We read all the lead to present a different history.
As we all know, Sima Yi was the last victor in the Three Kingdoms era at the end of the Han Dynasty, and the Three Kingdoms were eventually unified by the Western Jin Dynasty. However, Sima Yi came to prominence much later than other famous figures in the Three Kingdoms, and it was not until Cao Cao's conquest of Zhang Lu that he left the first record of his dedication in the history books.
Sima Yi was appointed literary scholar by Cao Cao in the thirteenth year of Jian'an (208), and Zhuge Wuhou was a fledgling in the twelfth year of Jian'an (207), and the two debuted almost at the same time. If this is the case, why did Sima Yi, who debuted at the same time as Zhuge Liang, not get ahead until the late Cao Cao period?
First of all, Sima Yi was from a large family, and some of the younger ones looked down on Cao Cao, who was the grandson of a eunuch, and was reluctant to serve Cao Cao. In the sixth year of Jian'an (201), Cao Cao recruited Sima Yi to be an official in his own palace, and as a result, Sima Yi played a "fraudulent illness to earn Cao Cao", that is, he did not go.
In the thirteenth year of Jian'an, Sima Yi saw that Cao Cao had already achieved great things, and he was afraid that he would not have a chance to go out of the mountain again. Moreover, Cao Cao sent people to say to Sima Yi very kindly: "If you repeat Huan, you will receive it (if you continue to delay, you will be arrested and imprisoned)." Sima Yi had to accept Cao Cao's conscription.
After such a toss, Sima Yi's enthusiasm for work when he first debuted was greatly reduced, and Cao Cao was also suspicious of Sima Yi, resulting in Sima Yi holding middle-level officials in the chancellor's mansion and the imperial court for many years. If he had not become friends with Cao Pi in time, Sima Yi would have done nothing in this life.
Secondly, when Sima Yi first debuted, Cao Cao Group was full of talents. In terms of seniority, age, and political status at that time, Sima Yi simply could not compete with Xun Yu, Xun You, Jia Xu, and Cheng Yu, and it was not easy not to be turned into "black under the lights" by these elders.
In the later period of Cao Cao's reign, Xun Yu, Xun You, Jia Xu, and Cheng Yu, the elders and important ministers, either died or retired in old age, and Sima Yi gained room for development. In contrast, Liu Bei Group has fewer talents, so Zhuge Wuhou has a lot of room to show his skills when he is just starting out.