[A family of eunuchs or a family of eunuchs? 】

In the Later Han Dynasty, both the Cao family and the Xiahou family were big clans in Peiguo County (Bozhou City, Anhui Province), and many people were local officials, so some records believe that Cao Cao's family was a family of eunuchs, but this is not accurate, because strictly speaking, the Cao family was born after Cao Cao's grandfather Cao Teng became a eunuch.

After Cao Teng entered the palace, he first served as an official of the Yellow Gate, and was gradually reused during the period of Emperor Shun of the Han Dynasty, first promoted to the small Yellow Gate, and later became a pivotal servant, and was very trusted by Emperor Shun of the Han Dynasty. Later, Cao Teng was even more meritorious in planning to welcome Emperor Huan of the Han Dynasty, and was named the Marquis of Fei Ting, promoted to Da Changqiu, and added a special position.

One person attained the Tao, the chicken and dog ascended to heaven, and the Cao family also soared. Because Cao Teng was deeply trusted by the generals Liang Ji and Emperor Huan of Han, his adopted son Cao Song was gradually promoted in the future, and even became a lieutenant; His younger brother Cao Bao was also an official to Yingchuan Taishou, and Cao Bao's son Cao Chi also served as a lieutenant in Shizhong and Changshui; Another cousin, Cao Dingguan, was still the book of Shangling.

It can be said that it is precisely because of Cao Teng's deep eunuch background that the Cao clan of Peiguo has been able to rise. Therefore, strictly speaking, it is better to say that the Cao family is a family of eunuchs than a family of eunuchs. The background of the eunuch family also had a profound influence on Cao Cao in the future.

【The Theory of Bloodline】

Cao Song was Cao Cao's biological father, but since Cao Teng was a eunuch, he had no descendants, and Cao Song was his adopted son.

Due to the too close relationship between the Cao family and the Xiahou family in the history of the Three Kingdoms, many people naturally infer that Cao Song may have been surnamed Xiahou ———, and then changed his surname to Cao after being raised to Cao Song. But this inference has not been unanimously recognized in history, and the view in the "Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms" is that the Xiahou family and the Cao family are close to each other, and the brothers of the Xiahou family have been close friends with Cao Cao since childhood, and they are Cao Cao's most trusted foreign surname family, and it is also believed that Cao Cao is the descendant of Cao Shen (the one who followed Xiao Gui Cao) in the Western Han Dynasty.

But after the research of modern science and the test of Cao's DNA, the view is that Cao Cao is not a descendant of Cao Shen, and it has little to do with the Xiahou family, Cao Song should have been raised by Cao Teng from his relatives, and it is not very clear which family adopted it.

As for whether the Cao family is a local wealthy family, I don't think this possibility is too high before Cao Teng.

1. Cao Song is Cao Teng's adopted child, we can also imagine that if the family conditions are good, who will give the child to the eunuch?

2. When Yuan Shao begged Cao, he once said that "Father Song is a beggar and a beggar", thus pointing out that Cao Song's background is very humble. Whether this is true or not, at least one thing is certain, compared with the illustrious old Yuan family, his ancestors must not be a rich family.

3. Cao Cao himself had the behavior of attaching himself to the sages, such as attributing his ancestors to the descendants of Cao Shen, if Cao Cao's family was really a big family at that time and the family was prominent, there was no need for him to change his ancestors in this way to bring humiliation on himself.

【Great Eunuch Cao Teng】

In the history of the Later Han Dynasty, the five marquis represented by Gu Ming and Tang Heng during the period of Emperor Heng of the Han Dynasty, the eunuchs Wang Fu and Cao Jie at the time of the alternation of Heng and Ling, and the ten permanent servants represented by Zhang Rang and Zhao Zhong during the period of Emperor Ling were all famous eunuchs, although Cao Cao's grandfather Cao Teng was low-key, but his status among the eunuchs can be said to be no less than these people.

During the reign of Emperor An of the Han Dynasty (94-125), Cao Teng entered the palace and became an official of the Yellow Gate, because he was young and cautious, he was selected by the Empress Dowager Deng to wait for the then crown prince (that is, the later Emperor Shun of Han) to study, and was very loved by the prince. In the fourth year of Yanguang (125), after Emperor Shun of Han ascended the throne, Cao Teng was immediately appointed as Xiaohuangmen, and soon became a regular servant among the eunuchs.

