Cao Cao wrote this self-report in order to counter this political offensive, review his life experience and show his loyalty to the Han Dynasty, and quoted Meng Tian's words before his death: from my ancestors to future generations, I accumulated trust in Qin Sanshi; Today I will have more than 300 thousand soldiers, which is enough to betray. However, those who know how to die and defend their righteousness dare not humiliate their ancestors and forget their teachings. "Every time Cao Caozi reads this, he will burst into tears. I didn't expect him to think that he and Montaigne have the same language, and empathy will have such a strong emotional release.
Meng Tian was undoubtedly a loyal minister of the Qin Dynasty, but also a fool. But the question is, is Cao Cao a loyal minister of the Han Dynasty or a grave digger and terminator with a history of 400 years? This problem is both simple and complicated.
To put it simply, although Cao Cao did not usurp the throne, he actually usurped it. Except that he is not an emperor in name, he is undoubtedly an emperor in essence. Emperor Xian of Han Dynasty is just a Woodenhead carrying a string. All military affairs depend on Cao Cao, and eating and drinking Lazarus are closely watched by Cao Cao. Even the people around me are Cao Cao's daughters. In the Han dynasty, there was nothing but the title, and all the rights belonged to Cao Shi. Although Cao Cao himself did not usurp the throne, what he did was Zhou Wenwang. He owns two-thirds of the world and still respects the emperor offered by the Han Dynasty. He never crossed the line for life, which made people feel that he was a loyal minister.
However, the problem is that you want to be Zhou Wenwang. He offered the emperor to Han, and neither did Cao Pi. Zhou Wuwang defected to the people's hearts, and Zhou Wang's tyranny was so angry. What's wrong with him offering sacrifices to Emperor Xian of Han Dynasty? Cao Pi's throne belongs to illegal possession and has no legitimacy. The usurper's dirty water was also spilled on Cao Cao's head, although Cao Cao himself was not clean.
It is complicated because Cao Cao was a warm-blooded young man in Dahan for a long time, wearing a red scarf, taking an oath under the national flag, loving the motherland, loving the people and supporting the Dahan government. He was one of the earliest warlords who attacked Dong Zhuo by Xingyi soldiers, and he was also the most determined one. Together with Sun Jian, he was called the two deep-water bombs against Dong Zhuo. In those days, the allied forces headed by Yuan Shao didn't dare to cut Dong. Only Cao Cao resolutely led the army to cut Dong, and he almost lost his life. Isn't Cao Cao a loyal minister at that time?
At that time, there were many disputes, one of which was named Chen Han, but it was actually an independent kingdom. Cao Cao's attitude of "serving the emperor" has successively pacified the separatist forces such as Lu Bu, yuan brothers, Wu Wan and Liu Biao. While gaining huge political capital, he also safeguarded the authority and territorial sovereignty integrity of the central government in the Han Dynasty. In Cao Cao's own words: If it weren't for me, Cao Cao didn't know how many people were kings and how many people were emperors. Cao Cao was not a loyal minister at that time! The first half of his life was a loyal minister and hero of the Han Dynasty, but the second half is hard to say. If he meets Meng Tian after his death, Meng Tian should call him: What about Wei Taizu Wu? Or call him the big fellow prime minister?