"I will enter with my feet, hoping to meet each other." Come, come! "This was written by Emperor Jianwen of the Eastern Jin Dynasty to his courtier Huan Wen before his death. In one day and one night, Emperor Jianwen, who was bedridden, issued four edicts in a row and summoned Huan Wen to the palace, but the other party refused to resign on the grounds of old age and infirmity.
The ancients often said, "Kings and subjects, fathers and sons." "Then who is this Huan Wen sacred, and why can the monarch be urged four times before he dies, and he is determined to entrust him?" Why did he disregard the courtesy of the emperor and disobey the emperor's edicts several times?
Huan Wen (桓文), courtesy name Ziyuan ,Xuancheng Shi(宣城史), the eldest son of Huan Yi (桓彝), the founding man of Wanning County. His father, Huan Yi, was not only well-connected in the official arena. And good at making friends with celebrities, he is one of the "Jiangzuo Bada" in the Eastern Jin Dynasty. Huan Yi was distinguished in 322 AD by the Rebellion of Pingwang Dun, but was killed in the Rebellion of Suzu, which broke out five years later. In 331 AD, the seventeen-year-old Huan Wen disguised himself as a hangman and the son of an enemy with a blade, and entered the sight of the people of the time because of his extraordinary courage and wisdom. After Emperor Ming of Jin remembered that he was Zhongliang, he not only let him inherit the title of baron of his father Wanning County, but also married his sister Princess Nankangchang to him and made him a lieutenant of the horse.
In 345, Huan Wen, at the recommendation of He Chong, an assistant minister, served as the general of Anxi and the assassin of Jingzhou, and led the southern barbarian lieutenant, taking control of the upper reaches of the Yangtze River. Huan Wen, who had military power, no longer stalked, devoted himself to making meritorious achievements, and soon showed his ability. Only one year after taking office, Huan Wen went to Shu and, without a reply from the imperial court, waved his division westward, took 10,000 soldiers and horses, won more with less, and pacified Shu in one fell swoop and destroyed the Seoul regime. If Huan Wen loses the Battle of Shudi, what awaits him will inevitably be discredited and his life in danger, and even the entire family will bear shame and guilt. However, he succeeded. This exciting and victorious battle shocked the whole country, and his own performance in the war was constantly deified by the people in the tea houses and alleys.
After taking Shu land, Huan Wen became famous, and he performed just as well politically. He forced the imperial court to depose Yin Hao, who had originally been used as a counterbalance to him, and gradually took control of the government. Then, according to his own plan, three Northern Expeditions were carried out. Both the Battle of Former Qin and the Battle of Yao Xiang were successful as a whole, so much so that he already had the ambition and ability to claim the title of emperor.
However, "Wei Qing was undefeated by Tianxing, and Li Guang had no merit. At this time, the "victorious general" Huan Wen in the eyes of people at this time was not a hundred victories. During the Third Northern Expedition, he suffered the biggest defeat of his life, attacking Former Yan, defeating the army, and killing and wounding 30,000 people. Perhaps because everyone was accustomed to General Huan Wen's success, this defeat greatly reduced his prestige. He shifted the responsibility for the defeat to his subordinates, and he was forgiven by the imperial court, but he forced his subordinates to rebel. Fortunately, he later led his troops to suppress the rebellion.
In order to restore his prestige, he took a desperate risk and deposed the emperor. In November 371, Huan Wen brought troops into the dynasty and forced Empress Chu to depose Sima Yi as the King of Donghai, and Sima Yu the Prince of Lixiang as emperor, for Emperor Wen of Jin. This move did achieve the expected effect, Huan Wen temporarily tilted the power to the opposition, and no one could stand out. However, it made Huan Wen's ambitions completely clear. After Sima Yu succeeded to the throne, he often feared that he would be deposed, and every time he saw him, he wept and rippled, and Xie An, the ruler of the famous Xie family, paid him a courtesy to his courtiers. After Emperor Jianwen was drunk once, he said: "The loyal subjects mourn the humiliation of the Lord, and the heroes are in danger." It shows that Huan Wen at this time was a traitor in the eyes of Emperor Jianwen.
