There is such a sentence in the poem written by Lu You, a great poet of the Southern Song Dynasty, to his son in his later years: "If you want to learn poetry, your kung fu is outside the poem." "The same is true of war, for victory or defeat depends not only on the soldiers who fight on the battlefield, but also on the filth or nobility and purity of every corner of the country, which affects the tendency of the scales of victory.

Huan Wen, who had carried out the Western Expedition and the Northern Expedition twice, had a deep understanding of the situation of the Eastern Jin Empire's "external difficulties have not been healed, and internal evils have been prospered". Then, the factor that determines victory or defeat must be outside the war, in every microcosm of social life.

During the war, Huan Wen wrote to the imperial court many times, striving to enhance the national strength and improve the combat effectiveness of the army through reform. The most famous are "Seven Matters of Neglect", etc., the content of which is acupuncture and disadvantageous, which is enough to demonstrate Huan Wen's outstanding political talent.

In terms of specific affairs, Huan Wen presided over the third "soil break" in the history of the Eastern Jin Dynasty.

The so-called "land break" can refer to the contemporary "population census," that is, through the inventory of household registration, the broad masses of the people are registered, and the "black households" become "white households" in order to facilitate rule.

The main reason for the "land break" is that due to the shadow of the Jin people's Nandu and the family, a large number of "black households" without hukou have been produced. Since the "black households" do not have a hukou, they do not need to pay taxes or perform military service, and they only pay rent to the families and landlords who "shelter" them, and have no contribution or obligation to the state. The occurrence of this situation seriously affected the national tax revenue and harmed the national interests of the Eastern Jin Dynasty. Objectively, it has the effect of inhibiting and attacking the power of the clans and landlords, and it is an inevitable choice for the Eastern Jin Dynasty to rapidly increase its national strength.

In 364, Huan Wen was appointed to preside over the "soil break", which was known as the "Gengxu soil break" in history.

Different from the two land breaks during the reigns of Emperor Yuan of Jin and Emperor Ming of Jin, the Gengxu soil break not only had to cut off the connection between the Gaomen of the Shi clan and the displaced people who migrated south, but also had to clean up all the households they hid. After these households were cleared out, they were separated from the high gate of the noble clan, and were required to pay taxes and serve in the military to the imperial court.

In the process of implementation, Huanwen strictly enforced the law and was not afraid of power, so that the "soil break" could be smoothly implemented. According to the "Book of Jin", Wang Biao implemented Huanwen's "soil break" decree for the internal history of Huiji, and only "more than 30,000 people returned from the dead" in Huiji County.

The "Gengxu Soil Break" was the most thorough land reform in the history of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the number of people controlled by the state increased greatly, taxes increased, and the decaying and declining Eastern Jin Dynasty was revived to a certain extent. At the same time, the "Gengxu Tu Break" laid the foundation for the third Northern Expedition of Huan Wen and later Xie An's reign and the formation of the Beifu Army, which won a great victory in the Battle of Weishui in one fell swoop, and also benefited the entire Southern Dynasties afterwards.

Many years later, Liu Yu, who once again implemented the "soil break", commented on Huanwen's political reform: "The wealth of the country is really because of this."

The Eastern Jin Dynasty, which crossed to the south in a hurry, was able to maintain an offensive against the northern regime on the whole, and Huan Wen was able to connect the upper and lower powers, which was a great achievement.

For Huan Wen, all reforms are all in the service of achieving the success of the Northern Expedition, and the ideal of recovering mountains and rivers is his ultimate pursuit. Of course, we can also think that this is a necessary preparation for the realization of their growing personal desires.

Different ends need to be accomplished by the same means. As a result, there is a deep "misunderstanding" between the talkers who are content with pleasure and Huan Wen, who would rather take risks alone. Regardless of whether it is right or wrong, it is certain that it will be impossible to recover the fallen mountains and rivers and save the people under the iron heel of the alien race.

According to the materialist view of history, the two cannot be confused, otherwise it will affect our objective evaluation of historical figures and make the truth annihilate in the passage of time. Human nature is already complex, and he can't hide what he is today.

