Many people have said that if Zhuge Liang wanted to be emperor, he could easily abolish Liu Chan and replace him, and there was no need to argue about this unfounded matter. Examining the process of Cao Cao's father and son representing the Han Dynasty's self-reliance may help to understand the historical context of the time and the difficulties of replacing the Han Dynasty.
Since Dong Zhuo's rebellion, the Xi'an Emperor, known as Liu Xie, not only survived in name only, but also died in danger. Liu Xie was first of all a doll in Dong Zhuo's hand. How long the Emperor of Xi'an could live was only between Dong Zhuo's thoughts. Later, he was kidnapped by Li Dai and became a chip in the struggle for power and profit with Guo Feng. Emperor Xian of Han and his officials, concubines, and maids fled from Chang'an to Henan out of fear. As the folk song of the time said, "Queen Concubine, Wang Fei Wang, Thousand Horsemen Beimang", which occurred in the Spring and Autumn Period of Xi'an. Yang Feng and Dong Cheng, rushing to the rescue, were finally welcomed into Xuchang by Cao Cao, and were able to settle down from then on.
Although Cao Cao greeted Emperor Xian of Han, he was not necessarily a loyal general. More importantly, he wanted to maximize the value of his life, take it as his duty to honor the Mandate of Heaven, and welcome Emperor Xian of Han to live in Xuchang. He was granted the special qualification to "hold the Son of Heaven and order the world." Under the banner of the emperor, it was supported not only by the feudal literati and bureaucrats, but also by the broad masses of the people. Conscription, horse buying, grain stockpiling, and discipline were relatively easy; more importantly, when the Crusades opposed the warlords who disobeyed the imperial family (in fact, they disobeyed Cao Cao), they did not send troops, occupied all their political superiority, pushed the other side into an unjust situation, and put on the hat of treason and rebellion. Because of his political superiority and outstanding political and military talents, from 192 to 208 AD, Cao Cao killed the warlords Han Sui, Ma Chao, Tao Qian, Lü Bu, Yuan Shu, Yuan Shao, and quelled the rebellion, unifying the Yellow River Valley, that is, there were only four warlords left in two-thirds of the rich areas of the country, Sun Quan in the six southeastern counties, Liu Zhang in Yizhou, Zhang Lu and Liu Bei in Hanzhong.
At the time, Cao Cao combined military and political power. The Han Xian Emperor was only a puppet and a sealed emperor. However, Cao Cao did not wear a yellow robe, representing the independence of the Han Dynasty. This was not Cao Cao's loyalty to the Han Dynasty, but the political situation did not allow it to be replaced. The so-called political situation is nothing more than the royal complex of feudal literati and people. Although the Eastern Han Dynasty survived in name only after the Yellow Turban Uprising, it was still a centipede that died but was not stiff. The royal complex was a huge conservative force that always hindered the normal change of dynasties; more importantly, the former emperor of the Han Dynasty, although young and ignorant, was not a violent, tyrannical, and evil person. All sides of society still harbored unrealistic illusions about him; independent generals with different surnames, although reliable generals trained, promoted, and subordinated by Cao Cao, had in fact become local power figures in the course of the long war. In the second election between the Eastern Han Dynasty and the Cao faction, it was difficult to determine which side they were on. Therefore, Cao Cao did not act rashly, and did not want to cause civil unrest and war because of the replacement. In December 210, Cao Cao said: "As prime minister, the people and ministers are very expensive, and their expectations have passed", which shows that they do not want to salivate. This is not Cao Cao's truth. The delicate and fickle relationship between the chancellor and the emperor was an extremely unstable and dangerous balance. Once affected, it may cause an earthquake in the palace. Neither of them would calmly accept the loyalty of the monarch. With Cao Cao's life, he would definitely be able to see the wind and thunder. The reason why we say this sentence is not to deceive ourselves, but to paralyze others and increase our own safety factor.
In 220, when Sun Quan wrote a letter asking for the title of king, he also advised Cao Cao to accept the Mandate of Heaven to become emperor. After reading the letter, Cao Cao scolded: "Drive the donkey to the shelf!" This is not only Cao Cao's vigilance against Sun Quan's support, but also an evaluation of the political risks of establishing a han dynasty. At that time, Xiahou Dun and others believed that Cao Cao had made outstanding contributions to the north and south for more than 30 years, with full wings and people's hearts, and the time was ripe. He should obey the laws of nature and the will of the people, put on the dragon robe, and stand on his side on behalf of the Han Dynasty. Cao Cao knew that his coming days were not much, and he would rather estimate the resistance higher and larger than the resistance smaller and lower, and he would not pee to the dawn. At that time, he will lose his reputation and become infamous for thousands of years. Heaven will not give him a chance to reform, and he will not have a chance to start over.
Cao Cao had two chances to justifiably take his place. In 200 AD, the Che general and Emperor Xian's wife's uncle Dong Chenghuai carried a robe and edict, gathered the Changshui lieutenants Zhongji, the generals Wang Zifu, Wu Zilan, Yilang Wu Shuo, and Liu Bei to launch a palace coup and kill Cao Cao. This shows that the contradictions and conflicts between Cao Cao and Emperor Xian of Han have developed to the point of life and death, and leprosy has emerged and cannot be coordinated. After the conspiracy is destroyed, it can be thoroughly investigated and the opportunity to abolish it. However, Cao Cao did not investigate to the end, but severely punished Dong Cheng and others at the front desk, and even the core members did not carefully check, allowing big fish like Liu Bei to escape from the net, and the Xi'an Emperor of the Han Dynasty sat safely on the dragon chair. The second time, in 214 AD, Emperor Xian of Han, through his empress, once again staged a palace coup to kill Cao Cao. Logically, if one is too much, how can it be anymore? Emperor Xian of Han should have been punished this time, but still not! It was only empress Fu's father, daughter, brothers and others who were killed, and Emperor Xian of Han still sat on the dragon chair and was exempted from prosecution. This is not Cao Cao's generosity, benevolence, and virtue, and he does not have this kind of grace. The reason for not abolishing Emperor Xian of Han was still to worry about the overall situation at that time and worry about the instability of the country.
