China knows everything for 5000 years

Chapter 27

In Fu Jian's activities to unify the north, Wang Meng contributed the most.Wang Meng once rejected Huan Wen's invitation.And when Fu Jian sent Lu Polou to invite him, he hit it off with Lu Polou and they had a good time talking.After meeting with Fu Jian, the conversation became more speculative, just like Liu Bei found Zhuge Liang.Fu Jian also obeyed Wang Meng and asked Wang Meng, Lu Polou, Quan Yi, and Xue Zan to help him together.

Under Wang Meng's plan, Fu Jian formulated a series of policies. Firstly, to control the powerful and powerful, to punish those bullies who relied on power to bully others, even the royal relatives and relatives were not spared, which suddenly changed the political atmosphere; secondly, Rest with the people, reduce the taxation of the common people in places that have been harassed by war, advocate economy, and oppose extravagance; the third is to vigorously build education, build many schools, and encourage learning. Fu Jian himself went to the school many times to inspect [-]. Determining talents; the fourth is to encourage farmers to open up wasteland and cultivate land to develop agricultural production.After the implementation of this series of measures, the economic undertakings of the former Qin Dynasty have been greatly developed, which laid the foundation for the military unification of the north.

In 369 A.D., Huanwen of the Eastern Jin Dynasty made a northern expedition and fought against the former Yan. Murong Zhan, the Lord of Yan, asked Fu Jian for help and promised to give Fu Jian the land west of Hulao (in today's Henan Province) as a reward.After Fu Jian sent troops to help Murong Zhan defeat Huan Wen, Murong Wei was unwilling to cede the land, so Fu Jian took the opportunity to send Wang Meng to attack the State of Yan, captured Yecheng, and captured the Lord of Yan, Murong Wei.Fu Jian entered the city and took all the city and property of Yan State to himself, and the former Yan was destroyed here, which also made Fu Jian's power further strengthened.

In 376 AD, Fu Jian wiped out Qianliang again, and moved more than 7000 households of Liangzhou gentry to Guanzhong.In the same year, General Fu Luo was sent to attack the Dai State, and the Dai King Shi Yiqian was captured, and the Dai State perished.Then, they captured Xiangyang and other places in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, and hit a place about 100 miles away from Guangling (now Yangzhou, Jiangsu). The Eastern Jin Dynasty was in a panic.Then, Fu Jian appointed the governor of Xuzhou to be stationed in Pengcheng; the governor of Yanzhou to be stationed in Hulu; the governor of Yangzhou to be stationed in Xiapi.Fu Jian's military power and territorial scope reached the highest peak.After 380 A.D., Fu Jian's influence gradually extended to the west, established the prestige of a great country in the border and neighboring countries, and launched several wars.By 384 A.D., the general Lu Guang pacified 36 countries in the Western Regions, and all the small countries in the Western Regions paid tribute to Qin Dynasty.From then on, Fu Jian unified northern China.

●Fu Jian was defeated in the Battle of Feishui
After Fu Jian unified the north, he resolutely launched an attack on the Eastern Jin Dynasty in 383 AD, despite the dissuasion of his adviser and his younger brother Fu Rong.Fu Jian recruited a total of more than 60 infantry, 27 cavalry, and 3 Imperial Forest Army, known as an army of one million.They started from the third road and marched into the Eastern Jin Dynasty. Along the way, people screamed and flags covered the sky. The road was crowded with the troops of the former Qin Dynasty, together with vehicles, horses, grain and grass, stretching back and forth for hundreds of miles.

