Foreword After the Sima family established the Jin Dynasty, they established a unique military governance system of the Jin Dynasty with the Sima family as the core. The military governance system of the Jin Dynasty was full of family-style centralized rule, which represented the

Preface

After the Sima family established the Jin Dynasty , the unique military governance system of the Jin Dynasty was established with the Sima family as the core. The military governance system of the Jin Dynasty was full of family-style centralized rule, and it represented the best interests of the Sima family. Looking at the military governance system of the Jin Dynasty, we can easily find that during the Jin Dynasty, there were certain reasons for the turbulent social situation and unstable frontiers.

▲ Rebellion of the Eight Kings

The military system of the Jin Dynasty

1, inheriting the system of Cao Wei

The Sima Yi family finally defeated the Cao Wei family after decades of struggle with the Cao Wei family. In December 265 AD, Sima Yan became emperor. From then on, the Jin Dynasty of the Sima family kicked off the history. During the Cao Wei period, years of war and turmoil created a powerful military system in Cao Wei. The military system in the Cao Wei period was very complete. After the Sima family unified the world, they inherited the military system of the Cao Wei period. From a certain level, the Sima family obtained the world from Cao Wei. After they gained the world, they still used Cao Wei's methods to govern the world. In this way, everyone says that the Sima family gained the fruits of Cao Wei to a certain extent. Makes sense.

Of course, perhaps it is precisely because the Sima family inherited the Cao system in many aspects that throughout the Jin Dynasty, the social system was full of shortcomings. The reason for this is that although the Sima family tried its best to imitate Cao Wei's system, these systems were not made by the Sima family after all. In the process of learning Cao Wei's methods of governing the world, the Sima family only learned the surface and its inner essence and profoundness. , did not understand.

▲The wars in the Western Jin Dynasty

2, the leader of the army

As early as the Western Han period, the leader of the country's army was usually the governor, who was the holder of the country's highest military power. The reason why the Western Han Dynasty established the position of Governor was, on the one hand, to facilitate foreign conquests, and on the other hand, to facilitate the concentration of military power. When the metropolitan governor system developed into the Cao Wei Dynasty, there were some new changes. In order to strengthen local governance, the Cao Wei ruling group set up governors under the governor's position to be responsible for managing local military affairs. According to historical records, Cao Cao once appointed Xiahou Dun as the commander-in-chief, responsible for managing the local military. After Cao Cao's death, his son Cao Pi inherited the throne. Cao Pi, like Cao Cao, had the ambition to dominate the world.

▲Portrait of Cao Pi

In order to strengthen the country's military management, Cao Pi divided the country into 7 military theaters, and each military theater set up a governor. From this point on, the position of local governor was officially born. After the Sima family captured the world of Cao Wei, the governor system created by Cao Pi was inherited by the Sima family. Of course, as a clan family, the Sima family was determined to govern the world with the power of the family. While setting up the governor system, all the governor positions were given to members of the Sima family.

From the inheritance of the governor system, it can be easily seen that the Sima family's philosophy of governing the country has a fatal flaw. This fatal flaw is that the Sima family attempts to govern the entire world with its own family, which will inevitably lead to the final decline of the Jin Dynasty. In ancient and modern times, at home and abroad, if any dynasty cannot treat the country's rule with an open mind and relies on nepotism, the dynasty waiting for it will surely be destroyed.

▲Noble life in the Western Jin Dynasty

3, three-level management system

After the Sima family established the Jin Dynasty, in order to strengthen their rule over the world, they established a three-level military management system. From a certain perspective, the three-level military management system established by the Sima family is an extremely superior centralized military management system. In the three-level military management system, the Sima family divided the Jin Dynasty's military into three levels. The first level was the state level, and the second level was the county level. The third level is the county level. After the Sima family unified the world, it was divided into 19 states. The 19 states were divided into 73 counties, and the 73 counties were divided into hundreds of counties.

Among the states, the military commanders of each state are represented by the governor; among the counties, the military governors of each county are represented by the prefects; among the counties, the military governors of each county are represented by the county magistrates. As a result, the Western Jin Dynasty formed a strict centralized military management system.

In the three-level military system of management, the Sima family created the glory of military jurisdiction in China's feudal history. In this military system, the military chiefs of all levels and units only have leadership rights but no ownership rights over the army. The ultimate ownership of the army belongs to the Sima family, and the military chiefs of all levels and units only act as agents for the leadership of the army. Relying on the most superior system, the Sima family realized the military exploitation of military chiefs, so that although the military chiefs had the right to mobilize the army, they had no real power. It can be seen that in the Sima family's governing philosophy, the Sima family still regards the world as belonging to Sima himself, and other talents can only be used for their own purposes, but cannot be truly trusted. has to admit that at least in the three-level management system, the Sima family's ruling thinking is extremely wise. This management system reveals that the Sima family is well versed in the ways of feudal rule.

