Failure and failure, how did Cao Cao rise in adversity?

Failure is an inevitable part of everyone's growth and the most important touchstone and stumbling block before success. In the worst case, it will even become a watershed in the whole life.

Failure is a necessary question in life. In this video, we will discuss a famous historical issue. This question came from the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, and the respondent was just a fledgling teenager. He has the dream of governing the world and the ability to be a minister. Unexpectedly, the country was in chaos, and his life took another direction, so he will face the problems that must be solved in this life. He is Cao Cao. How did he solve the problem of failure? Next, listen to his entrepreneurial story.

One night in A.D. 189, four people were plotting a great event in a room. These four people are He Jin, Yuan Shao, Chen Lin and Cao Cao, the hero of this issue. This small meeting was held by Blade, and the theme was how to kill ten eunuchs.

Among them, Cao Cao, the youngest official, suggested that the eunuch forces should be eradicated by thunder.

However, Ho Jin's sister, Queen Ho, has promised eunuchs that as long as ten attendants put her son on the throne, she can save her life. Therefore, Queen He resolutely refused to allow her brother to kill them.

Lombardi pretentious thought, blades don't want to fall into injustice, and want to kill ten often waits, so it is better to ask other forces to eradicate the eunuch group.

Blades very much agree with Yuan Shao's idea after listening.

However, Chen Lin objected. Inviting foreign soldiers to Beijing is a very dangerous decision. If it is not good, it will subvert the regime.

Cao Cao also believes that it is naturally impossible to kill several leaders and eunuchs who have no power. Calling foreign soldiers is more terrible than not killing eunuchs.

But blades just want to eradicate all eunuch forces, Yuan Shao is pretentious, and he only thinks he is right.

That's why we have a historical story that we are familiar with later.

Blades action was soon noticed by eunuch leader Zhang Rang, eunuch consorts larger foe, Blades was killed, Dong Zhuo generously entered Luo, abolished Liu Bian, made Liu Xie emperor, and the Eastern Han Dynasty opened in troubled times.

The background is over, now enter the text. After Dong Zhuo entered Beijing, Cao Cao quickly fled Luoyang. Going back to his hometown to recruit soldiers, but Cao Cao, who was down and out, had no right, no potential and no money.

His father just wants to run for his life and save the Cao family in troubled times, which is his greatest mission for the rest of his life. When he heard that his son, Cao Cao, wanted to take him in to crusade against Dong Zhuo, he was too scared to speak. Fortunately, he left Cao Cao half of his property as the start-up capital.

But this is still not enough. Cao can't help it, and dad doesn't want to give it any more. He can only pull his own investment and find his own sponsorship. Cao Cao found an old friend and helped him get a tax register from the government. Cao Cao took the register and went to the gold owner to invest. He was lucky that the first landlord he found, Weizi, was willing to help him.

At that time, the landlord Wei Zi saw Cao Cao's round face, short and chubby, and very cute. He had a good impression and was moved by Cao Cao's aura and feelings. Before taking out the project plan, Cao Cao said categorically: I will invest in you now, I have money. Since you came to me, you trusted me, and I trusted you. This money is on me.

So Cao Cao built a team of 5,000 people with funds from Weizi. With Cao Cao's army, his waist suddenly became stiff. I heard that all localities should form an alliance for Dong, but Cao Cao was overjoyed and took his troops to the meeting. But at the meeting place, there is a big gap between truth and reality. Governors from all walks of life gathered in one place and couldn't come up with a plan, that is, to eat wine there and watch out for each other, that is, not to send troops to beat Dong Zhuo. When it was time for dinner, it dispersed in a hubbub, and the whole alliance existed in name only.

At this time, Dong Zhuo will move. He burned the whole city of Luoyang and led the little emperor to his territory-Guanzhong.

In the league, Cao Cao had no choice. If we watch Dong thief successfully run from the encirclement to Chang 'an, then we will take Tongguan as a risk, keep out the enemy and rely on Bashu granary with sufficient food and grass. If Dong Zhuo develops slowly and tries to plot the Central Plains in the East with the son of heaven as his arm, then the world will never be unified again. Cao Cao's ministerial dream will be completely shattered.

There was a silence for Dong at the meeting. You look at me, I look at you. No one is silent. No one wants to fight the well-equipped Xiliang army, and no one wants to make his own troops a victim. Everyone chose to save their strength. Because in their minds, the Han dynasty has declined, and they will face more dangerous troubled times, and military power is the greatest guarantee for survival.

But Cao Cao is different. He punched the table and shouted, if you don't go, I'll go.

