From the perspective of Sima Yan passing the throne to his foolish son Sima Zhong, how much impact did the Wei and Jin clan system have on the imperial power?

One of the most interesting stories about Sima Zhong is: Why not eat minced meat? It is also in line with the current situation of the surge in pork. It is said that when Sima Zhong was the emperor, there was a famine one year, and people often died of starvation. When things happen to people, as usual, someone reports the situation to the court, hoping that the court can send food for disaster relief. As a result, Sima Zhong said: Why not eat minced meat? ?It means, if there is no rice, why not eat meat?

This joke has been passed down for more than 1,700 years. In fact, it is no longer a simple joke. According to the economic point of view, when the food harvest is poor, meat consumables are used to replace it. Cereals are also an excellent disaster relief policy.

This is a joke. Sima Zhong definitely does not have this IQ. Of course, there have always been questions about Sima Zhong’s IQ. Silly is a general term for low IQ. Those with IQs below 90 are stupid, and those with IQs below 60 are stupid. The degree of stupidity is different.

Sima Zhong was certainly not stupid enough to think that meat could make him hungry. In another joke about Sima Zhong, Sima Yan once asked Sima Zhong many difficult questions during his lifetime and asked him to reply within three days. After Sima Zhong got the test questions, he answered them with the help of his wife, and then faced Sima Yan. From this point of view, it was not easy to memorize the answers.

From why not to eat minced meat to the cheating and plagiarism incident, it can be seen that Sima Zhong may just be mentally unsound, and he is definitely not that stupid.

However, because of this silly son, Sima Yan almost failed to inherit Sima Zhao's position.

Because the politics of the Wei and Jin Dynasties were particularly chaotic, if you didn't have some ability, you would definitely not be able to control such a large country. Therefore, when Sima Zhao was about to die, he almost didn't pass the throne to Sima Yan.

It is even said in unofficial history that Sima Yan poisoned Sima Zhao in order to inherit the throne. The truth is unknown. In the political inheritance of ancient China, sometimes the throne was passed on from generation to generation. Factor?, what kind of factor is this? It was because the emperor was optimistic about a grandson that he finally passed the throne to his grandson's father. If Sima Zhao did not want to pass the throne to Sima Yan because he disliked Sima Zhong, it completely shows that Sima Zhong was a bit "cheating".

In short, Sima Zhong’s IQ has always been a flaw. After Sima Zhong succeeded to the throne, he was unable to solve the problems of the Jin Dynasty. In the end, it triggered the Eight Kings Rebellion, Sima Zhong became a puppet, and the Jin Dynasty seemed to A "second generation died" also came.

Then the question arises. The most important thing in Sima Yan’s life was sons. History books record that he had as many as 26 sons. In the entire history of emperors, he was considered a productive emperor. Why did he choose Sima Zhong as his son? Where is the heir? Isn't his IQ enough?

The influence of the eldest son inheritance system was quite strong in the Han, Wei and Jin dynasties, and Sima Yan did not dare to violate it

We don’t know whether Sima Zhong’s low IQ is hereditary, I think. There is a high probability that it is impossible. You must know that from the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty to the Three Kingdoms period, the Sima family was famous for their IQ, especially Sima Yi, who was the magic medicine that cured Zhuge Liang.

In fact, Sima Zhao's choice of Sima Zhong to inherit the throne was largely influenced by the inheritance system of the eldest son.

The eldest son inheritance system can be called the most magical invention in ancient Chinese political history. It is a continuation of the hierarchy since the Zhou Dynasty. Because whenever there is a choice, there will be disputes, so the eldest son inheritance system was invented. In this system, who is the heir has been decided from the mother's womb. As long as it is the first son born to the queen, he will be the eldest son, and he will be the heir. This political tradition of establishing heirs based on eldest son and not on virtuous people is probably also the Zhou Dynasty. an important reason for its decline.

Speaking of which, Sima Yan should also have a deep fear of this eldest son inheritance system. Anyone who has read the Three Kingdoms knows that Sima Yi has two sons, one is Sima Shi and the other is Sima Zhao. Shima Shi was actually the eldest son. However, Shima Shi died in his prime and had no sons. He only had an adopted son, Sima You (Sima Yan’s younger brother), who was adopted by Sima Zhao’s second son. From Sima Zhao’s point of view, Sima Yan was the legitimate eldest son. The eldest son, but for the entire Sima family, Sima You, the adopted son of Sima Shi, is the legitimate eldest son.

