Why did Sima Zhong become an "idiot" emperor?

Sima Zhong is generally evaluated as "stupid" or "stupid", which may be mainly based on the following two reasons:

First of all, Sima Zhong, the Emperor of Jinhui, was obviously unable to solve the political dilemma during his reign, which led to the rebellion of the Eight Kings. He became someone else's puppet and was finally poisoned by Sima Yue, the king of the East China Sea.

Secondly, Sima Yan, Emperor Wu of the Jin Dynasty, personally experienced the rise and fall of Cao Wei, so he was very concerned about the ability and growth of the heir to the throne. However, it is recorded in the Book of Jin that Emperor Wudi has repeatedly expressed doubts about Sima Zhong's ability in the State of Jin, and has repeatedly tested his ability, and Sima Zhong passed these tests at the suggestion of Jia Nanfeng, the Crown Princess, and his advisers.

However, according to some studies, even if Sima Zhong could not cope with the political situation at that time, he could not be regarded as an idiot in today's medical concept. Even so, it is worth noting that although there are many reports about the great events in Sima Zhong's period in the Book of Jin, there are few reports about Sima Zhong's words and deeds, actions and decisions.

Sima Zhong (259-307), Jin Huidi, the second son of Wuyuan's mother and the second emperor of the Western Jin Dynasty. He was in office from 290 to 307. On 17.

In 267, Sima Zhong was established as the Crown Prince, and in 290, he acceded to the throne, renamed Yongxi. He was a deranged man, who got help from his teacher Yang Jun at first, and then Jia Nanfeng killed Yang Jun and seized power. In the Eight Kings Rebellion, Hui Di's uncle, Sima Lun, the King of Zhao, usurped Hui Di's throne and imprisoned Hui Di in Jinyong City as the emperor's father. Sima Tang, the king of Qi, and Sima Ying, the king of Chengdu, rose up, and their ministers * * * killed Sima Lun's henchmen, welcomed the restoration of Emperor Jinhui, and punished Sima Lun and his son. They were also taken hostage by the king and humiliated like puppets. In 306, Sima Yue, king of the East China Sea, welcomed back to Luoyang. In 307, Hui Di died at the age of 48. According to legend, it was poisoned by Sima Yue, the king of the East China Sea.

The life of the character

Early experience

Sima Zhong was born in Ganlu, Cao Wei in 259 AD. In the third year of Taishi (267), on the first day of the first month, Sima Zhong was made the Crown Prince? When I was nine years old. ? In the eighth year of Taishi (272), Sima Zhong was ordered by Emperor Wu of Jin Dynasty to marry Jia Chong's daughter Jia Nanfeng as the Crown Princess. Jia Nanfeng was fifteen years old and Sima Zhong was two years older.

Ascend to the throne in the prime of life

On April 20th, the first year of Taixi (290), Emperor Wu of Jin died, and the Crown Prince Sima Zhong acceded to the throne, giving an amnesty to Emperor Jinhui and changing his country name to Yongxi. The stepmother Yang Zhi (Yang Yan's cousin) is the Empress Dowager, and Princess Jia Nanfeng is the Queen. On May 13 of the same year, Emperor Wu of Jin was buried in Yang Junling (now Cai Zhuang, north and south of yanshi city, Henan).

On May 18, the official position in the world increased by one level, and the number of people attending the funeral of Emperor Wu of Jin increased by two levels. The people were exempted from taxes for one year, and more than 2,000 stone officials were appointed as Guanzhong Hou. Yitai Weiyangjun is a teacher and assists in state affairs. On August 26th, Sima Yuli, the king of Guangling, became the Crown Prince, taking He Shao, the official secretary, as the Prince's surname, and Yang Ji, the general of Wei, as the Prince Taibao. ? Shi Chong, the satrap of Nanjun, Hu Yi, a captain of Changshui, Zhao Jun and General Zhao Huan led the troops to station troops. ? Later, it was changed to Yongping on 29 1 January.

