Chapter 4 (4) The road of being a capable minister

Cao Cao's life can be said to be both cunning and honest, both tender and vicious, both tolerant and vengeful. Mr. Yi Zhongtian gave him the evaluation: a lovely villain.Could it be that Cao Cao wanted to be a traitor when he first debuted?What ideals and ambitions did Cao Cao have when he was young? "Yi Zhongtian Pin Three Kingdoms: The Road of a Capable Minister" will be broadcast soon, so stay tuned! In the Han Dynasty, Xiaolianke was an important employment system, and only those who were elected as Xiaolian would enter the official career.Because Cao Cao was elected as Xiaolian and had a father who was a high-ranking official as the backer, he successfully entered the officialdom at the age of twenty.However, an unexpected incident soon plunged Cao Cao into a political vortex of a dilemma: if he advances, he will offend the powerful and powerful and lose his bright political future; if he retreats, he will violate his political ideals and join forces with the powerful.So, where should the high-spirited Cao Cao go?Mr. Yi Zhongtian will stand on the common people's standpoint and give you a wonderful taste of the Three Kingdoms - the road of being a minister through a modern perspective.

In the last episode, we talked about Xu Shao, the most famous character connoisseur and critic at the time, who made another comment on Cao Cao, saying that you are a capable minister in the world and a traitor in troubled times.There are two interpretations for this sentence. One is that when you govern the world, you are a capable minister, and when you are in troubled times, you are a traitor.So is Cao Cao a capable minister or a traitor?In fact, Cao Cao originally wanted to be a capable minister. In 174 AD, the 20-year-old Cao Cao was promoted to Xiaolian and served as Lang Guan.Filial piety means filial piety, and honesty means integrity. If a person is promoted as filial and honest, then he has the qualifications to be an official, just like now that you have a degree and a diploma, you can take the civil service exam.So what is it like to be a Lang Guan?In the official system of the Han Dynasty, the emperor had to select some young people who were considered to be good in moral character, ideological performance and external image from among his relatives and noble children.The word Lang has two meanings, one is a young man or a young man, and the other means a guard. In fact, he goes to the palace to be a Lang, that is, to be the emperor's guard, because the emperor's guard is to be in the corridor of the palace. The guard, so he is called Lang, and the head of the guard is called Lang Zhongling.Then as a Lang by the emperor's side, he participated in the politics of the empire, and he could get tempered by being influenced by his ears and eyes. Therefore, after becoming a Lang official, he could soon take up other official positions. This was a way of training cadres in the Han Dynasty. By the emperor's side, It is just a qualification and experience to go to official career.

Then Cao Cao was promoted as Xiaolian and served as a Langguan, which took the first step towards official career.In addition, Cao Cao was a member of the court, Cao Cao's grandfather Cao Teng was a eunuch trusted by the emperor, and Cao Cao's father Cao Song was also a high-ranking official in the court, so Cao Cao was appointed as Luoyang Beiwei not long after. What official position?Luoyang was a county of the empire at that time, but it was the first county because Luoyang was the capital of the Eastern Han Dynasty.In the system of the Han Dynasty, the Zhengyin official at the county level was the top leader. The larger county was called the county magistrate, and the smaller county was called the county magistrate. The county magistrate and the county magistrate had two deputies. It is civil affairs and finance, and Wei is responsible for military affairs and public security.But Luoyang is a large county, it is the first county, so its captain is not alone, Cao Cao is one of the Luoyang captains, responsible for the security of the northern region, called Luoyang northern captain, his rank is four hundred stone, also That is to say, Cao Cao served as a deputy county-level public security bureau chief.

This official was Cao Cao's first official position, so Cao Cao had a very deep memory of this incident. Later, Cao Cao was named King of Wei by Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty. He was already a prince. He still remembered this incident and recommended him. Who is this person who serves as the northern captain of Luoyang?This man is called Sima Fang, the father of Sima Yi.After Cao Cao became the king of Wei, he invited Sima Fang to Yecheng, the capital of his Kingdom of Wei, and held a feast for Sima Fang.After drinking for three rounds, Cao Cao remembered this incident, and told Sima Fang, Sima Gong, can you see if the lonely king can be the captain of Luoyang North again today?There is a bit of a villain's face in it.What did Sima Fang say? Sima Fang said, Your Majesty, when the old man recommended you to be Luoyang Northern Captain, you were the right deputy county police chief!After Cao Cao heard this, hahahaha, it is recorded in the history books that Cao Cao laughed.Why is Cao Cao laughing?So ordinary people think that this is the success of the villain and complacency.Not exactly.Because Cao Cao remembered those past events when he was the northern captain of Luoyang at this time.

