Chapter 32 Great internal strife at the time of the founding of the Eastern Jin Dynasty

In the first year of Emperor Yongchang of Jin and Yuan Dynasties (322), Wang Dun led his troops introverted and marched towards Jiankang in the name of punishing Liu Wei.Wang Dun's confidant Shen Chong immediately raised troops in Wu Xing to respond to Wang Dun.Traveling to Wuhu, Wang Dun went to the table again, denouncing Diao Xie, another confidant of Emperor Yuan. Emperor Jin and Yuan Lanbiao was furious.He thought he was in control of the overall situation, and immediately issued an edict: "Wang Dun's arrogance is born of petting, he dares to be rebellious, his words are rude, and he intends to imprison me. It can be tolerated, but it can't be tolerated! Today I personally lead the six armies to punish the rebellion!"

I am afraid that Sima Cheng, the king of Qiao, raised his troops in Xiangzhou to disturb the backyard, so Wang Dun sent someone to persuade the old prince. Sima Cheng was loyal to Emperor Yuan, and sighed: "I am dead! The land is desolate and the people are few, and the situation is lonely and helpless. How can I help you! If you die loyally, what can you ask for!" He refused Wang Dun.Seeing that King Qiao refused, Wang Dun sent his cousin Wei Yi, the captain of the Nanman School, to lead 20,000 elite troops to attack Changsha. Emperor Yuan hurriedly recruited Dai Yuan and Liu Wei back to the army and entered the capital of Jiankang.

Liu Kui was delighted to see Wang Dun raising his troops. He had just entered Jiankang, and in front of all civil and military officials, he was calm and boastful, expressing that he would destroy Wang Dun in one fell swoop.After meeting Emperor Yuan, he and Diao Xie persuaded Emperor Yuan to execute the entire Wang family. "The emperor forbids it, (Liu) Kui begins to feel fear." Wang Dun raised his troops happily.The most unlucky one was Director Wang who stayed in Jiankang City.You must know that rebellion and treason are at least a serious crime to punish the three clans.Dao Wang is Wang Dun's cousin, so it goes without saying that he feels anxious.Every day, this great celebrity brought Wang Sui, Wang Bin, Wang Kan and more than 20 members of the Wang clan who served in the imperial court to kneel outside the palace gate to wait for the crime.

On the one hand, Wang Dunxing's soldiers directly killed Jiankang, and on the other hand, Wang Daosu pleaded guilty. Emperor Sima Rui of Jin and Yuan really didn't know how to deal with it. The left servant of the Shangshu shot Zhou Ji into the palace to face the king, and the director Wang who knelt under the door begged loudly: "Boren (Zhou Ji character), I entrust you with the whole family!" Zhou Ji ignored Director Wang, "straight into it and ignored it". After entering the palace, Zhou Ji asked Emperor Sheng of the Yuan Dynasty to be loyal to the king and asked for protection.This Zhou Boren is really a rare good man in Chinese history. If he were replaced by another minister who was born as a scribe, he would be full of compassion for Director Wang, patted his chest and promised to rescue the "old colleague". After entering the palace, he would be 100% Bai volunteered to act as the vanguard of confiscating the family. It would be strange not to persuade the emperor to kill the nine Wang clans.

Zhou Ji, a famous scholar, likes to drink.After discussing the political affairs with Emperor Yuan, he drank heavily in the palace and came out drunk. Wang Dao and his party were still kneeling outside the door.Seeing Zhou Ji staggering out of the palace, he walked forward on his knees again, calling for help.Zhou Ji still ignored Director Wang, and drunkenly said to his followers: "This year, I will kill all the thieves and tie the Dou Dajin Seal behind my elbow!" After returning home, after sobering up from the wine, Zhou Ji went up to Emperor Yuan in person again, "Ming (Wang) Dao is innocent, and he said it to the point."

Director Wang was completely unaware of all of this, thinking that Zhou Ji would not save him, and hated him deeply. Under the persuasion of Zhou Yu and others, Emperor Yuan ordered someone to return Wang Dao's court clothes and summoned him in the palace.Director Wang knelt down and kowtowed his head, saying: "The rebellious ministers and thieves, there is no such thing in any generation, but now the ones are out of the minister's family!" Upon hearing this, Emperor Yuan stepped down from his seat, walked barefoot to Dao Wang, helped up the good old man, and expressed his absolute belief in Dao Wang's loyalty.

