Cao Cao is an outstanding strategist. He is proficient in the art of war. In the war at the end of the Han Dynasty, he defeated others with his own tactics and won many victories. In particular, the battle of Guandu defeated the arrogant Yuan Shao and laid the foundation for unifying the North. Cao Cao is good at employing people and recruiting talents. Anyone who can govern the country and use troops will try their best to trap them. His men are "like clouds, like counselors" and are full of talents.
Cao Cao likes literature, and his poems are generous, sad and infectious, and many famous works have been passed down to this day. He and his sons Cao Pi, Cao Zhi, and "Seven Scholars of Jian 'an" made outstanding contributions to the development of literature.
Cao Cao became an outstanding figure in history because of his political foresight. When there was chaos in the world at the end of the Han Dynasty, he always called himself the Han Dynasty and insisted that he would not call himself the emperor. In his later years, Cao Cao occupied Kyushu, a thirteen-state city in the Eastern Han Dynasty, and the time was ripe for him to claim the throne, but he still pursued the strategy of "serving the heavenly son to make the princes". Sun Quan wrote to persuade him to be emperor, and Cao Cao said, "It is my son who wants to get evil in my fire!" " "It means that this boy is going to put me on the fire! Cao Cao never proclaimed himself emperor, not because he didn't want to be emperor, but because he calmly analyzed the situation, took the world as his responsibility and overcame his personal desires with reason. Cao Cao has always pursued the new moon in the Han Dynasty to avoid the world falling into chaos again. He once said, "If there were no loneliness in the world, I don't know how many people would become kings. "Cao Cao's refusal to proclaim himself emperor is a political strategy, but it is mainly out of his own idealism. He said in "Let Counties Understand" that during the Spring and Autumn Period, Qi Huan and Jin Wen "could serve Zhou Shi with their vast military potential", which shows that "taking big things as small" can be described as the ultimate virtue. Cao Cao has a series of ideal figures in his mind, such as Duke Zhou and Guan Zhong. He praised: "Zhou Xibo is such a great virtue. There are three points in the world and two points. If you contribute, you won't fall. "Cao Cao has a special liking for Zhou Wenwang, and to a great extent, his achievements are comparable to those of Zhou Wenwang. However, Zhou Wenwang was beautified as "King of Virtue" by later Confucianism, while Cao Cao was regarded as "Han thief". Zhou Yu said to Cao Cao, "Although his name was entrusted to Han Xiang, he was actually a Chinese thief. "Zhou yu is cao cao's political opponents, of course, won't speak well of cao cao. From today's point of view, although Cao Cao has many stains, all his life, in order to pacify the world, he fought against the North. Spare no effort to attract talents; For the development of culture, elaborate creation. He is determined to realize his ideal, which fully embodies the feelings of politicians. Cao Cao is always an idealist with a firm spirit of hard work.
We should strip away all kinds of words that distort Cao Cao and restore the real Cao Cao. It can be said that he is a politician who has made great contributions to the history of China and an idealist with a broad mind. In the words of Chen Shou, the author of the History of the Three Kingdoms, "it can be described as an extraordinary person, an unparalleled outstanding figure."
1) 。 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 melee, not only Dong Zhuo, Li Jue and other Liangzhou warlords slaughtered the people everywhere and robbed the property, but even the Eastern generals under the banner of diligent king "robbed the money". 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 husband's punishment, the people's life is also" (2); 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." In this way, it is naturally impossible to "be close to the people in 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", thus achieving 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; Cao cao's positive role in unifying the north.
As I said before, at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, due to political darkness, social production was severely damaged and the people could not live. Finally, the Yellow Scarf Uprising broke out vigorously, and unpunished officials and strongmen were restrained to some extent. Sima Guang said that Cao Cao's "turning chaos into governance" (3) 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. " Business is frugal, so people in the world are motivated by honesty. Although you are a favorite minister, you dare not go too far. ".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 disciple of Chang Wen (Chen Qunzi) used to be able to keep good deeds. He tried his best to hold his head and feared majesty, so he dared not do something 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 in nature, and he often adds a staff to be an official.". 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.
