Cao Wei Mingshi Hengfan beat his chest and cried bitterly: "Cao Zidan is a good man, and when he gave birth to your brothers, he is simply a piglet calf." I didn't expect that I would be affected by you today, and the whole family would suffer the disaster of extermination. "Cao Shuang's cousin Zhaobo, his father Cao Zhen is the royal family of Wei, and he has made great contributions to the east and west, and worships him as the great Sima. Cao Shuang served the crown prince Cao Rui in the East Palace when he was young, and the two had a close relationship. After Cao Rui became the emperor, he favored Cao Shuang very much and promoted him to be the general of Wuwei who led the forbidden army. In the third year of the early Jing Dynasty, Emperor Cao Rui of Wei Ming died of illness, and before his death, Cao Shuang was appointed as a general, the governor of the Chinese and foreign military, in charge of the military power of the whole country, and the imperial lieutenant Sima Yi jointly accepted the edict and assisted the little emperor Cao Fang.
Although Cao Shuang was in a high position, he had no experience in governing and fighting, so he respected the elderly and prestigious Sima Yi very much, and often treated him as his father, and had to consult with him in everything, and did not dare to make decisions on his own. Later, he listened to the advice of Ding Mi and others, and thought that the power of the court and government could not be left in the hands of others, so he asked the emperor to issue an edict and reappoint Sima Yi as the prince, depriving him of his real power. He also ordered Shang Shutai to report on political affairs, and first submit it to himself for review, and after weighing the importance himself, he would consult with Sima Yi. Later, Sima Yi was gradually not consulted, and all government affairs were decided by himself. He also appointed his brother Cao Xi as the leader of the Central Army, and Cao Xun as the general of Wuwei, and controlled the army of Luoyang, the capital division;The other younger brothers, Cao Ze, Cao Yan, and Cao Hao, all served the emperor as princes and were able to enter and leave the harem, and the family was very prosperous.
Cao Shuang's cronies He Yan, Deng Yang, Ding Mi, Li Sheng, and Bi Liang are all famous all over the world. At that time, Emperor Wei Ming felt that these five people were flashy and unreal, so they were not promoted. After Cao Shuang took power, five people were promoted to official positions, and He Yan, Deng Biao, and Ding Mi were arranged to be in charge of confidential information in Shangshutai and responsible for the selection of **. Bi Liang served as the lieutenant of Sili, and Li Sheng served as Henan Yin, and was the chief executive of the counties around Beijing and the capital region"Think tank"Huan Fan served as the Great Si Nong, in charge of the country's Tuntian soldiers and civilians. Seeing that they didn't consult with him about anything, and that they had the military and political power inside and outside the court, Sima Yi said that he was sick at home and no longer went to the court, but arranged for his younger brother Sima Fu to be Shang Shuling, his son Sima Shi to be the central protector, and Sima Zhao to be a regular attendant, so as to monitor Cao Shuang and others.
In order to establish Cao Shuang's prestige, Ding Mi and other cronies persuaded him to lead troops to conquer Shu. Cao Shuang followed their advice and came to Chang'an in the first five years, recruiting 60,000 or 70,000 soldiers, plus more than 100,000 people. Because he did not understand military affairs, Cao Shuang chose to go out in the middle of summer, the march of the troops and the transportation of supplies coincided with the scorching heat, coupled with the steep mountain roads of the Qinling Mountains and the stubborn resistance of the Shu army, the people of his army were miserable, and they could not advance in the middle of the Luo Valley. Sima Yi conveyed to Cao Shuang through Xiahou Xuan, persuading him to withdraw his troops as soon as possible to avoid the annihilation of the entire army. Cao Shuang saw that the situation was critical, so he led his troops to withdraw, and was intercepted by the Shu army on the way, resulting in heavy losses and boiling public resentment.
Cao Shuang and his brother were good at government affairs, excluded dissidents, and moved Empress Dowager Guo to live in Yongning Palace, so as not to interfere with her. Together with He Yan and others, they seized hundreds of hectares of official land near Luoyang and the fiefdom land of the royal family as their own property, and also stole the property of the government and extorted money from the prefectures, counties and localities, and no one dared to oppose their will. Cao Shuang's food, ride, and clothing were luxurious, and he even caught up with the emperor. All kinds of treasures and playthings of the royal family filled their mansions, wives and concubines were all over the backyard, and they also privately transferred the emperor's"Talented", that is, palace maids and concubines, musicians, singers and dancers for their own enjoyment. Cao Shuang arranged a gorgeous cave room at home, and spent all day with his brothers and cronies in it, feasting and drinking, which led to dissatisfaction and resentment from the government and the opposition.
Cao Xi was deeply worried when he saw that his brothers were so corrupt and degenerate. He advised him several times not to do this, but Cao Shuang was indifferent. Cao Xi wrote three articles, stating that arrogance and lasciviousness will inevitably lead to disaster, and the meaning of his words was very sincere. He didn't dare to criticize Cao Shuang directly, so he said that he wanted to admonish other brothers and showed it to Cao Shuang, Cao Shuang knew that it was written for himself, and he was very unhappy. Cao Xi sometimes cried bitterly because his advice was not taken and got up and left. Sima Yi saw that Cao Shuang and others' perverse actions caused public outrage, and began to secretly contact Taiwei Jiang Ji, Situ Gaorou and others, preparing to launch a coup d'état. Cao Shuang and others were also a little worried about this, so they sent Li Sheng to visit Sima Yi's house in the name of serving as the assassin of Jingzhou. But Sima Yi pretended to be seriously ill, which was very realistic, and finally deceived Li Sheng, Cao Shuang and others, thinking that he was about to die, so he didn't take it to heart.
In the first month of the first year of Jiaping, Emperor Cao Fang wanted to go to Gaoping Mausoleum to worship his ancestors, and Cao Shuang's brothers all went with him. When they went out to play in the past, Huan Fan once warned them and said to them:"Prime Minister Wan Ji, commanding the forbidden army, should not leave the capital at the same time. If someone staged a coup d'état and closed the city gates, who would be able to get in?"Cao Shuang replied"Who would dare to do such a thing!"But he still accepted Huan Fan's advice, and always left one or two brothers to look after the house when he went out. Later, seeing that there was no accident, their thoughts gradually became paralyzed, and this time the six brothers left Luoyang at the same time.
Sima Yi seized this rare opportunity and quickly launched a coup d'état. He first contacted the Empress Dowager Guo, who had been dissatisfied with Cao Shuang's brothers for a long time, and after getting the approval, he issued an order in the name of the Empress Dowager to close the gate of Luoyang, send troops to occupy the arsenal of reserve weapons, and let Sima Shi lead the troops to block the gate of the palaceThe prince Wang Guan ** took the leading position in the army, occupied Cao Xi's barracks, and then played the various crimes committed by Cao Shuang's brothers to Emperor Cao Fang.
Cao Shuang and others received Sima Yi's recital, and after watching it, they were shocked and felt very embarrassed, they didn't dare to present it to the emperor, and they didn't know what to do. So they stopped the emperor's carriage on the south bank of Yishui, dispatched thousands of nearby Tuntian soldiers to serve as guards, cut down trees and arrange antlers around the camp. Sima Yi then launched a political offensive in an attempt to win without a fight, and sent his attendant Xu Yun and Shangshu Chen Tai to persuade Cao Shuang to return to obedience as soon as possible. He also asked Cao Shuang's confidant Yin Da to inform him that Sima Yi's original intention was only to remove Cao Shuang and others from their official positions, and he did not want their lives, and he also made an oath with Luo Shui as evidence.