Cao Cao's Ten Lectures

Chapter 4 The Emperor is a Shield

In history, more than 490 emperors who proclaimed themselves emperors alive and after their deaths ruled China for more than 2000 years.Everyone thinks that the emperor is all majestic, why did the emperor lament: I hope that generations will not be born in the emperor's family?It's just because a phoenix with shedding hair is not as good as a chicken, and an emperor who has lost power will also be bullied by dogs!
His Majesty's Political Legacy

Perhaps not many people know the last emperor in Chinese history, but Qin Shihuang, the first emperor in Chinese history, is well-known in China, women and children, and even has a high reputation in the world.Why?Just because he created a great empire, "created" the title of emperor, and became the first real "emperor" in history.

Is the title of "emperor" a product of Qin Shihuang's majesty, ostentation, and whim?No, the "emperor" created by His Majesty the First Emperor in history has a deep historical origin and strong political motives, and the title of emperor was developed step by step.

The most popular saying about the origin of the word "emperor" is that after Qin unified China, Qin Wang Yingzheng felt that he was "virtuous and three emperors, and his merits surpassed the five emperors". "Huang" and "Five Emperors" take one character each to create the title of "Emperor".Since then, this title has become the title of the supreme ruler of feudal society. Countless careerists, schemers, and politicians have fought for this title with "endless life and endless struggle". The scull is to compete for the throne of "Emperor".

So what are the "Three Emperors and Five Emperors"? Why did His Majesty the First Emperor prefer "Emperor" and "Emperor"?

There are many versions of the "Three Emperors and Five Emperors" in history. Some people think that the "Three Emperors" refer to the three divine emperors in the early days of the human world, namely the "Emperor of Heaven", "Emperor of Earth" and "Emperor of Man".Among them, "Tianhuang", "Dihuang" and "Huangtian Houtu" are directly related. "Tianhuang" is reversed from "Huangtian", and "Dihuang" is converted from "Houtu". The relationship between the two emperors and "Emperor Heaven" and "Houtu" is indirect, and their "Natural family" should be the God and landlord in the "Eight Temples" of Qidi.Tianzhu and Landlord are the highest gods among the eight gods worship—the god of heaven and earth.The alchemists of Yanqi "turned God, landlord, and man into the emperor of heaven and earth".Therefore, the "three emperors" should refer to the gods of the three realms of heaven, earth, and man, and these three gods encompass the entire universe.Of course, some people think that the "Three Emperors" are three advanced nations or three monarchs who pay attention to the "kingly way" to govern the world.As for the "Five Emperors", one theory is that Yandi Shennong, Huangdi Youxiong, Zhuanxu Gaoyang, Emperor Yao Taotang and Emperor Shun Youyu.Some people also believe that the "Five Emperors" are Shaohao Jintian clan, Zhuanxu Gaoyang clan, Emperor Ku Gaoxin clan, Emperor Yao Tao Tang clan and Emperor Shun Youyu clan.The "Five Emperors" recorded in Sima Qian's "Historical Records" are: Huangdi, Zhuanxu, Ku, Yao, and Shun.It can be seen from this that the "Three Emperors" refer to "God" to a large extent, while the "Five Emperors" are probably the supreme leaders of the tribal alliance before Xia. Because of their heroic leadership, the tribe developed rapidly, so It is honored by people as "Emperor".

However, the "Five Emperors" called by the Qin people during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods were different from those of the Central Plains countries, and were closer to gods.The early Qin people believed that there were four gods in the sky: blue, yellow, white, and red. This theory originated from the worship of the four directions in the Yin Dynasty.In the Spring and Autumn Period, the people of Qin raised the gods of the four directions to be emperors.In the middle and late Warring States period, the people of Qin combined the "emperors of the four directions" with the five elements and azimuths based on the prevailing theory of yin and yang and five elements at that time, and created a new "theory of five emperors": the five emperors were called the gods of five directions, that is, they lived in the east and west. , South, North and Middle five gods.Qingdi, the Eastern Heavenly Emperor Taihao, governs Spring; Red Emperor, the Southern Heavenly Emperor Yandi, governs Summer; White Emperor, the Western Heavenly Emperor Shaohao, governs Autumn; Black Emperor, the Northern Heavenly Emperor Zhuanxu, governs Winter; Yellow Emperor is the ancient holy king with the highest status , is the emperor of the center.This is a relatively special worship of the five emperors formed in Qin, which is obviously different from the worship of the five emperors in the early Central Plains.In the Central Plains, the five emperors were originally the ancient emperors, the ancestors or leaders of the nation, and of course the ancestor gods. When they came to the Qin people, they were given the temporary duties of dominating one side, and they also had the function of gods.The five emperors in the minds of the Qin people are holy kings, ancestors, heroes, and gods in one, and they have become the objects of worship of the Qin people.

It can be seen from this that "emperor" and "emperor" in the eyes of the ancients, especially in the minds of Qin people, are largely "gods", who are omnipotent, omnipotent, omniscient, and superior to all things. "god".

It is precisely because both "Emperor" and "Emperor" are beyond reach, and are incomparable to ordinary monarchs in the world. Therefore, after entering the slavery class society of the Xia Dynasty, the supreme ruler of the country was called "Wang"; Worshiping ghosts and gods, combining gods and gods with their own ancestors, and believing that the king of Shang, as the supreme ruler in the world, is the son of gods and gods, so the term "son of heaven" had already appeared at that time.At the end of the Yin and Shang Dynasties, the Zhou people in the northwest began to rise. At that time, the leaders of the Zhou people began to become kings. King Wen of Zhou worked hard for 40 years, "Three parts of the world, Zhou has two."After King Wu destroyed the Shang Dynasty, the Zhou people practiced "feuding the state and establishing the country" and established five levels of titles: Duke, Marquis, Bo, Zi, and Nan.The Zhou people tried to maintain their long-term rule through the kingly way by "respecting heaven, filial piety, and protecting the people".

But in the middle and late Western Zhou Dynasty, the Zhou royal family began to decline, and the Western Zhou Dynasty perished. At the beginning of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, the direct fiefs of the Zhou royal family were greatly reduced, and even reached the point where they had to beg from the feudal princes in the early Western Zhou Dynasty to live.The decline of the royal family, the loss of the status of "co-lord of the world", while some enfeoffed "princes" and "hous" became more powerful and fought with each other, which plunged the whole society into a long-term turbulent stage, which is the Spring and Autumn Period and Warring States Period.During the Spring and Autumn Period, vassal states large and small fought against each other for land and population. The so-called "unjust war in the Spring and Autumn Period" refers to this stage.But at this time, although the Zhou royal family was weakened, it was still the "co-lord of the world" in name, and the traditional concept was still "under the sky, is it the land of the king; on the shore of the land, is it the minister of the king", so it can be called "king". Still can only be the King of Zhou.At this time, the rise of "hegemony" is the "Spring and Autumn Five Hegemonies" that occurred in the Spring and Autumn Period. The leaders of the vassal states who dominated at that time were called "Bo" after being recognized by the King of Zhou, and "Bo" means "Ba". "Ba" is actually a way of conquering opponents and ordering the world by relying entirely on force.

Obviously, judging from this evolution, emperor, emperor, king, and tyrant are not only four stages of historical development, but also four titles; they are not only the four ways of governing the country, but also the realms that can be achieved by the four social developments.Among them, "emperor" and "emperor" are almost gods, and they are pure "royal ways", while "king" is between gods and men, between kingly ways and domineering, and they are more inclined to "conquer people with virtue", while "tyrants" "It is pure violence, "convincing people with force", which is a typical "dominant".These four methods are in a descending sequence. "Guanzi · Art of War" says that "the emperor who understands the one, the emperor who observes the way, the king who understands virtue, and the one who seeks the victory is the tyrant." It can be seen that "tyrant" was the lowest state at that time. , while "Emperor" and "Emperor" are the "advanced stages of development".

