What if Cao Cao won?

[sampleswift]

Cao Cao was a major figure in the Three Kingdoms era in China, and was the villain of Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
His plans to unify China failed. What if Cao Cao had succeeded in this time period?

 

[Otto Kretschmer]

Wei dynasty would replace later Jin and Tang.

Sima Yi never rises to power most likely

 

[Galba Otho Vitelius]

Other than not having the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and its effect on Chinese culture, would this have made a difference?

Cao Cao did unify most of China. The southern territories occupied by Wu and Liu Han at the time were much less developed and much less Chinese than they later became. Later on, his successors were overthrown by the Sima family, who had no problem conquering the southern kingdoms and starting the Jin dynasty. Presumably, if Cao Cao founds a new dynasty, its overthrown anyway by the Sima when his successors don't measure up.

There are a number of occasions in Chinese history when one dynasty conquers all of China, only to not be able to consolidate and get replaced by some other dynasty a few decades later.

 

[Mort the Reaper]

Other than not having the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and its effect on Chinese culture, would this have made a difference?

Cao Cao did unify most of China. The southern territories occupied by Wu and Liu Han at the time were much less developed and much less Chinese than they later became. Later on, his successors were overthrown by the Sima family, who had no problem conquering the southern kingdoms and starting the Jin dynasty. Presumably, if Cao Cao founds a new dynasty, its overthrown anyway by the Sima when his successors don't measure up.

There are a number of occasions in Chinese history when one dynasty conquers all of China, only to not be able to consolidate and get replaced by some other dynasty a few decades later.

Case in point: the Sui dynasty.

 

[Avrorrange]

Immediate changes would be a much earlier draw down in military forces compared to otl.Military governorships in the interior of China would be abolished.All of this will result in much greater control over the military forces by the Caos in the short run.If he chooses to usurp the throne during his lifetime, this would likely result in a much better negotiating position for then Caos than Cao Pi did in otl because the latter simply did not carry the same amount of prestige and fear amongst the nobility as his father did.Cao Pi for example had to enter into a much criticized deal with the aristocrats which guaranteed them positions in the government IOTL.In terms of people like Sima Yi,he would never rise to the same level as he did in otl.Not even close.Sima Yi’s rise IOTL was very much dictated by prestige derived from military success against external enemies and his perceived necessity as a bulwark against them during periods of regency.With these external enemies gone, there would have been less need to transfer control of military forces away from less competent but politically reliable Caos/Xiahous.

 

[Silver01]

Other than not having the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and its effect on Chinese culture, would this have made a difference?

Cao Cao did unify most of China. The southern territories occupied by Wu and Liu Han at the time were much less developed and much less Chinese than they later became. Later on, his successors were overthrown by the Sima family, who had no problem conquering the southern kingdoms and starting the Jin dynasty. Presumably, if Cao Cao founds a new dynasty, its overthrown anyway by the Sima when his successors don't measure up.

There are a number of occasions in Chinese history when one dynasty conquers all of China, only to not be able to consolidate and get replaced by some other dynasty a few decades later.

The sui dynasty comes to mind

 

[BrockSampson]

Case in point: the Sui dynasty.

Case in point: the Western Jin dynasty.

In any case, the most likely point for this to happen is around the Battle of Chibi (Red Cliffs). Win there and Cai Cao takes over quickly with China spared decades of warfare and strife. There’s a decent chance that the Wei dynasty lasts longer simply from the country being less devastated.

 

[Avrorrange]

The sui dynasty comes to mind

Case in point: the Western Jin dynasty.

In any case, the most likely point for this to happen is around the Battle of Chibi (Red Cliffs). Win there and Cai Cao takes over quickly with China spared decades of warfare and strife. There’s a decent chance that the Wei dynasty lasts longer simply from the country being less devastated.

We know enough about Cao Rui and Cao Pi to make a speculation about how they might rule the country.In general,unified states that have gone through three generations of rule tend to rule far longer.

 

[BrockSampson]

We know enough about Cao Rui and Cao Pi to make a speculation about how they might rule the country.In general,unified states that have gone through three generations of rule tend to rule far longer.

Cao Rui and Cao Pi might have more effective administrations as well from Cao Cao doing some of the setup himself as well as possibly butterflying the Sima clan out of relevance in the court.
There’s still a chance they’ll collapse and be a footnote like the Jin but that’s why we speculate these things.

 

[Avrorrange]

Cao Rui and Cao Pi might have more effective administrations as well from Cao Cao doing some of the setup himself as well as possibly butterflying the Sima clan out of relevance in the court.
There’s still a chance they’ll collapse and be a footnote like the Jin but that’s why we speculate these things.

The Jin Dynasty was only a footnote because there wasn’t really much to remember them about.The Sima rule over unified China was short and disastrous while their rule over the south was virtually non-existent.A better comparison would be the Song Dynasty.