Five Heroes of Three Kingdoms

The previous article finished talking about the era when Cao Cao grew up, and this article begins to talk about his family background.

It stands to reason that the majestic Emperor Wei Wu must have a prominent family and a strong root. How could he be born into a somewhat "chaotic" family background? Listen to me slowly.

Chen Shou's "Three Kingdoms · Wei Shu · Emperor Wu Ji" records:

In the reign of Emperor Huan, Cao Teng served as Zhongchangchang, and he was granted the title of Marquis of Feiting. The adopted son Song Si, from the official position to the Taiwei, can't judge his birth. Songsheng Taizu.

It's over, let's chat for a few dozen words. Two names are mentioned here, one is Cao Cao's "grandfather" Cao Teng, and the other is his father Cao Song. Who are these two?

Cao Teng was an eunuch in the late Eastern Han Dynasty. Some people may ask, how can eunuchs have queens? How could Cao Cao be the eunuch? don't worry.

During the time of Emperor An of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Cao Teng entered the palace and became an official of the Huangmen. At that time, Cao Teng was still young. Later, he was selected into the uterus to serve the prince to study. Cao Teng is honest and cautious in dealing with things. It is rare for a young man to have such qualities.

So the prince liked Cao Teng very much. The prince served by Cao Teng was the later Emperor Shun of Han. Then Cao Teng was promoted logically, and became a "Zhongchang Servant".

To popularize science, Zhongchangshi was a very powerful official position in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, and was responsible for conveying edicts for the emperor and handling documents. This is equivalent to the current presidential secretary.

Fan Ye's "Book of the Later Han Dynasty" gave him a biography, saying that he:

"Teng has served the four emperors for more than 30 years, which is unprecedented."

"Good progress and great talents."

The four emperors mentioned above should be the four emperors of An, Shun, Chong and Zhi. When he arrived at Emperor Huan, he should actually "serve the Five Emperors". Although Cao Teng is good at protecting himself, he has both ways. However, the establishment of the emperor also indirectly opened the prelude to the struggle for power among eunuchs and relatives.

It stands to reason that Cao Teng, the head of the eunuch, should be incompatible with the group of foreign relatives (led by the general Liang Ji). Why did he join the team surnamed Liang on such a big matter as the establishment of the emperor?

It turned out that after Emperor An and Emperor Shun, he experienced Emperor Chong (short-lived, died within a few months) and Emperor Zhi. Emperor Chong was a short-lived little emperor who died within a few months of ascending the throne. General Liang Ji and Empress Dowager Liang Yu (Liang Ji's younger sister) discussed and made Liu Zan, the son of Liu Hong, the filial king of Bohai, the emperor of Han Zhi. Emperor Zhi was also a child when he came to the throne, only eight years old. At that time, Liang Ji was already in power, but this kid didn't seem to be so obedient, and even yelled at him "this domineering general" to his face. That's not bad. Soon, Liang Ji poisoned the little emperor's food, and Emperor Zhi was poisoned to death at the age of nine. This is what happened in the first year of the prime minister (AD 146).

It's time to establish an emperor again. Liang Ji wanted to make Liu Zhi, Marquis of Liwu, emperor because he was a relative (son-in-law) of their family. But Li Gu, who was the Taiwei at the time, planned to make Qinghe King Liu Lian emperor. Cao Teng visited Liu Lian in private, but Liu Lian ignored him, obviously looking down on him. Cao Teng put a hot face on his cold ass.

Cao Teng panicked, thinking that if this person is in the top position, there will be good fruit to eat? It's better to make his son-in-law according to Liang Ji's proposal.

So he went to Liang Ji overnight and expressed his support for Liu Zhi.

This incident was also recorded by Fan Ye in "The Book of the Later Han Dynasty: The Biography of Liu Suan":

Suan is a serious person, with restraint in his actions, and the courtiers Taiwei Li Gu and others are all concerned. At the beginning, Cao Teng, the constant attendant of Zhongzhong, paid homage to garlic, but garlic was not a courtesy, and the eunuchs hated it. When the emperor collapsed, all the ministers were discussing Lian, but Cao Teng said that Liang Ji would not listen, so he established Emperor Huan.

Later, Liang Ji used means to dismiss Li Gu and others, and Emperor Huan ascended the throne smoothly.

Cao Teng stood in line at the critical moment, not only succeeded in self-protection, but also made himself named Fei Tinghou and Da Changqiu. Da Changqiu is the head of the eunuchs, and he is already a very important figure in the court.

Cao Teng has been in the political center of the Han Dynasty for decades. He treats people generously, keeps a low profile, does not take credit for himself, loves to communicate with people, and is good at recommending (should be verbal) talents. It should be said that he is a rare good person. Afterwards, Cao Teng returned to the Marquis of Feiting to take care of him, and retired in good health.

Cao Song is Cao Cao's father and Cao Teng's adopted son. So at first I said that Cao Teng was Cao Cao's grandfather in quotation marks.

As soon as the adopted son said, it has been popular since the Eastern Han Dynasty.

What if the eunuchs who were good at that time had no one to inherit their property and titles? After you don't have it, you can't let the fat and water flow into the fields of outsiders, right?

So the "adopted son" appeared. In the future, after a hundred years, some people will be able to inherit the title of gold and silver.

As early as the fourth year of Yangjia (135), Emperor Shun of the Han Dynasty issued an edict:

After first hearing that Zhongguan was able to adopt a son, he was granted a hereditary title. ——"Book of the Later Han Dynasty Shundi Ji"

In other words, the emperor ignored this matter and allowed it by default. This can be regarded as a precedent, until the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it became a practice for eunuchs to adopt children, and it has been followed for thousands of years.

It can be seen from this that Cao Songying's surname is not Cao, because he just followed the surname of his adoptive father Cao Teng. Then the question comes, what is the last name of Cao Cao's ancestors?

This is hard to break the historian. Mr. Chen Shou and Mr. Chen couldn't figure it out, and he didn't have any textual research, so he just put down the sentence "I can't judge the truth of his life", which is the sentence I quoted at the beginning of the article. It means "I didn't find out what his ancestor's last name was."