I was young then.

When Cao Cao was born, his father, Cao Song, didn't think that his son would start a new empire in the future, let alone that he would become the focus of countless debates for two thousand years. But Cao Song has created enough conditions for his son to ensure that Cao Cao will not struggle in the future, because he is the son of constant servant Cao Teng, although he is not his own.

Zhong Changshi is actually a eunuch leader with great power, but he is often looked down upon. But Cao Teng had a good reputation. At that time, many conceited celebrities got his kindness. Cao Song, in the name of his father, also became a high official (a captain in the official department). Later, through bribery, he became Qiu of the Han Dynasty. Now it is generally said that the Minister of National Defense or Commander-in-Chief, although he bought an official position, has reached that position after all.

Speaking of Cao Cao as "less alert, more politics", his uncle accused him of flying eagle lackeys and caused a "sheep jumping incident", which caused discord between the Cao Song brothers, and no one could control him from now on.

Young Cao Cao wandered between Beijing and Luoyang, gradually showing his ability to surpass ordinary people. Xu Zijiang, an expert in character identification at that time, thought he was "a talent for governing the country and a traitor in troubled times". Cao Cao himself is quite satisfied with this evaluation. He is addicted to martial arts and is ready to make contributions in the coming troubled times.

When Cao Cao was young, his career as an official was probably like this: at the age of 20, he was promoted to Xiao Lian, except for the North Commandant of Luoyang who moved to visit him. This narrative is calm, but there are many concerns in reality. It is impossible to raise filial piety for twenty, and it is estimated that there is no place for grandpa; When he was a North Commandant, Cao Cao made a colorful stick and the criminal law was severe. Uncle Jian Shuo, who beat him last night, was dismissed (promoted) because of Cao Teng's failure to treat Cao Cao. Cao Cao's relatives committed crimes, and Cao Cao was implicated in exempting officials before saying that he would worship Lang.

184 When the Yellow Scarf Uprising, Cao Cao was twenty-nine years old and finally waited for the legendary troubled times.

Cao Cao was appointed as a captain on horseback by the imperial court to participate in the Battle of Yingchuan. What contribution Cao Cao made in the Battle of Yingchuan has been lost, but after the war, he was named as the Prime Minister of Jinan and became the head of a county. In Jinan, Cao Cao still pursues his general plan of governing the country. "There are many nobles attached to it, and the spoils are chaotic, so it is free to play eight; The oath was forbidden, the traitors fled, and the county boundaries were in awe. " However, Cao Cao was afraid that too many people who offended him would be retaliated, so he resigned and went home to hide in order to repeat his studies (the so-called Spring and Autumn Learning is different), but he was actually waiting for new opportunities.

Cao Cao in this period, as an official's son and middle-level cadre in the Han Dynasty, should be said to be a "capable minister" who saved the Han Dynasty from the quagmire. This can be seen from the fact that he constantly offended powerful people and wanted to change the decadent atmosphere of society. As for whether it can be understood as grandstanding, I think it can be established as an idea, but I don't want to think so.

Brilliant and promising.

Cao Cao didn't have to wait too long, and soon there was a rebellion in the north, so Cao Cao was requisitioned by the court and became one of the famous "Eight Generals in Xiyuan". Others include Yuan Shao, Yuan Shu, Bao Xin and Chun Yuqiong. They are all familiar figures later, and Blade is their supervisor.

Here, Cao Cao witnessed the whole process of blades killing eunuchs, blades being killed by eunuchs and Yuan Shao being killed by Yuan Shu, and also saw the whole process of Dong Zhuo's entry into Beijing, Ding Dong's rivalry and Dong Zhuo's autocratic power. This series of political events at the end of the Han Dynasty made people see things in a blur, and what impact it had on Cao Cao. It is not completely clear yet, but it is obvious that Cao Cao's understanding of politics is more sober and rational in his heart.

As Xian Di was abolished by Dong Zhuo, a bigger storm warning appeared. Although Dong Zhuo mastered the throne, he did not have enough prestige to convince the public, and anti-Dong movements were brewing everywhere. Cao Cao also quietly returned to the east at this time and returned to his hometown to organize anti-Dong troops.

Cao Shi had great appeal in Dongjun, and Cao Cao quickly organized a team of more than 10,000 people to participate in the joint military action of the Kanto governors. Correct the misleading statement in Romance. It is Bao Xin who advocates the volunteers, not Cao Cao. Governors were also scattered in a large area of kanto region from Henan to Hebei, and not everyone gathered troops together.