In April 322 A.D., Emperor Yuan issued an edict, with Wang Dao as the striker governor and Dai Yuan as the chariot general to challenge Wang Dun.At the same time, he also ordered General Zhou Zha (the younger brother of Zhou Qi, a great family in Wuzhong) to guard Jiankang Stone City, and Liu Wei to lead the army to guard Jincheng.Wearing armor, Emperor Yuan personally went out of the city to patrol the army, expressing his determination to come in person. Wang Dun's army came down the river from Wuhu and soon approached Stone City.Because he hated Liu Wei, Wang Dun wanted to attack Jincheng first.Du Tao, who was favored by Wang Dun, persuaded Du Hong, "There are many dead men under Liu Wei, and it is not easy to conquer in one fell swoop. It is better to attack Stone City first. Zhou Zha is mean and ungrateful. Soldiers are useless, and the attack is bound to fail. . Once Zhou Zha is defeated, Liu Kai's door is lost, and he will surely flee."

Shi Dun obeyed Du Hong's wishes and used him as a vanguard to storm Stone City.Zhou Zha was an old clan in the south of the Yangtze River, he was half-hearted towards Emperor Jin and Yuan, and he didn't do anything to resist, so he opened the city gate to welcome Du Hong's army into the city.So far, Wang Dun has occupied Jiankang's important military site Stone City. Hearing the news of the defeat, Emperor Yuan panicked and hurriedly ordered Diao Xie, Liu Kui, and Dai Yuan to join forces to attack Stone City, and ordered Wang Dao, Zhou Ji, Guo Yi and others to march together and fight together.

All of these people, most of them were civil servants, and their military strategy was not their specialty, and together they were not Wang Dun's opponents. "The soldiers were all defeated", and they fled in all directions. Liu Kui and Diao Xie rushed into the palace, knelt down in front of Emperor Yuan, and claimed death.Emperor Yuan also wept and sobbed, and persuaded the two to flee to avoid disaster.The two said: "The minister should guard his death, and dare not have any conflicts." The Emperor Yuan still sent people to deal with the two old officials and sent them to the Ma Pai to let them escape from the palace.Diao Xie was old and untrustworthy. As soon as he left the palace, everyone around him fled. The old man was soon beheaded and sent to Wang Dun for reward.Liu Kui had strong feet, rolled and crawled, and walked day and night. Finally, he ran to Shi Le's Hou Zhao for refuge, and was lucky to get a dog's life.

Logically speaking, Wang Dun was not a rebel.Diao Xie was executed and Liu Kui fled. He should enter the palace to face the king.But Wang Dun "supported soldiers and did not go to court, let soldiers plunder, and the palace and provinces scattered."Sima Ruizhen, the Emperor of Jin and Yuan, became a loner, with only General Anton Liu Chao on duty and two eunuchs standing by his side, waiting for the arrival of Wang Dun's soldiers. Emperor Yuan took off his military uniform, put on a court uniform, and sent someone to convey a message to Wang Dun: "If you don't forget your dynasty, the world can still be safe; if not, I will return to Langya to avoid the virtuous road." Originally, Emperor Yuan got the throne by luck. 70% to 80% are true.

