During the Three Kingdoms period, only two people were posthumously honored as "Zhongwu", the most well-known of whom was Zhuge Liang, the Shu Han chancellor, who bowed down and died and then made an immortal contribution to the Shu Han. Another person, who was also an important figure in the Three Kingdoms period, and their family finally succeeded in replacing Cao Wei and unifying the Three Kingdoms after three generations of efforts, he was Sima Yi's eldest son Sima Shi.
Zhuge Liang's "Zhongwu"
Zhuge Liang lived in seclusion in Longzhong in his early years, and later went out of the mountains through Liu Beisan's Gu Maolu and offered Liu Bei a three-point strategy for the world. When Cao Cao marched south to Jingzhou to defeat Liu Bei, Zhuge Liang personally went to Jiangdong as an envoy to form an alliance with Sun Quan, and Sun Liu's alliance defeated Cao Cao at the Battle of Chibi. When Cao Cao returned to the north, Zhuge Liang offered a plan to pacify the four counties of Jingnan, and finally Liu Bei had his own base.
In the sixteenth year of Jian'an (211), Liu Zhang, the mu of Yizhou, invited Liu Bei to go to Xichuan to fight Zhang Lu, while Zhuge Liang stayed in Jingzhou with Guan Yu and Zhang Fei. After Liu Bei broke with Liu Zhang, Zhuge Liang set out from Jingzhou and led his army to Yizhou to join Liu Bei's army, and Yizhou was pacified. Since then, Liu Bei has occupied Jingyi Erzhou and gradually has the foundation of three divisions of the world. In the first year of Zhang Wu 's reign ( 221 ) , Liu Bei was proclaimed emperor with the state name " Han " , and Zhuge Liang was appointed chancellor .
Before Liu Bei died, he summoned Zhuge Liang to the White Emperor's city to entrust him with a lonely position, and said to Zhuge Liang: "The juncai is ten times cao pi, and he will be able to secure the country and finally make great things happen." If the heir can be supplemented, he shall be supplemented; if he is not talented, he may take it upon himself. He also explained to the Lord Liu Chan: "Ru and Xiang xiang are engaged, and things are like fathers." This shows the degree of Liu Bei's trust in Zhuge Liang.
After Liu Bei's death, Zhuge Liang did not do anything wrong. In the inner Zhuge Liang went deep into the barren land of southern central China to quell the southern barbarians and internal strife; externally consolidated the alliance with Sun Wu, and repeatedly sent troops to northern Cao Wei, even dying on the way to the Northern Expedition. After Zhuge Liang's death, Liu Chan posthumously honored Zhuge Liang as the Marquis of Zhongwu.
Throughout Zhuge Liang's life, such a beautiful name as "Zhongwu" is indeed well-deserved. So, how did Sima Shi's Marquis of Zhongwu come to be?
Sima Shi's "Zhongwu"
As everyone knows, the Sima family's Jiangshan was "Zen Concession" from Cao Wei's hands, and Sima Shi's Marquis of Zhongwu was personally posthumously sealed by Emperor Cao Wei, which is a bit ironic for both Cao Wei and the Sima family. First of all, let's look at the life of Sima Shi.
Sima Shi was the eldest son of Sima Yi, the elder brother of Sima Zhao, and the uncle of Sima Yan, the Emperor wu of Jinwu. The Book of Jin commented that he was "elegant and colorful, Shen Yi was more ambitious, and less prestigious", but his first two wives were a bit miserable, the first wife Xiahou Hui was poisoned by him, and the second wife Wu Shi was abandoned by him.
During the Gaopingling Rebellion, Sima Shi gathered his own 3,000 dead soldiers to Sima Men and took control of Kyoto, creating conditions for Sima Yi's successful coup. After that, the Sima family firmly controlled cao wei's imperial power. In the third year of Jiaping (251), Sima Shi followed his father Sima Yi in quelling the rebellion of The Prince Ofe Wang Ling. After Sima Yi's death, Sima Shi held military and political power, during which time he first launched the Battle of Dongxing and was repelled by Wu Taifu Zhuge Ke, and then Zhuge Ke led an army of 200,000 to attack Hefei New City and was defeated by Sima Shi's troops.
In the second year of zhengyuan (255), Sima Shi personally led a large army, defeated the rebellious Zhendong generals Yuqiu Jian and Yangzhou assassin Shi Wenqin, Yiqiu Jian was killed by an arrow, and Wenqin fled to Eastern Wu. It was also in this year that Sima Shi's eye disease recurred and he died in Xuchang.
Emperor Cao of Wei went to mourn in plain clothes and ordered his courtiers to discuss the aftermath. Some ministers believed that Sima Shi,"Zhong'an Sheji, Gong Ji Yunei", should follow Huo Guang's precedent, add the title of Grand Sima and posthumously honor The Duke of Wu. Although Sima Shi is dead, the power is still in the hands of the Sima family, and tianzi only has his name. At this time, sima zhao was in power, that is, Sima Shi's younger brother. In this case, giving people the nickname of their brothers and sisters, of course, needs to be recognized by others.
Sima Zhao believed that his father Sima Yi and brother Sima Shi did not accept the position of Xiangguo because Taizu Cao Cao had served as a chancellor, and if the title was the same as that of Erzu (Cao Cao, Temple Title Taizu, 谥号武; Cao Pi, Temple Number Gaozu, 谥号文), it must be frightening, and if he had to use Wen Wu as his title, please follow the precedents of Xiao He (谥号文終), Zhang Liang (谥号文成), Huo Guang (谥号宣成), and others. So just before Wu added another zhong, using the two-character title of zhongwu, Sima Zhao spoke, and Tianzi could only issue an edict to answer.
Therefore, it is not so much that Sima Shi's Marquis of Zhongwu was posthumously sealed by Emperor Cao Wei, but rather that Sima Zhao was posthumously sealed. Later, Sima Zhao's son Sima Yan replaced Cao Wei as emperor and gave Sima Shi the title of Emperor Jing.