"The emperor takes turns to do it and comes to my house next year." In Chinese history, many so-called "usurpers" such as The Sui Wen Emperor Yang Jian and Tang Gaozu Li Yuan were all seized from their own relatives, and The Song Taizu Zhao Kuangyin even bullied orphans and widows to establish their own society. However, none of these three people were denounced by later generations for one reason: they did a good job after becoming emperors.
However, what is strange is that Cao Cao and Sima Yi in the Three Kingdoms period at the end of the Han Dynasty did not "usurp the throne" and stand on their own, but were attacked by various attacks. In fact, whether it was Cao Cao or Sima Yi, as an important courtier in the dprk at that time, if he really had to usurp the throne and stand on his own, it was not a mistake of principle. Cao Cao, in particular, has become more and more recognized by the world as a "ruler of the world" today, while the so-called "chaotic world adulterers" have gradually been diluted. On the other hand, the Sima family, headed by Sima Yi, is still criticized by many people today. Probably the reason for this, in addition to the phrase "Sima Zhao's heart is well known", there is also a person who is contemporary with him who is regarded as a model. This person is Zhuge Liang, who also held great power in the Shu Han Dynasty, but "bowed to exhaustion".
The reason why the Sima Yi family usurped the power of Cao Wei can be explained by the situation. As early as the reign of Cao Cao, in order to guard against Sima Yi, he was forced to hold the position of "literary warrior" in the Xiangfu. This position is nothing more than a casual post of "managing the school, teaching disciples, and also managing the affairs of indoctrination and etiquette in the county." This is definitely too much for Sima Yi, who is "clever and strategic, erudite and knowledgeable, and subservient to Confucianism". However, if Sima Yi made a slight mistake, he might end up with a corpse with two points, and Yang Xiu, who was also a family member, was the best example.
After Cao Cao's death, Sima Yi finally ushered in a turnaround, and the Wei Emperor Cao Pi and the Wei Ming Emperor Cao Rui both gave him more important positions. However, the real control of Cao Wei's real power was still the sons of the Cao family and the Xiahou family, such as Cao Zhen, Cao Xiu and others. Moreover, at this time, above the Cao Wei court, there were also Zhang Gao and other civilian generals who were loyal to the Cao Wei regime. The ability and ability of these people are not weaker than Sima Yi,and they are all likely to put Sima Yi to death. Therefore, although Sima Yi's situation was better than in Cao Cao's time, the crisis was not lifted. Until Cao Fang succeeded to the throne, the power was controlled by the mediocre and incompetent Cao Shuang. This gave Sima Yi the opportunity to take advantage of the "Gaopingling Incident" to completely take his fate into his own hands.
In fact, while Sima Yi was changing his own destiny, he was also changing the fate of the family clan. Because Cao Cao vigorously selected the sons of the Han Dynasty and suppressed the Shijia clan, the Shijia clan, which could call the wind and rain in the early days of the Eastern Han Dynasty, had to do things in a low-key manner. Although the Nine Pins Zhongzheng system set up by Cao Pi changed the situation of the family clan, it was still unable to truly control the entire political situation. Therefore, the family clan needed someone who could take the "Cao family" and replace it, as the representative of the family clan, Sima Yi became the best candidate at that time. In other words, the shijia clan needs the Sima family to replace the Cao family, and if Sima Yi refuses, it may be abandoned by the shijia clan. Then, while not being trusted by Cao Wei's rulers, and being abandoned by the shijia clan, then the Sima family will be beaten into a place of no return.
Sima Yi's usurpation of Cao Wei's power was forced by the situation. So why did Zhuge Liang, who held the power of the Shu Han Dynasty and was also a great family of the family, not usurp the throne and stand on his own, because of his lack of strength, or was there someone in the court to check and balance it?
Although the various factions within the Shu Han Dynasty were complex at that time, they could not pose a threat to Zhuge Liang. Above the court, Liu Bei's "elder faction" had almost withered away and could not pose a threat to Zhuge Liang at all; while the "Jingzhou faction" was almost headed by Zhuge Liang, such as the famous Ma Mo brothers; the so-called "Dongzhou faction", after the death of Fa Zheng and the impeachment of Li Yan, could no longer compete with Zhuge Liang; the "Yizhou native" faction was more likely to hold nominal civilian official positions.
In terms of the army, although there were Wei Yan and Zhao Yun, who were loyal to Liu Bei. However, Zhao Yun died shortly after the First Northern Expedition in 229 AD, and Wei Yan was already alone in the army. Coupled with a large number of generals such as Jiang Wei, Wang Ping, Ma Dai, and Zhang Yi, who were promoted and reused by Zhuge Liang, it was enough for Zhuge Liang to easily control the army of Shu Han. Later, Wei Yan's murder was the best proof.
Controlling the situation of the dynasty and also controlling the army, Zhuge Liang did not usurp the throne and stand on his own, which is enough to show his "loyalty". This "loyalty" has two meanings, one is loyalty to Liu Bei, and the other is loyalty to his own concept of "Kuang Fu Han Room". It was precisely because of this loyalty that Zhuge Liang would do his best to assist Liu Chan, the later lord, enhance the strength of Shu Han, and then continue to lead troops to carry out the Northern Expedition. I hope to be able to capture Guanzhong and then unify the world. Unfortunately, Shu Han was too weak to achieve a decisive victory in the military struggle against Cao Wei. Zhuge Liang, on the other hand, seriously damaged his body because he had to personally inquire into everything and seriously damaged his body, and died in 234 AD.
In this way, Sima Yi usurped the power of Cao Wei or was forced by the situation, but compared with Zhuge Liang, the two had a high opinion on the issue of "loyalty".