Chapter 30 2. The biggest "royalist" is dead

In October of the seventeenth year of Jian'an (212), around the same time that Dong Zhao proposed to restore the fifth-class nobility system, Cao Cao decided to launch an expedition against Sun Quan from the east. Three military campaigns to conquest Sun Quan were launched, respectively in the 17th year of Jian'an (212), the 19th year of Jian'an (214) and the 20th year of Jian'an (215). This year is the first time. In the last ten years of Cao Cao's life, he still often led troops on expeditions. There were two main battlefields: Hefei and Ruxukou on the eastern front, and Guanzhong and Hanzhong on the western front.The strange thing is that Cao Cao succeeded one after another on the western front. He first defeated Ma Chao and Han Sui, pacified Guanzhong, and then Longyou. And back, can only look at the Yangtze River and sigh.

Some people think that this is because the opponents are different, and people like Ma Chao, Han Sui, and Zhang Lu cannot be compared with Sun Quan.This may be a reason, but there is another point that cannot be ignored. Cao Cao was defeated in Chibi first, and then stopped on the banks of the Yangtze River many times.Until later, after Cao Pi became emperor, this situation remained unchanged. For decades, the Yangtze River became an insurmountable natural danger for Cao Jun. The troops participating in this expedition still gathered in Qiao County first. Cao Cao had high hopes for this personal expedition, and specially asked Emperor Xian to send Minister Xun to come to Qiao County on behalf of the court to express his condolences.It is also customary for the emperor to send ministers to the front line to serve as soldiers, but it is unprecedented for Xun, who actually presides over the daily work of the court, to come in person.Many people, including Xun himself, noticed this detail and felt that something was about to happen.Sure enough, Cao Cao then issued an edict in the name of Emperor Xian, changing Xun to Doctor Guanglu and no longer serving as Shang Shuling. Cao Cao's military advisor (see Prime Minister Military).

This appointment is not trivial. Doctor Guanglu's rank is "bierqianshi", which can be regarded as a ministerial rank, and "bierqianshi" is slightly lower than two thousand stones, which can be regarded as a deputy ministerial rank. .Xun has held the position of Shangshu Ling for more than ten years, and his rank is only one thousand stones, which is considered to be at the bureau level. It seems that he has been promoted, but Shangshutai is the secretarial and confidential bureau of the imperial court, and the actual power is much greater , far surpassed the general ministers, especially in the current situation, Shang Shuling handles the daily work of the court and is Cao Cao's spokesperson in Xu County.

In the minds of the scholars, Xun was their leader, and even Cao Cao believed that Xun should have a higher status. He once wanted him to be one of the three princes, but Xun himself rejected it. Now, no matter how stupid people are, they understand that Xun's Shang Shuling became Doctor Guanglu by no means to be promoted, but to mean that he fell out of favor.Moreover, Cao Cao allowed Xun to participate in the military affairs of the prime minister's mansion, which made Xun his direct subordinate. Xun was so depressed that he fell ill. However, Cao Pi, who also participated in this expedition, later recorded in the "Preface to the Classics" that Xun came to the army to condolences. Judging from the situation at that time, Xun's mental state was quite good.

Cao Pi wrote that when he was stationed in Quli (now Linying, Henan) with the army, Xun once came to the army to condolences, and they had a chat.At that time, Xun Xun was very excited. He said to Cao Pi: "I heard that you can shoot arrows left and right. This is really not easy (I heard that Jun is good at shooting left and right, which is really difficult)." Cao Pi said: "You haven't seen me raise my head on a horse, look down at the horse's hooves, and shoot at the moon branch?" Xun laughed and said, "That's right (Nair)." Cao Pi said, "If the arrow target is placed in a fixed place, even if it hits a hundred shots, it's nothing special. If you gallop on the plains, with the lush grass under your feet, chasing wild animals, shooting birds, the arrows are not in vain, and when you hit the prey, you can pierce through it. This is considered sublime.”

Zhang Jing, the chief of staff of the army (military sacrificial wine), was also sitting there, looking back at Xun and clapping his hands. From the above description, it seems that Xun has a lot of worries, but I feel very happy to have him come to the army to condolences him. However, Quli was still near Xu County, and Xun had not yet arrived in Qiao County at this time, so he didn't know that Cao Cao would not let him go, so Cao Pi still called him "Shang Shu Ling" when he wrote his post.Xun probably thought that this was just a simple condolence activity, and he could return to Xu County after the end.

