Preface
In the long course of history, sometimes the choice of ministers left by a monarch may have a profound impact on the entire government. The focus of this story is Sima Yan, whose minister turned out to be the culprit of the chaos and government, accelerating the process of the demise of the Western Jin Dynasty. This preface will lead readers to an in-depth understanding of the major decisions made by Sima Yan at the time of Tuogu, revealing the role of Minister Tuogu in the political situation and the far-reaching impact behind this decision.
A battle of government and politics is about to begin, and this story will show us a tense and exciting scene of the intriguing game between Cao Shu and the two heroes in the historical situation. With the passage of history, we will jointly uncover the mystery of this political situation and deeply think about the influence of Minister Tuogu on the government.
The background of Yang Junfei and Huang Tengda
In 276, Yang Jun's daughter Yang Zhi entered the palace and became the empress of Emperor Wu of Jin. Since then, Yang Jun, as a relative, began to soar in the court. At that time, Sima Yan, Emperor Wu of the Jin Dynasty, made brilliant achievements, unified the world, and entered his middle and late years, he overtrusted his close ministers and neglected to manage the government.
In such an environment, Yang Jun was quickly promoted to the general of the chariot and cavalry, the marquis of Linjin, and began to participate in the handling of court affairs. colluded with his younger brothers Yang Jue and Yang Ji, and gradually formed the so-called "Three Yangs" forces, excluding dissidents and establishing their own henchmen.
Emperor Wu of Jin was critically ill and entrusted the arbitrary Yang Jun to hide the edict
In 290, Emperor Wu of Jin fell seriously ill and had reached the last stage of his life. As the person with the deepest affection for his children, Yang Jun stayed in front of the sickbed all day and night, taking care of Emperor Wu of Jin's daily life and diet, almost never leaving.
This gave Yang Jun the opportunity to witness every move of the emperor, and also allowed him to deploy personnel at will according to his own ideas. So he took this opportunity to exclude other ministers, only promoted his own henchmen, and handled the government arbitrarily.
Emperor Wu of Jin also seemed to realize that there was something wrong with Yang Jun's actions. One day when his condition improved slightly, he said to Yang Jun seriously: "It's not right for you to do this, how can you only promote your own cronies!" After speaking, Emperor Wu of Jin made an important decision - to let Sima Liang, the king of Zhaorunan, and Yang Jun jointly assist the royal family and play a role in checking and balancing each other.
However, Yang Jun, who is extremely suspicious and has a monstrous desire for power, knows that once his power is checked, it will inevitably be weakened. So after learning of this decision, he secretly borrowed the edict from Zhongshu Ling and hid it from the public.
Just two days later, Emperor Wu of Jin, who was terminally ill and had been transferred to the Taiji Palace, could no longer govern in person. Seeing this, Empress Dowager Yang had to ask Yang Jun to assist the government alone. The weakened Emperor Wu of Jin reluctantly nodded in agreement. At this point, Yang Jun completed the transfer of power and became the only minister who entrusted orphans.
Emperor Hui of Jin succeeded to the throne, and Yang Jun monopolized power and triggered a coup d'état
In the same year, Emperor Wu of Jin died in the Taiji Palace, and was succeeded by Emperor Sima Zhen of Jinhui, who was only 8 years old. An immature child was crowned emperor, the government and the opposition were disappointed, and Yang Jun's behavior became even more rampant and arbitrary.
He was constantly promoted to the highest military attache position of Taifu and Dadu Governor, received the wig Huang Yue, and became a "fake prime minister". Holding great power, he directly gives orders to hundreds of officials, and governs the government in the name of regent. However, the expansion of power also made Yang Jun's personality more rigid and lawless.
On the one hand, he wantonly co-opted hundreds of officials and rewarded courtiers in batches to win the hearts of the people, and on the other hand, he wantonly formed factions to expand his power and cracked down on any courtiers who dared to express different opinions. There was a growing trend of resentment in the DPRK.
At this moment, Jia Nanfeng's identity as the queen is also dissatisfied with this unauthorized and lawless Yang Jun. She secretly contacted Sima Liang, the king of Runan, who was leading the troops outside, and united several major vassal forces to plot a coup d'état to overthrow the rampant minister of Tuogu.
In the winter of 291, a coup d'état broke out, and the court was boiling inside and outside. Seeing that the general trend had gone, Yang Jun, who was in a hurry, was assassinated by the soldiers who were chasing him in the stable. And his henchmen were also hunted down and killed one after another, and the number of dead was as high as thousands. A dynasty that was already in turmoil collapsed in this party dispute.
The fuse for the demise of the Western Jin Dynasty did not only originate from Yang Jun
So, is what Yang Jun, the stubborn and arbitrary minister who is full of party henchmen, completely the fuse of the accelerated demise of the Western Jin Dynasty? We have to say that there is still a certain complexity in the answer.
Indeed, Yang Jun's arbitrariness and wanton formation of parties for personal gain made the already divided situation even worse. He provoked widespread discontent among the clan and courtiers. However, the fundamental dilemma of the Western Jin Dynasty lies in the cannibalism of the royal family and the weakness and incompetence of the monarch. This provides an opportunity for people like Yang Jun to take advantage of.
We cannot deny that Emperor Wu of Jin during his reign was indeed meritorious and wise. It was he who single-handedly created the Western Jin Dynasty, which was basically stable. Therefore, it is understandable that he trusted his son-in-law Yang Jun too much in the last stage of his life.
Based on this, we should not blame Yang Jun entirely for the destruction of the Western Jin Dynasty. What he did was just one of many triggers. This history is full of contingencies and inevitable interactions, and it is not so black and white.
epilogue
When we judge history, we still need to think beyond the perspective of specific individuals and in a broader context. The fall of the Western Jin Dynasty was not so much the sin of Yang Jun alone, but the product of the gradual collapse of the entire political system and cultural accumulation. It reveals the complexity of human nature, and also contains a certain inevitability of historical development.
As for Sima Yan's entrustment of Yang Jun, we do not need to condemn it excessively, nor should we completely beautify it. This is just a meaningful footnote behind the end of the legend. It became a microcosm of the Western Jin Dynasty's demise.
When we look at all this with the long river of history, the fall of the Western Jin Dynasty is no longer something that can be summarized by the merits and demerits of a single person. All we can do is meditate, perceive, and look for historical revelations in this change. All this will eventually turn into a surging river, constantly moving forward, moving forward.