Cao Pi (187–226), courtesy name Huan, was a native of Pei county (沛国谯县, in present-day Bozhou, Anhui), the second son of Emperor Cao Cao of Weiwu, and his mother was Empress Dowager Bian of Wuxuan. Founding Emperor of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period (reigned 220-226), politician, and writer.
Portrait of Emperor Cao Pi of Wei Gaozu (Shizu).
Cao Pi was talented and intelligent since childhood, coupled with his father Cao Cao's great attention and strictness to the education of his sons, and a good educational environment the day after tomorrow gave him profound literary literacy. He studied extensively, read through poems and treatises when he was a teenager, and studied the Five Classics and Four Books, Shi Han, and the Hundred Sayings of the Sons when he grew up, laying a solid foundation for future literary creation.
In the third year of Chuping (192), Cao Cao thought that the soldiers were in chaos and began to teach Cao Pi to learn archery, Cao Pi, who was only six years old at the time, quickly learned to shoot archery, and two years later he learned to ride a horse at the age of eight.
In the first year of Jian'an (196), Cao Pi, who was only ten years old, began to accompany his father to conquer the north and south. A long period of military life has exercised a strong physique, but also enriched his insights and accumulated a large amount of material for his poetry creation. With the continuous growth of his age and experience, the spiritual impact brought about by the harsh living environment has gradually formed his unique somber personality.
In the second year of Jian'an (197), the eleven-year-old Cao Pi marched from the army brigade to accompany Cao Cao to zhang xiu, zhang xiu first surrendered and then counterattacked, suddenly attacked Cao Jun, and Cao Cao's army was defeated. It is said that in the midst of the crisis, his eldest brother Cao Ang first took care of his younger brother Cao Pi and escaped on horseback, and then let Ma escape with his father Cao Cao, but he and his cousin Cao Anmin were both killed. This incident had a great impact on Cao Pi's soul, and even though Zhang Xiu later surrendered to Cao Cao, Cao Pi still did not let go of this hatred. Finally, in the twelfth year of Jian'an (207), Zhang Xiu died on the way to the expedition to Karasuma, and later Zhang Xiu's son Zhang Quan was also killed for being involved in the Wei irony plot. The true cause of the death of Zhang's father and son has not been specified by historians, but it is estimated that at least it is related to Cao Pi's personal vendetta.
In the first month of the thirteenth year of Jian'an (208), Cao Pi was recommended by Situ Zhao Wen (who enlisted Cao Pi as a warrior), but cao Cao (then Sikong) was furious. Cao Cao believed that Zhao Wen had recommended his son not because he had real talents, but simply to cater to him, so he sent Guanglu Xun Xi to relieve Zhao Wen of his official position (the unfortunate Zhao Wen died soon after). Most later historians believe that Cao Cao's move was purely a borrowing of the topic, and the reason why he opposed Zhao Wen's conquest of Cao Pi was only to make him not assume the name of a Han official and provide a precondition for the later usurper of han (to tamper with the Eastern Han Dynasty as an "innocent" identity).
In June of the thirteenth year of Jian'an (208), Cao Cao deposed the Three Dukes system, restored the old system of the Western Han Dynasty, and placed Cheng Xiang and Yu Shi Dafu (originally intended to be a lieutenant, with Xun Yu as the post, but was resigned by Xun Yu). In August, Cao Cao made himself chancellor, and his close associate Xi Shu (郗郗) was appointed imperial chancellor.
In the winter of the thirteenth year of Jian'an (208), Cao Cao suffered the biggest fiasco of his life in Chibi, and at the age of fifty-four, he still had to face the complicated situation. At this time, the question of succession has to enter his key thinking range.
Cao Cao had a total of twenty-five sons, but only the following five had ever entered or qualified for the throne: Cao Ang, Cao Pi, Cao Zhang, Cao Zhi, and Cao Chong. Among them: Cao Ang was the eldest son, and his birth mother Lady Liu was of low status (Cao Cao's wife Lady Ding was married to Lady Ding), but he was raised by Cao Cao's first wife, Lady Ding, due to the death of his mother; Cao Ang should be Cao Cao's favorite successor, but unfortunately died in Wancheng (wancheng district, nanyang, Henan) in the second year of Jian'an (197). Cao Pi, Cao Zhang, and Cao Zhi were all born to the second wife, Lady Bian, and in the feudal era when they were particular about concubines, all three of them had prerequisites for having a reserve position. However, Cao Zhang liked to dance with knives and guns, and he once told Cao Cao that his ambition was to be a great general like Wei Qing and Huo Fuyi, to seal the wolf Juxu and chase after Mobei, which obviously did not meet the quality of an heir. Cao Chong is Cao Cao's favorite child, he has been a prodigy since he was a child, and the story of "Cao Chong calling an elephant" is familiar to us, but unfortunately, Chibi died unexpectedly shortly after the war, and naturally withdrew from the battle for the throne.