Wang Dun didn't answer.In fact, this General Wang is also kind.At the beginning, he and his cousin Wang Dao devoted all their efforts to supporting Sima Rui, the Shuzong of the Jin family, as emperor.Now, taking advantage of the situation, Sima Rui could be imprisoned and killed, but Wang Dun didn't do anything. Seeing that Wang Dun ignored him, Emperor Yuan had nothing to do, so he had to order all the officials to go to Stone City to meet Wang Dun.From an emotional and psychological point of view, Emperor Yuan may not be very sad and angry. He relied on the support of the Wang family to become emperor. Wang Dunzhen abolished him, so he had nothing to say. Wang Dun and all his ministers had finished their ceremony and took the upper seat.First, he jokingly asked his defeated general Dai Yuan: "Is there any strength left in the battle the day before yesterday?" Dai Yuan said frankly: "How dare you have more than enough, but your strength is not enough!" Wang Dun asked again, "What do the world think of my actions?" "Those who see the shape are called rebellious, and those who are honest are called loyal." Dai Yuan was neither humble nor overbearing, and his words were sarcasm. Wang Dun also laughed: "You can be said to be a man who can speak." Dai Yuan is a powerful ancestor of several generations in Wu. "Great manners, leisurely sex, good ranger, casual".When Lu Ji, a great talent, took several boats of luggage to Luoyang, Dai Yuan and a group of buddies saw the money and went to rob it. "When Dai Yuan landed, according to Hu Chuang, he pointed out that he and his fellow travelers were all suitable."Lu Ji saw Dai Yuan on the boat and knew that Dai Yuan was very human, so he shouted: "Qing is so talented, how could you do such a robbery!"After Sima Rui arrived in Jiangdong, Dai Yuan kept seeing his cronies. After pondering for a while, Wang Dun complained to Zhou Yu again: "Bo Ren, you have betrayed me!" Zhou Yu still didn't care, "The army's chariot went smoothly, and the next official commanded the Sixth Army. If he couldn't succeed, the king's division would be defeated, and he would be disrespectful!" Zhou Ji "rarely has the same name, but has a beautiful spirit". "Zhou Pushe, people at the time called it 'the forest of speech and talk'" ("Shi Shuo Recognition No. 18") "Shimu Zhou Hou, the mountain is broken" ("Shi Shuo Recognition No. 56") .Both official history and novels praised him a lot.But this man is good at wine. In the Western Jin Dynasty, he could drink a stone a day. After crossing the river, he was intoxicated every day without waking up. People at that time called him "three-day pushe" (meaning one drunk for three days).Once, Zhou Ji drank with an old friend who had just fled from the north. They drank Ershi wine and drank each other to death.In addition, Zhou Ji was very elegant. With Dai Yuan's boldness, he didn't dare to say a word in his seat; with Wang Dun's handsomeness, he would blush every time he saw Zhou Ji, and even fanned himself in the cold winter.Just after crossing the river, Director Wang once had a drink with Zhou Jihao. He leaned on the famous man's lap while he was drunk, pointed to his stomach and asked, "What's in it?" Zhou Jihao said: "There is nothing in it. , but there are hundreds of Rongqing generations!" His heroic deeds are similar to this. On the surface, things have come to an end.Emperor Jin and Yuan issued an edict of amnesty, and made Wang Dun the prime minister, the governor of Chinese and foreign armies, and the search for ministers.But Wang Dun didn't give the emperor face, "and let him not accept it." Emperor Yuan was disturbed, so he summoned Zhou Ji in Guangshi Hall, and asked: "The major events are gradually subsiding, the second palace is safe (referring to Emperor Yuan himself and the crown prince Sima Shao), everyone is safe, and the general (Wang Dun) seems to be living up to expectations. Bar?" Zhou Yu replied: "The emperor and the crown prince are self-sufficient, and the ministers and others have not yet known." Someone persuaded Zhou Ji to take the opportunity to flee, but he refused: "I am a minister, the court is defeated, I would rather go back to the grass to survive, and go to the barbarians, and become more evil!" , without losing the straight minister. Lu Yi, who joined the army under Wang Dun, had worked under Dai Yuan, and had a deep quarrel with his old boss at that time.He persuaded Wang Dun, saying: "Both Zhou Ji and Dai Yuan have high reputations, enough to confuse the public. Earlier when the Duke of Ming questioned the two, they had no shame at all, and they were hated. If they are not eliminated, there will be dangers of repeating them." .” Wang Dun felt that Lu Yi's words were reasonable.But after all, Zhou and Dai were too famous, and Wang Dun couldn't make up his mind, so he tentatively asked his cousin Wang Dao for advice: "Zhou Ji and Dai Yuan, the hope of the north and the south, can