I Refuse to Cross the Yangtze! [Western Jin]

[Content Warning: I have an unusual appetite. I’m writing about the Western Jin, so give me a break. How is the Later Three Kingdoms period not the Three Kingdoms period? Since there’s no way to please all three of Wei, Shu, and Wu, I can make all three equally unhappy.]

[There’s a detailed guide to reading below. Please take a look.]

After being born into this world and spending three years here, his memories suddenly awaken. He discovers that he’s been handed the script of a winner in life?

He was raised from childhood by his own grandfather, the founding emperor of a unified dynasty, who personally declared, “This child will bring glory to my house.” His grandfather doted on him so much that, according to the stories, any place said to possess the aura of an emperor was immediately made his fief.

His father, the undisputed eldest legitimate son, became crown prince at the age of eight. With his grandfather backing him, his position as heir was unshakable. Later, he ascended the throne without a hitch, only to have him as his sole surviving son and heir throughout his entire life.

His legal mother was shrewd and capable, but had no biological brothers to support her, no biological sons to contend for power below her, and a maternal grandmother who repeatedly urged her to love him as her own. His birth mother came from an undistinguished family, was reserved by nature, and had no desire to confront her. There might be some trouble, but by all reasonable standards, it shouldn’t be a big problem, right?

And he himself had been specially trained since the age of four or five. His reputation for virtue was known throughout the land, and he was hailed as a precocious genius. Every eminent scholar in the court was his subordinate, while the sons of high-ranking officials served as his study companions. He was the very model of a “beloved imperial grandson.” However you looked at it, his succession to the throne seemed absolutely secure.

*

Sima Yu gave a dry laugh. “Everything you said is right, but my surname is Sima.”

Yes, that Sima, the one behind the saying, “Everyone knows what Sima Zhao is thinking.” Don’t ask. Sima Zhao was his great-grandfather.

*

His father was named Sima Zhong, later known to history as Emperor Hui of Jin. He was associated with the famous anecdote about asking, “Why don’t they eat meat porridge?” The idiot emperor. In the later years of his reign, society was thrown into turmoil by the War of the Eight Princes, and he became a puppet. It was said that he was eventually poisoned by his younger brother.

His legal mother was named Jia Nanfeng. The history books decree that she was cruel by nature and daring enough to kill with her own hands. She was so capable that, in the future, she would dare to starve the empress dowager to death, wrongfully kill the crown prince, and pass off her brother-in-law’s son as her own, trying to muddy the imperial bloodline. This drove the Sima clan’s princes to collective outrage and became the fuse for the second phase of the War of the Eight Princes.

And he,

he was that wrongfully murdered crown prince, the hapless scapegoat whom a whole pack of Sima princes and kings would use to build their reputations even after he was dead.

Even if he somehow escaped being killed by his legal mother, his Great Jin was about to face the War of the Eight Princes, the Upheaval of Yongjia, and the Uprising of the Five Barbarians. In the end, a collateral branch would flee south, and the Eastern Jin’s final picture would still be “the Wang and Sima families ruling together.” What a stifling kindergarten.

What kind of winner-in-life story was this? It was clearly a hellish start.

*

So he turned around and threw himself into the arms of his dear, beloved grandfather, the man with a high hair crown and long robes, a mighty and brilliant warrior, a hero beyond his age, broad-minded and benevolent.

His Majesty Sima Yan, the founding emperor of the Western Jin, posthumously known as Emperor Wu of Jin, was now just past forty.

He had only recently pacified Eastern Wu. The founding heroes were not yet all dead, and his lofty ambitions had not yet been crushed by illness. He had not yet begun to let himself go, neglect government, and indulge in feasts and outings, setting off down the road to riding a sheep-pulled carriage in search of favored consorts and never coming back.

Sima Yu clutched his head and wept bitterly:

“Grandfather! I don’t want to flee south!”

...Could you perhaps consider naming an imperial grandson as heir sometime soon, so I can conveniently ascend the throne?

I’m not quite ready to be remembered as someone who “rebelled against the crown prince.”

[Guide to Reading This Story]

*As you can see, this is a Western Jin story about a period so obscure it couldn’t possibly be more obscure. I manage to offend fans of all three of Wei, Shu, and Wu. But I figured, if I dare open preorders for a Southern and Northern Dynasties story, why wouldn’t I dare write about the Western Jin? And so I’m writing it. Stubbornly going against online trends and its terrible reputation.

*The blurb should make my stance clear. The protagonist’s point of view is shaped by where he sits: Sima Yan treats him best, so he is an unwavering grandfather-con. He’s friendly toward the Sima line of Yi, Shi, Zhao, Yan, and You (or is it two lines?), though he’ll still complain about all the lunatics in the Sima family. If you can’t accept that, please leave at an appropriate point.

*The protagonist has low moral standards and is perfectly suited to feudal society. During this historical period, useful people will be dragged in to work, while those so hostile that they can’t be won over will be killed. If you have strong feelings about this period of history (if such people exist), carefully consider what side your favorite might be on before deciding whether to read.

*When it comes to regimes of non-Han peoples, the protagonist favors appeasement and division over suppression, and is committed to the unity and diversity of the Chinese nation.

*The Western Jin has far too many pitfalls, so the story starts when the protagonist is young. The female lead appears early, but the actual romance begins once they’re adults. The couple’s dynamic is: [a gloomy, woman-loving, black-hearted, theatrical young man descended from the Sima family] / [a proud, bright, poised, forthright, and strong-willed noblewoman from a distinguished family]. The Western Jin gets its own “Wang and Sima families ruling together.” One-on-one, devoted romance.

*This is a lightly researched parallel world. The characters’ personalities have been fictionalized as needed. Apologies in advance for any out-of-character writing.

*I wrote way too much about the Wei, Jin, Southern, and Northern Dynasties while working on papers during finals week, and it did a number on me. I started this after reading the relevant records from this period in the Book of Jin.

Theme: The Chinese nation is a diverse and unified whole