Chapter 13 Tragedy in a Long Division

Sima Yan, Emperor Wu of Jin, died in 290 AD.He was the first emperor of the Jin Dynasty. 25 years ago, he ordered Cao Huan, the Lord of Wei, to surrender to him, just like in 220 when Cao Pi forced Han Xiandi to say: "Lead me to Tang Dian, and I respect you." The logic is logical. The virtuous rule the world, and Tang Yao, Yu and Shun all acted in a regular manner based on this "already exists".In fact, Cao Pi is stronger than Han Xiandi, and Sima Yan is stronger than 15-year-old Cao Huan.But what these usurpers didn't see was that they themselves were power ministers holding military amulets in their hands, and of course their voices shook Chaoyu.But as soon as he became the descendant of the emperor, he became a puppet in the palace.The emperor was originally the head of the civil official group. He ruled the officials with the mandate of heaven, and he spoke as an imperial decree.If done well, after his instructions, unreasonable things will be recognized as reasonable, and those who have been unfairly dealt with can only complain about their fate, but still sing the praises of "the emperor's grace".Because of the inaccurate statistics of lower-level agencies, the situation of administrative violations can also be covered up.It's just that from the end of the 3rd century to the beginning of the 4th century, China had many major problems that had not been resolved, and it could no longer be concealed.The imperial decrees of the emperor are rarely counted seriously.What's more, it is inevitable that it will be isolated from the outside world, and all powerful officials will be abolished, and they will not be able to do anything.

However, Sima Yan has been in power for 25 years, and it seems that he has broken through this environment.In 280 A.D., "Wang Junlou's boat went down to Yizhou, and Jinling's royal spirit was sadly collected." This ended the situation where the three kingdoms stood together in the past and severely damaged the unification of the world.In addition, in 277 A.D., he enfeoffed the sons and nephews of the clan as princes, county princes, county marquises, and county kings.In addition to the 39 counties in the country, there are another 21 "countries", which are located in today's Shandong, Shanxi, Hebei, Henan, and Liaoning to defend the capital. At the same time, some princes participate in the government, so they will not be slaughtered by powerful officials.

The successor in 290 was Emperor Hui Sima Zhong.His most famous deed in history is that his ministers reported to him that the people were starving to death, and he asked back: "Why don't you eat minced meat?" We heard that during the French Revolution, Queen Arie Antoinette told them to eat when she heard that the people had no bread to eat. The story of the pastry, for such rumors, cannot be taken seriously.It's just that Sima Zhong was cowardly and incompetent when the throne of the Jin Dynasty was extremely difficult, so it must be true.Otherwise, such a rumor would not have been compiled and assigned to him, and it would have been recorded in the history.

During the French Revolution, the empress was known lightly for her beauty, while Sima Zhong's Empress Jia was famous for her ugliness.She is said to be short and dark.In fact, this has nothing to do with future events. It is just that when there are many internal and external incidents, historical records do not focus on the key points, and adding these details that are not relevant to the overall situation makes it easier to infiltrate biased information. It is said that Empress Jia lacked maternal education, did not abide by women's morals, acted in abusive manner, and conflicted with Empress Dowager Yang because of her interference in politics.Yang Jun, the father of the Empress Dowager, was "Taifu, chief governor, fake Huang Yue, recorded government affairs, and all officials listened to him."So Empress Jia also organized a group close to herself.Because her father Jia Chong is also a powerful minister.She not only brought her clan brothers over from her uncle, but also won over some of the princes of the Sima family of the royal family, such as Runan King Sima Liang, who was once named a "grandmaster" by Sima Yan and had the prestige to lead the clan's children.And because they contacted some celebrities in the court, the so-called "Twenty-Four Friends" bureaucratic group.The focus of this power struggle has never been clearly stated in the traditional historical materials. We read the "Book of Jin" Emperor Ji, Biographies, Shihuo Zhi, and Zhiguan Zhi, and felt that the Jin Dynasty was not a regular dynasty. Emperor Wu and Emperor Hui At the turn of the century, just now, with the posture of a military government, an attempt was made to establish a civil administration system, but the organization failed, and it became a mere armpit.For example, in Liu Yi's biography, it is said that Liu compared Emperor Wu Sima Yan to Huan Ling of Han Dynasty.He said: "Huan Ling sells his officials, and the money goes to the official treasury; Your Majesty sells his officials, and the money goes to private houses." It can be seen that Jin's finances have never been on track, otherwise the founding king, who is his home everywhere, would not sell his officials and become nobles.In addition, Emperor Wu mentioned "Jia Chong is fierce and erect" and "Yang Jun is a jackal". It can also be seen that his court did not set up officials and positions to manipulate, and the powerful officials were still watching eagles. Only from the palace.Our general concept is that the Jin Dynasty has established a "feudal system", and now it seems that half of it is written on paper.Commenting on the original design, Liu Songchuan said: "The law is the same as counties and counties, and there is no system for forming a country." The Zhiguan Zhi pointed out that in 277 AD when the kingdom of the kings was ordered (that is, to take office in the designated territory), it said: "And all the princes I fell in love with the capital, and wept and left.” Geographical Records contradicted it by saying: “The country where the king is not, the official is in the capital.” At this time, a major event that the imperial court wanted to do was the so-called "Occupation of Land Law". The cultivated land tenants owned by scholars and common people are restricted according to their grades, that is, the real estate of princes and princes near the capital is also the same.There is no sign of all these regulations being implemented, but in this season of uncertainty during the initial period, any changes in the court will make many people feel uneasy.Not only the property and reputation are affected, but also the custom of the day, if the political struggle fails, they will be sentenced to extremely heinous crimes, and their property and life are in danger.

