Chapter 6 (6) Mistakes again and again

At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, when Cao Cao initially showed his political foresight and heroism, other people were showing their arrogance and stupidity.It is their arrogance and stupidity that made Cao Cao's great achievements.Dong Zhuo, Yuan Shao, Yuan Shu, these three heroes in troubled times, why did they fail in the end? "Yi Zhongtianpin Three Kingdoms One Wrong Again" will be broadcast soon, so stay tuned. In Chinese history, how to treat the emperor is a major political issue, and a little carelessness can lead to disaster.Dong Zhuo, Yuan Shao, and Yuan Shu, these three tyrants in troubled times, just made mistakes again and again on this major political issue.So, what mistake did they make with regard to the throne?Professor Yi Zhongtian of Xiamen University will use a contemporary perspective to read the Three Kingdoms for us wonderfully - "Mistakes Repeatedly".

In the last episode, we mentioned that in the ten years from 190 AD to 200 AD, only Cao Cao could be called a "hero in troubled times" well-deservedly.And what about those other people?Among them, Dong Zhuo, Yuan Shao, and Yuan Shu, the most powerful, capable, ambitious, and ambitious, can only be called "troubled heroes", and they made a serious mistake on a major political issue. The question is how to treat the current emperor. Why is this a major political issue?Because we know that the system at that time was an imperial system, and the empire was based on the emperor as the head of state and the symbol of the country, so the attitude towards the current emperor was a major political issue at that time. It will be a crushing defeat, and it will never turn over.Then let's take a look at what Dong Zhuo, Yuan Shao, and Yuan Shu did.

In 189 AD, Emperor Ling of Han died, leaving behind Empress He and two minor sons.Orphans and widowed mothers couldn't hold on to the country at all, and the scholar group and official group in power also lost both sides in the court struggle.At this time, Dong Zhuo took advantage of the vacancy and entered Luoyang with troops, took control of the government, and put the capital of the empire under his bloody rule.At this time, his ambition to be emperor was fully exposed.So, how did Dong Zhuo treat the current emperor? Dong Zhuo's attitude towards the current emperor is the most barbaric. His approach is to "abolish the establishment", that is, to abolish the current emperor and establish another emperor.Abolish the emperor at that time, Liu Bian, who was called Shaodi in history, who should be established, Liu Bian's younger brother Chenliu Wang Liu Xie.Dong Zhuo put forward this plan as soon as he entered Beijing, so why did Dong Zhuo change the emperor?He himself said that the young emperor Liu Bian was cowardly and ignorant, unfit to be the master of others, while Liu Xie, the king of Chenliu, was smart and wise, with the image of an emperor, and even the image of a holy lord, comparable to Yao and Shun.

This statement is not without reason. What was the situation at the time?Before Dong Zhuo entered Beijing, the eunuch group and the scholar group fought. The general He Jin who planned Dong Zhuo's entry to Beijing was killed by the eunuchs, and then the eunuchs hijacked the then emperor and his younger brother Liu Xie to escape from the capital.The eunuchs on the road couldn't defeat Yuan Shao's army, and fled to the death. Then the young emperor and Chen Liu Wang brothers, a fourteen-year-old and a nine-year-old exiled among the people, finally returned to the capital after untold hardships. At this time, Dong Zhuo His army had already arrived at the edge of Luoyang City, so he came to pick him up.At that time, Emperor Shaodi and King Chenliu had been found by the officials, and a group headed for the capital, led by Cui Lie, the one we mentioned earlier who spent money to buy officials. After Cui Lie saw Dong Zhuo's army approaching, Cui Lie Lie yelled: "Dong Zhuo dodges, Sheng Jia is here."Dong Zhuo said, you people can't even manage a country well, so what right do you have for me to avoid you?Then he walked up to the emperor and said, Your Majesty, I am Dong Zhuo.Liu Bian burst into tears, "I want my mother."Dong Zhuo thought, this, this, how does this look like an emperor?Then he went to Liu Xie, king of Chenliu, and said, Lord, I am Dong Zhuo, please ride my horse. Dong Zhuo carried Liu Xie to his horse, and then asked what happened recently.The nine-year-old Chen Liuwang answered the questions fluently, speaking clearly and logically.Hey, Dong Zhuo said he looked like an emperor, so he went back and replaced him.

