Cui Yan was a righteous gentleman, and even Cao Cao himself knew this very well. He once said that Cui Yan had the "wind of Boyi" and "the straightness of Shiyu", which was enough to become a moral model of the times. Then, knowing that Cui Yan was a righteous gentleman, why did Cao Cao insist on forcing Cui Yan to die later?
First, Cui Yan was forced to die
To clarify this issue, we need to first understand how Cui Yan died.
Cui Yan is not only a decent gentleman, but also quite recognizable. For example, he concluded very early that Sima Yi would have great achievements in the future, and Cui Lin, Sun Li, and Lu Yu all had zaifu talents and so on.
However, Cui Yan also looked at people with bad eyes, and during his tenure as a lieutenant, he recommended an official named Yang Xun to Cao Cao. In May of the twenty-first year of Jian'an, Cao Cao became the King of Wei, and Yang Xun immediately went to the table and tried his best to praise Cao Cao.
Yang Xun's actions were regarded by the people of the time as worldly, frivolous and hypocritical. Because Yang Xun was recommended to Cao Cao by Cui Yan, cui Yan was also ridiculed for not knowing people and recommending people improperly.
As we said earlier, Cui Yan was a righteous gentleman and cared very much about his reputation, so he took the manuscript of cao Cao's table from Yang Xun to check it, and then wrote to Yang Xun: "Provincial table, good thing." Time, time! It will change when there is a change. (Looking at your table above, things are doing well.) The times, the times, there will always be times of change)
The original intention of Cui Yan's words was to ridicule those who talked nonsense for being unreasonable and being too demanding of Yang Xun. However, this sentence fell into the eyes of those who had always been at odds with Cui Yan, which meant something else entirely. Therefore, they accused Cui Yan of "arrogant and resentful, not inferior in intention" (arrogant and empty-eyed, resentful and slanderous, and there is a sense of disobedience in the letter).
Under the misinterpretation and inducement of Cui Yan's political enemies, Cao Cao was also angry and ordered Cui Yan to be arrested and imprisoned, and Cui Yan was sentenced to "punishment".
For a prisoner to shave his hair and serve hard labor, it is called a punishment. The ancients believed that the parents of the body hair and skin did not dare to destroy it, and the beginning of filial piety was also! If you have your hair shaved, it's a great humiliation. Therefore, Cao Cao's sentencing of Cui Yan to "death" was actually an extremely severe punishment for Cui Yan.
Later, Cao Cao sent him to check Cui Yan's reaction. The person in charge of the inspection came back and told Cao Cao that although Cui Yan had been sentenced to death, he was at ease, his life was not affected in the slightest, he should eat, he should drink, he should see the guests as he did, his behavior had not been restrained, and he even seemed to have a grudge against Cao Cao's sentence. Cao Cao heard that Cui Yan did not have the slightest intention of repentance and became even more angry, so he ordered Cui Yan to commit suicide.
Second, why did Cao Cao force Cui Yan to die
1. Cao Cao was dissatisfied with Cui Yan's selection criteria
When Cao Cao was serving as chancellor, Cui Yan and Mao Jiu served as Eastern Cao And together presided over the selection of officials. During this period, the people recommended by Cui Yan and Mao Jiu were all honest and upright people, and those who had a reputation but acted vainly and did not do anything fundamental were never recommended for appointment. Under the joint advocacy of Cui Yan and Mao Jie, all the people in the country encouraged themselves with honesty and integrity, and even the pet subjects and carriages and horses did not dare to go beyond the system.
In this regard, although Cao Cao sighed, he said: "What else can I do to use people to do this, so that the people of the world can govern themselves?" However, in the fifteenth and twenty-second years of Jian'an, he issued orders, advocating meritocracy and that the selection of people should not be limited to morality.
In Jian'an's fifteen-year order to seek meritocracy, Cao Cao said: "Today's decision has not yet been decided, and this special request for sage is also urgent." ...... If it is available after the Company, then why is Qi Huanqi hegemonic! Who is it that has been fished by brown jade in Weibin today? And do you have to receive money without robbing your sister-in-law and not meeting the ignorant? The second and third sons are clear and ugly, and the only thing is to lift, and I have to use it. ”
In Jian'an's twenty-two years of seeking meritocracy, Cao Cao spoke more bluntly. He said, "Xi Yi zhi and Fu said that out of the untouchables, Guan Zhong, Huan Gong Thief also used it for fun." Xiao He, Cao San, county officials, Han Xin, and Chen Ping bore the name of humiliation, and had the shame of seeing and laughing, and they could achieve Wang Yesheng for a thousand years. Wu Qi was a greedy general, killed his wife confidently, scattered gold to seek officials, and his mother died and did not return, but in Wei, the Qin people did not dare to go east, and in Chu Zesanjin did not dare to plot south. Today, those who have no virtue are placed in the people, and who are brave enough to fight against the enemy; if they are officials of civil customs, highly talented and heterogeneous, or can be defended; in the name of humiliation, they laugh and laugh, or they have the art of governing the country without filial piety: each of them knows, and does not leave anything behind. ”
Through these two orders for meritocracy, we can clearly see that Cao Cao's selection criteria are very different from those of Cui Yan and Mao Jiu, which actually reflects Cao Cao's dissatisfaction with Cui Yan and Mao Jiu.
2. Cui Yan's political enemies deliberately intensified the contradiction between Cao Cao and Cui Yan
Decent gentlemen are often prone to loss of flexibility, and lack of flexibility is out of date. Therefore, in Cao Cao's eyes, although Cui Yan was an admirable upright gentleman, he lacked flexibility and was not timely. This was one of the main sources of the contradiction between Cui Yan and Cao Cao.