The court of the Eastern Jin Dynasty was in a panic when it received the news that the former Qin Dynasty sent troops to attack Jin Dynasty.Emperor Xiaowu called all his ministers to discuss countermeasures, but Xie An was the only one who was not alarmed or panicked. He pointed out: If the two countries fight each other, there is no way to lose.It was senseless for the former Qin Dynasty to attack the Eastern Jin Dynasty for no reason, and it went against the will of the people; we fought against aggression with the right way, and we will surely win.Xie An's words inspired most of the ministers, and they finally unanimously agreed and sent troops to fight against Qin.Emperor Xiaowu appointed Xie An as the commander-in-chief of the whole country, in charge of fighting against Qin.Xie An convened a military meeting, the main generals Xie Shi, Xie Xuan, Fuguo General Xie Yan (son of Xie An), Xizhong Lang General Huan Yi, Longxiang Generals Hu Bin, Liu Laozhi and others all attended the meeting.Xie An asked General Longxiang Hu Bin to lead 5000 naval troops to defend Shouyang, and asked Xie Shi and Xie Xuan to lead 8 troops to the north to block the Qin soldiers, and deployed other generals one by one.Seeing that the commander-in-chief Xie An was calm and fearless, all the generals gained confidence and took orders to leave.

Liu Laozhi led his troops to launch a surprise attack on Luojian's former Qin army first.This Beifu soldiers really lived up to their reputation, like tigers with wings, they crossed Luojian by force, all of them were brave and extraordinary.The former Qin army guarding Luojian was no match for the Beifu soldiers. They barely resisted for a while, but then they were defeated. Qin general Liang Cheng was killed by the Eastern Jin army.Qin's soldiers scrambled across the Huai River to escape, and most of them fell into the water and drowned.

Luojian's great victory boosted the morale of the Eastern Jin army.On the one hand, Xie Shi and Xie Xuan ordered Liu Laozhi to continue to attack, on the other hand, they personally commanded the army to take advantage of the victory and advance until they reached the east bank of Feishui River. They stationed their troops on the edge of Bagong Mountain and faced off with the former Qin army stationed in Shouyang.

Xie Xuan sent an envoy to tell Fu Rong that in order to fight the Qin army quickly, it was inconvenient for the two sides to fight across the Fei River, so he asked the Qin army to retreat a little so that the Jin soldiers could cross the river and compete with the Qin army.Fu Jian and Fu Rong tried to annihilate the Jin army with the tactics of cavalry dashing when the Jin army was halfway through.Therefore, he ordered the Qin army to retreat.However, the soldiers of the Qin army did not understand their intention to retreat, thinking that the Qin army was defeated.Zhu Xu, a general of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, took the opportunity to shout in the army again: "The Qin army has been defeated! The Qin army has been defeated!"Jin soldiers took advantage of the situation to cross the water and attack.The chief general of the Qin army, Fu Rong, went out on horseback to stop the retreating Qin soldiers. As a result, the horse was knocked down, and Fu Rong was killed by the Jin soldiers.Fu Jian was also shot by Liu Ya, and had to flee back to Chang'an with 10,000+ remnant soldiers.

In this battle, the Eastern Jin army defeated more with less, and 8 people defeated a million people. This is the famous "Battle of Feishui".

●Murong Chui betrayed Qin Jianyan
During the reign of Murong Wei of the former Yan Dynasty, Murong Chui defected to the former Qin Dynasty due to internal conflicts in the clan and became a general of Fu Jian.In 383 A.D., during the Battle of Feishui, Murongchui's troops did not suffer any losses. After the Qin army lost troops and generals, they escorted Fu Jian back to Chang'an.At this time, the former Qin Dynasty was already fading away, so Murong Chui was moved, and he used the excuse of going back to Yecheng to sweep the tombs of his ancestors, returning to the hometown of Yan, and plotting to come back.Soon, Zhai Bin of the Dingling tribe rebelled against Qin in the Xin'an area near Luoyang. Fu Pi, the general guarding the town of Qin Ye, sent 2000 troops and ordered Murongchui to go to Luoyang to quell the rebellion.Murong Chui joined Zhai Bin to attack Luoyang, and soon went north to attack Yecheng.

