Cao Cao

The author believes that Cao Cao is the greatest figure in the history of the Three Kingdoms. Although "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" describes Cao Cao as a treacherous villain, looking at other historical documents, such as "Three Kingdoms", "Historical Records of the Later Han Dynasty", "Zi Zhi Tong Jian", etc., the evaluation of Cao Cao is more positive than negative. "Three Kingdoms" said about Cao Cao: Cao Cao "has the best strategy", and when he succeeds, he "applies the magic of Shen and Shang, the unique strategies of Han and Bai, and the official materials, each according to his own weapon, he can be pretentious and do whatever he wants, and he does not care about old evils. He has been in the army for more than ten years, but he has never let go of the scrolls. He is good at poetry, cursive calligraphy, and Go. He lives a frugal life and does not like fancy clothes. He talks and laughs with others, and he should be rewarded without hesitation. And. This is the unique brilliance of the first-class politicians, military strategists, and writers. The author recalled that in the era of fighting and iron horses, a man who was not born in a famous family (Sun Jian after Sun Wu) did not have royal blood (Sun Jian). The so-called emperor's uncle (Liu Bei) is not a family with the qualifications of three princes and four ministers (the brothers of the Yuan family). They are just descendants of the adopted sons of eunuchs. The family only has some money. In troubled times, they stand up and He assassinated Dong Zhuo ("Wei Wulue" also said that he had assassinated Zhang Rang), gathered the righteous people, and issued corrective edicts. He relied on his personal charm to stand on his own in troubled times, and then made a clear strategy. He entered the capital, coerced the emperor, and ordered the princes to unify the north and achieve great success.

Since ancient times, there are only two excuses for those who criticize Cao Cao: First, Xu Shao of Runan once evaluated Cao Cao as: a capable minister in governing the world, and a traitor in troubled times. In this case, the Three Kingdoms were in troubled times, so of course Cao Cao would do it. He is a traitor. Moreover, Cao Cao himself said: I would rather betray the world than let the world betray me. This is the conclusive evidence of a traitor. Therefore, the righteous people of the world regard Cao Cao as an unjust person based on this. In fact, Xu Shao's exact words are true. It is: A capable official in governing the world is also a hero in troubled times. Later opponents, especially the historian Sun Sheng of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, changed the hero into a traitor for his own purpose of demoting Wei and promoting Shu. I'm surprised that there are still many people who agree with Sun Sheng's book in history. Even Sima Qian used many of his chapters and materials when he wrote "Zi Zi Tong Jian" (including this sentence). What a difference. Alas, sometimes a person is ruined by just one word.

Secondly, in the eyes of some people, the emperor is the most powerful person in the world. After all, the affairs of the emperor are the affairs of the people of the world. Isn't there a saying: The world belongs to the emperor; the whole world is not the king's land, but the land is the king's ministers. As for whether the emperor has the ability, he is a wise king. It doesn't matter. As his subjects, you must obey him. If you want to live, you can live. If you want to die, you must die. But Cao Cao dared to hold the emperor in order to order the princes to go to court with swords. Of course, treating the emperor as a puppet is a treasonous act, so Cao Cao became an unfaithful and unfilial traitor who should be sent to the eighteenth level of hell and never be able to recover.

Of course, many people today (and some are not). Few people still think so) I don’t think so: Cao Cao was born in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, when the people were in dire straits and peasant uprisings were frequent. There was little true love between people and a lot of use. As a person who wanted to survive in troubled times and make a difference, Vigilance is very important. Although Cao Cao went too far (historians say he had a suspicious character), that's why he said "I would rather betray the world than let the world betray me" (there is no historical basis for this statement). However, this is also forced by circumstances. How many people in the world don’t think so? But only Cao Cao dared to speak directly. The reason why Cao Cao developed such a character was because he was deceived too many times. The author rather likes the character of a true villain like Cao Cao, but dislikes the hypocrite like Liu Bei.

