Chapter 28 (28) Killing someone with a borrowed knife

During the Three Kingdoms period, Mi Heng, who was eloquent, and Kong Rong, one of the seven sons of Jian'an, were both talented people, but their final endings were tragic.Mi Heng was killed by Huang Zu, and Kong Rong was killed by Cao Cao. Among them, Mi Heng's death also made Cao Cao bear a bad name.So in Cao Cao's concept of meritocracy, why can't these two first-class talents be tolerated?Please pay attention to it-killing people with a borrowed knife. In the last program, Mr. Yi Zhongtian said that for twenty years, Xun Yu, who had been guarding Cao Cao's home, advising, and doing his best, fell out because of his different political views with Cao Cao, and finally died of depression.Xun Yu's death failed to stop Cao Cao's ambitions from expanding, because at this moment Cao Cao has gone mad, and for the sake of supreme power, he has continued to kill people, and he had killed people long before Xun Yu.So, who else did Cao Cao kill, and why did he kill him?Professor Yi Zhongtian from Xiamen University is a guest of "Hundreds of Lectures", and will give you a wonderful taste of "Murder with a Borrowing Sword" in the Three Kingdoms.

In fact, Cao Cao had been killing people for a long time. Who did he kill?Kill those who oppose him.But when Cao Cao did this, he faced a contradiction, what contradiction?That is, Cao Cao has always encouraged telling the truth, which is not false, but true.Because Cao Cao knew very well that it would be good for him to tell the truth to him, and he sincerely hoped that his subordinates and court ministers could tell him the truth and point out his mistakes and deficiencies sincerely, which was sincere.But on the other hand, he had to suppress his opposition.So how to resolve this contradiction, on the one hand to ensure that everyone can tell the truth, on the other hand he can suppress his opponents?Cao Cao's approach is to distinguish between well-intentioned opposition and vicious attacks. He distinguishes these two things. He encourages well-intentioned opposition and suppresses vicious attacks.So how do you tell the difference between a well-intentioned objection and a malicious attack?How do you figure it out?Cao Cao's method is to look at three points: first, to see whether you are making an opinion or singing a different tune; second, to see if you are making trouble or conspiring; third, to see if you are alone or in a group.If the opposition is only one person, and this person is just having a quarrel, and there is no conspiracy behind it, his objections are all expressed in person, even if he sings the opposite, Cao Cao will not necessarily kill him, such as Mi Heng.

What are the characteristics of You Heng?He is supercilious and arrogant, and no one looks down on him.There is only one person who likes him, and that is Kong Rong.Kong Rong thought that Mi Heng was a first-class talent, and he kept recommending to the court, saying that Mi Heng was an extraordinary talent, as good as he could be, and recommended it to Cao Cao.Then we know that Cao Cao advocates meritocracy, he is a person who loves talents, so Cao Cao also wants to meet this Mi Heng.But Mi Heng looked down on Cao Cao, looked down on him from the bottom of his heart, and was unwilling to see Cao Cao, claiming to be mad, saying that I was sick and mentally ill, and I couldn't see you; but he kept saying bad things about Cao Cao behind his back.These bad words will of course reach Cao Cao’s ears, Cao Cao, you must know that there are spies under his command, saying “Talk about Cao Cao, Cao Cao is here”, what do you mean, you talk about Cao Cao behind his back, Cao Cao is here, someone is making a small report, He has many eyes and ears and informants, so of course he knows what Mi Heng said about him.

However, according to this principle of Cao Cao, he clearly knew that Mi Heng was not a small conspiracy group, an interest group, or just such a person, so he did not intend to kill Mi Heng, but he wanted to kill his prestige.He heard that Mi Heng could play the drums very beautifully, so he appointed Mi Heng as the drummer, and then held a big banquet and asked Mi Heng to play the drums.Mi Heng came, and started beating the drum after he came. I don’t know what kind of drum this drum is.While beating the drum, Mi Heng walked forward and came to Cao Cao.At this time, the officials in charge of etiquette came to stop him, Mi Heng, do you understand the rules?Drummers have special uniforms, why did you come here without changing?You Heng said, promise, and then started to take off my clothes. Didn’t I want me to change clothes? I took off all my clothes and stood naked in front of Cao Cao. Then I picked up the drummer’s clothes in a leisurely manner and put them on one by one. , After wearing it, I continued to beat the drums, without changing my face or heartbeat, very calm.Now Cao Cao can't step down, but Cao Cao is Cao Cao after all, cute villain, this cute villain just laughed, hehehe, look, look at this, everyone, what do you think this is? ?I originally wanted to humiliate You Heng, but he humiliated me, and the meeting ended.

