Was Sima Yi the last winner of the Eastern Han Dynasty?
In this article, I will talk to you about this topic.
If you look at the fact that your descendants can take power and become emperors, Sima Yi is indeed the last winner of the Eastern Han Dynasty.
The ancient literati pursued the flow of the hundred generations, Sima Yi did not enjoy. However, he himself was obviously a loyal vassal of the four dynasties and an old vassal of the three dynasties, but in the end he was characterized as a thief who had usurped the Han. Therefore, from the perspective of Sima Yi himself, when his original ideals were diametrically opposed to the final result, he was a complete loser.
Sima Yi's contributions in the State of Wei were comparable to Zhuge Liang's contributions in the State of Shu, but one of these two men was a loyal vassal who had been in exile for hundreds of generations in history, and the other had become a traitor and thief who had been left behind for thousands of years, and the deep-seated things in it were worth pondering deeply by our future generations.
Today I'll still say three questions:
1. A person as his name is, on the importance of nicknames.
2. Was Sima Yi a loyalist or a traitor?
3. How exactly was Sima Yi's reputation corrupted?
Let's start with the issue of nicknames.
Zhuge Liang's nickname is Wolong, Jiang Wei's nickname is Youqi, Pang Tong's nickname is Fengyan, Dragon Qilin and Phoenix, which are all ancient beasts. Only Sima Yi's nickname was Tsukasa Tiger, which means tiger next to the tomb. This sounds like a fierce beast.
If the tiger had been lurking around the grave, it would have foreshadowed that the tiger would not even spare the corpses of its enemies and would have eaten them clean. This is also more in line with Sima Yi's personality of being good at concealing patience and being full of conspiracies.
Sima Yi and Zhuge Liang were brothers in the same discipline, and their knowledge was comparable. But in the end, the Sima family was able to stand out and establish a unified dynasty. In the final analysis, it was because Sima Yi could endure it, and he could live.
Being able to serve as an official under Cao Cao, who is known for his suspicions, for more than 20 years, and his wealth and safety can rise step by step, this is itself a kind of great wisdom.
In the end, Sima Yi survived Cao Cao, zhuge liang, and all those able people who threatened him. It has also become a fact that the three horses are in the same groove. Even Chairman Mao thought that Sima Yi was much more advanced than Zhuge Liang in terms of concealment and forbearance.
Let's talk about whether Sima Yi was a loyal minister or a traitor?
Sima Yi was about the same age as Cao Pi, so a wise person like Cao Cao did not expect that Sima Yi would live so long and Cao Pi would live so short.
While Cao Pi was alive, Sima Yi was one of his hardcore confidants. A few years later, before the untimely death of Cao Pi, who was in his 30s, he introduced his confidant Sima Yi to his son Cao Rui as a chancellor of the Great Trust.
When Cao Rui was in power, Sima Yi was still loyal, and people were not as good as heaven, who knew that a few years later, Cao Rui also died young.
Before his death, Cao Rui introduced Sima Yi as his vassal to his next emperor, Cao Fang.
At this time, Sima Yi was already an old minister of the Three Dynasties, and the two dynasties were entrusted with a lonely and important minister. If he died at this time, then Sima Yi would definitely be a loyal subject.
However, a change occurred: Cao Shuang, who was also a boneless spring, suppressed Sima Yi again and again and deprived him of military power. Sima Yi was also monitored.
In order to protect themselves, Sima Yi's father and son launched the Gaopingling Rebellion. Got rid of Cao Shuang. Please note that Sima Yi at this time is already 70 years old. And a generation of tyrants Cao Cao has been dead for almost 30 years.
If Sima Yi really had a disobedient heart, it was from the beginning of getting rid of Cao Shuang, because only when the fate was in his own hands, his family would be safe. With the death of Cao Shuang, the power of the Cao clan in the dynasty was gradually replaced and eliminated by the Sima family.
But Sima Yi and Cao Cao had one thing in common: Cao Cao was a Hanchen until his death, and Sima Yi was a Wei chen until his death. Maybe they were all thinking of being zhou wen wang-like figures.
How exactly was Sima Yi's reputation corrupted?
Realistically speaking, after the Sima family gained power and unified the world, the country's economy was relatively prosperous, and the chaotic situation at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty was improved to a certain extent. There was even the rule of Taikang, which was the life of infinite people in the world.
Therefore, at the end of the Cao Wei regime and the early Western Jin Dynasty, the rule of the Sima family was still recognized by the people.
The problem arose when the Eight Kings of the Jin Dynasty rebelled, and the princes of the Sima family provoked an internal war for power. If it's just internal strife, the Rebellion of the Eight Kings has triggered a major event, and that is the Five Hu Chaos in the back!
Deducing from the result of Wuhu Chaohua, if Sima Yan did not usurp the throne and did not establish the Western Jin Dynasty, there might not have been Wuhu Chaohua, and if Sima Yi did not launch the Gaopingling Rebellion, the regime might still be in the hands of Cao Wei, and there would not necessarily be Wuhu Chaohua.
As a result, Sima Yi's reputation gradually began to decline, and in the Ming Dynasty, with the widespread promotion of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, the image of Zhuge Liang's generation of loyal subjects was established, and Sima Yi, as Zhuge Liang's main opponent, must be a sinister and cunning spokesman.
Therefore, Sima Yi was carrying the pot of bad things that his descendants did.