How to treat Cao Cao in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms

The Three Kingdoms at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty was a period of great turmoil. The Wei, Shu and Wu Sanda families, represented by Cao Cao, Liu Bei and Sun Quan, fought one desperate struggle after another for the sovereignty of the whole country. If you have made extraordinary achievements, you must treat extraordinary people. The founders of the three countries all know that talents are extremely important to their achievements. They compete for the world in the competition for talents and for talents in the competition for the world. Therefore, in a sense, the vertical and horizontal cooperation and military contest among the three countries is a talent war. "The reason for the rise and fall, although called destiny, is not human nature!"

"I am at the mercy of the wisdom of the world, and I can use Taoism to resist." -"The History of the Three Kingdoms, Emperor Wu"

Cao Cao chose talents and made proper use of them in the reform of official system, which laid the foundation for future generations.

After Cao Cao incorporated 300,000 Qingzhou troops, he had a strong and effective army. It is not enough to have an army, but also generals who can dispatch and manage these soldiers. At this time, Cao Cao recruited talents in Yizhou. After talking, he praised Liang Zi. "This is my ovary." Ovary is Sean, one of the main counselors of Emperor Gaozu in the future, ranking first in the "three outstanding heroes of early han dynasty", which shows how highly people think of him. Sean recommended many talents to Cao Cao, who became the backbone of Cao Cao and made suggestions for Cao Cao's expedition to the west and pacifying the Central Plains. Every time at the critical moment of the war, these people gave strong support to Cao Cao, so that Cao Cao persisted and won the final victory.

These counselors have made great contributions to Cao Cao, and naturally the treatment is not low.

Cao Cao has no feeling for talents, but when there is surplus, it is easier to have more. Knowing that Sima Yi is talented, I asked him to be an official. But Sima Yi couldn't say that he was ill, so Cao Cao scared him into prison and Sima had to come out.

Cao Cao has no prejudice against talents regardless of his experience or family background.

So at the same time, we can also see the importance of talents to Cao Cao from history:

In the 13th year of Jian 'an, Cao Jun went south to capture Jingzhou, where Liu Cong, the son of Liu Biao, lived. Relying on Jingzhou, Liu Beinan fled south. Lu Su of Jiangdong was ordered by Sun Quan to meet with Liu Bei to discuss countermeasures. Zhuge Liang was ordered by Liu Bei to form an alliance with Sun Quan in Chaisang (now southwest of Jiujiang, Jiangxi Province) to resist Cao Jun. The joint forces of Sun and Liu defeated the navy in Chibi (generally believed to be in the northwest of Puyin, Hubei Province and the south bank of the Yangtze River), forcing them to return to the Central Plains. This is Battle of Red Cliffs, which contributed to the tripartite confrontation among the three countries. After Cao Cao returned to the north, he fought in Guanzhong and Longxi, expanding the scope of unification to the whole north. In the first month of the first year of Han Yankang (220), Cao Cao died; In October, the son Cao Pi proclaimed himself emperor (that is, Emperor Cao Pi of Wei Wen), with the title Wei, capital Luoyang and Jianyuan. Shortly after the establishment of Wei, the regime began to corrupt. During the period of Wang Fang in the State of Qi, there was a power struggle between Cao Shuang, the imperial clan of Fuzheng, and Sima Yi, the imperial commander of Taiwei. When all the resistance forces were eliminated, Sima Yi made great contributions and sent troops to destroy Shu in the fourth year of Wei Jingyuan (263). Two years later, he replaced Wei as Jin in the name of accepting abdication. Wei experienced five emperors and forty-six years.

The Three Kingdoms is an era of panic and confusion. It is an era of heroes, and the Romance of the Three Kingdoms is a story of troubled times. In troubled times, people are the smartest, with the most strategies, the most unique strategies and the most colorful characters. However, these strategies, strategies and figures are enlightening to us today, and we can learn from them if we want to be invincible in dealing with the increasingly complex society.

