In the seventeenth year of Jian'an (212 AD), Xun Yu, the Grand Master of Guanglu, was in the Wei army camp in Shouchun when he received a food box from Cao Cao, which was empty. Cao Cao was almost already saying to Xun Yuming——
In the future Wei Kingdom, there is no place for you.
Subsequently, Xun Yu burned the letters of his lifelong plan and advice, and along with the dissipation of the green smoke, xun Yu's 21 years of great assistance to Cao Cao and 21 years of relying on each other.
Xun Yu received Cao Cao's empty food box. Source/Screenshot of the TV series "Army Division Alliance of Sima Yi of the Great Army Division"
Yingchuan's past
In 163 AD, in the Xihaoli Subdistrict of Yingyin County, Yingchuan County, a new life was ushered in in the home of the Scholar Family Xun Qi, who named the boy "Yu", taking its meaning of "elegant and educated". The Yingchuan Xun clan is a local family clan.
Xun Yu's grandfather, Xun Shu, was a key figure in the rise of the Yingchuan Xun clan. The key reason is not that Xun Shu's official position is high, but that through his knowledge and conduct, he and Li Gu and others have firmly stood in the "disaster of the party" and have not been overwhelmed by persecution, thus becoming the spiritual leader of the family clan.
Since the Eastern Han Dynasty, the family clan has developed rapidly, monopolizing the township deliberations and inspections, and then actually controlling local power. No matter how the DPRK and China change, it is always a force that those in power need to rely on.
This can also be seen from the body of Xun Shuang, another legend of the Yingchuan Xun family, Xun Yu's sixth uncle: first the great general He Jin recruited him to be a zhonglang, and later he was killed because He Jin was killed. When Dong Zhuo was in power, Xun Shuang was again conscripted, and as a cloth cloth, he was promoted to the third rank in a row and served as a sikong, creating a career record of going from zero foundation to ranking third duke in 95 days.
Xun Yu's father and seven uncles had a good reputation at the time, which reminded the villagers that the ancient Gaoyang clan also had eight outstanding sons, so the Yingyin County Order changed the name of the street in Xihaoli to Gaoyangli.
Therefore, this Yingchuan family, which is passed down from scripture to the family, is naturally full of expectations for Xun Yu's generation. And Xun Yu did grow up to be the best of this generation. The sixth uncle Xun Shuang's friend He Yong (二声), who was old friends with Yuan Shao and Cao Cao, also conspired with Xun Yu's nephew Xun You to assassinate Dong Zhuo during Dong Zhuo's rebellion. He Hao praised Xun Yu, a junior, and said: This is Wang Zuo's talent!
Xun Yu. Source/Screenshot of the TV series "Army Division Alliance of Sima Yi of the Great Army Division"
The growth path of the Eastern Han Dynasty celebrities and important ministers was generally to first learn the classics from famous teachers, to the capital Luoyang to learn gold plating, and then to be recruited as central or local officials, with an excellent opportunity to become important ministers of the imperial court. As Chen Yinke said, "The high gate at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty must be both a Confucian and a large family." ”
The Yingchuan Xun clan is undoubtedly particularly prominent in the "high gate". However, the two disasters of the party have changed the situation somewhat, and the children of the big clan who have come out of the way often have unexpected disasters. For the safety of the family, Xun Yu's father disregarded the wind and arranged a family affair for Xun Yu, who was the daughter of tang Heng, a eunuch and a general on horseback.
This kind of power arrangement also reflects the Xun family's style of doing things.
In the first year of the Eastern Han Dynasty (189 AD), a few years after the ban on the disaster of the party, Xun Yuju, who was already 26 years old, served as a palace keeper in the middle of the dynasty, which belonged to the shaofu sequence, if it were not for the chaotic world, it could be said that it was a decent official position. However, the good times did not last long, and a few months later Dong Zhuo was in turmoil, and Xun Yu applied to go to another place to serve as a county order in order to protect himself. During the same period, yuan shao, a lieutenant of the Chinese military academy, and Cao Cao, a lieutenant of the dian military academy, fled Luoyang.
When he returned to his hometown, what he saw and heard in Luoyang made Xun Yu realize that chaos was coming: after the toss of the Yellow Turban and Dong Zhuo, the imperial court could not even maintain the superficial articles, and his hometown Yingchuan was the land of four wars, and it would be plagued by war. Therefore, Xun Yu urged his father and elder to move away. Moving was not exile, Xun Yu had already contacted his destination, Jizhou, to defect to Jizhou Mu, Yingchuan's hometown, and Yuan's protégé Han Fu.
