Chapter 4 2. Grandfather of Cao Cao——Da Changqiu Cao Teng

Cao Cao was born in Peiguo Qiao County (now Bozhou, Anhui) in the first year of Yongshou in the Eastern Han Dynasty (155), which is located in the southeast of the capital Luoyang, about 500 miles away from Luoyang. The Cao family is the largest family in the area, and most of them live in the east of the county.This is a group of houses, many of which are built along the Wohe River.As for the location of Cao Mansion, there are exact records in historical books. Li Daoyuan said in "Shui Jing Zhu": "There is the old house of Cao Taizu in the east of the city. It is a city wall and a residential area, next to it is a moat and vortex.The prosperity of the Cao family comes from Cao Cao's grandfather, the great eunuch Cao Teng.Cao Teng's Dachangqiu rank is two thousand stones, which is the same as the Jiuqing in the outer dynasty. He is at the ministerial level and works in the Empress Dowager's Changle Palace. This is the highest position among eunuchs.

The reason why Cao Teng was able to hold this position was largely due to the fact that he was a classmate of Liu Bao, the late husband of the Empress Dowager Liang and the eighth emperor of the empire, Liu Bao.Before Liu Zhi ascended the throne, Liang was already the empress dowager, and all major policies were issued by the Changle Palace. Cao Teng was the general manager beside the empress dowager, and was actually at the center of imperial power. There is a special biography of Cao Teng in "Book of the Later Han Dynasty". Although the space is small, it is not easy to be included in the biography as an eunuch, and to be preserved in the annals of history with a positive image.

According to the biography of Cao Teng, his name is Ji Xing, which means that he is not an only son, and there are at least three older brothers on top of him. It is impossible to verify their names, but it is estimated that their characters will be Boxing, Zhong Xing and Shu Xing. At that time, Cao Teng was favored by Liu Bao's mother, the regent Empress Dowager Deng, because of his "sincere and honest" character, and asked him to accompany the then prince Liu Bao to study.In history, there are many people who rely on this kind of relationship with the future emperor's classmates and playmates, such as Feng Bao, the great eunuch of the Ming Dynasty.

But compared with Feng Bao, Cao Teng is more cautious and low-key. He has served Emperor Liu Hu of Anti, Emperor Liu Bao of Shun, Liu Bing of Emperor Chong (the son of Liu Bao, who ascended the throne at the age of two and died of illness at the age of three), and Emperor Zhi Liu. Zuan (the one scolding the domineering general of Liang Ji), Huan Emperor Liu Zhi, "has never happened before" for more than 30 years, which can be called an amazing record.If we examine the experience of all the great eunuchs in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, we will find that Cao Teng is almost the only one who can become a celebrity around the emperor, empress, and empress dowager for decades, and can retreat unscathed.

This also shows that the relationship between Cao Teng and the Liang family is unusual. There are indications that he is a "Liang party". "It's all wishful thinking.In fact, as a major political ally, Cao Teng was Liang Ji's spokesman among the eunuchs. Cao Teng was very scheming. Although he had the trust of the Empress Dowager Liang and General Liang, he did not do many bad things to oppress the people and commit crimes. Talents, the six people listed in the biography are all well-known figures in the late Han Dynasty, such as Yangu and Yu Fang in the political circle, Zhang Wen and Zhang Huan in the military circle, Bian Shao and Tang Xilong in the academic circle.Cao Teng supported these people, on the one hand, he won the reputation of recommending talents for the country, and at the same time, it paved the way for himself and future generations.For example, Zhang Wen and Zhang Huan became marshal-level figures in the imperial army in the future. Dong Zhuo, Sun Jian, Tao Qian, Gongsun Zan, Liu Biao, etc. were all their subordinates, and their influence in the army cannot be underestimated.Later, Cao Cao was able to directly enter the military as a civilian and hold an important military position, probably because of their help.

It can be said that Cao Teng's careful layout contributed a lot to the great achievements of the Cao Wei Empire in the future, and the prosperity of the Cao family for a hundred years was the foundation laid by Cao Teng. The close relationship between Cao Teng and the Liang family can be seen in the support of Emperor Huan Liu Zhi to succeed him.In the first year of Benchu ​​(146), Liu Zhi was fifteen years old and was just a county lord of a foreign domain.At that time, Liu Zhi's predecessor, Liu Yan, died, and the empire needed to choose a new successor. Liu Yan was still a child laborer when he took up his post, only eight years old. This kid was not simple. He pointed at the general Liang Ji in front of the ministers of the court and said, "This is a domineering general." With these words, he was poisoned to death by Liang Ji's medicine in the cake.

