Wang Ling (172-251) was the Inspector of Yan Province and General of Chariots and Cavalry under Cao Wei. A veteran of several wars with Eastern Wu, Wang Ling became very loyal to Wei, and in 251 AD he led a rebellion in Shouchun to replace regent Sima Yi's puppet emperor Cao Fang with his own emperor.
Biography[]
Wang Ling was born in 172 AD, the nephew of Wang Yun. After his uncle was executed by Li Jue and Guo Si in 192 AD for causing the assassination of Dong Zhuo by Lu Bu, Wang Ling and his family fled to the countryside. Wang Ling was made Grand Administrator of Zhongshan by Chancellor Cao Cao, and he was later made the Inspector of Yan Province. In one battle, he routed Sun Quan together with Cao Cao's general Zhang Liao, and he also rescued Cao Xiu from a siege. Wang Ling was promoted to General of Chariots and Cavalry after he routed Quan Cong's Eastern Wu army.
In 251 AD, Wang Ling was promoted to Minister of Works under Emperor Cao Fang of Cao Wei, the state that was created by Cao Cao's son Cao Pi after the death of his father in 220 AD. Wang Ling's nephew Linghu Yu was made Inspector of Yanzhou in his place. Wang Ling became apprehensive of Regent-Marshal Sima Yi, who had overthrown and slain his co-regent Cao Shuang in 249 AD and made Cao Fang a puppet. Wang Ling and Linghu Yu cooked up a plot to overthrow Cao Fang and replace him with his uncle Cao Biao, and Wang Ling raised an army in Shouchun, with Eastern Wu sending Zhuge Ke and Ding Feng to support him. Wang Ling's Rebellion was crushed by an ailing Sima Yi and his sons Sima Shi and Sima Zhao, and the eighty-year-old Wang Ling was forced to commit suicide, while the rest of his family was massacred.