I guess Master Sima is more open-minded. Both the left and right are the sons of Sima Zhao, so he might as well pass the position to Sima Zhao! When Sima Zhao passed the throne, not only was it mentioned above, but because Sima Zhong was stupid, he didn't want to pass the throne to Sima Yan. On the other hand, he also thought that he was just taking care of the family business for Sima Shi and passed the throne to Sima Yan. You are also showing repayment to your brother.

After the Sima family has had this bumpy succession experience, Sima Yan probably also believes that if he does not follow the eldest son inheritance system and chooses other sons, it will be quite troublesome for the political power. .

On the other hand, abolishing elders and establishing younger ones was a very taboo thing from the Han Dynasty to the Wei and Jin Dynasties. Why? Because during this period, many unpleasant things happened because of the elimination of elders and the establishment of younger ones. For example, Yuan Shao and Liu Biao both abolished elders and established younger ones, which resulted in the collapse of the regime. For people of almost the same era, this was a bloody lesson. ah!

There are a lot of fools everywhere. There were so many fools in the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, and Sima Zhong was not the least of them.

Of course, in my opinion, Sima Zhong was no longer the one to inherit the throne. It’s all that can be decided. Why do you say that? China's imperial power is different in different periods. For example, in the Qin Dynasty and the Western Han Dynasty, if the emperor wanted to choose a successor, it was a matter of raising his voice. The eldest son was only a criterion for choosing an emperor.

From the Eastern Han Dynasty until the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the imperial power fell apart. After Dong Zhuo entered the capital, why he was able to replace the emperor in minutes? The big reason was that the imperial power declined and the power of the clan gradually emerged. It had a great impact on the imperial power.

The impact of the noble gentry on the imperial power continued to intensify from the Eastern Han Dynasty to the Wei and Jin Dynasties. Especially after Cao Pi established the nine-level Zhongzheng system, the noble gentry basically monopolized politics. Children from poor families wanted to be officials. Then just wait!

The rise of the wealthy gentry was the political trend in the Wei and Jin Dynasties, and Sima Zhong was chosen by the wealthy gentry. Prime Minister, Sima Zhong’s mother Yang Yan was from the Hongnong Yang family, and the Hongnong Yang family The most legendary family in China, Yang Jian, who later established the Sui Dynasty, was not the Hongnong Yang family, but he insisted that he was the Hongnong Yang family in order to increase his own worth. This shows that the Hongnong Yang family Influence.

After Yang Yan married Sima Yan, she was named queen and gave birth to Sima Zhong. In other words, regardless of whether Sima Zhong was a fool or not, he was the first person supported by the Hongnong Yang family. For Sima Yan Generally speaking, if the son can get the support of the Hongnong Yang family, he should be very stable.

On the other hand, Sima Zhong’s wife Jia Nanfeng is also very powerful. Although the Jia family does not have the outstanding background of the Hongnong Yang family, it is also a wealthy family in the Wei and Jin Dynasties. Jia Nanfeng’s father is Jia Chong, and his grandfather Jia Kui was the governor of Yuzhou under Cao Wei's regime. Jia Chong's biggest political achievement was to help the Sima family kill Wei Emperor Cao Mao, so that the Sima family could successfully ascend the throne.

Because of this, one of Jia Chong's daughters married Sima You and the other married Sima Zhong. This means that from the Sima Zhao period, no matter who becomes powerful, the Jia family has political protection.

Sima Zhong's advantage in this regard is naturally obvious. His mother and daughter-in-law are both from large families, which will be a great help for him to become emperor.

Of course, societies under the aristocratic clans often have solidified classes, and marriages are only carried out within these families. The phenomenon of consanguineous marriages is becoming more and more intense. According to the theory of genetic inheritance, the probability of a fool appearing is It’s getting bigger and bigger too!

Therefore, there were especially many fools during the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, and Sima Zhong was not a big deal!