The Emperor’s Deathbed and a Stolen Mandate
In late 290 CE, Emperor Wu of Jin fell gravely ill. Lying unconscious in his palace, he left the court in panic. With the heir – Crown Prince Sima Zhong – widely known as mentally unfit, ministers anxiously awaited an imperial edict naming regents to guide the new reign.
Yang Jun, father of Empress Yang Zhi and maternal grandfather of the crown prince, seized the moment. He stationed himself inside the palace, barred all visitors – including senior princes – and replaced the emperor’s attendants with his own loyalists.
When Emperor Wu briefly regained consciousness and noticed unfamiliar faces, suspicion flared. Knowing Yang Jun sought sole control but distrusting this outsider over kin, he dictated a decree: Prince Sima Liang of Ruyan, his uncle, and Yang Jun would jointly serve as regents. “Summon Ruyan Prince at once,” he ordered – then lapsed back into delirium.
Yang Jun intercepted the edict from the Central Secretariat head Hua Yi and refused to issue it. Though Sima Liang lived just outside Luoyang, Yang Jun feared the elder prince’s prestige would eclipse his own. Empress Yang, now empress dowager, shared his ambition.
Days later, as the dying emperor weakly asked, “Has Ruyan Prince come?” the empress whispered, “He hasn’t. Let the Empress Dowager’s father serve as regent.” Barely comprehending, Emperor Wu nodded. A forged edict was drafted on the spot, appointing Yang Jun as Grand Tutor and Commander-in-Chief of all military and civil affairs. Unable to speak, the emperor could only watch as his final wishes were erased. He died days later.
The Rise of the Foolish Emperor and Yang Jun’s Short Reign
Sima Zhong ascended the throne as Emperor Hui of Jin – a puppet ruler incapable of governance. His wife, Jia Nanfeng, became empress; his grandmother, Empress Dowager Yang, held ceremonial authority; but real power lay with Yang Jun.
He issued decrees in the emperor’s name without consultation. The feeble-minded sovereign merely nodded to everything. To buy loyalty, Yang Jun promoted every official by one rank – and those involved in the late emperor’s funeral by two. Hundreds were enfeoffed as marquises or dukes.
Critics protested: “Since the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, no dynasty has granted mass ennoblements upon an emperor’s death – not even after founding the realm or conquering Wu state to unify China! If each new reign brings such rewards, soon every man will be a duke!”
Yang Jun ignored them. Instead, he tightened surveillance on the Sima princes, especially wary of Sima Liang. When rumors spread that the Ruyan Prince might raise troops, Yang Jun dispatched agents to arrest him – only to learn Sima Liang had already fled to Xuchang. The insult enraged the imperial clan.
The Viper in the Palace: Empress Jia’s Plot
Yang Jun’s greatest fear was Empress Jia Nanfeng – daughter of the ruthless general Jia Chong, who had orchestrated the murder of Wei’s last emperor, Cao Mao. Like her father, Jia was cunning, jealous, and violent.
Once, when a consort appeared pregnant (likely with a boy), Jia hurled a halberd at her belly, causing a miscarriage. Enraged, Emperor Wu had nearly deposed her and imprisoned her in Jinyong Castle – a fortress for disgraced royals – but Empress Yang interceded.
Now, with Yang Jun monopolizing power and excluding her from state affairs, Jia seethed. Though Yang had once saved her, she resented being scolded by the younger empress dowager. “She’s my junior by two years – why must I bow to her?” she fumed.
Seeing Yang Jun’s unpopularity grow, she conspired with discontented ministers. They advised: “We need the princes. They command armies and hate Yang Jun.” Jia agreed. She dispatched Li Zhao to rally support.
The First Blood: Fall of Yang Jun
Li Zhao first approached the cautious Sima Liang, who refused to act. But Prince Sima Wei of Chu – Emperor Hui’s hot-headed younger brother, barely twenty – leapt at the chance. “Leave it to me!” he declared, and enlisted his brother Sima Yun of Huainan.
Yang Jun, unaware of the plot, approved their request to enter Luoyang.
In spring 291 CE, Sima Wei’s troops arrived. Empress Jia produced a forged imperial decree accusing Yang Jun of treason and ordering his execution.
Caught off guard, Yang Jun panicked. His advisor Zhu Zhen urged immediate action: “Burn the Yulong Gate, seize the crown prince, and fight back!” But Yang Jun hesitated: “That gate cost so much – it would be a pity to burn it!”
His indecision doomed him. Officials abandoned him. Meanwhile, Empress Dowager Yang frantically wrote appeals for help on yellow silk banners and shot them over palace walls with arrows:”Whoever saves the Grand Tutor shall be richly rewarded!”
The banners reached Jia Nanfeng. She countered with her own order: “Anyone obeying the dowager commits high treason – death!”
As Sima Wei’s soldiers stormed Yang Jun’s mansion, he hid beneath a horse trough. Found and dragged out, he was hacked to death on the spot.
The Dowager’s Downfall and Matricide
Triumphant, Jia Nanfeng moved against Empress Dowager Yang. Though ministers opposed executing her, they agreed to depose her and exile her to Jinyong Castle.
As Yang Zhi prepared to leave with her mother, Lady Pang, imperial guards burst in. “The empress orders Lady Pang executed – she was Yang Jun’s wife,” the captain announced. “You’re no longer dowager. You can’t protect her.”
