Eastern Jin Defeats Wang Dun

Wang Dun had entered Jiankang under the slogan of clearing the ruler's side and forced Emperor Yuan of Jin to yield.

Just when he thought power was firmly in his hands, trouble appeared behind him at Wuchang.

Sima Cheng Holds Xiangzhou

When news of Wang Dun's rebellion reached Sima Cheng, inspector of Xiangzhou, he judged the situation quickly. Wang Dun claimed to remove bad ministers, but in reality he had moved into rebellion.

Sima Cheng wanted to raise troops against him. His subordinate Mou stopped him, arguing that Xiangzhou lacked enough soldiers and grain. A reckless attack would only create a show of loyalty without real strength. Better to hold Changsha first and call in men who could actually fight.

Sima Cheng asked who could still face Wang Dun, now that Zhou Fang and Zu Ti were dead.

Mou gave two names: Gan Zhuo and Tao Kan.

Gan Zhuo was the former inspector of Xiangzhou, transferred to Liangzhou. Tao Kan was an Eastern Jin general, later remembered also as the great-grandfather of Tao Yuanming. Like Wang Dun, he had held an important military region, but Wang Dun had pushed him aside and sent him down to Guangzhou.

Sima Cheng accepted the idea. He sent Deng Qian to Xiangyang to ask Gan Zhuo for troops and wrote to Tao Kan asking him to move north.

Gan Zhuo Takes Wuchang

When Deng Qian reached Gan Zhuo, Gan hesitated.

People around Gan advised him to stay still. If Wang Dun won, Gan could keep his post because he had not attacked. If Wang Dun lost, the court would still need capable generals and would use him again.

Deng Qian laughed when he heard this. He said it was too easy to claim victory without fighting while the direction of the realm lay in another man's hands. Wang Dun had no time to deal with Liangzhou now. Once free, he would force Gan Zhuo to choose anyway.

Then Deng Qian offered a plan. Wuchang was Wang Dun's old base, but it had fewer than 5,000 defenders. Gan Zhuo had tens of thousands of troops. If he took Wuchang, seized its grain and supplies, and summoned others in the name of rescuing the emperor, Wang Dun's position at Jiankang would collapse without a direct battle.

Gan Zhuo was persuaded. He selected 20,000 elite troops and moved on Wuchang.

Wang Dun's elder brother Wang Han defended the city. Gan Zhuo did not attack immediately. He pretended to surrender. Wang Han believed him and opened the gates to reward the troops. Once the gates opened, Gan Zhuo rushed in and took Wuchang with ease.

When Wang Dun heard his base had fallen, he was furious and wanted to storm Jiankang at once. His adviser Qian Feng stopped him. The imperial city was strong and could not be swallowed in one bite. If Gan Zhuo came downriver from the upper reaches, Wang Dun would be attacked front and rear.

Qian Feng suggested deceiving Gan Zhuo instead. Tell him Wang Dun already controlled Jiankang and urge him to withdraw.

Wang Dun followed the plan.

Gan Zhuo did not expect the trick and believed it. He retreated in haste. Tao Kan's vanguard under Gao Bao saw Gan Zhuo withdraw and had to return toward Guangzhou.

A rescue campaign that might have changed the situation passed into emptiness.

Gan Zhuo and Sima Cheng Fall

After Wang Dun returned to Wuchang, he still felt unsafe.

Gan Zhuo had retreated, but he remained upstream. If Wang Dun attacked Jiankang again, Gan could threaten Wuchang at any time. So Wang Dun secretly bribed Zhou Lü, the administrator of Xiangyang, to assassinate him.

Zhou Lü knew that Gan Zhuo liked fish. Using a claim about where good fish could be found, he drew Gan's guards away. Then he sent men into the residence and killed him.

After Gan Zhuo died, the Liangzhou command opened. Wang Dun placed Zhou Fu there. Zhou Fu was the son of Zhou Fang, the very man Wang Dun had once feared. Now Zhou Fang's son stood inside Wang Dun's network.

Soon Xiangzhou also fell.

Sima Cheng held Changsha under siege for more than one hundred days. His officers urged surrender. He refused, saying that as a royal prince he guarded the city for the Son of Heaven and would rather die than submit. When the city fell, he drew his sword and killed himself.

Liangzhou and Xiangzhou both came under Wang Dun's influence. Wang Dun became even more arrogant.

He kept much of the tribute sent from the provinces before it reached the court. Official appointments also had to follow his wishes. Emperor Yuan remained emperor in name, but in practice he could act only inside the palace.

Long frustration weakened the emperor. In the eleventh month of Yongchang's first year, Emperor Yuan died. Crown Prince Sima Shao took the throne as Emperor Ming of Jin.

Emperor Ming and Wen Jiao

Sima Shao was brave and intelligent, one of the rare early Eastern Jin emperors able to act directly in crisis.

Wang Dun at first wanted to depose him under the charge of being unfilial. Wen Jiao and other ministers strongly opposed this, so Wang Dun failed.

Since he could not remove the emperor for now, Wang Dun tried to divide the men around him. He targeted Wen Jiao, who had opposed him most fiercely, and demanded that Emperor Ming appoint Wen as his left marshal so he could serve at Wang Dun's side.

By then Wang Dun had moved his base from Wuchang to Gushu, in modern Dangtu, Anhui.

After Wen Jiao arrived at Gushu, he did not confront Wang Dun openly. Instead, he carefully pleased him. When Wang Dun tested him by saying he wanted to enter the capital, Wen played along. He said the officials in the capital all hoped Wang Dun would come; the realm already looked like the Wang family's realm, so why hesitate to enter one's own house?

Wang Dun liked the answer and gradually trusted him.

