Sima Yi's will did not allow his descendants to sweep the grave
During the Qingming Festival, it rains a lot, and pedestrians on the road want to break their souls. It is another year of Qingming, and people prepare sacrifices to pay tribute to their ancestors, which is an ancient custom, passed down from generation to generation, without interruption.
But there is one person who worked hard and made great achievements during his lifetime, ending the disputes of the Three Kingdoms and unifying the mountains and rivers. He is Sima Yi, the founding emperor of the Western Jin Dynasty, but after his death, there was no monument and no tomb, leaving behind only the deep nostalgia of countless descendants.
In 251 B.C., Sima Yi was terminally ill, and his sons stood by his bedside. He felt that his life limit had come, stretched out his thin hand, took his son Sima Zhao, and made a will: After I die, bury me on Shouyang Mountain, I have already built a tomb, don't erect a monument, don't plant trees; Do not wear fancy clothes when buried, just wear daily clothes, and do not place any valuable funeral goods in the coffin; Every Qingming and sacrifice day, descendants should not go to the memorial service, and the wives and concubines who died later should not be buried together, and they should be buried in another place.
After saying that, he passed away at the age of 73. His children and grandchildren followed his will and buried him in the ground, and his descendants did not go to the tomb to pay respects. Sima Yi's practice clearly violated the common sense of the time.
He tried his best to eliminate dissidents, was iron-blooded, and bloodthirsty, and finally climbed to the pinnacle of power, which could have been buried in a grand ceremony for future generations to admire. But he went the other way and was quietly buried in an ordinary tomb, what kind of medicine was sold in this gourd?
In general, there are no more than three reasons why Sima Yi did not let his descendants pay tribute after his death:
In order to stabilize the country, Sima Yi eliminated dissidents, eliminated opponents, and killed countless people. Although the country was stabilized, he also attracted deep hatred and hatred.
He did not allow the monument to be erected, fearing that others would follow suit, and would take the opportunity to seize his world, and would never leave any chance for others. So, how did Sima Yi take away the country from the Cao family?
This has to mention the Gao Pingling Incident. Sima Yi assisted Cao Cao, Cao Pi, and Cao Rui to make suggestions for the Great Wei Dynasty, put on the battlefield, and made great achievements.
However, before the time came, he held back his ambition and pretended to be what a courtier should do. His superb acting skills deceived the three generations of monarchs of the Great Wei Dynasty, and even Cao Rui died young, giving him Cao Fangtuo, who was only eight years old, which shows that he has great trust in him.
At that time, there was also the imperial prince Cao Shuang who was entrusted to be orphaned, and he had always been wary of Sima Yi, so he united with the important ministers of the court and replaced him, depriving him of military power. Sima Yi did not resist, but wisely chose to recuperate at home, and never interfered in government politics again.
He firmly believes that Cao Shuang is not a person who can achieve great things. Cao Shuang knew that Sima Yi was insidious and cunning, and he was ruthless, so he sent his henchman Li Sheng to observe secretly. Li Sheng entered Sima Yi's bedroom and saw two maidservants preparing porridge for him, Sima Yi's hand suddenly shook, and the porridge spilled on his clothes.
The maidservant immediately took out clean clothes and put them on for him, but the clothes slipped and fell to the ground. Li Sheng secretly observed all this, believing that Sima Yi was terminally ill and would die soon.
So, he told Cao Shuang what he saw and heard, and Cao Shuang finally put his mind at ease and monopolized power, which no one could match, and even imprisoned Empress Guo in Yongning Palace. In the past two years, Sima Yi silently accumulated strength, cultivated his own dead soldiers, and secretly united with his cronies in the court, waiting for the opportunity.
Cao Fang shouldered a heavy responsibility and left the capital to worship his ancestors. Sima Yi seized the opportunity to quickly launch a coup d'état, take control of the imperial court, occupy Cao Shuang's military base, and sent someone to ask Empress Dowager Guo to issue an order to remove Cao Shuang from his official position and persuade him to submit.
