In 239, the Wei Ming Emperor Cao Rui died of illness, and his son Cao Fang was only 8 years old at this time.
Cao Rui originally planned to establish an auxiliary political team composed of members of the imperial family, consisting of Cao Yu, Cao Shuang, Cao Zhao, Xiahou Xian, and Qin Lang. Cao Yu was Cao Cao's son, Cao Shuang was Cao Zhen's son, Cao Zhao was Cao Xiu's son, Xiahou Xian was supposed to be the son of Xiahou Yuan and Xiahou Huan, and Qin Lang was Cao Cao's adopted son.
As soon as this list of auxiliary politicians was published, it was opposed by various forms of opposition from the noble families. The six auxiliary ministers were all members of the royal family, and if this plan was implemented smoothly, there would be no position in the center of imperial power. Cao Rui finally compromised, because from the perspective of the balance of power, Cao Wei's imperial strength was not enough to seize so many important seats in the center of power; theoretically, the Wei Wen Emperor era explicitly prohibited the kings from assisting the government.
Therefore, Cao Rui drew up a second set of auxiliary government plans, that is, the imperial family and the noble clan each sent a representative to assist the government, mutual restraint and joint defense of imperial power. Cao Rui's original intention was that Cao Yu, the King of Yan, would come forward and represent the imperial family as an auxiliary chancellor. However, Cao Yu believed that the imperial family was weak, and he was not able to lead the weakened imperial family to compete with the noble warrior clan. And Cao Yu's reason was: I am the King of Yan, and since His Majesty has said that it is forbidden for the kings to assist the government, then do not make an exception. Therefore, Sun Zi and Liu Fang suggested that Cao Rui make Cao Shuang an auxiliary chancellor. The selection of the imperial family was determined, and there was no need to choose at all on the side of the noble shi clan, it must be Sima Yi. Because Sima Yi's status was too high, if Sima Yi was not used, others would not dare to serve as auxiliary ministers.
After determining that Sima Yi would assist the government, Cao Rui made a hypocritical performance of Sima Yi. He pointed at Sima Yi and said to his 8-year-old son: I entrusted you to this grandfather, and after I die, you will treat him as your own grandfather. Sima Yi, on the other hand, was moved to tears and had the posture of "bowing down to death and then dying".
I have to say that Cao Rui and Sima Yi are both powerful film emperors. Cao Rui did not intend to let Sima Yi assist the government at first, and even if he arranged for Sima Yi to assist the government, he would also arrange a Cao Shuang on Sima Yi's head. Sima Yiming knew that Cao Rui did not trust him, but he still showed great loyalty and a harmonious appearance of a monarch and a courtier.
Theoretically, there is nothing too obvious wrong with this auxiliary policy plan. But in practice, it is difficult to achieve balance. If this plan is to be successfully implemented, it requires the chief consul to have extraordinary courage and wisdom, and Cao Shuang obviously lacks relevant qualities.
Without extraordinary courage and wisdom, the chief consul would have had a hard time overcoming fear and greed. Just look at the difference between Liu Chan and Cao Shuang, you can know what Cao Shuang lacks.
In Liu Chan's position, the rule of inaction seems simple, in fact, it is too difficult. Because the contradiction between the adult emperor and the auxiliary courtiers is almost inevitable. If Liu Chan could not overcome his fears, he would definitely find a way to weaken Zhuge Liang's power, because Zhuge Liang's power was too great. In the face of Liu Chan's step-by-step pressing, if Zhuge Liang passively accepted, then Zhuge Liang must have already changed from a real power faction to an honorary high-ranking official; if Zhuge Liang took the initiative to resist, there would definitely be a dragon and tiger fight between Zhuge Liang and Liu Chan. But no matter how Zhuge Liang chooses, the evaluation of Zhuge Liang in future generations will certainly not be as high as it is now.
Almost all coups were due to the fact that the monarch was in a prisoner's predicament. To be specific, no one can believe whether the other party has decided to do something to themselves, so it is better to do it first. Although everyone understands that cooperation with each other is the best choice, they still choose to be the first to do it. This is not simply driven by interests, but rather the inability of both parties to overcome fear.
