Sima Yi - The rise of the Cao Pi period In the famous family admired by Cao Pi, Sima Yi has always been highly used, but in the Cao Cao era, he was not reused as he should be, and was only appointed as an ordinary military Sima. However, after Cao Pi became the crown prince of Wei, Sima Yi became the prince's concubine, and was called the "Four Friends" along with Chen Qun, Wu Zhen, and Zhu Shuo. After Cao Pi ascended the throne, Sima Yi's status gradually climbed, successively serving as Shangshu, Overseer, and Yushi Zhongcheng, and was finally promoted to the general of the Fujun Army, and joined the core of officialdom - Lu Shangshushi. But before that, Cao Zhen, Cao Xiu, and Chen Qun all had higher status than Sima Yi. It was not until Cao Xiu, Cao Zhen and Chen Qun died one after another that Sima Yi's status slowly rose and became an important adviser to Cao Pi. Sima Yi's political and military position gradually became prominent, and he played an indispensable role in the campaign against Shu. In the fifth year of the Huang dynasty, he was appointed general of the Fujun army and succeeded Chen Qun. However, at this time, the military power was still firmly in the hands of the Cao family.
During Cao Shuang's reign, Chen Qun was appointed as the general of the Zhenjun and Sima Yi as the general of the Fujun, but Cao Shuang held the military and political power, and Sima Yi's status was not substantially improved. Until the beginning of the Zheng period, Cao Shuang usurped the throne and grasped the military and political power, and regarded the family trust as an important position, such as his younger brother Xi as the leader of the army, his younger brother Xun as the general of Wuwei, He Yan as the official department of Shangdian election, Deng Yang and Ding Mi as the Shangshu, Bi Gui as the lieutenant of the division, etc. Although Sima Yi was appointed as the Taifu, he seized power with his political prestige. In the first years, Wu sent troops to attack Huainan, Lu'an, Fancheng and Zhezhong. Wu generals Zhu Ran and Sun Lun led 50,000 troops to besiege Fancheng, while Zhuge Jin and Bu Qi attacked Zhezhong. Sima Yi personally led the armies to the south, and fought to the death with the Wu army at Sanzhoukou, and finally won a complete victory. History has confirmed that Sima Yi was an outstanding statesman with strategic vision and talent. Sima Yi requested the digging of the Guangcao Canal to bring water from the river to Bian, irrigate the southeastern provinces, and start tuntian fields in the north and south of Huai. This Tuntian plan was obtained from Deng Aizhi's suggestion, and Sima Yi strongly supported and began to implement it.
This move facilitated Wei's military activities in the southeast. "Whenever there is a war in the southeast, the army is inspired to rise, take a boat down the river, and arrive between the Jianghuai River, with both grain reserves and no floods" (excerpt from "The Biography of Wei Zhi and Deng Ai of the Three Kingdoms"). In the fourth year of A.D., Zhuge Ke of Wu wanted to attack Shouchun (now Shou County, Anhui), and Sima Yi led his troops into Shu (now Shucheng, Anhui) for defense. However, the contradiction between Cao Shuang and Sima Yi gradually intensified. When Emperor Ming was dying, there was a small-scale court dispute. Emperor Ming originally planned to hand over the affairs of the state to Cao Yu, the king of Yan, and appointed Yan Wangyu as a general, who assisted Qi Wangfang with Xiahou Xian, Cao Shuang, Cao Zhao, etc. However, Liu Fang and Sun Zi held power for a long time, and Cao Xian and Cao Zhao were dissatisfied. Liu Fang and Sun Zi took the opportunity to slander King Yan to Emperor Ming, believing that he was unworthy of the task, and recommended Cao Shuang and Sima Yi. As a result, Yan Wangyu was dismissed from his post, and Cao Shuang was appointed as a general, assisting Qi Wangfang together with Sima Yi.
In this palace dispute, although Cao Shuang treated Sima Yi "although he is old, he has excellent virtue, he often respects him, and he never does his own thing" (excerpted from "Three Kingdoms Wei Zhi Cao Zhen Biography of Fuzi Shuang"), but after He Yan, Deng Qi and others gained power, Cao Shuang began to no longer consider Sima Yi's opinions and advice, resulting in a rift between the two. In May of the eighth year of Zhengshi, Sima Yi weighed the situation and decided that it was not the right time to confront Cao Shuang head-on, so he pretended to be sick, retired home, and no longer participated in government affairs. In the winter of the ninth year, Li Sheng, a supporter of Cao Shuang, was appointed as the assassin of Jingzhou and went to bid farewell to Sima Yi. Sima Yi pretended to be critically ill to receive him, and after Li Sheng went back, he told Cao Shuang: "Sima Gong is already dying, he has lost his power, and there is no need to be afraid. He also said: "Taifu's illness is irreparable, which makes people feel sorry!."Cao Shuang believed Li Sheng's words and relaxed his vigilance against Sima Yi. However, Sima Yi was secretly cultivating dead soldiers, waiting for the opportunity to launch a coup d'état. On the first day of the first month of the first ten years (249 years), Wang Fang of Qi went to Gaoping Mausoleum to make sacrifices. Gaoping Mausoleum is the mausoleum of Emperor Ming and is located ninety miles south of Luoyang.