Kong Rong couldn't stand this matter anymore, because Mi Heng was recommended by Kong Rong.Kong Rong ran to Mi Heng and said, brother, why do you do this?Let me tell you, Mr. Cao really loves talents. He knows you are a talent, and I have repeatedly recommended you as a talent. He really wants to use you as a talent. Don't do this.Mi Heng said, okay, okay, I'll go see him.Then Kong Rong immediately reported the news to Cao Cao, saying that Mi Heng had admitted his mistake, and he came to see you again.Cao Cao said yes, as long as he is willing to come, I don't care about it, so he told the porter that you should pay attention, and notify immediately when Ni Heng comes, and I will wait in the house.After waiting for a long time, he didn't come.When Cao Cao got impatient, Mi Heng came, wearing a single cloth coat, a cloth turban on his head, and holding a wooden stick in his hand. He stood at Cao Cao's door and began to scold.And beat rhythmically with his stick to scold Cao Cao very rhythmically.Now Cao Cao couldn't bear it anymore, so Cao Cao said to Kong Rong: "Look, who are you recommending?"You think I can't kill him?If I kill him, I'm no different from killing a sparrow or a mouse.Forget it, forget it, tell him to fuck off, isn't Liu Biao also recruiting talents?Go to Liu Biao's place, send to Liu Biao's place.

Liu Biao also knew that Mi Heng was a talent, so he was very polite to Mi Heng.Mi Heng was also very polite to Liu Biao, but after a while he fell into an old habit and started scolding Liu Biao.Liu Biao couldn't bear it, so he was sent to Huang Zu.Huang Zu also respected Mi Heng and was very polite, and Mi Heng also had a few days to live a peaceful life.As he was doing it, the old problem happened again, and he started scolding Huang Zu again.Once when Huang Zu held a big banquet and the guests were gathered, Mi Heng uttered wild words. Huang Zu also drank a few cups and got very angry, saying, why do you talk like this?Pull down and spank.This Mi Heng jumped up and said, how dare you spank my ass!Just jumped up and scolded.This Huang Zu is a big bastard, a warlord, how can he bear this, cut it off for me, pull him out and chop him up for me.The people around Huang Zu hated Ni Heng for a long time. When they heard that Huang Zu gave the order to pull it out and chop it up, they hurriedly pulled it out, snapped it, and chopped it down with a knife.When Huang Zu's son got the news and came to rescue him on horseback, his head fell to the ground.Mi Heng died just like that at the age of twenty-six.

The arrogant and unrestrained Ni Heng, after several twists and turns, finally died tragically at the hands of the barbaric warlord Huang Zu.Mi Heng's death is more or less reminiscent of Cao Cao. Some people think that Cao Cao was narrow-minded and unable to tolerate others, so he sent Mi Heng to Liu Biao. In Cao Cao's heart, did he mean to kill with a knife?Who made Mi Heng's death? Mr. Yi Zhongtian just mentioned that Kong Rong believed that Ni Heng was a rare talent and recommended him to Cao Cao.I don't want you to be proud of your talents and insult Cao Cao, so Cao Cao gave him to Liu Biao.Mi Heng still went his own way, insulting Liu Biao, and Liu Biao couldn't bear the humiliation, so he gave Mi Heng to Huang Zu.Mi Heng intensified and became more and more arrogant, and was later killed by Huang Zu.The death of Mi Heng left a lot of talk for later generations, and Cao Cao also bore the notoriety of "harming the virtuous" for this.So who made Mi Heng's death?Is Mi Heng's death injustice?

