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Because his retainer committed a crime, Cao Hong was arrested and prepared to be executed. It was of no use even if all the ministers pleaded for him.

Fortunately, Empress Dowager Bian came forward and told Cao Pi: If it weren’t for Zi Lian, how could we be where we are today between Liang and Pei?
Empress Dowager Bian was still worried, and said to Empress Guo: If Cao Hong is executed today, I will depose you as queen tomorrow!

Empress Guo was distressed and repeatedly requested for the pardon of Cao Hong.

Therefore, Cao Pi pardoned Cao Hong from the death penalty, but removed him from his post, stripped him of his title, and demoted him to a commoner.

Cao Hong was a meritorious official, but being treated like this "made many people jealous", and people at that time also believed that this was a lack of moral integrity on the part of Cao Pi.

However, throughout Emperor Wen's reign, Cao Hong remained a commoner and was not employed.

It was not until Cao Pi's death and Cao Rui became emperor that Cao Hong was restored to his post as General Wei.

"In his early years, Cao Hong followed Cao Cao to raise an army to fight against Dong Zhuo. When Cao Cao was defeated in Xingyang, Cao Hong risked his life to escort Cao Cao back to his hometown, Qiao County."

"Soon, Cao Hong recruited thousands of soldiers in Jiangdong and joined Cao Cao. After that, Cao Hong followed Cao Cao to fight against Tao Qian, Lu Bu, and Zhang Miao, and made many military achievements, and was promoted to General of Yangwu."

"In the first year of Jian'an, Cao Cao welcomed Emperor Xian of Han and established the capital in Xuchang. Cao Hong was promoted to the position of Counselor."

"Cao Cao went south to attack Liu Biao, and Cao Hong captured several cities in succession. He was promoted to General Lifeng and General Duhu for his merits, and was granted the title of Marquis of Guomingting."

"After Cao Pi succeeded to the throne, he promoted Cao Hong to General of the Guards, and soon promoted him to General of the Cavalry, and promoted him to Marquis of Yewang, with a fief of 2,100 households, and granted him the title of Special Advancement, equal to the Three Dukes. Soon he was transferred to Marquis of Duyang."

"Cao Hong and Cao Pi had an old grudge. Cao Hong was arrested and imprisoned because his family members broke the law. The ministers and Queen Mother Bian interceded for him, and Cao Hong was spared from death, but was dismissed from office and stripped of his title."

"After Cao Rui succeeded to the throne, he reappointed Cao Hong as the rear general, changed his title to Lecheng Hou, granted him a fief of 1,000 households, and granted him the title of special advancement. Soon after, he was promoted to General of the Cavalry. In the sixth year of Taihe, Cao Hong died and was posthumously named Gonghou."

"As a relative of Cao Wei, Cao Hong was given important positions because of his kinship. Cao Cao relied on him a lot and he made great contributions to the establishment of the Cao Wei regime. Empress Dowager Bian also fully affirmed Cao Hong's contribution to the Cao family's country."

"Cao Hong was Cao Cao's cousin. In his early years, he followed Cao Cao to raise an army to attack Dong Zhuo. Cao Cao's army arrived in Xingyang and was defeated by Dong Zhuo's general Xu Rong."

"The horse Cao Cao was riding was injured, and the enemy soldiers were chasing him urgently. At this time, Cao Hong jumped off the horse, gave his horse to Cao Cao to ride, and followed Cao Cao on foot to the bank of the Bian River."

"Because the water was too deep to wade across, Cao Hong found a boat along the river bank and crossed the river with Cao Cao, returning to his hometown of Qiao County."

"Chen Wen, the governor of Yangzhou, had always been friendly with Cao Hong. Cao Hong led more than a thousand of his family soldiers to Chen Wen to recruit soldiers. He recruited 2,000 soldiers in Lujiang County, and then went east to Danyang County and recruited thousands more."

"Cao Hong led this army to Longkang and joined Cao Cao's army. After that, Cao Hong led his troops to follow Cao Cao and fight in all directions."

"In the first year of Xingping, when Cao Cao was conquering Tao Qian in Xuzhou, his general Zhang Miao and his adviser Chen Gong started a rebellion in Yanzhou to welcome Lü Bu, and all the counties in Yanzhou responded."

