My friends, I have been idle to watch several episodes of the Three Kingdoms in recent days. What do you think of Cao Cao?

It is unfair to describe Cao Cao as a usurper in The Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

During the Eastern Han Dynasty, consorts and eunuchs took turns to take power, and the atmosphere in the ruling and opposition parties was filthy. Stepping into the Jian 'an era, the Eastern Han court was hopeless. In this regard, Sima Guang once commented in "Zi Zhi Tong Jian": "At the beginning of Jian 'an, it was everywhere; "Without an inch of land and a nation, this is not the style of China people."

Dong Zhuo was good at abolishing legislation, Ada made his own royal robes, and the title of Huainan Brothers was engraved in the troubled times in the north. Cao Cao has always maintained respect for the imperial court.

As early as five years in Zhong Ping (A.D. 188), some people plotted to overthrow Emperor Han Ling and set up a new Lord, but Cao Cao, who was still negotiating at that time, refused. When the Allies marched eastward to Dong Zhuo, Cao Cao took the lead in making progress compared with other people's wait-and-see concerns. In the second year of Chuping (A.D. 19 1), Yuan Shao and others in the Han Dynasty wanted to make Liu Yu, a shepherd from Youzhou, emperor, but Cao Cao refused again, and made it clear: "Gentlemen, I am from west to north." You can listen to the shepherds in the northern Youzhou. I am still loyal to the western emperors. Li urged others to bring disaster to Chang 'an, and when his party fled for their lives, there were indifferent people, people who fish in troubled waters and people who hit people when they were down. Cao Cao was one of the few people who took the initiative to meet Xian Di. In December of the 24th year of Jian 'an (AD 2 19), after Wu and Wei jointly killed Guan Yu, Sun Quan wrote to Jin as a vassal, but Cao Cao refused to listen: "This boy wants to set me on fire!" . Although there are cautious tactics of Cao Cao in this series of words and deeds, it cannot be denied objectively that this is a respect for the court.

As for Cao Cao's killing of Dong Cheng (originally a subordinate of Dong Zhuo's son-in-law Niu Fu, according to the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, the birth standard should be "fish escaping through the net"), Wan Fu and other royalty, after all, it started with Cao Cao's counterattack, so can we expect Cao Cao to die happily? Besides, the collapse of the Eastern Han Dynasty was in the hands of consorts and eunuchs, and Cao Cao, who witnessed the chaos in the world, knew it. When Dong Cheng killed Wan Fu, Cao Cao also stipulated that no one in his own "harem" should interfere in the affairs of state, even his son Cao Zhang and others were "father and son at home, and his subjects were his subjects". The talented Cao Zhi was a bohemian who once "opened Sima Men" privately (note 1), and his coachman (coachman) was immediately executed (Cao Zhi fell out of favor largely because he violated the law and discipline. Cao Pi may have a wicked heart, but Cao Zhi doesn't take being a thief seriously at all. Cao Zhi's wife was so richly dressed that even her daughter-in-law was beheaded for violating her own order to advocate frugality. Looking back on this, we can see that Cao Cao killed Dong Fu and others objectively to avoid repeating the same mistakes, not simply tit for tat.

Although Cao Cao was in power, he always respected the authority of Emperor Xian of Han Dynasty, and even his own life and death were in the hands of Xian Di. When Cao Cao met Xian Di, he followed the custom of meeting the emperor at that time, and there was a tiger with a sword beside him. In the 19th year of Jian 'an, that is, the year when Cao Cao killed Wan Fu, Xian Di once said to Cao Cao, "If you think I deserve help, please help me. If you can't, you can." At that time, Xian Di could kill Cao Cao as long as he gave the order. Cao Cao was shocked and sweaty when he heard this (Cao Cao really didn't dare to go to court after that). Of course, when Cao Cao returned, he could kill Xian Di in turn, but Xian Di didn't order him to be killed, and Cao Cao didn't show any disrespect to Xian Di. It can be seen that Xian Di still trusts Cao Cao, at least 1, and he, or the world still needs Cao Cao; Cao Cao won't hurt him. I don't know why, Liu Bei said something similar to Zhuge, but Xian Di said something similar to Cao Cao, deceiving and confusing the monarch. Cao Cao said that "there are no orphans in the world. I wonder how many people call themselves emperors and how many people call themselves kings", which is actually a truth that everyone knows. Objectively speaking, Cao Cao should be called the terminator and successor in the late Eastern Han Dynasty. He let a terminally ill old man spend his last years peacefully and succeeded in inheriting his "legacy".

