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Sima Zhao was born into a noble family. His ancestors were given the surname Sima by the Zhou royal family for their merits in the Western Zhou Dynasty. His grandfather served as Jingzhao Yin of Luoyang.

In the sixth year of Jian'an in the Han Dynasty (208 AD), Sima Zhao's father Sima Yi was forcibly recruited by Cao Cao into the government. He became friends with Cao Pi and served as the Yellow Gate Minister, Counselor, Prime Minister's East Cao, and Chief Clerk.

In the second year of Wei Jingchu (238 AD), Sima Zhao was granted the title of Marquis of Xincheng Township.

In the early years of the Zhengshi period (240 AD), he was appointed General of Agriculture in Luoyang.

It was the late period of Emperor Ming of Wei's extravagant lifestyle, and Sima Zhao ordered the exemption of harsh taxes and fees to avoid delaying the farming season, which delighted the people.

In 244 AD, Sima Zhao served as the General of the Expedition to Shu and assisted Xiahou Xuan. He followed General Cao Shuang to attack Shu and led his army out of Luogu and stationed in Xingshi.

"During this period, Sima Zhao assessed the situation and first kept his troops in place to force the Shu attacking army to retreat. He then suggested that Xiahou Xuan withdraw his troops in time, allowing the Wei army to escape from an unfavorable and dangerous situation."

"After returning to Kyoto, he was appointed as a councilor. In the spring of the first year of Jiaping (249 AD), the Emperor of Cao Wei went to Gaoping Mausoleum to pay homage to the emperor. General Cao Shuang and his close associates accompanied him."

"Sima Yi, who was the Grand Tutor at the time, ordered in the name of the Empress Dowager to close the city gates, occupy the armory, and send troops out of the city to guard the Luoshui Floating Bridge. He ordered Si Tu Gao Rou to hold the title of acting general and occupy Cao Shuang's camp."

"Afterwards, Sima Yi killed Cao Shuang and took control of the Wei government. This was known in history as the Gaopingling Incident. Sima Zhao was rewarded with an additional 1,000 households for his meritorious service in leading the people to protect the two palaces."

"In the autumn of the same year, General Jiang Wei of Shu invaded Yongzhou, built two cities near Xiangshan Mountain, sent guard generals Ju An and Li Jiao to garrison, and gathered Qiang and Hu people as hostages. He invaded and invaded various counties. General Guo Huai of Zhengxi and Chen Tai, the governor of Yongzhou, resisted."

"Sima Zhao followed Guo Huai to fight, and was promoted to General Anxi and General Zhijie, stationed in Guanzhong, and served as the military governor. Guo Huai and Ju An were in a stalemate in Qudi, so Sima Zhao advanced his troops to occupy the Great Wall and headed south to Luogu to confuse the Shu army."

"Jiang Wei had some reservations and retreated to defend Nanyin. Ju An's army was cut off from support and surrendered."

"Sima Zhao was transferred to be the General of Andong and held the title of Imperial Guard to guard Xuchang."

"In the third year of Jiaping (251 AD), Sima Yi led the central army to attack Wang Ling by boat. Sima Zhao was ordered to supervise the military affairs in Huaibei and led the army to meet at Xiangdi."

"I was awarded an additional fief of 300 households, and was temporarily granted a gold seal and purple ribbon."

"In August of the same year, Sima Yi died. The following year, Sima Zhao's brother Sima Shi was appointed general and took charge of state affairs."

"In the fourth year of Jiaping (252 AD), Sima Shi ordered his troops to attack the State of Wu in three directions."

"Sima Zhao was appointed as the commander-in-chief, and led General Hu Zun, the General Zhuge Dan, the General of the Eastern Frontier, to attack the State of Wu, and they fought in Dongxing."

"Hu Zun and his men underestimated the enemy and were negligent, which led to their defeat. Sima Zhao was convicted of being a military supervisor and was stripped of his title."

"In the summer of the fifth year of Jiaping (253 AD), the Shu general Jiang Wei once again led his army to invade Longyou, pretending to attack Didao. Sima Zhao temporarily took on the title of General of the Western Expedition and stationed in Chang'an. He thought Jiang Wei was bluffing, and sure enough, the Shu army withdrew due to lack of food and grass."

"At this time, the Qiang and Hu tribes in Xinping were in rebellion, but they were defeated by Sima Zhao. The rebels were afraid of his power and surrendered one after another."

"Since he had made great contributions in suppressing the rebellion, Sima Zhao was re-enfeoffed as the Marquis of Xincheng Township."

"In the spring of the sixth year of Jiaping (254 AD), Cao Fang, Duke of Shaoling of Wei, conspired with Li Feng, the Minister of the Central Secretariat, Xiahou Xuan, the Minister of State Affairs, Zhang Ji, and others to kill Sima Shi and replace him with Xiahou Xuan, the Minister of State Affairs. However, the plan failed and the three were killed by Sima Shi."

