The "Battle of Shuishui" is a famous example in the history of our country in which less is won over more. In 383, the Former Qin Emperor Jian Jian, who had unified the north at the time, led an army of 800,000 people and took the initiative to launch a war against the Eastern Jin dynasty in the south.
In November of the same year, the two sides engaged in a battle at Shuishui (淝水, southeast of present-day Shou County, Anhui Province), and as a result, the 80,000 Eastern Jin army led by Xie An and Xie Xuan's uncle and nephew defeated the Former Qin army with an actual strength of more than 200,000 troops, and Xie An and Xie Xuan's uncle and nephew were also famous for this battle.
However, did you know that after the victory of the "Battle of Shuishui", although the reputation of Xie An and Xie Xuan's uncles and nephews reached its peak, it also brought them an infinite frustrated life.
The Xie clan of Chen Commandery (陳郡; present-day Taikang County, Henan Province) was a prominent clan at that time and the last "Dangxiashi clan" of the Eastern Jin Dynasty. Xie An is versatile, has a leisurely and gentle temperament, and is known as the "Prime Minister of Jiangzuo Wind and Current". Xie Xuan's father, Xie Yi, was Xie An's eldest brother, and the official was the general of Anxi and the Assassin of Yuzhou, and Xie Xuan's mother, Ruan Rong, was a member of the Western Jin Dynasty's famous warrior Ruan and Ruan Xian. Xie Xuan's eldest sister was a famous talented woman in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Xie Daoyun.
After defeating Former Qin at the Battle of Shuishui, Xie Xuan led the Eastern Jin dynasty army to take advantage of the victory over the Northern Expedition and recovered henan, Shandong, southern Shaanxi and other homelands south of the Yellow River in one fell swoop.
While the front-line army was singing all the way, Sima Yao, the Emperor of Xiaowu of Jin, was worried about whether the Xie clan would be able to achieve great success, so he became jealous.
Xie Xuan had originally planned to let Yuzhou assassinate Shi Zhuxu to guard the State of Liang, and sit in Pengcheng himself, so that the north could consolidate the land of Hebei, the west could rescue Luoyang, and the inside could defend the imperial court.
However, at this time, the courtiers argued that the conquest had been long, and it was necessary to set up a border guard, and then rest the troops to recuperate. Emperor Xiaowu then ordered Xie Xuan to return to the town of Huaiyin and instead sent Zhu Xuzhen to guard Shouyang. Such a simple personnel adjustment was tantamount to depriving Xie Xuan of his command of the front.
At this time, it just so happened that Xie Xuan's general Zhai Liao launched a rebellion, and the sensitive Xie Xuan thought that he had mishandled it, so he went to the imperial court and requested that he be relieved of all his duties. The Eastern Jin court disagreed, and ordered Him to return to Huaiyin for the time being.
In April 385, Xie An, in order not to arouse the suspicion of the emperor, voluntarily surrendered his power in the court and asked himself to leave the town of Guangling (present-day Yangzhou, Jiangsu) to avoid disaster. In August of the same year, Xie An died at the age of sixty-six.
Xie An's death was a great blow to Xie Xuan, who had special feelings for his uncle Xie An. When Xie Xuan was young, Xie An helped Xie Xuan get rid of his bad habit of wearing sachets by "betting". Xie An also helped Xie Xuan form a powerful Beifu army, and Xie Xuan eventually relied on the Beifu soldiers to defeat the powerful Former Qin army.
Political frustration also caused Xie Xuan to fall ill unfortunately, and it became more and more serious, so he neglected the famous article "Disease Du Shangshu", declared to the imperial court the loyalty to the country and the resentment of his ambitions, and pleaded for dismissal with serious illness.
Xie Xuan also mentioned the misfortune of his family in the song, "Shangyan's uncle Chen'an and his deceased brother Chenjing, within a few months, they were killed, they were arrested, and they were recovered", and within a few months, Xie Xuan's uncle Xie An, Xie Xuan's second brother Xie Jing, and One of Xie Xuan's younger sons all died one after another, and Xie Xuan brought this sin to himself, and he begged the emperor to agree to his request to resign from his official post.
However, after The Song Shu submitted it, the imperial court did not agree to his resignation, but sent a highly skilled physician to treat Xie Xuan's illness.
However, Xie Xuan's illness still did not get better, and he also wrote a piece of music that was "miserable for eternity", "The Illness Is Not Bad for a Long Time and The Neglect", in which he said:
"All seven of the brothers of the subjects have withered and perished one after another, but only one of the subjects has survived alone. Experience the hardships and hardships, who can compare with the courtiers! The reason why the subject was sad and bitter, and hoped to continue to live in the world, was because he was full of infinite loyalty and wanted to report to the court for kindness, and perhaps he could restore his health and complete this ambition. Moreover, there are many orphans in the family of the courtiers, and when they think of them, their hearts are overwhelmed with sorrow, and their desire to survive for this reason cannot be paid for immediately. The courtier's diligence is truly pitiful. I implore His Majesty to have mercy on his subjects' loyal appeals, and to surrender grace without making his subjects hate the Nine Springs. ”
Such a poignant plea still could not impress the imperial court, and after Xie Xuan played more than ten consecutive recitals, it was a long time before the imperial court changed him to a regular attendant of the scattered horse and a member of the internal history, and Xie Xuan finally returned to his hometown to take up his post.
Xie Xuan's continuous recitation of the story of the request for retirement was used by later generations as a metaphor for "Xie Xuanwen" as a metaphor for his determination to return to the mountain.
In the spring of 388, Xie Xuan died at Huiji (present-day Suzhou, Jiangsu) at the age of forty-six, an untimely death.
As a famous general of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Xie Xuan was a hero in the battlefield, but after the end of the war, he was jealous of the Eastern Jin Emperor, and both of them died of illness and regret in a few years with his uncle Xie An. After the "Battle of Shuishui", was the life of Xie An and Xie Xuan's uncle and nephew very disappointed?