Mi Heng's death won a lot of sympathy from later generations, and many people sympathized with Mi Heng.Why do you sympathize with him?Three reasons: first, you Heng has a bone; second, you Heng scolded Cao Cao; third, you Heng died unjustly, so you sympathize with him.This is actually a specious view, let's analyze these three items. The first article, do you have any bones?It seems that there is, because he scolds the authorities. When he goes to Cao Cao, he scolds Cao Cao. When he goes to Liu Biao, he scolds Liu Biao. When he goes to Huang Zu, he scolds Huang Zu. He scolds whoever is the No. 1 leader. Ao Gu, how many dare to scold?How many people scold the big boss?Don't dare, he dares, does he have bones?But the problem cannot be looked at this way.It is true that Ni Heng scolded the authorities, but we have to ask three questions: First, should the authorities be scolded?Why should you scold me if you shouldn't scold me?Second, why did Mi Heng scold?Third, has Mi Heng always scolded, always scolded?Then I asked, and the conclusion was: no.Mi Heng is actually a person who really wants to be in politics and an official. It's not that he is so noble as some people say, he is not noble at all.He thinks that he is a first-class talent who can rule the country and the world. You Heng can't wait to jump out and want to get an official position. Where are you going?When he arrived in Xu County, that is, when Cao Cao had just welcomed the emperor to Xu County, Mi Heng went to find him. "A thorn in the yin", what is a thorn?The thorn is a business card, quietly holding a business card in his arms, ready to hand it to those bosses he thinks he can choose.But this guy is supercilious, he doesn't like anyone, after walking around in Xudu, he finds that there is no one he can turn to.If you have no one to turn to, if you are a truly noble person, you can go back and cultivate in Nanyang.If he doesn't, what should he do?He swears, he starts swearing.Is this called Aogu?This is called madness.Therefore, such a person is not welcome.We don't know now whether he yelled because he hit a wall everywhere, or because he hit a wall because he hit a wall everywhere.I think it's a vicious circle. On the one hand, he looks down on everyone, so he hits a wall everywhere. After hitting a wall, he looks down on others even more.The saying in the history books is "everyone hates him", and everyone hated him at that time.

He also hates everyone, and he doesn't want to improve the relationship with the masses. He never thought about improving the relationship at all.Wasn't he kicked out by Cao Cao and went to Jingzhou to meet Liu Biao?Then, the literati and celebrities in Kyoto at that time went to the suburbs of Beijing to see him off.When we sent him off, we made an appointment, saying that this guy, Mi Heng, has been swearing everywhere and is very hateful. We will not get up when he comes later, so we can show him some color.So after Mi Heng came, some of the people who saw him off were lying on the ground, some were sitting on the ground, and ignored him.Then Mi Heng burst into tears, and these people wondered why you were crying?He said, alas, what is lying is a corpse, and what is sitting is a tomb. Can I, Ni Heng, stop crying loudly when I come between the corpse and the tomb?You say this kind of person, it's not that Cao Cao, Liu Biao, and Huang Zu don't like him, it's that everyone doesn't like him.What he is fighting against is not the authorities, not Cao Cao, Liu Biao, or Huang Zu. What he is fighting against is the whole society. This is called self-isolation from the people.So the first article, having arrogance cannot be established.

Second, should Cao Cao be scolded?It can be said with certainty that Cao Cao has something to be scolded, and there are parts that should be scolded. Cao Cao has meritorious deeds, or meritorious deeds and guilt, and his sins can be scolded.However, it does not mean that Ni Heng scolded Cao Cao is a hero, it depends on what he scolded Cao Cao.Now we don't know what he is cursing, because the original text of what he scolded is not recorded, so it is unreliable.Some people say that Ni Heng scolded Cao Cao because Cao Cao usurped the Han Dynasty, which cannot be established, because he scolded Cao Cao in the first year of Jian'an, and Cao Cao did not usurp the Han Dynasty in the first year of Jian'an; moreover, even if Cao Cao usurped the Han Dynasty, Xun Yu Don't usurp the Han, why do you scold Xun Yu?right?Some people say that he scolded Cao Cao because of his violence. Cao Cao committed a lot of atrocities, but Liu Biao did not commit atrocities. Why do you scold Liu Biao?What's more, Cao Cao is at least interested in you, Miheng. When I heard that you were coming to see me, I immediately sat and waited at home.So the second reason is also not valid.

