Family Background and Accession To The Throne
Cao Mao was a son of Cao Lin (曹霖), the Prince of Donghai (東海定王) and son of Cao Pi. In 244, at the age of three, in accordance with Cao Wei's regulations that the sons of princes (other than the first-born son of the prince's wife, customarily designated as the prince's heir) were to be instated as dukes, Cao Mao was granted the title of "Duke of Gaogui". Cao Mao's father died in 249 when he was eight. His older brother, Cao Qi (曹啟), succeeded their father as Prince of Donghai.
By 254, state power was in the control of the Sima clan, whose patriarch Sima Yi had seized power from Cao Fang's regent Cao Shuang in 249. After Sima Yi's death in 251, the Sima clan was led by his son Sima Shi. In 254, after falsely accusing the emperor's father-in-law Zhang Ji (張緝) and Zhang's associates Li Feng and Xiahou Xuan of treason, Sima Shi had them and their clans executed, and when Cao Fang considered a coup against the Simas later that year, Sima Shi had him deposed.
It was at this time that Cao Fang's stepmother Empress Dowager Guo made a last-ditch attempt at preserving Cao Wei's imperial authority, by injecting herself into the process of selecting the next emperor. When Sima Shi notified her that he intended to make Cao Pi's brother Cao Ju (曹據), the Prince of Pengcheng, emperor, she managed to persuade him that such a succession would be improper, since Cao Ju was the uncle of her husband Cao Rui, such a succession would leave Cao Rui effectively without an heir. Sima Shi was forced to agree with her to let Cao Mao be the emperor. (Cao Mao, although young (at age 13) 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.) When Sima Shi asked her for the imperial seal, she again reasoned with him and refused politely, under the reasoning that she had met Cao Mao before and wanted to personally hand him the seal. When Cao Mao was summoned to the capital, he acted in accordance with the ceremonies due a duke, rather than putting on imperial pretensions immediately, until he was enthroned. This earned him popular support and praise as a humble young emperor.
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