Who is the historical figure who wants to quench his thirst with plum blossoms?

Cao Cao is a master of looking at plums to quench thirst. Seeing plums to quench your thirst originally meant that plums are sour, and people drool at the thought of plums, thus quenching their thirst. Later, it was used to describe comforting yourself with fantasies because your wishes could not be realized.

This idiom originated in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, when Cao Cao led troops to attack Zhang Xiu. It was midsummer, the sun was high in the air, and the earth was almost burnt. Cao Cao's army has been walking for many days and is very tired. What's more, this road is all barren hills, with no one and no water. The soldiers did their best, but they had no water to drink. In the hot sun overhead, the soldiers are dizzy and thirsty, and their throats seem to be on fire. Every once in a while, people fall down because of lack of water.

Cao Cao is a very clever man. He thought to himself, "This is terrible. If this continues, it will not only delay the fighters, but also lose many people here. This is not the way. We must find ways to boost morale and help everyone stick to it. "

Cao Cao thought and thought, and then he really thought of a good idea. So he stood on the top of the hill, pulled out his flag and pointed in the direction of progress, and shouted to the soldiers: "Not far ahead, there is a large piece of Meilin, full of big and sweet plums. Please hold on a little longer, and when you get there, you can eat plums to quench your thirst. "

Cao Cao's words reminded the soldiers of Prunus mume and its taste-sour, which instantly made people feel that they really ate Prunus mume, and a lot of saliva suddenly appeared in their mouths, which also refreshed the soldiers and moved on, because hope was ahead. In this way, under the action of this white lie, Cao Cao finally led the troops to the place where there is water.

Cao Cao used people's conditioned reflex to plum sour taste to help the army out of the predicament, which showed Cao Cao's skills and means as commander in chief.