During the Warring States period, the authority of Zhou Tianzi was completely lost, and the competition for hegemony dominated by the "Seven Heroes" became more intense.This is what Mencius said, "If you fight for land, you will kill people; if you fight for a city, you will kill people."And the "contention among a hundred schools of thought" that arose during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods also saw ideological debates, and each proposed a strategy to unify the world.Among them, Confucianism advocates that "those who are not addicted to killing can be one", believe that unification needs to "conquer people with virtue", and advocate the kingly way.However, on the basis of not blatantly denying the "kingly way", what the princes really adopted was the hegemony of "convincing people with force" that was advocated by the Legalists and was closer to reality.Therefore, the Warring States period can be divided into the period when Wei State dominated the Central Plains, the period when Qin and Qi confronted each other, and the period when Qin unified the six countries.However, hegemony is only the initial stage of the ideals of princes, and it is the beginning of emperor, emperor, king, and hegemony. Therefore, when the princes think that they have enough strength, they will develop to the higher stage of "king" and "emperor". .In 344 B.C., King Hui of Wei "rides a Xia chariot and calls himself the King of Xia", as if he was the emperor.With this beginning, Qi, Qin, Zhao, Han, Yan, and Zhongshan became kings one after another before long, setting off a movement to become kings.The Warring States Period was obviously an era of "competing for strength", and the hegemony of "conquering people with strength" was obviously more practical and effective.But in the minds of the world, the kingly way has a greater appeal. On the one hand, because the kingly way is based on the people, conquers people with virtue, and acts righteously with benevolence, it has won the hearts of the people; The king himself is a bit higher than the five hegemons, so the hegemony fighters pull up the banner of kingship on the surface, but in fact they engage in domineering activities.However, if there are too many "kings", it will appear that they are not majestic enough to "stand out from the crowd". Therefore, when the "kings" of various countries in the Warring States period have greatly increased in strength and stand out in the battle for hegemony, they will not be satisfied with being kings. To proclaim yourself emperor.In 288 BC, Qin and Qi proclaimed themselves emperors at the same time, King Zhao of Qin proclaimed the Emperor of the West, King Hua of Qi proclaimed the Emperor of the East, and the Eastern and Western Emperors coexisted.Proclaiming the emperor is beyond the level of being a king, and it is a higher level. The king is basically the ruler of the people and the king of the country; the emperor is half-human and half-god, possessing considerable divinity.In the process of ascending from hegemony to king to emperor to emperor, the higher the level, the more difficult it is, so at that time there were many hegemons and kings, and only the two emperors of the East and the West were called emperors, and they were short-lived. The emperor title was canceled for various purposes.

When Qin Wang won the government, he relied on the powerful strength accumulated by the six generations of monarchs to unify the Central Plains with a destructive momentum, and truly achieved the uniqueness of the world.He thought he had the virtues of the three emperors and the merits of the five emperors. In order to show that he was "unprecedented", he simply took the titles of emperor and emperor together, and created a new title of "emperor". "Emperor" and "Emperor" are recognized as "Gods" by all social classes. Self-proclaimed "Emperor" actually respects the supreme ruler of a feudal country as a "God" rather than a human being, which not only makes the "Emperor" appear superior Infringement further puts the supreme ruler in the cloak of a "god" recognized by the whole society.Therefore, this title was readily accepted by the supreme rulers of later generations, and became a "legacy" left by His Majesty the First Emperor. The feudal history of more than 2000 years is a history of making emperors and gods.

The Power of an Incompetent Emperor's "Example"

Qin Shihuang, China's first emperor, not only created the title of emperor and put the emperor in the supreme position, but also created a series of systems to guarantee the absolute power of the emperor.He changed "mandate" to "system" and "order" to "edict". The emperor called himself "zhen", and his subjects called the emperor "your majesty".Your Majesty was originally the ladder in front of the palace, and it was used to refer to the emperor to show respect for the emperor.At the same time, all the power is concentrated in the hands of the emperor, "no matter big or small, it all depends on the top", and the courtiers only have the obligation to suggest and implement.In this way, the emperor system created by Qin Shihuang turned the whole society into a pyramid-shaped highly centralized power with the emperor as the core.This system is very necessary for an empire that has moved from long-term division to unity.However, the more concentrated the power, the more shrewd and capable the emperor who is close to the "god" is required.Once the emperor cannot control the compass of the huge empire due to his own reasons, the power will either be abused or fall into the hands of others, which will bring disaster to the empire and eventually affect the superior emperor. China's feudal history has proved this time and again.

As far as the Qin Dynasty is concerned, Hu Hai, the second emperor of Qin after His Majesty the First Emperor, came to power by conspiracy. He had no experience in governing the country, and he would not appoint loyal ministers. He only trusted Zhao Gao, an eunuch with a mental disorder.They maintained their absolute authority by massacring the royal family and the subjects of the world, and pushed Qin Shihuang's tyranny to the extreme, which eventually caused a storm of peasant uprisings, and wiped out the once-prominent great empire, turning it into a thing of the past.The Western Han Empire, established in the ruins of the Qin Dynasty, "Han inherits the Qin system" and fully accepts a set of rules and regulations of the "emperor". The 11 reigning emperors of the Western Han Dynasty, the founding emperor's ability to conquer the country, goes without saying; Emperor Hui had experienced wars and was still able to maintain success; Emperor Wen and Emperor Jing had experienced civil strife and had the experience of governing the country in peace and stability in times of crisis, so the "rule of Wen and Jing" appeared; Emperor Wu of Han pushed the empire to a climax.In addition, the emperor of the Western Han Dynasty basically inherited the throne as an adult, so the entire Western Han Dynasty was still stable for more than 200 years, but Wang Mang, a rotten scholar, hijacked a doll to ascend the throne, and borrowed the popular prophecy of the society at that time to "take inventory" of the Western Han Dynasty into his own hands. A "new" dynasty was established.It's a pity that this great Confucian who only knows how to go back to ancient times couldn't come up with a good way to solve the social problems at that time. It got worse and worse. In the end, he was "recovered" by the descendants of Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty and established the Eastern Han Dynasty.

However, the Eastern Han Dynasty was generally a relatively bad dynasty. The highly concentrated imperial power encountered a series of useless emperors. The shortcomings of the emperor system were fully manifested in this dynasty.

Emperor Guangwu of the Eastern Han Dynasty won the world right away. He had great courage and superb means of governing the country, so he was able to control the difficult and difficult situation in the early days of the founding of the country. The disapproval of the privileges of this power group laid the groundwork for the split of the Eastern Han local tycoons in the future.After Emperor Guangwu, Emperor Ming and Emperor Zhang succeeded to the throne as adults. They knew that it was difficult to start a business, and it was even more difficult to maintain a business.

But after Emperor Zhang of the Han Dynasty, the emperors of the Eastern Han regime were all dolls who ascended the throne, which made the supreme power fall into the hands of others, and the emperor often became a decoration and a shield for various groups to fight for power.

