0p0 Chapter 539.5 The Causes of the Hu Rebellion in China
Chapter 539.5 The Causes of the Hu Rebellion in China
Chapter 539 The Prelude to the Five Barbarian Invasions
People in the Song Dynasty: We knew that at times like this, the Southern Song Dynasty would inevitably be mentioned…
This useless thing is always inferior to others for no reason!
Sima Yan's premonition had been confirmed. It was expected that Sima Rui would be coerced by the Jiangnan gentry. He had fled to the south, with shallow roots, no money, and no soldiers. Could he possibly have any say?
……
"Zu Ti's northern expedition failed, and it was after his death that turmoil broke out in the Eastern Jin Dynasty in the south. General Wang Dun launched the campaign to purge the court of corrupt officials. So, at this point, what was the point of launching a northern expedition? They couldn't even have peace and quiet within their own borders!"
"However, what is even more distressing and unspeakable than the Eastern Jin court's predicament is the chaos of the Five Barbarian Invasions during this period of turmoil."
"And all of this began with the self-righteous power struggles of that group of brilliant (and foolish) individuals in the Western Jin Dynasty, which consumed wave after wave of imperial guards, officials, princes, and so on."
"They even went so far as to try and win over the Hu people! It's amazing they even thought of that. Do they really think Sima Zhao's story isn't worth emulating? Can't they just say, 'In this world, the strongest army wins'?"
"To put it simply, let's take time as an example. Starting from the Cheng Han regime and the Han Zhao Liu family regime (304), and continuing until Yang Jian established the Sui Dynasty and unified the world (581), there was a gap of nearly three hundred years in between."
"In other words, for the past three hundred years, both the Hu people and the Han people have lived in a time of turmoil and instability."
"But the problem is, if we go back more than a hundred years to the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, people back then weren't doing so well either; the common people were the ones who suffered the most!"
The people of Wanchao: Their demands are not high. As long as there are no disasters or wars, and they can get by!
"For example, the population was 55 million during the Eastern Han Dynasty, but by the Three Kingdoms period, it had decreased to just over 8 million."
"Among these are natural disasters and man-made calamities, as well as the fragmentation of the country by warlords. A victory means taking away the record of a city."
Lin Ke paused for a moment, took a sip of water to calm himself, and continued: "Therefore, the seeds of the Five Barbarian Invasions were actually sown before the Western Jin Dynasty."
"As mentioned earlier, due to the frequent wars and disasters at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty and the late Three Kingdoms period, the population of the Central Plains decreased sharply. The Wei and Jin Dynasties continuously recruited and pacified the Five Barbarians, allowing them to migrate inland."
"Even earlier, the Eastern Han court established the Protector-General of the Xiongnu, as well as the Protector-General of the Qiang, etc. From the perspective of the Hu people, in short, they joined the army only when they couldn't win."
However, the Han Dynasty at that time was powerful and had no fear of these barbarian tribes or their restless hearts.
"On the other hand, ethnic groups such as the Xiongnu, Di, and Qiang, while relying on the Han Dynasty, were influenced by Han culture and continued to grow."
"However, the mighty Han dynasty will eventually come to an end, and the more Hu people migrate inland, the more likely problems will arise."
"Especially in the 22nd year of Jian'an, or the period of the Three Kingdoms, both sides needed people to rush to the battlefield, so it was not an isolated case to use nomadic peoples to expand their military strength."
"So, from Sima Yan's perspective, since the Eastern Han and the Three Kingdoms periods have done such things, why can't my Western Jin do the same in order to restore people's livelihoods and expand productivity?"
"As a result, millions of non-Han people migrated inland during this century, including 700,000 Xiongnu, 800,000 Qiang, 1 million Di, and 2.5 million Xianbei. After the massacre during the War of the Eight Princes in the Western Jin Dynasty, only one-third of the Han people remained in the north, which had a total population of 15 million."
"The Western Jin Dynasty was magnanimous, so why were they so ruthless towards their own people?"