Yi Zhongtian has the following comments on Cao Cao's way of employing people:

Yu Xun, Xun You, Cheng Yu, Guo Jia and Jia Xu were five important advisers in Cao Cao's early days. They all took the initiative to go to Cao Cao. Four of them came from Cao Cao's rival camp, and Guo Jia and Yu Xun defected to Cao Cao from Yuan Shao. When Guo Jia left, he said something to Yuan Shao's counselor, which is very important. Guo Jia said so. He said: "A wise man judges the Lord, so he can do anything, and his fame can be established. Yuan Gong was a corporal of Duke Zhou, but he didn't know the timing of employing people. He has many goals, but few needs, and he is good at making decisions. It is difficult to help the world and set the business of overlord. "

Guo Jia's words have three meanings: The first meaning is that a wise person, especially one who wants to be a psychological counselor, should be good at choosing a good boss for himself. If your boss chooses the wrong one, your knowledge, knowledge and strategy are useless. If your boss chooses the right one, you can succeed. The second meaning is that Yuan Shao is not a good boss. Why? Yuan Gong acted as the corporal of Duke Zhou, so how did Duke Zhou behave as a corporal? "Three points per acre, one meal, three spits and one feed", that is to say, he was washing his hair, and suddenly someone reported that a talent had come. He immediately stopped washing his hair and grabbed his hair for an interview. When eating, someone reported that he wanted to see a talent, immediately spit out the food in his mouth, and then went out to meet him. He holds his hair three times after washing it, and vomits and feeds it three times after eating. He has great respect for talents and is eager for them. Guo Jia said, like this, Yuan Shao learned, but he didn't learn the essence of the Duke of Zhou, so Yuan Shao's virtuous corporal is unreliable. Besides, Yuan Shao himself has some problems, so Yuan Shao is not a good boss. There is a third meaning, Guo Jia didn't say. We can guess that Cao Cao is a good boss.

Thus, in the eyes of counselor Guo Jia, Cao Cao is a man who can achieve great things, so he resolutely left Yuan Shao for Cao Cao. In other words, talents are attached to saints, because talents will realize their greatest life value only under a good boss. So what kind of person can be a good boss? Why does Mr Yi Zhongtian think Cao Cao is a good boss?

So how can Cao be a good boss? There are also the following performances:

The first is: know people well and be suitable for their talents. It is Yu Xun and Guo Jia's comments on Cao Cao's way of employing people. Talent is unified with knowing people to make good use of them or knowing people to be good at their duties. What does it mean to know people and be good at their duties? Including three contents: first, know who is the talent; Second, know what kind of talents these people are, or what kind of talents they are; Third, know where to put these people. This is called knowing people and being good at their duties. Knowing people and being good is the first, followed by being good, and being good depends on talent. For example, what are the characteristics of Cui Yan and Mao Jie that we have repeatedly mentioned? Honest and upright, Cao Cao asked them to preside over the work of the organization department and the cadre department and select officials. Sure enough, the two of them selected and recommended people with both ability and political integrity. Let's take Zao Zuo and Ren Jun as examples. What are their characteristics? After hard work, Cao Cao let them go to the wasteland. As a result, Cao Cao's land reclamation system was carried out and implemented, and Cao Cao gained rich grain, grass and economic foundation. This is the first characteristic of Cao Cao's employment, knowing people well and being suitable for their talents. This feature, even the people who hate Cao Cao the most, such as Hong Mai, who wrote Rong Zhai's Essays, admitted that Hong Mai also had such an evaluation of Cao Cao's employment: "One official is wise and effective, and the power is divided into one county, regardless of size, which is outstanding." In other words, no matter who he arranges to do what, he is very suitable and competent. This is the first characteristic.

