Chapter 5 (5) Where to go

Political corruption at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty made Cao Cao unable to be a capable minister, and the subsequent chaos in the world made him face new choices.In troubled times, should I save my life or come forward?If you want to make a difference, should you be a hero, a hero, or a villain?What should Cao Cao do, and how did he do it? "Yi Zhongtianpin Three Kingdoms: Where To Go" will be broadcast soon, so stay tuned. In the program "The Road to a Capable Minister", Mr. Yi Zhongtian conducted a multi-faceted analysis from whether Cao Cao was a "capable minister who governs the world" or a "treacherous hero in troubled times".In Mr. Yi Zhongtian's view, Cao Cao's original ambition was to be a "capable minister who governs the world", but in that chaotic era, as the central government lost control and the warlords separated one side, Cao Cao's road to being a capable minister must not continue.At this time, his life path is facing a new choice, so what is Cao Cao's choice?Professor Yi Zhongtian of Xiamen University will give us a wonderful reading of the Three Kingdoms from a contemporary perspective-where to go.

We know that when Cao Cao was called back by the court again, Emperor Ling was already dead.After the death of Emperor Ling, the court was in chaos, and Dong Zhuo entered Beijing to take control of the court.After Dong Zhuo entered Beijing, he also understood a truth. The Northwest Army he brought with him was a group of bandits. It was okay to destroy, but not to build.To carry out construction and win the world, we still have to rely on the original officials and generals of the Eastern Han Dynasty.So Dong Zhuo also recruited talents, including Cao Cao. Dong Zhuo appointed Cao Cao as the captain of Xiaoqi.At this time, Cao Cao's political foresight, political acumen, and political vision were revealed. Cao Cao saw through it at a glance, and the result of following Dong Zhuo could only be disaster for the country and the people and self-destruction.So Cao Cao escaped from the capital, ready to flee back to his hometown.

Cao Cao walked to Chenliu, which is now southeast of Kaifeng City, and has always been a battleground for military strategists. He stopped at this place.Why, he was sponsored by a man named Weiz from Chen Liu. This Weiz probably belonged to a very rich family, and he sponsored a large sum of money to Cao Cao. This matter is very important and has never been paid much attention to.Those heroes in the Three Kingdoms era, such as Cao Cao and Liu Bei, who were able to raise troops and become princes, were all sponsored by consortiums, and this local consortium participated in politics by funding what they considered heroes, which is a traditional Chinese society. a political tradition.Then Cao Cao recruited troops in the local area after receiving the sponsorship from Wei Zi, and finally publicly announced that he wanted to set up a rebel army to attack Dong Zhuo.Cao Cao's proposal was echoed by heroes all over the world. Heroes from all walks of life raised their troops and raised up the banner of rebellion to attack Dong Zhuo and restore the Han Dynasty.

In 190 A.D., Yuan Shu, Mu Hanfu of Jizhou, Kong Ni, governor of Yuzhou, Liu Dai, governor of Yanzhou, Wang Kuang, governor of Hanoi, Yuan Shao, governor of Bohai, Zhang Miao, governor of Chenliu, Qiao Mao, governor of Dongjun, Yuan Qian, governor of Sanyang, Bao Xin, Prime Minister of Jinbei, raised troops at the same time to form a coalition, and publicly elected Yuan Shao as the leader of the coalition.This army was called "Kwantung Rebel Army" because they were stationed east of Hangu Pass, also called "Kwantung United Army", or "Kwantung Army" for short.Dong Zhuo's army is called the "Northwest Army".Cao Cao was appointed "General Fenwu" by Yuan Shao, the leader of the "Kwantung Allied Army".