History is a mirror that illuminates people's hearts, why is it that as long as Huan Wen does it, it must be dirty?

In April 369, Huan Wen sent troops to the Northern Expedition to Qianyan.

The reasons are summarized as follows: first, the reform was completed, the national strength was greatly increased, and there was a foundation of "Caifu Guofeng", Huan Wen believed that the Jin army had the strength to fight with the northern cavalry; Second, after the former Yan went south, they attacked the Eastern Jin Dynasty many times, and conquered Luoyang and other places in 365, posing a great threat to the Eastern Jin Dynasty; Third, after Huan Wen took control of the government in 363, there were still uncontrolled forces in Xu, Yan Erzhou and Yuzhou. It is reported that due to the internal struggle of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, it was impossible for Huan Wen to obtain the military and political power of the above three states through normal channels, so he urgently needed to improve his prestige through the Northern Expedition to realize his ambitions, and finally achieve the goal of seeking power and usurping the throne. Fourth, after Murong Ke, the former god of war of Yan, died of illness, Murong Chui stayed away from the political center, and Murong Ping and the Queen Mother were in collusion with the Hun clan and were dictatorial and chaotic. Huan Wen believes that the time is ripe for Yan before the Northern Expedition.

This is the largest scale of Huanwen's previous Northern Expedition, and there are hundreds of officials to send each other when he goes out, and the capital is full of it. The Northern Expeditionary Army had a total of 50,000 infantry and cavalry, and the soldiers were divided into east and west. The western route was led by Yuan Zhen, a general left behind by Wang Daoshi, and the task was to pass through the two counties of Qian and Liang, open up the Shimen waterway, and transport grain and grass to the front line of the Yellow River; The eastern route was personally led by Huan Wen, starting from the resident Guyi, entering the Yellow River through the waterway, and going west along the river to join Yuan Zhen.

The Northern Expeditionary Army passed through Jincheng (now north of Jurong County, Jiangsu), Huan Wen saw that the willow tree planted by Langya Taipunctual had been ten weeks thick, the scene was vivid, and the feeling of grief and indignation arose spontaneously, so he broke the branch in his hand, burst into tears, and sighed a lot: the tree is like this, how can people be worthy?

The grass and trees are ruthless, life is easy to get old, during the third Northern Expedition of Huan Wen, the Central Plains has been reduced for more than 50 years, and the Jin family has crossed to the south and has also been passed to the fifth generation of emperors. The remnants of Nandu have grown old and withered, and the new generation of remnants who grew up in the south have long recognized the other country as their hometown. What Huan Wen sighed was not only his ambition, but also the helpless sigh of countless people with lofty ideals looking north at the Central Plains.

The ambition is not rewarded, and the Central Plains is looking at the north! But there are 3,000 fine riders riding there, setting the storm for the death of the king. Huan Wen in emotion is holding tens of thousands of troops and shouldering the dreams of too many people.

The Jin army passed through Huai and Si, and went north along the river, Huan Wen led the generals to board the ship building to look north, but they saw that they were devastated and dilapidated. The war-torn Central Plains is depressed and desolate, and it has long since ceased to be the scene of the past, Huan Wen sighed and said: "So that Shenzhou Lu sank, a hundred years of mound emptiness, Wang Yifu (Wang Yan) and others had to be responsible!" ”

From time to time, Yuan Hong was on the side, and when he heard it, he said: "If there is a rise and fall in fortune, how can it be the fault of everyone!" ”

Huan Wen was very angry, and used Liu Biao as a metaphor that he had a thousand catties of cattle to eat but could not work, and was finally killed by Cao Cao, to refute Yuan Hong, which means that a person in a high position like Yuan Hong has only a high-ranking official but cannot contribute to the country, misleading the country and the people. At that time, the audience was shocked, and Yuan Hong was immediately dismissed.

