Chicheng Hotel Jiangsu

Cao Cao's Analysis of Romance of the Three Kingdoms

(a) to suppress the uprising and act as a butcher.

Many famous founding emperors and heroes in history suppressed peasant uprisings, and their hands were covered with the blood of the people. Both Cao Cao in history and Cao Cao in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms are no exception. In the "Battle of Yingchuan", Cao Cao killed the rebels indiscriminately, "killing more than ten thousand heads at a time" and acting as the executioner of the court. Since then, he followed Huang Fusong to beg Sean to "behead Sean in Quyang" and "send Zhang Jiao's coffin and slaughter the corpse", even the dead were cruel. After the death of Dong Zhuo and Wang Yun, Qingzhou Yellow Scarf Army rebelled again. Cao Cao and Jibei's box Xin were responsible for suppressing the rebels, and Bao Xin died. But Cao Cao "recruited more than 300 thousand soldiers, more than one million men and women" and "chose its elite"? Looking forward to thin tea? Nanxun? What competition, customs and drought? Kind? Concave and charming, thin and thin (4) What is it? N guaranteed? Do you owe me? Do you want to stop chewing? Al α jun? Crispy and weird? Is the patella jiaozi box used up?

(2) Deceive and confuse the monarch, and steal the country for rebellion.

After Cao Cao welcomed Xian Di to move to Xuchang, and "held the emperor to make the princes", his personal ambition and desire for power continued to expand, and finally he completely controlled the imperial court and the central government at the end of the Han Dynasty. In all court affairs, from military conquests to personnel appointments and dismissals, from internal affairs to diplomatic relations, Cao Cao simply ignored the opinions of Xian Di and courtiers, and everyone had the final say. In Cao Cao's eyes, Xian Di is just a puppet, a "child emperor"; In Cao Cao's eyes, courtiers are just tools used by themselves to decorate the "facade".

After Lu Bu was captured alive and killed, Cao Cao became more and more famous, and the idea of stealing the country and rebelling came into his mind. He would have "worked in Wang Ba" long ago if he hadn't worried that "there are still many arms in the imperial court". Xian Di was deeply impressed by Cao Cao's cheating on you, and he had the intention of stealing the country and rebelling. He immediately gave him a letter and clothes, which made Dong Cheng, Liu Bei, Marten and others work together to ask for thieves. Afterwards, it was revealed that Cao Cao had killed Dong Cheng, Ji Ping, Wang Zifu and others, and even Dong Guifei, who was pregnant for five months, was not spared. Despite repeated entreaties from Xian Di and Fu Hou, Dong Guifei was strangled outside the palace gate. Cao Cao's name is Han Xiang, but he is actually a Chinese thief.

(3) Playing politics with cruel means.

In history, schemers and careerists all like to play politics, and Cao Cao is even more handy, playing politics in his palm. When Shouchun attacked Yuan Shu, he was at loggerheads for more than a month, and the grain and grass were "not enough to support and disperse", so Cao Cao asked the grain manager Wang to "welcome it with a small amount, disperse it and save the emergency". Wang, the official in charge of grain, did so, which aroused the anger of soldiers and soldiers in various villages, and there were rumors that the Prime Minister was deceiving the public. He secretly sent people to find out the news, and he did not hesitate to use the head of the innocent king to stabilize the military and calm the public's anger.

Cao Cao's cruelty is even more shocking. In the "Battle of Yingchuan", Cao Cao killed the rebels indiscriminately, "killing them at one time and beheading them by more than 10,000 levels". "Killing Ji Ping" made Cao Cao even more cruel. First he beat Jiping to pieces, then he amputated nine fingers and cut off Jiping's tongue. After Ji Ping died by hitting the stairs, Cao Cao didn't take revenge, but also "dismembered". "Those who follow me prosper, those who oppose me perish" has become Cao Cao's greatest life creed.

(4) False hypocrisy, treachery and cunning.

