The Romance of the Three Kingdoms strongly publicizes the loyalty of Liu, Guan and Zhang, showing a strong tendency of "supporting Liu against Cao" and shaping Cao Cao into a ruthless, manipulative and treacherous "treacherous man in troubled times". Author Luo Guanzhong gave a general description of Cao Cao's life through the mouth of Xu Shao in Ru 'an and He Qing in Nanyang. Nevertheless, they have to admit that Cao Cao is a "minister capable of governing the world" and that "whoever governs the world must be this person". In the words of Mr. Nie Gannu, "Cao Cao is a doer", "a great strategist", "an outstanding poet and writer" and "has made great contributions to the so-called Liu Yan"; "Cao Cao's high status, great image, wide coverage and complicated brains can be understood by non-feudal historians, secular speakers and ordinary listeners."
In recent years, with the broadcast of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Cao Cao and Yang Xiu, Cao Cao and Cai Wenji and other film and television dramas, there has been a great "Three Kingdoms fever" in the society. These film and television works and the resulting film reviews and drama reviews are mostly influenced by the strong tendency of "supporting Liu and opposing Cao" in Luo Guanzhong's Romance of the Three Kingdoms, which highlights the negative side of "traitors in troubled times" who deceives the monarch, conspires, plays politics, is ruthless, false and hypocritical, and ignores his cunning as an outstanding politician.
Therefore, after reading the original Romance of the Three Kingdoms repeatedly, combined with the Romance of the Three Kingdoms written by Chen Shou in the Jin Dynasty and some scholars' comments on Cao Cao in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, the author thinks that Cao Cao, a traitor in troubled times, has the most complicated personality; Before the hero after the rape, before the wisdom after the fool, before the cute after the hateful, life work is greater than the past; He is still an outstanding politician and strategist.
Below, the author analyzes the character Cao Cao in Luo Guanzhong's Romance of the Three Kingdoms from three aspects: the diversification of Cao Cao's personality, the comparison of his two periods and his life's merits and demerits, and the politician and strategist Cao Cao, with a view to attracting more attention from famous scholars.
1. The diversification of Cao Cao's personality.
Among the many characters in Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Cao Cao's character is the most complicated, and it is difficult to draw a conclusion for him in one or two sentences. "Treacherous" can be said to be a prominent character of Cao Cao, but just as "sentimental" can't explain Lin Daiyu, "treachery" can't hide the rich meaning of Cao Cao's image.
The appearance of Cao Cao's complex character is Luo Guanzhong's conscious artistic pursuit. French writer Hugo said that an excellent writer should have "the supreme ability to observe everything from both positive and negative aspects". Luo Guanzhong is such a writer. While maintaining Cao Cao's "qualitative" image, he wrote about the richness of his emotions and the inherent complexity of his personality, showing a diversified trend, thus making the image authentic, aesthetic and permanent artistic charm.
1, distinct and unique, with huge contrast.
