As the most powerful State of Wei during the Three Kingdoms period, by the time Cao Fang came to power, the actual power was already in the hands of Sima Shi. It can be said that Cao Fang was not only the longest-reigning monarch during the Cao Wei period, but also the first puppet emperor of the Cao Wei period.
During Cao Fang's reign, the domineering Sima Shi not only brought a sword into the palace, but also all the affairs of the court had to be decided by him, and he did not pay attention to the Wei Emperor Cao Fang at all. After Sima Shi's death, his brother Sima Zhao became a great general again, and Sima Shi's father and son were three people, which can be described as more tyrannical than the other.
Then, how did Emperor Wei deal with Sima Shi's monopoly?
In the autumn of 254, Sima Zhao led his troops into Beijing to meet the Wei emperor Cao Fang, and Emperor Wei went to PingleYuan to review his army. During this period, Cao Fang's right and left cronies advised him to take this opportunity to kill Sima Zhao, and then lead the army to repel the general Sima Shi.
However, the required edicts had already been written and placed in front of Emperor Wei's eyes, but he was suddenly afraid...
Just as the so-called opportunity could not be lost, and the loss would not come again, just when the Wei Emperor Cao Fang abandoned the plan due to cowardice, Sima Zhao led the army into the city.
Immediately afterward, Sima Shi used a conspiracy to depose the Wei emperor Cao Fang.
Sima Shi falsely summoned the empress dowager to summon his courtiers for consultation, believing that emperor Cao Fang of Wei could no longer assume the heavy responsibility of the king of a country on the grounds that he was unscrupulous and spoiled song and dance artists.
As for what Sima Shi said, none of the ministers dared to stand up against it. As a result, Sima Shi immediately went to the table to confiscate Emperor Wei's jade seal and demote him to the rank of King of Qi.
Sima Shi sent Guo Zhi into the palace and informed the empress dowager of this decision. At this time, the empress dowager and Cao Fang were sitting and chatting in the palace, and Guo Zhi had just arrived in front of him and said to Emperor Wei, "The great general wants to abolish His Majesty!" After Cao Fang listened, she turned around and brushed her sleeves away.
The empress dowager was very upset and said that she wanted to see Sima Shi. Guo Zhi said, "Empress Dowager, you can't even educate your own son, what else can you say?" Moreover, the great general had already made up his mind, and now he was leading his troops, so he could only follow his will. Now you just need to hurry up and get the jade seal out! ”
The empress dowager had no choice but to order the attendants around her to take out the jade seal.
A few days later, Sima Shi summoned his ministers to consult and finally decided to make Cao Xian the Duke of Gaoguixiang Emperor.
In 260 AD, the Wei emperor Cao Xi saw that his power and prestige were weakening day by day, and he was extremely resentful of this.
Therefore, Cao Xian summoned Wang Shen of Shizhong, Wang Jing of Shangshu, and Wang Ye of The Scattered Horse changshi to the front and said to them, "Now, Sima Zhao's ambitions are known to even the pedestrians on the road, and I can't sit and wait to be deposed by him, so I decided to personally go with you to fight him!" ”
Regarding Emperor Wei's decision, Shang Shu Wang Jing felt inappropriate: "Your Majesty, once Lu Zhaogong could not stand the dictatorship of the Ji clan and rose up in anger to fight, but the result was a failure to run away, not only lost the country, but also made fun of by the people of the world. Now that Sima Zhao's authority is in his hands and the ministers of the four sides are also serving him, what does His Majesty rely on to fight him? ”
In Wang Jing's view, the Wei Emperor Cao Xian now had no real power in his hands, and his troops were weak, and if he wanted to turn his face to Sima Zhao, the result would surely be self-destruction. Therefore, Wang Jing repeatedly dissuaded Emperor Wei not to be impulsive, but to study it carefully before making a decision.
However, Cao Xian did not listen to Wang Jing's proposal at all, and Emperor Wei threw the yellow silk edict that he had already prepared to the ground, turned around, and went into the inner palace to give advice to the empress.
With all the preparations in place, Emperor Cao of Wei drew his sword and led the palace guards and slaves all the way out of the palace...
At the East Gate, Emperor Wei bumped into Sima Zhao's younger brother Sima Ling,000, and under Emperor Wei's loud rebuke, Sima Ling's soldiers were also frightened and fled.
At this time, the central defender Jia Chong entered from the outside and fought with Emperor Wei. In the end, at the behest of Jia Chong, Cheng Ji pulled out Chang Ge and assassinated The Wei Emperor Cao Xian under the car.
As a vassal, Sima Shi overpowered the world for many years, coerced the Wei lord, and triggered a war, and the result was that Sima Shi usurped the country and Emperor Wei was killed and lost the country!
In this period of history, it is not difficult for us to see that when there is a huge disparity in strength between the two sides of the contradiction, the weaker side must not act rashly and hit the stone with a pebble. If The Wei Emperor Cao Xian had listened to the advice of The Shang Shu Wang Jing, not so insistently, but flexibly adapted, waited for and created the opportunity, he would not have ended up like this.