The second feature: push sincerity to win trust, and choose people without doubt. This is the general principle of employing people. People who doubt people don't need it, and people who know how to use people don't doubt it. But Cao Cao is a little special here. What's so special? First, Cao Cao is in troubled times. What are the characteristics of troubled times? People's hearts are floating, interpersonal relationships are tense, and people lack trust and sincerity. In Cao Cao's words, this is called "the autumn of suspicion", and everyone does not trust it. This is the first characteristic. The second feature is the dual role of Cao Cao. In Zhou Yu's words, Cao Cao was called "Han Xiang, but he was actually a Han thief". Of course, it is still uncertain whether Cao Cao is a Chinese thief. At least we can say for sure that Cao Cao still wanted to maintain the Han Dynasty in the early stage, but later his personal ambition expanded and he became a traitor and wanted to replace him. But even in the early stage, Cao Cao had his own small abacus. He nominally recruited talents for the Han Dynasty, but in fact he hoped that these talents would be used by him. But in this way, he has another advantage, and he also has a shortcoming, that is, Cao Cao's "serving the emperor to make the princes" or "relying on the emperor to make the princes". He has both advantages and disadvantages. What are his strengths? He can use the name of the central government, the Han Dynasty and the current emperor to attract talents with the official position, title and salary of this government, which is more convenient than Liu Bei and Sun Quan. What are his shortcomings? It is because he can't figure out who he is recruiting, whether he is loyal to the emperor or loyal to him, and it is inevitable that he will have doubts. The third feature is the complexity of Cao Cao's camp. There were former officials of the Eastern Han Dynasty, newly recruited officials, people brought out by Cao Cao himself, and people who took refuge in Cao Cao, surrendered to Cao Cao and surrendered to other camps of Cao Cao. Then these people are also suspicious of each other, which means that for Cao Cao, trust and sincerity are particularly important at this time, in this environment and under this condition. At this time, as a * * *, Cao Cao must show his tolerance and sincerity.

We have said many times that Cao Cao is so tolerant of those who betray him. He was tolerant of Zhang Xiu, Zhong Wei, Chen Bi and those who attacked him maliciously, such as Chen Lin. Why is he so tolerant of these people? He just wants to show the world that I, Cao Cao, sincerely hope that the talents from all over the world will come here to serve our country. I am sincere. Even if you betray me, I don't care, I don't regret it, I don't care, I don't even punish you. As long as you come again, he just wants to express this sincerity. So what did he get from such trust and sincerity? In exchange for loyalty. Yu Jin, for example, is a general promoted by Cao Cao himself from the ranks. When Cao Cao first went south to Zhang Xiu, didn't Zhang Xiu surrender to Cao Cao and then rebel? When he rebelled, Cao Cao was a little out of the water. At this time, Cao Jun was in a mess, but the banned team was neat, sorting out their own teams all the way, drumming all the way, and retreating in an orderly manner. On the way back, I met several other soldiers, disheveled and flustered. Yu Jin asked them what was going on. They said that we were robbed by Qingzhou soldiers. What is Qingzhou soldier? Qingzhou soldiers are the yellow turban insurrectionary army that surrendered to Cao Cao. After the Yellow Scarf Army surrendered to Cao Cao, Cao Cao incorporated them into Qingzhou soldiers, and Cao Cao was particularly tolerant of them. When these people saw Cao Cao's defeat, they rose up to make an insurrection and robbed Cao Cao's other teams. At first glance, it's ok. Since they are all tso's teams, how can they do this! Then the motorcade came to punish Qingzhou soldiers and then retreated. At this time, Qingzhou soldiers got the whole Yujin and rushed to find Cao Cao to tell Yujin. By the time Yu Jin returned to the base camp, it was already exciting, but Yu Jin packed up his team first and camped, and did not go to see Cao Cao in time. Someone told Yu Jin at that time that Qingzhou soldiers sued you. Why not make it clear to Zuo Zongtang? What are you doing camping now? Yu Jin said that the enemy soldiers would come as soon as they said. How can we meet the enemy if we are not ready? Business should be put first, personal honor and disgrace should be put behind. Besides, how wise Zuo Zongtang is, how can he listen to slanderers? After settling down the troops and getting ready for battle, I went to see Cao Cao in the Forbidden City. Cao Cao praised him and said that you really have the demeanor of a good general in ancient times. That's great. What is this? Trust for loyalty.

