Xiahou Xuan (209–254), courtesy name Taichu (Romance of the Three Kingdoms, etc.), was a native of Peiguo County (present-day Bozhou, Anhui). During the Three Kingdoms period, Cao Wei was a chancellor and writer, the son of xiahou Shang, the general of Zhengnan, and the cousin of the great general Cao Shuang. Xiahou Xuan had little fame and outstanding appearance, and was sometimes called "Lang Lang like the sun and the moon into the heart". In the sixth year of the Huang Dynasty (225), Emperor Wen of Wei attacked the Marquis of Changling Township. During the reign of Emperor Ming of Wei, he successively served as a waiter at the Yellow Gate and a yulin supervisor.
After Cao Fang succeeded to the throne, Xiahou Xuan was worshipped as a scattered attendant and a middle protector to defend the imperial palace. Later, he served as the general of Zhengxi, and during his tenure, he planned the Battle of Luogu with Cao Shuang, which was greatly disappointed. After the gaopingling rebellion, Xiahou Xuan seized the military power and was replaced by Dahongxu and Taichangqing. From this, it is very obvious that after Sima Yi launched a mutiny, Xiahou Xuan held heavy troops in his hands, but did not rise up to resist. And this, of course, has caused a relatively large controversy. Below, let's talk about Xiahou Xuan, the minister of Cao Wei.
One
First of all, Xiahou Xuan was the son of the great general Zhengnan and the Muxia Houshang of Jingzhou. In the seventh year of the Huang Dynasty (226), Xiahou Shang died, and Xiahou Xuan inherited his title as Marquis of Changling Township. In this regard, in the author's opinion, Xiahou Xuan's father, Xiahou Shang, originally had the opportunity to become a general of Cao Wei, but because his concubine was executed by Cao Pi, Xiahou Shang eventually died of illness in 226 AD.
Xiahou Xuan had a reputation when he was young, and when he was weak, he served as a loose horse yellow door attendant. Because of his displeasure when he sat with Empress Mao's brother Mao Zeng, he was hated by the Wei Ming Emperor Cao Rui and demoted to Yulin Supervisor. From this, it is very obvious that although he was Xiahou Shang's son, because he offended the Wei Ming Emperor Cao Rui, Xiahou Xuan was not reused for a while. Of course, this situation changed after the death of The Wei Ming Emperor Cao Rui.
In the third year of the Jing Dynasty (239), after the death of the Wei Ming Emperor Cao Rui, Cao Fang took the throne. At that time, Cao Fang was assisted by Xiahou Xuan's cousin and the general Cao Shuang (Xiahou Xuan was the son of Cao Shuang's aunt). For Cao Shuang, in order to be able to suppress opponents such as Sima Yi, it was natural to reuse Xiahou Xuan and other Cao Wei sects. As a result, Xiahou Xuan was promoted to the post of Scattered HorseMan and Middle Guard. Xiahou Xuan's military attachés and generals selected during his tenure as a mid-level protector were all temporary junjie, and later most of them had prominent official positions, "Muzhou Dian County". The Wei Jin Shiyu said that his criteria and methods of selecting talents became a model for his successors. Therefore, it was very obvious that Xiahou Xuan obviously had a certain talent, and he was able to serve as an official of the Middle Guard Army, not completely relying on his identity as Cao Wei's imperial family.
On the basis of the Zhonghu Army, Xiahou Xuan later served as the general of Zhengxi and The False Festival, and the governor of Yongzhou and Liangzhou. This meant that Xiahou Xuan was in charge of Cao Wei's army in the Yongliang area. Because of the long-term resistance to Zhuge Liang and Jiang Wei's Northern Expedition, Cao Wei's military strength in the Yongliang area remained at more than 100,000 people. From this point of view, Xiahou Xuan held heavy troops in his hands, which could echo the great general. However, when the Gaopingling Rebellion broke out, Xiahou Xuan failed to play a role in supporting Cao Shuang and attacking Sima Yi.
Two
In the first five years (244), Xiahou Xuan and Cao Shuang jointly planned the Battle of Luogu. In this battle, Cao Shuang and Xiahou Xuan mobilized more than 100,000 troops to attack Shu Han, but because of the rugged terrain, the difficulty of supplying grain and food, and the consumption of a lot of manpower and materials, Sima Yi cited the results of the former Battle of Hanzhong as an example, believing that Shu Han had taken advantage of the danger, and if he did not retreat, he would probably destroy the entire army. Xiahou Xuan was afraid, so he persuaded Cao Shuang to withdraw his army, and the general Yang Wei also urged the class division to join the army. Cao Shuang then ordered a retreat, but on the way was intercepted by The Shu Han chancellor Fei Yi and was almost trapped. In this battle, "the cattle and horses that were sent out were killed and lost, and the Qiang and Hu complained, while guan you were wasted", which was ridiculed by the people at that time.
