On his deathbed, Emperor Ming of Wei designated Cao Shuang as the chancellor of the Orphans, and Cao Shuang soon seized power over the State of Wei and vacated another chancellor, Sima Yi. However, when Sima Yi launched the Gaopingling coup, Cao Shuang was helpless and was taken down by Sima Yi in one fell swoop and cursed. Some people think that Cao Shuang is a straw bag, and some people think that Cao Shuang was once able to lift Sima Yi, indicating that he is not a straw bag. So, let's talk about how Cao Shuang went from a cadre to a fool.
Cao Shuang was an internal courtier, and loyalty was the first.
When Emperor Ming of Wei was dying, he was originally designated as five ministers, who were the great general Cao Yu the Prince of Yan, and below them were the leading general Xiahou Xian, the Wuwei general Cao Shuang, the Tun Riding Colonel Cao Zhao, and the Xiao riding general Qin Lang, all of whom were descendants of "Marquis Cao of Zhuxia", and although Qin Lang was not, he was Cao Cao's adopted son. Later, there were repetitions, and the final list of ministers became Cao Shuang, Sima Yi, Liu Fang, and Sun Zi. Why is there repetition? It was said that Cao Yu, the King of Yan, had retreated, and Liu Fang and Sun Zi were at odds with Xiahou Xian, fearing revenge, so they suggested that Emperor Wei summon Sima Yi to come. One said that Emperor Wei Ming himself had repeatedly asked who could correspond to Sima Yi, and Sun Zi Liu Fang said that it was Cao Shuang. In any case, two things are certain, that is, there are Cao Shuang in both lists, and Cao Shuang eventually becomes a great general. Emperor Wei Mingdi was a little embarrassed when he was dying, but in any case, this list was still approved by him. In particular, the person who entered this list, Cao Shuang, is not controversial, only Sima Yi. Or is it that Emperor Wei Ming had managed to get Sima Yi to the northwest and completed the layout of not letting the aliens take charge of the army in the center, which was not equivalent to abandoning the previous achievements? In fact, this cannot be said to be the coercion of Emperor Wei Ming, on the contrary, he knew very well that the old Cao family had entered the second and third generations, and it was already a talent wither, and then looking back at the first list, was there a person with the ability and fame? Therefore, people like Sima Yi really can't not use it. It can also be imagined that as long as the great general has always been in the hands of the old Cao family, using Sima Yi's experience and using him to come up with ideas on major matters, why not? Why is there Cao Shuang in both lists? Cao Shuang was a general of the Wu Wei, which was a position that required the most loyalty, and he was also a member of the old Cao family, and his heavy responsibility of entrusting him to the orphan was a matter of course. As for the issue of ability, I am afraid that it is not considered, at least it will not be prioritized. It was the reality of that era, not just a matter of those days.
Cao Shuang was the first minister among the orphans
After making this list, Emperor Wei Summoned Cao Shuang to his bedroom and appointed him as a great general, a false eunuch, who supervised all Chinese and foreign militaries, and recorded Shangshu shi, that is, established his position as the first ruling minister. In the absence of a chancellor, the great general himself was the first minister, and Emperor Wei Ming gave Cao Shuang more. Comparing Liu Bei's will to orphans, is it that in addition to not letting Cao Fang call Cao Shuang "Zhong's father", zhuge liang and Li Yan's power was added to Cao Shuang alone? Does Sima Yi have this right to treat? This also shows from another aspect that even if Sima Yi was recalled, Emperor Wei Ming did not let go, but left a hand.
Of course, Sima Yi was after all an old minister of the Three Dynasties, and Cao Fang's grandfather Cao Pi, Cao Shuang's father Cao Zhen was a generation of people, and Cao Shuang gave him the respect he deserved. Sima Yi also deliberately backed down because Cao Shuang was the "heart of Wei", that is, Cao's own family, and the relationship between the two was fair. But power is not always polite, sometimes it has boundaries, such as personnel appointments. Cao Shuang first converted Sima Yi to Taifu in the name of the emperor, and the Romance of the Three Kingdoms said that Ding Mi gave him the idea to consolidate his power. Here, Cao Shuang did not use much strength, and Sima Yi did not have any unusual behavior, the reason was that the difference between the first and second was too big. In the following situation, Cao Shuang placed several of his younger brothers in important civil and military positions in the inner court, basically taking the emperor into his own hands. Further down, Cao Shuang used He Yan, Deng Biao, Li Sheng, Ding Mi, Bi Rail, and others to control the key posts of Shangshu Yamen and further empty Sima Yi. So it is said that it was used again because these people were denounced because of their glitz during the Wei Ming Emperor period. These people, in turn, only loyal to Cao Shuang and did not report to Sima Yi when they had official duties, so Cao Shuang's power was even heavier. When these people asked Cao Shuang to "establish a prestige" and propose to cut down Shu, Sima Yi "could not forbid it." Why it cannot be banned can only be the role of power. On the other hand, Sima Yi could not directly connect with the emperor, and on the other hand, all the things of Shangshu Yamen would no longer pass through Sima Yi here, and what would sima Yi's actual power be empty?
