introduction:
When it comes to the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the most impressive ones are undoubtedly the Langya Wang clan, the Yingchuan Yu clan, the Chen Junxie clan and the famous representatives of the major families. However, there is one person who is not of typical door valve clan, but has played an important role, that is, Xi Jian. Xi Jian (郗鉴) (269–339), courtesy name Daohui. A native of Jinxiang County, Gaoping County (present-day Jinxiang County, Shandong Province). Eastern Jin Dynasty courtier, calligrapher. When he was a teenager, he was lonely and poor, but he studied diligently and diligently, and was famous for his purity and elegance, and should not be named by the imperial court. During the Yongjia Rebellion, the crowd took refuge in Mount Yi, and was later awarded the title of Assassin of Yanzhou by Sima Rui, the evil king of Lang. During his political career, he participated in the rebellion of Wang Dun and the rebellion of Su Jun, and assisted Emperor Cheng of Jin. The balance and coordination of the relations between the major warrior clans prevented the struggle between the warrior clans in the DPRK. For the first time, the viewpoint of "Quiet Jingkou" was put forward, making Jingkou an important military town. In the fifth year of Xiankang (339), Xi Jian died at the age of seventy-one, and was given the title of Dazai with the courtesy name "Wencheng". Throughout his life, he took the world as his own responsibility and the interests of the people as the purpose, and the Eastern Jin Dynasty regime lasted for a hundred years in a complicated internal and external environment, and we cannot deny Xi Jian's outstanding contribution.
Jiankang, the capital of the Eastern Jin Dynasty (present-day Nanjing, Jiangsu Province)
1. Conspiracy - Draining the displaced people Shuai Ping Wang Dun
In the early years of Yongjia, Wang Dao, the representative figure of the Langya Wang clan, contacted the Northern and Southern Shi clans, escorted Sima Rui, the king of Langya, across the river, and established the Eastern Jin Dynasty in Jiankang (present-day Nanjing, Jiangsu Province), and Sima Rui became the founding emperor. At this time, the Sima clan had no legal system, but the Langya Wang clan was very meritorious, so it enjoyed a very high right to speak in the imperial court, the king was in the center, dominating major affairs, and the political pattern of "the king and the horse, the world together" was formed.
Sima Rui
It is true that Sima Rui, the emperor of Jinyuan, did not want to be limited by his power, and used Liu Kui, Diao Xie, and other figures of the clan, which caused the dissatisfaction of Wang Dao's brother Wang Dun, and in the first year of the Jinyuan Emperor Yongchang (322), he attacked Jiankang in the name of Liu Kui, took charge of the imperial government, intending to usurp the throne, and the Sima royal family was in turmoil for a while, known in history as the "Rebellion of Wang Dun".
At the moment of crisis, through the recommendation of The Crown Ji Zhan of the Nan clan, Xi Jian was appointed as the general of Anxi, the assassin of Yanzhou, and the governor of Yangzhou jiangxi, and the town guarded Hefei. His appointment caused Panic in Wang Dun, and the two met and had a fierce dispute at Guyi (present-day Dangtu County, Anhui Province), wang Dun sarcastically ridiculed Xi Jian, who behaved freely, "Since the eldest husband has chosen to be loyal to the emperor, he should strictly abide by the Three Principles and Five Constants, and if he secretly betrays the sect, what face will he have to see heaven?" At the same time, he expressed his determination to coexist and die with the Heavenly Dao. Wang Dun respected his courage and dispelled the idea of framing him.
Wang Dun stills
In August of the first year of Taining (323), Xi Jian and Emperor Ming launched a conspiracy to rebel against King Dun of Ping. In July of the following year, Wang Dun's army pressed the border, and Xi Jian sent the troops of the exiled marshals to support Jiankang, successfully suppressing the rebellion.
Xi Jian stills
The success of the conspiracy was due to Xi Jian's successful use of the exiled shuai. The Yongjia Rebellion and the Wuhu Rebellion forced a large number of northerners to become displaced people and poured into the south. After crossing the river, the displaced people chose to join the army to make a living, and the people they relied on were called "displaced people's marshals", and Xi Jian was also one of them. The emergence of this group catered to the needs of the imperial court, which had no soldiers available. Xi Jian's temperament is outstanding, the door is superior, and he stands out from the rogue marshals and becomes a powerful courtier. However, the exile marshal supports the military and respects himself, has great independence, and often maintains a relationship with the Eastern Jin Dynasty court, which is also the key to the exile marshal's never being trusted. The subsequent "Su Jun Rebellion" confirmed the suspicion of the Eastern Jin Dynasty court. After the counter-rebellion, Xi Jian, in order to maintain the stability of the imperial court, finally designed to get rid of the displaced people who had made meritorious contributions to the counter-rebellion, which can be described as decisive in killing.
Jiankang (present-day Nanjing)
Second, mediation - balance the power of the major warriors
Xi Jian started as a homeless marshal, and his special status and high sense of responsibility made him a central figure in stabilizing the political situation.
