Cao Rui 曹叡

From his birth Taizu, Cao Cao, doted on him and always kept him at his side. At fifteen he became Marquis of Wude, in the 2nd year of Huangchu (221) Duke of Qi, and in the 3rd year (222) Prince of Pingyuan. While Prince of Pingyuan he took Lady Yu of Henei as his consort, and he favoured Empress Mao, who had entered the Eastern Palace, riding in the same carriage with her. Because his mother had been put to death he was not made heir, and only in the 5th month of the 7th year of Huangchu (226), when Emperor Wen fell gravely ill, did he become Crown Prince; he ascended the throne on the dingsi day. Records, Wei 3 §1Records, Wei 5 §43–44

In the 8th month of the year of his accession, when Sun Quan attacked Jiangxia Commandery, the court wished to send a relief force, but the emperor said that Sun Quan, accustomed to fighting on water, had come ashore to attack only in the hope of catching the defenders unprepared, and that now that he was locked in a standoff with the Administrator Wen Pin, he could not hold out for long; Sun Quan withdrew. When Zhuge Jin and others raided Xiangyang, Sima Yi defeated them. In the 12th month the emperor made Zhong Yao Grand Tutor, Cao Xiu Grand Marshal, Cao Zhen General-in-Chief, Hua Xin Grand Commandant, Wang Lang Minister over the Masses, Chen Qun Minister of Works, and Sima Yi General-in-Chief of Agile Cavalry. Records, Wei 3 §3–4

In the 11th month of the 1st year of Taihe (227) he installed Lady Mao as empress. Lady Yu, having failed to become empress, said when Empress Dowager Bian consoled her, "The Cao clan have always liked to raise up the lowly," and that one who could not make a good beginning would lose the state; in the end she was sent back to the palace at Ye. In the 12th month, when Meng Da, Administrator of Xincheng, rebelled, the emperor had Sima Yi put him down, and in the 1st month of the 2nd year of Taihe (228) Sima Yi beheaded Meng Da. Records, Wei 3 §6–7Records, Wei 5 §44–45

In the 2nd year of Taihe, when Zhuge Liang of Shu invaded, the three commanderies of Tianshui, Nan'an and Anding rose in rebellion in response. The emperor had Cao Zhen take overall command of the region west of the passes, Zhang He routed Zhuge Liang at Jieting, and the three commanderies were pacified. The emperor went to Chang'an and returned to the Luoyang Palace in the 4th month. In the 9th month Cao Xiu suffered a heavy defeat at Shiting against the Wu general Lu Xun, and in the 12th month, when Zhuge Liang besieged Chencang, Cao Zhen sent Fei Yao and others to hold him off. Records, Wei 3 §8–10

In the 7th month of the 3rd year of Taihe (229), he issued an edict that, should anyone urge a ruler who had entered from a collateral line to carry on the main succession to exalt his birth parents as emperor and empress, the chief ministers were to put that person to death, and he had it written on metal tablets and kept in the ancestral temple. In the 10th month, saying that "criminal cases are the lives of the people of the realm," he went in person to the Tingsong Lodge to hear every major case. In the 4th year of Taihe (230) he had Cao Zhen and Sima Yi attack Shu, but heavy rains led him to recall the army. In the 1st year of Qinglong (233) he changed the era name because an azure dragon was said to have appeared in a well at Mopi. Records, Wei 3 §12–14 · 19 · 28

In the 3rd month of the 2nd year of Qinglong (234), when Emperor Xian, the Duke of Shanyang, died, he put on white mourning and grieved for him. When Zhuge Liang camped south of the Wei River, he issued an edict telling Sima Yi to hold his walls firmly and to pursue the enemy when they fled. When Sun Quan headed for the New City of Hefei, Man Chong wished to withdraw the garrison from the New City, but the emperor would not hear of it, saying that the late emperor had held Hefei, Xiangyang and Mount Qi firmly because they were ground that had to be contested. In the 7th month he personally set out on an eastern campaign aboard a dragon boat, and while the imperial army was still several hundred li away, Sun Quan fled. When his ministers urged him to go to Chang'an, he said, "Now that Sun Quan has fled, Zhuge Liang will lose his nerve, and the General-in-Chief will keep him in check, so I have nothing to worry about." While Sima Yi held his ground without responding, Zhuge Liang died and the Shu army withdrew. Records, Wei 3 §35–40

