The life of the Wei general Cao Shuang was corrupt and degenerate, and one day, he even took advantage of the drunkenness to enter the palace privately, and in front of the 8-year-old little emperor Cao Fang, he selected a satisfactory person from the concubines of the late Wei Ming emperor Cao Ying for himself, and he also flipped the cards every night according to the palace custom, although he was not the emperor, but he was better than the emperor in terms of enjoyment.
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At the time of the establishment of the Three Kingdoms, Cao Wei's domestic and foreign troubles broke out frequently. After Cao Ying came to the throne, the government of the dynasty became increasingly corrupt, eunuchs colluded with foreign relatives, and party strife continued. Cao Ying is a benevolent and weak person, cowardly in political affairs, only thinking about pleasure, and his national strength is declining.
Cao Ying was well aware of her limited ability and was very worried about the fate of Guozuo. So he decided to leave two ministers alone: Cao Shuang, who represented the Cao family, and Sima Yi, who represented the Confucian family. Cao Shuang is Cao Ying's cousin, and the two have been close since childhood. Cao Ying believed that Cao Shuang would faithfully assist his son Cao Fang. Sima Yi was the most outstanding politician and military strategist of his time, and Cao Ying hoped that he would assist Cao Fang with his outstanding political wisdom.
However, Cao Ying underestimated Cao Shuang's incompetence. Cao Shuang came to power entirely by relying on his personal relationship with Cao Ying, never participated in imperial politics, and did not achieve military merit. After Cao Ying's death, Cao Shuang began to reveal his true face.
At first, Cao Shuang also pretended to be humble, always asking Sima Yi for advice whenever he encountered major events. In order to maintain national stability, Sima Yi did not embarrass Cao Shuang.
Soon, after Cao Shuang got a little into imperial politics, his mentality changed. Cao Shuang began to despise Sima Yi, an old man in his twilight years, believing that he was no longer a threat. So Cao Shuang began to purge the forces of the Sima faction, appointed his own cronies, and managed to strip Sima Yi of his military power.
Sima Yi, who had lost his military power, did not resist on the surface, but secretly began to gather momentum. He trained his son and the family samurai, bought the dead soldiers, and prepared for an opportunistic counterattack. Sima Yi had already seen that Cao Shuang's talent was limited, and sooner or later he would bring disaster to the country and the people.
At the same time, Cao Shuang's actions also aroused the disgust of the government and the public. He indulged in pleasure all day and defiled the harem of the emperor. Every day, like an emperor, he flipped through the harem signs, vainly trying to expand his concubines. Cao Shuang's extravagant life also required huge sums of money, and he forcibly collected people's wealth and increased taxes, resulting in a difficult life for ordinary people.
Empress Dowager Guo repeatedly advised Cao Shuang to rehabilitate, but was refused. Instead, Cao Shuang placed Empress Dowager Guo under house arrest, a move that further angered the government and the public. Many ministers such as Yang Jue and Frustrated Hu advised them, but they were also falsely accused by Cao Shuang of plotting rebellion, degraded to border ministers, or killed.
Sima Yi saw that Cao Shuang had reached the point of madness and knew that the time had come. On this day, Cao Shuang took the young lord Cao Fang to the suburbs to worship, and the capital was empty. Sima Yi took the opportunity to stage a coup d'état and sent his henchmen to control the city gate and key points in the palace.
At the same time, Sima Yi, together with Empress Dowager Guo, announced Cao Shuang's guilt and incited the people. When Cao Shuang returned to Beijing, the situation was out of control. Eventually, he was forced to surrender. Cao Shuang was unwilling, and thought of uniting forces in other places to counterattack, but finally chose to submit because of his cowardice.
Soon after the surrender, Sima Yi found an opportunity to get rid of Cao Shuang's family. Cao Shuang naively believed that Sima Yi would spare his life, resulting in his death.
Cao Shuang's death marked the decline of the Cao clan family. Sima Yi's father and son began to hold power in the dynasty, and the rule of the Cao Wei dynasty gradually fell into the hands of the Shi clan. In his later years, Sima Yi also deposed Cao Fang and installed Cao Huan as emperor. At this point, the Sima clan, representing the Confucian clans, completely controlled the Wei court.
Before his death, Cao Ying decided to entrust Cao Shuang and Sima Yi alone, hoping that the two would complement each other's strengths and weaknesses and assist the young master. But he did not expect that Cao Shuang's bad deeds had already filled the government and the public. Cao Shuang's dictatorship eventually led to the destruction of himself and the Cao clan. The foundation of the Cao Wei dynasty was also transferred to the Shi forces, eventually resulting in the tribe of the Three Kingdoms.
Cao Shuang once held the power of the Wei state, but he could not control the situation because he misjudged the situation and was proud of himself. He relied on personal friendship rather than real talent to enter the court, and he was so happy that he failed to establish mutual trust with the heavy ministers. Cao Shuang really set himself on fire and eventually became the scum of history.
Cao Shuang represented the corrupt Cao clan power, and his domineering arbitrariness aroused the public anger of the Shi clan, and the coup d'état was the trend of history. Although Cao Shuang once held high power, he eventually killed himself due to cowardice and incompetence, and his tragic and bleak end warned future rulers that they must know the way to retreat in order to overcome the danger.