If you gamble with the heads of your whole family, you can take your career and wealth to the next level, and many big people with successful careers will not do this kind of thing, because the cost is too high. However, if you don't gamble with the heads of the whole family, it is possible for the whole family to lose their heads in advance, and many big people with successful careers will also choose to take risks. Not because of lust for profit, but for the sake of life.
Cao Shuang and Sima Yi have been fighting openly and secretly for the past 10 years, and on the surface, Cao Shuang has always had the upper hand; in fact, Cao Shuang has gradually hollowed out his power base.
The whole process of Gao Pingling's change is like two parties running for votes. Initially, Sima Yi controlled the city of Luoyang in the name of the empress dowager; Cao Shuang, in the name of the emperor, could go to Xuchang at any time to establish another central government. The key to the victory or defeat of the two is who can get more support. During the Three Kingdoms and the Two Jin Dynasties, although the prelude to aristocratic politics had begun, there was no power structure like the parliament and the senate, so the whole voting process was very delicate.
For the giants, whoever wins must respect their own interests. Otherwise, no matter what the candidate's background, he or she would not be able to get a vote. Cao Shuang failed because he received too few votes.
How many votes did Cao Shuang get? There is only one vote that really works, and there are three human love tickets.
The really valid vote was cast by one of the Nine Qings, Dasi Nong Huan Fan, but when Heng Fan cast this vote, he was dumbfounded. Because Huan Fan found that there was no one to follow him except himself, Huan Fan was anxious to red-eyed at that time, and Cao Shuang must fight to the end.
Why is Huan Fan so tough? Because this vote is a bet on the head of the whole family, how can Huan Fan not be tough? But Cao Shuang did not dare to be tough, many people said that it was because cao Shuang was stupid, but in fact, it was not like this, but Cao Shuang had an unspeakable despair at that time. After so many years of mixing, he only got one vote at a critical juncture, with this kind of popularity, how dare Cao Shuang bet with Sima Yi? If surrendering to Sima Yi is nine deaths, if you do not surrender Sima Yi is ten deaths and no life, how do you let Cao Shuang choose?
If there were many people like Huan Fan who supported Cao Shuang to fight to the end, Cao Shuang would definitely dare to gamble with Sima Yi. But now in this situation, if Cao Shuang dared to shout boldly: I want to play with Sima Yi to the end, the bottom will definitely be a piece of "impulse is the devil" persuasion. If Cao Shuang did not listen to the advice again, he would definitely sell to Sima Yi through various channels, or even flee directly back to Luoyang City, and Cao Shuang would not see a little hope.
The back of the human heart determines the success or failure of the event.
In addition to a valid ticket from Heng Fan, Cao Shuang also received three favor votes, which were cast by Xin Chang, Lu Zhi and Yang Zong.
But these three votes were useless, because Xin Chang was Cao Shuang's army, Lu Zhi was Cao Shuang's Sima and Yang Zong was Cao Shuang's master book. As a subordinate of Cao Shuang, if they didn't say anything at that time, I'm afraid they wouldn't be able to mix in the jianghu in the future. So they could only vote for Cao Shuang, but what they thought in their hearts, I'm afraid only they themselves knew.
When I heard that Sima Yi and Cao Shuang began to solicit votes, Xin Chang did not know who to vote for, and his sister told him that you were a subordinate of Cao Shuang, and when Cao Shuang was in difficulty, you must support Cao Shuang, otherwise how would you mix in the jianghu in the future? Therefore, you should vote for Cao Shuang. But you must remember that you must not be in the limelight, just go with the flow.
The mentality of Lu Zhi and Yang Zong is not recorded in detail in the history books. But from a reasonable point of view, their motivation for voting for Cao Shuang should be similar to Xin Chang.com. Because after the Gaopingling Rebellion, Sima Yi did not hold them accountable. They were also considered loyal to their subordinates and gave them a certain recognition. If they were also like Heng Fan and pressed the whole family's head on Cao Shuang's body, it is estimated that they would not pass the pass so lightly.
