This question is more interesting. In fact, in other words, if Emperor Xiandi of Han had not had time to be held hostage by Cao Cao to Xudu, he would have already hung up, would Cao Cao still be able to gather so many talents?
Or to put it more bluntly: if Cao Cao had not blackmailed the Heavenly Son to order the princes, would he still be able to get so many talents?
The answer is no.
In the process of Cao Cao's eventual sweeping of the world and the foundation of the Cao Wei Empire with a local warlord, "holding the Son of Heaven hostage to order the princes" is a very important move, and it can even be said to be a turning point on the road to Cao Cao's prosperity. In the past, because Cao Cao was born as a eunuch, although he was also the second generation of officials, he was obviously inferior to his main rival Yuan Shao. Although it also occupies the land of Yanzhou and Yuzhou, with 100,000 troops, it is very difficult to attract talents.
Since welcoming the emperor in 196, moving the capital to Xucheng, and blackmailing tianzi to order the princes, Cao Cao gained the title of orthodox imperial court. In the name of the orthodox imperial court, it is much easier to recruit talents.
Now many people, standing on cao cao's "hindsight" of later turning his face with emperor Xiandi of Han, believe that Cao Cao's Jiangshan was not submitted by emperor Xiandi of Han's orders, but cao cao himself shot down with a knife and a shot, so Cao Cao blackmailed Tianzi to make the princes ask for trouble for themselves, bought a time bomb for their own side, and suffered a loss. The implication is that Cao Cao could develop even if he did not hold tianzi hostage, perhaps without the notoriety of "Han Thief".
This is the sword of the carving boat.
Of course, Cao Cao's territory must rely on his own troops to fight, but whether it is the other side's civilian and military people, or the subjects under his own governance, the appeal and influence of the emperor and the imperial court still exist, and it is very large. In the case of the Son of Heaven and the absence of the Son of Heaven, the willpower to resist is different on the opponent side of the war, and the control of one's own territory is also different.
Just talking about the first-class important resources in the Three Kingdoms struggle for hegemony, talent, can also be seen in the importance of the Heavenly Son to Cao Cao.
Judging from historical records, Cao Cao seized the name of the Han court by welcoming the Son of Heaven and obtaining a total of the following three talents:
First, some of the talents in the imperial court went directly to Cao Cao's command
Second, after Cao Cao threatened tianzi, some people jumped directly from other princes to the imperial court (that is, Cao Cao's place).
Third, after Cao Cao blackmailed tianzi, he gained the allegiance of some princes and generals.
Looking at the resumes of the talents in Wei Shu, these three categories abound.
Let's first briefly analyze the origins of Cao Cao's main advisers. The so-called main strategists are the well-known "five gods and men", namely Xun Yu, Xun You, Guo Jia, Jia Xu, and Cheng Yu, plus Dong Zhao, who promoted the establishment of Cao Wei with a strong sense of existence.
From these 6 most important advisers of Cao Ying, see how many people came to the face of Emperor Chong Han.
Let's look at Xun Yu first. Xun Yu came when Cao Cao had just received Yanzhou, which had nothing to do with Emperor Xian of Han.
Then there's Xun You. In the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Xun You followed his uncle to Cao Cao. Historically, it's different. Historically, Xun You, who had served as a yellow gate attendant and magistrate in the imperial court, later wanted to go to Liu Yan's men as a Shu Commandery Taishou, because the road was impassable and stayed in Jingzhou. After Cao Cao greeted Emperor Xian of Han, he wrote to Xun You, saying: "Fang is in chaos today, and the wise men are also working hard, and Gu Guan has changed into Shu Han for a long time! Then he used the name of the imperial court to recruit Xun You to be the Taishou of Shu Commandery and made him a Shangshu. Therefore, Xun You was able to come to Cao Cao here, just to face the emperor.
The ghost plot Jia Xu, who had previously assisted the warlord Zhang Xiu, once gave Zhang Xiu an idea and beat Cao Cao to the ground. On the eve of the Battle of Guandu, Jia Xu persuaded Zhang Xiu to surrender to Cao Cao, and Jia Xu himself went along with him and became a major vassal under Cao Cao. The first sentence of Jia Xu's exhortation to Zhang Xiu to surrender Cao was "Cao Cao entrusted the Son of Heaven to order the world."