The position of Northern Lieutenant in Luoyang is not easy to hold. Why? Luoyang is where the capital is located and the heart of the empire. This place is full of crowns and dignitaries. These dignitaries and their families and their children, and Their servants have always been domineering, have never taken the king's law seriously, have always wanted to do evil, and have never been provoked by anyone.But law and order in the capital area cannot but be maintained, so what should we do?Therefore, there must be a special person, this person must not believe in evil, and this person must have a lot of evil ideas, who can control these powerful people, and there must be such a person as the deputy county public security chief to control this place.And Cao Cao is just such a person, with great courage and many ideas, he is not afraid of anyone, and he is stunned, so it is very suitable for him to be the deputy county-level public security chief.What Sima Fang said was not entirely to smooth things over for himself, it was indeed seeking truth from facts.

In fact, Cao Cao served as the deputy county-level public security bureau chief, Luoyang Beiwei, and later fulfilled his mission.After Cao Cao took office, he saw that the yamen was dilapidated, and he saw that the Public Security Bureau was indifferent, and his office was not cleaned.The first thing Cao Cao did was to renovate. First, we refurbished our Public Security Bureau to make it look decent; then we made a dozen five-colored sticks and hung them on both sides of the county government gate; I am in charge of this work, and I will reiterate the decree of our empire, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, which ones cannot be done, and then whoever violates the decree will be served by a five-color stick.Then he sat in the yamen, ready to try the case, and sure enough, someone who was not afraid of death came.Because these dignitaries don't pay attention to the king's law, he is used to being domineering, why is he not afraid of death?Jian Shuo's uncle, Jian Tu, who is Jian Shuo? Jian Shuo is the most beloved eunuch of the emperor today. He has a lot of power and is very popular, so his uncle doesn't pay attention to any laws and regulations, and walks out at night openly , Walking on the street when drunk.At that time, a martial law order was issued, also called a curfew order, that is, people were not allowed to walk around outside at night.He was not only walking outside at night but also drunk, and was arrested by Cao Cao's men. Cao Cao was promoted: Jiantu, are you guilty?Jian Tu must be sober at this time, oh, it seems that he violated the curfew?Cao Cao is right, do you know how to punish?Jian Tu said that I don't think much about it, why don't you ask my nephew?Cao Cao said who is your nephew?Jian Shuo!Cao Cao said I don't know anyone, I don't know anyone, I only know the law, I don't know how to punish, right?The official tells you, beat to death with a stick, come on, beat.If he was beaten to death, the uncle of the best eunuch at that time was beaten to death on the spot in the hall.

Cao Cao is smart, that's why he came up with the policy strategy of five-color sticks; Cao Cao is courageous, that's why he dares to enforce the law impartially, and stick to kill Jiantu.Here, the image of Cao Cao's capable minister comes alive on paper.However, didn't the smart Cao Cao know that killing Jiantu with a stick might ruin his political future?How does Mr. Yi Zhongtian view Cao Cao's murderous attack? Cao Cao's blow stunned everyone, who didn't know what this 20-year-old boy was going to do!Because everyone knows that a young man will not end well if he offends the powerful just after entering the officialdom. Doesn't Cao Cao understand this truth?Jian Tu is Jian Shuo's uncle, doesn't Cao Cao know about this relationship?What is even more puzzling is that Cao Cao's grandfather—in fact, he should be said to be his adoptive grandfather—this Cao Teng was also an eunuch, and the grandson of the eunuch killed the eunuch's uncle. How do you say this?Everyone can't figure it out.So why did Cao Cao do this?

The first possibility is that Cao Cao will become a blockbuster, is there any evidence?There is a bit of circumstantial evidence. Cao Cao later wrote an article called "Shu Zhi Ling", also called "Rang County Self-clarification of Ben Zhi Ling". He said this at the beginning: "I am a filial piety at the beginning. I am young. I think I am not a well-known person in the cave. I am afraid that people in the country will see me as a fool. I want to be a county guard, so that I can be a political teacher, so as to build a reputation and let the world know it." What does this passage mean?It was Cao Cao who recalled the time when he was named Xiaolian at the age of twenty. He said that I knew very well at that time that I was too young and not well-known. I am afraid that everyone thought I was a useless person, so I thought Be a good official and do something earth-shattering to let everyone know that Cao Cao is quite capable.In fact, Cao Cao at this time should say that the conditions were not very good. One was from a bad background, and he was from a family of eunuchs. This kind of family that made scholars, those who were not from the family of eunuchs, did not think highly of them.The second is too young, only twenty years old.Thirdly, he has a bad reputation, because when he was a child, Cao Cao was mischievous, a flying eagle, a running dog, idle, not doing business, and specialized in doing some mischievous things, so his reputation was not very good.In addition, the estimated image is not very good.

