Emperor Cao Rong of Wei Ming (206 - January 22, 239), the character Yuan Zhong, a native of Peiguo Qian County (now Bozhou, Anhui), the eldest son of Emperor Cao Pi of Wei Wen, and his mother Empress Wenzhao Zhen, the second emperor of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period, reigned from 226 to 239 AD. Cao Rong can write poetry, and Cao Cao and Cao Pi are called the "three ancestors" of Wei, and his literary achievements are not as good as Cao Cao and Cao Pi. The original collection has been dispersed, and the descendants have two volumes of its prose and more than ten poems of Yuefu.

He ascended the throne in May of the seventh year of the early Huang dynasty (226), during which he commanded Cao Zhen, Sima Yi and others to successfully defend against many attacks by Wu and Shu, and pacified Xianbei and defeated Gongsun Yuan, which was quite successful. However, in the later part of his reign, he built a lot of construction and indulged in pleasure. In the second year of the early Jing dynasty (238), Cao Yi died of illness in Luoyang at the age of Chinese New Year's Eve, with the temple name Liezu and the Ming Emperor, and was buried in Gaoping Mausoleum. Because of his improper care for orphans before his death, it led to political turmoil in the future.

Cao Rong has been loved by his grandfather Cao Cao since he was a child, and he is often around. Cao Rong was young and intelligent, and Cao Cao felt that he was unusual, and said, "You can succeed me as the third generation." At the court banquet, he was often called to be placed alongside the close ministers in the court. Cao Rong was very knowledgeable and paid special attention to the law.

In the first year of Yankang (220), Cao Pi succeeded to the throne of Wei. At the age of fifteen, Cao Rong was named Wudehou by Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty.

In the second year of the early Huang dynasty (221), he was crowned Duke of Qi. Because his biological mother Zhen offended his father Cao Pi and was killed, Cao Rong was demoted to the rank of Marquis of Pingyuan. [2]

In the third year of the early Huang dynasty (222), he was named the king of the plains.

In the matter of establishing a prince, Cao Rong, as the eldest son, did not get the favor of his father. When Emperor Wen ascended the throne before, he especially favored the prince Cao Lin, and asked Hou Weizhen of An Guoting sideways: "How is the Marquis of Pingyuan?" Wei Zhen said that Cao Rong had both talent and morality, but kept silent about anything else. [4]

Later, Emperor Wen had no children because his empress Guo had no children, so he ordered Cao Rong to succeed to Empress Guo. But Cao Rong was indignant because of the death of his biological mother. Later, as a last resort, he began to serve Empress Guo respectfully, and went to the queen's palace every morning and evening to greet him. Empress Guo also became more kind to Cao Ei because he had no children. Emperor Wen thought that Cao Rong was dissatisfied before, so he wanted to set up Cao Li, the son of his old concubine Xu Ji, King Jingzhao, as his heir, so the position of the crown prince was never decided. [5]

In Cao Rong's own house, the ministers, officials, teachers, and friends who came and went to Cao Rong all chose people with upright conduct to act as them, supported each other, and encouraged them to correct. Be cautious in your dealings and avoid being punished. Serving Emperor Wen and Empress Guo was very filial, so as to win the favor of Emperor Wen. [6]

According to the wild history "The Biography of the Late Wei Dynasty", Cao Rong once hunted with Emperor Wen and saw the mother and son two deer. Emperor Wen shot the mother deer and ordered Cao Ei to shoot the deer, but Cao Ei disobeyed and said, "Your Majesty has already killed the doe, and the minister really can't bear to kill its children again." After saying that, I cried. Emperor Wen then put down his bow and arrows, deeply surprised, and determined the intention of making Cao Rong the crown prince. [7]

On May 16 of the seventh year of the early Huang dynasty (226), Emperor Wen was critically ill, and Cao Rong was appointed as the crown prince, and he was entrusted to Cao Zhen, Sima Yi, Chen Qun, Cao Xiu and others

On May 17, the seventh year of the early Huang dynasty (226), Emperor Wen died. The young Cao Rong ascended the throne in Luoyang, for Emperor Wei Ming. With the assistance of Cao Zhen, Cao Xiu, Chen Qun and Sima Yi, he began his twelve-year ruling career.

