At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Cao Cao was the hero of the unification of the north, and he was also a father. Among his many children, the most beloved is the youngest son Cao Chong. The protagonist of a story we have heard since childhood, "Cao Chong Calls the Elephant", is this Cao Chong, which shows Cao Chong's intelligence.
In "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", Chen Shou also recorded Cao Chong's cleverness:
Shao Cong Cha Qi Ling, born five or six years old, wisdom as far as he wants, like the wisdom of an adult.
It is precisely because of this that Cao Cao loves this child so much. In order to teach him to become an adult, Cao Cao asked Cao Chong to worship Sima Yi as his teacher at that time. Although Sima Yi admits Cao Chong's cleverness, he even thinks that his cleverness is only temporary, and sooner or later he will lose his life because of it.
And everything turned out to be Sima Yi's thoughts, as Cao Cao's favorite son, Cao Chong died not long after.
Let's talk about Cao Chong's life experience first. He was born in 196 A.D. and was born to Cao Cao's concubine, Madame Huan. Although he is not a son-in-law, because of his young age and intelligence, he is deeply loved by Cao Cao.
Cao Cao often talked to his sons in the mansion and asked them some questions, sometimes Cao Pi, as the eldest son, could not necessarily answer, but Cao Chong could answer them fluently. This made Cao Cao even more overjoyed, thinking that he had a successor.
What makes Cao Chong really famous is the story of his elephant. At that time, Cao Chong was no more than a child of seven or eight years old, and Sun Quan of Jiangdong sent someone to pay tribute to an elephant in order to find out the truth of Cao Cao. It was the first time Cao Cao saw such a behemoth, and he was also very satisfied with Sun Quan.
Suddenly, on a whim, Cao Cao asked the crowd how they knew the elephant's weight. There was a lot of discussion, and some people said that if they were divided into several pieces, as long as they got the weight of each piece, they would add up to the weight of an elephant.
Cao Cao was not satisfied with this, and he wanted to get the weight of the elephant without killing it. This request made everyone present scratch their ears and cheeks.
At this time, a child's voice came out: "Father, my son has a plan that can be weighed." ”
It turned out to be 7-year-old Cao Chong who walked out, and everyone only thought it was a child's words. Cao Cao had always known that Cao Chong was smart, but he didn't think that a yellow-mouthed kid could do anything about it. But let Cao Chong give it a try.
After obtaining his father's approval, Cao Chong instructed his servants to place the elephant on a large boat, so that the hull of the ship was lowered, so he had the hull and the water surface to make a mark. Then the elephant was driven off the boat.
Cao Chong then ordered the stone to be placed on the ship, and in this way, the ship gradually sank to reach the mark made before. When everyone sees this, if they still can't understand it, then they can really say goodbye and return to their hometown. Cao Cao's approach to Cao Chong was also amazed.
As Cao Chong grew up, Cao Cao asked Sima Yi to teach Cao Chong.
Sima Yi also tried his best to teach Cao Chong, and as he got along for a long time, he was even more amazed by the wisdom of this young child, but it was precisely because of this that he felt more and more that Cao Chong would not live long.
As the final winner of the Three Kingdoms, Sima Yi even forbears the truth, under normal circumstances, he will not easily show his talent. But now seeing that Cao Chong always inadvertently shows wisdom beyond his age, I can't help but sigh at his stupidity.
As Cao Cao's power grew, the question of heirs inevitably came to the fore. Although according to the custom at that time, the eldest son should be appointed as the heir, but after all, it depends on Cao Cao's final decision.
And Cao Chong showed intelligence and benevolence everywhere, which made Cao Cao praise in public many times, and made Cao Cao's other sons dislike, which also laid the groundwork for Cao Chong's untimely death.
After the Battle of Chibi, Cao Cao returned to Xuchang. At that time, in order to prevent assassins, when he entered Xuchang, he came to a Ming Xiu plank road to secretly Chen Cang, ostensibly said to enter through the south gate, but in fact quietly entered through the west gate.
After Cao Cao entered Xuchang, he found Cao Chong waiting here, while Cao Pi and other brothers and ministers waited at the south gate for three days.
Later, Cao Cao gathered his sons to discuss how to arrest the Assassins, and Cao Pi and others said that the city gates should be closed and searched from house to house, but Cao Chong said that the city gates should be opened. After Cao Cao heard this, he praised Cao Chong: "This son Xiao me." ”
And this incident caused the brothers to be dissatisfied with Cao Chong, and soon after, Cao Chong died of a serious illness. Although the history books do not explain the cause of Cao Chong's death, it is not difficult to judge that it should be the secret work of Cao Pi and others.
Cao Chong is indeed a prodigy, if he was not born in the imperial family, let him grow up, maybe he will leave a strong mark in history.