▲ Sima Yan of the Western Jin Dynasty

4, nepotism

Although the three-level military management system fully guarantees the Sima family's governance of the world, as a dynasty that governs the world, in order to further firmly control the power of the world in the hands of the Sima family, the Sima family will His descendants were sent to various places to further control the military power of the world. During the Jin Dynasty, the rulers divided cities all over the world into the hands of the descendants of the Sima family, and granted military power to the descendants of the Sima family. They hoped that in this way, they could achieve the benefits of echoing the three-level military management system, thereby achieving great power over the world. absolute control. But unfortunately, this military system did not bring good national fortune to the Sima family.

As early as the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the shortcomings of the county-state system had been fully exposed. The descendants of the emperor or the descendants of meritorious officials were granted the title of princes and kings. Although on the surface, it could reflect the emperor's grace and effectively realize the central government's control over the local areas. But in fact, this kind of national governance system that uses fiefdoms and kings as a means has a deep-rooted threat to the country's national destiny. In the view of the Sima family, as long as all parts of the world belong to the Sima family, the world belongs to the Sima family. But unfortunately, the rulers of the Jin Dynasty ignored an extremely important issue. The problem is that it will also cause unrest within the Sima family. Historical facts prove that the Eight Kings' Rebellion of the Jin Dynasty dealt a heavy blow to the rule of the Sima family. The root cause of the Eight Kings' Rebellion lay in the early Jin Dynasty rulers' enfeoffment of land and power to their descendants.

▲Western Jin Dynasty’s Foreign War

Unique and Excellent Arms

1, Beifu Soldiers

The world of the Jin Dynasty is essentially a family world, or even more specifically, the world of the Sima family. Throughout the Jin Dynasty, the power of the clan family was very powerful, and many important officials in the court worked hard to build their own clan families. During the Jin Dynasty, many leaders of clan families built their own military forces. Among the many military forces, the most combat-effective is the Beifu soldiers. The Beifu soldiers were the special soldiers of the Xie'an shogunate. During the historical development of the Jin Dynasty, they made great contributions to the historical development of the Jin Dynasty. in the battle between the Jin Dynasty and the former Qin Dynasty. The Beifu soldiers defeated Fu Jian's army and protected the rule of the Jin Dynasty.

▲The scholar-bureaucrats in the Western Jin society

Beifu soldiers are an epitome of the characteristics of the Jin Dynasty's military system. During the Jin Dynasty, as the strength of each clan family continued to rise, the clan families began to build their own military groups. These military groups It existed in the Jin Dynasty society in the form of shogunate. From a certain perspective, the existence of the shogunate was an important pillar of social stability in the Jin Dynasty. During the Jin Dynasty, although there were many hereditary clans, most of the hereditary clans at this time were able to tightly surround the ruler. Although conflicts often broke out among the hereditary clans, they were usually able to unite when facing the interests of the family and the country. unite to resist foreign enemies.Therefore, during the Jin Dynasty, whenever there was a conflict with a foreign enemy, all the shogunate armies of the Jin Dynasty would come out in full force to fight for the country. It can be seen from this that although there were various shortcomings in Jin Dynasty society, on the whole, the strength of each clan family made great efforts for the stability of Jin Dynasty society.

▲Life in the Jin Dynasty

2, Shishi Military System

During the Jin Dynasty, the northern border was in turmoil for years. The turbulent border caused the rulers of the Jin Dynasty to begin to re-formulate new border defense policies. The living conditions in the north are harsh, which makes many soldiers very reluctant to guard the north. Moreover, during the Jin Dynasty, the private armies of each clan family were far away from the border, which was extremely detrimental to the border governance of the Jin Dynasty. In order to stabilize the border, the rulers of the Jin Dynasty created the world military system. The so-called military system means that the ruler sends certain families to border areas, and the descendants of these families serve as soldiers for generations to guard the border for the court.

From some aspects, the world military system is cruel. It exchanges the sacrifices of countless families for the stability of the country. This is a manifestation of the greed of feudal rulers. But from other perspectives, the World Military System embodies the determination of ordinary families in ancient my country to guard national security, and the feelings of family and country among ordinary people at the bottom of society. Although the military system is full of criticism, the countless frontier families under the military system are worthy of our admiration and praise.

▲The Western Jin Army

Summary

During the Jin Dynasty, influenced by the ruling thinking of the Sima family, the entire world revealed a value system based on the interests of the clan and family. Maintained by this value system, the Jin Dynasty's military system also revealed some shortcomings. However, as a unified dynasty, the Jin Dynasty ended the division of the world since the Western Han Dynasty and had a profound influence on the feudal history of our country. Have made unique contributions.

References:

"Historical Records"

"Zizhi Tongjian"

" Jinshu "