Compared with other warlord divisions in China, the period of the Three Kingdoms at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty was short, during which warlords divided and wars raged. In such a chaotic world, there was an important figure cao cao who made us a household name.
Cao Cao was decisive and capable, but the so-called princes of one side, and his men had a group of capable strategists and generals, and it was precisely because of this that Cao Cao was able to unify the north and establish the Cao Wei regime.
Among the many able people under Cao Cao, there was an unknown figure, this person was familiar with the Four Books and Five Classics, came from a famous and prestigious family, was quick in thinking, and was very, very good at reading Cao Cao's thoughts, this person was - Yang Xiu.
There is no special biography of Yang Xiu in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and his information is recorded in the "Biography of Cao Zhi, King of Chen Si".
Yang Xiu was the grandson of Yang Zhen, a famous minister in the Eastern Han Dynasty, Yang Xiu was said to be a direct descendant of the Yang clan of Hongnong, he himself was very intelligent, plus he was born into a famous and prestigious family, and the number of books in the family provided him with convenient conditions, which made him read the scriptures since he was a child, and he became famous because he was proficient in the Confucian Five Classics when he was a teenager.
Moreover, Yang Xiu was good at seizing opportunities, and under the situation of the decline of the Eastern Han Dynasty court, Yang Xiu followed Cao Cao with the general trend of the literati, and relied on his literary talent to make a master book around Cao Cao, Yang Xiu was a modest and knowledgeable person, and officials all rushed to make friends with him. However, such a talented person was finally killed by Cao Cao's final order.
The main reason why Yang Xiu was later ordered to be killed by Cao Cao was that he participated in cao Cao's son's battle to seize the concubine, and he took the wrong side in the battle of the concubine.
Cao Cao's son Cao Zhi admired Yang Xiu's talents, and Yang Xiu and Cao Zhi were like-minded, but the so-called mountain flowing water met Zhiyin. Not to mention that Cao Zhi was also one of Cao Cao's most beloved sons, and Yang Xiu rarely met a figure who could become a confidant and decided to do his best to assist.
Since Yang Xiu surrendered to Cao Zhi's door, it means that he is on the side of Cao Zhi, Cao Cao in order to test his sons, like to come up with exam questions, Yang Xiu used his wisdom to help Cao Zhi deal with Cao Cao, with the help of Yang Xiu, every time Cao Zhi is the answer is like a stream.
Once, as soon as Cao Cao's exam questions were sent out, Cao Zhi presented yang Xiu's answer to him, Cao Cao felt that something was wrong, and when he found that Yang Xiu was operating behind his back, Cao Cao began to be angry with Yang Xiu, but because of Cao Zhi's face, he couldn't bear it.
Cao Zhi himself is very talented, and it is not an exaggeration to say that he is a great literary hero, and his writing is like divine help. Cao Cao did like Cao Zhi, but compared to Cao Pi, Cao Zhi was not dominant in many ways.
First of all, Cao Pi was the eldest son of Concubine; secondly, in terms of personality, Cao Pi was all-round in culture and martial arts, and his personality was introverted and scheming. Compared with Cao Pi, Cao Zhi has a simple personality and likes to drink, and every time he drinks, he is drunk with tincture.
Another point is that the counselors around the two are also very different. Cao Pi's advisers were Sima Yi, Wu Qian, and others, and the Book of Jin says that Sima Yi, Chen Qun, Wu Qian, and Zhu Shuo were called the Four Friends around Cao Pi, and Cao Zhi's men were all strategists with no political and military experience, and compared with the interest groups behind them, Cao Zhi was much inferior to Cao Pi.
In addition, in the process of Yang Xiu helping Cao Zhi seize the throne, he made a more serious mistake, and once, Cao Cao consulted with all his staff and wanted to establish Cao Zhi as his son.
Cao Pi wanted to invite Wu Qian to the mansion to discuss the matter, and in order to prevent Cao Cao from knowing, he asked Wu Qian to hide in a carriage and pull Wu Qian into Cao Pi's mansion to plot.
Unexpectedly, this matter was known to Yang Xiu, Yang Xiu thought that he had caught Cao Pi's handle, so he informed Cao Cao of this matter, and Cao Cao sent someone to check it out, but Cao Pi was aware of it, and the next day he sent someone to use a large basket to load cloth to pull it to the palace, and after Cao Cao sent a circle, no one was found.
This made Cao Cao furious, and Cao Cao believed that Yang Xiu had deliberately done it, and Yang Xiu had a previous conviction for helping Cao Zhi cheat, and coupled with this matter, Cao Cao had a deep hatred for Yang Xiu.
Cao Cao's chosen heir was most concerned with who could become a qualified monarch, and who would sit in this position would make Cao's country more stable.
And Cao Cao did not have an absolute right to speak on choosing his heir, he also had to take into account the balance of various clans and imperial court forces, and finally, Cao Cao found that most of the important ministers supported Cao Pi. By the time Fang was in power, Cao Cao was already determined to make Cao Pi his heir.
In 217, Cao Pi was made the Prince of Wei, and Yang Xiu, in 219, drunkenly slandered Cao Zhang, with Cao Zhi, and the news later reached Cao Cao's ears. Cao Cao was furious, and it was obvious that this also caused Yang Xiu himself to kill himself.
What Yang Xiu said to Cao Zhi after drinking inevitably made Cao Cao think that the existence of Yang Xiu would be an unstable factor for Cao's future stability, and Yang Xiu's wisdom and political acumen made Cao Cao very jealous. In addition, Yang Xiu was born in the Yang family and had considerable authority and influence in the clan.
Cao Cao was well aware of Yang Xiu's cleverness, and in order to avoid Yang Xiu secretly helping Cao Zhi in cholera, it was inevitable to get rid of Yang Xiu. Therefore, it was at this time that Yang Xiu became a stepping stone for Cao Cao to pave the way for Cao Pi. However, Yang Xiu was a rare talent after all, and after careful consideration, Cao Cao decided to dispose of Yang Xiu before he died.
After Yang Xiu's death, Cao Cao saw Yang Xiu's father, Yang Biao, and cao Cao saw that his father looked haggard and was thin, so he asked, "Gong He is so thin." ”
Yang Biao said: "I feel guilty that I don't have the foresight of the dayless, but Yang Xiu is his son, and he still cherishes the love of the old cow and calf, and he can't miss it." ”
He had been in the official field for many years, and naturally understood the meaning of Cao Cao's question, so Yang Biao answered very cautiously, dispelling the concerns in Cao Cao's heart with a short dozen words, and also euphemistically expressing his feelings, and this sentence has also become a famous saying throughout the ages, which has been passed down to this day.
Yang Biao's previous answer was to express his position, and it was not to emulate Jin Ilju that Yang Xiu had reached such a point that as a father, he was really ashamed, and hoped that Cao Cao would understand that he did not have a hatred.
On the other hand, the second half of Yang Biao's sentence contains his helplessness and regret. Such an answer can be said to be infallible, even if Cao Cao is most dissatisfied with Yang Biao in his heart, in this case, he cannot deal with Yang Biao to avoid the consequences, after all, he has to take into account the thoughts of the people around him.
Yang Xiu was proud of his talents and should have had a smooth life, but because the incident was too deep, he could not get out later.
Yang Xiu lost his life by participating in the battle to seize the house, and when he continued to suffer from the chaos, it was a pity that his lifelong talent was not used.