When Cao Wei's fourth emperor, Máo, had just ascended the throne, Sima Shi once asked, "What kind of a person is our new emperor?" ”
Zhong Hui, who was beside him, replied, "Only with Chen Si, Wu Class Taizu."
After sima shi listened, he said softly, "If it is really like what you said, Jiangshan Sheji will be blessed." ”
In fact, Sima Shi looked back at Sima Zhao with a solemn look in his eyes, as if to say, "Brother, we may have chosen the wrong person..."
Zhong Hui was from a large family lineage, and since he compared Cao Xi with Cao Zhi and Cao Cao's literary talents and martial arts, it can be seen that his ability is extraordinary, but why did such a grand Wei Emperor end up being stabbed to death by a spear in the street?
In the fifth year of Ganlu (260 AD), in the evening, heavy rain suddenly fell in Luoyang City. Echoing the crackling rain outside the palace, the people inside the Luoyang Imperial Palace were shouting and the sounds of weapons intersecting.
Because at this time, the Wei Emperor Cao Xian, seeing that the power was falling by the wayside, was overwhelmed with indignation and decided to personally go out of the palace to kill sima Zhao, the chancellor.
Cao Xian took the redundant servants Li Zhao, Huang Men from the official Jiao Bo and other court attendants to put on armor, gathered the soldiers in the palace, and prepared to leave the palace.
At this moment, Wang Shen of Shizhong, Wang Jing of Shangshu, and Wang Ye of Shanqi Chang arrived at the news.
Seeing this scene, King Shangshu advised bitterly:
"In the past, Lu Zhaogong could not stand the dictatorial Ji clan, and as a result, he lost his position as a monarch and was made fun of by the people of the world. At present, the power of the state has been manipulated by the Sima family for a long time, and the court is full of the Sima family's cronies, and people have ignored the principle of disobedience for a long time.
Now that you are weak in armor, how can you rely solely on the palace guards as a basis for achieving great things? Under such circumstances, once the military situation is launched, instead of being able to cure the disease, it will deepen! There may even be unforeseen disasters, please think twice. ”
Hearing such a cold analysis, Cao Xian, instead of calming down, became even more angry, and shouted at the three of them:
"Sima Zhao's heart, passers-by know also." I can't stand his humiliation anymore, I can't sit still and be deposed by him. Let us kings and ministers settle this matter today, and today we should consult with the secretary of state. ”
After speaking, Cao Xian took out the edict in his arms, threw it on the ground fiercely, and said sharply: "I have made up my mind." Even if you die, what's so terrible about it? ”
After saying this, Cao Xian left the three of them behind, bid farewell to the empress, and then led hundreds of palace guards and officials to beat the drums of war and leave the palace from the Yunlong Gate.
Cao Xian should be the first emperor in Chinese history to personally carry a sword to kill his ministers.
At that time, Wang Shen and Wang Ye saw that Cao Xian was persuaded not to move, and they were afraid that they would be implicated in the defeat and be exterminated, so they went out of the palace together to report to Sima Zhao, preparing to surrender.
At this time, Cao Xian, already dressed in armor and holding a sword, sat on the frame of the car, leading hundreds of servants to shout out. At that time, Sima Zhao's younger brother Sima Ling (zhòu), a lieutenant of the Tun Riding School, and his party happened to enter the palace on an affair, and happened to meet Cao Xian, who was killing and angry, and the group of palace guards who rushed out.
When Cao Xian saw Sima Ling, he loudly reprimanded him, and Sima Ling and his party hurried to avoid him.
The young Cao Xian saw the dodging Sima Ling, and his confidence instantly increased, and he was more confident in today's battle.
When Sima Zhao's henchman, the Chinese army protector Jia Chong, received the news, he quickly assembled his troops and prepared to line up to meet the battle. Obviously, the Sima family had perennial military power and the army was well-trained, so the combat effectiveness of Jia Chong's team was simply comparable to that of Cao Xian's hundreds of palace guards.
