Jinting Han people

Chapter 15: Wu's Chaos and the Western Jin Dynasty's Attack on Wu

At this time, the Sun family still controlled the southeast and called themselves the Lord of Wu. With the assistance of the Jiangdong gentry, they confronted the Jin State across the river. All the people in the Central Plains called them a great enemy.

Tracing back to their roots, the Sun family was originally a minor official in Fuping County, Wu Commandery, during the Eastern Han Dynasty. Despite their successive generations of officials, their salaries were limited to only 100 dan (approximately 100 stone), making them a relatively undistinguished clan. It wasn't until the reign of Emperor Ling a hundred years ago that their ancestor, Sun Jian, joined the army, defeated numerous bandits, and participated in campaigns such as suppressing the Yellow Turbans and resisting the Qiang Rebellion. This is when the Sun family rose to prominence, becoming a military family.

Later, when Emperor Lingdi passed away and Dong Zhuo usurped the throne, the brothers Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu initiated an expedition to suppress the rebels in Guandong. Sun Jian immediately joined Yuan Shu's army, occupied the land of Yuzhou, defeated Dong Zhuo in the west, and conquered Liu Biao in the south, becoming the best general in Zhongzhou.

However, as the laws of nature often say, prosperity always declines. While pursuing Liu Biao's defeated troops, Sun Jian was mistakenly ambushed at Mount Xian, where a renowned general perished. Yuan Shu, having seized his former troops, challenged Cao Cao, but for two or three years suffered repeated defeats, forcing him to retreat to Huainan. His soldiers lost their fighting spirit and suffered terribly.

In 193 AD, Sun Jian's eldest son, Sun Ce, finished mourning for his father and joined the army under Yuan Shu. At just years old, he was fair-skinned, tall, and handsome, possessing a remarkable appearance and considerable military skill, earning him the admiration of his father's former subordinates.

Sun Ce, disgusted by Yuan Shu's fickleness and broken promises, secretly harbored ambitions to establish his own empire. While publicly courting Yuan Shu, he secretly recruited troops and marched south to Jiangdong that same year, defeating Liu Yao, Xu Gong, Wang Lang, Chen Yu, Taishi Ci, and Hua Xin, ultimately unifying the region. He then marched west to attack Liu Biao's army in Jingzhou, decisively defeating Liu Xun and his father's murderer, Huang Zu.

Unfortunately, Sun Ce was a man of arrogance and impetuousness, a man who feared his own safety. During the Battle of Guandu between Yuan and Cao in the north, he planned to march north to the Central Plains and launch a surprise attack on Xu Du. However, just as his army was gathering, he was assassinated in the wilderness, thus aborting his plan. That same year, after entrusting his legacy to his younger brother, Sun Quan, Sun Ce died with regrets, aged only twenty-six.

Unlike his father and brother, Sun Quan was a calm and composed man, possessing great foresight and a deep sense of purpose. He ruled Jiangdong for eight years, comforting the people, recruiting talented individuals, assigning military officers to various positions, pacifying the Shanyue, and suppressing those who disobeyed his orders, thus successfully weathering the turmoil in Jiangdong.

When Cao Cao led his army south and approached Jiangxia, Sun Quan, despite popular opposition, allied with Liu Bei, appointed Zhou Yu as his commander-in-chief, and defeated Cao's army at the Battle of Chibi. Later, he broke the alliance and defeated Shu Han twice at the Battle of Xiangfan and the Battle of Yiling, seizing Jingzhou and Jiaozhou. He defeated Cao's army again at the Battle of Shiting, and from then on, he changed the reign title to Zhi and established his capital in Wuchang. Finally, in the first year of Huanglong (229 AD), he established the Three Kingdoms System and was known in history as "Emperor of Wu."

However, as he grew older, Emperor Sun Quan became increasingly senile.

In 241 AD, after the death of Sun Quan's eldest son Sun Deng, a new crown prince, Sun He, and Sun Ba, the Prince of Lu, competed for favor. Sun Quan, however, indulged his two sons, allowing them to form their own factions and attack each other.

Over the years, the government became chaotic and political harmony deteriorated. Implicated individuals were often exiled or even exterminated. Prime Minister Lu Xun died of rage, and countless others, such as Yang Zhu, Lu Yin, and Wu Can, were imprisoned. This incident is known in history as the "Two Palaces Rebellion."