This should not be the real reason why Dong Zhuo wants to change the emperor, because Dong Zhuo's mind is very clear, he wants to hold the emperor in his palm and make the emperor a puppet.Since it is a puppet, isn't it better to be stupid, and not like the emperor? Why change to someone who is smarter and more resembling?Of course, for a person like Dong Zhuo, it is not impossible for him to change Lao Tzu based on his own likes and dislikes, but I think his real reason is to establish personal prestige and control the central government.Because Dong Zhuo was a warlord from the northwest, he was very barbaric, and he couldn't stand up in the capital at all.Of course, Dong Zhuo also understood this truth. He knew that the army he brought was not enough to achieve great things, and he had to rely on the celebrities and scholar-bureaucrats of the dynasty at that time.But celebrities and scholar-bureaucrats are unwilling to cooperate with him, and look down on him in their bones.Dong Zhuo had no choice but to be barbaric. For example, he hired Cai Yong, Cai Wenji's father.I am not a very good-tempered person, and I like to destroy people and nine clans.Cai Yong had no choice but to become an official.You said that such a person, how could he cooperate with the gentry class at that time—in today’s words, the intelligentsia—?

Dong Zhuo is savage and savage, but he also has a cunning side.How many people did Dong Zhuo bring with him when he came to Luoyang?He asked these 3,000 people to change into civilian clothes and go out of the city every night, and the next morning they changed into military uniforms and entered the city with great fanfare. This happened every day for four or five days. The army moves in.So he is also very cunning. After doing this, he found that he succeeded in fooling, and also found that the scholar-bureaucrats and intellectuals in Luoyang City are not as great as he imagined before, and they can be fooled. Then I will fool you this time. , Change the emperor.Dong Zhuo thinks you all don't listen to me?Am I without prestige?Don't you all worship the emperor?Don't you all listen to the emperor?If I can even change the emperor, it depends who you listen to!But Dong Zhuo didn't expect that the emperor could not be changed casually, so Dong Zhuo's proposal was strongly opposed and protested by the entire scholar-officials, and he was forced to kill. This is the only way to replace the emperor.But since then, he has become an enemy of the people, and people all over the country are saying that Dong Zhuo just changed the emperor casually. Isn't this a traitor or something!Because in the eyes of people at that time, the emperor was the king of a country and the foundation of a country. Changing the emperor would shake the foundation of the country and only cause chaos in the world. no.

In fact, this thing has been done before. In the last years of Emperor Ling of the Eastern Han Dynasty, there was a governor of Jizhou named Wang Fen who planned to change the emperor. He planned to plot to kill Emperor Ling of Han when he was on a tour, and replaced him with a man named Hefei Hou. people to be emperors.Who is this Hefei Hou?Now I don't know, I don't know, anyway, it is also a clan of their Liu family.The person involved in this matter was Xu You who later betrayed Yuan Shao and went to Cao Cao, and was killed by Cao Cao in the end, so Cao Cao and Xu You are indeed old friends.They wanted to recruit Cao Cao to join the group by doing this, and wrote to Cao Cao.Cao Cao immediately replied with a letter, beginning with:

"The matter of abolishing and establishing is the most ominous thing in the world." It is the most unlucky and risky thing to replace the emperor.Cao Cao said, think about the "Seven Kingdoms Rebellion" back then. King Wu and Liu Bi united with the other six kingdoms to overthrow Emperor Han Jing under the name of "Qing Emperor's side" and become emperor himself. What happened? It was unpopular and a complete defeat .Cao Cao said, please think about it, you Wang Fen, the governor of Jizhou, is your strength comparable to the "Seven Kingdoms" back then?Is the Hefei Marquis you want to establish in terms of identity, status, popularity, and prestige comparable to that of Wu Wang Liu Bi?It’s not as good as you, isn’t it suicidal?He refused to listen and continued to do it. As a result, the conspiracy was revealed, Xu You absconded in fear of crime, and Wang Fen committed suicide in fear of crime.So although Dong Zhuo succeeded in doing it, he left behind eternal infamy and became the "target of public criticism" that was condemned by the whole country and the world. This is one of the reasons why Dong Zhuo will eventually perish.

Dong Zhuo dreamed that he was not an emperor by abolishing the emperor, but he never imagined that his actions paved the way for his failure and eventually led to his demise.It's a pity that there is a person who doesn't understand the truth of "the mistakes of the past are the lessons of the future", and he actually repeats Dong Zhuo's mistakes again, and this person is Yuan Shao.But Yuan Shao's approach may not be superior to that of Dong Zhuolai, so how did he treat the current emperor? Ever since the "Kwantung Allied Army" was formed, Yuan Shao became the leader of the alliance, and his ambitions have grown all of a sudden. I am now the commander-in-chief of the "Kwantung Army".But this man is not as courageous as he is ambitious. He dare not take the "Kwantung Allied Forces" to attack Luoyang and Chang'an. What can he come up with?I simply don’t care about this place, Dong Zhuo can do it like this, let him do it, I will establish another emperor in my territory, if my emperor succeeds, I will be the founding father of the country in the future.Who will he establish, Liu Yu, Shepherd of Youzhou.But Yuan Shao's approach was not successful. The first Liu Yu himself quit. Liu Yu said that I am loyal to the Han Dynasty, and I am a courtier of the Han Dynasty. Don't do this with me.Then Yuan Shao went to Liu Yu again and again for this matter, of course because he wanted Liu Yu to be emperor, Liu Yu had to agree.Moreover, Yuan Shao also had a so-so reason. He said, you see, the current emperor is so young, and he is in the hands of Dong Zhuo. We don’t know whether he is dead or alive. Or, you should come out and form a government.Liu Yu said, don't force me. If you force me to go to the Huns again, I would rather go to the Huns than do this.

Then Cao Cao didn't agree. Yuan Shao discussed this matter with Cao Cao, but Cao Cao knew very well that what Cao Cao knew to do was actually to establish a "government in exile".Strictly speaking, the establishment of a "government-in-exile" is not completely impossible. It is also a means of political struggle. We read history and know that it is possible to establish a "government-in-exile" in areas other than Kyoto, or even abroad. "Yes, but it has a premise that the current government must have actually been overthrown and does not exist, or the capital has been occupied by an enemy country and the existing government has been destroyed, or it has been destroyed by domestic rebels.Even if the current government no longer exists, then you can establish a "government in exile"; then the current government still exists, at least Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty is still the emperor of the Han Dynasty in name, and Dong Zhuo is also a subject of the Han Dynasty in name, the Han Dynasty has not died.If you establish another emperor at this time, that is to establish another central government, and to establish another central government is to split.And Cao Cao is firmly opposed to splitting and advocates the unification of the country, and Cao Cao also knows very well that Yuan Shao is not a big deal at all, so he refuses.