Cao Cao's hypocrisy and treachery is not that kind of cleverness and deception, but contains a lot of wisdom. When Cao Cao was a teenager, he was "fond of hunting, good at singing and dancing, calculating and resourceful". In order to go his own way, wander around and avoid accusations, he once "pretended to be a sick uncle" and deliberately set off the brotherly relationship between his father and uncle. After Dong Zhuo entered Beijing, he monopolized the Chaogang, abolished the young emperor and killed the courtiers, which aroused the indignation of Wang Yun and others. Cao Cao volunteered to assassinate Dong Zhuo. Unexpectedly, Dong Zhuo caught a glimpse of the action of drawing a sword from the mirror. He immediately knelt down and offered a knife to cover up the failure of the assassination. "I have a good knife and give a favor." Although Dong Zhuo was suspicious, he fooled him and let him escape. Other typical examples, such as "looking at plums to quench your thirst", "cutting your hair instead of your head" and "setting foot on it", can also prove Cao Cao's hypocrisy and treachery. I won't go into details here.

(5) be extravagant and extravagant, and be jealous of talents.

When Cao Cao entered Wancheng, he saw the beauty of Zhang Ji's wife and touched her with sweet words without hesitation. "I am a wife, so Turner Zhang Xiu fell; Otherwise, the nation will be wiped out, and I promise to be the main office after returning to Beijing and play with it every day, regardless of the return date. In fact, Zhang Xiu's surrender had nothing to do with Zhang Ji's wife before this. In Cao Cao's position at that time, he was even a weak woman, and his lewdness and cunning were naturally evident. When Cao Cao pacified the pack, unified the North and was full of ambition, his arrogance and stubbornness were exposed, while Liu Fu only pointed out that "why did the Prime Minister say something unlucky", which led to his death. Cao Cao also built a magnificent bronze sparrow terrace on the Zhanghe River, in order to "widely choose the beautiful women in the world as the truth" in his later years.

A typical example of Cao Cao's jealousy of talents is "beheading Yang Xiu". Cao Cao wrote "live" on the door, sent cakes from Saibei and wrote "integrated cakes" on the lid of the box. He killed the waiter in his dream, and Cao Pi and Cao Zhi competed for favor and wisdom, all of which were discovered by Yang Xiu. Although Cao Cao called Yang Xiu "beautiful" and "fond of laughing" on the surface, he was "very jealous", "evil inside" and "worse" inside. Alas, Yang Xiu's "cleverness is outwitted by cleverness" became the victim of Cao Cao's jealousy.

"The Yangtze River flows eastward, and the waves are heroes. Whether it is right and wrong or failure, it is empty now and has disappeared with the passage of time. Castle Peak still exists, the sun still rises and the sunset still sets. White-haired fish are used to watching autumn moon and spring breeze on the river. I met an old friend and had a drink. Many things in ancient and modern times are jokes. "

-Forward "Linjiang Xian"

In fact, the image of Cao Cao in history is quite different from that in The Romance of the Three Kingdoms. He is an outstanding politician, strategist and poet in history, and a hero with a broad mind and a thirst for talents. Specific performance in the following aspects:

(a) Heroes and adulterers

Cao Cao, whose name is Meng De, is a lucky dog, whose name is Xiao Zhen. Pei Guoqiao County (now Bozhou City, Anhui Province). His father Cao Song is the adopted son of eunuch Cao Teng, so Cao Cao's background is not good.

At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the emperor was young, weak and incompetent, and consorts and eunuchs fought against each other and took control of state affairs alternately. In the Han Dynasty, the country declined, the society was in turmoil, and peasant uprisings were frequent. Warlords with weapons everywhere are ready to move, waiting for an opportunity to enter Luoyang, and compete for the mountains and rivers in the name of "carrying Han". Conflicts between different classes are rapidly intensifying, and war is imminent.

The so-called hero in troubled times, Cao Cao is the hero who rose in such a turbulent feudal society background. Cao Cao was an outstanding politician, strategist and poet, and the founder of the Northern Wei regime. Politically, he respected the corporal and supported the emperor to make princes; Militarily, he is resourceful and ingenious; In poetry creation, he is bold and unconstrained, and his literary talent is outstanding. Such an all-rounder is reviled by the world. The reason is the saying of "treacherous men in troubled times" in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Is it the appearance of a white face on the stage of drama? Or promote the feudal "orthodoxy" of Liu and Cao? Sun Sheng's Theory of Similarities and Differences says: Mao (that is, Cao Cao) asked (Xu Shao, a character critic at that time): "What kind of person am I?" Zi did not answer, but asked him, Confucius said, "Zi can rule the world and traitors in troubled times." There are two understandings of this sentence: first, Cao Cao is an able minister who manages the country and disrupts society; Secondly, Cao Cao is an able man to govern the world and a traitor in troubled times. So, can't Cao Cao just be an adulterer? But Mr. Lu Xun commented on Cao Cao and said, "Cao Cao is a very natural person, at least a hero." Although I am not a client of Cao Cao, I have always admired him. " Perhaps it is a little comfort for Cao Cao to hear such an evaluation. Obviously, not everyone despises Cao Cao. Of course, I should also be a big fan of Cao Cao.