Current events are fickle, and the relationship between Xi Jian and the Langya Wang clan has always been complicated. Regarding Wang Dun's rebellion, his brother Wang Dao always held a tacit attitude, and Xi Jian's loyalty to the Eastern Jin Dynasty denounced wang Dun's disobedience. Despite this, he did not completely break with the Langya Wang Clan, but waited and watched, not to offend the major warrior clans. When Emperor Cheng ascended the throne, the Yingchuan Yu clan, as a foreign relative, rose. Coupled with the influence of Wang Dun's rebellion, Emperor Cheng began to pro-Yu Shu Wang, Yu Liang was reused, and Wang Dao's power was shaken. In order to consolidate their position in the imperial court, the Wang clan of Langya had to win over Xi Jian, and Xi Jian, out of the need to prevent the Yu family from becoming dominant, had to support Wang Dao. Under certain conditions, Wang and Xi were able to make friends. Although Xi Jian had repeatedly maintained the power of the Langya Wang clan, when Wang Dao was in his last years, he could still boldly criticize his misdeeds without fear of Wang Dao's majesty.
Wang directed stills
No matter what decision Xi Jian made, which family he supported, the starting point was the state. Tao Kan and Yu Liang's plan to depose Wang Dao were all cut off by him. Emperor Cheng was young, and Wang Dao assisted the government. His consistent style of "keeping the outline and not being informal" caused dissatisfaction among the courtiers, and Tao Kan once had the idea of deposing Wang Dao by raising troops, but was dissuaded by Xi Jian, although Wang Dao had many faults, but the lord was less suspicious of the country and did not have the conditions to eradicate the Wang clan. At the same time, Tao Kan, as the Assassin of Jingzhou, could seek the cooperation of Yu liang, the Assassin of Yuzhou, and his own, the Assassin of Xuzhou, and use local forces to restrain Wang Dao, who was the center of the center, in order to stabilize. After that, the contradiction between Yu and Wang intensified, Yu Liang deposed Wang Dao unsuccessfully, and Xi Jian also played a decisive role.
Door valve family
Third, pioneering - the first proposal of "quiet jingjingkou" discussion
Xi Jian's initiative to "quiet down Jingkou" was initially only to relieve Su Jun of the worries of the Eastern Jin army after he crossed the river from Liyang. Jingkou (present-day Zhenjiang, Jiangsu Province) is today a "land of fish and rice" with rich products, but it was undeveloped during the Wei and Jin dynasties, very barren, and often infested with wild animals, and Sun Quan hunted here many times. The poor geographical environment made Jingkou unsightly by the scholars, which created conditions for the influx of northern displaced people into Jingkou and settled down since the end of the Western Jin Dynasty.
Jingkou (present-day Zhenjiang)
The displaced shuai Xi Jian relocated displaced people from other places to Jingkou, Jinling and other places. They were assigned farmhouses, organized, developed wasteland, developed production, strengthened military training, and strengthened the power of Jingkou.
The role of Jingkou in politics and military affairs is mainly manifested in the following aspects:
(1) Control of sanwu
The Sanwu area has always been a place where the southern Shi clan gathered, and the Northern Shi clan crossed south and absorbed the Sanwu Shi clan into the Eastern Jin Dynasty ruling clique. They were separated from the antagonistic forces within the Qiao clan and split into two camps, so the changes in the political situation in the DPRK and China often affected the Three Wus. Stabilizing the power of the Three Wus, especially the Jingkou that connects the Three Wus, is crucial.
(2) Resist the Sea Horde
After the fifth year of Xianhe (330), Zhao Shile's general Liu Zheng invaded Nansha (present-day Changshu, Jiangsu Province), and the following year he burned and plundered Koulou County (present-day Kunshan, Jiangsu Province). All this case of harassment by Haikou is near Jingkou, and once Haikou goes up the river and captures Jingkou, it will directly threaten the security of Jiankang, the capital of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, and strengthening the military defense of Jingkou has become a top priority. Xi Jiandu oversaw the military forces of the State of Wu, built the city of Jinling Luocheng, and led his subordinates to pacify Haikou. Since then, there have been few harassments by Haikou, and it has to be said that Xi Jian has played a great role.
(3) Gongwei Jingshi
Jingkou is adjacent to the capital City of Jiankang, and strengthening the military construction of Jingkou can play a deterrent role, reducing or even preventing the emergence of changes in Jiankang. Xi Jian's military power in Jingkou was also an important reason for the failure of Tao Kan and Yu Liang's plot to depose Wang Dao.
Map of the Eastern Jin Dynasty (337 AD)
Wen Shijun said:
Wang Fu's praise"
The minister of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the one who can win the position of the minister, is Xi Gonghu!
"The reason for the formation of the political pattern of the door valve is the lack of imperial power and the special soldiers of the warrior clan. In order to maintain political stability, no other clan of scholars should be allowed to replace the position of the Sima clan, nor would it be allowed for the qiao clan to dominate. After Xi Jiannandu completed the above major events, he successfully built a stable anti-Hu regime. After the seventy years of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, there was no civil war, the development of Jiangzuo, the development of economic and cultural undertakings, and the positive impact played by Xi Jian was far-reaching.
bibliography:
Tian Yuqing: The Politics of Gate Valves in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Peking University Press, 2018
[Tang] Fang Xuanling et al., Book of Jin, Zhonghua Bookstore, 1974 edition
【Southern Dynasty Liang】Xiao Zixian: Book of Southern Qi, Zhonghua Bookstore, 1996 edition
【Southern Song Dynasty】Liu Yiqing: "The World Speaks a New Language", Zhonghua Bookstore, 2014 edition
(Author: Haoran Wenshi Zheng Da Song Yang Guo Society)
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