Today's Three Kingdoms idiom story is found in the eleventh episode of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, which took place during Cao Cao's Eastern Expedition to Xuzhou, and the relevant characters were Cao Cao, Liu Bei, and Guo Jia. The original text is as follows:
However, it was said that Cao Cao was in the army, discussing with the generals, and people reported that Xuzhou had a war book. It is Liu Beishu who looks at it. The book reads: "Prepare yourself to worship Junyan outside the Guan, and then the heavens will be on each side, and it will not be enough to serve." Xiang, the honorable father Cao Hou, was actually killed because of Zhang Min's unkindness, which was not the sin of Tao Gongzu. Seeing the remnants of the Yellow Turban, it is disturbed on the outside; Dong Zhuoyu's party is entrenched inside. May the Ming Dynasty first be anxious for the imperial court, and then have a personal vendetta; withdraw xuzhou's troops to save the country: then Xuzhou is fortunate, and the world is very fortunate! Cao Cao read the book and scolded: "Liu Bei, dare to persuade me with books!" And there is irony in the middle! "The fate came, while trying to attack the city."
Guo Jia advised: "Liu Beiyuan came to the rescue, first salute and then soldiers, the lord should answer it with good words, in order to be slow and prepared; then enter the army to attack the city, and the city can be destroyed." his word, leave it to him, and wait for the letter to be sent back. In the middle of the discussion, the meteor Ma Fei reported the disaster. Asked why, he reported that Lü Bu had attacked Yanzhou and entered Puyang... There were three places in Juancheng, Dong'a, and Fan County, which were designed by Xun Yu and Cheng Yu to be completely defended, and the rest were broken. Cao Ren has fought many battles, but he cannot win, and hereby urgently. Cao Wen was shocked: "Yanzhou has lost, leaving me homeless, and I must not fail to do it!" Guo Jiayue: "The Lord is just and sells his personal feelings and Liu Bei, and retires to Fuyan Prefecture." it, immediately answer the letter with Liu Bei, pull out the village and retreat.
According to the plot of the novel, in order to avenge the murder of his father, Cao Cao led his troops to wash Xuzhou in blood. Unable to resist, Tao Qian asked Gongsun Zhan for help, and Gongsun Zhan immediately sent Liu Bei to Xuzhou with his troops. After Liu Bei broke through the siege and entered Xuzhou, he wrote to Cao Cao, hoping that Cao Cao would call off the truce. Cao Cao was furious, but the strategist Guo Jia suggested that Cao Cao first pretend to agree, and then suddenly launch an attack. Unexpectedly, at this time, Cao Cao's old lair Yanzhou was almost completely occupied by Lü Bu, Chen Gong and others. Cao Cao could only write back to Liu Bei, promising to retreat, and the whole army immediately rushed back to Yanzhou to fight Lü Bu in a bloody battle.
The idiom to be introduced in this article is guo Jia's "first salute and then soldier", which means to negotiate with the other party according to the usual etiquette first, and if it does not work, then use force or other tough means to solve the problem. This is also an idiom first coined by Luo Guanzhong, the author of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms".
His father Cao Song was killed, Cao Cao attacked Xuzhou in a big way, Tao Qian asked Gongsun Zhan for help, and Gongsun Zhan sent Liu Bei to support, these are historical truths, which are clearly recorded in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. However, whether Liu Bei really had the strength to break through the siege of Cao's army and write a letter asking Cao Cao to retreat, history has given a completely different answer to this question.
First of all, let's take a look at the answer to the first question: What is Liu Bei's strength? According to the Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms, "Cao Gong marched on Xuzhou, and Xuzhou Mutao sent an envoy to rush to Tian Kai, and Kai and the ancestors saved him." The Lord of Shixian had more than a thousand soldiers and a miscellaneous horse of Karasuma in Youzhou, and a few thousand hungry people. Having arrived, Humble danyang bing four thousand beneficial lords. That is to say, when Gongsun Zhan sent Liu Bei to reinforce Xuzhou, Liu Bei only had more than a thousand soldiers under him, and his strength was weak. After Tao Qian learned of Liu Bei's strength, he had to provide 4,000 soldiers to Liu Bei, which was considered to have formed a team for Liu Bei.
What was the result of Liu Bei's four-thousand-strong team against Cao Jun? Has there ever been a record of breaking through the siege of the Cao Army? There is also a clear record in the Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms and Emperor Wu: "(Cao Cao) pulled out the five cities and then slightly reached the East China Sea. After returning to Tan, Qian sent Cao Bao and Liu Bei tun Tan Dong to taizu. Taizu broke through it, so he attacked and pulled out Xiang Ben, and he was killed by too much. That is to say, under the strong offensive of Cao's army, Liu Bei's 4,000 men, together with Cao Bao's army, were beaten by Cao Cao and fled, with heavy losses, and even Tancheng could not be defended. With such strength, where did he have the courage to write a letter to Cao Cao asking for a truce?
From the above two records, it can be clearly seen that this description in the novel is not historically true. However, in order to highlight the character of Liu Bei, the author of the novel deliberately fictionalized this plot. In fact, even if Liu Bei had really written to Cao Cao asking for a boycott of the troops, not only would Guo Jia not suggest giving Liu Bei any face, Cao Cao would have been dismissive.
Reference Books: Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Romance of the Three Kingdoms