Chapter 46 Chapter 45: Emperor Min Sima Ye

In June of the fifth year of Yongjia (311 A.D.), Liu Cong, the emperor of the Han Dynasty established by the Huns, sent troops to attack Luoyang and captured Emperor Huai of Jin to Pingyang.Some civil and military ministers of the Jin Dynasty, either out of loyalty or ambition, successively launched a member of the royal family as a signboard to develop their power.Among them, only Xun Fan succeeded in Mi County (now Mi County, Henan Province). Xun Fan initially chose Langxie King Sima Rui as the leader, but Sima Rui was busy managing Jiangnan and was not interested in cleaning up the mess in the north, so Xun Fan had to look for other members of the royal family.At this time, Qin Wang Sima Ye fled from Luoyang and arrived in Mi County. Xun Fan was overjoyed to see this 12-year-old nephew, and immediately enshrined him, and then moved to Xuchang.

At this time, western China was also experiencing a catastrophe.After Liu Yao conquered Luoyang, he immediately marched westward and captured Chang'an in September of the fifth year of Yongjia (311 A.D.) and killed Sima Mo, the king of Jinnanyang who was guarding Chang'an.The war and natural disasters caused an unprecedented famine in Guanzhong. There were bones everywhere, and only one or two out of 100 people survived.The people suffered disaster, but Liu Yao was blessed. He was appointed General of Chariots and Riders by Liu Cong, the Lord of the Han Dynasty, and shepherd of Yongzhou, guarding Chang'an.

However, Liu Yao's life was not easy, because the subjects of the Jin Dynasty did not stop resisting.After Nanyang Wang Simamo was killed, his subordinate Feng Yu, prefect Suolin, and others led 50,000 troops to Chang'an. Yongzhou governor Qute, Xinping prefect Zhu Hui, and Fufeng prefect Liang Zong immediately led 100,000 troops to join him. After a hundred battles, Liu Yao was defeated, and his momentum was greatly boosted, and the Han and minority people in all parts of Guanzhong responded one after another. At this time, Yan Ding, the general Xun Fan relied on, heard that the situation in Guanzhong was very good, so he decided to take Sima Ye into the pass, occupy Chang'an, and order the Quartet.Xun Fan and the others were all from Shandong, and they didn't want to go west, but their arms couldn't twist their thighs, and they couldn't stop Yan Ding, so they deserted on the road.Yan Ding and others established Sima Ye as the crown prince in Chang'an, in charge of all government affairs, and actually exercised the power of prime minister.In April of the seventh year of Yongjia (313 A.D.), the news that Emperor Huai of Jin Dynasty Sima Chi was poisoned by Liu Cong in Pingyang spread to Chang'an.

Emperor Min Sima Ye, styled Yanqi, was born in the first year of Yongkang (AD 300). He was the grandson of Emperor Wu of Jin. At the age of 9, he was appointed as a regular servant of Sanqi and general of Fujun. At the age of 13, he was established as the crown prince. When he became emperor, he was only 14 years old. At that time, Chang'an City had just gone through a catastrophe. Like a forest, there are only 4 government and private vehicles combined. The officials of the court have neither official seals nor court uniforms.The little emperor doesn't care about the affairs, and the military and state affairs are all in charge of by General Wei and Captain Suo Lin.In order to reverse the situation that Chang'an was threatened by ethnic minority forces, the little emperor issued several edicts, making Nanyang King Sima Bao the right prime minister and supervising the military forces in Shaanxi, and Langya king Sima Rui as the left prime minister and supervising the eastern Shaanxi military forces. The local officials and the left and right prime ministers of the two prefectures commanded elite troops to attack Pingyang, Luoyang and guard Chang'an respectively.However, the imperial edict is like a piece of waste paper.Sima Rui refused to send troops on the grounds that he had just pacified Jiangnan and had no time for the Northern Expedition.As for the other places, they also support their own self-respect, and no one is willing to sacrifice their lives for the last emperor.

In August of the fourth year of Jianxing (316 AD), Liu Yao besieged Chang'an again.Only a few leaders from the nearby counties came to rescue them, and they were stationed in Bashang. Seeing that Liu Yao's soldiers were so powerful, they dared not continue to approach.Sima Bao, the right prime minister in charge of Chang'an and the military to the west, also sent Hu Song to lead troops from the western counties to help, and defeated Liu Yao's soldiers at Lingtai, 40 miles west of Chang'an City. Weibei, unwilling to enter again.Liu Yao saw that all the Jin troops were waiting and watching, so he attacked the city with all his strength, and immediately captured the outer city, and Emperor Min retreated to the small city.At this time, there was neither food nor soldiers in the city, and a bucket of rice was sold for two taels of gold. Most people either starved to death or fled.Only a few thousand Liangzhou soldiers are still doing their duty unwaveringly.Later, Emperor Min also ran out of food, so Yan Ding searched all over the imperial warehouses, and finally found dozens of pieces of wine koji, and asked someone to grind it into powder and make porridge soup for the emperor to satisfy his hunger.Before long, even this was eaten up.It was already November at this time, and it was the middle of winter, it was freezing cold and starving, so naturally it was not a pleasant experience.Emperor Min couldn't take it anymore, and cried and said: "It's the end of the road now, and there is no rescuer, so let's surrender." After sending someone to contact Liu Yao, Emperor Min was on November 11 amidst the crying of the officials, Go out of the East Gate of Chang'an and surrender to Liu Yao.The Western Jin Dynasty came to an end.

Emperor Min Sima Ye was sent to Pingyang, the capital of the Han Dynasty, where Liu Cong, the Lord of the Han Dynasty, named him Doctor Guanglu and Marquis of Huai'an.From then on, the king of subjugation began his life of humiliation.When Liu Cong went hunting, he had to put on military uniform and clear the way with a halberd.People along the way who knew him often pointed to him and said, "This is the former emperor in Chang'an!" So people gathered around to watch the last emperor.Liu Cong had a banquet for the officials in Guangji Hall, so he had to pour wine and clean the wine utensils.When Liu Cong went to the toilet, he had to hold the lid of the toilet.Whenever seeing such a scene, the old ministers of the Jin Dynasty could only cry beside him, not daring to cry out loud.Once, Shang Shulang Xin Bin was so indignant that he stood up and hugged Sima Ye and cried loudly, but was killed by Liu Cong immediately.Although Sima Ye swallowed his anger and tried to survive, Liu Cong still couldn't keep him alive.In December of the first year of Jianwu in the Eastern Jin Dynasty (AD 317), the last emperor, like his predecessor, was poisoned to death in Pingyang at the age of 18.