However, there is still a sequel to the story, and not long after this incident, Huan Wen found that he still lacked a copy of the Northern Expedition, so he ordered Yuan Hong to give it to him. At that time, he was on the way to the army, there was no condition to provide a quiet desk for Yuan Hong, and the four treasures of the study were not complete. Later, this story was handed down and became an idiom to describe people's talent and quick thinking: "A thousand words from a horse".

In June 359, Tan Xuan, the general of the Northern Expeditionary Army, defeated the Former Yan interception army at Hulu, captured the enemy Ningdong general Murong Zhong, and the Northern Expeditionary Army reached Jinxiang, Shandong.

At the time of the great drought, Huan Wen ordered the champion general Mao Husheng to dig Juyeze (in the north of present-day Juye, Shandong) for 300 miles, and lead Wenshui (now Dawenshui) to Qingshui (Guji Water is also called Qingshui from Juyeze below). Later generations called this waterway "Huan Gong Blasphemy". Huan Wen led the army to enter the Yellow River from Qingshui by boat, and the boat stretched for hundreds of miles.

Before the Northern Expeditionary Army entered the Yellow River, there was a debate within the Jin army about the next march strategy. Strategist Xi Chao believes that the north is in the dry season, and it is difficult to get through, so the Northern Expeditionary Army can be stationed in situ, accumulate military supplies, and continue to march after winter. Or the army went straight to Yecheng and forced the main force of the Yan army to go out of the city for a decisive battle, even if the Yan army held on to the city, it could also collect all the people and goods outside the city, and prevent the enemy from clearing the wilderness.

Huan Wen did not adopt it, and he refused to go straight to Yecheng and decide the battle, and he was unwilling to fight the river and Ji for the coming year. Insist on going west along the river to meet Yuan Zhen according to the original plan. The Northern Expeditionary Army entered the Yellow River and marched westward against the current.

Many people believe that this is the evidence of Huan Wen's unintentional real Northern Expedition, and if Xi Chao follows his words, it will not lead to the later fiasco.

Approaching Yecheng can certainly achieve the effect of surprise and unpreparedness, but it also means that the Northern Expeditionary Army needs to abandon the burden of ships and attack on foot from a long distance, while the Qianyan army defending the city is waiting for work at ease, which is the advantage of attacking the enemy with its own shortcomings. Under the condition that the enemy's vital forces are not damaged, as long as Huan Wen attacks a little unfavorably, the reinforcements from the Qianyan Quartet will arrive in an instant, and the Northern Expeditionary Army will be defeated if it is attacked internally and externally. In fact, at that time, Qianyan had already reacted and began to send troops to intercept the advance of the Northern Expeditionary Army. As the capital of Yecheng, Qianyan could not be defenseless.

As for the suggestion of "Dunbing River, Ji, accumulating grain and grass, and fighting again in the coming year", Huan Wen is even more unlikely to adopt it. Hanging a division for a long time will cause great damage to the morale of the army and cause the veteran soldiers to fatigue, which cannot be changed by a few impassioned words of encouragement. And it will also give Qianyan too much time to prepare, calmly dispatch, and it will still be an unpredictable result when the time comes.

Huan Wen's real chance of victory lies in the fact that the eastern and western armies have all achieved the predetermined battle objectives and will join forces under the city of Yecheng, the capital of the former Yan. At that time, the Northern Expeditionary Army was full of physical strength, morale was like a rainbow, and the soldiers were full of food. Qianyan would fall into a panic because he could not prevent the Jin army from moving north, and after repeated defeats, the army was disheartened, and it was impossible to prevent the Northern Expeditionary Army from breaking through Yecheng.

At the beginning of the war, the development of the war was exactly what Huan Wen wanted, until Yuan Zhen, who was in charge of opening up the grain route, had a problem.

In June, the Northern Expeditionary Army defeated Murong Li, the king of Pi under the former Yan, with 20,000 cavalry at Huangxu (now Minquan North, Henan), and Murong Li was only spared; Murong Zang, the successor of the Yan army, was defeated and retreated; In the same month, the former Yan Gaoping Taishou Xu turned and surrendered, and Sun Yuan, the assassin of Yanzhou, responded with troops; In the same month, Huan Wen forwards Deng Yao and Zhu Xu Da Poyan sent Fu Yan's 80,000 troops to Linzhu (now northeast of Zhengzhou City, Henan).

