Friends who like history must have heard of Cao Cao's "holding the Son of Heaven to order the princes", and basically know its main general meaning. It is to drag the emperor into his own hands, and then give orders everywhere, and whoever disobeys and disobeys will hit whom, and fight very justly.
"Holding the Son of Heaven to order the princes" was the biggest political turning point in Cao Cao's life, and due to the limitations of his origin and strength, he had always been stabilized by his eldest brother Yuan Shao, and his development of strength and expansion of influence were relatively limited. It was not until after "holding the Son of Heaven to order the princes" that he officially took off, because with the emperor in his hands, he was the spokesperson of the central court, speaking quite well, and the brand effect was vividly exerted, attracting a lot of capital and traffic.
However, these things are actually taken literally, is the real "holding the Son of Heaven to order the princes" really that simple? If it's really that simple, why can't Dong Zhuo, Li Wei, Guo Xiao and others use it well? And Yuan Shao didn't even bother to use it at all? It can be seen that behind it is actually very exquisite.
So, what is the true meaning of "holding the Son of Heaven to order the princes"? Perhaps, through Cao Cao's understanding and application, we can get a glimpse of it and grasp the mystery.
Cao Cao before the Son of Heaven
Don't see that Cao Cao has a good father who was a lieutenant, and later did so much, in fact, his life is quite difficult, especially in the first half of his life, basically living in the shadow of being despised. Who despises him? Shi Clan Group; Why despise him? Because he is a descendant of eunuchs. This is a class contradiction, and it has little to do with the power and power of your Cao Cao family. Aren't there many college students today who look down on those nouveau riche?
But from a certain point of view, Cao Cao is extremely lucky, because he has a father who has no regrets and keeps wiping his ass, and there is a leading brother of the Shi clan who is willing to take him to play, Yuan Shao. How important these two people are, friends who have mixed in the circle know that Yuan Shao is equivalent to his introduction or leader in the circle, and his father fully bears all the costs and costs of Cao Cao's entry into the circle.
Cao Cao was actually very intelligent from a young age and understood early on that having power and money does not really mean that a person can live a decent and recognized life. He wants to be a successful person, but also a decent successful person, so he must find a way to blend into the circle of the clans. At all costs, he must eliminate the prejudices of the Shi Clan Group against him and gain their approval.
When he was a child, he followed Yuan Shao to make Luoyang City a chicken and a dog, and later after joining the army, he killed the uncle of the eunuch Ji Shuo, beat the drum for the victims of the scourge of the party, and abolished obscenity in Jinan to block the eunuch group's way of accumulating wealth, in fact, it was all to curry favor with the Shi clan.
So, is it useful for Cao Cao to curry favor with the Shi clan group for decades? It must be useful, for example, Cao Cao's filial piety was handled by Sima Yi's old man, Sima Fang. But if there is any great effect, it is not necessarily, class barriers are not so easy to remove. For example, Xu Shao, the big coffee of the clan who gave him the evaluation of "a powerful minister who governs the world and a hero of troubled times", did not treat Cao Cao very well at the beginning and was unwilling to give him any criticism.
In particular, his confidant eldest brother Yuan Shao has always been close to him, treating him as a tool person, using and squeezing his surplus value all the time, and often digging holes for him. For example, when the group of heroes asked Dong to rush forward single-handedly, Cao Cao was beaten up, and he did not even have the slightest symbolic comfort and support; For example, arranging for him to kill Zhang Liao and Wang Kuang was pouring political and diplomatic dirt on Cao Cao; For example, he planted various spies by his side in advance, took advantage of the fire and robbery during the Battle of Yanzhou, and wanted Cao Cao to sacrifice his family as a hostage, and so on. All this shows that Yuan Shao has never seen Cao Cao as his own person.
Fortunately, Cao Cao was a person with great blessings after all, stumbled along the way, and finally found his own direction in troubled times and established his own base. The hardships and dangers are self-evident. All friends who are working hard here are also advised not to think of success too simply, success has a premise that you have to be like Cao Cao to withstand all kinds of trial and error costs.
