Sima Yao

Sima Yao

Sima Yao

(362-396), namely emperor Xiaowu of Jin Dynasty

Changming

The ninth emperor of the Eastern Jin Dynasty (372-396). The sixth son of Sima Yu, Emperor Wen of Jin Dynasty, whose mother is Li Lingrong.

Sima Yao was appointed king of Kuaiji when he was four years old. In 372, on the eve of emperor Jianwen's death, Sima Yao was appointed crown prince and succeeded to the throne. He was 11 years old. At first, he was assisted by the great Sima Huanwen. In the first year of Ningkang (373), Huan Wen died, and then Chu suanzi, the Empress Dowager of Chongde, was in charge. In 376, the Empress Dowager returned to power, and the real power was controlled by the Xie family of Chen County represented by Xie an. In 383, with the help of Xie an, he defeated the former Qin army and won the battle of Feishui, which saved the national fortune of the Eastern Jin Dynasty.

Sima Yao took advantage of the gap period of talent gap between the aristocratic families, devoted himself to breaking through the pattern of aristocratic politics and restoring Sima's imperial power. Then he replaced xie'an with his brother Sima Daozi and became the most powerful monarch since the founding of Jiangzuo in the Eastern Jin Dynasty. But he indulged in pleasure, indulged in wine and sex, and competed with Sima Daozi for power, forming a situation of "main phase stalemate", which led to the increasingly dim government. Later, because of Sima Yao's banter with Zhang Guiren after drinking, Zhang Guiren was so angry that he called his confidants to cover Sima Yao to death with a quilt, claiming that he was in a nightmare in his sleep. Sima Yao died at the age of 35. Temple after death

Liezong

, posthumous title

Emperor Xiaowu

, buried in Longping mausoleum.

Sima Yao is good at calligraphy and literature, and has two volumes, which has been lost; Chunhua Ge tie contains his calligraphy work Qiao Wang tie.

Life experience

The process of accession to the throne

Simayao, Emperor Xiaowu of Jin Dynasty, was born in 362, the first year of Longhe, Emperor AI of Jin Dynasty. His grandfather was Sima Rui, the founding emperor of the Eastern Jin Dynasty. His father was Sima Yu, the king of Kuaiji (later Jianwen emperor), and his mother was Li Lingrong (Empress Dowager xiaowuwen). Sima Yu had seven sons, but the first five died early. Only Sima Yao and his brother Sima Daozi survived.

In the third year of Xingning (365), after Sima Yi, the king of Langxie, succeeded to the throne, Sima Yu was granted the title of king of Langxie, and four-year-old Sima Yao succeeded his father as king of Kuaiji.

In November of the sixth year of Taihe (371), warlord Huan Wen led his troops to Beijing and launched a palace coup. Under the order of Empress Dowager Chu suanzi of Chongde, Sima Yi was deposed as the king of Donghai, and Sima Yu, the king of Langxie, was established as emperor. Sima Yao became the prince.