Among the many characters in Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Cao Cao's character is the most typical, which is not only distinct and unique, but also has a huge contrast. At the beginning of the work, the author borrows a sentence from Xu Shao in Runan to define the "dominant emotion" of this character: "a traitor in troubled times". What is commendable is that the author did not stop at the abstract description of the concept, but endowed the concept with a lot of vivid and concrete descriptions. When Cao Cao avenged his father and attacked Xuzhou, he ordered the three armed forces to "take the city and kill all the people in it" and "kill people and dig graves wherever the army went". Cao Cao, who lost his mind, was almost crazy, killing innocent people, especially cruel, but when he witnessed the desolation of the countryside and the displacement of the people during the March, he moved his true feelings. Cao Cao's comments on Yuan Shu in Huainan, Yuan Shao in Hebei, Liu Biao in Jingzhou, Sun Ce in Jiangdong, and Liu Zhang in Yizhou are all incisive, showing keen vision and extraordinary courage, but he is very stupid to be unaware of Liu Bei's plan to grow vegetables and smell thunder in his backyard. On the one hand, Cao Cao tried his best to collect talents and was thirsty for talents. On the other hand, he was jealous of talents and killed the clever Yang Xiu. During the growth of Cao Shi Group, Cao Cao suffered many defeats and battles, and his perseverance fully showed his optimistic spirit, but "killing servants in his dreams" also exposed his inner paranoia and emptiness. Sometimes Cao Cao is open and honest, listens to opinions, and even rewards those who dissuade him in advance when he wins the battle. Sometimes he is headstrong and arrogant, so there is the chaos in Puyang and the defeat in Chibi. "Don't ask indiscriminately, don't burn books", "pardon Zhang Liao" and "release Guan Yu". Cao Cao's generosity is amazing, but Yu Xun and Xun You, who have made great contributions to him, turn their faces and deny people. The narrow tolerance is incredible ... The characters show rich silhouettes in the changes of time and space. At first glance, these seemingly incompatible two sides merged into one, forming Cao Cao's colorful character world.
The author not only writes many distinct and huge personality contrasts of Cao Cao, but also provides authentic internal basis for the formation of these contrasts. Cao Cao was born in troubled times, and his social relations are more special than ordinary people. Cao Cao has a strong sense of professionalism and power, is interested in "leveling the world" and has a stronger will to survive than ordinary people; Cao Cao's writing and martial arts are not only unmatched by all sentient beings, but also heroes at that time. Even Liu Bei and Sun Quan can't compare with him, so we have to give him three points. This determines that Cao can create both great virtues and great evils. The conflicts within his personality are more acute and diverse, and the dialectical content among many personalities is more abundant and prominent. Luo Guanzhong's expression of opposites and complementation of various elements in Cao Cao's character conforms to the logic of life and character, and embodies the dialectics of art.
2, complex and changeable, positive and negative cross character.
Among the many characters in Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Cao Cao's character is the most complicated and changeable. Taking the plot of "pardoning Zhang Liao" as an example, Cao Caochu wanted to behead Zhang Liao with his hands, which exposed his impulsiveness and narrowness. However, after listening to Liu Bei and Guan Yu's exhortation, he immediately changed his former state, waved his sword and laughed, and "lifted the shackles and undressed and sat down", showing amazing reaction control ability and extraordinary measurement. It is sincere that he cherishes Zhang Liao's talents, but it is very hypocritical to say, "I also know Wen Yuan's loyalty, so it is a joke". On the one hand, this is to cover up his disgraceful behavior; On the other hand, it is to offset the influence of Liu Bei and Guan Yu in rescuing Zhang Liao. Cao Cao's transformation from sword drawing to sword wielding, from being angry from embarrassment to smiling, and Zhang Liao's transformation from a prisoner to a guest appearance were all completed in an instant, reflecting that even in a small matter, Cao Cao's personality elements were extremely active and rich.
In Cao Cao's character, there are positive and negative in the middle, which is the intersection of positive and negative. When Cao Cao attacked Xiapi, his first thought was to send people into the city to reassure the people and stabilize their hearts. After defeating Yuan Shao, I deeply felt the sufferings of the people in Hebei Province and exempted them from taxes in those years. These measures cannot all be regarded as "hypocrisy". As a talented politician, he is different from Dong Zhuo, who blindly fights, and he knows the truth of putting people first. But when attacking Jizhou, the three armies were ordered not to disturb the people. If anyone kills chickens and dogs like a murderer, "so the soldiers and civilians are shocked and Cao Cao is secretly pleased", then he can see the hypocrisy of loving the people. The "open-minded optimism" in Cao Cao's character is mostly manifested in his broad-mindedness, enterprising spirit and letting bygones be bygones. However, hundreds of thousands of troops in Battle of Red Cliffs suddenly "vanished" and had to lead the defeated troops to flee. At this moment, he smiled three times instead. At this moment, optimism is a kind of self-mockery, ridiculous and pitiful.