After Cao Rong ascended the throne, he respected the Empress Dowager as the Empress Dowager, and the Empress Dowager as the Empress Dowager, posthumously called his mother Mrs. Zhen Empress Wenzhao, and named his younger brother Cao Rui as the King of Yangping. In August of the same year, Sun Quan attacked Jiangxia, and Jiangxia was too conservative and insisted. The courtiers discussed sending troops to rescue, and Cao Rong believed that Sun Quan's army was good at water warfare, and the reason why he dared to turn to the land siege without water warfare this time was that he took advantage of Wenpin's weak defense and suddenly attacked, and now it has been held together, and it will not last. Before this, Cao Rong had sent the secretary to serve Yu Shi Xunyu to comfort the soldiers on the border of labor, and when he learned the news of the invasion of the Wu army, he gathered soldiers and horses from various counties along the way to Jiangxia, plus a total of more than 1,000 cavalry from his side. Arriving outside Jiangxia City, Xun Yu commanded the army to take advantage of the mountain situation to raise fire to attack the Wu soldiers, and the Wu army really retreated. [9]

Xin Si, Cao Rong named the prince Cao Yi as the king of Qinghe, and the Eastern Wu generals Zhuge Jin and Zhang Ba led their troops to invade Xiangyang. Sima Yi, the general of the Fu army, commanded the Wei army to break the Wu army and behead Zhang Ba. Cao Xiu, the general of the expedition to the east, also defeated the other Eastern Wu armies in Xunyang. The imperial court rewarded meritorious deeds one by one. In October, Cao died of illness. In December, Cao Rong was a great minister, Zhong Xuan was the Taifu, Cao Xiu was the Great Sima, Cao Zhen was the general, Hua Xin was the Tai Lieutenant, Wang Lang was the Situ, Chen Qun was the Sikong, and Sima Yi was the Hussar General. [10]

In the first year of Taihe (227), Liying of Xiping County rebelled and killed local officials such as Linqiang Ling and Xidu Chang, so he sent generals Hao Shao and Lu Pan to lead troops to quell the rebellion and kill Liying. In December, Empress Mao's father, Mao Jia, was made a liege. Xincheng Taishou Mengda rebelled, and ordered the hussar general Sima Yi to crusade.

In the second year of Taihe (228), Sima Yi broke through the new city, and Meng Da was beheaded. Shu Prime Minister Zhuge Liang's first northern expedition, the officials and people of Tianshui, Nan'an, and Anding counties all rebelled against Wei and returned to Shu, and Cao Rong sent Cao Zhen, Zhang He and others to resist the enemy, and personally went to Chang'an to suppress the battle. Soon, Ma Tan was broken by Zhang He in the street pavilion, and the Shu army retreated to Hanzhong. In September, the Great Sima Cao Xiu and the Eastern Wu general Lu Xun fought at Shiting, and the Wei army was defeated.

In December of the same year, Zhuge Liang's second northern expedition besieged Chencang, and the general Cao Zhen sent the general Fei Yao and others to lead troops to block it. At the time when Gongsun Gong, the Taishou of Liaodong, was robbed of his official position by his nephew Gongsun Yuan, in order to stabilize the rear, the imperial court had to appoint Gongsun Yuan as the Taishou of Liaodong.

In the third year of Taihe (229), in April, Cao Li, the king of Yuancheng, fell ill and died. On June 21, Cao Mu, the king of Fanyang, died. On the 26th, Cao Rong posthumously honored Cao Teng, the ancestor who had served as Emperor Gao in the Great Changqiu when Emperor Huan of the Eastern Han Dynasty, and his wife Wu was Empress Gao. In October, the Pingwang View was renamed the Hearing Concept. In November, the Luoyang Zong Temple was completed, and the court official Taichang Han Ji was sent to Yecheng to welcome the gods of Emperor Gao, Emperor Tai, Emperor Wu and Emperor Wen. On December 10th, the gods of the first emperors entered the Luoyang Temple. On the 24th, Wang Bo of the Dayue clan sent envoys to worship and present rare gifts to Emperor Ming. Cao Rong Fengbo was transferred to the king of the Dayue clan.

