In the Three Kingdoms period at the end of the Han Dynasty, when mentioning the four major governors, many people's first reaction was the four governors of Eastern Wu, that is, Zhou Yu, Lu Su, Lü Meng, and Lu Xun. However, in fact, the governors were not only in Eastern Wu, but also in Shu Han and Cao Wei. As far as the Shu Han dynasty was concerned, the four major governors of Yong'an, the governor of Yong'an, the governor of Hanzhong, and the governor of Jiangzhou were established, that is, the towns and towns were respectively guarded by the key places of shu han. For example, the governor of Hanzhong needed to take on the heavy responsibility of defending Cao Wei, and the famous generals Wei Yan, Wu Yi, and Wang Ping once served as the governor of Hanzhong.
Correspondingly, as far as Cao Wei was concerned, there were also multiple metropolitan areas. Among them, the most important are the governors of Yangzhou, Jingzhou, Hebei and Yongliang. In the history of Cao Wei, many famous generals served as governors, such as Sima Yi, who served as the governor of Yongliang, and Cao Xiu, who served as the governor of Yangzhou. So, the question is, what are the respective responsibilities of Cao Wei's four governors? Which one is the most important?
Governor of Yangzhou
The Governor of Yangzhou was located on the eastern line of Cao Wei, and in the third year of the Huang Dynasty (222), the Yangzhou Governor District was officially established, and Successively served as Cao Xiu, Man Yu, Wang Ling, Zhuge Shi, YuQiu Jian, Wang Ji, and Shi Bao. In the second year of Ganlu (257), when Zhuge Zhi raised an army against Sima Shi, he took the capital Yu Prefecture (豫州王基) and Yangzhou (州州). Of course, temporary measures to quell the rebellion. Soon after, Wang Ji was dedicated to overseeing Yangzhou. For Cao Wei's governor of Yangzhou, he was mainly responsible for the war with Eastern Wu. For example, during the reign of Emperor Cao Pi of Wei, many of the troops in the conquest of Eastern Wu came from the Yangzhou Capital. During the Three Kingdoms period at the end of the Han Dynasty, Yangzhou was actually divided equally between Cao Wei and Eastern Wu, that is, Eastern Wu established Yangzhou, Cao Wei also established Yangzhou, and Cao Wei's Yangzhou ruled Shouchun. On this basis, in 257 AD, when Zhuge Zhi rebelled, he gathered about 150,000 soldiers and horses in Shouchun to fight against Sima Zhao.
From this, it is very obvious that among the several governors of Cao Wei, the governor of Yangzhou can be described as a strong military force, after all, the governor of Yangzhou is more powerful than the Eastern Wu of Shu Han. In this regard, in the author's opinion, among the four major governors of Cao Wei, the governor of Yangzhou can be described as the most important one. For example, after Sima Yi came to power, the three rebellions in Huainan all occurred within the scope of the Yangzhou Governorate. After the three rebellions in Huainan, Sima Shi completely took control of the Yangzhou capital, thus laying a good foundation for replacing Cao Wei.
Governor of Jingzhou
The Governor of Jingzhou was located on the southern line of Cao Wei, and in the first year of the Huang Dynasty (220), Cao Pi established the Jingzhou Governor District. After the Wei Ming Emperor Cao Rui ascended the throne, he once established the Jing and Yu capitals, with Sima Yi and Wang Chang serving. As for the time when the Governor of Jingzhou and the Governor of Yuzhou were separated, Xiahou Shangdu was the governor of Jingzhou, and Zhuge Shi, Wang Ji, Zhou Tai, Chen Qian, and Sima Jun were all in charge of Yuzhou. At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Jingzhou was a place where soldiers and families had to fight, especially after the Battle of Chibi, when the three families of Wei Shu and Wu divided Jingzhou. However, in 220 AD, after Guan Yu carelessly lost Jingzhou, Jingzhou had only two forces, Eastern Wu and Cao Wei. For the Governor of Jingzhou established by Cao Wei, the main defense was Eastern Wu, of course, it would also take into account the Shu Han. For example, when Meng Da betrayed Cao Wei, it was Sima Yi who led an army of thousands of miles to attack and kill Meng Da, who was preparing to surrender to Shu Han again.
Governor of Hebei
The Governor of Hebei was located on the northern line of Cao Wei, also known as the Governor of Hebei, and also had jurisdiction over the military of Ji, You, and the three prefectures, with 8 people including Wu Qian, Lü Zhao, and Cheng Xi, stationed in Jizhou. As the name suggests, Cao Wei's Governor of Hebei was mainly guarded against the nomadic peoples in the north, and basically would not fight against Shu Han and Eastern Wu. Therefore, during the Three Kingdoms period at the end of the Han Dynasty, the sense of existence of the Governor of Hebei was naturally very low, and its status was naturally inferior to that of the Governor of Yangzhou and the Governor of Yongliang. Of course, successive governors of Hebei were basically loyal to their duties, that is, they fulfilled the heavy task of guarding Cao Wei's northern border, prompting Cao Wei to focus his main energy on dealing with Shu Han and Eastern Wu.
Yongliang Dudu
The Governor of Yongliang was located on the western front of Cao Wei, and after emperor Cao Pi of Wei ascended the throne, he established the Yong and Liang Generals DuDu District, with the Yongliang Governor as the Governor of Yongliang, with Cao Zhen, Sima Yi, Xiahou Xuan, Guo Huai, Chen Tai, and Sima Wang serving as the governor. Generally, they all led the Liangzhou Thorn History, the title of General of the Western Expedition, and were stationed in Guzang County, Wuwei County. For the Governor of Yongliang, as the name suggests, the town guarded the land of Cao Wei Yong Prefecture and LiangZhou. During the Three Kingdoms period, whether it was Zhuge Liang or Jiang Wei, the main direction of the Northern Expedition was Cao Wei's Yongzhou and Liangzhou. Therefore, the Governor of Yongliang was a key figure in the northern expedition against the Shu Han Dynasty. For example, Cao Zhen and Sima Yi resisted Zhuge Liang's attack, while Guo Huai, Chen Tai, and other Yongliang governors competed with Jiang Wei. Because the frequency of the Northern Expedition of the Shu Han Dynasty was relatively high, the pressure faced by the Governor of Yongliang was also relatively large, which prompted Cao Wei to gather more than 100,000 soldiers and horses in the Yongliang GovernorAte, which can be compared with the soldiers and horses of the Yangzhou GovernorAte.
In general, among the four major governors of Cao Wei, the governors of Yongliang and Yangzhou have a relatively high status, obviously above the governors of Jingzhou and Hebei, which is not only reflected in the fact that the governors of Yongliang and Yangzhou are all famous generals of Cao Wei, such as Cao Zhen, Cao Xiu, and Sima Yi, but also in the governors of Yongliang and Yangzhou who each commanded more than 100,000 troops, and the sum of the troops of these two governors has exceeded 60% of Cao Wei's overall military strength, which can be said to be a high-powered and heavy army. What do you think of Cao Wei's four governors? Feel free to leave your views and let's discuss them together.