During the Rebellion of the Eight Kings, Sima Cheng was manipulated by his brothers and uncles. Although he suffered a lot of humiliation, although his position was unstable, at least his life was guaranteed.
The reason is also very simple. Although the fool is not happy (he lacks respect and reverence for the prince in power, and certainly is not grateful), at least there is not much risk of not worrying about being stabbed in the back, and there is no need to worry about turning back. 。
In addition, the political symbolism of retaining Sima Zhen is also enormous. It is equivalent to holding the emperor to order the princes. * Find such a good puppet who is "controllable by everyone".
Although the princes in the clan all looked down on Sima Zhen, Sima Zhen's role was indeed not small.
The reason why the ugly queen Jia Nanfeng was able to collude with Sima Wei, the king of Chu, to get rid of Yang Jun, the ruling relative, and Sima Liang, the king of Runan, and later got rid of Sima Wei in the name of "killing the second prince", was because it was not because she had Sima Zhen in her hands. With a trump card, you can make up charges at will?
When Jia Nanfeng took control of the government in the name of Emperor Roumi, the Jin Dynasty did stabilize for ** years. However, as the "good saint grandson" Sima Yu grew up, she began to worry that her trump card would depreciate and expire, so she killed Sima Yu and got a child from her sister's family, saying that it belonged to him and herself. Sima Zhen, he wants to make this child of unknown origin the crown prince.
It's a hornet's nest. * It is enough to be good at governance, and it can also change the color of the Sima family. This was unbearable for the scholars, so the princes of all walks of life began to have thoughts.
The first one to jump out was Sima Lun, the king of Zhao. It was he who used a trick to get Jia Nanfeng to kill Sima Yu, because even if he abolished the demon queen and the prince was in power, it would not be his turn. From this, we can also see Sima Zhen's "value", and no one regards him as a stumbling block at all.
So Sima Lun attacked Chang'an in the name of "killing the prince" and imprisoned Jia Nanfeng.
If Sima Lun finally stays here and continues to be a powerful minister, he will have complete control of the court after another seven or eight years, or if Sima Zhen dies, he may not be able to inherit the throne normally, and the Jin Dynasty may not be what it was later. In this way, he was obviously impatient, or too upset, to depose Sima Zhen and become emperor himself.
This left an excuse for other ambitious princes. First, Sima Ji, the king of Qi, raised troops in Qi, then Sima Ying, the king of Chengdu, raised troops in Yecheng, and Sima Yong, the king of Hejian, raised troops in Guanzhong. The three kings attacked Luoyang all the way. He killed Sima Lun and supported Sima Zhen's restoration.
The next step is to divide the cake. Sima Ying is the smartest. Not only did she give up all her rewards, but she also led her army back to her base in Yecheng, and ceded Luoyang, the center of power, to Sima Yuan, who took the initiative to attack. Sima Hao, who had not yet arrived in Luoyang (sent the general Zhang Fang to lead his troops into Luoyang), was also named a servant and a lieutenant, and was given three cans.
Why did Sima Ying do this? Because one of his advisers advised him that it was not appropriate to directly usurp the throne and become emperor. Sima Lun is an example of this. Whoever becomes the heir to the throne (Sima Zhen has no descendants), that is, the emperor's younger brother, is the biggest piece of cake, so Sima Ying chose "high-spirited and upright", which is a professional term "cultivating hope", and his goal has basically been achieved.
After Sima Ji came to power, he first suppressed dissidents, created chaos, and became unpopular. On top of that, he later appointed one of Sima Zhen's nephews as crown prince. This is outrageous. Sima Ying and others are still waiting for the arrival of their younger brother. ？Aren't you cutting off everyone's path to being an emperor by doing so? Why should people give up their rights to you?
So Sima Ying and Sima Hao raised troops to attack Sima Yin again.
However, before they could start the war, Sima Yi, the king of Changsha in Luoyang, started a fierce battle with Sima Zhen. At that time, Sima Yi's troops were insufficient, so he retreated into the imperial city and held on. Just when the two sides were in full swing, Sima Zhen led the civil and military armies. *They all came out to see the excitement. They stood on the brightly lit walls. When Sima Yuan's soldiers saw the light, they released arrows one after another. As a result, many ** were shot, but Sima Zhen was unharmed. At this time, a ** under him shouted: "Sima Ji is plotting to kill the king, come and take a look." ”
Shouting doesn't matter. The soldiers of the forbidden army, who had been watching, came to attack Sima Juan. After a chaotic beating, Sima Juan died. Sima Yi relied on Sima Zhen's righteousness to control Luoyang and grasp the right to speak in the Western Jin Dynasty.