Yang Zhi collapsed, clutching her mother, weeping: “Your Majesty! Punish me instead – spare my mother’s life!” Soldiers turned away in shame – but carried out the order. Lady Pang was slain before her daughter’s eyes.
A New Regent, Same Old Tyranny
With Yang Jun gone, officials urged recalling Sima Liang and appointing the elder statesman Wei Guan as co-regents – a move Jia reluctantly accepted.
Sima Liang returned as Grand Chancellor (Taizai). Yet power corrupted him instantly. Mimicking Yang Jun, he ennobled 1,081 officers in a single stroke – many with no merit, some leaping three ranks overnight.
Fu Xian, who had long criticized extravagance, submitted another memorial: “Rewarding the unworthy invites chaos. Men will pray for rebellion to earn titles. We hoped you’d restore order – instead, you’ve made it worse.”
Sima Liang dismissed the warning. Arrogant as the emperor’s grand-uncle, he openly scorned Empress Jia.
Worst of all, he slighted Sima Wei – the very prince who’d delivered him power – granting him only empty titles and ordering him back to his fiefdom.
The Second Betrayal: Murder of Sima Liang and Wei Guan
Enraged, Sima Wei conspired anew. Through Jia Nanfeng’s trusted general Li Zhao (now commander of 2,000 elite crossbowmen), he proposed eliminating Sima Liang and Wei Guan.
Jia saw her chance for revenge: Wei Guan had once drunkenly lamented the crown prince’s incompetence, nearly costing her the empress title. “Let Chu Prince handle it,” she decreed.
A forged edict accused Sima Liang and Wei Guan of plotting to depose the emperor. Sima Wei’s troops surrounded their residences.
Sima Liang, obese and sweating in the summer heat, was captured but not immediately killed – soldiers respected his imperial blood and shaded him with a cart, fanning him gently. Impatient, Sima Wei shouted: “Who kills the Ruyan Prince gets 1,000 bolts of silk!”
The mob surged forward. Sima Liang and his entire household were slaughtered. At Wei Guan’s home, soldiers massacred nearly his whole family.
Public Outrage and the Fall of Chu Prince
The sudden executions of Prince Sima Liang of Ruyan and Wei Guan sent shockwaves through Luoyang. The entire capital was thrown into turmoil. Civil and military officials erupted in protest. Though many had criticized Sima Liang’s arrogance, no one believed he deserved death – and now, public sympathy swung sharply in his favor. As for Wei Guan, he was not only a statesman who had served the realm with distinction but also one of the most celebrated calligraphers of his age. He once participated in the campaign to conquer Shu Han as a military supervisor. After the fall of Shu, Wei Guan, together with Zhong Hui, arrested Deng Ai. When Zhong Hui plotted a rebellion, Wei Guan successfully suppressed it. His senseless murder struck the court as a profound cultural and moral loss.
Fury turned squarely on Sima Wei, Prince of Chu. Petitions flooded the palace demanding his punishment. Even Empress Jia, realizing she had unleashed a monster, grew fearful and swiftly shifted all blame onto him.
Zhang Hua, the Crown Prince’s Junior Tutor – a man known for integrity and wisdom – declared: “Chu Prince murdered the Ruyan Prince and Lord Wei without authority. If he is allowed to hold power, the Son of Heaven will know no peace. He must be executed to appease the people.”
Empress Jia readily agreed – and appointed Zhang Hua to carry out the sentence.
Zhang Hua dispatched General Wang Gong with the imperial guards, bearing the Zouyu Banner Zouyu Fan). This sacred standard, adorned with the image of thezouyu – a mythical beast resembling a tiger but famed for its gentleness (it never trampled young crops nor ate living creatures) – symbolized the emperor’s authority to summon surrender or mediate conflict. By custom, all who saw it were required to kneel and obey.
When Wang Gong arrived at the Chu Prince’s residence, banner held high, the household staff rushed out in terror and prostrated themselves. Wang Gong announced loudly:
“Prince Chu forged an imperial edict and murdered his own grand-uncle. He shall be held accountable. Do not follow him into ruin!”
At these words, Chu Prince’s soldiers scattered like frightened birds. Sima Wei was seized on the spot.
Soon after, an imperial edict sentenced him to death. As the executioner approached, Sima Wei pulled out the secret decree Empress Jia had sent him and cried repeatedly, “I am innocent! I was following the empress’s orders!” But Jia denied everything – and no one dared believe him.
The young prince was beheaded. His entire clan was exterminated. Hundreds were implicated; executions filled the marketplace for days. Later, Empress Jia hypocritically announced posthumous rehabilitation for Sima Liang and Wei Guan – though their families were already nearly wiped out.
Aftermath: One Hundred Days That Shattered an Empire
From the death of Yang Jun, to the murders of Sima Liang and Wei Guan, and finally the execution of Sima Wei, barely one hundred days had passed. Yet in that span, Luoyang ran red with noble blood. The stench of slaughter hung over the capital. Officials and commoners alike lived in dread.
When the dust settled, the court faced a haunting question:Who would now govern?
Ministers gathered in hushed debate. “No more meddling by imperial relatives,” one said firmly. “Zhang Hua is upright, capable, and loyal. He alone should guide the Son of Heaven.”
For a fleeting moment, stability seemed possible. But the precedent had been set: power would henceforth be seized by conspiracy, sealed by blood, and justified by forged paper. The gates to the War of the Eight Princes stood wide open.
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