Of course, there is another possibility, that is, Cao Pi wrote this on purpose.After Xun's death, there were various speculations about the cause of his death. Cao Pi's "Dian Lun", an academic work on literature, art and philosophy, specifically included such things as chatting with Xun, which is somewhat deliberate.Cao Pi may want to tell everyone that Xun did die of illness, and all the rumors about the cause of his death are unreliable. Cao Cao quickly led his army to advance to the Ruxukou area on the banks of the Yangtze River. At this time, Xun stayed in Shouchun due to illness, where his health deteriorated rapidly, and finally died of illness in Shouchun. He happened to be fifty years old this year. .

"Three Kingdoms" said that Xun's death was mainly due to illness, and depression was also one of the reasons (Yiyouxi), but "Wei Shi Chunqiu" believed that he committed suicide.According to "Wei's Spring and Autumn Annals", Cao Cao gave Xun some food to eat at this time. Xun opened it and found that it was empty. Xun felt that Cao Cao was hinting at something, so he committed suicide by drinking poison It is an empty vessel, so he died after drinking medicine). "Bie Zhuan" also implies that Xun committed suicide, saying that before his death, Xun burned all important documents related to himself, so many of the strange strategies and conspiracies he had put forward are unknown (self-made Shangshuling, often referred to as Books and reports are burned and destroyed when they are about to die, so it is impossible to hear all about the strange schemes and conspiracies).

"Xiandi Chunqiu" has a new explanation. It believes that Xun's death is related to the incident of Empress Fu who is about to be exposed. It is usually believed that this incident was discovered more than a year later, but "Xiandi Chunqiu" believes that Cao Cao knew about it long ago. , and Xun was also involved. After Dong Cheng and Dong Guiren were killed, Empress Fu wrote a fierce letter to her father Fu Wan, asking Fu Wan to contact some people to get rid of Cao Cao.Fu Wan found Xun. After reading it, Xun felt that the matter was very serious. He didn't say anything, but he didn't report it to Cao Cao (Wan got a book to show that he was evil, and he hid for a long time without saying anything).

Among the people Fu Wan contacted was his brother-in-law Fan Pu. Fan Pu was afraid of being punished afterwards, so he handed the letter to Cao Cao.Cao Cao was on guard in his heart, but he didn't make it clear immediately.Xun later felt that the matter had been leaked, and worried that Cao Cao would pursue him, so he tried to find a way to untangle himself.At that time, Cao Cao had just sent his three daughters to the palace and became nobles dedicated to the emperor, so Xun took the initiative to go to Ye County to persuade Cao Cao to make his own daughter another queen. Cao Cao was a little surprised: "Now there is Empress Fu in the imperial court, my daughter can be assigned to the emperor only because of my insignificant merits, how can I have further extravagant hopes (how can my daughter be matched, I will record it with minor achievements, If you are a prime minister, how can you rely on female favors?"