In March of the lunar calendar in A.D. 190, Cao Cao sent troops to fight Dong Zhuo. Cao Cao led the troops to borrow Cao Cao's 3,000 troops from Zizyphus jujuba and Yuan Shao. According to Lao Cao's plan, he is going to engage in sneak attack and guerrilla tactics. Unfortunately, when Gao finished, the troops arrived at Xingyang Bianshui, but they were swept around by Xu Rong, a general of Dong Zhuo, who led fifty thousand troops.

Cao Cao's troops and Xu Rong's troops met near Bianshui, Ma Pingchuan. Cao Cao was an infantry, no way back.

Less than an hour after the battle, Cao Cao was defeated by absolute inferiority. He decided to quit the battlefield. Running all the way, with the only people around him, dismantled the board of the trench car, assembled a simple wooden boat, crossed the river in confusion and fled to the other side of the river. This battle was the worst in Cao Cao's military career. He was soaked to the skin and became a drowned rat. I was laughed at by Xu Rong across the river.

Cao Cao is an optimist, but he is not a born optimist.

After losing to Xu Rong, Cao Cao couldn't stand this humiliation. He didn't return to Dong League, but returned to his hometown Qiao County with only a few hundred people left. The blow depressed him. At the thought of the troops he had worked so hard to form, a charge made the other side fight, angry, hateful and powerless, and made him drown his sorrows in wine all day.

With the constant comfort and encouragement of his subordinates, Cao Cao began to cheer up. A few days later, he broke the jar in his hand, tidied up his clothes, continued to recruit and recruit, and went to various places to solicit sponsorship. In troubled times, there can be nothing, but there must be soldiers, so I divided the time and asked my nephew Cao Hong to go to Yangzhou and Danyang to recruit. I went to Danyang Taishou to seek sponsorship, took the project plan, bombarded Taishou Zhou Xin and told Dong Zhuo's cruelty and human hardships. I think that if this gentleman doesn't come forward at this time, it will help others. Zhou Xin is a typical bureaucrat. Hearing these words, Cao Cao reluctantly gave four thousand soldiers and horses.

Cao Cao didn't want to get more horses, but when he looked at the barracks, it turned out to be a group of old, weak and sick people. I thought this group of soldiers would look brand-new after training, but on the way to win Dong, this group of people, led by several leaders, launched a fire attack on their boss's tent, hoping to get Dong Zhuo's reward with the boss's head. It happened that Cao Cao was not asleep, otherwise he would have been buried in the fire.

When four thousand people saw that the fire failed, they immediately dispersed in a hubbub and fled everywhere. Cao Cao is really speechless.

But it happened that at this time there was an army in the northwest, huge and running towards them. Looking at the remaining 500 people, I wanted to do some mobilization to encourage them to fight to the death, but before I could say the first half of the sentence, all the remaining 500 people threw away their weapons and ran for their lives.

It rains all night, but never alone. Cao Cao was almost desperate. Looking at the only 100 cronies left around him, he decided to fight to the death.

But in close combat, when I saw it coming, I turned grief into joy. It turns out that Cao Hong, who was sent to recruit by himself, came back with five thousand newly recruited soldiers and horses.

Thanks to God, Cao Cao got another 5,000 troops. At this time, Cao Cao realized that if you want to do great things in troubled times, you can't do it on your own. You must have soldiers, generals and talents in your hands. If you want to succeed, what about obscene development? So Cao Cao temporarily took refuge in his young Yuan Shao, four generations and three generations. Under the influence of Yuan Shao, he developed slowly, occupied the territory, collected food and grass, and sincerely recruited talents. In a few years, he occupied Qingzhou, Yanzhou and Independence Gate. During this period, many battles were won, for example, the Montenegro army of Dong Jun was defeated, the Yellow Scarf Army of Qingzhou was subdued, the army of Yuan Shu was defeated, and Yanzhou was firmly occupied.

But with more victories, boss Cao's luck seems to be not so good. At this time, outside Cao Cao's sphere of influence, Yuan Shao in the north was a group for the time being, and Yuan Shu in the south had been defeated by himself before. Only Tao Qian in the east has a bad relationship with him, which is a great threat. Before the war, Tao Qian killed Cao Cao's father Cao Hao, who was preparing to flee to Yanzhou.

Cao Cao was furious.

So in the autumn of 193, Cao Cao led his Qingzhou Corps to Xuzhou, Tao Qian. At first, he took several cities in succession. Later, Tao Qian made clear the cities in Xuzhou and refused to go out to fight, so Cao Cao's military forces were consumed in Xuzhou.

Moreover, Cao Cao's army attacked long distances, and the demand for food was huge. In addition, there was a war in the north at that time, and the grain output was extremely low. When Cao Cao was at war with Tao Qian, he was caught in a hard tug-of-war, and the enemy who killed his father hid in the city and refused to fight.

