Chapter 16 4. The history of Xiangyang

One of the important activities of the Yu Liang brothers was to manage the Northern Expedition.The direct purpose of Yu's Northern Expedition was not to carry out overseas military activities, but to obtain and firmly control Xiangyang.Xiangyang is the seat of the state government of Liangzhou, and there are refugee armed forces available. It is the Ping Fan of Jingzhou.In the name of the Northern Expedition, Yu Liang and Yu Yi finally eliminated the Huanxuan forces in the Xiangyang area, controlled all the territory above Jiangzhou, and once sent troops to Shu.The Yu family's territory in the upper reaches is as large as it is, and its momentum is beyond the reach of Wang Dun and Tao Kan.The Yu family's upstream operations lasted more than ten years, which is not a short period of time, but the decline of the Yu family's power happened in an instant.The results of Yu's upstream management did not make Yu's family last long, but made Huanwen of Longkang Huan's family take it as his foundation, and suddenly rose upstream to replace Yu's.The powerful feudal vassals prospered, and they were also expelled. The Yu clan was expelled by the Huan clan, which brought the evolution of clan politics in the Eastern Jin Dynasty to another climax.

Now, I will interpret it based on the above-mentioned historical context, so as to see the role of Xiangyang in the clan politics of the Eastern Jin Dynasty and the background of the replacement of Huan and Yu. In the history of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the Northern Expedition was originally a slogan of justice and a requirement of the times.But the characters who played the banner of the Northern Expedition are different.When Zu Ti was in the Jin Dynasty, he independently managed the Northern Expedition, which was basically an activity of the exile commander. He did not have much family interests involved in Jiangzuo, and had little impact on the political situation in Jiankang.Zu Ti's Northern Expedition didn't care about success or failure, and he took it as life and death, and took offense as defense, which played a role in ensuring the stability of the Eastern Jin Dynasty.Zu Ti enriched the national spirit with his integrity and was the highest model of the Eastern Jin and Northern Expeditions.After the death of Zu Ti, the power left by the refugees was inherited by his younger brother Zu Yue, but Zu Yue was defeated in advance of the rebellion of the refugee commander Su Jun.

After Zu Ti, those who advocated the Northern Expedition were all powerful officials of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, and they had great family interests in Jiangzuo.Although their motivations for advocating the Northern Expedition were different, they all had the purpose of using the Northern Expedition to influence the political situation in Jiangzuo and gain personal prestige and sect power. According to "Book of Jin" Volume 37 "Qiao Wang Chengzhuan", Wang Dun once "fraudulently called the Northern Expedition"; and Wang Dun's defeat, according to Wang Fuzhi's opinion, was one of the reasons for Dun's "boundless achievements." Later Jingzhou According to Tao Kan. "Book of Jin" Volume 95 "Art · Dai Yang Biography": "[Tao] Kanzhi is in the Central Plains". "Book of Jin" Volume 66 "Tao Kan Biography" Kan Yu Xianhe in June of the 7th year of Jidu published the table, saying that he had long planned the Western Expedition and the Northern Expedition, "so he sent Wuqiu Ao to Badong and awarded Huanxuan to Xiangyang." But until Tao Kan's death, the Northern Expedition had no action.

From Wang and Tao to Yu and Huan, they all lived in the upper reaches and advocated the Northern Expedition. The direct purpose was generally to consolidate the upper reaches of the Shaanxi division and Xutu imperial court.The key to consolidating the upstream division of Shaanxi is to firmly control Xiangyang.Tao Kan was quoted above as teaching Huanxuan to Xiangyang. Later, when the Yu family lived in Jingzhou and gradually annexed Xiangyang, repelling Huanxuan, it was the same. In the fifth year of Xiankang (339), Yu Liang advocated the Northern Expedition to restore the Central Plains, and asked to move the town of Shicheng in Xiangyang from Wuchang to support the troops.Taking advantage of the decline of Li Shou in the Cheng Han Dynasty, Yu Liang sent partial troops to attack Bajun (now Chongqing, Sichuan) and Jiangyang (now Huzhou, Sichuan) and returned.However, Mao Bao's division he sent was defeated in Zhucheng in Jiangbei (now Huanggang, Hubei), and all the military operations he deployed were terminated so far.

