Chapter 115: Aftermath of the Northern Expedition (continued)
Huan Da Sima's Northern Expedition was blocked from the beginning by the imperial court and aristocratic families for various reasons. The reason was very simple, that is, no matter what the outcome of this Northern Expedition was, it would not be good for the Jin Dynasty.
If Huan Da Sima succeeds in the Northern Expedition and seizes Yecheng, the capital of the Yan State, or even destroys the Yan State, then Huan Wen will have a high reputation and doubled his strength after accomplishing such a great feat. How can the imperial court suppress him? He is still the prime minister and the great general.
The position of Sima is higher than that of other kings, so how can he be praised for his great achievements? There is no other way except to give him nine tins.
The next step after granting Jiuxi was to abdicate the throne. This is a well-known procedure. This was Huan Wen's purpose.
However, Sima Huan failed, and both his reputation and strength were lost. This seemed to relieve the pressure on the court. But anyone with a little knowledge understands that Sima Huan would not be willing to suffer the defeat he suffered. The consequences of this failure
Just as scary, even scarier.
After the victory of the Northern Expedition, at least everyone knew what Huan Wen was going to do next. After the failure, everyone knew that Huan Wen would restore his prestige, but they didn't know what he was going to do. This was the most worrying thing.
An elephant is about to wave its trunk and go berserk in a china shop. Who knows what kind of destructive power it will cause. It is even possible that the whole house will be demolished in anger.
In view of this, after consultation with Wang Tanzhi, Wang Biaozhi and others, the minister Xie An wrote to the court, asking the emperor Sima Yi to issue an order to appease Huan Wen and stabilize his mood. The court even sent special condolences at the end of October.
He comforted Huan Wen and said that Sima Huan had worked hard and achieved great results. Victory and defeat were common matters for military strategists. Sima Huan must not blame himself for this defeat. This Northern Expedition has shown the majesty of our Jin Dynasty and we have fought very well. If not
The weather was unfavorable, and the Qin people's sneak attack would not fail at all. It was said that Sima Huan recharged his energy and made preparations, and he would definitely succeed next time.
In short, in order to appease Huan Wen, Emperor Sima Yi and Wang Xie of the Jin Dynasty found many reasons for Huan Wen to go down the stairs. They just didn't want things to get out of hand, and they didn't want to see Huan Wen do destructive things in order to save face.
action.
However, all this did not move Huan Da Sima. On the contrary, it was regarded as a humiliation by Huan Wen.
When Xi Chao, the Grand Sima who joined the army, looked at the courtyard full of condolences, gold, silver, jade and other objects that the imperial court had given him, he only said one sentence and Huan Wen was off guard.
"It seems that Duke Huan is a loser in need of comfort in the eyes of the court and Wang Xie. In their view, the failure of the Northern Expedition is undoubtedly the fault of Da Sima."
Huan Wen knew what Xi Chao meant. At the beginning of the Northern Expedition, the imperial court pushed back and tried its best to stop him. Now that he was defeated, the imperial court's actions put all the blame on himself. It seemed like condolences, but it was actually a humiliation.
Wang Xie and others had to shoulder the blame for the defeat of the Northern Expedition alone. They seemed to be afraid that the world would not know about it, so they came to express their condolences with great fanfare, which was actually a disguised form of adding insult to injury.
Huan Wen experienced too many battles, large and small, in his life. Although the defeat in the Northern Expedition was unpleasant, it was absolutely impossible to think that Huan Da Sima would be completely depressed because of this defeat.
Since the attempt to improve one's reputation and achieve the goals one wants through the victory of the Northern Expedition has come to nothing, it is time to find another way to save the situation. It is impossible to admit defeat, and it is impossible to admit defeat.
The first thing Huan Wen had to do was to throw the blame away. He would never admit that he was responsible for the failure of the Northern Expedition, and he would not bear the blame.
