For the sake of his "happiness", Cao Cao traveled thousands of miles to find beautiful women, and specially built Tongque Terrace to imprison them. His son Cao Pi even took his aunt in his father's harem as his own. The persistence of two generations of people on the word "color" has been brought to the extreme! However, what is puzzling is that Cao Pi, the "Emperor Wei Wendi", only lived to be 40 years old and died young, is it really as the old saying "color is a bone scraper"? What did Cao Pi do to make life so short? What was his life experience like?
1. Cao Pi's path to succession
The decline of the Han Dynasty, the tyranny of foreign relatives, and the constant party strife brought great disasters to the country and the people. Cao Cao rose to prominence against this backdrop, and he used force to quell domestic disputes, crushing the combined forces of Sun Quan of Eastern Wu and Liu Bei of Shu in one fell swoop, unifying the three kingdoms and laying a solid foundation for the Cao Wei Empire.
After Cao Cao unified the world, he set about choosing his heir. It stands to reason that Cao Pi, as the eldest son, should inherit the unification, but in Cao Cao's eyes, he still seems to be slightly inferior in qualifications to his eldest son Cao Ang and fourth son Cao Chong. Cao Ang once tried his best to protect Cao Cao in times of crisis and was regarded as the best candidate for the heir. Who knew that the good times would not last long, Cao Ang died on the battlefield, burying Cao Cao's expectations for him.
After that, Cao Cao treated the prodigy Cao Chong differently and almost regarded him as his successor. However, jealous of talent, Cao Chong died young, only 13 years old. Therefore, the position of successor can only be decided between Cao Zhi and Cao Pi.
Cao Zhi is a talent, rich in poetry and writing, and is highly appreciated by Cao Cao. In contrast, although Cao Pi's literary style is mediocre, he is experienced, sophisticated, and filial to Cao Cao. At the critical moment, Cao Pi cried out loud in front of Cao Cao with great interest, in order to express his filial piety, which made Cao Cao pay more attention to him.
In this way, after some twists and turns, Cao Pi finally replaced Cao Zhi and was determined as the crown prince and successor. It can be said that good luck and his own prudence are the key to Cao Pi's eventual succession to the unification.
In addition, there is another point worth mentioning. Cao Cao's importance to Cao Pi may also be related to the two of them in their preference for beauty. As later generations said, "The author is also a high-ranking monk." It's just that Cao Pi's pursuit in this aspect far exceeds Cao Cao's.
II. The beginning of the Wei Dynasty
After Cao Pi inherited the throne, he set out to complete the unfinished business of his father Cao Cao—to completely break free from the obstacles of the Eastern Han Dynasty and establish a new dynasty.
In 220 AD, Cao Pi first forced the Eastern Han Dynasty to worship Chan Chan, and then deposed him and canceled the Han Dynasty. After that, Cao Pi personally drew up the name of the new dynasty - "Wei". Since then, the Central Plains Dynasty has officially entered the era of the Wei Dynasty.
Freed from the burden of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Cao Pi immediately set about comprehensively promoting reform in all fields. On the basis of the previous system, he set up a new set of official systems and laws to meet the needs of the new dynasty.
For example, in terms of the official system, Cao Pi referred to some practices of the ancient Zhou Dynasty, established important official positions such as prime minister, Shang Shuling, and servant, and clarified the scope of their respective powers and responsibilities. Militarily, he followed the Han Dynasty's system of placing counties and counties, but at the same time, he also greatly strengthened the centralization of power, and brought the supreme command of the garrisons in various places to the central government.
In terms of legislation, Cao Pi personally presided over the compilation of a new "Nine Fu Law Decree", which was divided into nine parts, covering all aspects of state rule. Although the law absorbs the essence of the Chinese law to a large extent, it also has a lot of new content and creation. For example, the hereditary system of aristocracy was stipulated, and the hierarchical concept of the supremacy of imperial power was strengthened.
With a new bureaucratic system and laws as the basis for his rule, Cao Pi subsequently stepped up the pace of reform in the fields of economy and culture. In terms of the fiscal and taxation system, he clarified the collection standards for household registration, land endowment and commercial endowment; In agriculture, vigorously build water conservancy; In the area of culture and education, a series of preferential policies have also been promulgated to revitalize development.
In general, in the early period of the Wei Dynasty, Cao Pi made a lot of pioneering work in various fields, laying a solid institutional foundation for the consolidation and long-term stability of the new dynasty. His spirit of diligence and dedication and determination to expand the territory has also set a glorious example for future generations.
3. Cao Pi's style of private life
Despite his political and military achievements, Cao Pi's private life is ridiculous. He was obsessed with beauty and indulgence, and even took the aunts in Cao Cao's harem as his wives and concubines, regardless of his reputation.
After Cao Cao drove the crane west, Cao Pi changed his previous restraint and self-control, and completely released the desire that had been suppressed for many years. At that time, not long after he ascended the throne, Empress Dowager Guo went to visit the Xinke Emperor, and unexpectedly opened the door to see a room full of fragrant beauties, and many of her sisters who had accompanied Cao Cao in the past. Cao Pi actually included them in his harem!