When I was a child, I watched the Romance of the Three Kingdoms series with a childlike heart. Cao Cao's treacherous face has already left a mark on my heart. Reading Romance of the Three Kingdoms now brings hatred to Cao Cao, but I don't have any experience. The image of Cao Cao is getting higher and higher, so he began to like and worship Cao Cao. Only by knowing a hero's true colors can we know how misunderstood the world is about him!

(B) Cao Cao's heroic view

The Romance of the Three Kingdoms (21) talks about Cao Cao cooking wine and talking about heroes. Liu Bei also lived in Xuchang at that time. One day, Cao Cao invited Liu Bei to lie prone and drink to discuss the heroes of the world. Liu Bei listed the feudal warlords who dominated at that time, such as Yuan Shu in Huainan, Yuan Shao in Hebei, Liu Biao in Jingzhou and Sun Ce in Jiangdong, but Cao Cao denied them one by one. So Liu Bei asked who it would be. Unexpectedly, Cao Cao pointed his finger at Liu Bei, and then pointed to himself and said, "Today's heroes in the world only behave like kings!" " Hearing this, Liu Bei was so scared that he was sweating like a pig that the spoon fell to the ground. Later, he heard thunder cover up the past.

Cao Cao said: "A hero has great ambitions in his chest, good strategies in his belly, and the ambition to hide the universe and swallow the sun and the moon." In other words, anyone who can be called a hero has a broad mind, lofty and lofty aspirations, and great ability to win thousands of miles. These three preparations are all heroes. It can be seen that Cao Cao has his own unique views on the measurement of heroes. Regarding whether a person is a hero or not, Cao Cao pays more attention to the cultivation of individual's inner quality, and the soldiers are skilled but not wide, and the battle of wits is far better than the struggle. It shows his brilliant vision to list this soldier who lacks a general and wanders around as the only hero besides himself. He knew that Liu Bei was ambitious, not a thing in the pool, and would not stay long, and concluded that Liu Bei was also a hero. However, perhaps out of temptation, he did not take the opportunity to get rid of Liu Bei and let this "dragon" go. Later, as he said, Liu Bei became one of the separatist forces in the world. This may be a major wrong decision made by Cao Cao.

(3) Boiling wine on heroes

1, young Mende, bohemian.

Cao Cao was born in a very powerful bureaucratic family at that time. His father Cao Song was an official when Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, and he was already a senior official of the imperial court. Therefore, Cao Cao had no worries about food and clothing since childhood. Like many officials' children, he crosses the street all day, flying eagles and running dogs, idling about and doing nothing. According to the Records of the Three Kingdoms, Mao was not alert enough, had political skills and was dissolute. Cao Cao's uncle didn't like his indulgence and complained to his father many times. Cao Cao was blamed for this. So once, Cao Cao met his uncle on the road and pretended to have a stroke. His uncle ran to his father in panic, but when his father arrived, he found him intact. From then on, my uncle spoke ill of Cao Cao, and my father didn't believe him. Without the restraint of his uncle, Cao Cao is even more unscrupulous. It can be seen that Cao Cao was a very scheming man when he was a teenager, and he could play with his father and uncle at the palm of his hand.

There is another time that is even more outrageous. Cao Cao and a group of friends stole other people's brides, including Yuan Shao, who was born in a famous family. While everyone was drinking, Cao Cao shouted, "There is a thief!" All the guests ran out to catch the thief. He rushed into the bridal chamber, stole the bride and ran out. Yuan Shao is a bit stupid. He got into the bushes and the bushes caught his clothes. He can't escape. Let Cao Cao help him. Who knows that Cao Cao pointed the finger at Yuan Shao, and everyone regarded Yuan Shao as a thief. Yuan Shao was in a hurry and jumped out of the bushes. From this little farce, it is not difficult to find that Cao is still calm and resourceful. In contrast, Yuan Shao is much inferior. Although the idea is a little damaged, it is only a joke between playmates, which is not enough to say that he is a treacherous person.

