Original text:

Cao Cao secretly called Dong Wang in and said, "I want to borrow something from you to suppress people's hearts, so don't be stingy." "What does the Prime Minister want to use?" Cao Cao said, "Let me borrow your head to show my ears." He was frightened and said, "Some people are innocent!" Cao Cao said: "I know you are innocent, but if I don't kill you, the army will change." After your death, I will raise your wife by myself, you can rest assured. "

Vernacular translation:

Cao Cao then secretly called Dong Wang in and said, "I want to borrow something from you to calm the soldiers' mood. I hope you are not stingy. " Wang Dong said, "What can I do for you, Prime Minister?" "I just want your head to be shown to the public." Wang Nan was surprised and said, "I'm really not guilty!" Cao Cao said, "I know you are innocent, but if I don't kill you, the army will definitely defect." After you die, I will help you raise your wife and son. You don't have to worry. "

Source: The Romance of the Three Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong in Ming Dynasty.

Romance of the Three Kingdoms, the full name of which is Popular Romance of the Three Kingdoms, is one of the four classical novels in China and the first chapter-by-chapter historical novel in China. The writer is Luo Guanzhong, a novelist in the late Yuan Dynasty and early Ming Dynasty.

There are several versions of the popular Romance of the Three Kingdoms, such as Jiajing Renwu Edition. By the end of the Ming Dynasty and the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, Mao Zonggang had rearranged the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, revised the wording and changed the poems.

The Romance of the Three Kingdoms describes the history of nearly a hundred years from the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty to the beginning of the Western Jin Dynasty, mainly describing the war, telling the story of the warlord melee in the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the political and military struggle between Wei, Shu and Wu, and finally Sima Yan unified the three countries and established the Jin Dynasty.

It reflects the transformation of various social struggles and contradictions during the Three Kingdoms period, summarizes the historical changes of this era, and shapes a group of heroes of the Three Kingdoms.

Extended data:

Creative background:

Dong Wang is a fictional character in Luo Guanzhong's novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms. His name is not in the official records. He appeared in the seventeenth time of the novel, and was appointed as the granary officer of Jun Xia when Cao Cao conquered Yuan Shu, and was later killed by Cao Cao.

Historically, the cause of the incident is this. At that time, Yuan Shu got the seal of the national seal from Sun Jian's son. He was very happy, so he let Sun Ce and other ministries go and proclaimed himself emperor in Huainan. Later, he became Zhong's surname. This is a very stupid behavior. In the Three Kingdoms period, the princes divided the kingdom, and no one obeyed.

Like Liu Zhang, as a royal blood, still can't call the shots. Yuan Shu can give orders only by an imperial edict, nominally calling an emperor? This is fantastic, and the princes don't buy it at all. It seems that Yuan Shu's men really don't even have a visionary counselor. There is only one Ji Ling, or a military commander. That's why I made such a low-level mistake of calling myself emperor.

As the saying goes, "the gun hits the first bird." After Yuan Shu proclaimed himself emperor, the surrounding governors began to besiege Yuan Shu. Cao Cao is one of the princes. Arguably, for a useless and incompetent vassal like Yuan Shu, it is a piece of cake to annihilate Yuan Shu. However, although Yuan Shu is not in the right place at the right time.

The vassal's attack on Yuan Shu coincided with the drought. Cao Cao himself doesn't have much food, and he feels powerless in the face of drought. At this time, the soldiers in the army began to be in uproar, or they would mutiny. Cao Cao was as anxious as a cat on hot bricks. His counselor couldn't think of any good way at the moment. Suddenly, Cao Cao had a plan. And this scheme is very vicious.

Cao Cao's official grain man at that time was called Dong Wang. This man handles some military sundries, which is equivalent to the warehouse manager now. But at that time, this position was still very important. Wang Dong himself is excellent in both quality and management. Cao Cao called Dong Wang and told him that there was not much food in the army. Now we must find a way to save food. I tell you, every soldier needs less food.

Dong Wang didn't quite agree with Cao Cao when he heard this. He thought it would embarrass the soldiers, so he told Cao Cao directly about his concern. Cao Cao told Wang Nan that it didn't matter, he had other ways. So Dong Wang, really according to cao cao, less food for soldiers. However, how did he know how vicious Cao Cao was?

Later, as Dong Wang said, the soldiers were dissatisfied and had a tendency to defect. When Cao Cao saw the opportunity, he called Dong Wang and told him that he wanted to borrow something from him. Wang Nan don't understand. Cao Cao explained, borrow your head. Wang Nan was so scared that he cried and fell to his knees, not knowing what he had done wrong.

Cao Cao said that he knew there was nothing wrong with Wang Nan, but it would be difficult to calm the morale of the army without killing Wang Nan. He also said to Wang Nan earnestly: "Your wife, I will raise her, you can rest assured." Later, Dong Wang was beheaded on the grounds that he had stolen food rations. This settled the soldiers.

In fact, in real history, this thing does not exist, including Dong Wang, who was made up by Luo Guanzhong. So, since even this person doesn't exist, there is naturally no such thing as Wang Nan's wife and children in history.

Baidu Encyclopedia-Dong Wang