Then the third one, is it true that Mi Heng died unjustly?My conclusion is that it is wrong, and it is not wrong.Why do you say he was wronged?He didn't deserve to die for his crimes. He scolded many people, but it can't be said that cursing people deserves death.Why do you say he is not wronged?Because he more or less has his own fault.Let's see what happened to him. He was sent to Liu Biao by Cao Cao, and he praised Liu Biao without hesitation.But at the same time, he satirizes Liu Biao's left and right, and he is all satirical to Liu Biao's people.Therefore, Liu Biao's subordinates went to Liu Biao's place to make a small report, asking if the general had noticed how Mi Heng praised you?He praised you for being kind, what do you mean?To say that you are the benevolence of a woman, to say that you are actually incapable, is actually useless.Mi Heng never said this, but when Liu Biao heard it, he seemed to believe it.After believing it, send it to Huang Zu.Then Cao Cao sent Ni Heng to Liu Biao, because he knew that Liu Biao was a generous person, and he was indeed kind, so what Cao Cao meant was that if you go to Liu Biao's place, if you can change your past and start a new life, you can still get it. A good death.So Cao Cao sent Ni Heng to Liu Biao, with the meaning of observing the consequences; and Liu Biao knew who Huang Zu was, and who was Huang Zu?The warlord is rough and has a bad temper. This is recorded in the history books. If he wants to send Mi Heng to Huang Zu, that is killing people with a borrowed knife. Therefore, we can conclude that Mi Heng's death was, firstly, due to his own indiscretion; secondly, Liu Biao used a knife to kill someone; thirdly, it was ultimately due to social darkness.Because no matter what Mi Heng said, he was not guilty of death.A prefect of Jiangxia kills people casually just because they scold him. What kind of society is this?This is an authoritarian society, a dark society, and a society without human rights. It has not yet been tried, and there has been no lawyer to defend it.So in the final analysis, Ni Heng died because he did not pay attention to human rights and the rule of law.But we can be sure that even in an era of human rights and the rule of law, this person is not likable.He never saves face for the other party when he speaks, and never gives himself any room. He insists on forcing the other party and himself into a corner. Why bother?So my conclusion is that Mi Heng doesn't deserve to die, nor is it worth learning, let alone be praised as a hero. On the issue of Mi Heng's death, Yi Zhongtian believes that Mi Heng was indiscreet, but the crime does not lead to death.His arrogant and unruly character made him run into walls everywhere, hurt people everywhere, and finally could not escape bad luck.As Mi Heng's good friend, Kong Rong was more sensible than Mi Heng, and his personality was much restrained, but he really died at the hands of Cao Cao. Why? Mr. Yi Zhongtian just mentioned that the death of Mi Heng was somewhat due to his character, which caused his death, and had little to do with Cao Cao.But Mi Heng's good friend Kong Rong was really killed by Cao Cao. Why?Why did Kong Rong, who had the virtue of humility, die at the hands of Cao Cao? The death of Kong Rong offended Cao Cao, this is very clear.Moreover, Kong Rong always offended Cao Cao. As early as the second year of Jian'an, Yuan Shu proclaimed himself emperor in Huainan. At this time, Cao Cao wanted to take the opportunity to kill Yang Xiu's father Yang Biao.Because Cao Cao and Yang Biao have never been able to get along, and Yang Biao and Yuan Shu are relatives of sons and daughters and have a marriage relationship. Of course, Cao Cao used his power for personal gain, avenging his personal revenge, this is certain.Kong Rong went to Cao Cao and said that this should not be implicated in this way. According to the law, even a father's crime cannot implicate his son, let alone a relationship?Cao Cao pretended to be confused and said that this was what the emperor meant.Kong Rong thought, what nonsense, Your Majesty, is your Majesty interested right now?Who doesn't know who is in charge now, but you can't say that, Kong Rong said, according to Duke Cao's intention, Duke Zhou didn't know that King Cheng wanted to kill Duke Zhao?When King Cheng was young, he was the regent of the Duke of Zhou. Maybe the Duke of Zhou didn't know what King Cheng was going to do?Besides, why are so many people coming to Xu County now?Everyone still hopes that you, Mr. Cao, can be a fair