History is the memory of things that have been said and done. —Carl Baker
Cao Cao's status and merits in the Three Kingdoms of the Later Han Dynasty cannot be ignored by anyone, "the former emperor called Cao Neng", destroyed Lü Bu, expelled Yuan Shu, Ping Yuan Shao, Ding Wu Huan, swept Xi Liang, and conquered Hanzhong. It has most of China's territory and is full of talents. However, such a person, without a unified post-Han chaotic world, cannot but make people think deeply.
Leaving aside his defeats and the chibi that fulfilled the "Three Kingdoms", because these are appearances, let's discuss the root cause of all this. Generally speaking, there are two aspects: subjective and objective.
First of all, Cao Cao himself, Li Shimin said of Cao Cao: "In the face of danger, the enemy is strange, and the wisdom of one general is more than enough, and the talent of ten thousand multipliers is insufficient." This makes sense, when Cao Cao was a military commander, he was able to let people see the ability of a chaotic and adulterous male, and he could also be regarded as making the best use of people. But the mention of "power" immediately sensitized him. The first is "military power", you can recall, when Cao Cao was alive, who was on his own, had the right to make a decision on the spot, and use the army on his own? Zhang Liao only had the right to defend Eastern Wu and did not have the right to enter the army; Xiahou Yuan's town of Chang'an chased Ma Chao, and Yang Fu asked him for help, "Yuan did not dare to mobilize troops because he did not get Cao Cao's words", which can be seen. There was even a situation in which Xiahou Yuan only took 500 soldiers to bribe the horns during the Battle of Hanzhong. Sent to guan yu, he also led a large army to garrison Mopo, not at ease! Is it that he does not have such talents under his command? Of course! Sima Yi is a talent proved by history, and Zhang Liao, Cao Ren, Xu Huang... Cao Cao did not give up military power for several reasons: 1. His own talent, Cao Cao, as a great military expert, he did not need to have Han Xin, Bai Qi, Xu Da, himself can be. 2。 In his family history, Cao Cao started by relying on Wu Wei, so he knew the terrible self-esteem of supporting soldiers. 3 At the same time, we should not exaggerate Cao Cao's control over military power, after all, he did not cause the phenomenon of "soldiers do not know the generals, they will not know the soldiers", and the generals still have the power to pro-soldiers. It is just that Cao Cao is not bold enough in the "decentralization of military power"! This also makes him personally present in every battle, causing his great achievements!
The second is tolerance for talent. For this, we should not be blinded by Cao Cao's huge talent. It is true that Cao Cao's men are capable of producing many people, but his ability to control people who are higher than himself in some aspects is debatable. With regard to Liu Bei's use, is Liu Bei really so obsessed with fighting the world by himself? At that time, he did not have Zhuge Liang, of course, he would not think of occupying Jingzhou and then taking Xichuan, and lianwu to resist Cao or something. What he could do was to occupy Xuzhou, and then compete with Cao Cao, a little bit of brains know that their chances of winning like this are not great, why didn't Liu Bei follow Cao Cao to make great achievements, and his name was Chu Shuai? On the one hand, this is Liu Bei's own "tyrant" component at work, on the other hand, it is Cao Cao's driving problem, Chen Shou's evaluation is not unreasonable, "the machine power is strategy, do not arrest Wei Wu, it is Ji Yu is also narrow." But if he does not bend, he who will not be inferior in the end will not tolerate the amount of the other, not only to compete for profits, but to avoid harming Yun'er. Speaking of Uncles and Nephews of the Xun Clan, in fact, their deaths can be summed up in one sentence, "Gong Gao Zhen Lord", so Cao Cao could not tolerate them and killed !!! At this point, Cao Cao was far worse than Han Gaozu. The main reason is that Han Gao is smarter than Cao Cao in "the timing of killing". The beast cooked the spring as much as possible, and the birds did not stop hiding a good bow, in the final analysis, it was caused by Cao Cao's "lack of talent for ten thousand multipliers."
Finally, incidentally, Cao Cao's handling of Yuan Shao's surrender, the history is that he killed nearly 70,000 people in the pit and sank 7 years before Pinghebei, which seems to be caused by his "lack of talent by multiplication." In fact, I think Cao Cao weighed them up again and again on this issue, first of all, grain and grass, and then there was resettlement, so that Cao Cao could not use or discredit them, and there were only two ways to release and kill. Some people think that Cao Cao's killing of them shows that "the talent of ten thousand multipliers is insufficient, but it is not." Let them god know whether to let the tiger return to the mountain, think that the morale of the enemy is disintegrated, that is only the perspective of our modern people to see this problem. At that time, if the 2 sons of the Yuan clan were harmonious and let these people go, it would be tantamount to fighting the Battle of Guandu in vain, which was unrealistic. Whoever came to be Cao Cao would also feel that as long as Hebei was leveled, the world would have to raise his hand, so Cao Cao didn't care to spend a few more years to pacify it, of course, he didn't know that he would have the defeat of Chibi.
Let's look at the objective factors that Cao Cao failed to calm the world. First of all, his opponent, an indomitable and indomitable "chaotic tyrant", a Sun clan who has gone through three lifetimes and has many talents. Neither the Lord of Chen Hou nor the King of Shang, all of them were strong enemies. This caused Cao Cao's defeat at Chibi and the loss of Hanzhong, which cannot simply be attributed to Cao Cao's incompetence. Then there is the restriction of "Cao Cao blackmailing the Son of Heaven to order the princes", Cao Cao succeeded in this, but also suffered from this, after all, every time he went out to teach, he had to have a bright and upright reason. And this "coercion" also caused people to think about han, Zhuge Liang said, "wait for the world to change", what changes? Guan Yu's march into the Central Plains was supported by the peasant rebels, which shows how much influence this had on Cao Cao.
Finally, I think that the reason why Cao Cao failed to unify the world, and even beyond his own "lack of talent", is the immaturity of historical timing. Luo Guanzhong said that "for a long time, there will be a long time," and I personally think that this is a wise saying that applies to one person, one family, one group, and one country. Cao Cao was only a founder of the Three Kingdoms chaos, and it was unrealistic to unify him before completing the integration of all aspects and preparing for it. The mission of historical figures is certain and at the same time dramatic. If Chai Rong had not died young, would China still have a history of humiliation in the Song Dynasty for more than a hundred years? But history is that the Zhao family unified the world, and no one can reverse it.
In short, the reasons why Cao Cao did not unify the world were multiple and complex. "In the face of danger and change, the enemy is strange, and there is more than enough wisdom in one general, and there is not enough talent in multiplication." It is a reason that cannot be ignored, but it is completely due to the unfairness of Cao Cao, the reason why the Three Kingdoms are called the Three Kingdoms is that they are fighting with each other's wisdom and fighting power, which is not something that Cao Cao can personally grasp, and the environment and objective factors that Cao Cao is in make his contribution can only be "King Wen of Zhou" and be a founder, and the great cause of reunification can only be completed in the hands of future generations.
ay! This is called "the former people in the fields and the later people collect, saying what dragons fight tigers"!