Cao Cao completed a qualitative leap and transformation of his life and career in Yanzhou, mainly with the support of the Yingchuan clan represented by Xun Yu, and the incorporation of 300,000 Qingzhou Yellow Turban Army. The first of these two things is to improve his entrepreneurial team, otherwise even if Cao Cao is magnificent, without a management team like Xun Yu to help him deal with various issues such as internal affairs, resources, management, and strategy, he would not have achieved great things. The second is to let him have a real army of his own, which is the foundation of his foothold in troubled times, otherwise Cao Cao will at most live as a local prince like Liu Biao, it seems that the boss has done a lot of work, but he can't mobilize the core resources of the company.
But even so, after winning Yanzhou, Cao Cao's room for expansion in influence was quite limited. Because Yanzhou is the land of four wars, the eldest brother Yuan Shao in the north has gradually become a trend of annexing the world, and Liu Biao of Jingzhou in the south has long allied with Yuan Shao. Qingzhou in the east has been divided between Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zhan, and although Xuzhou was crippled by himself, he didn't have time to clip a piece of meat before he rushed back to Yanzhou because of a fire in the backyard, and Yuzhou and Sizhi in the west have long been miscalamed, basically a bandit's den.
Especially the massacre of Cao Cao in Xuzhou, coupled with the fact that many people are worried about his status as a "eunuch", the support and recognition of him by the Shi clan group is becoming weaker and weaker. According to the normal trend, Cao Cao will sooner or later be annexed by Yuan Shao.
And what gave Cao Cao a change of life against the sky was his "holding the Son of Heaven to order the princes" in 196 AD, as for why this matter is so powerful, let's analyze it slowly later.
All in all, Cao Cao before Fengying the Son of Heaven actually encountered a bottleneck in his career development, and seemed to be mixed up, but in fact he was a little powerless, and sooner or later he had to face great pressure from his big brother Yuan Shao.
How did Cao Cao coerce the Son of Heaven to order the princes?
As soon as the news of Emperor Han Xian's return to the east came out, the Kanto power groups began to boil over each other, because almost all people understood that if the emperor was taken to his home and offered up, and the emperor's banner was used to stand for himself, his political advantage would definitely be greatly improved.
However, there are many people who want to eat meat, and there are not many who can eat meat, at that time, there were mainly two power groups with ideas and strength, and they were also brother groups with deep grievances, one was the eldest brother Yuan Shao, and the other was the younger brother Cao Cao. In fact, as early as 191 and 192, the two of them had put forward similar political propositions to them, such as "greeting the great and driving the world" and "serving the Son of Heaven to order not to be subjected".
This time, Yuan Shao's counsellor once again reiterated his proposition of being your ruler, saying to Yuan Shao: "You should welcome the great drive from the west, and take the Son of Heaven and order the princes." This is the original source of "holding the Son of Heaven and ordering the princes". However, because Yuan Shao had too deep a grudge with the royal family, he was from one of the top high-ranking families at that time, and his strength was also temporarily the world's best, so he did not have too strong a willingness to adopt this yang scheme, coupled with internal disagreement, so he dealt with this matter coldly.
And Cao Cao's right-hand man Xun Yu naturally saw this opportunity, as the representative of the top clan in Yingchuan, he knew very well how much power there was behind the identity of Emperor Xiandi of Han and the four-hundred-year-old brand of Dahan, and he quickly persuaded Cao Cao to "serve the Lord and follow the people's popularity".
To insert a sentence here, from the above different versions of the wording, in fact, there are still subtle differences, the frustration is based on Yuan Shao, Xun Yu is based on the Han, and everyone can experience the difference in feelings by themselves.
Cao Cao did give full trust and respect to Xun Yu, the "son of my son", as Liu Bei, the ancestor of the Han Dynasty, treated Zhang Liang, and basically obeyed some of his suggestions and decisions. Moreover, Xun Yu's reason for persuading him was very strong. If Xun Yu had not been martyred with his body later, Cao Cao and Xun Yu would probably have become another ancient saying of "the prince is suitable".
