Editing Sima Zhao (section)

==Early life==
Sima Zhao was born in 211, as the second-born son of Sima Yi and his wife [[Zhang Chunhua]], younger only to Sima Shi.<ref>Sima Zhao's biography in ''Book of Jin'' recorded that he was a younger full-brother of Sima Shi. (文皇帝讳昭，字子上，景帝之母弟也。) ''Jin Shu'' vol.02. Of Sima Yi's sons, only Sima Shi (first), Sima Liang (fourth) and Sima Lun (ninth) had their birth orders explicitly recorded in ''Book of Jin''.</ref> As his father was an important Wei official, Sima Zhao himself climbed up the ranks of officials fairly rapidly.  Due to his father's achievements in destroying the warlord [[Gongsun Yuan]], he was created a Marquess of Xincheng{{efn|Fang’s note 4.5 of Jiaping 5; Xincheng was the site of Sima Yi’s famous victory over the traitorous Meng Da, so this place likely held special significance to the Sima family.}} in 238 towards the end of the year. Around 240, he was made the General of the Gentlemen of the Agriculture Colonies (典農中郎將). A year later, around 241, he was appointed as Cavalier Attendant-in-Ordinary (散騎常侍). In March 244, he partook in [[Cao Shuang]]'s disastrous campaign against [[Shu Han|Shu]], where he managed to drive off a night-raid on his camp led by Shu forces. Despite the ultimate failure of the campaign, he was promoted to the rank of Consultant Gentleman (a position typically regarded as a placeholder, in which he himself was kept for over five years, which was likely bestowed upon him by Cao Shuang and his group so that he would be kept from further political advancement).<ref>Fang’s note 14 of Zhengshi 9; <br>{{quote|''the title Gentleman Consultant [yilang] was typically used as a “placeholder”. It indicated that the court intended to grant the Gentleman Consultant an important position as soon as one became available. In the meantime, the Gentleman Consultant could participate in the court’s discussions and provide advice. While this position was often an honor, it could also be used to slow the advancement of one’s political rivals. Given that Sima Zhao remained a Gentleman Consultant for more than five years, this appointment was most likely an attempt by He Yan, Cao Shuang, and their party to curb his advancement.''}}</ref>