undoubtedly be the three princes, right?" Director Wang didn't answer. "Is it okay to be an official of Shang Shuling and servant She?" Wang Dun asked again. Director Wang remained silent.At that time, he knelt at the gate of the palace and begged Zhou Ji several times to intercede for his family in front of the emperor, but he didn't get any response from the other party.Regarding this, Director Wang was very worried. Wang Dun understood: "In this case, the two should be killed, right?" Director Wang was still speechless. Therefore, Wang Dun ordered Zhou Yu and Dai Yuan to be arrested, fabricated charges at random, and taken to Stone City for execution. Passing by the Taimiao, Zhou Ji yelled loudly: "The first emperor of heaven and earth has a spirit, the thief minister Wang Dun overthrew the country, killed Zhongliang in vain, and abused the world. Heaven has spirit, kill Wang Dun immediately!" In front of him, he used a sharp halberd to stab Zhou Ji.Although the blood flowed to his heels, Zhou Ji remained unchanged in color, behaved calmly, and died generously, and the viewers shed tears. Not long after, Wang Dao searched the memorabilia presented to the emperor by court officials when he lost power in Zhongshu Province, and found the memorabilia written by Zhou Yu to save himself.At this time, Director Wang knew that he had become a villain.He burst into tears, overwhelmed with grief, and said to his sons: "Although I will not kill Boren, Boren will die by me. In the dark, I will lose this good friend!" ("Although I will not kill Boren" Code, from this.) To be fair, Wang Dun's disaster was actually caused by Emperor Yuan Sima Rui's self-infliction because he listened to the words of Diao Xie and Liu Kai to exclude Wang's clan.Diao and Liu were shallow and narrow-minded, unable to accommodate things, which caused "the powerful ministers to get angry and use their names to swear as teachers", but in the end, it was the benevolent elders like Zhou Ji and Dai Yuan who were unlucky. Wang Dun is in power, with his cousin Wang Dao as the minister, his cousin Wang Shu as the governor of Jingzhou, his cousin Wang Bin as the governor of Jiangzhou, his cousin Wang Sui as the governor of Xuzhou, and his brother Wang Han as the general of Wei. , The governor of Yangzhou and Jiangxi's military forces, "changed hundreds of officials and various military towns, and hundreds of those who were relocated and exempted; or changed from morning to evening, whatever they wanted." In Changsha, Sima Cheng, the king of Qiao, was finally powerless and defeated by Wei Yi. He himself was captured alive, locked in a prison car and escorted to Wuchang.Halfway through the journey, Wang Dun sent someone to kill the ambitious and loyal Prince Sima with a knife. Power corrupts, and totalitarianism corrupts extremely. "Since (Wang) Dun achieved his ambition, he became violent and arrogant. Contributions from all directions entered his mansion, and all his ministers, Yue Mu, went out of his house."His favorites are Shen Chong, a wealthy family in Wu, and Qian Feng, his fellow villager, and he obeys their advice.Anyone who offends Shen and Qian will surely die.These two people were born as local tyrants, "set up camps, invaded fields and houses, excavated ancient tombs, and plundered market roads", which made the scholars resentful, and they all hoped that their early defeat would be lucky. At the end of 322 A.D., Wang Dun led his army back to Wuchang (now Ezhou, Hubei), and controlled the imperial court remotely. Soon, Yuan Emperor Sima Rui became ill from worry and anger, and died of a serious illness at the age of forty-seven. Even when Emperor Yuan died, Wang Dun did not go to see him.It is worth emphasizing that Emperor Yuan did die of illness and died well, not by poisoning, assassination, hanging or assassination.Among the kings who lost power, Emperor Yuan was also considered to be the luckiest one.Historians commented that "although he is full of respect and frugality, he is not enough for martial arts".The strangest thing is that even the orthodox historians, who are always taboo by the venerable, clearly stated that "Concubine Gong Xiahou was born Emperor Yuan through the family of the little official Niu", which means that Sima Rui is not actually a descendant of Sima, but a descendant of Sima. The son of a petty official surnamed Niu who had an affair with Sima Rui's "father" Princess Xiahou is really an anecdote.In the hundred years of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, it turned out that Sima's blood did not flow in the imperial line, but that the law of heaven really circulated to repay the viciousness and cruelty of the founders of the Sima family. After the death of Emperor Yuan, Wang Dao accepted the imperial edict to take charge of the government, and the Crown Prince Sima Shao succeeded to the throne as Emperor Ming of the Eastern Jin Dynasty.Changed Yuan Taining.