Of all Yu's deployments and actions in the Northern Expedition, it is worth noting the dispatch of Huan Xuan. "Book of Jin" Volume 81 "Huan Propaganda": "Yu Liang is Jingzhou and will plan the Northern Expedition. He will use Xuan as the governor of Mianbei to conquer the military, the general of Pingbei, the governor of Sizhou, the fake festival, and the town of Xiangyang." It is the place where the old capital of Luoyang is located, so it is naturally the goal of the Northern Expedition.Huan Xuan was ordered by the governor of Sizhou, and his military title was the governor Mianbei forward to conquer. This shows that if the Northern Expedition becomes a reality, the army sent to be the main attacker must be Huan Xuan.And Yu Liang asked to move the town to Shicheng, closer to Xiangyang, and his intention was to command Huan Xuan nearby.Huanxuan and Yu Liang have no relationship in history. What is the reason why Yu Liang did not give the important task of the Northern Expedition forward to the near general but to Huanxuan who had nothing to do with it?In my opinion, Yu Liang's dispatch of Huan Xuan is not found in "The Biography of Yu Liang". The nominal exclusion of Huan Xuan enabled Yu's army to occupy Xiangyang.Zhiliang failed to achieve this goal, but Yu Yi achieved it.

Four years after Yu Liang threatened the Northern Expedition, that is, the first year of Jianyuan (343), Yu Yi invited the Northern Expedition again, which was also intended for Huan Xuan in Xiangyang.He took Huanxuan as the governor, the three states of Liang and Yong, and the four counties of Nanyang, Xiangyang, Xinye, and Nanxiang in Jingzhou. The Shihu Army fought.Yu Yi himself "dispatched the slaves of the six prefectures and the carts, cattle, donkeys and horses", regardless of "the common people's complaints" and the imperial court's dissuasion, and insisted on going his own way.He set off from Wuchang, pretending to move the town to Anlu; when he arrived at Xiakou, he began to ask to stop Xiangyang and stop the Northern Expedition.Yu Yi entered Xiangyang and fulfilled Yu Liang's long-cherished wish. When everyone is in the eye, the energy is tenfold." Apparently, Yu Yi regarded the stationing in Xiangyang as a great victory, but his original intention was not in the Northern Expedition to Hujie.

Both Yu Liang and Yu Yi used the name of the Northern Expedition to cover up their direct purpose of entering Xiangyang, and why?Xiangyang shields Jingzhou and connects Houzhao to the north. It is a place where the north and the south compete.There are very few old households in this area, but there are quite a few refugees.In the fifth year of Xianhe, Shi Le captured Guo Jing and captured Xiangyang, and then changed hands repeatedly. In the seventh year of Xianhe, Huanxuan and Li Yang recovered and Huanxuan was stationed.This place is an important place for the general to defend, but it is not a suitable place for the marshal to be stationed.The Eastern Jin Dynasty established Liangzhou here, and Liangzhou had solid soil, which was equivalent to today's western Hubei, northern Hubei, southern Shaanxi, and northeastern Sichuan.Depending on the military situation, Liangzhou governor's office may be in Xiangyang, or in Bing, or in Anlu, or in Weixing.

