In the history of Cao Wei, the change of Gaopingling was undoubtedly an important turning point. After this mutiny, Sima Yi usurped the power of Cao Wei, laying a good foundation for the Western Jin Dynasty to replace Cao Wei. Therefore, for the great general Cao Shuang, it was natural to bear the unshirkable responsibility for the demise of Cao Wei.
In the first month of the first year of Jiaping (249), the Cao Wei emperor Cao Fang left Luoyang to pay homage to the Wei Ming Emperor Gao Pingling, and the general Cao Shuang, the leader of the zhong, Cao Xi, and the general of Wu Wei, cao Xun, all followed. Sima Yi took the opportunity to play Empress Guo and asked Cao Shuang's brothers to be deposed. Although Sima Yi took control of the capital Luoyang, Huan Fan succeeded in leaving the city and defected to Cao Shuang. Of course, although Huan Fan persuaded Cao Shuang to emulate cao Cao and blackmail tianzi to order the princes. However, the latter coveted glory and wealth and never made up his mind to rebel against Sima Yi. Therefore, when Cao Shuang gave up his resistance, not only did he not get Sima Yi's forgiveness, but he ended up being killed.
In this regard, in the author's opinion, Cao Shuang gave up resistance, mainly because he did not have many soldiers and horses in his hands. However, for his cousin Xiahou Xuan, he had an army of more than 100,000. Therefore, Xiahou Xuan could have led an army against Sima Yi. However, Xiahou Xuan, like Cao Shuang, did not really put it into action, which is a confusing place.
One
Specifically, according to historical records such as the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Xiahou Xuan was the son of Xiahou Shang, and Xiahou Shang was Xiahou Yuan's nephew. Therefore, Xiahou Xuan and The Wei Ming Emperor Cao Rui were equals. Moreover, Xiahou Xuan was also Cao Shuang's cousin.
"Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Volume 9, Wei Shujiu, Zhuxia Hou Cao Biography Ninth": At the beginning of the beginning, Cao Shuang assisted the government... Tired and scattered riding regular attendants, middle guards.
In 239, after Cao Fang ascended the throne, Cao Shuang was given the official position of general, and Xiahou Xuan was also heavily used, first as a central protector, responsible for the forbidden army in charge of the capital Luoyang.
Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms, Volume IX, Wei Shujiu, And Biography of Marquis Cao of Zhuxia: Sima Xuanwang asked about current affairs, and Xuan thought... He was the general of Zhengxi, the puppet governor of Yong and Liangzhou.
Later, Xiahou Xuan was promoted to the rank of general of Zhenxi and the governor of Yongliang, thus commanding more than 100,000 troops in the western front of Cao Wei. As a result, Xiahou Xuan led the troops outside, which could echo the great general Cao Shuang. However, when the Gaopingling Rebellion broke out, Xiahou Xuan failed to play a role in supporting Cao Shuang and attacking Sima Yi. This, in fact, is directly related to the Battle of Xingshi that broke out in 244 AD.
In the Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms, Pei's note "Spring and Autumn of the Han Dynasty" records that Sima Xuanwang said of Xiahou Xuanyue: "The Spring and Autumn Period blamed The Great Virtue, And Emperor Xiwu re-entered Hanzhong, and was defeated several times, and the king knew it." Now that the road to Xingping is dangerous, Shu has already taken the lead; if the advance is not won, it will retreat to despair, and the army will be overthrown. Why leave it at your disposal! "Fearful, words are cool, leading the army to retreat." Fei Yi entered the army to intercept shuang in sanling, and shuang fought hard, but he only got through it. The cattle and horses that were sent out were lost and lost, and Qiang and Hu complained, while Guan Youxi was wasted.
During Cao Shuang's reign, he suppressed Sima Yi. However, among the Cao Wei generals, Cao Shuang lacked prestige because he had not made any military achievements. Therefore, in 244 AD, Cao Shuang and Xiahou Xuan mobilized more than 100,000 troops to formally attack the Hanzhong land of Shu Han. However, because of the rough roads, the difficulty of supplying grain and grass, coupled with the Shu Han general Wang Ping seizing the dangerous terrain, thus hindering the advance of Cao Wei's army. Soon after, Fei Yi led the Shu Han army to support, thus achieving a pinch attack on Cao Wei's army. In this context, although Xiahou Xuan and Cao Shuang escaped the disaster, they caused heavy losses on the Cao Wei side, especially the soldiers in the Yongliang area, and they complained about Xiahou Xuan and Cao Shuang.
Two
Thus, in 249, after Sima Yi rebelled, Xiahou Xuan did not dare to mobilize the soldiers around Yongliang, because he had lost his prestige before. In the same way, when Cao Shuang held Tianzi Cao Fang hostage, he did not consider coming to Yongliang to defect to Xiahou Xuan. Correspondingly, as early as zhuge liang's northern expedition to the Central Plains, Sima Yi began to take charge of the soldiers and horses in the Yongliang region. Although Sima Yi failed to defeat Zhuge Liang, the former could not hold out, at least not to let Cao Wei lose his troops. Compared with Xiahou Xuan and Cao Shuang, Sima Yi had a high prestige among the Yongliang generals.
