Chapter 097: Sima Zhao's Dominance

Sima Lang, Sima Yi and Sima Fu and other brothers totaled eight people, known as Bada at that time, among them, Sima Yi had the most political and military talents, and in the late Cao Wei period, he resisted the Northern Expedition of Shu Han and pacified Liaodong, and became an important minister of Wei. Pen fun and pavilion www.biquge.info

After the death of Emperor Wei Ming, Sima Yi and Cao Shuang accepted the posthumous order to jointly assist the government, but Sima Yi was overshadowed by Cao Shuang. Later, the Gaopingling Incident occurred, Sima Yi regained power, and the Sima clan began to dictatorship. After Sima Yi's death, his sons Sima Shi and Sima Zhao gradually consolidated the power of the Sima clan.

In order to establish great military achievements and unify China, Sima Zhao ordered Zhong Hui, Deng Ai and Zhuge Xu to lead an army to attack Shu, and Jiang Wei, the chief general of Shu Han, blocked the enemy in the Sword Pavilion. In the end, Deng Ai attacked Fucheng through Yinping and forced Chengdu, Liu Chan saw that the general trend had gone and surrendered, and Shu Han perished. Later Zhonghui and Jiang Wei attempted to rebel, but were immediately pacified by Sima Zhao, who was called King of Jin after his victory, but died soon after. His son Sima Yan established the Jin Dynasty after the establishment of the Jin Dynasty, which was Emperor Wu of the Jin Dynasty, and the capital was set in Luoyang, known as the Western Jin Dynasty in history.

After Sima Yi's death, Sima Shi and Sima Zhao were named generals and hussar generals respectively, and the general secretary was still secret.

Sima Shi's power was greater than Sima Yi's, more unscrupulous, and his usurpation ambitions were more obvious. Emperor Cao Wei, just like the young emperor and Emperor Xian at the end of the Han Dynasty, was weak, Sima Shi did not take the royal family in his eyes at all, and did not care about the world's complaints, and did not find any excuses, so he killed Cao Fang's Empress Zhang. He was also preparing to abolish Cao Fang, the lord of Wei, and when Cao Fang heard about it, he was very frightened, so he wanted to fight the trapped beasts.

coincided with the attack on Longxi by Jiang Wei, the general of Shu, and Sima Zhao, as the general of Zheng'an, immediately returned to Beijing from Xuchang and prepared to lead the army to resist Jiang Wei. According to the usual rule, Emperor Cao Fang of Wei wanted to review the army in peace, and led the army Xu Yun and Cao Fang's cronies and courtiers to conspire, taking advantage of Sima Zhao's farewell, to kill Sima Zhao in one fell swoop, and then lead his army to defeat the general Sima Shi.

Cao Fang, the lord of Wei, thought that this plan was feasible, and the edict was prepared in advance. Sima Zhao really went to the palace to say goodbye, when Cao Fang was eating chestnuts, and Youren Yunwu and others sang loudly: "Qingtou chicken, Qingtou chicken." "The bare-headed chicken refers to the duck, which means that he is reminding Cao Fang to hurry up and issue an edict to arrest Sima Zhao.

However, Cao Fang was instinctively afraid because he had been under the obscenity of Sima's father and brother for a long time, and he did not dare to issue an edict. Sima Zhao quickly came to his senses, immediately withdrew, led troops into the city, and conspired with his brother Sima Shi to depose Cao Fang and prepare to establish Cao Yi as emperor. However, Cao Ju's generation is a generation higher than that of the Empress Dowager Guo, so he can't take his niece and daughter-in-law as the queen mother, so their uncle Sima Fu reconciled from it, and in a hurry, Sima Shi decided to set up Cao Chao, the noble township prince, as the emperor.

Cao Chao was the grandson of Cao Pi, he was twelve years old at the time, he was just a puppet, and the real power was in the hands of Sima Shi. But Cao Chao is very smart, he is only wise, and he has a great amount of success.

When Cao Chao rushed to Luoyang from other places, the ministers greeted him in the south of Xiye Gate. Cao Chao got off the sedan chair at the door and wanted to bow back to the officials, but the celebrant stopped him and said: "Ceremony, the king does not worship the ministers." ”

Cao Chao replied: "I have not ascended the throne, and now I am also a minister." Cao Chao returned the salute to the ministers at the gate of the city.

Entering the city and coming to the gate of the palace, Cao Chao got out of the car and walked. The celebrant said, "The Son of Heaven is qualified to drive into the palace." ”

He also said: "I was recruited by the Queen Mother, and I don't know what happened. ”

Cao Chao walked to the Taiji East Hall to meet the Queen Mother. Cautious and decent, generous and steady, praised by the government and the opposition. The country has a virtuous monarch and the blessing of the society, but Sima Shi regretted it, and it seems that he made a strategic mistake by appointing such a mature and sophisticated person as the emperor.

The following year, before Sima Shi died, he handed over all power to his younger brother Sima Zhao. After Sima Zhao took power, he was even more ambitious and always wanted to replace Cao Chao. In order to avoid worries, during the crusade against Zhuge Day, he actually forced the Empress Dowager Guo and the emperor Cao Chao to drive in person. Sima Zhao continued to eradicate dissidents and massacre members of the Cao royal family.

