At the end of the Han Dynasty, after the failure of the princes to attack Dong Zhuo, no one contributed to the imperial court. Every prince had his own plans, and every one of them had the intention of being the Son of Heaven to seize the world, but a move by Yuan Shu made Cao Cao and Sima Zhao, two people who actually controlled the fate of the Han Dynasty and the later State of Wei, dare not call themselves the Son of Heaven.
Yuan Shu was born into a noble family, and his ancestors were the third duke of the Fourth Dynasty of the Eastern Han Dynasty, a famous family. He was the second son of Sikong Yuan Fengzhi and was a brother to Yuan Shao. However, Yuan Shao succeeded his uncle and became Yuan Cheng's adopted son, generally referring to Yuan Shu as Yuan Shao's cousin, but in fact the two were half-brothers. Yuan Shu divided Huainan and was powerful. In order to borrow troops from Yuan Shu, Sun Ce took the Chuanguo Jade Seal as collateral and borrowed 3,000 soldiers to return to Jiangdong to develop his own forces. This piece of chuanguo jade seal was fished by Sun Jian in the well during the civil unrest of the Ten Constant Attendants. At that time, Yuan Shao received a secret report that Sun Jian had obtained the Chuanguo Jade Seal. Sun Jian then swore that if I got the Chuanguo Jade Seal, I would die under the sword and arrow. This was the breakaway from the alliance of the princes. In the end, when Sun Jian returned to Jiangdong, he was sniped by Liu Biao, and indeed died under the sword and arrow.
Yuan Shu received Sun Ce's heirloom jade seal, and coupled with his own vast grain, he couldn't help but have the idea of becoming an emperor. As soon as this idea was proposed, some people objected, saying that the ancestor of the former Zhou Dynasty, Hou Ji, had merit and had already experienced three lifetimes by the time of King Wen of Zhou, but King Wen of Zhou was still a nominal minister of the Shang Dynasty. Although your family lineage is four generations and three dukes, it is not as good as the family lineage of King Wen of Zhou; although the Han Dynasty is in decline, it does not have the cruelty of king Shang. King Wen of Zhou did not dare to replace the Shang Dynasty as king, and you can't call himself emperor! Yuan Shu became angry and said, "The surname Yuan is from the surname of Chen, chen is from the shun, the fortune of the country belongs to the earth, the Great Han belongs to the fire, and the earth is the fire, and it is just in time." There is also a saying that the Han Dynasty should be Tu Gao, I word highway, it is me. "Of course, this is all an excuse to take over the world. Yuan Shu then established the zhongshi clan, rode on the dragon and phoenix, and became emperor.
Yuan Shu claimed the title of empress dowager, and first raised an army to attack Lü Bu, who defeated Yuan Shu, who retreated to Huainan. Cao Cao also raised an army to attack Yuan Shu, and the slogan was to rebel. At this time, Yuan Shu was already a thorn in everyone's eyes, and Yuan Shu was soon defeated. He eventually fell ill and died in Liu Bei's conquests (appointed by Cao Cao).
As a Han chen, he usurped the throne, was scolded by the people of the world, and rebelled against the thieves, and everyone was cursed. This is a living example that Yuan Shu set up for various princes with ghost fetuses. With this example, when someone advised Cao Cao to claim the title of emperor, Cao Cao said, "If the Destiny of Heaven is in me, I am the King of Zhou Wen!" In fact, Cao Cao knew in his heart that he was a Han chen, and if he called himself emperor, it would be a betrayal, which was not in line with the way of a courtier. Yuan Shu is the latest example. What's more, he already has great power in his hands, blackmailing the Son of Heaven to order the princes, his own orders are the emperor's orders, and there is no difference between being an emperor or not, just some forms and false names. His son Cao Pi inherited his inheritance, and the responsibility of Han Chen was not so heavy, if Cao Pi became emperor, the people of the world would obey a lot. The later situation was indeed as Cao Cao expected, and Cao Pi stood on behalf of the Han Dynasty and became the emperor of the State of Wei relatively smoothly.
History repeats itself on Sima Zhao. Sima Zhao was also a Wei courtier, and at that time he was already in power, sima fu persuaded him to claim the title of emperor, and he also said that he would be like Cao Cao, "Emperor Wu of Wei refused to be zen to Han Yuwu and refused to accept Zen to Wei Ye." With Yuan Shu's counter-example and Cao Cao's correct example, Sima Zhao also felt that there was no need to call the emperor rebel against Wei. Sure enough, Sima Zhao fell ill and died, and Sima Yan also successfully declared himself emperor.
History is always strikingly similar. Yuan Shu could not wait to claim the title of emperor, and he was saddled with the insult of rebellion, which caused people from all walks of life to crusade. In view of this, Cao Cao and Sima Zhao did not accept the emperor's false name, and it was a wise move to let the son who inherited his inheritance be the emperor and reduce the insult of betrayal.