Moreover, Guo Huai and other subordinates of Xiahou Xuan were originally Sima Yi's confidants, and these generals were likely to disobey Xiahou Xuanyang. After the establishment of Cao Wei, Guo Huai served as the Marquis of Yongzhou and the Marquis of Sheyang pavilion, and the general (Cao Zhen) of Qianzhenxi. After Cao Zhen's death, Guo Huai became Sima Yi's subordinate, following him to resist Zhuge Liang's Northern Expedition, accurately anticipating the enemy and making many military achievements. In the first year of zhengshi (240), he repelled the Shu state of Jiang Wei. Later, he moved to the western generals and oversaw the military forces of Liangzhou in Yongzhou. In the second year of Jiaping (250), during the gaopingling rebellion, Guo Huai was promoted by Sima Yi to the rank of general of the Che Cavalry, Yi Tongsansi, and the Marquis of Fengyang. In the first month of the second year (255) of Cao Wei Zhengyuan,he died and was posthumously awarded the title of Grand General (贞). In this regard, in the author's opinion, although Guo Huai's official position at that time was lower than xiahou xuan, whether it was ability or prestige, Xiahou Xuan was actually inferior to Guo Huai, who had been in the battlefield for a long time.
Three
On the other hand, the reason why Xiahou Xuan tied his hands was also because Cao Shuang gave up resistance first. After Sima Yi rebelled, Cao Shuang held the Tianzi Cao Fang in his hands, and he was also a great general at the head of the military generals, and he could call on generals everywhere to attack Sima Yi. However, after the capital Luoyang was controlled by Sima Yi, coupled with the persuasion of Jiang Ji and other cao Wei ministers, Cao Shuang decided to surrender to Sima Yi. As a result, the latter immediately broke his promise and killed Cao Shuang and his henchmen. By this time, Xiahou Xuan had lost the big tree of Cao Shuang at the imperial court, and there was no possibility of overturning.
Pei Songzhi's commentary on the Spring and Autumn of the Wei Dynasty records in the Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms, Volume 9, Wei Shujiu, and The Ninth Biography of Xiahou Cao, which records that in the beginning, Xiahou Ba's general Ben Shu and Hu Xuan wanted to be with him. Xuan Yue: "Don't I have to be a guest of Kou Yuhu?" "Then return the Kyoshi."
Of course, Xiahou Xuan did not betray Cao Wei and defect to Shu Han like Xiahou Ba, but voluntarily surrendered his military power and returned to the capital Luoyang. In this regard, in the author's opinion, judging from the final result, if Xiahou Xuan listened to Xiahou Ba's advice, he might be able to avoid the disaster of killing himself.
Four
Finally, after returning to Luoyang, the capital of Cao Wei, Xiahou Xuan naturally lost his dependence, so he could only protect himself and no longer care about the affairs of the imperial court. As far as Sima Yi was concerned, he did not kill Xiahou Xuan completely.
Pei Songzhi's commentary on the Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms, Volume 9, Wei Shujiu, and The Ninth Biography of Cao Of the Marquis of Zhuxia, quotes from the Spring and Autumn of the Wei Dynasty: "Taifu Xue, Xu Yun said xuan yue: "There is no need to worry about it." Xuan sighed, "Shi Zong, why don't you see anything?" This person can still meet me as a young man in the family, and Ziyuan and Zishang are not tolerant of me. ”
In 251, after Sima Yi's death, Sima Shi took over the imperial court. In this regard, someone said to Xiahou Xuan, now you have nothing to worry about. However, Xiahou Xuan did not think so, in his opinion, Sima Yi was favored by Cao Cao, Cao Pi, Cao Rui and other monarchs before his death, because he cared about his old feelings, so he could leave his own life. However, Sima Shi and Sima Zhao obviously did not have such a broad mind. Sure enough, things went in the direction Xiahou Xuan expected.
In 254, Zhongshu ordered Li Feng and others to plot to get rid of Sima Shi and make Xiahou Xuan a general. Although Xiahou Xuan did not directly participate in this plan, when the matter was revealed, Sima Shi was obviously unwilling to let go of the opportunity to get rid of Xiahou Xuan. After all, Xiahou Xuan was once a general with heavy troops, and if he did not take the opportunity to cut the grass and remove the roots now, it would be a hidden danger in the future. Finally, in March 254, Xiahou Xuan was beheaded by order of the imperial court.
In addition, Xiahou Xuan was quite accomplished in literature, and wrote the "Treatise on Le Yi", which was later written by Wang Xizhi, the "Sage of Books", and passed it on to the world. According to the Sui Shu Jing Shu Zhi, Xiahou Xuan had 3 volumes of anthology (2 volumes of the Book of Tang Classics).