this famous saying has been circulated for more than 17 years and has been quoted by many people so far. Sun Zhongmou is Sun Quan. He is the son of Sun Jian and the younger brother of Sun Ce. Sun Jian and Cao Cao used to be comrades-in-arms, and both of them fought against Dong Zhuo. When Cao Cao said this, Sun Quan inherited his father's and brother's business, and he was the monarch of the State of Wu and Cao Cao's strongest opponent. This was said in the first month of the 18th year of Jian 'an (213), in ruxu mouth (now the northeast of Wuwei County, Anhui Province).
In the first month of this year, in order to avenge the Chibi War, Cao Cao led an army of 4, troops south to attack ruxu. In order to strengthen the defense on the north bank of the Yangtze River, in the sixteenth year of Jian 'an, Sun Quan moved the capital from Jingkou (now Zhenjiang, Jiangsu) to Moling (now Nanjing, Jiangsu) in the west, and at the same time, Daxing Water Army docked at the ruxu mouth leading to Chaohu Lake to control the passage from Chaohu Lake to the Yangtze River and guard against Cao Cao crossing the Yangtze River. After jun arrived in ruxu, he breached Sun Quan's camp in the north of the Yangtze River. When Sun Quan heard the news, he quickly led 7, soldiers to meet him. As soon as he arrived, he gave Cao Cao a duel: thousands of Cao Jun were wiped out. Cao Jun was frustrated by this, so he stuck to the camp and waited for the fighter plane. Sun Quan's several challenges were ignored by Cao Cao.
One day, Sun Quan personally went deep into Cao Ying by warship and came to the front for inspection. Cao Cao ordered the archers to shoot arrows, and at one time ten thousand arrows were fired in unison, and the arrows rained down. In a short time, Wu Jun's ship was full of arrows. Because the one side of the arrow was biased, the ship gradually tilted, and it was about to overturn. Sun Quan quickly ordered the ship to turn around and use the other side to be arrow-struck, and waited until the two sides of the ship were shot with almost a number of arrows, and the hull recovered its balance before returning in line. In the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Luo Guanzhong wrote that Kongming borrowed an arrow, which was a fiction. In fact, Kongming didn't borrow an arrow, but it was this Sun Quan who really borrowed an arrow. The location is not in Chibi, but in the mouth of ruxu, more than four years after Battle of Red Cliffs. Of course, at that time, Sun Quan was not subjectively going to "borrow an arrow", but to spy on the enemy. Sun Quan's "borrowing an arrow" is a quick-witted contingency measure taken in an emergency. However, this objective effect of "borrowing arrows" just reflects Sun Quan's outstanding military talent and fearless command ability in times of crisis.
On another occasion, Sun Quan went deep into Cao Ying in a light boat to challenge. Cao Cao's generals were all ready to attack, but Cao Cao said, "This is Sun Quan coming to watch the deployment of our army." He ordered the army to take strict precautions and not to shoot arrows. Sun Quan saw that Cao Jun did not dare to shoot an arrow at random, so he went straight ahead with confidence and boldness, and went five or six miles deep into Cao Cao's camp. After seeing the Cao Cao clearly, he calmly retreated. Cao Cao saw Sun Quanjun's clean-up, advancing and retreating freely, and all sighed: "Children should be like Sun Zhongmou, and Liu Jingsheng's sons should be like dolphins and dogs!" Liu Jingsheng is Liu Biao, and his sons Liu Cong and Liu Qi are two losers, so Cao Cao said so. When Cao Cao said this, although he claimed to be a senior, the younger generation looked at Sun Quan, but he did speak his mind. This is an old hero's sincere praise for a young talent.
It is precisely because Cao Cao has this heartfelt admiration for Sun Quan that the end of this war is so peculiar, unique and interesting. It didn't end after the two armies fought for the winner, nor did it end when one of the opposing sides quietly withdrew from the army under special circumstances. It ended when Cao Cao received a letter from Sun Quan, in which Sun Quan advised Cao Cao to withdraw from the army. Instead of being amused, Cao Cao did not hesitate to withdraw from the army at his request. As a result, a tense war that was about to happen ended in extraordinary calm; A long-planned life-and-death struggle ended in the heroic pity that ordinary people can't understand. It ended so strangely, so chic and so interesting. In the eyes of others, it ended without any reason or rhetoric, even a little unclear, except that the two main parties knew it. It seems that it is not a war, but a separation of brothers, friends doing things, and negotiations between merchants. Everything is achieved in business and quantity, everything is reconciled in spiritual communication, everything is resolved without disputes, and everything is amicably ended in harmony. This is a fight between two heroes, appreciate each other, a talented young man and a talented old man.
In ancient wars, the opposing sides exchanged letters and fought psychological warfare and war of words. However, they often write and read letters from their own standpoint with deep emotions and prejudices, and the result is minimal except wasting time, energy and pen and ink. Sun Quan's letter, on the other hand, is too wonderful and level. It can be said that all the war letters in ancient times were not written in a measured way and could put themselves in the other's shoes; Similarly, after receiving the letter from the enemy, no one can understand all the contents like Cao Cao. Cao Cao's letter to Sun Quan was thoroughly understood, handled wisely, and "executed" resolutely and thoroughly. Finally, this magical result is so unique and interesting! This phenomenon is very rare in the history of ancient official document writing and processing.
this letter from sun quan was written in February and March of that year. At this point, the two sides have been at loggerheads for more than a month, and Cao Jun has achieved nothing and failed to get any benefits. On the contrary, because the south of the Yangtze River began to enter the rainy season, the rain turned more and more. If Cao Jun, who is not accustomed to water fighting, stays here any longer, there will definitely be no good fruit to eat. Sun Quan, who is extremely clever, seems to be a worm in Cao Cao's stomach. He knows Cao Cao's mind clearly, so he wrote to Cao Cao and said, "Spring water is born, and it is advisable for the public to go quickly." (The spring rain in the south of the Yangtze River has already begun, so you'd better hurry back to the north! ）。 On another piece of paper, he wrote: "I can't be safe without my first step" (I can't be safe without your death). Although the latter sentence is disrespectful, it also tells the truth, which is a kind of praise and admiration from Cao Cao. Cao Cao told the generals the contents of Sun Quan's letter and said, "Sun Quan does not bully orphans." (Sun Quan is telling the truth, not deceiving me), he ordered the withdrawal and returned to Yecheng in April (Wu Li is quoted in The History of the Three Kingdoms, Wu Shu and Wu Zhuzhuan II).