Su Dongpo wrote Cao Cao's way in Hou Chibi Fu: "A thousand miles long, waving flags, drunk on the river and writing poems horizontally, is also a hero in the world." The fact that Cao Cao only "writes poems horizontally" makes him outstanding among the three kingdoms and rarely rivals in the long history. "Poetry is horizontal, and the world is a hero." As a hero in the world, Cao Cao is not a martial artist. In addition to his superb martial arts and heroic spirit, he also has a good literary talent. Many of his poems have been handed down to this day and are deeply appreciated by people. Cao Cao's poem is "desolate, vigorous and brilliant", and the atmosphere shown in that poem is unparalleled. His famous poems "A Short Song", "A Long Life for a Turtle", "Looking at the Sea" and "A Journey to the Great Mile" are well-known and become immortal masterpieces in the history of China literature. Look at "Short Song" first: Life Geometry? For example, morning dew is much more difficult to go to Japan. Be generous, and your troubles will be unforgettable. How to solve your worries? Only Du Kang. Qingqing Zitiao, leisurely in my heart, but for the sake of Jun, I have been meditating so far. Yo yo, I have a guest, antique blowing sheng. As clear as the bright moon, when can I forget it? The troubles come from this and cannot be cut off. The more you cross the street, the more time you waste. The more you talk about banquets, the more you cherish the old kindness. There are few stars on the moon, and blackbirds fly south. Turn around the tree three times, what branches can you rely on? The mountain is not too high, the sea is not too deep, the duke of Zhou vomits, and the world returns to the heart. This poem expresses Cao Cao's thirst for talents and establishes a more firm and powerful optimism in the hardships and tests of life. In the poem, Duke Zhou is compared with himself, and it is impossible for a non-great politician to speak. Re-read his "Although the tortoise lives a long life": Although the tortoise lives a long life, there are still times when it jumps over the snake and rides the fog, but it turns out to be dust. The old horse crouches, aiming at thousands of miles; The martyrs were full of courage in their later years. The surplus and contraction period is not only in the sky, but also in the happiness of raising happiness, which can last forever. Fortunately, even! Sing with ambition. This is probably the work of Cao Cao in his later years. In just a few words, he is concise, powerful and passionate. Let's look at his "Looking at the Sea": Jieshi sees the sea in the East. The sea is so vast that the islands stand high on the sea. Trees and paraquat are very lush. Autumn wind makes trees make sad sounds, and the sea is surging. The movement of the sun and the moon seems to come from the vast ocean. A trip to the sun and the moon, if unexpected; Han is a talented star, if you take him by surprise. Fortunately, even! Sing with ambition. After Cao Cao defeated Yuan Shao, he conquered Wuhuan in the north the following year, wiped out the remnants of Yuan Shao and unified and consolidated the north. He returned home in triumph, standing on Jieshi Mountain, facing the vast sea, excited and poetic, which endowed this masterpiece. This story is about the victory of climbing the mountain and watching the sea. The scene is mixed and the artistic conception is open, which makes people never tire of hearing it, and fully shows the ambition of heroes all over the world. Look at Cao Cao's poetic history "Lu Luxing" again: he is insincere only for the twentieth century. Wash a monkey crown, know small and strive for strength. Hesitant, afraid to break through, because the inaugural king. Bai Hong is also the first to bear the brunt of Japan's infiltration. Thieves and ministers hold the national handle to kill the Lord and destroy Yujing. Swing through the emperor's inheritance, the ancestral temple was burned. Spread all over the west and cry. Looking at Belo City, I am very sad. This poem is about how He Jin called Dong Zhuo, which brought disaster to the country and people. Dong Zhuo is cruel. As soon as he entered Luoyang, he killed and set fire to people. In this context, he wrote a trip to the autumn deer, denouncing Dong Zhuo's vicious perversity. Shen Deqian, a poet in the Qing Dynasty, once said: "Cao Gong's four words, 300 articles (referring to the Book of Songs) are strange." Its theory is quite accurate. It can be said that Cao Cao's poems represent an era. At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, warlords scuffled, the society was in sharp turmoil and people were displaced. Cao Cao's poems not only reflected the social reality at that time, but also showed the great ambition of heroes to make contributions. The poetic style is desolate and solemn, but vigorous and fresh, which is the "epic" of the times. Cao Cao's "external force" and "internal text" Under the influence of Cao Cao, Cao Pi and Cao Zhi are also "high altitude must be endowed", and their poems and essays are all brilliant. Both father and son were famous writers at that time. With his political advantages, he has won a wide range of world-famous scholars. At that time, most of the famous seven sons of Jian 'an were Cao Cao's subordinates, such as "Seven sons of Jian 'an", which formed the famous "Summer Night Group". Their works have distinctive features of desolation, tragic, vigorous and fresh, so later generations call this feature "Jian 'an style". This poetic style had a great influence on later literati. Cao Cao is undoubtedly the originator of "Jian 'an Literature" and occupies an important position in the history of literature. At that time, there was a talented woman in the poetry circle, Cai Wenji, the daughter of writer Cai Yong. She was captured by the Hu people in the war and exiled to the Xiongnu in the north. Cao Cao welcomed her back and asked her to sort out her father's works. Influenced by Cao Cao, some literati in Jian 'an period had a warm heart and wanted to do something. These literati all have extraordinary life experiences, such as social unrest, people's suffering and national peril, which further stimulated their creative enthusiasm. Many of their poems are ambitious and want to make contributions, thus opening up a new era of literature. Mao Zedong admired Cao Cao's poems: "I still like Cao Cao's poems. Magnificent, generous and sad, he is a real man, generous. " Writing poems for Cao Cao is just "beyond economy and poetry". Cao Cao started from participating in the suppression of the Yellow Scarf Army. He has been a soldier for more than 30 years. He is familiar with the art of war, has experienced many battles and accumulated rich military experience. "Shu Wei" said that he "marched with one division, which is more in line with Sun Wu's art of war. And because of strange things, the enemy won and became like a god. Bring your own books of more than 100,000 words, and all the generals will engage in "new books"; When it comes to things, it is a matter of restraint. If you obey orders, you will be defeated. " He also personally wrote works on the art of war, with more than 100,000 words.