"Capture and release Cao" may not actually happen. Perhaps its real origin is a story fictionalized by the novelist to highlight Cao Cao's "treacherous" personality and shocking slogans.

As far as the plot of the novel and drama is concerned, Chen Gong's personality is set as a loyal and loyal person who waits for the right time. He lives in the small county of Zhongmu, but he has the heart to serve the country with loyalty and gnash his teeth at the thief Dong Zhuo. In his opinion, Tsai Dong represents absolute justice. From a moral point of view, Tsai Dong's fallen hero Cao Cao must be saved. Anyone who saves a hero is also a hero. This is the most satisfying for Chen Gong, who has been waiting for the opportunity to serve his country. Its high sense of responsibility and mission.

Chen Gong is resourceful and ambitious. From a political perspective, rescuing Cao Cao is not only the first step to realize his political ideals and disclose his political stance and loyalty to the world in a high-profile manner, but it is also the political investment with the lowest risk and the highest return, because as long as Cao Cao is released, he can easily obtain With his reputation as a righteous man and Cao Cao's gratitude to him, Cao Cao can achieve great things in the future (Chen Gong knew that the prime minister's assassination but escaped safely was beyond the reach of ordinary people, which shows that Cao Cao's intelligence, resourcefulness and heroic courage can be a great achievement). Even if you are a benefactor, you will surely be a high-ranking official, rich in salary, and famous for generations to come.

The difficulty lies in Sui Cao. After releasing Cao Cao, trying to shirk the Dong family should be a common way to protect one's family. There is a certain winning rate and the chance of getting through is high, but considering Dong's murderous character, the odds are against him. Therefore, he must abandon his official position. It is not easy to seek an official position, so he gave it up. Firstly, he may think that being trapped in a poor village with seven talents is overqualified, and people with lofty ideals will not be met. Secondly, it is indeed that he is impatient to do justice. . After letting Cao Cao abandon his official position, he could have fled on his own. Even if he was captured by the pursuers, he would not have been charged with a bigger crime. There was no need to abscond with the wanted criminal Cao Cao. Although Chen Gong released Cao Cao in a hasty move, he followed Cao Cao carefully. Everyone knew that following Cao Cao was a rebellion at that time, and he was openly hostile to the court in charge of Dong Zhuo. He would have to flee to the end of the world, not to mention that it would also bring harm to his relatives. It is estimated that Chen Gong did not have a wife or children at that time, so he had nothing to worry about. As for his mother, judging from what happened later, he was not afraid of being killed. Because whoever kills his mother and wife is being unfilial and unkind and ruining his reputation. "Three Kingdoms·Book of Wei·Biography of Lu Bu": Taizu's Bird Palace is also a palace. I asked the palace if he wanted to live his mother and daughter? The palace said to him: "The palace has heard that those who govern the world with filial piety will always be loved by others, and those who are benevolent to the world will always be worshiped by others. My old mother is with you, not in the palace." Taizu summoned his mother to stay for the rest of his life and married his daughter. Since there are no worries, then of course the escape with Cao Cao can only be out of superficial loyalty and inner ambition to achieve success. In order to achieve success as soon as possible, how could Chen Gong, who had been waiting for a long time, miss it in vain? He had to personally guard his political investment, make suggestions for him, stabilize the world, abide by his loyalty and realize the meritorious life of a Confucian minister.

What’s worse is that the novel cruelly uses Cao Cao’s ungrateful saying to end Chen Gong’s dream. The blood of Lu Boshe's family ruthlessly warned Chen Gong that saving Cao would not only result in no good reward, but also lead to an unknown death. In this case, it is unwise to follow Cao Cao. Not only will he not be able to make achievements and become famous all over the world, but he will also be in unreasonable fear of his life at any time. Long-term political ambitions must be suspended and abandoned. Some people say that Chen Gong's hesitation in killing Cao Cao in the TV series was because he was afraid that killing Cao would violate justice. This theory is certainly reasonable, but what should be added is that Chen Gong, who had already completed half of his righteous deed, really did not want to destroy his achievements with his own hands. If you leave it to others to destroy it or if it is finally accomplished and you have nothing to do with it, you will not face moral difficulties again. Abandoning the sword and leaving is exactly what fate means. Cao Cao obviously saw through Chen Gong's moral dilemma and psychological weakness as a Confucian scholar, and he smiled knowingly when he looked at the sword.

Supplement:

Pei Songzhi's annotation in "Three Kingdoms·Lu Bu Biography" "Dianlue": Chen Gongzi Gongtai, a native of Dongjun. He is upright and heroic, and is rarely compared with well-known people in the country. Connected with each other. When the world was in chaos, he first followed Taizu, but later became suspicious, so he followed Lu Bu to make plans for cloth painting, but Bu did not follow his plan. Xiapi was defeated, and the soldiers carried the cloth to the palace. Taizu saw it all, and talked with him all his life. , so Bu had words of hope for survival. Taizu said to the palace: "On the palace platform, you usually say that you are wise and resourceful, but what happens now?" Gong Gu pointed to Bu and said: "But this person does not follow the palace's words, so that This. If he sees that he is obeying, he may not necessarily be captured." Taizu laughed and said, "What should we do today?" Gong said, "If you are unfaithful as a minister and unfilial as a son, you will be punished by death." Taizu said. "If you are like this, what do you think of your mother?" Gong said, "I heard that those who will rule the world with filial piety will not harm others' relatives. Whether my mother survives or not depends on the Ming Dynasty." Taizu said, "What do you think of your wife?" Gong said. He said: "The palace has heard that he who will implement benevolent policies in the world will not stop people's sacrifices. Whether his wife exists or not depends on the Ming Dynasty." Taizu did not reply. The palace said: "Please come out and poke me to clarify the military law." He couldn't stop. Taizu cried and sent him away, but the palace didn't pay attention to him. After his death, Taizu treated his family better than before.