Chapter 55 Chapter Fifty-fourth Emperor Xiaowu Sima Yao

Sima Yu, king of Kuaiji in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, finally had a son after being extinct for many years.When this son was born, it was just the dawn of the East, so Sima Yu named him Yao, and the word Changming. Sima Yu was the emperor for 9 months, and before his death, he made the 11-year-old Sima Yao the crown prince.The crown prince did not shed a single tear before his father's funeral, and people around him reminded him that he should cry a lot to express his grief according to the usual etiquette.But he replied: "I cry when I am sad, how often does it happen!" Da Sima Huanwen, who had a heavy army, was stationed in Gushu (now Dangtu, Anhui).Whether to ask Huan Wen for instructions first, and then let Sima Yao succeed the emperor, the ministers have different opinions on this.Some advocated: "You should be punished by the great Sima." But Wang Biaozhi said: "The emperor died, and the crown prince should succeed. There is no reason to ask his subordinates for instructions." In this way, Sima Yao took the throne smoothly and immediately.

Huan Wen had originally hoped that Sima Yu would be the emperor on his deathbed; at least he would be the acting emperor like Duke Zhou.But Sima Yu's edict asked him to follow Zhuge Liang and Wang Dao as examples to assist Sima Yao, so he was naturally very annoyed.He concluded that Minister Xie An and others were obstructing it, and he gritted his teeth with hatred. In February of the first year of Ningkang (373 A.D.), Huan Wen rushed to the capital Jiankang (now Nanjing, Jiangsu) with a murderous look. Xie An and Wang Tanzhi led the officials of the Manchu Dynasty to greet him.At this time, people were panicking. It was said that Huan Wen wanted to kill the king and Xie, destroy the Eastern Jin Dynasty, and change the dynasty.

Unexpectedly, not long after Huan Wen arrived in Jiankang, he suddenly fell ill, and then his illness became more and more serious.Huan Wen suggested several times that the court would add Jiuxi to him, and sent people to urge him many times.Yuan Hong, Huan Wen's confidant, drafted the imperial edict to add Jiuxi. The draft was sent to Xie An for approval.This dragged on until July, when the power minister died, and the crisis of Sima Yao being deposed was finally over. Xie An, who showed superhuman courage in dealing with Huan Wen, has since become the mainstay of the court.In the first year of Taiyuan (376 A.D.), 14-year-old Sima Yao was in charge and appointed Xie An as Zhongshu Ling and Lushang Shushi;In this way, Xie An took over the military and political power of the Eastern Jin Dynasty.

At this time, the former Qin established by the Di people in the north became increasingly powerful and often harassed the northern border of the Eastern Jin Dynasty.Sima Yao issued an edict to seek good generals.Xie An's nephew Xie Xuan was recruited.Xie Xuan recruited soldiers in the Jingkou area known as "Beifu" at that time, organized a new army, and got Liu Laozhi and other strong generals.Liu Laozhi led the elite troops as the vanguard, winning every battle.This new army is known as the "Beifu soldiers". In August of the eighth year of Taiyuan (383 A.D.), Fu Jian, the former king of Qin, took Fu Rong as the forward and personally led 270,000 cavalry and 600,000 infantry to attack Jin in the south.This so-called million-strong army faced each other with banners and drums for thousands of miles, and it had the potential to smash the Eastern Jin Dynasty into powder.Sima Yao and Xie An sent Xie Shi as the governor of the conquest, and Xie Xuan as the governor of the vanguard, commanding 80,000 troops to resist.

In October, the forwards of the Qin Army arrived in Shouyang (now Shouxian County, Anhui Province) and confronted the Eastern Jin forwards who came to resist across Feishui.Xie Shi and Xie Xuan analyzed the situation and believed that if millions of Qin troops arrived, it would be difficult to be an enemy.We should take advantage of the time when the various armies are not assembled, and attack quickly; as long as this vanguard army is defeated, the entire Qin army will collapse. Xie Xuan sent an envoy to Fu Rong and said: "You have come from afar to facilitate quick battles, but you have approached the water to set up camp. This is a protracted battle, not a quick battle. Please retreat your camp and stand by the water. Set aside an open space as a battlefield, let our Jin army cross the Feishui River, and have a decisive battle with you." Fu Jian planned to retreat the former Qin army, and send cavalry to charge while the Eastern Jin army was crossing the river. Yes, Fu Rong also thinks this is a good idea.So he ordered to retreat, who knows that this withdrawal caused the Qin army to be in chaos immediately, Xie Xuan took the opportunity to lead the Jin army to cross the Fei River and attack the shore.Fu Rong came to the front of the formation and wanted to hold the position, but his mount was knocked down by the rebels, and he himself was killed by the attacking Jin soldiers.Qin Jun lost his coach and was defeated across the board.The Jin army took advantage of the victory to pursue and kill, the Qin army trampled on each other, and the corpses covered the wild Saichuan.