Han Fu in film and television dramas. Source/Screenshot of the new version of Three Kingdoms
However, most people relocated, it may also be that there are no conditions, and in the end Xun Yu only took his clan and family north, crossed the Yellow River, and moved to the area around Yecheng.
The Xun family ostensibly defected to Han Fu, but in fact, like the few Yingchuan shi who migrated with them, they were all attached to the truly powerful Yuan Shao. Yuan Shao's conspirators included Guo Tu and Xin Ping of Yingchuan, as well as Xun Yu's brother Xun Chen.
Yuan Shao in the film and television drama. Source/Screenshot of the new version of Three Kingdoms
At this time, in the Kwantung prefectures and counties, the anti-Dong Zhuo alliance with ghost fetuses had been established, including He Jin's old subordinates Zhang Yang and Bao Xin, and Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu, who wanted to establish a separate imperial court.
Although Xun Yu was treated by Yuan Shao as a "courtesy of a guest", he was still looking for real opportunities. The reason why he wanted to leave was perhaps because Yuan Shao's side had been stuck in a position by the Hebei family clan, leaving insufficient space for the Yingchuan people; perhaps as later generations said, Yuan Shao's vision and temperament exposed his lack of potential; perhaps it was just because there was already a Xun Chen in the family who was thrown under Yuan Shao's account.
But one thing is certain, Cao Cao is the most attractive target. The Xun family's attention to Cao Cao did not happen overnight, and the Xun family's family's friends He Yong once commented on Cao Cao: "The Han family will die, and those who are safe in the world will also be this person." (The Book of the Later Han Dynasty) This prophecy is even earlier than Xu Shao of the YueDan Commentary.
The crusade against Dong Zhuo, led by Yuan Shao, "the combined forces of the armies were uneven, hesitant and moving", one moment lined up into individual characters, the next line into a word. While the allies were twisting and pinching, Dong Zhuo had already set fire to the Luoyang Palace, dug up the tombs of the Han Emperor and the Gongqing, drove the people, robbed Tianzi, and ran to Chang'an, leaving Luoyang with a radius of 200 miles. Under the "shock of the sea", only Cao Cao's foreign army in the coalition army suddenly rose up and led the army to the west alone, but was defeated by Xu Rong in Xingyang, and the thin family foundation of several thousand people was almost lost, which was very different among the princes of all walks of life.
Cao Cao once tried to assassinate Dong Zhuo. Source/Screenshot of the 94th edition of Romance of the Three Kingdoms
After Xingyang's defeat, Cao Cao began to bottom out. First of all, he defeated the Black Mountain Thief in Dong County, and under the support of Yuan Shao, he became the Taishou of Dong County. In 191, the 29-year-old Xun Yu came to Cao Cao's side, much to Cao Cao's delight, comparing Xun Yu to "My Son Fang" and appointing him as Sima beibu, a common official position used to expand the armed forces in the late Han Dynasty. Cao Cao's "sub-house" Xun Yu brought xun yan and xun yue of the same clan, as well as a large number of "great talents of destiny" in the future.
Yu Hewei, who played Cao Cao, also played Xun Yu in his early years. Source/Screenshot of the TV series Cao Cao
Xun Yu advised Cao Cao to run the East with all his might, and Dong Zhuo did not have to care, he would blow himself up ("it will end in chaos"). With the correct policy, coupled with the participation of Cheng Yu, a high-energy Han clan in Yanzhou, and Chen Gong, the representative of the Shijia clan, Cao Cao's good fortune could not be stopped. The Qingzhou Yellow Turban Army suddenly rose up and killed Liu Dai, the Assassin of Yanzhou. With the support of all parties, Cao Cao successfully defeated the yellow turban army of Qingzhou, which claimed to be 300,000, and was incorporated into the Qingzhou army, and was subsequently played by Yuan Shao as Yanzhou Mu.
At this time, Yingchuan in Yuzhou had already been swept away by tens of thousands of troops led by Li Dai and Guo Feng, "killing men and women, and there is no recurrence of the class", the father and fellow villagers have suffered disasters, the old yingchuan clan has wandered in all directions, Guo Jia and others have defected to Yuan Shao, and Xun You and others have visited Jingzhou. After that, the entire State of Yu was basically under the control of the Yellow Turban Army, which was attached to Yuan Shu.
This was just the beginning, and in the days to come, Zhongyuan would be reduced to scorched earth again and again, and Xun Yu had already made his unique choice.
