Chapter 23 Chapter Eleven Epilogue

In the ninth year of Jian'an, (Xu You) walked out of the east gate of Ye. Gu said to the left and right: "This family has to be mine, so you can't come in and out of this gate." ——"Wei Lue Biography of Xu You" (Ren Jun) In the ninth year of Jian'an passed away, Taizu shed tears for a long time. ——"Three Kingdoms Biography of Ren Jun" In the twelfth year of Jian'an, (Zhang Xiu) conquered Karasuma in Liucheng, but before he arrived, he died, and his posthumous title was Dinghou.Wei Lue said: Cao Pi, the general of the five sense organs, was invited to the meeting, and said angrily, "You kill my brother, how can you bear to look at people evil!" Xiu felt uneasy and committed suicide.

——"Three Kingdoms Zhang Xiu Biography" Pride that he is not an old minister of the Taizu, but has deep plans, fears suspicion and suspicion, keeps his own door behind him, retreats without personal relationships, marries men and women, and does not marry a high-ranking family.Xu was seventy-seven years old, died, and his posthumous title was Suhou. ——"Three Kingdoms: Biography of Jia Xu" Wancheng changes In the first month of the second year of Jian'an (AD 197), Cao Cao encountered the most bizarre crisis in his life in Wancheng. Cao Cao has encountered countless crises throughout his life as a soldier.At the age of thirty-six, he participated in the crusade against Dong Zhuo, and was defeated by Xu Rong in Xingyang. He confronted Yuan Shao at Guandu, and was almost assassinated by an assassin who was close at hand; when he was fifty-seven years old, he was attacked by Ma Chao's Kansai coalition forces in Tongguan, and he almost lost his life at the end of the day.

But all the crises in Cao Cao's life added together are not as dramatic, bizarre, and full of fog as the one he encountered in Wancheng.All the secrets surrounding this crisis are as complicated and chaotic as silk threads. Even after many years, people can still feel its aftermath, and its impact is extremely far-reaching. To figure out the context of this incident, we have to start with Dong Zhuo's entry into Beijing. In the sixth year of Zhongping (AD 189), He Jin recalled the great warlord Dong Zhuo from Kansai to kill the ten permanent attendants.Dong Zhuo did not return to Beijing alone. He brought a large number of Xiliang soldiers who were like tigers and wolves. These soldiers were commanded by Kansai generals who were loyal to Dong Zhuo and became the cornerstone of his military power to dominate the government.

Among these generals are the well-known Lu Bu, Li Jue, and Guo Si, and the slightly lesser-known Fan Chou, Niu Fu, and Zhang Ji.Under Niu Fu, there was a middle-aged man named Jia Xu, whose resourcefulness was unfathomable; under Zhang Ji, there was a young general, his nephew, named Zhang Xiu. Jia Xu and Zhang Xiu should know each other, they may have met each other, and they may not have a deep friendship. The good days of the Xiliang Army came to an end soon.In the third year of Chuping (AD 192), Dong Zhuo died in the hands of Lu Bu and Wang Yun, and the Xiliang army fell apart, and people were panicked.Li Jue, Guo Si, Zhang Ji and others discussed with each other and decided to divide their luggage and run away.At this time, Jia Xu stood up and made a suggestion, which was hailed as the most poisonous plan in the Three Kingdoms: "I heard that Chang'an Zhongyi wanted to kill the people of Liangzhou, but all the monarchs abandoned the others and went alone, that is, a pavilion chief can restrain the monarch. It is better. Lead the crowd to the west, withdraw troops to attack Chang'an, and avenge Dong Zhuo, fortunately, it helps, and serve the country to conquer the world, if not, it will be late." It means that it is better to go back to Chang'an to avenge Dong Zhuo than to run away.

With Jia Xu's encouragement, the Xiliang generals mustered up the courage to return to Chang'an.After a great battle, the result was Wang Yun's death and Lu Bu's defeat, leaving only a lonely Emperor Xiandi Liu Xie who became the puppet of the Xiliang general.Since then, the central authority of the Han Dynasty has completely collapsed, and the heroes have taken the opportunity to rise, and the world has truly entered an era of chaos. Pei Songzhi accused Jia Xu of being the executioner of the Eastern Han Dynasty. This evaluation is not fair, but it is not too outrageous. According to common sense, the person who can destroy the Han Dynasty with one sentence must be an ambitious big careerist.But Jia Xu's performance exceeded everyone's expectations.He neither fought for merit nor seized power, and declined the reward from the Xiliang army. Instead, he mediated between the Xiliang army and the imperial court, and carefully cared for the smoldering Han Dynasty. Many Han officials survived because of him.

Li Jue and Guo Si's troubles in Chang'an became more and more outrageous. Jia Xu decided to leave this place of right and wrong, so he found an excuse and went to Huayin to join his fellow villager Duan Yan.Zhang Ji and Zhang Xiu also left Chang'an at the same time.Zhang Ji has always looked down on Li Jue and Guo Si, so he simply led his subordinates to Hongnong to station. At that time, there was famine everywhere, and there was a lack of food and clothing.Zhang Ji had many soldiers and had no food to eat, so he had to attack Rangcheng in Jingzhou to the south.As a result, during the siege, Zhang Ji died of an arrow, and his nephew Zhang Xiu took over the entire army logically and moved to Wancheng.