In July, the Northern Expeditionary Army marched to Fangtou (now Jun County, Henan), which was only more than 200 miles away from Yecheng, the capital of the former Yan Kingdom.

The successive defeats made the Yan monarchs panic and panic, and the emperor Murong Wei and the ruler Murong Ping even prepared the carriage to flee to Helong (present-day Chaoyang City, Liaoning Province) and were moving.

Thinking of the Great Thorn City that represented the spirit of the Murong family, that year, under the Great Thorn City, Murong Diao inspired the soldiers to personally attack and severely damage Yuwen Suyan's hundreds of thousands of troops. That year, it was still under the Great Thorn City, swords and guns were like a forest, horses neighed and shook the sky, Murong Ke only defeated Shihu, the king of Hou Zhao, with only 2,000 cavalry, and became famous all over the world in a battle.

The capital was moved to Yecheng, the emperor was replaced by Murong Wei, Huan Wen has not besieged the city, the situation is not worse than back then, and the glory of the ancestors is still there, but the bones of the former Yan Junchen are crispy.

Murong Chui stopped His Majesty the Former Yan Emperor's escape, "Please attack him, if the battle is not successful, it is not too late to leave." ”

When the country was in crisis, Murong Chui played a key role in the key node, preventing the emperor's escape and stabilizing Qianyan's military and people's hearts. The foundation is laid for the effective implementation of the next steps.

Murong Wei stopped, appointed Murong Chui as the envoy and the governor of the south, and led 50,000 people to resist the Jin army. At the same time, he sent envoys to the former Qin to ask for help, promising to cede the land west of the Tiger Prison (now Bishui Town, northwest of Xingyang, Henan) in exchange for the Former Qin sending troops to rescue. Please note this, after the war, Qianyan broke his promise, which became the fuse for Qianqin to destroy Yan.

At that time, the situation of the Jin army that arrived at Fangtou was not optimistic, although the Northern Expeditionary Army was victorious, but Yuan Zhen of the Western Route Army failed to successfully open up the Shimen Cao Grain Road and complete the campaign goal after pacifying Qian and Liang. Murong Chui sent Murong De, the king of Yan Fanyang, and Liu Dang, the imperial servant of Lantai, to lead 15,000 cavalry to garrison Tunshimen, completely cutting off the possibility of the Jin army's east and west routes. Huan Gongdu also had a drop in water levels due to drought and could not be transported. The Northern Expeditionary Army was unable to communicate with water, the retreat route and food supply were cut off, and Huan Wenton's troops were fangfang, and Yecheng did not dare to wave his troops straight forward although it was close at hand.

Moreover, after the defeat of the troops, Huan Wen and Murong Chui were defeated several times, and there were rumors that the former Qin reinforcements were coming, and the morale of the Northern Expeditionary Army was becoming more and more sluggish.

In September 369, due to the impassability of the waterway, Huan Wen ordered all ships to be burned, all baggage to be abandoned, and the army to be withdrawn by land. Along the way, in order to prevent the Yan army from poisoning, they dug wells all the way and drank, and traveled more than 700 miles without the chasing troops coming, so the Jin army relaxed its vigilance and began to retreat in great strides.

In fact, Qianyan's pursuers have always been behind the Northern Expeditionary Army, and Murong Chui personally led eight thousand cavalry to follow and follow, not because he was unwilling to attack, but because he was waiting for the opportunity to win with one blow.

When the Jin army thought that the Yan army did not send chasing soldiers, when the Jin army relaxed its vigilance and loose defense, when the Jin army's homesickness and fighting spirit gradually faded, and when the Jin army was exhausted day and night, that was the time for the Yan army to attack.

It was an honor that Murong Trai waited for such an opportunity; Unfortunately, the Jin army was just as Murong Chui expected.

