The Sixteen Kingdoms of the Eastern Jin Dynasty: The Competition in the Central Plains

To the south of the tomb, under the leadership of Sima Rui, dozens of officials and generals in white knelt down and cried loudly! Looking at the burning white candles and the three sticks of incense slowly smoking in the incense burner, Sima Rui murmured:"It has been four years since Your Majesty left us. Every time I think about it, it is like a thousand arrows piercing my heart. Your Majesty unfortunately died, and I am so sorry for you." Sad. We can only turn our grief into strength, work together, and work together to restore our country!"

Several servants lit the paper money made of yellow straw paper, and handed each of Sima Rui, Director Wang and others a thin Stick. Sima Rui, Wang Dao and other close ministers kept picking up the paper money with wooden sticks in order to make the paper money burn more thoroughly. At this time, a gust of wind blew from the southeast, and the burning paper money was blown up by the southeast wind. Some paper money was flying all over the sky and was blown far to the northwest before it was burned.

After crying, the guards and servants helped Sima Rui up first, and then other officials and generals stood up one after another. Everyone's face, including Sima Rui and other royal family members, had tears on their faces. The surrounding soldiers and the Jiankang people watching the excitement were all sad and shed tears.

Sima Rui's official office was built in the former Dongwu Palace City of Healthy City. There are five characters"Zhendong General's Mansion" on the lintel. These five cursive characters were written by Director Wang.

Back at the government office, Sima Rui sat listlessly behind the desk. The others also said nothing, some found seats to sit down, and some stood. Seeing that it was almost noon, Director Wang quietly said to Sima Rui:"Your Highness, what would you like to eat for lunch?"

"Mr. Shigehiro, these past few years have been a troubled time for our country. Emperor Min was plundered and the capital was occupied, but there was little he could do. Starting today, I will go on a hunger strike for three days to atone for my sins."Sima Rui murmured. The civil and military ministers below looked at each other and almost said in unison:"We are helpless, but we are willing to accompany His Highness to atone for our sins!"

The residences of the Western Jin royal families who crossed south, such as Sima Yi, Sima Zong and Sima Cheng, were all built in the eastern suburbs of Jianjian, in a large area east of the Qingxi River. Sima Yi's Xiyang Palace and Sima Zong's Nandun Palace are closely related to each other. Neighbors. Both of their mansions occupy a large area.

In the Xiyang Palace, Sima Yi and Sima Zong were talking. Sima Zong said:"Third brother, when the country was destroyed and the family was destroyed, it has been ten years since we crossed south. , the situation in the world is still like a fog and confusion. Our father died a violent death, and more of the royal family either died of cannibalism or war. Whenever I think of these things, I feel very sad"

"Fourth brother and third brother, I am also suffering a lot! Thirty-seven years ago, Emperor Wu (Sima Yangong) destroyed Soochow. Going back further, our grandfather, Emperor Xuan (Sima Yi), who was the Taiwei of Cao Wei, once led an army of 40,000 horses on foot and water. With the cooperation of Wuhuan, Xianbei and Goguryeo, he traveled thousands of miles by land and sea to Liaodong to conquer the enemy. Gongsun Yuan established himself as King of Yan. When the Liao River surged, he used the strategy of seizing the east and attacking the west, winning three battles in three battles, and surrounded Xiangping, where the self-reliant Liaodong prefect Gongsun Yuan was guarding. After Gongsun Yuan died in battle, his grandfather killed more than 7,000 of Gongsun Yuan's men over the age of fifteen. Not only that, more than 2,000 officials and generals appointed by Gongsun Yuan were killed. How domineering, glorious and brilliant our grandfather was at that time, but with the invasion of the barbarians and the chaos of China, we now can't even save the emperor and the capital of Luoyang, alas!"Sima Yi said and sighed.

"What now? What about Liaodong and Liaoxi? What about Luoyang? What about Chang'an? Almost the entire northern China has become the domain of Wuhu. Murong Xin, the leader of the Xianbei Murong tribe who occupied Liaodong, ostensibly respected the emperor of the Central Plains and followed the Confucian classics. But in fact, he has already been eyeing the entire Central Plains, and even has ambitions for the wealthy Jiangnan."Sima Zong said

"Do you think Murong Xin will become king in the future? For example, learn from Gongsun Yuan, also known as King Yan, decades ago?"Sima Yi said. Sima Zong waved his hand and said:"Probably not. To be more precise, I don't dare. The Xianbei people are not as vicious and greedy as the Huns"

"Things are unpredictable! If the Murong tribe grows bigger day by day, it will inevitably annex the nearby Xianbei section. If Murong's tribe becomes more and more powerful, Liaodong, Fuyu, and even Goguryeo may become Murong Xin's meal."Sima Yi analyzed

"Murong Xin is thousands of miles away from us, after all, it is not a worry. At least nothing too outrageous will happen in these years. It would be good to regain Luoyang, Chang'an and the northern homeland in the future, but what should we do now?"Sima Yi glanced at Sima Zong and said. Sima Zong said:"Back then, our father died unexpectedly because of the Eight Kings Rebellion where the royal family fought to the death. It has been more than ten years since we crossed south. We have saved ourselves and our families because we came to Jiangnan. We don’t have the capital we had when our father was alive, and we don’t have the ingenuity and foresight of our grandfather. So now I can only live with the humiliation, being ordered around by Sima Rui, the junior member of the royal family, and surviving!"

"Yes, we are both Sima Rui's imperial uncles, just like Liu Bei during the Three Kingdoms period. What do you mean by coming to me today?"Sima Yi asked. Sima Zong said:"The five horses crossing the river ten years ago were interpreted by some people as 'five horses floating across the river, and one horse turned into a dragon'. This 'dragon' who might be the emperor can't be our two brothers, right? We are the orthodox of Emperor Xuan, Emperor Wen is our imperial uncle, and Emperor Wu is our cousin"

"Although the words are said this way, this time and the other time. Of course, this dragon who can be the emperor will not be either of us. Sima Yi smiled and said simply:"The only dragon who can be the emperor is Sima Rui.""

"So what are we waiting for? He quickly contacted the civil servants and generals in Jiankang and other places in Jiangnan and asked Sima Rui to take the title of emperor."Sima Zong said:"If others rush ahead of us, then this ready-made favor will be picked up by others!"

"We brothers are taking the lead, but we don’t know what Sima Rui will think. If Sima Rui becomes the emperor, then we two brothers should be put in important positions in the future, and maybe even favored. We will pay attention to changes in the situation in the future and make plans when the time comes. It is not too late to act according to the situation. Sima Yi said:"Won't it be counterproductive if we do this?"!"

"Sima Rui must be willing to be the emperor in his heart, but he still needs to be coy and pretentious, so he will definitely decline several times."Sima Zong said.