This work is a contribution to the column of the Museum of History, representing only the personal views of the author; this work is not a rigorous historical academic research, for reference only; unauthorized, prohibited second transmission, violators will be investigated.
This article is written by Jinfan Ranger
Two emissaries named Wang Zichun and Dong Zhao embarked on the road to Jicheng, and the purpose of their trip was to send a letter to Wang Jun on behalf of Shi Le, and to bring many treasures to Wang Jun.
The two emissaries walked along the way and found that there were several decadent crops growing around Jicheng, and there were hungry and hungry people everywhere. The two emissaries inquired from the people on the side and learned that this year there was a heavy flood in Jicheng, and the people were desperately trying to save the harvest, but they caught up with the drought, the crops withered and died in large areas, and the few remaining crops were attacked by locusts, and the people of Youzhou must have no life this year.
What was even more infuriating was that these people had no time to take care of the affairs of the farmland, because Wang Jun recruited a large number of people to Build a Palace in Jicheng to satisfy his ambition to establish himself as emperor.
In Wang Jun's warehouse, there were mountains of grain, but he was reluctant to take out even a little grain to help the victims, and even punished those who evaded servitude and hid in the mountains and forests with harsh means.
Seeing all this, Wang Zichun understood very well: Wang Jun's end was coming.
When Wang Jun received Shi Le's letter, he couldn't help but feel a burst of ecstasy in his heart. Shi Le said in the letter: "I am just a small Hu person, encountered this famine and chaos, and can only flee to Jizhou, the ideal is just to gather the clan members to save their lives." Now that the Jin Dynasty has fallen into the hands of the Yi people, there is no emperor on the Central Plains Emperor, and His Highness is a respected and prestigious family in the state, who else but you can be the emperor? The reason why I Shi Le risked death to raise an army and curse the riot was precisely for The expulsion of these people for His Highness. I hope that His Highness will be able to follow the heavens and ascend to the throne as soon as possible. I respect Your Highness as if you were a parent, and if Your Highness can perceive my heart, treat me like a son! ”
After loading his grandson, Shi Le still felt that the drama was not enough, and he also sent a lot of gifts to Wang Jun's cronies.
In view of the fact that Duan Lu had just turned his back on himself and was greatly disappointed by everyone, when he learned that Shi Le wanted to lay a hand for himself, Wang Jun felt that a large pie had fallen from the sky.
He was a little incredulous, and asked Wang Zichun, "Shi Gong is a great master of the world, occupying the land of Zhao Wei, but he wants to give me a hand, can you believe this?" ”
Wang Zichun replied, "As you said, General Shi is very talented and powerful, but His Highness has a distinguished reputation in Zhongzhou, and both Yi and Chinese are intimidated by your might." Since ancient times, there have only been Hu people who assist the monarch, but there are no Hu people who are emperors. General Shi did not abandon the status of the emperor and resigned to His Highness, but only worried that the emperor had his own Heavenly Dao Qi number, which could not be achieved by relying on his own intellectual strength alone, even if General Shi forcibly obtained the throne, he would certainly not be recognized by the heavens and the people. Although Xiang Yu was powerful, the world was ultimately owned by the Han Dynasty. General Stone is compared to His Highness, just as the moon is compared to the sun. It is precisely in view of the past that General Shi has devoted himself to His Highness, which is where General Shi's foresight far exceeds that of others, what is strange about His Highness? ”
After Prince Chun's flickering, Wang Jun no longer doubted, made Both Prince Chun and Dong Zhao marquis, and thanked them heavily.
In order to further gain Wang Jun's trust, Shi Le also handed over a person to Wang Jun, that is, Wang Jun's Sima Youtong. His younger brother You Lun had previously resisted Shi Le at the behest of Wang Jun, and later after Shi Le defeated Wang Jun, You Tong, who was guarding Fan Yang, secretly sent emissaries and secretly attached himself to Shi Le. Shi Le gave You Tong's emissaries to Wang Jun as a letter of surrender, and Wang Jun no longer doubted Shi Le's loyalty.
As Wang Zichun said, in Wang Jun's time, many Han people believed that the Hu people could only be courtiers to the Han people at most, and it was impossible to become the lord of the Han people. And Wang Jun was even more convinced of this statement: You see Tuoba Bu, Duan Bu, and Murong Bu have been acting as mercenaries under the banner of maintaining the Jin Dynasty for so many years, let alone Shi Le?