On February 4, the fourth year of Taihe (230), Cao Heng issued an edict: "The simple and useful articles in the world are all deeply influenced by the royal religion. Since the war at the end of the Han Dynasty, the Confucian classics have declined, and the interests and pursuits of young people have not been focused on the study and study of the classics. Only when officials truly learn a scripture can they have the ability to manage the people. Those who are erudite and talented should be strictly evaluated, and those who are truly outstanding should be selected from among them and immediately put them to use, while those who are flashy and incompetent should be dismissed. On the 10th, Cao Rong ordered the three princes of Taifu to engrave the book "Classics" written by Emperor Wen on the stone tablet and stand outside the gate of the temple. On the 15th, the general Cao Zhen was appointed as the great Sima, the hussar general Sima Yi was appointed as the general, and the Liaodong Taishou Gongsun Yuan was appointed as the general of the chariot cavalry. In April, Taifu Zhongxuan fell ill and died. On June 11, the Empress Dowager Bian died. On the 19th, Cao Rong went to Shangyong County to inspect. In July, Wu Xuanbian was buried in the Gaoling Mausoleum of Emperor Wu. Then, the edict ordered the great Sima Cao Zhen and the general Sima Yi to lead the Wei army to attack Shu. On August 5, Emperor Ming toured the east and sent an envoy to sacrifice the god of Zhongyue Mountain with a special gift of a bull. Arrived at Xuchang Palace on the 19th. In September, heavy rain fell, and floods such as Yishui, Luoshui, Yellow River, and Hanshui flooded, and Cao Zhen, Sima Yi and others were ordered to return to their divisions. On October 11, Cao Rong and his entourage returned to Luoyang Palace. On the 16th, Cao Rong issued an order to all localities: Except for those on death row, all prisoners in prison should be redeemed by their families according to the size of their crimes. In November, Taibai committed the year star. In December, Empress Wen Zhaozhen was buried in Chaoyang Mausoleum. On the 23rd, the edict ordered the ministers to recommend virtuous people for the imperial court.

In the first month of the fifth year of Taihe (231), Cao Rong personally went to the fields under his name to engage in farming. In March, the great Sima Cao Zhen fell ill and died. Zhuge Liang led the Shu army to invade the Tianshui area, and Emperor Ming ordered the general Sima Yi to lead the army to resist. There has been no rain for half a year since October last year. In September, Cao Rong led his courtiers to hold a grand ceremony to pray for rain. In April, the northern Xianbei attached to the righteous king Kebineng led the tribesmen and Ding Ling's son to Youzhou to contribute famous horses, and re-established the Hun Zhonglang general. On July 6, the Shu army retreated automatically, and the imperial court rewarded those who had made meritorious contributions to resisting the Shu army. On the 15th, the queen gave birth to the prince Cao Yin, and issued an amnesty to the world.

On the seventh day of March in the sixth year of Taihe (232), Cao Rong made a tour of the east, and where he passed, he instructed the old and frail widows and lonely people to be given grain and clothing. On April 6, Cao Rong arrived at Xuchang Palace. In May, the prince Cao Yin died young, and he was posthumously named King Anping Wai. In July, he promoted Dong Zhao, the captain of the guard, to Situ. In September, Cao Rong toured to Mopi. The herald ordered the overhaul of Xuchang Palace, and the new two halls of Jingfu and Chengguang were built. In October of that year, Tian Yu, the general of Yanyi, led his troops to conquer the Wu general Zhou He in Chengshan, defeated the Wu army and beheaded Zhou He. On November 27, Chen Siwang Cao Zhi died. In December, Cao Rong returned to Xuchang Palace.

In the first year of Qinglong (233 years), Xianbei Budu root and Kebi can merge, Cao Rong ordered Qin Lang to lead the Chinese army to conquer, Budu root and Kebi can defeat Mobei, and Budu root will be discharged to the mud and surrender again. In September, Hu Bo Juzi, the leader of the Xiongnu who was stationed in the Anding area to defend the border fortress, led his troops to rebel, and the general Sima Yi sent his general Hu Zun to command the rebellion, which quickly defeated the rebels and forced the rebel leaders to surrender. By October, another leader of the Budugen tribe, Daihu A Langni, and others went to Bingzhou and expressed their willingness to surrender to the Wei army. The cavalry general Qin Lang returned to the dynasty. In December, Gongsun Yuan, a general of the Che Cavalry, beheaded Zhang Mi and Xu Yan, the envoys of Eastern Wu, who had come to persuade them to surrender. Gongsun Yuan was named the Great Sima Lelang Gong.

On March 6 of the second year of Qinglong (234), Liu Xie, who was named the Duke of Shanyang after Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty, died of illness. In April, Zhuge Liang's fifth Northern Expedition, Sima Yi went to defend. Soon, Zhuge Liang died of illness, and the Shu army retreated. At the same time, Sun Quan also invaded the north in a big way, and Cao Rong personally conquered Eastern Wu, but before he arrived, Sun Quan had been defeated.

