Author: Our special guest author Qian Qiuyuan
The period of the Two Jin Dynasties, Five Hu and Sixteen Kingdoms may be one of the most chaotic times in Chinese history, thanks to the rebellion of the Eight Kings of the Western Jin Dynasty, the Central Plains region has been in turmoil for many years, the people's livelihood has withered, the population has decreased sharply, the Han nationality is unable to rule the Central Plains, and the northern ethnic minorities have taken advantage of the void (there are also some of the Western Jin Dynasty royal families themselves invited in), this era is known as the "Five Hu Chaohua".
Wuhu refers to the five ethnic minorities of xiongnu, Xianbei, Xianbei, Xianbei, Xian, and Qiang, and the various ethnic groups are very different, attacking each other, and slaughtering cities and exterminating ethnic groups occurs from time to time.
Most of the emperors of the five dynasties were also known for their fierceness, but the former Qin Emperor Jianjian (who did not actually claim the title of emperor, claiming to be the King of Great Qin) stood out from a group of despicable and brutal chaotic strongmen, and changed his father's fierce style to treat people with leniency.
<h1>The ethnic policy of leniency</h1>
In 357, Jian Jian took the throne.
Recognizing the complex ethnic relations in the North and the small number of the Hu as the ruling class, he adopted an egalitarian and inclusive ethnic policy.
Impartiality in the appointment of officials, economic development and other important aspects, equality of all ethnic groups (on the contrary, it is more mean to the Yu ethnic group), which to a certain extent alleviates ethnic contradictions and promotes the integration of various ethnic groups in the north.
During this period, at least on the surface, the ethnic contradictions in Former Qin were the most moderate among the Five Hu and Sixteen Kingdoms.
Jian Jian can be said to be a Sinicized Hu person, boldly appointing Wang Meng, Quan Yi and other Han people as heavy subjects, lightly dispensing with thin endowments, revering Confucianism and heavy morality, revising the canon law, yanjia to stop the army, persuading nongsang, and resting with the people, the Former Qin Empire embarked on a road of rich country and strong army.
In just a few years, the Central Plains region regained its vitality and its national strength was booming.
And Jian Jian's hard work has indeed paid off in the short term:
In just over a decade, it successively attacked former Yan, Qiuchi, Former Liang, and Daiguo, controlled the entire northern region of China, and confronted the Eastern Jin dynasty in the south of the Anjiang River. At this time, Jian Jian was 38 years old, and he was in his prime, quite like the momentum of Wei Wu's whip.
<h1>Generous way of taming</h1>
Speaking of Emperor Jianjian's art of taming people, we have to mention Murong Chui. Murong Chui was a former Yan imperial family and a pillar general of Former Yan, who once defeated Huan Wen's Northern Expedition in the Eastern Jin Dynasty.
However, because the merits were too great, the description of Wei'an, and the extraordinary temperament, it was said that he had the appearance of an emperor, and he was jealous of murong Wei and Murong Juan of the Former Yan imperial family, and had to flee west to the Qin state and defect to Jianjian.
Jian Jian was very appreciative of Murong Chui's personal ability, and he believed in his heart that the only person who could rule the world with him in this era was this Murong Chui, and he once dared not use troops against Former Yan because of Murong Chui's existence.
At this time, when he heard that Murong Chui had come to surrender, he was naturally very welcome, and murong Chui was named the champion general (miscellaneous general) and the Marquis of Bintu (not low status).
However, Emperor Jian's chancellor Wang Meng was not at ease with Murong Chui, and it can be said that he wanted to destroy Murong Chui all his life, and even made a beautiful set of "golden sword plans":
When the Former Yan attacked Luoyang, Wang Meng went to visit Murong Chui and said that I was going to leave soon, but I couldn't bear the friendship between us, could you give me some souvenirs, I took it with me, or I could pin my hopes on the pain of lovesickness.
Murong Chui was also very touched when he heard this, and immediately gave wang meng his own pocket saber, asking Wang Meng to talk about the "pain of lovesickness".
Wang Meng immediately bribed Murong Chui's confidant Jin Xi and took a saber to Murong Chui's son Murong Ling ( Murong Ling ) , saying that Murong Ling had become suspicious of Murong Chui 's family , and asked his son to quickly find a way to escape.
