01 Why the Southern Dynasties could not re-unify
In 383 AD, the former Qin monarch Fu Jian took Guanzhong as the center and sent troops to conquer the east and west, and soon unified the vast area north of the Yangtze River. , as a result, it was precisely when the situation was great that the senior officials of the former Qin Dynasty suffered a failure in the process of conquering the Eastern Jin Dynasty in the south due to reasons such as overestimating their own strength and underestimating the enemy. The hard-fought political power was also completely destroyed. collapse. After that, the north fell back into the previous state of separation among the heroes.
After the Eastern Jin Dynasty, which was located in the southeast, withstood the war hurricane blown by the former Qin Dynasty, the whole country was full of joy, because such a victory not only temporarily solved external worries for itself, but also gave the politicians of the Eastern Jin Dynasty Sending troops to the Northern Expedition provided a favorable opportunity. At this time, the North is divided into pieces. How can we not take advantage of this opportunity to make a profit? If everything goes well, we might be able to re-establish unity.
(The former Qin army that retreated in the Battle of Feishui)
Such an idea was not only a kind of common sense at the time, but even in the eyes of future generations, Same thing. At the end of the Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, didn't Zhu Yuanzhang's Ming Dynasty use the internal melee of the Yuan army in the north to get closer and unify the north and south of the country? Since Zhu Yuanzhang could do it, why not the Eastern Jin Dynasty? Especially they also had a brave and capable Beifu Army Corps. .
In fact, if we review history, we will unexpectedly find that there are many opportunities to reunify the Eastern Jin Dynasty. For example, Zu Ti's Northern Expedition and Huan Wen's Northern Expedition were only one step away from success. If the emperors and ministers of the Eastern Jin Dynasty If we can learn from the experiences and lessons of the previous two failed Northern Expeditions and regroup, the Battle of Feishui may become the starting point for the prosperity of the Eastern Jin Dynasty.
(Battle of Feishui)
But. Compared with beautiful ideals, reality is always somewhat unsatisfactory. Because at that time, the Eastern Jin Dynasty was already full of crises, with various political forces fighting openly and secretly, and constantly arguing. Such endless internal strife not only failed to provide any support for the Northern Expedition to restore the Central Plains, but indirectly led to the fall of the entire dynasty. So this Where to start?
02 The power struggle of the Eastern Jin clan
After the Battle of Feishui, Xie An, the commander-in-chief of the Eastern Jin Dynasty who directed the battle, instantly became famous and made the people at that time famous. Emperor Xiaowu, the emperor of the dynasty, was very dissatisfied and worried. Since ancient times, the conflict between imperial power and prime minister power has never been well resolved, and this was also the case in the Eastern Jin Dynasty. Xie An was self-aware. He did not feel complacent because he had temporarily saved the fate of the Eastern Jin Dynasty. Instead, he promptly handed over the military power in his hands, and then took the initiative to serve as a sinecure in an attempt to preserve the glory and wealth of his family.
(The person holding the cattail leaf fan in the picture is Xie An)
When Emperor Xiaowu saw Xie An taking the initiative to retreat, he naturally wanted to do it. He immediately agreed and ordered his brother Sima Daozi to He took charge of the power, but after a while, he found that Sima Daozi was too powerful and difficult to control. Moreover, this person was greedy for wine and sex, and it was difficult to entrust him with important responsibilities. In order to prevent the dynasty from facing the same tragedy as the Western Jin Dynasty, he decided to promote another person to contain Sima Daozi and consolidate the foundation of imperial power. This person was the queen's brother Wang Gong. After Wang Gong thanked Long for his kindness, he immediately went to the middle reaches of the Yangtze River to oversee the military affairs of Yanzhou to defend the Eastern Jin Dynasty.
Emperor Xiaowu thought that he would be foolproof by doing this, but he didn't know that it was precisely because of his actions that he left endless disasters in the days after the Eastern Jin Dynasty. After Emperor Xiaowu's death, Wang Gong immediately handed over local dignitaries and united with them to expel Sima Daozi, so that he could firmly control the young emperor who succeeded him at his mercy and let him control him.