After the Second Palace Rebellion, Sun Quan died of illness, and the power of the Eastern Wu Dynasty declined. The regents and the emperor, and the regents themselves, were all suspicious of each other, and they persecuted each other repeatedly.

In the second year of Jianxing (253 AD), General Sun Jun of the Wuwei Army killed Prime Minister Zhuge Ke, deposed Crown Prince Sun He, exterminated his three clans, and appointed himself Prime Minister.

In the first year of Taiping (256 AD), Sun Jun died of worry, and his younger brother, General Wuwei Sun Chen, killed General Huoqi Lu Ju and Grand Marshal Teng Yin, and exterminated their three clans.

In the third year of Taiping (258 AD), General Sun Chen killed Sun Liang, the young emperor of Wu.

In November of the same year, Emperor Jing of Wu, Sun Xiu, killed General Sun Chen and his brothers.

In the seventh year of Yong'an (264 AD), Emperor Jing of Wu, Sun Xiu, passed away. Because the crown prince was young, Prime Minister Puyang Xing and Left General Zhang Bu welcomed Sun Hao as emperor, but they were later killed by Sun Hao. Sun Hao then killed Empress Dowager Zhu and the old crown prince, and the political turmoil in Eastern Wu came to an end.

But by this time, Shu Han had been destroyed, Cao Wei had also fallen, and a brand-new Western Jin Dynasty had emerged north of the Yangtze River. The three-way division of the empire had been completely altered. Could Eastern Wu avoid the fate of the Han and Wei dynasties?

Suddenly, rumors spread across Jiangdong. In Jingzhou, a well-known legend circulated about a renowned figure in Baling County, Changsha Prefecture, known as Yang Gong, a skilled fortune teller. In the spring of the first year of the Baoding reign (266 AD), after days of heavy rain in southern Jingzhou, suddenly one day, the sky cleared, and Yang Gong perceived a thousand-mile-long imperial aura rising from Yunmeng Lake, flowing down the river toward Jiangdong. Locals began to spread the rumor, "Imperial aura from Jingzhou will destroy Yangzhou, and the Jianye Palace will be in jeopardy."

When the news reached Jianye, Sun Hao was extremely disgusted and simply moved the capital from Jianye to Wuchang.

Coincidentally, the Wujun Yong'an bandit Shi Dan rebelled, kidnapped Wucheng Marquis Sun Qian, and gathered a force of over 10,000 men, launching a counterattack towards Jianye. Sun Hao immediately dispatched Ding Gu and Zhuge Liang to defeat Shi Dan. He then sent hundreds of troops to Jianye with drums and gongs to spread propaganda. He publicly executed hundreds of people from Shi Dan's three clans and his entire family, claiming, "The Son of Heaven has sent troops from Jingzhou to defeat the Yangzhou bandits," fulfilling the prophecy of destiny that had been prophesied earlier.

I don’t know if it was really God’s will, but after this, Sun Hao sent troops to attack the State of Jin, and he won more battles than he lost.

In the third year of Jianheng (271 AD), Tao Huang defeated the Jin army in Jiaozhi, capturing the Jin commander Yang Ji. He also killed over people, including Yang Ji's chief secretary Zhang Deng, general Meng Tong, and the Jiaozhi native Shao Hui. The years-long Wu-Jin War of Jiaozhi culminated in the complete recovery of Jiaozhou by the Wu army. That year, phoenixes gathered in the western garden of Zhaoming Palace, and Sun Hao changed the reign title to Phoenix.

In the first year of Fenghuang (272 AD, the year Liu Xian was born), the Battle of Xiling erupted again between Jin and Wu. Bu Chan, the governor of Xiling under Eastern Wu, defected to the Western Jin. Sima Yan, the Western Jin emperor, dispatched a -man army in a three-pronged attack on Jingzhou. Unexpectedly, Lu Kang, the governor of Lexiang and son of Lu Xun, the former prime minister of Eastern Wu, with only men, faced three of them alone. He first surrounded Xiling, then successively defeated the two reinforcements from the Western Jin army, effectively defeating the renowned Jin general Yang Hu without a fight.

Since then, the Jin army was frightened, and no war broke out between the Wu and Jin countries for nearly six years after the Battle of Xiling.

But this was merely superficial. Sima Yan, the Western Jin emperor, had long harbored ambitions for unification. For several years, he had secretly corresponded with Yang Hu, the General in Charge of the Southern Expedition, to discuss specific strategies for destroying Wu. After some time, Yang Hu summarized his gains and losses and submitted a famous memorial to the court.

