Widely known, Cao Cao has a lifelong qualitative sentence: "I would rather teach me to bear the people of the world, and teach the people of the world to bear me." ”
This was added to Luo Guanzhong in the fourth episode of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms: "Deposing the Han Emperor Chen Liujian and Plotting the Sacrifice of the Sword of Dong Thief Meng De", and the "true disposition" of the adulterous male was revealed at this time.
According to the logic of the interpretation, Cao Cao said this sentence in a famous event in his life, in this classic case, Cao Cao played the role of an executioner, and the "true color" performance made the emperor who was later posthumously crowned a veritable figure of the level of the emperor.
No one in history has been able to show the evil side of human nature as freely as he did, and it is still in a form of honor and innocence.
As we know, this incident was familiar to the later Chinese, and gave Cao Cao a clear position in the minds of ordinary people. If I had to add a title to it, I'd call it for the time being: "The murder of Lü Bohao's entire family." ”
The process of events looks roughly like this:
After the failed murder of Dong Zhuo, Cao Cao, who became a wanted criminal, escaped from the capital, passed through Zhongmu, and performed a story of "catching and releasing Cao" without alarm, so that he had the privilege of getting to know Chen Gong and running away together. After a few days of walking, the two passed by Chenggao, and Cao Cao told Chen Gong that his father had a brother-in-law Lü Bo who lived in this place and could seek accommodation. The two came to Lü Bo Luxury Village, and Lü Bo Luxury warmly welcomed the two and took the initiative to go out to buy good wine for the two.
Cao Cao sat with Chen Gong for a long time, and did not see Lü Bohao return, but he heard the sound of sharpening his knife. Cao Cao became suspicious and took Chen Gong to engage in eavesdropping. They heard Lu Bohao's family talking about the "killing something" business, and it was obvious that these were two people. Cao Cao decided to strike first, and Chen Gong drew his sword and rushed straight in, killing Lü Bohao's family, killing a total of eight people, regardless of men and women.
After killing people, the two found a pig in the kitchen, and the two understood that it turned out that Lu Bohao's family was talking about killing pigs, not two people. The two had to hurry again, and on the way, they happened to run into Lu Bohao, who was buying wine. At first, because he had done something wrong, Cao Cao just talked about Lü Bohao without a ride, only cared about hurrying, and did not take a few steps, Cao Cao "woke up", turned the horse's head, caught up with Lü Bohao, and drew his sword to kill Lü Bohao.
Chen Gong couldn't see it, saying that it was manslaughter before, and he could still understand it, why did he have to do it so desperately now? Cao Cao said that when Lü Bohao returned home and saw so many people dead, he would definitely not let the two of us go. If he came after us with a lot of people, it wouldn't be easy to deal with at that time.
Chen Gong said that if he knew and killed, it would be very immoral. Then, Cao Cao said the famous saying: "Ning taught me to bear the people of the world, and Hu taught the people of the world to bear me." ”
A generation of adulterous males has grown up!
Luo Guanzhong's story is extremely brilliantly written, and in the midst of repeated twists and turns, it gives Cao Cao a clear and vivid character image that jumps on the paper. After this, Cao Cao always implemented this principle, and in the history of life's struggle, his heart was like a true villain, and all hypocrisy was abandoned.
Cao Cao's method of killing Lü Bohao and his entire family was indeed very vicious, and many people reading this article must have caused a lot of shock, thus leaving an "indelible" impression on Cao Cao. Of course, this is a very bad mark, for most people. However, it is not nothing that says good things, and some people see a positive significance in it, that is, the Mao Zonggang father and son, who are well known to posterity because of the revision of the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms". (Note: The current version of the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" is basically based on the batch book of Mao Lun and Mao Zonggang's father and son, although the name of the father and son is hung, in fact, the most contributed is the son Mao Zonggang.) ）
In the commentary of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Mao Zonggang mentions that Cao Cao killed Lü Bohao's family because of a misunderstanding, so this is forgivable. When he killed Lü Bohao, it would be too vicious! He also said things like "I'd rather I be sorry for everyone in the world than let the people of the world be sorry for me", and when people who read books saw this, there was no one who did not want to scold and condemn him, and even some people had the idea of killing him. What they didn't know was that Cao Cao had a strength over the others. Looking at the people of the world, who has not had such an idea? Who can say such a thing? As for those Taoists, they will just say the opposite: "I'd rather everyone in the world be sorry for me than let me be sorry for everyone in the world." "This is only a bit nice to say, but when you look at their behavior, you are learning these two sentences that Cao Cao said step by step, so that Cao Cao is worthy of being a true villain with the same heart, and the duplicity of these people is not as direct and painful as Cao Cao's doing." So I have to say, "This is Cao Cao's strength over others." ”
Mao Zonggang's father and son did not have much good feelings for Cao Cao, and in the batch book, almost all of Luo Guanzhong's descriptions that were conducive to Cao Cao's "high, big, and complete" image were deleted, and "derogatory" artistic processing was done to make it a more "dark" image. In this evaluation, although cao cao was not glorified and regarded as a "villain", the introduction of the "heart and mouth" statement, the "true" gold content in the nature of the "villain" has been improved, and pointed out that this is Cao Cao's "superiority", which can also be regarded as adding a positive score to the negative image of Comrade Cao Cao. Of course, with the logic of Mao Zonggang's father and son, Cao Cao's impression points will not become positive.
