After the Western Jin Dynasty destroyed Wu, the Southern Shi clan was ostracized, and it was very difficult for the Shijin clan to advance, and the Southern Shi Clan was certainly not satisfied with the hegemonic career of the Zhongyuan Shi Clan. Gangnam was once a politically unstable region. At the end of the Jin Dynasty, although it was not prepared for war like the Central Plains, it was also an eventful country. The Jiangnan Shi clan played a major role on this stage. Half a year ago, they had just eliminated Chen Min, the Guangling Minister who was trying to divide Jiangdong. The strength displayed by the Jiangnan Shi clan made Sima Rui feel that if he could not fully protect the interests of the Jiangnan Shi clan, he would not be able to gain a foothold in Jianye. However, at this time, the Jiangnan clan also particularly needed a call to the Western Jin Dynasty royal family that could respect their interests, so that the political situation in the south could be in a relatively stable state. However, Sima Rui was not their ideal figure, because he belonged to the royal family, had no reputation and no achievements. Sima Rui arrived in Jianye for half a year, and no local clan took the initiative to move closer to him and show his closeness. Wang Dao realized the seriousness of the problem, and in order to establish the Eastern Jin Dynasty with the Zhongyuan Shi clan as the backbone in the old territory of the Wu Kingdom, contacting the Southern Shi clan became an extremely important matter, so he consulted with his brother Qingzhou Shi Wang Dun, who was in Jianye at the time, and decided to choose a suitable opportunity to jointly rehearse a program for the southern scholars to enjoy, so as to enhance Sima Rui's prestige.
On March 3, 308, the second year of Yongjia(308), Jianye Shishu held an annual zen (xìfú) event at the water's edge as usual. On this day, under the arrangement of Wang Dao, Sima Rui rode on a gorgeous shoulder and was surrounded by majestic honor guards, and went out to see The Zen. Wang Dao, Wang Dun, and the famous people of the great clan from the north all rode behind the honor guards as subordinates. This position greatly surprised the Jiangnan Shi clan, who were greatly shaken and realized that Sima Rui was the leader that the Northern Shi Clan in Nandu would support in the future, and could not be taken lightly. Ji Zhan, Gu Rong, and other leaders of the Jiangnan Shi clan who were at the scene hurriedly paid homage to Daozuo to show their respect for Sima Rui.
After Guan Yu, Wang Dao further plotted for Sima Rui in an attempt to achieve the goal of subjugating the entire Jiangnan Shi clique by co-opting Ji Zhan, Gu Rong, and others. On behalf of Sima Rui, Wang Dao personally visited Gu Rong and others. After this exchange, Gu Rong and others thought that Sima Rui was acceptable, so they all responded to the order. Sima Rui entrusted a large number of Jiangnan Shi clans with heavy responsibilities, and let Gu Rong and others participate in confidential activities related to military and government affairs. Since then, a Jiangdong regime with the Southern and Northern Warriors as the core has initially taken shape.
On March 318, the first year of Taixing (318), the 42-year-old Sima Rui sat on the emperor's throne and the Eastern Jin Dynasty was officially established. During the enthronement ceremony, Sima Rui suddenly gave the king a difficult problem, asking him to sit on the royal bed with him. This proposal was really unexpected, and it made Wang Dao very embarrassed for a while. The emperor's request for his subordinates to sit on the same royal bed and rule the world together is rare in the history of China's feudal society. Sima Rui asked Wang Dao to sit on the imperial bed, ostensibly showing respect, but in fact suggesting that he should restrain himself.
Emperor Yuan of Jin only wanted to be a partial emperor, and Wang Dao only wanted to establish a small imperial court in power of the Wang clan, and their eyes were focused on the distribution of power within Jiangdong, never preparing for the Northern Expedition, and they also opposed some people advocating the Northern Expedition, and whoever advocated the Northern Expedition would be excluded. Zu Di was the most knowledgeable and talented outstanding person at that time. In the chaos of the Central Plains, Zu Ti led hundreds of relatives and friends to defect to Emperor Yuan of Jin and asked to lead an army in the Northern Expedition.
