Cao Zhang of the Three Kingdoms Liang General Series (Part 1)
Cooking wine on heroes, but also about the characters of the Three Kingdoms.
Cao Cao had as many as twenty-five sons, the most well-known of whom were Cao Pi and Cao Zhi. Cao Cao was a rare outstanding emperor in the entire history of ancient China, and these two sons inherited Cao Cao's literary talents, and the father and son were later called "Three Caos". And Cao Cao was able to establish hegemony in the chaotic era of the late Han Dynasty, and what was more important was, of course, military talent. In this regard, Cao Xian is better than Cao Pi and Cao Zhi. As Cao Cao's proudest "yellow beard", there are many mysteries in Cao Zhang, who aspires to be a general. This issue will introduce you to the story of Cao Zhang.
Cao Zhang (189-223), Ziwen. Cao Zhang was two years younger than Cao Pi and three years older than Cao Zhi, all of whom were born of the Bian clan, and in the early years of Jian'an, the Bian clan was established by Cao Cao as the main chamber, so the three brothers Cao Pi, Cao Zhang, and Cao Zhi were concubines, and the other four brothers Cao Xiong died early, leaving not much record.
Cao Zhang, who has loved to practice martial arts since he was a child, not only has his bow and arrow flying accurately, but also has excellent strength. Cao Zhang' personality is completely different from Cao Pi and Cao Zhi, and he is not interested in reading, but prefers to fight with beasts of prey at close range. Cao Cao went out to fight, and Cao Zhang always followed him, with a high morale.
Although Cao Cao was always at war, he was also a cultural person who read poetry and books, and his literary attainment was very high. Watching his son only care about practicing martial arts but not reading books, he often criticized Cao Zhang: "You don't read at all, the sages' truths are not pursued at all, but they only care about riding horses and fencing all day long, this is just a puppet, nothing worth rare!" ”
Cao Cao often said this about Cao Zhang, urging him to read. Of course, Cao Zhang did not dare to confront Cao Cao, and on the surface he promised, but privately complained to the left and right: "The eldest husband should learn from Wei Qing and Huo Toyi, take him a hundred thousand iron horses to ride through the desert, drive out Rong Di, and establish an immortal deed." What is the use of studying these books and becoming a doctor? ”
The "Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Cao Zhang's Biography" says: Taizu Changzhi said: "Ru does not read and read the Sacred Tao, but is good at riding a sweat horse to strike the sword, the use of this husband, He ZuGuiye!" The class Zhang read poems and books, and Zhang said left and right: "Husband one is a man, Huo, riding 100,000 horses in the desert, driving away Rong Di, and making meritorious contributions to build trumpets, how can he be a doctor of evil?" ”
Later, one day Cao Cao called his sons together to organize a family gathering, and asked them one by one what ideals and ambitions they had. When it was Cao Zhang's turn to speak, he replied, "I want to be a general." Cao Cao asked again, "Then you became a general, what should you do?" Cao Zhang replied: "To be stubborn and sharp, to ignore the difficulties, to be a soldier first; rewards must be carried out, punishment must be believed." Cao Cao laughed when he heard this.
Through the above records, it can be seen that Cao Cao was very fond of Cao Zhang, and the supervision of Cao Zhang's reading reflected Cao Cao's concern for his son as a father, hoping that Cao Zhang would become a talent, and when Cao Zhang said that he was determined to become a general like Wei Qing and Huo Qi, Cao Cao was very happy.
Why did Cao Cao persuade Cao Zhang to read more books while being happy with Cao Zhang's ambitions? In fact, this is not a contradiction.
The "Let the County Self-Ming Ben Zhi Ling" contains: Yi Sui wanted to make a meritorious contribution to the country, and wanted to be the general of the Zhenxi, and then inscribed the tomb saying "The Tomb of the General Cao Hou of the Han Dynasty Zhengxi", which is also the zhiye.
This is an article written by Cao Cao at the end of the fifteenth year of Jian'an to review his life experience and clarify his ambitions and ambitions along the way. In the text, Cao Cao realistically said that the purpose of his own army was to seek thieves for the country, and the greatest ideal when he was young was to become a general of the Western Expedition. As for the subsequent development of the situation, to a large extent, it is not the influence of personal will, and their own ideas have gradually changed.
It is not known whether others, such as Cao Pi and Cao Zhi, were present, but Cao Zhang's answer to ambition obviously allowed Cao Cao to see the shadow of himself when he was young.
A suspicious point about Cao Zhang appeared at this time.
The Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms and Emperor Wu of the Three Kingdoms says: In the spring of the sixteenth year, Tianzi ordered Gong Shizi Pi to be the general of the Five Senses, and the subordinate of the official was the vice-chancellor.
Pei Songzhi's note quotes the Book of Wei as saying: "Five thousand households were reduced, and the branch office made the three counties fifteen thousand seals and three sons, planted as the Marquis of Pingyuan, according to fanyang marquis, leopard as raoyang marquis, and 5,000 households each from shiyi." ”
According to the above two historical records, in the sixteenth year of Jian'an (211), Cao Pi was given the title of General of the Five Senses, as the deputy of Cao Cao. At the same time, Cao Zhi, Cao Zhao, and Cao Bao (Cao Lin) were all given the title of Marquis of 5,000 households. According to the author's investigation, another Cao Yu and Cao Ying were also enfeoffed.
Cao Zhang, as the second son of the main chamber, was not even enfeoffed, which was really abnormal. It was not until April of the twenty-first year of Jian'an (216), when Cao Cao was made king of Wei, that Cao Zhang was given the title of Marquis of Yanling.
There are three possibilities here.
First, Cao Cao did not like Cao Zhang. This possibility is very small, as the bravest of Cao Cao's many sons, Cao Zhang's frequent expeditions with Cao Cao are clearly documented. Moreover, Cao Zhang did have generals, as evidenced by the examples of war.
Second, in order to balance the relationship between Cao Cao's harem. Cao Pi, Cao Zhang, and Cao Zhi were all born to Lady Bian of the ZhengMu, Cao Lin was born to Lady Du, and Cao Zhao and Cao Yu were born to Lady Huan. In particular, Lady Huan was Cao Chong's mother, so Cao Cao's move may have been to make up for Lady Huan. For the sake of balance between the ladies, Cao Cao may have deliberately left Cao Zhang.
Third, Cao Zhi had threatened Cao Pi's position as crown prince, so had Cao Zhang never been considered? not necessarily. Cao Pi's greatest advantage was his status as the eldest son, but this status did not ensure cao Pi's succession to the throne. If it were not for Cao Chong's death in 208, Cao Pi would have faced a more formidable competitor. Cao Zhang was not the first to be enfeoffed, and it is very likely that Cao Cao left a warning to Cao Pi, warning Cao Pi that if he did not do well, Cao Zhang would replace him at any time. Cao Zhang's single-mindedness, he does not have the heart to compete for reserves, he can play a passive role in stimulating Cao Pi, but he will not take the initiative to set off waves, so that Cao Cao is more at ease. Moreover, at that time, the world was constantly fighting, and it was indeed more appropriate to motivate Cao Pi with Cao Zhang than Cao Zhi.
Of course, the above is only the author's speculation, and the real reason is different.
In the twenty-third year of Jian'an (218), when Cao Liu and Liu were fighting in the Great Battle of Hanzhong, the elite troops of Cao Hong and Cao Xiu went to Hanzhong to support Xiahou Yuan. The Wuhuan tribe of Youzhou took the opportunity to rebel in Dai County.
The Dai Commandery Wuhuan chieftain Nengchen Felt insufficient, so he defected to Fu Luohan, one of the chiefs of the Xianbei tribe, and later contacted another Xianbei chieftain, Kebineng, and the three of them jointly formed an alliance against Wei. As a result, Ruby was able to kill Fu Luohan and annex his people in one fell swoop.
In the face of the joint rebellion of the unified Xianbei tribe and the Dai Commandery Wuhuan, Cao Cao did not dare to take it lightly, but after all, the Hanzhong war was tight and he was weak, so he made Cao Zhang the general of the Northern Zhonglang, performed the duties of a general of the Xiao Cavalry, and marched on the Northern Expedition to Dai County.
The Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms chronicles the biography of Kebineng: The descendant of the county Karasuma rebellion, Bi Neng fusuke as a Kou harm, Taizu with Yanling Marquis Zhang as a general of the Horse, the Northern Expedition, the Great Destruction.
Before the expedition, Cao Cao specifically told Cao Zhang: "At home we are father and son, but we are kings and subjects when you receive military orders." You must act in accordance with the king's law when you are outside, and you must remember! ”
There were many generals in Cao Cao's clan, but this was the first time that his own son was sent out on a campaign. In particular, Cao Zhang's nature is straightforward, so Cao Cao wants to remind Cao Zhang not to rely on his own identity to break the rules of the army, which not only shows that Cao Cao has always advocated strict military discipline, but also shows the requirements and expectations of his son as a father.