We read "Three Kingdoms", but those who have a good image are recorded in "Three Kingdoms", for example, Zhou Yu, Zhuge Liang, these people are recorded in "Three Kingdoms".Regarding Cao Cao's appearance and appearance, "Three Kingdoms" does not have a word. "Three Kingdoms" is based on Wei as the orthodox. The image is probably not very good.Then other historical books describe his image. According to other historical books, Cao Cao is called short in appearance, but he is not tall. He is probably about the same as me. Compared with Zhuge Liang who is 1.84 meters tall, he is basically not qualified. products, defective products.In addition, there is a story in it. It said that after Cao Cao became the king of Wei, the Huns sent envoys to see Cao Cao. Cao Cao felt ashamed and said that his short stature was not enough for the country, so he asked Cui Yan to wear the clothes of the king of Wei instead of him. He received the envoy of the Xiongnu on the chair of the king of Wei, and stood beside him with a knife.As a result, after the interview, Cao Cao sent someone to ask the envoy of the Huns, how do you feel? The envoy of the Huns said that the king of Wei was indeed an eleven-faced talent, but the one holding the knife next to him was a hero.It can be seen that a hero is not necessarily tall and handsome, the key lies in his bearing.

The problem is that Cao Cao is not a man of character at this time, so he must have an earth-shattering event to become famous. Killing Jian Shuo's uncle is a good opportunity to become famous.This is the first guess. Then the second guess is that Cao Cao wants to strictly enforce the law.Cao Cao advocates the rule of law. He enforces the law very strictly, prohibits orders and does not allow ambiguity. This character may have been shown when he was young.There are two reasons for Cao Cao's emphasis on the rule of law, one is forced by the situation, and the other is dictated by his character.The so-called forced by the situation, because it was a troubled time at that time, and heavy codes were used in troubled times, and strict codes were used in troubled times. This was forced by the situation.In addition, Cao Cao is also very serious.Cao Cao's life is indeed very casual, he doesn't pay attention to food, clothing, and long-term marches and wars, he probably can't pay attention to women and can only make do with it.But his personality does not mean that he is frivolous. Many people think that Cao Cao is a frivolous person. This is a mistake. Cao Cao is indeed telling jokes, listening to music, wearing casual clothes, and composing poems. A kind of relaxation is also a manifestation of his rich inner world, maybe it is his smoke bomb to confuse the enemy, if you want to treat Cao Cao as a frivolous person, then you are wrong.Cao Cao is actually a very deep person, and Cao Cao also has a murderous aura, and this murderous aura is reflected in this stick.

