Cao Fang

Cao Rui had commenced large-scale palace and temple-building projects almost immediately after ascending the throne.

Part of it was to be expected—the Luoyang palaces had been remnants of the ones not destroyed by Dong Zhuo, and the temples were needed for the cults of his ancestors.

However, he has gone beyond the minimally required constructions, and continues to build temples and palaces throughout his reign, severely draining the imperial treasury.

While he occasionally halts projects at the officials' behest, the projects restart after brief breaks.

He not only builds palaces in Luoyang, but also builds a palace in Xuchang.

In 237, he further moves many of the magnificent statues and monuments that had been commissioned by Emperor Wu of Han from Chang'an to Luoyang, at great expenses and the cost of many lives.

He further builds gigantic bronze statues of his own and places them on a man-made hill inside his palace, surrounded by rare trees and plants and populated by rare animals.

Cao Rui is also increasing his collection of women, as his concubines and ladies-in-waiting number in the thousands.

His palace-building projects might have been with intent to house them.

In 237, he even orders that beautiful married women all be formally seized unless their husbands are able to ransom them, and that they will be married to soldiers instead—but that the most beautiful among them will become his concubines.

Despite some officials' protestations, this decree is apparently carried out, much to the distress of his people.

Despite his harem, however, Cao Rui is without any son who survives infancy.

He had adopted two sons to be his own—Cao Fang and Cao Xun, whom he had created princes in 235.

(It is usually accepted that they were sons of his cousins, although the exact parentage is not clear.)

In 237, Cao Rui takes the unprecedented (and unrepeated in Chinese history) action of setting his own temple name of Liezu and ordering that his temple never be torn down in the future.

(Based on Confucian regulations, except for the founder of the dynasty, rulers' temples are destroyed after six generations.)

He carries out these actions apparently in apprehension that he will be given an unflattering temple name (or none at all) and that his temple will eventually be destroyed, due to his lack of biological issue and unclear origin.

By 237, Cao Rui's favorite is no longer Empress Mao, but Consort Guo.

In this year, when Cao Rui is attending a feast hosted by Consort Guo, Consort Guo requests that Empress Mao be invited to join as well, but Cao Rui refuses and further orders that no news about the feast be given to Empress Mao.

However, the news leaks, and Empress Mao talks about the feast with him anyway.

He becomes exceedingly angry, and kills a number of his attendants whom he suspected of leaking the news to Empress Mao, and, inexplicably, orders Empress Mao to commit suicide, even though she is still buried with honors due an empress, and her family remains honored.

Cao Rui grows ill in 238.

He creates Consort Guo empress in preparation of allowing her to become empress dowager after his death.

He initially wants to entrust his adopted son, Cao Fang, the Prince of Qi, to his uncle Cao Yu, to serve as the lead regent, along with Xiahou Xian, Cao Shuang, Cao Zhao, and Qin Lang.

However, his trusted officials Liu Fang and Sun Zi are on unfriendly terms with Xiahou and Cao Zhao and are apprehensive about their becoming regents; they manage to persuade him to make Cao Shuang (with whom they are friendly) and Sima Yi regents instead.

Cao Yu, Cao Zhao, and Qin are excluded from the regency.

Cao Shuang and Sima Yi had shared power initially, but Cao Shuang had quickly employed a number of political maneuvers to honor Sima with honorific titles, including Grand Tutor, while stripping his actual power.

Cao Shuang then makes all important decisions and stops consulting Sima.

Quickly, Cao's associates, including Deng Yang, Li Sheng, He Yan, and Ding Mi, who are known for their talents but lack wisdom, all become powerful, and they exclude from positions of power other officials who will not associate with them.

Sima is still given military authority (including command in repelling a major Eastern Wu attack in 241), but no real authority on governance.

Cao Rui creates the seven-year-old Cao Fang crown prince in the spring of 239, and dies the same day of this creation.

Cao Fang succeeds him as emperor.

