During the period of the Sixteen Kingdoms, there was such a person, who successfully gained the attention and respect of the Hu people as a Han person, and single-handedly helped the former Qin unify the north, so as to have the capital to unify the world. After his death, the former Qin declined rapidly, and his last words before his death were the culprits who accurately predicted the demise of the former Qin. This person is Wang Meng.
Many people will think, in that troubled era, why didn't Wang Meng go south to help the Han dynasty recover the rivers and mountains, but instead went to help a Hu people? In fact, in 354 AD, that is, when Wang Meng was 30 years old, Huan Wen, a powerful minister of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, launched the Northern Expedition.
After communicating with Huan Wen, although Huan Wen attached great importance to Wang Meng and Corporal Lixian, Wang Meng finally gave up the idea of going south, why is this?
Since the establishment of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, it has always been the family gate lord who controls the government. Huan Wen's Huan family was originally not a wealthy family like Wang and Xie, because Huan Wen's father Huan Yi helped Emperor Jin Ming to quell the Wang Dun Rebellion, which allowed the Huan family to get a place in the court.
Huan Wen had a certain reputation in the court with his bravery, and later married the princess, was reused, and his status gradually improved. By 345 AD, Huan Wen was already the assassin of Jingzhou, and he was the governor of Jing Si, Yongyi, Liang Ning, and the military power of the upper reaches of the Yangtze River.
At that time, in the west of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, there was also the Cheng Han regime entrenched in the land of Sichuan and Shu. Li Shi, the current emperor of the Cheng Han regime, was unscrupulous, causing the decline of the Cheng Han national power. For Huan Wen, this is a good time to eliminate Cheng Han and make contributions.
In 2 years, Huan Wen eliminated the Cheng Han regime and helped the Eastern Jin Dynasty recover the land of Sichuan and Shu. This credit not only made Huan Wen official to the general of the expedition to the west, but also gained a lot of fame. The area actually controlled by Huan Wen was no smaller than the area really controlled by the Eastern Jin Dynasty, so he gradually had a heart of disobedience. The imperial court had no choice but to let it go.
By the tenth year of Yonghe, Huan Wen had become the de facto controller of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, and in order to ascend the throne of the emperor in the future, he decided to launch the Northern Expedition and establish merit so that he could return to usurp the throne.
In 354 AD, Huan Wen launched an attack on the Former Qin regime in the north. The people in the north have been looking forward to the arrival of Wang Shi, so after the arrival of the Huanwen army, the people of Guanzhong voluntarily came to work for the army. At that time, Wang Meng, who was over 30 years old, had already learned a skill, and he wanted to go out to show his talents, so he went to the Huanwen camp to meet the real controller of the Eastern Jin Dynasty.
Huan Wen wanted to usurp the throne, so he naturally needed a large number of talents loyal to him, so he was very happy about Wang Meng's arrival, and at the same time asked Wang Meng what he thought of today. Wang Meng naturally talked endlessly about his views on the world, and at the same time asked Huan Wen a question, that is, Chang'an is obviously close at hand, why didn't Huan Wen take it back?
This question directly made Huan Wen speechless, because Huan Wen launched the Northern Expedition mainly for fame, to establish certain merits, and to prepare for the usurpation of the throne in the future, and not really to recover the lost territory. If you consume your own strength because of this, the gains outweigh the losses.
When Wang Meng saw that Huan Wen was speechless, he already understood what the other party was thinking, so he made an excuse to leave Huan Wen.
Wang Meng chose to leave so resolutely, on the one hand, he didn't want to be a tool to help Huan Wen usurp the throne and tarnish his name; On the other hand, it is because Wang Meng was born in a poor family, although he is talented, but if he wants to make a difference in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, which is full of gate valves, it is even more difficult.
It is precisely because of these two reasons that Wang Meng did not choose to go south in the end, he finally chose a Di person. Although Fu Jian is a Di person, he has great respect for the Han people, admires the Han culture very much, and is able to be polite and virtuous, which is deeply recognized by Wang Meng. Therefore, even if Fu Jian is not Han, Wang Meng is willing to be loyal to the other party and eventually establish a career.