Yang Xiu is a smart person, there is no doubt about this.
We all know that a smart man always has one more heart than others. Think about the problem, and definitely think a few steps more than others. After a thing comes out, what kind of causes and consequences, how to deal with this matter, he has more ways than others. Especially when it comes to observing people, he sees them more clearly than others.
When we look at those strategists in ancient times, in fact, their greatest ability is to understand psychology and understand what kind of personality the other party is. What kind of judgment he will make when the problem arises. At that time, Cao Cao wanted to teach Liu Bei a lesson, but he was worried about Yuan Shao's sneak attack behind his back. Guo Jia told Cao Cao that Yuan Shao was a person who was indecisive in character and suffered from gains and losses, and he would definitely not sneak attack. In the end, it also proved that Guo Jia's judgment was correct. The reason why Guo Jia made a correct judgment was because he could clearly see Yuan Shao's character.
In ancient politics, many times it was to see whether you could see the other party clearly and make corresponding countermeasures. And these are the basic skills of smart people.
(Yang Xiu stills)
Yang Xiu is a smart man, he is also a person who plays politics, can't he understand Cao Cao?
Obviously not. Yang Xiu could understand Cao Cao.
Saying that he can understand Cao Cao, the reason is very simple, because he knows exactly what Cao Cao wants to do.
Cao Cao put a box of puff pastry on the table and wrote a "one-in-one crisp", and he immediately understood that Cao Cao meant "one person and one bite of crisp". Cao Cao wrote a "living" character on the door, and he immediately understood that this was Cao Cao's suspicion that the door was small and should be repaired a little bigger. Cao Cao used "chicken ribs" as a password, and he immediately guessed that Cao Cao was hesitant about the upcoming big battle. If you fight, the odds are not great, and you are reluctant not to fight.
From these places, it can be seen that Yang Xiu really knows Cao Cao very well. He knew exactly what Was going on in Cao Cao's mind, could he still say that he didn't know Cao Cao?
Then, since Yang Xiu knew Cao Cao so well, why was he still killed by Cao Cao?
Some people may say that Yang Xiu is a typical "smart but mistaken by smart". That is to say, because he was a smart person, and he guessed Cao Cao's mind, he would feel very uncomfortable if he did not say this answer.
(Cao Cao stills)
Smart people always want to say what comes to mind, and we understand that. Because everyone has a desire to express. Nowadays, people always like to hold salon parties and express their views at salon gatherings. In addition to this, there is the desire to write. Especially after the development of the Internet, people love to write in various self-media. Even if there is no income, only self-amusement, people are willing to write. This is actually an expressed desire.
The ancients naturally had no self-media to write about, but they still had the desire to express. When Cao Cao guessed the puzzle for everyone, Yang Xiu knew the mystery at once. He naturally has the desire to express, and if he doesn't say it, how can he bear it?
There is some truth to this. This explanation is also the historical explanation for why Yang Xiu must tell the mystery of Cao Cao, and he was jealous of Cao Cao, so he was killed by Cao Cao. Moreover, people have also concluded that they should never try to appear smarter than their superiors.
However, although this statement is reasonable, I do not think that the desire to express is the main reason why Yang Xiu must say this. There must be more important reasons for Yang Xiu to have to say. What's more important?
(Cao Pi stills)
To answer this question, we need to know what was happening at the time.
What happened in wei at that time was that Cao Cao was preparing to choose a son and a successor. He had two candidates in his hand: Cao Pi and Cao Zhi. These two people have their own advantages and disadvantages. Cao Zhi is smart and his poetry is very good, but he is a bit floaty and not stable enough. Cao Pi people are relatively stable, but the pattern is not large, and the poetry is not as good as Cao Zhi. Therefore, Cao Cao has been hesitant and has not made a decision.
If Cao Zhi and Cao Pi are on an equal footing, then we should look at their configuration, that is, look at their staff. Whoever's staff is better, his assistant to the master is better, and the master will be better.
It is based on this understanding that Yang Xiu, as Cao Zhi's personal staff, feels that he must show his excellence. Only by showing his excellence would Cao Cao choose Cao Zhi as his heir.
Therefore, Yang Xiu desperately expressed himself, and his wisdom and wisdom were vividly displayed in front of Cao Cao.
It should be said that Yang Xiu's idea is also good. The master is not good enough, the team is excellent, the master will be more excellent.
However, although Yang Xiu knew that he should use force, he made a mistake in the place of force. Cao Zhi himself is not lacking in intelligence. He is too smart, but he seems unstable, some floating waves. For Cao Zhi, what he needs is a stable and heavy person around him. Such a person and Cao Pi are configured together, and Cao Zhi can be a good king. Yang Xiu did not understand this and used his strength in reverse. So in the end, he was purged by Cao Cao.
(References: Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Wei Luo, etc.)