Chapter 11 (11) Inclusive of all rivers

Cao Cao realized very early on that talents are the key to achieving success, so Cao Cao issued three consecutive orders to seek talents, and put forward the slogan of "Only talents". This shocking move almost overturned the traditional employment of people at that time. view.So, how should we understand Cao Cao's "only talents"?Please pay attention to "Yi Zhongtian Pin Three Kingdoms: All Rivers Are Inclusive". For Cao Cao, the Battle of Guandu in 200 AD was a battle to truly establish his dominance, but for Yuan Shao, it was an unforgettable turning point of success or failure.After this battle, Yuan Shao handed over the hegemony in the north. This great warlord who once swept Hebei and ruled the roost for a while disappeared from the stage of Chinese history.Originally, Yuan Shao had every chance to win this victory, and he could even go on to seize the Central Plains, "taking the emperor to command the princes".So where did Yuan Shao lose?Some people think that Cao Cao is good at employing people, but Yuan Shao, who wants to achieve hegemony, will not fail to realize the importance of talents. Besides, he also has civil servants and generals under his command, with a lot of talents.So, what is the difference between Cao Cao and Yuan Shao's employment?Professor Yi Zhongtian of Xiamen University will give you a detailed taste of Cao Cao's employment skills.The "Hai Na Bai Chuan" is being broadcast, so stay tuned.

In today's episode we talk about Cao Cao's way of employing people, which is an important part of Cao Cao's success.Chen Shou's "Three Kingdoms" is a biography of Cao Cao, and there is a summary at the end. This summary Chen Shou expressed such a meaning: first, defeating Yuan Shao was the most important success in Cao Cao's life; second, why Cao Cao was able to defeat Yuan Shao What about Yuan Shao?There are two reasons, the first is that Cao Cao is good at strategy, and the second is that Cao Cao is good at employing people.This is a summary of Cao Cao's life by Chen Shou, the author of "Three Kingdoms", which shows how important the way of employing people is to Cao Cao.In fact, the so-called way of employing people is nothing more than two questions. The first question is who to use, and the second question is how to use them.Today we will talk about who to use, and in the next episode we will talk about how to use it.We still have to compare Yuan Shao and Cao Cao. Yuan Shao and Cao Cao are different on these two issues.

Yuan Shao also understands the truth that in order to achieve a career, he must be able to employ people. In fact, Yuan Shao liked to make friends with heroes since he was a child. When he was young, he lived in the capital. Famous young masters, and then hold guests at home all day long. In today's words, they hold salons, open parties, and there is a lot of traffic and crowds.This matter attracted the attention of the authorities at that time. At that time, someone told Yuan Shao's uncle that your nephew did not respond to the government's call, that is, the government wanted Yuan Shao to become an official at that time. If Yuan Shao did not come out, he would have guests at home.So they told Yuan Shao's uncle, that nephew of yours "responsibly raises the dead" and refuses to accept our government's recruitment. He keeps a lot of followers at home. What does he want to do?His uncle went to Yuan Shao and said, if you go on like this, our Yuan family will be wiped out!Only then did Yuan Shao restrain himself, and only then did he serve under the command of General He Jin.So what does this story show?It means that at that time everyone could see who Yuan Shao was imitating?Imitate those sons of the Warring States Period.We know that there were four great gentlemen in the Warring States period. Lord Mengchang in Qi State, Lord Xinling in Wei State, Lord Pingyuan in Zhao State, and Lord Chunshen in Chu State. The four princes were like this. They raised many followers at home. Yuan Shao learned from these four The style of the eldest son, so Yuan Shao's style can be called "brother's style".But Yuan Shao studied the four princes, he only learned the superficial, not the essence.On this issue, Cao Cao's counselor Xun Yu had a saying. Xun Yu said this:

"Relying on world resources, Shao pretended to be wise in order to gain fame. Therefore, those who are few and inquisitive will return to him." That is to say, Yuan Shao relied on his advantage of "four generations and three fathers", the advantage of a family, made friends with many people, and acted like a corporal with integrity and virtuousness. What did he do?To get some fame by cheating, because Yuan Shao has a principle when making friends with these people, that is, he only sees famous people, and Yuan Shao does not welcome people who are not well-known in the country.What is this for?It's a show, it's a ostentation, he is tantamount to announcing to the world that I, Mr. Yuan, can not meet anyone casually, I only make friends with famous people.Yuan Shao's purpose of doing this is to put on a facade, to enhance his reputation, and he doesn't sincerely hope that someone will help him, because Yuan Shao is headstrong, and he doesn't think there is anyone smarter than him in the world. He doesn't need to find a lot of people to help him, he just needs to let the world think that he is full of talents, this is Yuan Shao's style.Then Yuan Shao's style, we can sum it up in these sixteen words, that is: put on a show, act in a play, gain fame, decorate for appearance, and be complacent.