In this regard, in the author's opinion, in the Battle of Luogu, Cao Shuang and Xiahou Xuan suffered heavy losses due to command errors, resulting in heavy losses to Cao Wei's generals. And this naturally weakened the prestige of Cao Shuang and Xiahou Xuan among Cao Wei's generals. In other words, although Xiahou Xuan's official position had not changed, his appeal in the Yongliang area had been significantly reduced. On this basis, when Sima Yi launched a mutiny, not only did Cao Shuang lack the courage to resist, but Xiahou Xuan did not dare to mobilize the soldiers around Yongliang to resist, because the final result was likely to be that Xiahou Xuan could not mobilize soldiers and horses, and would even be countered. After all, Sima Yi had been rooted in the Yongliang area for a long time, and had Guo Huai and other confidants.
Three
In the first ten years (249), Sima Yi launched the Gaopingling Rebellion. After killing Cao Shuang and his henchmen, Sima Yi naturally did not ignore Xiahou Xuan. In order to prevent Xiahou Xuan from rebelling, Sima Yi used the name of the imperial court to transfer Xiahou Xuanzheng to the imperial court and enter the imperial court as the Great Hongxu, and soon changed his post to Taichang. Therefore, it was very obvious that if Xiahou Xuan rebelled, then Sima Yi could accuse Xiahou Xuan of disobeying the imperial court's orders, and he could call on his generals to attack Xiahou Xuan. And this, and Cao Cao's blackmail of the Heavenly Son to order the princes, naturally has the same magic.
Since Xiahou Xuan was conscripted back to the imperial court, he could only protect himself and no longer overdo the government. According to the "Spring and Autumn of the Wei Dynasty", Xiahou Xuan's uncle, Xiahou Ba, the protector of Shu, was summoned to the court with him, and Xiahou Ba fled south to Shu Han and wanted to persuade Xiahou Xuan to leave with him. Xiahou Xuan said, "How can I surrender to the enemy country in order to save myself?" So he accepted the edict and went to the Capital Division. In this regard, in the author's opinion, if Xiahou Xuan chooses to defect to Shu Han with Xiahou Ba, he may be able to avoid the disaster of killing himself. Although Sima Yi did not get rid of Xiahou Xuan during his lifetime, after Sima Yi, Xiahou Xuan was still unable to escape Sima Shi's killing.
In the third year of Jiaping (251), after Sima Yi's death, the attendant Xu Yun said to Xiahou Xuan, "There is nothing to worry about! Xiahou Xuan sighed, "Shizong (Xu Yunzi), how come you can't see current events clearly?" This person (referring to Sima Yi) was still able to treat me with friendship for generations, and Ziyuan (Sima Yi's eldest son Sima Shizi) and Zishang (Sima Yi's second son Sima Zhaozi) would not tolerate me. For his final fate, Xiahou Xuan had already anticipated it.
Four
Finally, in February of the sixth year of Jiaping (254), Zhongshu ordered Li Feng and his empress dowager, Guanglu's grand master Zhang Jimi, to murder the general Sima Shi, and to have Xiahou Xuan replace him as a general, and Zhang Ji to be a general on horseback. It is worth noting that whether Xiahou Xuan was directly involved in this plan has not yet been relatively clearly stated. However, Sima Shi was obviously reluctant to let go of the opportunity to get rid of Xiahou Xuan, after all, Xiahou Xuan had considerable ability and prestige in the Cao Wei Sect's room, and if he did not cut the grass and remove the roots, it might become a hidden danger to the Sima Yi family in the future. In this context, Sima Shi secretly learned of Li Feng's and others' plans, so he invited Li Feng to meet him. After Li Feng went, he was killed immediately. The matter was handed over to the competent departments of the imperial court, and Xiahou Xuan, Zhang Ji, Su Shuo, Le Dun, Liu Xian, and others were arrested and escorted to Ting Wei for supervision.
According to the Records of the Three Kingdoms and other historical records, Xiahou Xuan went to the court and refused to write a criminal speech. Zhong Yu personally tried the matter. Zhong Yu could not yield because he was a famous man and had a high reputation, so he wrote a sinful word that night and pretended to be in tears and showed it to Xiahou Xuan. After Xiahou Xuan read it, he just nodded. In March of the sixth year of Jiaping (254), Xiahou Xuan was ordered to be beheaded by the imperial court, at that time, Xiahou Xuan still looked unchanged, acted freely, and was calmly tortured, at the age of forty-six. In addition, in addition to being a general with heavy troops in Cao Wei, Xiahou Xuan was once evaluated by Sima Yi as "all great good". Erudite, talented, proficient in metaphysics, became one of the "four congeners", and together with He Yan and others created a precedent for Wei and Jin metaphysics.