The Temple is the most sacred place of the feudal dynasty, because it is dedicated to the ancestors of the emperors and the emperors of the dynasty. Generally speaking, only those ministers who have made important contributions to the imperial court can be entitled to the Temple after death, which shows how glorious it is to be worthy of the Temple. After the establishment of Cao Wei, Cao Cao was posthumously honored as Emperor Wu of Wei, and had twenty-six ministers to share. However, among these people, there was no Xun Yu, the first meritorious servant of Cao Cao, what was going on?
In chronological order, these twenty-six people were allocated in five batches, the first batch of Xiahou Huan, Cao Ren, and Cheng Yu; the second batch of people was relatively large, namely Cao Zhen, Cao Xiu, Xiahou Shang, Huan Jie, Chen Qun, Zhong Xuan, Zhang Gao, Xu Huang, Zhang Liao, Le Jin, Hua Xin, Wang Lang, Cao Hong, Xiahou Yuan, Zhu Ling, Wen Ping, Zang Ba, Li Dian, Pang De, and Dianwei; the third, fourth, and fifth batches had only one person, namely Xun You, Sima Yi, and Guo Jia.
Whether it is ability, or seniority, or merit, Xun Yu is far more than most of the people above. In 191, the 29-year-old Xun Yu broke away from Yuan Shao's camp and defected to Cao Cao, who was still weak. Cao Cao was overjoyed and praised Xun Yu as "My Son Fang Ye". In the following twenty years, Xun Yu played a very important role in the development and growth of Cao Cao, and can be said to be the first contributor to Cao Cao's unification of the north.
During the battle with Lü Bu, Xun Yu designed to hold juancheng, Fan county, and several cities in dong'a, avoiding Cao Cao's defeat. In 196, Xun Yu again offered advice to Cao Cao, "obeying the Lord to the people's expectations", so Cao Cao welcomed Emperor Xian of Han to Xu Du and began to "blackmail the Son of Heaven to order the princes", taking the initiative in politics. After that, Cao Cao personally led the army to conquest, and Xun Yu served as Shang Shu Ling, responsible for staying in Xudu, supplying grain, grass and soldiers to the front line, while also developing the economy and expanding his strength, so that Cao Cao had no worries at all.
Xun Yu was from the Yingchuan Xun clan and was well informed, and he also recommended many talents to Cao Cao. After Xia Zhicai's death, Cao Cao wrote to Xun Yu asking if he could succeed Xi Zhicai, and Xun Yu immediately recommended Guo Jia. After talking with Guo Jia, Cao Cao was overjoyed and said, "Whoever makes a lonely person a great cause will also be this person." In addition, Zhong Xuan, Xun You, Chen Qun, and Du Xian were also talents recommended by Xun Yu, and the first four of them later deserved to enjoy the Taimiao Temple, but Xun Yu was "unsuccessful".
So why didn't Xun Yu deserve the Cao Wei TaiMiao Temple? In fact, this is directly related to Xun Yu's political attitude in his later years! With the increase of strength, Cao Cao gradually unified the north and began to have a heart of disobedience, wanting to replace Emperor Xian of Han. At the same time, Cao Cao's subordinate Dong Zhao and others sensed Cao Cao's thoughts, so they wrote to cao Cao to advise cao to "enter the Duke of The Duke of Guo, and prepare the nine tin to show the special honor." Cao Cao did not take a direct stance, but asked Xun Yu's attitude.
Although Xun Yu served Cao Cao, he still thought of "reviving the Han Dynasty" in his bones, so he resolutely opposed Cao Cao's act of sealing the Duke of Wei and adding Jiu Xi. Xun Yu believed that "it is not appropriate for the Benxing righteous soldiers to be loyal to the country, to be loyal and sincere, to keep the truth of retreat, and to love people with virtue." Although Cao Cao didn't say anything, he was very unhappy, and he thought that Xun Yu would not continue to walk the same path as himself.
In 212, Cao Cao led a large army on a southern expedition, during which he used the excuse of the Lao army to transfer Xun Yu to the front line and took the opportunity to remove Shang Shuling from his post. Ever since Cao Cao "blackmailed the Heavenly Son to order the princes", Xun Yu had been sitting in the rear and serving as Shang Shu Ling. Cao Cao's doing so shows that Xun Yu has lost Cao Cao's trust. Xun Yu knew this well, and he was forced to commit suicide by taking poison at the age of fifty.
References: 1. Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms; 2. Zizhi Tongjian