Chapter 7 Chapter Two

The accident came from the harem.This was the second year Cao Cao was transferred to Yilang Guan, that is, the first year of Lingdi Guanghe. Cao Cao was twenty-four years old. Another thing happened in the palace, that is, the empress Song was abolished.Because the Song family is a rather angular person, he is very dissatisfied with the eunuchs manipulating the court and restraining Emperor Ling, so they often have conflicts with the eunuchs.The eunuch group felt that the Song family was very unfavorable to them. Because of the special status of the empress, if measures were not taken in time, some changes might happen over time.The influence of foreign relatives is often caused by the queen, and the lessons of the past are too profound.When Emperor He came to the throne, Empress Dowager Dou was in power, and Dou Xian, the elder brother of the Empress Dowager, was the general who held the military and political power. Monopolized the decision-making power of the imperial court; in the fourth year of Yanguang, that is, in 125 A.D., Emperor An died, and Yan Xian, the brother of Empress Yan, immediately became a hot figure.The one that eunuchs still remember most is Liang Ji, known as the "dominant general". He is the elder brother of Emperor Shun's Empress Liang, who almost monopolizes the government and oppresses the eunuchs.Later, when Emperor Zhi came to the throne, because of his precocious talent, he was very dissatisfied with Liang Ji's arbitrariness and brutality, and he often blamed Liang Ji. The fifteen-year-old Emperor Huan succeeded to the throne, and Liang Ji still held the decision-making power of the court.During the past twenty years, the Liang clan not only occupied high officials and fat positions in the imperial court, but also ran rampant.Regardless of the ruling and opposition parties, anyone who criticized the style of the Liang family would be killed, and the eunuchs dared not click their teeth.Anyone who wants to be an official in the imperial court must first bribe the Liang family and establish a teacher-student relationship. Officials in various regions want to pay tribute to the emperor's gifts, and they must first go through the hands of Liang Ji, as if they have become underground emperors.After the death of Emperor Huan, Empress Dou and her father, General Dou Wu, attempted to attack the eunuch. Fortunately, the eunuch acted first and used the imperial guards to lift Dou Wu's military power and arrest and kill him. The world of the group now.

Now Empress Song is very dissatisfied with the eunuchs. If she doesn't find a way to prevent changes before they happen, it will be difficult to deal with it one day.Therefore, the eunuchs decided to launch an attack on the Song family. They continued to slander the empress to Emperor Ling in a planned way, and they did not hesitate to fabricate facts and details.Emperor Ling finally hated and even resented the Song family. In a fit of anger, he followed the eunuch's advice and abolished the Song family's status as queen, leaving him in limbo. Anyone related to the queen will of course be implicated.Jian Shuo had known for a long time that one of Cao Cao's cousin-in-law Song Ping was from the Song family, so of course he would not miss this opportunity.He put Cao Cao by his side just to wait for the opportunity to retaliate.Now that the queen has been abolished, and Song Ping, a member of the queen's family, is Cao Cao's cousin-in-law, so it is naturally related to Cao Cao.Therefore, Jian Shuo formally played to the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, in the name of Cao Cao being a relative of the Song family, and suggested that Cao Cao should be relieved of his official position as Yilang.Jian Shuo wanted to take the opportunity to cut off Cao Cao's official career in order to relieve his hatred.Emperor Ling immediately issued an order to dismiss Cao Cao and send him back to his hometown to contemplate his mistakes behind closed doors.

Cao Cao didn't expect the unforeseen event to come from outside himself. It's really "unpredictable things happen in the sky, and people have misfortunes and blessings", so he had to accept his fate.At that time, grandfather Cao Teng, because of his old age and frailty, had rarely entered the palace and often lived in a private house, so there was nothing he could do about this change.What's more, Jian Shuo is for the benefit of the eunuchs, and anyone who has anything to do with it will be eliminated, and Cao Teng can't say anything.He could only hold his hands to Cao Cao and sigh, embarrassingly.

Fortunately, Cao Cao was not depressed, he was still smug, interested in the world, and firmly believed in the inevitable emergence of a great future.Cao Teng also talked about it for comfort, and felt quite at ease. Cao Cao's performance in front of his grandfather was not just to comfort his grandfather, he was actually so unrestrained, open-minded, and full of longing. When Cao Cao returned to his hometown, he was still practicing boxing and swords, hunting and archery, studying the art of war, reciting scriptures and reading history, and never slack off.When Xingzhi arrived, Cao Cao wrote poems.One day, while drinking, he thought to himself that his ideal goal in his future career is to build an ideal world.He imagined that the ideal world he designed must be very complete and orderly, so he got up, imitating the tune of Yuefu's "Song of Xianghe, Song of Xianghe", and wrote a song "Double Wine" eloquently.The song says:

For wine songs, in peacetime, officials don't call the door. The king is virtuous and bright, and the prime minister is loyal and good. Salty comity, the people have nothing to dispute. Three years of plowing and nine years of storage, the barn is full, and the greyish-white is not loaded. Yuze is like this, and a hundred grains are used. Walking horses in the gaps, using dung as soil. The son of the duke and marquis loves his people so much that he deposes you. The son raised Youruo and his father and brother. Violations of etiquette and law will be punished according to the severity.

There is no selfishness in picking up lost things on the road. The prison is empty, and the winter festival continues. People who are old can die. Ender and plant insects. This is completely an ideal world imagined by Cao Cao: in a peaceful and prosperous age, officials will never come to collect taxes; the emperor is wise, and the ministers are loyal; It is used for farming; officials love the people like children, people are selfless, and there are no prisoners in prisons; the monarch implements benevolent government, and even plants, trees and insects are blessed by him... Another day, after studying the scriptures and history, Cao Cao was full of enthusiasm and pride, thinking that he would be an official in the future, and he must put the people first and the country first.On a whim, he wrote the poem "Duguan Mountain" in another mode of Yuefu's "Xianghege, Xianghequ".The poem says:

Between heaven and earth, people are precious.Establish a monarch and herdsmen, and follow the rules.Ruts and horse tracks, four poles of latitude and longitude.Dethrone is quiet and bright, and Li Shu prospers.Yu Shuo sage, President Bangyu.Feudal king, Ida prison.There is a book of burnt pills, but no universal amnesty.Gao Tao Fuhou, why did he neglect his duty?Alas for future generations, reform and change the law.Work the people to be the king, and serve them to give them strength.Shun lacquer food utensils, bordering the ten kingdoms.It is not as good as Tang Yao, and he can't chop oak when he picks it.The world sighs at Boyi and wants to be harsh.Extravagance is a great evil, and thrift is a common virtue.There is no lawsuit if Xu You pushes back.Those who love both are still the same, and those who are sparse are relatives.

Cao Cao clearly stated in this poem that the implementation of "state power" is mainly for the people, and those in power should practice strict thrift, abide by the law and love the people.Cao Cao strongly opposed enslaving the people in his poems.The purpose of government is to make the people happy and share it with the people. He said: The king should travel around to understand the people's sentiments; reward the good and punish the evil; strictly enforce the law, neither amnesty casually, nor blame the criminals for the past.