In August of the first year of Jiankang (144), Emperor Shun of Han died, and Emperor Shun of Han's son Emperor Chong, who had just turned two years old, succeeded to the throne. In the first month of the first year of Yongxi (145), Emperor Han Chong, who succeeded to the throne for less than half a year, died. At that time, the ministers all thought that an elderly and virtuous clan should be appointed as the emperor, and they were all interested in Liu Lian, the king of Qinghe, and the general Liang Ji, a foreign relative, in order to continue to be in power, set up Liu Zhang, the son of Liu Hong, the eight-year-old king of Bohaixiao, as the emperor, and was the emperor of the Han Dynasty.

Later, the famous incident of Emperor Qin blaming Liang Ji and Liang Ji poisoning Emperor Zhen occurred, and the court once again needed to appoint a new king.

At this time, the court officials were divided into two factions. One faction was led by Li Gu and supported the elderly King of Qinghe as emperor; The other faction was led by Liang Ji and supported the controlled Liu Zhi to ascend the throne. At that time, Cao Teng was already one of the top eunuchs and had great influence within the court.

Cao Teng, the regular attendant of the Middle School, also went to pay homage to Liu Garlic before, but Liu Garlic did not treat him politely, and Cao Teng and other eunuchs did not like him. After meeting Liang Ji, Cao Teng said: "The general has been related to the queen for several generations and has great power, and the guests have misbehaved and made many mistakes. King Qinghe is very strict, and if he becomes a king, then the day when the general will suffer will not be long. It is better to establish Liwu Hou Liu Zhi, and the wealth can be maintained for a long time. ”

In the end, Liang Ji, with the support of Cao Teng, rejected Li Gu and other ministers, and supported Liu Zhi as the emperor, which was the emperor of Han Huan. With this credit, Cao Teng moved to Da Changqiu, and Yu Lu was only under the prime minister and the captain, reaching the pole of the eunuch position, and was named Fei Tinghou.

Unlike most eunuchs with small bellies, Cao Teng is broad-minded and likes to recommend celebrities. At that time, the official of Shu County Taishou entrusted the accounting book to Cao Teng to bribe, and was found by Yizhou Assassin Shi Chong in Xiegu Pass, so he wrote to tell Shu County Taishou, and therefore impeached Cao Teng, and asked the court lieutenant to punish the crime. Emperor Huan said: "The book came from outside, and it was not Cao Teng's fault." There is no quasi-seeding performance.

Cao Teng didn't take it to heart, but often said that Chong Wei was a capable official, and people at that time praised Cao Teng for being a person. Later, Chong Wei became a boss apprentice, and said with emotion: "I can be a boss apprentice, all with the help of Cao Changshi!" Cao Teng restrained the family as evil and was close to the scholars, which caused widespread praise for Cao Teng from all walks of life at that time. After his death, his adopted son Cao Song was still working as a great farmer in the imperial court, and even bought a taiwei dang with 100 million yuan (Note 1).

On the other hand, Cao Teng also recommended many people to the imperial court, including Yu Fang and Bian Shao of Chen Liu, Yangu and Zhang Wen of Nanyang, Zhang Huan of Hongnong, Tangxi and Zhao Dian of Yingchuan.

Cao Teng has served in the court for more than 30 years and has experienced four emperors, none of whom have made mistakes. Later, Emperor Cao Rong of Wei Ming posthumously honored his great-grandfather Cao Teng as Emperor Gao, and his wife Wu as Empress Gao. In Chinese history, there is only one eunuch who has been officially awarded the title of emperor of the orthodox dynasty.

Cao Teng died during the reign of Emperor Heng of the Han Dynasty, and Cao Cao had just been born during that period, and Cao Teng himself did not have much influence on Cao Cao, but Cao Teng left a huge political legacy for the Cao family, which will be of great help to Cao Cao's future growth.

As a great eunuch, Cao Teng undoubtedly still puts the interests of the eunuchs above the interests of the state, so he chose to help Liang Ji support Liu Zhi, which is a matter of principle for his position as the boss of the eunuchs, and I will not comment on this. But on the other hand, Cao Teng's personality was relatively modest, not overbearing, and far more tolerant than Zhang Rang and others in later generations. Cao Teng is not an upright person, but he is not a great evil person compared to his descendants.

Cao Teng had stood at the apex of the eunuch position at that time before his death, and was posthumously crowned emperor by his great-great-grandson, it can be said that no matter what happened before or after his death, Cao Teng was a winner in life, except for the identity of the eunuch.

Note 1: The Book of the Later Han Dynasty records that it is 100 million yuan.