Zhang Xiu finally started to take charge on his own, but his army was short of food and fodder, and was surrounded by enemies, so it was not easy to be the boss.When he was confused, Zhang Xiu suddenly thought of Jia Xu.Zhang Xiu heard that Jia Xu didn't have a good time with Duan Yan and was always suspected by the latter.Zhang Xiu wrote a letter to him, hoping to get his help. After careful consideration, Jia Xu decided to go to Wancheng.Someone persuaded him that leaving like this would arouse Duan Yan's suspicion.Jia Xu replied that Duan Yan was warm on the surface and suspicious by nature. I have been here for a long time, and something will happen sooner or later.Now that I'm gone, he will expect me to be a foreign aid, and he will treat my wife and children well.

Sure enough, as Jia Xu expected, Duan Yan happily sent him away, and cared for his wife and children who stayed in Huayin. From this little incident, it can be seen how thoroughly Jia Xu sees human nature. Zhang Xiu was overjoyed by Jia Xu's arrival, and performed the ceremony as a junior.At this point, the two protagonists in our story merged into one place and started their separatist career in Nanyang (Wan). In a blink of an eye, it was the second year of Jian'an.The third protagonist of the story——Cao Cao finally appeared, riding his beloved BMW Jueying towards Wancheng. Cao Cao has done a good job in the past few years. He beat the biggest threat Lu Bu back to Xuzhou and regained control of Yanzhou.More importantly, he followed Xun Yu's suggestion and welcomed Han Xiandi Liu Xie to Xudu, and began the good life of "serving the emperor to order but not ministers".Under the pressure of Lu Bu in the east and Yuan Shao in the north, Cao Cao decided to cut off the threats around Xudu in order to prepare for the next big battle.

The first one that fell into his sight was Zhang Xiu who was entrenched in Wancheng. Cao Cao gathered his army together and went to Wancheng to attack.When Cao Jun reached the Feishui, Zhang Xiu suddenly sent an envoy to announce his surrender. For Zhang Xiu's decision, Cao Cao was overjoyed.Zhang Xiu is a brave general, and under his command is the Xiliang soldier with the most fierce fighting power of his time. To be able to win such an army without bloodshed is definitely a windfall.Zhang Xiu said in the letter that he hoped that Duke Cao could go to Wancheng to accept the surrender, and Cao Cao readily agreed.

According to historical records, Cao Cao did not bring many troops to Wancheng at that time, and only his eldest son Cao Ang, nephew Cao Anmin and general Dian Wei followed him.This is a gesture of sincerity, showing the open-mindedness and trust of the surrendered. What Cao Cao never expected was that this kind of open-mindedness eventually cost him an extremely painful price. After Cao Cao arrived in Wancheng with his son, nephew and love general, he was warmly received by Zhang Xiu.During the banquet, Cao Cao saw an extremely beautiful woman.This woman is Zhang Ji's wife and Zhang Xiu's aunt.Her name has long been lost, and Li calls her Zou Shi. For the sake of convenience, we will call her that.

Zou's appearance must be very beautiful, otherwise Cao Cao would not be coveted.Cao Cao was very lustful. When he saw a beautiful woman, he took her as his concubine regardless of her status as a widow.This move greatly annoyed Zhang Xiu. Just after he surrendered, Cao Cao accepted his aunt as his concubine. If it got out, the whole world would think that Zhang Xiu was selling his aunt for glory.At this time, Zhang Xiu began to lose his psychological balance. Then Cao Cao added another heavy weight to the balance. When Cao Cao saw that there was a general named Hu Che'er under Zhang Xiu's command, who was majestic, he couldn't help but love talents, and took out gold from his pocket to reward him personally.In any era, it is extremely sensitive to buy bodyguards. Cao Cao made Zhang Xiu think that he planned to assassinate himself by bribery. Cao Cao's rampant rampage in Wancheng made Zhang Xiu very scared, and he began to regret the surrender.At this time, Jia Xu offered him a poisonous plan. Under Jia Xu's plan, Zhang Xiu pretended to ask Cao Cao, saying that our army was stationed in a low-lying place outside the city and wanted to move to a higher place.Cao Cao agreed.Zhang Xiu also said, this time we moved past your camp. We have few cars and cannot bear heavy items. Can the soldiers wear their own armor?Cao Cao also agreed. Ordinarily, this kind of request should arouse Cao Cao's doubts, but he was obsessed with the Zou family at that time and had no time to pay attention to it. Therefore, Zhang Xiujun, wearing heavy armor, entered Cao Jun's camp and launched a sudden attack.Caught off guard, Cao Jun was defeated.Cao Cao seized his horse and fled in a panic, while Dian Wei guarded the door, resisting dozens