What was Xun Yu's reason for persuading Cao Cao to welcome the Son of Heaven? The first point is to cite two examples, "Duke Wen of Jin welcomed King Xiang of Zhou and Emperor Gaozu of Han mourned for King Huai of Chu", saying that this was an initiative to buy people's hearts; The second point is to put a high hat on Cao Cao, saying that Cao Cao has always been concerned about the Han family, and in the past he did not do this great good thing because of his limited ability and flawless body. Now that the conditions are ripe, you can't pass up the opportunity. The implication is that Cao Cao has always been a good person, but whenever he has the opportunity to do good deeds, he will not give up. The third is the negative argument, if this matter is preemptively done by others, Cao Cao will have no chance.
Why do you always say that Xun Wenruo is eternal? Let's look at every exhortation he persuaded Cao Cao to make decisions, is it so tight, nice and transparent? Start by giving examples of what the benefits are, then praise the leader for eliminating resistance, and finally objectively explain the loss of not doing so. What a qualified counselor.
Cao Cao is a smart person, naturally understands the stakes and losses in this, and Xun Yu has said so, so hurry up and do it.
Why emphasize Xun Yu's exhortation to Cao Cao here? Because everyone has their own class limitations, some things, if their own insights and opinions are not in place, are not fully understood, not necessarily misunderstood, but may be very vague and hesitant, a little half-understood. For example, Cao Cao's attitude towards the matter of welcoming the Son of Heaven was actually relatively positive, but it was not thorough and resolute. He had been prompted by Mao Jie before, and he had been taking the initiative to show favor to Emperor Han Xian and the central court, but it was also limited to superficial efforts such as sending some gifts and diligent reporting, on the one hand, because Emperor Han Xian was far away in Chang'an at that time, and the conditions were not ripe, on the other hand, it also reflected that Cao Cao did not pay attention to this matter to the extent that he wanted to go all out.
Now, Emperor Xian of Han returned to Luoyang, and Xun Yu was not so much persuading him to make a choice as forcing him to make a decision. In particular, the third reason mentioned above is it full of "don't ink, there will be no shop in this village"? Why can Mao Jie and others only persuade Cao Cao, while Xun Yu can directly "force" Cao Cao? The portions are different. What weight does Xun Yu have in Cao Cao's mind? The weight of the Gold Medal Partner, as evidenced by this:
Although Taizu was in a foreign conquest, the military and state affairs were all related to Yu; Taizu took Yu as a knowledgeable person, and all the Jinda were competent
What do these two quotes mean? In Cao Cao's absence, military and state affairs were all decided by Xun Yu. Xun Yu also basically had the right to decide on the appointment and dismissal of personnel, and the people he recommended and the opinions he drafted, Cao Cao only had to sign and agree.
Still the old saying, Cao Cao got Xun Yu in this life, just like Liu Bang got Zhang Liang and Xiao He, and made a lot of money.
In the end, Cao Cao, at the urging of Xun Yu, decisively attacked, plus Yuan Shao's eldest brother Yuan did not rob him for various reasons (because Emperor Han Xian had passed through his territory, and it was too easy for him to grab), successfully received Emperor Han Xian, who had been wandering for more than a year, and then moved the capital to Xuchang.
What needs to be explained to everyone is that in fact, the process of Cao Cao greeting Emperor Han Xian is still quite difficult, after all, there are still a few warlords watching there. The smooth process was made possible thanks to a man named Dong Zhao, who threaded the needle in the middle and planned the layout to ensure that Cao Cao completed this important strategic plan.
After welcoming Emperor Han Xian to Xuchang, Cao Cao used 700 elite soldiers to surround the palace and put Emperor Han Xian under house arrest, which was called responsible for the safety of Emperor Han Xian. Then, he sealed himself with a letter of appointment, and he became the great general of the Great Han, ranking above the third duke. (Is Cao Cao cute?) At the same time, in order to appease his eldest brother Yuan Shao, who he had always been afraid of, he sent someone to send Yuan Shao the letter of appointment of the imperial lieutenant.
As a result, Cao Cao's performance made Yuan Shao very hurt in his heart, see if this kid can get it, he is a general, and I am a lieutenant? I need him to give the seal? He knows how many pounds he has, if he hadn't been following him, he wouldn't know how many times he had died, and he would have shouted in front of me first, playing with me to blackmail the Son of Heaven to order the princes?
