In the third year of the Jing Dynasty (239 AD), Emperor Wei Ming died of illness, and the eight-year-old crown prince Cao Fang succeeded to the throne, and the general Cao Shuang and the taiwei Sima Yi were appointed as the ministers of the Orphans; although Sima Yi had gone through four dynasties, Cao Shuang was both a clan and a great general, so Sima Yi chose Taoguang to raise obscurity after Ming Sheng secretly demoted to taifu, but secretly he was accumulating strength and seeking opportunities to turn the tables.
In the first month of the first decade (249 AD), Sima Yi, who had been dormant for a long time, took advantage of the fact that Cao Fang and the Cao Shuang brothers who held military power went out to worship their ancestors, and launched the Gaopingling Change (also known as the Change of the Beginning) that changed the historical process of the Three Kingdoms, although Sima Yi finally won the victory, but from the perspective of the comparison of strength between the two sides, in fact, Sima Yi won a very lucky, it can be said that he was victorious in danger, so how many trump cards did Cao Shuang hold in his hand? Sima Yi: Fortunately, he fell without a fight, so let's take a look at them one by one.
The first trump card: The Son of Heaven in hand
Cao Fang ascended the throne at the age of 8, and was already 18 years old in 249, although Sima Yi won the support of Empress Guo during the Gaopingling Rebellion (the reason why Empress Guo supported Sima Yi was half forced, and half was dissatisfied with Cao Shuang, because Cao Shuang put Empress Guo under house arrest at Yongning Palace for the purpose of achieving dictatorship), but Cao Fang was the emperor of Cao Wei, as long as the Son of Heaven was still on Cao Shuang's side, Sima Yi issued an edict in the name of Empress Guo, which was actually unjustified, as long as Cao Fang issued an edict saying that Sima Yi had rebelled, the nature would be completely different. Sima Yi will be very passive.
Second trump card: The Great General's Seal
Cao Shuang was a great general who could nominally mobilize the world's soldiers and horses.
The third trump card: the Great Sinong Seal
Dasi Nong was one of the Nine Qings, in charge of taxes, qiangu, salt and iron, and the state's financial revenue and expenditure, at that time, DaSi Nong was Cao Shuang's think tank Huan Fan, huan fan was still in Luoyang City at the time of the coup, when Huan Fan seized the door and came out, Sima Yi was also shocked: "The wisdom bag is going to die!" ”
Huan Fan Dasi Nong was printed in his hand, and at least he could requisition grain and grass from all over the world.
Fourth trump card: Xuchang has an arsenal
The "Records of Yuanhe County" records: "Wei moved the capital to Luoyang, and the palace and arsenal were still in Xuchang. ”
In 221, Cao Pi claimed that although the emperor had set the capital luoyang, Xuchang, as the last capital of the Eastern Han Dynasty, was still one of the five capitals of Cao Wei, and the arsenal (arsenal) was still in Xuchang and did not move to Luoyang, as long as Cao Shuang quickly rushed to Xuchang, he could quickly arm the army.
The fifth trump card: the support of local power factions with heavy troops
Cao Wei had three major theaters of war where troops were assembled, namely the Huainan Army on the Eastern Front, the Jingxiang Army on the Southern Front, and the Yongliang Army on the Western Front, and although Sima Yi had deep roots in the army, his tentacles almost never reached the Huainan Army on the Eastern Front (this can be seen from the three rebellions in Huainan that broke out three consecutive rebellions after Sima Shi came to power), and the General Wang Ling who controlled the military power on the Eastern Front at that time had a good relationship with Cao Shuang and was a close associate of Cao Shuang, so Wang Ling would not hesitate to stand up for Cao Shuang.
The supreme military commander of the Yongliang Legion at that time was the General Xiahou Xuan of Zhengxi, Xiahou Xuan was the son of Xiahou Shang, and also Cao Shuang's cousin, with the relationship between Cao and Xiahou, there was no doubt that Xiahou Xuan would definitely support Cao Shuang, although there was another Guo Huai in the Yongliang Legion who had a good relationship with Sima Yi, but before the situation was clear, as long as Cao Fang announced Sima Yi's rebellion, then Guo Huai could only stand with Xiahou Xuan.
The Jingxiang Legion is difficult to say, because the Jingzhou Assassin Shi Hu at that time was a close associate of Sima Yi, but the weakest of Cao Wei's three major heavy army groups was the Jingxiang Legion, and in the case of the Huainan Army and the Yongliang Army taking sides with Cao Shuang, even if the Jingxiang Army supported Sima Yi or remained neutral, it had little impact on the overall situation.
The Zizhi Tongjian records: "Qing and the Son of Heaven are with each other, and they are in the world, and who dares to do it!" The Qingbei camp is near Quenan, and Luoyang Diannongzhi is outside the city, calling for Ruyi. Now Xuchang, but Zhongju, Xuchang Beku, the foot is fake; the worries should be in the grain, and the seal of the Great Sinong is on my body. ”
The change of Gao Pingling (the change of the beginning) was originally a military adventure under Sima Yi's Jedi counterattack, the strength of the two sides was very different, Sima Yi's chances of victory were really not great, he should secretly congratulate Cao Shuang for surrendering without a fight. Grand Si Nong Huan Fan saw very clearly that as long as Cao Shuang had the determination and courage to let go, quickly went south to Xuchang to declare Sima Yi's rebellion in the name of Tianzi Cao Fang, and called on the world to fight the king of warriors and horses, even if Sima Yi had the support of Empress Guo and the shi family, it would be difficult to escape the fate of the failure of the coup.
Unfortunately, Cao Shuang, who originally had a chance to win, wasted five trump cards in vain, and finally chose to tie his hands and grab them, and the painstaking efforts of cao Wei generations were lost in his hands.