People in China pay attention to honesty, especially ancient literati, who believe that honesty is more important than life. So there is a saying that killing people is better than killing people. However, there was a special phenomenon before the three countries split. Changing officers is common, and some people describe it as a culture of surrender. This phenomenon actually has a premise that the Han Dynasty existed in name only. The existence of this name means that there is also a Han emperor. Neither Dong Zhuo, Wang Yun nor Cao Cao claimed to be emperors. They all think that the puppet emperor is the son of heaven in form. In reality, no vassal regards the emperor as the master of the world, and many people are considering becoming the relay of the Han Dynasty. Because of this situation, Hanting exists in name only. Some people use Guo Ning's rebellion as an excuse to raise their ranks, while the saying of eliminating dissidents is that the Han Dynasty lost its deer. Therefore, changing the name of the sergeant is to bid farewell to the bad king and find a clear owner. However, although this is a special period, people still attach importance to honesty. For example, Zhuge Liang, who can become a famous minister and be imitated by later generations, is very important because he chose Liu Bei and devoted his life to the Liu regime. Cao Cao's generals were forbidden to surrender to Guan Yu, and finally died of humiliation by Cao Pi, which shows the importance of honesty to celebrities.
A scholar's moral integrity sometimes lies in the master he finally follows. For example, if this person shows his talent under the leadership of his new owner and the team succeeds, then this person will be considered to have turned his back on the darkness. But the leaders of a group are different. If he wants to change his family, he must succeed at last. Otherwise, he is willful. This is why Lu Bu is called the slave of the three surnames, and Liu Bei is the master of benevolence and righteousness. However, when it comes to honesty, Liu Bei always feels a little short of breath. On the contrary, Cao Cao is more upright than Liu Bei and Sun Quan.
Let's start with Liu Bei.
Liu Bei began to crusade against the Huangta Army, and because of his outstanding achievements, he became the magistrate of Gaotang County. After being defeated by the Yellow Scarf Army, Liu Bei defected to Gongsun Zan, and Gongsun Zan named him Sima, sending him to follow Qingzhou secretariat Tian Ji to guard against Yuan Shao. Because of his active fighting, he became the county magistrate of Pingyuan County. It should be said that this is a position where Liu Bei really became famous, and later romantic dramas also took this position as the starting point of Liu Bei. Cao Cao's expedition to Xuzhou, Tao Qian secretariat to Tian Ji emergency, Tian Ji with Liu Bei to support Tao Qian. In Xuzhou, Tao Qian added 4,000 troops to Liu Bei in Danyang County, and Liu Bei left heaven and joined Tao Qian.
Liu Bei appointed Tao Qian as the secretariat of Yuzhou and sent him to Xiaopei. This is a famous secretariat because it has no place for Liu Bei. However, Liu Bei is very lucky. Tao Qian died of illness in Xuzhou soon. According to Tao Qian's wishes and the support of his subordinates, Liu Bei succeeded Tao Qian as the secretariat of Xuzhou. This is the first time that Liu Bei has national territory. In order to win over Liu Bei, Cao Cao concentrated on dealing with Yuan Shao of Hebei Province and made him a general in the town east. At this time, Liu Bei made a big mistake and let Lu Bu go. Lu Bu was defeated by Cao Cao! Yuan Shu also wanted Xuzhou, so he came to compete with Liu Bei. Liu Bei and Huaiyin were deadlocked for several months. Lu Bu took the opportunity to attack Xiapi City and detained Liu Bei's wife and children. Liu Bei had to make peace with Lu Bu. Liu Bei returned to Xiaopei and gathered more than 10,000 people. Lu Bu was afraid of him, so he led the troops to attack. Liu Bei fled to Cao Cao. Cao Cao was very kind to Liu Bei and appointed him as the secretariat of Yuzhou. Although this position is still vacant, Liu Bei is also called Liu Yuzhou because Cao Cao has a Han Xian emperor, and this appointment is equivalent to the appointment of the court.