Another example is Cao Cao's "treachery", which is not the kind of cleverness and trickery, but contains high wisdom, so sometimes it doesn't feel disgusting and contemptible, but it is witty and clever, convincing, although it can't please. Even Lu Xun said that Luo Guanzhong "wanted to write about Cao Cao's treacherous man, but the result seemed generous and wise". Take "Looking at Plums to Quench Thirst" as an example, saying that he is a treacherous and foolish soldier, because Merlin is a fictional phantom after all; It can also be said that he is witty and loves soldiers, because he skillfully uses the principle of conditioned reflex to achieve the goal of "not thirsty" when soldiers are thirsty for water during the March. There is wisdom in betrayal and love in fooling. The same is true of other examples, such as "pretending to be an uncle", "stabbing Zhuo to offer a knife", "borrowing the head to stabilize the army", "cutting the hair instead of the head" and "stepping on the foot to meet". There are both treacherous, cunning and hypocritical sides, as well as witty and brave, leading by example and eager for talents.
2. Comparison of Cao Cao's two periods and his life.
Out of the need of orthodoxy, Cao Cao always gets no "benefits" in Luo Guanzhong's pen, in many later writers' pen, in literature and art, and people always belittle him more than praise him, shaping him into a colorful "big traitor". Only a few scholars, such as Guo Moruo, a great contemporary writer, dare to stand up and "cry foul" and "rehabilitate" him.
Throughout the activities of Cao Cao in The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Battle of Red Cliffs can be roughly divided into two periods. Compared with Cao Cao in the later period, Cao Cao in the early period was a hero before a traitor, a wise man before a fool, a lovely man before a hateful man. Cao Cao's life is extraordinary. On the whole, his advantages outweigh his disadvantages.
1, the former man is a traitor, the former sage is a fool, and the former loveliness is hateful.
Although Cao Cao had begun to "support the emperor" in the early stage, his purpose was to "establish princes". At this time, what he faced was mainly the contradiction with the warlords in the Central Plains, and what he devoted himself to was to strengthen his strength, draw the heroes and unify the north. The author focuses on the heroism, wisdom and loveliness of Cao Cao in the process of Cao Shi Group's entrepreneurship from small to large and from weak to strong. In the later period, Cao Cao mainly dealt with the contradictions with Shu and Wu, especially with Liu Bei Group, demanding the restoration of the Han Dynasty. Its ultimate goal is to "clear the world", unify the world and replace Liu Han. At this time, the author focuses on Cao Cao's "treachery", "stupidity" and "hatred". The image of Cao Cao is fluid and changeable. Generally speaking, former heroes are post-traitors, former wise men are post-fools, and former loveliness is post-hatred.
Luo Guanzhong, the author, shows Cao Cao's treachery and heroism, wisdom and stupidity, loveliness and hatred, which are not completely distinct and purely parallel, but mixed and inclusive. Rape is the rape of men, and men are traitors; A fool is a fool of a wise man, and wisdom is the wisdom of a fool; Hate is the hate of lovers, and love is the love of haters. For example, when Cao Cao gave a big banquet at Tongquetai, the ministers had the intention to persuade him to move forward. He immediately declared: "As a prime minister, people and ministers are extremely expensive. What can I expect?" If there is no one in the country alone, I don't know how many people are kings and how many people are kings. Or see the weight of loneliness, think about it in vain, and doubt that loneliness is unfaithful, which is also a great fallacy. I often think that Confucius called king Wen the supreme virtue, and this statement is in my heart. "These words, of course, are self-excusing, self-whitewashing, but it is an indisputable fact that he has not proclaimed himself after all. Song Xian commented on Cao Cao's poem: "Although he is determined to dominate the young master, he is still a polite and righteous Zhou Wen", and his evaluation of Cao Cao is more appropriate. This is also the place where Cao Cao "hides traitors".
