Chapter 7 (7) Foresight

Dong Zhuo abolished Li, Yuan Shao set up another, and Yuan Shu stood on his own, which shows that they are at best heroes in troubled times, and in turn proves that only Cao Cao is a genius politician, because only Cao Cao has adopted a strategy with the lowest cost and high benefit in this chaotic era. supreme political strategy.What kind of strategy is this?What is the mystery behind Cao Cao's adoption of this strategy? "Yi Zhongtian Pin Three Kingdoms: Foresight" will be broadcast soon, so stay tuned. In the last episode, we talked about the three attitudes and practices of the heroes in the troubled times towards the emperor. The first is Dong Zhuo’s, called abolishing the establishment, which means abolishing the current emperor and establishing another emperor; the second is Yuan Shao’s. , called another establishment, that is, he established another emperor besides the current emperor. Of course, this failed and failed; the third is Yuan Shu’s approach, which is called self-reliance. Their common problems are high cost, high risk and low benefit.In comparison, Cao Cao is much smarter. Cao Cao does not change the emperor, he uses this ready-made emperor, and enshrines the emperor politely, and uses the emperor card to command the world and the princes. This is what we usually The so-called "holding the emperor to order the princes".In fact, this statement can be discussed. Cao Cao himself and the people of Cao Cao Group have never said "holding the emperor to order the princes".

In the episode "Where to Go", Mr. Yi Zhongtian told us that Mao Jie, Cao Cao's counselor, once made a suggestion to him: "Serve the emperor with orders but not ministers, cultivate farming and planting with livestock and military resources", Cao Cao adopted the advice of counselor Mao Jie , and implement it.In other words, Cao Cao's line and strategy is "serving the emperor to order and not ministers", rather than "taking the emperor to order the princes".So, how did the saying "take the emperor to order the princes" come from? The saying "Use the emperor to order the princes" is what others said about Cao Cao. For example, Zhuge Liang said this. He said "Use the emperor to order the princes", but the meaning is the same.In other words, the words "hold the emperor to order the princes" were said by Cao Cao's enemies, and the words of the enemies are not very reliable!So, has anyone ever said "take the emperor to command the princes"?Yes, who?Yuan Shao's counselor, Ju Shou, called it "Use the emperor to order the princes, and the beasts and horses will not be courted", but Yuan Shao's other counselors disagreed, saying that the emperor is now a waste, such a waste, why did you bring him to us? Woolen cloth?Do you adore him or do you not adore him?Do you ask him for instructions or do you not ask him for instructions?Then you must worship and ask for instructions. After I get him now, I will ask the emperor for big and small matters. What if the emperor has a different opinion from us?Do I listen to him or not?If I listen to him, it seems that we have no weight. If I don't listen to him, am I breaking the law again?Forget it.What does Yuan Shao think?Yuan Shao thought, the current emperor was raised by Dong Zhuo, and I, Yuan Shao, would not do it when Dong Zhuo wanted to abolish the emperor. Now that I am honoring him, didn't I slap myself?Of course, it is impossible for me to help up the emperor I advocated now, that one has been murdered by Dong Zhuo, let's pull it down.So when Yuan Shao hesitated about this matter, Cao Cao took a step ahead.

In 196 AD, Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty, who was hijacked by Dong Zhuo to Xi'an, returned to Luoyang, the capital at that time, after going through all kinds of hardships after Dong Zhuo's death.At this time, Luoyang was already in ruins and dilapidated. In Luoyang, the diet and daily life of the emperor and hundreds of officials were even like beggars.After Cao Cao received the news, he decisively adopted the advice of the counselor Mao Jie to "serve the emperor so that he would not be a minister", and tried every means to get the emperor from Luoyang to Xu County, his base.

After Cao Cao took Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty to Xu County, he immediately vacated his Xingyuan as the emperor's palace, and worshiped it politely. Three drinks and four.Back then, the emperor was on his way from Chang'an to Luoyang, and every day he went to court, so he found a farmer's courtyard and sat in the middle, and everyone came to salute like a rite.The warlords, officers and soldiers of the Northwest Army were all watching outside the farmyard, ah, this is how the emperor went to court.This kind of thing did not happen to Cao Cao. Cao Cao enshrined the emperor completely in accordance with the dignity of Han officials and the etiquette of the Han Dynasty, and he was very thoughtful and careful when arranging the life of the emperor, much like a big housekeeper.What moved the emperor the most?It was Cao Cao who sent a large number of urgently needed daily necessities. You must know that the emperor was a refugee. He may not even have a washbasin. Cao Cao sent all these things, and then made a memorial called "Shangza "Sparse things". What do you say in the "Shang Miscellaneous Book"? Your Majesty, what I present now are all the imperial vessels that were given to my grandfather and father by the late emperor. Used it, it was the kindness of the late emperor, we enshrined it at home, now I think it should be returned to the emperor.