As for using the emperor to control the princes, it was just Cao Cao's strategic measure. The author himself imagines that if he was born in such troubled times, he would rather choose to be the overlord and achieve a great career than put his hope in a corrupt and incompetent government that is dying. Moreover, as Cao Cao said: If he hadn't held the emperor hostage to order the princes, I don't know how many people would have dominated the Central Plains at that time, how many people would have been emperors, and how long the chaos would have ended. In the entire history of the Three Kingdoms, which lasted for about a hundred years, the real period of turmoil only lasted for two or thirty years. Although they were divided into the Three Kingdoms after that, the lives of the people were relatively stable. On the other hand, during the famous Southern and Northern Dynasties and Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms periods in Chinese history, domestic turmoil lasted for more than a hundred years and wars continued, which was worse than the Three Kingdoms period, but not worse. In fact, in the early days of the Three Kingdoms, when the princes were hegemonic, the domestic turmoil was far more chaotic than during the Warring States Period. Without Cao Cao's control of the emperor to command the princes, this turbulent situation would indeed be uncontrollable. Therefore, Cao Cao's use of the emperor to control the princes was not only not a crime, but also a merit for the people.

At the same time, as a vassal overlord, Cao Cao's domineering spirit was not seen, but his literary spirit was compelling. Cao Cao is a famous literary master in Chinese history. Not to mention his own achievements in poetry and poetry, his series of policies that promoted national integration and brought Wen Ji back to the Khan were unparalleled by other overlords during the Three Kingdoms period. Even if they defeated him completely, how many poems and works did Zhuge Liang, who is famous in history, and Zhou Yu, a junior hero known as Gu Quzhou Lang, leave behind? Except for killing a few literati (such as Kong Rong, etc.) for political reasons, Cao Cao was extremely tolerant of the gentry and never persecuted literati. Otherwise, there would be no Jian'an Seven Sons. He killed Kong Rong and others because they hindered his political ambitions, not because these people were too loyal to the emperor, but because these people could not tolerate him. Political struggle is a matter of life and death.

Is it true that only Cao Cao has ever done such bloody political suppression in history? Not to mention things that are too far away, do we know too little about this kind of political suppression in the history of one or two hundred years in modern times? The cruelty of these struggles is probably even worse than that of Cao Cao. Why was he so harsh on Cao Cao? On the contrary, Cao Cao was very fond of and tolerant of talented people. Cao Cao's love for Guan Yu and Zhao Yun, his reluctance to kill Chen Gong, and his sorrow for killing Jushou all showed Cao Cao's love for talents. Those who opposed Cao Cao said that all of his actions were pretentious. However, Yuan Shao, Zhang Lu, Sun Quan, etc. and many people in history could not do such hypocritical behavior. Liu Bei actually burst into tears. I believe people can now tell whether it was true or not. Moreover, during Zhuge Liang's era, the number of talents left in Shu could be counted on one's fingers.

The author will talk about Cao Cao's most discussed crime throughout the ages: holding the emperor hostage to order the princes. For thousands of years, there has been the most debate about whether Cao Cao was right or wrong to hold the emperor hostage to control the princes. Especially in modern times, there is a lot of discussion. The author did some statistics and found that few people agreed and many opposed it.