2. Strictly enforce the law and run the army well.

Cao Cao became a dutiful son at the age of twenty, which is a proud career. "Biography of Cao Zang" said: Mao first entered Wei Zhou and studied four courses. Made five-color sticks, and there were more than a dozen people around the county gate. Those who violate the ban and do not avoid the strongmen will be killed with sticks. A few months later, Emperor Ling fell in love with Xiao Huangmen's uncle, Jian Jian nocturnal, and killed him. The imperial city is on the path, so we dare not commit it. This touched the interests of the eunuch group. If it was someone else, it would definitely die a natural death. But because his father is Qiu, his background is tough and powerful. But they will never stop there. In order to remove the thorn in Cao Cao's side, they sponsored Cao Cao's grave order on the grounds of his good management.

In the dark society at that time, Cao Cao wanted to be a good official and strictly enforce the law, but he was pushed out everywhere, with many obstacles and difficulties. Later, Cao Cao became a negotiator. Seeing the eunuch's autocratic power, he made several bold and straightforward remonstrations, but it was never accepted by the spirit emperor. Cao Cao was disappointed with this, so he said nothing more. After that, Cao Cao served as several officials, and he always adhered to his principle of being an official. Within his jurisdiction, no matter who breaks the law, he will punish them mercilessly according to law. Cao Cao, a newcomer to politics, was upright and strict in law enforcement. He tried to rectify the bureaucracy by law and change the decadent officialdom atmosphere at that time, thus saving the precarious Eastern Han regime. But what he did touched the vital interests of many powerful people. The rulers were in awe of their power, and Cao Cao's political ideas were doomed to failure.

In 189, Emperor Han Ling died and Bian succeeded to the throne. In order to punish the eunuchs, General blades led Dong Zhuo into the court, and Dong Zhuo abolished the little emperor and established Xian Di, which led to chaos in the capital. Cao Cao tried to assassinate Dong Zhuo in the name of sacrificial knife, but failed. He fled to his hometown to recruit soldiers. Joining the army began his military career.

In the summer and April of the third year of Jian 'an, Cao Cao led his troops south, passing through the wheat fields and reaching Zhang Xiu. At that time, the wheat was ripe, and farmers were afraid to cut the wheat when they saw the arrival of the army. So Cao Cao came out of the list and said to An Min, "I have sent troops to kill the enemy and kill the people indiscriminately. Today, when the wheat is ripe, the army will start and the school scale will be adjusted. Whoever crosses the wheat field but tramples on it will be beheaded. The military law is very strict, and the people should not be surprised. " So "all the people cheered and praised, and looked at the dust to cover the way and worshipped. When the officers passed the wheat fields, they all dismounted and handed wheat to each other, not daring to trample on them. " Just then, a bird flew in the field, and Cao Cao's horse's eye was born. It jumped into the wheat field and destroyed a large wheat field. Cao Cao asked the marching master book to put forward his own crime of practicing wheat. The main book said, "How can the Prime Minister discuss sin?" Cao Cao said, "I made my own military law, and I violated it myself. How can I convince the public if I don't punish it? " Then he pulled out the sword at his waist to commit suicide, and they quickly stopped him. Guo Jia, the counselor, said, "The ancient book Spring and Autumn Annals says that law is not respected. How can the prime minister commit suicide when he commands the army? " Cao Cao pondered for a long time. The last sword cut off his hair and sent someone to tell the three armed forces. This is the story of "cutting hair instead of first"

