The last emperor of the Western Jin Dynasty was Sima Ye, the Emperor of the Jin Dynasty. Although Sima Ye was the late emperor of the Western Jin Dynasty, judging from Sima Ye's experience, Sima Ye's mission as an emperor seems to be to send the Western Jin Dynasty to the end. Because before Sima Ye became emperor, the Western Jin Dynasty had already lost the possibility of turning the tables.
The Western Jin Dynasty was the unifying dynasty with the worst sense of presence in ancient Chinese history. During the reign of Emperor Hui of Jin in the Western Jin Dynasty, the famous Rebellion of the Eight Kings broke out in the Western Jin Dynasty. In the process of the melee, the princes and kings of the Western Jin Dynasty asked the Huns to help in the war. This gave the Huns an opportunity to expand their force. So Liu Yuan, the leader of the Xiongnu, established the Xiongnu Han Dynasty (known as the former Zhao in history) in the name of restoring the Han Dynasty. After the impact of the Eight Kings Rebellion, the vitality of the Western Jin Dynasty was greatly damaged, and finally the former Zhao army invaded Luoyang and captured the emperor of the Western Jin Dynasty at that time, Emperor Jin Huai.
After Emperor Huai of the Jin Dynasty was captured by the Huns, the nobles of the Western Jin Dynasty also began to go their separate ways. Sima Ye, a disciple of the Western Jin Dynasty, arrived in Chang'an after a difficult trek with the help of Yan Ding, the assassin of Yuzhou, and others. As the news that Emperor Huai of Jin was poisoned by Emperor Liu Cong of the former Zhao Dynasty reached Chang'an, the nobles of the Western Jin Dynasty in Chang'an announced that they would support Sima Ye as the new Emperor of the Western Jin Dynasty, which was the historical Emperor of the Jin Dynasty.
However, at this time, the Western Jin Dynasty had collapsed, and the emperor's identity as Emperor Jin was also in a state of nominal status.
Although Emperor Jin Chu established a court in Chang'an, this court was very weak and its appeal was also very limited: for example, Sima Rui, who seized Jiangdong, and Zhang, who seized the Hexi Corridor, although they nominally announced that they were the courtiers of Emperor Jin and claimed that they were bureaucrats of Emperor Jin's court, but they did not obey all the orders of Emperor Jin's court - in fact, Emperor Jin also sent people to Jiangdong to convey instructions to Sima Rui, Wang Dao and others, asking Sima Rui and others to lead troops north to King Qin, to help Emperor Chu's court reduce pressure, But Sima Rui didn't take these instructions seriously, and even said to Sima Ye's envoy: Jiangdong is also very difficult now, so we really can't implement and enforce the orders of the imperial court.
In fact, judging from the later history, waiting for the collapse of the Emperor Emperor's court has become the consensus of the powerful factions at that time: because after the collapse of the Emperor Emperor's court, Sima Rui announced that he was the emperor in Jiangdong and established the Eastern Jin Dynasty, and the Zhang family, who seized the Hexi Corridor, also announced the establishment of the Zhang Liang State (the former Liang in the Sixteen Kingdoms). If Emperor Chu's court is still there, Sima Rui can't be the emperor, and Liangguo can't be opened.
From the day of its opening, the imperial court of Emperor Chu revealed the atmosphere of defeat. Not to mention the military weakness, from the financial point of view alone, the court of Emperor Chu gives people a sense of nondescriptry: Emperor Jin's civil and military officials have no official uniforms and official seals, and even in order to make up for the financial problem, Emperor Jin Chu also asked people to dig up the tombs of the emperors and nobles of the previous dynasty in the Guanzhong area, intending to maintain the expenses of the court by collecting funeral goods. And this is a long-term solution?
At the same time, the news that Sima Ye was proclaimed emperor in Chang'an also attracted the attention of Former Zhao. As a result, the Former Zhao court once again sent a large army to attack the Guanzhong region. The weakened Emperor Chu court was almost powerless in the face of the wolf-like Former Zhao army.
In the end, Sima Ye and his ministers were besieged in Chang'an, and the city soon ran out of food. Sima Ye also knew that whether it was Jiangdong, Liangzhou or other military and political forces that nominally belonged to the imperial court of Emperor Chu, they would not send a single soldier to King Qin at all. On the contrary, it is their own collapse, which will bring a legal basis for these forces to divide one side. So Sima Ye announced his surrender to Xiang Zhao with the idea that he did not have to involve the people of Chang'an to suffer and starve with him. In this way, after Emperor Huai of the Jin Dynasty, another emperor of the Western Jin Dynasty also became a prisoner of the Huns.
At that time, the two capitals of Luoyang and Chang'an were regarded as the capitals of the Orthodox Dynasty. Although the Western Jin Dynasty lost Luoyang before, there was still Chang'an after all, so the court of Emperor Jin was also regarded as the orthodoxy of the world.
With the occupation of Chang'an by the Huns, it also meant that the rule of the Western Jin Dynasty over the Central Plains officially ended, and although the Eastern Jin Dynasty continued to rule the Jin Dynasty, its historical status could not be compared with that of the Western Jin Dynasty.
After the former Zhao Emperor Liu Cong captured Sima Ye, he specially asked Sima Ye to lead his horse to open the way, and when he was drinking, he also asked Sima Ye to pour wine for himself like a servant. Soon after, Liu Cong sent someone to poison Sima Ye. Sima Ye's death made Liu Cong feel down-to-earth, and it also made Sima Rui, who was in Jiangdong, feel even more down-to-earth.
Sima Ye's life is tragic: nominally he is the Son of Heaven, but he, the emperor, has a very poor quality of life, and in essence, he is a victim.