Before Sima Yan usurped the throne, the Sima family had three generations in power, among which Sima Yi was too old, Sima Shi died of illness, Sima Zhao was in power for the longest time, he was in power, first quelled the rebellion of Zhuge Dan, and then sent troops to destroy Shu, and was crowned king, clearing all obstacles for Sima Yan's future seizure of the throne.

【Before taking the stage】

Sima Zhao before Sima Yi was not in power, although he was a child from a big family, but he did not have much real power in his hands, after the coup d'état in Gao Pingling, Sima Zhao officially became one of the core ministers of Wei, after Sima Yi's death, although the Sima family was replaced by his brother Sima Shi, but because Sima Shi had no queen, so Sima Zhao's actual status was basically second only to his brother.

In the third year of the early Jing Dynasty (239), Sima Zhao was named the Marquis of Xincheng Township. In the early years of Zhengshi (240), he became the general of Luoyang Diannong. At that time, after Emperor Wei Ming was in a state of luxury, Sima Zhao was exempted from harsh taxes and miscellaneous taxes, and the people were greatly happy. Later, he became a free-rider.

When the general Cao Shuang invaded Shu, he took Sima Zhao as the general of Shu and as Xiahou Xuan's deputy, led the army out of Luogu and stationed in Xingshi. Shu general Wang Lin attacked Sima Zhao's military camp at night, and Sima Zhao insisted on holding his troops still. Wang Lin finally retreated. Afterwards, Sima Zhao said to Xiahou Xuan: "Fei Yi occupies a dangerous place and holds on, our army will not have the opportunity to fight when it advances, and it will not be able to attack the fortification, so we should retreat quickly and make plans later." Cao Shuang and others led the army to retreat, and Fei Yi really led his troops to Sanling to intercept his way back, and the Wei army had to pass through after seizing the dangerous road. Return to Kyoto and worship the councilor.

In the first year of Jiaping (249), Sima Yi killed Cao Shuang and began to dictate the state government. After that, Sima Zhao's status began to rise as his father came to power.

In the same year, the Shu general Jiang Wei invaded the area of Longyou, and the general Guo Huai set out from Chang'an to resist the Shu army. After Jiang Wei retreated, Sima Zhao became General Anton, holding the festival, and guarding Xuchang.

In the third year of Jiaping (251), Sima Yi sent a large army to attack Wang Ling, and Sima Zhaodu supervised the military of Huaibei and led the army to join the army. Increase the number of feudal towns by 300 households, and give them a golden seal and purple ribbon. Soon after, he was promoted to the rank of governor. In this year, Sima Yi died, and Sima Zhao's brother Sima Shi began to take power.

In the fourth year of Jiaping (252), Sima Shi's southern expedition failed, and Sima Zhao participated in this battle, so the marquis was cut off. In the same year, Sima Zhao was named the Marquis of Xincheng Township for his meritorious service in defeating Jiang Wei and quelling the rebellion.

In the sixth year of Jiaping (254), Sima Shi abolished Cao Fang, established Cao Chao as the emperor, and demoted Cao Fang as the king of Qi.

In the following year (255), Sima Shi personally led the troops to defeat Biqiu Jian, and Sima Zhao concurrently served as the leader of the central army and stayed in Luoyang. After Sima Shi quelled the rebellion, he was injured and returned to Xuchang, and his life was not long, Sima Zhao went to Xuchang Province from Kyoto to ask and worship as General Wei. After Sima Shi's death, he led the troops back to Luoyang and was able to inherit Sima Shi's rights and status.

[Sima Zhao in power]

Sima Zhao was in power in the second year of Zhengyuan (255) until the second year of Xianxi (265), he put down the rebellion of Zhuge Dan in the ten years of his reign, replaced the more obedient Cao Huan (formerly known as Cao Huang) as emperor, sent Deng Ai, Zhong Hui and others to eliminate the Shu State, and officially crowned the prince king, and became the king of Jin.

Among the three rebellions in Huainan, although the belief in Zhuge Festival's rebellion was not the strongest, because he decisively united Sun Wu, the scale of the rebellion was the largest, and the time of rebellion was also the longest. In history, in order to quell Zhuge Dan's rebellion, Sima Zhao not only hijacked the emperor and the empress dowager to go east together, but also mobilized nearly 300,000 troops in several states, which took nearly a year. In the end, the rebellion was put down strongly, and many of Sun Wu's troops were annihilated with him.

