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Ancient warfare was brutal and the battlefield had no eyes. People want to live to avenge the great revenge of others, in order to survive in order to reunite with their families in the future, or just because of human nature's own desire for life. Therefore, in the battle between the two armies, there will be a move to lead the army to surrender. On the other hand, the generals will also proceed from the overall situation to use the method of surrender to achieve the purpose of subduing the other side's army for their own use.
In particular, from the description in the "Water Margin", it can be seen that Song Jiang, a commander of Liangshan, sent his men down the mountain to coerce And Li to lure the good Han up the mountain. If the disobedient waited until after going up the mountain, Song Jiang would loosen the restraints. And treat them with courtesy, both inside and outside, and bring them down. Obviously, the Wise Lord is good at using good means to attract the enemy, open-minded and wide-ranging talents, and accept them for his own use.
Cao Caozi, who set off a storm during the Three Kingdoms period, was no exception. In the third year of Jian'an (198), Cao Cao personally invaded Lü Bu and besieged Xia Pi in March. Eventually Lü Bu ran out of ammunition and was captured, and he himself had to surrender.
Among the generals captured by Cao Cao's forces in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, in the face of the tiger generals Gao Shun and Zhang Liao, who also refused to surrender, Cao Cao made a move on the spot to kill Gao Shun and leave Zhang Liao. He also sent Gao Shun's first rank to Xu Du and hung the city gate to show the public. Zhang Liao, on the other hand, threw himself into Cao Cao's banner and became a tiger general of Cao's camp. After that, he spent his life on horseback and made countless achievements, and finally was awarded the title of Marquis of Jinyang.
It can be seen that Gao Shun and Zhang Liao were also two tiger generals under Lü Bu who refused to surrender, but their treatment and outcome were different. So the question is, why are the encounters between the two so different? Why did Cao Cao kill Gao Shun and leave Zhang Liao behind? What's the secret? There are many reasons for this, the main explanations are as follows:
1. Gao Shun was "foolishly loyal" to Lü Bu, but Zhang Liao was depressed
First analyze the personalities of the two people. According to historical records, Gao Shun was upright and majestic, and he was thought to be a "Hai Rui-style" figure among military generals. He was not good at drinking, extremely disciplined, loyal, and honored only one Lord in his life. Although Gao Shun was not very much valued by Lü Bu, his official position in Lü Bu's camp was not small.
Even if Lü Bu was hot and cold to him, he still followed Lü Bu with a dead heart, which showed his "foolish loyalty". However, this also shows that Gao Shun is an overly honorable and loyal person, he is not afraid of power and is not moved by fame and fortune, and he has his own inner righteous persistence and integrity.
If Cao Cao had gone through many twists and turns, perhaps Gao Shun could have thrown himself into Cao's camp. But this went against Gao Shun's original wishes, even if the people in Cao Yingxin were not here, they might not be able to sincerely solicit the four sides for the Cao regime.
Obviously, for Cao Cao, subjugating Gao Shun was a high-cost, low-yield measure, and there was also a risk of being "foolishly loyal" Gao Shun.com. Therefore, he was as shrewd as Cao Cao, and although he sincerely admired Gao Shun's loyalty, he had no choice but to cut Gao Shun to avoid the consequences.
However, Zhang Liao, who was also a subordinate of Lü Bu, had a different fate from Gao Shun.com. Although he belonged to Lü Bu, because of the famous titles such as Taishou of the Northern Lands of the State of Lu, Zhang Liao was depressed. It is true that Zhang Liao maintained a relatively independent position in the Lü clique, and also had a direct armed force subordinate to himself.
In addition, judging from his later performance under the Cao regime. Zhang Liao had his own political considerations, and did not blindly follow Lü Bu, but more as his temporary residence. If the development situation of the Lü Group is good, it is safe to follow, but once the group falls, Zhang Liao will find another way out.
It can be seen that Zhang Liao was not very loyal to Lü Bu, and it was obvious that he was more worthy of Cao Cao's surrender than Gao Shun, who was "foolishly loyal". In addition, he was also a brave man, so Cao Cao released him and incorporated him into his command.