2. Cao Cao's achievements.
(1) draw the wolves and unify the north.
Cao Cao's success began with the suppression of the yellow turban insurrectionary uprising. In the process of suppressing the Yellow turban insurrectionary, we recruited talents and expanded our military strength by recruiting soldiers, luring rebels and recruiting enemy generals and soldiers. First, holding high the banner of "loyalty and righteousness", Jiao Zhao rallied the 18-route warlord to crusade against Dong Zhuo, and then welcomed Xian Di to move the capital to Xuchang, "relying on the emperor to make the warlord", gradually pacified the separatist forces such as Yuan Shu, Lu Bu, Zhang Xiu, Yuan Shao and Liu Biao, unified the north, and ended the chaotic situation of the northern warlords' separatist regime.
(2) It laid the foundation for the Three Kingdoms to stand firm and return to Shanxi.
After Cao Cao unified the north, in order to solve the problem of shortage of military grain, he divided troops in the north to station fields and build water conservancy projects, which played a certain role in the recovery of agricultural production in the north. He is meritocratic, attaches importance to talents, dares to break the concept of family status, and attracts many middle and lower class figures of the landlord class. He also suppressed the local strongmen of the ruling party so as not to be too big to fail, and took strong measures to strengthen centralization and weaken the strength of local and warlords. These measures not only consolidated the crumbling central government in the late Han Dynasty, but also made the social economy in the north recover and develop rapidly. For a long period of time, the north was in a peaceful environment, the people were recuperated, and the national strength was constantly enhanced, which laid the foundation for the formation of a tripartite confrontation after Cao Cao's death and the ultimate realization of the reunification of the three countries.
(3) It has made great contributions to the development of Jian 'an literature.
Cao Cao was an outstanding poet and writer in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, who made great contributions to the formation of Jian 'an style and the development of Jian 'an literature. By Cao Cao's side, there are not only Wang Lang, Zhong You, RoyceWong and Chen Lin, but also two sons with unique literary talent, Cao Pi and Cao Zhi. With his active advocacy and strong support, the atmosphere of court literature in the late Han Dynasty was very strong, and the famous "Three Caos and Seven Scholars" appeared in the history of China literature. His poems are magnificent, generous and sad; His prose is neat and tidy. The forty-eighth time, in "The Yangtze River Banquet and Cao Cao's Poems", he touched the scene and sang "When drinking, life is geometric; For example, the morning dew, it is more bitter to go to Japan. ""The moon is thin and the black magpie flies south; Three turns around the tree, no branches to follow ","the mountain will never be too high and the water will never be too deep. The duke of Zhou vomited, and the world returned to the heart. The fact that Cao writes poetry and prose is also hard to compare with the other three countries.
3. Cao Cao's fault
(1) suppressed the uprising and acted as a butcher.
Many famous founding emperors and heroes in history suppressed peasant uprisings, and their hands were covered with the blood of the people. Both Cao Cao in history and Cao Cao in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms are no exception. In the "Battle of Yingchuan", Cao Cao killed the rebels indiscriminately, "killing more than ten thousand heads at a time" and acting as the executioner of the court. Since then, he followed Huang Fusong to beg Sean to "behead Sean in Quyang" and "send Zhang Jiao's coffin and slaughter the corpse", even the dead were cruel. After the death of Dong Zhuo and Wang Yun, Qingzhou Yellow Scarf Army rebelled again. Cao Cao and Jibei's box Xin were responsible for suppressing the rebels, and Bao Xin died. However, Cao Cao "drafted more than 300,000 men and women, more than one million men and women" and "chose its elite and called it Qingzhou soldier". Cao Cao not only dyed his top hat red with the blood of the rebel army, but was first appointed as "Ji 'nan Xiang" and "Commander-in-Chief of the Point Army" and later as "General Town East". Moreover, he gradually expanded his military strength and had the capital to compete in the Central Plains.