"At that time, there was a great famine. Cao Hong led his troops to clear the way and occupied Dongping County and Fan County first, collecting food to support the troops behind."

"Cao Cao hurried back to rescue Yanzhou. Zhang Miao and Lu Bu's army was stationed in Puyang. Cao Cao led his troops to attack them. Lu Bu was defeated and fled. Cao Cao then occupied Dong'e County and turned to attack Jiyin and Shanyang counties, successively capturing more than ten counties."

"Cao Hong was appointed as Yingyang Xiaowei for his meritorious service in the war, and was soon promoted to Yangwu Zhonglang Jiang."

"In the first month of the first year of Jian'an, Cao Cao planned to welcome Emperor Xian of Han and establish his capital in Xuchang, so he sent Cao Hong to lead troops west to welcome Emperor Xian of Han."

"General Dong Cheng and Yuan Shu's general Chang Nu used the strategic location to block Cao Hong's troops, preventing him from advancing."

"In September of the same year, Emperor Xian of Han left Luoyang and arrived in Xuchang, where Cao Hong was appointed as the Grand Counselor."

"In the fifth year of Jian'an, Cao Cao and Yuan Shao were in a stalemate at Guandu. Cao Cao personally led 5,000 light soldiers to attack Wuchao and sent Cao Hong to guard the camp."

Li Bai: Back then, Cao Pi once asked Cao Hong to borrow a hundred pieces of silk, but Cao Hong refused.

Therefore, Cao Pi "always hated him", held a grudge in his heart, and was determined to find an opportunity to take revenge.

So, when Cao Hong's followers committed a crime, Cao Pi seized the evidence and wanted to use it to kill Cao Hong!

It seems that the reason why Cao Pi wanted to kill Cao Hong is very simple: Cao Hong is stingy and won't lend you money; Cao Pi is even more stingy and will kill you if you don't lend me money.
However, how could things be so simple?

This is how it is, but it is not the truth!
When Cao Pi went to Cao Hong to borrow money, he was already in the Eastern Palace.

Why did Cao Pi go to Cao Hong to borrow money at that time?
During the late Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period, silk was both a commodity and a currency.

What does one hundred pieces of silk mean?

It was not uncommon for rulers to reward their meritorious officials with 700 or 1,000 pieces of silk.

Therefore, one hundred rolls of silk was an astronomical figure for ordinary families, but for people like Cao Pi and Cao Hong, it was not a small number, but it was also not unaffordable.

When Cao Pi was in the Eastern Palace, he had already made a group of close friends.

Among Cao Pi’s “Four Friends”, Sima Yi, Chen Qun and others were all rich people!

Even if Cao Pi had a problem with "capital turnover" and was too embarrassed to ask his father for money, couldn't he just ask the "Four Friends" to borrow money? Why did he have to go to Cao Hong to borrow money?

Obviously, when Cao Pi asked Cao Hong to borrow money, he didn't want money, he just wanted Cao Hong to show his attitude!

The reason why he wanted Cao Hong to express his attitude was because: Cao Pi was already the crown prince and the successor, but Cao Hong's attitude was still very problematic!

Cao Hong is Cao Pi's cousin.

However, the relationship between the two people was very delicate in the past.

To talk about the relationship between Cao Hong and Cao Pi, we have to start with two other people: Xun Yu and Cao Zhi.

We know that in the struggle for succession, Cao Pi's main opponent was Cao Zhi.

As for Cao Hong and Xun Yu, given their status and seniority, it was naturally inconvenient for them to personally express their opinions.
However, their "second generation" and intermarriages can basically show their family's stance.

Cao Hong's daughter, Cao, was a beautiful woman and married Xun Can, the son of Xun Yu.

Moreover, there is true love between the couple, and their love story is famous in history.

Xun Yu's eldest son, Xun Yun, was a staunch supporter of Cao Zhi. "But he was not on good terms with Xiahou Shang, and Emperor Wen hated Xun Yun deeply." He was a person Cao Pi was particularly wary of.
Therefore, the relationship between Cao Hong's family, Xun Yu's family and Cao Zhi was relatively close at that time.

Therefore, after Cao Pi won, he tried to communicate with Cao Hong, trying to make Cao Hong recognize the reality and support him.