Sun Jian is the most active and able to fight in Dong Meng. He defeated Hua Xiong, Dong Zhuo's commander-in-chief, Lu Bu, and several other troops, which made Dong Zhuo tremble with fear. Cao Cao is the most determined one. He fully demonstrated his strategic genius in planning for his ministers. Look from the action, he personally led the troops into Xingyang, and Xu Rong in Bianshui bitter. Cao Cao was defeated by serenade, but the happeneth was exhausted, forcing Xu Rong to retreat.

Judging from Cao Cao's words and deeds, he is still a little enthusiastic about rebuilding the Han Dynasty, but after that, he will completely give up planning for the Han Dynasty. Because he found that none of the Kanto governors were fighting for the imperial court, they were all gathering military forces, and you came and went for your own benefit. There are indications that the Han Dynasty has lost its vitality and its history as a dynasty is coming to an end.

So Cao Cao went back to the East to recruit soldiers, then returned to Hanoi and began to join the ranks of princes.

At first, Cao Cao's strength was quite weak among the princes, so he attached himself to Yuan Shao. If you attack Montenegro, you will be ruled by the East County, and if you attack the Yellow Scarf, you will be ruled by Yanzhou. Montenegro and Huang Jin are both peasant armies. If we look at it now, it is dyed red with the blood of countless poor people, and it is unfair for us to scold Cao Cao now.

The acquisition of Yanzhou was about 192, and Cao Cao was officially promoted to be the head of a state and became a great vassal. Thanks to Liu Dai and Bao Xin, they kept escorting Cao Cao. Being the head of a country is very important to Cao Cao, because he has never held such a position before. He is different from Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu. After all, his financial resources are not so thick, and there are not many people who respond to him. Having a relatively large territory under his control helps him accumulate manpower and material resources.

When Cao Cao arrived in Yanzhou, the first thing he did was to arrange for someone to pick up his father at home. This was originally a son's filial piety, but it turned into a disaster. Tao Qian, the general of Xuzhou secretariat, took a fancy to the articles of hundreds of cars in Cao Song, and killed the Cao Song family halfway (as to whether Tao Qian himself meant it, it is hard to speculate). Angry Cao Cao ordered a bloodbath in Xuzhou.

Tao Qian is not the elder image in The Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Although he is a celebrity, he has done a lot of looting in Xuzhou. Even if he didn't personally order the killing of Cao Song, he was lax. But Tao Qian and his generals are really not so good. They can't resist Cao Cao's attack. In the spring of 1993 and 1994, Cao Cao attacked Xuzhou twice, and almost all the capital of Tao Qian was taken.

"Too many remnants" is Chen Shou's spring and autumn brushwork. Cao Cao will later be regarded as a traitor, which is an important link. Fortunately, Shandong governors came together to save, but Lu Bu and Chen Gong attacked Yanzhou, and Cao Cao had to withdraw, so Xuzhou was not slaughtered.

Cao Cao's bloodbath in Xuzhou is a stain on his life, whether to avenge his father or not. It is estimated that Chen Gong will betray him, which has something to do with this. Later, his tough character was constantly criticized by people, which is also due to human nature. Who likes the devil?

The road to bullies

1994 Lu Bu's attack on Yanzhou was a great test for Cao Cao's life. Because the main force was far away in Xuzhou, because of Chen Gong's influence in Yanzhou, and because of Lu Bu's fame, Yanzhou almost completely fell into the hands of Lu Bu in a very short time. Yu Xun and Cheng Yu are heroes who ensure that Cao Cao will not be homeless. Together, they saved several small counties and gave him a base to compete with Lu Bu when he returned to Yanzhou.

Cao Cao's infidelity began to appear in Yanzhou. When he got Yu Xun, he said that Yu Xun was his ovary and obviously put himself in the general position of Emperor Gaozu. When his advisers gave advice to Cao Cao, they also said that the consolidation of Yanzhou was "the emperor was in Hanzhong, and the military refused Hanoi", and they did not look at the actual emperor, as if the world was already theirs.

However, Cao Cao and his advisers chose the right strategic direction. Instead of bullying Liu Bei, they launched an all-out attack on Lu Bu. Although Lu Bu plays an irresistible role in the battlefield, he is not good at strategy and politics. Cao Cao once said that when Lu Bu withdrew from Xuzhou, he didn't set an ambush in this dangerous place, which showed that he was a man without a plan, and it was also very obvious in the struggle with Cao Cao later.

The battle lasted about a year, and finally Lu Bu was driven out of Yanzhou, and Cao Cao got his own Hanoi. No matter how embarrassed he was in The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, it didn't change the result of this battle.

1996 was the turning point for Cao Cao to dominate the world.