2. Gao Shun's "trapped camp" caused damage to Cao Jun, but Zhang Liao did not do a good job
When Gao Shun was in Lü Bu's camp, although the people were very upright, they were not good at engaging in official politics, and they did not have good results in advising Lü Bu. However, under his rule, he had his own set of rules, and the "trapped camp" under his command was one of the elite armies in the entire Three Kingdoms. Every time Gao Shun led the trapped camp to attack the enemy army, he was very brave and fierce, and he was soon able to make the enemy formation fall.
When he fought against Cao Fang's army, he also brought no small blow to Cao Cao's troops, and caused many troubles and injuries. If nothing else, at that time, Cao Cao sent Xiahou Huan to rescue Liu Bei, but was defeated by Gao Shun's army.
This made Cao Cao lose face, even if Cao Cao was generous, it was enough for the soldiers below to remember Gao Shun. Later, Gao Shun refused to surrender, and Cao Cao could only behead him in order to stabilize the hearts of the army.
Although Zhang Liao also had the experience of defeating Cao Jun, he did not have the unique skill to do, and he failed to coordinate the "trapped camp" like Gao Shun to seriously damage Cao Jun, and he was famous. It was Zhang Liao who did not have such a sharp dagger, so the substantial damage to Cao Jun was also relatively small.
Therefore, the hatred was not as obvious as Gao Shun, so Cao Jun did not have a great hatred and rejection of Zhang Liao. Cao Cao did not have to take a posture, he had to kill and vent his hatred to the hearts of the whole people, so Zhang Liao was saved.
3. Gao Shun's attitude was arrogant, but Zhang Liao scolded Cao Cao for winning the reputation of loyalty and righteousness
As mentioned earlier, Gao Shun was a just and upright person, so when he faced Cao Cao, he felt that he was a traitorous minister, unworthy of dialogue with himself, and had nothing in common with him. Therefore, when Gao Shun was captured, he turned a blind eye and was silent in the face of Cao Cao's repeated questioning. However, although Gao Shun was speechless, he made a loud statement of his willingness to die and be loyal to Lü Bu.
Gao Shun's silence fell into Cao Cao's eyes without saying a word, and there seemed to be a strong sense of ridicule and ridicule against him. If the general asks questions, and the prisoner refuses to answer, what is the face of the general? It was precisely because of Gao Shun's silent and arrogant attitude that Cao Cao was greatly embarrassed and could not get off the stage. Therefore, he was displeased in his heart, so he ordered someone to kill Gao Shun.
In the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, it is specifically written that Zhang Liao refused to surrender to Cao Cao, loudly denounced him as a traitorous minister, wrapped up the Han chamber, and intended to misbehave... What is said, however, is a bluff, a failure to know the unity of action. Zhang Liao soon switched to Cao Ying, and died for Cao Quan, and it can be seen that Zhang Liao was not really loyal to Lü Bu.
If Zhang Liao was truly loyal, how could he charge the Cao army that killed the ancestor without any hesitation? Therefore, the so-called refusal to surrender is just a temporary play made by Zhang Liao, to preserve his good reputation that he can make people think that he is loyal, which is really hypocritical to the extreme.
Obviously, Cao Cao was a man with a clear eye and a careful heart, and how could he not know Zhang Liao's style. Although Cao Cao could not hang on to his face, he longed for talent, and he could not blame Zhang Liao for the past, leave him behind, and make meritorious contributions. This is precisely because of Cao Cao's "leper tyrant" who eats hard and does not eat soft.
4, Gao Shun's popularity is not very good, but Zhang Liao is related to Yu as a guarantee
During the Three Kingdoms period, the world was severable, and there were inextricable relations between various people and horses. For example, although Guan Yu was a general under Liu Bei's camp, he had a close relationship with Cao Cao, and even disregarded military orders, huarong dao let the tiger return to the mountain. The so-called acquaintance socialization has existed since ancient times, one side is captured, and if there is a respected intermediary to circumvent it, the life of the loser can often be saved.
