Emperor Wu of Wei was very cautious about the choice of heir, in fact, Cao Cao's original intended heir was not Cao Pi. The most prolific condition was Cao Cao's eldest son Cao Ang, who was helpless to die in battle. Cao Cao's favorite son, Cao Chong, also died prematurely.
Next, Cao Pi, Cao Zhang, and Cao Zhi, who were born to Lady Bian, were all eligible to inherit. However, Cao Cao once criticized Cao Zhang, believing that he was not good at reading, and only had the courage of a puppet.
Cao Cao's choice of heirs is actually only left to Cao Pi and Cao Zhi.
Cao Zhi had a great advantage in the battle for the throne, he was not only talented, but also quite politically talented, and Cao Cao also favored Cao Zhi as his heir. However, the crowd advised Cao Cao to be the eldest, and Cao Pi was older than Cao Zhi.
Cao Zhi "drank without moderation", while Cao Pi "used the magic of the imperial court" and was eventually made crown prince.
First, the dispute over storage positions
When Emperor Wu of Wei initially chose an heir, he did not see Cao Pi as his first choice. Initially, Cao Cao's most qualified heir was cao ang, the eldest son of cao. In fact, Cao Ang was not born to Cao Cao's wife, Lady Ding. But his Virgin Mary died early and was raised by Lady Ding.
Cao Cao also publicly stated that Cao Zhang only had the courage of a puppet. As a result, emperor Wu of Wei's heirs were left with only Cao Pi and Cao Zhi.
The personalities of the two are just the opposite, Cao Pi is good at disguising himself, but Cao Zhi is informal and has a frank personality.
However, Cao Cao's favorite son at that time was Cao Chong. Cao Chong was very intelligent from an early age, and his intelligence reached the adult level at the age of six. In addition, Cao Chong was very generous and deeply favored by Cao Cao. Emperor Wu of Wei also expressed his attitude to the Qunchen many times, wanting to pass the throne to Cao Chong.
Helplessly, when Cao Chong just turned thirteen, he died of illness. After Cao Chong's death, the succession dispute fell between Cao Pi, Cao Zhang, and Cao Zhi. However, Cao Zhang only has the courage of a puppet, but is not good at learning.
Although Cao Pi and Cao Zhi both had their own strengths, Cao Pi's status as the eldest son was very favorable to his succession. Coupled with his cultivation of both literature and martial arts, he is not a mediocre talent. Although Cao Zhi is known for his literary prowess, his cunning and treachery are definitely inferior to Cao Pi's.
However, Cao Cao did not soon make Cao Pi crown prince. He provided a fair competition between Cao Pi and Cao Zhi, and it was for ten years that Cao Pi and Cao Zhi launched an open and secret struggle for the heir.
Second, why Cao Pi won
In fact, Cao Cao's balance had already reached Cao Pi.
Many of the old courtiers in the DPRK and China suggested "standing long", and Cao Pi, who was slightly older, naturally had the upper hand. In fact, the reason why Cao Cao did not make Cao Pi the crown prince for a long time was on the one hand to train him, and on the other hand, to observe him well.
In 217 AD, Cao Cao finally made up his mind to make Cao Pi the son of the world. Cao Pi also inherited Cao Cao's genes very well, not only very treacherous, but also quite clever. Many people think that Cao Pi, as the heir, is a bit unworthy of the name.
People believe that Cao Piwen is inferior to Cao Zhi, and Wu is inferior to Cao Zhang. In fact, looking at a certain aspect of talent alone, Cao Pi may not be as good as other brothers. However, on the comprehensive quality, I am afraid that Cao Pi is still the first. On the one hand, Cao Pi was the eldest son, and the legal heir to the throne in feudal society was naturally the eldest son.
On the other hand, Cao Cao's choice of heir certainly could not only look at literary style and martial arts. Moreover, Cao Pi was chosen by Cao Cao as the heir, and there was an advantage that other younger brothers did not have: children. Cao Pi not only became a family very early, but also had a son Cao Rui early.