After Sima Yuan's death, Sima Ying and Sima Hao had no chance to attack, so they temporarily stopped their troops. But their ultimate goal was to invade Luoyang and control the government. How can they give up if they don't reach their goal?
So in less than a year, Sima Hao instigated Sima Ying to attack Luoyang, saying that after the matter was completed, he would support you as the emperor's brother. This time, Sima Ying couldn't stand it, so the two of them set up troops to attack Sima Yi.
Although Sima Yi's strength was weak, he was effective on both sides. This is not because of how strong his ability is, but because he recognized the huge role of Sima Zhen's puppet in the last coup, so he often pulled him to lead Sima Zhen to the front line, and he stood at the forefront. The soldiers on the opposite side saw it, how could they attack? Sima Ying and Sima Hao were not fools, so they naturally didn't want to be charged with killing the king, so the two sides fought a protracted war.
But at this time, another problem arose within Luoyang. The last king of the Rebellion of the Eight Kings appeared. Sima Yue, the king of the East China Sea, used the same method to capture Sima Yi in Luoyang and gave it to Sima Ying. In the end, Sima Yi was burned alive by Sima Ying.
It stands to reason that Sima Ying at this time is the strongest, and he is the emperor's younger brother. He can safely become a vassal, waiting to inherit the throne. However, what is puzzling is that he returned to Yecheng again, leaving behind a **. Remote control of government affairs.
believes that Sima Ying may have wanted to kill Sima Zhen at this time. He could have gone back to Yecheng to make an alibi, but he was thinking too much.
What happens if a powerful minister leaves the center of power? Nothing. Soon, Sima Yue, who had remained in Luoyang, took control of the government. Sima Ying was naturally dissatisfied when she saw that the fruit had been picked by others, so she set up an army to conquer Sima Yue again. Sima Yue couldn't beat him, so he had to run back to the East China Sea base.
Sima Ying kidnapped Emperor Hui and returned to Yecheng to take control of the government. This was the last chance for the Jin dynasty to rectify, but he still failed to grasp it.
The haughty Sima Ying began to deal with the warlords who did not obey him. The first to bear the brunt of it was Wang Jun, the assassin of Youzhou. Wang Jun naturally didn't want to sit still, so he contacted the king of the East China Sea and borrowed troops from Liaodong Xianbei to attack Yecheng. In the process of crusading against Sima Ying, Sima Ying also contacted the Xiongnu army to resist.
Although Sima Yue finally won the Rebellion of the Eight Kings, the Hu people who saw the colorful rivers and mountains of the Central Plains never wanted to go back, which eventually led to the Rebellion of the Five Husbands.
Having said all this, the only thing I mean is that Sima Zhen is useful, easy to use, and can't be killed.
Zizhi Tongjian said that Sima Yue raised troops to welcome Emperor Hui, and the responders gathered. At this time, Emperor Hui still represented orthodoxy.
However, after Emperor Hui returned to Luoguo, Sima Yue took over the government as a Taifu, and in just half a year, Sima Zhen died of poisoning while eating cakes in Xianyang Palace. Many people believe that he was poisoned by Sima Yue. The history books also said: "Eating bread and being poisoned may be Sima Yue's poison." ”
If Emperor Hui was really killed by Sima Yue, then he had made a big mistake. Sima Yue himself belongs to the Sima clan and is Sima Yan's younger brother. Even if Sima Zhen died, it would not be his uncle's turn. Generations. Besides, is there a puppet that can be controlled better than Emperor Hui? The later treatment of him by Emperor Huai of Jin, whom he set up, further illustrates this point.
So what was his motive for assassinating Emperor Hui?
There could be two reasons for the speculation: one is positive.
Perhaps in Sima Yue's view, the root cause of the royal turmoil is the puppet of Sima Zhen. Because he was easy to control and had no heirs, he aroused the ulterior motives of the princes from all walks of life. If there is a serious emperor, it may also be possible. He gave up the idea of becoming a feudal lord. If it was only for his own benefit, he would not appoint Sima Chi, who was already twenty-four years old and had a good reputation. Wouldn't it be better to pick a child to replace him?
Therefore, Sima Yue's killing of Sima Zhen may have been motivated by the consideration of stabilizing the Jin Dynasty. As for his failure to return the throne to Sima Chi in time, it may be because of his own selfishness and wanting to keep his rights.
The second is the opposite.
He just wanted to replace Sima Zhen with a puppet who was afraid of him and obedient, so he sent Sima Zhen away with a poison cake and set up a new emperor. I want to abolish this transitional puppet in a few years and set myself up as emperor. didn't realize that Jin Ting was already a wrecked ship that was about to sink. He still clung to it and eventually sank with it.
Everyone thinks, why did Sima Yue kill Sima Zhen?