Chapter 56 Chapter Fifty-fifth: Emperor Sima Dezong

Sima Yi, the founder of the Jin Dynasty, is famous for his strategy. His descendants have two idiots, one is Sima Zhong, Emperor Hui of the Western Jin Dynasty, and the other is Sima Dezong, Emperor Andi of the Eastern Jin Dynasty. Sima Dezong couldn't speak, and he didn't even know the cold and heat.It is such an idiot who has been emperor for 22 years!He ascended the throne in the 21st year of Taiyuan (AD 396) and was 15 years old when he became emperor. When Sima Yao was alive, Sima Daozi was in power, and it was the same after Sima Dezong succeeded to the throne.Then, after some battles between the powerful courtiers, Sima Dezong, the puppet, was transferred from the hands of Sima Daozi and his son to Huan Xuan, the son of Huan Wen.

When Huan Xuan first entered Jiankang, the new official took office three times, pretending to depose traitors and promote talents, and the residents of the capital felt a little more secure.But he is extravagant and indulgent, and his government orders are impermanent.There was a great famine in the Sanwu area, and the household registration was halved, and some counties were even desolate; rich people often wore silk, held gold and jade, and their families starved to death.Even the emperor Sima Dezong often suffered from cold and starvation.But Huan Xuan ignored all of this. At this time, Huan Xuan was stepping up his steps to assume the throne, forcing Sima Dezong to take the throne.In November of the second year of Yuanxing (AD 403), Sima Dezong was supported by Bian Fanzhi, Huanxuan's cronies, and wrote the edict of Zen.He was brought to the main hall again, and Situ Wangmi took out the jade seal and announced the throne of Zen.Afterwards, he was placed in Xunyang and named King of Gu'an.In the twelfth month, Huan Xuan became emperor, and his country was named Chu.

"Heroes come out of troubled times", when Huan Xuan proclaimed himself emperor, Liu Yu, another politically ambitious person, also stood up.In the name of discussing Huan and restoring the Jin Dynasty, he fought for political capital.In April of the third year of Yuanxing (AD 404), Liu Yu and others were in Jingkou, and Liu Yi raised troops in Guangling (now Yangzhou, Jiangsu) on the same day, with great momentum.The guilty Huan Xuan hurriedly hijacked Sima Dezong and the royal family of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, and fled west along the Yangtze River to Jiangling.Liu Yu's army quickly entered Jiankang.

Liu Yi, He Wuji and others who joined forces with Liu Yu led their troops to chase westward, and fought two major battles with Huan Xuan at Sangluozhou (now in Jiujiang, Jiangxi) and Zhengrongzhou (now in Wuhan, Hubei). The army was defeated.Liu Yi and He Wuji's soldiers pointed westward, aiming to defeat them.Seeing that the general situation was over, Huan Xuan threw Sima Dezong in Jiangling and fled to Sichuan, where he was killed on the way.The Chu he established then perished. In March of the first year of Yixi (AD 405), Sima Dezong arrived in Jiankang under the escort of He Wuji. The emperor who had been deposed for a year and four months was restored to the throne.Liu Yu took the military and political power of the Eastern Jin Dynasty as the governor of Chinese and foreign military forces.

Liu Yu, who has practical talents, gradually eliminated the hostile forces such as Liu Yi and Zhuge Changmin in the court, and suppressed the domestic peasant uprising led by Lu Xun; , Extending the territory of the Eastern Jin Dynasty to the south bank of the Yellow River.After more than 10 years of hard work, Liu Yu feels that his wings are full and the time is ripe for a change of dynasty. At that time, there was a prophecy: "After Changming, there will be two emperors." Changming is Sima Yao's word.After Sima Yao, after two more emperors, the Eastern Jin Dynasty was over.In order to respond to this prophecy and let this day come as soon as possible, Liu Yu sent his confidant Wang Shaozhi to hang Sima Dezong in Dongtang.It was December in the 14th year of Yixi (AD 418).

Sima Dezong was 37 years old when he was hanged to death.Posthumously titled "Emperor Jin'an", he was buried in Xiuping Mausoleum.