China knows everything for 5000 years

Chapter 26

Yongjia is the reign title of Emperor Huai of the Western Jin Dynasty.The Yongjia period was a famous period of chaos in Chinese history. At this time, Liu Yuan had established the Han Dynasty.

In 310 AD, Liu Yuan died and his son Liu Cong came to the throne.Liu Cong sent Liu Can, Liu Yao and Wang Mi to lead troops to capture Luoyang, and Shi Le went south to Xiangyang.In Ningping City, Kuxian County (in present-day Henan), Shi Le defeated the Jin army. More than [-] Jin troops died, and the main force was completely lost in this battle.In June, the Han army captured Luoyang, captured Emperor Huai of Jin, killed more than [-] Jin officials and people, and set fire to the palace and government.In addition to the military revolution, during the Yongjia period, there was also a big morning disaster and a plague, which caused a large number of deaths of the people.It is known as "Yongjia Rebellion" in history.

●Sima Ye became emperor in Chang'an
After Emperor Huai of Jin Dynasty Sima Chi was captured in 311 AD, the Jin family had no owner, and some ministers and generals set up Xingtai one after another.Xingtai was originally a temporary institution representing the central government set up outside the capital for military needs.At this time, there were four places in the Western Jin Dynasty: Situ Fu arrived in Heyang (northeast of Luoyang, Henan today), General Xun Xi was in Cangyuan (northeast of Kaifeng today), Grand Sima Wang Jun was in Youzhou (near Beijing today), and Sikong Xunxi was in Cangyuan (northeast of today’s Kaifeng). It fell on the Xingtai set up in Mi County (in present-day Henan).

In the summer of 311 AD, Liu Jia and Liu Yao attacked Chang'an. Sima Mo, king of Nanyang, was defeated and killed, and Chang'an fell.Suo Lin, the prefect of Feng Ling, and Jia Zheng, the prefect of Anding, gathered 5 troops from various groups and marched into Chang'an.After hundreds of battles, Liu Yao abandoned Chang'an, captured 8 young men and women in Chang'an and returned to Pingyang.Suo Lin, Jia Yu and others regained Chang'an, and supported Qin Wang Sima Ye, the grandson of Emperor Wu of Jin, as the crown prince.

During the Spring Festival in 313 A.D., during the period of the Sixteen Kingdoms, Liu Cong, the ruler of the Han Kingdom, entertained his ministers and ordered Sima Chi to pour wine for them all dressed in green clothes.Yu Min and Wang Chi, former ministers of the Jin Dynasty, couldn't help crying when they saw Sima Chi being humiliated.Liu Cong was displeased, so he beheaded Geng Min and others, and poisoned Sima Chi to death.

The news of Sima Chi's murder spread to Chang'an, and the 14-year-old Sima Ye officially ascended the throne, proclaimed Emperor Min, amnesty, and changed to Jianxing.Although Chang'an was the capital of the country at that time, it had just experienced catastrophe, and its eyes were full of sores and phlegm, dilapidated and dilapidated.There are less than a hundred households in the city, and there are overgrown grass and thorns.There are no more than a hundred public and private cars, and the officials of the imperial court have neither court uniforms nor seals.

Sima Ye took Suo Lin as the servant of the minister, led the Taiwei, and mastered the military and state affairs.Later, an edict was issued, taking Sima Bao, king of Nanyang, as the right prime minister to supervise the military forces in Shaanxi; Lead troops to attack Pingyang and Luoyang, and enter Chang'an.But at this time, the emperor's edict was like waste paper, and the kings supported themselves to protect themselves and stick to their own territory. Sima Ye, who was in Chang'an, could hardly order the world, he was just a puppet.

●After the founding of Shi Lexiang, Zhao
Liu Cong, the ruler of the Han Kingdom, died of illness, and at the same time, the Han Kingdom was divided.Liu Cong's nephew Liu Yao took over the position of king.He felt that using the name of the Han Dynasty could not deceive the people. In 319 AD, he changed the name of the country to Zhao, and it was called Qian Zhao in history.In the same year, Shi Le, a general of the Han Dynasty, expanded his forces in the anti-Jin war. He did not want to be ruled by Liu Yao any longer.

