Yuan Zhen's Rebellion
| Yuan Zhen's Rebellion | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Eastern Jin and Sixteen Kingdoms period | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| Eastern Jin | Yuan Zhen Former Qin Former Yan | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Huan Wen | Yuan Zhen Yuan Qin  Zhu Fu | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 20,000+ | Unknown | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Unknown | Unknown | ||||||
The defeat at Fangtou left Huan Wen angry and politically humiliated. He fully blamed Yuan Zhen for not securing his supply route, but part of this also had to do with Huan Wen wanting to save face and deflect fault. Huan Wen demanded the court strip him off his office and reduce him to a commoner. Yuan Zhen dismissed his accusations as slander and refused to accept his punishment. Yuan Zhen sent word to the Jin court about Huan Wen's own crimes, but was ignored. Thus, Yuan Zhen rebelled in Shouchun in December 369, offering submission to both Former Yan and Former Qin. [7]
Former Yan was first to receive his submission, and wanted to make Yuan Zhen Commissioner Bearing Credentials and a few other important titles. However, their envoy Wen Tong (溫統) passed away on the way to Yuan Zhen, so Yuan Zhen never received his titles. On 7 March 370, Yuan Zhen suspected that his Interior Ministers Zhu Xian (朱憲) and Zhu Bin (朱斌) were in contact with Huan Wen, so he had them both killed. [8]
Yuan Zhen died naturally on 10 April 370. He had at least three sons: Yuan Qin (袁瑾) Yuan Shuangzi (袁雙之), Yuan Aizhi (袁愛之) and Yuan Qin, the latter two who helped him killed Zhu Xian and Zhu Bin. [9] After his death, the Administrator of Chen Commandery, Zhu Fu (朱輔) acclaimed Yuan Qin as the rebellion's new leader. [10] [11]
Yuan Qin
Yuan Qin (died c.February 371) decided to continue the rebellion, although leadership was evenly distributed between him and Zhu Fu. Yan acknowledged Yuan Qin's succession, and made him Inspector of Yuzhou while Zhu Fu was made Inspector of Yangzhou. [10]
Reinforcements from Qin and Yan were sent in to support Yuan Qin, but they were blocked by Huan Wen's generals Zhu Yao (竺瑤) and Huan Shiqian. On 7 June, the Yan reinforcements were defeated by Zhu Yao and others at Wuqiu. Meanwhile, Shiqian occupied Shouchun's southern city. Not long after, Huan Wen marched out from Guangling with 20,000 soldiers to campaign against Yuan Qin. On 17 September, he defeated Yuan Qin's forces and placed Shouchun under siege. Yan cavalry led by Meng Gao were supposed to come to Yuan Qin's aid, but when he reached the north bank of the Huan river, he received news that Qin had invaded Yan, so he withdrew. [12]
In January or February 371, a month after Qin had conquered the whole of Yan, Yuan Zhen once again requested Qin for reinforcements. Qin responded by sending Zhang Ci and Wang Jian (王堅) with 20,000 soldiers to help. However, when the Qin army arrived at Shiqiao, they were intercepted by Jin forces under Huan Yi and Huan Shiqian. They were greatly routed and withdrew to camp at Shencheng (慎城, in modern-day Fuyang, Anhui).
When news the news of Qin's defeat reached Shouchun, many of Yuan Qin's decided to scatter. On 18 February, Huan Wen broke through the city and captured Yuan Qin and Zhu Fu. [13] He then sent them along with the families to the capital, Jiankang, where they were executed. Several hundred Qihuo soldiers, who supported the Yuan clan throughout the rebellion, were also executed, and their women were distributed as spoils. [14]