Shi Le
Sima Yue's victory was short lived. The bandit Wang Mi captured Xuchang in central Henan a year later. At the same time, the former slave of Jie barbarian descent, Shi Le, working under Liu Yuan, sacked Ye. Together Liu Yuan and Shi Le overran most of the lands north of the Yellow River. In 309, Yue sent 3,000 armoured soldiers to kill Emperor Huai of Jin's favored courtiers. This act lost him all the respect of his forces and forced him to further tighten his grip on the court. In April 310, Shi Le captured Xuchang. Emperor Huai plotted with Gou Xi, Yue's second in command, to murder Yue. On 23 April 311, Sima Yue died of stress. Yue's funeral procession was caught by Shi Le on its way to his fief in Shandong. Over 100,000 officers and men were killed, piling atop one another in a mound, not a single one having been able to escape.