This move is very beautifully done, where do we know the knack of being a human being?The most important thing about being a favor is not to let the other party feel that you are being a favor, and don't let the other party feel that you owe you.Many of us don't know how to be human, and we spend a lot of money, and we always remind people, look what I gave you.So at this time, the emperor is almost like a beggar, and he is very grateful if someone gives him, but of course he has to put on airs.So did the other warlords send anything?Yes, it is called filial piety, but no matter how filial you are, it is still my filial piety, and this thing is still mine; Cao Cao said that none of this stuff belongs to me, this thing originally belonged to the emperor, and now I return it to the emperor, so I return the thing, no give something.On the surface, it seems that Cao Cao has no human feelings at all, but the emperor is well-deserved and confident in using it. Think about it, everyone, what kind of psychological feeling it is.Although Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty was a puppet emperor, he was not a fool, he was a sensible person, and he immediately understood Cao Cao's intentions.Of course, at this time, I guess that Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty understood it from a good perspective. How did he understand it: a great loyal minister, this is the rarest loyal minister in the world.This is my guess, and I think this guess is logical, he will have such a feeling and such a thought.

Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty was very moved by Cao Cao's hospitality. He appointed Cao Cao as a general. Although this was a false title, Cao Cao got a banner that seemed to be righteous at the time.Being famous for doing things like teachers, he made a lot of money in politics, which made other princes very jealous.So, how did the powerful prince Yuan Shao treat this matter? What are the characteristics of Yuan Shao?It's the slow reaction. I will talk about this again when we talk about the battle of Guandu in the future. Yuan Shao and Cao Cao always react half a beat later than him.As soon as Cao Cao preempted Yuan Shao, he realized it. After he realized it, relying on the strength of others, he also proposed that he also wanted to serve the emperor. He said that the emperor could not live in Luoyang, Luoyang had been destroyed by Dong Zhuo; Xu County, the place in Xu County is not good, the terrain is very low and very humid, our emperor is not comfortable living there, we should move him to Zhencheng, that is, to Yuan Shao's territory, and we are going to share this trump card with Cao Cao.Cao Cao felt amused when he heard this, and I said I would give you a piece of the fat I got. Is there such a good thing?You can't say that in your mouth, so Cao Cao issued an edict in the name of the emperor, and taught Yuan Shao a serious lesson, saying, Yuan Shao, you really have a lot of soldiers, and you are indeed strong, so why didn't I see you when I was displaced? Are you here to serve the king?Why do you see that you are either developing your own power or attacking others all day long?Where is your loyalty to the Han Dynasty?Yuan Shao also knew that this thing was written by Cao Cao, it would not be written by the emperor, but it was issued in the name of the emperor with the emperor's seal, so he had to write a review.Don't you think this is another political disadvantage for him?

After Cao Cao was the first to welcome the emperor from Luoyang to Xu County, everyone suddenly realized that Cao Cao had not suffered any losses!He got many titles, fiefdoms, and the support of many people, and more importantly, he got a banner that was considered righteous at the time.Cao Cao now seems confident in everything he does, at least "appearing", he can use the name of the emperor to issue orders and send troops at any time. His division is famous, and he is upright.And more importantly, after Cao Cao served as the emperor, he put himself in such an invincible position that he was always politically correct, and all political enemies were not first, and politically incorrect first.Of course, according to the rules of traditional Chinese politics, other princes from all walks of life can also put forward a slogan called "Qingjun side". Then there is a villain around the emperor, and the villain is Cao Cao. Let's get rid of him.It would be better for Cao Cao to issue an edict directly in the name of the emperor, saying that you are a villain, and it came easily.So no matter what Cao Cao is doing now, whether it is attacking his enemies or appointing his cronies, he can use the name of the emperor, a name that seemed legitimate at the time.So at this point, all of Cao Cao's enemies are politically short.Later, even Zhuge Liang said a word to Liu Bei when he wrote "Longzhong Dui". He said that Cao Cao "coerced the emperor and ordered the princes, this is sincere and can't compete with it", that is, we really can't resist it, Zhuge Liang said Can't resist.So Cao Cao's move is very cost-effective politically.