Cao Cao readily accepted the title of "General Fenwu", because according to Mr. Yi Zhongtian's analysis, Cao Cao has always been a capable minister since he came out of the mountains in 174 AD and started his army in 189 AD.This time, Cao Cao accepted this title because he wanted to do something great for the country and the nation, but just when he was about to go through fire and water to realize his ideal, he felt that there was no way to serve the country.So, what did Cao Cao see that made him so disappointed? First of all, Yuan Shao, the leader of the "Kwantung Army", has his own appearance.It is also reasonable for Yuan Shao to be promoted as the leader of the alliance. First, Yuan Shao was born noble, and his family is known as "four generations and three princes". What is "four generations and three princes"?That is, four generations of his family have successively held the position of "San Gong". We know that in the Han Dynasty, the position of "San Gong" was very high, second only to the emperor.The four generations of the Yuan family, that is, the four generations above Yuan Shao, Taizu, Gaozu, Zu, and father all held such official positions, so they are very popular and prominent families in the officialdom.Second, Yuan Shao himself was a talented person, very beautiful, smart and eloquent, and good at handling interpersonal relationships, and had contacts with celebrities and scholar-bureaucrats at that time.More importantly, Yuan Shao became famous because of his opposition to Dong Zhuo.

After Dong Zhuo came to Beijing, he thought about changing the emperor. He wanted to abolish the then emperor Liu Bian and make Liu Xie, the king of Chenliu, the emperor, so he consulted with Yuan Shao.Why did you ask Yuan Shao to discuss it, because Yuan Shao's uncle was the Tai Tuo at the time, so Dong Zhuo wanted Yuan Shao to send a message to his uncle, asking his uncle to support this matter.Yuan Shao refused on the spot. How could the emperor be changed casually? Did you change the emperor?Dong Zhuo, a bandit, was furious, so he scolded Yuan Shao, brat, Shuzi, don't I have the final say on the affairs of the world?Do you think my Dong Zhuo's sword is not fast?Yuan Shao was an officer at that time, and according to the system, officers were allowed to bring a knife to a meeting. Dong Zhuo pulled out the knife and scolded, Yuan Shao pulled out the knife and laid it horizontally on his chest, with the blade facing the outside and the back facing the inside, saying heaven Is it possible that only Mr. Dong's knife is fast?Then retreated, exited the venue, and escaped from the capital overnight.Well, when Pei Songzhi commented on "Three Kingdoms", he thought it was not true, and the record in "Three Kingdoms" is not like this. The record in "Three Kingdoms" is what Yuan Shao said to this Dong Zhuo, so I will go back and talk to my uncle, and then just ran away.Anyway, Yuan Shao did oppose Dong Zhuo, this is a fact.So it makes sense for him to be the leader of the "Kwantung Allied Forces" against Dong Zhuo.

But Yuan Shao has no political mind.How Dong Zhuo got into Beijing was because of him, Yuan Shao.Because after the death of Emperor Han Ling, the scholar group and the eunuch group had a conflict on one issue, which was who would be the next emperor.Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty wanted to establish Liu Xie, the youngest son, and entrusted this matter to Jian Shuo, the captain of the Eighth Army of Xiyuan at that time.And Liu Bian was born to Empress He, the empress of Han Lingdi. Of course, Empress He hoped that his son would become emperor, and Empress He's elder brother was the general He Jin at that time.The Great General is truly under one person and above ten thousand people. The "Three Dukes" were already honorary positions at that time, and it was the Great General who held the real power.So these two groups fought for this matter, then in the first round, the scholar group won, the Shangjun Colonel Jian Shuo was killed by He Jin, and He Jin took over the Shangjun.At this time, Yuan Shao gave He Jin an idea, saying that since this is the case, we will pursue the victory and kill all the eunuchs, and the world will be peaceful from now on.This He Jin was a little tempted, because what was He Jin's background, a butcher, he was a pig killer.But He Jin's younger sister, Empress Dowager He, disagreed. Why did Empress Dowager He not agree? Because Empress Dowager He poisoned Liu Xie's biological mother, Wang Meiren, because the youngest son was born to a woman with a relatively low rank named Wang Meiren. Yes, after giving birth, Empress Dowager He gave her a glass of wine for Beauty Wang to drink, and Beauty Wang died after drinking it.Emperor Han Ling was furious and wanted to abolish the queen. It was the eunuchs who knelt down and begged for mercy to keep Empress Dowager He's queen status, so Empress Dowager He was unwilling to do anything to the eunuchs.At this time, Yuan Shao gave He Jin another idea, saying that Dong Zhuo should be invited to the capital to scare the Empress Dowager He.This is an out-and-out bad idea. The common people know that it is easy to invite gods but difficult to send them away, let alone the one you invited is a fierce god.