Shi Le's plans were proceeding in an orderly manner, but the Han regime he was working for was quietly undergoing a change.
In the first month of the second year of Jianxing (314), Liu Cong made some adjustments to the political layout of the Han kingdom, among which his most important son Liu Cang was crowned as the King of Jin, the Chancellor, the Great General, and the Lu Shang Shu.
Obviously, Liu Cong's purpose in elevating Liu Cang's status in this way was to deprive Liu Cang of the throne that originally belonged to the emperor's brother Liu Qi in the future to pass it on to Liu Cang. After all, Liu Cong, he would prefer to pass this throne to his own son. However, Liu Cong also knew very well that if he could not make proper arrangements for Liu Qi, there would be turmoil within the Han Kingdom again. With this in mind, Liu Cong did not take further action to directly deprive Liu Qi of his position as heir.
For Shi Le, he was more concerned about Wang Jun's movements than this change in the imperial court. After all, whether it is Liu Yue or Liu Qi who will succeed to the throne in the future, it will not affect Shi Le's status.
Just after the first month, Prince Chun, who had returned from Jicheng, sent a message to Shi Le that he would return to Xiangguo in a few days, accompanied by Wang Jun's emissary, who, in addition to coming to thank Shi Le for his gifts, also intended to inquire into Shi Le's falsehood and sincerity.
Shi Le was naturally aware of this, and he made preparations in advance, hiding his elite soldiers and grain and grass, showing a weak look.
Wang Jun's emissaries gave Shi Le an exquisitely crafted tail as a greeting gift. The tail is a symbol of the upper echelons of the Western Jin Dynasty, and when this kind of thing is given to Shi Le, Wang Jun may have a sarcastic meaning in it: Look at you countryman, I will still give you a grade.
But Shi Le did not say a word, he faced the north, respectfully accepted the tail from the messenger's hand, and hung it in the middle of the military tent, every day in front of wang Jun's messenger in front of the tail to worship, and said: "I see this tail as if I saw the prince himself!" Shi Le further sent emissaries, claiming that he would personally go to Jicheng in March of this year to present Wang Jun with the honorific title, and whispered to Wang Jun, hoping that Wang Jun would be crowned as the Governor of Hezhou and the Duke of Guangping after he ascended the throne.
The more humble Shi Le showed to Wang Jun, it meant that he was getting closer and closer to the day when Wang Jun was attacked, and the reason why Shi Le was so confident was because he knew from Wang Zichun's mouth everything that had happened to Wang Jun recently. After listening to Wang Zichun's report, Shi Le was convinced that Wang Jun would inevitably become his captive.
At the same time, Shi Le's emissaries also returned to Jicheng and reported to Wang Jun what he had seen and heard in front of Shi Le. At this point, Wang Jun no longer had any doubts about Shi Le's sincerity, and he relaxed his guard against Shi Le, and he became more and more arrogant and slack.
For Wang Jun now, Duan Bu had already broken with him, Murong Bu was more willing to manage his power in his own acres and three points, while Tuoba Bu trusted Liu Kun even more, and the only helper he could count on was Shi Le. In other words, he had no other way but to believe in Shi Le, because he could no longer compete with Shi Le by his own strength, and since Shi Le had built him a beautiful dream, Wang Jun was happy to sleep in such a dream.
In February of this year, Shi Le, who had been planning for a long time, was finally ready to send troops to eliminate Wang Jun, but before leaving, the army was already waiting in a strict position, but Shi Le still hesitated and failed to finally make up his mind.
Zhang Bin on the side sensed Shi Le's thoughts: "Attacking the enemy should be unexpected, and now that we are waiting in a strict position, are the general worried that Liu Kun, XianBei and Wu Huan will become our troubles?" ”
Sure enough, the Right Hou understood me, and Shi Le nodded, "You see, what should I do?" ”
Zhang Bin was confident: "None of these three parts has the wisdom and courage to match the general you, and even if the general goes on an expedition, they will certainly not dare to act rashly." Besides, we can adopt a strategy of rapid attack, and they must not have imagined that we would dare to go deep into Youzhou alone. In my estimation, the lightly armed army would not travel back and forth to Youzhou for more than twenty days. If they really had the idea of attacking us, and then they would send troops when they had agreed, we would have returned to the division to defend. And although Liu Kun and Wang Jun were nominally ministers of the Jin Dynasty, they were in fact enemies. If we send a letter to Liu Kun to repair it, and then send a hostage to request an armistice, Liu Kun will certainly be happy for our obedience, and will certainly clap his hands and applaud Wang Jun's demise. The soldiers were fast, and asked the general not to hesitate any longer. ”
After listening to Zhang Bin analyze the situation, Shi Le did not hesitate any longer: "Since this is the case, then start working immediately!" ”
[1] Shi Le
In order to maintain the secrecy of the operation, Shi Le ordered the overnight march with torches and reached Bairen County as quickly as possible, because there Shi Le had an extremely important assassination target: You Lun, the master bookkeeper who was stationed in the local area, You Lun's brother You Tong, was in Fanyang, and once You Lun leaked military information, Shi Le would not be able to achieve the effect of a surprise attack.
