In the last years of the Three Kingdoms, with the passing of the first batch of entrepreneurial pioneers, the situation of the Three Kingdoms was gradually unbalanced, and Cao Wei would become the final winner.
However, at this juncture, a major event occurred within Cao Wei, that is, the seizure of power between the two auxiliary ministers. Emperor Ming of Wei died young, leaving no heirs. As a last resort, he had to make his adopted son Cao Fang crown prince and Sima Yi and Cao Shuang as his assistant ministers.
Cao Shuang suppressed dissidents and nepotism, laying the groundwork for the disasters that followed
Cao Shuang himself was arrogant, but he had no ability, and he did not have the talent of his ancestors. After Cao Fang ascended the throne, Cao Shuang relied on his status as a clan to suppress the original court ministers, and Sima Yi was even demoted by him and took over his military power.
For his fox friends, Cao Shuang was greatly rewarded, and regarded this court as his private territory. What is even more exaggerated is that in order to increase his prestige, Cao Shuang went to conquer Shu Han, but he did not fight, and he consumed Cao Wei's national strength in vain.
Therefore, during Cao Shuang's regency, both within the court and among the people, there was a lot of resentment towards him, which laid the groundwork for the failure of the Gaopingling Incident behind him.
On the day of the Gaopingling Incident, Cao Shuang took the Tianzi Cao Fang out of the city to Gaopingling to defeat Emperor Wei, and Sima Yi took the opportunity to persuade the empress dowager to take control of the entire luoyang city and send a letter against Cao Shuang.
At this time, Cao Shuang, with the Son of Heaven and Xu Chang as his backing, was fully capable of fighting back. Unfortunately, Cao Shuang's previous every move had already shown that he not only did not have any ideas of his own, but also hesitated, otherwise he would not have allowed Sima Yi to "raise his life".
Sima Yi was also well aware of Cao Shuang's personality characteristics, so he took Luo Shui as an oath and promised to protect Cao Shuang's wealth for a lifetime. Sure enough, after Cao Shuang received Sima Yi's promise, he surrendered.
Subsequently, Sima Yi broke his promise and killed the three tribes of Cao Shuang, and the Cao Wei regime completely fell into the hands of the Sima family.
Cao Shuang was holding tianzi, so why did he surrender to Sima Yi, who only controlled the capital?
Cao Shuang in the Gaopingling Incident, he held the Tianzi Cao Fang in his hands, and xuchang and The Great Si Nong Huan Fan, who had the backing of the grain and grass of the whole country, could be described as justified and had a large number of soldiers.
Sima Yi had only three thousand dead soldiers in his hands, and although he controlled the whole of Luoyang, there was only one empress dowager in Luoyang City who could dominate the overall situation, and Luoyang was also a completely isolated city.
So why did Cao Shuang surrender to Sima Yi?
First, Cao Shuang's ability has long been fully demonstrated, and it is really difficult to blackmail the Son of Heaven to order the princes
Holding the Son of Heaven hostage to order the princes is really a technical job. At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the situation was changing rapidly, and there were not a few people who threatened tianzi to make the princes, but only Cao Cao succeeded, and both Dong Zhuo and Yuan Shao were ruined.
Although Cao Shuang is also a member of the Cao family, his ability is far from Cao Cao's. Prior to this, cao Shuang, as an assistant chancellor, after grasping the power of Nuoda, began to lose himself and suppress dissidents. If it really reached the point of blackmailing the Son of Heaven to order the princes, according to Cao Shuang's character, he estimated that he would directly usurp the throne himself, and what else would he mention about holding the Son of Heaven hostage?
Second, Cao Shuang's behavior in recent years has already caused everyone to be unhappy, and at present, the crisis is in the head, how to convince the public?
Sima Yi borrowed the name of Empress Guo. Previously, Cao Shuang gained power, on the one hand, heeded He Yan's advice and moved Empress Guo to Yongning Palace, offending Empress Guo; on the other hand, Cao Shuang repeatedly suppressed a heavy subject during the Wei Ming Emperor period, offending many people.
For these behaviors and actions of Cao Shuang, the clear-eyed people are in the eyes, even if Cao Shuang really retreats to Xuchang, Xu Xutuzhi, will others be willing to be exploited by Cao Shuang?
III. Sima Yi's promise
His family knows his own affairs, and Cao Shuang should know his own abilities. Therefore, when Sima Yi promised to only strip him of his official position to preserve his wealth, Cao Shuang was soon shaken.
In fact, this condition of Sima Yi is not worth mentioning at all for ambitious people, and those who are accustomed to being powerful will be willing to be a rich man?
But Cao Shuang was moved, which also verified Cao Shuang's lack of ambition from the side.
Conclusion
Cao Shuang's advantages seem to be very large, but in fact, the operability is not high, in the final analysis, it is because of Cao Shuang, the ability is not good.