Therefore, when Jia Chong watched such a group of unsympathetic teams rushing towards him, he simply scoffed. He personally went into battle and took the initiative to pounce on Cao Xian's team, and Cao Xian's army collapsed in an instant.
Cao Xian was anxious and shouted, "I am the Son of Heaven, who dares to stop me!" He called out to the sword he was wielding, slashing left and right.
The word "emperor" is indeed a golden signboard, and most of the time it can scare people.
When the soldiers on the Sima family's side saw the emperor personally entering the battle, they became a little overwhelmed, afraid of hurting the little emperor. Seeing this scene, the palace guards around Cao Xi gathered again, and the armies of the two sides continued to advance towards the Sima family.
The young Cao Xian thought that he had been blessed by heaven today, and rushed forward even more vigorously.
Just when the two armies were in chaos, The Crown Prince Sheren Chengji was afraid that something really had happened, so he ran to Jia Chong's side and asked, "Now that the matter is urgent, what should I do?" ”
Jia Chong said fiercely, "The skin does not exist, and the hair will be attached." If the Sima family loses, will those of us still have a good ending? Don't attack yet! ”
Immediately afterward, Jia Chong shouted to the soldiers around him: "The Sima family is used to raise you people today." There is nothing to hesitate about today! ”
After saying that, Jia Chong saw that Cheng Ji beside him took the lead in Tie Ge and assassinated Cao Xi.
Cao Xian was unguarded, and Cheng Ji's spear penetrated directly into his chest, and suddenly blood splashed on the palace wall, and Cao Ji died on the spot.
And this little emperor, who was praised by Zhong Hui as "Cai Tong Chen Si, Wu Class Taizu", ended his life at the age of only twenty in this tragic way.
Cao Xi's death was precisely because he was "only with Chen Si, Wu Taizu". But if he is incompetent, or willing to be a puppet, he may still end up with the same good end as the deposed emperor Cao Fang.
In 254, the Wei emperor Cao Fang was deposed by Sima Shi and demoted to the title of King of Qi. As Cao Pi's grandson, Cao Pi was elected as the new emperor at the age of fourteen.
At this time, although Cao Xian was young, he had already experienced the political reality of family changes, court struggles, and the decline of the royal family, so he had an age-inappropriate maturity.
Zhengshi commented on him: There is a large amount of achievement.
Let me give you two simple examples:
Six years ago, when Cao Huan was driven to Luoyang as emperor by the emperor, the courtiers met at Xiye Gate, and Cao Xian immediately got out of the car and prepared to pay homage to the officials. The ceremonial officer stopped and said, "Li, the king does not worship his subjects." Cao Xian replied, "I have not yet ascended the throne, and I am also a human subject." After saying that, Cao Xianbi respectfully returned a gift to the group of courtiers.
Then, Cao Xian came to the palace gate in a sedan again, and Cao Xian got out of the car and walked, and the ceremonial official said to him: "The son of heaven can enter the palace by car." Cao Xian added, "I came by the edict of the Empress Dowager, and I don't know what the so-called matter is." ”
This series of actions of Cao Xi won praise from both the government and the public, except of course the Sima family. Not only is he thoughtful in the world, Cao Xi's personal ability is not bad.
In ancient times, an important aspect of examining an individual's abilities was his understanding of Confucian works. Don't look at Cao Xian,, who is not very old, but can often talk about the I Ching, Shang Shu, and Li Ji with older Confucians in Taixue, and always be able to say relatively novel ideas, which have received a lot of praise.
Therefore, it was his high personal qualities that made Cao Xian realize that he should take on the heavy responsibility of reviving the Cao family's royal family. Therefore, in the next six years, he led by example, he changed the atmosphere of his father's generation of construction and extravagance, reduced the use of the court, and at the same time reformed politics and comforted the people.....
