First, under the political system, "the king and the horse, * * the world".

Power Play

The Eastern Jin Dynasty is a special period in the ancient history of China after the Qin Dynasty established the highly centralized rule system of the emperor. This is the period of "typical gate politics" mentioned by the famous historian Tian Yuqing in his book "Gate Politics in the Eastern Jin Dynasty".

This system, even in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, was expressed incisively and vividly by the proverb "King and horse, * * * the world". This proverb is said to come from a story: When Si Marui ascended the throne, he didn't dare to sit on the throne alone, but insisted on supporting Prime Minister Wang Dao.

The world of kings and horses.

The essence of this system is that some leading families at that time, such as Wang, Yu, Huan and Xie, used their power, social status and influence, although they were not directly related to the royal family, they were able to carve up part of the imperial power and form a system of co-governance with the emperor. This is indeed "unprecedented" in China during the reign of the Supreme Emperor established by Qin Shihuang.

Regional distribution map of gate valve family in Eastern Jin Dynasty and Southern Dynasties

As a branch of the Western Jin Dynasty, Si Marui, whose title and official position were not prominent, was given the important mission of rebuilding the Jin Dynasty and resisting foreign aggression after the collapse of the Western Jin Dynasty and competing with several other royal families in the Western Jin Dynasty. The reason why Si Marui proclaimed himself emperor was closely related to the prestige and support of the families in the North and the South at that time. Especially at that time, the leaders of the extended family were Wang Dao and Wang Dun, two cousins of the Langya Wangs. The former is the prime minister and in charge of the center. The latter lived abroad, served as general and Jingzhou secretariat, and was in charge of military power.

Wang Dao stills

Although Si Marui is known as the "Lord of ZTE", he is a puppet under the control of a big family headed by Wang Langya. Dissatisfied with being controlled by the powerful ministers, and eager for the supreme imperial power, Si Marui decided to take risks, take measures such as making friends and mastering military power, and gradually weaken the influence of Wang Dao and Wang Dun and strengthen the imperial power.

Portrait of Emperor Jin and Yuan Dynasties

Si Marui regarded Danyang Liu Yin Kui and Shangshuling Carving Association, which advocated strengthening imperial power, as sincere and obedient. Under the planning of Liu Kun and Diao Xie, Wang Dao's influence was gradually weakened. Si Marui and others also seized the opportunity to distribute power at the local level.

Map of eastern Jin dynasty

Taixing three years (320), Liangzhou secretariat Zhou Zhou died. Gan Zhuo, then the secretariat of Xiangzhou, was transferred to Liangzhou secretariat. Wang Dun took the opportunity to invite his best friend Chen to take over as the secretariat of Xiangzhou. In view of the key position of Xiangzhou, Si Marui and Liu Kun are famous for containing Jingzhou, so they refused Wang Dun's invitation and took Sima Cheng as the secretariat of Xiangzhou.

Si Marui's unusual "seizure of power" several times has aroused Wang Dun's vigilance. In order to find out the truth and lies, he gave Si Marui a report. Chen said that loyal ministers have always been suspected by emperors, alienated by villains and died one after another, leading to the decline of the country. Si Marui is well aware of Wang Dun's intentions. Although he apparently improved Wang Dun's power and treatment, he was more afraid of Wang Dun and accelerated the pace of power distribution.

In order to strengthen its military strength, in the fourth year of Taixing (32 1), Si Marui adopted Diao Xie's suggestion to restore servants (tenants owned by nobles and bureaucrats) as good citizens (freemen) in Yangzhou counties, and used them as an important source of tax revenue and military service for the court; Subsequently, Si Marui ordered his confidants, Dai Yuan and Liu Kun, to leave Hefei and Huaiyin, respectively, to seize strategic positions and slow down or even eliminate the threat of Wang Dun Group to the imperial court.

This series of layouts of Si Marui, although nominally under the banner of resisting the invasion of the northern post-Zhao regime, are actually guarding against Wang Dun and preparing for the final elimination of the Wangs in the future. Wang Dun, who knew about it, was afraid. At first, he wanted to take the countermeasures of differentiation and wooing. He wrote to Liu Kun, hoping to mend fences with him, and Qi Xin helped the royal family. Liu Kui saw through Wang Dun's tricks and flatly refused his request.