Of course, Cao Cao would never lose his life for a written pledge to fulfill a military order, so many people say that Cao Cao's practice is cunning and hypocritical. Actually, it's not. Imagine that a person who wants to lead an army of hundreds of thousands or even hundreds of thousands needs not only personal courage, but also an effective strategy for running the army. It is necessary to consider the feelings of the people in order to win a good public opinion environment, but also to be serious about military discipline and convince the soldiers. This requires superb skills in managing the army and controlling the people, and Cao Cao did it. Although Cao Cao later violated the military law and cut off his hair to replace his head, to some extent, he did not act in accordance with the law, but he still achieved the effect of "all the three armed forces were horrified and obeyed military orders", which shows that Cao Cao's means of running the army are high. If Cao Cao had really acted in accordance with the law and cut himself down, the consequences would have been unimaginable. After Cao Cao's death, the huge Cao Shi military group will be leaderless and will surely disintegrate. Without Cao Jun's restraint, separatist forces from all over the world will flock to China. The scuffle between them aggravated social unrest and made the people more miserable. During this period, Cao Cao played a key role in maintaining social stability and restraining other feudal warlords from fighting because of their ambitions. Therefore, Cao Cao's practice of "cutting his hair without beheading his head" to win over the army is a wise move worthy of recognition. Cao Cao's excellent character of strict law enforcement and good army management runs through his decades of campaign career, which is also one of the important factors for him to dominate the party.

3. Cherish talents and be open-minded.

Since ancient times, anyone who can achieve great things. They are all people who can tolerate, love and use talents. As the old saying goes, tolerance is great. Cao Cao was able to grow rapidly from a small local warlord with only 5,000 troops at first in troubled times when the governors rose up and the four sides became independent. After decades of expeditions to the west, Yuan Shu was eliminated, Lu Bu was eliminated, Yuan Shao was eliminated, and Liu Biao made up his mind, thus unifying a large area of land in the north. This should be attributed to his love for talents and open mind.

Chapter 25 of Romance of the Three Kingdoms tells that Liu Bei was defeated, defected to Yuan Shao, and his brothers separated. Guan Yu was trapped by Cao Bing on a dirt mountain and was cornered. Cao Cao has long admired Guan Yu's SHEN WOO. When he saw Guan Yu beating Dong Zhuo with warm wine, he knew that Guan Yu was a rare general, and he wanted to keep it for his own use, but he didn't have a chance. Now that Guan Yu has been defeated by himself, it is a godsend. So he asked Zhang Liao to surrender to Guan Yu. As a result, Guan Yu agreed, but three conditions were attached. This may be an unprecedented way of surrender. How can the defeated soldiers surrender conditionally? Among them, the most unbearable is the third article: "If you know where Liu Huangshu is going, you should quit easily no matter how far away Wan Li is". In this way, isn't Cao Cao just raising a tiger as a menace and then releasing it to the mountains?

Cao Cao could have hacked Guan Gong to death to avoid future trouble, but he couldn't stand it. He knew Guan Gong was a rare wizard, and it would be a pity to kill him. So he agreed to three conditions put forward by Guan Yu. Back in Xuchang, in order to buy off Guan Yu's heart, Cao Cao invited Guan Yu for a three-day small banquet and a five-day big banquet. He didn't mention money and beauty, but Guan Yu was unmoved. Finally, Cao Cao even generously gave the red rabbit horse that traveled thousands of miles every day to others.

Guan Gong killed two generals, Yuan Shao, Yan Liang and Wen Chou, but during his defection to Cao Cao, he solved the siege of a white horse for Cao Cao. But when he learned that Liu Bei was backward, he did not hesitate to bid farewell to Cao Cao and defected to Liu Bei. Cao manipulated tens of millions of people. He didn't want to impose obstacles, but he had to see him off in person. This is by no means something that ordinary people can do. If Cao Cao is a petty man, how can Guan Yu leave alive! Moreover, when Guan Yu left, he staged a "good play" in which a bearded man rode thousands of miles alone and Han Shou and other five customs and six generals were killed. Kill every general guarding Cao Cao, and then walk away.

If others suffer such losses, they will immediately get up and kill them. However, Cao Cao recalled Xia Houdun, who killed Guan Yu privately, and released Guan Yu with a generosity that ordinary people could not reach. For example, Chen Lin under Yuan Shao's account once wrote an article against Cao Cao. He wrote thousands of words, eloquently scolded Cao Cao, and recounted Cao Cao's crimes, which made Cao Cao lose face from his ancestors. Later, Cao Cao defeated Yuan Shao and captured Chen Lin. Men advised Cao Cao to kill Chen Lin. Cao Cao could not bear to kill Chen Lin because he appreciated his talent, so he let him go and kept him for his own use. Because Cao Cao loves talent, he often ignores personal gains and losses. As long as it is a talent he recognizes, he will try his best to fight for it, but he will not be forced if he can't get it. He would rather have one more opponent than "die before surrender".