of Xiliang soldiers, and finally died heroically.After Cao Cao broke out of the camp, he was shot at his mount again. The eldest son Cao Ang gave his horse to Cao Cao, but he himself died in battle with Cao Anmin. This is the famous Battle of Wancheng in history. After the Battle of Wancheng, Zhang Xiu and Cao Cao resumed their state of war and fought many times.Before the battle at Guandu, Zhang Xiu followed Jia Xu's advice and surrendered to Cao Cao for the second time.Cao Cao was at a critical juncture of confrontation with Yuan Shao at that time, and Zhang Xiu's surrender was tantamount to sending charcoal in a timely manner.Cao Cao showed great enthusiasm. He not only arranged a marriage for his son Cao Jun and Zhang Xiu’s daughter, but also granted Zhang Xiu a fief of two thousand households—you know, even Cao Cao’s most trusted generals Never been sealed so many fiefs. Cao Cao let the whole world see that he, Cao Mengde, loves talents so much that he can even laugh off Wancheng's enemies. After Cao Cao defeated Yuan Shao, Zhang Xiu followed Cao Cao to the northern expedition to Karasuma, and died strangely before arriving. "Three Kingdoms" did not mention how he died, but "Wei Lue" told us a somewhat chilling story—— Cao Pi, Cao Cao's son, asked to meet Zhang Xiu many times. After seeing him, Cao Pi was furious and scolded loudly, "You killed my brother Cao Ang, how dare you eat and drink at my house." Zhang Xiu was very frightened when he heard this. Soon he committed suicide. This record is full of doubts.Zhang Xiu is a united front figure erected by Cao Cao in order to publicize his love for talents, and he is placed in the window for the world to see.Therefore, Cao Cao will never pursue Zhang Xiu's black history in Wancheng, otherwise the world will see a joke and regard Cao Mengde as a hypocrite who is trying to gain fame and has no integrity. Even if Cao Cao dared not mention that period of history, how dare Cao Pi jump out and talk nonsense?Cao Pi was already twenty years old that year, and he was not an outspoken child, and he would not be ignorant of the seriousness of pursuing the Wancheng Battle. Unless someone instructed Cao Pi to do so behind his back. Furthermore, Cao Pi was only one of Cao Cao's heirs at the time, and whether he was Cao Cao's successor is still inconclusive.As a general in command of the army, Zhang Xiu was so afraid of such a sentence that he wanted to commit suicide? Unless Zhang Xiu realized that Cao Pi was instructed to do so. Based on various indications, it was Cao Cao himself who was behind Zhang Xiu's suicide. Cao Cao never forgot Wancheng's enmity, but because of Yuan Shao's strong pressure, he had to treat Zhang Xiu kindly to show that he was tolerant.Now that Yuan Shao has perished, no one in the entire Central Plains can compete with Cao Cao.At this time, Cao Cao felt that it was almost time to settle accounts after autumn. But it is not acceptable to push Zhang Xiu directly to kill him, the political influence is too bad.So Cao Cao instructed his son Cao Pi to go out. Facing Cao Pi's accusation, Zhang Xiu fully understood, but was helpless.He knew that Cao Cao would not let him go. For the safety of his family, this Xiliang general had no choice but to commit suicide. The previous forbearance was Cao Cao's method as a politician; the current turnaround is the revenge of a father.In this way, Cao Cao got rid of Zhang Xiu with both hands cleanly, and he did not bear any infamy of private revenge. Doubts arise here. If we remember correctly, the Battle of Wancheng was jointly made by Zhang Xiu and Jia Xu. Min and Dianwei. Now that Zhang Xiu, one of the real murderers, is dead, what about the other mastermind, Jia Xu? Jia Xu was not retaliated against, let alone killed.In the next few years, Jia Xu's status increased day by day, and gradually became an important counselor in the Cao Wei camp, almost able to compete with Xun Yu, uncle Xun You and his nephew.Even on the most critical issue of establishing an heir in Wei State, Cao Cao asked Jia Xu for his opinion instead of asking others.Jia Xu's opinion finally gave Cao Pi and Cao Zhi the final word on the issue of establishing an heir, and determined the next political direction of Wei State. After Cao Pi usurped Han and became emperor, Jia Xu was named Taiwei, a very personable minister.The old man lived until he died at the age of seventy-seven, ending his legendary life.Compared with Zhang Xiu, Jia Xu's life can be said to be infinitely beautiful. He became a high-ranking official, became famous, lived a long life, and died well. This is really unfair. When we re-read the history books with this idea, we will find many interesting details. In "Three Kingdoms" written by Chen Shou, "Cao Cao Biography", "Zhang Xiu Biography" and "Dian Wei Biography" all mentioned the Battle of Wancheng, and they were all