Text/Comrade Guevara
The struggle between emperors and courtiers exists in successive dynasties, a history of imperial power ups and downs, full of games between emperors and courtiers and one after another, once the former is "defeated", it will be deposed or killed by the latter for various reasons, such as fainting and brutality, weakness and incompetence, etc., and so on. However, what is even more bizarre is the deposed emperor Sima Yi of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, because the crime he was charged before he stepped down was very thunderous, and it turned out to be impotence!
Sima Yi was the seventh emperor of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the second son of Emperor Cheng, Sima Yan, and the half-brother of Sima Pi, the Emperor of Lai, who was created the King of donghai in the year of his birth, and was renamed the King of Langya during his reign. Emperor Ai was a "short-lived ghost" who died at the age of 24 and reigned for only four years, and since he had no heirs, Sima Yi was made emperor in February of the third year of Xingning (365) with the support of his aunt Empress Chu (Emperor Kang's wife and Emperor Mu's mother). At this time, Sima Yi's virtual age was only 21 years old.
Sima Yi was only 21 years old when he ascended the throne
Although Sima Yi was known as emperor, he was actually a double puppet, because in the middle of the dynasty, Empress Chu was under the curtain, and there was a large Sima Huanwen remote control of the government, and he, a young man in his early 20s, did not have any right to adjudicate the imperial politics at all. Although Sima Yi was young, he had a clear understanding of the situation and was well versed in Taoguang's way of cultivating obscurity, so since he ascended the throne, he had been cautious in his words and deeds, for fear of being caught by Huan Wen.
But although Sima Yi was careful and careful, he still could not escape the fate of being deposed, and the reason for this was not that he had done anything out of the ordinary, but because Huan Wen wanted him to leave. It turned out that Huan Wen had already accumulated the intention of usurping the throne, especially as he grew older, this thought became more and more intense. However, Huan Wen knew that his prestige was not enough to shock everyone, and the defeat of the three Northern Expeditions also greatly damaged his reputation, and in this double unfavorable situation, only by deposing the emperor could he reshape his authority and then perform the matter of standing on behalf of the emperor.
Huan Wen deposed Sima Yi and framed him for impotence
Huan Wen had a preconceived idea, so he consulted with the counselors on an excuse to depose the emperor, only to be embarrassed to find that he could not catch any handle from Sima Yi. After discovering that he could not find a reason for zhengda guangming, he decided to find a "breakthrough" in the emperor's private life, by pouring dirty water on him to slander his innocence and discredit him. Huan Wen felt that it was very reasonable, so he sent people to Jingshi Jiankang to spread rumors that the emperor was impotent and could not have children, and his sons were illegitimate children born to male pets and harem women.
In the beginning, Huan Wen had the heart of an inferiority, and wanted to make meritorious contributions to Heshuo first, in order to reap the hopes of the time. And the defeat of Fangtou, the prestige of the sudden setback, the subliminal plot to abolish the establishment, in order to long authority. However, emperor Ran was guarding the way, afraid of inviting time to discuss. With the palace expounding heavy and stuffy, the bed is easy to slander, but the emperor is castrated, so he is humiliated. See Book viii of the Jin Dynasty, Emperor Mu's Lamentation of the Emperor Haixi Gong benji.
Empress Dowager Chu was forced to depose Sima Yi and make Sima Yu emperor instead
When the rumors were stirred up, Huan Wen threatened Empress Dowager Chu to issue an edict and deposed Sima Yi on the grounds that the emperor was infertile and the palace was in turmoil ("Ding Wei, Yi Que, because of the attempt to abolish the establishment, falsely accused the emperor of having a paralysis in the Yu Dynasty, and the concubines Xianglong, Ji Hao, Zhu Lingbao, and other attendants went to bed, while the two beauties of the Tian clan and the Meng clan had three male sons, who wanted to seal the tree, and when people were confused, Wen was sarcastic to the empress dowager's move. Ibid.). In November of the sixth year of Taihe (371), only six years after Sima Yi ascended the throne.
After Huan Wen forced Sima Yi to leave, he immediately installed Sima Yu, the younger son of Emperor Yuan of Jin and the chancellor Sima Yu, as emperor (Emperor Jianwen), and killed dissidents in the dynasty, thus completely controlling the government. After Sima Yi was deposed, he was first demoted to the title of King of the East Sea, and soon after he was demoted to the title of Duke of Haixi, and sent to Xichaili in Wu County under house arrest. Sima Yi was deposed without guilt, and everyone was sympathetic to his plight, and many people rebelled against the imperial court under the guise of him. Sima Yi became even more worried after hearing these wind noises, and every day he lived in seclusion and closed doors, lest he be caught by the imperial court with a new handle.
After Sima Yi was deposed, he indulged in wine, fearing that he would be caught
Not long after, Emperor Jianwen and Huan Wen died one after another, and Sima Yao, the son of Emperor Jianwen, took the throne as Emperor Xiaowu. At this time, some people took advantage of the subtlety of the situation and sent people to secretly contact Sima Yi to rescue him and regain the throne, sima Yi was once moved, but he still gave up under the persuasion of his family. Sima Yi knew that there was no hope of restoration, and feared that he would cause new troubles, so he indulged in wine every day, and once he found that the concubines were pregnant, he let them have an abortion, so that the imperial court could relax its vigilance against him.
Although Sima Yi's actions looked very degrading and humiliating, they finally reassured Emperor Xiaowu and thus relieved him of his killing heart. On October 16, 386, 15 years after being deposed, Sima Yi finally fell ill and died at his residence in Wu County at the age of forty-five. After Sima Yi's death, he did not have a title and could not afford the imperial tomb, and the history books generally referred to him as the deposed emperor or the Duke of Haixi.
Emperor Xiaowu spared Sima Yi and enabled him to die well
The emperor knew that the destiny of heaven could not be repeated, and was deeply worried about the disaster, but Dusai was wise, thoughtless, and spent all his days in a hurry, indulging in internal favors, having children and infertile children, and protecting the heavens. When people take pity on them, they sing songs. The imperial court thought that the emperor was humiliated and did not return to fear. In October of the eleventh year of the Taiyuan Dynasty, Jia Shen was born in Wu, when he was forty-five years old. Ibid.
Historical sources: "Book of Jin", "Zizhi Tongjian"