person, enforce the law like a mountain, and give everyone justice.If you do this, you will distract people. No one will come here, no one will join us again. I dare not say anything about others. I, Kong Rong, a man of Lu Guo, will not come to work tomorrow.Cao Cao had no choice but to let Yang Biao go.It's a thing. In the ninth year of Jian'an, Cao Cao captured Yecheng. What did Cao Cao's son Cao Pi do?It is to incorporate Zhen, the wife of Yuan Shao's son Yuan Xi.Kong Rong wrote a letter to Cao Cao, saying that when King Wu of Zhou captured Yindu, he gave Daji to Duke Zhou.Cao Cao said, there is no such thing, so he went back and looked through the book, but he couldn't find it, so he wrote a letter to Kong Rong and asked Kong Rong, where is the allusion?Where is the record in history?Kong Rong said, "Taking the past from the present, take it for granted." This is to infer from our current affairs that it should be like that.It was only then that Cao Cao realized that he was mocking him, so Cao Cao was also very strange. He would not be able to see that it was irony for such a cunning person as you said.Anyway, if he finds an opportunity, he wants to ridicule Cao Cao, and Cao Cao swallows his anger, because this Kong Rong is the twentieth grandson of Confucius. killed. But Cao Cao has such a point of view, if you ridicule me about these trivial things, I will just laugh it off, but if you oppose my political line, it will not be tolerated.And Kong Rong just opposed Cao Cao's political line.Cao Cao wanted to fight Yuan Shao. Before the battle of Guandu, Kong Rong spread the argument that Yuan Shao was invincible in the court.Then this is not allowed during the war. How can you spread the argument that the enemy is invincible during the war?This is serious.There is another very serious matter. He proposed not to be a marquis within a thousand miles, that is, you cannot be a marquis within a thousand miles of the capital.At this time, Cao Cao had already sealed Marquis Wuping, which meant driving Cao Cao out. Of course, Cao Cao could not accept it.In addition, the relationship between Kong Rong and Liu Bei was very good, so in the thirteenth year of Jian'an, when Cao Cao was preparing to conquer Liu Biao, he killed Kong Rong. Kong Rong offended Cao Cao again and again on some issues, and finally took his own life.But we can imagine that Kong Rong is a descendant of Confucius, who had the reputation of making pears since he was a child. Although Kong Rong and Cao Cao disagreed on some issues, Cao Cao should take care of it if he wants to get rid of Kong Rong. Arrange a suitable charge.So, what is the crime arranged by Cao Cao? At this time, Cao Cao reformed the system and restored the political system in the early Western Han Dynasty. He established the position of prime minister and took it upon himself. Then he appointed a deputy prime minister and head of the supervision department named Yushi Dafu, and let Xi Xi take it.We have seen this Chi Chi a few times before, killing the empress and making Cao Cao the Duke of Wei are all Chi Chi, and this Chi Chi also did these three things.When Chi Chi was the Minister of Supervision, Chi Chi understood it immediately, so he ordered people to investigate, and finally found out that Kong Rong had a reactionary statement, what did he say?It is said that "whoever has the world, why bother with a golden knife", the combination of a golden knife and a traditional Chinese character "Liu" means that the emperor does not have to be named Liu. Kong Rong's crazy words "whoever has the world, why use a golden knife" came from the thirteenth year of Jian'an. At that time, Cao Cao had neither the ambition nor the conditions to be emperor, and Kong Rong repeatedly fought against Cao Cao. Yes, so Cao Cao started with Kong Rong's words. That was treason, and Kong Rong was immediately arrested, imprisoned, executed, abandoned the market, and all his wives and children were killed.But when Cao Cao killed Kong Rong, the crime he announced was not treason, what was it?It is unfilial.It is said that Kong Rong found out that there were two unfilial remarks, what was the first one about?It is said that there is no kindness between parents and children.First of all, the father is not kind to his children, why?Because the reason why a father gives birth to sons and daughters is for his own happiness and to satisfy his own desires.The mother is always kind, right?He said that the mother is not kind, the mother is like an earthen jar, and the child is like the