First of all, let's explore the question of whether Sima Zheng is a normal person or not. Regarding Sima Zheng's intellectual problems, there is no shortage of people who question him from ancient times to the present. In the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, the Confucian and thinker Wang Fuzhi once unceremoniously evaluated Sima Zheng as a "clay puppeteer", and in the Book of Jin, there is also a story that Sima Yan, the emperor of the Jin Dynasty, was worried about Sima Zheng's ability and tested him many times.
As for the most famous example of Sima Zheng's intellectual doubts, the author believes that it is probably the famous joke "Why not eat meat paste" that has been passed down through the ages. According to the Book of Jin, there was a famine one year, and the people had no food to eat, so they had to dig up grass roots and eat tree bark, resulting in many people being starved to death. When the chancellor reported the news to Sima Zheng, the Emperor of Jinhui, as the ruler of the country, the suffering of the people naturally could not sit idly by. Therefore, the "kind" Jin Hui Emperor came up with what he thought was the best way: "There is no rice in the world, why not eat meat." (Since everyone can't eat rice, why not eat porridge?) ）
But can these "black histories" of Sima Zheng recorded in the Book of Jin really explain Sima Zheng's dementia? I am afraid that the original evaluation in the Book of Jin is more telling. In this book, the evaluation of Sima Zheng's performance in these matters is: "His deception is also like this." "What do you mean?" That is to say, Sima Zheng's dim-witted behavior is like this. That is to say, Sima Zheng is not so much an intellectual problem as he is too faint and lacks a proper understanding of things.
Another thing that makes the author believe even more that Sima Zheng should not be called "mentally retarded". The Book of Jin records: "Shao was dusted with the Son of Heaven and undertook the commandment to walk in the house. The duty king's division was defeated by the tangyin, and the hundred officials and guards were scattered, and Wei Shao seemed to be crowned, defending with his body, and the soldiers were handed over to the imperial court, and the flying arrows were gathered. Shao Sui was killed on the side of the emperor, and the blood splashed on the imperial robe, and the Heavenly Son lamented deeply. And the matter was determined, left and right wanted to wash clothes, the emperor said: 'This servant is bleeding, do not go.' '"
When war broke out, Ji Shao, the son of Ji Kang (the one who bombed Guanglingsan), in order to protect the safety of Sima Zheng, the emperor of Jinhui, when the enemy's arrows flew in, Ji Shao died next to Emperor Hui of Jin, and blood splashed on Emperor Hui of Jin's clothes, and Emperor Hui of Jin continued to lament the death of Emperor Ji Shao. After the war subsided, the attendants wanted to wash the blood off the emperor's clothes. Emperor Hui of Jin then said, "This servant is bleeding, don't go." (This is the blood in the servants and cannot be removed.) ）
As for why Sima Zheng was able to ascend to the throne, the author believes that there are three reasons:
First, in the Jin Dynasty, the system of primogeniture was more important. Sima Yan, the father of Emperor Sima Zheng of Jin, originally relied on the "primogeniture system" to successfully ascend the throne. And Sima Zheng was born to the empress, and his eldest brother had long been dead, as the existing eldest son of Sima Zheng, he was naturally the number one consideration for inheriting the throne. Moreover, Sima Zheng's mother, Empress Yang Yan of Emperor Wu of Jin, also attached great importance to the establishment of the heir to the throne, so that Sima Zheng could sit firmly on the throne of the crown prince for a long time.
Second, Sima Zheng had the support of the clan behind him. Sima Zheng's wife was the daughter of Jia Chong, the founding father of the Western Jin Dynasty. Jia Chong, as a confidant who had followed Sima Yan's father Sima Zhao and had made great achievements in the founding of the Western Jin Dynasty, held a prominent position in the Western Jin Dynasty. Add to this his mother's Yang family and his mother-in-law's Guo family. Sima Zheng was also conducive to co-opting these clans and helping to stabilize the regime.
Third, Sima Zheng's son Sima Song was intelligent from an early age and was deeply loved by Sima Yan, the Emperor of Jinwu. He was sima zheng's only son, and was deeply favored by Sima Yan, who often let him follow him. When he was five years old, there was a fire in the palace, and when Sima Yan went to check the fire, he was able to calmly pull his grandfather into the dark, indicating that it might be an incident, and his grandfather, as an emperor, should be careful and guarded and should not appear in a conspicuous place. Therefore, Sima Yan has always focused on cultivating him, hoping that he will become the future emperor. Then, sima zheng, as his father, must first become an emperor.
Therefore, in summary, although Sima Zheng, the Emperor of Jinhui, fainted, he was not called "mentally retarded". And why he can ascend to the throne is the result of the combination of the system, the clan, the noble son and other reasons. It was just that the Western Jin Dynasty was in chaos under its rule, so that the country was destroyed, which was what Sima Yan, the emperor of the Jin Dynasty, did not expect.