In 313, Emperor Yuan of Jin gave him the name of Yuzhou Assassin, and gave him food and three thousand pieces of cloth for a thousand people, and told him to recruit soldiers and build weapons himself. Zu Ti led more than a hundred families to cross the river to the north, forged weapons in Huaiyin, and recruited more than 2,000 troops. The Zu Ti army was strictly disciplined and loved by the broad masses of the people, repeatedly defeating the Shi Le army and recovering all the land south of the Yellow River. Emperor Yuan of Jin gave Zu Di the title of General of Zhenxi. In 321, Zu Ti prepared to cross the Yellow River to attack Shile and retake Hebei. However, Emperor Yuan of Jin sent Dai Yuan, who had only a fictitious name, as the general of Zhenxi, and the military governors of the six prefectures of Dudu, Yan, Yu, He, Yong, and Ji, and Sizhou. The official post of Zu Ti who really went out on the expedition was Zhen Shou; the official post of Dai Yuan who did not go out on the expedition at all was on the expedition, and the states that Zu Ti had recovered and the states that had not been recovered were all under the jurisdiction of Dai Yuan, which was obviously an expression of distrust of Zu Ti, who felt that the future was hopeless, and became angry and sick, and died in this year.
Emperor Yuan of Jin was deeply afraid that his subordinates would make contributions to the Northern Expedition and establish a lofty prestige, which would be detrimental to his own throne, but he did not want to think about the internal calculation of rights with his subordinates, and some of his originally limited prestige would be more and more narrowed, and it would be even more unfavorable to the maintenance of the throne. Emperor Yuan of Jin was dissatisfied with Wang's arrogance and wanted to weaken Wang's power. He quoted Liu Kui, who was good at flattery, and Diao Jiao, who was drunk and wanton, and secretly made military arrangements. Wang Dao was alienated and could still maintain normalcy, the warriors generally sympathized with him, and Liu Kui and Diao Xie fell into isolation.
Wang Dun was the son-in-law of Sima Yan, the Emperor wu of Jin, and was originally an ambitionist. In the first year of Yongchang (322), the ambitious Wang Dun raised an army at Wuchang in the name of Liu Kui and directly attacked Shicheng (i.e., Jiankang). In order to protect the interests of the Wang family, Wang Dao secretly assisted Wang Dun. Wang Dun invaded Jiankang, killed Dai Yuan, and Liu Kui defected to Shi Le. Sima Rui was defeated, and in desperation, Sima Rui "stripped off his clothes and wore imperial clothes" and said to Wang Dun, "If you want to be emperor, tell me earlier, I will give up the throne to you, and return to my Lang Evil King." Why let the people suffer with them? Sima Rui's words of almost pleading did not appease Wang Dun's ambitions. Soon, Wang Dun himself was promoted to a knighthood, and he created himself a chancellor, a governor of chinese and foreign armies, and a recorder of shangshu. Emperor Sima Rui was only a vain name, and Wang Dun was in charge of everything in the court. When Wang Dun saw that the crown prince Sima Shao had courage and strategy, he wanted to abolish him with filial piety, but because the hundred officials did not give up. In April, Wang Dun also studied in Wuchang and remotely controlled the government. After that, Wang Dun became even more rampant, so much so that Sima Rui and his court became a decoration.
Sima Rui saw that he could not shake Wang Dao's power, and he named himself Tianzi, but he did not leave the palace gate by order, and gradually became angry and sick, and became bedridden. He thought that only Situ Xun was more loyal to him among the ministers, so he appointed him as a lieutenant and a prince Taibao, planning to let him participate in the government and suppress Wang Dao. Unexpectedly, Situ Xun died of illness shortly after taking office, and Sima Rui became more sad and his illness worsened. On the tenth day of the first month of the first leap year of Yongchang (January 3, 323), the JinYuan Emperor died of grief and illness. He was 47 years old and reigned for 6 years. Emperor Yuan, emperor zhongzong, was buried in Jianping Mausoleum (Jiangning, Jiangsu). The edict was succeeded by Sima Shao, the crown prince.