Chen Gong was called Meng De from The time of Cao Cao, and Fengxian from the time of Lü Bu, not as the Lord, mainly because Cao Cao and Lü Bu were in a very poor situation at that time, and Chen Gong's following of Cao Cao and Lü Bu was only temporary, so Chen Palace was not called the Lord.
At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the world was in chaos, the masses were divided, and various princes rose up to seek the world. At this time, between the princes and their followers, the dignity and inferiority were obvious, and most of the followers were honored as princes to show their loyalty.
According to the "Ceremonial Ceremony and Crown Ceremony", in ancient times, when a child reached three months old, his parents would give the child a name; when the child went to perform the crown ceremony, he would generally ask someone of high moral standing of his own clan to help him pick up words. In ancient times, the use of "characters" to refer to others was a kind of ceremonial respect, not only for the peers, but also for the younger generations.
It can be seen that calling the lord is the honorific title of the followers to the people, and the title is the ceremonial respect for others. The use of different salutations reflects the different positions of the person being called.
Chen Gong used characters to address Cao Cao and Lü Bu, indicating that Chen Gong did not want to follow Cao Cao or Lü Bu for a long time.
According to the description of Cao Cao, after Cao Cao's assassination failed, he was wanted and arrested by the government everywhere, which can be said to be the end of the world and the situation is very poor. Chen Gong was the county order to capture Cao Cao, and out of admiration, Chen Gong decided to release Cao Cao and abandon the official to follow.
However, not long after, Chen Gong and Cao Cao fled to Lü Bohao's house and killed Lü Bohao's entire family, and then Chen Gong ran away from Cao Cao late at night.
Because Cao Cao was very depressed during the flight at that time, and at the same time, Chen Gong was temporarily following, so Chen Gong called Cao Cao by Meng De instead of the lord.
Lü Bu killed the lord many times to seek glory, his reputation was not good, no one dared to take his command, at that time Lü Bu was abandoned, the situation was not good; Lü Bu himself had courage and no strategy, listening to his wife,Chen Gong had offered many times, but many good plans were abandoned or disturbed by Lü Bu, and eventually killed by Cao Cao. Lü Bu was not the ideal follower of Chen Gong, perhaps Chen Gong's original intention was only to use Lü Bu against Cao Cao.
Chen Gong only followed Lü Bu temporarily, and also wanted to leave Lü Bu. At that time, Lü Bu's subordinates rebelled and was later successfully quelled, but it was surprising that Lü Bu found that Chen Gong was also involved in the rebellion.
It can be seen that Lü Bu is not the lord in Chen Gong's heart, and Chen Gong is also considering turning to others, so Chen Gong usually uses Feng Xian to refer to Lü Bu instead of the lord.