In fact, we can see that Mao Jie's suggestion and Jushou's suggestion are the same on the surface. Mao Jie's suggestion is "to obey the emperor's orders and not to be ministers, and to cultivate and plant animals for military resources". It is the development of strength; what is Jushou's suggestion, "Use the emperor to command the princes, and the beasts and horses to fight against the court" also means this.But if you take a closer look, the style of these two suggestions is different. Mao Jie's suggestion is much higher than Jushou's suggestion. What is the difference?He is serving the emperor, not coercing the emperor. "Serving" means respecting and protecting;So in terms of style, Cao Cao made a move.Even if we step back ten thousand steps, even if Cao Cao's idea is the same as Yuan Shao's, or Mao Jie's meaning is the same as Jushou's, and he is using the previous emperor, then you should get this card first, and it is a strategic move. .There is only one trump card, whoever gets it first will be the king, but it is a pity that Yuan Shao will not listen.

Cao Cao moved the emperor to his territory ahead of Yuan Shao, so he could use the card of the emperor to develop his own power and order the princes who refused to submit.It is also mentioned in the novel that after the emperor moved to Xu County, Cao Cao made decisions on all matters in the court.So in real history, by honoring the emperor, can Cao Cao really develop his power smoothly and command those princes who refuse to submit? cannot.First, Yuan Shao would not listen to him.After Cao Cao became a general, in order to balance, he also knew that Yuan Shao was very powerful and had to be appeased. Besides, Yuan Shao was also his buddy when he was young, so he suggested to the emperor to appoint Yuan Shao as a captain.The Taiwei was in the third rank and was the commander-in-chief of the three armies in name at that time.Who knew that Yuan Shao quit and jumped up, what, I, Yuan Shao, will be a captain, and he, Cao Cao, will be a general, so when I stand in line at court, I don’t want to be behind him. How can there be such a reason? What is Cao Cao? Son, Cao Cao, let me tell you, he Cao Cao died several times, and I, Yuan Shao, saved him. Now he crawls on my head to pee, what does he want to do!Yuan Shao said something like this: Does he want to coerce the emperor to order me?This is the original text.What Yuan Shao said was meaningless. You have to know that at that time, whether it was a general, a lieutenant, or Situ, to be honest, they were all called false names, because the world had already fallen apart at that time, and every place was a local warlord. In control, the imperial court's orders go out, anyway, this is called not saying nothing, and saying nothing, that's the feeling.There is no difference between a general and a small general. The key is how big your territory is. Why do you have to argue about it?

But Cao Cao was very magnanimous. Cao Cao felt that he could not openly quarrel with Yuan Shao at this time.So Cao Cao went to the table and resigned from the position of general and handed it over to Yuan Shao. Don't you just want to be a general?I will let you.In the end, the emperor said, okay, then let Yuan Shao be the general. To be honest, the emperor at this time is really a person who can't be a master.After Yuan Shao became a general, he stopped making trouble. In fact, what did Yuan Shao gain?He gained face, but did not get any benefits. Although he is now above Cao Cao, he cannot command anyone, including Cao Cao.Yuan Shao wanted to command Cao Cao. He wrote a letter to Cao Cao, saying, you are in the court now, and you are in power. You killed two people for me, one named Yang Biao and the other named Kong Rong , kill me.Yuan Shao had a feud with Yang Biao and Kong Rong. He wanted to borrow a knife to kill someone. How could Cao Cao listen to him.First, Cao Cao understands that now is the time to clean up people's hearts, not to kill innocent people indiscriminately. Cao Cao is not Wang Yun, and Cao Cao is not Yuan Shao.Even if Cao Cao wants to kill Yang Biao and Kong Rong, frankly speaking, Cao Cao doesn't like Yang Biao and Kong Rong. Kong Rong was also killed by Cao Cao in the end, but the first thing to kill is not to kill now, and the second is not you Yuan Shaorang If I kill, I will kill, whenever I want to kill, I will kill again.So Cao Cao replied a letter to Yuan Shao in a serious manner, Brother Yuan, the world is in chaos now, everyone is uneasy, everyone feels that they are in danger, and everyone is in danger. "At this time when we are in power, even if we treat everyone with the most honest heart, I am afraid that people still don't believe us. If we still kill a few people casually, won't people believe us even more!Can't do that.Yuan Shao felt ashamed when his nose was touched, and he didn't breathe out all his breath, so he had nothing to say.

