During the reign of Emperor Xiaowu of the Eastern Jin Dynasty (383 AD), after former Qin Jianjian unified the north, he was determined to mobilize a million troops to take advantage of the situation to destroy the Eastern Jin Dynasty in one fell swoop and unify all of China. Jian Jian summoned his ministers to discuss, but the ministers disapproved, and one of them, a subordinate named Shi Yue, dissuaded him: "Judging from the astrological points, this year is not suitable for going south." Moreover, jin was firmly entrenched in the Yangtze River, and its king was deeply supported by the people. We might as well temporarily hold on to our national strength, produce a whole army, and wait for the Internal Jin Dynasty to loosen up, and then wait for the opportunity to attack. Jian Jian said very disapprovingly, "The matter of astrological signs is not entirely credible." As for the Yangtze River, Wu Wang Fuchai in the Spring and Autumn Period and Sun Hao in the Three Kingdoms period, they all held the Yangtze River in natural danger, and in the end they still inevitably perished. Now that there are nearly a million troops, just throwing the horse whip into the Yangtze River is enough to cut off the river, and what natural danger are you afraid of? Ignoring the objections of his ministers, Jian Jian insisted on sending troops to attack the Jin Dynasty, personally leading an army of 800,000 people to force The Waters to attack the Eastern Jin Dynasty. Later, the idiom of "throwing a whip and breaking the stream" evolved from the original text of "my people throw their whips at the river, and cut off their flow", which was later used as a metaphor for the large number of military brigades and the strength of the troops.
Yesterday we talked about the Battle of Shuishui, but we did not talk about how the Battle of Shuishui failed, and in which link the defeat was. The two idioms of "the wind and the crane" and "the grass and trees are soldiers" are well known, but their origin is in this battle of Shuishui.
In 383, Despite the opposition of his subjects, Jian Jian decided to capture the Eastern Jin Dynasty. However, the development of the war was not as expected by Jian Jian, although the Eastern Jin Dynasty only gathered an army of 80,000 people, but under the leadership of Xie Shi, Xie Xuan, and Liu Gaozhi, who was brave and good at war, according to the dispatch of the chancellor Xie An, he first crossed Luojian with 5,000 elite troops, attacked the Qin army camp at night, and annihilated more than 15,000 enemy troops. Taking advantage of the victory, the Jin army pushed to the east bank of the Shuishui River in one fell swoop and confronted the Qin soldiers across the river.
Jian Jian climbed to the head of Shouyang City, located west of Shuishui, and saw that the Eastern Jin army was well-organized, and his heart was secretly surprised. Seeing the grass and trees on the Bagong Mountain east of the water shaking, I thought that they were all ambushed Jin soldiers, and I couldn't help but sigh one after another: "This is also a strong enemy and a weak one." Later generations used the idiom "grass and trees are soldiers" to describe people in extreme panic, as soon as the wind blows, they are suspicious of gods and ghosts, and its appearance lies in this.
Xie Xuan sent someone to tell Jian Jian that it was inconvenient to fight across the water, and asked the Qin army to retreat later, so that the Jin army could cross the river and fight with the Qin army. Jian Jian attempted to make a surprise attack halfway through the Jin army's crossing, so he agreed with Xie Xuan's suggestion and ordered the Qin army to retreat. Who knew that the Qin army did not understand the intention of retreating, thinking that the forward was defeated, the Eastern Jin general Zhu Xu secretly helped the Jin army, shouting behind the Qin army: "The Qin army on the front line has been defeated!" The Qin army was in chaos, and then the Jin army attacked with all its strength and defeated the Qin army. The Qin army was suddenly in chaos, collapsing for thousands of miles and being unmanageable.