When Cao Cao got the news about this incident, he laughed out loud. Cao Cao likes to laugh very much.Cao Cao hehehehe, haha, is it worth it?Isn't it just a few eunuchs, a few eunuchs?Why can eunuchs and eunuchs gain power?That's because the emperor favors them, what can they do if the emperor doesn't favor them?Of course it’s not bad, there are a few eunuchs who are very bad, they need to be rectified, and it’s enough to send a criminal policeman, “Why call foreign generals all over the place”?From this incident, we can see the political level of Cao Cao and Yuan Shao. Cao Cao's point of view is very simple. How can you use a bull's knife to kill a chicken, not to mention that the knife is not in your hands. The weapon of the soldier is the knife. It cannot be unsheathed casually. When the knife is unsheathed, there will be blood, and if there is no chicken, the cow will be killed.He Jin and Yuan Shao deserved to be killed, stubborn bull, stupid bull, what happened?Before Dong Zhuo entered Beijing, He Jin was killed by the eunuch first. After He Jin was killed by the eunuch, Yuan Shao led the army to fight there and then went to kill the eunuch. After the killing was messy, Dong Zhuo, the tiger and the wolf, came.Come kill them again.

Yes, in political struggle, one must strike first, so that does not mean making enemies everywhere!The worst blows can only be dealt with the most stubborn and murderous enemies.Therefore, the correct approach is to unite the majority and attack the small group.How can you kill all the eunuchs?Besides, there are good people among the eunuchs.But how did Yuan Shao kill them? Yuan Shao issued an order to kill anyone who didn't grow a beard, so that the young men in Luoyang City who hadn't grown beards saw Yuan Shao's army and took off their pants to verify their integrity.So Cao Caoshuo I foresee that he will fail.

This leader is such a person, and the others are not so good.For example, Kong Ni is a boaster. According to the history books, he is "booty and boastful". What is "booty and boastful"? , Anyway, I can talk, but unfortunately I can't do it.Another example is Han Fu, the herdsman of Jeju, who didn’t pay attention. At that time, Qiao Mao wrote to Han Fu, saying that Cao Cao had raised rebels, and we were also preparing rebels. Everyone united to deal with Dong Zhuo.A letter was written to Han Fu, and Han Fu took it out and asked everyone, look, this Dong Zhuo and Yuan Shao are going to fight, should we help Dong Zhuo or Yuan Shao?To ask such a question.As a result, one of his advisers was named Liu Zihui, and he immediately pushed back and said, we raised our troops for the country, why should we ask whether it is for Yuan Shao or Dong Zhuo!One sentence made Han Fu's face flushed, "What can I do for it?" Liu Zihui gave him an idea to stand still, "A soldier's weapon is a weapon, and he should not be the leader." Ah, don't be the first in the world, shoot the first bird Well, the rafters in the early days are the first to rot. Let's take a look at how they are. We will move if they move, and we will not move if they don't move.It seems that this Liu Zihui is not very good, but he listened to Han Fu's words, because what Han Fu was most afraid of was losing his territory, because Han Fu was in Jizhou, and Jizhou was very rich at that time. It is said that Jizhou was at that time The grain is enough to last ten years, so Han Fu is most afraid of people coming to wall up his territory, especially Yuan Shao.

