Speaking of this, it is also related to Cao Cao, because this person is Cao Cao's grandfather Cao Teng, who is a eunuch and the only eunuch in Chinese history to be awarded the title of emperor! Speaking of this, everyone may be confused about how a eunuch can have grandchildren, and he is also a figure like Cao Cao. Don't worry, listen to me slowly!
Cao Teng (曹腾), courtesy name Jixing, was a native of PeiGuo (沛国谯, in present-day Bozhou, Anhui), whose ancestral home was Pei County, Jiangsu. The Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms records that he was a descendant of Cao San, the Xiangguo of the Western Han Dynasty, and Cao Teng was also a well-known eunuch at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty. Let's tell a story about him.
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Speaking of eunuchs, our first impression should be more disgusted, and we have no good feelings for eunuchs, because many eunuchs in history have not done anything good, and the demise of some dynasties is more or less related to eunuchs, such as the famous Qin Dynasty, which was caused by the destruction of the Zhao Gao disaster, and the Ming Dynasty eunuch Wang Zhen, which led to the Ming Emperor being captured by the Wallachians, and so on. These human rights are poured into the opposition, and if they do nothing, they will know that they will harm the country. However, throughout Chinese history, there are still a few good eunuchs, such as our protagonist today, Cao Teng.
Early life
When Cao Teng was young, because his family was poor, he was the youngest in the family. Therefore, he was sent to the palace by his father, and in this way, the young Cao Teng became a eunuch and began a career of eunuchs for more than thirty years. However, he did not give up on himself because of this, and after he entered the palace, he acted very cautiously and low-key, and was very polite and good at learning. As a result, he won the appreciation of the empress dowager who was listening to the government at that time, and he was arranged to be a book boy next to the crown prince Liu Bao, and during his tenure as a book boy, he served Liu Bao very well, so his relationship with Liu Bao was very good. And Liu Bao can smoothly succeed to the throne as emperor in the future, and it is inseparable from Cao Teng's help!?
Since Liu Bao's birth mother was a palace maid, she was poisoned by Empress Yan shortly after she gave birth to Liu Bao. At this time, Empress Yan held the power of the imperial government, and Liu Bao, although nominally crown prince, was eventually deposed. Empress Yan found a young child, Liu Yi, as crown prince.
Speaking of Liu Bao, after he grew up safely under the protection of Cao Teng, he launched a coup d'état with the support of Cao Teng and successfully became emperor, for Emperor Shun of Han. After Liu Bao succeeded to the throne, he was rewarded to these people who had helped him, and Cao Teng, the mastermind of this coup, was even more rewarded. As a result, Cao Teng became the most powerful eunuch at that time. But he did not do anything in his power, but as always, he served the Eastern Han Dynasty.
Emperor Huan was proclaimed
In 144 AD, when The Han Shun Emperor Liu Bao died, and then, in 145, the young Han Chong Emperor also died. At that time, the ministers all believed that an elderly and virtuous clan should be appointed as emperor, and all of them belonged to Liu Garlic, the king of Qinghe, and in order to continue to hold power, the foreign general Liang Ji made Liu Wei, the son of liu hong, the eight-year-old prince of Bohai, emperor, as emperor of Han.
In 146, due to dissatisfaction with the Han Emperor, the imperial court at this time was divided into two factions. One faction was led by Li Gu and supported the King of Qinghe as emperor; the other faction, led by Liang Ji, supported Liu Zhi's ascension to the throne. Just as the two factions were meeting and arguing, Cao Teng saw that the opportunity was ripe and personally visited Liang Ji to express his support for Liu Zhi as emperor. He also pointed out that the King of Qinghe was a strict man, and if he was really an emperor, I am afraid it would be difficult to ensure peace, but if Liu Zhi was established, he could keep him rich and noble for a long time. So he poisoned Emperor Han and established Liu Zhi as emperor for Emperor Huan of Han.
After Liu Zhi succeeded to the throne, in recognition of Cao Teng's contributions, he made Cao Teng the Marquis of Feiting, promoted to the post of Grand Changqiu, and added the throne to the throne.
According to historical records:
Cao Teng was a man with a broad heart, and the officials of Shu County at that time sent gifts to bribe him, and Yizhou Assassin Shi Zhongchen found the letter near the Xie valley, so he wrote to Shu County Taishou, and therefore impeached Cao Teng, requesting that he be handed over to the court lieutenant for questioning. Emperor Huan of Han knew that the letters came from outside, so he did not blame Cao Teng. Regarding the impeachment of Seed Pavilion, Cao Teng did not care, and constantly praised Seed Pavilion as a capable official. People at the time praised him for this.
After Cao Teng's death, his adopted son Cao Song (Cao Cao's father) inherited his title.
Posthumously honor the throne
On June 26, 229, Emperor Ming of Wei posthumously honored his great-grandfather Cao Teng as "Emperor Gao" and his wife Wu as Empress Gao. Until the Western Jin Dynasty Wei, this title was preserved. Cao Teng also became one of the six figures with the title of emperor in the Cao Wei Dynasty, and Cao Fang did not have this treatment. It can be seen how noble Cao Teng's status in people's hearts is.
In Chinese history, the eunuch who was officially awarded the title of emperor of the Orthodox Dynasty was the only one.