As we know, the evolution is the history of adding oil and vinegar, although the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" bears the name of "seven truths and three falsehoods", and there is inevitably a lot of water in it. The murder of Lü Bohao's entire family is not recorded in the genuine "Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms" and the Wudi Ji, but Pei Songzhi provided three versions for reference when he made notes. These three versions, in the account of this matter, have their own discrepancies, and even have a bit of a sense of retreat.
The first version: The Book of Wei says.
"Taizu Yizhuo will eventually be defeated, so he will not worship and flee back to the countryside." In the absence of Bo Hao, his son and his guests robbed Taizu, took horses and objects, and Taizu killed several people with his blade. ”
The author of the Book of Wei is Wang Shen, and although this elder brother is a chancellor of Cao Wei, he is the nemesis of the Sima family, and the informants in the "Cao Xi Murder Incident" that I once mentioned are him and Wang Ye. Because of this "merit", posterity did not highly evaluate him, and his poor character was promoted to the history books he made, which was also "remarkable." Later people gave him the evaluation of the Book of Wei, and the coffin was determined by eleven words: "Most of them are timely and secretive, and they are not recorded as Chen Shouzhi." "Obviously, it's not very reliable, a bit distorted.
Let's take a look at the process of the event:
Cao Cao decided that Dong Zhuo would not have a good end in the end, did not accept Dong Zhuo's appointment as a lieutenant in the name of the imperial court, and ran back to his hometown. On the way, Cao Cao and a few riders and horses happened to pass by the home of lü Bohao, who was not at home, and his son and guests had a lot of ideas about the belongings that Cao Cao carried with him, and joined forces to rob Cao Cao. They robbed Cao Cao of his horses and belongings, and Cao Cao fought back and killed several people with his own hands.
From this point of view, Cao Cao's killing of Lü Bohao's family belonged to legitimate defense, and it was Lü Bohao's family who first apologized to him and wanted to kidnap him, and then he moved his hands, and finally caused a murder case, which at most belonged to excessive defense. It is worth noting that Lu Bohao's family was not slaughtered by the full door, and there should be many survivors.
If according to the quotation of this article, Cao Cao's image is still positive, in order to protect private property from infringement, the act of rebellion is quite heroic, and the leader of the Wei state shows a kind of fighter pride. At the same time, as a negative teaching material, Lü Bohao's family and his guests laid the groundwork for Cao Cao's ascension to the throne.
Of course, this is just a "one-sided" word. ”
The second version: "The World Language" says.
"Taizu is too extravagant. Bo luxury travel, the five sons are there, ready to be the guest officiation. Taizu thought that he had betrayed his life, suspected himself, and killed eight people in the night with his sword. ”
This "Shiyu" is not the "World Speaks New Language" that is well known to the broad masses of the people with Liu Yiqing's name, so if you go to read "Shi Speaks New Language", you will not find this one, and now there are many people on the Internet who confuse it. Also known as the Wei and Jin Dynasty, Pei Songzhi often cites it when annotating the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and is written by Guo Yan, a Jin Dynasty man.
There is nothing to mention about Guo Yan's deeds, and the "World Language" has not been handed down, scattered in various historical books, and the evaluation of the "World Language" by later generations is not very high, believing that many of the things recorded in it are all nonsense, and no historical source can be found. Lu Bi, author of the "Commentary on the Collected Works of the Three Kingdoms," said that Guo Yan compiled the "Wei Jin ShiYu": "The most despicable, of which there are often false mistakes."
Or to review the plot:
Cao Cao passed by Lü Bohao's house, Lü Bohao was not there, his five sons were there, and they very politely entertained Cao Cao. Cao Cao knew that he had violated Dong Zhuo's appointment, and suspected that Lü Bohao's sons might want to attack him, so he attacked first, and after personally killing eight members of Lü Bohao's family that night, he fled.
