In the first month of the first year of Jiaping (249), the Cao Wei emperor Cao Fang left Luoyang to pay homage to the Wei Ming Emperor Gao Pingling, and the general Cao Shuang, the leader of the zhong, Cao Xi, and the general of Wu Wei, cao Xun, all followed. Sima Yi took the opportunity to play Empress Guo and asked Cao Shuang's brothers to be deposed. At that time, Sima Shi was the central protector, leading troops to Tun Sima Men and controlling the capital Luoyang. Sima Yi lined up, and after passing in front of Cao Shuang's gate, Cao Shuang's general Yan Shi ascended the tower and drew a crossbow to shoot Sima Yi, and Sun Qian pulled his arm to stop him: "The truth of the matter is not yet known. Three attempts to shoot arrows were stopped three times, and Sun Qian held Yan Shizhi's elbow so that he could not shoot. ”
Dasi Nong Huan Fan went out of the city to throw Cao Shuang, and Jiang Ji worried: "The wisdom tank is going to die." Sima Yi said: "Fan Zezhiyi, the horse loves the stack beans, and Shuang must not be able to use it." Sima Yi summoned Situ Gao Rou to perform the general's duties on a false holiday, and took charge of Cao Shuang's military camp, and said to him: "The king is Zhou Boyi." "Summoning the servant King Guan Xingzhong to lead the military and command the Cao Xi camp." Sima Yi led the lieutenant Jiang Ji and other soldiers to greet Tianzi and stationed at the Luoshui Pontoon Bridge. He sent someone to explain Cao Shuang's crimes to the emperor.
Eventually, Cao Shuang requested to be removed from his post and followed Cao Fang back to Luoyang. As soon as the Cao Shuang brothers returned to the palace, they were surrounded by troops sent by Sima Yi. In violation of his promise, Sima Yi killed Cao Shuang and his henchmen He Yan, Ding Mi, Deng Biao, Bi Lu, Li Sheng, and Huan Fan on charges of treason, and exterminated the three tribes.
Thus, through the gaopingling rebellion, Sima Yi usurped the power of Cao Wei. This not only led to the killing of Cao Shuang and his henchmen, but also meant that Emperor Cao Fang became a puppet. So, the question is, when Sima Yi rebelled, why did Cao Fang, who turned 17 years old, not say a word?
One
First, Cao Fang (232–274), courtesy name Lanqing, was a native of Peiguo County (沛国谯县; present-day Bozhou, Anhui). The third emperor of the State of Wei during the Three Kingdoms period (reigned 22 January 239 – 17 October 254), is suspected to be the great-grandson of Emperor Cao Cao of Wei, the grandson of Cao Zhang, the King of Chengwei, and the son of Cao Kai the Prince of Rencheng. In 249 AD, when the Gaopingling Rebellion broke out, Cao Fang was already 17 years old. Therefore, for Cao Fang, he was fully capable of expressing his own views, such as asking Cao Shuang to recruit soldiers from all over the world to fight against Sima Yi. However, in fact, Cao Fang did not have any indication, and the reasons for this are mainly divided into the following points.
As far as the first point is concerned, it is because although Cao Fang is the emperor, he has been hollowed out by Cao Shuang. In the third year of the Jing Dynasty (239), the Wei Ming Emperor Cao Rui became seriously ill and appointed Cao Shuang as a general, false jie yu, and recorded Shang Shushi; entrusted the crown prince Cao Fang to Cao Shuang and Sima Yi, and ordered them to jointly assist Cao Fang, who was only eight years old. After Cao Fang succeeded to the throne, he added Cao Shuang to serve in the middle, changed the title of Marquis of Wu'an, ate twelve thousand households, gave swords to the temple, entered the dynasty without tendency, worshiped without name, and commanded 3,000 elite soldiers with Sima Yi. At the beginning of Cao Fang's reign, Cao Shuang consulted with Sima Yi in everything. However, Cao Shuang later heeded the schemes of his close confidant Ding Mi, honored Sima Yi as a taifu, and took the opportunity to cut sima Yi's military power.
At the same time, Cao Shuang promoted Sima Yi's close associate Jiang Ji to be a lieutenant, took the opportunity to remove Jiang Jiyuan from the post of leading general in charge of the janissaries, and instead appointed his second brother Cao Xi as the leader of the middle army, and abolished the lieutenants of the middle and middle camps of the five battalions of the forbidden army, and handed over the two battalions of soldiers to Cao Xi under the direct command of Cao Xi. In addition, with Cao Xun as the general of Wu Wei and commanding the Forbidden Army's Wu Wei Battalion, Cao Yan as a regular attendant, the Cao Shuang brothers thus completely controlled the forbidden army in the capital Luoyang; his cousin Xiahou Xuan was appointed as the Middle Protector, responsible for the selection of military generals.
Moreover, during Cao Rui's reign, some of the idlers who had no reputation and abandoned him, such as He Yan, Deng Biao, Li Sheng, and Pei Guo Ding Mi of Ren Nanyang, were all recruited by Cao Shuang as confidants and held important positions in the court, Ding Mi, He Yan, and Deng Biao were made Shangshu, and He Yan was responsible for selecting officials; Li Sheng was appointed as Henan Yin and Bi Rail was made a lieutenant to control the affairs inside and outside the capital; at the same time, Shang Shu was ordered to report to himself first, and then ask Sima Yi after weighing the weight. Gradually, sima yi was not even asked about his views on the affairs of the imperial court, and he began to act on his own.
