Sima Shi Sima Shi ( 208 – 255 ) , Ziyuan , was a military general and regent of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms era of Chinese history . In 249 , he assisted his father Sima Yi in overthrowing the emperor Cao Fang ' s regent Cao Shuang , allowing the Sima family to become paramount authority in the state , and he inherited his father ' s authority after his father ' s death in 251 . He maintained a tight grip on the political scene and , when the emperor Cao Fang considered action against him in 254 , he had Cao Fang deposed and replaced with his cousin Cao Mao . This tight grip eventually allowed him to , at the time of his death in 255 , transition his power to his younger brother Sima Zhao , whose son Sima Yan eventually usurped the throne and established the Jin Dynasty . After Sima Yan became emperor , he , recognizing Sima Shi ' s role in his own imperial status , posthumously honored his uncle as the Emperor Jing of Jin ( 晉景帝 ) , with the temple name Shizong ( 世宗 ) . Career up to 251 . It is not known when Sima Shi was born , but it is known that he was Sima Yi ' s oldest son , born of Sima Yi ' s wife , Lady Zhang Chunhua ( 張春華 ) . When he was young , he was known for the elegance in his conduct and his intelligence . As his father was an important Wei official , Sima Shi himself climbed up the ranks of officials fairly rapidly . When Sima Yi planned a coup d ' état against Cao Shuang in late 248 ; according to " Jin Shu " , Sima Yi confided only in Sima Shi , with even his younger brother Sima Zhao excluded from the discussion ( although Sima Guang found this unlikely and , in his " Zizhi Tongjian " , opined that Sima Yi planned the coup with both Sima Shi and Sima Zhao ) . Sima Shi put together a group of 3 , 000 loyal men without knowledge by Cao Shuang or his associates , and when Sima Yi set to carry out his plans in 249 , Sima Shi was able to quickly summon the men to carry out the coup . Once Sima Yi overthrew Cao Shuang and replaced Cao as regent for the emperor Cao Fang , he rewarded his son with the title the Marquess of Changpingxiang . Sima Shi became his father ' s assistant , although there was no particular record of his accomplishments during these years . After Sima Yi died in 251 , he took over his father ' s positions without significant opposition — after his father had , earlier that year , suppressed a failed rebellion by Wang Ling ( 王淩 ) and massacred the clans of Wang and his associates . As paramount authority . During Cao Fang ' s reign . Sima Shi was a capable politician and administrator , but he also quickly wanted to prove his military reputation . In 252 , he made a major attack against Eastern Wu , whose founding emperor Sun Quan had recently died and whose current emperor , Sun Liang , was under the regency of Zhuge Ke . Zhuge Ke was able to deal Sima Shi ' s forces a major blow , but Sima Shi maintained himself well by making humble admissions of faults to the public and promoting the generals who tried to stop his campaign . In 253 , after Sima Shi defeated Zhuge Ke in a major battle , his reputation was established , while Zhuge Ke ' s own was undermined ( due to Zhuge Ke ' s failure to admit fault ) , and Zhuge soon fell while Sima ' s power was affirmed . In 254 , Sima Shi made a violent move to consolidate his power , at Cao Fang ' s expense . Cao Fang had endeared himself to the minister Li Feng ( 李豐 ) , and there had been suspicious by Sima Shi that they were plotting against him . He summoned and interrogated Li Feng , and when Li refused to disclose his conversations with the emperor , Sima Shi beat him to death with a sword handle and then accused Li Feng and his friends Xiahou Xuan ( 夏侯玄 ) and Zhang Ji ( 張緝 ) of treason , and had them and their families executed . Cao Fang was further forced to depose of his wife Empress Zhang , who was Zhang Ji ' s daughter . These moves further terrorized the officials into submission . Cao Fang was very angry about the deaths of Li Feng and Zhang Ji , and later in 254 , his associates submitted a plan to him — that when Sima Shi ' s brother Sima Zhao would arrive at the palace for an official visit before heading to his defense post at Chang ' an , to kill Sima Zhao and seize his troops , and then use those troops to attack Sima Shi . Cao Fang was apprehensive and paralyzed , and did not implement the plan , but news was still leaked to Sima Shi . Sima Shi then forced Cao Fang to step down , although Sima spared his life and gave him his old title of the Prince of Qi . When Sima Shi notified Cao Fang ' s stepmother Empress Dowager Guo that he intended to make Cao Pi ' s brother Cao Ju ( 曹據 ) , the Prince of Pengcheng , emperor , however , she managed to persuade him that such a succession would be improper — that since Cao Ju was the uncle of her husband Cao Rui , such a succession would leave Cao Rui effectively sonless with no heir . Sima Shi was forced to agree with her , and he made , as she suggested , Cao Mao emperor instead . ( Cao Mao , although 13 years old at the time , was known for his intelligence , and Empress Dowager Guo might have believed that he , alone of the princes and dukes , might have had a chance of counteracting the Simas . ) During Cao Mao ' s reign . Despite Empress Dowager Guo ' s intentions and Cao Mao ' s own intelligence , they made very little impact in trying to stem the tide of the Simas ' growing power . In reaction to the removal of Cao Fang , in 255 , the general Wuqiu Jian , the commander in the important eastern city of Shouchun ( 壽春 , in modern Lu ' an , Anhui ) , along with another general Wen Qin ( 文欽 ) , raised a rebellion against the Simas , but were quickly crushed by Sima Shi ' s army . Wuqiu Jian was killed , and his clan was slaughtered . Wen Qin and his sons fled to Eastern Wu . The campaign had its tolls on Sima Shi , however . He was ill with an eye disorder at the time that Wuqiu Jian and Wen Qin ' s rebellion started , and had just had an eye surgery . He was initially therefore reluctant to lead the forces himself and wanted his uncle Sima Fu to lead the forces against Wuqiu Jian and Wen Qin . At the urging of Zhong Hui and Fu Gu ( 傅嘏 ) , he led the troops himself , which was important in the victory against Wuqiu Jian , but during one of the raids made by Wen Qin ' s son Wen Yang ( 文鴦 ) , Sima Shi , in his anxiety , aggravated the eye that he had just had the operation in — causing his eye to pop out — and his conditions soon deteriorated greatly . Less than a month after he put down the rebellion , he died while at Xuchang ( 許昌 , in modern Xuchang , Henan ) , with his brother Sima Zhao in attendance to succeed him . Modern references . Sima Shi first appears as a playable character in the seventh installment of Koei ' s " Dynasty Warriors " video games series .