At the beginning of November, Huan Wen moved to Guangling. Then he ordered Grand Sima to join the army and Xi Chao went to the capital Jiankang, saying that he would explain the reasons for the defeat of the Northern Expedition in front of the ministers to set the record straight.
On behalf of Huan Wen, Xi Chao explained the entire process and decision-making of the Northern Expedition, and ultimately placed the blame for the defeat of the Northern Expedition on Yuzhou Governor Yuan Zhen.
Xi Chao reported: Da Sima's march was unstoppable, and he was invincible all the way north, regaining a large area of lost territory. The local people all prepared pots and pans of food to welcome the king's army, and all local officials went out of the city to surrender and join the Northern Expedition. Therefore, they were able to move very quickly
Attack the square head quickly.
When they arrived, the waterway for transporting troops and food dried up, causing waterways to be impassable and food routes to be cut off. Sima Huan had already anticipated this and had a countermeasure. The countermeasure was to order Yuzhou Governor Yuan Zhen to lead 30,000 soldiers and horses to break through the stone gate.
The waterway serves as the second channel for transporting logistical supplies.
However, Yuan Zhen led 30,000 soldiers and horses in Yuzhou. When the main force of the Yan people was almost completely attracted by Da Sima's main force. When the Shimen defenders had less than 3,000 people, they were still unable to occupy Shimen and failed to break through.
Water channel. This was due to Yuan Zhen's over-indulgence. He could have taken down Shimen and opened up the water channel within half a month, but he failed to do so in nearly two months. This was no longer laziness and incompetence, but deliberate action.
The purpose of deliberately grabbing the throat of the Northern Expedition army was to make Da Sima's Northern Expedition fail.
Xi Chao even said that Sima Huan suspected that Yuan Zhen was being instigated by others, otherwise he would not dare to do so. When Sima Huan sent troops for the Northern Expedition, there was a lot of opposition from both the government and the public, and all kinds of persuasion and obstruction were made. Sima Huan suspected that the emperor was
Someone among them sabotaged the Northern Expedition through the hands of Yuan Zhen, leading to its failure. He asked the court to convict Yuan Zhen and investigate the matter thoroughly.
Xi Chao's words shocked Sima Yi and the officials in the court. They realized that Huan Wen not only wanted to blame Yuan Zhen, but also used it to turn the matter into a shocking conspiracy.
Opportunity to eradicate dissidents.
Huan Wen naturally did this to save his dignity and face, and to establish his authority internally after his failure in the external war.
Xie An, Wang Tanzhi and others immediately discussed it and unanimously decided that Huan Wen would never be allowed to do this. However, completely denying Huan Wen's blame-shifting behavior would further anger Huan Wen. In order to give the matter a chance to cool down, they could only adopt a compromise
Of the policy.
A few days later, the imperial court issued an order to demote Yuan Zhen, the governor of Yuzhou, to a commoner, blaming him for his unfavorable advance at Shimen, which caused the Northern Expedition army to retreat due to lack of food. He was responsible for the defeat of the Northern Expedition. At the same time, Wang Tanzhi met Xi Chao
, he secretly told Xi Chao that the Taiyuan Wang family, the Langya Wang family, the Chenjun Xie family, the Yingchuan Yu family and other northern families did not agree with Huan Da Sima's judgment that there was someone behind Yuan Zhen. If Huan Da Sima was determined to investigate.
If there is any behind-the-scenes instigation, if the behind-the-scenes instigation cannot be found, Sima Huan will not be able to explain his motives for doing this.
Xi Chao understood that this was a warning given to Huan Wen by the other powerful clans. They would not allow Huan Da Sima to take advantage of the situation and take the opportunity to attack any wealthy family. Once Huan Wen did this, it would be tantamount to becoming their enemy. So what happened
Its direction is uncontrollable.
In today's world, it will be extremely difficult for anyone to do anything without the support of the Xie family, Wang family, Yu family and others. What's more, what Huan Wen wants is to get an open and just abdication of the throne. Huan Da Sima has not yet
To the point where he risked the disapproval of the world and offended all the powerful northern noble families. Even if he had the military of several states, he could not succeed.