Cao Cao's love and generosity are also reflected in his poems. In July 207, Cao Cao led his troops to attack Wuwan in the north, passing through Jieshi, and wrote the poem "Watching the Sea": "Jieshi looks at the sea in the east. The sea is so vast that the islands stand high on the sea. Trees and paraquat are very lush. Autumn wind makes trees make sad sounds, and the sea is surging. The movement of the sun and the moon seems to come from the vast ocean. The trip to the sun and the moon, if it comes out, the stars are brilliant, if it comes out. Fortunately, Lian, it was sung in the song. " In the poem, Cao Cao imagined the scene in front of him, borrowed a lot of scenery with broad artistic conception, and painted a magnificent picture, depicting the sea swallowing the sun and the moon, including thousands of scenes. It fully embodies Cao Cao's broad-minded mind and the volume of covering the universe, which is really beyond people's reach.

In the winter of 208 AD, Cao Cao's million-strong army went south, intending to destroy Nanxiong and unify China. On the eve of the war, Cao Cao bought wine to entertain the generals on the warship. He saw the picturesque Nanping Mountain, with firewood mulberry in the east, Xiakou River in the west, Fanshan Mountain in the south and Wulin in the north. I suddenly heard that the reputation of crows is flying south, which is quite emotional. So he stood at the head of the river and wrote poems, reciting the immortal poem "Short Song". Cao Cao's poems are ups and downs, mixed with sorrow and joy. "Qingqing pity, leisurely my heart. But for your sake, I've thought about it for a long time. ""Like the moon, when can I forget it? " The troubles come from this and cannot be cut off. "The mountain will never be too high, and the water will never be too deep. The duke of Zhou vomited, and the world returned to the heart. "This is the true feelings of Cao Cao's thirst for talent.

Cao Cao loves it. Who can compare with it? As the saying goes, the prime minister can punt in his stomach. In my opinion, Cao Cao's tolerance and mind are probably much bigger than that of the Prime Minister. As a feudal ruling warlord in troubled times, it is necessary to cherish talents and be broad-minded if you want to dominate the world and complete the great cause of reunification. And Cao practiced one of the principles with practical actions, which made many talents willing to surrender to him, give him advice and risk their lives.

4. Choose people on their merits.

"There is Bole in the world, and then there is a swift horse; There are often swift horses, but Bole is not often. " "Maxima" here refers to talents, and "Bole" refers to people who are good at recognizing people and employing people. In this special period of the division of the three countries, there are many heroes and talents in China. What is lacking is "Bole" which is good at tapping talents, and Cao Cao is the most important in Bole.

Cao Cao knew the importance of talents, so he was thirsty for talents and tried his best to recruit talents. Moreover, he also has his own advantages in employing people's skills, because he has always adhered to the principle of meritocracy and meritocracy. Guo Jia said in the exposition of "Cao Cao wins ten times and Yuan Shao loses ten times": "Wide outside, jealous inside, many relatives; The public is simple and clear, using talents and winning by degrees. " This sentence is not flattering, but it can hit the nail on the head and point out the essential difference between Yuan Shao and Cao Cao in employing people.

In order to select talents, Cao Cao promulgated the Order of Seeking Talents in the spring of 2 10 A.D., and put forward the plan of "selecting officials on merit", which broke the standard of selecting officials according to their family background. In the order, Cao Cao summed up historical experience and thought that from ancient times to now, no one was not the founding emperor and the king of ZTE, but was well governed by talents and his * * *. In view of this, Cao Cao, based on the reality, pointed out that the world is uncertain now, and it is the time to be thirsty for talents. He hoped that ministers would help him dig out those talents who were born in poverty and buried. Later, in AD 2 14 and AD 2 17, Cao Cao issued the order of seeking talents twice, repeatedly emphasizing his employment system.

After some efforts, Cao Cao concentrated a large number of talents. At that time, there were countless talents who went to Cao Cao's door. Formed a grand occasion of fierce generals like clouds and counselors like rain. Among Cao Cao's talents, he was promoted from veteran to general, such as Yu Jin, Le Jin and Dian Wei. Zhang Liao, Huang Xu, Zhang He, Chen Lin, Jia Xu and others were appointed from the local surrendered talents; Li Dian, thomas lee, Xu Qi and Cang Ba were appointed. From local strongmen; Promote Xun, Xun You, Wang Lang, etc. From a small official in the Eastern Han Dynasty; Guo Jia, Ye Liu and so on. They are all hired from ordinary talents. These talents are the pillars of the Cao family building and have made great contributions to the Cao family.

