As the saying goes, a dynasty of heaven and a courtier, a generation is not as good as a generation, this sentence in the Three Kingdoms period of Cao Wei is simply too appropriate. During Cao Cao's lifetime, there were as many military generals as cao Wei's clan, Zhang Liao, Xu Huang and others were all famous generals in the world, and Guo Jia and Xun Yu were even more comparable to the Dragon and Phoenix Chicks. However, after Cao Cao's death, the Cao clan quickly declined, and the Cao Wei foundation he established with his own hands also fell into the hands of the Sima family.
In March 220, Cao Cao died, and his son Cao Pi immediately usurped the Han dynasty as emperor, which was the highest moment of the Cao clan. However, when the brief glory passed, the Cao clan only became emperors for two short generations, and the power of Cao Wei fell into the hands of the Sima clan.
In 249 AD, Sima Yi, the repeatedly ostracized empress dowager, took advantage of the opportunity of the general Cao Shuang to accompany Cao Fang to leave Luoyang to visit the tomb of Gaoping Mausoleum, seized the opportunity to occupy Kyoto, and forced Cao Shuang to confess his guilt and surrender, known in history as the "Change of Gaoping Mausoleum". After this incident, the power of the Cao clan in the middle of the dynasty was almost uprooted by Sima Yi, and the number of people implicated was as many as 5,000 people.
Losing the support of the Cao clan, Cao Fang became completely isolated and forced to change to Yuan Jiaping four months later. After Sima Yi purged the influence of the Cao clan, he took the opportunity to promote his cronies, and the Manchu Dynasty Wenwu capital became the guest secretary of the Sima family. The "change of Gaopingling" became Cao Wei's most desperate moment, how Cao Cao treated Liu Xie, the Emperor of Han, and now Sima Yi treated The Wei Emperor Cao Fang.
From the timeline point of view, when the "Gaopingling Change" occurred, it was only 29 years since Cao Cao's death, and Cao Cao had cultivated so many loyal generals, so why did no one stand up to oppose Sima Yi when he seized power? If someone could stand up for Cao Shuang at that time, the Cao clan would not be so passive.
Throughout the Three Kingdoms period, there were two people who really loved talent, one was Liu Bei and the other was Cao Cao. Liu Bei is benevolent and righteous, and he also has the heart to love talents, so he has the most talents under him. It's just that Liu Bei was always trapped in Yizhou, and there were good ministers and fierce generals in the air, but he was never able to touch the Central Plains. Cao Cao, on the other hand, was different, not only did he "blackmail the Son of Heaven to order the princes", but he also held the power of the imperial court in his hands, and took the opportunity to recruit countless capable people and strangers.
Taking Guan Yu as an example, the most proud identity in his life was not that of a former general or of Xiangyang Taishou, but of the "Marquis of Hanshouting". Guan Yu's former general was Liu Beifeng, but this "Marquis of Hanshouting" was given to him by Cao Cao, so why did Guan Yu disdain the former general and instead present himself as "Marquis of Hanshouting"? The reason is very simple, just because the Marquis of Shouting is the orthodox of the Han Dynasty, and it is a knighthood personally given by Liu Xie, the emperor of The Han Dynasty.
At the beginning, Cao Cao knew that Guan Yu was Liu Bei's brother, but still tried his best to win over Guan Yu, and it was to send gold and horses to send knighthoods, which was enough to prove Cao Cao's love for talent. In fact, Cao Cao did use money and fame to win over many talents, and these people did not disappoint Cao Cao, they helped Cao Cao to come up with plans and strategies to charge the battlefield, laying the foundation for Cao Wei's grand cause of unifying Jiangbei.
With the passage of time, with the death of Cao Cao, the talent echelon he single-handedly built for Cao Wei also began to gradually collapse. Cheng Yu, Xiahou Huan, and Cao Cao died in the same year, Zhang Liao also died two years later, and Jia Xu and Cao Zhang also died a year later. In 227, Cao Wei lost two more generals, and Xu Huang and Xu Chu died at the same time in this year. Most of the rest of the strategists died a few years later.
Among the confidants left by Cao Cao, Jiang Ji lived for a long time, not only surviving until 249 AD, but even personally participating in the "Gaopingling Change". It was only surprising that he sided with Sima Yi in this incident and joined hands with Sima Yi to destroy the Cao clan group represented by Cao Shuang. After Cao Shuang's fall, Jiang Ji was made the Marquis of Duxiang for his merits, perhaps because he felt guilty about what he had done, and it wasn't long before he was depressed.
Jiang Ji had followed Cao Cao since jian'an for thirteen years, and even more so after the Battle of Chibi to save Hefei, he was definitely the elder of the Cao Wei clique. Cao Cao also treated him very favorably, taking his advice many times, and more importantly, Cao Cao had great trust in him, and it was the kind of unreserved trust. Someone once reported to Cao Cao that Jiang Ji was plotting rebellion, and Cao Cao laughed and said to the left general Yu Ban and others, how could Jiang Ji plot rebellion? This must be foolish people who are in trouble, hoping to cause controversy!
Jiang Ji has always been deeply treated by Cao Cao, and even he finally betrayed the Cao clan, not to mention the second generation of those wenchen? When Sima Yi launched the "Gaopingling Rebellion", Cao Wei faced the most desperate moment, the second generation of Wenchen almost all became traitors, while the second generation of military generals were all waste, useless, and no one dared to jump out against Sima Yi. As for the other sons of the Cao clan, it was even more impossible to provide any help to Cao Shuang, because they had already been suppressed by Cao Pi into ordinary people.
After Cao Pi succeeded to the throne, although there were also rewards for the clan of the Cao clan, most of them were given false knights and not real positions, for fear that they would commit rebellion. Moreover, Cao Pi was extremely strict in the management of the clan, allowing them to retain only a small number of relatives and soldiers, and at most they could only be used to visit the family nursing home. Therefore, when the "Gaopingling Rebellion" broke out, although the number of Cao clans who remained in the capital was large, they only had some family members in their hands, and they were unable to compete with Sima Yi's army, and finally they could only sit still.