Cao Cao's military literary talent is rarely denied, but his political achievements are slightly controversial.

Personally, his political achievements are worse than those of soldiers.

Looking back at the history before the Three Kingdoms, during the reign of Emperor Huan of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the population of China once reached more than 50 million, but by the time of the Three Kingdoms, it had dropped to more than 7 million, even worse than during the Warring States Period, when people were beheaded frequently four or five hundred years ago (there were still more than 10 million). It is impossible to kill so many people, but it is not difficult to starve to death. The root cause is nothing more than natural and man-made disasters.

Since Emperor Huan of the Eastern Han Dynasty, droughts, floods, plagues, riots and rebellions of ethnic minorities have continued, and the population and households have been greatly reduced. According to the Records of the Later Han Dynasty, during the reign of Emperor Huan of the Han Dynasty, the catastrophe was "in the spring of the ninth year (A.D. 166), Li Si and Yuzhou starved to death, and even destroyed their households". According to this estimate, about three or four million people starved to death in these two places this year alone; During the period of Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty, "In the first month of spring in the third year of Jianning (A.D. 170), people in Hanoi ate husbands and people in Henan ate wives", and "In the fifth year of Guanghe (A.D. 182), there was a great epidemic." In the sixth year of Guanghe (AD 183), there was a severe drought in summer. Other small-scale natural disasters, ethnic minority rebellions or invasions are numerous. Coupled with the Yellow Scarf Uprising in 184 and the subsequent warlord scuffle, the production was completely destroyed. In such troubled times, it is an urgent and primary task to restore normal production order and let the people have plenty of food and clothing.

Among the princes of the Three Kingdoms in the late Han Dynasty, there were many military talents and few internal affairs. Political and economic success or failure will naturally be reflected in the military (on the other hand, it is by no means easy). Most people suffer from it and eventually get stuck in the "rice", and even have no chance to prove whether they are "smart women". The way to resume production is to increase revenue and reduce expenditure, and Cao Cao has done well in both aspects. The implementation of the reclamation system is actually to ensure reproduction by means of state investment (socialism? ), the work efficiency is certainly higher than that of ordinary yeomen. Therefore, this policy achieved immediate results, and in a short time, it turned this place into a thriving place where "agricultural officers and soldiers, chickens and dogs speak, and buildings belong to each other". It is not too much to call it a great pioneering work. After Cao Cao captured Yecheng, in view of the heavy poll tax at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, he changed to household rules and charged landlords (including yeomen and landlords) four liters of land rent per mu, and each household paid two silks and two kilograms of cotton. "He must not be good at making money." Vigorously stop the indiscriminate apportionment of farmers (this is a stubborn disease that even Mao Dengjiang has a headache after two thousand years. How does Wen Xiang intend to respond? Hee hee). This policy has greatly reduced the burden on farmers and won unanimous support.

When Cao Cao was alive, he vigorously built water conservancy and achieved fruitful results. For example, the seven gates and three weirs built in Shucheng, Zhou Yu's hometown, can still irrigate 20,000 hectares of fertile land every day until Song Renzong in the Northern Song Dynasty.

These "trivial" things that are not mentioned in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms are indeed not mentioned in the Romance, but the most powerful thing is to savor these things carefully, which can be reflected in the following examples:

First, Cao Cao fought two wars in Hanzhong, first defeating Zhang Lu and then losing to Liu Bei. However, due to the recovery of vitality in the north, it successfully moved out of Wudu and other places in Hanzhong, with a population of134,000 (although there are inducements and no threats). According to a family of four, this is more than 500 thousand. Think about the fact that when Shu Han surrendered, there were only 280,000 households with 940,000 people, and you will understand what kind of drastic measures Liu Bei took! After all, soldiers and civilians are the foundation of the war of resistance.

