As mentioned earlier, at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, due to political darkness, social production was seriously damaged, and people could not live, and finally a vigorous Yellow Scarf Uprising broke out. However, under the historical conditions at that time, the peasant uprising could not achieve the final victory, which was followed by the disintegration of the Eastern Han Dynasty and the warlord scuffle. In the scuffle, not only Dong Zhuo, Li Jue and other Liangzhou warlords slaughtered people and robbed property everywhere, but also the eastern generals under the banner of diligent king. Therefore, there is a bleak scene of "people eat people and the state is depressed". Apart from the reactionary rule in the Eastern Han Dynasty, it is unforgivable to suppress the peasant uprising and the warlords who destroyed social production. But relatively speaking, there are still differences between warlords. Take Cao Cao as an example. Although he suppressed the peasant uprising and killed innocent people, from his political, military and economic performance, he was better than the warlord he eliminated. For example, he reclaimed land, built water conservancy projects and implemented the system of selling salt and iron by officials, which played a positive role in social and economic recovery and economic rectification. These will be introduced when talking about the economy.
As soon as Cao Cao embarked on his official career, he tried to use stricter laws to change the rampant situation of extravagance of powerful people at that time. However, because the curse lies in the central government, Cao did not dare to show his intentions. It was not until he came to power himself that the policy of restraining arrogance was fully implemented. He said: "the punishment of the husband is also the life of the people"; The policy of bringing order out of chaos should put punishment first. He used Wang Xiu, Sima Zhi, Yang Pei, Lv Qian, Man Chong, Jia Kui and other local officials to curb the lawless strongmen. If we compare Yuan Shao's and Cao Cao's political skills in Jizhou, we can see two different situations: "At the end of the Han Dynasty, politics was lenient and salt was lenient, so we didn't take it." Under Yuan Shao's lenient policy, "it is not enough to make the powerful and powerful arrogant, annex their relatives, make the people poor and weak, pay taxes on their behalf, and show off their wealth." As a result, it is naturally impossible to be "people-friendly to Qiang Bing". So Yuan Shao was defeated by Cao Cao, although he was big, with many soldiers and food. After the war in Jizhou, he immediately "emphasized the method of merging powerful countries" and thus received the effect of "making the people happy". As long as we look at Wei Zhi's reflection, we can see that under Cao Cao's rule, the political outlook and social atmosphere from the central to the local are different from before. Few ministers in North Korea engage in graft; Unscrupulous local officials and strongmen have also been restrained to some extent. Sima Guang said that Cao Cao's "turning chaos into governance" was not groundless. Moreover, the officials he elected should be "sensible" and be able to govern the country according to law. Cao Cao also advocates honesty. He used Cui Yan and Mao Jie for the election. "Everyone he uses is honest and upright. Although he was famous at that time, he didn't do what he should do, and he was finally admitted. " Thrift guides people, so people all over the world are inspired by honesty and thrift. Although your minister, dare not cross. "So the social atmosphere has improved.
Complementing the implementation of the rule of law policy is to concentrate on yourself as much as possible and not let the princes form a party. He ordered: "In this Qing Dynasty, even though personal relationships were better than others, it was useless to serve the country and the king." Fuck, in order to supervise the governors, the establishment of "school affairs" was opposed by the minister, who thought it was an "untrustworthy purpose" Cao Cao explained it this way: "If you want to stab, you can do a lot of things, but you can't." The so-called "sages and gentlemen" mainly refers to noble ministers, who have been officials all their lives, have branches and leaves attached, and have great fame and influence. On the one hand, we should win over the Rightists and make them occupy the upper position without real power; On the one hand, they also use ordinary school affairs to check their behavior. Is it necessary to do this? You can use Sun Quan's words to answer later. Sun Quan said: "The disciples of Chang Wen (Chen Qunzi) used to be able to keep good deeds and try their best to behave themselves, but they were afraid of being strict and did not dare to do anything wrong." Sun Quan followed suit and set up a school post, which showed that it was reasonable to set up a school supervisor in order to prevent the recurrence of the ministers' group at the end of the Han Dynasty and the small group of Yuan Shao Group. From the internal structure of Cao Wei regime, there are the most noble ministers, and the potential danger is heavier. Cao Cao planned for himself and future generations, and set up school affairs to wait on the ministers. Although it is harsh and political, it is difficult to subdue them without it. The history book says: "Cao Gong is strict and an official, so he often adds a stick." . Cao Cao also let the general's family live in his home to prevent them from fleeing from themselves, which is a reflection of the estrangement and contradiction between Cao Cao and his subordinates.
On the whole, under Cao Cao's rule, the Yellow River Basin has a certain degree of political clarity, the economy has gradually recovered, the class oppression has been slightly alleviated, and the social atmosphere has improved. Therefore, we say that the unification of the north and some corresponding measures still have positive effects.