Of course, Cao Shuang could make Sima Yi idle with certain means, such as the series of personnel appointments above, after all, these people were not Sima Yi's people. However, it is not necessary to think on this basis how much he has the means and strategy, because he is already in the first place, and it is much easier to overthrow Sima Yi than sima Yi to overthrow him. How big is the difference? Cao Shuang made it easy for Sima Yi to stand aside, and only needed to borrow the name of the emperor; Sima Yi's overthrow of Cao Shuang was called a coup d'état, and he had to take the lives of his whole family or even the whole clan to use the army. Let's take another example of Li Yan and Zhuge Liang. Didn't Li Yan want to bring down Zhuge Liang? If he didn't want to, what would he do with so many conspiracies? However, he painstakingly set up a set to make Zhuge Liang withdraw his troops, and pretended to say good things for Zhuge Liang, but the results were of no use at all. In turn, Zhuge Liang put the past events on the court, and Li Yan was immediately defeated. Don't think that Zhuge Liang's "xiang father" is much more noble than Cao Shuang, and it is far worse than the same Cao clan. Is Cao Shuang the Cao Clan? There is no doubt about it. Emperor Ming of Wei had an edict saying of Cao Zhen: "The favor of relatives is not respected within." The history books say that Cao Shuang, "less respectful of the clan room", was loved by Emperor Ming of Wei. Therefore, regardless of whether Cao Shuang's grandfather was surnamed Cao or not, when his father Cao Zhen came here, he was a member of the old Cao family.
To put it simply, Cao Shuang's overthrow of Sima Yi is not how talented he is, and what really works may only be the lever of power. And what he did was really straw bag plus stupidity. By the way, between Cao Shuang and Sima Yi, there is no one-or-or between right and wrong, there is only a struggle for power between them, no more.
Ding Biao and others wanted Cao Shuang to establish a strong will and persuade him to cut shu, and Cao Shuang agreed. Such a war operation, without any campaign purpose or operational plan, can only be rushed into battle. When the operation encountered difficulties, Cao Shuang not only did not have a plan and method to solve the problem, but he could not even decide to continue fighting and quickly withdraw his troops. Can such a person not be said to be a straw bale? Before the gaopingling change, Huan Fan warned Cao Shuang that it was not appropriate for his brothers to go out at the same time, saying that once someone closed the city gate, how would you return to the city? Cao Shuang said, who dares to do this! There is no one left in that arrogance and invincibility. But when it came to the coup d'état, Cao Shuang did nothing but sigh. If this is really a straw bag placed there, the ignition can burn, the wind can move, but Cao Shuang does nothing. Was Sima Yi's plan really flawless? The emperor was in Cao Shuang's hands, which was Sima Yi's biggest weakness. Why didn't Sima Yi directly ask for Cao Shuang's life at the beginning? He repeatedly sent people to persuade him to offer generous conditions for exoneration as long as he handed over power, simply because the emperor was not in his hands. Not to mention that he Cao Shuang should also put the army on alert for the safety of the emperor, nor should he say that once an unexpected situation occurs, he should immediately mobilize the army he has mastered, that is, after the arrival of the Great Si Nong Huan Fan, the people have already explained the stakes, there should always be some action, Cao Shuang is nothing.
People say that Cao Shuang is a straw bag, mainly referring to his performance in these two major events. People in his position do not necessarily do everything themselves, but in a critical moment, determination is a must. It is a pity that Cao Shuang does not have such an ability, on the contrary, his luxurious life has crossed the boundary, not only is it the same as the emperor, but also directly to the emperor and talents, using The Taile instrument, even his brother can't look down.
Sima Yi violated his promise, exterminated Cao Shuang's clan, and exterminated Cao Shuang's party, which was indeed a black-hearted and hot-hearted, beginning with a bad example, for which it is not an exaggeration to say that Sima Shuang's country was not right, and there was no political morality, but this did not prove that Cao Shuang was not a straw bag. At the very least, he began to become corrupt and degenerate as soon as he came to power, which was a complete fool. In fact, today to say whether Cao Shuang is capable or straw bale is really superfluous, the party in the change of Gao Pingling, Huan Fan, that is, Cao Shuang's think tank, has been conclusive, he said: "Cao Zidan is so capable, how can a person with such a capable calf come out!" ”