Of course, there is another possibility, that is, by coincidence, Cao Cao at this time had just made his debut, and at the age of twenty, he didn't know much about officialdom, so he was a melon egg.He thought it would be great for him to be a deputy county-level public security chief, but if he speaks out, anyone who dares to disobey the order will be killed, but Jian Tu, a big-tailed wolf, ran into him, and what he said was splashed with water, so he had no choice but to bite the bullet beat him to death. But no matter which kind of guess, we can be sure that we cannot know exactly what Cao Cao was thinking at the time, but what we can know accurately is that Cao Cao offended the powerful and the eunuch group.But the eunuch group has nothing to do with him, because first, Cao Cao is right, law enforcement is like a mountain, what do you have to say.Second, Cao Cao has a background.So what did the eunuch group think of? They told the emperor, Your Majesty, Cao Cao is a talent, and the law enforcement is like a mountain. It is aggrieved to let him be the deputy county-level public security chief. He should be promoted to the county-level, but transferred to outlying areas.If you want to upgrade you to one level, get the hell out of here, don't dangle in front of me.So Cao Cao served as the order of Dunqiu. Not long after, Cao Cao was transferred back by the court to serve as Yilang. What is the concept of Yilang? In today's words, he is a researcher, an idler; He was transferred back to be Yilang.Cao Cao thought about it, Yilang should be Yilang, I will do research, go to the locality, I will govern, but what?Cao Cao wrote articles on his strategy for governing the country and some suggestions on current politics, but there was no news, and no one responded.He attacked the strong and strong in the local area and rectified the order, like hitting a stone with a pebble, or a tree with a mayfly, but it didn't have any big effect at all. Cao Cao was also very strict when he was in power in the local area. It is said that it was for Cao Cao's transfer order. For example, Cao Cao was transferred to be the prime minister of Jinan. Can you stay?They fled into other counties and went to other places.The small reports were delivered to the imperial court one by one, and people kept suing Cao Cao for his tricks.At this time, Cao Cao felt that he might not be able to get along in the officialdom. He felt that the Han Dynasty was in decline, and the regime was dying. Any efforts he made would be useless and would only bring disaster to himself.The reason why he didn't get killed was because he had Cao Song as a big backer, and his father was a Guanju Taiwei, who was the nominal commander-in-chief of the three armies at that time, and the powerful didn't dare to do anything to him.But in the long run, there must be no good fruit to eat, so Cao Cao declined another appointment from the court, this time to appoint him as the prefect of Dongjun with a rank of two thousand shi, and Cao Cao resigned from this task. Then I returned to my hometown, studied behind closed doors, and entertained myself by hunting and hunting in my spare time.But Cao Cao didn't forget about national affairs, he still cared about his country and nation. According to the analysis of Mr. Yi Zhongtian, it can be seen that the young Cao Cao is indeed a "capable official in governing the world". Whether he is a Luoyang northern lieutenant with real power or a vain Yilang, Cao Cao will do his best.However, at that time, the power was in charge, which made it difficult for him to display his enthusiasm for serving the country. In the end, Cao Cao resigned on the pretext of illness.Doesn't Cao Cao want to be a capable minister?What are the conditions to be a minister? In fact, the young Cao Cao may not understand a truth, that is, there are conditions to be a capable minister. What conditions are there?First, it depends on the times. Only when the times are governed can one be a capable minister. If one is in troubled times, then one may only be able to follow Zhuge Liang’s "Teacher's Biao", "Gou Quan's life will be in troubled times, and he will not seek to be known to the princes"; secondly, Well, it depends on the political situation. If the political situation is chaotic, then it is impossible to be a good minister. Even Confucius said that if the state has the way, it will be wise, and if the state has no way, then it will be stupid. What is stupid? It depends on the owner, that is, whether the emperor is a foolish ruler or a wise ruler. If he is a foolish ruler, you will not be able to be a capable minister; fourth, even if he is governing the world, a wise ruler, and a good political situation, then you still have to look at the emperor's mood and interest.For example, Emperor Wenwen of Han was not a faint emperor. The era of Emperor Wenwen of Han Dynasty was also the best era of the Western Han Dynasty. How did it end? "It's a pity that the front table is empty in the middle of the night, and you don't ask the common people and ask the ghosts and gods." He was still not used, and finally sent him to Changsha, causing Jia Yi to cry and die there all day long.Therefore, there must be conditions to be a capable minister, but the era in which Cao Cao lived did not have this condition. When Cao Cao became an official, it was not yet a troubled time, but it was already the eve of the troubled times.Cao Cao became an official in the period of Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty, and Emperor Ling, Emperor Huan, and his uncle Emperor Huan, these two dynasties are synonymous with the darkest and most corrupt politics. When we mention the worst era: the Huan and Ling dynasties.So Zhuge Liang's last "Teacher's List" is not to say that he sighed and hated Yu Huanling.So what kind of person is Lingdi? Where is his interest? His interest is not in state affairs, but in literature and art. It is said that Lingdi's Fu is very well written, and he also has research on architectural art.What did he study in the palace at that time? He studied the tap water and drainage system, and designed a whole set of water and drainage system in the palace, which is very good.After the