In April of the fifth year of Ganlu (260), Emperor Cao Chao of Wei ordered the relevant departments to announce once again that the general Sima Zhao would be appointed as the prime minister in accordance with the previous decision, and the title of Duke of Jin would be crowned with the gift of nine tins. This time Sima Zhao did not refuse, the ceremony of the usurpation of the Sima family officially began, Cao Chao could not tolerate Cao Wei being seized by the Sima family, so he committed suicide in May of the same year to launch a coup d'état, and was brutally killed, although Sima Zhao later renamed Cao Huan as the emperor, and nominally abolished Cao Chao's throne, but Sima Zhao also had the reputation of killing the monarch, and the pace of the Sima family's usurpation was greatly slowed down.

In the fourth year of Jingyuan (263), Sima Zhao was ready to send troops to attack Shu because Jiang Wei had repeatedly disturbed the border, and he ignored the opposition of the ministers and levied 180,000 soldiers from all over the world, so that Zhong Hui was the commander, and Deng Ai and Zhuge Xu each led a partial army to attack Shu. This operation was an unprecedented success, Zhong Hui captured Hanzhong very smoothly, but was blocked by Jiang Wei in the Sword Pavilion, and then Deng Ai smuggled into Yinping, broke into the interior of Shu Han in one fell swoop, broke Zhuge Zhan, and Liu Chan, the queen of Shu Han, opened the city and surrendered, and Shu was destroyed.

In the fifth year of Jingyuan (264), after Zhong Hui, Deng Ai and others destroyed Shu, Zhong Hui separated the imperial court and Deng Ai, preparing to rebel, Sima Zhao summoned Deng Ai into the court, and personally led troops to Chang'an to stabilize the situation.

At the beginning, Zhong Hui was about to cut down Shu, and Shao Yi, a member of Xicao, said to Sima Zhao: "It is difficult for Zhong Hui to reassure people, and he can't be made to cut down Shu." Sima Zhao smiled and said: "It's easy to take Shu, but everyone says no, only Zhong Hui agrees with me." After the destruction of Shu, everyone in the Central Plains thought of returning, and the remnants of Shu still had fear, and even if Zhonghui had a rebellious heart, it would not be realized. In the end, things turned out to be as Sima Zhao expected.

In the first month of this year, Empress Dowager Guo died. In March, Emperor Cao Huan of Wei crowned Sima Zhao as the king of Jin, and then posthumously ordered Sima Yi, Marquis of Xuanwen of Wuyang, to be the king of Xuanwen of Jin, and Sima Shi, Marquis of Zhongwu of Wuyang, to be the king of Jing.

In the second year of Xianxi (265), Sima Zhao died of illness and was buried in Chongyang Mausoleum. A few months later, Sima Zhao was proclaimed King Wen. His son Sima Yan was called the emperor of Wei, the country was called Jin, and the history was called the Western Jin Dynasty. Sima Zhao was posthumously named Emperor Wen, and the temple name was Taizu.

【Sima Zhao in History】

Name: Sima Zhao

Attributes: Leadership (A-) Sima Zhao first quelled the Zhuge rebellion and then sent troops to destroy Shu, but he was saddled with the name of killing the king

Strategy (B+) Sima Zhao, as a powerful minister of the Sima family, is very profound

Politics (B) In the Manna coup, Sima Zhao was also one of the losers

Commander (B+) Sima Zhao first pacified the Zhuge Rebellion, and then sent troops to destroy Shu

General Comment (A+) Sima Zhao is one of the three members of the Sima family who came to power in the late Wei period, and he is very capable

Aliases (titles): Sima Zishang, Emperor Wen of Jin, King Wen of Sima Wen

Gender: Male

Ethnicity: Han

Profession: politician, military strategist

Official position: King of Jin, Xiangguo

Nickname: King Wen→ Emperor Wen

Temple number: Taizu (Jin Chai Feng)

Mausoleum: Chongyang Mausoleum

Family origin: Sima family

Birth and death: 211--265

Place of birth: Van District, Hanoi

Main social relations: father (Sima Yi), brother (Sima Shi), son (Sima Yan)

Major Experiences:

From 211 to 255, he followed his father Sima Yi and brother Sima Zhao and developed the Sima family

From 255 to 265, he took power alone, quelled Zhuge Dan's rebellion, destroyed Shu Han, and was crowned king

Summary: Sima Zhao is one of the representatives of later careerists and a key role in the Jin Dynasty.