(2) Deceive and confuse the monarch, and steal the country for rebellion.
After Cao Cao welcomed Xian Di to move to Xuchang, and "held the emperor to make the princes", his personal ambition and desire for power continued to expand, and finally he completely controlled the imperial court and the central government at the end of the Han Dynasty. In all court affairs, from military conquests to personnel appointments and dismissals, from internal affairs to diplomatic relations, Cao Cao simply ignored the opinions of Xian Di and courtiers, and everyone had the final say. In Cao Cao's eyes, Xian Di is just a puppet, a "child emperor"; In Cao Cao's eyes, courtiers are just tools used by themselves to decorate the "facade".
After Lu Bu was captured alive and killed, Cao Cao became more and more famous, and the idea of stealing the country and rebelling came into his mind. He would have "worked in Wang Ba" long ago if he hadn't worried that "there are still many arms in the imperial court". In order to observe the movement, Cao Cao specially invited the son of heaven to "hunt in Xu Tian", and his ministers assigned the school to Xian Di. Long live, but he "rode straight out and covered it in front of the son of heaven to meet it", borrowed the bow and arrow of the son of heaven and hung his belt on himself. Xian Di was deeply impressed by Cao Cao's cheating on you, and he had the intention of stealing the country and rebelling. He immediately gave him a letter and clothes, which made Dong Cheng, Liu Bei, Marten and others work together to ask for thieves. Afterwards, it was revealed that Cao Cao had killed Dong Cheng, Ji Ping, Wang Zifu and others, and even Dong Guifei, who was pregnant for five months, was not spared. Despite repeated entreaties from Xian Di and Fu Hou, Dong Guifei was strangled outside the palace gate. If it weren't for Cheng Yu's timely admonition, I'm afraid even Xian Di himself would be deposed. Since then, Cao Cao has become more powerful and arrogant. As long as anyone who has opposed him is regarded as a thorn in his side, he will pull it out quickly. Marten and his son were trapped and died, Wan Fu and Fu Hou "died for their country", and Ji Geng, Wei Huang and other "five ministers died". Cao Cao's name is Han Xiang, but he is actually a Chinese thief.
(3) Playing politics with cruel means.
In history, schemers and careerists all like to play politics, and Cao Cao is even more handy, playing politics in his palm. When Shouchun attacked Yuan Shu, Cao Jun and Yuan Jun were at loggerheads for more than a month, and food "made ends meet". Cao Cao asked Dong Wang, the grain official, to "greet them with small measures, disperse them, and rescue them". Dong Wang, the official in charge of grain, obeyed orders, which aroused the anger of soldiers in various villages. There were rumors that the Prime Minister was deceiving the people. He secretly sent people to find out the news, and he did not hesitate to use the innocent head of Dong Wang to stabilize the morale of the army and calm the public's anger. Over the years, Cao Cao killed people without blinking an eye, made many enemies, and was often afraid of being murdered and killed. In order to cover up his ugly fear of death, he fabricated a lie, saying that he was "good at killing people in his dreams" and asked his cronies to "stay away" after he fell asleep. When a loyal servant covered him with a quilt in broad daylight, he "jumped up, drew his sword and cut off the quilt, and went to bed again;" I got up a long time ago and pretended to be surprised and asked, "Who dares to kill my servant?" , but also hypocritically ordered to bury people. What Cao Cao did was to prove that he "killed in his dream" and to buy people's hearts to work for him. When Yang Xiu saw through the political trick, in order to cover up his crime, Cao Cao killed Yang Xiu on an excuse and let the secret sink to the bottom of the sea forever.
