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Sima Shi, courtesy name Ziyuan, was a native of Wen County, Henei Prefecture (now Wen County, Henan Province).

A powerful official of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period and one of the founders of the Western Jin Dynasty.

Sima Shi was the eldest son of Sima Yi, a powerful official of Cao Wei, the same-mother brother of Sima Zhao, the Emperor Wen of Jin, and the uncle of Sima Yan, the Emperor Wu of Jin. He did not enter the officialdom in his early years.

During the Jingchu period, he served as Palace Attendant and was later promoted to Central Guard General.

In the first month of the first year of Jiaping (249 AD), Sima Yi launched the "Gaopingling Coup" and plotted to kill Cao Shuang. Sima Shi assisted his father and made plans. Later, he was promoted to Marquis of Changping Township for his merits, and was soon promoted to General Wei.

In August of the third year of Jiaping (251 AD), Sima Yi died of illness, and Wei Emperor Cao Fang appointed Sima Shi as the General of the Fujun Army to assist in the administration.

"The following year, Sima Shi was promoted to general, concurrently serving as minister of state and recorder of the imperial secretariat, commanding the military forces inside and outside the court and controlling the Cao Wei regime."

"After Sima Shi took office, he appointed talented people and rectified the government;"

"In December of the fourth year of Jiaping (252 AD), Sima Shi divided his troops into three groups to attack Wu, but they were repelled by the army led by Zhuge Ke, the Grand Tutor of Wu;"

"In April of the following year, Zhuge Ke led his army to invade Huainan and besieged the new city of Hefei, but was repelled by Guanqiu Jian and Wen Qin sent by Sima Shi."

"In the first year of Zhengyuan (254), Emperor Cao Fang of Wei conspired with Xiahou Xuan, the Minister of Rites, and others to launch a coup d'état, intending to depose Sima Shi. The plot was leaked, and Sima Shi deposed Cao Fang and made Cao Mao the emperor instead."

"In the first month of the second year of Zhengyuan (255 AD), Guanqiu Jian and Wen Qin rebelled in Huainan; Sima Shi personally led the army to quell the rebellion."

"Sima Shi had a tumor in his eye, and was frightened during the suppression of the Huainan rebellion, which made his condition worse;"

"On the way back to the army, Sima Shi died of illness in Xuchang at the age of 47."

"After Sima Shi died, the court posthumously awarded him the title of Grand Marshal and the posthumous title of Zhongwu."

"His brother Sima Zhao was conferred the title of King of Jin, and Sima Shi was posthumously conferred the title of King of Jin Jing; after his nephew Sima Yan became emperor, he was posthumously named Emperor Shizong Jing."

"Zhang Ti, a minister of the State of Wu, believed that Sima Shi had suppressed the rebellion, stabilized the people, won the support of the people, and possessed both wisdom and courage;"

"Yu Shinan, a scholar in the Sui Dynasty, also believed that he was highly regarded by his contemporaries and could be regarded as a talent who could assist the king."

"However, Hu Sanxing in the late Song Dynasty and early Yuan Dynasty and Zhao Yi, a scholar in the Qing Dynasty, believed that Sima Shi had stolen power and deposed and enthroned emperors, and was a traitor to the country like Wang Mang and Xiao Luan."

"Sima Shi was the eldest son of Sima Yi, a powerful official of Cao Wei. When he was young, he was talented and good at making friends with famous people. He was as famous as Xiahou Xuan and He Yan."

"He Yan believed that the person who could accomplish great things in the world was Sima Shi."

"At that time, Xiahou Xuan and others were dismissed from office by Emperor Wei Ming Cao Rui because they were accused of pursuing vanity and fame. Sima Shi was implicated because of his friendship with them and was unable to enter the officialdom in his early years."

"Sima Shi married Xiahou Hui, the daughter of Xiahou Shang, the general of Cao Wei who conquered the south. Xiahou Hui's mother was the lady of Deyang, the sister of the great general Cao Zhen."

"During the reign of Emperor Ming of Wei, Cao Rui, Sima Yi was highly trusted; Xiahou Hui knew that the Sima family had signs of rebellion, and because she was the nephew of the Cao family, Sima Shi was very wary of his wife."

"In the second year of Qinglong (234 AD), Sima Shi poisoned his wife Xiahou Hui to death."

"During the Jingchu period, Sima Shi served as a regular attendant to the emperor, and was later promoted several times to serve as a military commander."