written in great detail.However, these records never mentioned Jia Xu's name, and only said "embroidered to cover up the Taizu" and "embroidered to rebel", as if Jia Xu did not exist at all.In "Jia Xu's Biography", it is even more interesting. The entire battle of Wancheng, such a major event, has been completely deleted. After talking about Jia Xu defecting to Zhang Xiu, the next paragraph starts to talk about the relationship between Zhang Xiu and Cao Cao. Second engagement. It was not until many years later that Pei Songzhi made an annotation for "Three Kingdoms" that he clearly proposed "embroidery from Jia Xu". On this disagreement, I trust Pei Songzhi even more.Zhang Xiu has always obeyed Jia Xu's words. He formed an alliance with Liu Biao in the early stage, and abandoned Yuan Shao and surrendered to Cao Cao in the later stage, all of which came from Jia Xu's suggestion.For such a big decision in the Battle of Wancheng, it is absolutely impossible for Zhang Xiu to bypass Jia Xu and act alone, or it can be said that without Jia Xu's instigation, even if Cao Cao slept with Zhang Xiu's wife, he might not dare to rebel. Chen Shou's historical materials are all collected from the archives of the State of Wei. His records in the "Book of Wei" can reflect the political attitude of the State of Wei to a certain extent.Therefore, we can infer that the Wei State court has always been secretive about Jia Xu's role in the Battle of Wancheng, and simply did not mention it. The record "Jia Xu planned the Battle of Wancheng" quoted by Pei Songzhi is quoted from "Book of Wu". "Book of Wu" is an official history book compiled by the Eastern Wu State, so there is no need to hide the political events of the Wei State. Pei Songzhi was from the Song Dynasty in the Southern Dynasty, and he would not hide anything for Cao Wei.Therefore, this very critical record was deleted by the State of Wei, but it was preserved in the historical records of the State of Wu, and was added to the "Three Kingdoms" by Pei Songzhi, so that it can be passed down to future generations. In other words, throughout the Cao and Wei dynasties, they tried their best to avoid talking about the relationship between Jia Xu and the Wancheng battle, and deleted all direct records. This is really confusing. Cao Cao, Cao Pi and his son hated Zhang Xiu so much, but they relied heavily on Jia Xu, the real planner, and even did not hesitate to erase his dark history.Such favoritism is so strange that there must be something hidden in it that we haven't noticed. Cao's father and son's completely different attitudes towards Zhang Xiu and Jia Xu revealed a corner of the curtain for us.Now, let's re-examine the Battle of Wancheng to see what major details have been missed. In historical materials such as "Three Kingdoms", "Wu Shu", "Fu Zi" and "Wei Shu", the records of the Battle of Wancheng are either detailed or abbreviated. "Dian Wei Biography" said: "The Taizu conquered Jingzhou, arrived at Wan, and Zhang Xiu welcomed the surrender. The Taizu was very happy, Yanxiu and his generals held a high-level meeting with wine... More than ten days later, Xiu rebelled and attacked Taizu's camp"; " "Wu Shu" said "Embroidery surrender, use Jia Xu's plan... Embroidery is Yan Bing entered the village to cover up Taizu. Taizu was unprepared, so he was defeated"; Wan. Zhang Xiu surrendered, regretted it, and rebelled. Public and war, the army was defeated." Combining these three historical materials, we can sort out a general context: when Cao Cao arrived in Wancheng, Zhang Xiu began to greet him enthusiastically, and then suddenly rebelled, killing Cao Cao by surprise.But these three historical materials did not mention the reasons for Zhang Xiu's rebellion. The real reason is recorded in "Three Kingdoms Zhang Xiu Biography": "The Taizu Naji's wife, Xiu hated her. Taizu heard her displeasure, and secretly had a plan to kill Xiu. The plan was leaked, and Xiu attacked Taizu. Taizu's army defeat." This record tells us two things.First, the reason for Zhang Xiu’s rebellion was because Zhang Ji’s wife was slept by Cao Cao; the second point—and the most critical point—is not Zhang Xiu, but Cao Cao. In other words, the real battle of Wancheng is different from what we imagined in our minds.In the general imagination, Cao Cao was holding Zou Shi in the big camp for lust, completely lost vigilance, and Zhang Xiu took advantage of it; but in fact, Cao Cao had already planned to get rid of Zhang Xiu, and he had already planned to do it. It's a pity that Zhang Xiu or Jia Xu took the lead and took the lead. However, in this way, a huge contradiction surfaced. Let’s review Zhang Xiu’s pre-war preparations for assaulting Cao Ying: He reported to Cao Cao that he wanted to move his troops to a high place near Cao Ying, and Cao Cao agreed; On the body, Cao Cao also agreed.So he sent the Xiliang