kingnovel Chapter 505 Yang Jun, the Maternal Relative
Chapter 505 Yang Jun, the Maternal Relative
"Leaving aside the young couple's married life for now, what's interesting here is that Jia Chong's other daughter married Sima You. The relationships are quite complicated. I wonder how these two, uncle and nephew, would address each other when they meet?!"
"But the Sima family's rise to power was unprecedented. At that time, the sickly Sima Yan couldn't put his mind at ease, especially since this brother of his was more capable than him."
"His foolish son can't compare no matter how you look at him, so Sima Yan increased the power of his maternal relative Yang Jun and dismissed Jia Chong from his military command. If Jia Chong were to follow in his grandfather Sima Yi's footsteps, he would regret it long ago and be dead in the underworld!"
Sima Yan: ?? ?? ??? He looks so much like my grandfather Sima Yi, he must be no good either!!!
"But as soon as this edict was issued, the officials started criticizing it. Brother, haven't you had enough of the scripts from the Western Han and Eastern Han dynasties? Don't you know what the consequences are when the maternal relatives become too powerful?"
Big Han Liu Zhuzhu: ...
Liu Xiu, the Chosen One of the Great Han Dynasty: Don't expose someone's shortcomings...
"Moreover, in the last few years of Sima Yan's reign, he also enfeoffed many kings, which, in short, was to weaken Sima You and elevate his own branch of the imperial clan. For example, he appointed Sima Liang (Sima Yi's fourth son) as the Grand Master to manage other members of the imperial clan."
"For Sima Yan, Sima You was like a thorn in his side, and he couldn't bear not getting rid of him. But he was wrong. The subsequent War of the Eight Princes was also related to this step."
"Don't forget, Sima Zhao once solemnly promised that he would manage this position for [his nephew]."
"But even after Qi King Sima Youcheng got married in the capital, he wasn't returned to him. Instead, he was forced to stay away from the central government. Compared to Sima Yan, isn't he more worthy of sympathy?"
Judy, the Great General Who Conquers the North: We're very familiar with this tactic!
"Therefore, the court officials at the time debated Sima You's trip to Qingzhou."
"The imperial family and ministers said, 'Isn't this bullying? Sima You is such a wise and capable young man, how can you be so sure that Sima Liang won't rebel?!'"
"Clearly, whatever their purpose, what these people said is absolutely right. Neither Sima Liang nor Yang Jun are insignificant figures."
"But the more the ministers tried to persuade him, the bigger the fire became, and the whole thing escalated to the point that someone even died of anger, can you believe it? In the end, it came to an end with Sima You's sudden death from illness."
"Sima Yan thought he hadn't left Sima Zhong with any major problems, but if he hadn't focused all his attention on Sima You, the two brothers would have become like enemies..."
"However, in reality, in order to eliminate his formidable rival Sima You, Sima Yan implicated dozens of capable officials or members of the imperial clan, who were either exiled or lost their lives. Sima Zhong was not particularly bright to begin with; how could he possibly control the remaining gentry?"
"The answer is quite obvious. Especially in his later years, Sima Yan particularly enjoyed riding a sheep-drawn cart around, which ruined his health, and he was often in a coma."
"His trusted maternal relative Yang Jun, together with his empress Yang Zhi (the successor empress), placed their own people around him, and power will soon fall into the hands of the Yang family."
"But we have to say, it's all his fault. Many people reminded him before, but he ignored them all... Now look what's happened, Yang Jun has committed treason and even withheld the edict that Sima Yan had finally managed to recall Sima Liang after regaining his senses."
"It is evident that the Yang family was very powerful. Not long after, Sima Yan could not hold on and died in 290 AD at the age of fifty-five."
Zhu Yuanzhang, the Ming Dynasty emperor: The interference of maternal relatives in politics—didn't this happen many times during the Eastern Han Dynasty?! And you still don't take it seriously?!
A certain romantic scholar of the Tang Dynasty: ...After dealing with Sima You, do you think that the young emperor can also control the other members of the imperial clan?!
Zhang Fei: The innocent and pure young emperor, let's see if he can make the decisions!
Big Han Liu Zhuzhu: I guess he messed things up himself. Look at the kind of people he chose!
First Emperor: I'm getting worse as I get older!
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