"In the same year, Sima Shi deposed Cao Fang as King of Qi. At the insistence of Empress Dowager Guo, Sima Shi sent an envoy to welcome Cao Mao, Duke of Gaogui, to Luoyang to ascend the throne and changed the reign title to Zhengyuan."

"Since Sima Zhao participated in the formulation of the plan, he was promoted to Marquis of Gaodu and given an additional fief of 2,000 households."

"In the spring of the second year of Zhengyuan (255 AD), General Zhendong Guanqiu Jian and Governor of Yangzhou Wenqin falsely claimed to have received an imperial edict from the empress dowager, raised an army in Shouchun, and issued a letter to all prefectures and counties to jointly attack Sima Shi."

"Sima Shi led the Chinese and foreign armies to attack Guanqiu Jian and Wen Qin, and let Sima Zhao concurrently serve as the commander of the Central Army and stay in Luoyang."

"In this battle, Guanqiu Jian was killed, and Wen Qin fled to the State of Wu."

"During this period, Sima Shi's eye disease relapsed, and was aggravated by the enemy's attack. After returning to the capital, he appointed Sima Zhao as the general of the guards and the general in charge of all the troops."

"In the same year, Sima Shi died in Xuchang. Emperor Cao Mao of Wei ordered Sima Zhao to guard Xuchang and asked Shangshu Fu Xia to lead the six armies back to the capital."

Li Bai: Sima Zhao adopted the strategies of Zhong Hui and Fu Xia and led his army back to station south of Luoyang.

In February, an imperial decree was issued to appoint Sima Zhao as general and recorder of the Secretariat.

In June 256 AD, the Wei Kingdom changed its reign title to Ganlu. In August, the imperial court ordered Sima Zhao to be given the title of Grand Commander.

In the summer of the second year of Ganlu (257 AD), Sima Zhao summoned Zhuge Dan back to the capital in the name of the emperor to serve as Sikong. Zhuge Dan refused to obey the edict, killed Le Chen, the governor of Yangzhou, and raised an army in Huainan. He sent his youngest son Zhuge Liang to the State of Wu as a hostage, and pledged allegiance to the King of Wu and asked for help.

In the same year, Sima Zhao, in order to boost morale, served the emperor and the empress dowager in the eastward expedition, recruited soldiers in Qing, Xu, Jing, and Yu, and also recruited a part of the mobile troops in Guanzhong, and all gathered in Huaibei.

The army was stationed in Xiang, and the Imperial Court Judge He Zhen was ordered to go to Huainan with a seal and a staff to comfort the officers and soldiers, and to clarify the punishments and rewards for rebellion and loyalty.

In June, Emperor Cao Mao of Wei arrived in Xiang County. Sima Zhao led an army of 260,000 and stationed in Qiutou (now southeast of Shenqiu, Henan). He ordered General Wang Ji and General Chen Qian to lead the troops to besiege Shouchun City.

Sun Chen, the general of the Eastern Wu, sent generals Quan Yi, Quan Duan, Tang Zi, Wen Qin, Wang Zuo and others to lead more than 30,000 people to Shouchun City to support Zhuge Dan. The Wu army took advantage of the dangerous terrain before the encirclement was formed and rushed into the city from the northeast of Shouchun City.

At the same time, Sun Chen ordered the Grand Commander Zhu Yi to lead 30,000 soldiers to garrison in Ancheng (now southwest of Shou County, Anhui).

Afterwards, Sima Zhao surrounded Shouchun City on all sides with superior forces and built fortifications to trap the city.

Wen Qin in the city tried to break the siege several times during the siege of the Wei army, but was repelled each time.

Soon, Wei's Yanzhou governor Zhou Tai defeated Zhu Yi's reinforcements in Yangyuan (now southwest of Shou County, Anhui).

In addition, General Wang Chang occupied Jiashi (now northwest of Jingmen City, Hubei Province) and approached Jiangling (now Jingzhou City, Hubei Province) to contain the Eastern Wu generals Shi Ji, Quan Xi and others to prevent them from going east to rescue Zhuge Dan.

In July, Sun Chen, commander of the Wu army, dispatched a large number of troops to station in Huoli, and sent Zhu Yi to lead generals Ding Feng, Li Fei and five others to lift the siege of Shouchun.

Zhu Yi led his troops to the area around Lijiangshui (now south of Shou County, Anhui) in an attempt to rescue Zhuge Dan, but was defeated many times by Shi Bao and Zhou Tai.

With heavy casualties and all supplies and food burned by the Wei army, Zhu Yi was forced to order the entire army to retreat, but this decision made Sun Chen very dissatisfied.

