Cao Cao commented on Xun Yu in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms: "My son Fang Ye. In the service, he kept the book of Shang Shu Lingyu, accumulated virtue and deeds, had no regrets, was disturbed by the world, and cherished loyalty and thought of ruling. From the beginning, the subject raised volunteer soldiers, traveled around to conquest, and worked with Yu Tou, left and right Wang Luo, spoke and gave advice, and did not do anything. The merits of Yu, the subjects are from the economy, with the floating clouds, showing the light of the sun and the moon. His Majesty is blessed, yu is close to the machine, loyal and obedient, like walking on thin ice, researching extremely sharp, in order to soothe things. The determination of the world, the merit of Yu. It is advisable to enjoy the high lordship in order to show the yuanxun. ”
Cao Cao's evaluation of Xun Yu can be said to be quite high!
In every chaotic world, Haojie emerges and talents emerge. The same was true during the Three Kingdoms period, where fierce generals were like clouds and courtiers were like rain, and the most prestigious ones were Cao Cao, Liu Bei, and Sun Quan. However, in the chaotic world, how can the central plains rely on the strength of only one person, and the competition between the three major forces is the competition of many fierce generals under his command.
Although there are many able ministers in the Three Kingdoms, there are not many who can be praised as having the talent of Wang Zuo, and the famous Xun Yu and Zhou Yu are one of them. And Xun Yu was not only called "Wang Zuocaiye" by the famous scholar He Yuan at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty! It was also called by Cao Cao as "My Son Fang Ye!" ”
Xun Yu: "My Son's Room"
Xun Yu (荀彧), literally WenRuo, Yingchuan Yingyin ren. At that time, the Xun family was a famous local family, and Xunzi was the ancestor of Xun Yu.
Xun Yu's grandfather Xun Shu was knowledgeable and extremely popular in the Eastern Han Dynasty, Xun Yu's father and uncle were both officials in the Han Dynasty, and his uncle Xun Shuang was once ranked as the third duke. Xun Yu had the shadow of his grandfather in both knowledge and character.
Xun Yu was very famous in the local area in his early years, and he was an official in the imperial court for his filial piety. After Dong Zhuo's troubles, he was forced to abandon his official post and return home, and in order to escape the war, he went to Jizhou and became a strategist under Yuan Shao, who also made Xun Yu a guest.
However, Xun Yu had already seen that Yuan Shao could not succeed, so he resolutely left Yuan Shao when Yuan Shao was in the middle of the sky, and defected to Cao Cao, who had just started. At this time, Cao Cao was still just an unknown little person, and Xun Yu's arrival undoubtedly made Cao Cao very happy, and Cao Cao called Xun Yu "my son's room" from this time.
Facts have proved that Cao Cao's high appraisal is indeed not a little false, because Xun Yu has indeed made irreplaceable contributions to Cao Cao.
First of all, Cao Wei's basic strategy came from Xun Yu, and many of Cao Cao's political and military actions can be said to be based on the path drawn up by Xun Yu.
Secondly, Xun Yu single-handedly created an excellent group of counselors for Cao Wei. Xun Yu was extremely accurate, and he personally recommended many talents to Cao Cao, such as Zhong Xuan, Xun You, Cheng Yu, Chen Qun, Xia Zhicai, Guo Jia and others.
In addition, Xun Yu also made great contributions to tactics. When Lü Bu raided Yanzhou, Xun Yu and Cheng Yu together saved Juancheng, Fan County, and Dong'a Counties, laying the foundation for Cao Cao's counterattack on Yanzhou; at the Battle of Guandu, when Cao Cao and Yuan Shao were at their most difficult time in the decisive battle, it was also because of Xun Yu's persuasion that Cao Cao did not withdraw Xu Du and had a later victory...
It can be seen that in the process of Cao Cao's pacification of the north, Xun Yu's credit can be said to be considerable. If it is said that the Cao Wei Empire rose, in addition to Cao Cao's own ability, Xun Yu could account for at least half of the remaining credit.
Whether it was the theory of four victories at the Battle of Guandu, or the correct guidance when pacifying Yanzhou, or the initial defeat of Yuan Shao, Cao's army crossed the Yellow River to pursue with victory, Xun Yu laid the most fundamental foundation for Cao Cao to dominate the world.
However, it was such a great hero who was eventually alienated by Cao Cao, and even led to his final death. What is the reason for this?
Prevent Cao Cao from claiming the title of Duke of Wei, the source of the two men's anti-purpose
The antagonism between Xun Yu and Cao Cao should have come from the words xun Yu once said to Cao Cao.
In the seventeenth year of Jian'an, Dong Zhao and other ministers plotted to write to Emperor Xian of Han to crown Cao Cao as a duke and enter the Nine Xi Rites. However, this move was stopped by Xun Yu with the ten words of loyalty and sincerity and the truth of retreat.
At that time, xun Yu, in order to prevent Cao Cao from receiving the gift of nine tins, advised Cao Cao that if he received nine tins, the ministers who were originally loyal to the Han dynasty would inevitably stand up against it. This sentence can be said to point directly to cao cao's key point, point out the things that Cao Cao is afraid of in his heart, and also become an irreparable source of contradictions between Cao Cao and Xun Yu.
