When Zhuge Liang analyzed the general situation in the world in "Longzhong Pair", he said to Liu Bei: "Now that there are millions of people, and the princes are blackmailing the Son of Heaven, this sincerity cannot be fought with." The Longzhong Pair is a dialogue between Zhuge Liang and Liu Bei after Liu Beisan Gu Maolu in 207 AD, and Cao Cao greeted Emperor Han in 196 AD and began to "blackmail the Son of Heaven to order the princes".
In 189, Dong Zhuo entered Luoyang, and in order to fight for power to depose the Young Emperor Liu Xie, he appointed Liu Xie the Prince of Chen as Emperor Xian of Han. In 190 AD, the Kwantung Army rebelled against Dong Zhuo, and Dong Zhuo moved Emperor Xian of Han to Luoyang, and the world fell into great chaos ever since. When the Eastern Han Dynasty entered the countdown to the fall, Emperor Xian of Han began to drift away, and many people of insight knew that whoever controlled Emperor Xian of Han would be able to "blackmail the Son of Heaven to order the princes"!
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="4" > 192 AD Jia Xu - "serve the country to conquer the world"</h1>
In fact, the earliest statement that appears in the history of the Three Kingdoms is that the "poison warrior" Jia Xu proposed to Li Dai, the late leader of the Liangzhou Army, "serving the country to conquer the world". In the third year of Chuping (192), Dong Zhuo was killed, and his general Li Dai and others sent envoys to Chang'an to ask for forgiveness. At that time, Situ Wang Yun, who was in power, was a man of integrity and did not agree, and Li Dai and others were even more frightened, did not know what to do, and prepared to disband and flee back to the countryside.
At that time, because Jia Xu was an official under Dong Zhuo's army and was serving in Li Dao's army, in order to protect himself, he intervened to stop them and said to Li Dai and others: "Wen Chang'an wanted to do everything possible to curse the people of Liangzhou, and the kings abandoned the crowd and went alone, that is, a pavilion chief could bind the king." It is better to lead the crowd to the west, collect troops, attack Chang'an, avenge Dong Gong, fortunately, serve the country to conquer the world, if not, go away later. ”
This plan was adopted by Li Dai and others, so Li Dai and others, in the name of avenging Dong Zhuo, contacted the generals of the Western Liang Army, led the army day and night, rushed to Chang'an, and then defeated Lü Bu, killed Wang Yun, held Emperor Xian of Han hostage, and controlled the Eastern Han government. After Dong Zhuo's death, Emperor Xian of Han had just taken a breath and fell back into the control of the Warlords of Western Liang, so at that time, the Kwantung scholars would think of welcoming Emperor Xian of Han to the east.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="8" > 192-195 AD Mao Jie - feng tianzi ordered not to be subordinate</h1>
When Mao Jiu was young, he was a county official and was known for his honesty and justice. He had wanted to escape the war in Jingzhou, but he had not yet arrived, and heard that Liu Biao's government orders were not strict, so he changed to Luyang County. Cao Cao entered Yanzhou and recruited him to serve in Zhizhong. Mao Jiu said to Cao Cao: "At present, the country is divided, the monarchy is separated, the people are unemployed, hungry and exiled, the public family has no reserves that can maintain for a year, and the people do not have the mind to settle down. ”
"Although Yuan Shao and Liu Biao have a large number of soldiers and strong forces, they have no long-term considerations, and there are no people who have established a foundation and built a fundamental foundation. The use of soldiers can be won only by justice, and the preservation of power requires financial resources, so it should be ordered by the Son of Heaven not to be subordinate, to cultivate and plant, and to have the resources of the army, so that the cause of the overlord can be accomplished! Cao Cao solemnly adopted his advice and transferred him to the shogunate GongCao.