When Yanzhou and Lu Bu argued, Emperor Xian of Han Dynasty was very painful. Because of the dispute between Li Jue and Guo Si, the emperor began to return to the east and spread the general's words in Kanto. Seeing the residual appeal of the Han Dynasty, Cao Cao decisively led the troops westward, and then dragged Emperor Xian of Han Dynasty to Xuchang. Xuchang is the territory that Cao Cao just snatched from the Yellow Scarf Army. )

Anyway, Emperor Xian's two-year wandering life is over, and he is happy to let Cao Cao master the power of the imperial court (can he say no? )。 It doesn't matter whether you remember Shangshu or general Stuart, because Cao Cao achieved the status of "holding the emperor to make the princes". Arrogant Yuan Shao also needed Cao Cao to be an official, but Yuan Shao's strength was still there, and Cao Cao gave up the position of general.

In fact, Cao Cao and his think tanks are not clear about the understanding of the role of the emperor. Some of Yuan Shao's advisers saw it, and some of Liu Bei's advisers saw it, but they couldn't be as decisive as Cao Cao. Guo Si, Li Jue, Yang Feng, Dong Cheng and others all had emperors, but they didn't use the name of the emperor to make an issue of it. Only Cao Cao, once the emperor is in hand, can do earth-shattering things.

The princes soon felt the benefits of having an emperor.

Cao Cao used to be Yuan Shao's younger brother, and everything was done in a blink of an eye. Now his official position has climbed above Yuan Shao. Liu Bei got a Xuzhou out of thin air. Cao Cao took a fancy to it long ago, and now he has an idea. An imperial edict, Liu Bei obediently took a not very powerful army to fight Yuan Shu, even without Lu Bu, the Iliad of Xuzhou, and finally lost his wife and children.

Yuan Shu was a proud son of the late Han Dynasty. He found it boring to be a local official in the Han Dynasty, so he simply became an emperor. This is naturally a matter of stirring up a hornet's nest, which goes further and has a history of 400 years, no matter how hopeless the Han Dynasty is, especially among scholars. Cao Cao's crusade against Yuan Shu in the name of the Han government was aboveboard, and Yuan Shu was not an opponent militarily. It was only a matter of time before he was defeated.

For the generals who stabilized Guanzhong, such as Lu Bu and Zhang Xiu, they all fought the emperor's war. Even if others knew, there was nothing they could do but wait for the fate of being annexed. Therefore, from 1996 to 1999, Cao Cao controlled a vast area from the Huaihe River in the south, to the sea in the east, to the north bank of the Yellow River in the north and to the Hua Wei Plain in the west in a very short time.

Of course, it is not to deny Cao Cao's military ability. The emperor is just a crown reason to send troops. He and his generals must do this on the battlefield. Various historical comments on his military level can't be reproduced one by one, but we can draw the conclusion that Cao Cao's military energy is higher than that of other military leaders of his time. There is no need to belittle Cao Cao's image with his previous failures. Winning or losing is a common occurrence in military strategists. Which general can say that he is unbeaten without a fight, or, to exaggerate, can he not lose a single soldier? The final victory shows that Cao Cao is most capable of controlling the war.

This ability is a synthesis of all aspects, including strategic planning, including one's own conspiracy, including employing people, including logistics, including politics. Cao Cao may not be as good as someone in one respect, but when taken together, no one can surpass him.

Still have to say, the emperor added a heavy weight to Cao Cao's world hegemony. You can't exaggerate.

Pacify the north

In 200 AD, Cao Cao and Yuan Shao fought a strategic decisive battle in Guandu. Although it was not the best time, Cao Cao still won.

In terms of strength, Cao Cao is weaker than Yuan Shao.

When it comes to Yuan Shao, it is the image of indecision, but in fact Yuan Shao is still better among the princes. Yuangu IV is the third show. In fact, Yuan Shao's mother was only a concubine, so when he was a child, his position in the family was not high, and he even became a vassal. His brother Yuan Shu still looks down on him. It was probably this experience that made Yuan Shao a corporal and made a considerable decision, which can be seen from his disobedience to Dong Zhuo's decisive capture of Jizhou to his rise after losing the battle with Gongsun Zan.

Instead, Yuan Shao replaced Yuan Shu as the image representative of Yuan Jia, accumulated a lot of manpower and material resources for him, and formed a long-term strong oppression on Cao Cao. As for Yuan Shao's repeated defeats in the battle of Guandu, it may be attributed to Yuan Shao's conceit at this time, thinking that the world is the strongest and he can sweep everything by his own strength. I despise Cao Cao, and I no longer listen to my men. I don't want to be lenient outside, and I haven't decided what to do. The good situation was wasted.

Cao Cao did meticulous work to win the war. He and his advisers carefully analyzed the possibility and method of defeating Yuan Shao, sent Zhong You to Chang 'an, stabilized the leader of Guanzhong, won the rebellion of Zhang Xiu, put down Liu Bei's rebellion, and sent Cang Ba to Qingzhou, so that Yuan Tan could not look west, and then concentrated on the main force and chose Guandu, a battlefield that was beneficial to him.