The great examination of yanzhou's change
After the dissolution of the anti-Dong Zhuo alliance, the main line of the melee was the struggle between Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu, at this time Cao Cao had a state and had become the largest force attached to Yuan Shao in the Central Plains. Cao Cao gained a foothold in Yanzhou and served as Yuan Shao's thug, defeating Yuan Shu and Tao Qian successively.
In 193 AD, in order to avenge his father's killing, Cao Cao led an army to march east to Xuzhou Taoqian, and Yuan Shao sent Zhu Ling to supervise the battle. At this time, the Yanzhou backyard was accidentally on fire, and the source of this scourge was that Cao Cao killed the Yanzhou celebrity Bian Rang.
Bian Rang was originally appointed by Dong Zhuo as the Taishou of Jiujiang, but after resigning his official position and returning to his hometown, on the border of Yanzhou, he repeatedly spoke contempt for Cao Cao, who was born in a eunuch family, and was later killed by Cao Cao, which caused panic among the Yanzhou family. Chen Gong and other Yanzhou natives chose to abandon Cao Cao and plotted to support Chen Liu, who was born a hero, to guard Zhang Mi. They took Lü Bu's southward journey as an opportunity to carry out anti-Cao tandem in Jeonju. Without the support of the family clan, Cao Cao lost the ability to govern the counties, and overnight, almost all of Yanzhou turned against him, leaving Cao Cao with only Juancheng, Dong'a, Fan County, and Dong County.
Xun Yu, who was at the rear of Juancheng and the main town, faced the most severe test in the three years since he came to Cao Ying, and he was also the first person to perceive that something was wrong. At that time, Zhang Mi sent people to Xun Yu to ask for military food, saying that Lü Bu had brought people to assist Cao Cao in attacking Xuzhou. The others did not know, Xun Yu immediately realized that Zhang Mi had defected, and while stepping up his defense with overstretched troops, he urgently asked for help from Xiahou Huan in Dong County.
Xiahou Huan rushed to the aid of Dong Commandery's living forces and killed more than a dozen rebels in Juancheng, stabilizing the situation slightly. At this time, Shi Guogong, the assassin of Yuzhou in the south, led tens of thousands of soldiers to the city, rode the wall to see, if he saw that the city was weak, he would follow the trend to be the vanguard of Cao Cao, and if there was nothing to earn, he would retreat over the wall.
Xiahou Yu advised Xun Yu not to go ("Jun, the town of Yizhou, is also in danger, not"), but Xun Yu calculated that Guo Gong and Yanzhou forces had no connection, and moreover, Cao Cao's enemy Xuzhou Tao Qian had just made Liu Bei the assassin of Yuzhou, and the enemy of the enemy was a friend, the most important thing was that reinforcements had arrived, the city should be cleared, and the situation had been stabilized.
Sure enough, as expected, in the face of the unpredictable situation and Xun Yu's aura of two meters and eight meters, Guo Gong was unwilling to gnaw hard bones. On the other hand, The Yingchuan man Fan County, whom Xun Yu recommended, also stabilized his position, and Cheng Yu used a trick to save Dong'a. Cao Cao's army was able to turn around and attack Lü Bu, relying on these strongholds that were difficult to defend, and launched a difficult tug-of-war with Lü Bu.
Schematic of the Battle of Yanzhou. Source/Network
The remaining team headed by Xun Yu withstood the most severe test, and what was tested was not only strategy, scheming, courage, and loyalty.
In 195 AD, Tao Qian fell ill and died, and Cao Cao saw the opportunity in Xuzhou again, and Yanzhou was already suffering from war and locust plague. Thousands of miles in the red land, it is better to transfer as soon as possible. However, Xun Yu advised Cao Cao that Yanzhou was a key place in the world, just like Han Gaozu's Guanzhong, although it was broken, but the good villains could protect themselves. In the Eastern Expedition to Xuzhou, there were not enough people, and there were not even people in the family who could cut firewood. Before fighting Xuzhou to kill too many people, it must have been met with deadly resistance. From this point of view, the Crusade belongs to the exchange of big for small, and the end of the line. Compared with chance in the east, it is more important to have the local autumn harvest, so it is better to divide the troops to harvest wheat from all over Yanzhou and solve Lü Bu first.
This was the first time xun yu helped Cao Cao make the right strategic decision, and there was a further harvest after driving Lü Bu away, that is, at a relatively low cost, in addition to Yuan Shao's hometown of Runan, the counties of Yuzhou except Yuan Shao's hometown of Runan. In 196 AD, Cao Cao broke the Yellow Turban Army in Yingchuan and opened a passage to the west.