Portrait of Zu Ti Liu Zhong's determination to the Northern Expedition

At this time of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the elite troops were held in the other hand. At this time, Zu Ti, who was leading an army to the Northern Expedition and recovering the Central Plains, was deeply worried about the great cause of the Northern Expedition and fell ill with grief. He died in September this year. At this time, Zhou's visit and Wang Dun's successive death as sworn enemies gave Wang Dun the opportunity to solve the power struggle by force.

Second, Wang Dun rebelled for the first time.

In the first month of the first year of Yongchang (322), Wang Dun set out from Wuchang (Jiangzhou Prefecture, now Ezhou, Hubei Province) and invaded the capital Jiankang (now Nanjing, Jiangsu Province) in the name of killing the traitor Liu Kun. He went to Si Marui and made a list of Liu Kun's top ten crimes. And proposed that as long as Si Marui beheaded Liu Kun and handed over his head to Wang Dun, Wang Dun would withdraw its troops and strike. Wang Dun's henchmen Shen Chong also took the opportunity to arise in Xing Wu (now Huzhou, Zhejiang) and respond to Wang Dun. When Wang Dunjun entered Wuhu, Wang Dun invited Si Marui to list the charges of Diaoxie and asked him to punish Diaoxie.

Si Marui was furious and ordered Wang Dun to be a "rebellion", offering a reward for catching and killing Wang Dunzhe and sealing 5,000 households. He vowed to lead the Sixth Army to a decisive battle with Wang Dun. In order to strengthen the military power of the imperial court, he urgently transferred Liu Kun and Dai Yuan to Wei Jiankang. Although the gentry at that time were dissatisfied with the king's rule, they were even more dissatisfied with the measures to strengthen the imperial power. Therefore, most of them took a wait-and-see attitude towards the Wang Dun Uprising.

Stone Town Site of Six Dynasties

After Wang Dunjun arrived in Jiankang, he first attacked Shitou Town (now Qingliang Mountain, Gulou District, Nanjing), which is known as the "Wudong First Military Fortress". Zhou za, the garrison commander, surrendered without fighting. Although Si Marui repeatedly ordered Liu Kun and Diao Xie to lead the army to fight back, they were all repelled by Wang Dunjun.

After Wang Dun seized the Stone City, he indulged his foot soldiers, burned and looted. Health chaos, all officials and soldiers fled for their lives, only Anton general Liu Chao led his men to defend Si Marui. Seeing that the tide was gone, Si Marui cried and advised Liu Kun, Diao Xie and other confidants to flee quickly, so as not to cause disaster; He took off his military uniform and sent messengers to make peace with Wang Dun. Diao Xie fled to the river and was killed. Liu Kun and his family fled to Houzhao in a hurry.

Si Marui was forced to appoint Wang Dun as Prime Minister and Commander-in-Chief of Chinese and foreign armed forces to record the affairs of ministers and take charge of state affairs. Wang Dun killed Dai Yuan and others. , killed or forgave the court or local officials who were unfaithful to them; They planted their own people and henchmen everywhere, domineering and specializing in state affairs.

Wang Dun, a brave and resourceful prince (Si Mashao, the eldest son of Si Marui, and Jin Mingdi, the second emperor of the Eastern Jin Dynasty), is very famous in both the government and the public, and will probably become a stumbling block for him to specialize in state affairs in the future, so he intends to depose the prince. However, it was fiercely opposed by various families, officials and the public and failed. Soon, Wang Dun returned to Wuchang and fought remotely. In the same year, Si Marui died of anxiety, and Prince Si Mashao succeeded to the throne.

Third, Wang Dun rebelled for the second time.