In this regard, in the author's opinion, after the great general Cao Shuang took power, Cao Fang had long since become a puppet emperor. Therefore, after the change of Gao Pingling, even if Cao Fang had any attitude, it would be difficult to influence Cao Shuang.
Two
For the second reason, Cao Fang probably wanted to borrow Sima Yi's hand to get rid of Cao Shuang. Although Cao Shuang was the emperor of Cao Wei, he had long been the emperor of Cao Fang, and the latter was naturally very dissatisfied. Prior to this, Cao Cao had vacated Liu Xie, the Emperor of Han Xian, and as a result, the latter planned events such as the Yidai Edict and wanted to get rid of Cao Cao, a powerful courtier. In the same way, if Cao Shuang, a powerful minister, can be eliminated through the change of Gao Pingling, Cao Fang, who has reached the age of 17, can completely take advantage of the situation to regain power and thus get rid of the fate of the puppet emperor.
Three
As far as the third reason is concerned, it is that Cao Fang and Empress Guo have a better relationship, and Sima Yi came to rebel in the name of Empress Guo. In the eighth year of the reign (247), the general Cao Shuang listened to the plans of He Yan, Deng Biao, and Ding Mi, and placed Empress Guo under house arrest at The Yongning Palace, and Empress Guo and Cao Fang wept relatively when they said goodbye. Therefore, for Cao Fang, she was more dependent on Empress Guo. Of course, this is also understandable, because the young man took the throne and the chancellor of the imperial court was not very reliable, and Cao Fang naturally could only trust Empress Guo. Now, Cao Shuang put Empress Guo under house arrest, apparently with the consideration of isolating Cao Fang and preventing him from joining forces with Empress Guo against him.
In 249 AD, when the Gaopingling Rebellion broke out, Empress Guo, who was under house arrest, naturally sided with Sima Yi. Therefore, under the edict of Empress Guo, Sima Yi was able to order the closure of the gates of the capital Luoyang, and deposed Cao Shuang from his position as a general, and then took over the forbidden army that was originally subordinate to Cao Shuang's brothers. In this context, Cao Fang, because of her trust and dependence on Empress Guo, would not stand against Sima Yi.
Four
Finally, as far as the fourth reason is concerned, Cao Fang believes that Sima Yi just wants to get rid of Cao Shuang, not to usurp Cao Wei's power, or even replace Cao Wei. In 249, Sima Yi was afraid that Cao Shuang would retaliate, so he successively sent Xu Yun, Shangshu Chen Tai, and Cao Shuang's close lieutenant Yin Damu to induce Cao Shuang to give up his power, and promised luo shui that he would only surrender his military power and retain his title.
At the same time, Jiang Ji also wrote to Cao Shuang, saying that Sima Yi only wanted to deprive their brothers of their military power, would not harm them, and could keep them rich. Cao Shuang thought about it all night, believing that Sima Yi was just trying to make him and his brothers give up their military power, so he decided to give up resistance, and instead asked Emperor Cao Fang to depose himself and surrender to Sima Yi. In this regard, in the author's opinion, not only Did Cao Fang and Cao Shuang believe Sima Yi, but also Sima Yi was deceived by Sima Yi for Jiang Ji and other Cao Wei ministers.
After the change of Gaopingling, Jiang Ji was enfeoffed as a marquis of Fengdu Township for his merits, and 700 households were eaten. Jiang Ji wrote a letter refusing to be rewarded (the "New Sayings of the World" believes that Jiang Ji originally just wanted to depose Cao Shuang, and promised Cao Shuang that "only officials are exempted", but Sima Yi took the opportunity to kill him. Because he felt that he was untrustworthy to Cao Shuang, he blamed himself and was unwilling to accept the reward), but he was not allowed. On The 19th day of April 249 (18 May 249), Jiang Ji fell ill and died, and he was the Marquis of Jinghou. Even a cao wei old minister like Jiang Ji had not discovered Sima Yi's true ambitions, and Cao Fang, who was not yet 18 years old, would not have any doubts. Therefore, he did not say a word and sat back and watched Sima Yi win the victory of Gao Pingling's change.
After this, when Cao Fang realized Sima Yi's ambitions, there was no means to counteract. In the sixth year of Jiaping (254), after Sima Yi's death, Zhongshu ordered Li Feng and Guanglu's grand master Zhang Ji to plot to depose Sima Shi and replace Xiahou Xuan with the position of general. After Sima Shi quelled the rebellion, he deposed Cao Fang as the King of Qi and succeeded him to the throne by Cao Xi, the Duke of GaoguiXiang. After the establishment of the Western Jin Dynasty, Cao Fang was crowned as the Duke of Shaoling County. In the tenth year of the Tai Dynasty (274), Cao Fang died of illness at the age of forty-three, and his nickname was Li. Although she did not have the power of the day, Cao Fang finally got a good ending, which was already a blessing in misfortune.