Cao Cao chooses people regardless of fame, honor or disgrace, as long as he has the ability to govern the country and use troops. Cao Cao has a unique vision and superb art in appointing talents. Cao Cao recruited wise men in Yanzhou. At that time, there were two uncles, Xun or Xun You, who came to vote for Cao Cao, Xun or Yuan Shao. Cao Cao was happy to discuss world affairs with him and said, "Take my ovaries!" So he was appointed as a marching horse. Xun You, a famous person in China, once served as assistant minister of Huangmen, then abandoned his official position and retired. Cao Cao appointed him as professor of marching. They also recommended several famous sages to Cao Cao, who used them one by one. At the same time, many military commanders led their soldiers to take refuge in Cao Cao. Cao Cao first observed his appearance and physique, then let them show their martial arts on the spot, and then hired him. On his way to Xuchang, Cao Cao was stopped by Huang Xu. Cao Cao was amazed at Huang Xu's imposing manner, so he asked Xu Kun to confront him. The two men fought more than fifty times, regardless of the outcome. So I thought Huang Xu was a talented person and sent someone to win him over to myself.

In the battle of Guandu, Xu You defected to Cao Cao overnight because Yuan Shao was unable to use his strategy. At that time, Yuan Shao's 700,000 troops were in Guandu, trying to fight to the death with Cao Cao, but Cao Cao had only 70,000 troops and was short of food and grass. When he heard that Xu You was coming, he was so happy that he ran out to meet him without shoes. After several temptations, Cao Cao decided that Xu You really surrendered, so he boldly adopted the strategy of Xu You and won a great victory. This is Cao Cao's extraordinary work. Even under extremely unfavorable circumstances, he can still keep a clear head and use people properly. In contrast, Yuan Shao is simply dwarfed. Later generations have a poem lamenting Yuan Shao, saying, "Faithful words are against the enemy, Yuan Shao, the only husband, has little plan, and the grain in the nest has been uprooted, but he still wants to defend Jizhou only." It can be seen that Yuan Shao has many advisers, but he can't make good use of them. Even if he had a million teachers, it would be in vain. Cao Cao, on the other hand, was able to seize the opportunity, employing people without doubt, and finally turned the tide, defeating the strong with the weak and defeating the many with the few, which dealt a fatal blow to Yuan Shao, who had the land of four states, and laid the foundation for unifying the north.

Those who can control talents can win the world, and those who can make talents willing to serve themselves can consolidate the world. Cao Cao's meritocracy is beyond the reach of Yuan Shao and others. Yuan Shao's "Mountains in the south, Yan in the north, Rong Di in the south for the world" is far from Cao Cao's "The wisdom of the world should be left to Tao Zhi", so it was defeated by Shao.

5, hold the emperor to princes

People say that Cao Cao is insidious and cunning, and he is a traitor who usurped the Liu family. It is largely influenced by the popular novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms. One is Xu Shao's classic comment: Zi can rule the world, and traitors in troubled times. Cao Cao laughed loudly after hearing this. So people used this sentence, plus the image of Cao Cao in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and initially sentenced him to be a traitor; Secondly, according to the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Cao Cao attempted to assassinate Dong Zhuo in the name of offering a knife, then fled Luoyang and returned to his hometown. On the way, he killed the Lv Boshe family by mistake, and finally left a sentence: "I would rather teach me to be negative to the whole world than to teach the whole world to be negative to me." ; The third is Cao Cao's most ruthless political means: holding the emperor to make the princes.

In fact, when we analyze this practice of Cao Cao based on the historical background at that time, it is not difficult to find that it is conservative and brilliant.

