In the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Cao Cao was a man of great talent and took kuangfu Han Dynasty as his mission to unify the fragmented north. This also laid a solid foundation for Cao Pi to become a Wei Dynasty Han. He was able to build up his immortal merits without his warriors who could fight well. These warriors were divided into two systems, namely the "Cao Wei Sect Pro Eight Tiger Riders" and the Five Tiger Generals, of which Cao Wei Zong Pro Eight Tiger Riders were honored. In the Eight Tigers of Cao Weizong, the "one-eyed general" Xiahou Huan and Cao Ren of the "Heavenly Man" were honored. So, in Cao Cao's mind, Xiahou Huan and Cao Ren, who is more important?
Personally, I think it is Xiahou Huan, because he has these three advantages that Cao Ren does not have, and the analysis is as follows.
First, Xiahou Huan and Cao Cao were related by blood, while Cao Ren was only an unrelated brother.
Friends familiar with history know that Cao Cao's original surname was Xiahou, but it was only because his father Cao Song was passed on to the eunuch Cao Teng that he changed his surname to Cao. Therefore, Cao Cao and Xiahou Huan were the same ancestor, both descendants of xiahou infants, the servants of the Western Han Dynasty, and flowed with common blood. Blood is thicker than water, and although the blood relationship between Cao Cao and Xiahou Huan is very thin, it is also closer than Cao Ren, who is not related by blood.
Cao Ren, although cao cao's grandchild, meant that the two of them shared a common great-grandfather, Cao Meng (曹節). However, Cao Cao's grandfather was a great eunuch, and he was only the son of his grandfather Cao Teng's adopted son. In essence, Cao Cao and Cao Ren were not related by blood. Therefore, Cao Cao, who paid attention to blood relations, was closer to Xiahou Huan.
Second, Xiahou Huan was brave and invincible, while Cao Ren was good at defending the city.
As early as the period of Cao Cao's crusade against Dong Zhuo, Xiahou Huan, Xiahou Yuan, Cao Ren, and Cao Hong each brought thousands of people to defect to Cao Cao and formed Cao Cao's team. Xiahou Huan defected to Cao Cao slightly earlier than Cao Ren, and was also trusted by Cao Cao, and was appointed Sima (司馬), and later promoted to the rank of Lieutenant of Folding Chong (折冲) and the leader of Dong Commandery (東郡太守).
In the rendition, Xiahou Huan fought bravely, repeatedly as a pioneer, charged into battle, and also dared to challenge Lü Bu. For the sake of Cao Cao's hegemony, he also put up an eye, which was sad and lamentable. In the main history, Xiahou Huan was not inferior, and when he was fourteen years old, he killed the person who humiliated his teacher.
After following Cao Cao to raise an army, in a battle with Lü Bu, he was taken hostage by a surrendered general and asked for precious supplies. Xiahou Huan was indomitable and did not give in, and also called on his soldiers not to worry about their own safety and kill the robbers. His second-in-command, Han Hao, frightened the robbers into letting go of Xiahou Huan and raising his hand to surrender. The Romance of the Three Kingdoms records the following:
Urge the summons to strike hostages. The hostage bearer prostrated his head in trepidation, saying, "But I want to beg for money to use my ears!"! A lot of responsibility, all cut it off.
Cao Ren, who followed Cao Cao slightly later than Xiahou Huan, also belonged to Cao Cao's team in the early days, and was appointed as a sima of the other departments, and was a lieutenant of Li Feng. His talents are more focused on defense. Cao Ren was a defensive expert during the Three Kingdoms period. In the face of Guan Yu's army, which threatened Huaxia, Cao Ren, who was a major general and a widow, was not afraid of danger and defended Fancheng for several months.
Even in the extremely unfavorable situation of Guan Yu flooding the Seventh Army, running out of ammunition and food, and Fancheng pouring down, Cao Ren withstood the pressure and successfully supported the arrival of the second Xu Huang reinforcements, and successfully defeated Guan Yu with the siege point. His defensive strategy was already comparable to Wei Yan's "heavy door strategy".
However, in the period of territorial expansion, what Cao Cao needed most was a general who could charge into the battlefield, and the hero behind the scenes, Cao Ren, was relatively so conspicuous. The same was true of Shu Han, and this was one of the reasons why Wei Yan was not ranked as a five-tiger general.
Third, Xiahou Huan was "not subject to Han duties", while Cao Ren was misbehaving.
Xiahou Huan was a frugal man, did not buy property in his life, and when he died, his family had no surplus wealth, and he gave all the rewards he received to the soldiers who were born and died. He also had a place of high wind and bright festivals, and the place that was also appreciated by Cao Cao was "not subject to Han duties". The generals who followed Cao Cao to fight the world were essentially generals of Cao Cao's Wei Principality. Many of the generals were given the official title of The Duke of Wei, and nominally they were under the command of Cao Cao, the Duke of Wei.
Cao Cao believed that Xiahou Huan was a vassal of the same palace as him, and should not be subordinate to himself, but should be granted the position of Han official. However, Xiahou Huan insisted on not accepting it, believing that he belonged to Wei, was loyal to Wei, and that it was inappropriate to accept the official position of Han, and that he should accept the official position of Wei. Cao Cao argued, but in the end he could only agree to Xiahou Huan's request and appoint him as a former Wei general.
On the other hand, Cao Ren did not have the high wind and bright festival like Xiahou Huan. For example, in 218 AD, when he left the Jingzhou area occupied by Cao Cao, he levied a violent campaign, which greatly increased the servitude of the local people. In October of that year, the wancheng officials and people in Jingzhou broke out, and the Wancheng defender Hou Yin rebelled, and he joined forces with Guan Yu to openly oppose Cao Ren's rule.
Although Cao Ren attacked Wancheng and killed Hou Yin after four months of conquest, the impact of this rebellion was very bad. Cao Ren lost the hearts of the people in Fancheng, and Guan Yu seized the opportunity to besiege Fancheng, unable to escape for a long time. The Biography of Cao Concealment records the following:
At that time, Nanyang was in bitter service, and Yin Yu was holding the Eastern Li Gong, rebelling with the officials, and making peace with Guan Yu.
Summary: Originally, Xiahou Huan and Cao Ren represented the Xiahou family and the Cao family respectively, and they were representatives of their respective families, following Cao Cao and establishing the immortal merits, and the two had the same status. However, because Xiahou Huan had these three advantages that Cao Ren did not have, in Cao Cao's mind, Xiahou Huan was more important than Cao Ren.