In order to lift the siege of Shouchun, Sun Chen mobilized another 30,000 troops and handed them over to Zhu Yi, forcing Zhu Yi to attack again. Zhu Yi refused on the grounds of insufficient supply of food and supplies.

Sun Lin was furious and beheaded Zhu Yi in public before leading his army back to Jianye. Zhu Yi's death dampened the morale of the Wu army and the people were also resentful.

After that, Sima Zhao continued to strengthen the siege and spread rumors of sowing discord, spreading news that the Wu army's rescue was coming, the Wei army's morale was low, and there was a shortage of food and grass to confuse the soldiers in the city.

Zhuge Dan and his companions became even more at ease and ate and drank as much as they wanted, and soon the city ran out of food.

Zhuge Dan's trusted generals Jiang Ban and Jiao Yi had a conflict with Wen Qin. Fearing that they would be killed, they crossed the city wall and surrendered to the Wei army.

The mother of Wu general Quan Yi was convicted in Wu, and Quan Duan's elder brother's sons Quan Hui and Quan Yi escorted their mother to the Wei army.

Sima Zhao used Zhong Hui's strategy and wrote a letter on behalf of Quan Hui and Quan Yi to persuade Quan Jing, who was in Shouchun City, to surrender. In December, Quan Jing's five brothers led their subordinates to escape from the city and surrender to Sima Zhao. The people in Shouchun City were panicked and didn't know what to do.

"In the spring of the third year of Ganlu (258 AD), Zhuge Dan, Wen Qin and others attacked the besieging army, but were repelled by the Wei army."

"Zhuge Dan and Wen Qin were at odds with each other and were suspicious of each other, so Wen Qin was killed by Zhuge Dan."

"Wen Qin's sons Wen Yang and Wen Hu jumped off the city wall and surrendered to the Wei army. Sima Zhao appointed them generals, made them marquises, and ordered them to circle the city to persuade them to surrender. At this time, the Shouchun defenders had lost their fighting spirit, so Sima Zhao immediately ordered an attack on the city."

"On February 20th, the defenders in the city gave up resistance and Shouchun City fell. Zhuge Dan led his trusted followers to break out through the small city gate, but they were defeated and killed, and all three of his clans were executed."

"Generals Tang Zi, Wang Zuo and more than 10,000 Wu troops surrendered, and the weapons and supplies seized by the Wei army piled up like mountains."

"In this battle, Sima Zhao's army wiped out 100,000 enemies. To show his generosity, Sima Zhao ordered that all Wu soldiers who surrendered would not be killed, and they would be settled in the three counties of Hedong, Henei, and Henan near Luoyang."

"In April, Emperor Cao Mao of Wei returned to the capital and changed Qiutou to Wuqiu to show his military prowess."

"In the summer of the third year of Ganlu (258 AD), the court conferred Sima Zhao the title of Duke of Jin, with his fiefdoms including Taiyuan, Shangdang, Xihe, Leping, Xinxing, Yanmen in Bingzhou and Hedong and Pingyang in Sizhou, a total of eight counties with an area of ​​ li. He was also given nine gifts and promoted to the position of prime minister, and an official was set up in the Jin government."

"Sima Zhao declined the offer nine times, but later the emperor increased his fiefdom by 10,000 households, and gave him the tax revenue from three counties. All his sons who did not have titles were made marquises."

"In April 260 AD, the imperial court ordered relevant officials to follow previous orders and promoted General Sima Zhao to the position of prime minister again, named him Duke of Jin, and granted him the Nine Gifts."

"Emperor Cao Mao of Wei saw his power and prestige gradually weakening, and he was filled with resentment and intended to depose Sima Zhao."

"In May, Cao Mao summoned Wang Shen, the Palace Attendant, Wang Jing, the Secretary of State, and Wang Ye, the Palace Attendant, and said, 'Sima Zhao's intentions are known to everyone. '"

"I cannot sit still and accept the humiliation. Today I will go out with you to fight against him." Wang Shen and Wang Ye quickly informed Sima Zhao of this matter.

"When Cao Mao saw that the conspiracy had been exposed, he led his attendants to the Sima Mansion, but was killed by Cheng Ji, the Crown Prince's attendant, on the way."

"Sima Zhao then killed Cheng Ji and exterminated his three clans. Sima Zhao, the empress dowager and the ministers discussed and made Cao Huang, the son of Cao Yu, the Prince of Yan, the Duke of Changdao, the emperor (later renamed Cao Huan)."

"In June of 260 AD, the reign title was changed to Jingyuan."

"In the summer of the fourth year of Jingyuan (263 AD), Sima Zhao led his army in three directions to attack Shu Han. He sent General Deng Ai, who was in charge of the Western Expedition, to lead more than troops from Didao (now Lintao, Gansu) to contain the main force of General Jiang Wei stationed in Dazhong (now Zhouqu, Gansu);"

"At the same time, he sent Zhuge Xu, the governor of Yongzhou, with more than 30,000 troops to attack Wudu (now northwest of Chengxian County, Gansu) to cut off Jiang Wei's retreat and prevent him from returning to Shu to provide assistance."

