First, I don't want to apply for rheumatism.
Sima Yi was born in 179, two years older than Zhu Geliang, and belongs to the "post-70s" in the second century. Compared with Yuan Shao, Cao Cao and Liu Bei, he is a junior. Sima Yi was 65,438+00 years old when Dong Zhuo entered Luoyang, 65,438+07 years old when Cao Cao welcomed the emperor to Xu County, and 265,438+0 years old when he fought in Guandu.
The Book of Jin said that Sima Yi was "rare, intelligent and knowledgeable". In the face of troubled times, he often lamented that he was worried about the country and the people.
In the sixth year of Jian 'an (20 1), Hanoi County, Sima Yi's hometown, became "Caotong District". At this time, 22-year-old Sima Yi took part in the work and was elected as the county magistrate, equivalent to the director of the Beijing Office of the county government and a department-level cadre. Therefore, he goes to Xu County, the capital, for business every year. At this time, Cao Cao is gathering talents everywhere. He heard that Sima Yi was a little famous, so he recruited him to work in his own Sikongfu.
From the local to the central, working beside Cao Cao, the future is naturally limitless. This is a beauty that others can't find with lanterns, but it was rejected by director Sima.
According to the Book of Jin, the reason why Sima Yi refused Cao Cao's conquest was "knowing how the Han Dynasty flourished, but unwilling to bow to Cao Shi", which was not the mainstream at that time. Even people who are very loyal to the Han Dynasty, such as Yu Xun and Kong Rong, are now officials in Xu County. Sima Yi's brother Sima Lang and brother Sima Fu are also working in Cao Cao's camp, and their careers are smooth. But he is maverick and has to be cool, which is somewhat puzzling.
However, Sima Yi is even cooler. According to the Book of Jin, Sima Yi refused Cao Cao's exploration on the grounds that he could not take care of himself because of wind arthralgia. Cao Cao was a little suspicious and thought there might be fraud, so he sent someone to visit Sima Yi's house in the evening. As a result, he found Sima Yi lying there motionless, so he believed him and stopped forcing him to apply.
Wind arthralgia is rheumatism. From the perspective of modern medicine, wind arthralgia includes not only common joint pain and arthritis, but also serious diseases such as ankylosing spondylitis, osteoarthritis, rheumatic fever, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus erythematosus and rheumatic heart disease. Sima Yi said that she had rheumatism, so severe that she couldn't walk and take care of herself. That's not an ordinary disease.
Perhaps Sima Yi is not proficient in medical skills, nor is he an experienced civil servant. He has no experience in how to make up an excuse for sick leave, but he just said it without much thought, but this mindless excuse actually hurt him, because he had to pretend it all the time, which brought great trouble to his life.
According to the Book of Jin, one day their home was drying books in the yard when it suddenly rained heavily. Sima Yi was in a hurry and forgot that she was pretending to be a patient. She got up and ran to collect books. This happened to be seen by a maid at home. Sima Yi's wife, Zhang Chunhua, is very good. She not only killed the maid with her own hands, but also "held the book with her own hands". "Mi" means cooking with fire. On the surface, it seems that after your handmaid was killed, no one at home cooked, and Zhang Chunhua cooked in person.
What is there to write about? Sima Yi was a young man in his twenties, who had no job at that time. In the eyes of outsiders, he is still a disabled person who is seriously ill and cannot move. Is his wife cooking in the kitchen worth writing in the history books? If you look carefully, I'm afraid there is something terrible hidden in these words. "Mi" also means burning and boiling. Zhang Chunhua killed someone, how could he hide? Why don't you find someone to cook in the pot? She can make her own fire!
But Sima Yi didn't enjoy it to the end. He went out to do something. According to the Book of Jin, after Cao Cao became prime minister, he thought of Sima Yi and asked him to work in the prime minister's office, which is equivalent to the director of culture and education. This time, Cao Cao was rude and ordered: "If you linger any longer, take it away." It means that this boy will be arrested if he dares to show off in an ostentatious manner again! Sima yi was afraid and came out to take office.
Most of the things mentioned above are recorded in the Book of Jin edited by Fang, a famous official and historian in the Tang Dynasty. This book takes Sima as the main body of writing, and there are many praises and praises for Sima. We can't say that the above description is not at all, but we can't believe it either.
If Sima Yi really pretends to be ill in front of Cao Cao, it doesn't necessarily mean that he and Cao Cao are "different in ways", but can only be interpreted as a show to improve his social status and increase his popularity by "rejecting Cao Cao" in order to better "serve Cao Cao". From the later events, Sima Yi's goal was basically achieved, and these stories also played a role, that is, Sima Yi had an "anti-Cao" complex for a long time, which can be used to explain the rationality and legitimacy of Sima Shi's final replacement of Cao Wei.