The Annals of the Three Kingdoms contains:
"In the thirteenth year, Jian'an was ill for thirteen years, and Prince Taizu asked for help. and death, mourning. Emperor Wen forgave Taizu, and Taizu said: "This is my misfortune, and Ru Cao is lucky." "Words are runny"
According to records, Cao Chong died of illness at the age of 13. Cao Cao said that Cao Chong's death was a blessing for Cao Pi and others, and Cao Pi later also said that if Cao Chong was there, it would not be his turn to sit in the world, according to which some people believed that Cao Chong died of poisoning, what is the truth?
Cao Cao had a total of 25 sons, and Cao Chong was Cao Cao's seventh son. Among Cao Cao's sons, four are the most famous, Cao Zhi is known for his writing, Cao Chang is known for his martial arts, Cao Chong is known for his intelligence and benevolence, and Cao Pi is both literary and martial, and if Cao Chong does not die, Cao Chong is very likely to succeed to the throne.
Cao Chong's biological mother, Lady Huan, was one of Cao Cao's concubines and loved by Cao Cao, and she bore Cao Cao three sons: Cao Chong, Cao Zheng, and Cao Yu. Cao Cao's affection for Lady Huan was also evident, and he made her second son Cao Zheng the King of Pengcheng because Cao Cao remembered that Lady Huan was a native of Pengcheng.
Of the three sons born to Lady Huan, and even among all Cao Cao's sons, Cao Cao's favorite was Cao Chong. Cao Chong is very intelligent, he belonged to the level of a child prodigy when he was a child, and when he was five or six years old, his IQ had reached the height of an adult, and the well-known Cao Chong was a good example.
In addition, Cao Chong himself is also a person with the ability to do things and a benevolent heart, and is deeply supported by his subordinates.
Cao Cao was well-read, good at the art of war, and liked to rule the country very strictly with the military; he said, "Rewarding merit without punishing crimes is not a national law." At that time, the army had many state affairs, and the punishment for criminals was very serious, and it was the death penalty at every turn. Cao Chong often helped his subordinates through difficulties, "relying on those who helped, dozens before and after."
Once, the saddle that Cao Cao liked was bitten by a rat in the warehouse, and the person in charge of the warehouse was very afraid, thinking that according to the custom, he would inevitably die, and he thought that the best way was to tie his hands and turn himself in, hoping to get Cao Cao's pardon by luck. Undoubtedly, this is a kind of gambling, whether or not you can live completely depends on creation.
Cao Chong knew about it, and quickly found the person in charge and said, "You wait three days before you turn yourself in." Cao Chong used a knife to cut his single clothes, pretending to be a rat biting, and deliberately pretended to be sad where Cao Cao passed.
Cao Cao quickly asked the reason, and Cao Chong replied: "The people think that if a rat bites and destroys clothes, it will be unlucky for the owner, and my single clothes were bitten by a rat, so I am sad." ”
Cao Cao said, "Jing Blind said, I don't need to be distressed. ”
After waiting for three days as Cao Chong said, the person in charge went to ask Cao Cao for guilt and reported the rat biting the saddle, and Cao Cao said with a smile:
"My son's clothes are with him, and he is still bitten, not to mention the saddle hanging from the pillar?" He did not punish the head of the warehouse. Through this incident, Cao Chong's prestige among his subordinates was further enhanced, and Cao Cao also liked Cao Chong even more, believing that he went deep into the people and knew the grassroots very well.
In fact, Cao Pi, Cao Zhi and Cao Chong are not the eldest son of Cao Cao, and if you want to say that the identity is higher than Cao Chong, it is Cao Cao's eldest son Cao Ang, although he was born to the concubine Liu clan, but he was the adopted son of the Ding clan of Cao Cao's main room, and the most likely to be made crown prince when Cao Chong was alive were Cao Ang and Cao Chong, but it is a pity that Cao Ang died in battle in Wancheng when Cao Chong was more than a year old.
