Cao Xian
Cao Xian (曹髦), courtesy name Yanshi (曹彦士), grandson of Emperor Wen of Wei and son of Cao Lin (曹霖), the Prince of Donghaiding, was the fourth emperor of Cao Wei and was known in history as the "Noble Township Duke". Regarding the death of Cao Xi, the Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms, Wei Shu, and the Chronicle of the Three Young Emperors has only one sentence: "May is ugly, noble township public servant, twenty years old." As for the cause of death, he did not mention anything, but through the mouth of Empress Guo, he denounced Cao Xi for "being violent in nature, and the sun and the moon are even worse", "the great general is still young, saying that he should change his heart for good", and it is not expected that he "has acted disobediently" and tried to murder the empress, "and he has fallen into a great calamity, which makes my mourning unspeakable" Yunyun.
Empress Guo, who rebuked Cao Xian, was the second empress of the Wei Ming Emperor Cao Rui, and was known as "Empress Mingyuan Guo". According to the "Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms, Wei Shu, and Later Concubines", during the early years of Cao Wei's Reign, there was a riot in Xiping County, Henan, which was brutally suppressed by the government, and a local beauty, Guo Shi, was involved in the Cao Wei Palace during the turmoil. In May of the seventh year of the Huang Dynasty (226), Emperor Wen cao Pi died, and the 22-year-old Cao Rui took the throne, for the Wei Ming Emperor, Guo Shi came to run, "Emperor Ming was on the throne, even saw Ai Xing, worshiped as a lady". On the first day of the first lunar month in the third year of the Jing Dynasty (239), Cao Rui was critically ill, looking at Lady Guo, who was crying in front of her, deeply compassionate, and decided to give her a name, "The emperor is sick and sleepy, so he is made empress."
Cao Rui
Cao Rui, when she was seriously ill, made Guo shi empress, and she also entered the turmoil of Cao Wei's Yi Dynasty. Cao Rui fell ill and died, and was succeeded by her adopted son Cao Fang, who was initially known as Empress Guo. In the sixth year of Jiaping (254), Cao Fang was deposed by Sima Shi and succeeded by Cao Huan, the Duke of Guili Township, and in the fifth year of Ganlu (260), Cao Fang was assassinated, and Sima Zhaofu established the 16-year-old Cao Yan as a puppet emperor. At this point, the last "three young lords" of Cao Wei, Cao Fang, Cao Xi, and Cao Huan appeared one after another, and Empress Guo became a pivotal person who was determined to be the most important person - "the value of the three young lords is weak, zaifu is in charge, and the major events are first consulted by the empress dowager and then implemented" ("Three Kingdoms Chronicles of Wei Shu , Later Concubine Biography"). In fact, Empress Guo was just a "rubber stamp" in Sima Zhao's hand, a dazzling bunting flag that covered her bullying face. Empress Guo was as afraid of him as a tiger and obeyed his words, which was absolutely inevitable. That is, after Cao Xian's death, Empress Guo immediately issued an edict, not to hold the murderer accountable, but to rebuke poor Cao Xian. Chen Shou's "script-reading" and transcription of condemnation are obviously "selective" accounts, and there are a few clouds of doubt that Sima Shi's qu pen can be excused.
Regarding Cao Xi's funeral, the great general Sima Zhao, together with Sima Fu the Great Fu, Gao Rou of Taiwei, and Situ Zheng Chong, jointly wrote to the empress dowager: "Now the noble township public has committed unruly deeds, several dangers and social orders, self-inflicted overthrow, people and gods are extinct, buried with folk ceremonies, and honestly as an old code." Such a harsh rebuke, Chen Shou is also a "real record", and his "support for the strong and bullying the weak" and the chronic disease of His Holiness are in sight.
Empress Guo
The Southern Dynasty historian Pei Songzhi's commentary "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", citing the record of the "Spring and Autumn of the Han Dynasty", supplements and restores this historical fact:
The emperor saw that the authoritarian day was gone, and he was overwhelmed with indignation. It is the summoning of Wang Shen, Shang Shu Wang Jing, and Shanqi Chang shi Wang Ye, saying: "Sima Zhao's heart, passers-by know it." I cannot sit back and be humiliated, but today I should consult with the Secretary of State and others "... The emperor had hundreds of servants and clamored out. King Wen's disciple Tun Riding School Lieutenant entered, met the emperor in the east to stop the car gate, left and right, and the tenants ran. The Central Protector Jia Chong fought against the Emperor at the Southern Que, and the Emperor used his own sword. The crowd wanted to retreat, and the crown prince Asked Cheng ji, "Things are urgent." When the cloud is what? Chong Yue: "Livestock breeding Ru, etc., is exactly today." Today's matter, do not ask anything. "Ji is the former assassin, and the blade is out of the back."
"King Wen", i.e. Sima Zhao; "Tenant", Sima Zhao's younger brother and lieutenant Sima Zhao. Cao Xian gathered his cronies, Wang Shen of Shizhong, Wang Jing of Shangshu, Wang Ye of Shanqi Changshi, and others, issued the call of "Sima Zhao's heart, known to everyone in passers-by", and vowed to fight With Sima Shi to the death, and then he went straight into the palace to report to Empress Guo, and Wang Shen and Wang Ye ran to the General's Mansion with a smoke and reported to Sima Zhao.
After that, Cao Xian drew his sword and boarded the car, drummed up and attacked, and performed a tragedy of "eggs hitting stones". At the East Gate of Chemen, a cadre of people encountered Sima Ling, a lieutenant of the Tun Riding School, and his subordinates, and the angry Cao Xian shouted loudly, and the left and right howled loudly, and Sima Ling rode away on his horse, and his followers roared away; at the south gate of the imperial palace, Cao Xi and the central protector Jia Chong collided head-on, the emperor raised his sword and slashed, and everyone was panicked and wanted to retreat, and the crown prince Cheng Ji shouted at Jia Chong: The situation is critical, what should I do? Jia Chong said, Isn't it precisely for today that Sima Gongren raised you, and asked me what to do? ——Cheng Ji raised his sword forward and stabbed the emperor directly, "The blade came out of his back"!
The "Spring and Autumn of the Han Dynasty" also records Cao Xi's funeral rites: "Ding Jiao, buried the noble township duke thirty miles northwest of Luoyang on the shore of the river. Get out of the car for a few times, and there is no beauty, and the people gather together to look at it, saying: 'It is the son of heaven who was killed the day before.' Or cover your face and weep, and you will not be able to overcome your sorrow. "瀍涧" refers to the valley basin between the Ying River and the Jian River; "Jingjing", that is, the mingjing, the soul-calling banner that guides the coffin.
From Chen Shou's "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" dragonfly and water-like brief description, to Pei Songzhi's quotation of "Han Jin Spring and Autumn" supplement, we can feel the turmoil of the waves and clouds at the time of Wei and Jin's change of banner, a glimpse of the historical "black hole" caused by the selective writing of historians, as well as the vicious cruelty of Sima Zhao's handling of things, and the sloppiness and desolation of Cao Zhao's later events. The so-called "historical record", but so also.