Xun said: "Fuhuang has no sons, and has a vicious and vicious temperament. He wrote to her father before and said some outrageous things, so she should be abolished. It can be abolished because of this)." Cao Cao said, "Why haven't I heard this from you before?" Xun pretended to be surprised and said, "I've reported it to you before (it's been an official statement in the past)." How can I think that Cao Cao is very serious, and said: "Is this a trivial matter? How could I forget?" Xun pretended to think for a while and said: "It is true that I did not report it. Maybe it was because you didn't want to disturb Yuan Shao when you refused Yuan Shao at Guandu. You, that's why you didn't say anything." If Cao Cao understood that Xun was trying to smooth things over for himself, he should have pretended to be confused and let it go, but Cao Cao didn't want to give Xun this face, so he continued to ask: "Why didn't you report after the Guandu battle (why didn't you say anything after the Guandu incident)?" De Xun had no words to answer, only to constantly review himself (no answer, just Xie Que). "Xiandi Chunqiu" believes that this is the turning point in the relationship between Cao Cao and Xun. After that, Cao Cao became seriously dissatisfied with Xun in his heart, but he only tolerated him on the surface (Taizu hated him for this, but tolerated him externally, so there is nothing in the world. Know). "The Spring and Autumn Annals of Emperor Xiandi" further believes that Dong Zhao proposed to grant Cao Cao the Duke of Wei, but Xun expressed his opposition. Xun wanted to make a statement to Cao Cao in person, and it happened that he was asked to come to the army to condolences at this time. After the condolences were over, it was Xun himself who asked to stay , The purpose is to find an opportunity to talk to Cao Cao face to face (and to reward the army with a book from the seal, after the drink and gift, please leave room). Cao Cao knew what Xun was going to talk about, but he didn't give him a chance. In the end, Xun died of depression in Shouchun. The records in "Xiandi Chunqiu" are different from the previous history books, but they have a great influence on later generations.However, the authenticity of this record is questionable.According to this, Xun took the initiative to talk to Cao Cao about the matter before the Empress Fu incident was made public, and Xun became an informer. This may not conform to Xun's usual style of doing things.If Xun only wanted to protect himself, he would not have angered Cao Cao again and again on key issues. Although the cause of Xun's death is complicated and confusing, he died in the army without any warning when he was in his prime, and it was at a critical moment in the debate on whether to restore the fifth-class nobility system. . There were all kinds of rumors in the society at that time, and one of them believed that Cao Cao forced Xun to kill the queen, but Xun refused, so he committed suicide.This argument was told to Sun Quan by a person who fled from Shouchun to Jiangdong. Sun Quan believed it, and he widely publicized it in the form of notices (lubu).When Liu Bei knew about it, he also said: "Cao Cao, this old thief is not dead, it seems that the disaster will not end (the old thief will not die, the disaster will continue)!" Objectively speaking, although Cao Cao did not like Xun at this time, he would not kill him or force him to commit suicide.Xun has followed Cao Cao for more than 20 years and has made great contributions. He also fully trusts and respects Xun.Although Xun's attitude towards Cao Cao has undergone subtle changes in recent years, they all focus on how to treat the Han Dynasty. Although the views are different, Cao Cao firmly believes that Xun is not Dong Chenghe and Fu Wan, and he will not rebel. In Cao Cao's eyes, Xun has always been a scholar with his own political ideals, and it is not easy for him to change, but there is no need to guard against him too much, because he is not a big threat, so Cao Cao will not fight Sun Quan when he is about to start a war It was not in Cao Cao's interest to kill Xun, who had great influence, on the eve of the eve. Xun's death may be a coincidence. The increase in mental pressure affected Xun's health. It is entirely possible that Xun died of illness at this sensitive moment.Of course, it is also possible to commit suicide, feeling pessimistic about the future, not wanting to live an insincere life, and at the same time afraid of bringing disaster to family and friends. However, the official announcement will not say that he committed suicide, only that he died of illness.Cao Cao presented Xun as Jinghou in the name of the Son of Heaven to express his respect for him. The title was inherited by Xun's eldest son and his son-in-law, Xun Yun. Xun Yun married Cao Cao's daughter, Princess Yang'an, and later he served as the general of Huben Zhonglang.In the struggle between Cao Pi and Cao Zhi for inheritance rights, he was hated by Cao Pi because he stood on Cao Zhi's side. After that, he gradually became frustrated and died relatively early. Xun also had several other sons. Xun Yu later served as the censor Zhongcheng, and Xun Shen served in a military position that was not too high. Xun was more famous, a scholar, and a high official in the Jin Dynasty.There is also Xun Can, the son-in-law of Cao Hong, who advocated Taoism and was an early advocate of metaphysics. He was very affectionate with his wife, and died of grief at the age of 29 because of his wife's death. Xun's role in Cao Wei is no less than that of Zhuge Liang in Shu Han.He not only has outstanding talent, but also made great achievements in Cao Cao's early career development, and he himself has a high appeal among scholars. It was under his influence that a large number of Ruying scholars joined the Cao Wei camp. of. However, his status in name has not been high. On the one hand, he was humble and repeatedly resigned from the title and official position. On the other hand, he had disagreements with Cao Cao in his political stance in his later years. He became the largest "royalist", and expressed dissatisfaction and opposition to Cao Cao's attempt to break through the imperial court system and even replace it. Su Dongpo is a first-class writer and calligrapher, but also a first-class historian. In his book "Dongpo Zhilin", he made an in-depth analysis of Xun's inner contradictions.He said: "There was great chaos at the end of the Han Dynasty, and heroes rose together. If Xun Wen was a sage, he began to think that Cao Cao could not pacify the sea, so he assisted him. The reason why he advised Cao Cao was that these were also the affairs of the Han family. How could Xun Wen teach What about Cao Cao's rebellion? Save the world with benevolence and righteousness. Since the world is equal, there will be what should be, and when it is necessary, we will accept it, and we will not take what should not come. This is what King Wen of Zhou did, and Xun Wenruo believes. But Cao Cao But if you want to add Jiuxi, Xun Wenruo opposes him with death, so I say that if Xun Wenruo is a saint, his talent is like Zhang Liang, and his character is like Boyi." At the time of his death, Xun had two positions: the Minister-level Minister and the Vice-Minister-level Doctor Guanglu. It was not until the second year of Xianxi (265) more than 50 years later that he was posthumously awarded the title of Taiwei. It was also in this year that Cao Huan, the last emperor of Cao Wei, was ousted by Sima Yan, and the Cao Wei Empire came to an end formally.