In 88 A.D., the young and powerful Emperor Hanzhang died, and the 10-year-old Hedi came to the throne. This is like a doll holding a mountain of gold, who doesn’t know how to spend it, or how to make money to make money, so as to achieve “sustainable development” , In this way, the emperor's "divine power" fell aside.At this time, Empress Dowager Dou came to the court, and Dou Xian, the elder brother of the Empress Dowager, took control of the government as a general.This is the beginning of the dictatorship of foreign relatives in the Eastern Han Dynasty.Members of the Dou family were all over the imperial court and held high-ranking officials and important positions. All the officials could only be submissive, and the emperor became a show.When Emperor He was a little older, he was extremely dissatisfied with Dou's dictatorship, but because he was isolated from his internal and external officials in the deep palace, he could only rely on eunuchs.In 92 A.D., he used part of the forbidden army under the control of Zhongchang's Zheng Zhong to kill the party members of the Dou's group around the Queen Mother. As a result, Zheng Zhong and other eunuchs were made marquises and participated in the government. This was the beginning of the eunuchs' interference in the government of the Eastern Han Dynasty.

If these "ten-year daughters-in-law become mothers-in-law", the emperors who have grown up basically know how to maintain their health and live longer, but once they have imperial power, they will have all the wealth of the empire. As a result, the bodies of the emperors were quickly emptied, and one by one "unwillingly and unwillingly" left the colorful world they once had. Therefore, the emperors of the Eastern Han Dynasty changed back and forth like a lantern.

In 105 AD, Emperor He died at the age of 27.The power once again fell into the hands of relatives, and Emperor Shangdi Liu Long, who was born only more than 100 days ago, ascended the throne. Emperor Shangdi died in August of the following year.Afterwards, Empress Dowager Deng made Emperor He's nephew Liu Huzhan Emperor, known as Emperor An in history.Empress Dowager Deng relied on her elder brother Deng Zhi to take power, and the Deng family was in power, which aroused Emperor Andi's dissatisfaction.In 8 AD, after the death of Empress Dowager Deng, Emperor An used the eunuch group to attack Deng's relatives. Deng Zhi was forced to commit suicide, and the Deng family fell into decline.The eunuchs Li Run and Jiang Jing were reused by Emperor An.

In 125 AD, Emperor Andi died again at the age of 32.According to the usual practice, the Empress Dowager Yan is in power. This is a talented empress who will not ease internal conflicts and will soon have conflicts with the eunuch group.Empress Dowager Yan and her brother Yan Xian began to make Liu Yi, the young Marquis of Beixiang, the grandson of Emperor Zhang, as emperor, but he died soon after, and was known as Shaodi in history.Empress Dowager Yan wanted to make a child emperor, but eunuch Sun Cheng and others conspired to kill Jiang Jing and Yan Xian, and support the deposed prince born to a court lady. Liu Bao, who was 11 years old, came to the throne and was known as Emperor Shun in history.Empress Dowager Yan was moved, Sun Cheng and others were made marquises, and the power of eunuchs increased greatly.

During the period of Emperor An and Emperor Shun, the eunuchs had developed to the point of interfering in the government affairs at will, even falsely passing on the emperor's orders and acting mischievously, and the emperor was helpless.In order to suppress the eunuch group, Emperor Shun began to support the power of his relatives, and successively worshiped the queen's father Liang Shang and his son Liang Yi as generals.

After several rounds of contests, both relatives and eunuchs have accumulated rich experience in fighting, and both have discovered the beauty of establishing a young emperor.At this time, the center of power had been transferred to various groups, and the emperor of the Eastern Han Dynasty seemed to have become a trump card for various groups to seize power and attack their opponents.

After the death of Emperor Shun, his relative Liang took power.Empress Dowager Liang and Liang Yi successively established 2-year-old Chongdi Liu Bing, 8-year-old Zhidi Liu Zuan, and 15-year-old Huandi Liu Zhi, which became the heyday of foreign relatives ruling.Liang Yi's Zhidi Emperor was intelligent and precocious, dissatisfied with Liang Yi's monopoly, calling him a "dominant general", but was poisoned to death by Liang Yi.Liang Yi poisoned Emperor Zhi to death and suppressed the court ministers.In 146 A.D., his brother-in-law, 15-year-old Liu Zhi came to the throne, known as Emperor Huan in history.During the 24 years of his relative Liang Yi's monopoly, three emperors were established. The Liang family produced seven princes, three empresses, six nobles, and two generals. The power has reached its peak.

In 159 A.D., Empress Liang died, and the grown-up Emperor Huan was unwilling to lose power, so he conspired with eunuch Shan Chao and others to send troops to suddenly surround Liang Yi's mansion, forcing Liang Yi to commit suicide and regain power.But at this time, it was not the emperor who really held power, but the eunuchs.After the Liang family was destroyed, the five eunuchs who had meritorious service were granted the title of Marquis on the same day, and they were called "Five Marquis".

From the fourth year of Hedi Yongyuan (92) to the second year of Huandi Yanxi (159), during this period, the emperor basically succeeded to the throne at a young age, so that the queen mother came to the court, and the queen mother used her father and brother to assist the government, so she sent her relatives in and out. The court holds great power and is invincible.When the young emperor grew up, he relied on the power of eunuchs to attack his relatives.In the past 60 years, there have been four major struggles between foreign relatives and eunuchs, all of which ended in the victory of the eunuchs, which gradually strengthened the power of the eunuch group and moved towards the peak of power step by step.

From the time when Emperor Huan cut off Liang Yi to the period of Emperor Ling, it was the most arrogant period of eunuchs in the history of the Eastern Han Dynasty, and it was also the culmination of the development of eunuch power.At this time, the eunuchs used the official selection system to form cliques for personal gain, and their forces spread all over the country.Eunuchs also got involved in the judiciary. They took advantage of the authority of the emperor to control the judicial power; more importantly, the eunuch group controlled the Imperial Army in the capital.At every critical moment of struggle, they used the army they had in their hands and the emperor they controlled to force the emperor to issue edicts that were beneficial to them or even draw up their own edicts, so as to firmly control the central government and then the whole country.In 168 A.D., the 12-year-old Lingdi came to the throne, and the eunuchs became more arrogant and suppressed the bureaucratic group with the help of imperial power.From then on, the emperor also relied on the eunuch's breath. Emperor Ling often said: "Zhang Changshi (Zhang Rang) is my father, Zhao Changshi (Zhao Zhong) is my mother." The entire Eastern Han Dynasty regime has been completely controlled by eunuchs.

The struggle between foreign relatives and eunuchs and their alternate dictatorships are the sharp manifestations of the internal contradictions of the feudal ruling group under the autocratic system.Because the supreme ruler in the early Eastern Han Dynasty tried his best to perfect the autocratic system, the power was highly concentrated in the hands of the emperor. The emperor became the embodiment of all power, and those who coveted power tried to hold the emperor hostage.After Emperor Zhang in the Eastern Han Dynasty, the imperial power fell to the side, and was alternately controlled by eunuchs and relatives. Regardless of relatives or eunuchs, they were two extremely decadent forces in the ruling group of the Eastern Han Dynasty.No matter which force comes to power, it will bring endless disasters to the people.The ruling group of the Eastern Han Dynasty gradually exhausted all their strength in this alternating internal strife and began to decline.

Throughout the history of the Eastern Han Dynasty, since Emperor Zhang, the imperial power was no longer truly controlled by the emperor. In the repeated struggles among eunuchs, relatives, and bureaucratic groups, the emperor was just a banner and a signboard.Moreover, the emperors in the middle and late Eastern Han Dynasty were themselves a bunch of pussies. Even if they used one group to regain power from another group, it would only transfer power from one group to another group. They could not control the supreme power of the empire at all.In the middle and late stages of a dynasty, the emperor could not control an empire, and could not control various power groups; then at the end of a dynasty, even if the capable Cao Cao wanted to be a "capable minister" and try his best to turn the tide, how could it be possible?It is undoubtedly wishful thinking that the last emperor Han Xiandi tried to revive the court when the building was about to collapse.All of this heralds the disillusionment of young Cao Cao's dream of being a loyal minister; it is doomed to the tragic fate of the last emperor of the Eastern Han Dynasty.