Cao taught students in accordance with their aptitude, and built the best bridge to communicate with talents through mutual trust, thus giving full play to Cao Cao's talent ability. Therefore, Cao Cao can often tide over the difficulties with the general Qi Xin, especially in a treacherous troubled times, which shows Cao Cao's sincerity and tolerance. But tolerance only shows Cao Cao's human feelings. Can an army with human feelings be invincible and invincible? What kind of employment method does Cao Cao rely on to establish his authority?

The third characteristic of Cao Cao's employment is: the order is forbidden, and the rewards and punishments are clear. Cao Cao is very strict in running the army. He issued various orders many times, demanding strict military discipline. Because Cao Cao knows very well that a team without discipline cannot defeat the enemy. And Cao Wei set an example. There is a famous story that the audience may be familiar with. That is, Cao Cao once ordered not to trample on farmland when marching. He wants to protect farmers. If anyone's horse steps on a wheat field, it's a crime of decapitation. So all Cao Cao's cavalry dismounted and walked carefully, holding the horse in one hand and using weapons in the other, covering the wheat with something. Cao Cao didn't dismount himself, so the horse got a fright. A guy jumped into the wheat field, and Cao Cao's horse stepped on it. Cao Cao dismounted at once, called the military judge and said, What shall we do? The military judge said, beheaded. Cao Cao said you should be put to death. Well, how is that possible? Anyway, there is this tradition in ancient times. A commander-in-chief can't punish doctors, can't cure Shu Ren, can't apply laws to venerable ones, and can't be beheaded. Cao Cao said there was nothing he could do, so he cut his hair. He drew his sword, cut off a hair and threw it on the ground, indicating that he had been punished. This story is recorded in a book that is very unfriendly to Cao Cao. The name of this book is "Biography of Cao Cao", which shows the hypocrisy and treachery of Cao Cao. He said you killed your head when you stepped on the wheat field, but you lost a hair. Actually, it's not. Cao Cao was also punished, which is called punishment. The punishment is to shave off his hair, because the ancients thought that the parents who suffered from this skin could not stop, and the punishment was an insult, so he was still punished, which still showed Cao Cao's strict law enforcement.

Then Cao Cao's punishment was heavy and his reward was unambiguous. Cao Cao's reward to his subordinates has a characteristic, that is, unlike some handsome men, he does not rely on temporary benefits. We know that there will be many so-called handsome guys when warlords scuffle. After a battle, the battle was won. Come, come, come, you, divide it. This is for you, this is for you, this is for you. Help yourself. It seems generous, but it doesn't mean anything. To reward a person, Cao Cao must have two things. First, this man must have made a great contribution. Second, Cao Cao's reward must be in place, that is, Cao Cao's reward must exceed your desired share, and he will increase the price. He is considerate when he rewards you, perhaps more considerate than you can imagine. Cao Cao is a very considerate person. If he doesn't do it, he will do it well. Human feelings must be full. As a commander-in-chief, Cao Cao has a prominent feature, that is, he never competes with his subordinates for wind, face and credit, and all the credit goes to his subordinates; Second, his reward will never go through the motions, and it will definitely benefit you. Cao Cao is a very, very real person, and it is this real style that makes everyone feel that following Cao Cao is indeed the right thing.

