A thousand-year-old family that began with the Battle of Makino

Chapter 518: The Emperor hunts Jianye in the north, and Wang Mazhi attacks him in the middle.

Jianxing four years
August
Liu Cong once again sent Liu Yao to attack Chang'an. This time he did not cross the Wei River from Feng Yi County to the south and attack Chang'an from Weinan. Instead, he conquered Beidi County first and defeated the reinforcements of Beidi Governor Zhang Yu and Feng Yi Governor Liang Su.

Crossed the Jing River from Beidi and came to the north of Chang'an.

This time, the Han and Zhao armies were very fierce. They fought and defeated each other in successive battles. Qu Yun, Suo Wei and others were defeated one after another. They were soon besieged by Liu Yao in Chang'an, and communication with the inside and outside of Chang'an was cut off.

Sima Ye hurriedly sent out letters asking for help and asked neighboring states and counties to send reinforcements.

However, the reinforcements from other prefectures and counties did not dare to move forward due to Liu Yao's military strength. The nearest reinforcements sent by Sima Bao, the king of Nanyang, defeated Liu Yao's army at Lingtai.

Fearing that once he helped Sima Ye defeat Liu Yao, it would increase the power of Qu Yun and Suo Wei, he withdrew his troops and stopped attacking.

Sima Rui, who dominated Jiangnan, refused to send troops under various excuses.

October
Liu Yao occupied the outer city of Chang'an and forced Sima Ye, Suo Wei, Qu Yun and others to retreat to the small town of Chang'an to protect themselves.

Not only that, the long-term siege has put Chang'an City into a state of food shortage. The price of rice has reached 2 taels of gold per dou, and cannibalism has occurred. More than half of the people in Chang'an City starve to death.

Many people died and fled, but only a thousand Liangzhou volunteers were still holding on, preventing Liu Yao from breaking into the small city.

It happened that there were dozens of koji cakes for wine making in Taicang, so Qu Yun smashed the koji cakes and made porridge for Sima Ye to drink. Soon, all the koji cakes were eaten.

Sima Ye felt really unbearable, so he cried and said to Qu Yun:

"Now that poverty is so critical and there is no rescue outside, it is right for him to die for the country. But thinking of the hardships suffered by the soldiers, he should take advantage of the city before it falls and take full advantage of it, which may save the people from the pain of massacre. .”

Then he sent his attendant Song Chang to deliver a letter of surrender to Liu Yao.

Unexpectedly, Suo Wei secretly left Zong Chang behind and sent his son as an envoy to Liu Yao:
"There is enough food in the city to last for a year, so you may not be able to capture it easily.

But if you can agree to let my father be the general of chariots and cavalry, the third division of Yitong, and the governor of the city with ten thousand households, I will promise you that I will surrender the city directly to you, so that you can enter Chang'an without spending a single soldier. "

But Liu Yao obviously saw through Suo Wei's little thoughts, killed Suo Wei's son and sent him back. The accompanying envoy told Suo Wei Liu Yao's original words:
"The emperor's army marches with righteousness. In the more than ten years since I have led the army, I have never defeated my opponent with false news and tricks. Instead, I will use military power to completely overwhelm the opponent.

Now that what you are telling someone is the most evil person in the world, I will kill the messenger for you.

If you feel that the food is not exhausted, then just hold on to it reluctantly; but if you are short of food and your troops are weak, then you should comply with the destiny as soon as possible.

Otherwise, I, the king, am afraid that if my majesty rises, I will be destroyed by you. "

Suo Wei was panicked when he received Liu Yao's reply, fearing that Liu Yao would tell Sima Ye and kill him.

At this time, Sima Ye learned that Suo Wei had detained Zong Chang and was very angry and asked Suo Wei to hand him over. However, he did not know that Suo Wei had secretly communicated with the enemy and thought it was because Suo Wei was unwilling to surrender.

Hearing Sima Ye's tone, Suo Wei didn't know that he was having an affair with Liu Yao, so he breathed a sigh of relief and released Zong Chang to be sent as an envoy to Liu Yao.

Faced with Sima Ye's surrender, Liu Yao accepted.

On the second day, Sima Ye rode alone in a sheep cart, took off his shirt, and held a jade in his mouth. His attendants carried the coffin and followed him out of the city to surrender.

