Author:Ren Fenghui (Yifeng Photography)
During the Three Kingdoms period, why was Sima Yi able to usurp Wei's success and become a generation of hegemons? Look at his nickname, "Tsukasa Tiger", and you can find the answer. Because this nickname is in line with Sima Yi's character traits of old scheming and deep calculation, it is an important foundation for seeking great causes and achieving great things.
The word "Tsukasa" in the word "Tsukasa Tiger" means tomb, green tomb, and cluster tomb. Before Sima Yi gained power, he deliberately showed weakness and lurked in the "tomb", showing his survival wisdom of active compromise.
In fact, after Sima Yi entered the shi, he spent most of his time in a hidden "tomb" state. Because, during the dictatorship of Cao Cao and Cao Shuang, they had always been wary of Sima Yi. Out of helplessness, Sima Yi had to bear the burden of humiliation and patiently wait for the day to emerge.
As early as his youth, Sima Yi had a strategy in his heart and often had a heart of concern for the world. At that time, Nanyang taishou Yang Jun had a sharp gaze. When Yang Jun met the 12-year-old Sima Yi, he concluded that he was no ordinary son.
Yang Jun once said to his brother Sima Lang, your younger brother Sima Yi is intellectually superior, heroic, decisive, and far more capable than you.
After being recommended, Sima Yi became a minor official named "Ji Tuan" in the local area. Cao Cao, who was then the Sikong, heard of Sima Yi's reputation and sent someone to recruit him to serve at his side.
At that time, the Eastern Han Dynasty was already controlled by the Cao clan. Sima Yi was very disgusted by this and did not want to work hard for Cao Cao. On the pretext that he was ill and unable to live, he refused to go to office.
A few years later, Cao Cao was promoted to chancellor. In order to prevent Sima Yi from being used by others, he forcibly recruited Sima Yi as a literary scholar and was in charge of clerical affairs. Sima Yi was forced to take up his post in desperation, and later served as the Yellow Gate Attendant and the Minister of The Chancellor.
After observation, Cao Cao gradually felt that Sima Yi did have great talent and great strategy, and was by no means an idle person, with a taboo intention. However, due to Sima Yi's loyalty to his duties and diligent work, coupled with Cao Pi's protection, Cao Cao was temporarily at ease and Sima Yi was spared from disaster.
Until Cao Cao's death and Cao Pi's ascension to the throne, Sima Yi was successively reused as Shangshu, Overseer, Yushi Zhongcheng , Shizhong , Shangshu Right Servant and other positions, and was also given the title of Marquis of Anguo.
At this time, Sima Yi's profound strategy and military ability were displayed. Among them, the three most prominent cases are the capture of Meng Da, the confrontation against the Shu army, and the pacification of Liaodong.
The first is to cut off Munda. At that time, in the first year of Taihe, after the death of The Wei Emperor Cao Pi, the Wei Ming Emperor Cao Rui had just succeeded to the throne, and sima Yi was stationed at Wancheng, and was responsible for supervising and commanding the military defense of Jingzhou and Yuzhou.
Meng Da was originally a subordinate of Liu Zhang, and was later surrendered to Liu Bei. When Guan Yu was besieged in Fancheng and Xiangyang, he was angered by Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang for refusing to send troops to rescue Guan Yu, and had no choice but to defect to Cao Wei and make Xincheng Taishou.
After the Wei Ming Emperor Cao Rui ascended the throne, Meng Da gradually fell out of favor and became dissatisfied, secretly contacting Zhuge Liang, the Shu chancellor, and deliberately betraying the State of Wei. After the matter was revealed, he prepared to immediately raise an army and return to the Shu kingdom.
When Sima heard the news, he immediately wrote to him to appease him, which was actually a strategy to slow down the army. Sima Yi resolutely adopted the strategy of cutting first and playing later, secretly dispatching troops quickly, and arrived at the new city in only 8 days. Zhuge Liang rushed to the rescue, but was also stopped by the Wei army.