At the same time, a great opportunity for Cao Cao to get rid of Yuan Shao's "offshore trading" north of the Yellow River and watch the fire from the other side also came.
"Serve the Lord to the people"
Emperor Xian escaped from Chang'an and passed through Hanoi to Luoyang, separated only by a mountain from the Yingchuan River controlled by Cao Cao, while Yuan Shao, who was near the water tower, was indifferent. In fact, Yuan Shao's subordinate Frustrated Zhi proposed the idea of taking Emperor Xian to Yecheng and "holding the Son of Heaven hostage to order the princes". However, Guo Tu believed that receiving Emperor Xian, listening to him was not, nor was he listening to him, it was a big trouble ("from it is light to power, if you violate it, you will refuse"), in the face of differences, Yuan Shao directly chose to shelve it.
Frustrated. Source/ Screenshot of CCTV version of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms"
Most of the people around Cao Cao also opposed the hot potato of taking over Emperor Xian, and some people thought that Yang Feng and Han Xian along the way still had considerable strength around Emperor Xian, which was not easy to control, and Cao Cao was neither the only force in the north nor the biggest force. Only Xun Yu strongly advocated the establishment of emperor Xian.
In the era of the Second Emperor Huanling, the Shijia clan suffered various blows, witnessed all kinds of chaos, and was no longer as enthusiastic about the Han regime as before, and even Yuan Shao, the leader of the Tianxia Clan, wanted to support the imperial court at will. However, in the eyes of the Xiao and Small Scholars, the 400-year-old Yu Wei of the Han Dynasty still exists, and even the symbolic Han Dynasty has great political value, which is the reason why Xun Yu advocated the establishment of the Emperor.
Unlike Frustrated Zhi, Xun Yu's statement is closer to the essence of behavior: it is recommended that Cao Cao "serve the Lord in order to obey the people's expectations." Not only that, he also put forward extremely high expectations for Cao Cao: "Serving Xiongjie with justice" and "Helping Hongyi to be handsome". Xun Yu also took the Chu-Han struggle for hegemony as an example, saying that Cao Cao did this, just like Liu Bang wore ma dai filial piety for the heart of the righteous emperor Xiong, which could move the world to return to his heart. At a time when all the new and old warlords were only talking about strength and strategy, Xun Yu's emphasis on politics, ethics, and even morality made him appear outstanding, and more importantly, he achieved his goal.
Xun Yu put forward this idea not only as a suggestion, but also as a representative of the voice of the Yingchuan Shi clan. Emperor Xian settled in Xu County, and Cao Cao's second-in-command Xun Yu ("Although Taizu was outside the expedition, the military and state affairs were all related to Yu Qi") became the Han Shang Shu Ling, in charge of government affairs, which made the Scattered Yingchuan talents rejoice, Xu Du was already located in Yingchuan's hometown, and at this time it became a spiritual homeland and a happy land for the cause. For a time, Xun You went north from Jingzhou, the top celebrity Zhong Xuan joined, Guo Jia received a letter from Xun Yu, and immediately rushed from Yuan Shao...
Guo Jia. Source/Screenshot of the TV series "Army Division Alliance of Sima Yi of the Great Army Division"
Welcoming the emperor brought dramatic effects. Yang Biao, the representative of the fourth and third dukes, came to Xudu, and kong Rong, who was famous in the world, was also excluded by Yuan Shao to Cao Cao's side. Yuan Shao, who had originally pinned the hopes of the Tianxia Shi clan, demanded that Cao Cao kill Yang Biao and Kong Rong. After the eunuch Cao Cao, an outlier in the eyes of a family clan, instead became a temporary protector of Yang, Kong and others, which was probably inseparable from Xun Yu.
Welcoming Emperor Yu Xudu can be said to be Cao Cao's most correct decision. When Cao Pi was proclaimed emperor, he once said in the edict: "The ancestors of the former Han Dynasty took Qinzhong as the foundation of the country, and Guangwu Hanoi as the king's foundation, and now they are restored to the altar to receive Zen, and the heavens have become Great Wei with this county." Although Cao Wei's core military forces were mainly from The State of Yuzhou, Yingchuan Commandery was the birthplace of his regime.
Among the many factors that contributed to all this, Xun Yu's role was decisive.