Here, let us review the before and after the introduction of Cao Cao's policy. At that time, Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty passed by Dong Zhuo and took him to Chang'an. Later, he was robbed by Li Jue and Guo Si. He was finally rescued by Han Xian and Yang Feng and returned to Chang'an, but he was already frightened. At that time, the Han Dynasty was not prosperous, all the classics were lost, and no one even cared about the emperor's face. When Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty and others were brought back to Luoyang by Han Xian and Yang Feng, they were almost starving to death. Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty first thought of Lu Bu at this time. He issued a letter of imperial edict, conferring Lu Bu the title of General Pingdong and Marquis Pingtao, and asked Lu Bu to go to King Qin to protect him. However, Lu Bu was also very hungry and powerless, so he wrote back to Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty, saying that he would go as soon as he found food. Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty wanted to wait for you to find food and I would starve to death. When there was no other way, the envoy sent to find Lu Bu told Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty that there was a very capable man named Cao Cao, and he should try to find him. Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty would not let go if he grasped straw, so he immediately sent a letter to Cao Cao. When Cao Cao was in Xuchang, he discussed with his advisers whether to welcome Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty. Many people were not interested in this. Some people thought that Luoyang guards Han Xian and Yang Feng were self-reliant on their contributions to the Han Dynasty and might be difficult to control. Only Cao Cao's chief adviser Xun Yu advocated welcoming Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty. He said: "In the past, Duke Wen of Jin accepted King Xiang of Zhou and the princes followed him. The emperor of Han was the righteous emperor and the world returned to his heart. Since the emperor was dusted, the generals first advocated righteous soldiers, but they only used Shandong is in turmoil, so we have to go far away. Today, Luan is riding in Zhenwu, Tokyo. The righteous people have the thought of preserving their roots, and the people are nostalgic for the past. Therefore, at this time, they are loyal to the Lord and obey the people. It is a great act of kindness. It is a great strategy to serve the world; it is a great virtue to support righteousness and be handsome. Although there are rebellions in the four directions, what can they do? For the sake of worry, there is nothing more to do." So, Cao Cao made the biggest decision in his life, and it was also a decision that would be debated by later generations: to welcome Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty to Xuchang and take the emperor with him to order the princes. In fact, Xun Yu was a figure who was loyal to the Han Dynasty. He encouraged Cao Cao to welcome the Han Dynasty to Xiandi, not for Cao Cao's sake, but simply to turn the tide and support the Han Dynasty from collapse. He wanted to use Cao Cao's hand to help the Han Dynasty. He sincerely hoped that Cao Cao could help the world and revitalize the Han Dynasty. He listed three reasons for welcoming Emperor Xian, namely, "Serve the Lord to be respected by others, be loyal to the public to serve the world, and support righteousness to be handsome." Later, when Cao Cao forced Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty to make himself the "Gong of the State", Xun Yu even openly opposed it, believing: "Cao Cao originally raised troops to subjugate the Ning Kingdom, upholding loyalty and sincerity, and adhering to the truth of concessions. A gentleman loves others with virtue, and it is not appropriate to do this. "

In fact, at that time, the Han Dynasty no longer had any appeal. People believed that the Han Dynasty had "exhausted its strength" and could no longer support it. As Guo Tu and Chunyu Qiong said: "The Han Dynasty has been late for a long time. Isn't it difficult to revive it now?" But Cao Cao didn't think so. At that time, he really wanted to be a famous minister. He probably felt that no matter how dangerous the Han Dynasty was, it was still orthodox. In his heart, Cao Cao still has the temperament of a scholar and the thoughts of a scholar-bureaucrat. Now that he had decided to welcome the emperor, Cao Cao immediately ordered Cao Hong to lead his troops there. Unfortunately, Cao Hong's troops were blocked by Yuan Shao. We can no longer contact the emperor. Just when Cao Cao sighed, a guy named Dong Zhao had already fallen in love with Cao Cao, so he wrote a very respectful letter to Yang Feng in the name of Cao Cao without even saying hello to Cao Cao, expressing his gratitude to Cao Cao. determination. This Yang Fengzheng was fighting for power with Han Xian. When he received the letter, he was overjoyed and immediately sent someone to contact Cao Cao and said good things about Cao Cao in front of ministers such as the emperor and Dong Cheng. The emperor was very happy to hear this (you are starving to death, how can you not be happy if someone brings you food?), and immediately made Cao Cao a general, and asked Dong Cheng to personally welcome Cao Cao and accompany him as King Qin. good. Now Cao Cao can legitimately go to the emperor. With a large amount of rations, Cao Cao met the emperor, and naturally everyone was happy. Cao Cao's next job was to ask Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty to move the capital to Xuchang on the excuse that Luoyang was too far from his base. Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty fully agreed with this. There was not even a decent house in Luoyang. When summoning the courtiers, a group of soldiers climbed on the wall to watch the emperor's court meeting like a monkey. But Yang Feng objected. No matter how stupid he was, he knew that he would have to listen to Cao Cao on everything in Cao Cao's territory. After his objections failed, Yang Feng decided to fight, but unfortunately he could not fight. His general Xu Huang defected to Cao Cao, and Yang Feng had to escape by himself. After Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty arrived in Xuchang, he could finally live in a good house and have enough food, and he could also "establish the ancestral temple and the grain system" and put on a show.