elite in heavy armor to the vicinity of Caoying under the two excuses of "moving the village" and "the car is light".Cao Jun was unprepared, and as a result, he was defeated as soon as he charged. If Cao Cao was busy with lewd pleasures at this time, he might agree to Zhang Xiu's request, but in fact, we all know from "The Biography of Zhang Xiu" that since Cao Cao slept with Zou, he has already noticed that Zhang Xiu is dissatisfied with him, and also Preparations for the "plan to kill embroidery" are in full swing. Cao Cao at this time must have been wary of Zhang Xiu.Just imagine, when you know that a person has murderous intentions for you, how can you easily allow this person's troops to approach your camp in armor? Unless Cao Cao thinks that this army is approaching Cao Ying, it will not affect his plan-maybe he even thinks it is good for his plan. In the historical materials quoted from "Zhang Xiu Biography" just now, there is such a sentence: "The Taizu heard that he was displeased, and he had a secret plan to kill embroidery. The plan leaked." In this short sentence, there are four words that are particularly worth noting— — "Secret existence" and "counter leakage". "Secretly exists" means that Cao Cao's "plan to kill embroidery" is quietly planning, and it must be kept secret. This secrecy is obviously not aimed at Cao Jun himself, but to hide Zhang Xiu's people-but what is Cao Cao trying to hide? You know, when Cao Cao went to Wancheng, he left the main force in Wuyin, and he didn't have many troops with him, but all the main forces of Zhang Xiu were assembled in Wancheng at this time.Compared with the two, Cao Jun is at a numerical disadvantage.If Cao Cao wants to kill Zhang Xiu, it is impossible to fight recklessly, and he must find an internal response within Zhang Xiu. What Cao Cao tried to hide was precisely this "internal response" in Zhang Xiuying.Cao Cao made a request to this nephew, asking him to cooperate with him in attacking Zhang Xiu.The cooperation between them is extremely sensitive, so the word "secret" is used here to exaggerate the degree of secrecy between the two. Let's look at the next two words: "counting leaks".Meaning the plan leaked. Who leaked this plan? This is a "secret" top-secret plan. Apart from Cao Cao, the only people in Cao Ying who know about this matter are Cao Ang, Dian Wei and other senior officials. They will never disclose the secret to Zhang Xiu. The only person who plans and may leak out is the "internal response" of Wancheng. Thinking about it further, I'm afraid that "internal response" had no good intentions from the very beginning.He just pretended to cooperate with Cao Cao in order to obtain information and make Cao Cao lose his vigilance.First "secret existence" and then "accounting for leaks", the four words just outline all the actions of this "internal response". We can even roughly guess the identity of this insider: Hu Che'er.Cao Cao once presented gold to this general with his own hands, and he loved him very much, so it was perfect to choose him as a "fake internal response". What happened next can be imagined.Hu Che'er led a group of soldiers to Cao Ying to apply for moving the village and putting on armor. Cao Cao knew that it was his soldiers, so he was relieved and did not take precautions.As a result, after Hu Che'er approached Cao Ying, he suddenly attacked. Cao Cao, who was caught off guard, panicked and lost, almost dying. So we can see that this is a very delicate multi-layered conspiracy.Cao Cao intended to win over Hu Che'er to get rid of Zhang Xiu, but Zhang Xiu—actually it should be Jia Xu—did a trick and asked Hu Che'er to mislead Cao Cao in turn, and successfully sent the assault troops into Cao's camp.This time, the plan to raid Cao Ying was intentional and unintentional, so it can be said that it was determined to win. Jia Xu's ability to manipulate conspiracy and grasp of human nature is really wonderful. However, this created another contradiction. Rebelling against Cao Cao is a costly affair that can only be succeeded, not failed.There is only one sign of success, and that is to kill Cao Cao himself. How to ensure that Cao Cao must die?With Jia Xu's impeccable style of conduct, in addition to assaulting Hu Che'er in Cao's camp, he must have arranged other troops around the camp to intercept Cao's deserters in order to wipe them out.This is Wancheng, Zhang Xiujun is far more familiar with geography than Cao Jun who came from afar. But what about the results?Zhang Xiu succeeded in killing most of the important generals in Cao Ying, but only Cao Cao escaped from life. Jia Xu has always been relentless, how could he lose the chain at such a critical moment? Let us take this question into account and take a look at the process of Cao Cao's escape. First of all, it is recorded in "Three Kingdoms: Dian Wei Biography": "The Taizu was