In 384 A.D., Murong Chui rebelled against Qin and established the Xianbei regime in Rongyang, the former Yan's hometown. The country name was still Yan, and he called himself the King of Yan.In 385 A.D., Fu Pi, the defender of Yecheng, was defeated and fled to Jinyang, and Murongchui occupied the entire Hebei area.In 386 A.D., he established his capital in Zhongshan (now Ding County, Hebei Province), proclaimed himself emperor, changed his Yuan to Yan Yuan, and was called Hou Yan in history.

Later Yan largely inherited the system of former Yan. In addition to the registered households governed by prefectures, counties, and counties, there were also populations that belonged to military camps rather than prefectures and counties.The Murong family of Houyan took the master of Wubao as their guardian, and cooperated with the powerful Han clan to rule together.

After the establishment of the Later Yan regime, Murong Chui fought north and south to expand his territory and strengthen his strength.In 392 A.D., Murongchui captured Huatai (in present-day Henan), annihilated the Wei state established by the Zhai family of the Dingling family, and took 7 households in 38000 counties;After that, they successively conquered Qingzhou, Yanzhou and other prefectures in the Eastern Jin Dynasty. At its peak, the territory "reached Langya in the south, Liaohai in the east, He and Fen in the west, and Yan and Dai in the north." It was a relatively powerful dynasty among the northern regimes.

●Liu Yu replaced the Jin Dynasty and established the Song Dynasty
Liu Yu, courtesy name Deyu, nicknamed Jinu, originally from Pengcheng (now Xuzhou, Jiangsu), is said to be a descendant of Liu Bang's younger brother Liu Jiao, king of Chu and Yuan.At the end of the Jin Dynasty, Liu Yu, who was born in Wuzu, began to rise.

Liu Yu started in the Beifu army, and after the Huanxuan Rebellion was put down, he became a servant and a general of chariots, and gradually took control of the military power of the Eastern Jin Dynasty.In 410 A.D., after Liu Yu led an army to pacify Nanyan, he was promoted to Taiwei and Zhongshujian to take charge of the court.Since then, Liu Yu has cultivated cronies and eradicated political enemies.Liu Yi, Zhuge Changmin, Sima Xiuzhi and other ministers who had different political views from Liu Yu were dismissed one after another.Then, in his second Northern Expedition, he conquered Guanzhong, and was granted the title of Xiangguo and Duke of Song in 418 AD.At this time, the conditions for Liu Yu to replace the Eastern Jin Dynasty were ripe.

In 420 A.D., one of his subordinates drafted a Zen edict and presented it to Liu Yu. He got it from Sima Dewen, Emperor Gong of Jin Dynasty, and asked him to copy it.Liu Yu built an altar in the south and ascended the throne. His country name was Song, and he was Emperor Wu of Song.Emperor Wu of the Song Dynasty changed Yuan Yongchu, set his capital at Jiankang (now Nanjing, Jiangsu), changed "Qin Shi Li" to "Yong Chu Calendar", and abolished Emperor Gong of Jin as Lingling King.In June of the following year, Liu Yu sent someone to poison him to death, setting a precedent for killing those who "resigned" and abdicated.At this point, the Eastern Jin Dynasty, which lasted 104 years and had a total of 11 emperors, ended, and the Southern and Northern Dynasties began.

Liu Yu was more enlightened when he was in power, reducing taxes and pardoning slaves and soldiers.After being the emperor for two years, Liu Yu died of illness in 422 AD at the age of 59. He was later posthumously named Emperor Wu
●Sheng Nei Chaowen Emperor ascended the throne
In 422 A.D., before Liu Yu's death, he ordered Prince Liu Yifu to succeed him, with Sikong Xu Xianzhi, Zhongshu Ling Fu Liang, leading general Xie Hui, and Zhenbei general Tan Daoji as the assistant government.Liu Yifu is the eldest son of Liu Yu. When he was a child, he was close to villains and misbehaved. After he ascended the throne, he lived in disrespectful funerals, played games too much, was not close to political affairs, liked military drills, built wanton buildings, wasted a lot of money, and left the treasury empty. .Minister Fan Tai wrote a letter to advise, but Liu Yifu ignored it.