In July 132, Emperor Jianwen became seriously ill, and four times issued an edict to summon Huan Wen, who was stationed at his sister-in-law, to return to the imperial government, but Huan Wen refused on the grounds that he was old and frail and could not bear to be ordered, and even refused to see the last side of Emperor Jianwen. What is strange is why Emperor Jianwen wanted Huan Wen, who had already distrusted him, to join the imperial government, and why did Huan Wen refuse to go? It is not so much a trust as it is a mutual temptation between kings and courtiers.
Because Emperor Jianwen was seriously ill, the contradiction between the two monarchs also reached the most special and fierce critical moment. In Emperor Jianwen's fourth edict, there is originally a sentence: "A young son can be supplemented by a supplement, and if not, the king can take it upon himself." This sentence is the same as the sentence that Liu Beibai said to Zhuge Liang when he was isolated in the city. This dialogue in the White Emperor City was once regarded as a model of mutual trust between kings and subjects, but now it seems that this is not the case at all. If there is no White Emperor City to entrust orphans, Zhuge Liang may not be so "foolish", in the White Emperor City, on the side of the bed, Liu Bei is forcing Zhuge Liang, forcing him to make a promise in public, and has to pay for his promise.
From Huan Wen's point of view, there were roughly several possibilities for the reasons why he did not want to return to the dynasty.
First, I was afraid that Emperor JianWen would really say to him, "A king can take his own." Although everyone knows that he has this power and this ambition. However, after him, he wanted to add "Jiu Xi" and because of the delay of Xie An and others to death, and Emperor Jianwen said in order to protect his brother Sima Xi: "If the Jin Dynasty is long-lasting, you should do as I ask, and if the Jin Room has no hope, please let me abdicate and give way to Xian." "Shi Huanwen's compromise. In 354 AD, when he was passing through Luoyang, he paid homage to and repaired the Jinling Tombs. All show that he has a thief's heart, but he does not have the guts of a thief.
If he really stood in front of Emperor Jianwen, he should only be able to kneel down like Zhuge Liang and promise: "The subject is as blunt as he can, and he assists the young lord with all his heart and brain, in order to repay His Majesty's holy grace." And this promise will become a shackle on him.
Second, he was afraid that Emperor Jianwen would take the opportunity to imprison him. After all, in his own territory, the Heavenly Emperor is far away, but back in the imperial court, Emperor Jianwen is after all a righteous emperor, even if he is seriously ill, if he must work hard, it is not impossible to control him.
From the perspective of Emperor Jianwen, Huan Wen's ambition was already "the heart of Sima Zhao, known to everyone", and he would not forget that the Sima family's Jiangshan was also stolen, and it was obtained by betraying and trusting his master. And now, Huan Wen has this ability, he believes that Huan Wen is fully capable of doing this without guilt. Therefore, he took the initiative to give in, but also in order to protect his family and protect the Sima family. Therefore, he would say to the loyal Wang Tanzhi: "What is the suspicion of the world and the luck of the world?" ”
On the other hand, he also wanted to take the opportunity to force Huan Wen once, in a sense, as long as Huan Wen took the order to return to the Dynasty, it was originally a compromise. And he had always resisted shirking, that is, to increase the pressure on Emperor Jianwen and the entire imperial court. Of course, it is not excluded that Huan Wen is indeed old and frail and cannot enter the DPRK. Because within a few months of Emperor Jianwen's death, he also died of a serious illness.
Exactly what the truth of history is now unknown. Only it can be known that the two monarchs really have subtle and complex feelings about each other.
References: "Jin Shu Huan Wen Biography", "Zizhi Tongjian", "Shishu Xinyu"