Cao Cao did not follow Dong Zhuo's example of "going to court with swords and shoes, but paying homage without paying homage." He knelt before Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty as usual. Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty was naturally even more proud, and immediately made Cao Cao a general and Marquis of Wu Ping. At this time, the relationship between the two was still very good. The real feud will come three years later. The current Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty is still satisfied.

At the beginning, Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty cooperated with Cao Cao, granting titles to whomever he was asked to grant, and granting the title of Zhao to the emperor. Those small warlords still had to listen to the emperor. Sun Tzu said: "Therefore, the first step is to attack the enemy, the second is to attack the enemy, the second is to attack the army, and then the third is to attack the city." In the four years from the first year of Jian'an to the beginning of the fifth year of Jian'an, Cao Cao made full use of the political advantage of holding the emperor to order the princes, and used the army to attack the city. , and cut ties with each other, and began to merge with various surrounding small groups. Cao Cao's bad luck fell on Yuan Shao. This guy also had this idea when Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty was in poverty, and it was Jushou who came up with the idea. Ju Shou said to Yuan Shao, "Today the territory of the state is roughly determined, with strong soldiers and warriors. We welcome the great leader from the west, that is, the palace of Yedu. We hold the emperor hostage to order the princes, and the beasts and horses are used to challenge the court. Who can resist it?" This is a blatant proposition! Hold the emperor hostage to order the princes. But Guo Tu and Chunyu Qiong disagreed: "The Han Dynasty has been late for a long time. Isn't it difficult to revitalize it now? Heroes have risen together, each based on the prefecture and county, and even the disciples have gathered together, and they have thousands of plans. The so-called Qin loses its deer, and the king who gets it first welcomes the emperor and shows his approach at every turn. If he obeys, he will be ignored, and if he disobeys, he will refuse orders. This is not a good plan. "Everyone knows that Yuan Shao is a fool and the most undecided. of a person. Well, now that Cao Cao has done this, Yuan Shao is unhappy. I thought to myself that if you dare to do something that I won't do, then I will definitely not give you good things to eat. Therefore, when I didn't know that guy came up with the idea to let Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty make Yuan Shao a Taiwei, Yuan Shao was so angry that he cursed loudly. What was originally said by Ju Shou to hold the emperor hostage to make the princes feel at ease was placed on Cao Cao. From then on, the world began to say that Cao Cao was holding the emperor hostage to order the princes. Cao Cao knew there was nothing he could do, so he quickly gave up his general to Yuan Shao, and asked the emperor to make him the Marquis of Ye. Enough of being groveling. But Yuan Shao accepted the title of General because he wouldn't let Cao Cao do it, but he refused Yehou, and he didn't know why.