Cao Cao's cruelty is even more shocking. In the "Battle of Yingchuan", Cao Cao killed the rebels indiscriminately, "killing them at one time and beheading them by more than 10,000 levels". "Revenge for my father and attack Xuzhou", Cao Cao ordered the three armies to "seize the city and kill the people in it" and "kill people and dig graves wherever the army went". "Stabbed Zhuo and fled", Cao Cao knew that he had killed Lv Boshe's family by mistake, and he would make mistakes again and again. He would also play tricks and kill Lv Boshe who returned from selling wine with his sword. "Killing Ji Ping" made Cao Cao even more cruel. First, Ji Ping was beaten to pieces, then nine fingers of Ji Ping were cut off and his tongue was cut off. After Ji Ping died by hitting the stairs, Cao Cao didn't take revenge, but also "dismembered". "Those who follow me prosper, those who oppose me perish" has become Cao Cao's greatest life creed.
(4) False hypocrisy, treachery and cunning.
Cao Cao's hypocrisy and treachery is not that kind of cleverness and tricks, but contains a lot of wisdom, so sometimes he doesn't feel disgusting and mean, which makes people convinced, although he can't please. When Cao Cao was a teenager, he was "fond of hunting, good at singing and dancing, calculating and resourceful". In order to go his own way, wander around and avoid accusations, he once "pretended to be a sick uncle" and deliberately set off the brotherly relationship between his father and uncle. After Dong Zhuo entered Beijing, he monopolized the Chaogang, abolished the young emperor and killed the courtiers, which aroused the indignation of Wang Yun and others. Cao Cao volunteered to assassinate Dong Zhuo. Unexpectedly, Dong Zhuo caught a glimpse of the action of drawing a sword from the mirror. He immediately knelt down and offered a knife to cover up the failure of the assassination. "I have a good knife and give a favor." Although Dong Zhuo was suspicious, he fooled him and let him escape. Other typical examples, such as "looking at plums to quench your thirst", "cutting your hair instead of your head" and "setting foot on it", can also prove Cao Cao's hypocrisy and treachery. I won't go into details here.
(5) be extravagant and extravagant, and be jealous of talents.
Many emperors and heroes in the past dynasties, once their foundations were gradually stabilized and their careers flourished to a period of prosperity, began to be complacent and pursue bohemian and personal enjoyment, even Cao Cao, who had a strong enterprising spirit and power desire, was no exception. When Cao Cao entered Wancheng, he saw the beauty of Zhang Ji's wife and touched her with sweet words without hesitation. "I am a wife, so Turner Zhang Xiu fell; Otherwise, the nation will be wiped out, and I promise to be the first wife after returning to Beijing and play with it every day, regardless of the return date. In fact, Zhang Xiu's fall before this incident has nothing to do with Zhang Ji's wife; Cao Caoben regarded it as a "prostitute". Is there any reason to help it as the master room? In Cao Cao's position at that time, he was even a weak woman, and his lewdness and cunning were naturally evident. When Cao Cao leveled the pack, unified the north and was full of ambition, his arrogance and stubbornness were revealed. " Liu Fu only pointed out that "the Prime Minister said something unlucky" which led to his death. Cao Cao was furious and said, "How dare you undermine my interests" and "stabbed Liu Fu with one hand. "Cao Cao also built a magnificent bronze sparrow terrace on the Zhanghe River to" widely choose the beautiful women in the world as the truth "for his later years.
A typical example of Cao Cao's jealousy of talents is "beheading Yang Xiu". Yang Xiu has extraordinary intelligence. "Being a man depends on his talent, but he is a taboo for Cao Cao.". Cao Cao Zhuyuan wrote "live" on the door, Saibei sent crisp to write "one-time crisp" on the box cover, killed the waiter in his dream, and Cao Zhi's brothers competed for favor and wisdom, all of which were discovered, and Yang Xiu's help side gained the upper hand. On the surface, Cao Cao said that Yang Xiu was beautiful and liked to laugh, but deep down, he was very jealous and resentful, or even worse. Finally, in the battle with Liu Bei for Hanzhong, he found an excuse to "disturb the morale of the army" and killed Yang Xiu. Alas, Yang Xiu's "cleverness is outwitted by cleverness" became the victim of Cao Cao's jealousy.