"After Yuan Shao learned that Wuchao had been attacked, he sent his generals Zhang He and Gao Lan to attack Cao Cao's camp. However, Zhang He and Gao Lan defected on the battlefield, burned their siege equipment and defected to Cao's army."

"Zhang He came to surrender. Cao Hong, who stayed behind in the camp, suspected that he was pretending to surrender and did not dare to accept it. It was only at the suggestion of his adviser Xun You that he accepted the surrender of Zhang He and Gao Lan."

"After Yuan Shao died, Cao Cao continued his conquest in the north and sent Cao Hong to attack Ye County." "In the 13th year of Jian'an, Cao Cao went south to attack Liu Biao and sent Cao Hong to lead an army to capture Wuyang, Wuyin, Ye, Duyang, Bowang and other counties."

"Due to his meritorious service in battle, Cao Hong was promoted to General Lifeng and granted the title of Marquis of Guomingting. He was also appointed Protector-General because he had always followed Cao Cao in his conquests."

"In October of the 22nd year of Jian'an, Liu Bei sent General Wu Lan to station at Xiabian. Cao Cao sent Cao Hong to lead troops to attack and appointed Cao Xiu and Xin Pi as military advisors to Cao Hong."

"In March of the following year, Cao Hong planned to attack Wu Lan. At this time, Liu Bei sent Zhang Fei to station troops in Gushan, hoping to cut off Cao Hong's army's retreat."

"Everyone was discussing and hesitating. Cao Xiu judged that Zhang Fei was deliberately setting up a false front and suggested that Cao Hong attack Wu Lan quickly."

"Cao Hong listened to Cao Xiu's advice and led his troops to attack Wu Lan, killing Wu Lan's general Ren Kui and others. Wu Lan was defeated and fled, and Zhang Fei also led his troops to retreat and return to Hanzhong."

"After the battle, Cao Hong held a banquet to celebrate his victory. During the banquet, there were young female artists wearing thin and transparent silk clothes, dancing and kicking drums with their feet."

"Everyone in the room was smiling. Wudu Governor Yang Fu suddenly stood up and sternly criticized Cao Hong for letting women expose their bodies, which was against morality. Then he left with a wave of his sleeves."

"Cao Hong immediately stopped singing and dancing and invited Yang Fu back to his seat. Everyone in the room looked solemn and in awe of Yang Fu."

"In the 25th year of Jian'an, Cao Cao died, Cao Pi succeeded him as King of Wei, and promoted Cao Hong to General of Wei."

"Soon after, Cao Hong was promoted to General of Cavalry, and was granted the title of Marquis of Yewang. His fief was increased by 1,000 households, bringing his total to 2,100 households. He was also granted the title of Special Advancement, and soon after, he was granted the title of Marquis of Duyang."

"At first, Cao Hong was from a wealthy family but was stingy by nature. When Cao Pi was young, he tried to borrow money from him but was refused, so he held a grudge against him."

"After Cao Pi became emperor, he took advantage of the fact that Cao Hong's followers had committed crimes and arrested Cao Hong, put him in prison, sentenced him to death, and confiscated his property."

"All the ministers went to intercede for him, but to no avail. Empress Dowager Bian rebuked Cao Pi for this and threatened Cao Pi's favorite Empress Guo that if Cao Hong was executed, she would order Cao Pi to depose the empress."

"Empress Guo cried bitterly and pleaded with Cao Pi again and again, and only then was Cao Hong spared from death, dismissed from his official position, and his title and fiefdom reduced."

"Cao Hong was a meritorious official of Cao Cao, but he was dismissed from office and stripped of his title. People at that time complained about him and felt disappointed and dissatisfied about this."

"In May of the seventh year of Huangchu, Cao Pi died, and Wei Ming Emperor Cao Rui succeeded to the throne. He reappointed Cao Hong as the rear general, changed his title to Lecheng Hou, granted him a fief of 1,000 households, and gave him the title of special promotion."

"Soon after, Cao Hong was promoted to General of Cavalry and reinstated. In the sixth year of Taihe, Cao Hong died and was posthumously named Marquis Gong."

"After Cao Hong died, his son Cao Fu inherited his title. Cao Cao had originally divided part of Cao Hong's fiefdom and made his son Cao Zhen a marquis."