When Yuan Shao escaped from the capital, Dong Zhuo was going to chase and kill Yuan Shao. At this time, there were several celebrities in the capital who had a good relationship with Yuan Shao, so they went to persuade Dong Zhuo.Don't do this, my lord. This Yuan Shao is a young man, he is ignorant, he doesn't understand the general situation, and he is afraid of offending your old man if he accidentally offends you. Of course he wants to run away. He has no other intentions, but the Yuan family " "Four generations and three lords" disciples and old officials are all over the world, why don't you appoint him as a prefect, he will definitely be grateful, if Yuan Shao is grateful to you, Mr. Dong, then isn't the east of Taihang Mountain all yours?Hey, Dong Zhuo said it makes sense, well, if he is appointed as the prefect of Bohai, Yuan Shao will be appointed as the prefect of Bohai.Where did Yuan Shao flee after he escaped? He fled to Jizhou. Han Fu immediately became nervous. Yuan Shao came, and he was still the prefect of Bohai.Han Fu immediately sent troops to make Yuan Shao look like it. It was not until the "Kwantung Allied Forces" was established and Yuan Shao became the leader that Han Fu released Yuan Shao to let him act.Han Fu is such a thing, why do you think he went back to lead the battle? The others are similar. Although they have organized a coalition force, no one is willing to charge forward, and they are all waiting and watching.Cao Cao couldn't stand it anymore, and Cao Cao said this to them: "Raise righteous soldiers to punish riots, the masses have united, why do you doubt?" That is to say, we have formed such a rebel army and have united. What doubts do you have?And Cao Cao told everyone that now is the best time to eliminate Dong Zhuo, why?At this time, Dong Zhuo had already burned Luoyang City, and then moved the emperor west to Chang'an.Cao Cao said that if Dong Zhuo had the emperor in his hands when he was still in the capital of Luoyang, it would not make sense for us to fight him; but now he has burned our capital and hijacked the emperor. According to the current words Then it can be classified as a terrorist organization, and the world has been shaken, and it is unpopular.At this time, we only need to fight him to the death, and the world will be settled in one battle.But no one listened to him, Cao Cao said okay, okay, you don't want to beat me, go on your own, and lead an army westward.At this time, only Zhang Miao expressed sympathy, and sent a small army to follow Cao Cao westward.But at this time, Cao Cao's strength was very weak, and he was not the opponent of Dong Zhuo's "Northwest Army" at all, so he was defeated. Cao Cao himself was almost killed in battle.At the most urgent moment, Cao Hong told Cao Cao that the world could do without me, Cao Hong, but it could not do without you, brother, so get on my horse and let's go!Cao Cao fled back to their base camp, which was in Suanzao. When Cao Cao returned to the Suanzao camp covered in dust and blood, what were the princes doing in the camp? "Hichijijiu high-level meeting, not trying to make progress", that is to say, partying, going to bars, and playing video games all day long!Cao Cao couldn't bear it anymore, saying that the country and the nation have reached this point, and you are still drinking every day!Cao Cao said sadly and angrily: "Today's soldiers are moving with righteousness, but they are suspicious and do not advance. They will lose the hope of the world, and they will be ashamed of all the lords!" I am ashamed of you people!Still no one listened to him, Cao Cao once again felt that there was no way to serve the country. Why did Cao Cao feel that there is no way to serve the country again?Because Cao Cao has already seen that the princes who ruled one side at that time were all selfish, timid, and ineffective people.The Eastern Han Dynasty is hopeless, and the chaos in the world is irreversible.Even if it is not chaotic, the corrupt court and officialdom do not need any "capable ministers who govern the world", so Cao Cao had to choose his life path again.So, what path did Cao Cao choose after he did it? Cao Cao's choice was to do it himself. In fact, there have always been two theories about the choice of Cao Cao's life path. One is what everyone is familiar with Xu Shao said, "A capable minister who governs the world, and a traitor in a troubled world"; The saying is "A hero in troubled times, a traitor in ruling the world".So when Cao Cao was in troubled times, he actually had two options: one was a hero and the other was a traitor.But I think at least, during the ten years from AD 190 to AD 200, Cao Cao deserved to be called a "hero in troubled times".Because only Cao Cao was responsible for the rise and fall of the world with his weak body.If there is anyone else, it is Sun Quan's father Sun