In the long river of history, there is no shortage of thrilling power struggles. However, when the usurper actually pushed his grandson to the throne of the emperor, such a plot can only be described as "outrageous". Sima Lun's usurpation of the throne is such a jaw-dropping history. Today, let's unveil the prelude to this bizarre story together.
First Seal Rank
During the reign of Cao Wei Jiaping (249), a prominent figure appeared on the political stage, that is, Sima Lun. At the beginning, he was named the Marquis of Anle Ting, and with the establishment of the five-class system, he was renamed Dong'anzi and worshiped as a counselor. Later, Emperor Sima Yan of the Jin Dynasty took power, and Sima Lun was named the king of Langya.
Once, Sima Lun instructed the straggler Liu to buy the people of the factory in an attempt to steal the imperial fur, but the crime was exposed, causing a storm. Tingwei Du You sentenced Liu Ji to death in accordance with the law, and Sima Lun, as the mastermind of this matter, should have been guilty of the same crime as Liu Ji.
However, under the protection of power, the authorities petitioned for the absolution of Sima Lun's culpability, citing his noble title and being a relative of the royal family.
Faced with this situation, Liu Yi, a counselor, stepped forward and insisted on the fairness and equality of the law. He pointed out: "The king's law rewards and punishes, and the rich and the poor should be the same. Only in this way can the ritual system be unified and the criminal code be revealed. ”
In Liu Yi's opinion, Sima Lun knew that the imperial qiu was valuable, but he failed to fulfill his duty to inform, so he should be guilty of the same crime as Liu Ji. Although the guilt may be mitigated on the basis of kinship and status, it must not be ignored.
Liu Yi's firm stance was endorsed by Emperor Wu of Jin, however, considering that Sima Lun was his own uncle after all, Emperor Wu of Jin finally chose to pardon his crimes.
Attack the Prince
Two important people who had served the prince of the East Palace, Sima Ya, the left guard, Sima Ya, and Xu Chao, the governor of Chang Cong, were deeply unhappy because the prince was innocently deposed. They secretly consulted with Lang Shiyi and others in the palace, and decided to abolish Empress Jia and restore the crown prince.
Sima Ya and Xu Chao saw the opportunity and lobbied Sima Lun's confidant Sun Xiu: "Empress Jia of the Middle Palace is fierce and unreasonable, and joined forces with Jia Mi and others to abolish the prince. Now that the country has no heirs, the society is in jeopardy, and the ministers are uneasy. Although you nominally serve the Middle Palace, you are actually friendly with Empress Jia and the Guo family, and the crown prince was deposed, and it is rumored that you are also involved.
Once the situation is turbulent, it will inevitably affect the pond fish. Why don't you plan ahead of time to protect yourself?" Sun Xiu weighed the pros and cons, and finally agreed to their request and successfully persuaded Sima Lun.
Subsequently, Sima Lun formed an internal response with Zhang Lin, Zhang Heng, Yin Hun, Lu Shi and others, preparing to launch changes. However, at the critical moment, Sun Xiu had another plan. Sun Xiu deliberately leaked the plan to restore the throne after the abolition, which made Jia Mi's comrades angry.
In the end, under the careful planning of Sima Lun, Sun Xiu and others, Jia Mi and others were forced to act in advance, trying to kill the prince to cut off everyone's hope. In fact, it was indeed successful, and the prince was killed.
The crown prince is Sima Yan's son Sima Zhen, but this Sima Zhen has a bad brain, so the power is in the hands of the queen.
Emperor of the Throne
Sun Xiu orchestrated a mysterious deception, and Yamen Zhao was ordered to pose as the deity of Emperor Sima Yi of the Jin Dynasty, predicting that Sima Lun would become the new owner of the palace. In addition, Sun Xiu also built a temple of Sima Yi in Beimangshan, claiming that Emperor Xuan guarded the king of Zhao here and escorted his rebellious plans.
In order to stabilize his position, Sun Xiu recruited twenty loyal followers such as Pei Shao and Bian Cui to serve as Zhonglang, and equipped them with twenty assistants. These henchmen were distributed in various armies and laid a solid foundation for Sima Lun's usurpation of the throne.
Sima Wei, the king of Yiyang, as Sima Lun's close confidant, was even appointed as a servant to manipulate the orders of the imperial court.
Next, a well-woven Zen drama kicked off. Sun Xiu and others forged the edict of Chan Rang, and let Man Fen and Cui Sui serve as messengers, holding the emperor's jade seal and seal, symbolically Zen at Sima Lun.
Although Sima Lun was initially hesitant, he finally accepted the honor under the persuasion of the kings of the clan and the princes and ministers.
As Wang Yu and Sima Ya led the armor into the main hall and forced the three Sima to remain silent by force, the entire court fell into Sima Lun's iron fist. Overnight, Zhang Lin and others were stationed at various gates to ensure that Sima Lun's power was not challenged.
Sima Wei, the king of Yiyang, Luo Xiu and others forced the Son of Heaven to hand over the jade seal and the seal ribbon, completing the last step of Chan Rang.
At dawn, Sima Lun's usurpation was confirmed. Emperor Hui was forced to leave the palace and go to Kim Yong City under house arrest. Sima Lun led 5,000 followers to enter the Taiji Hall from Duanmen, and Man Fen, Cui Sui, Le Guang and others presented jade seals.
At this point, Sima Lun finally ascended the throne of the emperor, announced a general amnesty for the world, and honored Emperor Hui as the emperor. That is, he usurped the throne of his grandson and called his grandson the emperor. then directly killed the queen Jia Nanfeng, and called the emperor's behavior directly induced the "Eight Kings Rebellion"
Zhang Lin and other henchmen were also rewarded with high-ranking officials, while other conspirators were exceptionally promoted. Even miscellaneous servants such as slaves and pawns were given knighthoods.
At each court meeting, officials wearing sable crowns filled the entire hall. At that time, people jokingly called this phenomenon "insufficient mink, dog tail continues".
Failure was punished
The Rebellion of the Eight Kings was a protracted struggle that lasted for 16 years. In this struggle for power, most of the princes involved in the war fell one after another, and the stability and order of the country were seriously challenged.
Under the turbulent situation, innocent people suffered from the war, the social and economic system suffered heavy losses, and the national strength of the Western Jin Dynasty was gradually depleted to a weak state.
As the main participants in the rebellion, Zhang Lin was assassinated by Sun Xiu; Xu Chao, Shiyi, Sun Bi, Xie Yi, and Yin Hun were also killed by Sun Xiu; Zhang Heng, Lu He, Sun Chao, and Gao Yue were blocked by Fu Yin on the way back from Yangzhai, and were forced to return to Luoyang after defeat, and were finally beheaded in Dongshi.
Cai Huang surrendered to Sima Yin, the king of Qi, in Yangzhai, but chose to commit suicide after returning to Luoyang. Although Wang Yu was spared because of his merits, he eventually conspired with Sima Rui, the king of Donglai, in an attempt to get rid of Sima Yin, and was finally punished by the law because of the exposure of his crimes.
summary
Under the dual pressure of the turmoil of the Eight Kings Rebellion and the external invasion of the Five Hu Chaohua, it gradually came to the verge of collapse. In order to fight for the emperor, regardless of it, the people's livelihood is withering, and the people are suffering. What do you think about being an emperor? Do you want to be an emperor too?