There are many famous generals of the Northern Expedition in history, and it is Yue Fei who should be said to have suffered humiliation, and once the ten years of meritorious deeds are destroyed, they will also be unjustly and tragically killed, which is really a strange injustice for thousands of years. However, there was a famous general of the Northern Expedition who was more depressed than Yue Fei, and it was not an exaggeration to say that he was the most depressed. Yue Fei was humiliated, but the good villain broke out of the famous name and was admired by thousands of generations. In the early years of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Zu Di (ti) was just a small achievement was suspended, and eventually died of resignation. It is in response to "the master dies before he dies, and the hero is full of tears." In terms of Zu Ti's record, it is still far from the requirements of famous generals, but it is well deserved to be called a famous general, and if it is not shelved, the future is unlimited.
It is said that the chaotic world produces heroes, but the chaotic world is the fundamental reason why Zu Ti was shelved, and Zu Ti died of resignation, but he took the initiative to wear a tight curse.
Zu Di zi Shiya, a native of Fanyang County (范阳遒县, in present-day Laishui, Hebei), had lofty ambitions like his friend Liu Kun , and was also the master of Sizhou and urged each other. "Smelling the chicken dancing" is the story of their hard practice of martial arts, two good friends with similar ideals meet to recover the Central Plains and revive the Jin Room.
Because of the fall of the Western Jin Dynasty, Zu Di led hundreds of his own families to take refuge in the south. Zu Ti's appeal and organizational strength were fully exerted during this southward escape. Most of the fleeing crowds were scattered in their own minds, but Zu Ti's team was completely different, and he became the commander-in-chief with his exemplary example and noble moral character. His ranks are completely militarized.
Zu Ti let the old man and the child sit on his family's carriage, and his food and clothing were shared with everyone, and they shared happiness and suffering with everyone. When he encountered robbers, he always personally led his family to fight them back. Zu Ti's noble character, strong martial arts and profound strategy made him famous on the way to escape. Many people joined Zu Ti's ranks to seek refuge, zu Ti's team is getting bigger and bigger, and he can do it equally. Zu Ti's reputation became louder and louder as a result, and ordinary robbers did not dare to come to him for death.
In 373, Sima Rui, who was then the King of Xu, heard of Zu Ti's fame and learned that he had reached Sikou, so he appointed him the Assassin of Xuzhou. At this time, Xuzhou was no longer under the jurisdiction of the imperial court, because of the fall of the Western Jin Dynasty, many prefectures and counties were actually independent or semi-independent. Moreover, the Wuhu Chaohua slaughtered the central plains into a river of blood, the Han people were destroyed, and Xuzhou was full of panic and chaos.
Sima Rui appointed Zu Di as the Assassin of Xuzhou, in order to use his reputation to stabilize the situation in Sikou. Otherwise, if you blindly retreat south, you will retreat to the sea to feed the fish. Only by stabilizing its position could the newly established Eastern Jin Dynasty have time to breathe. Sima Rui and Wang Dao jointly established the Eastern Jin Dynasty, and although Sima Rui was emperor, the real power was still in the hands of the Wang family, so it was urgent to cultivate his own power, and the Eastern Jin Dynasty at that time was the time to employ people, especially the lack of generals at the edge of the town.
After Zu Ti stabilized Sikou, Sima Rui immediately transferred him to the imperial court to serve as a military tribute, and asked him to garrison the northern gate of Jiankang (present-day Nanjing) Jingkou (present-day Zhenjiang, Jiangsu). Sima Rui wanted to cultivate Zu Ti as a confidant, but Zu Ti had the world in mind and was determined to recover the Central Plains and revive the Jin Dynasty. Of course, sima rui of these slogans must also be shouted, but he is very pragmatic, not to consolidate his position first, even if the Jin room is restored, it is estimated that there is nothing for him to do, at any time, pay attention to strength as the king. His idea was the same as that of Emperor Gaozong of Song, who chose an emperor out of thin air to be a pawn, but when he became one, he was reluctant to let go, and naturally he had to do everything possible to protect his vested interests.
However, Zu Di was very angry, and did not understand his difficulties at all, not just shouting a few slogans, but to recover the Central Plains in a down-to-earth manner. Why didn't Sima Rui want to recover the Central Plains? However, judging from the current strength of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, even if a few states and counties are recovered, it may not be able to keep it? Moreover, the most important thing at present is to seize the time and do a good job in the redistribution of power among the various clans in Jiangnan and determine Sima Rui's leadership position. In this way, to contain and weaken the ever-expanding power of the Wang Dao family, this is Sima Rui's top priority.
However, in the face of the loyal and patriotic Zu Ti, Sima Rui could only express praise. Zu Ti's Northern Expedition was entirely politically correct, but the timing was premature. When the Eastern Jin Dynasty court was unstable and was in ruins, it was impossible to have the ability to carry out a large-scale Northern Expedition. But Zu Ti was so resolute, indicating that he must have a certain degree of certainty, holding a dead horse as a live horse doctor to try it
Mentality, Sima Rui agreed to Zu Ti's request. Sima Rui appointed Zu Ti as the fenwei general and assassin of Yuzhou, but could only give him a month's rations and three thousand pieces of cloth for a thousand people, and all the weapons, armor, and soldiers had to be solved by Zu Ti himself.
