In 249, the 70-year-old Sima Yi launched the Gaopingling Rebellion, took control of the imperial palace and the capital Luoyang, and in the name of Empress Guo, ordered the dismissal of the general Cao Shuang. At this time, it had been 29 years since Cao Cao's death, and most of his old subordinates were ancient, but there was such an old subordinate who not only did not prevent Sima Yi from launching the Gaopingling Rebellion, but also aided and abetted abuse. It was precisely because he wrote a letter to Cao Shuang, promising Cao Shuang that he would only remove him from office and keep his glory and wealth. Unexpectedly, in the end, Sima Yi turned his face and did not recognize anyone, and exterminated Cao Shuang and his henchmen.
Who is he? He was Tai Wei Jiang Ji. Then, why did Jiang Ji help Sima Yi seize power? The reason why he sided with Sima Yi and wrote a letter to persuade Cao Shuang to surrender had the following three reasons.
First, Jiang Ji and Sima Yi worked together for many years and had a close relationship.
Jiang Ji (蒋吉), zi tong (字子通), and Sima Yi (司馬懿) were one of Cao Cao's few living subordinates. In his early years, he was appointed as the Taishou of Danyang by Cao Cao, and soon after he was promoted to the position of lord of the XiangFu Prefecture, Bo, and the subordinate of Western Cao, he advised Cao Cao and began his career in life. During the reign of Emperor Cao Pi of Wei and Emperor Cao Rui of Wei Ming, Jiang Ji successively served as a general of Dongzhong Lang, Shangshu, Zhonghu Army, General of The Protector Army, and a regular attendant of scattered horses.
After Cao Fang succeeded to the throne, Jiang Ji was transferred to the post of leading general and marquis of Changling pavilion, and later he became a lieutenant. Jiang Ji and Sima Yi were officials of the same dynasty, often dealing with each other, having official contacts, coming and going, and the two had close relations. For example, both Jiang Ji and Sima Yi served as subordinate officials of the Chu Xiang Mansion, Jiang Ji was the main book and the Western Cao genus, and Sima Yi was the main book and the Eastern Cao genus. The two are colleagues who see each other every day and get along well. When Guan Yu flooded the Seventh Army and threatened Huaxia, Jiang Ji and Sima Yi both persuaded Cao Cao at the same time that there was no need to worry too much, that the capital could not be moved, and that guan Yu should be jointly attacked by an alliance with Eastern Wu.
Second, Jiang Ji was dissatisfied with Cao Shuang's elevation of himself.
In the third year of the Jing Dynasty (239), the Wei Ming Emperor Cao Rui died, and Cao Fang the Prince of Qi took the throne, and Jiang Jiping was transferred to the leading general and made the Marquis of Changlingting. Soon, Cao Shuang adopted the scheme of his close confidant Ding Mi and adopted the method of ming ascension and secret surrender, promoting Sima Yi to a taifu with "a respectable position and no real power", and promoting the leading general Jiang Ji to a taiwei, so that the position of leading general was vacant. At this time, Cao Shuang appointed his second brother Cao Xi as the leader of the middle army, Cao Xun as the general of Wu Wei, and Cao Yan as the general of the scattered horse, and at this point, the Cao Shuang brothers completely controlled the forbidden army of the Beijing Division.
Originally, Jiang Ji served as a leading general and held real power, but he was promoted to lieutenant and his power was constrained. Whoever you change will not be satisfied in your heart. Therefore, he secretly plotted with Sima Yi and others who were obscure in Taoguang, and prepared to find an opportunity to kill Cao Shuang and restore his power. Both Jiang Ji and Sima Yi were elevated by Cao Shuang and both lost real power, "the same fallen man at the end of the world." The Romance of the Three Kingdoms records the following:
King Qi ascended the throne, and he became the leading general, the Marquis of Changlingting, and the Lieutenant of Qian.
Third, Jiang Ji may really be thinking about Cao Wei.
At that time, the general Cao Shuang squeezed out another minister, Sima Yi, and monopolized power, like a powerful minister. He claustrophobic Empress Guo vigorously promoted his brothers and cronies, excluded dissidents, and accepted the talents of Emperor Cao Rui of Wei Ming, acting arbitrarily. In short, Cao Shuang at this time is too bad to talk about, and someone needs to come out to rectify it. In the face of Cao Shuang's dictatorship and the change of the law many times, Jiang Ji really couldn't look at it anymore, and he told the emperor:
"Now the two thieves have not been destroyed, the soldiers have been exposed for decades, men and women are resentful, and the people are poor. If the husband is the law of the country, but the world's great talent, can he zhang Qigangwei to hang behind, is it appropriate for the officials of the middle and lower to change it? In the end, it is not beneficial to cure, it is appropriate to hurt the people, and it is hoped that it is advisable to make the ministers of culture and martial arts perform their duties, and to lead to peace, then the harmony and auspiciousness can be felt. ”
The above carelessness is that now Wu and Shu have not perished, and after decades of conquest, the soldiers have suffered heavy casualties, are homeless, and the people are poor. The laws of the state do not allow the mediocre to change at will. In the end, this will not only be of no benefit to the prosperity of the country, but also harm the interests of the people. Only when the civilian and military generals do their duty, can the country be peaceful and prosperous, and become stronger and stronger.
Jiang Ji, who was worried about the country and the people, saw that Cao Wei had gone astray and put forward his own reasonable views, which was beyond reproach. At this time, Cao Shuang, who held great power, was even more disgusted with him and ignored him. This deeply hurt the heart of the old minister Jiang Ji, and he and Cao Shuang gradually drifted apart and moved closer to Sima Yi's side.
Summary: The above three points are the reasons why Jiang Ji helped Sima Yi and wrote a letter to persuade Cao Shuang to surrender. In fact, in addition to these three reasons, there is also a possible reason that Sima Yi, as the representative of the Shi clan, competed with the Cao Wei clan for power. Although Jiang Ji was an old subordinate of Cao Cao, time has passed, and Cao Cao has been dead for decades, and his feelings have faded.
The difference is that Jiang Ji may really be thinking about the healthy development of Cao Wei, he is thinking of deposing Cao Shuang, who has the dictatorship, not to exterminate him, and he did not expect Sima Yi to uproot him and exterminate his three tribes. Jiang Ji was also ashamed and died in the same year.