Cao Cao was so angry that he did something extremely irrational. In order to drive Tao Qian's army out of Xuzhou, he swept the territory of Xuzhou and carried out a cruel massacre. Until the next spring, Tao Qian still didn't leave the city, but he had no choice but to withdraw.

But not long after, in the summer of 194, Cao Cao sent troops again and was bound to win Xuzhou. He left Zhang Miao and Chen Gong at home. Qingzhou Corps, all the way to the east, is on a roll. When Tao Qian was about to be captured, his hometown was stolen. It was Zhang Miao and Chen Gong who stayed behind and stole his home. Together with Lu Bu who escaped from Chang 'an, they occupied more than half of Cao Cao's sphere of influence.

There is also a reason why people who once trusted so much betray. Zhang Miao used to be the leader of Cao Cao, but now he is his subordinate, and there is a big gap in his heart. Chen Gong, a scholar-bureaucrat, saw that Cao Cao had no respect for intellectuals. He once killed his good friend and recently killed innocent people in Xuzhou. He didn't want Cao Cao to rule Yanzhou.

And Yanzhou will fall into their hands so soon, the key depends on Chen Gong's position as a local strongman in Yanzhou. When he goes against it, it is equivalent to Yanzhou going against more than half. With Cao Cao's elite expedition to Tao Qian, Lu Bu was able to easily enter Yanzhou.

Cao Cao, who was prosperous in Xuzhou battlefield, was on the verge of bankruptcy again, leaving only the town of Yin Ji and the counties of Fan and Dong 'e in Dong Jun.

His friend's betrayal made him feel distressed, but at the critical moment, he could only turn grief into strength and attack Puyang City occupied by Lu Bu with lightning speed.

But Lu Bu is not only a professional father killer. He fights fiercely. I heard that Cao Cao was coming to attack him, and he didn't defend the city. He took the cavalry and directly fought with Cao Cao's Qingzhou legion. Cavalry vs infantry, Qingzhou legion was shattered.

Cao Cao refused to accept it and launched a sneak attack on Lu Bu that night. But Lu Bu's reinforcements came soon, and Cao Cao's troops were at a disadvantage and were beaten away again.

Successive failures made boss Cao's head more and more painful, but at this time, someone wanted to give him Puyang. What he wants to give him is a famous local local local strongman, a black and white winner. The local strongman said that he hated Lu Bu and only liked Cao Cao. He and Cao Cao agreed that after Qingzhou Legion arrived in Puyang, they would cooperate with others and win Lu Bu in one fell swoop.

So, at the appointed time, Cao Cao happily took his troops to Puyang at the gates and signaled with the city guards. Sure enough, the gate quietly opened and the troops rushed into the city in the night. After entering the city, countless soldiers suddenly rushed out of every dark corner. His troops were surrounded, surrounded by enemy gunfire, and all bows and arrows were fired at him. Under the cover of cronies, Cao Cao rushed out of the encirclement and the battlefield became more chaotic. He can't find his soldiers. In order to save his life, he quickly took off his iconic shirt and escaped the enemy's pursuit.

Cao Cao, who fled back to the base camp, did not lose his mind. Repeated failures gave him a clearer understanding of failure. He quickly adjusted himself and encouraged his soldiers. And counterattack Lu Bu.

The day after he fled back to his hometown, Cao Cao sent someone to spread the news that he was burned to death and sold the flaw to Lu Bu. Sure enough, Lu Bu was fooled, and he led the troops to kill Cao Cao's stronghold that day. The careless Lu Bu just rushed into the camp gate, just like Cao Cao rushed into Puyang City a few days ago, and was beaten to pieces, leaving no cavalry left.

But Lu Bu still rushed out of Cao Cao's encirclement with his force. In a short time, Cao Cao was unable to fight again and confronted the anti-Cao trio.

The confrontation between them lasted for three months. During this period, the whole Yanzhou area suffered from drought, followed by locust plague. In the end, food has become the key factor to win this protracted war.

Lu Bu gave up Puyang because of the extreme shortage of food, and took his regiment to grab food everywhere. Cao Cao has a hard time here, too At this time, Yuan Shao invited Cao Cao back to his Jizhou and took him to drink and eat a big bowl of meat. Looking at the team that was too hungry to walk, Cao Cao wanted to give up. But a word from counselor Cheng Yu rekindled his hope. People can't go back. This protracted war is not only about fighting capacity, but also about endurance. If you go back to Yuan Shao, I'm afraid it's hard to be independent again.

