[Inscription: This article is the thirteenth section of the first part of the long biographical historical novel "Former Qin Fengyun" "Former Qin Fengyun" Chapter 11 "Transforming Family into a Country"]
【Introduction】
◇ The content of the previous section is reviewed: Emperor Ran Min of wei was defeated and taken to Jicheng, and the victor Murong Jun, the ruler of the State of Yan, humiliated him. Ran Minning was unyielding, and Murong Jun's plan to peacefully capture the Chuanguo Seal failed. Ran Min was killed in Longcheng, the capital of Yan. Murong Jun was proclaimed emperor.
◆ Introduction to the content of this section: As the authentic heir of the National Seal, the Eastern Jin Dynasty monarchs were also extremely concerned about its whereabouts. Just when the Ran Wei general Jiang Gan, who was trapped in Yecheng, asked for help, Xie Shang, who had been demoted due to the defeat of Xuchang, obtained this item. When the heirloom seals that had been lost for decades were returned to their original owners, the city of Jiankang was full of joy.
★ Story takes place in August 352. Location: Jiankang City (present-day Nanjing).
During Ran Min's escort to Longcheng, the Yan general Murong Juan had already led 10,000 elite cavalry to Yecheng. Conquering Ran Wei's capital and snatching the Imperial Jade Seal in his hands were the two major tasks of this Yan King's uncle.
The offensive and defensive battles that took place in Yecheng in the Middle Ages were always extremely fierce, and this time was no exception. After all the strongholds outside the city were lost, the Ran Wei general Jiang Gan and the crown prince Ran Zhi closed the city gates and stubbornly held on. By this time, the city had run out of food. The tens of thousands of women forcibly conscripted by Shi Hu's father and son were used as "military food" to fill the hunger, and a tragic tragedy was staged.
When the mountains and rivers were exhausted, Jiang Gan sent people to the Eastern Jin court to ask for surrender, and then directly asked the nearest Jin General Anxi and the Yuzhou Assassin Shi Xie Shang for help. Murong Jun, who was haunted by the soul of the Chuanguo Seal, could not rest assured, and sent the generals Mu Yougen and the Right Sima Emperor Fuzhen to lead 20,000 troops to reinforce and surround the city of Yecheng like an iron barrel.
At this time, the two banks of the Yellow River were full of battlefields of fighting. Since the first meeting of Shouchun, Xie Shang and Yao Xiang have formed a friendship. Following the instructions of Sima Yu the Prince of Huijian and the Chinese general Yin Hao, Xie Shang marched north in June, and Yao Xiang came from the west of the city and joined forces to launch an attack on Xuchang. Xie Shang was the first to see Ran Wei's envoys, and although he agreed to rescue him, he did not have time to take care of himself, so he sent The Henan Taishou Dai Shi into Fangtou and asked him to try to rescue Jiang Gan.
Zhang Yu, who was entrenched in Xuchang, did not sit still, he knew that he would be difficult to support, and two months ago he announced his surrender to Qin, and immediately received the appointment of the general of Zhengdong and the pastor of Yuzhou. Qin Junchen decided to seize this favorable opportunity to go out from the east, and led by Cheng Xiang, The Prince of Donghai, and the General of Wei and the King of Pyeongchang, Gong jing, led 20,000 troops to come to the rescue of Zhang Yu.
Xu Changgu is called Xu, and its name is related to the legendary figure Xu You in history. According to legend, Emperor Yao had planned to give way to the sage Xu You, but the otherworldly Xu You not only did not accept it, but also washed his ears and water for this purpose, in order to correct the audio-visual. King Wu of Zhou divided Emperor Yan's descendant Boyi here, and the historical title of Xu Guo was later destroyed by the State of Zheng. During the Warring States period, the former Xuguo's homeland was divided up by Han and Wei, and after the unification of Qin, Yingchuan County was set up in the former Korean jurisdiction, with Xuguo's former land as Xu County.
Dai Shi of the Eastern Jin Dynasty obtained a schematic map of the route of the "Chuanguo Seal"
This is where Cao Cao originated. In 196, Cao Cao sent Liu Xie, the last emperor of the Eastern Han Dynasty, to Xu County, and thus gained the advantage of "ordering the princes with the son of heaven". Cao Pi called the empress dowager Siyuan and thought that "Wei Jichang was in Xu", so he renamed Xu County Xuchang and made it one of the "Five Capitals".
"The world is the emperor of Xuchang", this is a sentence written by Chen Shou in the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms • Zhong Xuan Biography". It says that the Wei Ming Emperor Cao Rui once went to Xuchang for a temporary stay due to the overhaul of the Luoyang Palace, so that the civil and military officials often had to run between the two capitals. This account is not just a joke, and later generations have made an evaluation of Xuchang's position as "from the world henan is a moderate place, from Henan to Xuzhou is a moderate place". Such a strategic place, everyone has to fight, which is a reasonable thing.