In fact, Xun Yu was not blindly "die-hard" to Cao Cao. He was not Cao Cao's personal vassal, he was more like a courtier of the Han Dynasty. He helped Cao Cao grow his power, the root of which was that Cao Cao was a chancellor of the Han Dynasty, essentially helping the Han Dynasty.
Therefore, when Cao Cao did something beneficial to the Great Han Dynasty, Xun Yu repeatedly made plans, and once Cao Cao did something unfavorable to the Great Han Dynasty, Xun Yu naturally came forward to oppose it.
It can be seen that the relationship between Xun Yu and Cao Cao is actually very delicate. Xun Yu devoted himself to assisting Cao Cao in the kuangfu Han room, so when Cao Cao's true face was completely exposed, Xun Yu also realized that he was powerless to prevent Cao Cao from overthrowing the Han room, and he could no longer support the Han room.
In fact, Cao Cao's desire to "replace" the Han Dynasty grew with the strength of Cao Wei's strength, which was exactly what Xun Yu could not influence. In the early days of Cao Cao's struggle for the world, Xun Yu repeatedly made strange plans for Cao Cao and attracted talents; but by the time Cao Cao's forces were able to share in the Battle of Guandu, Xun Yu rarely took the initiative to contribute, but more to complete his own work.
From here, it is not difficult to see that although Cao Cao attaches great importance to Xun Yu, it is also obvious that Xun Yu did not want him to replace the Han Room and tried his best to resign.
Judging from Xun Yu's words opposing Cao Cao's claim to the Duke of Wei, although these few words seem soft, they are enough to expose the essence of Cao Cao's appearance, and Cao Cao can naturally understand the meaning of Xun Yu.
For Xun Yu, he undoubtedly put life and death aside, because it was the person he tried his best to assist who ruined his goal of fighting the Han Room, and he also became the main promoter of the Destruction of the Han Room, which can be imagined in his heart.
In any case, Xun Yu had already become a stepping stone for Cao Cao's domination of the world at this time, and the breakdown of the relationship between the two had become an inevitable trend. Therefore, Cao Cao gave Xun Yu an empty box, which basically meant that there was no food in the box and wanted to eat it (cutting). Therefore, the theory that Xun Yu committed suicide spread in later generations.
The Cao Wei clique, which eventually went into decline
Of course, the serious differences in the concepts of Cao Cao and Xun Yu were not instantaneous. Since Cao Cao's failed crusade against Chibi, Cao Cao's main goal had changed from unifying the world to usurping Han and establishing himself, and xun Yu's initial strategy for Cao Cao was based on this starting point of continuing the Han Dynasty.
It can be seen that Xun Yu's strategy can no longer be used by Cao Cao, and coupled with the fact that Cao Cao already has a mature group of advisers, naturally xun Yu is not so needed.
Secondly, as a representative of the Yingchuan Shi clan, Xun Yu's views have a great influence on the Yingchuan Shi clan. As an important part of the Cao Cao clique, the Yingchuan Shi clan group has a certain decisive role in the success or failure of the entire Cao Wei clique. Therefore, due to the stability of the group, Cao Cao must also choose to kill Xun Yu.
So in Xun Yu's mind, was it only for his own selfish purposes to prevent Cao Cao from receiving the Nine Tin Gifts, or did he have other plans?
In fact, Xun Yu's views were extremely far-sighted. After Cao Cao became the Duke of Wei, cao Wei's internal opposition became stronger and stronger, as did external resistance.
Cao Cao was unable to fight outside for a long time for fear of internal changes, which eventually led to his missed opportunity to pacify Yizhou, causing Liu Bei to become greater and annex Hanchuan. Coupled with the defeat of Xiahou and the successive surrender of the three eastern counties, etc., the State of Wei was once in turmoil and went down the road of decline.
After Cao Cao's act of claiming the title of Duke of Wei, he had already embarked on the road of weakening the Western Mountains, and after that, he faced rebellion and internal instability, which eventually led to the collapse of Cao Wei's regime.
And all this Xun Yu had already warned in the early years. He often used Gaozu as a metaphor for Cao Cao, but Gaozu was not without the heart of an emperor, but he was able to put the world first, chana yayan, and finally the world returned to his heart. Not taking it was exactly what Xun Yu hoped Cao Cao could do. However, Cao Cao's character and ambition doomed him to be inferior to Gaozu, so that the hegemony in his later years declined, burying everything.
brief summary
As a rare sage and wise man in the Three Kingdoms period, Xun Yu undoubtedly had outstanding insight and long-term vision, which is why he was able to become the "talent of Wang Zuo" under Cao Cao.
However, with the expansion of Cao Wei's power, Cao Cao already had a sense of self-reliance, and although Xun Yu knew that the Han Room was no longer recoverable, he still could not turn his back on the Han Room, which symbolized orthodoxy. He was a true gentleman, and the restoration of the Han Chamber was his original intention and heartfelt. Therefore, although he had the talent to enter and exit, he could not really devote himself to Cao Cao's grand plan. Xun Yu had already achieved a worthy of Cao Cao and worthy of the Han Dynasty.
Reference: Romance of the Three Kingdoms
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