In Chinese history, there have been too many emperors who have been toyed with by powerful ministers and applauded, and most of them have been humiliated and humiliated, and they dare not speak up, completely losing their due status and dignity as emperors. But one of them was able to face the emperor who dared to compete with the powerful ministers, and as a result, he paid the price of his life and won the respect of the world, he was the fourth emperor of Wei during the Three Kingdoms period, Cao Chao.

Sima Shi deposed the Wei Dynasty emperor Cao Fang, and the twelve-year-old Cao Chao was made emperor, Cao Chao was young, just a puppet, and the real power was successively held by Sima Shi and Sima Zhao. Sima Zhao was tyrannical and domineering, the government was corrupt, the country was weak, and the Wei Dynasty was in darkness. In addition, Sima Zhao also stipulated that all major affairs in the court must be approved by him, which made Cao Chao, as the emperor, even more indignant, and hated Sima Zhao to the core, but it was just self-evident.

Although Cao Chao is young, he has a very clear understanding of his situation. He understood that his throne would not be stable, the Cao family was weakening, and the Sima clan might usurp Wei and seize power at any time. He, the emperor, is just a cover for the Sima clan to deceive the world.

But he doesn't want to accept his puppet fate like this, he is a descendant of a generation of heroes Cao Cao, and he has no self-willing genes in his bones. At this time, a bloody battle was brewing in Cao Chao's heart, and when Cao Chao was twenty years old, the storm finally came.

Cao Chao wrote a poem "Hidden Dragon", comparing himself to a trapped dragon, saying that this dragon was being bullied by loaches and yellow eels.

Sima Zhao was about to send troops to attack Shu, and his henchman Jia Chong ran over to persuade him: "Don't cut down Shu, the emperor already suspects you, he wrote a poem, comparing you to a loach and a yellow eel, if you leave the dynasty, he will definitely tear down your backstage." Sima Zhao was furious when he heard this, and immediately went to the temple with a sword.

Cao Chao knew that the comer was not good, so he got up to greet him without humility or arrogance. Seeing Sima Zhao's gloomy face, the ministers hurriedly patted their ass: "The general has outstanding merits and should be crowned as the Duke of Jin." ”

Cao Chao closed his lips tightly and didn't say anything, Sima Zhao said sharply: "Our Sima family has made great contributions to Wei, and I have been crowned the Duke of Jin, do you have any opinions?"

Cao Chao's face was expressionless, and he hummed out angrily: "The general speaks, who dares to disobey?"

Sima Zhao was bored, and asked Cao Chao angrily: "What is the reason why you compare our Sima clan to loaches and yellow eels?"

Cao Chao glared at Sima Zhao angrily, and the meaning was clear: "Do you still need to ask?" Sima Zhao was inconvenienced, and retreated with a sneer.

Cao Chao returned to the harem with a stomach full of anger, thinking: Sima Zhao is becoming more and more arrogant, and he dares to openly accuse the emperor in the main hall. As a monarch, but at the mercy of ministers, what is the meaning of this emperor? No, I can't bear it anymore, I have to fight with Sima Zhao, either he dies or I die.

So he summoned Wang Shen, Wang Jing, and Wang Ye, who were always servants, and cried and said: "Sima Zhao's heart is known to passers-by. I can't let him be humiliated, you have to help me fight this traitor. ”

Wang Jing was frightened into a cold sweat when he heard this, and persuaded Cao Chao: "Sima Zhao is in power, and the ministers inside and outside are the only ones who look ahead, Your Majesty, you are weak and weak, and you must not act rashly." ”

Cao Chao took out the big-character poster that had already been written from his bosom and threw it to the ground, saying: "Is it tolerable, which is unbearable, I have made up my mind, although I am afraid of death?" After speaking, he went to ask the Queen Mother.

Wang Shen and Wang Ye were a little panicked when they saw that Cao Chao was going to move seriously, so they said to Wang Jing: "The emperor is crazy, we can't follow him to bring about the disaster of extermination, let's hurry up to General Sima and turn himself in and strive for leniency." ”

Wang Jing was angry and did not allow it, so Wang Shen and Wang Ye rushed to the general's mansion and told Sima Zhao the news that the emperor was going to rebel.

Seeing that he could not get the support of Wang Shen and others, Cao Chao decided to crusade against Sima Zhao single-handedly, so the most tragic and stunned scene appeared, the twenty-year-old young emperor, in order to defend his dignity, took more than 300 eunuchs and guards, and embarked on the road of crusade in a noisy manner. His opponent is Sima Zhao, who holds a thousand armies, and it is a fate of decay that Cao Wei can't stop.

Wang Jing prostrated in front of Cao Chao's imperial chariot, crying and persuading the emperor to go back, but his tears could not stop Cao Chao's footsteps to maintain his self-esteem. Before leaving the palace, Cao Chao ran into more than 1,000 forbidden troops sent by Sima Zhao to meet them, and this group of forbidden troops, led by Sima Zhao's minion Jia Chong, shouted and pounced on the emperor. Cao Chao shouted loudly with his sword: "I am the Son of Heaven, did you break into the palace to kill the king?"