Yongzhou in the Eastern Jin Dynasty was also located in Xiangyang, where overseas Chinese had no real land. "Taiping Yulan" Volume 168 Bao to "Southern Yongzhou Ji" said: "In the chaos of Yongjia, the Sanfu nobles were exiled in Fan Mian, overseas Chinese were on the side of Han, and Yongzhou was established, because of people's thinking and people's peace." It means that overseas Chinese were established very early, in the early years of the Eastern Jin Dynasty. "Book of Jin" Volume 63 "Biography of Wei Jun" said that Wei Cai came from the south, and Emperor Jin and Yuan thought that the governor of Yongzhou was in the first year of Jianwu (317), which coincided with the date stated in "Southern Yongzhou Ji". "Book of Jin" Volume 14 "Geography Chronicles" Yongzhou article: "Wei Gai was the governor of Yongzhou. He townshiped the city and searched for the province. Overseas Chinese established Shiping County and lived in Wudang City." Probably the so-called Shiping County is the resettlement of Wei Gai after the province Yongzhou Part of the place.Wei Gai's successors in Xiangyang, such as Zhou Fu, Huan Xuan, Yu Fangzhi, Liu Tun, Yuan Qiao, Huan Chong, Huan Huo, Mao Muzhi, etc., all had the title of Jian Mianbei or Mianzhong Military, Xinye, Yicheng, etc. None of the governors of the county has the name of the governor of Yongzhou. "Book of Songs" Volume 27 "Zhou County Chronicles": "Yongzhou Governor, Jinjiang Zuo Li. The Hu family was in chaos, and many Yongqin refugees went south to Fan Mian. Emperor Xiaowu of Jin Dynasty started from Xiangyang to establish Yongzhou, and established overseas counties. "Comprehensive of these materials, it can be known that the name Jiangzuo of Yongzhou has long existed to restrain the refugees of Qin and Yong.However, Wei Gai was the only governor of Yongzhou recorded in the "Book of Jin" before Emperor Xiaowu.It seems that the exiles from the Yong and Qin Dynasties came to the south, and there was a climax from the Yongjia Rebellion to the beginning of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, and another climax from the Hu Shishi Rebellion to Emperor Xiaowu.Therefore, although overseas Chinese were located in Yongzhou at the beginning of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, they were not often located. When Emperor Xiaowu adapted to the new upsurge of refugees from Yong and Qin Dynasties, he announced that overseas Chinese were located in Yongzhou.

The north of Jiushui has long been the land of the north and the south, and the refugees from Yong and Yu who went to Xiangyang in the south must pass through here.Therefore, the governor of Liangzhou in the Eastern Jin Dynasty must focus on appeasing the exile and win over the exile commander in order to use his force to strengthen the Eastern Jin Dynasty's control of Xiangyang.The deeds of the following people seen in the "Book of Jin" can illustrate this problem. Volume 58 "Zhou Fang Zhuan" is the governor of Liangzhou. "Since he is in Xiangyang, he is farming and training soldiers, and he is diligent in adopting them. If there are deficiencies in the guards, he will make up for them. Then he will make up for them.... If he is good at nurturing, the soldiers will die."

Volume 70 "Gan Zhuo Biography" is the governor of Liangzhou. Responsibility for taxation, no profit is collected, it is all given to the poor, and the western lands are called Huizheng." In Volume 71 of "Chen Kai's Biography", Tao Kan stated that he was the governor of Liangzhou. Volume 73 "Biography of Yu Yi", as the governor of Liangzhou, town Weixing, "generous and tolerant of the public".Yu Liang Shangshu said, "It's simple and beneficial to the imperial court. Although the state household is small, it depends on its lenient government."

