Xie Lingyun, a great literary scholar of the Southern Dynasty Song Dynasty, once said, "There is only one stone in the world, Cao Zijian has eight buckets, I have to fight, and the world is divided into one bucket" And the famous Cao Zijian here is the great talent Cao Zhi of the Three Kingdoms period, which can be described by later generations as a talented eight buckets, which shows that his talent is praised by future generations. Cao Zhi, along with his father Cao Cao and brother Pi, was also an excellent politician and military figure, known as a traitor by later generations, and established his own powerful military and political forces at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, laying the foundation for the later Cao Wei regime.
Before and after Cao Cao's death, the elder Cao Pi inherited his father's position as King of Wei and became emperor, wary of his talented younger brother, and is rumored to have let his brother write poetry within seven steps, killing his head if he could not write. The clever Cao Zhi made the "Seven-Step Poem" that became famous after his brother finished speaking:
Boiled beans are held as a soup, and wet as juice.
The beans burned under the kettle, and the beans wept in the kettle.
Originally born from the same root, why is it too urgent to fry each other?
So, did the "Seven Steps Poem" save Cao Zhi's fate? After all, there are fewer records about Cao Zhi after this, so what is the final outcome of Cao Zhi? The following is a brief analysis based on relevant information.
In the first stage, when Cao Pi was alive, Cao Zhi was devastated and ostracized.
Guozhi Vol. XIX Wei Shu XIX Rencheng Chen Xiao Wang biography said:
Emperor Wen (曹丕) was the throne, with Ding Yi, Ding Yi, and his male counterpart. (Cao Zhi) and the princes and the kingdom. In the second year of the Huang Dynasty, the overseer of the state, Guan Junxi, pointed out that he played "Planting drunkenness and rebelling against slowness, robbing the messengers". There is a priest to ask for punishment, and the emperor is the empress dowager, and the marquis of Anxiang is demoted. In his year, he was renamed the Marquis of Juancheng".
The emperor's brother was denounced by the chancellor, which can reflect that the emperor is wary of his brother and has a mustard, otherwise no one dares to alienate the royal flesh and blood, and the emperor just looks at the face of the empress dowager and does not carry out a big punishment. After many considerations, Cao Pi gave his brother the title of king, "(Huang Chu) for three years, established as the king of Juancheng, 2,500 households."
Cao Zhi wrote to the emperor many times, hoping to be reused, but he still did not reuse his brother. "Di Jiaqi's words are righteous, and the edicts are encouraged." He was sent off with a few nice words, but in essence he was still thousands of miles away.
In the second stage, after Cao Pi's death, his nephew Cao Rui (sometimes written as Cao Rui) still did not trust him.
Emperor Wen of Wei died in 226 AD, and was succeeded by his son Cao Rui as Emperor Ming of Wei. Cao Zhi, who had been suppressed for a long time, pinned his hopes on his nephew, and wrote to Cao Rui hoping to reuse himself. However, Cao Rui also only verbally promised his uncle, and the mustard and defense could not be eliminated.
Every time Zhi wants to talk about timely politics, fortunately, he hopes to try it, but he can't get it in the end.
The young emperor was said to be the son of Cao Pi and Zhen, and it is rumored that after Cao Cao defeated Yuan Shao, Cao Pi married Yuan Shao's daughter-in-law Zhen Shi, but he still did not approve of Cao Zhi.
In the third stage, he was transferred by the emperor many times, immersed in study, and regretted his death.
In order to guard against Cao Zhi, Cao Pi's father and son moved his fiefdom several times until they died in Chen Liu. Cao Zhi, who could not achieve his ideal ambitions, was often resentful, and sometimes smoked and drunk, and came to anesthetize himself with alcohol.
When he was sober, he indulged in poetry and song, leaving behind many popular works, such as "White Horse Chapter" and "Stage Endowment", etc. Although there is one less general or politician in the world, there is one more great literary artist who has a great influence on future generations. For example, his "Seven Lamentations" had a great influence on Du Fu's "Three Officials" and "Three Distinctions" in the Tang Dynasty.
In particular, the Jin Dynasty and the Southern and Northern Dynasties literary scholars all regarded Cao Zhi as their idol, just like Xie Lingyun mentioned at the beginning of this article, dividing the world into ten buckets (one stone), and Cao Zijian monopolized the eight buckets. This evaluation is far greater than too many praises. Cao Zhi's literary success could not compensate for his political frustration, and long-term depression and alcoholism dragged down his body, and in November 232 AD, a generation of talented sons Cao Zhi died of illness at the age of 41, and in accordance with his last wishes, he was buried in Dong'a Yushan. Fulfilled his wish to be with Shan'a.
Chen Siwen was rich and colorful, enough to pass through the back leaf, but he could not restrain the distant defense, and eventually led to a gap.
This is Chen Shou's evaluation of Cao Zhi, who attributed cao zhi's failure in life to his lack of knowledge of protecting himself and having no power. Indeed, Cao Zhi, who had great talent, was indeed like this, and his father arranged for him to do things sincerely, and he could get drunk.
However, judging from the end of Cao Zhi's life, the biggest problem is the roommate in the imperial society. In the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Chen Shou quoted Cao Zhi's words to Cao Pi and his nephew Cao Rui at great length, and read the feelings sincerely. Cao Zhi sincerely and humbly wanted to serve the country, but the door did not open after all.
Ironically, the Cao Pi father and son, who did not attach importance to the role of the clan, because without the help of the clan, the little emperor who remained was controlled by Sima Shi and became a puppet emperor, and a few years later, the hard-working Cao Wei regime was replaced. Later generations of historians attributed the reason to Cao Pi's destruction of his brothers in that year, so that Cao Wei's clan could not rise up to defend the foundation founded by his ancestors. The wheel of history is moving forward, and while Cao Zhi is ending, he should also sigh at the creation of the old era.