The German philosopher Nietzsche said: "Man himself is a unity of contradictions, and no one can get rid of contradictions." But among so many contradictions, who is the most contradictory? In Chinese history, I think if Cao Cao ranked second, no one dared to call him number one.
Xu Shao, a connoisseur of characters of the same period as Cao Cao, once commented helplessly on Cao Cao under cao cao's coercion: "You are a hero in the world of Taiping and a traitor in the world of turmoil." Cao Cao was very happy to hear this. These two sentences have also been interpreted by later generations as "the capable minister who governs the world, and the adulterous male who is in the chaotic world".
So cao cao is loyal? Is it adultery? Is it good? Or is it bad? That's a lot of opinion. Chen Lin wrote in the article "Yuzhou for Yuan Shao": "And manipulating the ambitions of the jackals and subtly plotting is to destroy the pillars, the lonely and weak Han room, and to destroy Zhongzheng, which is specially designed for the sake of the tyrants." Here for the first time, Cao Cao is characterized as a tyrant.
According to my personal understanding, I feel that the use of these two words to evaluate Cao Cao is very pertinent, between loyalty and adultery, and also vividly reflects the unity of his contradictions.
Regarding his loyalty, the Romance of the Three Kingdoms says that he once stabbed Dong Zhuo, a powerful figure who corrupted Chaogang, with the Seven Star Sword, but later generations said that this was a rendition, and Cao Cao did not assassinate Dong Zhuo; but when Cao Cao was a young official, he did serve as an assassin with a masked face, but the target of the assassination was not Dong Zhuo, but the eunuch who was more powerful than Dong Zhuo, the first Zhang Rang of the Ten Constant Attendants, which is recorded by the Western Jin dynasty historian Sun Sheng in "Miscellaneous Sayings". From here, it can be seen that its loyalty and courage are comparable to Jing Ke.
If he is said to have committed adultery, in a big way, it is "blackmailing the Son of Heaven to order the princes, stealing the Han room to take the surname cao"; and his motto "I would rather bear the people of the world, Hugh will make the people of the world bear me"; and "pretending to sleep and kill close attendants"; the "Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms and The Biography of Cao Cao" also records an incident in Cao Cao's childhood, saying that in order to deal with his uncle, who always sued himself in front of his father, he once had a stroke of heart, so that his father never believed his uncle's words again, all of which reflected the treacherous side of Cao Cao.
Cao Cao cherished talents and was magnanimous, and could welcome Guo Jia ten miles away and discuss the affairs of the world hand in hand; he could also forgive Chen Lin, who had cursed his ancestors for three generations, and stay by his side to seal officials and friends; Jia Xu and Zhang Xiu, who had harmed his eldest son and nephew, could add officials to the knighthood and reuse them; in the Battle of Guandu, Cao Cao had welcomed Xu You barefoot; for Guan Yu, Zhao Yun, and Liu Bei, in fact, he had many opportunities to let them die, but they all could not bear to be spared because of their talents, and only then did they have the three kingdoms in the future.
However, Cao Cao killed many more able ministers, and Corporal Cao Cao Received Xu You, but in the end he was killed because of his wild words that angered Cao Cao; Kong Rong was imprisoned and abandoned by Xi Wei for complaining about Cao Cao's mouth; Xun Yu was forced to commit suicide by poisoning because he was loyal to the Han Chamber and opposed Cao Cao's claim to the Duke of Wei; Yang Xiu was killed because he was wild and repeatedly broke Cao Cao's heart; Liu Fu was killed for saying that Cao Cao's "moon stars are rare, birds fly south, three turns around trees, and no branches can be relied on" written before Cao Cao's southern expedition.
Cao Cao was still miserable and compassionate, and he had pity for cangsheng who had suffered from wars, plagues, droughts and floods at that time, and wrote in the Song Li Xing: "White bones are exposed in the wild, and there is no chicken chirping for thousands of miles." The people of life are left behind, and the thoughts are broken. ”
But it was cao cao, who was so miserable and compassionate, that he created war after war and slaughtered the city. In order to avenge his father's revenge, he attacked Xuzhou, but he failed to attack for a while, and in a fit of rage, he carried out a bloody massacre of four or five surrounding counties, so that Surabaya was blocked by corpses.
Cao Cao fought and killed all his life, but this hand holding the sword wrote down many masterpieces. Cao Cao, who had been a horseman all his life, and Cao Cao, who was in a storm, were affectionate and emotional when he was dying, explaining family affairs in small pieces, without a little political arrangement.
In his "Testament", it is written: "My concubines and servants are diligent, and they are treated with kindness." On the top of the hall, install a six-foot bed, lay down the tent, and set up a breast (food) in the direction of the breast. On the fifteenth day of the month, from the morning to noon, he made a trick in the tent. Ru waited for the Tongque Terrace from time to time to look at the Wuxi Mausoleum Field. The incense may be divided among the ladies, and no sacrifice will be made. There is nothing to do in the house, you can learn to sell shoes (make shoes to sell money) also. All the silks that my officials have received are in hiding. I have the rest of my clothes, but don't hide it. If not, brothers can share. ”
After reading his "Testament", not only does it make people think, is this still Cao Cao who wrote "GuanCang Sea"? "The journey of the sun and the moon, if out of it." The stars are brilliant, if they are out of the way", how magnificent and vast it is! Or Cao Cao, who wrote "Turtle Although Shou"?" The old Ji Futuo, determined to be in a thousand miles. The martyr is in his twilight years, and his heart is full of courage", how angry this is!
But such a Cao Cao, before dying, arranged her women and clothes, like an old man in the neighborhood, so difficult that it is often said that "people will die, and their words are good." ”
The original ambition was to support the Han Room, but as he walked, he became a traitor who stole the Han Room, and although he did not depose the Han emperor in his lifetime, he still carried this insult for thousands of years.
Finally, end with Yang Shen's "Linjiang Immortal", which is also the theme song of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms"!
The water rolling in the east of the Yangtze River, the waves exhaust the heroes. Success or failure turns empty. The green mountains are still there, and the sunset is red a few degrees.
White-haired fisherman on the river, used to watch the autumn moon and spring breeze. A pot of turbid wine is a happy encounter. How many things in ancient and modern times are in the process of laughter.