When Murong Ling saw that the sword was indeed his father's sword, he believed it to be true and fled back to Former Yan.
When Murong Chui, who was in Chang'an, heard his son's rebellion, the explanation was to cover up, don't say anything, run.
Later, Murong Chui was chased back to Chang'an and had to plead guilty with Jian Jian.
Jian Jian said, you see, what is this for, your son's rebellion has little to do with you, I still can't believe you? Murong Chui was not guilty of any crime, but was still entrusted with a heavy responsibility and held his original position.
For this story between Jian Jian and Murong Chui, if the situation had not changed suddenly later, Murong Chui had taken advantage of the danger of people to leave and establish Later Yan, and the full feelings between Murong Jian and Murong Chui could have really flown for hundreds of years.
<h1>Light enemy defeat</h1>
In 379, Former Qin attacked Xiangyang, and the Eastern Jin general Zhu Xu stubbornly defended Xiangyang, and finally exhausted and was captured.
Emperor Jian Jian's problem with his morality came up again, believing that Zhu Xu was a loyal servant who could be used for his own use, so he appointed Zhu Xu as a DuZhi Shangshu - "Come to me to manage the money."
But Emperor Jian's excessive attachment to human nature led to his own key failure:
At the critical moment of the Battle of Shuishui, Zhu Xu suddenly turned against him, resulting in the total defeat of the Qin army, and Emperor Jian jian fled into the wilderness.
<h1>The multitudes rebelled</h1>
Emperor Jian jian divided the imperial family and nobles into various places to strengthen the management of the localities.
While this policy helped to control the empire's vast territory, it also led to the central government being too empty and lacking the ability to balance the overall situation of the country, a contradiction that would not have been highlighted at the time of the victory of the Jianjian Festival.
However, when Jian Jian retreated from the defeat at the Battle of Shuishui, the former Qin state's strength declined greatly, and the contradictions between the various ethnic groups lurking in the Former Qin Empire immediately broke out.
The Xianbei and Qiang tribes rebelled one after another, and Murong Chui took the opportunity to return to the Yan state to claim the throne, while Murong Chong, Murong Hong, and others challenged the out-of-power Jian jian under Chang'an City. Due to the lack of sufficient troops to defend Chang'an, Jian Jian had no choice but to abandon Chang'an.
The reason why these people were able to betray was that Emperor Jian Jian left these people with living space, and Emperor Jian Jian finally tasted the bitter fruit for his own overly leniency.
<h1>Yao Cang's rebellion</h1>
The Former Qin Empire, which had suffered defeat, was already in turmoil at this moment, and Emperor Jian Jian was like a lonely boat in the ocean, in danger of capsizing at any time.
Yao Cang was a member of the Qiang ethnic group, and thanks to the ethnic policy of Emperor Jian jian, Yao Cang was also highly valued in Former Qin, and was named "General of Long Jun" by Jian Jian.
Emperor Jian jian, who had been defeated at the Battle of Shuishui, sent his eldest sons Gong Rui and Yao Cang to quell the rebellion against Murong Hong, but As a result, Murong Qiang did not listen to Yao Cang's advice and defeated hua Ze.
Yao Cang sent someone to ask Gong Jian for his guilt, but as a result, Gong Jian, who had been generous all his life but had been hit hard, made a fatal mistake at this critical moment, was very angry with Yao Cang's report, changed his previous style, and beheaded Yao Cang's emissaries.
This slash completely frightened Yao Cang, and Yao Cang, who held military power, launched a mutiny.
However, the emperor who had lost his power actually encountered Yao Cang again at the Five Generals Mountain, and Yao Cang did not remember the old feelings at all, and asked Yao Jian to give up the throne to himself.
Jian Jian said: Zen is a matter between the ancient sages, is it also worthy of your appearance as a villain? In the end, he died calmly at the age of 48.
Emperor Jian jian replaced the imperial power technique with jianghu righteousness, and the eldest brother led the younger brother to get rich together, which was also indispensable when the national fortune was in full swing.
However, once the times are not good, the eldest brother cannot completely suppress the younger brother, and the younger brother lacks absolute loyalty to the eldest brother, and this righteous way of governing the country immediately shows its fatal drawbacks, and eventually becomes the catalyst of the Former Qin Empire.
Reference: Book of Jin
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