Cao Cao's entry into Yanzhou was in 192 AD, so Cao Cao's conscription of Mao Jiu must have been after 192, so Mao Jiu proposed that "serving the Son of Heaven to order no subjects" should be in 192-195 AD. Mao Jiu can be said to have planned a long-term plan for Cao Cao. On the one hand, "obey the son of heaven to order not to be subordinate", on the other hand, "cultivate cultivation and accumulate military funds", these two are the basis for Cao Cao's rise in the chaotic world.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="12" > 195 AD frustrated with the order of the princes</h1>
In the second year of Xingping (195), Emperor Xian of Han went into exile in Hedong and other places, and advised Yuan Shao to welcome Emperor Xian, move the capital to Yicheng, and order the princes and horses to be disrespectful to the court; Yuan Shao planned to listen to The advice of Frustrated Zhi, but Chun Yuqiong and others thought that it would be too difficult to revive the Han Dynasty, and that Emperor Yingli of Han would weaken his power, and advised Yuan Shao not to use this strategy, so Yuan Shao gave up. The following year, Cao Cao welcomed Emperor Xian of Han to move the capital to Xu County, and Yuan Shao greatly regretted it.
The famous historian He Ziquan once commented that "Frustrated Zhi, Xun Yu, and Zhuge Liang were all first-rate intellectual figures in the Three Kingdoms period", and Hu Sansheng, a university scholar at the time of the Song and Yuan Dynasties who annotated the Zizhi Tongjian, commented that "Shao can use the teachings, Cao Qihu!" If Yuan Shao could adopt Frustrated Zhi's advice, there would be nothing for Cao Cao to do in the world battle.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="15" > 196 AD Xun Yu, Ding Chong, Dong Zhao</h1>
In the first year of Jian'an (196), Cao Cao defeated the Yellow Turban Army. In July, The Han Emperor Liu Xie, escorted by Yang Feng and Dong Cheng, returned from Chang'an (northwest of present-day Xi'an, Shaanxi) to Luoyang (northeast of present-day Luoyang, Henan). On the issue of whether to honor Tianzi to build the capital Xu County, there was a dispute within the Cao Army. Most people did not agree to meet Emperor Xian, but Xun Yu advised Cao Cao to be sure to welcome The Son of Heaven.
Xun Yu said to Cao Cao: "Once upon a time, Duke Wen of Jin welcomed The return of King Xiang of Zhou and the princes obeyed, and Han Gaozu invaded Xiang Yu in the east, and the world returned to his heart for the sake of Emperor Yi's funeral in plain clothes. Sincerity therefore serves the Lord to obey the people's expectations, Da Shunye; Bingzhi to serve Xiongjie, Rough also; Fu Hongyi to be handsome, Great Virtue also. Although there are reverse knots in the world, it cannot be tired and clear. How dare Han Xian and Yang Feng do harm? If the imperial court is not straightened out in time, the world will have the heart of rebellion, and even if it is considered in the future, it will be too late. ”
When Cao Cao consulted his advisers on whether to welcome the emperor, Ding Chong also wrote to Cao Cao, saying: "You usually show your ambition to help the world and assist the emperor, and now it is time to realize your ambitions. Ding Chong was not very famous, and his two sons, Ding Yi and Ding Yi, supported Cao Zhi because they supported Cao Zhi in the dispute over concubines, and after Cao Pi took the throne, he found a crime to kill Ding Yi and Ding Yi.
In terms of political strategy, Mao Jiu, Xun Yu, Cheng Yu, and others all suggested that Cao Cao serve Emperor Han, but in practice, it was Dong Zhao who took the lead in getting In touch with Cao Cao and Han Tianzi, taking the first step for Cao Cao to "blackmail Tianzi to order the princes", and at the time of this step, Dong Zhao was still under Zhang Yang's command and was not subordinate to Cao Cao. Later, Cao Cao successfully transferred Emperor Xian of Han to Xu County, all under the planning of Dong Zhao, so Dong Zhao was the behind-the-scenes hero of Cao Cao's "holding the Son of Heaven"!
In fact, under the circumstances of the great chaos in the world and the upheaval and displacement of emperor Xiandi of Han, many people of insight in the camp had the idea of "holding the son of heaven hostage to order the princes", but the views of Mao Jiu, Frustrated Zhi and others were clearly recorded. It is important to have ideas, but it is more important to implement them, only Cao Cao really welcomed Emperor Xian of Han to Xuchang, so Cao Cao was even better!
References: Notes on Pei Songzhi in romance of the Three Kingdoms, And Lu Simian in History of the Three Kingdoms