First Rebellion in Shouchun The First Rebellion in Shouchun , also known as Wang Ling ' s Rebellion or the Wang Ling Rebellion , was a punitive uprising in 251 led by Wang Ling against Sima Yi and his clan in the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms era . This was the first of a series of three rebellions that all took place in Shouchun ( 壽春 ; present - day Shou County , Anhui ) in the 250s . Background . Like each of the Three Rebellions in Shouchun , the revolt was caused by the usurpation of state power in Wei by Sima Yi and his clan following the Incident at Gaoping Tombs in 249 . Around 240 , Wang Ling , an influential governor and general of Wei , was appointed General Who Attacks the East ( 征東將軍 ) and placed in charge of military affairs in Yang Province . In 241 , the Eastern Wu general Quan Cong led thousands of troops to attack a Wei embankment at Quepi ( 芍陂 ) . Wang Ling led an army to counter the invaders and drove them away after several days of fighting . For his efforts , Wang Ling was granted the title of " Marquis of Nan " ( 南鄉侯 ) , promoted to General of Chariots and Cavalry ( 車騎將軍 ) and the number of households under his control increased to 1 , 350 . Trigger . Around that time , Wang Ling ' s nephew Linghu Yu ( 令狐愚 ) was appointed Inspector of Yan Province ( 兗州刺史 ) for his contributions and garrisoned at Ping ' e ( 平阿 ) . Both of them wielded significant power in the Huainan region . Wang Ling was subsequently promoted to Excellency of Works ( 司空 ) . After Sima Yi eliminated Cao Shuang and his clan in the Incident at Gaoping Tombs , Wang Ling was appointed Grand Commandant ( 太尉 ) and given a ceremonial axe ( 節鉞 ) . Wang Ling and Linghu Yu had a discussion and felt that the Wei emperor Cao Fang was not worthy to sit on the throne , and that Cao Biao ( 曹彪 ) , the Prince of Chu ( 楚王 ) , was more capable , so they plotted to install Cao Biao on the throne with the capital in Xuchang . In the ninth lunar month of 249 , Linghu Yu sent his subordinate Zhang Shi ( 張式 ) to Boma ( 白馬 ) to make contact with Cao Biao . Wang Ling also sent someone to Luoyang to inform his son Wang Guang ( 王廣 ) about the plot , but Wang Guang advised his father against the idea , saying , " The act of changing the ruler is a cause for disaster . " The unofficial historical text " Hanjin Chunqiu " ( 漢晉春秋 ) written by Xi Zuochi ( 習鑿齒 ) during the Eastern Jin Dynasty provided an account of Wang Guang writing a long reply to his father , stating that Cao Shuang and his associates fell from power because they lost the people ' s support , and Sima Yi ' s policies were more popular , and it was difficult to unseat the Sima clan because they wielded strong military power . Pei Songzhi , in his annotations to " Records of the Three Kingdoms " , claimed that Xi Zuochi fabricated this account , on the grounds that the tone and writing style of Wang Guang ' s reply differed from earlier records . Rebellion . In the 11th lunar month , Linghu Yu sent Zhang Shi to contact Cao Biao again but he died of illness before Zhang Shi returned . In 250 , a glitter was observed in the South Dipper constellation , and Wang Ling said , " When there ' s a star in the Dipper , someone will make a sudden big fortune . " Pei Songzhi ' s annotations to " Records of the Three Kingdoms " from the " Weilue " mentioned that Wang Ling questioned people in the area about the meaning of the stars , and those people , wanting to please Wang , lied to him that the stars show that a ruler will rise . Wang Ling then affirmed his plan to rebel . In the spring of 251 , Wu forces garrisoned at Tushui ( 塗水 ) , and Wang Ling requested permission from the Wei court to attack the enemy , hoping to use that to mask his revolt . Sima Yi roughly sensed Wang Ling ' s intention and ignored the latter ' s petition . Wang Ling then sent Yang Hong ( 楊弘 ) to inform Huang Hua ( 黃華 ) , the Inspector of Yan Province ( 兗州刺史 ) , but Yang and Huang reported Wang to Sima Yi instead . News of the rebellion reached the Wei emperor Cao Fang in the fourth lunar month of 251 . Sima Yi immediately mobilised troops to attack Wang Ling , travelling on water . He first issued a pardon to Wang Ling and sent a secretary to call for Wang ' s surrender , while his army advanced to within 100 " chi " of Wang ' s base to pressure the latter . Wang Ling knew that his forces were too weak so he gave up , and sent his subordinate Wang Yu ( 王彧 ) to apologize and hand over his official seal and ceremonial axe on his behalf . Pei Songzhi ' s annotations in " Records of the Three Kingdoms " from the " Weilue " contained detailed records of two apology letters written by Wang Ling to Sima Yi . When Sima Yi ' s army reached Qiutou ( 丘頭 ) , Wang Ling tied himself up ( to show his repentance ) . Acting on imperial order , Sima Yi sent a Registrar ( 主簿 ) to unbind Wang and reassure him , while returning his official seal and ceremonial axe . Wang Ling later had a conversation with Sima Yi at a distance of more than ten " zhang " between them . Wang Ling knew that he had committed a serious crime , so he requested for a coffin from Sima Yi to test the latter ' s intention , and the latter obliged . Sima Yi then sent 600 men to escort Wang Ling back to the capital Luoyang , but before reaching his destination , in the fifth lunar month of 251 , Wang committed at Xiang ( 項 ) by consuming poison . Pei Songzhi ' s annotation from " Weilue " wrote that before his suicide Wang exclaimed , " After living up to the age of 80 , my reputation is now destroyed ! " An additional annotation from Gan Bao ' s " Jin Ji " ( 晉紀 ) stated that before his suicide at Xiang , Wang Ling passed a shrine honouring Jia Kui , and he said , " Jia Liangdao ( referring to Jia Kui by his ) , only God knows that Wang Ling is truly loyal to Wei . " Cao Biao was ordered by the Wei court to commit suicide and his subordinates who conspired with him were executed along with their families . Wang Ling and Linghu Yu ' s bodies were exhumed from their graves and exposed to the public for three days in a nearby city , while their official seals and court dresses were burned and buried . Aftermath . As a result of this uprising , it occurred to many Wei officials that Sima Yi and his clan were serious about affairs , most likely because the Wei court was seen as being divided into those supported the Simas and those who still had their allegiances to the Cao imperial family . The revolt also had a strong influence on the subsequent second and third rebellions in Shouchun , as they were all inspired by the same cause , which was to unseat the Simas and restore the monarchy . During the revolt , Sima Yi , who was pretending to be sick before the Incident at Gaoping Tombs , became drastically ill and died in September 251 . The regency was passed on to his eldest son Sima Shi , who immediately faced an assassination attempt and the second rebellion in Shouchun . The revolt is often also considered a turning point in the decline of Wei and marked the beginning of the rise of the Sima clan , for Sima Yi ' s grandson Sima Yan would eventually unify the Three Kingdoms under the Jin Dynasty in 280 . Order of battle . Wang Ling forces Wei forces Modern references . The rebellion , along with the other two uprisings , are all featured as playable stages in the Jin Story Mode in the seventh instalment of Koei ' s " Dynasty Warriors " video game series . During the stage , the player plays as Sima Yi , and has to plot with Wang Ling ' s son Wang Guang , who chose to remain in Wei to convince his father Wang Ling to " clear his mind from the chaos " . During the stage , Eastern Wu ' s Zhuge Ke also makes it to the battle to support Wang Ling , even though in history he never did .