Volume 73 "Biography of Yu Yi", Zhenxiangyang, "Sui came to the wild and far away, and it is appropriate to recruit as much as possible, set up a hotel, and set up guests to join the army." The most important figure in the management of Xiangyang in the early Eastern Jin Dynasty was Huan Xuan, who was originally entrusted by Tao Kan and then pushed out by Yu Liang and Yu Yi.Huan Xuanyuan was dispatched by Emperor Jin and Yuan to deal with the masters of Yuzhou and help his ancestors to patrol the Central Plains, which was very effective.Later, Su Jun united with his ancestors to rebel against Jin, but Huan Xuan refused to obey his ancestors' orders, and led his people to vote for Wen Qiao and Tao Kan, who took him as Jiang Xia's chancellor.In the seventh year of Xianhe (332), Huan Xuan and Li Yang, the governor of Jingling, recovered Xiangyang from Guo Jing, the general of Shile, and guarded Xiangyang for more than ten years until the first year of Jianyuan (343). .Huanxuan was a native of Peiguo, belonging to Yuzhou, in Huaibei.But Huan Xuan lived in Huainan for a long time, and most of his parts were from Huainan.Therefore, Tao Kan sent Huan Xuan to set up Yicheng County, which belongs to Yangzhou, based on the south of Huaihe Qu in Jingu County and Jun County in the northwest of Xiangyang.This is the same as the trilogy of Wei Gai and Yongzhou after the establishment of Shiping County by overseas Chinese. "Huan Propaganda" said that Xuan "recruited the first attachment of Huai, advised farming and mulberry, simplified punishment, and slightly dignified. Some of them were carried in Jinxuan, or they were obtained in Longmu. For more than ten years, Shi Jilong sent cavalry to attack them again. .Xuan was able to win the hearts of the people, but every time he defended himself with widowhood and weakness, the commentators thought it was inferior to Zu Ti and Zhou Fang." It is also said that "Xuan Jiu lived in Xiangyang, Suifu Overseas Chinese, and he was very successful." Although Huan Xuan did not live in Liang He is the governor of the state, but his performance is as good as that of the previous governors. He is the most influential and powerful figure in Xiangyang. The Yu brothers threatened the Northern Expedition in Jingzhou, with the intention of Huanxuan.Yu Liang took Huanxuan as Sizhou, Yu Yi ordered Huanxuan to go north to Danshui, and both Liang and Yi himself tried to get close to or occupy Xiangyang. Their purpose of driving Huanxuan away was clear at a glance. "Book of Jin" Volume 75 "Fan Wang Biography", Wang was Yu Liang's assistant official for more than ten years, and treated him with respect. When Yu Yi entered Xiangyang, Fan Wang dissuaded him, saying that "after Yi arrived in [Xiangyang], Huan Xuan should go out. Xuan to Actually clear the forest of jackals and wolves, recruit two people, treat them leniently, and resist them with impossibility. Fields are reclaimed, production begins to be established, and when they are moved, there must be regrets, regrets are unpredictable." Here, "Huan Xuan Phrases such as "When to come out" and "And when to move it" are revealing the heart of the Yu brothers.However, Fan Wang failed to change Yu Yi's original intention.After that, Huan Xuan was demoted after his army was defeated, and moved to Mount Xian, east of Xiangyang.Yu Yi took the eldest son Yu Fangzhi as righteousness to become the prefect, and annexed Huanxuan trilogy.The Yu brothers forced Huanxuan to compete openly and secretly, and ended with Yu's complete victory. Why did the Yu brothers plan so hard to eliminate Huan Xuan who was resisting Hu Jie's forces?On the one hand, Xiangyang, where Huanxuan was located, and its strategic position made the Yu family in Jingzhou deeply fearful; Xiangyang and all of Liangzhou relied on "Jingxiang Millet" as their military strength, which was roughly the case in the Eastern Jin and Southern Dynasties.But in terms of military, it is located in the upper reaches of Jingzhou, flowing down the Han River, enough to threaten Xiakou and Wuchang, and the land road goes south, and can point to Jiangling, so it has a great geographical advantage over Jingzhou.The center of gravity of the Yu family's influence is in Jingzhou. If you live in Liangzhou with your cronies, Jingzhou will be protected;According to "Zhou Fang Zhuan", Fang was the governor of Liangzhou and was stationed in Xiangyang. "I heard that [Wang] Dun had a heart of disobedience, so Wang Heng gnashed his teeth. Although Dun had treacherous plans, he never dared to do anything wrong in the final visit." According to "Gan Zhuo Biography", after Wang Dun raised his troops, Gan Zhuolu, the governor of Liangzhou, called out to criticize, "Wuchang was shocked, and Zhuo's army arrived, and everyone ran away." It was only because of Gan Zhuo's hesitation that he left the army Zhukou (now Hubei) Mianyang state), after a long period of time, Wang Dun was able to turn the crisis into safety.The Yu family, with Jingzhou as its center of gravity, was deeply sensitive to these recent historical lessons that Jingzhou was subject to Liangzhou militarily. Huan Xuan's experience is very different from that of the gentry.He has been on the battlefield for a long time, led his own trilogy, and was regarded as a frontier