Cui Yan's political enemies later took advantage of the contradiction between Cui Yan and Cao Cao and deliberately made a big fuss about the person recommended by Cui Yan (that is, Yang Xun), thus intensifying the contradiction between Cao Cao and Cui Yan.
There was a sentence that Cao Cao said when he ordered Cui Yan to commit suicide, which is worth scrutinizing. Cao Cao said: "Although Yan saw the punishment, but through the guests, the door is like a city person, and the guests must look directly at them, if they are blind." This means that although Cui Yan was sentenced, he still continued to receive guests, and he looked directly at the guests with his beard twisted, and seemed to have a grudge.
Through this sentence, we can not only see Cao Cao's dissatisfaction with Cui Yan, but also Cao Cao's concern for Cui Yan.
Cao Cao's dissatisfaction lies in the fact that cui Yan did not have the slightest intention of repentance after being sentenced to death. In Cao Cao's view, Cui Yan's unrepentant repentance was obviously a serious provocation to his own authority.
There is a story that after Cao Cao unified the north, the Xiongnu sent emissaries to ask to meet Cao Cao. Cao Cao, because of his lack of height and lack of power, asked Cui Yan to receive the emissary instead of himself, while Cao Cao himself pretended to be a bodyguard and stood up with a steel knife in his hand.
This story shows that Cao Cao is a person who cares about his own prestige, and Cui Yan happens to be a very powerful person. Therefore, after Cao Cao's power was constantly improved, especially after becoming the King of Wei, it was inevitable to find an opportunity to thwart Cui Yan's power, so that people could understand that the person who really had power in the world was cao Cao.
This is human nature and understandable. In other words, Cao Cao may not have intended to kill Cui Yan at first, but just wanted to frustrate Cui Yan's power. However, Cui Yan not only had a powerful appearance, but also a just heart, and did not intend to submit to Cao Cao at all. Especially after Cao Cao sentenced himself to death on trumped-up charges, Cui Yan's backlash was even greater, not only did not give in, but also "looked directly at the guests".
In this way, the more Cui Yan did not yield, the more dissatisfied Cao Cao became with Cui Yan. Therefore, in the case that both sides are very strong and do not give in to each other, in the end, only one side can completely disappear to solve the problem.
Cao Cao's concern lies in the fact that Cui Yan continued to receive guests after being sentenced.
As a courtier, it is taboo to receive guests frequently during your sentence. Historically, Lü Buwei had received guests from various princely states after being deposed by the Qin emperor Yingzheng, which attracted the murderous intention of Yingzheng. And Cao Cao just happened to be a very suspicious person like The King of Qin, and coupled with Cui Yan's influence and appeal at that time, Cao Cao's worries about Cui Yan's reception of guests were even more serious, and he doubted whether Cui Yan would have a plot against him.
At this time, Cao Cao was blinded by anger and suspicion, and I am afraid that he had already forgotten what he had said, Cui Yan was a model of the times and a righteous gentleman.
3. Cui Yan was involved in the storm of Cao Zhi and Cao Pi's conquest
From the above-mentioned experience of Cui Yan's being forced to die, we can also see that Cao Cao was the one who raised the butcher's knife, and the person who pushed Cao Cao to raise the butcher's knife against Cui Yan was Cui Yan's political enemy. So the question is, who are Cui Yan's political enemies? Why did Cao Cao trust these people so much?
In the "Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms, Cui Yan's Biography", there is no clear record of who Cui Yan's political enemies are, only that someone accused Cui Yan to Cao Cao, but in the Zizhi Tongjian, there is a sentence worth noting, that is, "It was When The Western Cao Dynasty was in charge of ding Yi, and The guilt of Jiu Zhi was convicted, yi was powerful; the crowd was afraid of the side of the eyes." What this means is that at that time, When Western Cao Tuan and The Peiguo people Ding Yi gained power, Mao Jiu was convicted, Ding Yi played a great role, and the courtiers were very afraid of him and did not dare to look at him squarely.
The reason why Mao Jiu was convicted was because he was very sad about Cui Yan's innocent death, and his heart was sullen. Therefore, some people took the opportunity to accuse Mao Jiu of resentment and slander, so Cao Cao ordered that Mao Jiu be arrested and imprisoned.
Obviously, the person who denounced Mao Jiu was Ding Yi and so on. According to this, can we push forward, and it is Ding Yi and others who have reported Cui Yan before?
I think it's quite possible. Because Cui Yan was involved in the conquest of Cao Zhi and Cao Pi, he inadvertently became a political enemy of Yang Xiu and Ding Yi.
After Cao Cao became the Duke of Wei, he was ready to establish his own heir, but hesitated on the issue of whether to establish Cao Pi or Li Cao Zhi, so he secretly used letters to consult the ministers. When the ministers replied to Cao Cao, they all sealed the letter tightly, lest they be known, only Cui Yan, when replying to Cao Cao, openly expressed his support for Cao Pi, and the letter was not sealed, so as to show that he was a righteous gentleman, bright and upright, and selfless.
Cui Yan's approach is bound to cause dissatisfaction among Cao Zhi's supporters. At that time, in addition to Cao Cao himself, there were Yang Xiu and Ding Yi who supported Cao Zhi.
Yang Xiu, Ding Yi and others have poor moral character, but they are very talented, it is Cui Yan and Mao Jiu who have been suppressing the use, but in Cao Cao's view, they are great talents, they are Cao Cao's former red people, and their words, Cao Cao naturally obeys his words. Based on this inference, Yang Xiu and Ding Yi are most likely the driving force behind Cao Cao's forced death of Cui Yan, the purpose of which is to exclude dissidents and support Cao Zhi to inherit the throne. In other words, The overly upright Cui Yan is actually a victim of Cao Zhi and Cao Pi.