When Xin Chang voted for Cao Shuang, the eldest sister of the Xin family (Xin Xianying) was obviously interested in Sima Yi. When Lu Zhi and Yang Zong voted for Cao Shuang, the important members of their family were probably the same as Xin Xianying. In this sense, the three votes that Cao Shuang got were just human rights tickets. The three men stood behind him, just to prove that they were righteous people. But it does not mean that they will take the whole family to support Cao Shuang.
After analyzing Cao Shuang, let's take a look at how many votes Sima Yi got.
Sima Fu was Du Zhi Shangshu and Sima Shi was the Middle Protector, and both senior officials of the provincial military rank voted for Sima Yi. Because Sima Fu was Sima Yi's younger brother, Sima Shi was Sima Yi's son. When Sima Yi needed them, they stood up. Cao Shuang's younger brothers Cao Xi and Cao Xun pretended to be deaf and dumb when Cao Shuang needed them most.
In addition to Sima Shi's own people, Situ Gao Rou and the lieutenant Jiang Ji also voted for Sima Yi. Gao Rou accepted empress dowager Yi's orders (in fact, Sima Yi's orders) and entered Cao Shuang's camp as acting general and took over Cao Shuang's direct army; Jiang Ji followed Sima Yi and jointly commanded the army to be stationed outside Luoyang.
Everyone should understand that the so-called Gaopingling change was that Sima Yi blocked the emperor outside the city of Luoyang and took the empress dowager's will to depose the general. If this kind of thing fails, it will definitely be the end of the family raiders. And Situ Gao Rou and the lieutenant Jiang Ji dared to obey Sima Yi's arrangement at this time, which was equivalent to voting for Sima Yi with the head of the whole family as a bet.
In addition, Wang Guan, one of the Nine Secretaries, entered Cao Xi's military camp as acting leader and took over Cao Xi's direct army. It was also a bet on the head of the whole family and voted for Sima Yi.
Cao Shuang's side had one vote for an official of the Ninth Qing level; Sima Yi's side had two officials of the third rank and five votes of three officials of the Ninth Qing level, and the disparity in strength was obvious.
The gaopingling change lasted almost a day. In the process, Sima Yi did not lead an army to attack Cao Shuang, but only pulled away and forced everyone to start taking sides.
Cao Shuang dragged on until the next morning before leading the crowd to surrender, because Cao Shuang waited for a day, but did not wait for the expected vote, so Cao Shuang waited for more pressure, the more desperate he waited. And Shang Shu Chen Tai said to Cao Shuang with a neutral attitude, I will go back to Luoyang City to inquire about the news for you. After Chen Tai returned, he persuaded Cao Shuang to surrender now and become a rich man; stubborn resistance must be fierce in the end.
Chen Tai was the son of Chen Qun and an official of the Ninth Qing rank. Chen Tai said such a thing, which means that the Chen family will not support Cao Shuang to fight to the end. Chen Tai walked out of Luoyang City in a circle, which proved that the rich warriors in Luoyang City did not support Cao Shuang. Otherwise, Chen Tai would never have come to be a lobbyist so painfully.
Cao Shuang may be reflecting, why did I get so few votes?
The process of using power is a kind of enjoyment, and the process of accumulating power is a kind of asceticism. If you wantonly abuse the power in your hands, it is like wantonly abusing money, and sooner or later you will overdraft everything. How good a person's popularity is not in how many wine and meat friends there are, but in how many friends of life and death. The extent of a person's power is not how he can show off his might in ordinary times, but whether anyone is willing to continue to obey your orders at key moments.
If you weave your power into a big net of "one glory and one loss", then when you encounter danger, there will naturally be many stakeholders who will stand up for you, or even fight for you. If your power is limited to a very small range, then you should be grateful that no one has fallen into the trap when you are in danger. Because most of the time, falling into the well is the norm, as for sending charcoal in the snow? Don't even think about it!
In a sense, elections and sides are the same.
The whole Gaoping Tomb was silent, and everyone was waiting for Cao Shuang to make a decision. Sima Yi was waiting at the edge of the Luo River, he was waiting for Cao Shuang, and he believed that Cao Shuang would definitely return.