The success and failure, prosperity and decline of a career are nothing more than the usual employment, but the starting point and state of the employer are different.Yuan Shao also employs people, he is also open-minded and accepts the talents from all over the world. Before the Battle of Guandu, Yuan Shao also had a cloud of counselors and a rain of warriors, but he only employed people for superficiality, and only for reputation.So what is the essential difference between Cao Cao's employment and Yuan Shao's employment? Cao Cao's approach is just the opposite. What is Cao Cao's approach?We can also sum it up in sixteen words: seeking truth from facts, promoting talent, not sticking to one pattern, and never rejecting anyone who comes.In other words, Cao Cao really hoped to have many talents to help him. On this premise, Cao Cao properly handled the five relationships.

Cao Cao's employment policy 1: the name is more important than the real The first relationship is "name and reality".We know that there are famous people in the world, and there are also capable people. Celebrities and capable people are not the same concept. Famous people may not be capable, but there are many capable people who may not be famous, and may be unknown.Then you have a choice when recruiting talents, do you want celebrities, or do you want capable people?What is Cao Cao's policy?True to its name, it is more practical.How do you say this?Cao Cao is very aware that if he wants to achieve a career, he must have many, many people to help him.And in comparison, Cao Cao's conditions are relatively poor, political capital is not as good as his opponents, such as Yuan Shao, he has a huge family as support, such as Sun Quan, he has a ready-made foundation left by his father and brother, for example Speaking of Liu Bei, of course he doesn't have any capital, but he made one himself. Uncle Liu Huang, he has at least one business card that can deceive people. What does Cao Cao have?Speaking of which, the eunuch's grandson.We know that it was very famous in the Eastern Han Dynasty, because since Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty only respected Confucianism, the Han Dynasty used his name to teach and rule the world. We know from reading Confucius’ books that Confucius’ students asked Confucius, if Mr. What is one thing to do?Confucius said, the name must also be rectified.Therefore, in such an era, names are very important. Cao Cao understands this, so he hopes to win over people from wealthy families, social sages, and celebrities at that time to support him.

So it's not that Cao Cao doesn't want celebrities, and he welcomes celebrities, but Cao Cao knows very well that these celebrities may not be able to help.Cao Cao's attitude is very simple, it's good for you to help, it's good to help, and accomplices are fine, but if it's not good, it's okay to help, and I want to help; I don't expect you people to do anything for me. I don't expect you people to support me sincerely, as long as you can come, you come to decorate my appearance, and you don't openly oppose me, that's fine.Cao Cao is not superstitious about celebrities, and Cao Cao does not value false fame. Cao Cao's famous saying is "Don't live up to fame and deal with real disasters", which means that Cao Cao values ​​​​the real content more. He is a very pragmatic person.

Even his marriage was very pragmatic. His first wife was the Mrs. Ding we mentioned before. After Mrs. Ding divorced him, Cao Cao made his concubine Bian his wife, that is Mrs. Bian, Mrs. Bian's background is not good, she was born in a family.Advocate means advocating a prostitute, it is for a single person, and the word advocating a prostitute is for a single person. At that time, a prostitute was mainly a performer, usually a geisha. At that time, there was no strict boundary between prostitution, so the solo prostitution could easily be converted into the prostitute next to the woman.Then such a family background was not only humble at that time, but also humble. According to such a rule that pays attention to family background, it is impossible to be a wife.Cao Cao didn't care, because the Bian family was very good. Although her family background was poor, her character was excellent and she was very low-key. She also gave birth to good sons for Cao Cao. As the crown prince, Mrs. Bian's subordinates joked, Mrs. Bian, you see that the eldest son has become a prince, and you have to treat him. Just kidding, what did Mrs. Bian say?Well, it's good that I didn't teach the child badly, I'm already very satisfied, how dare I take any credit for it!When Cao Cao went out to fight, he always seized jewels, treasures, antiques, jewelry and other things. After he brought them home, Cao Cao would give these things to Mrs. Bian to choose, because she was his wife, his wife, and every time Bian Ladies always choose a middle-level one, such as jewelry and jewellery.Cao Cao was surprised, so he asked her, saying that I found through observation that you don't pick the best or the worst every time, but you always pick the middle one. What's the reason?Mrs. Bian said, picking the best is greed, picking the worst is hypocrisy, and I pick the middle.This is a very real statement, so Cao Cao appreciates her very much.