Second, in May of the 19th year of Jian 'an (AD 2 14), Lv Meng reminded Sun Quan that Cao Cao was cultivating land in Anhui (namely Lujiang), and if he waited for them to harvest, it would be tantamount to adding wings to the tiger. Therefore, Wu Dong took advantage of the rainy season water army to come and go freely. Sun Quan personally went out to levy such a tiny place as Anhui City. After Monroe Gan Ning went into battle, Zhu Guang, the satrap, was captured alive and tens of thousands of people were moved back to Wu. According to statistics, Sun Ce's Sun Quan brothers have called Zhou Yu's hometown, Huainan Shucheng, four times, but without exception, they all returned from looting. Therefore, there is such a funny story in Zhou Yu's hometown: Cao Wei tried his best to build a big house, and Sun Wu tried his best to kill people and destroy money (alas, I cried for Gong Jin! )。

Cao Pi and Cao Rui after Cao Cao basically followed these policies, although their personal lives were not self-disciplined. Later, Sima Yi and Zhang He of Cao Zhen were able to bring down Zhuge Liang repeatedly in Qishan and other places without tactical mistakes because they had sufficient material support and because they had "deep internal forces".

Accordingly, Wu Shu's construction in this area is also very lacking. Because of its superior natural conditions, Sichuan already has such a masterpiece as Dujiangyan. It is understandable that there is no need to gild the lily and waste money.

Soochow was a complete failure.

Wu Dong once built a lake field in Danyang twice and built Pulitang. Yong' an was first built in the third year (the first year of Wei Jingyuan, AD 260), and countless human and material resources were invested. However, due to the failure to carry out construction in dry season, the pier foundation was flooded due to strong winds and waves. As a result, "the soldiers died, or the thieves died, and the people complained." The second reconstruction failed. No wonder later generations want to open canals and build reservoirs in Jiangnan. Although Jiangnan is known as the land of plenty, the agricultural level in the Three Kingdoms period was quite low. Even things that have long been common sense in the north, such as Niu Geng, have not been popularized, and there is no water conservancy construction such as reservoirs and ponds that can be irrigated with water. Its production efficiency can be imagined. In this case, even if there are millions of soldiers, they will starve. How do they compete for hegemony? If Cao Wei left a rich legacy to future generations, then Shu Han is the capital preservation, and Soochow is the debt.

At the same time of open source, Cao Cao also pays great attention to throttling and sets an example. According to historical records, Cao Cao was "elegant and frugal, but not gorgeous. The harem clothes were not splendid, the royal shoes were not adopted, the curtains were used to make up for the bad, and the warmth was taken from wormwood, which was not predestined." Simply put, clothes are not gaudy, shoes are not carved or embroidered, curtains and screens are patched, and beds and bedding are "broken". With Cao Cao's vigorous correction, the extravagance since the Eastern Han Dynasty was reversed, and the people in the world were honest, diligent and self-disciplined. Even high-ranking officials and dignitaries dare not be extravagant, and some even deliberately dress poorly to please Cao Cao (Prime Minister Liu). Is this the creative source of the episode "Old Official Dress"? ) strange things. In the 14th year of Jian 'an (AD 209), Cao Cao, in turn, had to order the rectification of this strange unhealthy trend.

Cao Cao's will also reflects his consistent frugal style: "The world is not yet stable, and there is no future." They were all taken away after the funeral. Garrison personnel are not allowed to leave the station. There is a division, and each rate is the location. There is nothing hidden in the clothes. "

In contrast, Liu Bei and Sun Quan were at a loss in their later years. Reflection? Liu Bei Biography quoted Dian lue as saying: "Liu Bei is called the king of Hanzhong, so he built a pavilion, covering an area of more than 400 miles from Chengdu to Baishuiguan", and Guan Yu, who fought alone, did so ... What he did later became a negative textbook for Chen Qun to persuade Cao Rui to abandon extravagance and attack the palace: "Yesterday, Liu Bei went from Chengdu to Baishuiguan and made more passes, which was too much. Later, in the battle of Yiling, Liu Bei's performance was even worse. Sun Quan was even more "crazy", even when he was not old, he was a little confused, so that Zhang Zhao mocked Zhou Wang's "wine pool and meat forest". Later, Sun Quan abolished the stupidity of the prince, which made the princes fall apart and become a laughing stock. Since Cao Cao's talent policy has been introduced before, I won't go into details here. Admittedly, Cao Cao is not perfect. His slaughter in Xuzhou and so on should be condemned. But on the whole, his success is by no means accidental. He is worthy of Chen Shou's evaluation. He is an extraordinary person and an unparalleled outstanding person.