"He established laws and regulations for selecting talents, recommending them based on their merits, and making it impossible for officials to be partial to their own interests."

"In the eighth year of Zhengshi (247 AD), his mother Zhang Chunhua passed away, and Sima Shi mourned for her, earning him the reputation of a filial son."

"In the first month of the first year of Jiaping (249 AD), Emperor Cao Fang of Wei went to Gaoping Mausoleum to pay homage. General Cao Shuang and his brothers accompanied him, and the court was empty."

"Sima Yi then petitioned the Empress Dowager Yongning to depose Cao Shuang and his brothers, and took the opportunity to launch a coup d'état to seize power, which is known in history as the 'Gaopingling Incident'."

"Sima Shi assisted his father Sima Yi in plotting to kill Cao Shuang and gave his father advice."

"In order to keep it secret, Sima Yi was very cautious and only discussed the coup with his eldest son Sima Shi in a secret room. Even his second son Sima Zhao didn't know."

"Sima Shi did not control many troops at the time, so he secretly raised 3,000 assassins long before the coup,"

"They are scattered among the people, waiting for his call at any time, and no one knows where these assassins came from."

"My younger brother Sima Zhao did not know about the coup in advance and was only informed when the action was about to take place."

"Sima Yi asked someone to tell his fortune. Sima Shi was very calm and sat and lay down as usual, but his brother Sima Zhao was restless."

"On the morning of the day when the coup was launched, Sima Shi led his troops to station at Sima Gate, stabilized the interior and exterior, controlled the capital, and disciplined the army;"

Li Bai: Sima Yi was very impressed with the performance of his eldest son Sima Shi. Sima Yi succeeded in seizing power, placed Cao Shuang and his brothers under house arrest, and took sole control of the government;
Sima Shi was promoted to Marquis of Changping Township due to his merits, with a fief of 1,000 households, and was soon promoted to General Wei.

In April of the third year of Jiaping (251 AD), Cao Wei's Sikong Wang Ling rebelled. Sima Shi, along with his adopted son Sima You, followed Sima Yi to fight against Wang Ling and put down the rebellion.

8] In August of the same year, Sima Yi died of illness in Luoyang. Emperor Cao Fang of Wei appointed Sima Shi as General of the Army to assist in the administration.

In the first month of the following year, Sima Shi was promoted to the rank of general, concurrently serving as palace attendant and recorder of the imperial court, holding the imperial seal and commanding the military forces inside and outside the court.

At this point, Sima Shi completely took over his father Sima Yi's military and political power of Cao Wei.

After Sima Shi took office, he ordered all officials to recommend talents, to clarify the hierarchy in the court, to sympathize with the poor, and to purge decadent and useless officials.
He appointed military generals such as Zhuge Dan, Guanqiu Jian, Wang Chang, Chen Tai, and Hu Zun to command the armies in all directions, and appointed officials such as Deng Ai, Zhou Tai, and Wang Ji to govern the prefectures and counties. At the same time, he allowed Zhong Hui, Xiahou Xuan, Meng Kang and others to participate in court affairs. For a time, the court and the country were in order and stability was achieved in all directions.

In April of the fourth year of Jiaping (252 AD), the Wu emperor Sun Quan died of illness, and the Wei Kingdom intended to attack Wu.

General Zhendong Zhuge Dan suggested that Sima Shi concentrate his forces to attack Jiangling (now Jiangling County, Hubei Province) and Wuchang (now Wuhan City, Hubei Province) in order to strangle the upper reaches of Wu.

Sima Shi did not accept the proposal. In December of the same year, Sima Shi divided his troops into three groups to attack Wu. He ordered General Wang Chang, the General of the Southern Expedition, to attack Nanjun (now Jingzhou City, Hubei Province), General Wuqiu Jian, the General of the Southern Expedition, to attack Wuchang, and Zhuge Dan and General Hu Zun, the General of the Eastern Expedition, to lead an army of 70,000 to attack Dongxing (now Anhui Province, including southern Shanxi);

Sima Zhao served as the military supervisor in his capacity as General of the East. Zhuge Ke, the Grand Tutor of Wu, led an army of 40,000 men to rescue Dongxing and defeated the armies of Zhuge Dan and Hu Zun. When Wang Chang and Wuqiu Jian heard that Dongxing had been defeated, they burned down their camps and retreated.