In addition, Shi Le sent emissaries with his own letters to Liu Kun, and also sent hostages, in which Shi Le stated his sins and requested to atone for his sins by rebelling against Wang Jun.
Ever since Shi Le entered Xiangguo, Liu Kun had never given up on wooing him. In Liu Kun's view, Shi Le's letter means that he has achieved great results in the political offensive. He excitedly sent the contents of the letter to the states and counties under his jurisdiction, attaching his own text.
Liu Kun in the text could not contain his joy: "I was discussing a crusade against Shi Le with Tuoba YiLu, so the desperate Shi Le asked to conquer Youzhou to atone for his sins. It was time to take advantage of the situation and send Tuoba Liuxiu south to attack Pingyang, purge Liu Cong, who had arrogantly claimed the title of emperor, and surrender Shi Le, who knew that his death was imminent. If such achievements can be achieved, it will definitely mean that the Jinzuo is endless, the Heavenly Dao is not abandoned, and the people's hearts are still there! ”
In March, Shi Le's army had reached Yishui, six or seven hundred miles away from Jicheng, and Wang Jun's overseer Sun Wei discovered the enemy situation and quickly sent someone to tell Wang Jun that he was ready to command the army to block Shi Le. Wang Jun's generals all believed that the Hu people were greedy and did not pay attention to credit, and there must be tricks, so it was better to solve Shi Le first. But Wang Jun disagreed, and he angrily said to everyone: "Shi Le came this time to honor me as emperor, and who dares to say that those who attack will be killed!" ”
In fact, if Wang Jun could calm down and think about it, if Shi Le really came to honor him, why didn't he inform him in advance, and why did he lead a large army to come? Wang Jun may still be able to foresee Shi Le's intentions, but at this time, the initiative is no longer in his hands, and he has also lost the strength and confidence to compete with Shi Le. All he could do was to let himself sleep a little deeper in this beautiful dream, preferably never to wake up again.
In the early morning of the third day of March, Shi Le's army appeared outside Jicheng City, and the guards of the gate opened the gate. Along with Shi Le's army, there were several thousand cattle and sheep, nominally a gift to Wang Jun, but in fact because Shi Le suspected that there was an ambush army, he drove these thousands of cattle and sheep into the city to block the streets and guard against the appearance of ambush troops.
Since the defenders first received Wang Jun's orders, they hesitated for a moment and then opened the city gate. Shi Le's army rushed in and began to loot the city. As the news of the great chaos in the city continued to come, Wang Jun realized that his dream had been shattered, and he sat restlessly in the palace, unable to make up his mind for half a day. The generals suggested resisting the invasion, but Wang Jun still rejected the proposal, and after some struggle in his heart, he decided to impress the other party with sincerity.
Shi Le's men quickly grabbed Wang Jun, and the first thing Wang Jun saw was his wife Cui Shi and Shi Le sitting side by side.
Cui shi was Wang Jun's fourth wife, from the Cui clan of Qinghe, and was the great-granddaughter of Cui Yan. Wang Jun's third wife was Hua Xin's descendant Hua Fang, who died in the same year as Sima Zheng. At that time, when Wang Jun was at its peak, in order to mourn his deceased wife, Wang Jun once wrote a brilliant tribute. But the difference is that there is no sadness in the whole text, but it is full of Wang Junzhi's pride, that is, Hua Fang's death has actually become a means for Wang Jun to brag about himself. At this time, at Shi Le's side, Cui Shi couldn't help but think of Hua Fang, and she was a little envious of Hua Fang's early death and did not have to face the humiliation of the present.