Wen Jiao also flattered Qian Feng. When the post of administrator of Danyang opened, Wen suggested that Wang Dun appoint Qian Feng. Qian Feng was grateful and recommended Wen in return. Wang Dun finally decided to keep Qian Feng beside him for planning and send Wen Jiao to Danyang to gather information about the court.

Wen Jiao had found a way out of Wang Dun's camp.

Before leaving, he deliberately pretended to be drunk at a feast, knocked off Qian Feng's headcloth, and publicly lost his temper, embarrassing him. Afterward Qian Feng realized something was wrong and urged Wang Dun to call Wen back. Wang Dun thought Qian Feng was merely angry about the feast and ignored him.

Wen Jiao returned safely to Jiankang and immediately told Emperor Ming about Wang Dun's plans and military situation.

Jiankang Prepares for War

Emperor Ming moved quickly.

He made Wang Dao grand commander, ordered Wen Jiao to guard Stone City, and summoned Zu Ti's younger brother Zu Yue, inspector of Yuzhou, to prepare against Wang Dun.

When Wang Dun heard what Wen Jiao was doing after returning to the capital, he cursed furiously and said he would capture Wen alive and pull out his tongue. As soon as he said it, his heart began pounding, he collapsed, and his illness worsened.

Qian Feng feared that if Wang Dun died, the army would have no leader. He urged Wang Dun to think about succession. Wang Dun had no son, so Qian Feng suggested adopting Wang Ying, son of Wang Han.

Wang Dun thought Wang Ying could not carry great affairs. He then proposed three options. The best was to confess to the court and preserve the Wang clan. The middle option was to return to Wuchang, become a regional power, and seek peace with the court. The worst was to attack Jiankang directly while he was still alive.

Qian Feng urged him to choose the worst option.

Wang Dun appointed his elder brother Wang Han as commander, Qian Feng as strategist, and Zhou Fu as a general. They led 100,000 troops toward the capital.

Emperor Ming also prepared to fight. Wang Dao warned him that Wang Dun had commanded armies for years and had great prestige among soldiers. If the court openly declared war on Wang Dun, troops might be afraid. Better first issue an edict condemning Wang Dun; since Wang Dun was quick-tempered and sick, anger might kill him. Even if he did not die, the court could hold mourning for him in the capital and make soldiers believe he was already gone. Then it could march against Qian Feng instead.

Emperor Ming followed the plan.

When Wang Dun read the edict, his illness worsened so much that he could barely leave bed. Still, he ordered the army forward.

The Battle at Zhuque Bridge

Wang Han and Qian Feng soon reached Zhuque Bridge.

Zhuque Bridge crossed the Qinhuai River and guarded the southern approach to Jiankang. The defenders were close to breaking when Wen Jiao arrived with 3,000 cavalry. He cut into the confusion, rescued the defending commander, and pulled back to the north bank of the Qinhuai.

Then Wen Jiao ordered the bridge burned.

When Emperor Ming arrived, he criticized him. If the bridge was burned, how could the court attack Wang Han? Wen explained that the enemy had more troops and the reinforcements had not arrived. Without burning the bridge, they could not hold. Emperor Ming accepted this.

That night, Wen Jiao and others divided into six routes and raided Wang Han's camp. Wang Han's army had just arrived and had not settled. It was caught unprepared and suffered heavy losses. Jin forces withdrew to the north bank without lingering.

In his sickbed, Wang Dun heard that the front army had been attacked. Frustration and anger overtook him, and he died soon afterward.

After his death, his followers followed his final wish and put Wang Ying in charge. Wang Ying feared the army would lose heart, so he kept the death secret. Wang Dun's body was wrapped in a mat and buried beneath the meeting hall.

Wang Dun's Followers Collapse

Wang Ying ordered Shen Chong to come support the campaign.

Shen Chong came from the Shen clan of Wuxing and was deeply trusted by Wang Dun. Emperor Ming sent envoys urging him not to support Wang Han and offered high office. Shen Chong refused and led more than 10,000 men toward the Qinhuai River.

When he reached the front, his subordinates proposed several plans. They could cut the riverbanks and flood the city. They could join Wang Han and advance from several routes. Or they could kill Qian Feng and surrender to the court.

Shen Chong ignored them. He believed his troops were brave enough to cross directly and attack.

As soon as they landed, they were defeated. With water behind them, many soldiers drowned while fleeing. Shen Chong escaped with about one hundred men, only to be defeated again later by Liu Xia.

Meanwhile, Zhou Guang, administrator of Xunyang, reached Gushu and asked to see Wang Dun. Wang Ying refused. Zhou Guang insisted, but Wang Ying still refused. Zhou Guang concluded that Wang Dun was dead.

He hurried to the front and told his elder brother Zhou Fu. News of Wang Dun's death spread through the army. Left, center, and right units all wavered. Once soldiers heard that the real commander was gone, they scattered.

Wang Han and Qian Feng saw the army collapsing. They burned the camp and fled at night.

When Emperor Ming received the news, he ordered commanders to pursue Wang Dun's followers.

Wang Han and Wang Ying fled toward Jingzhou and sought refuge with Wang Shu. Wang Shu received them on the surface, then killed them after they were drunk and asleep, reporting the result to the court. Qian Feng fled to Zhou Guang and was beheaded. Shen Chong returned toward Wuxing and was killed by former subordinates.

Emperor Ming ordered Wang Dun's corpse dug up, beheaded, and displayed. The heads of Wang Dun, Shen Chong, and others were hung south of Zhuque Bridge.

By the seventh month of Taining's second year, Wang Dun's rebellion had been suppressed.

Eastern Jin had temporarily steadied the court. But the north did not stop moving. The split between Shi Le and the Liu rulers of Zhao was about to push the Sixteen Kingdoms into its next phase.