After the defeat at Dongxing, the court officials discussed the matter and believed that the generals involved should be demoted. Sima Shi said that it was because he did not follow Zhuge Dan's suggestion to concentrate the troops that the defeat occurred, and it had nothing to do with the generals.

In order to stabilize people's hearts, Sima Shi pardoned the sins of other generals and only reduced Sima Zhao's title. In April of the fifth year of Jiaping (253 AD), Zhuge Ke, the Grand Tutor of Wu, led an army of to attack Huainan and besieged the new city of Hefei.

The ministers in the court were worried that the Wu army would divide its forces to attack the Huai-Si area, so they should send troops to defend in multiple places.

Sima Shi believed that Zhuge Ke had just taken over the government of Wu and would be eager to win in order to stabilize his power, so he gathered troops to attack the new city of Hefei.
He did not know how to divide his troops for the attack, so he let Guanqiu Jian and Yangzhou Governor Wen Qin lead a large force to resist Zhuge Ke's attack in Hefei New City; Zhuge Ke failed to capture the city after a long siege.

Guanqiu Jian and Wen Qin requested to lead the army to fight, but Sima Shi believed that Zhuge Ke's army was lightly armed and in a desperate situation, so their fighting power must be very strong and it was not appropriate for them to go out of the city to fight.

The new city of Hefei was small but strong, so we should hold on to it to consume the enemy's forces. Sima Shi then ordered his generals to dig deep trenches and build high ramparts, and to close the city without fighting.

The two armies fought for several months, and Zhuge Ke's army gradually became exhausted from attacking the city, with most of the soldiers killed or wounded.

Sima Shi then ordered Wen Qin to lead elite troops to block Zhuge Ke's retreat, and then let Guanqiu Jian lead the main force to launch an attack immediately afterwards.

Zhuge Ke was defeated and retreated, but Wen Qin intercepted him halfway, defeated the enemy army and beheaded more than 10,000 people.

"In the first month of the first year of the Zhengyuan reign (254 AD), Emperor Cao Fang of Wei was dissatisfied with Sima Shi's monopoly of power, and secretly conspired with Li Feng, the Minister of the Central Secretariat, Zhang Ji, the Grand Master of Imperial Households, Su Shao and others to launch a coup, intending to depose Sima Shi and replace him with Xiahou Xuan, the Grand Master of Ceremonies, as the general."

"Sima Shi learned the secret and sent his servant Wang Xian to go and meet Li Feng. Li Feng had no choice but to come and see Sima Shi."

"Sima Shi rebuked Li Feng. Li Feng knew that disaster was coming, so he spoke ill of him. Sima Shi was furious and ordered his soldiers to kill Li Feng with swords;"

"Then he ordered the arrest of Xiahou Xuan, Zhang Ji and others, and exterminated all three clans."

"In March of the same year, Sima Shi forced Cao Fang to depose Empress Zhang and replace her with Empress Wang."

"After this incident, Sima Shi was worried about unexpected changes, so in September of the same year, he cooperated with Queen Mother Guo to depose Cao Fang as King of Qi and install Cao Mao, the son of Cao Lin, the Prince of Donghai, as the emperor, and changed the reign title to Zhengyuan."

"After this fierce palace coup, the forces in the court that were close to the Cao Wei royal family were purged, and the Sima family's control over the power of the Cao Wei government became more stable."

"Sima Shi monopolized power, arbitrarily deposed and enthroned, and excluded dissidents, which caused dissatisfaction among Guanqiu Jian and Wen Qin who were stationed in Shouchun (now Shou County, Huainan City, Anhui Province)."

"In the first month of the second year of the Zhengyuan reign (255 AD), Guanqiu Jian and Wen Qin raised their troops in rebellion, falsely claiming the Empress Dowager's order to attack Sima Shi, and wrote a letter of denunciation about Sima Shi's crimes and sent it to all prefectures and counties."

"Guanqiu Jian and Wen Qin forced the soldiers stationed in Huainan to set up an altar in the west of the city and swear an oath of blood. They also sent their sons to the State of Wu as hostages in exchange for Wu sending troops to rescue them."

"In February of the same year, Guanqiu Jian and Wen Qin personally led an army of 60,000 to cross the Huai River to the north and advance westward to Xiang County (now the western suburbs of Huaidian Hui Town, Shenqiu County, Henan Province)."

"When Sima Shi learned of the rebellion of Guanqiu Jian and Wen Qin, he summoned all the ministers to discuss the matter of expedition. The court agreed that the generals should be sent to lead the army to fight against them."