[2] HuaFang's tomb
From the limelight to the prisoner under the stairs, Wang Jun could not turn around for a moment, and could not help but scold Shi Le: "You Hu Nu, actually flirted with you Lao Tzu like this, why are you so vicious and rebellious?" ”
Shi Le shot back: "As the first-ranking being among the ministers, you have strong soldiers, but you sit back and watch the court collapse without going to the rescue, and you still want to call yourself the Son of Heaven. Whose sin is it to spoil and commit adultery, persecute the people, and mutilate Zhongliang, and the whole youzhou is filled with the bad things you have done? ”
Wang Jun was speechless, and he could not even make a single response to Shi Le's criticism, because Shi Le's words and words were like fists hitting him in the heart, completely crushing his psychological defense line.
Shi Le sent five hundred cavalry to escort Wang Jun back to Xiangguo first. Halfway through, Wang Jun once broke free of the guard and tried to commit suicide by throwing himself into the water, but failed to do so. After Shi Le returned to Xiangguo, he ordered Wang Jun to be dragged to the downtown area to count the crimes and beheaded in public, and the generation of tyrants who occupied Youzhou lost their lives.
[3] March 314
Along with Wang Jun,000 elite soldiers under his command, Shi Le thought that he could not control these strong soldiers, and it was impossible for them to become a factor of instability in his rear, so he killed all these soldiers in Xiangguo to avoid any trouble. Shi Le then burned down the palace built by Wang Jun, leaving behind the soldiers who were guarding the town and returning to Xiangguo.
However, Shi Le, who got Youzhou, was not blindly slaughtered, and he still had more admired figures, such as Wang Jun's aide Pei Xian and Xun Xun's grandson Xun Xun. Just when Wang Jun's general Zuo and his relatives came to Shi Le's military gate to apologize and ask Shi Le to bypass his life, only these two people did not care, and said to Shi Le: I am waiting for the Shishi Jin Dynasty, if Shi Gong is proud of his punishment, then it is better to kill us.
Compared with Wang Jun's other staff, these two people were not as wealthy as the others, and there were only more than ten pieces of salt and rice in the family, as well as their own collection of books. Shi Le admired their conduct and appointed them as his subordinates.
[4] Shile unified the north
Liu Kun on this side wanted to see through it, but Shi Le did not report to himself as Liu Kun thought, but sent Wang Jun's head to Pingyang, in exchange for the status of governor of Dadu, Grand General of Hussars, and Dongdan Yu, and Liu Kun knew that he had been deceived.
After the demise of Wang Jun, the only remaining Jin Dynasty forces in the north were liu kun, and liu kun's base area and Shile were only separated by a Taihang Mountain, and after learning the news of Wang Jun's demise, the counties under Liu Kun's rule were in turmoil, and everyone was in danger.
In order to cheer people's hearts, Liu Kun contacted Tuoba Yilu, intending to jointly send troops to attack Pingyang. However, after Shi Le took Youzhou, it also had a very adverse impact on the Tuoba department, and in response to Shi Le, a part of the Tuoba tribe, Qi Hu, took the opportunity to launch a rebellion, which was quickly suppressed, but greatly weakened the strength of the Tuoba department. Tuoba Yilu deeply realized that at this time, it was more important to stabilize the interior and prevent Shi Le from attacking the flanks, and in order to achieve this goal, naturally he could not put the main force in the south to cooperate with Liu Kun's attack on Pingyang.
After being rejected by Tuoba Bu, Liu Kun showed a very rare pessimistic mentality, and he said in a letter to Sima Yi: Of the eight states in the northeast region, Shi Le eliminated seven of them, and the forces loyal to the imperial court, only I survived. Shi Le occupied Xiangguo, only a mountain away from me, and could be reached in the morning and at night, and all the forts were shocked and frightened, and although the subjects were loyal, they were really powerless.
But what Liu Kun didn't know was that compared to himself, sima Ye was facing a more urgent crisis, and a catastrophe was about to appear in front of his eyes.
Resources
[1] Fang Xuanling (Tang) et al. Book of Jin
[2] Sima Guang (Song) · Zizhi Tongjian
[3] Cui Hong (Northern Wei) , Spring and Autumn of the Sixteen Kingdoms
[4] Wang Zhongji, History of the Southern and Northern Dynasties of Wei and Jin
[5] Zhou Weizhou, History of the Han and Zhao Kingdoms
[6] Li Zhen, History of the Later Zhao Dynasty
[7] Zhang Jinlong, Political History of the Northern Wei Dynasty