Then Yuan Shao didn't give up, and Yuan Shao also told Cao Cao about this at least twice. The second time Yuan Shao invited Cao Cao to drink, he took out a seal from his pocket, a jade seal, what was this called in ancient times?It is called Xi, which is used by the emperor.Show Cao Cao, look, I have this.I guess this seal was engraved by Yuan Shao privately, it is impossible for him to actually get the emperor's jade seal.You see, I have this, how about it, buddy, let's do it together, because at this time Yuan Shao still treats Cao Cao as the one who went to steal the bride with him back then.Cao Cao thought, hum, you think stealing the country is the same as being the first bride.But since you still regard me as a childhood partner who stole a bride, Cao Cao giggled, I don’t listen to you, I don’t listen to you, I don’t listen to you.In fact, at this moment, Cao Cao had murderous intentions deep in his heart. He thought that Yuan Shao was a thief and a national thief, and he must be eliminated!So what is certain is that Cao Cao put Yuan Shao on the blacklist that he must eliminate at this moment. Yuan Shao also discussed this matter with his younger brother Yuan Shu, but Yuan Shu also disagreed.Why did Yuan Shu disapprove?Because Yuan Shu looked down on his elder brother Yuan Shao, both Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu were the sons of Yuan Feng, Yuan Shao was the older brother, and Yuan Shu was the younger brother, but Yuan Shao was a concubine and Yuan Shu was a concubine.What does it mean to be born in the first place? It is born by the wife.We usually say that the marriage system in ancient China was polygamy. There are many, and there are even those who are not even counted as concubines, but who have concubines are called Tongfang girls, that is, maids.We can read this system very well, everyone can be promoted to a concubine after going through the formalities. Bottom class.Then Yuan Shu thought he was raised by his concubine, even though he was my elder brother, he didn't recognize him.Moreover, although Yuan Shao may have been born of a maidservant, according to what Yuan Shu scolded him, saying that he is the seed of our family's slave, he may be the son of a maidservant, but his quality, popularity, and level are indeed better than Yuan Shu's.This Yuan Shu hated his brother even more, he had to fight to the death with his brother. In fact, Yuan Shu doesn't need to look down on Yuan Shao, they are two brothers who are very different, the common feature is that they are noble, pretentious, and downright stupid.And their stupidity is directly proportional to their arrogance. Yuan Shao is more arrogant than Cao Cao, and also stupid than Cao Cao; Yuan Shu is more arrogant than Yuan Shao, and also stupid than Yuan Shao;At that time, Yuan Shu sneered in his stomach after receiving Yuan Shao's letter to make Liu Yu another emperor, hmph, as expected of being raised by a little wife, came up with such a bad idea, to make another emperor, you make yourself!Why are you so worthless? This little wife was born worthless, isn’t it? Think about our old Yuan’s family’s “four generations and three princes”, and if you get another emperor, you will be a “fifth generation and three princes”. If you don’t pay it back A "public"!But Yuan Shu couldn't say that. He replied with a righteous and awe-inspiring expression: I only know how to eliminate Dong Zhuo, and I don't know anything else. Yuan Shu's words were high-sounding at the time, but he actually had other plans.In that turbulent era, the heroes of the troubled times had a lot of thoughts about the emperor's throne. Dong Zhuo's method was to abolish the establishment, Yuan Shao's method was to establish another, and Yuan Shu's method was even more rampant and stupid.So, what was Yuan Shu thinking at the time? In fact, in his heart he was preparing to be the emperor himself, and this was the third method - "self-reliance".Yuan Shu's logic is this: first, the world has been disrupted, the Han Dynasty is dying, and sooner or later there will be another family to replace the Liu family; second, in today's world, we are the ones who are qualified and capable of replacing their old Liu family. The old Yuan family, because my old Yuan family has "four generations and three princes", already has enough political capital; third, our old Yuan family is most qualified to replace the current emperor is I, Yuan Shu, why, I am a descendant, Yuan Shao and others It's a concubine, so there's no reason for a person born to a concubine to be an emperor.What's more, Yuan Shu got a baby at this time, what kind of