Huan Wen saw that the pursuers had not arrived, so he boldly withdrew his troops and ordered the Jin army to march at the same time. Murong Chui, who was closely behind the Northern Expeditionary Army, immediately ordered a rapid pursuit, and ordered Murong De to lead 4,000 cavalry to set up an ambush in Xiangyi (now west of Sui County, Henan).

In September, Murong Chui pursued the Jin army in Xiangyi, and Murong De ambushed all his troops, attacked back and forth, defeated Huan Wen, and killed and wounded 30,000 Jin troops. Former Qin reinforcements were also invited, and the former Qin general Gou Chi defeated Huan Wen again in the state of Chen, and the Jin army suffered tens of thousands of casualties.

In October 369, Huan Wen gathered scattered troops and stationed in Shanyang (now Huai'an, Jiangsu), and the Third Northern Expedition ended in a disastrous defeat.

This was Huanwen's last Northern Expedition, and after this defeat, there would be no Northern Expedition.

It is worth mentioning that the person who persuaded the former Qin Fujian to send troops to rescue the former Yan was the Wang Meng who talked about the world in the Huanwen military tent. One year apart, each for its own master.

Overall, Huanwen's three Northern Expeditions did not achieve anything, and the last one suffered heavy losses, and the reasons for the failure of the Northern Expedition are summarized as follows:

First of all, borrowing the words of historical books, the motives of Huanwen's Northern Expedition are not pure enough. "Coercing the power of the Lord, accumulating the ambition of the king, the enterprise Jingwen and sighing, wanting to deal with the middle and thinking together, looking at the Han Ting, and peeking at Zhou Ding." The Northern Expedition has become a tool for Huan Wen to establish Wei and the Eastern Jin Dynasty, and the name of Jiangdong has become a secondary wish. It is precisely because of this that Huan Wen is afraid of failure, and he strives to be serious in the army, and often waits and sees in the good situation, delaying the fighter.

Secondly, in terms of the general's personal strategy, as the former Yan Shenyin commented, Huan Wen was "arrogant and cowardly, and cowardly". Although there are reasons for his need to be serious, it also reflects that Huan Wen is not good at capturing fighters and lacks flexibility in commanding operations. Especially during the withdrawal of troops from the Third Northern Expedition, his personal strategy was obviously inferior to that of Murong Chui.

In the end, the monarchs and ministers of the Eastern Jin Dynasty were in the southeast corner of An, aiming to cut the river for self-protection, and had no intention of recovering the lost territory. On the contrary, he was deeply wary of Huanwen's growing power, and did not want to see the success of Huanwen's Northern Expedition. Therefore, Huan Wen's Northern Expedition could not receive the full support of the Eastern Jin Dynasty. As the former Yan Shenyin commented: "With Wen's momentum today, it seems that he can do something, but in my opinion, there will be no success." How? The Jin dynasty declined, Wen ruled the country, and the courtiers of the Jin Dynasty may not all be of the same heart as it. Therefore, Wen Zhizhi's ambition, which everyone does not want, will obediently hinder and defeat it. ”

Huan Wen's Northern Expedition was lonely, with strong enemies in front and constraints in the back. A great cause, which should have been a journey of concentricity and all-out efforts, has become a journey for Huan Wen alone, driven by the respective interests of the superiors.

Although Huan Wen's Northern Expedition suffered heavy losses and did not accomplish much, it provided support for the struggle of the northern people against exploitation and oppression, and dealt a heavy blow to the brutal rule of the ethnic minorities, which was in line with the aspirations of the northern people at that time. Huanwen's Northern Expedition was like a beacon, bringing confidence and hope to the people of the north to defeat foreign enslavement in the dark night.

After the war, Murong was jealous and forced to flee.

After the war, Qianyan, who had survived the difficulties, did not fulfill his promise to cede land when he asked for help from Qianqin, and Murong Wei, the lord of Yan, sent Fu Jian to "share disasters and help troubles, and it is natural for them to be at odds", and the two sides turned against each other. This directly led to the Former Qin launching a war to destroy the Former Yan.

Huanwen's Northern Expedition did not destroy Qianyan, but Qianyan perished because of Huanwen's Northern Expedition.