Cao Cao deserves to die a few times, I will save it, and now I will betray my grace, and hold the Son of Heaven to make me care!
Will Cao Cao obey in his heart? Definitely not! Lao Tzu finally caught a little emperor, but your eldest brother Yuan told me that the little emperor is not good at you, isn't this bullying? But in the face of absolute strength, bullying is bullying, and there is no reason to speak.
Cao Cao felt that he could not offend Brother Yuan now, so he quickly confessed, gave the general to Yuan Shao, and became the lowest level of Sikong among the three dukes, riding the general. In this way, it was finally avoided to turn heads directly between the peerless duo of Cao Cao and Yuan Shao.
Subsequently, Cao Cao took control of the Shangshutai and killed all the original Shangshu team that Emperor Han Xian had brought back from Chang'an who was not his own. Xun Yu became Shang Shuling and justifiably presided over all government affairs. Xun Yu's nephew Xun Yu also entered Shangshu, and Yingchuan famous scholar Zhong Xiu became a servant of Shangshu. Shangshutai was thoroughly contracted by the Yingchuan people.
Yu Lin Lang Hou Zhen, Shang Shu Feng Shuo, and Shizhong Tai Chong, please be guilty
After the company was fully upgraded, it began to attract investment, what resources to attract? Naturally, it is a talent resource, and Boss Cao, who has always been stretched thin in terms of talent, is slowly starting to fight the richest battle, and famous figures such as Xun Yu, Zhong Xiu, and Guo Jia all began to defect to Cao Cao at this time. You know, many of them have lived elsewhere before, such as Xun Yu, Du Zhao, Zhao Jian, etc. all as visiting professors in Liu Biaona.
At this moment, everyone may be able to understand what the greatest significance of "holding the Son of Heaven to order the princes" is to Cao Cao, that is, some Shi clan personnel who were originally in a state of wandering and waiting suddenly found the direction and came to cast one after another. Without the support of these talents, Cao Cao would most likely not have won the protracted battle three years later.
Hold the Son of Heaven to order the logical analysis of the princes
"Holding the Son of Heaven to order the princes" has always been a very controversial conspiracy, which has benefits visible to the naked eye and endless disadvantages in the future. For example, Cao Cao attracted a large number of human resources and grasped the political initiative because of it; But Cao Cao also suffered from eternal infamy for it, and many people said that he was a thief of the country and a disloyal minister.
There is nothing wrong with both sides of the above, moralism and pragmatism are often contradictory.
From the objective environment at that time, in fact, Cao Cao's coercion of the Son of Heaven to make the princes have more advantages than disadvantages.
First of all, for Emperor Han Xian, for so many years, his emperor has actually been lost, even the name of the emperor is very illusory, sometimes even food and drink can not be guaranteed, to Cao Cao as a puppet, at least in material and security has a minimum guarantee, and even in name and dignity has been restored to a certain extent, and Cao Cao's son Cao Pi also made the most appropriate arrangements for him.
Second, for Cao Cao, this was his rapidly rising political capital in troubled times. In the past, he could slowly build a large territory, but more often no one recognized his political status, and with the golden signboard of Emperor Han Xian, the situation was completely different. For many princes and warlords, standing on the opposite side of you Cao Cao and standing on the opposite side of Emperor Han Xian are two different things, and choosing to follow you Cao Cao and nominally choosing to follow Emperor Han Xian are also two different things. In the past, many people could intimidate Cao Cao politically, saying that he used force to disrupt the country, and that he had the intention of disobeying him, which is correct. But by taking Emperor Xian of Han into his hands, the situation was reversed, and Cao Cao was free to suppress others politically.
Finally, for a great ruler like Xun Yu, they finally have a legitimate platform to develop their ambitions. Some people will be surprised, didn't they always say that Xun Yu was a clan master loyal to the Han family? Why did he fight with Cao Cao's exiled Emperor Han Xian? In fact, loyal ministers are not fools, and controlling the house arrest of Emperor Han Xian in this era is not a manifestation of disloyalty. Only when power is in the hands of reliable people is the most reliable loyalty to the entire country and society. At that time, Emperor Han Xian's authority and dignity were lost, and it was no longer possible for him to restore the majesty of imperial power. Only a hero like Cao Cao and his own assistant can protect the survival of the Han family to the greatest extent, and only by living can he have a chance to get back on his feet.
