Chapter 38 Chapter 38 The Real Reason Chen Gong Hates Cao Cao

There is such a tragic story: Cao Cao sat with the palace (in the home of Lu Boshe, Cao Cao's father's righteous brother) for a long time, and suddenly heard the sound of sharpening knives in the empress of the village.Cao said, "Lü Boshe is not my close relative, so it's suspicious to go here, so I should eavesdrop on him." The two sneaked into the thatched cottage, but they heard someone say, "How about binding and killing him?" Cao said, "That's right! If you don’t strike first now, you will be captured.” Then he drew his sword and went straight into the palace, killing all men and women, eight in a row.When I searched under the kitchen, I saw a pig bound to kill.Gong said: "Meng De has a lot of heart, and he killed a good man by mistake!" He hurried out of the village and got on his horse.After less than two miles, Boshe came with two bottles of wine hanging in front of the saddle of his donkey, carrying fruits and vegetables, and said, "Why did my nephew and envoy go?" Cao Cao said, "People who have been sinned dare not stay long. ’” Bo She said: “I’ve already paid for the slaughter of a pig for my family. Why do my nephews and envoys hate staying overnight? Please turn around and ride.” Don’t care about it, just ride the horse.After walking for a few steps, he suddenly drew his sword and turned back, calling Boshe to say, "Who is this person?" When Boshe looked back, he swung his sword and cut Boshe under the donkey.

Cao Cao said a deafening sentence afterwards: "Ning teach me to betray the world, don't teach the world to betray me." Because of this, Chen Gong saw through Cao Cao's viciousness, treachery, ruthlessness, so he abandoned him and left. This story was later written into the Peking Opera "Catch and Release Cao", and it has become a long-running opera on the opera stage. Therefore, everyone knows that Chen Gong began to hate Cao Cao because of the tragic death of Lu Boshe's family. However, The real history is not like this. Historically, the feud between Chen Gong and Cao Cao was due to the destruction of a city and the death of a man named Bian Rang.

Bian Rang, courtesy name Wenli, was born in Junyi County, Chenliu Commandery (now Kaifeng County, Henan Province). He was a famous scholar in the late Eastern Han Dynasty. Bian Rang was erudite and eloquent, and all the guests envied his demeanor; he was good at poetry and Fu, and his "Zhang Hua Fu" was famous for a while.General He Jin heard of his talent and name, and recruited him as Lingshi.Celebrities such as Kong Rong and Wang Lang who worked in the General's Mansion visited him personally and made friends with him.The scholar Cai Yong also respected him very much. Around the fifth year of Zhongping (AD 188), Cai Yong wrote to General He Jin to recommend Bian Rang when he was in exile.In the letter, he praised Bian Rang for his "open mind, long eloquent speeches. He doesn't move against etiquette, and he doesn't say anything illegal." It is necessary to make an exception for promotion, and seniority cannot be considered; pointing out that at that time, the imperial court was "big equipment with little use", just like cooking chicken with a big cauldron for boiling cows.Later, Bian Rang was promoted many times, and became the prefect of Jiujiang.

During the Chuping period (190-194), the royal family was in turmoil, and Bian Rang abandoned his official and returned to his hometown, Junyi County, Chenliu County.Although he chose to give up his fame and retire to the countryside, he did not forget the king and the country, and has been paying attention to the development of the political situation. A human tragedy that happened in 193 A.D. ignited the flames of anger in Bian Rang's chest. This tragedy was the Xuzhou Tucheng, and the maker of the tragedy was the famous Cao Cao. After Cao Cao defeated the Yellow Turban Army, he invited his father Cao Song to live with him in Puyang. However, when Cao Song's family passed through Xuzhou, they were ambushed by Zhang Kai (a general of the Yellow Turban Army) who was the governor of Xuzhou. killed.After Cao Cao heard the bad news, he personally commanded the army to rush to Xuzhou to avenge his father.Tao Qian was defeated by Cao Jun and withdrew. Cao Cao massacred the people of Xuzhou to vent his anger.

Bian Rang felt deeply grieved and indignant for those innocent Xuzhou people who died unfortunately, and hated Cao Cao's brutal act of bloodbath in Xuzhou, so he couldn't help criticizing Cao Cao in public places.Bian Rang, who was born in a family with a strong literati habit, had always dismissed Cao Cao's status as a post-eunuch, so when criticizing Cao Cao, he often used sarcasm and contempt.Bian Rang was very famous at the time and was deeply respected by Yanzhou officials and the gentry class. Therefore, his "sarcasm" aroused widespread resonance and had a great negative impact on Cao Cao's image in Yanzhou.

At that time, Liu Dai, the governor of Yanzhou, had just died for his country in the battle against the Yellow Turban Army. The Yanzhou officials and gentry class represented by Zhang Miao and Chen Gong originally advocated that Cao Cao should succeed Yanzhou Mu. After the massacre in Xuzhou, their cruelty to Cao Cao Bloodthirsty created fear, and he began to hesitate on whether to welcome Cao Cao into Yanzhou, and Bian Rang's criticism of Cao Cao undoubtedly added fuel to the fire. Seeing that the fat that Yanzhou was about to get was about to be lost, Cao Cao finally couldn't hold back the anger in his chest, and he raised the butcher's knife to Bian Rang.The following record was made on this matter: "The former Jiujiang prefect Chen Liubian asked to ridicule Cao Cao, Cao Cao heard about it and killed him, and his wife. Rang was known as a talent, so Yanzhou scholars and officials were afraid." Cao Cao killed Bian Rang It was originally intended to scare the chickens and monkeys and give those who doubted him a blow, but subsequent developments proved that his behavior was obviously miscalculated and caused serious consequences.

The massacre of Xuzhou caused Yanzhou officials and the gentry to have psychological fear of Cao Cao, and the killing of Bian Rang caused them great panic. Therefore, their spiritual leader, the upright and heroic Chen Gong, completely lost confidence in Cao Cao and turned to work with him. Zhonglang Xu Si, Wang Kai, and Zhang Miao's younger brother Zhang Chao persuaded Zhang Miao, who held real power, to give up the ruthless Cao Cao and choose Lu Bu who was capable of fighting. With a crowd of thousands of miles, when you are in the place of the four wars, you can hold your sword and Gu Kun, and you are enough to be a hero, but you are controlled by others, and you are not contemptible! Today, the state army is marching eastward, and the place is empty. Quan Yingzhi, shepherd Yanzhou together, and observe the situation of the world, and when the current situation changes, this is also one of the vertical and horizontal moments." Therefore, Zhang Miao followed the suggestion of Chen Gong and others, "Using all the potential Yingbu as Yanzhou shepherds."

From then on, Chen Gong began to assist Lv Bu to attack Cao Cao with all his heart. Unfortunately, Lv Bu, who was capable of fighting but had no scheming, was finally defeated by the ruthless and cunning Cao Cao. There is a tragic elegy of sacrificing one's life for benevolence and sacrificing one's life for righteousness. It can be seen that the dramatic "Catch and Release Cao" is an artistic fiction. The reason why Chen Gong and Cao Cao turned against each other was not the tragic death of Lu Boshe's family, but the more cruel Xuzhou massacre and the subsequent Bian Rang. die.