Empress Dowager Guo was furious when she saw this and denounced Cao Pi as a "lewd king". But this could not stop Cao Pi's debauchery at all, he indulged in the wine pond and meat forest every day, and was lascivious and happy all day long.
In addition to greed, Cao Pi also has a ridiculous hobby - that is, excessive sugar craving. According to historical records, Cao Pi once wrote a letter to Sun Quan, which mentioned the need for "five stone honey and a thousand fish". Stone honey is a kind of syrup at that time, and five dendrobiums are about 600 catties!
Not only that, when Cao Pi tasted the meat of Shu, he also bluntly said that the taste was dull and difficult to eat, so he ordered someone to take the syrup and pour it on it. You can see how much he needs sugar.
Interestingly, among the clansmen of Cao Pi's biological mother, Empress Dowager Bian, there were people who suffered from "thirst quenching disease", which is the predecessor of diabetes. If Cao Pi only lived to be 40 years old and died young, then in addition to being caused by prostitution all day long, diabetes may also be one of the triggers.
In general, Cao Pi's willful and indulgent and extravagant style of life is tantamount to a complete betrayal of the personality of a "gentleman". Of course, it also indicates that the emperor will undoubtedly be a ridiculous story.
4. The failure of Cao Pi's health regimen
Although Cao Pi was extravagant, he did not completely ignore his own health. In fact, he tried a variety of regimens, but unfortunately they all failed.
According to historical records, during Cao Pi's reign, he invited famous doctors at home and abroad to take his pulse and recuperate. In the theory of traditional Chinese medicine, "kidney qi is the foundation of the human body", and Cao Pi's indulgence and excessive indulgence all day long will naturally seriously damage kidney qi. Therefore, many doctors have advised him to abstain from sexual intercourse and abstain from alcohol and tea.
But how could Cao Pi do it? On the contrary, he intensified his efforts and indulged himself more and more. In order to replenish the kidneys and strengthen the yang, he did not hesitate to purchase various precious medicinal materials, such as pepper, deer antler velvet, etc., and concocted them with honey and rock sugar.
In addition to abusing tonics, Cao Pi is also keen on various Qimen health preservation techniques, such as the so-called "channeling technique". It is an exercise that uses special breathing patterns and asanas to tone the mind and body.
Once, when Cao Pi was practicing the "guidance technique" in the harem, he accidentally stepped on the air and fell from the high platform, and almost fell to pieces. Only then did he realize the danger of this "immortal" technique.
However, Cao Pi's most important way of maintaining health is diet conditioning. He attaches great importance to the nutritional combination of meals, and even set up an official position called "Yushi" to supervise the operation of the imperial dining room.
However, ironically, Cao Pi's obsession with sugar has made all his health efforts come to naught. As mentioned earlier, his daily intake of high sugar foods such as syrup, coupled with the lack of proper exercise, made it no wonder that he suffered from "thirst quenching disease", a "terminal illness" at that time.
5. Evaluation of Cao Pi's life and political achievements
Despite his uninhibited personal life, Cao Pi's political and military achievements have been met with mixed reviews.
It is undeniable that Cao Pi has indeed made outstanding contributions in many aspects. He is good at employing people, recruiting wise men, eunuch Liu Ye, literary scholar Cao Zhi, famous general Xiahou Yuan, etc., are all his staff. Under his heavy use, these figures gave full play to their talents and made significant contributions to the prosperity of the Wei dynasty.
In terms of military affairs, Cao Pi personally commanded the army, defeated Lu Xun, a famous general of Wu State, in one fell swoop, and recaptured the important town of Jingzhou. This battle not only consolidated the rule of the Wei Dynasty in the Central Plains, but also laid a solid foundation for future domination of the world.
It is worth mentioning that during Cao Pi's reign, he attached great importance to the development of cultural and educational undertakings. He ordered the construction of the Lang Evil Palace, the Palace and the Literature Museum in Luoyang, and greatly promoted the teaching of cultural relics and classics. Many famous Confucians at that time, such as He Xiu and Chen Qun, were exceptionally hired here, leaving a valuable cultural heritage for future generations.
Cao Pi also attached great importance to agricultural production. He not only personally inspected agricultural affairs, but also promulgated a series of policies to benefit the people on agriculture and mulberry. It is recorded that under his rule, "the people rejoiced with the Son of Heaven, and there was no famine."
However, there are also many people who question and are dissatisfied with Cao Pi's governance. For example, the famous historian Chen Shou once directly reprimanded Cao Pi for "obscene and dull, and abuse of teachers to make trouble".
Specifically, critics argue that Cao Pi attaches too much importance to the clan in employing people, and despises some people from humble backgrounds but who have real talents and learning. In addition, he indulged the eunuchs too much, making them appear arrogant and domineering in the court.
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On the whole, Cao Pi, as the founding monarch, is still worthy of affirmation for his political achievements. Although his style of life is debauched, he has made great achievements in many fields such as military, culture, and economy. It was thanks to his pioneering spirit that he laid a solid foundation for the development of civilization during the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties in later generations.