Shi Le is a member of the Jie tribe, and his family has been the little leader of the Jie tribe for generations.When he was young, there was a famine in Bingzhou, and he was separated from the tribe. He used to be a slave and servant for others.Once, Shi Le was captured by rebel soldiers and locked in a prison cart. Just as a herd of deer ran past his prison cart, the rebel soldiers went after the deer one after another.Shi Le suffered so much and had no way out, so he recruited a group of exiled peasants to form a strong team.After Liu Yuan raised an army, Shi Le surrendered to Han and became a general under Liu Yuan.The culture of the Jie people is lower than that of the Huns.Shi Le was not educated in Han culture like Liu Yuan was, and was illiterate.After Shi Le served as a general, he gradually understood that to achieve a great cause, military force alone is not enough, and strategy is also needed.So relying on Zhang Bin, a Han scholar, he promulgated many political measures.He also took in a group of poor scholars from the Han nationality in the north, and organized a "Gentlemen's Camp".

Because Shi Le was brave and good at fighting, and Zhang Bin and a group of counselors helped him make suggestions, Shi Le's power became stronger day by day.In 329 A.D., Shi Le eliminated the main force of the former Zhao in the First Battle of Luoyang, and entered the pass to destroy the former Zhao in the second year, "Qin Long Xiping".By this time, except for the Murong family in Liaodong and the Zhang family in Hexi, Shi Le had unified northern China.With the Huai River as the boundary, a situation of confrontation between the north and the south of the Eastern Jin Dynasty was formed.In the following year, Shi Le proclaimed himself emperor in Xiangguo, still naming the country as Zhao.

●Tao Kan moves bricks and never forgets
Tao Kan was originally Wang Dun's subordinate.Later, Tao Kan made military exploits and became the governor of Jingzhou.Someone was jealous of him and spoke ill of him in front of Wang Dun.Wang Dun transferred him to Guangzhou.At that time, Guangzhou was a very remote place, and being transferred to Guangzhou was like demoting him.

Tao Kan was not discouraged when he arrived in Guangzhou.He moved 100 yuan of bricks from the study to the outside of the room every morning; at night, he moved the bricks to the house again.I do this every day, and others find it strange to see it, and can't help but ask what it is for.

Tao Kan said: "Although I am in the south, I have never forgotten to take back the Central Plains. If I am used to idleness, how can I take on important tasks when the country needs me to contribute in the future? So, I use this to exercise every day."

After Wang Dun's death, the Eastern Jin Dynasty promoted Tao Kan to the rank of general who conquered the west and the governor of Jingzhou.When the people of Jingzhou heard Tao Kan's return, they all ran out to welcome him.

Although he was promoted to an official position, Tao Kan was still cautious.He has to personally take care of all matters big and small in the Jingzhou yamen, and he never relaxes.Some officials under him often drink and gamble, which delays their official duties.When Tao Kan found out, he was very angry.He ordered people to confiscate and destroy all wine vessels and gambling utensils, and whipped those officials.From then on, no one dared to gamble or drink anymore.

One day, Tao Kan went to the suburbs to inspect, and saw a passer-by picking a handful of immature ears of rice and playing with them in his hand.Tao Kan immediately ordered the soldiers to tie up the man and beat him severely.People heard that the governor took good care of the crops, and farming became more vigorous.Jingzhou also gradually became richer.

Tao Kan has led the army for 41 years in his life. Because of his strict law enforcement, impartiality and selflessness, everyone admires him very much.In the area under his jurisdiction, the social order is in good order, and it is true that the door is not closed at night and the road is not picked up!
●Excavation of Dunhuang Grottoes

Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes, also known as Thousand Buddha Caves, are located on the cliff at the junction of Sanwei Mountain and Mingsha Mountain, 40 miles southeast of Dunhuang City.It is two kilometers long, with 792 existing caves, more than 45000 square meters of murals, and more than 2100 painted sculptures.

The Mogao Grottoes were excavated in 366 AD.According to legend, there was a monk named Lezun who traveled westward to the foot of Sanwei Mountain. One day at dusk, he suddenly saw thousands of golden lights emitting from the mountain peak, like thousands of Buddhas.He thought it was a holy place, so he recruited people to dig caves on the rock wall opposite Sanwei Mountain.

During the Northern Wei Dynasty, Buddhists continued to build grottoes in Dunhuang.There are three styles of grottoes in the Northern Wei Dynasty: Chan Grotto, Central Pillar Grotto and Fudouding Grotto.The main image in the cave is usually Sakyamuni or Maitreya Buddha, and on both sides of the main image are usually two statues of Bodhisattvas.The murals are mainly biography of Buddha, Jataka and karma stories.Most of the murals use earthy red as the background color, and are painted with blue, green, ocher, white and other colors of pigments.The grottoes excavated during the Northern Wei Dynasty are historical witnesses of the superb painting and sculpture skills of people at that time.Since then, for more than 1000 years, various dynasties have built caves here one after another, reaching a climax in the Sui and Tang Dynasties. Seven tenths of the existing caves were dug in the Tang Dynasty.