In the conflict in 291 AD, Empress Jia won.Yang Jun was condemned for rebellion, died in the stable, and the queen mother was deposed.But in a short while, he later clashed with King Runan, and ordered Sima Wei, king of Chu, to kill him, and only then did he remove one of the eight kings.Furthermore, the king of Chu was punished for the crime of coercion, and the queen mother was also killed.Nearly ten years later, in 300 A.D., Empress Jia killed the prince, Zhao Wanglun rebelled, punished the empress, and abolished Sima Zhong and proclaimed himself emperor.At this point, Huainan Wang Yun begged Zhao Wanglun to die.This led to joint military operations by King Tong of Qi, Wang Ying of Chengdu and Wang Yu of Hejian.Their restoration was successful, and King Zhao was granted death. In 302, Qi Wangtong appeared to be in power again, and Wang Yu of Hejian ordered Changsha Wangyi to kill him.Later, the war spread from Luoyang to Chang'an. Wang Ying of Chengdu hanged herself, Wang Yu of Hejian was killed by Wang Mo of Nanyang, Wang Yi of Changsha was killed by Wang Yue of the East China Sea, and Wang Yue of the East China Sea was killed by the beggar Shi Leshi.From Jia Hou's participation in politics to Emperor Hui's death in 306, 16 years before and after, the war spread to today's Shandong, Hebei, Henan, and Shaanxi. When the kings mobilized, there were 200,000 people and 70,000 people.Tens of thousands of people died in each battle, and its detailed history cannot be comprehensively described.The Five Hu and Sixteen Kingdoms began at this time. In 304, Liu Yuanchu of the Huns started his army from Sima Ying, king of Chengdu, and soon proclaimed himself King of Han.For a while, from him, "there was fifty thousand in the middle of the 20th century".By 311, Liu Yao, his son, was trapped in Luoyang, "has killed more than 30,000 princes and officials."

These historical sites can no longer be explained one-sidedly in a short period of time, nor can the whole process be summarized by the virtuous and foolish characters on the historical stage.Just like the "barbaric chiefs" of the Five Hu and Sixteen Kingdoms, such as Liu Yuan, "young and eager to learn, he was taught by Shangdang Cui You, learned Mao's poems, Jing's Yi, Ma's Shangshu, Wan Chunqiu Zuo's biography, Sun Wu's art of war, slightly Everyone recites it, and all the scholars of history and Han Dynasty have a comprehensive overview."Liu Yao is "good at writing, but works in grass".Taixue and primary schools were also set up, "choosing sages from the court to study the Confucian classics and teach them."Shi ordered his subordinates to "Dian Hu people go out, pay attention to their prohibition laws, and not insult the Yi-dressed Chinese".Shi Jilong "admired Confucian classics very much, and sent a doctor of Guozi to Luoyang to write stone classics".Murong Guang said that "the poor have no assets and cannot survive on their own, and each will be given a cow for herding".Fu Jian "started the Mingtang" and "plowed the fields personally, and his wife Gou's family handled silkworms in the suburbs." He also "discovered that his princes and princes had descended, and the powerful and wealthy families had 30,000 children and slaves. The canals are led to the dungeons to irrigate the fields of ridges and brines, and they are formed in spring, and the people rely on them for their benefits."Moreover, when they discuss the national economy and the people's livelihood, they always use the epic books as footnotes. Even if they are all embellished by civil servants, they can't be regarded as "chaotic China".

