At the time of the civil strife in the Western Jin Dynasty, the nomads in the north gradually became stronger, among which the Qihu led by Shi Le was the most rampant.
In order to resist foreign troubles, Sima Yue, the king of the East China Sea, led his troops to attack the invading Shile.
Unfortunately, Sima Yue died before he could get out of the army, so everyone elected Wang Yan as the commander of the three armies to replace Sima Yue against the enemy. But Wang Yan was timid and fearful, and resolutely refused to shoulder the heavy responsibility, he excused himself and said: "I had no desire to be an official when I was young, but I have been promoted to my current position over the years. Today's event, how can I be appointed as a commander by an untalented person? Seeing that Wang Yan resolutely refused, everyone had no choice but to retreat with him.
But how could Shi Le let go of such an opportunity, he still wanted to meet with Wang Yan, an old friend! So he personally led a light cavalry to catch up with the Jin army and wiped out Wang Yan and other princes and nobles. In fact, as early as Shi Le's youth, he had a "one-sided relationship" with Wang Yan, when the fourteen-year-old Shi Le had gone to Luoyang with the villagers to do business, and when he was resting, he leaned on the edge of the city tower and sang loudly, but he happened to be heard by Wang Yan who was nearby. When Wang Yan heard the singing, he said to the people on the left and right in surprise: "That Hu boy just now, I heard from his singing that his ambition is different from that of ordinary people, I am afraid that it will become a disaster for the country in the future." So Wang Yan immediately sent someone to arrest him, but he was in vain. Maybe even Wang Yan didn't expect that this young man would be his future gravedigger. Shi Le put Wang Yan and others into the account and asked them about the old affairs of the Western Jin Dynasty. In order to survive, Wang Yan not only made a mistake.
The blame for the country's misguided people was completely brushed away, and he also persuaded Shi Le to be the emperor, and tried his best to flatter him.
Unexpectedly, Shi Le was furious when he heard this, pointed at Wang Yan and said: "Destroying the world is the king's crime!" So, Shi Le asked his men to escort Wang Yan out. Looking at Wang Yan's faltering back, Shi Le said to the people around him: "I have walked the world for many years, but I have never seen such a brazen person, is it necessary to let him live?" In this way, a generation of celebrities and celebrities died at the hands of the enemy after all.
Decades after Wang Yan's death, Huan Wen, a famous general in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, once said something like this with emotion: The land has fallen, and the Central Plains has become a ruin, which is inseparable from Wang Yan and others. The death of the Western Jin Dynasty was naturally not Wang Yan's fault, but it is undeniable that the Qing Tan faction represented by Wang Yan really became the catalyst for the fall of the Western Jin Dynasty.
As the saying goes, in his position, seek his government. In the chaos, Wang Yan, as an important minister in the court and a leader of celebrities, is not thinking about how to make up for the defects and set things right, but how to deceive the world and steal his name, and steal his life, which is an unforgivable crime.
Before his death, Wang Yan lamented: "Even if my talent is not as good as the ancients, if I don't advocate flashiness and vanity in ordinary times, but try my best to support the world, I won't fall to the point where I am today." Wang Yan's deathbed confession has also become the best footnote to his "clear talk and misleading the country". Although the conversation is elegant, what can really change the fate is the down-to-earth struggle.