"Sima Zhao also sent Zhong Hui to lead 100,000 troops to march directly to Hanzhong from Xiegu, Luogu, and Ziwugu."

"In the eighth month of autumn, the army set out from Luoyang with an oath of allegiance. General Deng Dun was beheaded in public by Sima Zhao because he disagreed with the attack on Shu."

"In September, Sima Zhao sent Wang Qi, the governor of Tianshui, and Qian Hong, the governor of Longxi, to attack and intercept Jiang Wei's troops, and Yang Xin, the governor of Jincheng, to attack Gansong."

"Zhong Hui sent his subordinate Li Fu to lead troops through Xiegu and surround Shu general Wang Han in Lecheng. At the same time, he ordered his general Yi Kai to capture Hancheng."

"Zhong Hui led his troops to Yang'an, and the city was immediately captured by his guard Hu Lie."

"Afterwards, Jiang Wei was also defeated by Wang Qi, and retreated to Jiange with Zhang Yi and Liao Hua to fight against Zhong Hui."

"In October of the fourth year of Jingyuan (263 AD), the imperial court issued another decree because the war against Shu went smoothly, conferring Sima Zhao the title of Duke of Jin, promoting him to the position of prime minister, and granting him the nine gifts."

Su Shi: All the ministers and officers went to the General's Mansion to announce the imperial decree and congratulate him, but Sima Zhao declined politely.

Sikong Zheng Chong led a group of officials to persuade him to accept the title, and Sima Zhao immediately accepted the title.

In November, General Deng Ai, who was in charge of the Western Expedition, led a small army through the Yinping Road, a 700-li long and dangerous area with no people, and successively broke through Jiangyou Pass and Fucheng. He fought fiercely with the Shu army in Mianzhu and defeated the Chengdu Imperial Guards led by Zhuge Zhan (son of Zhuge Liang), the General of the Shu Han Army and the Minister of the Chancellery. He killed Zhuge Zhan, Zhang Zun, Huang Chong, Zhuge Shang and others in battle, and wiped out their army.

The Wei army suddenly arrived at the city, causing panic in the Shu Han government and the people. Order was in chaos, the morale of the defenders was low, and they refused to obey orders. The people, carrying the elderly and children, fled and hid in the mountains. The city defenders were unable to stop them.

Liu Chan followed the advice of the great surrenderist, Guanglu Dafu Qiao Zhou, and opened the city to surrender.

Afterwards, the Shu general Jiang Wei received an imperial edict from the later lord ordering him to surrender, and led his troops to Dongdao to join the troops of Liao Hua, Zhang Yi and Dong Que to surrender to Zhong Hui.

At this point, the Shu Han Dynasty, which had been established for 42 years, was gone in name only.

In the spring of the first year of Xianxi (264 AD), after conquering Shu Han, Deng Ai told Sima Zhao that Liu Chan should be named King of Fufeng, which aroused Sima Zhao's suspicion.

Zhong Hui, Hu Lie and others took the opportunity to falsely accuse Deng Ai of wanting to rebel. Deng Ai and his son were arrested and taken to Luoyang.

After Deng Ai was arrested, Zhong Hui became the most powerful person in Shu and joined forces with Jiang Wei to launch a rebellion.

Zhong Hui planned to send Jiang Wei to lead the Shu troops out of Xiegu and occupy Chang'an, and then send cavalry by land and infantry by water to attack Mengjin and Luoyang and seize the world.

But to Zhong Hui's surprise, Sima Zhao noticed something was wrong and sent more than 10,000 soldiers to occupy Xiegu, and he himself led 100,000 soldiers to station in Chang'an.

Zhong Hui decided to occupy Bashu and establish his own regime in the southwest. Someone suggested that Zhong Hui massacre all officials above the rank of Yamen Qidu, but Zhong Hui was hesitant, and as a result, Hu Lie rebelled.

Zhong Hui, Hu Lie and many other generals fought fiercely in Chengdu City. Jiang Wei was the first to be killed. Soon after, the Wei soldiers killed Zhong Hui and hundreds of people were killed or injured.

Shortly after Zhong Hui was killed, Deng Ai's soldiers welcomed Deng Ai back, but Wei Guan sent Tian Xu to attack Deng Ai. The two sides met near Mianzhu, and Deng Ai was killed. At this point, Zhong Hui's rebellion was quelled.

On March 264, the first year of the Xianxi reign ( AD), the Emperor of Wei promoted Sima Zhao to king and increased his fiefdom, adding a total of counties to his previous fiefdom. (End of this chapter)