In the 1st month of the 3rd year of Qinglong (235) he made Sima Yi Grand Commandant. Around this time he carried out a great rebuilding of the Luoyang Palace, raising the Zhaoyang and Taiji halls and building the Zongzhang Lodge, so that the common people missed the farming season. Yang Fu, Gaotang Long and others remonstrated earnestly several times, and though the emperor could not accept their advice, he always tolerated them generously. When Yang Fu saw him dressed in a pale blue silk half-sleeved garment and asked what kind of proper court dress that was, the emperor made no reply, and from then on he would not receive Yang Fu unless he was in proper dress. Records, Wei 3 §42–43Records, Wei 25 §39

In the 1st year of Jingchu (237), following a report that a yellow dragon had appeared, he revised the calendar, making the 3rd month the 4th month, the first month of summer. That year the emperor, who favoured Lady Guo, held a feast in the rear garden and forbade anyone to invite Empress Mao; when the empress learned of it and spoke of it, he killed more than ten of his attendants for leaking it and ordered the empress to die. In Liaodong, Gongsun Yuan, who in the 1st year of Qinglong had beheaded Sun Quan's envoys and sent their heads, and had been made Grand Marshal and Duke of Lelang, rebelled and declared himself King of Yan. Records, Wei 3 §49 · 55 · 34 · 53–54Records, Wei 5 §47

In the 1st month of the 2nd year of Jingchu (238) he had Sima Yi attack Liaodong. When his ministers said the cost of mobilizing 40,000 men would be hard to bear, the emperor replied that on a campaign of four thousand li one must not count the costs bit by bit. When the long rains delayed the attack and some proposed recalling Sima Yi, he said, "Sima Yi meets danger by mastering change; the capture of Gongsun Yuan can be awaited by counting the days." Sima Yi crushed Gongsun Yuan at Xiangping and sent back his head. Records, Wei 3 §57 · 61–62

In the 12th month of that year, when he took to his sickbed, he made Lady Guo empress and intended to make Cao Yu, Prince of Yan, General-in-Chief to assist in the government together with Xiahou Xian, Cao Shuang, Qin Lang and others. When Cao Yu firmly declined, he summoned Liu Fang and Sun Zi to his bedchamber, consulted them, and had Cao Shuang take his place. On the question of summoning Sima Yi his mind changed once before he ordered him summoned after all, and in the end he dismissed Cao Yu, Xiahou Xian, Qin Lang and the others from office. The emperor had no sons and raised Cao Fang, Prince of Qi, and Cao Xun, Prince of Qin, but no one knew where they had come from. Records, Wei 3 §63Records, Wei 5 §50Records, Wei 14 §151–153Records, Wei 4 §2

On the dinghai day of the 1st month of the 3rd year of Jingchu (239), he summoned Sima Yi, who had returned as far as Henei, by post horse, brought him into his bedchamber, took his hand and said, "I entrust what comes after to you; together with Cao Shuang, assist my young son. Now that I have been able to see you, I have no regrets." He died that day in the Jiafu Hall at the age of thirty-six and was buried at the Gaoping Mausoleum. Records, Wei 3 §65

In his assessment, Chen Shou said that Emperor Ming was calm and resolute, decisive and discerning, and possessed the utmost bearing of a ruler of men. But he wrote that at a time when the people were exhausted and the realm within the four seas was divided and crumbling, rather than first cultivating the virtue of his forebears, he hastened to emulate the First Emperor of Qin and Emperor Wu of Han, devoting himself to building palaces and lodges, and that, measured against far-sighted planning, this was a failing. Records, Wei 3 §66