However, the more he did it, the more Cao Xian discovered that all he could do was these symbolic superficial tasks, Sima Zhao firmly held the real power of the imperial court, and if he continued like this, he would eventually end up with the same end as Cao Fang.
In this huge gap between ideals and reality, Cao Xian found that the status of the Sima family was becoming more and more unshakable, and coupled with the fact that he was in the age of flesh and blood, he staged a scene of raising a knife and dying and martyrdom.
Cao Xian was stabbed to death in the street, and when he heard the news, Sima Zhao was shocked and said, "What will the world think of me?" Of course, Sima Zhao's world refers to the family clan under the heavens, and ordinary people are not under his consideration.
However, no matter how you look at it, Sima Zhao must first put the matter of Cao Xian's death to rest.
Sima Zhao immediately ran to the palace, cried loudly at Cao Xian's corpse, and then immediately gathered the noble officials and ordered the collection of the emperor's corpse and the funeral.
But after all, it was the emperor who was killed, the funeral had to be done, and the black cauldron had to be carried, and Sima Zhao would definitely not go up on his own, so he consulted Chen Tai of the family clan how to deal with it.
Chen Tai calmly replied, "Only by cutting Jia Chong can we calm the discussion of the people in the world a little." ”
For Sima Zhao, Jia Chong was a confidant, and the cost of killing was too great, so he was really reluctant to kill, so he asked Chen Tai again: "Is it okay to kill other people?" ”
Chen Tai said firmly, "But see it above, not see it below." This means that killing the emperor is a great sin, and you can only kill people who are in high positions, and you can't just find a small minion to cover the crime.
In view of Chen Tai's resoluteness, Sima Zhao decided to ignore Chen Tai, and he directly loudly announced: "Cheng Ji Jun, the crime is extremely evil, and the camp is to destroy the Nine Tribes!" ”
At that time, Cheng Ji was standing on the sidelines, and when he heard this result, he was anxious on the spot, shouting: "Cheng Ji is only following orders, and the sin is not me!" ”
Sima Zhao didn't wait for Cheng Ji to say anything more, so he had people block Cheng Ji's mouth and directly cut him out. Immediately afterward, Sima Zhao, on the pretext of "disloyalty to his subjects and causing trouble to the government," dismissed Wang Jingjie, who had not reported to himself.
After Cao Xian's death, Sima Zhao declared to the outside world:
"Therefore, the noble townspeople rebelled and fell into great calamity. Now the imperial court, in accordance with the precedent of the Western Han Dynasty King Changyi who was deposed for his sins, buried him as a commoner. Ministers and others who are in high positions have not avoided such a catastrophe, which is really a rupture of the liver and gallbladder. The empress dowager was merciful and generous, and the courtiers were intolerant, and Tegah buried the noble township prince with royal rites. ”
That is to say, after Cao Xi's death, he returned to his previous title of Noble Township Duke. His death was considered a moral defect and a great rebellion, so he was deposed by the imperial court and buried with the courtesy of a commoner, and only after the empress dowager pitied him was he promoted to the ceremony of a prince and buried.
A few days later, Cao Xian, the Duke of Gaogui Township, was buried in the shore of the chán stream, thirty miles northwest of Luoyang. The whole funeral was not liturgical, no send-offs, only a few dilapidated vehicles...
Pei Songzhi of the Southern Dynasty commented: "Sima Zhao has gone too far, where is the burial of Wang Li?" ”
Cover the coffin to conclude:
The king of a country was killed by Sima Zhao in this way, and was so easily covered up, and no one in the entire imperial court dared to question it, which showed how powerful the Sima family was at that time.
Although Cao Huan was heroic, his childlike coup d'état actually cleared the way for the Sima family to usurp power, and the Cao Wei Dynasty actually existed in name only.
Sima Zhao's heart is already known to the whole world.
end
Thanks for reading! Follow @History Court and share more historical stories together.