In 249 AD, Sima Yi took advantage of Cao Shuang's accompaniment to accompany Cao Fang to leave Luoyang to visit the tomb of Gaoping Mausoleum, launched a coup d'état to control Luoyang, and seized the opportunity to seize the power of Cao Wei, which was the Gaopingling Incident. After the Gaopingling Incident, Cao Wei's power was firmly controlled by Sima Yi. At this time, Cao Wei was ostensibly still the emperor of the Cao family, but in fact it was Sima Yi who said it. Sima Yi held power over Cao Wei until his death. However, at the time of the Gaopingling Incident, the power of the Cao Wei imperial family was still relatively large. The members of the Cao Wei royal family had many branches of power and held certain powers. For example, there are seven of Cao Cao's sons who are still alive, and these people are all strong supporters of Cao Wei. However, what many people did not expect was that cao cao's seven sons, when faced with Sima Yi's dictatorship, none of them rose up to oppose it.
Let's first look at the condition of Cao Cao's son.
Cao Cao had 25 sons in his lifetime, namely Cao Ang, Cao Shuo, Cao Pi, Cao Zhang, Cao Zhi, Cao Xiong, Cao Chong, Cao Zhao, Cao Yu, Cao Lin, Cao Gun, Cao Ying, Cao Jun, Cao Jie, Cao Gan, Cao Shang, Cao Biao, Cao Qin, Cao Cheng, Cao Zhen, Cao Jing, Cao Jun, Cao Thorn, Cao Hui, and Cao Mao. Among the 25 people, Cao Shuo, Cao Xiong, Cao Chong, Cao Ying, Cao Zhi, Cao Shang, Cao Qin, Cao Cheng, Cao Jing, Cao Jun, and Cao Zhi all died relatively early, and these people either died prematurely or died before they reached adulthood. Of the remaining 12 people, Cao Zhang, Cao Pi, Cao Zhi, Cao Gong, and Cao Hui died before the Gaopingling Incident. At the time of the Gaopingling Incident, Cao Gan, Cao Biao, Cao Lin, Cao Jun, Cao Zhao, Cao Mao, and Cao Yu were still alive.
However, none of these seven people objected, and we will now see why these seven sons of Cao Cao did not object.
In fact, after the Gaopingling Incident, in the face of Sima Yi's dictatorship, not all of Cao Cao's sons were opposed, and there was also one person who was dissatisfied, and this person was Cao Biao. After Sima Yi's dictatorship, there were many ministers who were dissatisfied, including Wang Ling. Wang Ling was ready to make Cao Biao emperor at that time, but Cao Biao was not optimistic about Wang Ling's move, so he did not support it from beginning to end. After Wang Ling was killed, Cao Biao was also implicated. Anyway, he and Wang Ling still had some things to do with each other, and Sima Yi couldn't let him go. In this way, in 251, Cao Biao was given death.
It seems that Cao Biao and Wang Ling's opposition to Sima Yi has some relationship, but in fact it has little to do with each other. It can be said that although he was dissatisfied, he did not directly participate in the team opposing Sima Yi. However, compared with other sons, Cao Biao still showed a little sign of opposition to Sima Yi, and the others did not have the slightest opposition at all. The reason why these people did not oppose it had a lot to do with the situation at that time.
First of all, these sons of Cao Cao were of average ability and did not have the strength to oppose Sima Yi at all.
If we look closely at the history books, we can find that there are not many records in the history books of Cao Cao's seven sons. The reason why Cao Biao is recorded more is because Cao Biao and Wang Ling have something to do with Sima Yi. As for others, even if they are recorded, they are relatively few. It is roughly when he was born, when he was crowned, when he was crowned king, and some did not even have a detailed biography. The reason why it is not recorded in detail is mainly because these people are all mediocre and have nothing special. If these people were relatively capable, they would definitely be recorded in the history books. For example, Cao Cao's son Cao Chong, who we are familiar with, although this person died early, there are still many records about him in the history books. As for Cao Zhi and Cao Ang, there are also many.
