The Lamentations of the Two Jin Emperors: Emperor Mu lamenting and deposing the Emperor - The Encounter of the Three Brothers (Part II)

3. The "lucky" deposed emperor Sima Yi

Emperor Wu died, and under the auspices of his aunt, Empress Dowager Chu, sima Yi, the evil king of Lang, succeeded to the throne. A few months later, Sima Yi's wife Yu Daopi was also promoted to empress by Princess Lang. This Empress Yu was the daughter of the late chancellor Yu Bing, but unfortunately she died, and the next year, Sima Yi had just changed her era name to "Taihe", and by May, the empress dowager had "collapsed" and was estimated to have lived only in her twenties— because her husband was only 25 years old at the time.

During the reign of Sima Yi's predecessor Emperor Sima Pi, he already felt great pressure from his chancellor Huan Wen. After Sima Yi took the throne, this pressure became even greater. Huan Wen had long intended to replace the Jin Dynasty, and he originally wanted to go out to the Northern Expedition, destroy the Former Yan state in the north, and after making great achievements, he would return to the dynasty to force the Jin Emperor to give him the gift of "Nine Tins", just like Cao Cao and Sima Zhao did in those years. However, instead of fulfilling people's wishes, taihe fourth year (369 AD) fought a battle of Fangtou (southeast of present-day Xun County, Henan), a big defeat and loss, Huan Wen slipped back and had to put the "grand goal" on hold for the time being. One day, he lay on the bed and said to several subordinates around him: "The old man is so obscure, is not he going to be ridiculed by the Second Emperor Wenjing of the Han Dynasty under the Nine Springs?" "Comparing yourself with the previous emperors, what is your intention?" The people around him did not dare to answer, Huan Wen suddenly sat up again, touched the pillow and sighed: "If the big husband can't live for a hundred lifetimes, he should also leave a stink for ten thousand years!" The two idioms of "Liufang Hundred Generations" and "Ten Thousand Years of Stink" come from here. Xi Chao, a close confidant of Xi Chao, saw that although he was nearly sixty years old, his "ambition" had not diminished from that year, so he advised him to do the abolition of the establishment to establish a prestige for the imperial court and shock the people of the country. This was exactly what Huan Wen wanted, but the current emperor Sima Yi knew his embarrassing situation, was cautious and careful everywhere, and had almost no fault, what excuse should he find to abolish him? After consulting with Xi Chaoyi, he decided to use the secret affair between the beds as a weapon to make Sima Yi stink. So they spread rumors that Sima Yi suffered from impotence, was a natural eunuch, and could not do the things of men and women at all, but introduced Xiang long, Ji Hao, Zhu Lingbao, and other ministers of The Fortune into the inner palace, and fooled around with the concubines, and the three sons of concubines Tian Meiren and Meng Mei were actually the evil breeds of those three concubines. Sima Yi was also preparing to crown these evil seeds as Crown Prince, which was not "dumping the imperial foundation" (Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 103)! Rumors gradually spread out, but the secret of the deep palace, whether it is black or white, whether it is true or false, who can tell clearly? However, it was not necessary to distinguish at all, Huan Wen already had an excuse, rushed back to the capital Jiankang from other places, requested the empress dowager Chu Garlic to abolish Sima Yi and establish Sima Yu as the prince of Hui, and drafted an edict for Chu Garlic in advance, asking her to look at it and approve it. At that time, Chu Garlic was burning incense in the Buddhist hall, and listened to the eunuch's report: Outside, Sima Huan da had an urgent chapter. Chu Garlic zi came out and leaned against the door frame to watch, and after only a few lines, he said, "I was also suspicious of this matter." After reading half of it, he didn't look any further, and asked someone to take a pen, and he personally added these words to the draft edict: "I, the undead, am really unfortunate, and I have suffered so many troubles." Thinking of the dead, thinking of the living, is really like a knife! The rumors of Sima Huan, coupled with the suspicions of Empress Dowager Chu, became ironclad evidence that the current emperor Sima Yi "defiled the court". It is said that after Huan Wen submitted the draft edict, he was worried that the empress dowager had a different opinion, "sweating and sweating, seeing the color". It was not until the edict approved by the empress dowager came out that it was "great joy" ("Jin Shu And Empress Dowager Passed Down"). Therefore, in November of the sixth year of Taihe (371 AD), Sima Yi, who had been emperor for 6 years and was 30 years old, changed from emperor to king of the East Sea and moved from the imperial palace back to the original royal palace. When his brother Emperor Wu ascended the throne, he was promoted from king of the East Sea to king of Lang. Because the "Zhongxing" emperor Sima Rui was the king and emperor from the Lang Evil King, so in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the Lang Evil King was almost the symbol of the crown prince, and now that Sima Yi has been deposed, it is naturally inconvenient to retreat to the position of the Lang Evil King, so he has to continue to be the "East Sea King" "wronged". Not to mention, at the end of the year, after Huan Wen's "request" and Chu Garlic Zi's approval, Sima Yi was demoted to the rank of "Duke of Haixi"; in April of the following year, he was forced to leave the capital and move to Wu County (present-day Suzhou, Jiangsu), and "edicted" local officials to keep him under strict supervision. I just don't know if this "edict" is the holy will of the new emperor Sima Yu, or the meaning of Sima Huanda? However, one thing is certain, that is, Sima Yi's three sons and their mothers Tian Meiren and Meng Meiren were all unceremoniously killed by Huan Wen; as for the three courtiers Xianglong, Ji Hao, and Zhu Lingbao, although the historical records do not explain, they can be completely inferred: If they are still alive, it is strange not to be in a different place!