The world's greatest machine
Cao Cao, who welcomed the emperor, had Zhang Xiuyuan Shu in the south, Lü Bu in the east, and Han Sui Ma Teng in the west. In 197 AD, Cao Cao was depressed after his defeat to Zhang Xiu at Wancheng. Everyone else thought it was because of the defeat to Zhang Xiu, and Xun Yu saw that it was because of the frustration of his ambition to compete with Yuan Shao, so he encouraged Cao Cao and put forward Cao Cao's "Four Victories Theory" for Yuan Shao:
Yuan Shao has a small belly and chicken intestines, is suspicious of people, and you win in your heart; Yuan Shao reacts slowly, always misses opportunities, and you win strategically; Yuan Shao's discipline is unclear, rewards and punishments are unfair, and you win militarily; Yuan Shao does not know how to pretend to understand, and what attracts you is a mediocre talent who does not know how to be strong, and you win in morality.
The conclusion is, so we have to fight Lü Bu first.
Schematic of Cao Cao's battles against Yuan Shu, Zhang Xiu, Lü Bu, and Zhang Yang. Source/Network
After three years of operation and conquest, Cao Cao pacified Lü Bu and Zhang Xiu, while Yuan Shao in the north also occupied the entire territory of Youzhou, Hezhou, and Jizhou, and the confrontation between Guandu and Guandu had already begun.
Xun Yu was in the rear, in order to relieve Cao Cao's concern of "using the strength of Yanzhou and Yuzhou to oppose the remaining five-sixths of the world", he recommended Zhong Xuan, who had been eunuch in Luoyang for a long time, to stabilize the northwest, and solved the threat of Han Sui and Ma Teng purely by negotiation. In the east, after Cao Cao took Xuzhou and part of Qingzhou, he entrusted it to the surrendered Qingxu Haoqiang Zang Ba, and the eastern front had no worries.
Comparison of Yuan Cao's forces before the Battle of Guandu. Source/Network
The eyes of the world focused on Guandu, two hundred miles north of Xudu.
On the eve of the Great War, the contrast between strength and weakness is clear at a glance. Kong Rong, who often entered the palace with Xun Yu and Xun Yue and talked with Emperor Xian about scriptures, questioned Xun Yu: Yuan Shaodi was strong in the army, Tian Feng Xuyou gave him advice, Feng Ji was loyal and geng, yan Liangwen was ugly and brave, how could he lose?
Xun Yu's refutation was almost like a prophecy:
"Although there are many soldiers, the law is not neat. Tian Fenggang committed the crime, and Xu You was greedy but not cured. The trial is special and unscrupulous, and the two people are used for their own purposes, and if the family violates its laws, it will not be able to indulge, and if it is not indulgent, it will be changed. Yan Liang, Wen Ugly, a husband's brave ear, can fight a war and birds also. (Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Biography of Xun Yu)
In 200 AD, after the Incident of Dong Chengyi's edict, Yuan Shao took the opportunity to declare war. Cao Cao first defeated Liu Bei, then relieved the siege of Baima, and then contracted to Guandu, where he fell into a stalemate for several months. If before this, the strategic flickering of Xun Yu, Guo Jia, and Jia Xu still had a role, cao Cao at this time gradually could not resist. Seeing that the army's grain and grass were about to run out, Cao Cao wrote a letter to Xun Yu to discuss whether to return to Xudu and rest.
At this time, Xun Yu, acting as Cao Cao's gendarme, once again helped him make the right decision: stick to the battle line and do not retreat in despair.
Xun Yu said: The current situation is not difficult compared with Liu Bangxiangyu's confrontation in Xingyang. At that time, both sides did not dare to retreat. At this time, it is the great opportunity of the world, and whoever retreats at the peak moment will collapse to the end. Since you have been holding out with one-tenth of the other side's strength for half a year, it is the time to win by surprise, and then think of a way.
In fact, cao Cao faced a much worse situation in Guandu than liu bang in Xingyang: the yuzhou riots, the counties south of Xuchang surrendered to Yuan Shao, Xuzhou Haoqiang Changfeng rebelled tens of thousands of troops, Tian Feng persuaded Yuan Shao to fight Xu Du, Liu Bei also advised Liu Biao to fight Xu Du, the remnants of the Yellow Turban Army in Runan were eager to move, and the masses of Yuzhou moved north in large numbers. If you are not careful, you may completely disintegrate.
Afterwards, in his performance to the imperial court, Cao Cao did not hesitate to praise Xun Yu's correct persistence, saying that he "saw the opportunity of victory and defeat, and was slightly out of the world", that he could "survive with death and bring happiness with misfortune", and that his vision was superior, including himself. After the victory at Guandu, Cao Cao was still jealous of Yuan Shao's strength, and after Yuan Shao's death, he launched a large-scale attack, and the battle against Yuan shi lasted for eight years, of which several times he had to retreat and turned south to attack the weaker Liu Biao, but was dissuaded by Xun Yu, Xun You, and others.
