Sima Yan, emperor of the Jin Dynasty, was the founding emperor of the Western Jin Dynasty, and he was the grandson of Sima Yi. Emperor Wu of Jin was a lively man who often entertained his ministers in the imperial palace. However, it was during the emperor's meal that someone discovered the secret of the fall of the Jin state.
This person is none other than Prime Minister He Zeng. In fact, He Zeng himself was an unreliable lord. As the prime minister, he not only did not set an example for the people, but was extravagant and wasteful to the extreme. According to the "Book of Jin and He Zeng", "The eclipse of the sun is ten thousand dollars, and there is no place to go down." It means that he spends tens of thousands of dollars on a meal, and laments that chopsticks have no place to start. In ancient times, ten thousand dollars was equivalent to five or six thousand yuan now, which was really extravagant.
However, a person who behaved so misbehavingly did not look down on Emperor Wu of Jin, and he said to his son: "When I attended the banquet, I never heard the emperor talk about the strategy and planning of governing the country, and only talk about trivial gossip. It seems that his Taiping foundation can only reach him alone, and the Jin Kingdom will soon perish. ”
He zeng laughed at Sima Yan, which can be said to be "fifty steps laughing at a hundred steps", each other. But this just shows the fact that emperor Wu of Jin's absurdity in his later years was incomprehensible, so that he missed the country and buried the great rivers and mountains of the Western Jin Dynasty.
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Sima Yan reigned for more than 20 years. In the early days of the Jin Dynasty, he wanted to do something big. While implementing the national policy of peace, he cultivated and lived, loved the people of the world, and implemented the benevolent "Tai Shi Law". He was humble and wise, and very accomplished. During this period, the entire imperial court presented a prosperous scene, known in history as the "rule of Taikang".
He learned the lessons of the late Cao Wei period, practicing economy and opposing luxury. At that time, a tai doctor named Sima Chengjin offered a treasure to the emperor, a sweater made of feathers from the head of a pheasant. This hair is soft in texture and is very rare in number. Therefore, the sweaters made are particularly precious, beautiful and gorgeous. However, after Sima Yan received it, he did not even look at it, and ordered people to burn it in front of the main hall. Although the matter is small, the impact is large, and the wind of luxury quickly brakes.
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However, in 280 AD, Sima Yan destroyed the state of Wu, ending the division of nearly a hundred years since the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty and unifying the whole country. At this time, Sima Yan's mentality changed. He had just turned 45. He was full of ambition, his heart was inflated, and he felt that he should also rest and enjoy it. After that, he gradually neglected state affairs, did not think of making progress, took the lead in indulging in enjoyment, and lived a luxurious and luxurious life.
For example, his harem has nearly 10,000 beauties, and the world calls him "wine-colored tianzi". There were too many beauties, and Emperor Wu was too busy to come. Which concubine should I be blessed with every day? He came up with the brilliant idea of riding a sheep cart every day, to the left or to the right, or to spin around in place, and let the sheep make their decisions. Whoever the sheep cart is parked in front of, he goes to whomever he wants. This is somewhat similar to the blind box that is popular today, which is to add a little adventure to his boring life.
In order to make the sheep stop, the concubines racked their brains to perform court dramas. Someone put a bamboo branch on a door to attract sheep to nibble on it; someone sprinkled salt water on the ground because sheep liked the smell of salt water. The idiom "sheep cart looking good luck" originates from this.
Just as the so-called "upper beam is not right lower beam crooked", the emperor is so unbearable, the ministers are not much better. The officials and rich people of the Western Jin Dynasty were all very rich, and they did not care about how to govern the country's major affairs, did not talk about state affairs, and talked about it, or they compared themselves with each other and fought for rich money.
Emperor Wu of Jin's uncle Wang Kai was a later general, and he was emperor with his nephew, often comparing himself with Shi Chongfu, the richest man in Luoyang, Kyoto. Once, after Wang Kai's defeat, he approached Sima Yan for help, and Emperor Wu thought that such a competition was really interesting, so he gave Wang Kai a coral tree more than two feet high collected in the palace, encouraging Wang Kai to be richer than others.
A chancellor, Fu Xian, gave a note to Emperor Wu of Jin, saying: "Now people are more money than whom, and they are more generous than whom, and their actions are not punished, but are very honorable." If this continues, how can it be obtained. Such a serious extravagant waste is really more harmful than natural disasters. But who knew that Emperor Wu of Jin saw the fold and threw it over again, ignoring it in the slightest.
There is another example that also proves the fainting of Emperor Wu of Jin. Once in the southern suburbs, Sima Yan asked the chancellor Liu Yi, "Which emperor of the Han Dynasty can I compare with?" At that time, Sima Yan did not have the absurd behavior of the sheep cart patrol, and he also evaluated Eastern Wu against the public opinion, and he really had some pride in his heart, but who knew that Liu Yi said: "I can only compare with Emperor Huan and Emperor Ling." ”
As we all know, Emperor Huan and Emperor Ling were the worst among the emperors of the Han Dynasty, but Sima Yan was not angry after hearing it: "I am not as bad as Emperor Wu of Han, and I am not as bad as Emperor Ling." Liu Yi added another knife: "They sell the official And The Lord, the money is in the palace treasury, but you sell the official and fall into your own pocket." In this way, you are not as good as Huan and Lingdi! Emperor Wu of Jin was speechless.
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Some people also say that Emperor Wu of Jin was lenient, but judging from his dumb and speechless attitude, there is no doubt that he sold officials to make money. Even the emperor was corrupt and bribed, it is not surprising, the officials at the bottom will only have more than enough, then the Western Jin Dynasty can still save?
Counting the founding emperors in Chinese history, there are very few who are as absurd as Emperor Wu of Jin. Emperor Wu of Jin lived to be 55 years old, and when he destroyed the State of Wu, he was 45 years old. In the last 10 years, he chose to indulge in lust and drunken dreams, coupled with his idiot son to succeed him, hastening the demise of the Western Jin Dynasty.
After the death of Emperor Wu of Jin, there was the "Rebellion of the Eight Kings", and then experienced the "Five Hu Chaos", and the Chinese nation fell into a catastrophe of disintegration, which lasted for three hundred years, which was heartbreaking.
Author: Our special guest author Liu Mai