Cao Cao and Cao Pi father and son in the Three Kingdoms period were very interesting people. Cao Cao liked Liu Bang, the founding emperor of the Western Han Dynasty, while Cao Pi liked to follow the example of Liu Heng, the Emperor of Han, believing, "Emperor Wen of Han is a king, lenient and silent, and he wants to transform the people with virtue and has the style of sage." Therefore, after Cao Pi became emperor, he deliberately imitated Emperor Wen of Han in many ways, hoping that he could also become a generation of Ming Emperors.
First, the super fan of Emperor Wendi of Han
Emperor Wen of Han was a relatively wise emperor in Chinese history, during his reign, he was tolerant and peaceful in government, advocated frugality, peace and security, light and thin endowment, exerted great efforts, and ruled Qingming, thus opening the first rule of the world in Chinese history - the rule of Wenjing.
However, at the same time, because Emperor Wen of Han tolerated the government and was peaceful, it also led to the princes sitting on the throne, forming a trend of "tail can not be lost", so that sharp contradictions arose within the Liu clan on the issue of the division of imperial power and royal power, and began to intensify. In the third year of Emperor Wen's reign, Liu Xingju, the king of Jibei, rebelled against mercenaries, setting a precedent for the kingdom to arm against the Han court; three years later, Liu Chang, the king of Huainan, also tried to raise an army against the imperial court.
In this context, Jia Yishang's "Chen Zhengshi Shu" (i.e., "Public Security Policy"), put forward the idea of dividing the power of the princely kingdoms and strengthening the centralization of power. However, emperor Wen of Han, out of the consideration of stabilizing the political situation, restoring and developing the social economy, although he admired Jia Yi's "Public Security Policy", still adopted a policy of appeasement for the princes with the same surname, which led to the rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms of Wu and Chu during the Han Jing Emperor's period.
By the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, some "literary Confucians" therefore criticized Emperor Wen of Han, believing that "although Xiaowen is virtuous, he is intelligent and understands the national system, and is not as good as Jia Yi."
At that time, Cao Pi was still only a son of the world, but he still stood up to defend Emperor Wen of Han, saying: "In the past, there were Miao Bubin, Chonghua Dance to dry Qi, Wei Tuo to be called emperor, Xiao Wen to caress Ende, Wu Wang not to dynasty, Xi Zhi to caress his intentions, and the world's Lai'an; Nai Hong's three chapters of the teaching, the transformation of Kai Ti, want to make the people who are tired of the time, have to talk in a big stride, no fear." If Jia Yi's talent is sensitive, planning the national government, the instrument of the special sage, the posture of the pipe and the posture of Yan, is it not like the measure of Lord Xiaowen? ”
Cao Pi's defense of Emperor Wen of Han boils down to four meanings: first, That Emperor Wen of Han was able to treat foreign tribes or remote areas with kindness; second, That Emperor Wen of Han respected the elders of the clan; third, Emperor Wen of Han was able to open up ways of speech and practice indoctrination; and fourth, Emperor Wen of Han was magnanimous.
In Cao Pi's view, these four aspects of Emperor Wen of Han are advantages and worth learning. Therefore, Cao Pi, who was proclaimed empress, also made a lot of efforts in these aspects.
1. Stroke kindness
In the first year of the Huang Dynasty, Zheng Gan, Wang Zhao, and Lu Shuihu led their subordinates to surrender. Cao Pi was very happy to receive the book of surrender, and specially displayed the book of surrender to the courtiers in the courtroom, and said: "Before, there were those who wanted to make me beg for the humble, and I did not surrender; and there were those who wanted to make me and this autumn to please Lu Shuihu, I did not listen, and now I will descend again." Marquis Wu of Xiwei conspired and had the color of self-satisfaction, and saw Li Wu as a mockery. When I say this, I am not self-righteous, but I think that if I sit down and surrender, my merit is greater than that of mobilizing troops. ”
After Sun Quan sent envoys to declare himself a vassal to Cao Wei, and the Shu general Meng Da led the people to surrender, and after Yang Shu, the king of Wudu, led the people to attach themselves, Cao Pi personally wrote: "The former envoy Xuanguo Weiling, and Da is coming." I only praised the Father of the Spring and Autumn Festival, that is, the Fengbaida, so that he could also lead the new city too much. Recently, there are those who help the elderly and bring their young heads to the king. I have heard that the people of the sand have bound themselves to their kings to return to the gods and farmers, and the people of the kingdom have borne their sons into abundance and pickaxe, and have they driven away the coercion? It is the weathering that moves its feelings and the benevolence and righteousness that feel its heart, and the joy that is sent within it makes it so that it is also. From this point of view, the southwest will be all miles away, and who will the right and the reserve guard to the death? ”
In February of the third year of the Huang Dynasty, the kings of Shanshan, Guizi, and Khotan sent envoys to dedicate themselves, saying: "Xi Rong is Shu, the king of Qiang and Qianglai, poetry, and calligraphy are beautiful." The Western Regions were destroyed and the Sennei were destroyed, and their emissaries were sent to care for them. "It is the post-Western Region Suitong, and the lieutenant of Peng Himself."