Cao Fang, a son of Cao Kai, the Prince of Rencheng, who was a son of Cao Zhang, is adopted by Cao Wei's second emperor Cao Rui, a younger brother of Cao Zhang, at a young age, and had been instated as Prince of Qi in 235.

Around 239, when Cao Rui becomes ill, he resolves to pass the throne to Cao Fang.

Initially, he wants to entrust Cao Fang to his uncle Cao Yu, who is to serve as a regent along with Xiahou Xian, Cao Shuang, Cao Zhao, and Qin Lang.

However, Cao Rui's trusted officials Liu Fang and Sun Zi are not on good terms with Xiahou Xian and Cao Zhao, and are apprehensive about them becoming regents.

Eventually, Cao Rui is persuaded to appoint Cao Shuang and Sima Yi.

Cao Yu, Cao Zhao and Qin Lang are excluded from the regency.

A fortnight later, when Cao Rui is on his deathbed, Sima Yi arrives at Luoyang.

Cao Rui holds onto Sima's hand and summons Cao Fang and Cao Xun (another adopted son of Cao Rui) to his bedside.

He pointes out Cao Fang and tells the boy to hug Sima, as he would hug his father.

Cao Rui then instates Cao Fang as crown prince and dies on the same day.

Cao Wei's second emperor Cao Rui, having grown ill around the new year of 239, had resolved to pass the throne to his nephew Cao Fang, who he had adopted at a young age and made Prince of Qi in 235.

Cao Rui had initially wanted to entrust Cao Fang to his uncle Cao Yu, to serve as the lead regent, along with Xiahou Xian, Cao Shuang, Cao Zhao, and Qin Lang.

However, his trusted officials Liu Fang and Sun Zi were unfriendly with Xiahou Xian and Cao Zhao and were apprehensive about their becoming regents, and managed to persuade him to make Cao Shuang (with whom they are friendly) and Sima Yi (who was at that time with his troops at Ji (in modern Xinxiang, Henan) regents instead.

Cao Yu, Cao Zhao, and Qin Lang had been excluded from the regency.

As a result, Cao Shuang had risen to power but is clearly inadequate for the important job assigned to him.

When Cao Rui asked him if could do it, Cao Shuang was so nervous that he could not even say a word to answer and finally, it was Sima Yi who had answered for him, promising Cao Rui that they would do their best and Cao Rui would have nothing to worry about.

Despite his inability, Cao Shuang and his brothers, Cao Xi and Cao Xun wield great power in Cao Wei, and he is often at conflict with Sima Yi, who has greater influence and support.

In 243, Sima Yi's position had been further strengthened by another successful deployment: Zhuge Ke of Eastern Wu was constantly sending agents to Shouchun to prepare an invasion, so Sima Yi had led Cao Wei forces to Shu county of Lujiang Shire, near the border.

Hearing the news, Sun Quan had immediately ordered Zhuge Ke to withdraw to Chaisang County, Yuzhang Shire.

Sima Yi's popularity and influence had instantly multiplied as he was lauded as being able to scare away the enemy, numbering over a hundred thousand, without a fight and thus secure the border and save the city from certain attack.

Alarmed, Cao Shuang uses his authority, greater than that of Sima Yi, to persuade the emperor, Cao Fang, as a reward, to promote Sima Yi to the rank of Grand Tutor, which actually means that Sima is in an honorary position and is left without any real authority in military affairs.

Cao Shuang, desperate for a victory to boost his own fame, had selected Shu Han as his target.

Despite facing strong opposition in the Wei court, Cao Shuang believed that the campaign was viable, especially when the Shu commander, Jiang Wan, withdrew his main force from Hanzhong to Fu County in October 243.

Cao Shuang and his protégés have concluded that, with numerical superiority, their army can easily conquer Hanzhong before Shu reinforcements arrive.

Even if they fail to completely eliminate Shu, the fall of Hanzhong would be sufficient to increase Cao Shuang's fame and influence in the Wei court.

Leading an army numbering more than sixty thousand, Cao Shuang invades Shu Han in March, 244.