The fourth characteristic is: open-minded, see the sage Si Qi. Not to mention Cao Cao, he doesn't argue with his subordinates for credit, but his subordinates give him advice. If he doesn't adopt it, he will definitely review it and take all the mistakes on himself. Of course, many times Cao Cao can teach with an open mind, which is also a very important factor to attract talents, because as a person, he certainly hopes to get due rewards through his diligence and wisdom, which is one of his hopes, but he hopes that he can display his talents and his suggestions and plans can be adopted. When we read history books, we can see that there are many such records. Mao listens to them, goes with them and does good deeds. Of course, there are times when Mao doesn't listen. If he doesn't listen and makes a mistake, Cao Cao will definitely review it. Once when Cao Cao attacked Sun Quan, Cao Cao made a decision to move all the people in Huainan to the north. At that time, a man named Jiang Ji disagreed. Cao Cao said, "You see, Yuan Shao and I fought in Guandu last time and moved all the white horses to Yanjin." Jiang Ji said, "Cao Gong, the situation is different now from when you and Yuan Shao competed for a white horse. Moreover, people are homesick and homesick. Who wants to walk around? Do not move them. Cao Cao didn't listen. As soon as he heard that Cao Cao was going to move north, he went to Sun Quan. So later Jiang Ji went to see Cao Cao. As soon as Cao Cao heard that Jiang Ji was coming, he immediately went out to meet him. Then he smiled and took Jiang Ji's hand and said, Oh, Jiang Ji, look, I made this thing. I wanted them to avoid Sun Thief, but I drove them all to Sun Thief's place. Look what I did. Look back. Moreover, we should learn from him, that is, don't always frown when reviewing. Now some of our leaders have made mistakes and don't want to review because they seem to cry when reviewing, dissecting themselves deeply and having various feelings when reviewing. You can also review with a smile, and you won't lose face when reviewing. People who accept your comments still think you are sincere.

These are the four characteristics of Cao Cao's employment. According to these four characteristics, we can sum up eight sentences:

Sincere and emotional; Open your heart and treat others sincerely; Open and honest, convince people by reasoning; Match words with deeds, take people by letter;

An order prohibiting and ruling the people according to law; Put yourself in the other's shoes to be tolerant; Young people blame themselves and reward others for their merits; Reward people by rewarding their merits.

As a good boss, Cao Cao often employs people. He knows very well that "if you want to compete for the world, you must compete for others first". But in troubled times, wives choose talents, and talents also choose bosses, which is similar to today's two-way choice. Therefore, to win talents, we must first conquer the hearts of talents. Mr. Yi Zhongtian, on the other hand, thinks that Cao is kind, good at self-criticism and caring for others. Is this the exclusive secret for Cao Cao to win the hearts of the people? So, what kind of mystery is hidden behind Cao Cao's so many skills of employing people?

Actually, what matters is not how Cao Cao did it, but why he did it. In other words, what matters is not the skill of employing people, but the way of employing people. What is Tao? Tao is human nature and human heart. The core of Cao Cao's way of employing people is: insight into human nature and insight into people's hearts. He knows what people are like too well, and he knows what his men are fighting with him for, so he has the idea of "returning to repay people when they are successful." He knows that everyone has weaknesses and shortcomings, so there is a "rule of law, tolerance." He also knows that people are rational animals, and people are reasonable in most cases, so that's why "convince people by reasoning and win people by faith." He also knows that people have feelings, and sometimes the maintenance of feelings is more important and effective than the maintenance of interests, which is why "treat people with sincerity and treat people with affection." Therefore, Cao Cao's greatness lies not in his technology and specific practices, but in his Tao, but in his thorough understanding and grasp of human heart and humanity.