In August of the third year of the Huang Dynasty, Liu Bei was defeated at Yiling, and the Shu generals Huang Quan and Nan Commandery Taishou Shihe and three hundred and eighteen other people were cut off from retreating, and they had no choice but to surrender to Cao Wei. Cao Pi specifically ordered The Jingzhou Assassin Shi Haosheng to entertain Huang Quan and others, and later, Cao Pi put wine in the imperial capital and personally received and appeased Huang Quan, not only giving Huang Quan and other financial relics, but also "discussing the success or failure of the military service" for them. Huang Quan and the others were very happy because of this, and completely submitted to Cao Wei.
2. Respect the old courtiers
Yang Biao was an old man of the late Han Dynasty and was very loyal to the Han Dynasty, so he was included in the big list that Cao Cao had to remove. However, Cao Pi declared himself empress dowager, but was ready to appoint Yang Biao as a lieutenant. Yang Biao retorted: "I used to be the third duke of the Han Dynasty, and when I encountered social turmoil, I could not help the Han Dynasty by inch; now being a vassal of Wei is not honorable for the country to choose talents." Cao Pi did not appoint him.
In October of the fourth year of the Huang Dynasty, Cao Pi also gave Yang Biao the Scepter of Prolongation, which could be relied upon, allowed him to wear a single garment made of cloth and wear a leather crown that was usually used in the dynasty, and appointed him as the Guanglu Doctor, with the rank of Zhongliang 2,000 stones; at the time of the court, the rank was second only to that of Taiwei, Situ, and Sikong; he was allowed to use "walking horses" in front of the door, and set up officials and soldiers to show preferential treatment and respect.
Cao Pi had such respect for Yang Biao, the widow of the former dynasty, not to mention the respect of his relative Cao Ren and Wang Lang, Jia Xu, Liu Xi, Xin Bi, Liu Ye, Hua Xin, and others who were loyal to Cao Wei.
3. Broaden the path of speech and implement indoctrination
Cao Pi was proclaimed emperor for only seven years, but in this short period of seven years, Cao Pi issued many relevant edicts in order to broaden the way of speech and carry out indoctrination.
For example, in the autumn and July of the first year of the Huang Dynasty, Cao Pi ordered: "Xuanyuan has the discussion of Mingtai, and Fang Xun has the question of Qu Room, so it is widely consulted in xiaye." Hundreds of officials have divisions, their duties are due to their duties, they will lead Chen Junfa, the Ming system of Chaoshiming, the pastoral shou Shenzheng affairs, the jinshen examination of the six arts, and I will also look at it. ”
In the first month of the second year of the Huang Dynasty, Cao Pi ordered that each county with a population of 100,000 people must raise a filial piety to the imperial court every year, and if there were particularly outstanding talents, they would not be limited by the number of county hukou. He also ordered the construction of the old temple of Confucius in Lu County, placed hundreds of households to guard it, and built many rooms on its periphery to "live scholars" in the vicinity.
For another example, in April of the fifth year of the Huang Dynasty, Li Taixue made the method of the Five Classics Class Examination, and put Dr. Chunqiu Gu Liang. In May of the same year, it was stipulated that on the fifteenth day of the first month of each month, the secretary of state could "play suspicious things", Cao Pi "listened to the big government", and the monarchs and courtiers together "debated gains and losses".
In particular, it is worth mentioning that since the Qin Dynasty, there have been so-called "secret blessings" officials, and whenever there is a disaster, they will be transferred to subordinates. After Emperor Wen of Han ascended the throne, he ordered the abolition of the crime of slandering and slandering, so that his subordinates could boldly put forward different opinions, saying: "The officials of the secret blessing are moved too far down, and they are even more taken, and they are removed." ”
Cao Pi had issued similar edicts. In June of the second year of the Huang Dynasty, the eclipse appeared, and the relevant departments asked for the removal of the lieutenant. Cao Pi issued an edict: "If a work of calamity is condemned by the head of state, and it is returned to the humerus, is it not the righteousness of Yu Yu and Tang to sin against themselves?" He ordered the hundred officials to each hold a pious post, and after there was a heaven and earth, do not impeach the three dukes. ”
Of course, Cao Pi's example of Emperor Wen of Han was not blind worship. He not only hoped to learn from the merits of Emperor Wen of Han, but also tried to learn from Emperor Wen of Han.