not good in the battle, and Qingqi led him away. Wei Zhan was in the gate, and thieves were not allowed to enter." That is to say, after Cao Cao found out that he was attacked by surprise, he fled on horseback. Relying on Dianwei to block the door alone, blocking the pursuers. Then there is the record in "Wei Shu": "The horse on which the public was riding was named Jueying, and it was hit by a flowing arrow, which injured the cheek and foot, and the right arm of the public." Cao Cao rode Jueying all the way, and was shot by the arrow halfway. He also took an arrow in the right arm.At this time, even if Jueying is not dead, he can't run anymore. Finally, it is recorded: "Ang can't ride, he enters the horse to the public, the public is spared, and Ang is killed." Cao Ang was injured and could not ride a horse, so he gave the horse to Cao Cao.Cao Cao escaped smoothly, but Cao Ang died because of it. This flight reveals two things to us. First, Cao Cao did not encounter any ambushes along the way in the direction of his escape. The biggest crisis he encountered was a few stray arrows shot by the pursuers behind him, and there was no record of any close encounters. Just imagine how important it is to kill Cao Cao. How could the resourceful Jia Xu forget to arrange a few ambushes on the road that Cao Cao must pass?Not only does this not match Jia Xu's ability, but he doesn't even have basic military knowledge! But the facts tell us that Zhang Xiujun did not intercept them, they just followed and chased after them for a long time before returning after failing to catch up.These brave cavalrymen from Xiliang couldn't even catch up with a wounded Cao Cao, which is really weird. Second, Cao Ang was killed without resistance. This is even more weird.Dian Wei was killed on the same night, but he fought desperately in the barracks and killed countless enemies, so his death in battle was logical.However, Cao Ang was unable to ride a horse due to his condition at that time, which shows that he was seriously injured.For this kind of big man who is valuable and has lost the ability to resist, according to common sense, he should be captured alive to be more useful. But Zhang Xiu's soldiers killed Cao Ang without saying a word, as if he was just an insignificant pawn. These two low-level mistakes give people a strong feeling: Jia Xu didn't seem to care much about killing Cao Cao at all, neither sent people to intercept him, nor sent Xiliang cavalry to pursue him seriously-but he He has great interest in killing Cao Ang. Jia Xu would not make such a low-level mistake, so there is only one explanation, he did it on purpose. After such deduction, Jia Xu worked so hard to create such a killing situation. Could it be that the real target is not Cao Cao, but Cao Ang? Would this be too ridiculous? Let's put aside this doubt for now, and focus on Cao Ang, a young man, to see what is so special about him. Cao Ang, named Zixiu, was the eldest son of Cao Cao. His age was unknown at that time, but he was estimated to be in his twenties, close to thirty.Cao Ang's mother, surnamed Liu, died early. He was brought up by Cao Cao's original wife, Mrs. Ding, and he and Mrs. Ding have the same mother and son. Cao Ang followed Cao Cao to fight everywhere since he was a child, and performed well. Under Cao Cao's deliberate arrangement, he accumulated a lot of military and political experience. He is his successor who painstakingly cultivated.Cao Cao's heart-wrenching loss in the Battle of Wancheng was not the famous horse Jueying, not the famous general Dian Wei, not to mention Cao Anmin, but Cao Ang.Cao Cao has always held a grudge against Zhang Xiu, and in the final analysis it is because of this enmity. But Cao Ang's death, the most distressed person is not Cao Cao, but his adoptive mother, Mrs. Ding. Mrs. Ding watched Cao Ang grow up, and heard that after he died in battle, it was like five thunderbolts.After Cao Cao returned from Wancheng, in order to buy people's hearts, he showed a look of grief over Dian Wei's death and commemorated it wantonly.This made Madam Ding extremely dissatisfied, she found Cao Cao and cried bitterly: "You killed my son in battle, don't you miss it at all?" Cao Cao was so angry at being scolded that he drove Mrs. Ding back to her natal home.Cao Cao originally thought that Mrs. Ding would be subdued because of this, but she didn't expect that Mrs. Ding was a hard-tempered person, and she would not go back after staying in her mother's house.Cao Cao couldn't hold his breath for a while, and ran to Mrs. Ding's house. Mrs. Ding happened to be weaving. Someone told her that your husband came to see you, but Mrs. Ding ignored her at all.Cao Cao went into the house bravely, touched Mrs. Ding's back and begged, "Come back with me in the car." She didn't turn her head, and continued to weave as before.Cao Cao went out and