At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the world first fell into a chaotic situation of division of the masses, and then gradually formed a three-legged momentum. In the end, Cao Wei destroyed the Shu Han, and then the Sima family usurped power, established the Western Jin Dynasty, and went south to destroy Wu, completing the great cause of unification. If you want to ask the first meritorious minister of the war to destroy the Shu Han, then Deng Ai, who smuggled through Yinping Pass in spite of the hardships and dangers, and then went straight to Chengdu, forcing the later lord Liu Chan to leave the city and surrender, should undoubtedly come out on top.
However, if you want to ask who has the greatest credit in the battle to destroy Wu, some people may think that it is Du Xuan, the general of Zhennan who coordinated the overall situation and attacked Jingzhou, or Wang Mao of Yizhou, who went down the river and accepted the surrender of Sun Hao, the last emperor of Eastern Wu. However, in the eyes of Sima Yan, the Emperor of Jinwu, the answer to this question was neither Du Xian nor Wang Mao, but Yang Hu, the nephew of Cai Wenji, a famous talented woman in the late Han Dynasty. Although he did not participate in the battle to destroy Wu, Yang Hu was enshrined by Sima Yan as the first hero of the destruction of Wu because of his years of management and legacy.
In the second year of the reign of Cao Wei (221), Yang Hu was born in Nancheng County, Taishan County, in the area of present-day Pingyi County, Shandong Province. He was born from the local famous and prestigious clan "Taishan Yang Clan", and his mother Cai Zhenji was the daughter of the famous scholar Cai Yong in the late Han Dynasty, and also the sister of cai Wenji, a talented daughter. Therefore, Yang Hu can be counted as Cai Wenji's nephew. In addition, Yang Hu later married xiahou ba's daughter, while his sister Yang Huiyu married Sima Yi's son Sima Shi. In short, its identity is really extraordinary.
Despite his extraordinary origins, Yang Hu was not a mediocre disciple, according to the Book of Jin: "And long, erudite can belong to the text, seven feet three inches long, beautiful eyebrows, good at talking." In other words, when he grows up, Yang Hu is not only erudite, but also has an outstanding appearance. In the first ten years (249), the Gaopingling Rebellion broke out, and Yang Hu's father-in-law, Xiahou Ba, defected to Shu Han for self-preservation, while he was spared punishment by virtue of his good relations with the Sima family.
Despite his talent and close proximity to the Sima family, Yang Hu repeatedly refused the conquest of the imperial court, and it was not until Sima Zhao became a great general and forcibly used the public carriage to forcibly conquest that he finally embarked on his career. After Sima Zhao's death, his son Sima Yan introduced Yang Hu as his confidant and sent him to command the Yulin Army in preparation for the usurpation of the throne in the near future. In the second year of Xianxi (266), Sima Yan established the Jin Dynasty, and Yang Hu was made a general of the Chinese army and a regular attendant of the scattered horse for his founding of the country. Originally, Sima Yan intended to make Yang Hu the Duke of The County, but Yang Hu was afraid of being jealous of his courtiers, so he was only made a marquis.
In the fifth year of the Tai Dynasty (269), in order to complete the great cause of unifying the country, Sima Yan sent Yang Hu to Jingzhou to take charge of various affairs. After coming to Jingzhou, Yang Hu did not immediately start to rectify the armaments, but took into account the current situation of the local people's livelihood due to the long-term chaos, and focused on appeasing the people and revitalizing education. In addition, at that time, Jingzhou's grain storage was not enough for the army's hundred days of expenses, and Yang Hu mobilized half of his soldiers to reclaim the land, and after only three years, the grain and grass were enough for the army for ten years.
The following year, Lu Kang, the son of the famous Eastern Wu general Lu Xun, was transferred to the front line of Jingzhou, and Yang Hu quickly sensed the threat of Lu Kang, so while stepping up military preparations, he wrote to Sima Yan and suggested that a water division be trained in Yizhou, and later go down the river to take the capital of Eastern Wu, Jianye. In the Battle of Xiling in the eighth year of the Tai Dynasty (272), Lu Kang defeated Yang Hu, who had more than 80,000 troops but was weak in command, with less than 30,000 men. After this battle, Yang Hu was demoted to the rank of general of Pingnan, but he was also more aware of the importance of cutting down Wu as soon as possible.
He advocated the adoption of encroachment and offensive tactics, not only paying attention to faith and righteousness when fighting with Eastern Wu, always agreeing on a time to attack in a dignified manner, burying enemy generals who were killed in the war, and not allowing his subordinates to cross the Jin-Wu border while hunting. Through a series of practices to show the strength of the country and the great grace of the country, Yang Hu was respected by the Wu people, and was revered as the "Yang Gong", and many Eastern Wu soldiers and civilians directly came to allegiance. It is worth mentioning that Yang Hu even formed a deep friendship with the enemy's main general Lu Kang, the two competed with each other, but also respected each other, known as the "friendship of Yang Lu".
In the second year of Xianning (276), Yang Hu was appointed as the general of The Southern Expedition, which was obviously a manifestation of Sima Yan's decision to increase the oppression of Eastern Wu. After his promotion, Yang Hu first advocated that Wang Hao, who was already nearly old at the time and was about to be transferred back to Luoyang as the Grand Si Nong, would continue to serve as the Assassin of Yizhou, and was responsible for leading the water army down the Yangtze River thereafter. At that time, the strength of the Jin army in Jingzhou was far superior to that of the Wu army after the death of the main general Lu Kang, and Yang Hu took the initiative to write a letter to ask for war, but the powerful ministers Jia Chong, Xun Xun and others in the dprk strongly opposed it, so they could not make the trip in the end.
In the fourth year of Xianning (278), Yang Hu contracted an illness, and after hearing of the death of his sister Yang Huiyu, his condition became more serious, and he could not even enter the dynasty by car. Even so, what he was most worried about in his heart was the great cause of cutting down Wu. In November of the same year, Yang Hu died of illness, and before his death, he recommended Du Pre to replace him, and the news of his death came, and both the Jin and Wu people in Jingzhou were deeply saddened. The following year, Du Pre, Wang Mao, and others pacified Eastern Wu in one fell swoop according to Yang Hu's plan before his death, and Sima Yan raised his wine glass at the celebration banquet, and sighed with tears: "This sheep is too Fu Zhigong." "Yang Hu did not personally participate in the battle to destroy Wu, but he was undoubtedly the first contributor to the greatest contribution.