Due to the disastrous defeat at Xiling, there was considerable opposition within the Western Jin court to the proposal to destroy Wu. Therefore, Yang Hu's memorial began by refuting these opponents. He argued that destroying Wu was not a matter of grandeur, but rather because "Wu had again broken its promise, exacerbating border unrest." If it were not "annihilated in a single blow," the people and soldiers on the border would never find peace. Some at court argued, "Wu and Chu are docile and docile, but rude and impolite are strong first," hoping to force Wu's submission through the king's rule. This was simply a Spring and Autumn Period fantasy.

Wasn't it difficult for the late emperor to destroy Shu Han? Didn't he ultimately prevail? From a geographical perspective, "the difficulties of the Jianghuai region are no greater than those of the Jiange Pass; the dangers of the mountains and rivers are no greater than those of the Min and Han Rivers." From a moral perspective, "Sun Hao's tyranny was even greater than that of Liu Chan; the people of Wu were in greater distress than those of Bashu." And from the perspective of our military strength, "the Jin army is greater than in previous dynasties; its reserves of equipment are greater than ever." If we don't begin to destroy Wu now, are we wasting the suffering of the people on the border and wasting our national treasury?

After discussing the inevitability of destroying Wu, Yang Hu also discussed strategy in the article.

Because the gap in national power between the two countries was so huge, Yang Hu believed that the most important strategy was to use the majority to defeat the minority, so he divided the conquest of the south into four routes from west to east:

The first route was the Shu army, which "draws troops from Liang and Yi to advance both by land and sea." The second route was the Jingzhou army, which "advanced the troops of Jingchu to Jiangling." The third route was the Yuzhou army, which "pacified Nan and Yuzhou and headed straight for Xiakou." The fourth route was the center of gravity, with troops from Yan, Yang, Qing, and Xu heading towards Moling. These four armies launched a simultaneous and powerful attack on Wu. How many troops could Wu, with its tiny territory, muster to resist? Naturally, they would be stretched thin. Blocking one route would leave others vulnerable, a situation that was inevitable with a nation at war.

Among them, Yang Hu focused on analyzing the combat style of the Wu army.

He believed that due to the influence of the Wu regime, the soldiers of the Eastern Wu had never dared to fight in the open air, "without a plan to protect the world and a firm mind", and that they could only cope with it to do justice to their superiors, "their customs are impulsive and they cannot last long", and that the reason they had been able to maintain their rule for so many years was not due to anything else, but the strength of their navy, "their bows, crossbows, halberds and shields are inferior to those of the Chinese, but they are only good at naval warfare", as long as our army could cross the Yangtze River, the Wu people would be unable to fight on the water and would be helpless, "once we enter their territory, the Yangtze River will no longer be a solid barrier, and if we still defend our cities, we will lose our advantage and enter their short territory."

This is Yang Hu's most famous memorial, "Memorial to Attack Wu", but after it was submitted, it was still opposed by founding fathers such as Jia Chong. Only a few people such as Zhang Hua and Du Yu expressed their support.

In August of the fourth year of the Xianning reign (278 AD), Yang Hu, the leader of the Western Jin army's campaign against Wu, died. As a relative of the emperor and a renowned general who had defended the south, Yang Hu's death was a great loss to the Western Jin. Upon hearing the tragic news, Emperor Sima Yan was devastated, weeping and lamenting, "I had hoped that Yang Hu would lead the army against Wu, but I never expected him to die."

At Yang Hu's funeral, the emperor was deeply moved and shed tears in public, saying to those around him, "Now that Lord Yang is gone, who shall I hand over the great cause of unification?"

At the end of that year, Wang Jun, the General Longxiang and military supervisor of Liang and Yizhou, suddenly submitted a memorial to the court, claiming that he had built a fleet of tower ships in Yizhou, capable of sailing the Yangtze River and invincible in naval battles. If further delays allowed the wooden ships to decay, there would be no chance of conquering Wu.

In August of the following year, the new General Zhennan, Du Yu, took office. He acted on his own and led his troops to raid the famous Wu general Zhang Zheng. He also sent the captured prisoners directly to Jianye, which angered Sun Hao and caused him to replace Zhang Zheng with Liu Xian, the governor of Wuchang.

At this point, the time to attack Wu was ripe. Although there were still old ministers such as Wang Hun, Jia Chong, and Xun Xu who opposed the attack, in this crucial debate, the persistence of Du Yu, Wang Jun and others won, and Sima Yan finally made up his mind to attack Wu.