Cao Shuang panicked, and the strategists suggested that he take advantage of his military power and the Son of Heaven by his side to go to Xuchang to stabilize the situation and wait for an opportunity to fight against Sima Yi. However, Sima Yi's envoy Chen Tai assured that as long as Cao Shuang handed over his military power, he would continue to enjoy wealth and wealth, and his family would be safe and worry-free, which made Cao Shuang hesitate.
Cao Shuang had no great ambitions, and in the face of unexpected events, he lacked adaptability and was quickly defeated. He threw down his **, hoping to continue to live a rich life with his family.
Sima Yi found that Cao Shuang's arrogance would cause dissatisfaction among the old ministers, and they were tired of Cao Shuang's way of governing, so they chose to side with Sima Yi. Sima Yi asked his son Sima Zhao to go to Yongning Palace to ask Empress Dowager Guo to issue an edict, listing Cao Shuang's many charges and abolishing his power.
This not only silenced people's tongues, but also legalized the coup d'état and stabilized people's hearts. After Cao Shuang returned to the capital, he waited for Sima Yi's trial. Sima Yi listed Cao Shuang's crimes, including controlling the imperial court, dividing the two palaces, rebellion, etc., ruthlessly turning his face and denying people, and executing three generations of Cao Shuang's family and cronies.
Even Cao Shuang's aunt and daughter who married out did not let go, and the number of people who were ** reached 5,000.
The capital was full of blood, the corpses were piled up, the number of celebrities was halved, and the court was shocked by Sima Yi's iron fist. The Cao Shuang family was completely destroyed, and Sima Yi's thoughtfulness finally allowed him to firmly control the Great Wei Jiangshan in his hands.
His ruthlessness was unacceptable even to his cronie Chen Tai, who had promised not to kill the Cao Shuang family, but when he saw Sima Yi blatantly break his promise, he committed suicide in extreme shame and anger.
Even the Shu Kingdom complained about Cao Shuang's family, accusing Sima Yi's behavior of being unrighteous and cutting off the "blood food" of his old boss Cao Zhen. Sima Yi was well aware of his ambitions, and he took advantage of Cao Fang's visit to Gaopingling to worship his ancestors, and seized the power of the Great Wei in one fell swoop, becoming the ruler under one man and above ten thousand.
He feared that his descendants would be used to overthrow his rule in the name of sacrifice. Therefore, he decided to break the routine and make arrangements for his future in advance.
After thinking about it, in order to ensure safety, he secretly sent a Shouyang Mountain as his burial place, and simply built an ordinary tomb without decoration.
Even his sons, he did not reveal the news, only told his son Sima Zhao. Decades later, the Western Jin Dynasty had disappeared, and the Eastern Jin Dynasty had crossed south. In the period of Emperor Ming of Jin, when Prime Minister Wang Dao told the story of Sima Yi launching the Gaopingling Incident, Emperor Ming of Jin couldn't help but cry.
He said to Wang Dao: "If it is really as the prime minister said, then how can the Jin Dynasty last? "Sima Yi's actions are a shame even for his children and grandchildren, which shows his cruelty and insidiousness.
Sima Yi's bloodthirsty iron fist and ruthless cruelty were not only reflected in the Gaopingling Incident, but also showed his cold-blooded nature in the battle against Gongsun Yuan in Liaodong.
In the second year of the early Jing Dynasty, the third generation of Gongsun Yuan was stationed in Liaodong and hesitated to Cao Rui's order. According to Gongsun Yuan's upper, middle and lower strategies, Sima Yi concluded that he would choose to defend Xiangping City.
Therefore, he took the initiative to ask Ying and promised to capture Liaodong within a year. Sima Yi used the method of attacking the east and the west, defeated Gongsun Yuan's general Beiyan in the two battles of Liaoshui and Shouyang Mountain, and directly besieged Xiangping City.
Soon, Xiangping City was captured, and Sima Yi carried out a brutal and inhumane ** on the men in the city, which made the Liaodong forces that were originally dependent on Gongsun Yuan completely surrender to Cao Wei, and the situation in Liaodong quickly stabilized.
But this ** made tens of thousands of lives lose the chance to survive, and these lives could have continued to live in the world, but because of Sima Yi's extreme means of cutting grass and eradicating roots, they died tragically under his butcher's knife.