The last emperor's life-saving straw

The political life of Han Xiandi Liu Xie, the last emperor of the Eastern Han Dynasty, was also quite dramatic.From the king to the emperor and finally to the marquis, he was tossed and wandered in the early stage, exhausted, and even couldn't eat three meals a day.Later, under the protection of Cao Cao, he served as a puppet emperor for more than 20 years. Although he had no worries about food and clothing, he "could not be filial to his parents if he looked up, and could not keep his wife if he looked down." One can imagine the misery.After the death of Cao Cao, the hero of a generation, his son Cao Pi couldn't wait to pull the puppet emperor off his horse, and ascended to the emperor's throne in a "relinquish" way.No one can tell whether the emperor died of illness or was poisoned by Cao Pi when he was demoted to the rank of Marquis.In any case, the key to the last emperor being able to sit on the emperor's throne for nearly 30 years is that he found a life-saving straw through repeated comparisons, and this life-saving straw also needs such a self-aware The emperor, the two sides made a win-win "business", the straw is Lord Cao Cao.

In 189 AD, Emperor Ling of Han died, leaving behind Empress He and two minor sons.At that time, the prince Liu Bian was born to Empress He, and Chen Liu Wang Liu Xie was born to a beautiful woman.According to Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty, he liked Liu Xie more, and tried to make Liu Xie the prince during his lifetime, but was opposed by the ministers, so he had to give up.But he was still not reconciled, and when he was dying, he confessed to the eunuch who held the power of the imperial army to make Liu Xie emperor.But the eunuch who was in power was cut down by Yuan Shao and others, and the crown prince Liu Bian finally became the emperor. He was called the young emperor in history.Empress He became the empress dowager, but the orphans and widowed mothers couldn't keep the country at all, so the empress dowager used her elder brother He Jin again, and the Eastern Han Dynasty entered the final round of conflicts between eunuchs and relatives.

He Jin advocated killing all the eunuchs, so as to ensure that his relatives headed by him monopolize the power of the court.But when Empress Dowager He was still a queen, she once poisoned the mother of Liu Xie, the king of Chenliu, which made Emperor Han Ling very angry and almost abolished her. The result turned out that several eunuchs in the palace gave Emperor Han Ling 1000 million yuan each. Let Lingdi, who is open to seeing money, be happy, and the matter of abolishing the empress will be over.Empress Dowager He couldn't bear the eunuch's kindness to her, so she didn't advocate killing all the eunuchs.As a result, He Jin listened to Yuan Shao's suggestion and ordered Dong Zhuo to enter the capital. Before Dong Zhuo entered the capital, the eunuch killed He Jin first, and the Yuan Shao brothers rushed into the palace to kill the eunuchs, which led to turmoil in the central government.The so-called "snipe and clam fight, the fisherman benefits", the eunuchs and their relatives fought internally, and the eunuchs who had harmed for more than a hundred years were all killed, but the relatives were also leaderless. He was able to ascend to the rank of Ninth Five-Year.

Dong Zhuo was still on his way to Beijing when he learned that the palace was in chaos and the emperor disappeared, which was a serious event.Because a country cannot live without a king, the people all over the country were looking for the emperor, but Dong Zhuo found it right away.Seeing Dong Zhuo's vicious look, the 14-year-old Shaodi screamed in fright, but the 9-year-old Liu Xie was able to explain the turmoil in detail, allowing Dong Zhuo to grasp the first-hand information. Thus coaxing and deceiving to control the central government.

In the first year of Chuping (AD 190), Dong Zhuo entered the central government. In order to establish his own prestige, he pulled the young emperor Liu Bian from the throne and helped Chenliu king Liu Xie. Poisoned.Dong Zhuo tried to control the central power by abolishing the emperor, so as to establish his absolute authority.His idea is not wrong, but from the central to the local, those generations of nobles look down on this big boss who made his fortune by force from the bottom of his heart.Soon, the anti-Dong coalition forces in Kanto came to kill in mighty force.

Seeing that the situation was not good, Dong Zhuo panicked, so he adopted the "three light" policy of "strengthening the wall and clearing the wilderness". All the places were burned, all the people who were unwilling to move were killed, and all the surrounding property was looted.The poor Eastern Han dynasty worked so hard to manage the wealth for 200 years, but it was burned and robbed by Dong Zhuo and the wolf-like Xiliang army.The young Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty was forced to move to Chang'an, but Chang'an itself in the Eastern Han Dynasty was already dilapidated. The 9-year-old little emperor and ordinary princes and ministers watched Dong Zhuo's face and acted nervously in the dilapidated palace.

Although Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty was appreciated by Dong Zhuo, he did not receive the respect he deserved. He still sat on the altar as a puppet and could not make his own voice.Due to the "lack of joint strength" of the anti-Dong coalition forces in the Kwantung, except for Cao Cao, Sun Jian and Dong Zhuo's troops fought two hard battles, the coalition forces finally retreated without fighting. ".Dong Zhuoyi, who had no foreign aggression, became arrogant. Not only did he not pay attention to Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty and the officials, but he also defiled the harem, plundered property, and slaughtered officials and civilians with torture, causing all the bureaucratic landlords and citizens in Guanzhong to hate him. , In addition, it also stimulated the internal contradictions of Dong Zhuo Group.In the end, Situ Wangyun and Dong Zhuo's righteous son Lu Bu designed to kill Dong Zhuo in the name of Han Xiandi.From the first year of Chuping.That is to say, Dong Zhuo entered Luoyang in 190 and fell in three years from Chuping. In just three years, Dong Zhuo not only burned all the cultural property accumulated in the Han Dynasty for 400 years, but also turned Luoyang, the most prosperous at that time, into ruins, and discredited the central government. A large number of wolf-like Xiliang warlords continued to ravage the Guanzhong area.His actions can be described as blatant crimes, spreading poison all over the world, causing the Eastern Han regime to suffer heavy losses after the Yellow Turban Army uprising, and losing the last hope of revival.

After Dong Zhuo was executed, Situ Wangyun took control of the government, but he was headstrong and could not tolerate other people's opinions, which disappointed the officials. What's more, he neither pardoned nor dismissed the Xiliang army brought by Dong Zhuo, which made the army The soldiers in Xiliang were panicked.Dong Zhuo's subordinates, Li Cui and Guo Si, were not dealt with after Dong Zhuo was killed, so they lost their minds, and even wanted to disband their troops and escape separately.Jia Xu, a native of Wuwei, encouraged them to gather troops to go to Chang'an for a bet.If you win, you will take control of the government; if you lose, you will run for your life.This kind of mob was originally a desperado, and they tried their best to attack Chang'an, but they went all the way without hindrance, and hundreds of thousands of people gathered at the city of Chang'an.The rebels broke through Chang'an, drove away Lu Bu, killed Wang Yun, and took control of the central government of the Western Han Dynasty.

Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty once again became the puppet of Dong Zhuo's remaining tribes. Li Cui and Guo Si reappointed hundreds of officials under the banner of the emperor and established another court.Li Cui became General Cheqi, General Guo Sihou, General Fan Chouyou, General Zhang Ji Huqi, and each of them was enshrined as a general.Li, Guo, and Fan took control of the government in Chang'an, and Zhang Ji garrisoned troops to promote agriculture, fearing that the princes of the Kanto would take the opportunity to counterattack.