Most importantly, Cao Cao was very fond of Cao Rui's grandson. On the surface, Cao Cao chose Cao Pi, but in fact, Cao Cao chose two future heirs. Most importantly, Cao Pi followed Cao Cao on his southern expedition to the north very early, which Cao Zhi did not have.
In fact, Cao Cao chose Cao Pi for another reason. In that year, when Cao Pi and Cao Zhi were vying for the throne of Shizi. Every time Cao Cao went out to fight, Cao Zhi would give a poem. And Cao Pi just silently shed tears, all of which Cao Cao saw in his eyes.
After a long time, Cao Cao naturally thought that Cao Zhi would only play a little clever, and Cao Pi was a good son who exuded a sense of truth.
Cao Cao was originally a pragmatic person, and after a long time, he naturally did not look up to Cao Zhi, and gradually he would like a person like Cao Pi who was extremely filial to him.
3. He was made crown prince
In the twenty-second year of Jian'an, Cao Pi was made crown prince. Three years later, Cao Cao contracted an illness and died. Cao Pi rebuilt An for twenty-five years as the first year of Yankang, and in order to force Han to offer the emperor's throne, Cao Pi planned a Zen performance.
Initially, public opinion was created everywhere, and auspicious things appeared. Later, the ministers wrote to Cao Pi to replace Han, but Cao Pi did not immediately accept the request to take the throne. As a result, there was such a scene above the court: Manchu Wenwu repeatedly wrote letters, and Cao Pi repeatedly did not accept it.
The courtiers continued to write letters, and then forced Emperor Xian of Han to write a zen edict, so many times, and finally Cao Pi accepted the Zen concession of Emperor Xian of Han and sat on the throne. Since then, Cao Pi has made certain achievements in both politics and economy.
On the one hand, Cao Pi made a large-scale selection of talents, and on the other hand, he reduced his punishment in the legal system. Not only did it forbid the imperial relatives to interfere in the government, but it also managed the chaotic government of the late Han Dynasty in one fell swoop.
Originally, at the end of the Han Dynasty, people were scattered, and Cao Pi implemented the Nine Pins Official Personnel Law to select talents.
The most important achievement after Cao Pi ascended the throne was to learn the lessons of the Han Dynasty and forbid eunuchs and relatives of the emperor from interfering in politics. This measure prevented the dictatorship of foreign relatives and eunuchs, and in the first year of Yankang, Cao Pi ordered eunuchs not to pass the orders of various departments.
In terms of economy, Cao Pi attaches great importance to recuperation. On this basis, Cao Pi issued an edict to reduce taxes and provide relief to disaster victims.
Although Cao Pi had quite a means of governing the country, his understanding of the Three Kingdoms was not deep enough.
Cao Pi's four attempts to raise troops against Wu eventually returned to No avail, and he did not listen to the advice of his advisers. It was precisely because of this that Cao Pi was unable to unify the whole country for a long time. In 221, Liu Bei rebelled against Sun Quan. Sun Quan sent emissaries to Cao Pi as vassals and sent them back to the generals.
At this time, Liu Ye, who was beside Cao Pi, believed that this was a good time to destroy Wu. However, Cao Pi could not listen to Liu Ye's persuasion, and finally lost the good time to destroy Wu.
Although Cao Pi was quite talented, his ability was far inferior to that of Cao Cao.
After Cao Pi became emperor, he also gave his brothers Cao Zhi and Cao Zhang the title of prince. However, in order to prevent his brothers from plotting against him, he also implemented a policy of stripping the power of the king of the domain. In the end, he stripped the king of the clan of his military powers, allowing Cao Zhi and Cao Zhangkong to have the name of the king of the clan.
3. Summary
Although Cao Cao chose Cao Pi as his heir, Cao Pi and his father's offensive and defensive thinking and employment policies were very different. Cao Cao implemented a policy of meritocracy and selected a large number of civilian talents.
Cao Pi, however, ruled the country with a strategic defensive policy, and also focused on the promotion of talents and officials through the Jiupin Zhongzheng system. Although he pioneered the policy of the scholar clan, he also left many political hidden dangers for his son Cao Rui.