Cao's indiscriminate killing of innocent people in the war was unique and unprecedented at that time. Please see:

First, Cao Cao promulgated the tyrannical law of "those who surround and then fall will not forgive". It means warning your opponent: don't wait for my army to surround you before surrendering, or you will be killed without forgiveness. This law has been faithfully implemented for 19 years, and many bodies have been killed. Later, due to the reduction of war, the situation became stable, and it was abolished after Cheng Yu persuaded it.

Second, a large number of letters recording massacres emerge in endlessly:

1, eastward expedition to Tao Qian, two ways to Pengcheng; The purpose of war is to destroy the enemy's military targets. What crimes did the people commit and were brutally hurt?

2. In A.D. 193, under the pretext of revenging his father's revenge, he once again invaded Tao Qian to the east, including the five cities of Tupengcheng, Fuyang, Qujian, Suiling and Summer and Autumn. Hundreds of thousands of men, women and children in these five cities, including refugees who fled from Guanlong area of Chang 'an to Xuzhou because of the rebellion of Li Jue and Guo Si, were all killed by Cao Cao, leaving no chickens or dogs. We often condemn the heinous crimes committed by Japanese devils against the people of China. From this point of view, Cao Cao is not much better than the Japanese.

3. The western expedition to Longyou, Guanzhong, rejuvenating the country with soil, Pahan and Hechi, killing people like hemp;

4. Coss attacked Wancheng and wantonly slaughtered it.

Third, slaughter the dead prisoners of war and catch up with Leitian. After the victory of Guandu War, Cao Cao unexpectedly killed Yuan Shao in one fell swoop, and 80,000 people were killed. It's really wrong to kill people when they're down and doubt the hearts of people who are coming to the world.

5. Kill the Lv Boshe family. Ignorance and indifference, the heart is black to the extreme, and he also blatantly said: "It is better to die than to die."

6. Once the schemes and plans of some generals are unexpected, they will try their best to kill him. Still pretending to cry and sigh, but in the end, the damn people still don't want to live. ("Biography of Cao Zang": "If you are strict with yourself, there must be someone who will win over yourself, punish them by law, and have no old grievances with the old friends. He was punished and killed, and he felt sad about it. " Of course, this may be that later generations belittle Cao Cao, which is not very credible, because in any case, it is not true to say that Cao Cao is jealous of sages. But this can also reflect the degree of Cao Cao's murder from one side.

Part II: List of non-wartime atrocities:

First, in the Qin Dynasty, the three clans were exterminated by severe punishment, and in the Han Dynasty, the three clans were exterminated by severe punishment, which was gradually abolished by the rule of Wenjing. It's been a long time since then. Unexpectedly, after a lapse of 400 years, Cao Cao resumed the torture and abuse of these extinct Tu clans one by one, and the means were even more brutal and indiscriminate.

Second, killing innocent people with temporary likes and dislikes. Kong Rong, Yang Xiu, Cui Yan and Bian Rang were all attacked by Cao Cao because their remarks touched his sensitive nerves, and the whole family was wiped out. They were killed only because they said something that Cao Cao didn't like to hear. Where is justice? Among them, Kong Rong is the direct descendant of Sun Fuzi, which greatly hurt the feelings of Confucian scholars and scribes, and made Cao Cao scolded by later generations for more than 1000 years, ranking with tyrants and thieves; (In contrast, Sun Quan is much better than Cao Cao in dealing with feather fans. )

Second, the famous doctor Hua Tuo's wonderful hand rejuvenated, and how many times Cao Cao had a head wind attack, Hua Tuo's hand got rid of the disease, which can be described as a great kindness to Cao Cao. Later, just because I didn't want to call, I became suspicious of Cao Cao, but I also died at Cao Cao's hands. It's really bite the hand that feeds you.

Third, Dong was killed for opposing Cao Cao. Dong Cheng's daughter is a noble son of heaven, pregnant with a dragon seed. Cao Cao even spared such a pregnant woman and the emperor's flesh and blood in her belly, deceiving you, killing you and strangling you. Since ancient times, she has been fierce and rebellious. Without this, it is really a traitor;

Fourth, Fu Hou really couldn't stand Cao Cao's atrocities and wrote to his father Wan Fu to expose Cao Cao's crimes. More than ten years later, it was discovered by Cao Cao, and Wan Fu had already passed away. However, Cao Cao spared Fu Hou and his clan, and ordered Hua Xin to drag Fu Hou out of the hidden wall and kill him openly, killing hundreds of people of Fu clan. Even if it happened more than ten years ago, the empress dowager instrument was just deposed. Even if Cao Cao is angry, he will kill it. This is enough to make a person commit a crime. What crime did the clan commit and was killed by him? Where is this like the courtiers of the Han Dynasty? It can be seen that what he said in "Let the County Know the Truth" is actually hypocrisy, cover-up, and grandiose words.

5. Other people killed for various reasons: Ji Ping, Shao Fu, Pei Xiang, Pei Renhuan Shao, Lou Jie, Lou Gui, etc. Some of them were killed because they were "disrespectful to the old" (that is, they were killed because they were Cao Cao's old friends or generations, so they were not modest in speaking and doing things), which was really chilling.

All this can only prove that Cao Cao is cruel and easy to kill, exposing the fierceness in the depths of his character and making people with lofty ideals shudder. Is this how Cao Cao "lashed inside"? Some scholars believe that Cao Cao's demon nature is cool, and he kills indiscriminately, not inferior to Dong Zhuo. It is because of his treachery, treachery and cruelty that Cao Cao failed to win the return of the world. Chen Gong and Zhang Miao defected from Lu Bu and attacked Yanzhou because of their disappointment with Cao Cao. Later, although Cao Cao was not unkind to Liu Bei, Liu Bei was always biased against him and refused to be kind to him, which may be the same reason. It can be said that Cao Cao's murderous nature has a negative impact on his hegemony. If Cao Cao was not so fierce, China should be unified according to normal development. From this point of view, he is indeed inferior to Emperor Gaozu and Emperor Guangwu. Some people don't even agree to call Cao Cao an "outstanding politician", because Cao Cao committed atrocities of killing innocent people, and an outstanding politician should not be like this.