesting, so I have to withdraw my troops.
Generally speaking, during the Yao Cang period, Later Qin was always beaten on the ground by Former Qin. However, after Yao Cang's death, his son Yao Xing destroyed Yao Deng in one fell swoop and annexed Former Qin.
Fifth, the Northern Wei Dynasty.
At the beginning, Jian Jian led his troops to destroy the Daiguo, but did not destroy the Daiguo Sect, so Tuoba Jue, as the widow of the Daiguo Shizi, successfully survived.
When Tuoba Jue grew up, the Battle of Shuishui broke out, and Former Qin fell apart. Therefore, Tuoba Jue had the idea of starting a business and becoming self-reliant. But in the face of a poor and white family business, he fell into contemplation.
Fortunately, at this time, Murong Chui, who had already succeeded in starting a business, gave Tuoba Jue great help. Murong Chui's sister was Tuoba Jue's grandmother, so they were still relatives.
Of course, Murong Chui only helped Tuoba Jue to better control the territory in the north. As a result, Tuoba Jue became bigger and bigger, annexed the major tribes around him, announced the establishment of northern Wei, and officially fought against Later Yan!
This made Murong Chui angry, and Murong Chui sent his son Murong Bao to attack Tuoba Jue, but as a result, the Later Yan army was defeated in the Battle of Hepi, killing and wounding tens of thousands. Murong Chui had no choice but to go out on his own horse, and just after achieving a great victory, he fell ill and died on the way to the battle.
Later Yan was then divided in two by Tuoba Jue, and Murong Chui's younger brother Murong De established Southern Yan in the south. Murong Bao's Later Yan in the north was no longer able to fight with Northern Wei. It didn't take long to be replaced by Northern Yan.
After the Northern Wei Dynasty grew, it successively annexed the territory of Later Yan and successfully entered the Central Plains. Later, under the leadership of Tuoba Jue's grandson Tuoba Tao, Northern Wei completed the unification of the north and became the northern dynasty of the southern and northern dynasties.
Sixth, after cooling.
Simply put, the establishment of Hou Liang is simply a historical joke. Former Qin general Lü Guang, according to Jian Jian's orders, conquered the Western Regions, and when he returned, he found that his work unit was gone, he did a good job, and he was inexplicably laid off.
This is really funny, Lü Guang successfully avoided the Battle of Shuishui. Since even the big boss Jian Jian was gone, why did he have to continue to go back and die? Therefore, Lü Guang simply occupied Liangzhou and established the Later Liang regime.
References: Zizhi Tongjian, Book of Jin