Chapter 31 122 Huanwen Northern Expedition

After Tao Kan put down Su Jun's rebellion, the Eastern Jin Dynasty temporarily gained stability.At this time, the north was in chaos. After the death of Shi Hu (son of Shi Le), the lord of the Later Zhao Kingdom, there was great internal turmoil. Later Zhao General Ran Min proclaimed himself emperor and established the State of Wei, which was called Ran Wei in history; Killed Ran Wei.In 352 AD, Fu Jian, an aristocrat of the clan, also took the opportunity to occupy Guanzhong and established the former Qin Dynasty. When Later Zhao fell, General Huan Wen of the Eastern Jin Dynasty wrote a letter to Emperor Mu of Jin (the fifth emperor of the Eastern Jin Dynasty), requesting to lead troops in the Northern Expedition.Huan Wen was a man of great military talent. When he was the governor of Jingzhou, he once marched into Shu, destroyed Cheng Han, and made great contributions to the Eastern Jin Dynasty.

However, there were great internal contradictions in the Eastern Jin Dynasty.Emperor Mu of Jin promoted Huan Wen's position on the surface, but in fact he was suspicious of him.Huan Wen asked for the Northern Expedition, but Emperor Mu of Jin did not agree, but sent another Yin Hao to lead the Northern Expedition. Yin Hao is a literati with only a false name and no military talent.When he sent troops to Luoyang, he was defeated by the Qiang people. More than 10,000 people were killed and wounded, and he lost all his food, grass and weapons. Huan Wen made another memorial, asking the imperial court to remove Yin Hao from his post and deal with the crime.Emperor Jin Mu had no choice but to dismiss Yin Hao and agreed to Huan Wen's northern expedition.

In 354 A.D., Huan Wen led a Jin army of 40,000 troops, set out from Jiangling, divided the troops into three groups, and attacked Chang'an.Fu Jian, the former ruler of the Qin Dynasty, sent 50,000 troops to resist at Gaoguan, but was beaten to pieces by the Jin army.Fu Jian had no choice but to take 6,000 old, weak and disabled soldiers, fled back to Chang'an, and dug a deep ditch to hold on. Huan Wen marched victoriously and reached Bashang.County and county officials near Chang'an surrendered to the Jin army one after another.Huan Wen issued a notice asking the people to live and work in peace and contentment.The people were overjoyed, and they all took cattle, prepared wine, and went to the military camp to comfort them.

Since the fall of the Western Jin Dynasty, the people in the north have suffered a lot from the melee.When they saw the Jin army in Huanwen, they all shed tears of joy and said: "I didn't expect to see the Jin army again today." Huan Wen stationed troops at Bashang, hoping that when the wheat in Guanzhong was ripe, he would send soldiers to harvest the wheat to replenish the army's rations.But Fu Jian was also very powerful. Knowing Huan Wen's plan, he cut off all the immature wheat, so that Huan Wen could not harvest a single grain of wheat. Huan Wen's army rations ran out, and he couldn't stay any longer, so he had to retreat and return.But after all, this Northern Expedition won a big victory, and Emperor Mu of Jin promoted him to be the governor of the conquest.

After that, Huanwen carried out two more Northern Expeditions.The last time, he attacked Qianyan and fought all the way to Fangtou (now southwest of Junxian County, Henan Province). Later, because Qianyan cut off the grain road, he failed. Huan Wen has held the military power of the Eastern Jin Dynasty for a long time, and his ambitions are getting bigger and bigger.Once, he said to himself: "If a man can't be immortal, he should be infamous forever." A confidant official knew about his ambition and suggested to him, saying that in order to improve his prestige, he had to follow Huo Guang's method in the Western Han Dynasty to abolish the current emperor and establish another emperor himself.

At that time, Emperor Mu of Jin had already died.The reigning emperor is Sima Yi (sound yi), the abolished emperor of Jin Dynasty.Huan Wen led troops to Jiankang, abolished Sima Yi, and installed another Sima Yu (sound yu) as emperor, this is Jinjian Emperor Wen.Huan Wen became prime minister and led troops to station in Gushu (now Dangtu, Anhui). Two years later, Emperor Jianwen of Jin was seriously ill, leaving a will for Prince Sima Yao to inherit the throne.This is Emperor Xiaowu of Jin Dynasty.Huan Wen originally thought that Emperor Jian Wen would give him the throne, but he was very disappointed when he heard the news, so he led his troops into Jiankang.

On the day Huan Wen arrived in Jiankang, the soldiers he brought with him were all in full armor and held shining weapons in their hands.When the court officials went to the side of the road to greet him, they were frightened when they saw this scene. Huan Wen invited Wang Tanzhi and Xie An, the two most famous gentry ministers, to meet at his mansion. Wang and Xie An had already heard that Huan Wen had ambushed a group of warriors behind the living room and wanted to kill them.Therefore, when Wang Tanzhi arrived at the prime minister's mansion, he was covered in cold sweat and even his clothes were soaked.

Xie An was very calm.After entering the hall and sitting down, he said to Huan Wen, "I heard that since ancient times, moral generals have always placed soldiers and horses on the border to guard against foreign invasion. Why did Duke Huan hide the soldiers behind the wall?" When Huan Wen heard this, he was also a little embarrassed, and said, "I have to be on my guard." After speaking, he ordered the left and right soldiers to withdraw from the ambushes. Huan Wen saw that there were quite a few opposing forces among the gentry in Jiankang, so he didn't dare to take action easily.Soon, he died of illness.

After Huan Wen's death, Xie An served as the prime minister, and Huan Wen's younger brother Huan Chong served as the governor of Jingzhou. The two worked together to assist Emperor Xiaowu of Jin Dynasty, and an atmosphere of unity appeared in the Eastern Jin Dynasty.