Jian, but Sun Jian's strategy is obviously not as good as Cao Cao. So what did Cao Cao do in the past ten years?Three things: one is to occupy the land, the other is to recruit soldiers, and the third is to farm the land.These three things are all related to the Yellow Turban Uprising, so we know that the Yellow Turban Uprising is an out-and-out rebellion by the government, but in Cao Cao's view, it is a rebel that must be wiped out.When the world was in chaos, the Yellow Turban Army took advantage of the bureaucrats, generals, and princes of the empire to develop and grow stronger. Therefore, in 192 AD, the Yellow Turban Army gathered in Qingzhou entered Yanzhou. Liu Dai, the governor of Yanzhou, refused to listen to Bao Xin. As a result, he was killed by the Yellow Turban Army.At this time, Bao Xin and Chen Gong asked Cao Cao to represent Yanzhou Mu. Cao Cao fought against the Yellow Turban Army after acting as Yanzhou Mu, and finally defeated the Yellow Turban Army. The Yellow Turban Army surrendered to Cao Cao.This Yellow Turban Army is a strange military organization. It is not a pure army. It also has family members and farmers accompanying the army. At that time, the number of combatants of the Yellow Turban Army in Qingzhou was 300,000, and the total number of family members and farmers accompanying the army was 100. Ten thousand, and also brought farm tools and cattle.Then after Cao Cao accepted the surrender of the Yellow Turban Army, he formed a team of those who could fight among them, called "Qingzhou Soldiers".With Yanzhou Mu as an agent, Cao Cao has a base; with the Qingzhou Army incorporated, Cao Cao has a combat team. But Cao Cao still has a problem, that is, how do you arrange and support so many people?At this time, one of his important advisers was called Mao Jie, and he put forward a strategic opinion to him.Mao Jie said: "Today the world is disintegrated, the ruler of the country is relocated, the people's livelihood is abandoned, famine is exiled, the public has no reserve for the years, and the people have no ambition to stabilize the country. It is difficult to last. Although Yuan Shao and Liu Biao are strong in the people and the people, they have no worries about the future. Those who have a tree foundation to build their foundation, and those who are loyal and righteous will win, and they will gain wealth by guarding the position. Mao Jie's passage, I think, can be called Cao Cao's version of "Longzhong Dui". He put forward a strategic opinion on Cao Cao from a very high perspective.Mao Jie said what is the current situation in the country?The world is in chaos, falling apart, the foundation of the country is shaken, the emperor is hijacked and walked around, the economy collapses, all the people cannot live and work in peace, disasters are common, both natural and man-made.So in such a situation, the most important thing is to do the following thing: first, the current emperor should be settled down, the country is preserved, and then it can develop its own strength.Mao Jie’s Cao Cao’s version of “Longzhong Dui” explained two truths in the century, that is, in such a turbulent era, if you want to achieve a career, which is what he called the career of a king, you must have two conditions : One is justice, and the other is strength.Among the strengths, the first is economic strength. It is true that war is fought by force, but behind the competition of force in war is the support of economic strength. If you have enough economic strength to support it, you can fight this battle for a long time and win it. The so-called "before the soldiers and horses move, the food and grass go first", so you must cultivate and store military funds.In addition to the competition of economic strength, as a continuation of politics, war also has to compete for political strength. What does political strength depend on?Relying on the banner of justice, you must show that you are a famous teacher and an upright teacher of justice. At least you must have a banner of justice. Therefore, Mao Jie's proposal is a programmatic document, which includes three contents: "Fengtianzi", which is the rectification strategy; It's a military strategy.After saying these words, Cao Cao was very happy. "Three Kingdoms" used four words, called "respect and accept his words", and implemented them immediately. In 196 A.D., Cao Cao began to farm. At that time, due to successive years of wars, many lands had no owners and no one was farming.Cao Cao said, well, the unowned land will be nationalized, and all will be taken over to his own government.Then some of these fields were taken out and handed over to their own army and the soldiers who surrendered to the Yellow Turban Army to cultivate, which was called Juntun, and some of the landless farmers were recruited, and those refugees were called Mintun to