And what are the vassals of Kanto doing busy at this time?They were busy fighting each other and grabbing land, and they didn't seem to be interested in the distant Guanzhong and the little emperor.At this time, the one who really remembered the small imperial court in Guanzhong was Cao Cao, who had been beaten to a mess by the Xiliang army.

After failing to join the anti-Dong alliance, Cao Cao decided to develop independently.In 193 AD, Cao Cao became the actual ruler of Yanzhou under the support of Yanzhou officials. After more than half a year of fighting, he completely defeated the Yellow Turban Army in Qingzhou, established his own armed forces, and owned his own territory.After Cao Cao gradually gained a firm foothold in Yanzhou, Mao Jie, his adviser, proposed to him a preliminary idea of ​​using the emperor to order the princes. He believed that the world is now falling apart, the country is in turmoil, the people are displaced, and famine is spreading everywhere.The money and food in the public treasury are not enough to save for a year, and the people everywhere have no idea of ​​living and working in peace. This is not a long-term solution.It should be enshrined to the emperor to fight against rebels in various places, and encourage farming to store money and food for the army.In this case, it is not difficult to achieve hegemony.Mao Jie actually put forward two suggestions. One is to welcome the emperor and gain political advantages; the other is to appease the exiles, strengthen production, and ensure the manpower and material resources for the war.Cao Cao praised him deeply, so he sent envoys to Chang'an to congratulate Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty.This was the first contact between Cao Cao and Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty. Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty knew that there was such a "submissive" courtier, and Cao Cao also obtained the official position of Yanzhou pastor from the "central government", making his rule over Yanzhou reasonable and legal .

Just when Cao Cao was considering how to "welcome" the emperor to his territory next, both Yanzhou and Guanzhong fell into turmoil.Because Cao Cao's father was killed, he conquered Tao Qian in Xuzhou twice. As a result, the backyard caught fire and Yanzhou was occupied by Lv Bu and others, so he fought Lv Bu to the death.And when Cao Cao was fighting with Tao Qian and Lu Bu, Ma Teng of Xiliang had a falling out with Li Cui because of a personal matter. The army fought endlessly in Chang'an City, making Chang'an a dead city.Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty sent people to reconcile, but none of the warlords bought Emperor Xian of Han's account. Instead, they took Emperor Xian of Han as a hostage at every turn.

Li Cui and Guo Si fought for several months, and Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty couldn't stay in Chang'an anymore. In July 194 AD, he left Chang'an with all the civil and military officials, and went to Hongnong where Zhang Ji was stationed.The generals with soldiers and horses fought back and forth along the way. At first, General Duan Kuma and later General Yang Ding fought due to personal enmity, and no one could do anything to the other.Then Li Jue and Guo Si joined forces again and chased after them to rob them. They slaughtered all the princes and ministers led by Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty. All the guards of honor and seals and ribbons of the royal family were lost.Facing the danger, the ministers decided to return to Luoyang by water.In 7 A.D., Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty and his party returned to Luoyang, the capital at that time, after going through untold hardships.At this time, Luoyang was already in ruins and dilapidated. In Luoyang, the diet and daily life of the emperor and hundreds of officials were even like beggars.

Regarding the tragic situation of Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty, the princes had their own calculations.Jushou, Yuan Shao's counselor, first suggested that Yuan Shao accept Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty, and use Emperor Xian of Han to "make the princes use the emperor, and the beasts and horses to fight for justice", but Yuan Shao's other counselors disagreed, and Yuan Shao hesitated.Just when Yuan Shao's head was at both ends, the Cao Cao Group unanimously agreed, contacted the ministers under Han Xiandi, and finally met Han Xiandi first.

Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty has never lived a comfortable life since he ascended the throne of the emperor. On the road from Chang'an to Luoyang, he was miserable all the way. Hate and fear.At this time, he found that there were still such "loyal" officials coming to worship and pay tribute respectfully. He couldn't help being elated, and immediately appointed Cao Cao as the captain of Sili to record the affairs of the minister.From then on, Cao Cao took real power.Afterwards, Cao Cao followed Dong Zhao's suggestion and coaxed and deceived him in the name of the dilapidated palace in Luoyang and the shortage of food and grass. Finally, in 196, the first year of Jian'an, he welcomed Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty to Xuchang, his old nest.

Although Cao Cao had a small plan of "serving the emperor to order the princes", after seeing the emperor, he always worshiped the emperor in accordance with the dignity of Han officials and the etiquette of the Han Dynasty, and he was very thoughtful and careful when arranging the life of the emperor. , so that Emperor Xian, who no longer knew what it was like to be an emperor, finally felt the joy of life, found his own life-saving straw, and tied everything about himself to the chariot of the Cao Cao Group.So, this weak warlord finally won a golden baby.

It's good to enjoy the shade under the emperor tree

Cao Cao took Han Xiandi to Xuchang. In order to stabilize the mood of the last emperor, Cao Cao did a lot of tricks, which made Han Xiandi feel the dignity of the emperor.After Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty arrived in Xu County, Cao Cao immediately organized manpower to build a palace for the emperor, so that the emperor had a place to settle down.What's more interesting is that Cao Cao sent the emperor a large number of urgently needed daily necessities such as pots, pans, satin and silk quilts.Not only that, Cao Cao sent all these things, and then posted a memorial called "Shang Miscellaneous Book", claiming that what was presented was the imperial utensils given to his grandfather and father by the late emperor, and as imperial Neither my grandfather nor my father used the gift, but respectfully enshrined it at home, and now I return the royal artifacts to the emperor.As a result, some daily necessities that were not worth a few dollars became valuable items for the queen; a courtier who harbored ambition became the most loyal minister; The minister's offering.Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty felt relieved at once. It seems that such a thing as "home ownership" exists at any time.Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty not only lived here by himself, but also set up an ancestral temple in Xuchang. He really took Xuchang as his long-term stronghold, and naturally entrusted himself and the future of the Han Empire to this eunuch named Cao Cao.

Cao Cao's material guarantee and moderate respect for Emperor Xian really got the huge reward he expected.When he was still in Luoyang, Emperor Xian bestowed on Cao Cao the Jieyue, recorded the affairs of the minister, and served as the lieutenant of Sili, equivalent to the assistant to the prime minister and the commander of the capital military region.After moving the capital to Xuchang, he was appointed general.The general of the Eastern Han Dynasty was a position above the Sangong.Qin Shihuang established the Qin Dynasty, set up the prime minister, doctor of the imperial court, and Taiwei, known as the "Three Dukes", and set up the "Nine Ministers" below, which became the basic institutions of the central government.The Han Dynasty basically inherited this system, but the position of "Great General", which originated in the Warring States Period, gradually became more and more important due to frequent foreign wars.For example, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty successively worshiped Wei Qing and Huo Qubing as great generals. He not only controlled the soldiers and horses in the world, but also ranked above the Sangong. However, this position varies from person to person.In the Eastern Han Dynasty, in order to weaken the power of the aristocratic family, Liu Xiu, Emperor Guangwu, set up Shangshutai to control the real power of the country. The chief executive of Shangshutai was Shangshuling. The dignitaries are in charge.But although these positions have high prestige, their actual power is not great. Emperor Guangwu just wanted to use this method to empty many heroes.However, the power of the position of general rose steadily. In the Eastern Han Dynasty, it was fixed at the top of the three princes, and commanded the national army. In fact, it held dual positions of military power and political power. Great power.Therefore, by making Cao Cao a general, Cao Cao actually became the commander-in-chief of the national army in name.