Because the stone here is relatively brittle and not suitable for carving, the grotto art is manifested in more detailed and exquisite large-scale murals and statues.The themes of the murals in this period are mainly pictures of Buddha's teachings and stories of Buddha's Jataka (previous life).Generally speaking, there is a Buddha in the middle, two Bodhisattvas standing around, and others also depict flying in the air with scattered flowers and music.The so-called Jataka stories mainly describe the historical stories of Sakyamuni's life, as well as his story paintings of sacrificing himself and doing good deeds in the past world.The content of the story is nothing more than teaching people compassion, patience, and non-resistance, but it has preserved many images reflecting social life at that time for us.These statues and murals are majestic and vivid, not only of great artistic value, but also rich in historical value.

●Five Hu and sixteen countries stand together
During the 309 years from 439 A.D. to 130 A.D., the ethnic minorities in northern my country continued to revolt. There were five ethnic groups: Xiongnu, Xianbei, Jie, Shi, and Qiang. In ancient my country, ethnic minorities were called "Hu people". So these five ethnic groups are called "Five Hus".The results of their uprisings were often seized by the upper-class aristocrats of the ethnic minorities, and sixteen regimes were established successively (in addition to the Ranwei, Xiyan, and Houshu regimes, which are not counted by custom, a total of nineteen regimes).These sixteen regimes fought against each other, rose and fell suddenly, and the time for the founding of the country was very short and extremely chaotic. It was a special period in Chinese history. It was called the "Five Hu and Sixteen Kingdoms" period in history, or Ten for short. Six Kingdoms period.

During the period of the Sixteen Kingdoms, the continuous change of regimes brought great pain to the people.

●Ran Min called the emperor Jianwei
In 350 A.D., Ran Min proclaimed himself emperor and his country name was Wei.The remnants of Shi Zhao surrendered to Ran Wei, and Later Zhao perished.

Ran Min incited ethnic hatred in the process of establishing the Wei State, and killed Hu Jie regardless of high or low, male or female, old or young, and killed more than 20 people.This policy of national reprisals led to its own isolation.After the establishment of Ran Wei, he immediately contacted the Eastern Jin government and requested to send troops to jointly attack the Hu people; he also cleared up the Jiuliu and implemented the law of enrolling nine-rank officials to win the support of the Han landlord class.Economically, open warehouses to distribute grain in order to win the support of the people.In terms of military affairs, he tried his best to compete with Shi Zhi, the remnant force of Later Zhao, Yao Yizhong, the chieftain of Qiang, and Murong Jun of Qianyan.Due to brutal ethnic vendettas, continuous wars, and famine, millions of Hu and Han people who were previously relocated to Jizhou and Sizhou returned to their homeland, killing each other on the road, and many died of famine.The land under Ran Wei's jurisdiction gradually became smaller, the population dropped sharply, and agricultural production came to a standstill. It was finally destroyed by Qianyan in 352 AD.

●The third generation of Murong Jianqianyan
The Murong clan was originally distributed in the east and west of Liaodong. During the Cao Wei period, it developed economic and cultural ties with the Central Plains. By the Western Jin Dynasty, it had become a powerful tribe outside the Northeast Great Wall.

In 294 A.D., Murong Mo moved the capital to Daji (in today's Liaoning), and the tribe began to settle down and engage in agricultural production. It also absorbed the ruling method of the Han landlord class, and the tribe began to transition to the feudal system.Murong Mo is a far-sighted chieftain of the Hu nationality. He actively develops his power by taking advantage of the disintegration of the Western Jin Dynasty and the favorable conditions of being far away from powerful enemies.He extensively wooed landlords of the Han nationality, "recommending talented people and entrusting them with common government." Famous figures in the north, such as Peiyi in Hedong, Yangyu in Youbeiping, Fengyu in Bohai, Liu Zan in Pingyuan, etc., were all highly valued by him.Among the various regimes in the early Sixteen Kingdoms period, the conflict between Hu and Han within the former Yan ruling group was the smallest.He also vigorously recruited Han refugees, set up overseas Chinese counties in the Liaoshui River Basin to control the refugees, and temporarily exempted them from military service. As a result, the population of the area under his rule increased tenfold.The flow of people played an important role in developing the economy of western Liaoning and promoting the feudalization of Murong tribe in Xianbei.He accepted the suggestion of the Han landlords, tried his best to reconcile the contradictions between Hu and Han, and expressed his support for the Eastern Jin Dynasty as the suzerain state, which was very effective in attracting the Han people.