baby?Chuan Guo Yuxi.Chuan Guo Yuxi was stolen from the palace by the eunuch during the Luoyang Rebellion, and was captured by Sun Jian, because when the world was in chaos, I said in the last episode that all the princes were afraid to march to fight Dong Zhuo Yes, only Cao Cao went to fight and was defeated again. In fact, there was another person who went to fight, that is, Sun Jian, Sun Quan's father, Sun Jian.Sun Jian was a hero, he went all the way to Luoyang City and drove Dong Zhuo away, so after Sun Jian arrived in Luoyang, he got this imperial jade seal.Later, after Sun Jian was defeated, the jade seal was in the hands of his wife. After Yuan Shu found out, he took Sun Jian's wife as a hostage, insisted on taking the jade seal, and held it in his own hands.This time Yuan Shu was called a mouse with a gun in his waist, and he thought of hitting a cat. He felt that the next emperor of China must be Yuan Shu. In 197 AD, Yuan Shu couldn't bear it anymore and officially proclaimed himself emperor.But Yuan Shu's approach also attracted a lot of opposition. First of all, his subordinates disapproved. When Yuan Shu planned to proclaim himself emperor, he also held a meeting, saying that everyone sees that the world is in chaos now, and someone needs to come out to clean up the situation. I, Yuan, plan to follow God's will And public opinion, what do you think?Although he didn't say that I want to be the emperor, he said that I should obey the will of God and the will of the people, and everyone knew that he wanted to be the emperor.His subordinates said, Yuan Gong, King Wen of Zhou had two thirds of the world, and he served King Zhou of Yin. Can you compare with King Wen of Zhou?Is the current sage the king of Yin Zhou?This is disapproval.Yuan Shu had no choice but to say that the meeting was dismissed, and then went to ask for opinions. All the feedback was against.The princes who had a good relationship with him all objected. For example, Sun Ce had a good relationship with him. When he heard that he was becoming emperor, he immediately wrote a letter to break off the relationship.Then Yuan Shu had no choice but to go to Lv Bu, and sent an envoy to Lv Bu to say, let's marry a son and daughter, and I will let my son marry your daughter as a wife, what do you think? Get up and send the letter from Yuan Shu to Xuchang and hand it over to the court.Yuan Shu was furious and went to fight Lu Bu, but was defeated again. So at this time, Yuan Shu was already betrayed by all relatives and besieged on all sides.So Cao Cao made a move. At this time, Cao Cao was already extraordinary. He had already gone to Luoyang City to welcome the emperor, and he welcomed the emperor to Xu County, his own base, and renamed him Xudu. This clown, Yuan Shu, can be tolerated.So Cao Cao decided to attack Yuan Shu himself. In 197 A.D., Yuan Shu proclaimed himself emperor. At this time, Dong Zhuo was dead, and Yuan Shao's conspiracy to establish another emperor failed. Cao Cao had already coerced the emperor to order the princes.At this time, Yuan Shu became emperor, which meant that there were two emperors in one country, and it also meant that the country was openly divided. This was naturally opposed by the princes, especially Cao Cao, who advocated national unity.But Yuan Shu insisted on going his own way and establishing himself as the emperor, so what will happen to Yuan Shu after he establishes himself as the emperor? When Yuan Shu heard that Cao Cao was coming to beat him, he was so frightened that he turned around and ran away, not daring to fight.Where to run, run south, because Yuan Shu's base is in Huainan.When I ran halfway, I found that there was no military rations. Where did the military rations go?It was distributed to the local hungry and disaster victims by his prime minister.Yuan Shu called the prime minister, what's the matter with you, why did you distribute all my military rations to the common people?What did the prime minister say, we are at a dead end anyway, do you think there is still a way for us to survive if we continue like this?It would be better to do something good before you die.What does it mean? It means that he is unpopular, so at this time Yuan Shu also realized that he might have become a street rat.However, Yuan Shu still did not give up, and he struggled for another two years. In 199 AD, Yuan Shu finally found that he could not continue as a fake emperor, but he was still not reconciled, so he decided to give the Honey, I, Yuan Shu, can't be the one who gave Yuan Shao the Jade Seal of the Inheritance of the Kingdom, but Yuan Shao can be the