Xiahou Xuan was the son of Xiahou Shang, the general of Cao Wei Zhengnan.
Xiahou Shang was Xiahou Yuan's nephew and should be about the same age as Cao Pi. Cao Pi was born in 187 AD, Sima Yi was born in 179 AD, and Zhuge Liang was born in 181 AD, which can be regarded as the same generation. Therefore, Xiahou Shang had more contacts with Cao Pi since he was a child, and his relationship was relatively good, and he was more trusted by Cao Pi.
When Cao Cao pacified Jizhou, Xiahou Shang had already joined the army and was made a military commander. After Cao Pi was established as the son of the world, he became a literary subordinate of cao Pi's five-sense general. Cao Cao created the Duke of Wei, the State of Wei was established, and Xiahou Shang served as the Attendant of the Yellow Gate. Establishing the Rebellion of the Hu clan in Dai County, Cao Cao sent his son Cao Zhang to lead an army to fight, and Xiahou Shang also went out with the army to join the army.
Judging from Xiahou Shang's early experience, he, like Cao Zhen and Cao Xiu, was obviously cultivated by Cao Cao as a backup successor echelon, and was a loyal backbone force cultivated for Cao Pi.
Cao Cao died in Luoyang, and Xiahou Shang returned to Yicheng with the festival of mourning, and because of this merit, he was given the title of Marquis of Pingling Pavilion, and baishan rode Chang Shi, that is, a high-ranking attendant at the emperor's side. When Cao Cao's coffin returned to Yecheng and held the funeral, the person in charge of the funeral was Sima Yi, who was also a person that Cao Pi trusted at that time.
Soon after, Xiahou Shang was promoted to the rank of commander of the middle army. According to the Cao Wei system, the leader of the central army was the commander of the palace janissaries. This shows that Cao Pi's trust in Xiahou Shang is very unusual. After Cao Pi became emperor, he was promoted to the post of Marquis of Pingling Township, promoted to the post of General of Zhengnan, leading the History of Jingzhou, and overseeing the military forces in the south.
When Xiahou Shang took office as the Assassin of Jingzhou, Liu Beizheng led a large army to attack Wu, and the other troops went out of Shangyong to monitor Cao Wei's military operations and prevent Cao Wei from sneaking attacks from behind. Later, Liu Bei was defeated by Lu Xun at the Battle of Yiling and returned to the White Emperor's City, and the Return route of the Shu Han army led by Huang Quan was cut off and forced to surrender to Cao Wei. Xiahou Shang took the opportunity to march and captured the three counties and nine counties of Shu Han, and was promoted to the rank of General of Zhengnan, that is, he added a big character to the general of Zhengnan.
Xiahou Shang was a peripheral clan member of the Cao clan, and his wife was Cao Zhen's sister, and his daughter Xiahou Hui married Sima Yi's son Sima Shang. Cao Zhen was a high-ranking general whom Cao Pi trusted very much, and was also one of the auxiliary ministers he left to Cao Rui, and Sima Yi was also a person whom Cao Pi trusted very much, and was also one of the four ministers left to Cao Rui to assist the government. Xiahou Shang married Cao Zhen's sister, and his daughter married Sima Yi's son, which was an intermarriage between a crony group around Cao Pi, in order to strengthen the ties between several families, form an alliance of interests, and share honor and disgrace.
However, Xiahou still died early, and before Cao Pi died, he died. Cao Pi specially issued an edict to praise him, and posthumously presented him with the posthumous gift of the Southern General and the Marquis of Changling. The edict explains Cao Pi's evaluation of him, which can be described as a general summary of his life: "Shang Zi is a young attendant, doing his best, although the clouds have different surnames, his flesh and bones are based on entering the heart and being a pawn." Wisdom is deep and sensitive, plotting is superior, unfortunately died early, and fate is also helpless! He was given the title of Grand General of the Southern Army and Marquis of Changling. ”
Because of this relationship, Xiahou Xuan's birth was a very typical cao wei official second generation. Xiahou Xuan was born in 209 AD, and Xiahou Shang died in 226 AD, that is to say, when Xiahou Shang died, Xiahou Xuan was only 18 years old and became the Marquis of Changling.