The mistakes made by Cao Cao are those made by a politician and strategist in the process of ending the warlord regime and pursuing national reunification. In his life, Cao Cao has done more than he did.
3. Cao Cao is also an outstanding politician and strategist.
In the social unrest at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Cao Cao was "not worthy of the name". With strong enterprising spirit and power desire, he became the leader of that era and established his position as a "treacherous man in troubled times". Although Cao Cao made some mistakes, he was still an outstanding politician and strategist.
1, politician Cao Cao
(1) has great vision and courage;
As a politician, it is impossible to survive and occupy a place in a turbulent society without great vision and extraordinary courage. The reason why Cao Cao was able to tie the pack and unify the north was because of his vision and courage. At the end of the Han Dynasty, when the central government was in danger, Cao Cao boldly adopted the advice of Yu Xun, a counselor, and welcomed Xian Di to move the capital to Xuchang, so as to "make the vassals attached to the emperor". From then on, he can not only act properly in the name of the imperial court, but also gradually expand his territory and strengthen his military strength. After analyzing the heroes at that time one by one, Cao Cao thought that Yuan Shu in Huainan was a "buried bone" and Yuan Shao in Hebei was "greedy, timid and resourceful; Cherish your body when you do great things, and forget your life when you see small profits. Jingzhou Liu Biao's name exists in name only, Jiangdong Sun Ce's name is in the name of his father, and Zhang's ear is in the dog's ear, all of which are not real heroes. Only when Cao Cao himself and Liu Huangshu have the temperament of "ambitious, confident, grasping the ambition of the universe" can they be called real heroes. These comments are very pertinent and incisive.
(2) Desire for talents and attach importance to talents;
Cao Cao attached great importance to talents, longed for talents and tried his best to collect and reuse them. Under his authority, "Yu Xun, Xun You, Guo Jia and Cheng Yu are far-reaching, but Xiao He and Chen Ping are not as good as them. Zhang Liao, Chu Xu, Li Dian and Le Jin are all brave, although Cen Peng and Ma Wu are not as good as them. Lv Qian was engaged to Man Chong, and Yu Jin and Huang Xu were pioneers; Xia Houdun is a genius in the world, and Cao Zixiao is a blessing in the world. It was the planning and desperate fighting of these civil servants and military commanders that made Cao Cao's power gradually expand, and finally leveled the pack and unified the north. When Cao Cao was recruiting Zhang Xiu in Wancheng, he saw the messenger Jia Xu, who was very witty. " I love him and want to be a counselor. "Jia Xu politely declined, don't abandon Zhang Xiu, is too much, but very kind. During the battle of Guandu, Yuan Shao's counselor Xu You came to join him. Cao Cao "undressed and rested, and when he heard that Xu You eloped to the village, he was overjoyed, so he stepped out to meet the enemy", "Seeing Xu You from a distance, clapping his hands and laughing, and walking hand in hand", "Worship the ground first". Taking Cao Cao's position as prime minister at that time was still so good for the cloth-clothed counselor. This kind of understanding, love and attention to talents can be seen.
(3) Open-minded optimism.