Cao Cao is such a person, so his attitude when dealing with the issue of talents is that he deserves his name and puts more emphasis on reality. Cao Cao's employment policy two: both ability and political integrity The second relationship that Cao Cao has to deal with is the relationship between morality and talent, the relationship between "virtue and talent".This question is also a question that has been debated for a long time in our history. When a person cannot have both virtue and talent, which one is the bear's paw and which one is the fish?Which should we choose?As for the traditional saying, first of all, we must have both ability and political integrity. This is true, but can’t we have both?The traditional approach is to put virtue first before talent, but Cao Cao is doing the opposite at this time. He issued an order to seek talents three times, and publicly put forward a slogan called "Only talent". What is the meaning of "only talent"?That is, when virtue and talent conflict and contradict each other, talent should be chosen first, rather than virtue.Then this statement is easy to cause misunderstanding, so we want to explain a little bit, why did Cao Cao put forward the slogan of "only talents are promoted" instead of following the traditional principle of having both ability and political integrity?A very important reason is that it was an extraordinary period at that time, and Cao Cao was an extraordinary person who did extraordinary things at an extraordinary time, so he could not do it according to the conventional method of acquiring talents.So Cao Cao has a saying, he called it "government of peace and morality, and rewards for things." What does this mean?When the world is peaceful, we can put moral standards first and slowly look for those who have both ability and political integrity. But now is a time when something is going on, when the world is not stable, and when talents are urgently needed. Sometimes what we want to reward is function, merit is merit, and ability is ability.

At this critical moment, we must put credit and ability first, and we cannot put the so-called morality first. If we put morality first, three situations may occur: first, Virtuous but not talented, morally impeccable, a good old man, can't do anything, what's the use of me taking this kind of person?The second possibility is to ask for complete blame. I finally found a talent, and everyone came to comment on what is wrong with him. Should I use it or not?The third possibility is to practice fraud. In order to get a promotion, a person has to do political show and moral show. This was the case at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty. Because moral standards were put first in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, many people cheated. The so-called "to be filial and honest, the father lives away; to be a scholar, not to be literate", this is not acceptable.Since there were such ills at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Cao Cao had to correct them in this extraordinary period, and the corrections must be excessive, but correctness cannot be corrected.