This is the same as in the early days of the feudal system, only the number and policy are given, and the rest depends on their own skills. At that time, all Sima Rui could take was the inventory in his own private treasury, and he did not have more resources to support Zu Ti's Northern Expedition, and at the same time, he also wanted Zu Ti to retreat. Unexpectedly, Zu Ti was really on the bar, so he took this little material and recruited people to do it. Sima Rui's best idea was that Zu Ti could capture several prefectures and counties and stabilize them, which was a great achievement, at least expanding the defense depth of the Eastern Jin Dynasty.
In an era when everyone was meticulous and not ashamed, it was really rare that Zu Ti could resolutely carry out the Northern Expedition regardless of gains and losses. Zu Ti led hundreds of people to start the Northern Expedition, and when the ship reached the heart of the Yangtze River, Zu Ti "hit the middle stream" and took the oar and tapped the ship's side and swore: If my ancestors can't sweep the enemy away, it will never return like this river.
After Zu Di crossed the river, he stationed the team in Huaiyin, recruited troops, bought horses, and built weapons, and soon gathered a team of more than 2,000 people. Although these more than two thousand people were strong men, they had no backup, and the situation in the Northern Expedition was very grim. Fortunately, north of the Yangtze River, the South of the Yellow River was based on powerful armed forces that were not subordinate to each other, which gave Zu Ti the opportunity to break through each other. Zu Tixian defeated the self-proclaimed Yuzhou Assassin. Zhang Pingren of Zhang occupied The City of Chencheng (谯城, in modern Bozhou, Anhui).
Zu Di then defeated the traitor Chen Chuan and the former Zhao Shile's general TaoBao and captured Yongqiu (雍丘, in modern Qixian County, Henan). At this time, Zu Ti's subordinate Han Qian took the opportunity to capture Fengqiu, thus becoming a horn with Yongqiu.
Although Shi Le established Former Zhao at that time, there were many internal contradictions, and the surrounding Hu regimes attacked each other, so there was no more energy to deal with Zu Ti. This was also the first time that Zu Di had fought with an alien army, not only defeating the enemy, but also strengthening the team, and most importantly, boosting morale. Zu Di took advantage of the good opportunity to take over the land south of the Yellow River to the Eastern Jin Dynasty.
Zu Ti's success made Sima Rui overjoyed, but Zu Ti's rapid development also made Sima Rui embarrassed. If Zu Ti was allowed to continue the Northern Expedition, the powerful Zu Ti might become a powerful separatist regime. The root cause of the fall of the Western Jin Dynasty was the Rebellion of the Eight Kings, and finally the internal friction hollowed out the family foundation to attract the Five Hu Chaos. From the bone, Sima Rui was guarding against the fact that the powerful ministers sat on the throne and thus ended up in a big way, and Zu Ti was too smooth in the early stages, and he had not yet made a death attack with Former Zhao. If Shi Le was really anxious, if Former Zhao fought back with all his might, the territory that Zu Ti had fought down would soon be gained and lost. Sima Rui grew the ambition of others and destroyed his own prestige, which was really a bitter decline. Because Zu Ti was fighting alone, he really couldn't afford to lose, and he had to fully support the Northern Expedition, and it was not Sima Rui who could decide. The Court of the Eastern Jin Dynasty was actually a separation of powers, and the emperor, the Southern Clan and the local clan formed a three-legged stand.
What Sima Rui could do at this time was to try his best to preserve the hard-won fruits of victory. As long as Shi Le didn't come to desperately, the territory south of the Yellow River would be picked up. As long as people are sent to strengthen defenses, even if they can't hold on, they won't lose all of them. This was Sima Rui's wishful thinking, as for Zu Ti, it was much easier to deal with, if he did not listen to the order, he would be plotting rebellion, and Zu Ti, who shouted loyal to the king and patriotism, would not really do the thing of rebellion, because to do so would be to completely negate himself.
Therefore, Sima Rui appointed Dai Yuan as the governor of Yu Prefecture, specifically to restrain Zu Ti as a subordinate, and Zu Ti's Northern Expedition plan was completely canceled and replaced by sticking to waiting for help. Zu Shidi could have continued the Northern Expedition without being ordered, but the situation would have been even more unfavorable. In addition to the pressure of Former Zhao, behind it was the hostile forces of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, and the most important thing was that obstinately acting would scatter the hearts of the army. Becoming a separatist regime was not Zu Ti's original intention, zu Ti, who took the restoration of the Jin Dynasty as his mission, really did so, and whether he could succeed was still very hanging, and more importantly, it was a complete betrayal of his faith. And this tight curse was willingly worn by Zu Ti himself, and Sima Rui was not without a little reason.
Zu Ti's reconquest of the south of the Yellow River was a fluke and a rarity, and relying solely on determination could not withstand Former Zhao's desperate counterattack, and the Northern Expedition without backup and a back road would eventually exhaust Zu Ti's old capital. Therefore, Zu Di was anxious and angry, and he could only endure it, even if he complained, he could also ruin his own name. Later, Zu Ti heard that there was going to be a coup d'état in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, which made Zu Ti completely lose hope in the troubled dynasty of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, and soon his illness worsened and he died of depression. Soon after Zu Ti's death, all the land in Henan that he had worked so hard to recover was lost, and if Zu Ti knew about it, would he be even more depressed?
Objectively speaking, Zu Ti did not have a good opportunity to show what he had learned in his life, and the achievements he achieved were not brilliant, but he dared to stand up and bravely carry out the Northern Expedition and worry about the country and the people, and he was known as a famous general of the Northern Expedition, which was well deserved.
Disclaimer: The pictures are from the Internet, and the copyright belongs to the original author.