Sima Yi's troops divided into 8 routes to attack the city. After 16 days, two of Meng Da's generals saw that the situation was not good and Kaesong surrendered. The Wei army immediately entered the city, captured and surrendered more than 10,000 people, captured Meng Da, beheaded him in public, and sent his head to the Beijing Division.
The second was to fight against the Shu army. In the history of the Three Kingdoms, the most exciting story is the ultimate showdown between Zhuge Liang and Sima Yi. Sima Yi faced a strong enemy, and with his excellent military ability, it was difficult for Zhuge Liang to restore the Central Plains and revitalize the Han Dynasty.
The second is to pacify Liaodong. In the second year of the Jing Dynasty, Sima Yi led 40,000 infantry and horses to Liaoshui, and within 1 year, he was in danger of rebellion, and the arsonists fought fiercely, three battles and three victories, and finally attacked Xiangping, winning a complete victory, so that Sima Yi's prestige in the Wei Dynasty reached its peak.
The Gaopingling coup d'état was a major turning point for the "Tsuka Tiger" to go out of the mountains to counterattack and achieve Sima Yi's hegemony, so that Sima Shi completely controlled the Cao Wei dynasty and laid a solid foundation for the formal usurpation of Cao Wei's Jiangshan.
The impetus for the "Tsukasa Tiger" to fight back came from Sima Yi's revenge psychology after being elevated and humiliated. In the case that Sima Yi had no chance to participate in the decision-making of the government decree, he was resentful and could only re-enter the "tomb" forbearance.
After the death of the Wei Ming Emperor Cao Rui, the 8-year-old Cao Fang succeeded to the throne, assisted by the general Cao Shuang and the lieutenant Sima Yi. Soon, Cao Shuang heeded the advice of his advisers and nominally promoted Sima Yi to taifu, but in fact deprived him of real power.
In order to confuse and avoid Cao Shuang, Sima Yi resigned from illness, pretended to be terminally ill, and went home to live in seclusion. Secret Si conspired with his sons Sima Shi, Sima Zhao, Tai wei Jiang Ji, and others to launch a coup d'état.
In the first month of the first ten years, the little emperor Cao Fang went to Gaoping Tomb in the south of Luoshui outside Luoyang to pay homage to the mausoleum of Emperor Xian, and the Cao Shuang brothers and others went together. Sima Yi was overjoyed to hear the news, and the time to launch a mutiny finally came.
Sima Yi took the opportunity to play Empress Guo and ordered all the gates of Luoyang to be closed and to occupy the pontoon bridge on the Luo River. The Central Guard's Sima Shi (司馬師) controlled the entry and exit of Kyoto personnel.
Sima Yi borrowed the empress dowager's will and appointed his own cronies as generals and leaders of the army to take over Cao Shuang and Cao Xi's armies. He then sent people out of the city to invite the little emperor Cao Fang, declaring that he would depose Cao Shuang's brothers from their official positions according to the will of empress dowager Yi. The song was intercepted by Cao Shuang and did not dare to give it to the little emperor to read.
Sima Yi sent people to persuade Cao Shuang to surrender, promising that he would retain his original title as long as he surrendered his military power. Cao Shuang considered it for a night, and finally decided to give up resistance, ask Sima Yi for his guilt, and return to the palace as a deposed official.
After the Cao Shuang brothers returned to their home, they were surrounded by troops sent by Sima Yi. Soon, Cao Shuang and others were convicted of treason, arrested and imprisoned, executed together, and exterminated the three tribes. At this point, the Coup d'état of Gaopingling was a great success, and Sima Yi eventually became a generation of overlords.
Throughout the Three Kingdoms period, Zhuge Liang, Pang Tong, Jiang Wei, and Sima Yi were nicknamed "Wolong, Fengchi, Youqi, and Tsukasa Tiger".
Sima Yi is known as "Tsuka Tiger", although it is not as elegant as the nicknames of several others, but it is louder and taller, highlighting his unique style of deep city government, judging the situation, and fierce and bold.