Some people say that Cao Cao is a powerful minister who rules the world and a traitor to the chaotic world. He blackmailed the Son of Heaven to order the princes to unify the northern regions that had been chaotic for a long time at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, and if it were not for the defeat at the Battle of Chibi, he would have completed the goal of unifying the whole country. Cao Cao's life was too controversial. As an important figure in the Three Kingdoms period,
He had twenty-five sons during his lifetime
。 So who among his many sons was Cao Cao's successor?
Some people will say that it must be Cao Pi, who forced Emperor Chan of Han to become the first emperor of the Cao Cao family, wasn't that him? But
In Cao Cao's mind, Cao Pi was far from meeting his requirements, and the political ideas of Cao Pi and Cao Cao were too different.
It should be known that Cao Cao's attitude towards the family gate valve was an attitude of suppression, and Cao Cao, who started with the Shu clan, had a great prejudice against the family in his heart, and it turned out that Cao Cao was still very far-sighted, and at the end of the Three Kingdoms, the Sima family replaced Cao Wei by relying on the strength of the family clan. This is also the reason why Cao Cao once wanted to support Cao Zhi. however
It was really Cao Zhi who could not be supported by Ah Dou, otherwise Cao Pi's position as the son of the world would have been abolished long ago.
In fact, the ideal successor in Cao Cao's heart was only his eldest son Cao Ang. When there was no unification of the northern part of the Central Plains, Cao Cao took Cao Ang with him to train him.
In 197 AD, Cao Cao took Cao Ang with him to lead troops to Zhang Xiu, and in the face of Cao Cao's powerful soldiers, Zhang Xiu knew that he was not Cao Cao's opponent. Therefore, he chose to surrender to Cao Cao.
After Zhang Xiu surrendered, Cao Cao's old mistakes were committed again, and on a whim he accepted Lady Zou, the widow of Zhang Xiu's uncle Zhang Ji.
Zhang Xiu felt very sorry for his uncle, so he held a grudge against Cao Cao and decided to rebel. After knowing that Zhang Xiu was unhappy, Cao Cao decided to get rid of Zhang Ji first. However, Cao Cao's plan was too rough, so that the news was accidentally leaked. Zhang Xiu led his troops to sneak up on Cao Cao overnight.
In the face of the sudden rebellion, Cao Cao did not have time to react, and Cao's army was defeated.
During the escape, Cao Cao's mount was ambushed and killed. At the critical time, Cao Ang left the hope of life to Cao Cao. In the end, Cao Ang died in battle at Wancheng.
Cao Ang's death dealt a great blow to Cao Cao, and he was still worried about Cao Ang's death when Cao Cao was dying. It should be known that although Cao Ang was only the son of Cao Cao, he was a very respected person. Unlike Cao Cao's paranoia,
Cao Ang is a very generous person, he has a gentle temperament, and he treats his parents and brothers very well
。 This made him have a great reputation among the government and the opposition, a fixed point that was far from being comparable to Cao Pi, who could only ascend to the throne with the support of the family.
In fact, from the reactions of the people around Cao Cao, it can be seen that Cao Ang is Cao Cao's ideal heir. After Cao Ang's death, Cao Cao's wife Ding turned her face to Cao Cao on the spot, and he scolded Cao Cao with a broken mouth, "You killed my son, and from now on I have nothing to linger on." After that, Lady Ding really left Cao Cao and completely severed relations with Cao Cao.
Cao Ang was only Lady Ding's adopted son, but Lady Ding had such a big reaction to his death, from which we can see Cao Ang's personality charm.
Not only that,
As Cao Wei's later successor, Cao Pi also said more than once that "the brother is filial piety and honesty, and he is also divided into his own".
Filial piety here refers to Cao Ang, and even Cao Pi, as a concubine, believes that Cao Ang is more suitable than him to be Cao Wei's successor.
It is lamentable that the most ideal successor of the Cao family caused a series of butterfly effects because Cao Cao favored Lady Zou on a whim, which eventually led to Cao Ang's early death, thus giving Cao Pi the opportunity to become Cao Wei's successor. It also laid the foundation for the future replacement of the Cao Wei regime by the Sima family.