A telling example is that after the battle of Guandu, Cao Cao seized a large number of books, materials, documents and letters from Yuan Shao, and found that some of them were letters written by his own people to Yuan Shao. According to the reaction of ordinary people, this is evidence of collaboration and betrayal. We should take out these letters one by one and find out all the traitors, double-minded and waverers. Cao Cao didn't. After Cao Cao found such a pile of letters, he immediately ordered them to be burned without looking. Cao Cao did it beautifully. At that time, many people didn't understand, so they asked Cao Cao, why did you destroy all such important evidence? Cao Cao said, Oh, come on, to tell the truth, I fought against Yuan Shao with weakness, Yuan Shao was strong and I was weak. At that time, even Cao Cao himself was not sure whether I could win the battle, let alone everyone. It's normal! Cao Cao's hands are really clever. Where is the cleverness? He knew very well that the situation at that time was exactly what he said, so since it was such a situation, it was definitely not a decimal number, not one, two, three or five, but also dozens or hundreds. You can't liquidate all these people. Since it can't be liquidated, it is better not to be liquidated at all. Not only will I not liquidate them, I won't even hold the handle in my hand. I will do it in front of you. I don't know who colluded with Yuan Shao. I'll burn all the evidence now. Don't worry, as long as you follow me and be loyal. I don't know what happened before. I'll try my best. Cao Cao knows very well that in such a complicated political struggle, it is sometimes necessary to pretend to be deaf and dumb, and only by pretending to be deaf and dumb can we tolerate people, and only by tolerating people can we win the hearts of the people and the world. Therefore, it is called the old white surname, "not dumb or deaf, not to be a grandfather", and sometimes you have to play dumb. It is not easy to understand people's hearts and human nature, and it is even more difficult to put yourself in their shoes. What is even more rare is that when Cao Cao did these things, for example, he destroyed evidence, he rewarded his generals, he reviewed his own shortcomings and mistakes, and he thanked those who gave him advice. When he did all this, he was frank, atmospheric, natural and realistic, and did not put on airs at all.

Cao had an insight into human nature and human heart, and mastered the way of employing people. Cao Cao has mastered the way of employing people, and he also knows what his talents need most. Cao Cao knew the demand of talents, and he also knew what he could give talents. So Cao Cao's way of employing people is, in the final analysis, his way of being a man. So what is Cao Cao's way of being a man?

Why did Cao do this? There are several reasons. First, Cao Cao is clever. He knows that a person engaged in political struggle, a person fighting on the battlefield, can't completely tell the truth, also can't completely tell lies. Such people must grasp when to tell the truth, when to tell lies, to whom to tell the truth and to whom to tell lies. To the enemy, you must lie, all is fair in war, and you cannot tell the truth; But your consultants are all smart people, so you have to tell the truth. Only by telling the truth can you gain trust. After you gain trust, he will try his best to give you advice, and you can defeat the enemy. Cao Cao Can grasped this degree between truth and falsehood, which is called cleverness.

The second reason is easygoing. One good thing about Cao Cao's character is that he is a man of temperament. We all know that Cao Cao is a poet. He has the qualities of both a military general and a poet. He is easy-going as long as he is not in a formal office or fighting. He can tell jokes, make jokes and have fun, so he is very friendly. A leader, too serious, too serious, people think you can't be close; Too casual is not good. If you are too casual, you have no prestige. It is better to be like Cao Cao. When he needs prestige, he is not angry or intimidating. Usually he is kind and easy-going, so that his subordinates respect and love him. Cao Cao also grasped this discretion well. So Cao Cao often jokes about serious things. For example, he had an enemy whose father was imprisoned by Cao Cao. Cao Cao wrote him a letter saying that your father's life in my prison was not bad. However, the state cannot always pay for the old-age care of other people's fathers. It's fun to do what you want.

The third reason is his sincerity. Cao Cao sincerely hopes that many people will help him. He really feels lonely and weak. This is his truth. Cao Cao has a poem called "Short Songs", which contains a sentence: "Green, leisurely in my heart. But for the sake of the monarch, I have thought it over so far. " Translated, but your clothes are green and my love is leisurely. It's only because of you that I miss it until now. Who do you miss? Not a lover, not honey, but a friend who can help him achieve something. This feeling is real, so the third reason is his sincerity.

The fourth reason is deep. Cao Cao is a very deep person. Let's take a look at this short song. What was his first sentence? "When the song of wine, life geometry. For example, Chaolu is much more difficult to go to Japan. " Life is short, and we want to make a vigorous career with this short life, so I need a lot of talents and friends to help me. Therefore, his way of employing people is based on such a philosophical thinking about the life of the universe, which is by no means a general way of employing people. So Cao Cao is easy-going and deep. Guo Jia has such an evaluation of Cao Cao, calling it "easy to understand outside", which means looking at him casually on the surface. In fact, deep down, he can shake your hand, he can laugh with you, he can laugh with you, he can play tricks with you, but please note that when he shakes your hand, he is looking at you and looking at people.