Although Wang Dun monopolizes the power, "the merits of the Quartet are mostly at home, and the leader Yue Mu knows the door", it is still not satisfied. In the first year of Taining (323), Wang Dun, who was seriously ill, stepped up his plan to usurp the throne and claim the throne. Wang Dun's nephew, Wang Yunzhi, is deeply loved by Wang Dun and often follows him. He pretended to be drunk and overheard the plot of Wang Dun and his confidant Qian Feng to usurp the throne. He told Wang Dun's plot to his father, Wang Shu, and told Jin Mingdi together with Wang Dao. Wen Qiao, regarded as a confidant by Wang Dun and appointed as Danyang Yin to monitor the court's every move, also took the initiative to inform Jin Mingdi of Wang Dun's plot.

Wang Dao stills

After intense planning, Jin Mingdi decided to take the initiative. Appointed Wang Dao as viceroy and Yangzhou secretariat; Wenqiao and Biandun led the troops to guard the Stone Town, while Zuyue (the brother of Zu Ti), a Soviet commander in Huai River, led the troops into Beijing. While guarding the capital, he fought against Wang Dun. When everything was ready, Jin Mingdi told the world that Wang Dun was dead and ordered Wang Dun's henchmen to quickly descend to the court. Wang Dao also led the king's children to mourn for Wang Dun. Officials and people mistakenly thought that Wang Dun was really dead, and their morale was greatly boosted; Wang Dun's henchmen are all over the country. Because the news was ineffective, he hesitated to wait and see, not knowing what to do.

Wang Dun was furious after receiving the imperial edict, but because he was seriously ill, he couldn't lead his troops, so he had to make his younger brother Wang Han a marshal and take Qian Feng and others to the East for health. Shen Chong also got up and responded to Wang Han. Wang Han, Shen Chongjun and the imperial army fought fiercely in the Qinhuai River area, and Wang was defeated many times and his morale was frustrated.

Wang Dun learned that Wang Han and others had been defeated repeatedly, and he died in a panic. Wang Ying, the son of William Wang and Wang Dun, dare not send out obituary. They wrapped Wang Dun's body in a straw mat, painted it with white wax, and buried it in the house. However, the news of Wang Dun's death soon spread, and the rebels suddenly lost their morale. Seeing the tide ebb, Wang Han led the rest of the people to flee. Jin Mingdi issued letters, amnesty, only Wang Dun's henchmen. The generals followed William Wang, Qian Feng, Shen Chong and other friends of Wang Dun. Wang Han and his son fled to Jingzhou by boat and went to Wang Shu, but Wang Shu ordered them to be pushed into the river and drowned. The imperial army also dug up Wang Dun's body and beheaded him on his knees; Qian Feng and Shen Chong were also killed one after another and hung on the Suzaku truss with Wang Dun's head. At this point, the rebellion in Wang Dun officially ended.

Answer:

Wang Dun rebelled twice in the early Eastern Jin Dynasty, which was the inevitable result of irreconcilable struggle between the royal family and aristocratic families in the Eastern Jin Dynasty. A series of measures taken by Si Marui to strengthen the imperial power and restrict the power of aristocratic families not only violated the rights and interests of the Wang family in Langya at that time, but also "infringed" the rights and interests of other aristocratic families to varying degrees. Therefore, when Wang Dun rebelled for the first time, the aristocratic families took a wait-and-see attitude and countermeasures. Si Marui only relied on a few confidants, and it was difficult to make peace, so he failed.

Wang Dun was good at politics, with different factions of the same party, and expanded the influence of the king, causing other leading families to be dissatisfied with the dominant Wang family. They teamed up with the royal family at a disadvantage, took advantage of Wang Dun's seriously ill death, crushed the second uprising in Wang Dun, and once again realized the delicate balance of central power, thus maintaining the political pattern of "king/Yu/Huan/Xie, Ma, the world * * *", and to some extent, maintaining the basic peace and stability of the country and society.

However, due to the infighting of the ruling class in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the post-Zhao established by Jie people took advantage of the Wang Dun Rebellion to seize large areas of land in Yanzhou, Xuzhou and Yuzhou in the Eastern Jin Dynasty. Jin Mingdi relied on the forces of refugees such as Soviet Union and Zuyue to quell the second rebellion in Wang Dun, which also led to the strengthening and domineering of the forces of Soviet Union and other groups, laying the groundwork for the outbreak of Soviet rebellion.