"In the fourth year of Zhengshi, Emperor Cao Fang of Wei issued an edict that Cao Hong and other deceased generals from Cao Cao's time could be offered sacrifices in the temple of Emperor Cao Cao of Wei."

Su Shi: After Cao Pi successfully became the crown prince, he tried to strengthen communication with Cao Hong to see if his uncle could "face reality."

However, uncle Cao Hong seemed to be in conflict with Cao Pi.

When Cao Hong followed Cao Cao to conquer Hanzhong, he asked Chen Lin for help and wrote a letter to Cao Pi.

Chen Lin was a man of great literary talent, so he left behind another excellent work, "Letter to Cao Hong and Emperor Wen of Wei".

The part of the letter written by Chen Lin is naturally beautiful, but the words added by Cao Hong himself fully demonstrate his contempt for Cao Pi.

At the beginning, Cao Hong introduced that he had written a letter to Cao Pi before. At that time, he had just defeated the enemy and was very happy, so he "exaggerated the facts" and talked nonsense just to tease you!

Then, Cao Hong said that he received a reply letter from Cao Pi, "playing with it endlessly". Did he treat your reply letter as a joke?
Then he introduced: I originally wanted Chen Lin to help write a letter to you, but Chen Lin is also busy! Then I will play with you first.
Afterwards, Cao Hong called himself "old man" many times and acted very arrogantly.

Some of these sentences seem to be a response to Cao Pi's previous argument, saying that he should not listen to other people's nonsense. If the natural defenses were so easy to break, Lu Ban would have conquered Song and Yue Yi would have conquered Jimo.

In short, if you have time, I suggest you read this article. It is a representative work of the ancient nitpickers.

If it were an ordinary relationship between an uncle and nephew, writing letters like this could be considered free and equal.

However, Cao Pi is already the crown prince, and there is a difference between him and your uncle Cao Hong in terms of master and servant status!
Obviously, at least from the situation in this letter, Cao Hong was not ready to let Cao Pi be his master!
If Cao Pi wanted to punish Cao Hong, he didn't need to take revenge, he just needed to not shield him.

Cao Hong's notoriety had long been spread.

At the beginning, Cao Cao ruled the army by law, and most of the generals abided by the law.

There were only two people, Cao Hong and Liu Xun, whose followers were mostly lawless and they were collectively known as "the nobles in the army."

Among them, Liu Xun was an old friend of Cao Cao, and Cao Hong was Cao Cao's clan brother.

My old friend Liu Xun has been killed by Cao Cao.

Cao Cao tolerated his clan brother Cao Hong.

Cao Cao could tolerate it, but Cao Pi could not!
Sure enough, Cao Hong's retainer had committed crime again, and this time Cao Pi would naturally not miss such an opportunity!
Moreover, the supporters of the Cao Wei regime, whether they are the Xiahou Cao clan or the aristocratic families, all have a large number of retainers. If they are not strictly restrained and bound by laws, they will be able to take off!

Is Cao Hong an old hero? Did Cao Hong save Cao Cao's life?
Cao Hong is just the ideal chicken to be used as an example to scare the monkeys!

However, Cao Pi was nice to Cao Hong most of the time.

After Cao Pi came to power, Cao Hong was appointed General of the Guards and later promoted to General of the Cavalry.

It was not until 226, the year Cao Pi died, that Cao Pi took action against Cao Hong!

Therefore, Cao Pi punished Cao Hong not only because of old grudges, but also for the next generation.

Cao Pi was in poor health and Cao Rui was still young.

Considering the past relationship between Cao Hong and Cao Zhi, and considering Cao Hong's position in the Wei army, Cao Hong could be a potential threat.

In the first month of the year, Cao Hong was questioned and demoted to a commoner; in the fifth month, Cao Pi died.

After Cao Rui came to power, he immediately restored Cao Hong's position.

The key to Cao Hong's restoration was that Cao Pi underestimated Cao Rui!
Cao Pi thought Cao Rui was too young, so he carefully arranged four regents.

However, Cao Rui did not intend to be constrained by this.

Therefore, Cao Rui not only used four regents, but also got rid of their unnecessary "assistance" and was able to make decisions on his own!

In this case, Cao Rui naturally does not need to worry about the threat from Cao Hong. (End of this chapter)