Since the founding of Jiangzuo by Sima Rui, the Eastern Jin Dynasty has been under the control of the gentry in turn, forming the pattern of the politics of the gentry. Except for Sima Rui of the Yuan Dynasty and Sima Shao of the Ming Dynasty, other emperors are almost puppets. When Sima Yu came to the Jianwen emperor, the situation of imperial power weakening and aristocratic dictatorship reached its climax. Huan Wen completely controlled the great government of the imperial court, and even Xie an regarded him as the "King", which was known in history as "the government was governed by Huan's family, and the sacrifice was for few". His ambition was to make Jianwen emperor "abdicate himself" and achieve the goal of moving Jin Ding. Emperor Jian Wen was seriously ill only eight months after he ascended the throne. On July 23 of the second year of Xian'an (372), he issued four successive imperial edicts urging Huan Wen, who was still in charge of the imperial court, but Huan Wen deliberately refused. Five days later, Emperor Jian Wen's illness worsened, so he canonized simayao, king of Kuaiji, as the crown prince. He also issued an imperial edict that "the great Sima Wenyi should take a picture of Zhou Gongju", and said, "if you can't help a little son, you can help him Take it for yourself. " At this time, the national movement of Jin Dynasty can be said to be in a critical situation, because Huan Wen could completely rely on the imperial edict of Jianwen emperor to usurp Jin and stand on his own, which other scholars did not want to see. Therefore, Wang Tanzhi, a member of the Wang family in Taiyuan, tore up the imperial edict in front of emperor Jian Wen. Emperor Jian Wen was forced to agree to change the imperial edict to "report the family affairs to the great Sima, such as the story of Zhuge Marquis Wu (Zhuge Liang) and Wang prime minister (Wang Dao)" Then jianwendi died. However, some of the ministers were still awed by Huan Wen's obscene power and suggested that he should be punished by Da Sima Wang Biaozhi, a minister who was born in the Wang family of Langya, said: "when the emperor collapsed and the prince was established, how could the great Sima be different? If you consult first, you will be held responsible. " So the court decided that Sima Yao, the crown prince, was Emperor Xiaowu. The Empress Dowager Chongde once again ordered Huan Wen to take pictures of Zhou's residence on the ground that Sima Yao was young and was mourning for the emperor Daxing. After the order was given, Wang Biaozhi said, "this extraordinary event, daxima must give way to stop everything. He abandoned the mausoleum. If he didn't dare to obey the order, he would like to return it." The order was not implemented. At the critical moment when the life of the Jin Dynasty was hanging on the line, all the aristocratic families joined hands to prevent Huan Wen's plot to usurp the Jin Dynasty and ensure the smooth accession of Sima Yao to the throne and the continuation of the Eastern Jin Dynasty.

Just three months after Sima Yao, Emperor Xiaowu, succeeded to the throne, Lu Si, a Taoist priest, led 300 people to invade Jiankang palace, snatch weapons from his Arsenal and try to restore Ma Yi of Haixi company. This chaos aimed at Huan Wen, which objectively increased the effect of Wang, Xie and other gentry against Huan Wen. In February of the first year of Ningkang (373), Huan Wen came to Beijing from his aunt. It is said that he had plans to kill Wang, Xie and move to Jin Ding. Wang Tanzhi, Xie an and others were waiting for him. Huan Wen only studied the so-called Pengcheng monster Lu Si leading the crowd to the palace in the winter of the previous year. Later, when Huan Wen fell ill, he still asked the imperial court to add nine tins for him, and Wang Tanzhi and Xie an delayed his work. In July of that year, Huan Wen died. At the beginning of emperor Xiaowu's succession to the throne, the crisis period finally passed without danger.

Xie Bingzheng

Although Huan Wen died, the pattern of the door politics continued. Because emperor Xiaowu was young, in order to prevent Huan Chong, the younger brother of Huan Wen, and other Huan family members of Qiao state from continuing to exercise dictatorship, Xie an invited emperor Xiaowu to attend the court for the third time after Huan Wen's death. Historical records: "when the emperor was young and weak, there were strong officials outside. An and Tan were loyal to assist Wei and died in an Jin family." Xie an and Wang Tanzhi made great contributions in the process of supporting emperor Xiaowu and Kuang Fujin. Therefore, the real power of the Eastern Jin Dynasty was still controlled by the aristocrats, but it was gradually transferred from the Huan family of Qiao state to the Wang family of Taiyuan and the Xie family of Chen county.

In May of the third year of Ningkang (375), when Wang Tan died, Xie an became more powerful and separated from huanchong in China and foreign countries, forming a balance of power structure in the Eastern Jin Dynasty. In August of the same year, Emperor Xiaowu married Wang fahui, the granddaughter of Wang Meng, a famous Taiyuan Wang family, as the queen, and his younger brother Sima Daozi, the king of Langxie, also married Wang Tanzhi's niece as the princess. This not only made the influence of Taiyuan Wang family continue to exist in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, but also foreshadowed the political stalemate in the later period of emperor Xiaowu.