Note: I generally agree with the above views, but there is a paragraph that deserves careful consideration.

The original text is as follows:

"Looking back at the history before the Three Kingdoms, during the reign of Emperor Huan of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the population of China once reached more than 50 million, but in the Three Kingdoms period, it has dropped to more than 7 million, even easier to behead100000 than in the Warring States period four or five hundred years ago (there was100000 at that time). It is impossible to kill so many people, but it is not difficult to starve to death. The root cause is nothing more than natural and man-made disasters. "

According to this paper, the population has decreased from more than 50 million to 7 million, and a small part of them were killed in battle. Most people died of starvation.

In this regard, Yuan Tengfei (the author of What is History) once explained:

The population of the Eastern Han Dynasty was 50 million, but it became 7 million in the Three Kingdoms. Oh, my God! The atomic bomb is not that powerful. Is everyone dead? Actually, not all of them. Most of them are hidden, that is, they are not in the government catalogue and have not been registered. When the war is over, all these people will come out.

About these two views: starve so many people or hide so many people.

So different people have different opinions.

Personally, I prefer the latter.

In addition, there are some widely misunderstood problems.

The most typical example of Liu Bei's love for the people is to escape with the people of Xinye.

In fact, this kind of love for the people is not necessarily 100% sincere.

Before, he ran with people, and then he heard a spy report that Cao Jun caught up with him immediately. He was very scared, and people ran away immediately, even his wife and children (much like his ancestor Liu Bang).

It can be seen that his love for the people has a certain show component.

Of course, even so, it is better than many princes. Many princes can't even put on a show.

And Cao Cao? When he was in Guandu, he expected that Yuan Shao might kill the city, so he also evacuated with his people.

The Romance of the Three Kingdoms did not write this paragraph, but it is recorded in the history books.

Why did Liu Bei run away with the people, loving the people, and Cao Cao left with the people and no one mentioned it?

There is also evidence that Liu Bei is "pseudo-loving the people."

Cao Cao built water conservancy everywhere, developed wasteland and made contributions to people's livelihood.

And Liu Bei? Love the people in the early days, because he had nothing, and he could only win people's hearts by acting like he loved the people.

After he took Xishu, it was different. Look at what he did after he took the West Shu:

The first is to order the people in Shu to be searched and rewarded with officials!

Thanks to zhaoyun dissuade in time, he didn't really start work.

At this time, Liu Bei had his own place, and he didn't want to "show off" anymore, he wanted to "enjoy".

He built a baili pavilion from Chengdu to Baishuiguan, just for his own amusement.

And the people have just finished fighting, so it's time to cultivate one's morality and cultivate one's character. ..............

In particular, Guan Yu in Jingzhou is struggling and almost finished, and Liu Bei is actually building a happy pavilion!

Look at Cao Cao, advocating frugality, setting an example, and developing people's livelihood all his life without interruption.

The only massacre in Xuzhou City is a stain. But that's because his father was killed, and it's understandable to act irrationally in a rage. Later, Cao Cao made a series of measures to compensate the people in Xuzhou, such as tax exemption.

Who really loves the people and who is the pseudo-love?

The answer is self-evident.

There is another problem, that is, Cao Cao's sentence, "I would rather teach me to be negative to the world than to teach the world to be negative to me."

This sentence is hopeless.

But in fact, this statement is also made up of romance.

The real record should be: "I would rather be negative than negative."

The word "world" was added to romance, and the artistic conception was completely changed.

This is Cao Cao's unjust case caused by the romance.

When we study these historical figures, we must put aside romance and face history squarely.