Liu Yan was only nine years old when he died, so naturally it was too late to prepare the next successor for the empire.In the ensuing fierce struggle to select a successor, two opposing opinions soon formed: one faction supported Liu Zhi, Marquis of Liwu, and the other supported Qinghe King Liu Lian. The representatives of the "Supporting Will faction" are the Empress Dowager Liang, who is assisting the government, and her brother Liang Ji, the commander-in-chief of the National Armed Forces (General); the representatives of the "Supporting Garlic Sect" are Li Gu, Situ Huguang, and Sikong Zhao Jie waited for the three princes of the current dynasty, as well as a group of courtiers such as the Minister of Foreign Affairs (Dahong Luqing) Du Qiao.The two sides are evenly matched, the Liang family brothers and sisters hold the power, and their strength has the upper hand; Li, Du and others occupy the moral high ground, and public opinion has the upper hand.

The brothers and sisters of the Liang family supported Liu Zhi for two reasons. First, Liu Zhi was about to marry Liang Ying, the younger sister of the Empress Dowager Liang; second, Liu Zhi was relatively young, only fifteen years old. .But Liu Lian's blood is purer, more mature, wise and virtuous, and quite prestigious among scholars, which means that this person is difficult to control. The two factions refused to give in, especially Li Gu and Du Qiao, who even raised this matter to the height of the country's life and death, and fought fiercely. The "Aspirational faction" seemed to be unable to hold on anymore. Under the pressure of strong public opinion, Liang Ji planned to compromise.If it weren't for the timely intervention of the eunuch group, the eleventh emperor of the Eastern Han Dynasty would have been Liu Lian.

After the mid-Eastern Han Dynasty, the political arena gradually divided into four forces: the emperor, relatives, eunuchs and scholars.These four forces divide and rule the world. When they are evenly matched, the world will be peaceful for a while, which is the country's great fortune.If a certain faction or an alliance between certain two factions rises suddenly, there will be no peace, and there will be bloody fights in the court, and you will live and die. In this close contest, Cao Teng united the entire eunuch group and took a clear-cut stand on the side of the "Supporters", making the balance of victory slowly tilt towards the Liang family brothers and sisters.

According to historical records, when Liang Ji was hesitant and even about to make concessions, Cao Teng had secretly visited Liang's mansion late at night, hoping that Liang Ji would not compromise, and expressed that all eunuch colleagues firmly supported Liang Ji and supported Liu Zhi. Eunuchs are a group. Their common background, experience, sense of humiliation and strong pursuit make it easy for them to form an unbreakable alliance. Whenever major events come, this alliance shows incredible strength time and time again. It has been like this before, and it will continue in the future in this way.Cao Teng made Liang Ji understand that he was not alone, there were people behind him, and they would do their best to support Liang Ji and Liu Zhi, which made Liang Ji feel confident immediately.

The next day, the court held a meeting to discuss the matter again, and Liang Ji became president Cao Kun: the swords and guns were thrown at the door, those who supported Liu Zhi as emperor walked out standing, and those who supported Liu Suan lay down and carried them out! Regarding the scholars who had an inherent advantage in morality and public opinion, Liang Ji changed his strategy. He no longer competed with them for being more moral, but for being more hooligan.Scholars are not only unable to be hooligans, but what is more terrible is that they often cannot withstand the intimidation of hooligans.Cao Kun was victorious, and so was Liang Ji. Situ Hu Guang, a veteran of Jianghu and known as the "tumbler" in the officialdom, was the first to change his position, bowed his head and said submissively, "I only follow the orders of the general!" Several of Hu Guang's favorite students and Zhao Jie and his like, Seeing that the teachers and seniors took the lead in giving in, they all expressed their support for Liu Zhi. Only two people continued to insist, one was Taiwei Li Gu, and the other was Du Qiao, and they were still fighting hard.But Liang Ji didn't want to entangle with them any longer. Seeing that the overwhelming majority agreed with Liu Zhi to be emperor, and there was no need to vote with a show of hands, this guy yelled: "The meeting is over, the meeting is over!" For Liu Zhi, 146 AD was really an auspicious year.At the beginning of the year, his father, Liu Yi, the Marquis of Liwu, died. From a student who had to be supervised for everything and stayed up all day with lights on and doing homework, he suddenly became the head of the household of a county, the taxpayer of the entire county of Liwu County. All the income is at his disposal, he can spend it however he wants, and play however he likes. Before he let go of his coolness, even greater good things followed. The actual head of the empire, the respected and admired Empress Dowager Liang, heard of his boy's name from nowhere, and took the initiative to make his beloved sister Liang Ying married him.The guard of honor to welcome him then arrived in this remote small county of Beiguo. The grandeur was unprecedented among all the aborigines in their lifetime. When Liu Zhi arrived in Luoyang, the capital city, at this time, the two factions inside and outside the palace were arguing fiercely, and no one cared about him, so he was thrown in the guest house.Just when he was in a depressed mood and wanted to find an excuse to go back home, there was a lot of drumming and voices outside the door. Liang Ji, the most powerful figure in the empire, took him into the North Palace in person with a green-covered chariot dedicated to the prince. On the legendary throne in Deyang Hall, accept the congratulations from all officials. For Liu Zhi, this is simply a spring and autumn dream that cannot be covered even with eighteen quilts!