From a long-term perspective, the great empire of the Qin and Han Dynasties (which can also be called the "First Empire" from a historical point of view) could no longer be reorganized and revised after 220 AD, and could only be rebuilt from scratch.The problem lies not only in the high-level institutions of the imperial court, but also in the low-level institutions of the people.The rural economy formed on the basis of small-scale farming in the past is suitable for the rule of the bureaucracy, because each other is simple and similar, and it will not be abnormal and complicated.As soon as the humanities progress, the bureaucrats in the counties and counties are at a loss, and they don't know how to respect property rights to maintain social order, or to restrain the powerful outside the law in the name of morality.The most important problem after the merger of real estate is not the so-called "exploitation", but the generation of "refugees", let alone relief in case of famine.Therefore, when Cao Cao pacified Hebei, he also "emphasized the method of annexation by powerful and powerful", and reiterated that "those who have a state and a family will not suffer from poverty but inequality, and do not suffer from poverty but anxiety."It’s just that the Central Plains was in a state of turmoil at this time, and it was impossible to restore the original state. Cao Cao, Liu Bei, and Sun Jian, the founders of the Three Kingdoms of Wei, Shu, and Wu, all started by recruiting troops in the Huaisi Xiapi area of ​​​​Yangzhou, that is, on the edge of the Central Plains, which has not been damaged by the famine. Absorb the excess population and throw it into battle, which makes the Ministry of Civil Affairs even more out of control. "Book of Jin" Shihuozhi said that "Yuan Shao's soldiers all gave jujubes, and Yuan Shu's soldiers gave them to Yingpu", which means that they can only pick mulberries from trees and mirage clams in the fields to feed their hunger.Even for a military leader with vision, the remedy is nothing more than "garrisoning the fields", that is, "going out to fight and farming", and it is not to mention restoring the civilian economy, so that the administration of officials and taxation are on track.During the period of the Three Kingdoms dispute, many family members of military leaders also entered and left with the army, which shows the great mobility of the country.When Liu Bei arrived in Dangyang, "although there are many people now, there are few people who are under the armor", which means that a large number of refugees have mixed into the ranks.Sima Yi said to Cao Cao: "Jingchu is easy to escape, easy to move and difficult to settle." He pointed out that the people in the central area are not easy to fix because they travel north and south.

This situation did not stop until the Jin Dynasty. It was like the hungry people in Kansai "moved to the valley" at the end of the 3rd century. They entered Shu from Hanzhong. "One of the troops commanded by Wang Yu of Hejian. At this time, Sima Yan, Emperor Wu of the Jin Dynasty, used Pei Xiu's original design to implement the "fifth-class feudal purpose", which still needs to be explained.The feudal system between the Shang and Zhou Dynasties in China, the Feudal System in the Middle Ages in Western Europe, and the "Bakufu" and "Daimyo" in Japan were not designed by the central government, and all subordinates were ordered to follow suit.Rather, the agricultural society in the lower-level organizations has gradually developed a balanced trend of self-sufficiency based on localities. It is also easy to do, and there is no reason to force it to be fixed in an extremely mobile society.As soon as the Jin Dynasty started feudalism, it transferred the kings around, gave them different titles, and assigned them additional military tasks.During the Rebellion of the Eight Kings, it was called "a million people with armor".Regardless of its fiction or reality, we can also imagine that its feudalism was not real, there were many refugees from various places, and the kings also met at the right time. As long as they gave excuses and organized them, they would not be afraid that there would be no people who participated in the fighting.

Let's look at the natural disasters during the Empress Jia Rebellion and the Eight Kings Rebellion: Empress Jia ruled in 291 AD. In 294, the Great Famine. In 295, Jingyang Yanyuqing Xu Dashui. In 296, there was a famine in Guanzhong, a severe epidemic, and floods in Jingyang and Yangzhou. In 297, there was a severe drought and epidemic in the two prefectures of Yong and Qin, and famine in Guanzhong. In 298, Jingyu became a flood in Yangji. In 301, there were twelve droughts and six locusts in the county. In 302, there were floods in the four prefectures of Yanyu, Xuji and Hebei. In 309, there was a severe drought across the country, and Jianghan, Heluo were exhausted (the last paragraph tends to be exaggerated).This kind of record is not unusual even in China, which is full of disasters.

As for the "Five Hus", "there are more than one million people in Guanzhong, half of which are occupied by Rong and Di", which began in the time of Ma Yuan, that is, the early Eastern Han Dynasty.On the other hand, the Xiongnu "had five groups of people, ranging from tens of thousands of households" to "according to the blockade, they were entrusted with softness and obedience".It is no wonder that they are not ready to invest in the turmoil. Therefore, judging from these signs, "Jia's family is jealous and has few children, ugly and short-skinned", which cannot really answer historical questions. It just reminds us that people at that time were constrained by their era, so they only made fuss about these details.Today we review the tragedy of the long-term division. In addition to broadening our horizons, we must create new theories in order to connect this period of history with the second largest empire in the Sui, Tang and Song Dynasties.