The rest is the dispute between Cao Pi and Cao Zhi's brothers. Cao Zhi was six years younger than Cao Pi, famous for his literary style, and was deeply loved by his father, so Cao Cao was long suspicious of the matter of establishing an heir. Over time, the courtiers gradually formed two groups supporting Cao Pi and Cao Zhi. Those who supported Cao Pi were Jia Xu, Cui Yan, Sima Yi, Chen Qun, Huan Jie, Xing Yi, Wu Qian, and others; those who supported Cao Zhi were Ding Yi, Ding Xi, Yang Xiu, Kong Gui, Yang Jun, Jia Kui, and Handan Chun. They each formed a henchman, plotted and created public opinion, deceived and deceived each other, and fell in love with each other.
In the battle, first of all, Cao Zhi gradually gained the upper hand, and on several occasions almost became the prince. However, later, due to Cao Zhi's natural and willful behavior, he usually did not pay attention to self-control, often acted arbitrarily, and even drunkenly broke into Sima Men, which was finally displeased by Cao Cao.
In the sixteenth year of Jian'an (211), Cao Pi was appointed as the general of the Five Senses (originally equivalent to the commander of the Janissaries, and Cao Cao placed this official in this name as the deputy of the Chancellor, and it is estimated that at this time Cao Pi was in charge of the Guards of the Capital and began to participate in the study of the affairs of the Chancellor), which was already an important bias signal. Cao Pi's literary and martial arts are complete and profound, and he is indeed the best candidate for the successor.
In the seventeenth year of Jian'an (212), Cao Cao marched south to Sun Quan and stationed himself at Quli (曲蠡, in modern Fancheng Town, Linying County, Henan Province), and when Shangshu ordered Xun Yu to go to the labor army, he had a discussion with Cao Pi on archery techniques.
In the eighteenth year of Jian'an (213), Cao Cao took Cao Pi and others back to his hometown in Bozhou to pay homage to his ancestors. After the fact, everyone took a horse tour to see, passed through the East Garden, followed the Vortex River, passed through the Gaolin Forest, and zhuma Shu whip, Cao Pi wrote "Lin vortex fu".
In the twenty-second year of Jian'an (217), Cao Pi, under the planning of Wu Zhi and Sima Yi, used various schemes to finally defeat Cao Zhi completely and was established as the Son of the Prince of Wei (at this time Cao Cao had been promoted to the title of King of Wei a year earlier).
In the 24th year of Jian'an (219), Cao Pi, as crown prince, was ordered by Cao Cao to garrison Yicheng (邺城, in modern Linzhang County, Hebei). Soon, Wei Yi plotted to attack Yi, and Chen Yi, who was complicit in his own affairs, turned himself in, and Cao Pi led his people to quickly quell the chaos and kill Wei Yi. During the wei period, Cao Pi actively organized literary groups and participated in encouraging literary creation, which made similar singing and poetry works flourish and became a unique atmosphere for the development of Jian'an literature.
In the first month of the twenty-fifth year of Jian'an (220), Cao Cao died in Luoyang, and Cao Pi succeeded him from Yecheng to Luoyang to succeed him as chancellor and king of Wei, and rebuilt An for twenty-five years as the first year of Yankang (Cao Cao also became the first person to change the first year of the first year after the death of his courtiers). Cao Pi, who had just ascended to a high position and held great power, took over the country from his father's hands, and deeply felt that fulfilling his legacy of realizing reunification would be his responsibility for the future life. The second new policy was to adopt Chen Qun's opinion and establish the Nine Pins Zhongzheng system, which successfully eased the relationship between the Cao clan and the Shi clan, gained their support, and laid the foundation for the title of emperor.
In February of the first year of Yankang (220), Cao Pi appointed Jia Xu as a lieutenant, Hua Xin as Xiang guo (Situ), and Wang Lang as a yushi dafu (Sikong), and xiahou Huan as a general (note: The three dukes and generals appointed above were all officials of the Wei kingdom, not Han Ting). The kings of Hu, Fuyu Shan, Yanqi, and Khotan all sent envoys to dedicate. In May, zheng gan and Wang Zhao, who had surrendered, were appointed marquises, and Su Ze was ordered to oversee the rebellion of Wuwei, Jiuquan, and Zhangye. In July, Sun Quan sent envoys to dedicate. In the same month, Xiahou Shang, Xu Huang, and Shu merged with the General Mengdari to retake the three counties of Shangyong. Yang Shu, the King of Wudu, led the people to annex and lived in Hanyang County. At noon, he stationed his army at Yidong and comforted the Sixth Army and the father and elder of Yu County with wine and food in Yidong.