So, is it really so good to "hold the Son of Heaven to make the princes" who look so beautiful? Isn't the Han court equivalent to a shell company? Can its brand effect still be so big? These are actually really good questions, for example, Cao Cao's "holding the Son of Heaven hostage to order the princes" is useless to Yuan Shao, Liu Biao, Sun Quan and other princes, and people can in turn ridicule you Cao Cao "named Hanchen, but actually a Han thief", you Cao Cao is disrespectful, actually held the emperor hostage, everyone is blamed.
Therefore, this involves the question of the scope of application of "holding the Son of Heaven to order the princes", that is, the question of who it works against.
First of all, let's take an example, what kind of people are rules useful for? Is it someone who is willing to play by the rules? Are they people who dare not follow the rules? Is it someone who doesn't want to follow the rules but doesn't have the strength to resist? Are they those who are dishonest but want to seek the protection of rules? In short, rules don't really work for those who have the power and want to break it.
You Cao Cao blackmailed the Son of Heaven to order the princes, who did you order? Yuan Shao, Liu Bei and other world-famous heroes who buy your account? Lao Tzu fought desperately to live in a troubled time to fight for a little family business, and as a result, you asked us to confiscate it in the name of the emperor, and we confiscated it? Just kidding!
Therefore, "holding the Son of Heaven to order the princes" and "holding the Son of Heaven to order not subjects" are actually contradictory in superficial logic, people have become princes, they all want to be subordinates, you order a yarn? No one will bird you. The group that Emperor Han Xian's command could really play a role in was actually a non-top Shi clan group. This is actually very easy to understand, the company's name and brand are actually only for people who still have illusions about the company.
Then why do only those non-top clan groups still have illusions about the Han family and Emperor Han Xian? Because the top clans have long been in troubled times, mixing into princes or warlords on one side. Only those who are not top clans have broken their stable chain of interests due to social unrest, and they need a platform and direction to rise again.
For example, if an established company is about to go bankrupt, who cares most about the fate of the company? Are they the executives who are ready to jump jobs and have no worries about food and clothing? Are they the bottom workers who never get a profit? It will be those who have both reaped the benefits and cannot find a better way out.
Because of the war, the connections of those non-top clans have become fragmented, and it is difficult to protect the channels of their previous interests. For example, the previous officials and officials are unreliable, you don't know who will be the boss tomorrow, who can you count on to protect you?
Can these non-top clans have any good way out other than actively embracing those powerful princes and warlords? So, it's all looking for objects, why not find someone with a better reputation? This is the true logic of the Shi clan group defecting to Cao Cao because of Emperor Xian of Han.
The Cao Cao Group, which owned Emperor Han Xian, was the team with the loudest brand and the most reputation in the industry at that time, and although it was not the strongest, it would still have a strong attraction to many people who were marginalized by society.
People have a certain choice syndrome, and most people will unconsciously believe in the brand effect under the premise of not knowing what they should choose or not having a choice. The people who went to work at Cao Cao's place could say the least that he was not just working for Boss Cao, but was loyal to the Great Han.
All in all, the Yang scheme of "holding the Son of Heaven to order the princes" actually has advantages and disadvantages. The pros and cons of everything are only relative, not absolute, for Cao Cao at that time, this was undoubtedly the best choice, but for Yuan Shao, it was not necessarily. For example, if Yuan Shao welcomed Emperor Han Xian, if he wanted to create his own brand, he had to bear the infamy of the ages, but if he did not welcome Emperor Han Xian, he could completely eliminate Cao Cao in the name of "Qing Jun's side". This requires everyone to look at it rationally.
Moreover, everything has its effective logic, and it will not produce some kind of positive and negative effects for no reason, just like mathematical problem solving, it depends on established known conditions.
With this article, I hope that friends can be a more transparent person in work and life.