The other armies of the former Qin Dynasty, when they heard that the vanguard was defeated, they all turned around and fled. Hearing the turmoil, they also suspected that the chasing Jin army was coming, and fled day and night.The nobles of various ethnic groups attached to the former Qin Dynasty also defected one after another, so the Qin army lost seven or eight tenths. The Battle of Feishui was won, and Sima Yao escaped another crisis of subjugation. Sima Yao's younger brother, Sima Daozi, was granted the title of King of Langya when he was 9 years old, with more than 7,600 households in the city.In September of the eighth year of Taiyuan (383 A.D.), when the former Qin Nan invaded, the 20-year-old Sima Daozi was entrusted with the important task of recording ministers and was able to intervene in the government.After the Battle of Feishui, he began to sway Xie An.

Xie An's son-in-law Wang Guobao has a bad character.Xie An hated his behavior, did not value him, and let him be a less important Shang Shulang.Wang Guobao thought that a son like him, who was born in the famous Langya Wang family, had always been a dignified official, so he held a grudge against Xie An.Wang Guobao's younger sister is Sima Daozi's concubine.Wang Guobao often said bad things about Xie An in front of Sima Daozi, and Sima Daozi used these bad words as shells to attack Xie An in front of Sima Yao.Xie An made great contributions in the battle of Feishui, and those shameless people who were jealous of him also tried their best to corrupt him.Sima Yao let go of the slander, and his trust in Xie An was not as good as before.

In the tenth year of Taiyuan (385 A.D.), Xie An was pushed out of Jiankang and left the town of Guangling (now Yangzhou, Jiangsu) to live a leisurely life.In September, Xie An died of illness, and the Eastern Jin Dynasty lost its last pillar.Sima Daozi led the governor of Yangzhou, recorded the affairs of the minister, and supervised all Chinese and foreign military forces, and took full control of the military and political power.Sima Daozi turned his attention to the inside and outside, rushing near and far, Sima Yao became more and more dissatisfied, and the two brothers began to quarrel.

Sima Daozi indulged in extravagance, Zhao Ya and Gu Qianqiu, one of his confidantes, used to be an opera singer, and the other was a small official who caught thieves, and they both became high officials by flattery and bribery.Zhao Ya built a mansion for Sima Daozi, with mountains and ponds built inside, and the cost was huge.Gu Qianqiu sold his official position to recruit power, and was exposed.Sima Yao became more and more disgusted with his younger brother's behavior, but because of his brotherhood, he couldn't make up his mind to dethrone him.Therefore, he selected a group of well-known and trusted ministers, such as Wang Gong, Xi Hui, Yin Zhongkan, Wang Xun and Wang Ya, etc., and entrusted them with local officials to prevent Sima Daozi's influence.Sima Daozi also cited Wang Guobao and his younger brother Wang Xu as his confidantes.In this way, two gangs of opposing forces formed within the court.

The two beauties that Sima Yao loved at first were thrown into the cold palace because they fell out of favor. In the later period, his favorite was Zhang Guiren.One day in September in the 21st year of Taiyuan (396 A.D.), he and Zhang Guiren drank in the harem, accompanied by prostitutes.Zhang Guiren is nearly 30 years old, Sima Yao was drunk, and joked with her: "You have reached the age of falling out of favor, and I am looking for younger and more beautiful ones." Zhang Meiren thought of the fate of the first two beauties, and took the joke seriously. Grudge.In the evening, a drunk Sima Yao slept soundly in Qingshu Palace.Zhang Guiren drunk the eunuchs, big and small, and sent them to rest.Then, she asked the maid to cover Sima Yao's head with a thick quilt, suffocating him to death.She also bribed the left and right people with a lot of money, saying that she "collapsed suddenly because of the nightmare".At that time, the crown prince Sima Dezong was young and ignorant, and the authoritarian Sima Daozi was ignorant and ruthless. No one asked about this matter of regicide and treason, and they muddled through it.

Sima Yao was 35 years old when he died.In November of the twenty-first year of Taiyuan, he was buried in Longping Mausoleum.The temple name is "Emperor Xiaowu".