As mentioned earlier, Gao Shun is too upright and unsympathetic. Therefore, in life, it is often easy to offend people, and it will also be disliked by people. Therefore, his friends should be considered pitiful, so when he was captured by the Cao army and fell into distress. No one was willing to stand up for it, which doomed him to be easily in danger of death.
Zhang Liao, on the other hand, was much more flexible than Gao Shun, making friends from all over the world and maintaining a good relationship with Liu Bei's generals, especially Guan Yu. So when he was captured, Guan Yu would be the first to stand up and intercede for him. And Cao Cao will be because Guan Yu was in Cao Cao's camp that year, making a hanma contribution to him, and recreating the grace of life on the Huarong Road.
In addition, Cao Cao admired Guan Yu as a person and longed for him to become his own talent. Therefore, Cao Cao was very kind to Guan Yu, so Guan Yu had a very high status in Cao Cao's heart. As for the suggestions made by Guan Yu, Cao Cao naturally listened to them and took them seriously.
Just when Guan Yu proposed to release Zhang Liao, Cao Cao remembered that Zhang Liao was a talent. Therefore, under guan yu's protection, Cao Cao sold Guan Yu a face, released Zhang Liao, and incorporated it.
5, Cao Cao is a good-looking person, but he eats "hard" and does not eat "soft"
Admittedly, Cao Cao was a good-looking person. This can be seen from Yang Xiu's guessing of Cao Cao's "one bite of crisp" and "chicken stranglers, tasteless food, it is a pity to abandon it".
At that time, Yang Xiu unceremoniously picked out Cao Cao's inner words, which made Cao Cao feel that he had no face, so he hated Yang Xiu to the bone. Later, he found a way to stabilize the hearts of the army and killed Yang Xiu, which showed that Cao Cao's face was really torn by Yang Xiu.
Moreover, when Cao Cao killed Lü Bohao's family, in the face of Chen Gong's reprimand, he retorted: "Rather teach me to bear the world's people, and Hugh teaches the world's people to bear me", which shows how much he loves face, even if he is wrong, he can't pull down his face to admit his mistake.
However, even though Cao Cao loves face, sometimes he also shows a prickly temperament that eats "hard" and does not eat "soft". When others are soft on him, he thinks that the man is really useless; when people are enemies of him, he thinks that the person is a talent.
Take Liu Biao's second son Liu Chun (劉琮) who surrendered to Cao Cao, and Sun Quan confronted Cao Cao. Cao Cao commented on them in this way: when he had a son, he should be like Sun Zhongmou, and Liu Jingsheng's son should be like a guinea pig! It can be seen that Cao Cao was a "leper tyrant", and this is very similar to Liu Bang, who was called a "leper".
Therefore, when Gao Shun did not say a word, he felt that Gao Shun was useless and killed him. And when Zhang Liao scolded him more fiercely, he felt that Zhang Liao really had a kind of talent, so he took him in.
The above is the reason why the author said that "Gao Shun and Zhang Liao were also tiger generals under Lü Bu, but when they were captured by Cao Cao, the former screamed for his life, and the latter was lucky" It can be said that Gao Shun angered Cao Cao because he did not know how to speculate on Cao Cao's heart, and Zhang Liao not only conformed to Cao Cao's wishes, but also related yu to do the guarantee, and naturally could survive.
Overall:
Regarding Cao Cao's disposition of Lü Bu's subordinates Gao Shun and Zhang Liao, posterity is inconsistent. However, the author believes that this is the best choice that Cao Cao can make in the current situation after weighing the pros and cons.
When it comes to the Three Kingdoms, it is Cao Cao who cannot be avoided. For Cao Cao, the word "owl" was gone. But he is indeed a promising master, he has a dark side - selfish, jealous, suspicious; but he can also open the door, recruit the world's talents, and the meritocracy is used, regardless of the other party's origin or origin.
Moreover, his military talent is unparalleled in the same era, and it is precisely because he laid the foundation for the government throughout his life that his descendants can have the opportunity to dominate the world.
In his spare time for the political unification army, he and his son built a style of peace and promoted the atmosphere of the literary world. His poetic style is eclectic and quite windy, which is imitated by future generations. To sum up, for Cao Cao, whether from history or fiction, we can only look up to it, and we must not underestimate it.
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