The benefits Cao Cao gained from Han Xiandi were just the beginning. For him, Han Xiandi was in his own hands, which made him politically invincible.In everything he did, he stated his intentions in the name of the emperor, used the name of the emperor to conquer the Quartet, and subdued the rebel forces everywhere. In this way, Cao Cao seemed to be the "general agent" of the emperor, and began to cut off the pack of heroes.The first thing that caught Cao Cao's attention was Yang Feng, who made great contributions to escorting Emperor Xian back to Luoyang.Yang Feng had an army and was wary of Cao Cao. He tried to prevent Cao Cao from moving Emperor Xian of Han to Xuchang, so he was a threat to Cao Cao.In September 196 A.D., Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty added Cao Cao as a general and Marquis of Wuping. In October, Cao Cao conquered Yang Feng in the name of the emperor, on the pretext that Yang Feng prevented Emperor Xian from moving eastward.Cao Cao's name was justified, and he beat Yang Feng into a panic, so he fled to Huainan to join Yuan Shu.Cao Cao took a breath of anger, occupied the territory and accepted the army, and tasted the sweetness of playing the banner of the emperor for the first time.

At this time, Cao Cao and Han Xiandi initially formed a win-win situation. One kept his job, had no worries about food and clothing, and was worshiped; the other found an excuse to develop and expand his power.But this situation is not very good for the princes, because at this time, anyone who fights against Cao Cao is against the emperor and the central government, which is very unfavorable to the princes who want to separate one side.

Cao Cao rose like a dark horse, and immediately aroused the vigilance of the princes from all walks of life.The first person who dissatisfied with the central government headed by Cao Cao was Yuan Shao, who occupied a vast area in Hebei, had millions of people, and nearly [-] troops.

For Yuan Shao, Cao Cao knew it well, because the two warlord leaders were a pair of "iron buddies" when they were young, and the two of them did a lot of sneaking and fighting together.During the eunuch rebellion and the battle against Dong Zhuo, they once fought side by side in a trench.Cao Cao knew that he was weak and occupied a small area of ​​the Central Plains. Although he was well-connected, he was also surrounded by enemies, because Zhang Xiu, Lu Bu, Yuan Shu, Liu Biao and other forces were all around Cao Cao, and they all fought with Cao Cao. state".At that time, Yuan Shao had been annexing Gongsun Zan's forces in Hebei. Both brothers had "fish" to eat, and the well water did not interfere with the river water. There was no direct and serious conflict. He also maintained a temporary "peace" with Cao Cao.

Therefore, for Cao Cao, the top priority is to "magnify and catch the small", avoid the real and attack the weak, stabilize the big fish, swallow the small fish, and make himself bigger and stronger as soon as possible.Based on this strategy, Cao Cao still used the name of Emperor Han to stabilize this strategic threat from the north.Cao Cao suggested that the emperor appoint Yuan Shao as Taiwei. Taiwei was an official position set up by Qin Shihuang.But this position is actually a false title, because the army is the foundation of the country. During the Qin and Han Dynasties, it was always controlled by the emperor, and the post of "general" who rose later had the actual power to command the army.By the Eastern Han Dynasty, the position of general had already ranked above Taiwei.

As soon as the edict arrived in Hebei, Yuan Shao was furious, because this descendant of the "Four Generations and Three Dukes" knew what was going on with the Taiwei.For this authentic "son of aristocratic family" with high self-esteem, he absolutely cannot bear to be under Cao Cao.Therefore, Yuan Shao wanted to turn his face at that time.To the ministers sent by the imperial court at that time, Yuan Shao said this sentence: Does he want to force the emperor to order me?Knowing that his former "friend" and future "opponent" were dissatisfied, the pragmatic Cao Cao didn't care about this illusory title, and immediately appointed Yuan Shao as a general in the name of Emperor Xiandi of the Han Dynasty, while he "degraded to use" and let the emperor "Appoint" himself as Sikong, driving and riding generals.

"Sikong" is just equivalent to today's Minister of Water Conservancy and Construction, and "General Driving and Cavalry" means acting General of Vehicle and Cavalry, not even an official general. After one promotion and one demotion, Yuan Shao was satisfied.In the name of the imperial court, Cao Cao gave Yuan Shao an empty title, and let the most powerful group at that time stay in Hebei foolishly, and gave Cao Cao three years to watch Cao Cao cut off the little brothers around him one by one.

During these three years, what was Cao Cao doing at the cusp of the crisis? In the first month of 197, Cao Cao began to attack Zhang Xiu in Wancheng, and defeated Zhang Xiu's army through repeated conquests.At this time, Yuan Shu, who lived in Huainan, was eager to make a move, and he actually called himself emperor. This was absolutely intolerable to the Han regime with Han Xiandi as its orthodox.So Cao Cao sent troops to fight Yuan Shu's army.Yuan Shu was weak, proclaiming himself emperor was not only dissatisfied with the feudal lords, the common people disapproved, even his own people disapproved, so he was unable to fight against Cao Cao at all, suffered repeated defeats, and finally died in embarrassment.During the conquest of Yuan Shu, Liu Biao and Zhang Xiu harassed Cao Cao several times. After defeating Yuan, Cao Cao defeated Zhang Xiu and Liu Biao again, making them dare not take the initiative to fight again.At this time, Lu Bu, Cao Cao's mortal enemy, drove Liu Bei away and occupied Xuzhou, posing a threat to Cao Cao. In September 198, Cao Cao conquered Lu Bu himself. In October, Cao Jun slaughtered Xuzhou and besieged Xiapi (now east of Xuzhou).Cao Cao used Gou You and Guo Jia's strategy to irrigate the city with water from Juesi and Yi. After more than a month, the city of Xiapi was destroyed. Cao Cao executed Lu Bu, Chen Gong and others, and surrendered Zang Ba and other generals. In April 9, Cao Cao marched into Linhe (now Linhe County, Inner Mongolia), defeating Suigu and others. In August, Cao Cao marched into Liyang (now Jun County, Henan). In September, Cao Cao returned to Xudu and divided his troops to defend Guandu, forming a confrontation with Yuan Shao.

These more than three years were actually when Cao Cao was weakest, because his strength was only slightly stronger than Zhang Xiu, Liu Biao, Yuan Shu and others, and he was surrounded by powerful enemies.For Cao Cao, the only way to survive is to adopt a strategy of defeating each.If in the process of competing with the power groups in the south, Yuan Shao suddenly launched an attack, formed an alliance with any group, and Cao Cao fought on two fronts and faced enemies on all sides, he would be dead.But the high hat of "Great General" made Yuan Shao lose his vigilance, and made Cao Cao feel at ease and boldly conquer the little brothers in the south in the name of the Son of Heaven.In three years, Cao Cao not only occupied a large area of ​​land, but also trained a small but very strong and combative army.Coupled with the stability of Cao Cao's rear base, the great success of the garrison policy, the economic foundation, and the presence of a Han emperor there, the people of Li and the scholars and officials all recognized the central government centered on Xuchang. The battles are all localities against the central government, divisions against unity.This caused Cao Cao's political, economic, and military strength to expand rapidly, and he finally had the capital to compete with any power. In this way, the time was ripe for a strategic decisive battle with Yuan Shao, the largest power group in the north.