Cao Pi and Cao Zhi's biological mother, Lady Bian, was not from a famous family, and her status was not as good as Cao Chong's mother. She was born in a low-class family of people who ran rivers and lakes, her father Bian Yuan was a musician engaged in music and dance, and Mrs. Bian belonged to an advocate family, she was originally a singer. In 196, after Lady Ding was deposed, she became Cao Cao's main chamber, and this year coincided with the year Cao Chong died.
That is to say, after Cao Ang's death, before Cao Chong's death, Cao Chong was equal to his other brothers in terms of status, and if he wanted to compete, he mainly looked at ability and saw who had the most important status in Cao Cao's heart, and there was no doubt that Cao Chong had the greatest advantage in this regard. After Cao Ang's death, the most suitable heirs to the family estate in Cao Cao's eyes were: Cao Chong, Cao Zhi, and Cao Pi.
If Cao Chong does not die, and Cao Cao wants Cao Chong to take the throne, Cao Cao only needs to raise Cao Chong's mother, Lady Huan, to the right, Cao Chong is a concubine, according to the legislation, an heir can be established, and Cao Chong is the next heir, but unfortunately Cao Chong died.
In fact, when Cao Chong was alive, Cao Cao was still fighting in the rivers and lakes, and his life was not guaranteed. In the year of Cao Chong's death, Cao Cao abolished the three dukes, restored the chancellor system, and appointed himself as the chancellor of the Han Dynasty, and the chancellor was an official position and could not be hereditary.
It was only 5 years after Cao Chong's death that Cao Cao was made the Duke of Wei, and 8 years after Cao Chong's death, Cao Cao was made the Prince of Wei, a title that could be hereditary. Cao Cao's sons also began to fight after this period. Therefore, before Cao Chong's death, Cao Cao's sons had nothing to fight. Cao Pi had no motive to harm Cao Chong at all, and he would not be stupid enough to kill his father's favorite son, Cao Chong, and bring Cao Cao a cone, which would not do him any good.
To say that the real battle is after Cao Chong's death, between Cao Pi and the slot value, Cao Pi wants to attack Cao Zhi.
Cao Zhi was 4 years older than Cao Chong, and when he was in his teens, he could recite the Book of Poetry and the Analects of the Hundred Schools and the two Han dynasties of the pre-Qin dynasty, and Cao Zhi accompanied Cao Cao on his Eastern and Southern Expeditions at the age of 15 and 17 respectively. In the face of Cao Cao's questions, he wrote articles that Cao Cao suspected were not written by his age, and when Cao Cao verified in person that it was written by Cao Zhi himself, he was very impressed by his son's literary brilliance.
"Shiye Tongjue Tai New City, Taizu Xi will put all his sons on the stage, so that each of them will be endowed. The planting aid pen is established, considerable, and Taizu is very different. "Three Kingdoms"
Cao Zhi is not only good at writing but also can figure out his father's psychology, he knows what Cao Cao likes, he likes it, for example, Cao Cao likes thrift, Cao Zhi pursues simplicity in everything, does not pay attention to luxurious appearance at home and outside, never pursues gorgeous pomp when dressing and traveling, Cao Cao quickly transfers his love to Cao Zhi.
So will Cao Zhi attack Cao Chong?
Cao Zhi has nothing to say about his literary talent, but he is not deep in the city, giving the impression that he is a merry talent, and according to normal thinking reasoning, he will not do anything to kill Cao Chong.
After composing poetry from Tongquetai, Cao Cao was even more amazed by Cao Zhi's talent, and sealed Cao Zhi all the way, and even when he went out to attack Sun Quan, Cao Cao specially asked Cao Zhi to stay in Yecheng, and there was a tendency for the prince to guard the country. Some learned figures such as Ding Yi, Ding Xiao, Yang Xiu and others came to assist Cao Zhi, and Cao Cao almost made Cao Zhi crown prince several times. If Cao Zhicheng's mansion is deep enough, he will continue to maintain his good image in the eyes of his old father and strive for the thug position of the prince, but not long after, Cao Zhi's nature was exposed, and he was found by Cao Cao to be too willful, loved to drink and had no self-control, and the old Cao was disappointed in it, and Cao Zhi was cool.