Eight Kings Rebellion

After Sima Zhong came to power, he trusted his queen Jia Nanfeng very much. Therefore, Jia's autocratic power even forged the imperial edict of Jin Sima Zhong. In the first year of Yongping (29 1), he persecuted the Empress Dowager, deposed the Empress Dowager and killed Sima Liang and other ministers. In the same year, he killed Empress Dowager Cixi in Jinyong City.

In the fourth year of Yuankang (294) and the sixth year of Yuankang (296), the Huns and other ethnic groups rebelled [10-1]? Qi Wannian proclaimed himself emperor, and it was not until the ninth year of Yuankang (299) that the rebellion was eliminated. ? In the same year, Jia Nanfeng began to persecute the King of Qi, first abolishing his status as a prince. ? Kill the prince the following year. ? This move became the starting point for many royal families who opposed domestic dictatorship to take action. After Sima Lun, the king of Zhao, forged an imperial edict to abolish Jia's murder, he killed Zhang Hua and other ministers and became prime minister. This was the beginning of the Eight Kings Rebellion. Restore the status of the original prince and make Sima Zang, the son of the prince, the great-grandson of the emperor.

In August of the first year of Yongkang (300 years), Sima Yun, the king of Huainan, fought with Sima Lun and was defeated and killed. ? In December of the same year, Zhao Gao, the secretariat of Yizhou, cooperated with the refugees who fled to Sichuan from the Central Plains to rebel in Chengdu.

In the first year of Yongning (30 1), Sima Lun usurped the throne and proclaimed himself emperor. Sima Zhong was regarded as the emperor's father, and his great-grandson Sima Zang was killed. ? In March, Sima Tang, king of Qi, set out to crusade against Sima Lun, and was supported by Sima Ying, king of Chengdu, Sima Yi, king of Hejian and Sima Ai, king of Changshan. Sima Lun was defeated. Sima, the king of Huailing, killed Sima Lun's henchmen, expelled Sima Lun and led Sima Zhong back to the throne. Sima Lun was killed. In May, Sima was named Xuansun and Yang was named Queen. In June, Sima Kun, the king of Donglai, tried to overthrow Sima Dan's authoritarian power, and the incident was abandoned. In December, fighting against Jin began in Sichuan, which was the starting point of becoming the Han Dynasty.

In the first year of Tai 'an (302), Sima, the grandson of the late emperor, was still dead, and Sima Qin was made a prince. In May, Te Li defeated the army sent by Sima Yu to crusade against him in Sichuan, killed Zhang Wei, the prefect of Guanghan, and became a general.

In December, Sima Ying, Sima Yu, Xinyexin and Fan Yangfu gathered in Luoyang to oppose Sima Fu's dictatorship. Sima Ai took the opportunity to kill Sima Tang and became a powerful minister in the DPRK.

In March of the second year of Taian (303), Li Te was killed while attacking Chengdu, but his son Li Xiong occupied Chengdu in April. By the end of the year, Li Xiong occupied almost the whole Sichuan Basin. In May, Zhang Chang and Qiu Shen rebelled, established the Han Dynasty, and killed Sima Xin. In August, Sima Ying and Sima Yi crusaded against Sima Yi. In October, Sima Yi's army invaded Chang 'an, and tens of thousands of people died in the subsequent looting. Since then, the two armies have confronted each other outside Chang 'an, and even 13-year-old children have been drafted into the army. At the same time, both armies recruited Xiongnu and other armies. Finally Sima Ai was defeated and killed. Sima Yu became a pivotal figure in the Jin Dynasty.

In the first year of Yong 'an (304), Sima Zhong began to feel more and more threatened by Sima Yu, so he sent a secret letter to Liu Shen and Huangfu to attack Sima Yu again, but it didn't succeed. Sima Yu's army looted in Luoyang. In February, Empress Yang's family was abolished, Crown Prince Sima Qin was abolished, and Sima Ying was made his younger brother. The dictatorship of Sima Ying and Sima Yu. However, there was another coup in Beijing in June, when Sima Ying was expelled, Yang's family was restored as a queen and Sima Qin was restored as a prince.

