Cao Xian was the fourth monarch of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period, and "sima zhao's heart, known to everyone" came from him. By the time of Cao Xian's reign, Sima Zhao had completely controlled the imperial government. Unable to bear Sima Zhao's oppression, Cao Xian led hundreds of servants from the palace to attack Sima Zhao, and was finally killed by Sima Zhao's general Chengji.
Obviously, Cao Xian's taking only a few hundred servants to fight Sima Zhao was tantamount to a moth to a fire. So why didn't Cao Xian summon Sima Zhao into the palace and then kill him? Compared with the previous moth-fighting method, this commonplace palace coup seems to be more suitable for Cao Xian. But if we analyze it carefully, things are not so simple.
In his later years, Sima Yi firmly held the power of Cao Wei in his hands, and later through the management of Sima Shi and Sima Zhao's brothers, it can be said that Cao Wei was not a party of the Manchu Dynasty at this time. If Cao Xian wanted to remove Sima Zhao from the palace, he had to have his own party members, and these party members had to be figures with great power. Otherwise, Cao Xian would have only relied on himself as a light rod commander, just like killing Sima Zhao in the palace, which would have been impossible.
According to the "Spring and Autumn of the Han Dynasty", Before the crusade against Sima Zhao, Cao Xian summoned Wang Shen of Shizhong, Wang Jing of Shangshu, and Wang Ye of Shanqi Changshi to a meeting. Cao Xian first indignantly rebuked Sima Zhao's dictatorship, and then told the three of them about the decision to attack Sima Zhao. After hearing this, King Shangshu bitterly advised Cao Xiandao: The present power is at its door, and for a long time, the four sides of the imperial court will die for it, regardless of the reason for disobedience, not for a day. And the guards are empty, the armor is weak, and His Majesty has no resources to use, and once this is the case, there is no desire to get rid of the disease and deepen the evil! Misfortune is unpredictable, and it is advisable to see it in detail.
Wang Jing said to Cao Xian that the government had long been controlled by Sima Zhao, and now there were no people in the imperial court who were Sima Zhao. Moreover, the soldiers of the palace guards are vacant, so what do you do to fight Against Sima Zhao? From here, it can be seen that Cao Xian is now a complete commander of the light pole, and he has no strength to compete with Sima Zhao, whether in the imperial court or in the palace (there are also people who Sima Zhao bribed in the palace). Cao Xian was overwhelmed by sima Zhao's anger, and he insisted on fighting desperately without heeding Wang Jing's persuasion. Later, Wang Shen and Wang Ye went directly to Sima Zhao after a secret meeting with Cao Xian. Two of the three people that Cao Xian trusted betrayed him, so we can see that there were people in the imperial court at that time who were willing to serve Cao Xian.) Even Wang Jing did not accompany Cao Xi in his crusade against Sima Zhao, but he was eventually executed for failing to report to Sima Zhao in time. Therefore, Cao Xian could not kill Sima Zhao, whether in the palace or outside the palace, and without the support of his henchmen, he could only end up with a heroic sacrifice.