contents of the earthen jar. After the contents are poured out, what do you think this thing has to do with the earthen jar?It doesn't matter.This is one.The second is that if there is a little food during a famine, should it be given to the father or someone else?Kong Rong said, if your father is not good, you would rather give it to someone else than your father.These two are unfilial, so Kong Rong was killed, and the crime was made public.So when we look at this case now, we can find that this is a typical crime with words, and it is also a typical autocratic politics.Because of the first point, we don’t know whether Kong Rong said this, but according to the published materials, it is said that Kong Rong told Mi Heng, and Mi Heng spread it everywhere.But you have to know that Mi Heng is dead now, there is no proof of death.As far as I am concerned, it is a bit similar to what Ni Heng said. Kong Rong may not have said this, but Cao Cao insisted that Kong Rong said it. Even if Kong Rong said it, he will not be allowed to defend, and there is no lawyer Right, there is no evidence.Second, even if Kong Rong said this, he would be shameless at best, and he would not be guilty of a capital crime.The third point is that Cao Cao himself said that only talents should be promoted, and it doesn't matter if you are not benevolent or filial, right?This Kong Rong just made some unfilial remarks. You Cao Cao used unfilial people in important positions. Isn't your crime even greater?Why don't you die?Mr. Lu Xun said, but we can't ask Cao Cao, if we ask him, he will kill us too. But Cao Cao's approach was extremely deep-hearted, which once again showed that Cao Cao was a politician with a deep city, and Kong Rong was a bookworm.why?Why didn't Cao Cao use the charge of treason to kill Kong Rong with the charge of unfilial piety?Because the Western Han and Eastern Han dynasties ruled the world with filial piety, the word "filial piety" is very important. If you look at the emperors of the Han Dynasty, except for a few people, everyone has the word "filial piety" in front of their posthumous titles. For example, Hui Emperor - Emperor Xiaohui, Emperor Wu - Emperor Xiaowu.Filial piety is very important. Cao Cao used unfilial piety to kill people, which is to prove that he is morally noble, and also shows that he is a loyal minister who protects the Han Dynasty.Slandering others, cleansing oneself, killing two birds with one stone, this is the first point.The second point, who is Kong Rong?Kong Rong is a descendant of Confucius, what is Confucius' claim?Filial piety, what is the concept of unfilial piety in your descendants of Confucius, what concept do you think about?Therefore, Cao Cao not only wanted to overthrow Kong Rong politically, but also stigmatized Kong Rong morally; not only wanted to destroy his body, but also tarnished his reputation.So this move was so vicious that Chen Shou didn't dare to write a biography of Kong Rong when he wrote "Three Kingdoms". However, from Cao Cao's standpoint, this matter does have a positive effect.Cao Cao wanted to use Kong Rong to correct the social atmosphere, but this atmosphere is not filial piety or unfilial piety, what is it?At this time, these scholars are very noble, and among these noble scholars, there are two groups of people, one is really noble, the other is fake noble; one is really talented, and the other is fake talented.But what's interesting is that as long as these people have the status of a scholar, no matter whether he is talented or not, he has a temper.Then these people all adopt an attitude of not cooperating with the authorities. These people like to talk, laugh, sarcasm, and satirize Cao Cao behind their backs, which Cao Cao cannot tolerate.Cao Cao is an extraordinary person who does extraordinary things at extraordinary times. How can he allow others to speak ill of him behind his back every day?How can we allow everyone not to cooperate with him?He had to make an example, he had to kill a chicken to show the monkeys, and Kong Rong was such a big rooster. Then, in the first year of Jian'an, Mi Heng died; in the thirteenth year of Jian'an, Kong Rong died; in the seventeenth year of Jian'an, Xun Yu died.In the twenty-first year of Jian'an, Cao Cao killed Cui Yan; in the twenty-fourth year of Jian'an, Cao Cao killed Yang Xiu.Cui Yan's death and Yang Xiu's death are different from those of the previous people - Mi Heng, Kong Rong, and Xun Yu. So why did Cao Cao kill Cui Yan and Yang Xiu?Please see the next episode - the truth of the murder.