Sima Yi (342–386)

As an emperor, Sima Yi trembled in front of Sima Huan, and it was indeed a bit of a nest. Unable to control his own destiny, he even asked a warlock to do the math for him. After looking at the gua elephant, the warlock said, "The Jin Room has the solidity of the pan stone, and Your Majesty has the image of leaving the palace." Sure enough, he himself soon stepped down from power and was invited out of the palace; and the Eastern Jin Dynasty finally lasted for half a century. However, although he is already a deposed emperor, it does not mean that there is no chance. In the second year of Xian'an (372 AD), The Pengcheng mutant Lu Shu (yin sǒng) claimed to be the Dao Sacrifice Wine, and there were more than 800 followers. Since the Eastern Jin Dynasty, there were many overseas counties in the south, and this Pengcheng was present-day Changzhou, Jiangsu, not far from Wu County, and Lu Hu sent his disciple Xu Long to find Sima Yi's family, claiming to have a secret edict from the empress dowager to welcome him back to the throne. Sima Yi believed that it was true and was preparing to follow Xu Long when the nursing mother came out to block the advice. Sima Yi suddenly woke up and dispelled his thoughts. Xu Cheng said anxiously: "Big things will soon succeed, how can you stop after listening to a woman's words?" Sima Yi said, "I am a person exiled by wearing sin, and I have the privilege of being forgiven by the imperial court, so how dare I act rashly?" Besides, if the empress dowager issued an edict, she should send imperial court officials and others to come, so why would she send you alone? You must be making trouble! "Drink order left and right to take it down." Xu Long fled in fright. Sure enough, a few days later, Lu Hu led three hundred party members to attack Guangmo Gate north of Jiankang City at dawn, falsely claiming that Haixi Gong had returned, and then rushed into the Main Gate of Miyagi Castle, straight to the Golden Ruan Hall, and seized the armor and weapons in the arsenal. Because of the sudden change, the soldiers who were guarding were horrified and did not know how to deal with it for a while. Of course, after a while of relief, a large number of officers and troops came to the aid, and Lu Hu and the others were outnumbered and all were killed--if Sima Yi took the liberty of following them, wouldn't he be looking for death!

This incident educated Sima Yi and made him deeply aware that "the Destiny of Heaven can no longer be returned", and not only could he not make a comeback, but he must also guard against the disaster that flew from time to time. What to do, he can only take the following countermeasures, that is, "Dusai is smart, thoughtless, full of life, spoiled in the heart, infertile, and protected for a long time." ("Book of Jin, Abolition of the Emperor's Chronicle") that is, do not ask about the world, drink all day long to play with women, that "there are children and infertility" but people are not frightened: when they have a son, they dare not raise them, so what to do? It can only be drowned and strangled! What could be more cruel and tragic than this? Moreover, this "son" can refer to both "son" and "son and daughter"! The local people sympathized with him and sang songs, but unfortunately these songs were not passed down. When the imperial court saw him like this, it thought that he was content with humiliation, so it relaxed its guard a little. Because of this, Sima Yi was able to enjoy the "Heavenly Year" as he wished, and died of illness in Wu County in October of the eleventh year of Taiyuan (386 AD), living for 45 years. Note that this "imperial court" by no means refers only to Huan Wen, who once held real power in the Jin court, because Huan Wen fell ill and died less than two years after the deposing of Sima Yi; it could include Sima Yi's uncle Sima Yu the Jianwen Emperor, Sima Yu's son Sima Yao, the Emperor Xiaowu, and even the empress dowager Chu Garlic. As long as it is on stage, as long as it really holds the highest power, who wants to share it with others? Who wants to see a deposed emperor engage in restoration to threaten his rule?

Sima Yi, the deposed emperor of the Jin Dynasty, or Ma Yi of the Haixi Company, should have been lucky, because he lived for another 15 years after he was deposed, and he died. Look at the Eastern Jin Emperors in front of him, except for the Jin Yuan Emperor, the lord of the "Zhongxing" who ascended the throne by chance, who can live past the age of 30? A few have a lifespan, not even half of his!

alack! This poignant "luck", this humiliating "luck".

(Cold in the Heights: The Emperor and His Descendants, Series No. 127)