Dynasties of ChinaThree KingdomsCao Wei
Taihe and others · Reign 226—239
Shen Yi was good at making judgments. He rejected Zhuge Liang in the west, resisted Sun Quan in the east, and flattened Liaodong in Peking. In his later years, he built a large palace and entrusted the heir improperly.
Cao Rui, whose courtesy name is Yuan Zhong, is the eldest son of Cao Pi and his biological mother is Zhen Shi (birth year is said to be 206). After Zhen Shi's death, he was neglected for a time and was not established as Crown Prince for a long time. In 226, when Cao Pi was critically ill, he was established as Crown Prince and immediately ascended the throne. He was resolute and decisive, and was good at using people: Cao Zhen and Sima Yi were stationed in Guanzhong to resist Zhuge Liang's Northern Expedition, Man Chong was stationed in Hefei to fight Wu, and in 238 he ordered Sima Yi to expedition to Liaodong. In terms of internal affairs, he ordered Chen Qun and others to revise the laws and regulations and compiled them into eighteen chapters of "New Laws".
In the later period of his reign, he carried out extensive construction projects to build palaces and gardens in Luoyang, and recruited women from the people to enrich the harem. However, the officials refused to listen to his repeated advice, and the people were tired of hard work. Several of his biological sons died young, leaving only his adopted son Cao Fang as his heir. He died of illness in the first month of 239 at the age of thirty-six (some say thirty-four). Before his death, he hastily changed the candidates for assistant administration, and Cao Shuang and Sima Yi jointly assisted the eight-year-old Cao Fang.
Cao Rui reigned for thirteen years. He knew people well and assigned them well. He resisted Zhuge Liang in the west, resisted Sun Quan in the east, and pacified Liaodong in the north. This stabilized Cao Wei's power and made great achievements in revising new laws. However, in his later years, he expanded the palace and recruited palace people, which increased the burden on the people; and because he had no biological children, he succeeded to the throne with an adopted son of unknown origin. He hurriedly changed the entrusting heir candidate before his death, resulting in the coexistence of Cao Shuang and Sima Yi, which paved the way for the Gaoping Ling change and the Sima family to succeed the Wei Dynasty.
MilitaryResist the First Northern Expedition
Zhuge Liang left Qishan, and the three counties of Tianshui, Nan'an, and Anding rebelled against Wei Yingshu. Cao Rui personally went to Chang'an to take charge, and sent Zhang He to defeat Ma Su in the street pavilion, and the three counties were restored. At the beginning of the same year, Sima Yi traveled thousands of miles to kill Meng Da, the governor of Xincheng who had rebelled and surrendered to Shu.
PoliticsFormulate "New Law"
Chen Qun, Liu Shao and others were ordered to delete the complicated laws and regulations of the Han Dynasty and compile eighteen chapters of the "New Code". The general "Xingming" was listed at the beginning of the chapter, and the "Eight Discussions" were written into the Code of Laws for the first time, which was inherited by the Jin Code and even the Sui and Tang Codes.
MilitaryResist the enemy on both the east and west fronts
Zhuge Liang left Xiegu to garrison troops in Wuzhangyuan, while Sun Quan besieged Hefei Xincheng at the same time. Cao Rui ordered Sima Yi to stand firm and not fight, and he led the navy to march eastward. Sun Quan retreated after hearing the news; in August Zhuge Liang died of illness in the army, and the Shu army withdrew.
Science & technologyMa Jun builds a guide car
In response to the incident, Ma Jun was ordered to make a long-lost compass wheel, improve the silk weaving machine, and make a rolling wheel (keel waterwheel) to draw water for the garden. His deeds can be found in the preface written by Fu Xuan and contained in the notes of Pei Songzhi.
SocietyDaxing Palace Room
They built Luoyang Palace on a large scale, built Zhaoyang Hall, Taiji Hall, built the Zongzhang Temple, and piled up earth mountains in Fanglin Garden. Gao Tanglong, Yang Fu and others repeatedly came forward to dissuade him, but Cao Rui ignored him.
Lasting legacyThe ruins of the Taiji Hall are located in the ancient city of Luoyang during the Han and Wei dynasties in the eastern suburbs of present-day Luoyang. They have been excavated by archaeologists in recent years. Since then, the main halls of the palaces in the Eastern Jin, Northern Wei and Southern Dynasties have all been named "Taiji".
Science & technologyThe first calendar of Xingxingjing
After the change to Jingchu in the Yuan Dynasty, the "Jingchu Calendar" created by Yang Wei was adopted, and the twelfth month of the lunar calendar was changed to the beginning of the year. The Jingchu calendar was quite innovative in calculating solar and lunar eclipses, and was later used by the Western Jin and Southern Song Dynasties until it was changed to the Yuan Jiali calendar in 445.
Militarypacify Liaodong
Gongsun Yuan, who separatized Liaodong, established himself as King Yan. Cao Rui ordered Sima Yi to lead an expedition with 40,000 infantry and cavalry, and besieged Xiangping. After the city was broken, Gongsun Yuan and his son were beheaded, and more than 7,000 adult men in the city were killed. The four counties of Liaodong, Daifang, Lelang, and Xuantu returned to Wei.
DiplomacyCanonized the pro-Wei Japanese king
Queen Beimi of the Japanese Kingdom sent her envoy Nansheng Mijing to bring Fangjun to court (some say it was in the following year). The Wei court named him the "King of Japan close to the Wei Dynasty" and gave him a gold seal, purple ribbon and hundreds of bronze mirrors.
Lasting legacy"Three Kingdoms Chronicles·Book of Wei·Biography of the Japanese" is the most detailed early document recording ancient Japan. Among them, the location of Yamatai Kingdom is still one of the core issues in the study of ancient Japanese history.
PoliticsEntrusting the heir before the ruler's death
When he was critically ill, he first appointed King Yan Cao Yu as the general to assist the government. However, due to the advice of his close ministers Liu Fang and Sun Zi, he changed his mind and dismissed Cao Yu. Instead, he appointed Cao Shuang and Sima Yi to jointly assist his adopted son Cao Fang. He then died of illness in Luoyang Jiafu Hall.
He was originally a general of Yuan Shao, but he surrendered to Cao during the Battle of Guandu. In 228, Ma Su was defeated in Jieting and defeated Zhuge Liang's first Northern Expedition. In 231, he pursued the retreating Shu army to Mumen and was killed by an arrow.
A native of Changyi, Shanyang, he had been stationed in Huainan to fight against Wu for a long time. He believed that the old Hefei City was easy to attack due to its waterfront location, and suggested building a new Hefei City at a strategic location thirty miles west of the city. Since then, he has repelled Sun Quan's attacks many times.
A native of Pingyang, Mount Tai, he was proficient in Confucian classics and astronomical calculations. When Emperor Ming was renovating the palace, he repeatedly went to the court to give advice with impassioned words. Even before his death, Emperor Ming still gave advice. Although Emperor Ming did not obey him, he respected his loyalty.
Fufeng people have a stutter and are not good at words, but they are good at tact. When Ren Gei was in trouble, he built a compass wheel, improved a silk weaving machine, made a rolling wheel, and designed a stone wheel. Fu Xuan praised him as "the most famous in the world."