In his later years, Sima Yi suffered from insomnia because he killed too many enemies, and he couldn't sleep every night, always dreaming of being chased by the ghosts of countless enemies. He even had guards guard in front of his bed 24 hours a day to keep him safe, but the fear in his heart was difficult for even a powerful guard to eliminate.
In his dreams, he saw countless times that his enemies would find his grave a hundred years later, open his grave, whip his corpse, crush his bones and scatter ashes, and make him suffer humiliation after his death. Sima Yi is a scheming person, he understands that there are many people in history who have had the painful experience of being whipped after death, and he is unwilling to let such a thing happen to him.
He read the scriptures since he was a child, was proficient in the art of war, and knew the thoughts of the world. He decided not to let anyone find his grave and give anyone else any chance, only in this way could he have peace after death and avoid being insulted by his enemies.
Therefore, after he was buried in the ground, he decided not to let his descendants go to the grave.
Although the Sima family rose in full force after the Gaopingling Incident, most of the brothers in the family were already in important positions, and the Cao family and the Xiahou family were in full decline, but nominally they were still the world of the Cao family, and the Sima family was only a courtier.
However, after many bloodbaths, the actual power has fallen into the hands of the Sima family. Sima Yi knew very well that he had been reused by the four emperors of the Cao family, and he could not do anything to rebel against the Cao family, whether in terms of social morality or personal feelings.
He repeatedly declared on various occasions that he was absolutely loyal to the Cao family. It is this loyalty that has helped him establish his hegemony, but it has also constrained his development. He knew that he could not take the last step, because if he was greedy and made any obvious move, he would be opposed by the people of the world.
Because in the hearts of the people, the Cao family is still considered to be the orthodox royal family. Once he takes the risk, the Sima family may face annihilation.
He was not willing to be just a courtier, so he devised a plan to get the best of both worlds. Taking advantage of the Gaopingling Incident, he moved the kings of Cao Wei to Yecheng, and stipulated that they could not come and go without permission, and also sent people to take care of them.
In this way, he managed to solidify his position. Sima Yi's life is full of legends, he witnessed the era of Cao Cao, Liu Bei, Sun Quan, and finally, he laid the great cause of the unification of the world, and his wisdom and strategy are unmatched.
He used his ingenuity to see through the hearts of the people, from a strategist to a military commander, and then to lay a foundation for future generations, so that they could sit on the throne of the world. Sima Yi was named Emperor Gaozu Xuan, but neither he nor his son Sima Zhao ever sat on the throne of the emperor.
It was not until his grandson Sima Yan ascended the throne that he posthumously crowned Sima Yi as Emperor Gaozu Xuan and Sima Zhao as Emperor Xuan of Jin.
With extraordinary self-control, Sima Yi resolutely chose not to be the emperor, and he firmly believed that with his own efforts and the foundation he laid, the Sima family would be able to overthrow the Cao family and ascend to the throne at the right time.
He believes that if he builds a mausoleum, then future generations will definitely make a big show and extravagance when they pay tribute to themselves, which may bring death to their descendants.
Moreover, he has a lot of grievances in his life, and his descendants will definitely be affected by these resentments. Therefore, in order to ensure the safety of future generations, he chose to abandon the mausoleum, and chose to disappear completely after death, so that future generations could not pay tribute, so that he could truly protect his descendants from any threat.
This kind of behavior that is not afraid of worldly eyes and does not stick to traditional concepts has made Sima Yi a person who is truly in the ground.
During the Three Kingdoms period, the cemeteries of many celebrities were discovered one after another, and even stolen and excavated, but Sima Yi, the historical giant who pacified the Three Kingdoms, completed the great cause of unification, and laid the foundation stone of the Jin Dynasty, his cemetery is still intact and seems to be deliberately hidden from people's sight.
The reason for this may be that Sima Yi is well aware of the impermanence of the world and is scheming, so he chose not to disclose where he was buried in his will in order to protect himself and future generations.
Even after the fall of the Western Jin Dynasty, Sima Yi's mausoleum was not affected in any way, and still lay quietly in the dust of history.
Li Chaojie studied Sima Yi's psychological analysis and thought how he won the world. Shi Yaoxuan also believes that the biggest winner in the Three Kingdoms era is none other than Sima Yi.