Even if Huan Wen kills all these people, he will never get what he wants. By killing the Xie family, Wang family, and Yu family, Huan Wen will be the enemy of everyone in the world. These clans are famous all over the world and are powerful. That is not the case.
Things that can be solved with a knife. If the problem can be solved by force, the Jin Dynasty will not be like it is now. The Sima family is nothing, but with the support of major aristocratic families, it can firmly sit on the throne.
However, the so-called pursuit of the culprit behind the scenes was just a ploy by Chi Chao to charge Huan Wen an exorbitant price. What they really wanted was to dump Yuan Zhen, get the imperial court's endorsement, and put the blame for the failure of the Northern Expedition on Yuan Zhen, in order to save Huan Wen from his Northern Expedition.
The face and reputation lost by failure.
Now, Xie An and others have made a compromise, which has actually achieved their goal. This is Xi Chao's deceit. It is a strategy to deliberately make the matter bigger and force the court to agree to denounce Yuan Zhen.
In mid-November, Yuan Zhen received the imperial edict demoting him to a commoner and was immediately furious. He cursed Huan Wen for being despicable and the court for being incompetent. It was true that he did not open the stone gate passage, causing the waterway to be blocked. But that was not him.
Yuan Zhen refused to use force, but the enemy was already on guard and the cavalry harassed him day and night. His own troops suffered heavy casualties and were unable to complete the mission.
He once asked Huan Wen for help, but Huan Wen refused. From Yuan Zhen's perspective, this was Huan Wen's deliberate attempt to have all his troops wiped out at Shimen, greatly reducing his own strength.
You must know that Huan Wen has long been eyeing Yuzhou. Among the states on the left and right of the Yangtze River, Yuzhou is sandwiched between Jingyang and Jingyang. If Jingzhou troops want to enter Jiankang, they must pass through Yuzhou. That is the key to blocking military traffic between the two states.
land.
If Huan Wen wants to take control of the capital, he must rely on the soldiers and horses of Jingzhou. The soldiers and horses of Yangzhou and other places alone are not enough to achieve his goal. And he is just a thorn in his side. This time it is a naked frame-up, with the intention of seizing Yuzhou.
In a rage, Yuan Zhen killed the person who was delivering the imperial decree, led his army north, occupied Shouchun, and raised his flag to rebel.
In order to protect himself, Yuan Zhen also risked his life. He expressed his goodwill to Emperor Murong Wei of the Yan Kingdom, and also expressed his goodwill to the former Qin Emperor Fu Jian, intending to use Erhu to protect himself. If the court dared to touch him, he would lure Yan
The soldiers of the Qin State or Qin State went south to seize the land north of the Yangtze River.
After the defeat of the Northern Expedition, the Jin Dynasty had such a big trouble again in Jiangbei, and it was really worried.
Huan Wen immediately wrote to the court and decided to attack Yuan Zhen and quell the Shouchun Rebellion. But anyone with a discerning eye knows that this was a situation caused by Huan Wen, otherwise it would not be like this. Moreover, Huan Wen's purpose of attacking Yuan Zhen was obviously pretextual.
Seize Yuzhou by machine.
Even if Wang Xie and others knew about his plot, they could only let Huan Wen solve this problem. Because in comparison, Yuan Zhen's defection and self-reliance is even more intolerable. There is currently no one in the court who has the ability.
To defeat Yuan Zhen, the Huan family is the best choice. Is it possible that the only 50,000 soldiers in Jiankang City who protect the capital cannot be transferred to the crusade?
If at the end of the fourth year of Taihe's reign in the Jin Dynasty, Yuan Zhen's rebellion caused by the aftermath of the Northern Expedition was a major headache for the Jin court. Then another thing caused by the Northern Expedition was even bigger, so big that even Yuan Zhen