Liu Yao burned the coffin, accepted the jade, and asked Song Chang to serve Sima Ye back to the palace. The Han and Zhao troops successfully occupied Chang'an.

October

Liu Yao sent people to escort Sima Ye and other Jin court officials to Pingyang, the capital of the Han and Zhao kingdoms, to live in exile.

October 17

Liu Cong ascended the palace, and Sima Ye kowtowed before him. Qu Yun saw this scene, fell to the ground and cried bitterly, and then committed suicide.

Suo Wei was considered by Liu Cong to be disloyal to the Jin Dynasty by asking for a high position in the enemy country on the condition of surrendering the city and surrendering his emperor, so he was executed in Pingyang East City.

Sima Ye was appointed by Liu Cong as Doctor Guanglu and Marquis of Huai'an, and he followed me.

In order to humiliate Sima Ye and destroy the morale of the Jin Dynasty's soldiers and civilians.

Every time Liu Cong went out hunting, he would order Sima Ye to perform the duties of a cavalry general, wearing military uniform and holding a halberd and spear in his hand, to clear the way ahead.

Every time there was a banquet, Sima Ye would be asked to serve the wine, wash the wine glasses, and hold the toilet seat when going to the toilet.

Many old officials of the Jin Dynasty who followed Sima Ye to Pingyang couldn't help but burst into tears when they saw such a scene, and they were all killed by Liu Cong.

Jianxing five years
October
Liu Cong killed Sima Ye in Pingyang at the age of eighteen.

Jianxing six years
March
After hearing that Sima Ye was killed in Pingyang, Sima Rui from the south was enthroned as emperor after Liu Kun and other 180 northern generals signed a letter to persuade him to ascend the throne and change the title of this year to "Taixing".

He was also given the posthumous title "Min" by Sima Ye and was the Emperor Min of the Jin Dynasty.

It is worth mentioning that during the enthronement ceremony, Sima Rui repeatedly asked Director Wang to sit on the royal bed to receive congratulations. Director Wang knew that Sima Rui was putting him on the fire to roast him, so he refused repeatedly and refused, so Sima Rui gave up.

Sima Rui's ability to dominate the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River and the Qinling Mountains south of the Huaihe River was inseparable from the support of Director Wang and the Wang family behind him. On the surface, Sima Rui controlled Jiangnan, but it was established to a certain extent by relying on the Wang brothers. Wang Dao and Wang Dun, one internally and one externally, actually controlled the political power in Jiangnan.

Sima Rui was able to secure his position as the overlord of Jiangnan and take advantage of the situation to take over Sima Ye's throne because he relied on the northerners to rule the south, and the most powerful among the northerners were the Wang Dao brothers.

On the other hand, as Sima Rui's status consolidated and the scope of the Jianye regime expanded, he became increasingly unwilling to be manipulated by the Wang brothers.

Sima Rui asked Director Wang to sit on the royal bed with him. On the surface, he showed respect, but in fact, he was hinting that he should restrain himself.

After proclaiming himself emperor, although Sima Rui continued to add official positions to Wang Dao and Wang Dun, his dislike for the Wang family became more and more serious, and his attitude was very cold.

On all important military and national plans, he only discussed secretly with Diao Xie, the minister of state, and Liu Wei, who was transferred to Danyang Yin but still served as a minister.

Under the planning of the two men, Sima Rui formulated a series of so-called "cutting policies" to limit the power of the wealthy families and strengthen the imperial power.

For this reason, Director Wang's actions by praising Gu He, a Wujun gentry who advocated "preferring to let leaks in the net swallow up the boat" and "not to use Chacha as the government", showed his policy of indulging the gentry, which was completely opposite to Sima Rui.

Not only that, Wang Dun, who was leading troops abroad, also went directly to Sima Rui to boast about their brother's contribution to the founding of the country, complained about Director Wang's cold treatment in the court, and vented his strong dissatisfaction with Sima Rui.

In the memorial, there were threats overtly and covertly, and he also said that if things couldn't be done, he might take appropriate actions to support his brother, Director Wang.

It stands to reason that Wang Dun always relied on having strong soldiers and was domineering, and he often had the intention of dethroning the establishment. However, the reason why he hesitated to take action was because he was afraid of the other two powerful vassals:
Zhou Fang, the governor of Liangzhou, and Zu Ti, the governor of Yuzhou.