However, two months later, he is soundly defeated by Wang Ping and Fei Yi in the Battle of Xingshi, and is barely able to escape back to Guanzhong with his own life.

The most devastating result, however, is that Cao Shuang has lost more than one hundred and twenty thousand troops, or fifteen percent of the total armed troops of Cao Wei's eight hundred thousand army, a serious blow from which Cao Wei cannot recover.

Furthermore, most of the lost troops belonged to Cao Wei’s best units.

Cao Shuang's popularity and influence drops to a new low, while at the same time, Sima Yi's popularity and influence further increases, as it is known that he had opposed the campaign from the start.

Wang Bi, whose most important works are commentaries on Laozi's Tao Te Jing and the I Ching, serves as a minor bureaucrat in the Kingdom of Wei.

Married with a daughter, he dies of pestilence at the age of 24.

The text of the Tao Te Jing that appears with his commentary will widely be considered as the best copy of this work until the discovery in 1973 of the Mawangdui texts.

Sima Yi, a strategist, general, and politician of the Three Kingdoms era of China, is perhaps best known for defending Cao Wei from Zhuge Liang's Northern Expeditions.

Shu's Northern Expeditions after Zhuge Liang's death, had ceased for some years, and peace had returned to the Kingdom of Wei.

The emperor, Cao Rui is now an adult and, taking advantage of the peace, had turned to palace building, costing the state extravagant amounts of money and alienating his ministers and people.

In this environment, Gongsun Yuan, a powerful warlord, had rebelled.

After a campaign to suppress the rebellion was foiled by flooding, Sima Yi had been dispatched the next year, and although initially being set back by more flooding, he had defeated Gongsun Yuan and exterminated his family.

This campaign had brought him even greater prestige.

Cao Rui died not long afterward and the next emperor, again very young, Cao Fang, had ascended to the throne.

This time two regents had been appointed, Sima Yi and the son of Cao Zhen, Cao Shuang.

Cao Shuang was very jealous of Sima Yi's great power and prestige, and sought total control over the Kingdom of Wei.

At the advice of an advisor, he had persuaded the emperor to promote Sima Yi to personal instructor to the emperor.

Although among the highest of positions a person could be given, it is an honorary position only and Sima Yi had been left without any real political authority, although he has maintained his military command.

Zhu Ran of the Kingdom of Wu in 241 had Fancheng under siege.

Sima Yi had personally gone to lift the siege, and had succeeded in driving the attackers away.

He had then succeeded in the year 243 in defeating Zhuge Ke of Wu.

In contrast to this, Cao Shuang's attempts to attack the Kingdom of Shu had ended in failure, making the difference between his abilities and Sima Yi's all the more obvious.

Sensing danger, Sima Yi had retired from his position in 247, citing illness as the reason.

Suspicious, Cao Shuang had sent an advisor to visit Sima Yi, to check whether or not he was truly ill. Sima Yi, then advanced in age, had pretended to be senile.

As Cao Shuang's advisor completely believed the act, Cao Shuang finally felt safe that he had no challenge to his power.

Sima Yi has since bided his time and in 249 springs into action while Cao Fang and Cao Shuang are outside the capital on an official visit to Cao Rui's tomb.

He moves on the imperial palace with an army and persuades the emperor's mother to issue an order to arrest Cao Shuang in order to save the kingdom from its irresponsible government.

Cao Shuang and his allies, with an imperial order declaring them rebels, surrender, expecting to be spared.

Sima Yi instead executes them all.

With complete power over the Kingdom of Wei now in his hands, Sima Yi becomes chancellor.

Sima Yi, to deceive Cao Shuang into letting down his guard, had stopped all political activities in May 247 and later retired, and he goes further in pretending to be ill and senile.

In the winter of 248-249, Cao Shuang's protégé Li Sheng is named as the administrator of Jingzhou, and before he leaves for his position, Cao Shuang sends Li Sheng to check on Sima Yi.

Cao Shuang and his followers are overjoyed when Li reports that Sima Yi is indeed ill and dying, that he could not even hear clearly what Li Sheng had said.