Although Xie Shang and Yao Xiang got along very well and had the advantage in combined strength, they were defeated by Gong Xiong, Uncle Jing, and Zhang Yu at yingshui Bridge, west of Xuchang, and as many as 15,000 people were killed. Where Xie Shang came from, he retreated to Huainan along the Yingshui River. Yao Xiang showed great righteousness, abandoning his military supplies and escorting Xie Shang to Qianpi. Xie Shang was very touched and entrusted Yao Xiang to clean up the mess left behind for him.
Just as Xie Shang was returning from Xuchang, his subordinate Henan Taishou Daishi was in the direction of Yicheng, but had an unexpected gain.
The Eastern Jin dynasty court had no contact with Ran Wei before, and Xie Shang was willing to lend a helping hand when he was dying, fearing that the Xianbei people would follow the trend south and sweep through the Central Plains. Dai Shi traveled from Cangyuan (cangyuan in present-day northeastern Kaifeng, Henan) to Fangtou, where he met Jiang Gan's emissaries. He went straight ahead and offered the price tag for the rescue of Yecheng: the National Seal must be handed over. As Ran Wei's qi was about to run out, the matter of passing on the national seal had already caused a storm in the city at this time, and even Murong Jun of the Xianbei clan knew the preciousness of this object, would Dai Shi, who was full of poetry and books, not know the goods? His trip was also mainly for this treasure.
Location map of Linzhang County and Yicheng Ruins in Hebei Province
Ran Wei's emissaries returned to Yecheng to report. Just as Jiang Gan was still hesitating, Dai Shi entered Yecheng with more than a hundred carefully selected warriors. While arranging his men to assist in the defense of the "Three Taiwans", he also persuaded Jiang Gan to enlighten him: "The Yan army has surrounded this place, the road is impassable, and the jade seal cannot be sent; you may as well hand it over to me first, and the Heavenly Son knows that the National Seal is in my hands, and he believes in your sincerity, and will inevitably send people to bring grain and grass to the rescue!" Jiang Gan knew that Ran Wei was hopeless, and he himself had no thoughts of non-division, and the value of this heirloom that was enshrined as "the common treasure of the world" was not as good as a full meal for him; he also knew that the emperor of Jiang Zuo desperately wanted to get this thing, so as to take off the hat of the "Whiteboard Heavenly Son". Therefore, he handed over the Chuanguo Seal to Dai Shi. Dai Shi quickly asked people to carry the National Seal to Fangtou in the name of moving the rescue soldiers.
Xie Shang had just been demoted to general Jianwei for the defeat of The Bridge, and when he learned of this news, he quickly sent the Zhenwu general Hu Bin to meet him with troops.
By August, the Yan army had attacked the city of Yi under the combined forces of The General Ofe and The Emperor of Ran Wei. Dai Shi and Jiang Gan escaped through the suspension rope over the wall and headed to Cangyuan. Ran Min's wife Dong Shi, Crown Prince Ran Zhi, and Tai Wei Shen Zhong were also sent to Jicheng after being captured. Shang Shu ling Wang Jian, the left servant Zhang Qian, the right servant Lang Su and other ministers chose to commit suicide. Ran Wei perished.
Soon a message came from Jicheng: Empress Dong of the State of Wei had consecrated the Chuanguo Seal to the State of Yan, for which Murong Jun, the King of Yan, had crowned her as the Prince of Fengxi, and Ran Zhi the Prince of Wei had been given the title of Marquis of Haibin. The monarchs of the Yan kingdom made the fake scene very realistic.
This day in August of the eighth year of the Eastern Jin Dynasty (352) was originally a very ordinary day, but it became extraordinary only because the general Jianwei and The Yuzhou Assassin Shi Xie Shang personally escorted the Chuanguo Seal to Jiankang.
General Jianwei of the Eastern Jin Dynasty and Assassin of Yuzhou Shi Xie Shang
The so-called National Seal is a public case that has lasted for thousands of years. Some people have glued it together with the famous "Heshi Bi" in history, which adds a layer of mystery to it.
Let's start with this national seal. As the royal treasure of the feudal emperor, it originated from the first emperor in Chinese history, Qin Shi Huang. After the Qin Emperor Yingzheng achieved great unification, he took the emperor as his title and made the emperor's seal. In this regard, both the Book of Jin and the Tongdian And Li are recorded:
By the six seals of public opinion, the Qin system also. Known as "Emperor Xingxi", "Emperor's Seal", "Emperor's Letter Seal", "Tianzi Xingxi", "Tianzi Seal", "Tianzi Xinxi", Han Zunqin did not change. There is also the Qin Shi Huang Lantian Jade Seal, the Beast Niu, in addition to the Six Seals, Wen Yue "by the order of heaven, Emperor Shouchang".