The frustrated Yuan Shao didn't understand Cao Cao's true thoughts. Of course, Cao Cao had his own plans for welcoming the emperor to Xu County.In the novel, it is mentioned that after Cao Cao moved the emperor to Xu County, he monopolized the power and wanted to "coerce the emperor to order the princes".So, is this what Cao Cao in history really thought? We can't know exactly what Cao Cao himself thought at the time, but one thing is certain, Cao Cao's think tank advocated serving the Son of Heaven, and the most representative figure among them is Cao Cao's counselor Xun Yu.Cao Cao's five early counselors: Xun Yu, Guo Jia, Xun You, Jia Xu, Cheng Yu, the first one is Xun Yu.Xun Yu also had a conversation with Cao Cao. Xun Yu talked about these two points of view. He said that the first point is that in today's world, maintaining the Han Dynasty and defending the emperor is a banner of justice.The second point is that you, general, are always righteous. When Dong Zhuo created chaos, you were the first to raise the banner of justice and call for volunteer soldiers; When the emperor was in exile, it was you, the general, who sent envoys; when the emperor returned to Luoyang, it was you, the general, who took him to the prosperous Xu County. What does this mean?Explain that you, General, have always defended the royal family and the emperor, and your heart is always on the emperor.Then at this time, you should take this opportunity to complete the matter of welcoming the emperor as soon as possible. If our country is really torn apart in the future, and everyone in the world has the idea of ​​​​feudal lords to rule one side, it will be too late. . Therefore, Xun Yu proposed three major principles to Cao Cao: serve the Lord to follow the people's expectations, uphold justice to subdue heroes, and support righteousness to be handsome.What does that mean?It is to honor the emperor to obey the will of the people, to subdue the princes in private, and to promote justice to attract heroes.Xun Yu said that honoring the Son of Heaven to obey the will of the people is the greatest trend, which he called Da Shun; the greatest strategy of the Great Duke is to subdue the princes, which he called Dalu; promoting justice to attract heroes is the greatest morality, He called it a great virtue.Dashun is supreme, general is supreme, and great virtue is righteous. With these three, you must be invincible and invincible. Even if someone comes out to fight against you, it will only be like a mantis' arm and a clown jumping on a beam. Then let's compare Xun Yu's passage with Jushou's passage, which is also called Gaoxia Lixian.Xun Yu repeatedly emphasized one word: "righteousness"; Ju Shou repeatedly emphasized one word to Yuan Shao: "benefit".Xun Yu repeatedly said that honoring the Son of Heaven is the greatest justice; Ju Shou repeatedly said that holding the Son of Heaven hostage is the greatest benefit.Therefore, Ju Shou's repeated emphasis on profit can only show that Yuan Shao values ​​​​profit; Xun Yu's repeated emphasis on righteousness can only show that Cao Cao values ​​righteousness. At least in 196 AD, which is the first year of Jian'an, Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty, Cao Cao was still a lecturer. Yes, or at this time Cao Cao is still pretending to give lectures. Xun Yu and Mao Jie put forward the slogan "Follow the emperor to order but not ministers". Their two ideas are to maintain the unity of the country and oppose the division of the country by honoring the current emperor.We can be sure of the thoughts of these two people, but we cannot say that this is Cao Cao’s thoughts. We can only say that Cao Cao’s thoughts at this time may be in favor of this point of view.But this statement also put a curse on Cao Cao, that is, Cao Cao did not dare to inflate his personal ambitions too much, especially Xun Yu's words. He used Cao Cao's own words to put a hat on Cao Cao. Curse.So when Cao Cao's ambitions swelled in his later years, these two people had no good fruit to eat. It is said that Xun Yu was murdered by Cao Cao, and Mao Jie was sent to prison. Now we are still back to the first year of Jian'an, Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty. I personally think that Cao Cao at this time has just completed a transformation, that is, from a passionate young general to a politically mature hero in troubled times.My personal point of view is that Cao Cao at this time is not a traitor, but a hero. He still advocates the unity of the country and opposes the division of the country. For this, he wants to protect the current emperor, because the current emperor is a unified country under the circumstances at that time. symbol. Mr. Yi Zhongtian believes that the real Cao Cao in history still wanted to protect the current emperor in the first year of Jian'an.But in the novel, it is written that after Cao Cao welcomed the emperor, he wanted to monopolize the power, and the affairs in the court were reported to Cao Cao first, and then reported to the emperor.Is the content of this passage the same as the