At that time, Sima Xiuzhi and Sima Chuzhi, the extinct Jin clans, surrendered to the Northern Wei Dynasty, and Sima Wenrong and others fled to Henan. They never forgot to overthrow the Song Dynasty.At that time, the Northern Wei Dynasty took Linzi, surrounded Dongyang, trapped in Hulao, and captured a large area of ​​Henan.In Kuaiji County, an important place in the south of the Yangtze River, there was also a rebellion by Sun Faguang in Fuyang.At this time, Liu Yizhen, the second son of Liu Yu, who was the governor of Nanyu Prefecture, had a close relationship with Xie Lingyun and Yanyan of Langxie, the great noble family, and claimed that if he became emperor, he would use them as prime ministers.In order to save the Song Dynasty and maintain their personal status, the assistant ministers Xu Xianzhi and Fu Liang decided to abolish the emperor and establish another.If another is established, Liu Yu's second son Liu Yizhen will succeed in order.Xie Hui told Liu Yu that Liu Yizhen's virtue was less important than his talent, and Liu Yu transferred him to be the governor of Southern Yuzhou on his deathbed to prevent him from competing for the throne.Taking advantage of the conflict between Emperor Shaodi and Liu Yizhen, Xu Xianzhi, Fu Liang, Xie Hui and others first asked Liu Yizhen to be deposed as a commoner, moved to Xin'an County, and then killed him.Then Tan Daoji, the governor of Yanzhou, and Wang Hongren, the governor of Jiangzhou, were conquered, and they were accused of abolishing the establishment.

In 424 A.D., in the name of the empress dowager, Shaodi was abolished as King Yingyang, imprisoned in Wujun, and killed soon after.After Emperor Shao was abolished, Cheng Daohui, a servant, advised Xu Xianzhi and others to appoint Liu Yu's fifth son, Liu Yigong, the governor of Nanyu Prefecture, because he was young and easy to control.Xu Xianzhi, Fu Liang and others chose Liu Yilong, the third son of Liu Yu who was the governor of Jingzhou at that time, Yidu King Liu Yilong, thinking that he was more suitable for the conditions of a monarch.Because it was his turn to talk about the order, and Liu Yilong had a good reputation, and there were many Fu Ruis who were sent to Jingzhou.Fu Liang personally led a large number of officials to Jiangling (now Jiangling, Hubei) to meet King Yidu on the emperor's luan.

In August, Fu Liang and others arrived in Jiangling, led a hundred officials to present Liu Yilong with a jade seal, and the etiquette was very grand.Liu Yilong agreed to go to Jiankang.When the king of Yidu and his left and right heard the news of the death of Emperor Shao and Liu Yizhen at this time, they all hesitated to go eastward. Only Wang Hua, Wang Tanshou and others from his mansion suggested going eastward.Under the strict protection of his former subordinates, Liu Yilong did not dare to get close to the officials and troops brought by Fu Liang.Liu Yilong's bodyguard, Zhu Rongzi, guarded outside Liu Yilong's car and boat with a knife in his arms, and stayed around for dozens of days. He went east to Jiankang and took the throne as Emperor Wen of Song.Xu and Fu became obsessed and enlightened, which stabilized the hearts of the people and enabled the Song Dynasty to turn the crisis into peace.Although Emperor Wen relied on Xu and Fu to win the throne, his two elder brothers were killed by Xu and Fu. At the same time, Xu and Fu were in charge of power.After careful planning by Emperor Wen and the senior gentry, in 426 AD an edict was issued to announce that Xu Xianzhi, Fu Liang and others were guilty of killing Liu Yifu and Liu Yizhen, and Fu Liang was executed.Xu Xianzhi committed suicide after hearing the news, Xie Hui failed to raise troops in Jingzhou, and his whole family was killed.