In July, Sima Zhong led an army to crusade against Sima Ying and was defeated by Sima Ying's army in Dangyin. Sima Zhong was wounded in the face and shot three times, and was captured by Sima Ying. Shi Yang and Sima Qin were abolished again. In August, Sima Ying was defeated by Anbei General Wang Jun, and Wang Jun took Sima Zhong hostage and fled to Luoyang. Along the way, there was only coarse rice to satisfy the hunger. In November, Sima Zhong was hijacked to Chang 'an by Zhang Fang, the general of Sima Yi. Zhang Fang's army robbed the palace and took all the treasures in it. By the end of the year, Sima Yi came to power in Chang 'an again, and Sima Yue became a teacher. In the same year, Li Xiong called Chengdu King in Chengdu, Han Cheng was founded, Liu Yuan called himself Hanwang and established Zhao Qian. In 305, the armies of Sima Yu and Zhang Fang, Sima Ying, Sima Yue and john young fought in the Central Plains. Basically, the central government no longer exists, and the border areas of China are independent. By the end of 305, Sima Yue won a great victory. Sima Yu killed Zhang and made peace with Sima Yue, but it was useless.

In the first year of Guangxi (306), Sima Yue Xianbei Army invaded Chang 'an, plundering and killing more than 20,000 people. In September, Sima Ying was captured and later killed. The Eight Kings Rebellion is over.

suffer a sudden death

On the night of the first year of Guangxi (65438+3071October 8th)1month17th, Sima Zhong died in Xianyang Temple in Luoyang at the age of 48. According to legend, he was poisoned by Sima Yue, the king of the East China Sea, and was buried in Sun Mausoleum (now Luoyang, Henan Province). posthumous title was filial to Hui Di, and his brother Sima Chi (284-3 13) acceded to the throne, and changed to Yongjia, that is.

Anecdotal allusions

Cheating to solve problems

Sima Zhong's IQ was low from a small age, and Sima Yan was very worried, fearing that Sima Zhong would lose the family business started by his ancestors. On one occasion, in order to test Sima Zhong's thinking ability, Sima Yan specially asked him several questions and gave him three days to hand in his papers. Sima Zhong didn't know how to answer the question. His wife Jia Nanfeng is a very clever person. Seeing this, she immediately invited several learned old gentlemen to solve problems for Sima Zhong.

After reading the answer sheet, Sima Yan felt that his son's thinking was still very clear, and he was relieved. However, when Sima Yan died and Sima Zhong ascended the throne, he made many jokes when he was asked to make his own decision.

Official toad

One summer, Sima Zhong and his entourage went to Hualin Park to play. They walked to a pond and heard frogs cooing inside. Sima Zhong felt very strange and asked the followers whether these things were official or folk. The waiter said: "What is the official family name, it is the official family; If it is called privately, it is private. "

Why not eat minced meat?

Another year of famine, people have no food, and people starve to death everywhere. Someone reported the situation to Sima Zhonghui, but Sima Zhong told reporters: "Why don't they eat meat porridge or eat?" The speaker was dumbfounded. The victim can't even eat rice. Where can they get porridge? This shows how stupid Sima Zhong is.

Blood in the servant's heart

In the first year of Yongxing (A.D. 304), the Jin army was defeated in the shadow, injured in the face, hit by three arrows, and all the officials and guards fled. Only Ji Shao solemnly stood up to defend the son of heaven, and Sima Ying's sergeant pressed Ji Shao on the straight wood in front of the car. Sima Zhong said, "This is a loyal minister. Don't kill him! " The sergeant replied, "I just won't hurt your majesty on orders from Taidi (Sima Ying)!" So he killed Ji Shao, and blood spilled on Sima Zhong's clothes. Sima Zhong lamented his death. When the war was over, the attendants wanted to wash the royal clothes. Sima Zhong said, "This is the waiter's blood. Don't wash it off. "