one, anyway, it's our Yuan family's one.At this time, he admitted that Yuan Shao was his brother again. But he couldn't fulfill this wish. Cao Cao had sent Liu Bei to Xiapi, which is now Pizhou City, Jiangsu Province, and sent Liu Bei to lead troops to intercept Yuan Shu in Xiapi, waiting for him to die.Yuan Shu had no choice but to turn around and run again. When he fled to a river pavilion eighty miles away from Shouchun in Anhui Province, he couldn't run anymore and couldn't get sick.Alas, I have only been a fake emperor for three and a half years.It is said that Yuan Shu's death was very miserable. At that time, his military rations had been cut off, and even the special offering of the fake emperor could not be guaranteed.Yuan Shu was lying on the bed begging for food. The chef said that there was only a little bran left in the grain storehouse, so he made a bowl of bran porridge for Yuan Shu, but Yuan Shu couldn't swallow it.It was summer at that time, the sun was scorching hot, and the heat was unbearable. Yuan Shu said to the chef, oh, forget it, give me a bowl of honey water!The chef said, where did the honey water come from? !This is the bran porridge, whether you like it or not.So Yuan Shu let out a long sigh, fell on the bed, remained silent for a long time, and then yelled—how did I, Yuan Shu, get to this point? !He fell under the bed, vomited a bucket of blood, and died. Yuan Shu's death is called what he deserved. When he wanted honey water but couldn't, I don't know if he thought about the years when he was a fake emperor. Under his rule, what life did the people of Jianghuai live?There is no food at all, selling children and daughters, and even cannibalism.But under such circumstances, Yuan Shu was still extremely extravagant, extremely extravagant, and finally sat on the mountain and ate nothing.When Yuan Shu was enjoying delicacies from mountains and seas in his own camp and palace, their soldiers were eating river mussels, and they couldn't even eat river mussels.If such a person does not perish, then it is called the law of heaven.Of course, from a political point of view, the most stupid thing Yuan Shu did was when the world was in chaos, all heroes were rising together, and everyone wanted to be emperor but no one dared to say it, he took the lead.Everyone knows that when a bird is shot at the head, the rafters of the head will rot first.Yuan Shao is a little smarter than him. Yuan Shao also wants to be emperor, but he knows that at this juncture he can't make such a head, so he came up with that bad idea. I pretend to set up another one, and I will replace it when the time is right. Although he was looked down upon by Yuan Shu and considered worthless by Yuan Shu, he was actually better than Yuan Shu in terms of strategy. Cao Cao's heart became clearer. In this era, I personally think that Cao Cao has no intention of becoming an emperor. He still wants to support the current emperor and use the banner of the current emperor to unify China.But in the later stage, I personally think that Cao Cao must have this idea.And in the later years of Cao Cao, he already had this condition. Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty gave him the highest treatment. .Moreover, the power of the so-called Han Dynasty was completely in his hands at that time, that is, he already had the status of emperor, and only owed the name of emperor. In this case, Cao Cao did not come out to proclaim himself emperor.At that time, Sun Quan wrote a letter to Cao Cao called "Persuading into the Biao", urging Cao Cao to become the emperor, what did Cao Cao say?This kid, he wants to put me on the fire.So Cao Cao is the one who understands the most. Yuan Shu doesn't understand this truth. Yuan Shu thinks that the title of emperor is like a trademark in our current market economy. It must be registered first. He thinks that if he registers the emperor's trademark first, others can't do anything to him. Unexpectedly, he became "the target of public criticism". Well, we now know very well that Dong Zhuo, Yuan Shao, and Yuan Shu all made mistakes in their attitude towards the current emperor.Dong Zhuo abolished the establishment, Yuan Shao established another, and Yuan Shu established himself, all of which are not as good as Cao Cao.In fact, the most stupid thing about the two brothers Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu is that they didn't understand the first question: who is our friend and who is our enemy.They don't understand that Cao Cao is their real opponent for the world, so where is Cao Cao's brilliance? Please see the next episode - foresight.