Wang Gong believed that he had the Beifu Army, the strongest army in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, and went down the river twice, intending to kill Sima Daozi and his son together. Unexpectedly, Sima Daozi's son Yuan Xian It was not simple either. He found out in advance that Liu Laozhi, the commander of the Beifu army, was greedy for power, so he secretly sent someone to instigate a rebellion, saying that if Liu defected in time and killed Wang Gong, he would become the new governor of Yanzhou.
The development of the matter was exactly as Sima Yuanxian expected. After Liu Laozhi received the promise, he immediately sent his troops westward and executed Wang Gong and his accomplices, while other local officials who followed Wang Gong He was forced to join Huan Xuan, another military strongman in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River. Huan Xuan used his tactics to annihilate these homeless dogs and collected their remnant soldiers. His power grew stronger and he became a new competitor with Sima Daozi and his son for the world.
(Liu Laozhi in the film and television drama)
Seeing that his troops were strong, Huan Xuan immediately raised his troops on a day to conquer Jiankang City, the political center of the Eastern Jin Dynasty in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River again. Sima Yuanxian didn't seem to care, "I can deal with even Wang Gong, what does Huanxuan's yellow-haired brat mean?" He unhurriedly appointed the powerful Beifu soldiers who had surrendered before to set off to have a fight with Huanxuan. Head-to-head.
This time, Yuan Xian was wrong. Liu Laozhi knew that with only this little capital in his hand, once Yuan Xian was fooled into fighting Huan Xuan, both sides would lose, and he would not be used. value. Coincidentally, Huan Xuan also sent someone to surrender, saying that if he could help him kill Sima and his son, he would surely enjoy glory and wealth. Liu Laozhi thought about it and agreed immediately. In this way, the two men joined forces and attacked Jiankang. After all, Sima and his son could not escape the cruel elimination rules in the competition for power, and fell in a pool of blood one after another.
After entering Jiankang City and settling down, Liu Laozhi talked to Huanxuan about the reward for defecting before the battle. Huanxuan was very disgusted with his capricious character, so he simply dismissed him. Military power, Liu Laozhi realized that he had been deceived, and regretted it too late. Liu tried to summon his old troops to kill Huan Xuan, but found that none of his men responded because they had either been transferred or bribed. Liu Laozhi was heartbroken and committed suicide. Huan Xuan seemed to be the one who had the last laugh.
03 The Rise of Liu Yu
In fact, it was too early for Huan Xuan to be happy. Because just when he decided to vigorously reorganize the Beifu Army and carry out a major transformation of its internal structure to meet his needs for centralization. Some middle and lower-ranking officers of the Beifu soldiers launched a counterattack. Among them, three troops led by Liu Yu, Liu Yi, and He Wuji attacked Huan Xuan. Like the deceased Liu Laozhi, after Huanxuan entered Jiankang, he was headstrong and was already surrounded by enemies. At this time, he was attacked by the Beifu Bingjiu Department, and everything collapsed in an instant. Empress Huanxuan also died in the war. Liu Yu and others took control of the Central Committee of the Eastern Jin Dynasty. With great power, he and the other two, like the three giants in the late Roman Empire and the Republic of China, formed a cornering situation.
This kind of corner-turning momentum maintains a temporary peace and tranquility. In order to win more support for himself among the three giants, Liu Yu took an eye on the situation of northern division, assembled tens of thousands of navy and army troops, and launched an attack on the Nanyan regime that was then separatist in Shandong, Henan, and northern Jiangsu. A big win.
However, just when Liu Yu decided to pursue the victory and complete the great cause of unifying the country, bad news came from the rear. At this time, the rebel army composed of refugees from eastern Zhejiang broke through He Wuji's tribe and killed him. At this time, they were advancing step by step, trying to capture Jiankang.
(The refugee army attacking Jiangnan)
Liu Yu knew that the consequences of the refugee army's attack were not trivial. In addition to leaving a small number of troops to garrison the newly occupied areas, he immediately returned with all his strength. Jiankang built fortifications to resist the army of refugees. Lu Xun, the refugee commander, was a little frightened when he heard the news that Liu Yu had returned to his army. However, under the persuasion of his subordinates, he still bravely attacked the rock-solid Jiankang city defense. The result was of course as everyone expected. Lu Xun was not determined to attack and suffered setbacks. Seeing other reinforcements from the Eastern Jin Dynasty arriving one after another, he was afraid that his retreat would be cut off. After much hesitation, Lu Xun decided to withdraw from the siege and return to the Lingnan base area to try to develop again.