Liu Bei wants to regroup his team. Cao Cao gave him rations, supplemented his troops, and asked him to levy Lu Bu on the East. Lu Bu sent Gao Shun to see Liu Bei, but Liu Bei failed. Cao Cao sent Xiahou reinforcements and was defeated by Seibel. Liu Bei's wife and children were arrested again. Cao Cao himself went eastward, attacked Xuzhou and killed Lu Bu. Liu Bei followed Cao Cao back to Xu County. After Yuan Shu proclaimed himself emperor, he wanted to go north to Yuan Shao via Xuzhou. Liu Bei took this opportunity to request to intercept Yuan Shu, and Cao Cao sent him and Zhu Ling to intercept Yuan Shu. When Liu Bei arrived in Xuzhou, Zhu Ling returned to Cao Cao. Liu Bei killed Che Zhou, the secretariat of Xuzhou, and betrayed Cao Cao. Liu Bei sent messengers to form an alliance with Yuan Shao, and fought Cao Cao, who sent troops to attack, but failed. In the fifth year of Jian 'an, Yuan Shao prepared to attack Xudu, and Cao Cao led his troops to attack Liu Bei for the sake of flank security. Liu Bei failed again, and Guan Yu and his wife and children were captured by Cao Cao. Liu Bei had to go to Yuan Shao.
Yuan Shao and Cao Cao were at loggerheads in Guandu and sent Liu Bei and Cao Cao to attack Xu Xian, the Yellow Scarf Army in runan county, Liu Pi. Cao Cao sent men to attack Liu Bei. Liu Bei wanted to take this opportunity to leave Yuan Shao, so he returned Yuan Shao to his army and advised Yuan Shao to beware of Liu. After Yuan Shao agreed, Liu Bei came to Runan. Cao Cao defeated Yuan Shao in Guandu and attacked Liu Bei who took refuge in Liu Biao. Cao Cao attacked Jingzhou just in time for Liu Biao's death, and Liu Cong, Liu Biao's designated successor, surrendered to Cao Cao. Knowing that it was getting late, Liu Bei hurried back to the south and was caught up by Cao Jun in Changbanpo, Dangyang. Fortunately, I met Guan Yu's fleet, and then I crossed the water to reach the fjord. Cao Cao crossed the Yangtze River with victory. Zhuge Liang asked to save Sun Quan. After Liu Bei agreed, Zhuge Liang was sent to contact Sun Quan. Sun Quan is on the verge of extinction and is willing to let Liu Bei contain Cao Cao as a reinforcement. He agreed with Zhuge Liang.
Battle of Red Cliffs, Sun Quan's satrap Zhou Yu defeated Cao Cao's water army and was infected with the plague. Cao Cao left some troops back to Xudu. Taking advantage of Zhou Yu's attack on Jiangling and other cities in northern Jingzhou, Liu Bei captured four counties in southern Jingzhou. After Zhou Yu seized a part of the land in the north of Jingzhou, Jingzhou actually belonged to three clans. Liu Bei proposed to be the secretariat of Jingzhou. Considering that his battle line from Yiling to Hefei was too long, Sun Quan needed Liu Bei to contain Cao Cao on the western front. At the same time, he also lent the land in the north of Jingzhou to Liu Bei for management.
In the sixteenth year of Jian 'an, Liu Zhang, who was in Sichuan, heard that Cao Cao was going to attack Zhang Lu in Hanzhong. He was afraid that Cao Cao would succeed, so he took the advice of his subordinate Zhang Song and attacked Zhang Lu against Liu Beixian. Liu Liu Liu Zhang Bay lived in Meng Jia, but instead of attacking Zhang Lu, Liu Bei extended a friendly hand and won the hearts of the people. Later, Liu Zhang found that letting Liu Bei into Shu was a conspiracy of Zhang Song and others, so he cut off contact with Liu Bei. Liu Bei seized Baishui Pass and then attacked Fucheng, Mianzhu and Luocheng. In the 19th year of Jian 'an, Liu Zhang surrendered.