On the first day of the first month of the first year of the Taiyuan Dynasty (376), Emperor Xiaowu took over the throne, and the Empress Dowager Chongde returned to the government. Xie an became the prime minister in the name of Zhongshu Jianlu. The biggest weakness of Xie an's power is that there is no reliable military force to support him. Because of the internal need to guard against the huanchong forces still in Jingzhou, and the external need to deal with the growing power of the former Qin Dynasty, the demand for military force of the Xie family in Chenjun is imminent.

In 377, Xie an recommended his nephew Xie Xuan as the governor of Yanzhou, guarding Guangling (now Yangzhou City, Jiangsu Province). Two years later, he was also the governor of Xuzhou, and stationed in Beifu (now Zhenjiang City, Jiangsu Province). During this period, Xie Xuan recruited Liu Jianzhi, he Qian, Zhuge Kan, Gao Heng, Liu GUI, Tian Luo and sun Wuzhong, and integrated their army dominated by refugees to form the famous "Beifu soldiers". The combat effectiveness of the Beifu soldiers was very strong, which not only consolidated the power of the Xie family in Chen County, but also provided a strong guarantee for the survival of the Chinese regime in Jiangzuo.

Anti Qin war

Since emperor Xiaowu ascended the throne, he has been faced with the threat of the former Qin Dynasty. Yizhou and Liangzhou in the west of the Eastern Jin Dynasty were captured by the former Qin Dynasty in the winter of the first year of Ningkang (373). After the Taiyuan Dynasty, with Fu Jian, the former king of Qin Dynasty, destroying Qianliang and daiguo one after another and completing the unification of northern China, his coveting of the Eastern Jin Dynasty became more intense. Since then, the situation in Jianghuai area at the junction of Qin and Jin became more and more tense, and the war was imminent.

In April of 378, the former Qin Dynasty sent Fu pi to attack Xiangyang. Huanchong, the governor of Jingzhou, resisted the attack. Emperor Xiaowu ordered Xie Xuanfa, a member of Xu, Yan and Qing States, to send he Qianyou, the governor of Pengcheng, to huaisi as a support. He Qian's sending troops was the first time for the northern government army to fight. Since then, the upper and lower Huan and Xie troops cooperated and cooperated with each other to divide the front Qin troops, forming a feature of the Eastern Jin strategy, which played an important role in ensuring the final victory. In July of the same year, the Qin army also adopted the strategy of East-West coordination. Qin general Peng Chao invited Peng Cheng to attack, echoing with Fu PI who attacked Xiangyang. Fu Jian agreed with Peng Chao's plan, and divided the army from the western line into two groups: Qunan, Maosheng, and so on. From then on, the Eastern Jin Dynasty began to be under pressure in the lower reaches. In the first month of the fourth year of the Taiyuan Dynasty (379), Xiangyang was lost, and Zhu Xu, the guard General of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, was captured. Then Pengcheng, xiapi, Huaiyin and Xuyi were merged into the former Qin Dynasty, and Jiankang was in urgent need, which was even more unfavorable to the Eastern Jin Dynasty.

In June of the fourth year of the Taiyuan Dynasty (379), the soldiers of the Northern Government defeated the Qin army in Junchuan, and the former Qin forces were expelled from Huaibei. The emergency of Jiankang was lifted. Although the situation on the western front is still not optimistic, Junchuan's victory tempered the soldiers of the northern government, improved their morale, and made necessary preparations for the eastward movement of the main battlefield and the battle of Feishui. The following year, the rebellion broke out between Fu Luo and Fu Chong in Youzhou. Fu Jian was busy with the rebellion and had no time to invade the south. In the sixth year of the eighth year of the eighth year of the ninth year of the reign of emperor Huan, there were several battles with the army of emperor Jingzhou. In the former Qin Dynasty, Fu Rong was a general in the south, planning to attack Jin. In October of the seventh year of the Taiyuan Dynasty (382), Fu Jian publicized his plan to attack Jin Dynasty on a large scale to the officials. Most of the officials opposed it, emphasizing that "xie'an and Huan Chong are all great men in the river, and the monarch and the officials are harmonious, and the inside and the outside are of one mind". However, Fu Jian was determined to win the plan and went his own way. He even arranged for emperor Xiaowu to be the Minister of Shanxi Province

Chinese PinYin : Si Ma Yao