The Sima family was particularly able to give birth, and Sima Yi's father Sima Fang gave birth to 8 sons, known as Sima Bada. Sima Yi himself had 9 sons, Sima Zhao also had 9 sons, not to mention Sima Yan, who had 26 sons. And their children are still living a long life.
We have seen Sima Yi's longevity, surviving the death of Cao Cao, Cao Pi, Cao Rui, and Zhuge Liang, and finally seizing power at the age of 73. In fact, this is not a big deal in the Sima family, his younger brother Sima Fu lived 93 years old, his son Sima Fu worked for 80 years, his father Sima Fang still lived 71 years old, three generations on longevity, Sima Yi can only rank third.
Therefore, it is no wonder that the Sima family can win the world, and there are many descendants, and they occupy more official positions in the dynasty. The life expectancy is relatively long, then the time to hold the power is also relatively long. Their family's usurpation of power has an innate advantage.
However, there are more descendants, and there will be a very troublesome thing, that is, infighting. The building always collapsed internally, and after Sima Yi's death, Sima Shi and Sima Zhao took power at the same time, so why didn't they have infighting?
First, Sima Shi had no sons.
From a physiological point of view, Sima Shi did not have a son, and his wife Xiahou Hui bore him 5 daughters in one go, and Sima Shi was discouraged from then on.
So is Sima Shi such a daughter-in-law? That's not true, the wife Xiahou Hui was poisoned by the angry Sima Shi, and the 5 daughters did not have a mother? So Sima Shi found a second daughter-in-law, Wu Shi.
As a result, before Wu could give Sima Shi's children, he abolished them for unknown reasons. After that, Sima Shi asked for a third wife, that is, Yang Huiyu.
Yang Huiyu was born into the famous Taishan Yang family, and his mother was Cai Wenji's sister, which was enough to satisfy Sima Shi. Unfortunately, Yang Huiyu still did not give Sima Shi a son and a half daughter.
Therefore, throughout his life, Sima Shi did not have his own biological sons. At least in the historical records, his wife did not give birth to a son for him.
The Sima family is a member of the shi clan, so it attaches great importance to blood, except for the children born to the wife, the children born out of the family basically have no status to speak of. Therefore, we can think that Sima Shi had no sons.
After that, he gave birth to his younger brother Sima Zhao, who had 9 sons, and it was too pitiful to see that his brother was working so hard, so he passed on his second son Sima You to his brother Sima Shi.
Emperor Jing was childless and had a life as an heir. From Zheng Wang Ling, feng Changle Ting Marquis. --- Book of Jin
In this way, Sima Shike has his own son, don't think that it is not appropriate to pass on. At that time, the status of heirs was not much higher than that of the concubines, so even the heirs who had succeeded were of higher status than the sons of their own sons. In the future, it will also be heirs who will inherit the family property, not the sons.
Since Sima Shi's family property will all belong to Sima You in the future, what else will Sima Zhao be fighting for? Fighting around, all of them were their own sons, so the two brothers were as good as one person.
Second, the Sima family is in danger of extinction if it is not careful.
Don't think that Sima Yi has laid a good foundation for these two brothers, and they can sit back and relax. In fact, what Sima Yi left for them was an incomparably dangerous mess.
Sima Yi had absolute authority over Cao Wei's martial arts, which all ministers recognized. Therefore, when Sima Yi was in power, he was in power and there was nothing wrong with him.
However, after Sima Yi's death, Sima Zhao and Sima Shi took power, which is a bit unreasonable. After all, these two children had no merit, and they had not heard that the power of the courtiers could be hereditary.
Therefore, Sima Shi and Sima Zhao, if they wanted to maintain their family's position of power, they had to be on guard at all times. This is not an easy task.
They had to deal not only with the ministers loyal to Cao Wei in the court, but also with military generals all over the country who did not support the Sima family.
If one does not pay attention, the Sima family may be buried in the sea of fire. With so many opponents in the presence of so many opponents, do you think that if Sima Zhao and Sima Shi are still fighting among themselves, can this family still be saved?