●Praying mantis catches cicada and dies in summer
The Xia Helian family was originally a branch of the Huns, intermarried with the Han, and took the surname Liu for a long time.When it came to Helian Bobo, he was a bit unwilling to be just a Hun nobleman, and he had great ambitions to build a country.In 407 A.D., Helian Bobo claimed to be the king of heaven and the great chanyu, and he was promoted to Jianyuan and set up a hundred officials.He believed that the Xiongnu were descendants of the Xia Hou family, and their old country was called Daxia. He also felt that it was unreasonable for the Xiongnu to change their mother's surname to Liu, so he changed their surname to the Helian family.

He Lianbo became the queen. In order to expand the scope of control, he attacked for years and entered Chang'an in 418 AD.In 426 A.D., Helian Bobo's fifth son, Helian, succeeded to the throne in Pingliang and proclaimed himself emperor.In 431 AD, Helianding invaded the Western Qin Dynasty, and the Western Qin Dynasty asked Wei for help.Before Wei had time to send troops, King Xiqin Qifu Mumo was beheaded by Helian Ding.After Helian decided to annihilate the Western Qin Dynasty, fearing that the Northern Wei Dynasty would invade, he drove more than 3 captured Western Qin people to cross the Yellow River to attack Juqu Mengxun and seize the land of Northern Liang.King Mugui of Tuyuhun sent Mu Liyan and Shiqian to lead 407 cavalry to ambush on the way. When Helianding reached the middle of the river, the Northern Wei Dynasty sent troops to attack and defeated the Xia army. King Helianding of Xia was captured alive and escorted to the Northern Wei Dynasty. Great Xia perished.Xia was founded in 431 A.D. and died in 25 A.D. It lasted [-] years.

●Emperor Taiwu of the Northern Wei Dynasty exterminated Buddhism
Buddhism was introduced to China in the late Eastern Han Dynasty and developed greatly during the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties.The abnormal development of Buddhism has brought great harm to the country's economy. Therefore, the wise monarchs began to ban and destroy the Buddha, and launched extensive struggles.

Tuoba Tao, Emperor Taiwu of the Northern Wei Dynasty, conquered the north and the south, and unified the large area of ​​China north of the Yangtze River. He decided to restrict the development of Buddhism. He stipulated that monks under the age of 50 must leave the temple and go home to farm, perform military service, and pay taxes. .After this order was issued, it played a certain role in controlling the development of Buddhism.

In 450 AD, a great uprising led by Gai Wu occurred in the Northern Wei Dynasty, and Tuoba Tao personally led the army to suppress it.After suppressing Gai Wu's uprising, Tuoba Tao returned to Chang'an and saw that there were weapons and wine-making tools hidden in the Chang'an Buddhist temple. There were also a large amount of property stored inside the Buddhist temple, and many young women were even imprisoned.Tuoba Tao was very angry. He said: "Don't monks practice, do good deeds, don't eat meat, and don't marry? Why do you need swords and guns in this Buddhist temple? Why do you make wine? Why do you have women?" Cui Hao, Tuoba Tao's minister, suggested: " Buddhism harms the people, building Buddha statues is a waste of money, the Buddha statues should be destroyed, and the people are forbidden to believe in Buddhism and become monks!"

In 446 AD, Emperor Taiwu Tuobatao ordered: "Destroy all Buddhist temples in the world, burn all Buddhist scriptures and Buddha statues, kill all monks and people, and ban the spread of Buddhism forever."

Tuoba Tao's movement to ban Buddhism had very good results at that time, but after his death, the emperors and princes and ministers of the Northern Wei Dynasty still believed in Buddhism, and once again set off a movement of believing in and worshiping Buddha.