The Qin army scrambled for their lives, trampled on each other, and heard the wind blowing and the crane's cry all the way, thinking that the pursuing soldiers had arrived, and did not dare to stop day and night, and finally only more than 100,000 people fled back to the north. Later generations will use the term "wind and crane" to describe the extreme terror and self-disturbing appearance. The Former Qin army, known as "millions", was defeated by 70,000 or 80,000 Eastern Jin troops, which is rare in the history of Chinese warfare. Therefore, the "Battle of Shuishui" has always been regarded as a model of winning more with less and entering into military history.
The Ancestor of the Qin Dynasty, King Jian Jian, can be said to be the most lovely monarch in ancient and modern China and abroad. Although the throne was inherited, throughout ancient and modern times, it was rare for Jian Jian to gain the integrity of the country and the modesty of his manners, not only in the form of chaos after being threatened, but also in the manifestation of giving way to the throne, but also in his initiative to lower his status, avoiding the title of "emperor" and calling him "Heavenly King" to show that he was not yet an "orthodox and legitimate monarch of the Chinese". Although Jian Jian's legacy was long known for his invincible achievements in northern China, and he ended with the defeat of Shuishui, his wenzhi was probably even more outstanding, and it was a pearl that covered the Jiangzuo imperial court with brilliance under the rule of the Hu people.
The reason for his defeat was not only his own leniency, but especially his subordinates to the point of perversion. Sima Guang commented on Jian Jian: "Guilt is not condemned... The king of Qin jian rebelled against him, and made his subjects rebel against him, and he was lucky to take risks, and he was captured with all his strength, and he was not worried about death, and he was chaotic and rested. That is to say, he almost never killed the minister. The enemy country sincerely attaches to the reward of the unbridled, the stubborn and stubborn also has no punishment, and all the officials are crowned, and this policy of gentleness is long-term and sincere, in contrast, not to mention the barbarians, that is, the Han people often kill the nobles of the subjugated country even if they are courteous for a while; of course, those who have kindness to themselves do not kill, and those who have a vendetta against themselves have no mustard, and even those who know that they are unfavorable to themselves, ambitions, or resentment are also entrusted with heavy responsibilities; their own ministers, those who make small mistakes do not kill, and those who make major mistakes do not kill, So much so that Sima Guang said that everyone was enthusiastic about rebellion, and Thatto was lucky to succeed, and that if he was caught anyway, he didn't have to worry about being killed, and that it was not only his life, but even the original officials and lords were not affected much. Under this policy, his rule before the defeat of Shuishui was rock solid, which shows how amazing his military and political ability and personal charm are! The unprincipled and even perverted leniency of his subordinates has fed countless opposition and separatist forces, and the leniency towards himself has gradually strengthened his temper of arbitrariness. Before the Battle of Shuishui, he only had the support of a very few ministers who were ghostly and ready to take advantage of the opportunity to restore the country, and then he was so stubborn that he went on the road and died.
At its peak, Qin was a veritable multi-ethnic empire, and the proportion and status of the Xian people were declining, and the proportion and status of foreign races were rising. This is a good phenomenon and the only way for China to move toward reunification. If you can stop at the right time, first concentrate on digesting the new people, delay the Battle of Shuishui, and eventually be able to unify the world, become a figure like Tang Zong and Song Zu, and end the chaotic world 200 years ahead of schedule. However, before the digestion was completed, the rebellion of the Xianbei BaQiang aliens still existed, and the Jin Room was still tied to the hearts of the world's soldiers, and after the defeat of the Jianjian army, Yao Cang asked him for the jade seal, and the Jian Qiang knew that Xiao Qiang dared to force the Heavenly Son, the Order of The Five Hus, and no Ru Qiang name. The seal has been sent to Jin, and it is not possible to get it. This can highlight the legitimacy of The Jin Dynasty from the side, and it is very, very dangerous to hastily lead the multi-ethnic rabble-rouser army of nearly one million people to play by the riverside when the southeast is at its peak. Although there are many people who gather together, they will also have a bad mood and unstable discipline. This is the direct cause of the failure.