When Sima Yi destroyed Cao Shuang's family, he had already embarked on the road of no return. In addition to holding great power all the time, the Sima family had no way to retreat, so the burden on Sima Shi and Sima Zhao was very heavy.
They had enough effort to deal with the ministers of the DPRK and the feudal officials, and they had no spare time to consume themselves. Didn't the three rebels in Huainan kill Sima Shi alive?
Third, Eastern Wu and Shu Han are still there, so why should the Sima family be suspicious?
In fact, to be honest, if Cao Wei did not have Sima Yi, he would also be facing the crisis of national subjugation. Although Eastern Wu has been playing soy sauce, Zhuge Liang of the Shu Han Dynasty is really moving.
For example, when Zhuge Liang was plotting against Meng Da, if Sima Yi did not kill Shangyong within 8 days, then Meng Da was determined to rebel successfully, and the land of Guanzhong was in jeopardy.
After Shu Han won the land of Longxi and Guanzhong, what do you think Cao Wei's chances of survival were? Coupled with The addition of Eastern Wu to add a fire, it was enough for Cao Wei to drink a pot.
Therefore, Sima Yi's role in Cao Wei was quite large, and this spirit of Sima Yi was actually passed on to his two sons. If you want to be proud of your family, you must first ensure that the country does not die.
Who gave you the power? If the Cao Wei clique died at the hands of Shu Han or Eastern Wu, then where is the possibility of the Survival of the Sima family? Therefore, in order to ensure the interests of one's own family, it is first necessary to ensure a strong deterrent force against Eastern Wu and Shu Han.
And this kind of deterrent power must be based on Cao Wei's relatively stable state. If those in power themselves are infighting, then this deterrent does not exist at all.
Fourth, one within the Lord and one outside the Lord.
Judging from sima yan's posthumous titles later, we can know the importance of sima shi. Sima Shi was the eldest son of Sima Yi, and the Eight Classics of Zheng'er had the right to inherit.
Sima Zhao, the second son, also had to obey his brother's arrangement. Therefore, the power of Cao Wei at that time was actually in the hands of Sima Shi. When the Gaopingling Rebellion was first launched, it was also Sima Shi's three thousand dead soldiers who made a great contribution.
He told him that the emperor was sleeping as usual, and Emperor Wen could not sit down. In the morning, the soldiers sima men calmed down inside and outside, and the formation was very neat. Emperor Xuan said, "This son can be." "In the beginning, Emperor Yin raised three thousand dead soldiers, scattered in the human world, and gathered in one dynasty, and the people did not know what they were out of. Shi Ping ,served as the Marquis of Changping Township with meritorious service, and was a general of The Thousand Households of Yiyi, and the General of Seeking Jia Wei. --- Book of Jin
After that, Sima Shi made proper arrangements for the work of the brothers, Sima Shi was responsible for external military affairs, and Sima Zhao was responsible for sitting in the court. In this way, the powers of the two will not intersect.
As long as there is no conflict of interest, there will generally be no infighting. Obviously, Sima Shi, who holds the power of the army, is a person who says one thing and one thing. Therefore, after Sima Yan ascended the throne, it was also forgivable to posthumously appoint Sima Shi as Emperor Jing.
Summary: Unity is an important guarantee for the prosperity of the family.
Before the Eight Banners entered the pass, Emperor Taiji suddenly died violently. Dorgon and his eldest nephew Hauge did not give in to each other, and both competed for the throne, almost sword-wrenching.
At this critical moment, both men took a step back, and neither of them wanted the throne, and instead let the 6-year-old Fu Lin become the emperor. Why did they choose to back down? Quite simply, because they are for the future of the Eight Flags Army.
If it had not yet entered the customs, it would have caused infighting, and the Eight Banners Army's attempt to sweep through the Central Plains was simply delusional. In the same way, if the brothers of the Sima family did not even replace Cao Wei and fought for power, then the Sima family would not last long.
In the midst of danger, only by holding hands with each other and the family striving for a common goal can it be possible for the family to grow gradually, otherwise it will only fall short.
References: Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Book of Jin
To read the history of the Three Kingdoms, you still have to start with the book "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", especially with Pei Songzhi's commentary, which will definitely change your view of the Three Kingdoms.