Of course Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty also understood the meaning of this. In fact, he just doesn't understand, and the so-called loyal ministers around him will let him understand. The author thinks that these Dong Cheng and others must be very dissatisfied with Cao Cao. Why? It's simple. They look down on Cao Cao. Why are you, a descendant of an eunuch, so tyrannical? As for Cao Cao, he was capable, so of course he looked down on these guys who were just freeloaders and couldn't do anything. Well, with Yuan Shao's theory that Cao Cao was holding the emperor hostage to order the princes, and with the instigation of these loyal ministers, Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty was unhappy. Isn’t there an old saying: A favor for rice is rewarded, but a favor for rice is lost for hatred. You gave me a liter of rice and didn't let me starve to death. I am grateful to you. You are my benefactor. But if you gave me a bucket of rice, you can give me more. If you don't continue to give more, then you are an enemy. Well, now Cao Cao began to suffer. For this so-called emperor and the imperial court, Cao Cao spent a lot of financial, manpower and material resources, but not only was he unhappy, but he also suffered a lot. In the eyes of Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty and those loyal ministers who ate and did nothing, since you, Cao Cao, have provided me with food, food, and restored the rules and regulations, you should be smarter and give up your rights completely. Just dedicate it to me. As for you, your contribution has been too great. You can go of your own accord, go into seclusion, or it would be better to die. Just don't point fingers at me. Of course Cao Cao understands, but how can Cao Cao safely hand over his power to such a group of useless people who don't understand anything? It would be like wasting his life's hard work in vain? So he just wouldn't let go. As a result, Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty tried to kill him many times and then died. But Cao Cao couldn't let others kill him, so he had no choice but to kill those people. Well, murder, coupled with the exaggeration of literati, and the crime of holding the emperor to order the princes, spread widely, and it lasted for thousands of years. This is the basis for the discussions that oppose Cao Cao becoming emperor to order the princes.

Do you agree? Except that Cao Cao had some benefits at the beginning, the author believes that the main thing is that Cao Cao's policy of coercing the emperor to control the princes had little benefit to himself. The people who really benefited were the people of the Central Plains. Because no matter how you argue, one fact is obvious, that is, without Cao Cao coercing the emperor to order the princes, the Han Dynasty would have been finished long ago. (The Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty would probably starve to death in Luoyang. If so, what would happen to Cao Cao? ) In this world, I really don’t know how many people want to be emperor and how many people want to dominate. Just like people like Zhang Lu who said that the Han Dynasty is still alive, how dare they claim to be emperor? Gongsun Du and his son, who had dominated Liaodong for decades, did not dare to call themselves emperors. The only person who can truly call himself emperor is Yuan Shu, an ignorant guy. Liu Bei wanted to be emperor so much that he didn't dare to move until Cao Pi became emperor. As we all know, if more people really call themselves emperors, people's lives will be greatly affected. Because everyone can be an emperor. You have your policies and I have my methods. Then it will go back to the Warring States Period. Of course the text will not be messy, but what about the economy? Money is naturally in chaos, and social order is completely gone. Wars will become more frequent, and the chaos in the Central Plains will become even more unbearable. The history of the Three Kingdoms will also be rewritten. Therefore, the author firmly supports Cao Cao's use of the emperor to control the princes, because he brought benefits to the people. It's a pity that Cao Cao paid thousands of years of infamy for this.

Huh, these so-called literati are just the words of those in power. How can they see things from the perspective of ordinary people? And that Luo Guanzhong is really a master who confuses right and wrong. It was him who made the people who should be grateful to Cao Cao actually hate Cao Cao to the core. At that time, the common people could not write, let alone opera, so of course they could not leave behind their gratitude. But the people of Qingzhou and Youzhou at that time were very happy to hear that Cao Cao had killed Yuan Shao and his son. So this is the reason why I like Cao Cao.

In fact, no one could understand Cao Cao under the social conditions at that time. Because his thoughts have surpassed that era, as the saying goes, he is too high-minded and unconventional. The Cao Cao known to later generations is just the Cao Cao described by literati. Literati, especially ancient literati, who have been brainwashed by the idea of ??loyalty to the emperor, who dares to say good things about Cao Cao? Naturally, people say, and I say, demote Cao Cao again and again, even to the eighteenth level of hell. If he can no longer be demoted, let Cao Cao suffer there. I cry for Cao Cao.