Cao Cao made up his mind. Seeing that Lu Bu had left Puyang, he immediately sent troops to retake Puyang, re-reinforced the Yugoslav capital, and became a line with Zhencheng, Fanxian and Donga counties. Cao Cao, who rallied, ushered in his own good luck.

In the spring of 195, Cao Cao attacked Dingtao City, and fought from spring to summer, but it still did not fall. At this time, Lu Bu sent troops into Juye, trying to cut off the connection between Cao Cao and Zhencheng. After hearing the news, Cao Cao left the main force to continue to besiege Dingtao City and led Qingzhou Corps to attack Juye. The war went smoothly. After Cao Cao captured Juye, the supply line was more fully guaranteed and the morale of the army gradually increased. With the failure of Lu Bu's plan, the war situation was more biased towards Cao Cao.

After several months of fighting, the grain once again stumped Cao Cao, because his grain and grass reserves were seriously insufficient to support his next strategy. But it happened that Tao Qian of Xuzhou died of illness, and Liu Bei took advantage of it and became the master of Xuzhou. Looking at the battle that can't be opened in front of him, Cao Cao wants to change his plan. In the case that Liu Bei failed to gain a foothold, he took Xuzhou in one fell swoop and prepared food to clean up Lu Bu and them.

But this plan was quickly killed by Cheng Yu and Yu Xun. In the previous crusade, Cao Cao killed and set fire in Xuzhou, and it was impossible for Xuzhou people to support him. If we divide our forces and fight Xuzhou, we will surely fall into a quagmire. If Lu Bu tries to attack again, not only Xuzhou can't take it, but Yanzhou will also be lost, and all previous efforts will go up in smoke. At present, the only way out is to perseveringly defeat Lu Bu, Chen Gong and Zhang Miao and recover Yanzhou.

What we have to do now is to finish harvesting the wheat in the west of Juye city and save some food. As long as there is food, without food, Lu Bu can be defeated in one fell swoop.

On the other side, without Michael, Lu Bu and Chen Gong came to Juye City with their elite. After Cao Cao learned the news, most of the troops had gone to harvest wheat. There were only a few thousand horses left in the city, so Cao Cao could only walk sideways with his sword in his hand. He asked all the women in the city to go to Chengtou to defend, and he led most of the soldiers into the dense forest in the south to shake trees. He is betting that Lu Bu won't dare to attack. Sure enough, when Lu Bu saw the great movement in the forest, he suspected an ambush and gave up the opportunity to attack. He led the troops back more than ten miles, camped and watched.

In the evening, Cao Cao's wheat-cutting troops came back. Cao Cao predicted that if today's trap was set again tomorrow, Lu Bu would not doubt it and would definitely attack. So the next day was the same as the first day, except that instead of sending troops to collect wheat, he hid the elite soldiers in Dati in the west. Seeing that today is the same as yesterday, Lu Bu who came to attack no longer doubted and launched an attack on Cao Cao. The first people who fought against Lu Bu were just a group of baits. Fight and retreat, luring Lu Bu into ambush. Lyu3 bu4 suspected fraud at first, but soon let his guard down, just when he thought he was going to succeed. At that time ShaSheng everywhere, lyu3 bu4 and Chen Gong's troops into the ambush of cao cao, immediately be JiaoZi, elite.

When Lu Bu and Chen Gong saw that the tide was running out, they fled to Xuzhou and defected to Liu Bei. Zhang Miao, who stayed in Liu Chen, heard that Lu Bu was defeated and also ran to Xuzhou.

The failure of the anti-Cao trio represents the successful recovery of Cao's territory at last.

All kinds of failure experiences during the start-up period made Cao Cao more aware of this sentence, which is what later generations said: "Build a wall slowly and build a wall, which is king." After he recovered Yanzhou, he implemented the military camp system and stored enough food. Consolidating Yanzhou city defense and building its own base area are impregnable. And a large number of talented people, gathered in the Xun, Xun You, Guo Jia and other famous counselors.

After Cao Cao put his company in order, he welcomed Liu Xie, the Emperor Xian of Han Dynasty who had just escaped from Chang 'an, to his base camp-Xuchang.

At this time, Cao Cao and Feng Tianzi, with tens of thousands of soldiers, had the foundation to compete for the world.

The story of Cao Cao's early entrepreneurship ends here. When we read Cao Cao, we can find that he is just like us.

We all have a beautiful yearning for life, but the reality sometimes pulls us to the bottom, and then lets us accept the cruel test. We either sink or move on.

But every time you rekindle hope, failure may strike again. Maybe you will get down because you can't stand the constant blow. Maybe you still have a firm belief, continue to be full of hope and move on.

Our life should also have the indomitable optimism of Cao Cao, and this may be Cao Cao's answer.