Xun Yu's contribution to strategic decision-making has always been highly valued by Cao Cao. In 203, Cao Cao played Xun Yu as the Marquis of Banzai Pavilion, and the above table said: "Worry is the first merit, and conspiracy is the reward", and in history, Xiao He's reward was greater than Cao San's.
Xun Yu. Source/Stills from the TV series "Army Division Sima Yi's Army Division Alliance"
Cao Cao compared Xun Yu to Zhang Liang at first sight, and here to Xiao He. When Xun Yu resigned on the grounds that "there is no merit in field warfare", Cao Cao said affectionately in his reply: "Working with the jun has come, the imperial court has been established, the jun's phase is Kuang Bi, the jun's phase is the lifting person, the jun's phase is the construction plan, and the jun's phase is the conspiracy." ”
It can be seen that in these ten years, Xun Yu did play the role of Zhang Liangjia Xiao He.
However, this is also the highest point where the two fight side by side.
The net of the times
In 204 AD, after Cao Cao obtained Jizhou, discordant notes appeared. It was suggested that Cao Cao restore the ancient Kyushu system in order to expand his momentum. Cao Cao wrote a letter to Xun Yu to discuss, but Xun Yu opposed it. Xun Yu believed that in this way, Jizhou would become too big, including part of Si Li and Youzhou and Hezhou, so that people in other places would also tighten their defenses and unification would become more difficult. It should be that after the complete pacification of Hebei, "the southern neighbor of Jingzhou" should "condemn Liu Biao's behavior of not paying tribute to Tianzi" (the responsibility for tribute is not entered), so that the world will "know what it means" and "everyone will be at peace" and "the world will be determined".
What Cao Cao wanted was not to "blame and pay tribute", but to "hunt in Jiangdong". Seeing that Xun Yuzhen regarded himself as King Wen of Zhou, Cao Cao wrote back to express his gratitude and stated that the matter would be stopped.
After that, the history books' records of Xun Yu became very brief. Only Xun Yu suggested that when attacking Liu Biao, he "showed wan and ye and walked lightly to hide his lack of intentions" and such bland content.
In 212 AD, after destroying Ma Teng, Cao Cao instructed the military master Dong Zhao to create public opinion that he would enter the Duke of Wei and Jia Jiuxi. As usual, Cao Cao still privately consulted Shang Shu Ling Xun Yu. According to the Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms, Xun Yu's reply was that "the Benxing righteous soldiers are loyal to the ningguo, loyal and honest, and the truth of retreat; it is not appropriate for a gentleman to love people with virtue."
This means that the world can be picked up when it falls on the head, and it can not be reached out if it is not smashed, but it is not that the lord is not as good as the emperor, mainly because it is not elegant enough.
Xun Yu's statement made Cao Cao angry ("the heart cannot be calmed"). Two years earlier, Cao Cao, who had experienced the new defeat of Chibi, faced internal and external pressure and criticism, and wrote the famous "Shu Zhi Ling". In it, Cao Cao wrote with sadness: "Let the country have no orphans, and I don't know when several people are called emperors and several people are called kings!" He also compared himself to the Zhou people: occupying two-thirds of the world, and still obeying Yin Shang, which is really interesting enough to go home ("There are two of the three points of the world, to serve Yin, Zhou Zhide can be described as the most virtuous").
So is it okay to lay down your authority and return to the fiefdom of Wuping to enjoy the blessings? No, because it is difficult to ride a tiger, "I am sincerely afraid that I will leave the army and be a disaster for others." If you plan for your children and grandchildren, but if you lose yourself, the country will be in danger, and it is necessary not to seek false names and deal with real disasters." In the face of the question of survival or destruction, if you do not advance, you will retreat.
Cao Cao wrote poems. Source/Screenshot of the 94th edition of Romance of the Three Kingdoms
Cao Cao once made "Short Song Line": "The moon star is rare, and the black magpie flies south." Three turns around the tree, what branches can be relied on.". Tian Yuqing said on Cao Cao: Wu Que flew south and could not fly out of the luo net of the times.
Cao Cao fought all his life, and the goal of unifying the whole country was never realized. Born in turbidity, no matter how much he flaunted that he wanted to learn "cave masters", he couldn't wash it off. The merits of unifying the north will eventually be transformed into their own imperial undertakings. Between the Han and Jin dynasties, alternative ways of employing and governing must eventually be replaced by the new Nine Pin Officials Law of the Cao Pi Era. From the scattered clans of the Eastern Han Dynasty to the Sima clans of the Western Jin Dynasty, Cao Cao's career was set off like an episode.