The Battle of Guandu in 200 A.D. was a well-known battle for later generations. Cao Cao won the final victory, which laid the foundation for him to unify the north and further consolidated the Xuchang regime's "Han orthodox" status.Afterwards, Cao Cao held high the banner of the Central Han Dynasty, and then relied on his force to make any power group in a politically weak position in the struggle with Cao Cao.Because when the local forces confronted Cao Cao's forces, it was like a rebellion against the original central government, and Cao Cao won quite a lot of hearts.Cao Cao not only defeated the remnants of Yuan Shao's nephews and nephews, but also the noble families in the north automatically joined him.After that, he conquered Wuhuan in the north and got the help of Tian Chou's guide; in 208 AD, Cao Cao led his army to the south in an attempt to unify the whole country, and conquered Liu Biao in the name of the prime minister of the Han Dynasty. Under strong political and military pressure, Liu Biao died of illness, and Liu Cong surrendered .Before the decisive battle of Chibi, Cao Cao played the banner of Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty, and wanted to "hunt" Soochow with Sun Quan, causing the Jiangdong Group to mess up.If it weren't for Cao Cao's army, which was mainly from the north and didn't practice water warfare, and the army was plagued by epidemics, the history of the Three Kingdoms would have ended.Afterwards, Cao Cao conquered the northwest warlords and Qiang rebel forces, and won a complete victory, ending the northwest rebellion that began in the middle of the Eastern Han Dynasty.In 215 AD, Cao Cao marched into Hanzhong. The Zhanglu regime, which had been separated from Hanzhong for three generations, could not stop the banner of unification. After the military defeat, they sealed up the treasury and surrendered.So far, Cao Cao has unified most of China.

Going hand in hand with the successive military victories are Cao Cao's huge political gains. In June 208, Cao Cao was named prime minister. In 6, Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty ordered Cao Cao to enter the court and not to go, and to walk on the sword in the palace, imitating the story of Xiao He in the early Han Dynasty. In May 212, Cao Cao was named the Duke of Wei; in July, Cao Cao began to build the Wei Sheji Ancestral Temple; in October, Cao Cao divided Wei Commandery into the east and west, and set up a captain. In November, Cao Cao set up Shangshu, Shizhong and Liuqing for the first time. In 213, Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty made Wei Gong the position above the princes, and instead awarded Jinxi, Chifu, and Yuanyou Crown. In May 5, Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty entered Cao Cao as the king of Wei. In April 7, Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty ordered Cao Cao to set up the banner of the Son of Heaven, which was called Jingbi (the vehicle and road used by the emperor to travel). In May, Cao Cao built the Pan Palace. In October, Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty ordered the king of Wei to wear twelve gongs on his official hat, ride in a golden root chariot, drive six horses, and equip a five o'clock auxiliary chariot, and made Cao Pi the crown prince of Wei.

So far, Cao Cao had the conditions to replace the Han Dynasty politically, unified most of China militarily, supported an emperor at the least cost, and obtained the greatest political, economic, and military benefits.

Dilemma of princes and warlords

When Han Xiandi was still "fearful like a bereaved dog", running around and no one paid attention to him, the princes and warlords did not pay attention to Han Xiandi, and no one wanted this down-and-out emperor to ride on his head as a prestige Fu, making himself in a dilemma.However, when Cao Cao took Han Xiandi to Xuchang, "decorated" Han Xiandi and enshrined him as the emperor "sincerely and sincerely", the situation changed immediately.Cao Cao not only got many titles from this reasonable and legal emperor, but also won the support of many scholars and people. More importantly, he got a banner that seemed to be righteous at the time, and he gave orders in the name of the emperor at every turn. , come to send troops.At this time, the princes and warlords discovered that the seemingly useless Han Xiandi and Cao Cao were very difficult to deal with.The princes were caught in a dilemma, because their titles and territory were given by the emperor, and they were all nominally subordinate to the central government. Now that the emperor has a central government in Xuchang, this government is operated by Cao Cao, but every time he shows up They are all Han Xiandi, so every prince and warlord who confronted Cao Cao had to rack their brains to deal with the banner of Han Xiandi.

Yuan Shao was still the first to deal with the advantageous combination of Han Xiandi and Cao Cao.This son of a family is not stupid. He immediately saw the harm to his future development if Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty fell into the hands of Cao Cao, so he wanted to nip this unfavorable situation in the bud.He first wanted to imitate Cao Cao and deceive Han Xiandi to his own territory, so he wrote a letter claiming that Luoyang was broken, and Xuchang was not good.Cao Cao is well aware of Yuan Shao's little trick, but since he has the signboard of Han Xiandi, he will definitely use it without hesitation whenever it is beneficial.So Cao Cao issued an imperial edict in the name of Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty, accusing Yuan Shao of not coming to rescue him when he was in danger, but only blindly developing his own power, grabbing territory, expanding the army, and having no loyalty to the Han regime.Regarding this edict, Yuan Shao also knew that it was Cao Cao's intention, but the other party issued an edict in the name of Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty to criticize himself, and Yuan Shao did not dare to risk the disgrace of the world to argue with the emperor openly, so he could only write a letter of self-criticism and send it to Xuchang , suffered a sap from Cao Cao but had nothing to say, and couldn't help but feel useless.

When Cao Cao tried to appease Yuan Shao with an empty title of Taiwei, the son of the aristocratic family finally couldn't help losing his temper, but he still didn't dare to point the finger at Emperor Han Xian, and could only complain that Cao Cao was "taking the emperor to order the princes".Cao Cao was very generous when he saw that his companion had reached out to ask for a high official. He formally appointed Yuan Shao as a general in the name of Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty, and he was demoted two ranks in a row.Now, Yuan Shao was satisfied, and fought Gongsun Zan for Youzhou with all his strength, and put aside the matter of robbing the emperor of Han, and finally gave Cao Cao a chance to breathe.But even so, Yuan Shao still couldn't forget that his "general" was above Cao Cao. He wanted to command Cao Cao to show his prestige, so he asked Cao Cao to kill Yang Biao and Kong Rong who had a problem with him.However, Cao Cao accused Yuan Shaoyitong in the name of Xiandi, pointing out that the country is in a precarious state. In this "autumn of mutual trust", the most important thing is to gather people's hearts and gather popularity, rather than killing the hearts of the people in the world. Some righteous and generous words, and moved out the mountain of Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty, made Yuan Shao lose his temper.

In fact, Yuan Shao also had the plan of "coercing the emperor to command the princes" at first, but he hesitated for a while, which allowed Cao Cao to take the lead. In addition, because of his vanity, he was greedy for the position of "general", and gave Cao Cao three years of opportunity.Of course, Yuan Shao was not idle either. He annexed the great enemy in the north, Gongsun Zan, and owned the territory of four states, millions of people, and hundreds of thousands of troops.By 199 AD, Cao Cao and Yuan Shao had small-scale contacts. One mountain cannot accommodate two tigers, and a big battle to determine who is the real master of the Central Plains is inevitable.

In the battle of Guandu in 200 AD, it is unreasonable to say that Yuan Shao did not use his brain.After eating a few sap sticks from Cao Cao who carried the banner of the Son of Heaven, the Yuan Shao Group also knew that it would be morally passive to openly confront Cao Cao, the "agent" of Emperor Xiandi of the Han Dynasty, and make people feel that they were fighting against the central government and rebelling.Therefore, at the beginning of the formulation of the strategy, Yuan Shao's counselors Jushou and Tian Feng thought that the world is in chaos, the people are struggling to live, the north has just stabilized, and the people yearn for peace, so it is unpopular to initiate a war.Therefore, you can avoid the real situation and use the fact that your own group has already acquired the four states of Jizhou, Qingzhou, Youzhou, and Bingzhou to eliminate Gongsun Zan and stabilize the vast area. The emperor reported the victory, telling his "great contribution" to stabilizing and unifying the country.In this way, Cao Cao was presented with a dilemma: let the Yuan Shao Group report, Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty must be rewarded, so that Yuan Shao will gain a higher reputation, and the connection between Emperor Xian and Yuan Shao Group will be strengthened, thereby weakening Cao Cao's power to control the emperor; Dedicating the emperor means blocking the king's road and committing the crime of deceiving the emperor. Yuan Shao can justifiably attack Cao Cao. No matter which way, Yuan Shao can grasp the strategic initiative.At the same time, in terms of specific tactics, they proposed to use mobile warfare, protracted warfare, and attrition warfare to drag Cao Cao down.