shouted again: "Aren't you going back with me?" The room was silent.Cao Cao sighed: "It seems that you are really planning to break with me." Then he left in despair. After Cao Cao went back, he sent a letter of divorce directly.But no one dared to marry Cao Cao's woman, so Mrs. Ding lived alone at home until she died of illness.Later, when Cao Cao was in his later years, he sighed and said that I have never regretted anything I have done in my life, only one thing I am ashamed of.If I meet Zixiu (Cao Ang) after my death, if he asks where my mother is, how should I answer? After Mrs. Ding divorced Cao Cao, Cao Cao quickly helped another concubine Ji.This concubine, surnamed Bian, was a dancer from a low family background.However, Mrs. Bian was very beautiful, and was taken as a concubine by Cao Cao when she was twenty years old, and she was much loved. Regardless of the humble background of this Mrs. Bian, she has a very competitive stomach. She gave birth to three sons for Cao Cao, and these three sons are all terrific: the eldest is Cao Pi, the second is Cao Zhang, and the third is Cao Zhi. If there were no accidents, with Mrs. Bian's background, she would end her life as a concubine in the end.Her sons will be enshrined as vassal kings and spend their days in their respective fiefs. But the battle of Wancheng brought a turning point in her life. Cao Ang's death and Mrs. Ding's abolition immediately freed up two important positions for the Cao family.Mrs. Bian and her three children are the most favorable contenders for these two positions. For Mrs. Bian, this was really a surprise. However, when we think back to Cao Cao's bizarre experience when he fled in Wancheng, we can't help but ask a question: "Is this really just a surprise?" For Mrs. Bian, what kind of battle in Wancheng would be the most favorable ending?It was Cao Ang who died, but Cao Cao did not die.In this way, she can not only ensure the success of the son's position, but also ensure the prosperity and development of Cao's power. This is an event with an extremely low probability, and there is no need to expect it to happen—but if someone consciously pushes behind it, the probability of this event will increase significantly... On that night, Zhang Xiujun let go of Cao Cao, the biggest target, but killed Cao Ang, who had no resistance, as if they were not deployed by Zhang Xiu and Jia Xu, but acted strictly according to Madam Bian's interests. Although according to the logic of solving the case, the biggest beneficiary is not equal to the murderer, but this time, it was a bit too tight, and people have to wonder if there are traces of human manipulation. Seizing an heir is one of the ugliest things in history.In the face of power, family affection and morality all have to take a back seat.Even guessing with the greatest malice sometimes fails to reach its limits. When I searched through the historical materials again, I suddenly discovered that the outcome of the Battle of Wancheng was far more in line with Mrs. Bian's interests than I imagined.The shady curtain hanging over Wancheng was suddenly torn apart. Cao Pi once narrated his life in "Dianlun". He wrote: "At the beginning of Jian'an, he went south to conquer Jingzhou, arrived at Wan, and Zhang Xiu surrendered. In ten days, he turned back. His brother Xiaolian Zixiu and his brother Anmin were killed. It was more than a year At the age of ten, you can ride a horse and get off." It turned out that not only Cao Ang, Cao Anmin and Dian Wei were in Wancheng at that time, but also the future Wei Wendi Cao Pi! He was only ten years old at the time, and he followed his father to Wancheng.After the attack on the camp, Cao Pi ran away alone on horseback.Look, Cao Pi, who was only ten years old, escaped Jia Xu's precise siege and the fierce pursuit of Xiliang cavalry, not only survived, but also intact-this can no longer be explained by miracles. We have seen that the attack on the camp arranged by Jia Xu was really an extremely precise blow: Cao Ang, the eldest son, was killed, Mrs. Bian's husband Cao Cao was taken off by horse, and Mrs. Bian's eldest son Cao Pi was taken off by horse.Not only perfectly killed the people that Madam Bian wished to disappear, but also let go of all the people Madam Bian hoped to survive. All of this is like a scene that Mrs. Bian and Jia Xu have discussed long ago. Every turning point and the ending of every character are well arranged by the script.Mrs. Bian and Jia Xu, these two people who can't fight with eight poles, joined forces to stage a wonderful conspiracy drama in Wancheng. Some people may ask, Mrs. Bian has gained enough benefits here, she has a motive; but what about Jia Xu?What is he doing all this for?What benefits can Zhang Xiu, his assistant, gain from this rebellion? The answer is that Zhang Xiu won't get any benefits, he's just a pawn in Jia Xu's