The existence of the two of them made Wang Dun feel like he was carrying a burden, and he never dared to act rebelliously.

Needless to say, Zhou Di was originally from Fanyang and lived in Pingyang County with his parents. Therefore, when he was young, he often went to the Bai Kingdom to study. Influenced by the academic style of the Bai Kingdom, he always had the ambition to serve the country and the people.

He is an open-minded person who does not stick to trivial matters. He values ​​righteousness over wealth. He is generous and has integrity. He often helps the poor and is deeply respected by the township party and clan.

After he was crowned, he was promoted as Xiaolian by the county government and as a scholar by Sili, but he failed to obey the orders.

Later, Zu Ti and Liu Kun served as the chief registrar of Sizhou together.

The relationship between the two was very harmonious, and they often talked about worldly affairs. Sometimes they could not fall asleep late at night, so they would sit up hugging each other and encourage each other:

"If the world is in chaos and heroes rise together, you and I should do something great in the Central Plains!"

By the time of the Eight Kings Rebellion, Zu Ti had gained the attention of the kings and served successively as King Sima Jiong of Qi, Sima Yi, King of Changsha, and Sima Chi, King of Yuzhang.

Not long after, Luoyang fell, and Zu Ti led hundreds of relatives and township party members to go south to avoid the chaos in Huaisi.

He walked on his own, gave up his carriages and horses to the old, weak and sick, and distributed food, clothing and medicines to others. On the way to escape, Zu Ti encountered many dangers from thieves and thieves, but Zu Ti was able to cope with them with ease, and was praised as the "travel leader" by his fellow travelers.

At this time, Sima Rui was transferred to Yangzhou and ordered Zu Ti to lead his troops to station in Jingkou.

When Emperor Min of the Jin Dynasty came to the throne, he appointed Sima Rui as his servant, prime minister of the left, and general commander of all military affairs in eastern Shaanxi, and ordered him to lead troops to King Qin of Chang'an.

But Sima Rui was exploring the south of the Yangtze River and had no intention of the northern expedition.

Only Zu Ti further said:
“The chaos in the Jin Dynasty was not caused by the emperor’s lack of moral integrity and the people’s rebellion, but by the fact that the vassal kings fought for power and killed each other, which gave the barbarians and Di people an opportunity to take advantage of.

Nowadays, the people in the North are being ravaged, and they are all determined to fight back.

If the king can order the troops to be sent out and let the inferior northerners lead them, the heroes of Jiangbei will definitely respond and the fallen people will rejoice.

In this way, it may be possible to express national humiliation. "

Although Sima Rui was unwilling to make the Northern Expedition, he was unable to openly oppose it, so he appointed Zu Ti as General Fenwei and governor of Yuzhou, but only gave him food and wages for a thousand people and three thousand pieces of cloth, allowing him to recruit his own soldiers and make his own weapons.

However, Sima Rui's negative attitude did not dampen Zu Ti's determination to expedition to the north. On the contrary, he heard that Bai Guo's "Execution of Hu Order" was more promising for the prospects of the Bei Quehu people.

Then he led more than a hundred clan tribes who followed him south, and resolutely crossed the river from Jingkou to the north. In the middle of the river, he slapped the boat's bow with all his strength, vowing to clear the Central Plains.

Taixing three years
The garrison successively conquered Qiao County and Fengqiu, defeated Shi Le's army many times, and even defeated Shi Hu's tens of thousands of troops at one time. The army stopped at Yongqiu and recovered half of the land in Henan.

The Bai Kingdom also took advantage of Shile's army to move south and sent troops to seize the three counties of Anping, Qinghe and Pingyuan, leaving only Leling County and Bohai County to connect Shile's territory south of Hebei.

There were constant melees in the east, and the Han and Zhao kingdoms in the west were not idle either.

After occupying Chang'an, Liu Cong fell seriously ill and appointed Liu Yao as prime minister, commanding all Chinese and foreign military forces and guarding Chang'an.

With Tai Zai Liu Jing, Grand Sima Liu Ji, Tai Shi Liu Wei, Tai Fu Zhu Ji and Tai Bao Hu Yanyan recording the ministerial affairs,

Fan Long was also appointed to serve as the guardian of Shangshu Ling and Yi Tong, and Jin Zhun was appointed as the chief minister.

Both of them decided to serve as auxiliary ministers to assist the prince Liu Jie.

(End of this chapter)