Cao Zhang's northern expedition into Zhuo County, before the army was assembled, thousands of Hu rebel cavalry had already been killed. In the face of the rushing enemy troops, Cao Zhang did not panic, and adopted the strategy of staff officer Tian Yu, arranging all the vehicles into a circular array, the crossbowmen hid in the car to shoot, and the rest of the soldiers guarded the gap in the circular array.
Cao Zhang's marching route
The Hu people shot arrows at Cao Zhang's army, unable to shoot the crossbowmen hiding in the car, but Cao Zhang's crossbowmen could shoot outward; the Hu people launched a charge, and there were Cao Army infantry spears hiding behind the car. The Hu people attacked for a while to no avail, and could only retreat in sorrow.
Cao Zhang, who had always been ideal as a general, was willing to miss this opportunity and immediately led his troops to launch a counterattack. Cao Zhang's soldiers launched a charge, shooting arrows while chasing, and the Hu cavalry fell one after another. The two sides had been fighting for most of the day, and Cao Zhang's armor had already been hit by several arrows.
As the follow-up troops of the Cao Army arrived one after another, Cao Zhang became more and more spirited, and directly led his army to chase until Sangan County in the territory of Dai County.
Cao Zhang ordered no rest to continue the pursuit, and the generals objected. Everyone thought that the people were already sleepy and tired, the generals needed to rest, and before the expedition, Cao Cao had explained that he could not go deep into the territory of Dai County, and now Cao Zhang's actions were suspected of being a light enemy.
Cao Zhang said to the generals: "The only goal of the army is to go out on a campaign, the only goal is to win, and now that victory is at hand, do you still have to limit yourself?" The Hu people have not yet gone far, and they will be broken. Blindly obeying the previous military orders but allowing the enemy to run away is not the work of a good general. The congregation will not need to say much, hurry up and follow me on horseback, pass my orders, fall behind, chop! ”
The Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms of Cao Zhang, in: "Lead the teacher to walk, where the only profit lies, how to be disciplined?" Hu has not gone far, and the pursuit will be broken. From the order of the enemy, non-good generals also. "So he got on his horse and ordered the rear of the army to behead."
Although Cao Cao had orders in advance, Cao Zhang was Cao Cao's son, in case he really picked out which unlucky egg who ran slowly and killed the chicken and the monkey in public, it would be miserable, one was far away in the sky and one was close at hand, and everyone could only listen to Cao Zhang. So the generals of the Cao Army rushed to rush up, and finally caught up with the rebels again after a day and a night. The Hu people did not expect Cao Zhang to chase so quickly, and they did not have to rest after a battle, and they panicked. Cao Zhang's battle broke through the combined forces of Wuhuan and Xianbei, beheading and capturing thousands of enemies.
Cao Zhang did not fail the soldiers who followed his hard adventures, and rewarded his subordinates with more than double the normal number, and the whole army was very happy.
Dai County was previously a settlement of the Wuhuan tribe, and the Xianbei tribe was further northeast. This rebellion did not fully support the Wuhuan people, but only led tens of thousands of cavalry to watch from the sidelines. Cao Zhang destroyed Wuhuan, who was a decaying emperor of The Dai Commandery, and Kebi was afraid and took the initiative to request submission, so the northern rebellion was quelled by Cao Zhang.
It is worth mentioning Cao Zhang's staff officer Tian Yu.
The Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms, Tian Yu's biography, says: "Because of the terrain, Yu returned to the round formation, and the bow and crossbow were held in the inner ,... Sui pre-Ping Dynasty, all Yu Ce also. ”
Tian Yu, as a famous general in the late Cao Wei period, will be described in detail by the author. It is recorded here that Pingding Dai Commandery was tian Yu's plan. First of all, this is Tian Yu's original biography, which naturally cannot help but be praised by the master, and secondly, the advice is on the one hand, but the manager's on-the-spot decision is more critical. If it were not for Cao Zhangli's unanimous pursuit for a day and a night, waiting until the enemy army had finished the frontal battle, the result would be difficult to predict. Not to mention that Kebi can look at Wuhuan behind the back, cao army performance is slightly poor, tens of thousands of Xianbei cavalry will rescue Wuhuan, then the situation will become very troublesome. Therefore, Cao Zhang's battle showed a good general's demeanor.
Cao Zhang's first appearance as a manager made such a great achievement, and Cao Cao, as a father, naturally loved this "yellow beard". However, Cao Zhang's military achievements only ended here, and with Cao Cao's death, Cao Zhang's life suddenly fell into the abyss.
The details of Cao Zhang's later history related to Cao Pi and Cao Zhi will continue to tell you in the next issue. Interested friends, please click to pay attention to it, your support is my continuous update of the biggest motivation, thank you!