What makes Cao Cao's "heart can't be peaceful" is that Xun Yu sacrificed hundreds of "conspiracies" on his way to success ("the light appears in the lonely to a hundred"), and the merit is enough to rank three dukes. Anyone can oppose it, why is it Xun Yu? With this inner monologue in the Shu Zhi Ling, Cao Cao did not know how many times he had confided in Xun Yu in private. However, when it came to the end, Xun Yu was still so stubborn.
It seems that a rupture is inevitable.
In 212, Cao Cao marched south to conquer Sun Quan, and at the same time used a piece of paper to transfer orders, so that Xun Yu would go south to the labor army and seal Guanglu Dafu. In the center is Shang Shuling's reign for 16 years, Xun Lingjun is no longer Lingjun. Xun Yu traveled to Shouchun, but due to illness, he was stranded and could not reach the front line. At this time, he received an empty food box from Cao Cao. So there is the opening scene.
Xun Yu committed suicide by taking medicine. Source/Screenshot of the TV series "Army Division Alliance of Sima Yi of the Great Army Division"
According to the "Spring and Autumn of the Wei Dynasty", Xun Yu "drank medicine and died" and gave his life for his own choices, at the age of 50. Cao Zhi wrote a poem for Xun Yu's death:
Hundreds of officials sighed, the son of heaven was stained, the machine girl threw the pen, and the farmer quit farming.
The wheel knots without turning, and the horse cries and leans on.
The following year, Cao Cao proclaimed himself King of Wei, but he also made a compromise, saying that he would "learn from King Wen of Zhou", which was also a response to Xun Yu's stubborn political ideals.
But what is Xun Yu's political ideal?
Noble "reactionaries"
According to the Luoyang Jialan Chronicle, in Yongkang, in the Xiyang Gate of Luoyang's southern city, there is an ancient well from which people dug out a stone stele that reads "Han Taiwei Xun Yu Residence". "Han Taiwei" is a misnomer formed by a mixture of two facts: Xun Yu preferred to think of himself as a Han Chen, and of the 26 people who were accompanied by Cao Cao's Taimiao Temple, none of them had Xun Yu; and in the second year of Xian Xi (265 AD), in the 53rd year after Xun Yu's death, he posthumously honored Xun Yu as Wei Taiwei at the imperial court under sima control.
This contradiction of identity is also reflected in two kinds of history books. The Romance of the Three Kingdoms places Xun Yu and Jia Xu in the same chapter, while the Book of later Han is juxtaposed with Kong Rong. Jia Xu is the king of intrigue and trickery, while Kong Rong is the archway of the values of the shi clan, and the complexity of Xun Yu is fully reflected here.
Historically, there have been several main accounts of Xun Yu's comments, which are mainly based on the evaluation of Shu Han as orthodox and Cao Wei as usurper.
In the Tang Dynasty, Du Mu was a representative of the "thief stepping on the point", believing that Xun Yu's behavior was tantamount to stepping on the point for the thief, although he did not take it himself, but was this not a thief? In the Ming Dynasty, Li Yan was a representative of "both righteousness and standing", believing that Xun Yu was a Confucian Taoist, and "worldly Taoism, good at riding two horses, like kicking two feet of boats". In the Ming Dynasty, Yu Shenxing put forward the idea of "making a big fuss and being afraid to say", citing Kong Guang in Wang Mang's time as an example, saying that Kong Guang coveted a moment of wealth and began to be afraid to shrink back, and used this to satirize Xun Yu.
Back to the era when Xun Yu and Cao Cao met and knew each other, the Central Plains were boiling, the crowd was divided, "the big one was Lianzhou County, the small one was even Que Mo", killing and robbing, and counting a day after a day. These divided armed forces, when hungry, go to grab, eat the leftovers and throw them away, eat all the way, eat all the way, do not need to be beaten, and they will perish themselves. Yuan Shao's army was in Hebei, filling the hunger with mulberries, and Yuan Shu's army was in Jianghuai, eating river mussels to survive. ("Hunger is omitted, full is abandoned, disintegration and displacement, invincible self-destruction is innumerable.") Yuan Shaozhi was in Hebei, and the soldiers relied on mulberries. Yuan Shu was in Jiang and Huai, and was given to Pu Ying", Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms, Chronicle of Emperor Wu). At this time, it is not puzzling that people of insight chose Cao Cao, who stood out from the crowd.