Cheng Yu joined when Cao Cao was leading Yanzhou, and he ran to defect, which had nothing to do with the emperor.
Guo Jia also joined Cao Cao very early in the rendition. Historically, he joined Cao Cao on the recommendation of Xun Yu, and did not directly say anything about the relationship with the emperor. However, before That, Guo Jia was under Yuan Shao. Xun Yu joined Cao Cao in 191, and Guo Jia joined Cao Cao in 197, the day after Cao Cao welcomed the emperor. Why hadn't Xun Yu persuaded Guo Jia to come over in the past five years? To say that Guo Jia's joining Cao Cao had nothing to do with the emperor, I am afraid it is also more far-fetched.
Dong Zhao, who had previously served as an official in the imperial court, became Cao Cao's subordinate after welcoming the Heavenly Son.
As above, two of the six great conspirators defected to Cao Cao very early, and this has nothing to do with the emperor. The other three were obtained by Cao Cao in the name of the imperial court, and Guo Jia was difficult to determine, but in terms of time, Cao Cao had just finished holding tianzi, and Guo Jia came. From this point of view, it can already be judged that the importance of Ying Tianzi to Cao Cao.
Let's broaden the scope a little more and see how Cao Cao's other talents came from. First select the Wei Guo Wenchen who is at the top of the biography in the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", and get rid of the six major ministers mentioned above, leaving 27 people
Yuan Zhuo: 198
Zhang Fan: After Ping Yuan Shao, and the biography once clearly stated the value of the Son of Heaven
Cool: The Queen of Heaven (conscripted in the name of Sikong)
Kuniyuan: Queen of heaven (conscripted in the name of Sikong)
Tian Domain: 207, after the destruction of the Yuan clan
Wang Xiu: 205, after the destruction of the Yuan clan
Feng Yuan: The Queen of Heaven (conscripted by Sikong)
Guan Ning: Not yet out of the ordinary
Cui Yan: After the destruction of the Yuan clan
Mao Jie: Early
Xu Yi: The Queen of Heaven (conscripted by Sikong)
He Fu: The Queen of Heaven (conscripted by Sikong)
Xing: After breaking Yuan Shao
Bao Xun: Late
Sima Zhi: Late
Zhong Xuan: After holding the Son of Heaven hostage
Hua Xin: 200 years, and explicitly conscripted in the name of the Son of Heaven)
Wang Lang: After holding the Son of Heaven
Liu Ye: 199
Jiang Ji: Unknown, there is a high probability of the Queen of Heaven
Liu Fang: After breaking Yuan Shao
Liu Fu: After holding tianzi hostage
Sima Lang: After holding tianzi hostage
Liang Xi: After holding the Son of Heaven
Zhang Jie: After holding tianzi hostage
Wen Hui: After holding the Son of Heaven hostage
Jia Kui: Unknown
Of the above 27 courtiers, it is clear that only 1 Mao Jiu was in 195 or earlier, and 15 were recruited in the name of Tianzi in the name of Tianzi in 196-200, including Liu Ye, Zhong Xuan, Hua Xin, and Wang Lang. In addition, there were 6 people in 201-208, 2 people after 208, 2 people with unknown circumstances (including Jiang Ji after 196), and a guan Ning who did not come out for life.
It can be seen that although Cao Cao had already occupied the Central Plains and become one of the few great warlords before he began to fight in 190 to 196, only 33 of his famous ministers were Xun Yu, Cheng Yu, and Mao Jie. In just 4 years, after he took Tianzi hostage in 196, the talent suddenly exploded, and as many as 19 people came. It should be known that before the defeat of Yuan Shao at the Battle of Guandu in 200, Cao Cao's power did not grow too rapidly compared with 196. Therefore, the speed of his talent gathering increased sharply, and it can only be said that the biggest variable was that Cao Cao gained the honor of the imperial court.
Therefore, the significance of Cao Cao's coercion of Tianzi in 196 to the gathering of talents under his command is obvious.
The real first fierce general under Cao Cao would be this man
Cao Cao swept the world, what was Yuan Shao doing?
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