There are many people attached to Liu Bei. There are three people who can be regarded as traitors: Gongsun Zan, Cao Cao and Sun Quan. All these people are very kind to him. Sun Quan, in particular, fought Cao Cao for his own interests. Liu Bei was a dead end at that time, and Sun Quan refused to accept it. Later, after the victory of Chibi, Sun Quan not only made him a secretariat of Jingzhou, but also lent him land and married his sister. This kind of kindness is enough! However, Liu Bei borrowed Jingzhou, not only refused to pay back the money, but also fought with Sun Quan in the twenty years of Jian 'an. I really don't know what to say if he didn't establish the kingdom of Shu and Han and become the later emperor, and if he was just a vassal.
Let's talk about Sun Quan.
In the fifth year of Jian 'an, Sun Quan's stepbrother Sun Ce took charge of Wu Dong. In the 14th year of Jian 'an, Chibi defeated Cao Cao, and the regime of Wudong was stabilized. In the twenty-second year of Jian 'an, Sun Quan asked Cao Cao to surrender instead. Cao Cao sent messengers to repay Sun Quan, agreed to make peace, and vowed to marry Wu Dong again. In the twenty-fourth year of Jian 'an, Guan Yu attacked Fancheng. Sun Quan wanted to attack Guan Yu from behind, so he wrote a letter to Cao Cao in the name of paying tribute to the court. After Xelloss proclaimed himself emperor, Sun Quan made Wei Wendi a vassal and sent someone to send back the soldiers who were captured by Guan Yu. Wei Emperor Cao Pi named Sun Quan the King of Wu. Because Cao Pi asked Sun Quan to give his son to Wei as a hostage, he refused to accept it. In the first year of Huang Wu, Sun Quan defeated Liu Bei in Yiling. When Sun Quan heard that Liu Bei was stationed in Bai Di, he sent messengers to make friends with Liu Bei, but Sun Quan still kept in touch with Guo Wei. Although insincere, it was ostensibly for Wei, and it was not until the following year that we broke off diplomatic relations with Wei. That is to say, until the first year of Huanglong, Sun Quan and Wu Wang were completely independent in name and fact.
By the way, Cao Cao.
When Dong Zhuo was attacked, Cao Cao was General Fenwu. Because there were soldiers in his hand, he was recommended by Yuan Shao as the prefect of Dong Jun. Later, Yanzhou Dai was killed by the Yellow Scarf Army, and Cao Cao was elected as Yanzhou Pastoral by Bao Xin and others. This is the third year of ChuPing. In the first year of Jian 'an, Cao Cao took Emperor Xian of Han Dynasty to Xu Xian County and proclaimed himself emperor from then on. Nominally a vassal of the Han Dynasty, he actually exercised the power of the emperor. Cao Cao did many wrong things in his life, leaving many excuses for later generations, especially taking Emperor Xian of Han as a puppet. At that time, people said that he was a thief in the Han Dynasty. However, Cao Cao never proclaimed himself emperor in his life. Some people have summed up many reasons, but one cannot be ignored. In the twenty-fifth year of Jian 'an, Cao Cao died, and in October of the same year, his son Cao Pi proclaimed himself emperor! In such a short time, Cao Zhi's status as emperor can't be changed much. It is quite possible that Cao Cao is just a Han minister all his life. In his own words, he has only one. He left this opportunity to his son. Although this is the case all over the world, it is not the minister of the king, but his son Cao Pi who is the first minister of the king, which is different from his son.
There is a saying that Cao Cao has seven advantages in the world, and his strength is not as good as that of Liu Bei and Sun Quan. Aside from this, it is said that this moral integrity is much stronger than Liu Bei and Sun Quan! But the world was not unified by Cao and Wei, and the latter two became emperors, which was considered a successful career. Therefore, no matter from the last sentence of success or from the perspective of respecting others, this ethical issue will take a back seat.