The ancients also made an interpretation of the different functions of the "Six Seals of Public Opinion": "The emperor performs the seal of the seal and gives the princes the book; the seal of faith, sending troops to recruit ministers; the heavenly son of heaven and the seal, worshiping foreign countries, and doing things to the ghosts and gods of heaven and earth." In addition to the "Six Seals", the "Jade Seal" made of Lantian jade and engraved with the words "By the Order of Heaven, Emperor Shouchang" is the national seal that is relished by future generations.
Although the history books seem to have explained it clearly, after all, there are very few people who have seen this object in person, but there are many people who stare at it, and when they pass it up and down, they are not harmonious and willing, so there have been different statements about its origin and the seal text on it for a long time, making it more and more complicated and more mysterious. One of the most influential claims is that it was made of "Heshi Bi".
Comic strip "Bian he three treasures"
Let's talk about that and the clan bi. Regarding the existence of this piece of jade, it can also be said to be conclusive. "Han Feizi", "Lü Shi Chunqiu", "Chinese" and other historical books are recorded, and the content is basically the same. It is said that in the Spring and Autumn Period, there was a Chu man named Bian He, who found a piece of jade in the mountains and presented it to King Li of Chu. King Chu Li asked the jade worker to identify the authenticity, and was told that this was just an ordinary stone, and he had Bian He's left foot chopped off in one fell swoop. King Wu of Chu succeeded to the throne, and Bian He sacrificed this jade again, losing his right foot. It was not until King Chu Wen ascended the throne that it was confirmed that it was a piece of precious jade. In order to reward Bian He, who had lost both feet, King Wen of Chu named this piece of jade "Heshi Zhibi".
King Wei of Chu gave heshi bi to Xiangguo Zhaoyang, who had made a contribution to destroying the Yue kingdom, but later lost it. When people suspected that Zhang Yi had stolen it, Zhang Yi went to Chu to Wei for this purpose. When King Huiwen of Zhao ordered Miao Xian to buy a piece of jade, the jade worker said that it was Heshi Bi, so King Zhao took it for himself. When King Qin Zhao learned of this, he offered to exchange this jade for fifteen cities, so there was a story of Lin Xiang as recorded in the "Records of History" as "returning to Zhao after finishing bibi". In 228 BC, the Qin army captured Handan, and King You of Zhao surrendered and sacrificed heshibi. Since then, there is no record of heshibi or whereabouts in the history of letters. From this point of view, it is difficult to determine whether the Chuanguo Seal was made of Heshi Bi.
As the "emperor of all ages", whether or not later generations admired him, Qin Shi Huang could not fail to recognize his achievements in realizing the first great unification in Chinese history. Although the Qin Dynasty only passed on the first emperor and the second generation, and the so-called goal of passing on the ten thousand generations was completely frustrated, the idea that the nine states of China should be unified was passed on after transcending the scope of surnames, families and races. The practice of tying imperial power to one stone highlights the mandate of heaven and the practice of governing the world, and is also followed by future dynasties. Although there have been wars and wars in history over the national seal, with countless casualties and ups and downs, it has become evidence that the ancient Chinese have a common concept of the ultimate state. That should be where its true value lies.
Portrait of Sima Yi, Emperor of Jin
For the Eastern Jin Dynasty, which avoided the left side of the river and guarded half of the country, this unexpected return of the National Seal added an extra layer of meaning and role in recovering and washing away the shame of the past, so it was regarded as a major event and a good story.
In the fifth year of Yongjia, the Xiongnu Han general Liu Yao invaded Luoyang and captured Sima Zhao, the Emperor of Jinhuai. Five years later he invaded Chang'an and captured Sima Ye, the last emperor of the Western Jin Dynasty. When the lost uncles and nephews were sent to pingyang, the capital of the Han dynasty, they were both humiliated by the Han emperor Liu Cong: while drinking and having fun with the ministers, he ordered Sima Chi to dress in green clothes to pour wine for them; ordered Sima Ye to sit in a sheep cart, bare-chested, and with the Chuanguo Seal in his mouth to surrender to him; when he went out hunting, he asked Sima Yirong to open the way for him in front.
After the transmission of the Han Kingdom, Former Zhao, Later Zhao and Ran Wei, after thirty-six years of upheaval and displacement, this national seal has returned to the hands of Sima Shi, which makes people sigh! It is no wonder that the Eastern Jin Dynasty court wanted to hold a grand imperial meeting for this purpose, and the civil and military officials congratulated the imperial court one after another.
Inside the Taiji Hall of Jiankang City, on the emperor's throne sat a young man who was not yet ten years old, who was the son of Sima Yue, the emperor of Jin Kang, and empress Dowager Chu. Behind him was a white gauze tent, and a sitting woman was faintly visible inside. She is the empress dowager Chu Garlic.
At present, the mother and son are the masters of the National Seal.
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