So Cao Cao promulgated the Order of Seeking Talents three times, and even put forward such a saying that as long as he is a talent, even if he is not benevolent or filial, you can recommend it to me.Therefore, when Cao Cao dealt with the relationship between ability and political integrity, his approach was: to have both ability and political integrity, and to promote talent only. Compared with Yuan Shao's employing people, Cao Cao's employing people is more practical. Cao Cao understands that reputation is external, and virtue is relative, and talent is the most important thing for his career development, so Cao Cao is not limited by name and reality, virtue and talent He directly raised the baton of employing people to "only talent".But everyone has shortcomings. When faced with some talents who have petty greed and unstable positions, how does Cao Cao do it? Cao Cao's employment policy three: re-use honest officials without avoiding petty corruption Then there is a third question, which is the relationship between "corruption and corruption".What did Cao Cao do?Reuse upright officials and avoid petty corruption.Although Cao Cao put forward the idea of ​​"valuing talent only", it is not that he does not want morality. Cao Cao is actually a person who values ​​morality, and he also hopes to have both ability and political integrity.For example, there are two people, Cui Yan and Mao Jie. These two people have both ability and political integrity. Cui Yan and Mao Jie are so noble in moral character that even Cao Cao respects and even fears him. Cao Cao respects Mao Jie and respects Mao Jie. Cui Yan is in awe. Every time he sees Cui Yan and Cao Cao, he must be in awe. So what did Cao Cao entrust them to do?Do the work of selecting officials and reuse them.But some people like to take advantage of small advantages. For example, Cao Cao has a fellow named Ding Pei. This person likes to take advantage of small advantages.He took out the thin cow at home and picked a fat cow from the public herd, and he replaced it. He did this, but he was dismissed as a result, and he was dismissed after being reported.One day Cao Cao met him on the road, Ding Pei, and Cao Cao called him and said, Marquis Wen, where is your official seal?Ding Pei said, oops, I exchanged my official seal for big cakes.Then Cao Cao turned around and said to the people around him, Mao Jie asked me to punish Ding Pei many times, I said forget it, Ding Pei is like a cat that catches mice and loves to steal food, it is still useful to keep him of.I think this may be the earliest theory about cats in China, but he wants to explain that no matter whether it steals food or not, it is a good cat if it catches mice. greedy. Cao Cao's Employment Policy 4: Encouraging Surrender and Rebellion The fourth relationship is "surrender and rebellion". The so-called surrender refers to the person who surrendered to Cao Cao, and the so-called rebellion refers to the person who betrayed Cao Cao.So how did Cao Cao deal with these two kinds of people?Surrender and accept rebellion, let go of past suspicions.Even Lu Bu, Cao Cao wanted to surrender.Cao Cao destroyed Lv Bu and defeated him. At the bottom of the White Gate, Lv Bu was tied up and walked over from the opposite side. Although Lv Bu was a prisoner, he was full of vigor, tied up with a rope, and shouted from afar, Cao Gong, congratulations, now the problem It's all settled, and the world is stable.Cao Cao said, what do you mean?Lu Bu said, Mr. Cao, isn't it me, Lu Bu, who you regard as the thorn in the flesh the most?Now Lu Bu is ready to surrender to you. After Lu Bu surrenders to you, it will be fine. Let me, Lu Bu, lead the cavalry, and you, Lord Ming, lead the infantry. Is there anything wrong with this world?Isn't the world ours?Before Cao Cao responded, Lu Bu saw Liu Bei sitting next to Cao Cao, and Lu Bu said, "Mr. Xuande, you are a guest, and I am a prisoner. This rope binds me so tightly, can't you speak for me?" ?Cao Cao laughed, the tiger must be tied tighter, and when he was ready, he ordered to untie it, and Cao Cao waved his hand to untie it.Liu Bei was talking next to him. Liu Bei said, Mr. Cao, haven't you seen how Lu Bu served Ding Yuan and Dong Zhuo?Cao Cao thought, yes, this Lu Bu will kill whoever he goes to. This Lu Bu used to go to Ding Yuan, then he killed Ding Yuan to go to Dong Zhuo, he killed Dong Zhuo, and now he goes to me. No way, kill Lu Bu.In fact, if it weren't for Liu Bei's words, Cao Cao might really want to keep Lu Bu.Many of Cao Cao's talents, no matter whether his advisers or generals, came from the enemy's camp. He recruited and accepted traitors, this is how he treats those who surrendered. What about the one who betrayed himself?At that time, Cao Cao had a man named Bi Chen, and Bi Chen's family was detained by Zhang Miao. Zhang Miao and Cao Cao were originally in the same group, but later turned their faces, so Bi Chen's family was in Zhang Miao's hands, and Bi Chen was under Cao Cao's. I don't feel at ease.Cao Cao said to Bi Chen, hey, Master Lingtang and your wife and children are all at Zhang Miao's place, I think you should go to Zhang Miao's.Bi Chen knelt down and kowtowed, saying that Bi Chen would never betray Duke Ming. Cao Cao was also very moved and shed tears, who knew Bi Chen ran away as soon as he turned his back.After running away, Cao Cao finally fought Zhang Miao and defeated Zhang Miao, and Bi Chen was taken prisoner. Everyone said that Bi Chen must be unlucky!Cao Cao sighed and said, can a person who is filial not be loyal?Since he is a filial son, he must be a loyal minister. Bi Chen did not kill him, so he was sent to be an official. What kind of official is he? Cao Cao's employment method is flexible and changeable, because he understands that extraordinary people are needed in extraordinary times, so under Cao Cao, all kinds of talents can find their own positions, it can be said that people make the best use of their talents and things make the best use of them.But if this kind of talent can be used, and