This method of going from passive to active in politics and adopting a steady and steady approach in tactics is extremely clever.Because Yuan Shao is powerful, if he takes the initiative in politics, he will win morally and win the hearts of the people, and then fight a war of attrition in the military, which can completely drag Cao Cao down.

However, Yuan Shao, who had great ambitions and few talents, still adopted a quick solution.Even so, he still wisely distinguished Cao Cao from Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty, and asked Chen Lin, a master writer in the army, to write a battle essay, which is the famous "Yuzhou Wen".In the article, Chen Lin first exposed Cao Cao's background, saying that Cao Cao's grandfather Cao Teng was an eunuch who "injured and abused the people"; ;Cao Cao himself is a person who "remains ugly and has no virtue", that is, the descendants of eunuchs and eunuchs. He is not a good breed and has no good moral character.

In addition, Cao Cao's behavior of killing political enemies, digging graves, and stealing money was widely publicized and vilified Cao Cao; Cao Cao's behavior of serving Han Xiandi was interpreted as "outside entrusted guards, inside real detention", which means that Han Xiandi was imprisoned by Cao Cao , Cao Cao used Emperor Xian to order the world, and Yuan Shao attacked Cao Cao in order to understand and save Emperor Xian.It seems reasonable and reasonable to write through Chen Lin's pen: Cao Cao is a "traitor" next to Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty, and Yuan Shao sent troops to "the side of the Qing emperor" to rescue Emperor Xian, which made Yuan Shao's troops appear to be well-known.From this point of view, even the most powerful group at that time had to find a reason to separate Cao Cao from the emperor in the face of Cao Cao, so as to avoid the suspicion of confronting the central government and the royal family. After all, in the feudal era, the emperor represented justice and unity.

Although Chen Lin's writing style is very good, it is said that Cao Cao broke out in a cold sweat and healed from chronic illnesses and headaches, but Yuan Shao finally failed due to strategic mistakes, and he failed so badly that he died in depression.Two years later, his incompetent sons fought each other, allowing Cao Cao to include the Yellow River Basin into his sphere of influence under the banner of the Son of Heaven.

Compared with Yuan Shao who only let his staff insult Cao Cao's personality, Liu Bei and Sun Quan's group in the future will be much smarter in dealing with Cao Cao under the banner of the Son of Heaven.When Zhuge Liang made the strategic plan for Liu Bei in Longzhong, he clearly pointed out that Cao Cao's ability to defeat Yuan Shao depended not only on the timing but also on people's strategy. It is a military advantage, and it is also in an extremely active position politically.Therefore, Zhuge Liang came to the conclusion that "this sincerity cannot be competed with." Finally, he suggested that Liu Bei should play more of the signboard of "Uncle Liu Huang" in politics, stick to the orthodox status of the Han Dynasty, and call for "rejuvenating the Han Dynasty"; The strategic goal is to seize Jingzhou and Yizhou as bases, wait for the opportunity, and then divide the troops into two groups to attack the Central Plains in the north.These are actually two strategies to deal with Cao Cao with political and military "two hands".

However, before Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang launched their own strategic deployments, in 208 AD, Cao Cao, who was named prime minister by Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty, used the name of the emperor to mop up Liu Biao and Sun Quan who were hiding in the south and prepare to unify China in one fell swoop.At this juncture, Liu Biao, the core of the Jingzhou Group, turned his back and left a mess to his 14-year-old son Liu Cong.At that time, Liu Cong still wanted to occupy the land of Jingchu, keep his foundation, and "see the world from afar".However, the minister Kuai Yue and others pointed out: "The strong and the weak have the general trend, and now the enemy is strong and we are weak; it is against the sky to resist the ruler with people and ministers; it is unnatural to use Jingzhou to counter the Central Plains." It clearly pointed out that Liu Cong was unable to resist Cao Cao's army under the banner of the Son of Heaven in military, political and economic terms. What an idea, only a few 14 people in Jingzhou surrendered.

Facing Cao Cao's Han Tianzi banner, Liu Bei and Sun Quan, who wanted to separate the regime, used their brains.Although Liu Bei did not have the military strength to compete with him, he was driven away by Lu Bu as early as 196 and defected to Cao Cao. After getting the signboard of "Uncle Liu Huang" from Han Xiandi through Cao Cao's recommendation, he has always been running around with the image of "benevolence" .

In more than ten years, from Xuzhou to Jizhou, and from Jizhou to Jingzhou, although he did not establish his own solid base and strong military force, he gained a lot of political reputation.Therefore, when facing annihilation, Liu Bei still asked Zhuge Liang to unite with Sun Quan under the name of Uncle Liu Huang.

Sun Quan Group received a letter of war from Cao Cao: with 80 people, they will patrol on behalf of the emperor, and they will "hunt" Soochow with Sun Quan.They were in a panic, not only fearing Cao Cao's powerful military power, but also fearing Cao Cao's political morality.At this critical moment, Zhuge Liang launched the signboard of "Uncle Liu Huang" to reassure Sun Quan, but Zhou Yu counterattacked, claiming that Cao Cao was "named the Prime Minister of the Han Dynasty, but he was actually a traitor of the Han Dynasty", and positioned Cao Cao as a "rogue minister and thief" of the Han Dynasty. , In this way, Sun Liu teamed up to play the sign of Uncle Liu Huang, positioning Cao Cao as a "thief of the Han", and still positioning himself as the role of "the side of the Qing emperor", which can compete with Cao Cao politically and morally.Because of Sun Liu's strengths and weaknesses, and because of Cao Cao's underestimation of the enemy, the battle of Chibi finally ended with Sun Liu's victory, establishing a three-point world.

After the Battle of Chibi, Liu Bei developed his forces in the name of Liu Huangshu, while Sun Quan still grabbed territory in the name of eliminating "Han thieves".The Northwest Warlords themselves were a mob, but because the central government of the Han Dynasty was weak and improperly employed people, they allowed them to run rampant in the Northwest for decades. Seeing Cao Cao's elite troops and the Han Emperor's banner of justice, after a few battles, they could only surrender. , run away.When Cao Cao conquered Zhang Lu in 215, the three generations of Zhang Lu's ancestors and grandchildren came from humble backgrounds. In the troubled times at the end of Han Dynasty, a political and religious regime was established by virtue of religion. There was no canonization of the emperor at all. There is no "legality" in the first place.Therefore, when the prime minister of the Han Dynasty came to conquer, Zhang Lu "wanted to return to the country", and the fall of the fortress Yangping strengthened his belief that he could not fight against the "son of heaven", so he obediently surrendered to the "central government".

Cao Cao used the name of the emperor of Han to conquer the west, which put the princes in a moral dilemma, because from the bottom of their hearts they tried to occupy one side, and even competed for the world. It is not clear to the princes that they live and work in peace and contentment.Therefore, Cao Cao's use of the banner of the Son of Heaven made the princes and warlords very passive, while Cao Cao was always active, creating favorable conditions for an early end to the separatist regime.Although Cao Cao was defeated in the Battle of Chibi and formed the Three Kingdoms, the partial unification also created good conditions for the unification of the world.

(End of this chapter)