success, Emperor Ling ordered that the common people should be able to drink tap water, so a large-scale construction was carried out in the capital.You are the emperor. What you want to control is the rise and fall of the world, not the ups and downs of the water, so who will the government be entrusted to?Two groups of people: relatives and eunuchs.And because this Lingdi has to do so many things, he wants money, where does the money come from, and sells officials.The Lingdi dynasty sells officials, and the price is clearly marked and open bidding.The price is about 10,000 shi per level. For example, if you want to buy a 400 shi deputy county-level official do, 4 million; Lie Sangong, that is, Taiwei, Situ, and Sikong, plus another 10 million, the price is clearly stated.This is an open sale. If the official appointment of the imperial court has to be paid, but only half or one third can be paid, and the price can be negotiated. At that time, a man named Sima Zhi was appointed as the prefect of Julu. As soon as the letter of appointment arrived, the court reached out and took money.Sima said straightly, where do I have money, I am a clean official.The imperial court said that it knew that your life was difficult, and that you would pay three million yuan less or less.Sima said that I really can't afford it, so I don't want to be an official, can I?The imperial court said that would not work, you cannot resign!Sima Zhi had no choice but to commit suicide on the way to take office. Before he died, he wrote a suicide note, denouncing the court for betraying officials. But Sima Zhi's death seems to us to be in vain now, because after Sima Zhi's death, the court's prostitution of officials intensified.Cao Cao's father, Cao Song, lived in the Taiwei, and they all bought it with money. The Taiwei is a Sangong with a high status, so many people want to be addicted to the Sangong, including one named Cui Lie.Cui Lie is also an upright official, his family is well-known, and he worked hard to become the sheriff and Jiuqing through his own work, but he always felt that our Cui family should have a third son.At this time, one of the emperor's nanny surnamed Cheng, Cheng Cheng, Mrs. Cheng came to Cui Lie and said, hey, I can get an internal discount.Cui Lie said, what is the preferential price?50% off.Cui Lie thought that the 50% discount was a good deal, so he paid the 50% discount.After handing over, hey, the emperor held a meeting and officially announced the appointment of Cui Lie as Situ.After finishing talking, you can see how faint the emperor is. He said, oops, you only paid half of the money. This empire has made a loss-making business.As soon as he said this, Mrs. Cheng quit, and Mrs. Cheng immediately jumped out and said, Mr. Cui is a good official, why did he buy his official position with money, I got it for him.Gongqing was in an uproar, saying that you Cui Lie relied on a woman to get an official, you might as well spend money to buy you, let alone lose face. Under such circumstances, Cao Cao saw through the officialdom and the court at that time, and he no longer raised opinions, nor held any official positions.He felt that during this period of time he should study hard, improve his self-cultivation, and make a preparation for the time when he can be loyal to the country in the future.When Cao Cao came out again, the political situation was already in chaos.In 189 AD, Emperor Han Ling died, leaving behind two sons, fourteen-year-old Liu Bian and nine-year-old Liu Xie, plus Liu Bian's mother, Empress He, the orphans and widows could not control the situation at all.The scholar group headed by the general He Jin fought fiercely with the eunuch group and a palace coup, and both suffered losses.In the end, the power fell into the hands of Dong Zhuo, the warlord of the Northwest. In the eyes of the scholar-bureaucrats at that time, Dong Zhuo and his group were simply inhumane.Dong Zhuo is a tiger, Lu Bu is a wolf, and their subordinates are wild dogs.What did Dong Zhuo do after entering Beijing?Depose the emperor.He first abolished the incumbent emperor, that is, the fourteen-year-old Liu Bian, and made the nine-year-old Chenliu king Liu Xie the emperor. This was his one thing.Second, the harem was dirty and messed up, and all the women left by the late emperor were included.The third is to massacre hundreds of officials.It is said that Dong Zhuo's greatest interest at that time was the banquet guests. He invited all the civil and military officials in the court to drink. Choose one of the ministers to go out to kill, or drag those who oppose him, those who are arrested by him, to gouging eyes, chopping hands, cutting noses, throwing them in this soup pot to cook, and listening to them suffer The more these people screamed, the stronger his appetite and sex drive became.His subordinates burned, killed, looted, and raped women in Luoyang City, turning the entire capital into a tragic disaster area. Dong Zhuo's perverse and outrageous actions will of course arouse public outrage.What was the situation like?The situation at that time was that the state shepherds, prefects, and governors of various states and counties already had their own territory and army, and the imperial court could no longer command them.Under such circumstances, the states and counties of the empire announced the establishment of a rebel army to attack Dong Zhuo.In other words, after Dong Zhuo entered Beijing in 189 AD, the Eastern Han Dynasty had actually perished, although it had not yet perished in name.The world has been in chaos ever since.Heroes in troubled times are everywhere, and if you have a gun, you are the grass head king.These state shepherds, governors, and prefects with their own armies started local separatism and annexation of princes.Under such a current situation, Cao Cao must not be able to be a capable minister, because he encountered a troubled time.In fact, in troubled times, there are three choices, you can be a hero in troubled times, you can be a hero in troubled times, you can be a traitor in troubled times.The choice of Dong Zhuo, Yuan Shao, and Yuan Shu is to be a hero in troubled times, so what is Cao Cao's choice?Please watch the next episode.