【Story】
Cao Cao wanted to make his third son Cao Zhi crown prince, and when Cao Pi learned of Cao Cao's intentions, he asked Wu Zhi to go to the palace to plan a countermeasure for himself. However, he was afraid of being seen by others, so he hid Wu Qian in a large basket containing silk and brought him into the palace.
After Yang Xiu, the master bookkeeper, learned of this incident, he reported to Cao Cao. Cao Cao said, "Arrest him in a few days." ”
Soon, someone informed Cao Pi of the news, and Cao Pi nervously asked Wu What he should do. Wu said: "Don't worry. Tomorrow a large bamboo basket will be filled with silk and sent to the house to confuse them. ”
The next day, Yang Xiu reported to Cao Cao again, and Cao Cao sent someone to search for bamboo baskets, and sure enough, they were all silk. Cao Cao therefore suspected that Yang Xiu wanted to murder Cao Pi, so he had the idea of killing Yang Xiu.
【Strategy】
Why was Cao Pi able to prepare in advance before Cao Zhi and Cao Cao acted? The biggest possibility is that Cao Pi has obtained accurate information. Why does Cao Pi get accurate information? The biggest possibility is that Cao Pi had already prepared for the matter of information intelligence and completed the layout in advance. At least there have always been intelligence officers around Cao Cao, and it is very likely that cao Zhi has also been around, and these people have been collecting intelligence information for Cao Pi.
Therefore, Cao Pi's actions are based on real intelligence information, only in this way, Cao Pi's actions are more targeted, and Cao Pi can make the correct response every time to have a more reasonable explanation.
Cao Cao's idea of who to make the crown prince was certainly secret, not wanted to be known, even if he had plotted with different people, others should be kept secret. And the confidential information was actually leaked, and it had to be said that there were spies around Cao Cao. Or Cao Cao showed his clear tendency from words and deeds, and wanted to make Cao Zhi the crown prince, which was also possible.
Whether it was intelligence or an attempt to learn from Cao Cao's words and deeds, at this time, since Cao Pi already knew, he should take action, and it was normal to ask a strategist to plan.
Cao Pi's action of inviting Wu Qian to come to the palace was confidential, and he also had to carry it in with a large basket, which in itself showed that Cao Pi also wanted to keep it secret and did not want to disclose his pending actions. Cao Pi was right to do so. Because this is the crucial moment of the conquest, any plot must be secret, and any action must be kept secret. The Son once said: If the king is not secret, he will lose his subjects, if he is not secret, he will lose his body, and if he is not secret, he will be harmed. However, cao Pi's actions were exposed by the secret idiom, because Yang Xiu was observing all this.
When Yang Xiu learned of Wu's entry into Cao Pi's mansion, he launched an attack. Of course, Yang Xiu attacked from Cao Zhi's position, and his actions were for Cao Zhi's interests. However, Yang Xiu definitely could not imagine that his actions against Cao Pi had also leaked secrets. After the leak, it undoubtedly gave Cao Pi the opportunity to counterattack, at least Cao Pi had time to prepare for defense. This has to be said that Cao Pi's intelligence work is extremely well done! This also shows that Cao Pi's main source of intelligence was people around Cao Cao.
Yang Xiu's whistle-blowing operation this time is lacking analysis, or his depth of thinking is not enough, the number of steps he thinks is too small, and he must make multi-step prediction of possibilities, which Yang Xiu did not do.
Why did Cao Pi invite Wu Qian into the palace? Undoubtedly, the biggest possibility is to plan for Cao Pi. What are they planning? It is also necessary to say that the most urgent thing at the moment must be to seize the wife, and it must be that Cao Pi feels the status crisis and needs to prepare in advance. Of course, there may be something else. However, the seizure of the wife is the greatest possibility.
In short, Cao Pi's action of inviting counselors into the palace was not a simple action in itself.
Yang Xiu must have a clear understanding of who Wu Qian is; Yang Xiu must have a clear understanding of what Wu Qian's planning level is, and whether he is high or not, Yang Xiu must know. It is enough to conclude from Cao Pi's invitation to Wu Qian to plot this point: Wu Qian is a capable person who is good at planning.
If Yang Xiu didn't know that Wu Qian's planning level was very high, then he was stupid. If Yang Xiu knew that Wu Qian's level was very high and he still had to act rashly, it was the embodiment of his poor planning.
This step of informing Cao Cao was originally intended to borrow Cao Cao's hand to attack Cao Pi, but as long as you think about it a step further, whether Cao Zhi and Cao Pi are both developing intelligence officers around Cao Cao, and whether there is a possibility of leaking secrets, they will immediately understand that they cannot report directly to Cao Cao. This act of killing people with a knife was reported to Cao Cao and must have leaked secrets. It is almost impossible to catch Wu after the leak.
As long as Yang Xiu thought of this step, he would inevitably reconsider how to launch an attack on Cao Pi. For the real point of attack is not at all on the big basket, but on the person in the basket; the timing of the attack is not when entering, but coming out. If you only go in and out, you are definitely not a person, and it is Wu who is in and out.
When Cao Pi learned of Yang Xiu's whistleblowing, he had to ask Wu Qian to plan for himself. It's either a defensive strategy or a counter-attack strategy.
At this time, the defensive strategy is the best strategy, as long as it is quiet, stop all activities, and do not show flaws, it is safe, because it will not be caught at all. However, Wu Did not adopt a defensive plan, but adopted a counter-attack strategy that confused the public. This strategy is risky, although there is a chance to achieve the purpose of counterattack, but as long as in-depth analysis, this strategy is still flawed, there are consequences.
The reason is that there are too many clues left that can be verified. Where did silk come from? Why was it transported into Fuchu at this time? Is there any registration? What is it used for? When a lie appears, it takes a lot of lies to make up for the loophole, and it is too easy to expose. Of course, Wu Qian dared to use such a strategy because he had a proper grasp of Cao Cao's psychology, knowing that Cao Cao would therefore suspect Yang Xiu's motives: he wanted to remove Cao Pi for Cao Zhi.
Therefore, Cao Cao's suspicions fell into the scheme set by Wu Qian, and Wu Qian achieved his goal and helped Cao Pi. However, at this time Cao Cao was deceived. His thinking did not keep up, and if he thought about it carefully, he would find contradictions. Why Yang Xiu reported that Cao Pi really had a big basket in and out. It is impossible for Yang Xiu to carry out trials without any clues, so wouldn't he seek his own death? Yang Xiu's report has a certain factual basis, but the fact is unexpected, there must be a problem, someone around him leaked secrets, otherwise he would not have put silk in the basket so accurately.
As long as Cao Cao suspected, he could quietly investigate, and the fact that he had been deceived and used was not difficult to discover.