Among the many characters in Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Cao Cao is second to none if he is optimistic. During the period of "Lu Bu died in the White Gate Tower", Cao Cao grabbed Zhang Liao and wanted to kill him himself, but after listening to Liu and Guan's exhortation, he immediately changed his old state and laughed with a sword. "Take off your tie, take off your clothes and sit on it." Zhang Xiu fell and rebelled, and Cao Cao was able to save his life because Dian Wei refused to take the gate. His eldest son Cao Ang and his beloved nephew Cao also died in the army. After escaping from danger, Cao Cao set up a sacrifice to pay homage to Dian Wei, "crying and drinking", and said to all the soldiers: "I broke my eldest son and loved my nephew, and there was no deep pain; I cried for Dian Wei alone. As a result, "everyone lamented that the master's lover was too parent-child." After Guan Yu surrendered to Han instead of Cao Cao, Cao Cao treated him well. He not only gave Guan Yu and Liu Bei his residence, but also gave Guan Yu a different brocade shirt, a red rabbit BMW and a beautiful woman's gold silk. Knowing the exact news of Liu Bei, Guan Yu sealed the golden seal to protect his sister-in-law from finding his brother. Cao Cao "refused to chase", personally saw Guan Yu off and presented Lu Zi with a brocade robe. Guan Yu "rode a thousand miles alone" and "cut six generals through five passes", but Cao Cao did not delve into it. After the battle of Guandu, a large number of "books of many capitals and people in the army and secret letters" were discovered. Cao Cao "burned his life and died, not to mention asking", which shows his broad mind and tolerance.
2. Military strategist Cao Cao
(1) Be strict in military discipline and love the people.
Cao Cao's rule of the army is known as "strict military law" and he is also caring for the people. When Wancheng conquered Zhang Xiu, it was the time when the wheat was ripe. Cao Cao ordered that "anyone who crosses the wheat field will be beheaded", so "all the officers and men dismounted after passing through the wheat field, holding wheat in their hands and not daring to trample on it". Qingzhou soldiers led by Xia Houdun "plundered houses" and were forbidden to lead the troops to "kill people on the road to appease the people". Qingzhou soldiers falsely accused the rebels. When Cao Cao learned the truth, he not only punished Xia Houdun for his lax treatment of soldiers, but also praised the ban, saying, "Give me a pair of gold wares to seal the longevity pavilion." . When attacking Jizhou, Cao Cao ordered the three armed forces not to disturb the people. "Whoever kills chickens and dogs commits murder"; After the pacification of Jizhou, it was ordered to exempt the people of Hebei from rent tax that year. Although there is hypocrisy in this, it is more about loving the people. After all, the people have benefited.
(2) Be bold and cautious, and command decisively.
Cao Cao's wit can be compared with Zhuge Liang in The Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Even Lu Xun said that Luo Guanzhong "wanted to write about Cao Cao's treacherous man, but the result seemed generous and wise". Cao Cao's "Fake Death in Puyang and Breaking Lyu3 bu4", "An Zhong Ambushs Liu Zhang", "Wipe Hanshui in the Library", "Looking at Plums to Quench Thirst" and "Cut off the beard and abandon the robe" all reflect his extraordinary wisdom.
Cao Cao's command ability is also one of the few in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. In the big and small battles to pacify heroes, Cao Cao always commands decisively, wins without arrogance, loses with grace, loses repeatedly, turns defeat into victory, or saves the day.
(3) lead by example.
Cao Cao fought for many years and never dodged bows and arrows or axes. He often personally led his troops into battle and fought side by side with many heroes. He was captured by the ranks, shot in the shoulder by Xu Rong, hunted by Ma Chao and beheaded. His exemplary role inspired the soldiers of the whole army to fight to the death, and finally flattened the wolves and unified the north.
Cao Cao's example is the most typical example of "the right to cut hair". When Wancheng levied Zhang Xiu, Cao Cao killed Ma Jian by surprise and destroyed a large wheat field. He "went to the master book on call and accused himself of practicing wheat" and "just wanted to cut himself with the sword he wore". Finally, Guo Jia dissuaded him with the meaning of "Spring and Autumn Annals" to avoid death and "sent him to the three armed forces".
(4) Be good at summarizing and writing a lot.
During his long military career, Cao Cao accumulated rich military experience and formed a series of military theories. In the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Cao Cao wrote Meng De's new book, and in history, Cao Cao wrote Sun Tzu's The Art of War.
To sum up, Cao Cao's character is the most complicated. Be a hero before being a traitor, be a wise man before being a fool, be cute before being hateful, and life will be more successful. He is still an outstanding politician and strategist.