●Northern Wei Dynasty dug Yungang Grottoes
In order to establish a tall image of Buddha in the hearts of the people, the rulers of the Northern Wei Dynasty further promoted the divine right of kings. They recruited a large number of migrant workers and stonemasons, cut mountains and cliffs, dug many grottoes, carved many Buddha statues, and let people go there to worship.

Located near Pingcheng (now Datong), the former capital of the Northern Wei Dynasty, the Yungang Grottoes were excavated in 453 A.D., where the royal family of the Northern Wei Dynasty practiced meritorious deeds and performed Buddhist rituals.The person in charge of supervising the construction of the grottoes was the famous monk Tan Yao. Not long after Emperor Wencheng came to the throne, he invited Tan Yao to the palace, honored him as a mage, and asked him to be in charge of the construction of the Yungang Grottoes.After careful planning, Tan Xia asked the craftsmen to excavate a big Buddha cave with a width of more than seven feet and a depth of six feet, and then built a four-storey pavilion at the entrance of the cave. In the center of the pavilion, a giant Buddha statue more than five feet high was carved.The feet of the Buddha statue are one foot four feet long, and the middle finger of the foot is seven feet long, which is bigger than an ordinary person.There are black stones inlaid on the face and feet of the Buddha. These black stones are inlaid according to the moles on the body of Emperor Wencheng.Tan Yao built such a big Buddha to show that Emperor Wencheng was the incarnation of Buddha and to deify the emperor's ruling position.

According to Tan Yao's design, craftsmen carved many Buddha statues of different sizes around the Buddha.Each of these Buddha statues is shorter than the other, tightly surrounding the Buddha, which is a symbol of the officials.In addition, there are many smaller figures, symbolizing the people and slaves.On the top of the cave are engraved fairies with different postures flying in the air, making the Buddha even more majestic and solemn.All these symbolize the emperor's supremacy and the relationship between the ruler and the ruled in the world.Tan Yao excavated a total of five grottoes, known as "Tan Yao Five Caves".

●Empress Dowager Feng reformed the Wei government
Empress Dowager Feng was from Xindu, Changle. Her father, Feng Lang, was assassinated by Qin and Yong prefectures and granted the title of Duke of Xicheng.When she was young, her father was executed for a crime.Her aunt was Zhaoyi of Emperor Taiwu of Wei Shizu at that time, so she was brought into the palace to be raised.When she was 14 years old, Emperor Taiwu died, and Tuoba Rong succeeded to the throne as Emperor Wencheng, who chose her as a nobleman and later made her a queen.Emperor Wencheng reigned for 14 years and died in 465 AD.The crown prince Tuoba Hongli, in honor of the Emperor Xianwen, respected her as the Queen Mother.In 466 A.D., Yihun intensified his usurpation activities. His attendant Tuobapi secretly reported to Empress Dowager Feng, and Empress Dowager Feng summoned her trusted ministers to "secretly formulate a strategy" and ordered Tuobapi to lead Yuan He, Niu Yide and other generals to hunt and kill Yihun.From then on, she listened to the government in front of the court, and let Zhongshu Ling Gao Yun, Zhongshu's servant Gao Lu, and Anyuan General Jia Xiu and others participate in the big politics.After Empress Dowager Feng came to power, she continued to implement Emperor Wencheng's policy of "Yanwu Xiuwen", and issued an edict to set up rural schools in all counties. Each county should have 2 doctors, 2 teaching assistants, and 60 students to study Confucianism to aid in cultural governance.

One year later, Mrs. Li, the noble concubine of Emperor Xianwen, gave birth to the prince Yuan Hong. Empress Dowager Feng raised Yuan Hong herself and returned the government to Emperor Xianwen.In 471 A.D., Emperor Xianwen passed the throne to Prince Yuan Hong, who was Emperor Gaozu Xiaowen, and retired as Supreme Emperor himself.

(End of this chapter)