Cutting Yan Liang and Wen Chou and burning nests are naturally the strategic martial arts of Cao Cao and his men. The frontal battlefield played an important role in the Forbidden City. He is an expert in the stalemate in Guandu, and all kinds of surprise attacks are mainly completed by Huang Xu and others. Coss is responsible for the posterior route to quell the rebellion in Runan.

Because of the long-term stalemate in the war, Cao Cao fought very hard. Yuan Shao was armed to the teeth on the frontal battlefield and had enough food. Yuan Shao's hometown is in Runan. Seeing that Cao Cao may be defeated in the rear, he set off. As Yu Xun said, Cao Cao must support hard and wait for the arrival of the fighter plane. When Yuan Shao made a mistake in the Wu Dynasty and Zhang Gao surrendered, Cao Cao was relieved.

The battle of Guandu laid the foundation for Cao Cao's hegemony in the north, but it was only a foundation. Compared with Cao Cao, Yuan Shao still has certain advantages. Although he and Gongsun Zan fought in the north for many years, their losses were far less than those in Henan, the hardest hit area. Later, Dong Zhuo and Yuan Shu's men were left behind, so how much strength they could save, at least not as good as Hebei. Although Yuan Shao lost the battle of Guandu, he only lost a little morale and popular support. Proper arrangement of troops is still not a force that Cao underestimated.

As for what advantages Cao Cao has, I don't want to look for it any more, because a successful leader must have many advantages, such as Cao Cao, Liu Bei and others.

General comment of Qin Feng

Because I grew up in the countryside, I accepted the concept of anti-Cao since I was a child. Although I grew up and studied, I still didn't change my original intention. Therefore, it is inevitable that I will be biased when commenting on Cao Cao, but I feel that I am sincere and not a big sin.

When I first read novels, I liked Zhuge Liang's clever calculations, but after understanding history, I realized that Cao Cao was actually smarter than Zhuge Liang. This is an indisputable fact. Because the military and political struggles in the Three Kingdoms period were too concentrated, Cao Cao had dozens of major military actions in his life. In these activities, Cao Cao showed the outstanding talent of a talented strategist, and we can't praise him too much. As for the occasional small mistakes or even the red cliff-like rout, we still can't say that Zhou Yu is better than Cao Cao.

Politically, Cao Cao integrated the chaotic political affairs in the late Han Dynasty. If we believe that he is loyal to the Han Dynasty, then as the savior of the Han Dynasty, he showed a brilliant political skill. If we believe that he is determined to replace the Han Dynasty, then he laid a solid foundation for opening up a new dynasty and still showed his brilliant political skills. After 400 years of ups and downs, the Han Dynasty really lost its vitality. It's time to replace it with a new dynasty. So the emergence of Cao Cao is suitable for the needs of the times.

According to a popular view, whoever can give greater benefits to the people (the poor) has a reason to exist. Cao Cao's governance undoubtedly gave more benefits than that of the Han Dynasty, so I support Cao Cao's generation of the Han Dynasty. I don't like Cao Cao because he didn't give more benefits to the lower classes than Liu Bei, but that doesn't affect my choice between Cao Cao and the Han Dynasty. Actually, xelloss is different from his father. Cao Pi is too close to the decadent generation of the Han Dynasty in his bones, and his son's spirit is too strong, so Wei can't last long.

However, I just admire Cao Cao's political and military ability, at least so far I don't like him. I don't like him killing cities, killing people, killing celebrities for nothing, and lusting after flowers. Some people say that politicians are not saints, and they don't require everyone to be self-restrained, but if a politician is self-restrained and strict with himself, he has no intention of getting high marks in his impression. I like Zhuge Liang in this respect.

I know that Emperor Taizong praised Cao Cao and Mao Zedong praised Cao Cao. The admiration for grandmasters once set off an upsurge, and Lao Guo was deeply involved. They appreciate Cao Cao because they have enough capital. They are all strong people of the times. Like Cao Cao, they control their own destiny and the destiny of the world. Their way of looking at problems is macroscopic, which is called foresight. For example, it is more appropriate to win battles as long as they are like Cao Cao, and it is more appropriate to engage in politics as long as they are like Cao Cao. It is important to learn from the experience of predecessors, so I think it makes sense for them to like or praise Cao Cao.

But I won't praise Cao Cao. Up to now, I am still a vulnerable group in society. Being a leader like Cao Cao is not a pleasant thing. As for how unhappy, how unhappy, it is difficult to explain.

Now the strong should still like Cao Cao, learn from him and strive to surpass him. But if you are a quiet and cowardly person, please be careful not to have a fierce conflict with such a strongman, especially when such a strongman is your boss.