Sima Yan's choice Why did he succeed to the throne knowing that he was stupid?
There were many in ancient times"Silly"Emperor, but in addition to Liu Chan (controversial), the most famous was the Western Jin Emperor Sima Zhen. He was the second emperor of the Western Jin Dynasty, and his most famous deed was when he received the news that people were dying of starvation from famine"Why not eat minced meat"。So, why did Emperor Sima Yan of Jin Wu choose a stupid son to be the emperor?
Did Emperor Sima Yan of the Jin Dynasty realize that Sima Zhen was doing something stupid?
If Sima Yan didn't know Sima Zhen's situation, it would be forgivable. If he knew that Sima Zhen was stupid and wanted to make him the crown prince, then it would be worth digging into the reason. Does Sima Yan know Sima Zhen's stupidity? The answer is yes.
Sima Zhen was born in the fourth year of Cao Wei Ganlu (259), the second son of Emperor Wu of the Jin Dynasty Sima Yan and Empress Yang Yan, due to the death of the eldest brother Sima Kuan at the age of two, Sima Zhen actually became Sima Yan's eldest son, therefore, he ascended the throne in the third year of Taishi (267), the eight-year-old Sima Zhen became the heir to the throne, and Sima Yan was the crown prince, more in accordance with the principles of the patriarchal system, the nine-year-old Sima Yan did not think that he would have the ability to rule in the future. If he has the ability to govern, there is nothing wrong with such a choice. What's more, at the age of nine, he does not see that he will be able to rule the country in the future, and there is nothing wrong with such a choice.
However, as he grew older, Sima Zhen's talent gradually revealed, and Sima Yan began to discover his son's lack of ability. The Book of Jin has clouds:"From the Son of Heaven to the Prince, if you can't do great things, then you will keep your tongue secret"。It can be seen that Sima Yan not only knew that Sima Zhen did not have the ability to be an emperor, but also discussed this issue with Empress Yang Yan.
Actually, Sima Zi is not as stupid as we think, just a little stupid, so Sima Zi is not a fool who can't take care of himself, he just has a relatively low IQ, which affects his ability to govern.
Why Sima Yan arrested Sima Yan was actually influenced by the following factors.
Although Sima Zi is not stupid, just stupid, he is obviously not a suitable candidate for the emperor, and Sima Yan is not the second son, why did Sima Yan decide to make Sima Zi the next emperor? In the author's opinion, I am afraid that there are mainly the following factors.
1.The natural advantage of the firstborn. As mentioned earlier, Sima Zhen was already made the crown prince when he was nine years old. In ancient times, the patriarchal system had a great influence on the succession to the throne, and Sima Zhen had it"Long not virtuous, long not virtuous"It is said that the status of the eldest son is an absolute natural advantage. Moreover, the position of the crown prince is the foundation of the country, and the impact of staying in it is definitely not small, especially not long after the founding of the country, Sima Yan had to think twice, and there is probably an important reason why Sima Yan decided to see the queen first.
2. The emperor and empress are deeply supportive. Although the number of people in Sima Yan's harem is exaggerated, Queen Yang Yan's feelings are undoubtedly very deep, and she quarreled because Sima Yan's prince went to stay, because of Sima Yan's words"If you are not virtuous in debt, can you not move? "When Yang Yan was seriously ill, he found that the prince was a young man. When Yang Yan was seriously ill, he learned that Emperor Wu of Jin favored Lady Hu very much, so he was worried that Emperor Wu of Jin would make Lady Hu the empress after his death, so that the position of the crown prince Sima Zhen would be unstable. Therefore, when he was dying, he rested his head on the knee of Emperor Wu of Jin and sighed:"Yang Zhi, the daughter of Yang Jun, the uncle of Chen, is both talented and beautiful, and hopes that His Majesty will choose her to prepare for the Sixth Palace. "So, according to Yang Yan's intentions, Emperor Wu of Jin took his cousin Yang Zhi to the palace prepared for the empress. At this time, Sima Yan, although he had a heart for women, still loved Yang Zhi very much. Since Yang Zhi's sister will be the crown prince entrusted by him on his deathbed, Sima Yan is also extremely supportive of him.
3.The support of those in power behind the crown prince. Sima Yan successfully usurped Wei Jianjin, and the support of the family was one of the important factors"ZTE Jiuyi"That's what it was all about. The biological mother of the crown prince Sima Zhen was Yang Yan of the Eastern Han Dynasty wealthy Hongnong Yang family. Although Yang Yan died young, Sima Yan's second empress Yang Zhi was Yang Yan's cousin and was extremely supportive of Sima Zhen. Prince Jia Nanfeng's family background is not simple. His grandfather Jia Kui was the assassin of Yuzhou during the Cao Wei period, and his father Jia Chong was the founder of the Western Jin Dynasty, who participated in the suppression of the Huainan Uprising and the assassination of Emperor Wen of Wei Cao Chao. In other words, behind the crown prince Sima Zhen, not only stood the Hongnong Yang family, but also stood Jia Chong, a powerful minister like Jia Chong, Sima Yan had to think twice if he wanted to eradicate them, which was also one of the reasons why Yang Yan gave up abolishing the prince because of his words.
4.Sima Zhen gave birth to a good son. Although Sima Zhen's IQ is problematic, she gave birth to a good son, Emperor Jin Hui made the prince to accept him as his wife, Emperor Wu of Jin was worried that the prince was young and did not know how to sleep, so he sent the talented Xie Jiu to the East Palace to sleep, and Sima Yu was born. Sima Yan often ran around with his heartfelt love for this grandson, not only praising in front of the palace official Fu Ji"Here for the blessing of my family", and praised Sima Yu in front of a group of ministers as if he was Emperor Xuan of the Jin Dynasty Sima Yi. The reason why Sima Yan did not abolish Sima Zhen's position as the crown prince was also because Sima Yan intended to let Sima Yu inherit the throne in the future. It's a pity that Sima Yu was killed by Jia Nanfeng before he could inherit the throne.
In short, Sima Yan knew that Sima Zhen was not suitable to be the emperor, but he still insisted on the position of the crown prince, perhaps because of the above four points. However, what Sima Yan didn't expect was that not only was Sima Zhen unsuitable to be the emperor, but soon after he ascended the throne, the power in the palace fell into the hands of Empress Jia Nanfeng, triggering"Rebellion of the Eight Kings", which led to the rapid collapse of the Western Jin Dynasty.