With the ability of these people, even if they have the heart to oppose Sima Yi, they are far inferior to the Sima Yi family in terms of ability. After all, everyone climbed up by relying on their true ability, they were all human essences, and these sons of Cao Cao could not be compared with them.
Secondly, these sons of Cao Cao had average strength in their hands.
The local administrative system during the Cao Wei period was similar to the county system, and the three-level system of prefectures, counties, and counties was implemented. Of course, although the system of states, counties, and counties was implemented, it was not that there were no separate seals, but Cao Wei still had separate seals for the members of the royal family. Most members of the royal family have their own fiefs, not only the king has fiefs, but also marquises, counts and other lords also have their own fiefs. Among them, the king's fiefdom is relatively the largest. But even the most, the strength is limited.
Although Cao Cao's sons were all kings at the time, they did not have much power. Among these people, there are only a few counties with the most fiefs, and although these counties are their fiefs, they are directly administered by officials sent by the state. These kings simply could not control the administrative power in the fiefdoms, let alone the military power and economic power. Of course, in addition to having fiefs, they also had their own fiefs, which amounted to private property. However, these kings generally only had a few thousand households, and at most no more than 30,000 or 40,000 people. Even if they wanted to use their own fiefdoms to form an army, they could not form many armies. Moreover, not long after Sima Yi killed Wang Ling, he put all the members of the Cao Wei royal family under house arrest in Luoyang for his own surveillance. They simply did not have the opportunity to form an army. So even if these people really have the ability to oppose Sima Yi, they don't have the strength in their hands. After all, at any time, strength is everything.
The third is that before the Gaopingling Incident, the Cao Wei imperial family was dissatisfied with Cao Shuang's dictatorship.
Before Emperor Wei died, Cao Shuang and Sima Yi were asked to assist the government together, and they were both entrusted with orphans and heavy subjects. It can be said that Sima Yi and Cao Shuang had the same status at that time, but later Cao Shuang used his status as a member of the royal family to gradually exclude Sima Yi and began to monopolize power himself. It is reasonable to say that Cao Shuang's monopoly is nothing, after all, he is a member of the royal family and defends the interests of the royal family. However, after Cao Shuang's dictatorship, he used his own power to chaos. According to historical records,
Cao Shuang wantonly excluded dissidents, arbitrarily abused the government, embezzled property, and insisted on sending troops to cut down Shu, causing heavy casualties in the country, and living in the emperor, and using Deng Biao's strategy to move Empress Guo to Yongning Palace under house arrest.
Cao Shuang's series of acts of death made the entire State of Wei oppose him.
In this situation, even if it was not Sima Yi who overthrew Cao Shuang's rule, even if others opposed Cao Shuang, everyone would support it. If this were not the case, Sima Yi would not have gone so smoothly when he was in power. The main thing is that Cao Shuang is too capable, and everyone wants to change someone to take power.
The fourth is related to Sima Yi's personal behavior.
As mentioned earlier, before Emperor Wei Ming's death, Sima Yi was appointed as a chancellor along with Cao Shuang. That is to say, whether it is Cao Shuang's dictatorship or Sima Yi's dictatorship, it is legally allowed. After all, the emperor was young, and with Emperor Wei Ming's holy will, there was no reason for everyone to oppose it. Sima Yi's identity makes his dictatorship more legal. Even Cao Cao's sons did not dare to oppose it easily.
Of course, in addition to Sima Yi's special status, Sima Yi's actions after the dictatorship made Cao Cao's sons not disgusted. Compared with Cao Shuang, although Sima Yi had authority, he was very capable. Whether in military or internal affairs, Sima Yi did a relatively good job. The whole government and the central government still supported Sima Yi. Even if Cao Cao's son wanted to oppose Sima Yi, no one supported him.
This was the reason why Cao Cao's son did not oppose Sima Yi. To sum up, these people have average ability and are not Sima Yi's opponents. Even if you oppose it, strength will not work. In addition, Sima Yi was relatively popular when he was in power, and even if these people opposed it, no one supported it. Of course, the Sima family was also good to them, except for Cao Biao, everyone else basically died a good death, and some even lived until the establishment of the Western Jin Dynasty.
Resources:
Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Book of Wei