Zu Yue

Zu Yue hailed from Qiuxian county, Fanyang commandery and was the younger brother of Zu Ti, who he had a friendly relationship with. In his youth, Zu Yue received the title of "Xiaolian (孝廉; Filial and Incorrupt)" and worked as the Magistrate of Chenggao County. After the Disaster of Yongjia in 311, he would follow his brother south to Sima Rui, serving in a few offices such as the Attendant Officer of the Household Gentlemen and was said to equally famous to Ruan Fu (阮孚) of Chenliu.[1]

Despite his respectful career, he would soon land himself in trouble due to his marital problems at home. Zu Yue had a very jealous wife who was very suspicious of him to the point of fearing her. One night, Zu Yue was suddenly injured by someone, and he suspected that this was his wife's doing. Zu Yue begged Sima Rui to allow him to resign but he did not allow, so Zu instead abandoned his post. The Minister of Justice, Liu Wei (劉隗), wanted to execute him for his neglectance but Sima Rui prevented him from doing so.[2]

While Zu Ti won merits in his northern expedition, Zu Yue too benefitted back home with promotions until he reached Palace Attendant. Zu Ti would pass away in 321 and Yue would take over his army as General Who Pacifies The West and Inspector of Yuzhou. His half-brother, Zu Na (祖納) warned Sima Rui that giving his brother that much power would lead to rebellion, but he ignored it as Na was notorious for his jealousy of Yue. Despite that, Zu Yue would find his new-found position difficult to hold, as his lack of ability to impose discipline and awful relations with his brother's generals made him very unpopular among his men.[3] Shortly after Zu Ti's death, Later Zhao forces quickly retook lands that they had lost to Zu Ti. Zu Yue could not hold out and lost Xiangcheng, Chengfu (城父, in present-day Bozhou, Anhui) and Chenliu as a result.[4]

In 324, Zu Yue would join the loyalist side during Wang Dun's second insurrection against Jin after he was summoned to the capital by Emperor Ming. Zu Yue drove out Wang's Administrator of Huainan Ren Tai (任台) at Shouyang (壽陽, in present-day Lu'an, Anhui).[5]

After the death of Emperor Ming the following year, his brother-in-law Yu Liang would become the paramount leader of Jin with the child emperor Emperor Cheng of Jin under his watch. Zu Yue saw himself as an independent warlord, so he tried to distance himself from the new regime. He hoped to that the government would give him the privilege to hand out offices to his subordinates, much like his other equals, but that did not happen. He also sent multiple petitions for it but they were either rejected or ignored. Even worse, when an imperial edict promoting ministers was declared, he, along with Tao Kan, were left out from the edict, and all this caused Zu to suspect that Yu Liang had a hand in his misfortunes.[6]

In 326, Zu Yue would be attacked by Later Zhao forces under Shi Cong (石聰) at Shouchun. Zu sent edicts to Jiankang demanding for help but none came. They only considered action when Shi Cong attacked Junqiu (浚遒, in present-day Feidong County, Anhui) and Fuling (阜陵; in present-day Quanjiao County, Anhui) but it was only through the effort of the warlord, Su Jun, that repelled Shi Cong by sending his general Han Huang. Zu Yue's relationship with the court further deteriorate as plans to make a dyke to prevent further invasions were made. Zu was angered by the fact that the dyke would cut him off from the capital, leaving him isolated in the face of a future invasion.[7]

The next year, Su Jun rebelled against the Jin dynasty. Su Jun had heard of Zu Yue's grudge with Yu Liang and his government, so invited him to join. Zu Yue was delighted by his offer, and sent nephew Zu Huan and brother-in-law Xu Liu to aid Su Jun in capturing Jiankang. There were attempts to discourage Zu Yue from joining Su Jun by Huan Xuan and his brother's widow but he would not listen.[8] When Su Jun took over the capital in 328, Su Jun appointed him Palace Attendant, Grand Commandant, and Prefect of the Masters of Writing.

While the rebellion raged on in the south, Later Zhao attacked Zu Yue at Huaishang. One of Zu Yue's general, Chen Guang (陳光), betrayed and attacked him. Zu Yue's Attendant and also his look-alike, Yan Tu (閻禿), pretended to be him while he secretly escaped the city in the night.[9]

The Jin general, Wen Jiao, issued a call to arms against Su Jun and Zu Yue. Many loyalist rose up against them and gathered around the capital's region. While Wen Jiao was at the Qiezi Rivermouth (茄子浦, in present-day Nanjing, Jiangsu), his subordinate Mao Bao went against his orders and successfully attacked a shipment of rice that Su Jun was sending to Zu Yue, leaving Zu and his men starving as a result.[10] Later, Zu Yue sent his generals Zu Huan (祖渙) and Huan Fu (桓撫) to attack Penkou (湓口, in present-day Jiujiang, Jiangxi). They managed to defeat Mao Bao at first but he then returned to drive them off. Mao Bao proceeded to attack and capture Zu Yue's camps in Hefei.[11]

With an already sour relation with his generals and his continuous defeats, Zu Yue's generals plotted with Later Zhao to kill him. Shi Cong and Shi Kan (石堪) attacked Zu Yue at Shouchun and his forces scattered, causing him to flee to Liyang.[12]

Su Jun would be killed in battle late into 328 and was succeeded by his brother Su Yi (蘇逸). The situation for Zu Yue continued to worsen as the loyalist Zhao Yin (趙胤) attacked his base the next year. While Zu Yue's general Gan Miao (甘苗) fought Zhao Yin, he secretly fled to Later Zhao with his families and followers. Gan Miao would surrender to Zhao Yin, thus ending his part in the rebellion.[13] The remaining rebels of Su Yi would be destroyed later that year.

Although Zu Yue was at Later Zhao's doors, its emperor, Shi Le despised his character. His advisor Cheng Xia and general Yao Yizhong shared his sentiment and advised him to kill Zu Yue. Shi Le hosted a banquet for Zu Yue and his followers in 330 and had Cheng Xia invited them, intending to trap him there. At the banquet, Zu Yue began to realise that he was going to die, so he drank heavily. Zu Yue and his followers were then brought to the marketplace to be executed. Before he died, Zu Yue cried while holding his grandsons. The men were executed while the women were distributed among the tribes in Zhao. Only his nephew, Zu Xian (祖羡), survived due to the help of Zu Ti's slave-turned-Later Zhao general Wang An (王安).[14]

• Fang, Xuanling (ed.) (648). Book of Jin (Jin Shu).
• Sima, Guang (1084). Zizhi Tongjian.