Cao Cao and Xun Yu. Source/Screenshot of the TV series "Army Division Alliance of Sima Yi of the Great Army Division"
Xun Yu used Liu Bang Xiangyu as a metaphor everywhere, it was impossible to see clearly what the reward for victory was, how could he say "get on the wrong thief ship"? The contradiction was only Xun Yu's last impersonal insistence. Xun Yu did not die, and the Three Kingdoms did not stand. Eight years after his death, Cao Sun Liu successively called himself emperor, and Xun Yu finally stood against the trend of the times and became a "reactionary" in history.
Xun Yu always wanted to add a footnote to this goal of unification, and aggressively imposed this pursuit on Cao Cao. Xun Yu, who had read the "Art of Shen Han" with Xun Yue, would not be unaware that the times were different, "King Wen acted benevolently and righteously and the king of the world, and King Yan acted benevolently and righteously and lost his country", but while vigorously offering strange strategies, he advised Cao Cao to subdue people with virtue like King Wen of Zhou, which was incomprehensible.
At its root, the Four Hundred Years of the Han Dynasty has left a lot of heritage, and in the midst of division and chaos, yearning for unity and expecting virtue is the pursuit of most people. The end of Xun Yu's life stemmed from the contradiction between all the political ethics worth remembering in the past and the reality of the Three Kingdoms, which became an unquenchable echo in Xun Yu's heart, and the outbreak of contradictions eventually led to the demise of his own choice.
In terms of its strength to unify the north, Cao Cao called the King of Wei commensurate, and according to the situation of "riding a tiger is difficult", it is necessary to go all the way. At the same time, the political ethics that haunt Xun Yu are also noble. It is precisely because of the conflict between two equally legitimate pursuits that the end of Xun Yu's life is overshadowed by tragedy.
Looking at the subsequent history, it is revealed that even the "moral archway" has its own value. The Imperial Dynasty of Wei and Jin and the civil strife of the Western Jin Dynasty added a meaningful footnote to Xun Yu's self-destruction.
Most of the faces of historical figures have long been blurred.
As for xun yu's image, the history books that are like gold have left a lot of direct descriptions. The "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" writes very little about the appearance of people, and there are records, except for the strange ugly is the strange handsome.
The "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" records that Xun Yu was "a great beauty" and "beautiful and elegant".
You Heng said, "Wen Ruo can use his face to mourn", not to say that he was crying and mourning, but praising him in disguise for his courtesy and seriousness.
Xun Yu's number one fan Pei Songzhi was not satisfied, and specially collected inscriptions to prove that Xun Yu was "a magnificent and strange watch".
Cao Cao advocated simplicity, forbidden alcohol and incense, but prohibition of alcohol could not stop Cao Zhi, forbidden spices could not control Xun Yu, "Xiangyang Qi Old Record" said, "Xun Lingjun to the people's home, sit for three days of incense."
However, these descriptions, on the transmission of gods, are not as good as a long-lasting fragment recorded by Cao Pi.
In 212 AD, shortly before Xun Yu's death, Cao Cao's army marched south, xun Yu was ordered to work hard, and walked to Quli (near Xun Yu's hometown of Yingyin), not far south of Xu Du, and Xun Yu, who had already made a final choice, met Cao Pi in the army and had a conversation.
Cao Pi. Source/Stills from the TV series "Army Division Sima Yi's Army Division Alliance"
This dialogue can be found in Cao Pi's Canonical Treatise and Self-Introduction. The Treatise on Classics is a collection of personal essays that Cao Pi has greatly valued, and after Cao Pi became emperor, the carved stones were widely distributed all over the world, so it is also an important political document. Therefore, this meeting was not only a small talk between Cao Wei Yuanxun and his son, but also a meeting between the leaders of the Shi clan and the heirs of Cao Wei in hindsight.
This is also the last record of Xun Yu in the classics.
During the small talk, Xun Yu said: "I heard that Zi Huan Gongzi can shoot arrows and can open his bow left and right, which is very rare" (Wen Junshan shot left and right, which is really difficult).
Cao Pi: "Then it is still necessary to say that I can still shoot in front, backwards, and on horseback!" (Yu Yan deacon did not see fu Xiang's mouth, leaning down on the horse's hooves and looking up at the moon branch.)
Xun Yu looked at this young and excited new General of the Five Senses, and smiled and said: "This is it." ("Nell")
A gentleman, spoiled and forgotten; quiet as water, not grieving for himself. Between the conversations and laughter, we can still see the firmness and humility of Wang Zuozhicai, who was strategic and did not sit tired.
In the era of full swing, Xun Yu's final historical image was frozen in this bland moment.