general by the people at that time.He was determined to resist the Hu and did not seek power, so he was used by various forces in the Eastern Jin Dynasty and had no one to rely on.In order to win the trust of others, he even had to use his own son Huan Rong as his hostage.Huan Xuan wanted to remonstrate with his ancestors not to respond to Su Jun's rebellion, so he "sent his son Rong Baiyue to seek entry"; Wen Qiao said that "Qiao used Rong as a soldier to join the army", but he actually kept it as a hostage; Huan Xuan lived in Wuchang, and successively took Huan Rong as Guo Mo and Liu Yin to join the army; That is to say, the king of Yuzhou Xicao (掾掾) all greeted Tao Kan", and Kan made Rong as Ji, and Xuan was the prefect of Wuchang.Huan Xuan's bumpy experience and unstable status made it rare for him to be trusted by others.When Zu Huan attacked Huanxuan, "[Mao] Baozhong regarded Xuanben as an appointment with the party" ("Mao Baozhuan"); when Tao Kan challenged Guo Mo, he said that "everyone doubts Xuan and agrees with Mo" ("Huan Propaganda").All these things made Yu Liang regard Huan Xuan as an alien, and he wanted to expel him and then feel at ease.In Liangzhou, "people have been brave since the Jin Dynasty", the Yu family expelled Huanxuan, and asked another brave person to use Liangzhou for his own use, which is killing two birds with one stone.Yu's plan succeeded, Huan Xuan died in anger, and all the scholars belonged to Yu.The Yu family acquired Xiangyang, and its position in Jing and Jiang was even more consolidated. The relationship between the Yu clan and Huanxuan was almost exactly the same as that between the downstream gentry and the vagrant marshals, and Huan Xuan could not avoid the same fate as the downstream vassal commanders who were controlled by the gentry.This is a problem that has repeatedly appeared in the clan politics of the Eastern Jin Dynasty.In the eyes of the powerful and noble figures, the refugees are available, but the refugee generals are not; and the powerful and noble figures are neither willing nor able to replace the refugee commanders, organize and lead the refugees for their own use.The nobles had to use refugees as their military force, and they had to rely on people they believed to be reliable. This was not an easy thing to do.Before that, Xi Jian succeeded in quelling the Wangdun Rebellion with the refugee commander, but it finally led to the Su Jun Rebellion; The ending of Beifu replacing Liu Yu in the Jin Dynasty.From a certain level, the political situation of the Eastern Jin Dynasty was based on the unity and struggle between the nobles in power and the exile commanders with soldiers as their important content.The basis of the alliance is to resist Hu, and the purpose of the struggle is to seize the ruling power of Jiangzuo.In this case, the upstream and downstream are almost the same. About the same time that Yu Yi expelled Huanxuan and entered Xiangyang, Yu Bing left the capital and squeezed out Chu Po, who lived in Jiangzhou, and claimed to be the governor of the six prefectures and the governor of Jiangzhou.As a result, Yu's power swept the upper reaches, connecting Liang, Jing, Jiang, Yu, Xuancheng of Yangzhou and Jiangxi four counties into one.This is the culmination of the development of Yingchuan Yu's power.It was only because Jingkou was on the side of the imperial court, and Yu Bing and Yu Yi died one after another, that the serious and tense situation eased down. Yu Liang was in the capital for more than ten years in the early days, and his words and deeds were similar to those of Wang Dao.From Yu Liang's leaving the capital to Yu Bing's leaving the capital, it took more than ten years. During this time, the Yu family experienced three major events: 1. External control and internal control, restricting Wang Dao, and remote control of the court; 2. Fierce competition with Wang Yunzhi for Jiangzhou; Third, drive Huanxuan, annex Huanxuan trilogy, and acquire Xiangyang.From an objective point of view, it is the Yingchuan Yu clan who cooperated with the Langya Wang clan to consolidate the family politics pioneered by the Langya Wang clan; It was the Yu clan of Yingchuan; it was also the Yu clan of Yingchuan who made Jiang, Jing, and Liang firmly united as one, and acquired Xiangyang to consolidate Jingzhou and create conditions for the rise of Huanwen.However, the replacement of the Wang family by the Yu family did not change the political structure of the clan, but just replaced "the king and the horse share the world" with Yu and the horse.The basic nature of clan politics is that it depends on each other.The Yu family of Yingchuan lived between the Wang family of Langye and the Huan family of Qiaoguo, and played the role of inheriting the past and opening up the future. The accumulation of Yingchuan Yu's power was a long process, but its decline happened very quickly, and the status of the family after that could not be compared with King Qi and Xie, but "after the rebirth, only Sanyang remained ".Yu Liang started from his relatives and was promoted to the family without meritorious service, and his handling was perverted, which is very different from the history of Wang and Xie's family.It is understandable that the Yu family cannot compare with King Qi and Xie.