Sima Yi's military ability is not inferior to Zhuge Liang and Cao Cao. But the literary level is far from the two.
Cao Cao and Cao Zhi were both heroes in the literary world during the Jian 'an period, so Sima Yi lagged far behind. Cao Pi's Dian Lun has been brilliant for thousands of years, and even Cao Cao Can recited poems, which Sima Yi can't compare with.
Please look at two paragraphs of Sima Yi's works in the Book of Jin.
First, The Book of Jin Xuandi Ji: In the second year of the Jin Dynasty, the emperor met his father and old friend and had a feast for several days. The emperor sighed, disappointed and said to Song Yue:
"Heaven and earth open, the sun and the moon are heavy. Bi Li is far away from you when you meet an international conference. Will sweep away the filth and return to their hometown. Eliminate Wan Li, a total of eight famine. Admit that you are old and wait for sin to dance. "
Writing is very general, not a literary work, without originality, artistic conception, boldness and pride. The most expensive thing in poetry is the word "emotion". Not as good as Liu Bang's Song of the Wind, but much worse than Cao Cao's Watching the Sea.
Second, Sima Yi wrote to the young emperor Cao Fang's "battle" against Cao Shuang:
"I came back from Liaodong yesterday, and the first emperor wrote to your majesty, the king of Qin, and I rose to the imperial bed and put my arm on it. I said,' the second ancestor is also in the future. This is what your majesty saw, and there is nothing to worry about; In case something happens, I should serve you with my death. Everyone knows that Huang Men ordered Dong Ji and others to wait on the sick. Now, the general has turned his back on his life, defeated the chaotic national laws, made plans internally, but monopolized power externally; Destroy the camp, do it according to the ban, and hold important positions among the ministers, all of whom are relatives; In the temple, the guards stayed, and all the old people in the past were dismissed, so they had to buy new people to do private tricks; According to mutual benefit, it is very arrogant. In this case, the yellow door Zhang Wei is the supervisor, specializing in * * * diplomatic relations, observing the supreme, waiting for artifacts, alienating the second palace, and harming the same flesh and blood. The world is cold and people are afraid of dangers, but your majesty can't stay long! This is not the original intention of the first emperor to ask his majesty and ministers to board the imperial bed. Although I am old, dare I forget my words? Yesterday, Zhao Gaoji was interested, and Qin was destroyed; Lu broke off diplomatic relations with Huo Zao. Long live Han Zuo. This is a great lesson for your majesty, and it is also the time when I was ordered. Qiu Chuji, Chen Fu and other ministers ordered. , all take pleasure as the heart of the monarch. Brothers should not send troops to stay and defend, and fight Yongning Palace. Empress Dowager Cixi ordered the ministers to pretend. I need to take care of my master and order the soldiers to stop, learn and train them, and wait for them instead of staying; Dare to make mistakes and engage in military law. I have tried my best to send my troops to the Luoshui pontoon bridge. I am very careful. "
This writing is reasonable, logical and well-founded, but it is a bit insufficient to talk about literary value. It can't be compared with Chen Lin, one of the seven sons of Jian 'an in the same period.
These two cases were written by Sima Yi with emotion. He can't experience such occasions several times in his life, and he can't write good works. It seems that his literary accomplishment is average.