But what is interesting is that this time someone raised an extremely puzzling objection.

This person was Shang Shu Pushe Shan Tao, who privately said to Sima Yan: "The royal family is not a saint. If we eliminate external threats, internal troubles will inevitably arise. Destroying Wu now will make the court no longer afraid of foreign enemies, but in fact it is not conducive to the long-term!"

This statement was truly baffling. What did it mean that eliminating external threats would inevitably lead to internal troubles? Could victory even have disadvantages? And what about the piercing phrase, "I am not a saint,"? Fortunately, Sima Yan was a magnanimous ruler. Having resolved to attack Wu, he didn't dwell on such trivial matters.

In November of the fifth year of Xianning (279 AD), the Western Jin court mobilized an army of over , with Duke of Lu Jia Chong as the commander-in-chief. According to Yang Hu's strategic plan, the troops were divided into six routes:

General Longxiang Wang Jun and General Guangwu and Badong Military Supervisor Tang Bin marched down the Yangtze River from Bashu, heading straight for Jianye.
General Du Yu, the Southern Guardian, marched from Xiangyang towards Jiangling, then southward along the Yangtze River and Xiang River to capture Jiaozhou.

General Hu Fen, the General who pacifies the south, attacked Xiakou from Jingzhou;

General Jianwei Wang Rong attacked Wuchang from Yuzhou;

General Wang Hun of Andong attacked Jiangxi from Huainan;

Sima Yi, General Zhenjun and King of Langya, attacked Tuzhong.

As the Jin army advanced south, rebellion erupted in Wu. Veteran General Guo Ma had gathered over 10,000 men in Guangzhou to rebel. Wu's ruler, Sun Hao, had already dispatched renowned generals Teng Xiu, Tao Huang, and tens of thousands of others to suppress the rebellion, leaving the already stretched Yangtze River defenses even more vulnerable. Consequently, the Jin armies advanced with unstoppable force, reporting victories one after another.

In the first month of the following year, Wang Hun and Sima Yi occupied all Wu territory on the north bank of the Yangzhou River, confronting the Wu army across the river. In February, Du Yu captured Jiangling, and Wang Jun captured Xiling, Jingmen, and Yidao. The Yizhou navy successfully broke through the blockade and entered the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River.

In March, Zhang Ti led 30,000 Wu troops north across the Yangtze River to seek battle, but was annihilated by Wang Hun's troops. Meanwhile, Wang Jun's navy left Yunmeng Lake and sailed east along the river, surrendering Xiakou and Wuchang without a fight, finally reaching Shitoucheng on March 14th.

Sun Hao had intended to lead his troops in a desperate battle, but when his soldiers saw Wang Jun's army, they saw only banners unfurling, fine armor blazing like the sun, and ships stretching for thousands of miles, blocking the river and stretching to the sky. The people of Wu were so frightened that tens of thousands surrendered without a fight.

Sun Hao, the King of Wu, was left with no other options and had to submit a letter of surrender. According to the ancient surrender etiquette, he rode a plain carriage and a white horse, bare his skin and bound his face, held a jade disk in his mouth and led a sheep, and surrendered at the gate of the fort with hundreds of dukes, ministers and royal family members.

As news of Sun Hao's surrender spread, remnants of the Wu army, including Tao Huang and Teng Xiu of Jiaozhou, also surrendered. In just four months, the Jin army conquered four prefectures and forty-three counties of Eastern Wu, subduing 230,000 Wu troops. A subsequent review of the household registers revealed 530,000 households, 32,000 officials, over 5,000 concubines, and a population of 2.3 million.

This also officially declared that with the demise of the Eastern Wu regime, China's ninety-year-long situation of division since Dong Zhuo usurped power in the Eastern Han Dynasty in 189 AD finally came to an end.

Sima Yan, overjoyed, lavished rewards upon Sun Hao. To commemorate the two victories of the year, Sima Yan, following the example of Sima Zhao's conquest of Shu, issued a general amnesty, changed the reign title to Taikang, and granted Sun Hao the title of Marquis of Guiming.

In Sima Yan's view, the formal unification of the empire signified the Jin Dynasty's destiny. The legendary era of suffering and war was over, and a great empire, on par with the Han Dynasty, was about to embark on a new and glorious journey.

From a certain perspective, he was not wrong. From the perspective of the entire historical development, the exciting part was just beginning.

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(End of this chapter)