After Murong Mo died, his son Murong Squid proclaimed King Yan in 337 A.D., moved the capital to Longcheng, and moved closer to the Central Plains.Murong Hui is the third son of Murong Mo, he likes to read Chinese books, he is determined, resourceful, and suspicious.When he first came to the throne, he was afraid that his younger brothers would plot chaos, so he killed his younger brother Murong Zhao first, and then sent someone to monitor his younger brother Murong Ren. Afterwards, Murong Ren fled to Pingguocheng, Liaodong (now Anshan, Liaoning).At the beginning of 336 A.D., when the seawater in Liaodong Bay was frozen, Murong Jue personally led the three armies to the city of Pingguo by sea for 300 li.Due to the rebellion of his generals, Murong Ren was captured in the war, and Murong Shu ordered him to commit suicide, and Liaodong was flattened.

Murong Hao called Yan Queen, made his wife Duan the queen, his son Murong Jun the prince, Feng Yi the prime minister, Han Shou the Sima, and Pei Kai the Fengchang.After Song Hui was sent as an envoy, Zhao Xiang Shihu professed his minister and took his younger brother Khan as a hostage, asking Zhao to send troops to attack Duan Liao.

In 338 A.D., Murong Yu attacked the cities north of Lingzhi (now Qian'an, Hebei), defeated Duan Liao soldiers, robbed countless livestock, and moved 5000 households back to Jicheng.Later Zhao attacked Duan Liao because of his bad faith, and sent 10 troops to besiege the city of Thorns. The siege lasted for more than ten days, and then retreated without success.Murong Hao sent his son Murong Ge to pursue Zhao Jun and captured more than 3 people.After the defeat, the attack of Zhao's 20 army put his national strength to the test.On the one hand, he vigorously expanded the territory, defeated the Xianbei Duan clan, defeated the Goguryeo clan, wiped out the Xianbei Yuwen clan, and attacked Puyu. Each time he robbed a large number of people and increased the household registration under his rule.On the other hand, it is actively developing the economy, and it is ordered that "the gardens can be discarded, so as to give the people who have no land. The poor have no assets and cannot survive on their own, and each will be given a cow."The collection method of land rent is "according to the old law of the Wei and Jin Dynasties", that is, according to the division method of the tuntian system.As a result, agriculture developed rapidly under Murong's rule, and quickly completed the transition of the family's society to feudalization, laying the foundation for the establishment of Qianyan.

When it came to Murong Jun's son, Murong Jun, due to the collapse of the post-Zhao rule, he was given the opportunity to develop in the Central Plains.Murong Jun led 20 troops into the fortress, united with the remnants of Hou Zhao and the clan chief Fu Shi, and defeated Ran Min.After that, Murong Pian moved the capital of the country to Ji (now Beijing), and then to Ye, becoming a powerful force in the Central Plains.In 352 A.D., Murong Gao was renamed the emperor and formally established the Yan State, known as Qianyan in history.

●Qianyan destroys Ye and destroys Ranwei
In 351 AD, Qian Yan defeated Ran Wei for the first time.In February of that year, Wei Lord Ran Min led an army of 10 to besiege Xiangguo, which was very critical. Later, Zhao Shi arrived and sent envoys to seek help from Xiangyan and Yao Yizhong.Murong captured and ordered General Yue Wan to lead 3 troops to join the armies to save Hou Zhao.Ran Min personally led the army to fight Yue Wan, Yao Yizhong and Shi Kun.When Yue Wan was a few miles away from the Wei army, she ordered a few cavalry to drag the branches and raise dust to show the large number of people.Wei Jun saw it from a distance and was very frightened.At this time, Yue Wan, Yao Yizhong, and Shi Kun's army immediately attacked Ran Min's army from three sides.Shi Yu also rushed from behind, Ran Wei's army was defeated, Ran Min's 10 army was completely lost, and only a dozen cavalry fled back to Yedu.Two months later, Ran Wei's army regained strength and defeated Shi Zhi's 7 army in Yecheng. Shi Zhi's general Liu Xian beheaded Shi Zhi and surrendered to Ran Wei.Later Zhao was defeated.

