Mr. Lu Xun said: Cao Cao is a very capable person, at least a hero. Yes, in the strife at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the Cao clan suddenly emerged, and the tiger dominated the north and looked at the world, laying a solid foundation for the establishment of the State of Wei. In the process of building hegemony, Cao Cao once clearly advocated "meritocracy".
This fully shows that Cao's attaches great importance to talents. Indeed, Cao Cao discovered and recruited many talents such as Xun Yu, Guo Jia, Cheng Yu, Xun You, and so on, and they could all be reused. However, he also killed many celebrities and strangers, such as Bian Rang, Xu You, Kong Rong, Cui Yan, Yang Xiu, etc. For a figure like Cao Cao, there must always be a plausible reason to kill people. So, what was his reason for killing Cui Yan?
- "Belly slander".
What is the reason for this, and what is the matter? Let's talk about the ins and outs of this public case.
Cui Yan (崔琰), courtesy name Ji Jue, was a native of present-day Gucheng County, Hebei. At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, he was a famous scholar with great appearance and good morals. At the beginning of his career, he followed Yuan Shao and served as a knight lieutenant. After being used by Cao Cao, he successively served as an official, such as Bei Cha, Dong Cao, Wei Guo Shangshu, and Lieutenant. After Cao Cao was made the Duke of Wei, a man named Yang Xun wrote a table seal and played it to the imperial court, praising cao Cao.
When some ministers learned of this, while criticizing Yang Xun for his affair with Cao Cao, they attacked Cui Yan, then minister of organization and minister of personnel, believing that he had improperly selected talents and should be punished. When Cui Yan knew that Yang Xun had played the table chapter, he asked Yang Xun to read the manuscript of the chapter, and then wrote a text message to Yang Xun, saying: "Provincial table, good thing!" When the time comes, when there is a change. The meaning of this sentence can be explained like this: The table chapter reads, this thing is not bad, time ah time, some things will change with the change of time. It can also be understood that Yang Xun's commendation is still written well, and with the migration of time, people's views on Yang Xun will also change. Unless you dig your mind out and have ulterior motives, you can't see anything wrong with Cui Yan's letter.
But the informant did not understand and report to Cao Cao in this sense: I have read the table chapter, and the things that Cao Cao did were okay! When the sky is a time, there will always be a time of change. After hearing this, Cao Cao angrily said: "There will always be times of change", which is not inferior, it is an ulterior motive!
Therefore, Cao Cao ordered that Cui Yan be arrested and strictly interrogated. At this time (Cao Cao, Liu Bei, and Sun Quan) Cao Cao was already consciously virtuous and majestic, and the world was exalted (Emperor Xian of Han existed but was not there), and it was absolutely forbidden for any cats and dogs to be arranged at will, and there was no longer any scruples or even pity for a big man like Cui Yan, who was honest and incorruptible, knowledgeable, and intelligent.
After a judicial trial, it was found that Cui Yan was indeed harboring evil intentions and should be severely punished. However, Cao Cao still remembered lao Cui's merits in selecting talents for him, and only rewarded him with a "prisoner who lost his life". It is to shave the yin and yang head and accept labor reform. After Cui Yan was tortured, there was not much adverse reaction, and as always, he published his own understanding and views on the current situation. Excited, shaking the white beard, it is a bit of a "angry youth" taste.
Cao Cao was very upset when he learned that Cui Yan had neither the slightest intention of repentance nor the slightest intention of "self-treatment", so he issued an order saying:
Although Cui Yan was tortured, he still made friends with guests, and his voice was high, as if he was dissatisfied!
Three days later, Cao Cao, the official in charge of Cui Yan, said that Cui Yan had not committed suicide. Cao Cao angrily scolded the regulator, did Cui Yan want me to use the saw!? Cui Yan understood Cao Cao's attitude toward him after serving his sentence. He understood that the boss no longer needed him, he should be cained, he should find another home! Therefore, Cui Yan calmly committed suicide.
In fact, Cao Cao's murderous intention towards Cui Yan had already existed.
After Cao Cao defeated Yuan Shao and attacked the city of Jizhou, he was extremely excited to say to Cui Yan, who had just been released from prison, that yesterday I checked the household registration booklet, and now I can get 300,000 people, and Jizhou is really a big state!
At that time, Cui Yan was not grateful for Cao Cao's grace of salvation, but generously stated: If today falls apart, Kyushu is divided, the Yuan brothers are in the same room, and the people of Jizhou are exposed in the wilderness. When Master Wang arrived, he did not hear the sound of benevolence, did not save the people from the charcoal, but first calculated how much armor he could get, and took the expansion of strength as the top priority.
In front of many people with heads and faces, Cui Yan was so unsympathetic, which made Cao Cao very embarrassed. Some of the guests were frightened and scared of what was going on. Fortunately, Cao Cao immediately put away his proud demeanor and immediately apologized to Cui Yan, saying that he was wrong, and should not ignore the lives of the people and only think about recruiting soldiers.
Although the matter has passed, the knots and beams are knotted. When to unravel, then only Cao Cao has the final say. In the era of authoritarianism, none of those who held power did not retaliate and declare personal vendettas, and Cao Cao was certainly no exception. Looking at some of Cao Cao's actions in the Three Kingdoms period (such as Tu Xuzhou, etc.), it can be seen that Cao Cao was also a person with a strong sense of revenge, and it was not easy to re-attack after many years of hidden tolerance (beginning in 2004 and ending in 216).
In addition, Cui Yan may have also made some remarks that were not in line with Cao Cao's wishes regarding Cao Cao's sealing of the Duke of Wei. That's even more unsaved!
When the time came, Cao Cao did not hesitate to solve the Qingming and Just ministers whom he called "the wind of Boyi", "the straightness of ShiYu", "the poor man admired the name and was clear, and the strong man was still called strong".
Chen Shou said in the Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms: "Taizu (Cao Cao) was jealous of sex, and those who were somewhat unbearable, Lu Guo Kongrong, Nanyang Xu You, and Lou Gui, all regarded the old and not pious, and (Cui) Yan was most deplored by the world and has been wronged so far." ”