that kind of talent can also be used, wouldn't Cao Cao become a good man?Faced with all kinds of talents, how did Cao Cao grasp the speed of employing people?What is the secret of Cao Cao's employment? Cao Cao's employment policy five: Grasp the big and let go of the small The fifth relationship is the relationship between "big and small". What does the so-called big and small mean?Dade and subsection.So what did Cao Cao do?Grasp the big and let go of the small, regardless of the details.For example, there is a man named Wenpin, who is Liu Biao's subordinate, and Liu Biao sent him to garrison the north.After Liu Biao died, Liu Cong, Liu Biao's son, took over. At this time, before the Battle of Chibi, Cao Cao went south, and Liu Cong surrendered to Cao Cao immediately, and then told Wenpin that we should surrender to Cao Cao together.Wenpin didn't go, and kept guarding until Cao Cao went south and crossed the Han River, then Wenpin went to see Cao Cao.At this time, Cao Cao half-jokingly said, Brother Wenpin, why are you here so late?Wenpin said very seriously, Mr. Cao, I originally followed Liu Jingzhou—Liu Jingzhou refers to Liu Biao—I followed Liu Jingzhou to serve the country. I am ashamed that I did not do this, so I just want to hold on In my place, so that the people who are not ashamed of the underground world, that is, Liu Biao, are also worthy of the orphan he entrusted to me, that is, Liu Cong. I have no choice but to come to see you today. How can I? Mind, how can I have the face to come to see you early?After speaking, wept loudly.When Cao Cao heard it, he was in awe, and shed tears along with him, and then said Wenpin, you are a loyal minister, so how about it, you can be the prefect of Jiangxia.So Wenpin served as the prefect of Jiangxia for decades. Of course, his title rose step by step, from Marquis of Guannei to Marquis of Ting, then Marquis of Township, and Marquis of County. He defended this throat for Cao Cao, defeated Guan Yu, and defeated Sun Quan.So what does Cao Cao value in Wenpin?Dajie, loyalty, loyalty is the greatest morality, so it cannot be said that Cao Cao does not pay attention to morality. But what about subsections?Cao Cao advocated keeping your eyes open and closing your eyes.Cao Cao had a very important adviser named Guo Jia. Guo Jia may not have behaved properly. He was publicly criticized many times by an official in charge of disciplinary inspection named Chen Qun. Guo Jia remained the same.Cao Cao also trusted him as before, but at the same time, Cao Cao rewarded Chen Qun, that is, Cao Cao neither punished Guo Jia, intervened in Guo Jia, nor accused Guo Jia, nor asked Guo Jia to correct his shortcoming of improper behavior in his private life. At the same time, he told Chen Qun that you were right.So what is it called?This is called grasping the big and letting go of the small. Cao Cao knew very well that the bottom line of morality must be adhered to. If you do not stick to the bottom line of morality, the result will be villains all over the court. This is why Cao Cao wanted to praise and affirm Chen Qun. It is Chen Qun, you stick to the bottom line of morality, and you are right to criticize people who are not decent and behave badly!But Cao Cao also understands another truth, that is, you can't get entangled in trivial matters, because there is no perfect person in the world, and everyone has shortcomings, mistakes, and faults, so this thing can't be done.Therefore, Cao Cao's approach is not to make peace, nor is it to strike a balance, nor is it to play 50 big boards each, nor is it the so-called golden mean that we ordinary people understand, but it should be said to be the essence of the golden mean. What is the essence of the golden mean?Speaking of "the right to have the scriptures", it means that some things are conventional, and some things are expedient, and one cannot accept a dead truth. This is how Cao Cao handles the five relationships. What do we see behind this approach?What I saw was Cao Cao's grandeur. In fact, whether Cao Cao's employment skills or the way of employing people is good, in the final analysis it is two words - grandeur, which is what we usually say, tolerance is great.The sea, why is the sea so big?Just because when a river flows into the sea, it can be filled with mud and sand, and fish and dragons can mix together.Can a sea say that my sea cannot accept sewage, and I can only accept pure mineral water?Then it wouldn't be the sea.Cao Cao just has such a broad heart like the sea. The gentleman wants it himself, and the villain I also use it. What is the use?Use his strengths, as long as he does not suffer from great virtues and morals, he should turn a blind eye to any issues of life style, behavior, words and deeds, and leave him alone.There are hundreds of people, all kinds of people, how can there be any uniform team?If the water is clear, there will be no fish, and if people are poor, there will be no disciples. Those who are poor are easy to break, and those who are outstanding are easy to get dirty. It is not a good thing to make yourself too pure and clean, especially as a person who wants to achieve great things. Don't pursue uniformity. Cao Cao's kind of mind and style made him recruit talents. According to statistics, before Cao Cao's death, he had 102 core advisers, important advisers, and general advisers. Five, Xun Yu, Xun You, Guo Jia, Jia Xu, Cheng Yu, the five great advisers.If we search the following, we will find that these five counselors basically defected to Cao Cao by themselves, and four of them defected to Cao Cao from the enemy camp. Jia Xu also brought Zhang Xiu with him when he came to defect.There was a reason for these people to come to Cao Cao. When Guo Jia left Yuan Shao, he said something to the counselors around Yuan Shao, telling the reason why he left Yuan Shao and went to Cao Cao. This sentence is very important. So what did Guo Jia say to Yuan Shao's advisers?What kind of mystery is hidden in his words?Please see the next episode - The Heart of the World.