Cao Shuang, sensing that Sima Yi no longer poses a threat to him, draws his attention away from Sima.

On January 6, 249, Cao Shuang and his brothers leave the capital to accompany the child emperor Cao Fang to pay respects to Cao Rui at his resting place at Gaoping Tomb, and they continue to stay out on a hunting expedition.

Sima Yi and his sons launch a coup d'état and seize control of the capital city by first closing all the city gates.

Sima then assigns his protégés to take over the positions held by Cao Shuang's brothers after taking the armory: Excellency over the Masses Gao Rou replaces Cao Shuang, and Imperial Herdsman Wang Guan replaces Cao Xi to command the imperial bodyguards.

Sima Yi goes to see the Empress Dowager, requesting her to give an order to arrest Cao Shuang and his brothers on charges of treason.

Huan Fan, an advisor of Cao Shuang, escapes with the seal signifying the power of Grand Commander and brings it to Cao Shuang.

Cao Shuang is in a dilemma, unsure whether to surrender his power or not.

Cao Shuang's family and loved ones are in Sima Yi's control, and Sima Yi promises that Cao Shuang will not be harmed, as Sima is only after Cao's power.

Eventually, Cao Shuang agrees to surrender and gives up his power.

On January 10, 249, Cao Shuang returns to Luoyang, the capital of Cao Wei, and his fate is sealed.

Once having gained power, Sima Yi has Cao Shuang and his brothers arrested on charges of treason, then has them executed.

Sima Yi refuses to take the position of Imperial Chancellor awarded to him, and remains as Grand Tutor.

Wang Ling's family had fled to the countryside after his uncle, Wang Yun, was executed in 192 CE for fomenting Lü Bu's assassination of Dong Zhuo.

Later he was declared xiaolian, a crucial nomination to be considered for civil service appointments, and became the Grand Administrator of Zhongshan.

His excellent public service record had been noticed by Cao Cao, the penultimate chancellor of the Han Dynasty, who had moved him into his office.

In Cao Cao's army, Wang Ling had engaged in several battles with Eastern Wu.

As the Inspector of Yanzhou, he had attacked Sun Quan under Zhang Liao.

His victory led to his promotion to General Jianwu.

In another battle against Eastern Wu, Wang Ling had rescued the besieged general Cao Xiu, and had been promoted to General of Chariots and Cavalry after a major victory against Quan Cong.

In the second year of Cao Fang's reign as emperor of Cao Wei, Wang Ling had been appointed Minister of Works, while his nephew Linghu Yu had become the Inspector of Yanzhou.

Wang Ling had lost faith in Cao Fang's ability to rule after Sima Yi's coup d'etat in the incident at Gaoping Tombs succeeded in turning the emperor against Sima Yi's rival, the late Cao Shuang.

As a result, Wang Ling conspires to replace emperor Cao Fang with his uncle, Cao Biao, the Prince of Chu, a son of Cao Cao.

Wang Ling in 251 convinces Cao Biao to attempt a coup d'etat against Sima Yi, but the conspiracy suffers a setback when Linghu Yu dies of an illness.

The plot is soon discovered and Sima Yi goes on the offensive, leading an army against Wang before he can prepare his defenses.

Knowing that they are unprepared to do battle with Sima Yi, the two surrender to him with the promise of a pardon, but Wang Ling, together with Cao Bei, is forced to commit suicide, and his family members and associates are condemned to family annihilation.

In order to prevent any more rebellions, Sima Yi puts the entire Cao family under house arrest in Ye.

From this point on, he prevents any of them from having any contact with one another.

With the entire royal family of Wei out of his way, Sima Yi has effectively made the kingdom's nominal rulers irrelevant.

He dies later in the year, leaving his legacy to his sons Sima Shi and Sima Zhao.

His success and subsequent rise in prominence paves the way for his grandson Sima Yan's foundation of the Jin Dynasty, which will eventually bring an end to the Three Kingdoms era.