When it comes to puppet emperors at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, many people's first reaction is that Liu Xie, the emperor of Han Xian, was first held hostage by Dong Zhuo, then by Cao Cao's father and son, and finally forced to sit in Cao Pi. To Cao Cao and Cao Pi's surprise, in the history of Cao Wei, there were also puppet emperors, and in the end, even Jiangshan was taken away. The following is cao wei's first puppet emperor, Cao Fang.
Although the Wei Ming Emperor Cao Rui had many concubines, he had no blessings, all of his sons died early, and he had no heirs in his later years, so he adopted Cao Fang and Cao Qian, the King of Qin. Cao Fang lived in the palace since he was a child and enjoyed the treatment of a prince, but there is no clear record of his origin. According to the Spring and Autumn of the Wei Dynasty, Cao Fang may have been Cao Zhang's grandson, Cao Cao's great-grandson, and the son of Cao Kai the Prince of Rencheng.
In the first month of the third year of the Jing Dynasty, Cao Rui became seriously ill and feared that the foundation of the country was unstable and a rebellion would breed, so he made Cao Fang, who was only eight years old, crown prince. On the same day, Cao Rui died of illness, and Cao Fang ascended the throne, assisted by the general Cao Shuang and Sima Yi, and Empress Dowager Mingguo as empress dowager. Unlike Emperor Xian of Han, Cao Fang initially had real power, and soon after he ascended the throne, he began to pro-government and listen to the ministers.
When Cao Fang ascended the throne as empress, he ordered that all the palaces and pavilions that were preparing for the Eastern Palace be stopped, and all slaves over the age of sixty in the official palace and the Gongqing Palace should be released so that they could return to civilian life. He also ordered that the original zhongcheng be renamed Xinpu County to resettle the people who had fled; A sacrifice ceremony was held in the temple court of Cao Cao, the Emperor of Weiwu, to pay tribute to the deceased hero. During Cao Fang's reign, there was a famous Zhengshi literature, representative figures such as He Yan, Wang Bi, Xiahou Xuan, etc., and the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Forest were also active during Cao Fang's reign. Cao Fang's actions after he ascended the throne showed that he would become a generation of Ming emperors.
As he grew older, Cao Fang had the opportunity to achieve greater achievements, but the two ministers Cao Shuang and Sima Yi did not do their best to assist the young lord like Zhuge Liang, but instead fought for the real power of Cao Wei. First, Cao Shuang obeyed the schemes of He Yan and others, put Empress Guo under house arrest, and at the same time demoted Sima Yiming to the outside world, gradually isolating and elevating Cao Fang, resulting in him becoming a puppet emperor, and Cao Shuang became the most powerful figure in Cao Wei. Later, Sima Yi took advantage of cao Shuang's opportunity to lead Cao Fang to GaopingLing to visit the tomb, quickly launched a mutiny, took control of the capital, and finally eliminated Cao Shuang and his henchmen, known in history as the Gaopingling Incident.
After the Gaopingling Incident, Sima Yi did not return power to Cao Fang, but took over the military and political power himself, and Cao Fang was still a puppet emperor, but the person who controlled him changed from Cao Shuang to Sima Yi.
After Sima Yi's death, his son Sima Shi took control of the imperial government. Unwilling to be a puppet, Cao Fang conspired with Guanglu's grand master Zhang Ji and Zhongshu Ling Li Feng and others to get rid of Sima Shi and make Xiahou Xuan a general instead. However, Sima Shi had many eyes and ears, the plan was revealed, and Zhang Ji and others were exterminated. After this time, Sima Shi was worried that cao fang would sooner or later be a scourge if he continued like this, so he united with his ministers and forced Empress Guo to depose Cao Fang on the grounds that Cao Fang was older and did not pro-government, indulged in female sex, abandoned lectures, abandoned Confucianism, fornicated, and did not observe filial piety.
In this way, Cao Fang changed from emperor to king of Qi, fortunately Sima Shi did not embarrass him, and Cao Fang had been enjoying the treatment that a prince should have before Cao Wei's demise. After Sima Yan established the Jin Dynasty, Cao Fang's title was demoted to the title of Duke of Shaoling County, but he was still not harmed, and Cao Fang lived in the Jin Dynasty for more than ten years before he died at the age of 43.
As the third emperor of Cao Wei, he was held hostage by three powerful ministers in his lifetime, and after the imperial throne was deposed, he still achieved a good ending, and he was not exterminated by Sima Shi, which was already a blessing in misfortune.
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