Lu Xun had a beautiful idea. These refugees originally lacked the will to fight. When they saw the retreat, they immediately flew east, west, north and south with the loot they had robbed before. They had no fighting spirit. Liu Yu seized the opportunity to attack bravely. , and sent elite soldiers to surpass the army of refugees who were panicking and attacked their home base of Guangdong and Guangxi. In the end, Lu Xun and others were attacked from behind by Liu Yu's army, and the entire army was annihilated. Lu Xun himself also lost his head. After this battle, Liu Yu's position became more stable, which aroused Liu Yi's jealousy.
Of course Liu Yu would not allow the situation of one mountain and two tigers to continue. After dealing with Lu Xun, he returned to the lower reaches of the Yangtze River and annihilated Liu Yi's remaining army in one fell swoop. At this time, in southern China, Liu Yu had become an unrivaled figure.
(Liu Yu in the film and television drama)
The 04 Northern Expedition fell short
Liu Yu’s subordinates tried to persuade him to join, but Liu Yu had the power of Huan Xuan and others. Lessons learned, knowing that becoming emperor too early will face more risks and challenges. Therefore, he decided to curb his ambitions and continue the Northern Expedition, expanding his power through war and containing the powerful enemies in the north.
In the northern region at this time, the Northern Wei Dynasty had established a foothold in the Saibei area. While fighting Rouran, they frequently harassed Later Yan; on the other hand, after the Battle of Feishui, almost at the same time as Later Yan Another rising power, Hou Qin, also declined under the attack of King Helianbobo. Therefore, Liu Yu's offensive was effortless and his troops quickly entered Guanzhong. During this period, two generals, Wang Zhen'e and Shen Tianzi, outnumbered and defeated many, killing many enemies and achieving the immortal feat of destroying Later Qin.
Liu Yu's army received a lot of welcome in the Guanzhong area. After hundreds of years of war, the people of Guanzhong were exhausted and exhausted, and Liu Yu's surname happened to be the same as that of the royal family of the Western Han Dynasty, so some people advised him to follow Liu Bang's example and establish Guanzhong as the capital. However, they were too idealistic. Liu Yu's political foundation was rooted in the south of the Yangtze River. Once he moved the capital rashly, Liu Yu's hard-working foundation would most likely follow the footsteps of his predecessors. Moreover, Guanzhong was in a state of depression at the time, and Liu Yu had no intention of staying for a long time. However, the two In August, Liu Yu hurriedly returned to Jiankang to prepare for his official becoming emperor.
In order to appease the people, Liu Yu left his twelve-year-old son in Guanzhong, and assisted Wang Zhene and Shen Miaozi. Consolidate Guanzhong and create a favorable external environment for him to proclaim himself emperor in Jiangnan. Unexpectedly, the two men had equal military exploits and refused to give in to each other. As a result, they fought internally and died one after another. Liu Yu's precious son saw that all the generals his father had left for him were withering away, and King Helianbobo sent troops to attack from outside. He could only abandon his elders in Guanzhong, grease his soles, and run away. The areas such as Shandong and Henan that Liu Yu had previously occupied were also captured by the rising star of the north, the Northern Wei Dynasty. Liu Yu didn't know that his eagerness to destroy the competitors of the Northern Wei Dynasty such as the Later Qin Dynasty actually helped the latter to speed up the pace of unification. The chaos in the north after the Battle of Feishui also came to an end because of the disastrous defeat of Liu Yu's Northern Expedition. It will take more than 170 years for the reunification of the North and the South to come.
But sorrow cannot be felt in all nine provinces. This is an immortal line from the patriotic poet Lu You of the Southern Song Dynasty. I wonder if the Guanzhong elders who welcomed Liu Yu into Chang'an felt the same way when facing the newly ignited war. ?