Cao Chao was the emperor after all, and when the soldiers saw that the emperor was angry, they panicked for a moment and stood there. Sima Zhao's subordinate Cheng Ji asked Jia Chong, "What should I do?"

Jia Chong provoked him and said, "What is the use of Sima Gong raising you? It is for today's business. ”

That Chengji was a simple-minded guy, grabbed the halberd and rushed towards Cao Chao. Cao Chao didn't expect that someone would dare to do it with him, so he was shocked and shouted: "Piff dares to be rude!"

Before he finished speaking, he was stabbed in the chest by Cheng Ji's halberd and fell out of the imperial chariot. Cao Chao died, his eyes wide open, glaring at Sima's hideous smile. At that moment, the mountains and rivers were discolored, the sun and the moon were gone, and the entire capital was weeping for the death of the young emperor.

Cao Chao does not want to be a puppet, does not want to repeat Cao Fang's fate, but wants to be a real emperor who speaks his word, which determines that he must pay a heavy price. Although Cao Chao was unsuccessful in the end, what is particularly valuable is that under the political humiliation and death threats, Cao Chao did not weaken, humiliate and retreat, but dared to face it head-on, rose up to fight, and regarded death as home.

He was an emperor with unpaid ambitions, and he was a worthy fighter. In order to live the dignity of the emperor and the nobility of human nature, he did not hesitate to fight against the cruel fate at the cost of his life. As a result, he won, and he won the dignity of the emperor and the respect of the world with his heroic death.

A palace convulsion ended, Sima Zhao was shocked when he heard the news, after all, he was a thief, he ran to the palace first, cried loudly at Cao Chao's corpse, and muttered: "What will the world think of me?"

Then he ordered to convene the nobles and hundreds of officials to discuss countermeasures, and Sima Zhaoji needed to settle this matter as soon as possible. Most officials advocated killing Jia Chong to thank the world, but Jia Chong was Sima Zhao's confidant, acting as a pawn for Sima Zhao, solving the problems that Sima Zhao wanted to solve but did not dare to solve, and was a meritorious man.

So it was investigated to Cheng Ji's head, and Sima Zhao announced: "Cheng Ji killed the king, the crime is extremely evil, and the nine clans should be exterminated." "Ordered the extermination of the nine clans of Chengji.

The officers and soldiers came to Cheng Ji's house to arrest Cheng Ji, and Cheng Ji fled to the roof, shouting: "It was the prime minister who instructed me to kill the emperor, I just acted on orders, and the crime is not on me." ”

Suddenly the truth was revealed, and everyone in the world knew Sima Zhao's heart. Cheng Ji thought he had made a great contribution, but he didn't expect it to become a disaster to destroy the door, Sima Zhao wanted to use killing to cover up the truth of the murder of the king, but he wanted to cover it up.

Sima Zhao then deposed Cao Chao with the title of emperor on the pretext that he was morally defective and unworthy of being emperor, and only buried Cao Chao with the rites of the common people. Sima Fu resolutely objected, and a group of ministers also asked for Cao Chao to be buried with royal rites, but Sima Zhao ignored it.

A few days later, Cao Chao, the noble township prince, was buried on the shore of the Xijian thirty miles northwest of Luoyang. Even the ordinary civilians are not as good as the courtesy, there are no flags and flags, only a few dilapidated vehicles. Many people in Luoyang watched and sighed, saying, "This is the Son of Heaven who was killed a few days ago." After saying that, some people hid their faces and wept.

Sima Zhao also appointed Cao Huan as emperor, and Cao Huan was Cao Cao's grandson and the son of Cao Yu, the king of Yan. Cao Huan was the fifth emperor of Wei and the last emperor, named emperor but had no real power, and the power was completely controlled by the Sima clan. From then on, no one in the Cao Wei regime dared to openly oppose Sima's rule. Sima Zhao proclaimed himself the king of Jin and his son Sima Yan as the crown prince, and his usurpation ambitions were clearly revealed.

He took advantage of the internal chaos in Shu and sent Deng Ai, Zhuge Xu, and Zhong Hui to lead an army to attack Shu in three ways. After the lord Liu Chan surrendered, the Shu Kingdom perished. The conditions of Dai Wei are also gradually maturing, and the general trend of the world presented in front of Sima Zhao and Sima Yan father and son at this time can be said to be under the high view, like splitting bamboo. All they have to do is to go down the river and complete a certain inevitability given by history. It's a pity that Sima Zhao didn't have the appearance of an emperor, and just when he was actively planning to usurp the throne, he suddenly suffered a stroke, his condition deteriorated rapidly, and he soon died.

When Emperor Ming of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Wang Dao sat down, Emperor Ming of Jin asked about the specific situation of winning the world in the previous life of Jin, Wang Dao unabashedly described Sima Yi's achievements when he started his business, all kinds of suspicions, cruel methods, and said that Ma Zhao did when he was a noble township. Emperor Ming of Jin was ashamed, buried his face in the bed for a long time, and said: "If it is as the public said, how can the Jin family be long-term?"