In 352 A.D., the former Yan sent Murong Ke to lead an army to attack Wei, just when Ran Min captured Xiangguo and led his troops to Changshan (the county government is in the northwest of Shijiazhuang, Hebei), Zhongshan (the county government is in the present-day Dingzhou, Hebei) and other counties.When Ran Min saw the Yan army coming to attack, he wanted to lead the army to meet him.Determined to fight the Yan army and eliminate Murong Jun.

Ran Min was stationed in Anxi (now southeast of Dingzhou, Hebei), and Murong Ke also led his army there; Ran Min's army went to Changshan, and Murong Ke also followed to Changshan.The two sides fought ten consecutive battles at Liantai (Wuji territory) in Weichang (now northeast of Wuji, Hebei), but the Yan army failed to win.Ran Min has always been famous for his bravery and leadership, and his soldiers are elite and good at fighting. The Yan army is also quite afraid of him.

Ran Min thought that his troops had mostly infantry, while Yan had all cavalry, so he decided to lead his troops into the jungle to offset the advantages of Yan's cavalry.Murong Ke adopted Gao Kai's suggestion and led Wei Jun to the flat ground.Murong Ke then divided the whole army into three divisions, and said to the generals: "Ran Ae is reckless and aggressive, and he is in the position of a small number of soldiers. He will definitely fight us to the death. I should concentrate my troops and wait for them to fight the Chinese army. At that time, my left and right armies suddenly attack him from the two wings, and we will surely defeat the Wei army." So he chose 5000 soldiers who were good at shooting, connected their horses with iron chains, formed a square formation, and moved forward. Holding a double-edged spear in his left hand and a hooked halberd in his right hand, after beheading more than 300 Yan troops, he spotted the Yan Zhongjun banner from a distance, and rushed forward to attack the Chinese army directly.But he was flanked by the Yan army, and Ran Min was also killed.

On April 25, former Yan Murong Ping and Lieutenant Hou Kan led 1 elite cavalry to attack Yedu, and General Ran Wei Jiang Gan and Prince Ran Zhi closed the city and stood firm.The battle was fought very hard. The soldiers in Ye City were exhausted and food was exhausted, and the palace people of the former Queen Zhao King were almost eaten up. Jiang Gan sent people to the Eastern Jin Dynasty for help, but the Eastern Jin Dynasty was unable to help.

On the second day of May, Yan led 5000 infantry and cavalry with Murong Jun, Mu Yugen, and You Sima Huangfuzhen to assist Murong Ping in attacking Yecheng.Seeing that there were no reinforcements, Jiang Gan led 4000 elite soldiers out of the city to fight the Yan army on the third day of June. They were defeated by the Yan army, and more than [-] people were beheaded.On August [-]th, Ran Wei's Changshui Captain Ma Gu opened the gate of Yedu and surrendered to the Yan army.Jiang Gan fled, Queen Ran Wei and Prince Ran Zhi were captured, and Ran Wei died so far.

●Fu Jian unified northern China
Fu Jian's name is Yongyu. Fu Jian's grandfather Fu Hong was originally a general of Liu Yao in the former Zhao regime. Liu Yao was defeated by Shi Hu, and Fu Hong surrendered to Shi Hu. Made a lot of military exploits.In 351 A.D., Fu Hong proclaimed himself Great General, Great Chanyu, and King of Three Qins.After Fu Hong's death, his son Fu Jian lost the title of King of Qin and accepted the conferment of the Eastern Jin Dynasty. Soon after, he defeated Du Hong, occupied Chang'an, and claimed to be the King of Heaven and Great Chanyu.In 352 A.D., Fu Jian removed the title of Heavenly King, proclaimed himself Emperor, and gave the title of Great Chanyu to his son Fu Chang, and the former Qin regime was formally established.In 354 A.D., during the Northern Expedition of General Huan Wen of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, although Fu Jian retreated to Chang'an City, he adopted the tactic of "harvesting wheat and clearing the fields" and cut off Huan Wen's army rations.

In 355 AD, Fu Jian died of illness, and Prince Fu Sheng succeeded to the throne.Due to Fu Sheng's cruel character, Ren Qing killed ministers, Fu Jian and others launched a coup in 357 AD, killed Fu Sheng, and seized the emperor's throne.After Fu Jian seized power, he used Wang Meng, Lu Polou and a large number of capable ministers to quickly unify a large area of ​​northern land.

(End of this chapter)