Introduction: After Cao Cao's mistake in Wancheng led to the death of his eldest son Cao Ang, Cao Pi, as the second son, became the eldest son and was also regarded as an heir by many people. But Cao Cao was not optimistic about Cao Pi, and he was more optimistic about the talented Cao Zhi and Cao Chong. Later, Cao Chong fell ill and died, and Cao Cao gave Cao Zhi his love for Cao Chong. Cao Cao originally thought that Cao Zhi was better than Cao Pi to become the heir, but Cao Pi had the assistance of Sima Yi and other staff or was skilled, and when Cao Pi came to power, he thought of all kinds of heartache over the years, so he often troubled Cao Zhi.
Cao Cao was a prince of that era, with great power and high social status, and his family had more than a dozen wives and concubines and sons. However, Cao Cao was often busy with official duties and did not establish an heir, which made Cao Pi, Cao Zhi, and several other children see hope, and often compete openly and secretly. Cao Cao knew these things but did not stop them, because in Cao Cao's view, it was natural for the strong to leave the weak to be eliminated. With this attitude of Cao Cao, Cao Pi and others fought more fiercely and formed their own team.
At first, Cao Pi was on the weak side among the heirs, after all, he did not have Cao Chongshen in terms of caring for him, he did not have Cao Zhigao in terms of talent, and even in terms of military merit, he did not have Cao Zhangqiang, and the only remarkable thing was his identity as an eldest son. Later, he invited Sima Yi to be his staff, and Sima Yi felt that Cao Pi had also formulated many strategies and helped him pass Cao Cao's examination, and also suggested that Cao Pi befriend various generals. Later, Cao Cao discovered that Cao Pi was the most suitable heir, so he made him the son of the world.
According to the Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms, after Cao Cao's death, Cao Pi successfully ascended to the throne, when Cao Zhi and Cao Zhang's brothers were still in other places, and Cao Pi was worried that their appearance would be unfavorable to him, so he refused them to come to Yecheng to see Cao Cao's last side. When Cao Pi declared himself emperor, he nominally made his brothers kings, but in fact monitored their words and deeds, not only could they not get out of the fiefdom, but every person they befriended and every word they said had to be recorded, and they also sent people to analyze whether they had the motives and possibilities of rebellion.
Later, Cao Zhi could not stand this kind of surveillance and specially wrote a letter to Empress Bian, who was distressed by her son so she pretended to be ill and specially let Cao Zhi come to the palace to serve. Cao Pi knew that this was his mother's intention, and although he did not want to see Cao Zhi, he did not dare to go against his mother's wishes, and could only wait for the opportunity. At one banquet, he introduced Cao Zhicai to Gao Badou and asked him to write a poem within seven steps while drinking, otherwise he would be punished. Cao Zhi knew that Cao Pi's purpose was to punish himself, so he made a "Seven-Step Poem", using Dou Xuan as a metaphor to satirize the two brothers for killing each other. Cao Pi was disgraced at that time, but it was not easy to attack Cao Zhi.
This incident at the banquet made Cao Pi very uncomfortable, and he always wanted to find an opportunity to deal with Cao Zhi. When Empress Bian's illness was slightly better, Cao Pi invited Empress Bian and Cao Zhi to the outskirts to relax together, but Empress Bian did not know what it meant, thinking that Cao Pi wanted to reconcile with Cao Zhi, so she took Cao Pi out of the palace happily. And Cao Zhi knew what Cao Pi's purpose was, but he couldn't resist just frowning along the way. Empress Bian also thought that Cao Zhi was ill and had been concerned about Cao Zhi's physical condition, which made Cao Pi even more angry, after all, he had not seen when Empress Bian had cared so much about herself.
When Cao Pi and his party arrived in the suburbs, Cao Pi deliberately told the story of his childhood with the two people in front of him, and Empress Bian also joked about Cao Pi's childhood, and Cao Pi also lamented that if he studied as well as Cao Zhi, it would certainly not be so nerve-wracking to deal with state affairs now. Just after saying that, Cao Pi said to Cao Zhi, there are two cows fighting in front of you, you improvise a poem, but there can be no cows in the verses. Cao Zhi heard Cao Pi's words and thought that he had come again, but after thinking for a moment, he made a poem. This poem, like the last "Seven-Step Poem", is a satire of Cao Pi's cannibalism. Cao Pi was very shocked after hearing this, so he put down the idea of disposing of Cao Zhi, and this poem made by Cao Zhi under his wit has been famous for generations.