Cao Pi believed that Emperor Wen of Han was unable to kill Bo Zhao, Xing Deng Tong, and Jian, and that his uncle's family should be raised with grace rather than by pretending to borrow power. In September of the third year of the Huang Dynasty, Cao Pi also issued a special edict saying: "Husband and wife and government, the basis of chaos." From now on, the courtiers shall not play the role of empress dowager, and the family of the hou clan shall not be allowed to serve as an auxiliary government, nor shall they be subject to the lordship of the maotu; in this way, the edict will be passed on to future generations, and if there is any disobedience, the whole world will condemn it. "Women are forbidden to interfere in politics.
In short, as a super fan of Emperor Wendi of Han, Cao Pi sought to emulate Emperor Wen of Han in many political initiatives, hoping that he could become a wise emperor like Emperor Wendi of Han. However, Cao Pi still failed to become a Ming Emperor who was praised by posterity like Emperor Wen of Han, what was the problem?
Second, why Cao Pi could not become a Ming Jun
As we mentioned earlier, when Cao Pi defended Emperor Wen of Han, he listed the four major advantages of Emperor Wen of Han, and on the whole, the first three points Cao Pi learned well and was a good student, but on the fourth point, that is, magnanimity, Cao Pi did not learn satisfactorily.
In June of the first year of Yankang, Cao Pi had just ascended the throne as the King of Wei, so he commanded his troops in the eastern suburbs and prepared for the southern expedition, and Zhonglang advised Xinping Huo to be sexually neglected, and the young and vigorous Cao Pi was furious and "killed him", and although he later repented, he could not be revived after death.
Cao Pi loves to hunt. In the first year of the Huang Dynasty, Dai Ling, a lieutenant of the Changshui School, advised Cao Pi not to go out hunting frequently, and Cao Pi was furious and sentenced Dai Ling to "reduce the death penalty by one degree", that is, to suspend his death.
Bao Xin's son Bao Xun had a righteous disposition, and when he was the crown prince, he ignored Cao Pi's intercession and executed the brother of Lady Guo, who had committed the crime, thus offending Cao Pi. Cao Pi was proclaimed empress dowager, and Bao Xun repeatedly slandered cao pi, which further angered Cao Pi. Later, because Bao Xun also advised Cao Pi not to go out hunting often, Cao Pi actually took the opportunity to kill Bao Xun directly.
In the autumn and August of the second year of the Huang Dynasty, Sun Quan, in response to Liu Bei's attack, made overtures to Cao Wei and sent people to repatriate Yu Ban, who had previously surrendered to Guan Yu at the Battle of Fancheng. Cao Pi was superficially polite to the forbidden guests, but secretly he used the means to order people to draw Guan Yu Zhan Ke, Pound De's anger, and Yu Ban's surrender in front of Cao Cao's mausoleum. When Yu Ban went to visit Cao Cao's mausoleum, he saw the painting and finally died of illness in shame.
Cao Pi did this to his courtiers, as well as to his own brother Cao Zhi. Cao Zhi was once hated by Cao Pi for having a dispute with Cao Pi for taking a wife, and after Cao Pi became emperor, he took strict precautions against Cao Zhi, but due to the pressure of his mother's empress Bian Clan, Cao Pi did not dare to kill Cao Zhi several times, so that he was farther and farther away from the court.
In addition, Cao Pi also ignored the advice of Jia Xu, Liu Ye and others, and sent two large-scale troops to Eastern Wu in the third year of the Huang Chu and the sixth year of the Huang Chu, respectively, but in the end they all returned without success, and the people were hurt and the wealth was hurt.
Because of this, Chen Shou, the author of the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", said in his comment on Cao Pi: "Emperor Wen is talented and literate, written into chapters, knowledgeable and knowledgeable, talented and talented, if coupled with the degree of openness, encouraged with fair sincerity, Mai Zhi Cun Dao, Ke Guang de heart, then the ancient sage lord, How far away there is! ”?
Chen Shou's implication is that although Cao Pi is talented and intelligent, he lacks magnanimity and is not long-term enough. And an emperor who lacks both magnanimity and long-term vision will naturally not be able to become a generation of Ming emperors.