Cao Shuang and his younger brother led the army Xi and Wu Wei to accompany him. Sima Yi suddenly raised troops and asked the Empress Dowager to abolish the official position of Cao Shuang's brothers. Sima Yi's son, Sima Shi, led an army and stationed at Sima Gate. Sima Yi personally led the army to line up under the palace gate. Gao Rou disguised herself as Situ and led the army into Cao Shuang's camp. The servant Wang Guan led the army and took over Cao Xi's camp. Sima Yi once said to Gao Rou: "You are Zhou Bo now!.""Three thousand dead men who had been secretly trained have been assembled to become the core of the coup. Sima Yi personally led the Tai Lieutenant Jiang Ji and others to garrison the Luoshui pontoon bridge and wrote the crimes of the Cao Shuang brothers. After Cao Shuang got Sima Yi's recital, he felt hesitant and uneasy, and fell into confusion. Cao Shuang's henchman, Si Nong Huan Fan, initially remained in the city, but when they heard the news of Sima Yi's coup d'état, they immediately opened the city gates and fled to Cao Shuang. Huan Fan advised Cao Shuang to take the emperor hostage to Xuchang and recruit the world's heroes to fight against Sima Yi. However, Cao Shuang hesitated and sent the attendant Xu Yun and the monk Chen Tai to inquire about Sima Yi's attitude.
Sima Yi pretended to answer them, claiming that Cao Shuang had only made some mistakes, but he had only been removed from his post. Cao Shuang believed this. However, Huan Fan and others resolutely dissuaded Cao Shuang, opposed his wrong ideas, and persuaded him until dawn. But Cao Shuang couldn't listen to it, threw down the knife angrily, and said, "Sima Gong just wants to seize my power!."All I need is a good life. Cao Shuang handed over Sima Yi's complaint to Qi Wangfang, asked Qi Wangfang to be dismissed, and then followed him into the city, but was placed under house arrest at home. A few days later, someone reported that Huangmen Zhang Dang privately arranged a draft girl to give to Cao Shuang, He Yan and others. Zhang Dang admitted the incident, and Cao Shuang, He Yan, Deng Zheng, Ding Mi and others had been plotting a rebellion, which was planned to be launched in mid-March. As a result, they were imprisoned and accused of treason, and eventually sentenced to death and their entire family to be killed. After Cao Shuang's faction was eliminated, Qi Wangfang appointed Sima Yi as prime minister and gave Jiuxi. Although Sima Yi refused many times, the military and political power of Wei remained in the hands of Sima after that. This coup played a crucial role in the power struggle between Sima and Cao.
It was this situation that determined Sima's victory. However, after decades of Cao Wei's rule, the forces loyal to the Cao clan are still very strong. In the struggle with Cao Shuang, Sima Yi tried to start with Cao Shuang's weaknesses, disguised himself as a loyal minister, and was orphaned by Emperor Ming. Therefore, he confused some people, and even some people loyal to the Cao clan sided with the Sima clan. But in order to seize Cao Wei's throne, Sima also needed to establish his prestige among the entire ruling class and purge a group of people loyal to Cao. This is how Cao Wei's rule can still be held after the beginning.
Ten. Six or seven years of reason. It was not until the third year of Jiaping (251) that Taiwei, General Zhengdong, and Commander of the False Festival of Yangzhou and Wang Ling, the military commanders of Yangzhou, planned to support the king of Chu in Xuchang and confront Luoyang, which completely ended the coup d'état in which Qi Wangfang was subject to Sima Yi due to weakness. Wang Ling's son, Wang Guang, did not agree with his plan. Wang Guang believes that although Sima Yi's intentions are difficult to guess, he does not show any signs of retrograde. He promoted the virtuous, won more prestige than himself, restored the decrees of the previous dynasty, and met the expectations of the people.
For those who do evil, Sima Yi can also make them change their ways, and work hard day and night to ensure the well-being of the people. Even if fathers, sons, and brothers hold military power together, it is not easy to be easily conquered. However, when Sima Yi learned of Wang Ling's conspiracy, he quickly sent troops to force Wang Ling to commit suicide. Wang Ling failed to realize his plan and was strangled by Sima Yi, his comrades and his entire family were exterminated, and Wang Biao of Chu was also given death. Subsequently, Sima Yi died, and his son Sima Shi became the general of the Fujun Army, and concurrently served as the secretary of the book, taking over Sima Yi's government duties. Soon he was promoted to the rank of general.