When the Eastern Han regime spread to Xian Di, it existed in name only and was completely reduced to a puppet regime. Before Xian Di ascended the throne, he and Shaodi suffered from warlord regime and were displaced from place to place. At that time, there was a nursery rhyme that said, "The emperor of Faye Wong, Fei Di, rode a thousand miles away from Beimang." It is a true portrayal of the little emperor's life. In A.D. 189, Dong Zhuo, a warlord in Xiliang, led an army to Luoyang by eradicating eunuchs, and the Eastern Han regime soon fell into Dong Zhuo's hands. He abolished Xian Di, then gave orders in the name of the son of heaven and did whatever he wanted. Unfortunately, Dong Zhuo is too cruel by nature. Soon, he was sold by his adopted son Lu Bu. It can be seen that Cao Cao did not initiate the move of "holding the emperor to make the princes".

In 20 1 A.D., Xian Di suffered from Li Jue's rebellion and returned to Luoyang, only to find that the palace was burned out and the market was deserted, leaving only ruins and short walls in the former capital, which was full of depression. So he decided to take refuge in Shandong. When Cao Cao heard about it, he immediately went to meet him, and at the suggestion of all the counselors, he moved the emperor to Xuchang, and the imperial power returned to Cao Cao.

Cao Cao gave orders in the name of Emperor Xian of Han Dynasty, either surrendering to other separatist forces or letting them attack each other, and then he took advantage of himself. For example, Cao Cao once gave Liu Bei an imperial edict against Yuan Shu. Although Liu Bei knew it was a trick, out of loyalty to the Liu family, he dared not violate the imperial edict, so he sent troops to crusade, but left Zhang Fei guarding the city, which led to the fall of Xuzhou and Liu Bei's homelessness. Had to cling to Lu Bu. However, after the emergence of the tripartite confrontation between the three countries, Cao Cao frequently issued imperial edicts in the name of the son of heaven, allowing Wu and Shu to attack. If they don't obey the imperial edict, Cao Cao can send troops to carry out a famous crusade.

Cao Cao's practice is just to better accomplish his great cause of reunification. He is very familiar with the wishful thinking of the governor. Everyone is trying their best to show their loyalty, always organizing military alliances and launching wars under the banner of recovering the Han Dynasty. Cao Cao's "relying on the emperor to make princes" can contain those who covet the throne on the one hand, and vindicate his great cause of reunification on the other. Only after the death of Cao Cao, his son Xelloss proclaimed himself emperor and made him Wei Wudi, and Cao Cao could not escape the charge of usurping the throne.

However, why did Cao call himself "usurping the Han Dynasty" and Liu called himself "continuing orthodoxy"? Is it really that Liu's incompetence will end up with the people all over the world, instead of letting talented and virtuous people govern the country and let the people live and work in peace and contentment? Since ancient times, the position of emperor has been occupied by capable people. If Cao Cao is a traitor in the Han Dynasty, what is Shang Tang's extermination of Jie, Zhou and Liu Bang's extermination of Qin? Are they also treacherous court officials? Unfortunately, history always talks about heroes by success or failure. If Cao Cao Can ended the warlord melee, unified China and created a peaceful and prosperous world in his lifetime, then he must be a wise monarch worshipped by all. Unfortunately, history is a foregone conclusion, and Cao's manipulation has Qian Qian's eternal grievances. Who can tell the truth?

In a word, I don't think there is much fault in Cao Cao's practice of "holding the emperor to make the princes", at least it is a very clever means and the embodiment of his superb political skills. As for why others have been denouncing his practice, I think it is probably that Cao Cao did what those people always wanted to do but failed to do.

In the "Three Kingdoms", Chen Shou commented on Cao Cao in this way: "At the end of the Han Dynasty, the world was in chaos, and the heroes rose together. Yuan Shao looked at the four States and was strong. Taizu made a plan from a distance, stormed Yu, and embraced the magic of Shenshang. Bai Han's unique strategy, which is approved by the government, is based on its own equipment, melodramatic and arbitrary, and never forgets old evils. In the end, it is always an imperial machine, and it is the best. I can be described as an extraordinary person and a peerless hero. " Only 89 words, showing a more real image of Cao Cao in history. I think this should be a more objective and reasonable evaluation. After all, in that turbulent era of war and warlord separatism, as a feudal ruling warlord, he was able to be ambitious, cherish talents, be good at employing people, be both civil and military, be sympathetic to people's livelihood, ride horses in China, and pacify the north with a whip, and be called a hero in the world. Its historical achievements are indelible, and its heroic qualities cannot be denigrated.