At this point, Cao Cao became less dignified, and just because of a little clueless suspicion, he killed many people in Lü Bo's luxury family, which is simply a model of "indiscriminate killing of innocents". People are treating you well, and there are no other excessive moves, and Cao Cao's revenge is largely an act of ungratefulness.
Since it was suspicious and there was no need to kill people, they could choose to quietly leave and avoid it from afar, using such a fierce means to show the existence of Cao Cao's murderous nature and expose the evil side of human nature. The hero is demoted to become a tyrant, and it is only in between this step.
Of course, this is only a "one-sided word."" ”
The third version: "Miscellaneous Notes" said
Taizu heard the sound of his eating utensils, thought he was trying to kill himself, and killed him at night. And he said sadly, 'I'd rather bear the burden than the man bear me!' 'Go ahead. ”
The person who wrote the "Miscellaneous Notes" was Sun Sheng of the Jin Dynasty, if Baidu, baidu entries about his Baidu encyclopedia, all of them were praised, and also gave him the title of "good history", it seems that this "famous historian" is really such a thing.
To tell the truth, I don't know much about Sun Sheng, but I have also heard a comment on Sun Sheng that mr. Chen Yinke, a contemporary historian, said: "The old fox in the sky, the drunk is the tail." ”
Let's look at the course of events:
Cao Cao heard unusual movements (the sound of eating utensils, some interpreted as the sound of knives, others as the sound of kitchen utensils), and thought that he wanted to kill himself, so he killed many people in Lü Bo's luxury family that night. After killing people, Cao Cao said sadly( sadly): "I'd rather be sorry for others than let others be sorry for me!" Then he ran away.
This version is still relatively close to the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", adding more of Cao Cao's expression when he speaks, the focus of the words has also been weakened, the process is more simplified, but the core content has not changed. In terms of thematic thinking, although Cao Cao also misunderstood and killed people, although he also died without admitting mistakes, he was not very rational and strong, more desolate, and more humane than the facialization of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms".
It is now difficult to verify these three versions, which is the most consistent with history, and even some people say that these three versions are all untenable, given the nature of the author, the latter statement is very marketable. The gap between the three versions is too big, and the essential difference between the central characters is too large, which has become the focus of controversy.
They cling to a single version, thus serving the theme ideas they have set, Cao Cao sometimes becomes a hero, Cao Cao sometimes destroys humanity, and in their discourse, the use of each version becomes the most powerful means of either excusing Cao Cao or smearing Cao Cao.
In fact, if it is really to be choreographed, the three versions can still be fused together, and the plot outlined is roughly like this: Cao Cao ran out of the capital and passed by Lü Bohao's house. Lü Bohao was absent, and Lü Bohao's five sons entertained him. Some of the actions of these sons aroused Cao Cao's suspicions, and with the more precise "sound of eating utensils", Cao Cao moved. Several sons did not show weakness, leading the guests to fight with Cao Cao, and also robbed Cao Cao's horses and belongings. Cao Cao led his entourage to resist, and after killing eight members of Lü Bohao's family, Cao Cao said sadly, "I'd rather be sorry for others than let others be sorry for me!" Then he ran away.
Although there are small detail deviations in the fusion, it is also quite self-explanatory, which is also another version, which is called the "comprehensive version" for the time being. ”
In this final version, the murder of Lü Bohao's family is obviously caused by a variety of factors, and cannot be attributed to one source. There was something wrong with Cao Cao, and something wrong with Lü Bohao's son, and the two sides had a gunfight due to a misunderstanding, which ended at the cost of mutual casualties. The plot is not so bloody, the characters are close to reality, but there are traces of hard work.
The murder of Lü Bohao's family is finally going to become a mystery, and until a unified conclusion is made, this will certainly be a topic of debate. It is worth noting that many people know that Lü Bohao's family was killed, Chen Gong was not present, and in the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" he was purely a cameo of friendship, but it was ignored by many people, and Lü Bohao did not die.
No matter which version you go to see, there is no mention of Lü Bohao's murder, although his family has been killed a lot, the fact that he is still alive is unavoidable, so the claim that Lü Bohao's family was destroyed is also not credible.
As a symbolic symbolic figure, Brother Lu Bohao did not even have the opportunity to appear.
Special Contributor to Night Wolf Literature and History Studio: Chrysanthemum Tea/Wen
Chrysanthemum Tea, real name Zheng Liang, online name Chrysanthemum Tea 163, Tianya Sina Forum well-known historical writer, senior Three Kingdoms Control. He has published "On the Sword of Mount Hua", "History Is Originally Like This", "Thirteen Years of Jian'an in the Past of the Three Kingdoms over the Past Thousand Years", "The Life of Happiness and Vengeance", "The Disaster Rises against the Wall" and other anthologies.