He was born into a noble family and was well-known, so Xiahou Xuan was a famous scholar leader among the sons of the second generation of Cao Wei officials, although nominally he was known as a famous scholar leader along with Zhuge Shi and Sima Shi. But the real leader of the famous scholars, who is respected, is still Xiahou Xuan. At a young age, he was knighted as a marquis, and he was also worshipped as a loose horse Yellow Gate Attendant, and was a close attendant and high-ranking official of the emperor, so Xiahou Xuan's interaction with people not only depended on talent and character, but also on the origin of the door. It is not easy to join his circle of friends.
For example, Zhong Hui, who was also the second generation of Cao Wei's famous meritorious officials, was also famous as a teenager and was appreciated by Sima Yi. Zhong Hui has always hoped to make friends with Xiahou Xuan, but Xiahou Xuan does not look up to Zhong Hui's character and does not interact with Zhong Hui.
Empress Mao of the Wei Ming Emperor Cao Rui came from an ordinary clan of scholars, not a first-class scholar clan, and her younger brother Mao zeng suddenly rose to the rank of high-ranking magnate because of her sake. At a court banquet, Xiahou Xuan and Mao Zeng sat side by side, and Xiahou Xuan was deeply ashamed and felt that he should not be with such people. Mao was deeply favored by Emperor Wei Ming, and Emperor Wei Ming, holding a grudge, retaliated against Xiahou Xuan and demoted him to the post of Yulin Supervisor.
After Emperor Wei's death, Cao Zhen's son Cao Shuang was entrusted with Sima Yi to assist him, but soon Cao Shuang forced Sima Yi to side and let him monopolize power. After Cao Shuang monopolized power, a large number of people such as He Yan and Ding Mi, who had been hit in the flashy case, were used as his confidants. Xiahou Xuan was the son of Cao Shuang's aunt, and he was a cousin, and he became famous early, so he was highly valued by Cao Shuang, and soon served as a scattered horseman and a middle protector.
The Central Protector is in charge of the selection of generals, has great power, and the position is also very important. Before Xiahou Xuan, it was Jiang Ji who served as the Central Protector, and Jiang Ji and Sima Yi had similar seniority, and had also accompanied the army during the Cao Pi period, and during the Cao Rui period, he served as a scattered cavalry regular attendant, a general of the escort army, that is, the Middle Protector Army. However, Jiang Ji was greedy for money and bribes, and betrayed officials and knights, so his reputation was not very good.
In order to install his own people in this important position, Cao Zhen made Jiang Ji the leading general, with Xiahou Xuan as the central protector. Xiahou Xuan had always been known for his knowledge of people, and carried out some institutional reforms in the post of The Central Protector, selecting many talents, and later Dumu Prefecture Dian County, the system established was continued until the early Western Jin Dynasty.
After Cao Zhen's death, Cao Wei's main commander in the western front to resist Zhuge Liang's Northern Expedition was Sima Yi, so Sima Yi always regarded Yongliang as his sphere of influence. In order to exchange benefits and mix sand with Sima Yi's sphere of influence, Cao Shuang made Xiahou Xuan the general of Zhengxi and the military governor of Yongliang, while Xiahou Xuan's original position as a central protector was ceded to Sima Shi. This was obviously an exchange of interests, and it was this exchange of interests that put Cao Shuang in an unfavorable situation in the later Gaopingling Change.
However, Xiahou Xuan's military ability was obviously very average, far inferior to his political ability to know people and discuss the world. After Cao Shuang made Xiahou Xuan the general of Zhenxi, on the one hand, in order to establish merit and prestige, on the other hand, in order to rectify the Yongliang army through military operations, he took the initiative to launch the Battle of Luogu against Shu Han. The Shu Han army was in danger of defending, and the Wei army was trapped in the Qin Mountains, unable to retreat, logistically difficult, and later forced to retreat, and was pursued by the Shu army, with a lot of losses.
Cao Shuang made a mistake in his decision during the Gaopingling Rebellion, which led to the total annihilation of Cao's main political forces, and Xiahou Xuan did not make any resistance. When Sima Yi enlisted Xiahou Xuan to serve as the Great Hongxu, he was actually preparing xiahou Xuan to suppress it through military action once he rebelled. However, Xiahou Xuan did not make any resistance, and obediently returned to the imperial court, serving as a great hongxu with a high nominal position and actually no political or military power. Xiahou Yuan's son Xiahou Ba, on the other hand, was forced to flee to Shu Han.
