Cao Cao is arguably the most complex and unpredictable figure in the history of the Three Kingdoms and even in the 5,000-year history of China. But Cao Cao loves cai, and no one can deny this.
However, although Cao Cao was "meritocracy" in the early camp when the camp was empty, and included many talented and unscrupulous tyrants under his command, after gradually growing in the later period, Cao Cao realized that "both moral integrity and ability" could be used greatly.
As we all know, Cao Cao had many fierce generals and strategists under his command. When it comes to strategists, Xun Yu, Xun You, Guo Jia, Jia Xu and Cheng Yu are naturally the best of them, but compared with the other 4 people, Cheng Yu's sense of existence is relatively low, and some people may think that his talent is not as good as the other 4 people.
However, if you deeply understand the history of the Three Kingdoms, it is not difficult to find that Cheng Yu is by no means a generalist, and among the many strategists, he is the only one who holds military power, and can be called a literary and martial all-rounder.
Leading the army, he has the courage to fight without losing Zhang Liao; he has the sensitivity of not losing Guo Jia in his insight into human nature; he is a presence comparable to Jia Xu in terms of low-key and forbearing self-preservation ability; even longer than his life span, he survived to death "old and restless" Sima Yi and lived until the age of 80. It was simply rubbing Cao Cao's generals on the ground in various fields.
However, this all-rounder, who was impeccable in any aspect, was actually hidden by Cao Cao, and almost reached the point of never being hired in the later stage, the root of which was because although Cao Cao could tolerate his subordinates to do whatever it took to achieve their goals, he did not allow "thorough scum" in his camp.
People who long for a troubled world
Cheng Yu is a Dong'a person, is an 8 feet 3 inches tall Shandong Han, in the early years has been doing nothing, like many other chaotic heroes, the "Yellow Turban Uprising" is a turning point in their lives, other heroes may be to help the Han room to fight against thieves, but Cheng Yu is "afraid of the world is not chaotic".
In the face of violence and chaos, his beastly blood began to boil, and he ostensibly fought against the Yellow Turban Army to protect the people of his hometown, but in fact he used the people as sacrifices to achieve his ambitions.
The villagers could not see through his hypocritical nature and were grateful to him, but they would never have imagined that one day they would be used as a chip for the upper position by this human demon.
Later, Cheng Yu was requisitioned by Cao Cao, and when Cao Cao looked at him, he realized that he was a fellow of himself, and even no less fierce than himself.
And Cheng Yu, who has always been very accurate in looking at people, also expects that Cao Cao is a tyrant who will achieve hegemony, and he will definitely make a difference in such a wolf-like camp, but will Cao Cao tolerate another figure like him in his camp?
A demon without weakness
In 194, Cao Cao's father was killed by the men of Xuzhou Taishou Taoqian, and the angry Cao Cao massacred the people of Xuzhou, at which time Lü Bu, who had Chen Gong as the brain, took the opportunity to capture Cao Cao's base area of Yanzhou. Xun Yu, Xiahou Dun, and Cheng Yu became the mainstays of Cao Cao's three remaining cities.
After Cheng Yu's strict defense and death to keep Dong Ali alive, Cao Cao excitedly shook Cheng Yu's hand and said, "Without you, I Cao Cao will have no foothold."
But what happened afterwards actually made Cao Cao, who regarded human life as a grass, shudder, and also laid the groundwork for Cao Cao not to dare to reuse Cheng Yu in the later period.
After Lü Bu and Chen Gong secretly attacked Cao Cao, Cao Cao led Cheng Yu and Xun Yu to counterattack Lü Bu, but unexpectedly, there was a locust plague in Yanzhou, and Cao Cao's army was empty of grain and grass, and saw that the counterattack was about to run aground.
Cheng Yu thought that the time had come to express himself, and said to Cao Cao: "The matter of grain and grass will be solved by me alone." Cao Cao looked at Cheng Yu's confident look, and couldn't help but have some doubts, but Cao Cao didn't think much about such a move of sending charcoal in the snow.
As mentioned earlier, Cheng Yu once fought back against the Yellow Turban Army for his father and elder in his hometown, and this time it was his turn to ask the villagers for the price, and the heartbroken Cheng Yu actually slaughtered his hometown in the city, looted the grain, and then did an even more inhumane act, he turned the remains of the victims into jerky and used them as military food for combat consumption, which is rare in history.
With the help of Cheng Yu so unscrupulously, Cao Cao defeated Lü Bu and drove him out of Yanzhou, although it was a matter of happiness to win the battle, but the act of killing his fellow villagers and using human flesh as military food still made Cao Cao feel uneasy.
Courage can win "Zhang Liao" plot to win "Guo Jia"
Cao Cao's jealousy of Cheng Yu is more reflected in his kung fu of being able to recognize human nature. After Liu Bei lost xuzhou, he came to join Cao Cao, and Cheng Yu, who looked like a torch, saw at a glance that "Liu Bei is a hero in the world and cannot be left behind!" Guo Jia, on the other hand, believed that "killing Liu Bei would insult Cao Cao's name as a wise man."
Cao Cao, out of trust in Guo Jia and suppression of Cheng Yu, finally decided to reuse Liu Bei, and afterwards Cheng Yu's prediction came true, Liu Bei found the opportunity to retake Xuzhou and abandon Cao Cao, if heeded Cheng Yu's advice, Cao Cao would inevitably have a strong opponent.
The Battle of Guandu laid the foundation for Cao Cao's supremacy, in which Cheng Yu showed the courage not to lose Zhang Liao, and in the face of the huge gap in strength with the other side, Cheng Yu refused Cao Cao's 2,000 reinforcements to him, and only defended Juancheng with only 700 people.
In his words: "Yuan Shao must feel that there are few soldiers in our city, there is no value in attacking, if you increase troops, it will attract Yuan Shao to fight!" Cao Gong concentrated his forces to keep it for great use! Afterwards, cheng yu did not expect it.
The Battle of Guandu made Cao Cao the biggest winner, and after the victory, Cheng Yu added to Cao Cao's icing on the cake. Yuan Tanjie, who had gathered a group of rabble-rousers and outlaws to fight, was defeated, and Cheng Yu was also named a fenwu general because of his excellent military ability.
Torrents
Although the idiom did not reach the point of being a master, Cao Cao realized that this person who had no weaknesses and no bottom line could not be made stronger.
After Cao Cao's sudden praise for Cheng Yu, Cheng Yu heard his voice outside the string, so he borrowed Lao Tzu's famous saying: "Retire after success, and be content without humiliation." Since then, he has returned his military power and retreated bravely. Cheng Yu's such an interesting approach not only made Cao Cao very satisfied, but also saved his own life.
brief summary:
Although Cao Cao and Cheng Yu are both unscrupulous people, in terms of depth, Cao Cao's unscrupulous means are often for self-preservation, or in a hurry. And Cheng Yu's unscrupulous means can completely serve any of his goals, and his cold-blooded degree is no less than that of the steel sword blade.
However, just because of this, it may not be enough for Cao Cao to put him on the shelf, but Cheng Yu has shown no weakness in various fields, and if he is an enemy of Cao Cao, it will be difficult for Cao Cao to find an entry point to strike at him, which will definitely make Cao Cao think about it. It can be summed up in one sentence: Although Cheng Yu is capable, Cao Cao is difficult to control.
For such a powerful man, either he is loyal or he is deeply virtuous, otherwise it is tantamount to raising a wild and difficult jackal.