His success in handling domestic and military affairs such as governance and the promotion of agriculture, serving as an adviser, repelling incursions and invasions led by Shu and Wu forces, speedily defeating Meng Da's Xincheng Rebellion, and conquering the Gongsun-led Liaodong commandery, garnered him great prestige.

Sima Yi supervised the funerary arrangements to ensure everything would be carried out in an orderly fashion,[32] and accompanied the funeral cortège to Ye,[13] earning the respect of officials within and outside the central government.

[33] After Cao Pi succeeded his father as the vassal King of Wei and Imperial Chancellor of the Han Empire in early 220,[31] he enfeoffed Sima Yi as Village Marquis of Hejin (河津亭侯) and appointed him as his Chief Clerk (長史).

Sima Yi, among other officials, was on good terms with Yang Jun, whom he had met during his youth (they were both from Henei Commandery)[40] and considered capable and intelligent, and pleaded on his behalf; knocking his forehead on the ground until it started bleeding, but Cao Pi dismissed the appeal.

[42] In early 225, he was appointed General Who Pacifies the Army (撫軍將軍) and placed in command of 5,000 troops, and also held the positions of Official Who Concurrently Serves in the Palace (給事中) and Manager of the Affairs of the Masters of Writing (錄尚書事), a promotion from his prior office.

On the sixteenth day, Meng Da's nephew Deng Xian (鄧賢) and subordinate Li Fu (李輔) opened the city gates and surrendered to Sima Yi.

[55] In March 230, Sima Yi was promoted to General-in-Chief (大將軍), appointed Grand Chief Controller (大都督) in charge of multiple commanderies, and – in a continuation of an extremely early tradition – bestowed a ceremonial yellow battle axe.

[59] Sima Yi then ordered Fei Yao and Dai Ling to protect Shanggui County (上邽縣; in present-day Tianshui, Gansu) with 4,000 elite troops and set out with the rest of his men westward to relieve the mountainous battlefield.

[63] Initially, the Wei emperor Cao Rui wanted to supply Sima Yi's army with the wheat in Shanggui County and had rejected a proposal to transport grain from Guanzhong to the front line.

Sima Yi again encountered Zhuge Liang, this time east of Shanggui County at Hanyang (漢陽) but no direct engagement occurred; Sima Yi drew in his troops and put them into formation while waiting, finding protection in the nearby defiles; concurrently he sent Niu Jin to lead a lightly armed cavalry detachment to lure the enemy to Mount Qi, who in the process briefly engaged in battle with Shu vanguard commander Ma Dai and inflicted some losses on the enemy.

Zhang He fell into an ambush at Mumen Trail (木門道; in Tianshui, Gansu), where Zhuge Liang had ordered crossbowmen to hide on high ground and fire at approaching enemy forces when they entered a narrow defile.

Sima Yi then proposed to the Wei imperial court to mobilise farmers from Ji Province to Shanggui County and put them under the jurisdiction of Jingzhao, Tianshui, and Nan'an (南安) commanderies.

"[78] Around that time, the Wei emperor Cao Rui became worried and decided to send the general Qin Lang to lead 20,000 infantry and cavalry as reinforcements to join Sima Yi.

Sima Yi sent Zhou Dang (周當) to station at Yangsui (陽遂; the area north of the Wei River in present-day Mei and Fufeng counties in Shaanxi) and lure Zhuge Liang to attack him.

[98] Gongsun Yuan, a warlord based in Liaodong Commandery who previously pledged allegiance to the Wei state, started a rebellion and declared independence, defeating the general Guanqiu Jian in an engagement.

Sima Yi felt doing so would increase the burden on the common people and make them resent the Wei government so he advised Cao Rui to halt the projects and focus on dealing with more pressing issues.

Sima Yi advanced with the army, which would later be reinforced by Guanqiu Jian's forces in You Province,[104] which included the Xianbei auxiliary led by Mohuba (莫護跋), ancestor of the Murong clan.

[105] The Wei army reached Liaodong in June 238[98] and as Sima Yi had anticipated, Gongsun Yuan had sent his Grand General Bei Yan (卑衍) and Yang Zuo (楊祚) to face him.

A frightened Gongsun Yuan sent his Chancellor of State Wang Jian (王建) and Imperial Counsellor Liu Fu (柳甫) to negotiate the terms of surrender, where he promised to present himself bound to Sima Yi once the siege was lifted.

"[117] Sima Yi's previous suggestion of further negotiations was an act of malice that gave false hope to Gongsun Yuan while prolonging the siege and placing further strain on the supplies within the city.

Sima Yi also posthumously rehabilitated and erected mounds over the graves of Lun Zhi (倫直) and Jia Fan (賈範), two officials who had attempted to stop Gongsun Yuan from rebelling but were executed by him.

[126] Later, when Sima Yi was in Ji County (汲縣; in present-day Xinxiang, Henan), Cao Rui issued an imperial order instructing him to return to Luoyang via a faster route through the Guanzhong region.

[131] Sima Yi also suggested the Wei imperial court put an end to the extravagant palace construction and renovation projects started in Cao Rui's reign, and divert those resources and manpower to agriculture.

[138] Around that time, the Wu general Zhuge Ke was stationed at a military garrison at Wan (皖; near Qianshan County, Anhui) and posed a threat to the Wei forces in the region.

Cao Shuang put his brothers in command of the military, promoted his close aides to higher positions in the imperial court, and made changes to the political structure to benefit himself and his clique.

[150] He heeded the advice of his close aides He Yan, Deng Yang, and Ding Mi (丁謐), and relocated Cao Rui's widow Empress Dowager Guo to Yongning Palace (永寧宮) so she could not interfere in politics.

[156] Meanwhile, Sima Yi granted imperial authority to Gao Rou the Minister over the Masses and appointed him as acting General-in-Chief (大將軍), and ordered him to take command of Cao Shuang's troops, stating: "You're now like Zhou Bo."

"[160] Huan Fan attempted to persuade Cao Shuang and his brothers to flee to Xuchang with the emperor, and to issue an edict denouncing Sima Yi as a traitor and drafting troops to fight back but they remained undecided.

[164] Two of Cao Shuang's subordinates Lu Zhi (魯芝) and Yang Zong (楊綜) had been implicated in the plot and were arrested as well, although Sima Yi pardoned them under the rationale: "Each of them was serving his own master.

[citation needed] Chan Mou's manhua comic-book series The Ravages of Time is a fictionalised retelling of the history of the late Eastern Han dynasty and the Three Kingdoms, with Sima Yi as the central character.