Why didn't the Eastern Jin Northern Expedition succeed?

Why didn't the Eastern Jin Northern Expedition succeed?

First of all, let's take a look at the Northern Expedition of these three Eastern Jin generals. I think everyone should have heard the story of chicken dancing, but in fact, Zu Ti is not a poor man. His family was a northern family in the late Western Jin Dynasty, but although he was born in a famous family, he did not neglect his studies and martial arts. After Yongjia Rebellion, Zu Ti led his people to move to Jingkou. As early as before the establishment of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, he had put forward suggestions for the Northern Expedition to Si Marui, and Si Marui was one of the few wise men in the Sima family, so he appointed Zu Ti as the secretariat of Yuzhou and let Zu Ti preside over the Northern Expedition.

In 3 13 AD, Zu Ti led his people and army to explore the Central Plains in the north. At this time, the Central Plains has long been ruined by years of war. In order to survive in this broken land, people can only live on the temporary pier wall. Zu Ti used the flexible characteristics of its army to defeat Schleswig-Holstein many times and recovered all the land south of the Yellow River. Up to now, the Northern Expedition has been relatively successful. After all, the Central Plains has recovered more than half. If Zu Ti continues to fight like this, the whole Central Plains will be recovered. That's what Zu Ti thought at that time, so after he seized the territory south of the Yellow River, he began to actively train and prepare to recover Hebei in one fell swoop.

However, at this time, Si Marui suddenly changed his position and got cold feet. He appointed Dai Yuan as the general of the Western Expedition and the governor of the six northern countries. Si Marui did this because he began to doubt Zu Ti. Emperor Si Marui was elected by the gentry, so his weight in people's hearts was not heavy, and Zu Ti helped people to restore their homes. His position in the hearts of the people is extremely high. Si Marui felt that Zu Ti had made the meritorious military service, won the support of the people, and would definitely stand on his own feet, so he stopped letting Zu Ti lead the troops. Zu Ti knew that the Northern Expedition was hopeless and eventually died of grief. After Zu Ti's death, Schleswig-Holstein in the north immediately retaliated against the Central Plains and regained the territory that Zu Ti had tried to recover.

To sum up, the failure of Zulu Northern Expedition does not mean how weak the Eastern Jin Dynasty was. After all, Zu Ti had recovered most of the Central Plains at that time, but the main problem was that the superior had the final say. Si Marui was a suspicious emperor. He didn't believe in Zu Ti's loyalty to the Eastern Jin Dynasty, so he got rid of Zu Ti, which led to the failure of the Northern Expedition.

After Zu Ti, let's talk about Huan Wen. The Northern Expedition in Huan Wen is much more frequent than that in Zu Ti. He made three northern expeditions. In 354 AD, Huan Wen personally led the northern expedition, but this time the northern expedition finally failed. The reason for the failure of the Northern Expedition was that there was no supply of grain and grass. Two years later, Huan Wen made a second Northern Expedition, which was quite effective, and even Luoyang was recovered. After capturing Luoyang, Huan Wen asked the emperor to move the capital, but surprisingly, neither the emperor nor the ministers wanted to move the capital to Luoyang. As a result, Yan Qian seized the opportunity to recapture Luoyang, and Huan Wen failed in the second Northern Expedition.

The reasons for the failure of the third Northern Expedition were similar to those of the first one. The army of the former Qin Dynasty cut off the route for providing foodstuff in Huan Wen, and the army had no hay, so Huan Wen had to retreat. It can be seen from Huan Wen's three northern expeditions that the national strength of the Eastern Jin Dynasty was indeed one of the reasons that affected the northern expedition. The two armies fought for grain and grass, and the Eastern Jin Dynasty was not inferior to the enemy in strength, but in the end, the grain and grass problem led to the final failure. If the Eastern Jin Dynasty had enough grain and grass, Huan Wen would definitely have a chance to succeed in the Northern Expedition. And for this reason, another reason is that there are many internal contradictions in the Eastern Jin Dynasty. At that time, Huan Wen asked the emperor to move the capital to Luoyang, and the ministers in the DPRK had a fierce quarrel about it. This means that these people are not United. In this case, Huan Wen was easily constrained by some people, and the Northern Expedition naturally could not win.

The achievements of Emperor Wu of Song's Northern Expedition should be regarded as the best of the three. He not only destroyed Shu Qiao, Southern Yan, the later Qin Dynasty, but also laid the foundation for Chang 'an. It can be said that as long as Emperor Wu of Song continues to fight like this, the rulers' original territory can be completely restored. However, at this time, Liu, sitting in the court, died. Liu is the confidant of Emperor Wu of Song. When Liu died, Emperor Wu of Song's control over the imperial court was even broken. In order not to be deprived of his power, Emperor Wu of Song simply left. When Emperor Wu of Song left, Chang 'an, which was finally recovered, fell again. Although the Central Plains has been preserved, the national reunification has not yet been completed.

Emperor Wu of song's northern expedition can't be counted as a failure, but it can't be said to be a success. After all, he had every chance to recover the world, but it was because Emperor Wu of Song was selfish and afraid that power would be taken away from him, so he gave up his northern expedition directly. Once, we can know that the failure of several northern expeditions in the Eastern Jin Dynasty was not only due to the weak national strength of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, but also due to the suspicion and selfishness of the superior commander in chief of the Northern Expedition.

There were indeed many valiant soldiers in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, but with these factors, the Northern Expedition was definitely impossible to succeed. Moreover, the Eastern Jin Dynasty not only failed to recover the Central Plains, but also made the political situation at that time more and more chaotic. Finally, Emperor Wu of Song really couldn't stand it, so he simply kicked Sima away and became emperor himself.