Cao Shuang (曹爽), courtesy name Zhaobo, was a native of Peiguo County (沛国谯县, in present-day Bozhou, Anhui), and was the eldest son of Sima Cao Zhen the Great. Since the deaths of Cao Xiu and Cao Zhen, there was a nine-year gap in the Cao family's general power, during which time military command fell into the hands of Sima Yi and foreign ministers. Later, the Wei Ming Emperor Cao Rui, who was very ill and unclear, and Sun Zi and Liu Fang, who held important secrets, were very disgusted with Xiahou Xian and Cao Zhao, and they all elected Cao Shuang and Sima Yi as auxiliary ministers for their own interests. If Cao Shuang really has strength, then the Cao family will not have a nine-year gap period, in general, Cao Shuang can become an auxiliary minister, simply because he is Cao Zhen's son, after all the forces weigh the pros and cons, Cao Shuang is the best choice.
When Cao Shuang first came to power, he was cautious and respected his colleagues, but over time, with his own identity and power, he began to drift a little, exclude dissidents, and form parties for personal gain. Even the empress dowager was placed under house arrest, cholera harem, Sima Yi was fiercely suppressed by him for ten years, and the Manchu ministers of culture and military affairs were all offended by him.
Later, when Sima Yi took advantage of Cao Shuang's accompanying the emperor out to worship, he joined forces with Empress Guo and the ministers of the court to close the city gates, launched a coup d'état in Gaoling, took control of the entire capital, demanded the removal of Cao Shuang, and sent someone to tell Cao Shuang to come back and surrender, and to bring the emperor back.
Sima Yi's choice for Cao Shuang was: to give up his rights, he could keep the official and his wealth. The guarantors were Tai Wei Jiang Ji, Shang Shu Chen Tai, Shi Zhong Xu Yun, and Lieutenant Colonel Yin Damu of the Palace, all of whom were important courtiers in the court, and some of them were Cao Shuang's close associates.
But at that time, there was a minister named Huan Fan, who escaped from the capital and ran to Cao Shuang's place to give him advice, and he told Cao Shuang that at this time he absolutely could not surrender, he should rise up to resist, the emperor was on our side, we could blackmail the son of heaven to order the princes, the emperor's orders who dared not listen. If we don't listen to this is a great sin of rebellion, our chances of winning are still very high. Second, although Sima Yi controlled the troops in the city, the central leader was still outside the city, and the central leader was Cao Shuang's direct subordinate force, Cao Shuang could directly control and issue orders, and Luoyang Diannong was also outside the city, and Cao Shuang could also be mobilized. Third, Xuchang has sufficient weapons, which can soon be transported to the troops, and it is completely sufficient to arm the army with these weapons. The fourth is that Huan Fan is the Great Si Nong, who is mainly in charge of grain and grass, and the big seal is in his hand, and the mobilization of grain and grass is only a matter of minutes. Grain, grass, weapons, and armies are all there, and there is also the emperor's trump card, and the odds of winning are still very great.
What was in front of Cao Shuang was the choice, which made him very entangled. Give up power, be a rich man without any rights, or fight a battle that does not know the odds of winning, if you win, then the power and wealth are there, if you lose, you will be defeated, and you may not even be able to save your life. Moreover, Sima Yi had so many ministers on his side as guarantees, I am afraid that he could also be trusted.
Therefore, after a night of ideological struggle, Cao Shuang did not heed Huan Fan's advice and decided to surrender to Sima Yi. Huan Fan said angrily, Cao is really a big hero, how did he give birth to such a stupid son as you? Huan Fan really should be angry, originally there was no particularly close connection with Cao Shuang, but he felt that Cao Shuang had a relatively good chance of winning, so he went to gamble. It's just a pity that he misread Cao Shuang, and didn't think that Cao Shuang was such a person, gambled on the wrong person, and took his own life in vain.
In fact, Sima Yi was really worried in his heart, and if Cao Shuang really listened to Huan Fan's advice and blackmailed Tianzi to order the princes to mobilize the army to resist, then it was really difficult to draw conclusions about the victory or defeat of this battle. When he knew that Cao Shuang chose to surrender, he was definitely happy in his heart and solved a hidden danger effortlessly.
Cao Shuang had been an auxiliary chancellor for so many years, doing whatever he wanted in the imperial court and suppressing Sima Yi, then he must have also known that Huan Fan's strategy was feasible, so why did he still choose to surrender? I think there are the following points:
Cao Shuang's family is still in the city, and he cares about his family
Cao Shuang accompanied the emperor to the sacrifice, he could not bring all his family members with him, and he did not expect that Sima Yi would launch a coup d'état, and he certainly could not settle his family in advance, if a war broke out, then the family was a big weakness of Cao Shuang, increasing Sima Yi's chips. Moreover, according to Sima Yi, as long as he surrenders his power, he can keep his title and wealth, and he can also keep the peace of his family, which is also very normal according to the thinking of ordinary people. If you follow Huan Fan's advice, your family may have been killed. At this point, Cao Shuang is still good and cares about his family very much.
He did not see through Sima Yi and misbelieved him
Cao Shuang's case itself is a game, it can only be said that Sima Yi's negotiating conditions are very tempting, and, before that time, the relationship with Sima Yi was not particularly stiff, and he did not move Sima Yi's people, so he believed that Sima Yi did not have bad hatred in his heart, and Sima Yi was very low-key before, Cao Shuang himself was a nobleman of the royal family, how could he say that he would kill it. Moreover, the conditions put forward by Sima Yi at that time were also guaranteed by the important ministers of the court, including his own cronies, which increased the credibility. These conditions all affected Cao Shuang's judgment, so much so that he credulously believed Sima Yi, and if he did not believe it, it would certainly be a different consequence, and history might have to be rewritten.
Cao Shuang's own personality
At the beginning of the article, it was mentioned that Cao Shuang himself did not have strong abilities, and he could become an auxiliary minister because he was Cao Zhen's son. After weighing the pros and cons of various forces, he was the best choice, and if there was no Cao Shuang, there would be someone else to replace him. His life is really no achievements, the only southern conquest of Shu Han, also a big defeat, he himself is a nobleman, smooth sailing, did not experience any twists and turns, he is not surprising that he is such a character. Even Jiang Ji believed that he was a "donkey horse." In fact, Cao Shuang was also quite pitiful, being put into this position by others, and finally ended up in this fate.
Cao Shuang himself had no confidence in victory
According to Cao Shuang's own personality, his lack of confidence is also explainable. Sima Yi was able to fight well, and he had a wealth of experience in leading troops, and he only had one military attack and failed, so he did not believe that he was Sima Yi's opponent at all. At that time, the troops that Cao Shuang could mobilize were all miscellaneous troops, and the troops controlled by Sima Yi were all the main forces, and the strength of these two major armies was compared, and Cao Shuang had even less confidence, although the emperor was in his own hands, but the emperor was still relatively young, and Sima Yi was the support of the empress, so that there was a disparity in strength, Cao Shuang had a psychological hint that this contest would be lost, and it was better to surrender.
To sum up, Cao Shuang himself has many advantages, but he has not played well, and his ability is not worthy of the rights he has obtained.