cultivate.Farming cattle and agricultural tools are provided by the government, and then soldiers and farmers pay 50% to 60% of the land rent to the government. This is called farming.Tun means to militarize the way of living and collectivize the way of farming.In other words, Cao Cao built an ancient production and construction corps, and Cao Cao's military government became a farmer.This is a very clever policy, and it is also a very cost-effective business: first, the land was left behind by others, and the cattle and farm tools were seized from the Yellow Turban Army. Cao Cao did not invest any capital, which is called a business without capital; The second point is to collect 50% to 60% of the land rent, which is high interest, because the land rent set at the beginning of the Han Dynasty was one-fifteenth, and later it was even one-thirtieth when it was the least collected. Now you have changed It has become one-half, huge profits, but for soldiers and peasants, it is better to have food now than to be hungry before, so everyone is willing; third, the farming system is militarized in the way of living and collectivized in the way of farming. This is tantamount to building a new society where the military and the people are integrated, and a new army that integrates farming and warfare. These people are capable in normal times and able to fight in emergencies. A troublesome refugee problem, wouldn't this serve multiple purposes. Cao Cao's farming system proves that he is worthy of being a far-sighted politician.When Cao Cao promulgated his "Tuntian Order", he said: "The art of pacifying a country is to strengthen the army and have enough food." So how can the world be pacified?The first is to have strong soldiers, and the second is to have enough food. If the soldiers are not strong, (lack of food) how can you win the world?The other princes did not have this strategic vision. Later, there was such a passage in "Book of Wei": "When all armies rise together, there is no end-of-life plan. If you are hungry, you will invade, and if you are full, you will abandon the rest. Disintegrated and displaced, there are countless people who are invincible and self-defeating." What do these words mean?That is to say, when the world is in chaos and the princes are rising together, except for Cao Cao, no army has a long-term plan. "If you are hungry, you will invade." When you are hungry, you will rob the common people. "When you are full, you will discard the leftovers."What's the last thing?In the end, it is self-defeating, because if you run out of food, you will have no fighting power.In fact, when Cao Cao's army had enough food and clothing, Yuan Shao's army ate mulberries in Hebei, and Yuan Shu's army ate mussels in Jiangnan. If there was no mulberry and mussels to eat, they ate people.When we read "Three Kingdoms", we can find such words in many places, such as catastrophe, people eat each other, locusts rise up, people eat each other, people are hungry, people eat each other, people eat people.How could such an army have combat effectiveness?How could such a person compete with Cao Cao?Compared with such a person, how could Cao Cao not be a hero? From "initiating volunteer soldiers" to "garrisoning fields to prepare for war", Cao Cao has grown from a vigorous young general to a far-sighted political master during the war.The other people who joined him in the army did not have much progress and prospects. They were either wise and timid, or they were drunk and muddled along, or they had ghosts, fished in troubled waters, or fought for power and profit, and killed each other.The Northwest Army is still raging over there, and the Kwantung Army here is already in flames; first, Liu Dai, the governor of Yanzhou, killed Qiao Mao, the prefect of Dongjun, and then Yuan Shao, the prefect of Bohai, killed Han Fu, the shepherd of Jizhou.Then after this incident was over, the brothers Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu started to fight each other. At that time, Yuan Shao was in the north and Yuan Shu was in the south. What did Yuan Shu do?Yuan Shu contacted Gongsun Zan in the north to contain Yuan Shao; what should Yuan Shao do?Yuan Shao contacted Liu Biao in the far south to deal with Yuan Shu, and the two brothers "befriended each other and attacked close", causing Xiao Qiang to suffer.But to be honest, the biggest problem of the two brothers Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu is not fighting in the nest, nor is it that they don't understand the principle of preparing for war and famine. More importantly, the two brothers, including Dong Zhuo, have made serious mistakes on a major political issue. mistake, so what is this great political question?How did they get it wrong?How did Cao Cao show his foresight on this issue?Please see the next episode, make mistakes again and again.