Of all the Eastern Jin's Northern Expeditions, Zu Ti's was the greatest pity. Had the court entrusted him alone with the campaign, even if he could not have taken all the territory north of the Yellow River, he should have been able to recover the lands to its south. Yet the court distrusted commanders of refugees, leaving this hero who had struck his oar in midstream unable to fulfill his lofty ambitions. After him, Yu Liang, Chu Pou, and Yin Hao launched several Northern Expeditions, only to suffer defeat or return empty-handed. Only Huan Wen's two expeditions in Yonghe Year Ten and Yonghe Year Twelve achieved results, particularly his second, which recovered Luoyang. Yet the Jin imperial house and the Great Clans greeted his victories with mixed joy and concern. The reason for their joy went without saying; their concern was that the imperial house was declining while the Longkang Huan clan's power was swelling rapidly. Holding the upper Yangtze River and half the realm, the brothers Huan Wen, Huan Huo, Huan Chong, and Huan Mi all occupied high office and wielded real power. They had already upset the balance of shared rule between the imperial house and the aristocratic clans embodied in the saying, "Wang and Ma share the realm." This was not something the great houses wished to see. Yet no outstanding figure at court could counterbalance the Huan clan. The Langya Wang Clan had long since lost the prestige it had enjoyed during Wang Dao's lifetime; the Taiyuan Wang Clan was not yet strong enough to contend with the Huans; the Yingchuan Yu Clan had been squeezed out and suppressed by Huan Wen; and the Chen Commandery Xie Clan was now cautiously currying favor with the Huans-
Now Huan Wen had proposed a third Northern Expedition, leaving