historical truth?Does Cao Cao in history have personal ambitions at this time? But if you want to say that Cao Cao has no personal ambitions at this time, I'm afraid this is not realistic.According to an unreliable historical source, at that time there was a Taishi Ling, the official historian of the dynasty, called Wang Li, who went to tell Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty that the destiny was to be changed. I am a historian. I understand history, what is the law of history?It’s just that the destiny is too long, this God will not always like certain people, or a certain family, according to my knowledge of history, this destiny will now be moved from Han to Wei, and it will be able to secure the world in the future The surname is not Liu, but the surname Cao.I kept talking, but Cao Cao invited him to the side one day, took him by the hand and said, "I know that my husband is a loyal minister, but the way of heaven is subtle, and the secrets of heaven cannot be leaked, so let's talk less."Well, I think this material is not very reliable, because at this time if someone says that Wei is going to replace Han, I always think it is not reliable, but if you say that Cao Cao has no such thoughts at this time, I am afraid it will be very difficult. speak.All in all, it was Cao Cao who took the emperor into his territory, and after he became the Sangong, as his strength grew and his enemies gradually disappeared, his ambitions began to expand.It is estimated that Cao Cao later became more and more domineering, more domineering, more overbearing, and less and less regarded the emperor as the emperor, so the case of Yidaizhao finally occurred. The time of this incident was the first month of the fifth year of Jian'an, and the person who initiated the incident was Dong Cheng, the father-in-law of Han Xiandi.It is said that Dong Cheng received a belt from Han Xiandi, and there was a secret edict in the belt, which asked him to kill Cao Cao.After this incident was discovered by Cao Cao, Dong Cheng and his gang were all killed, and Liu Bei fled every day. Liu Bei is also said to have participated in the conspiracy.Well, this matter has made a big fuss, because it is to oppose Cao Cao, and it must be a big fuss to catch this matter, but there are only a few lines in the official history, and some historians have questioned it.Well, I think at least this matter can explain two problems. What does it mean?It shows that the emperor, who is in vain, is still useful. At that time, he had to use the banner of the emperor for everything these people wanted to do. People like Cao Cao in the court forced the emperor to issue edicts that were beneficial to him. Those who opposed Cao Cao I had no choice but to declare that I had the emperor's secret edict. Anyway, Cao Cao had a public edict, and the opposition had a secret edict. Everyone said that I had the emperor's authorization, which shows that the emperor is still useful.The second shows that Cao Cao's ambitions began to expand at this time, and his service and respect for the emperor had begun to become insincere. So did Cao Cao complete this process in a planned and premeditated manner, or did it happen naturally?To be honest, I can't figure it out.If there is indeed a garment belt edict, it means that Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty may have reached the point where he can't bear it, because this emperor has never lived a comfortable life. It should be said that he has learned to swallow his anger a long time ago. If it is not too shameful, he will not take this risk.Well, this incident is often used to prove that Cao Cao coerced the emperor to order the princes. Since we cannot clearly confirm this incident, we cannot clearly confirm whether Cao Cao is Fengtian at this time. The son still holds the emperor. In fact, in my opinion, there is no contradiction between Fengtianzi and Xietianzi here, and Caocao also got another benefit, that is, he can use this banner, or use this trump card to recruit talents to the maximum. It is justifiable to recruit talents from all over the country.At that time, domestic talents were basically willing to go to Xudu, because after all, going to Xudu was doing things for the central government, at least the first one had face, and the second one was more legitimate.What was the result?It is because the official position belongs to the country, and the talents belong to oneself. Cao Cao made a very profitable deal.Now we know that after Cao Cao brought the current emperor to his territory, he gained political capital and human resources, and his capital doubled.So, with one hand, he raised high the banner of upholding the royal family and defending the emperor, which seemed to be the banner of justice at the time, and quietly pulled out the knife from behind with the other hand, and he did it very quickly. The sword will level the world, unify the Kyushu, and realize his ideal of uniting the nine princes and unifying China.So is Cao Cao going well?Please watch the next episode, the ghosts and gods make mistakes.