Zhang Fei was a well-known general in the Three Kingdoms period at the end of the Han Dynasty, and together with Guan Yu, he was called the two "ten thousand enemies" at that time. It can be said that in terms of pure force, Zhang Fei is undoubtedly the best among the famous generals of the Three Kingdoms. Interestingly, during Liu Bei's conquest of Xuzhou, Zhang Fei killed Tao Qian's general Cao Bao. Why did this happen? Why did Zhang Fei want to kill Cao Leopard?
The killing of Cao Bao by Zhang Fei is recorded in the Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms Lü Bu, which is recorded in the Notes on heroes, namely:
Zhang Yide and Xia Pi Xiang Cao Leopard fought together, Yide killed the leopard, and there was chaos in the city.
In addition, the Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms Liu Bei's biography cites the Book of Heroes, which also has relevant records of this matter, namely:
Zhang Fei was left to guard Xia Pi, and led his troops to fight with Yuan Shu at the Huaiyin Stone Pavilion, and there was a victory and defeat. Tao Qian sent Cao Bao to Xia Pi, and Zhang Fei wanted to kill him.
Through the above two paragraphs, at least two points of information can be clarified. First, Zhang Fei did personally kill Tao Qian's old general Cao Bao; second, Zhang Fei killed Cao Bao at the site of Xia Pi in Xuzhou. As for the reason why Zhang Fei killed Cao Bao, the author believes that there are mainly the following two points:
As we all know, since the death of Xuzhou Mutaoqian in the first year of Xingping (194), Liu Bei began to take charge of Xuzhou. In terms of the situation at that time, Tao Qian's old ministry was roughly divided into two forces, the pro-Liu forces represented by Mi Zhu and Chen Deng supported Liu Bei's command of Xuzhou, while the anti-Liu forces represented by Cao Bao had different opinions on Liu Bei's command of Xuzhou.
Although on the surface, Cao Bao switched to Liu Bei after Tao Qian's death and was able to continue to serve as the minister of Xia Pi, deep down, Cao Bao was quite dissatisfied with Liu Bei's takeover of Xuzhou. On the one hand, this is because Liu Bei was after all a foreign force in Xuzhou, and on the other hand, because Liu Bei changed Tao Qian's internal and external policies, that is, from anti-Cao Cao lian Yuan Shu to cao Cao anti-Yuan shu.
Zhang Fei, as Liu Bei's concubine and beloved general, would naturally fully support Liu Bei's division of Xuzhou. For any forces that swayed Liu Bei's rule of Xuzhou, Zhang Fei must eliminate them. Therefore, when Liu Bei and Yuan Shu were at war, Zhang Fei was bound to get rid of Cao Bao in order to ensure the stability of Xuzhou's rear.
The direct cause of Zhang Fei's murder of Cao Bao was that the two of them had quarreled in xia pi city as mentioned in the history books. From this, it can be seen that Zhang Fei and Cao Bao obviously have differences in handling specific affairs, which also shows that there are differences in their personalities.
In terms of region, Zhang Fei is a native of Zhuo County, Youzhou, with a strong and bold temperament, while Cao Bao is a Xuzhou native with a meticulous and subtle temperament. It is precisely because of the difference in regional culture that there are obvious differences in the personalities of the two. Therefore, on many issues, Zhang Fei and Cao Bao often have differences, and the contradictions between the two are getting deeper and deeper. In the end, Zhang Fei, who was not good at handling this contradiction, chose the method of violent killing.
In summary, the fundamental reason why Zhang Fei had to kill Cao Bao was that Cao Bao was not pro-Liu forces, and the direct reason was the intensification of the contradictions caused by the difference in personality between the two. It is worth mentioning that Zhang Fei's killing of Cao Bao directly led to the division of forces within Xuzhou, and Lü Bu took advantage of this to seize Xuzhou.