On October 13 of the first year of Yankang (November 25, 220, yi di day), Emperor Xian of Han officially abdicated the throne, and after Cao Pi's false resignation, on the twenty-ninth day (December 11, Xin Wei Day), he officially took the throne as emperor, changed the name of the country to Wei, changed the yuan to HuangChu, and set the capital luoyang.
Han Wei Zen Dynasty scene animation diagram
After Cao Pi succeeded to the throne, he always advocated conquest and longed for the early realization of the unification of mountains and rivers. His foreign wars were mainly launched against Eastern Wu, and he twice raised his forces to conquer Wu.
In the second year of the Huang Dynasty (221), Sun Quan of the State of Wu attacked Guan Yu to collect jingxiang land, fearing that Liu Bei would retaliate from the beginning and end, but pretended to repair the fengzhang with Wei Cao Pi's envoys, and sent him to the forbidden place. Cao Pi then sent Taichang Xingzhen (太常邢贞) to hold the right of worship as a great general, the King of Wu, and Jia Jiuxi. Sun Quanyu was a vassal of Wei.
In the third year of the Huang Dynasty (222) and the sixth year of the Huang Dynasty (225), Cao Pi raised two armies to attack Wu, but neither of them returned.
In the fourth year of the Huang Dynasty (223), the important ministers Cao Ren, Cao Zhang, and Jia Xu died successively.
In April of the fifth year of the Huang Dynasty (224), Cao Pi Li Taixue (曹丕立太學), the method of making the Five Classics Examination, placed Dr. Chunqiu Gu Liang.
In February of the sixth year of the Huang Dynasty (225), emissaries were sent from Xuchang to Pei County to inquire about the suffering of the people and to relieve the poor. In the same year, he stabbed Shi Liang Xi to break the fresh and humble Bineng. In October, Cao Pi traveled to the ancient city of Guangling (in present-day Yangzhou, Jiangsu Province), linjiang to watch the soldiers, more than 100,000 soldiers, and hundreds of miles of flags. In the cold of that year, the waterways were frozen, and the boats were not allowed to enter the river, but were returned. In the end, Cao Pi failed to realize his dream of world domination.
In the first month of the seventh year of the Huang Dynasty (226), after Cao Pifa Wugong returned to Luoyang, he became depressed and fell ill. In May, Cao Pi became seriously ill, and ordered the general Chen Qun of the Zhen Army, the general Cao Zhen of the Chinese army, the general Cao Xiu of the Eastern Expedition, and the general Sima Yi of the Fu Army to receive the edict and jointly assist the heir Cao Rui. On May 17 (June 29), Cao Pi, who had reigned for seven years, died at the age of forty. Emperor Wen of the Imperial Household,Gaozu (一作世祖), was buried in Shouyang Mausoleum (present-day northwest of Yanshi, Henan).
Seated statue of Emperor Wen of Wei Gaozu (Shizu) Cao Pi
Although Cao Pi died at the age of forty and reigned for only seven years, he still achieved great achievements in politics, military, and literature.
Politically, he first adopted Chen Qun's "Nine Pins Official Law", alleviated the contradiction between the Cao clan in power and the shi family, won their support, and then became emperor; second, he established Zhongshu Province, put it in charge of drafting edicts, and gradually transferred the power of confidentiality to Zhongshu Province, strengthening the emperor's centralization of power; he also stipulated that women and eunuchs were not allowed to pre-government, and the Hou clan family was not allowed to serve as auxiliary ministers, effectively curbing the occurrence of foreign relatives and eunuchs in the two Han Dynasties (of course, it also buried hidden dangers, so that the later clan family was dominant.) During the Sima Dynasty, the Cao clan was unable to contain its development at all).
Militarily, Cao Pi's achievements were far inferior to those of his father, but under the guise of Wu, he completely solved the local tyrants in Qing and Xu Prefectures, enhanced the stability of the Wei state, and consolidated the unification of the north; he also ordered Su Ze to quell the rebellion in Liangzhou, ordered Cao Zhen to pacify Hexi, futong the western region, and set up the western region capital protectorate, and also repeatedly appointed Tian Yu, Zhaozhao, and Liang Xi as the Xiongnu and Xianbei in the north, effectively safeguarding the national unity of the Han regime.
In literature, Cao Pi is not as famous as his father and brother, but he still has considerable achievements, his five words and Lefu Qingqi are moving, and there are about forty extant poems; his "Classic Treatise" is the earliest literary theory and criticism in Chinese history, occupying a very important position in the history of literature.