For Sima Yi's evaluation, whether it is historians or folk, it has always been debated endlessly, and more people say that Sima Yi is treacherous and treacherous, a complete ambitionist, a traitor and a thief.
In the Revised Book of Jin of the Tang Dynasty, there is an evaluation of Sima Yi by Emperor Taizong of Tang:
"Isn't the husband's strategy of conquest wise and foolish in the west?" The heart of the auxiliary, why the former loyal and then the chaos?
This means that Sima Yi's strategy of using troops has two extremes, which are clean and neat in Liaodong and Shangyong, and suddenly become dragging water when confronting Zhuge Liang. In the process of politics, the first half of the journey appeared loyal, and the second half appeared to be blind, committing chaos, which was really a chaotic courtier.
Contemporary writer Bai Yang believes that it is not fair for Sima Yi to receive insults and curses from later generations, on the grounds that when Cao Shuang was cutting down Shu, the army was besieged in the canyon, even if Cao Shuang squeezed Out Sima Yi, Sima Yi still advised Cao Shuang to retreat from the army, and to join Sima Yi in a real plot, he could completely shut up, and when Cao Shuang was overthrown, Sima Yi came out again to clean up the mess, and there was no need to launch a coup d'état.
Although the evaluation of Sima Yi is mixed, it does not seem too much to describe him as a vicious, fierce and fierce heart, and often holding aloft a butcher's knife.
The Book of Jin records that after Sima Yi entered Xiangping City (襄平城, in present-day Liaoyang, Liaoning), he held aloft a butcher's knife, "In the fifteenth year of the man's year, more than 7,000 people were killed, thinking that it was Jingguan." The puppet secretary of state had already been ambushed and killed more than 2,000 people, including his general Bi Sheng. ”
When Li Shimin wrote a historical treatise on the Book of Jin and the Chronicle of Emperor Xuan, he mentioned that "
Accumulate goodness for three years, know less, for evil one day, smell the world. ”
And with this sentence, he quoted Sima Yi's many evil deeds to warn future generations.
Then, why is Sima Yi, who has always been gentle and elegant in the early years, also a wicked person who has done many evil deeds and often holds aloft a butcher's knife?
1. Surrender, slaughter, or mistreat soldiers
In 237 AD, Gongsun Yuan, the Taishou of Liaodong, rebelled and established himself as the King of Yan. In 238, Cao Rui ordered Sima Yi to send 40,000 troops to march, Sima Yi won three battles and three victories, and in August 238, Gongsun Yuan sent Wang Jian and Liu Fu to negotiate with Sima Yi about surrender, and Wang Jian and Liu Fu, in order to show their sincerity, tied themselves up to see Sima Yi, but Sima Yi did not expect that Sima Yi said that he was not allowed to surrender, and directly killed Wang Jian and Liu Fu.
Book of Jin: "Not allowed, built, etc., all cut off." ”
After Sima Yi killed Wang Jian and Liu Fu, he sent the heads of the two of them together with a letter to Gongsun Yuan, saying that you were a simple anti-thief, and actually let two old things come to see me, and also shamelessly asked me to return to my hometown, you are insincere and rude, I will give you another chance, let the young and brilliant people come to talk to me.
Gongsun Yuan did not dare to be careless at all, and quickly sent Wei Yan to ask for surrender, and in order to show his sincerity and surrender, he also sent his son to Sima Yi as a hostage. Unexpectedly, when Sima Yi saw Wei Yan, he said that there are no more than 5 results in fighting, fight when you can fight, in case you can't fight, you can't defend, you can't hold it, you will run away, in addition to either surrendering or dying, and gongsun Yuan is unwilling to come forward to surrender, then die.
"There must be five major military requirements, and we must be able to fight when we are in battle, we cannot be defended when we are fighting, and we cannot defend and go, and the only two things that remain can be surrendered and dead ears." If you refuse to face it, you will die and you don't need to send it."
After Sima Yi entered Xiangping City, he raised his butcher knife and killed more than 2,000 of Gongsun Yuan's subordinates, killing all men over the age of 15 in the city.
"Book of Jin": "In the fifteenth year of the man's year, more than 7,000 people have been killed, thinking that it is Jingguan." The puppet secretary of state had already been ambushed and killed more than 2,000 people, including his general Bi Sheng. ”
After Sima Yi entered Xiangping City, he captured a large amount of materials, because most of the soldiers who went out on the expedition were thinly clothed. Someone then asked Sima Yi to send the captured clothes to a soldier to keep them warm, and Sima Yi scolded, "These clothes are state property, and I have no right to give them to you."
"The officials and goods of the people, the people and the subjects selflessly give."
Second, after the coup d'état of Gaopingling, Cao Shuang's camp was exterminated
In the first month of 249, Sima Yi took advantage of the fact that Cao Shuang's brothers accompanied the Wei emperor Cao Fang to the Gaoping Mausoleum (the tomb of Emperor Wei Ming) ninety miles south of Luoyang to launch a coup d'état.
While Cao Fang was still in Cao Shuang's hands, Sima Yi swore that Sima Yi was only following the edict to depose Cao Shuang, and as long as Cao Shuang promised to hand over power, his title and living conditions would not change, let alone kill Cao Shuang. Unexpectedly, after Cao Shuang surrendered, Sima Yi not only killed Cao Shuang's brothers and his subordinates He Yan, Deng Biao, Ding Mi, Bi Rail, Li Sheng, Huan Fan, etc., on the charge of great rebellion, but also exterminated the three clans of these people, not even sparing women who were married abroad.
Book of Jin: "On the occasion of Cao Shuang, all the branches and the three tribes, men and women, and all the suitable people of the sisters and women were killed..."
It is no wonder that he is a butcher who commits many evil deeds and always holds abutant with a butcher's knife!