Cao's clan relatives have always been subject to relatively severe precautions, which is like imprisonment, there is no political and military strength, and those who hold military strength are Cao's peripheral clan relatives, that is, Cao Zhen, Cao Xiu, Xiahou Shang, Xiahou Xuan, and other people who are estranged from the Cao Wei Emperor and will not endanger the throne. After Cao Shuang was killed by Sima Yi, the most prestigious of the Cao clique was xiahou Xuan.
When Sima Yi was alive, he did not do anything to Xiahou Xuan. Obviously, from Sima Yi's point of view, if Xiahou Xuan wanted to resist, of course, he should support the army in Guanzhong to resist, and after returning to the imperial court, Luoyang was under the control of Sima Shi's forces, even if he had the intention to resist, he could not make much noise, and Sima Yi was sure to control them.
However, Xiahou Xuan's understanding of this was that Sima Yi and Xiahou Shang were old friends, so they regarded Xiahou Xuan as a young man with no suspicions. This obviously shows that Xiahou Xuan is very inexperienced and naïve in political struggle, and has not clearly understood even the most basic political situation. However, he knew very well that after Sima Yi's death, Sima Shi was in power, and he would undoubtedly die.
Later, Zhang Ji and Li Feng wanted to launch a coup d'état and kill Sima Shi, with Xiahou Xuan as the general's assistant. After the matter was revealed, Sima Shi was the first to attack as a strong man, and all those involved were killed and the three tribes were destroyed, and the rest of their relatives were also exiled to Lelang County. Chen Shou recorded that after Sima Zhao heard the news that Xiahou Xuan was going to be killed, he found Sima Shi and "wept and asked for it", but Sima Shi did not agree, and cited the funeral of Sikong Zhao, Xiahou Xuan arrived late, and everyone got up to greet him. However, Pei Songzhi retorted, arguing that Xiahou Xuan was in Guanzhong at the time and could not attend Zhao Yu's funeral.
Even so, Xiahou Xuan's reputation in Cao Wei at that time was very high and respected, which was certain. He was also the last person in the Cao clique to have a reputation for rebelling against Sima Shi, and even Zhang Ji was the father of Empress WangFang of Qi, and Li Feng was Zhongshu Ling, who planned to let Xiahou Xuan assist the government after the coup d'état, rather than themselves. After Xiahou Xuan's death, there was no longer anyone in the Cao clan's core group who could have the strength and prestige to rebel against Sima Shi.
In the subsequent Three Rebellions in Huainan, Wang Ling and Zhuge Shi had to rebel because Sima Yi recruited them into the dynasty in the name of the imperial court to serve as Sikong who had no power in name of prestige and solemnity, forcing them to give up their military power, so they had to take the risk and rebel. That is to say, the three rebellions in Huainan launched by Wang Ling, Mu Qiujian, Wen Qin, and Zhuge Shi were nominally aimed at rebelling against Sima Shi's dictatorship and being loyal to Cao Wei, but in fact the motive for self-preservation was more obvious.
When Xiahou Xuan was in Zhenshou Guanzhong, if Cao Shuang took Qi Wang Fang hostage and went straight to Guanzhong and refused to defend Tongguan during the Gaopingling Rebellion, at least a confrontation with Sima Shi could be formed, just as Later Northern Wei split into Western Wei and Eastern Wei. After Cao Shuang's death, if Xiahou Xuan had the intention to resist, then he should also rebel in Guanzhong, and the probability of success was much greater than that of Zhang Ji and Li Feng's palace coup, and it was more militarily advantageous than the three rebellions in Huainan. However, Xiahou Xuan did not even have this courage, so he bundled himself up and returned to the dynasty, pinning his life on the moral level of Sima Shi, which was obviously very naïve politically.
On the other hand, after Cao Rui's death, among the core clique of the Cao clan that had high hopes, it was Cao Shuang and Xiahou Xuan who were left in charge of power, who had little experience in political struggles and even less experience in war, who grew up in wealth and nobility, and who had not experienced any tests, how could they not have much power?
From another point of view, it was actually Sima Shi's political struggle that lasted for a long time, and his suspicions were relatively heavy, and he overestimated Xiahou Xuan. Judging from Xiahou Xuan's overall performance, he was actually not much different from Cao Shuang, giving up the opportunity to resist and returning to the dynasty, it was nothing more than seeking stability, peace and security until death, and there was no great ambition.