Although this happened after Cao Chong's death, judging from Cao Zhi's behavior, he was a man without much city. In all the records in the Records of the Three Kingdoms, there is no point of contradiction between Cao Chong and Cao Zhi or even with all his brothers.
Therefore, it is almost impossible to say that Cao Zhi killed Cao Chong for the sake of his future status.
However, to consider the conspiracy theory, Cao Zhi is the most likely person to kill Cao Chong. Among all Cao Cao's sons, Cao Cao's favorite sons are Cao Zhi and Cao Chong, and Cao Cao's favorite ladies are Lady Huan and Lady Bian, after the Ding family fell out of favor, Cao Cao decided to choose one of the two ladies to support the righteousness, and Cao Zhi, who is older than Cao Chong, is likely to kill Cao Chong for his own favor and for his mother, as long as Cao Chong dies, Mrs. Huan has no capital to compete with her mother, and she is Cao Cao's favorite son, and the first thing Cao Cao will consider in the future to inherit the family business is Cao Zhi.
In addition, taking a step back, even if Cao Cao suspects Cao Chong's abnormal death, he will think that the biggest suspect who killed Cao Chong is Cao Pi, and Cao Zhi can be described as killing two birds with one stone.
However, people are not as good as heavenly calculations, and Cao Zhi did not expect that later Cao Cao became more and more disappointed with him, and finally Cao Cao changed his mind about making Cao Zhi a prince.
Cao Cao conscientiously abided by the system of primogeniture and eventually made Cao Pi crown prince.
Judging from the symptoms during Cao Chong's illness, Cao Chong did indeed die:
During Cao Chong's illness in 208 AD (the thirteenth year of Jian'an), Cao Cao personally prayed for him, which is enough to prove that during Cao Chong's illness, Cao Cao attached great importance to him, and the suspicious Cao Cao would not ignore whether Cao Chong's "illness" was man-made.
After Cao Chong died, Cao Cao was very sad and wept, and Cao Pi stepped forward to comfort Cao Cao, and Cao Cao said: "This is my misfortune, but it is your luck." ”
"Book of Wei of the Three Kingdoms": "Jian'an thirteen years of illness, Taizu asked for help. and death, mourning. ”
Emperor Wen forgave Taizu, and Taizu said: "This is my misfortune, and Ru Cao is lucky." "Emperor Wen often said: Brothers are filial and honest, and they are also their own. If I let the cangshu be there, I will have no world.
The implication of Cao Cao was that Cao Chong was the best of the brothers of the Cao family and the most suitable successor, and if he did not die, others would not have the opportunity to succeed to the throne! Cao Cao said this with deep anger and regret, and the "you" here should mean Cao Pi and Cao Zhi.
Cao Pi called the empress, and also said such things! If Cao Chong had been killed by Cao Pi, he himself would not have said so.
Later, Cao Cao hired a deceased daughter of Empress Wen Zhaozhen to be buried with him for Cao Chong, posthumously presented him with an official ribbon of the capital lieutenant, and appointed Cao Jun, the son of Cao Zheng, the Marquis of Wanwan, to be Cao Chong's descendant.
In the 22nd year of Jian'an, Cao Chong was posthumously honoured as Marquis of Deng, and in the 2nd year of Huang Chu, he was posthumously honoured as Marquis of Deng.
Although Cao Cao was not cured of his head disease, he did not regret killing the divine doctor Hua Tuo, but when his favorite son Cao Chong fell ill and died, Cao Cao regretted it.
"The Legend of Hua Tuo of the Three Kingdoms": "After the beloved son Cangshu was ill, Taizu sighed: "I regret killing Hua Tuo, so that this child will die strongly." ”
Summary:
Cao Chong's death died of illness, but the possibility of being killed by Cao Zhi is not excluded. And Cao Pi, on the surface, is far less intelligent than Cao Chong, and even less intelligent than Cao Zhi, and his personality in front of Cao Cao is thick and honest, but Cao Cao eventually gave up his ideal heir Cao Zhi and finally established Cao Pi as his heir.