"The secretary Hu Gu, the secretary Zhong Hui and others advised Sima Shi to lead the army in person. Sima Shi listened and led 100,000 soldiers in person to fight."

"After the army was assembled, Sima Shi sent General Zhennan Zhuge Dan to lead the troops from Yuzhou to approach Shouchun from Anfengjin."

"General Hu Zun, the general in charge of the expedition to the east, led the troops from Qingzhou and Xuzhou to attack from between Qiao County (now Bozhou City, Anhui Province) and Song County (now Taihe County, Anhui Province) to cut off the rebels' retreat."

"Sima Shi himself led his troops to station in Ruyang County (now Shangshui County, Luoyang, Henan), and sent the military supervisor Wang Ji to lead the vanguard troops to garrison Nandun County (now Nandun Town, Xiangcheng City, Henan), waiting to meet Guanqiu Jian's army."

"Sima Shi ordered the troops to hold their camps and not engage the rebels. Guanqiu Jian and Wen Qin could not fight if they advanced, but they were afraid of being attacked if they retreated to Shouchun. They were caught in a dilemma and had no idea what to do."

"The families of the Huainan soldiers who participated in the rebellion were all in the north, so their morale was low and they surrendered one after another."

"Sima Shi also sent Deng Ai, the governor of Yanzhou, to lead more than 10,000 troops from Taishan County to Lejia City (today's east of Shangshui County, Henan Province), showing weakness and inducing Guanqiu Jian and Wen Qin to attack;"

"Sima Shi followed closely behind, leading the main force from Ruyang. Wen Qin was unaware of the plot, and led his army to attack Deng Ai, encountering Sima Shi's main force at the foot of Lejia City;"

Su Shi: The two armies engaged in battle, Wen Qin was defeated and fled. Sima Shi sent out an elite cavalry unit to pursue and defeat Wen Qin's army.

When Guanqiu Jian heard that Wen Qin had been defeated, he was terrified and abandoned his people and fled the city. Commandant An Fengjin led his troops in pursuit, beheaded Guanqiu Jian, and sent his head to the capital Luoyang.

Wen Qin fled to Wu and surrendered to Wu. Thus, the Huainan rebellion was put down.

At the beginning, Sima Shi had a tumor in his eye and asked a doctor to remove the tumor.

At that time, there was a rebellion in Huainan. Wen Qin's son Wen Yuan was extremely brave and led his troops to attack the military camp. Sima Shi was so frightened that his eyes popped out of their sockets.

In order to stabilize the morale of the troops, Sima Shi covered himself with a quilt and endured the pain. He bit the quilt because of the unbearable pain, but his subordinates were unaware of his injury.

Shortly after suppressing the Huainan Rebellion, Sima Shi fell seriously ill and asked his younger brother Sima Zhao to lead the army.

On the 255th day of the first lunar month in the second year of Zhengyuan (March 3rd, 23 AD), Sima Shi died of illness in Xuchang at the age of .

After Sima Shi's death, his younger brother Sima Zhao succeeded him as general and continued to control the Cao Wei regime.

The court posthumously awarded Sima Shi the title of Grand Marshal, increased his fief by 50,000 households, and gave him the posthumous title of Duke Wu.

Sima Zhao declined the offer, thinking that Duke Wu's posthumous title was too grand, so he changed it to Zhongwu.

In the first year of the Xianxi reign (264 AD), Sima Zhao was conferred the title of King of Jin, and Sima Shi was posthumously honored as King Jing of Jin.

In the second year of Xianxi (265 AD), Sima Zhao's son Sima Yan replaced Wei with Jin and became emperor. He gave Sima Shi the title of Jin Jingdi, called his tomb Junping Mausoleum, and gave him the temple name Shizong.

When Sima Yi was planning the coup, he only discussed it secretly with Sima Shi, and only told his other son Sima Zhao on the eve of the incident.

Sima Zhao was so nervous that he tossed and turned all night, but Sima Shi slept soundly.

The next morning, Sima Shi suddenly gathered three thousand troops outside the gate, in silence and in strict order.

Everyone around was very surprised and didn't know how this team suddenly appeared.

It turned out that Sima Shi had secretly adopted brave men, organized them into groups, and scattered them among the people, ready to come when called.

After the coup was successful, he was granted the title of Marquis of Changping Township and promoted to General of the Guards. (End of this chapter)