In December, Cao Heng ordered the judicial officials to revise the law and change the sentence to a commutation of the death penalty.

On February 8, the third year of Qinglong (235), the Empress Dowager Guo died. On March 11, Empress Wende Guo was buried in the west of the Shouyang Mausoleum of Emperor Wen of Wei. Cao Rong began to overhaul the palace, govern the Luoyang Palace, set up the Zhaoyang and Taiji Palaces, and build the General Chapter Temple, which consumed a lot of manpower and affected agriculture. and forcibly filled the beautiful women of the people into the harem. The ministers Yang Fu, Gao Tanglong and others gave advice several times, but Cao Rong did not listen.

In April of the fourth year of Qinglong (236), Cao Rong issued an edict to set up the Chongwen Temple, and recruited people from all over the world who were good at writing to enter the temple. On May 13, Situ Dongzhao fell ill and died. On the 15th, the northern state of Su Shen presented stone bows and arrows made of wood.

On the first day of the sixth month, Cao Heng issued an edict: "In the past, the Yu clan drew images of the five punishments and put them on the public list, so that the people would no longer break the law; Although the Zhou Dynasty set up a criminal law, it was rarely used. Since I succeeded to the throne, I have tried my best to emulate the strengths of the emperors of previous dynasties and to reproduce the good social atmosphere of the past, but now it seems that it is not easy to do so. The more clearly the decree is made clear to the world, the more people break the law, the punishment is widespread, and all kinds of criminal activities cannot be stopped. That being the case, I intend to waive most of the harsh provisions of the decrees issued in the past, which is also a sincere wish to save the lives of the people. I have heard that there are hundreds of prisoners tried in various places every year, but is it not because I have not guided the people enough in governing the country, so that the people do not take the violation of the law seriously, and I have adopted some harsh methods in punishment, thus leading the people into the wrong way? The law enforcement officers concerned should be lenient in agreeing on the handling of cases. Some of the prisoners who have asked me for forgiveness often have not had time to appeal that the case has already been decided. I hereby hereby decree that the court lieutenant and all the judicial officers of the counties and states shall notify their families as soon as possible when they encounter a prisoner who is liable to be punished with death in the future, after the case has been cleared up and decided, except for the murderer who is guilty of treason and murder with his own hands. If there is a prisoner who asks me for forgiveness, the judicial authorities shall send me his letter of petition together with the relevant documents of the case, and I shall do my best to preserve his life. I hope that this edict will be proclaimed to the world, so that all the officials and people of the world will know my wishes. ”

In July, the palace of the Goguryeo king in Liaodong beheaded Hu Wei and others, the envoy sent by Sun Quan of Eastern Wu to make contact, and sent their heads to Youzhou. On December 15, Sikong Chen Qun died. On the 17th, Cao Rong patrolled to Xuchang Palace.

In the fifth year of Qinglong and the first year of Jingchu (237), Cao Rong separated Weiyang from Weixing County, and newly established Shangyong County in Anfu and Shangyong from Xijun, and at the same time revoked the establishment of Xijun and assigned Xixian County to Weixing County. Liaodong Gongsun Yuananti and called himself the King of Yan.

Untimely death

In the second year of the early Jing dynasty (238), Sima Yi sent troops to conquer Liaodong and won. In June, Cao Ei bestowed the Japanese Himiko Golden Seal and named him the "Pro-Wei King", and Cao Ei's health began to deteriorate. After that, the secret sent to take Fang Taishou Liu Xin and Le Lang Taishou Xian to the two counties of Heiyue Haiding, and the Korean ministers Zhijia gave the Yi Jun seal ribbon, followed by the Yi Chief. Its customs are good, and the lower household is a pilgrimage, all of which are fake clothes, and there are more than 1,000 people who wear self-clothing and printed ribbons. At the end of the same year, Cao Rong was critically ill, and Cao Yu, the king of Yan, was appointed as the general.

In the first three years of the Jing Dynasty (239 years), Dinghai in the first month, collapsed Luoyang Jiafu Palace, "Book of Wei" recorded that he died in the front hall of Jiulong, only thirty-four years old, [21] called Emperor Ming, the temple name Wei Liezu, and was buried in Gaoping Mausoleum. His adopted son Cao Fang succeeded to the throne.