hands.As for Jia Xu, she gained a lot from this strategy. Throughout Jia Xu's life, we will find that although this man is unparalleled in resourcefulness, he is an extreme egoist.All his actions are based on safeguarding his own interests. After Dong Zhuo's death, the Xiliang generals wanted to withdraw to Kansai.Jia Xu realized that he had no military power, and that once Wang Yun counterattacked, he would have no ability to resist.So Jia Xu offered a poisonous plan to the Xiliang generals, encouraging them to resist and return to Chang'an. In Chang'an City, he realized that Li Jue and Guo Si's misdemeanors would come to an end sooner or later, so he consciously gave some small favors to the Han officials to earn prestige, and then he withdrew and went to Duan Yan. When he realized that Duan Yan was threatening his survival, he left without hesitation again and found Zhang Xiu.For Jia Xu, Zhang Xiu is an ideal protagonist: he is very powerful in combat, but has no brains, obeys Jia Xu's words, and is easy to control. Careful analysis reveals that Jia Xu's arrangements for Zhang Xiu's every step are deliberate and carefully calculated.Under Zhang Xiu's tent, Jia Xu made three crucial decisions for him. The first decision was to drop Cao into the water.The surrender this time was the prelude to Jia Xu's amazing strategy, the purpose was just to trick Cao Cao into Wancheng. Next, it was Jia Xu who urged Zhang Xiu to rebel against Cao in Wancheng.The result of this rebellion is of no benefit to Zhang Xiu, it just arouses Cao Cao's monstrous hatred for no reason. What about Jia Xu?When planning, he deliberately let Cao Cao and Cao Pi go, killed Cao Ang, and showed a huge favor to Mrs. Bian.This kindness is not only a kindness, but also a threat, which laid a foreshadowing for Jia Xu's future life in the Cao family.In other words, through these two rebellions, Jia Xu exchanged Zhang Xiu's political life for a huge benefit to himself. The second decision was made when Yuan and Cao were at war.At that time, everyone thought that they should go to the powerful Yuan Shao, but Jia Xu persuaded Zhang Xiu to surrender to Cao Cao, who had become a deadly enemy, for the second time. At that time, everyone believed that Zhang Xiu had a feud with Cao Cao who killed his son, and Cao Cao would never forgive him, but Jia Xu calculated that Cao Cao would treat Zhang Xiu preferentially during the war, as a show of tolerance.After Yuan Shao's defeat, everyone praised Jia Xu for his foresight. He foresaw Yuan Shao's defeat and found a good way out for his lord Zhang Xiu. This decision is regarded as one of Jia Xu's most brilliant strategies, and it is still used to prove Jia Xu's wisdom. But if we think about it carefully, who really benefits from this decision? It is definitely not Zhang Xiu. Zhang Xiu killed Cao Ang, and he was already a deadly enemy with Cao Cao.Even in the midst of a war, Cao Cao dared not do anything to him, and sooner or later he would use other means to vent his grievances.后来的历史证明，曹昂始终是曹操的一个心结，所以他才暗中授意曹丕，终于逼死了张绣。假如张绣去投奔袁绍，或许无法改变官渡之战袁绍失败的命运，但至少要比在曹操麾下要安全多了。 深谙人性的贾诩，对这一点不会毫无觉察，可他还是义无反顾地说服张绣去投降曹操。 当张绣宣布投降以后，曹操高兴地握着贾诩的手说：“让我信重于天下的人，是你啊。”听到没有，曹操用的是第三人称单数，单指贾诩，没有张绣。 张绣付出了极大的代价，错投了主公，埋下了杀身之祸，所换来的，不过是贾诩一个人的名声大噪。 更绝的是，没有人会因此指责贾诩，因为张绣确确实实地得到了曹操的礼遇，大家只会赞美贾诩的先见之明。至于张绣投靠曹操以后会发生什么，那就不是贾诩的责任了。 获取了最大利益，规避了最多风险，还叫任何人都挑不出错。贾诩的手法之绝，令人叹为观止。 可见贾诩当初投靠张绣，只是利用这个单纯的青年来提升自己的价值，然后待价而沽，踩着张绣的肩膀攀爬上更高、更安全的位子。他为张绣打造的每一步规划，最终都是为了自己。张绣就如同是一株乔木，被贾诩这根藤蔓死死缠住，表面上两者共生，实际上却是藤蔓吸干乔木的最后一滴汁液。 我甚至有一个极端的猜想。说不定整个宛城之战，都是贾诩的一手策划。他拟定好计划，主动暗中联络卞夫人，说我会给你和你的孩子带来机会，你也需要在以后的日子里帮助我。卞夫人无法抵挡这种诱惑，与贾诩开始了合作。 相比起张绣的悲惨结局，贾诩在曹营的生活要快乐多了，因为他有一个坚定强大的盟友——卞夫人。卞夫人对贾诩，恐怕是既敬又怕，既对他在宛城的恩情由衷地感激，也对他掌握着自己的秘密而感到恐慌——如果曹操知道曹昂的死与卞夫人息息相关，那么事情将一发不可收拾。 曹操对贾诩的才能十分赞赏，再加上卞夫人一直吹着枕边风，曹操不知不觉地把宛城的仇恨全部转移到了张绣头上。贾诩此后的仕途一帆风顺，平步青云，成为三国混得最好的几个人之一，与张绣形成了极其鲜明的对照。 当曹丕、曹植长大以后，开始为了立嗣而明争暗斗。贾诩作为魏国重臣，选择了支持曹丕。曹丕曾经向贾诩请教过如何当上世子，贾诩面授机宜，给了他不少建议。而当曹操问贾诩究竟该选谁为继承人时，贾诩婉转巧妙地暗示他，应该立曹丕。在贾诩的帮助下，曹丕终于夺取了世子之位。 贾诩为何如此力挺曹丕呢？原因无他，实在是因为曹丕是当年宛城阴谋的参与者——尽管他那年才十岁，未必明白到底发生了什么事，但参与者就是参与者。 曹植虽也是卞夫人的儿子，可在宛城之战这件事里，他是完全无辜的。如果曹植当了皇帝，宣布彻查宛城事件，那么连曹丕带贾诩都要倒大霉；但如果曹丕当了皇帝，宛城事件便会被彻底掩盖起来，没人会再提起。 曹丕没有辜负贾诩的厚望。当他篡位当了皇帝以后，下令销毁以及修改关于宛城之战的一切，这就是为什么我们在陈寿的《三国志》里，看不到半点贾诩与宛城之战有关联记载的原因。而贾诩则被授予太尉之职，用来酬谢他为自己和自己母亲所做的一切。 贾诩明白自己所隐藏的秘密有多么深重，他对于曹丕不能完全信任，害怕有一天会被皇帝灭口。于是，这位策谋深长的老人老老实实地蛰伏起来，平平安安地渡过余生。史书记载贾诩在魏国的晚年生活是“惧见猜疑，阖门自守，退无私交，男女嫁娶，不结高门”。完全是夹起尾巴来做人。 天下人都称赞他是懂得韬光养晦的智者，哪里知道这位智者不得已而为之的实情。 可是天下没有不漏风的墙。宛城之事尽管保密功夫做得极好，曹丕和贾诩都闭口不谈，可还是有丝丝缕缕的猜疑与揣测在隐秘地流传着。我们在一千多年之后的今天，尚且可以凭借只言片语推断出事情的真相，当时的人显然更有条件进行推测。 有一本叫做《荀勖别传》的史料，记载了这样一件事：晋武帝的时候，司徒的位置出现了空缺，就问荀勖什么人可以接任。荀勖回答说：三公是极其尊贵的职位，不可以轻易授予别人，当年魏文帝曹丕授予了贾诩太尉的职位，孙权在江东听到以后，为之嘲笑不已。 天下人都认为贾诩是高人，为何孙权却要嘲笑他呢？莫非是知道贾诩的什么丑事，觉得这种小人不配担任三公？ 再联想到南朝宋时的裴松之，恰恰是从吴国的官修史书里找出了贾诩与宛城之战的联系。我猜，大概是宛城之战被当时的人猜出一点端倪，流传到了江东，被孙权听到了一部分真相，特意记录在史书里。 当我们后来之人翻开满是灰尘的木简，这些只言片语就会变成一把古旧的钥匙，引导着我们打开一扇大门，门后则是一个充满阴谋的世界。 在那个世界里的建安二年春夜，贾诩就这么矗立在宛城城楼之上，安详地等待着。不知在那个时候，这个宛如恶魔一般的男子会低声呢喃些什么。