Wanton Cao Cao
In his childhood, Cao Cao was alert and clever. He was good at contingency. He was free and unrestrained. He especially liked flying eagles and running dogs. He did not do business. Therefore, few people paid attention to him. However, his uncle was very dissatisfied with his behavior and told Cao Cao’s father many times to restrict Cao Cao’s behavior. Cao Cao was very angry at his uncle’s behavior and decided to give him a prank to eliminate his uncle’s influence on himself in front of his father. One day, Cao Cao met his uncle on the way. He immediately pretended to be ill, and his mouth became crooked. Uncle was shocked to see him like this. He quickly asked him what was the matter. Cao Cao said, “I have a stroke. It’s very serious.” His uncle told Cao Cao’s father about his stroke. When his father arrived, Cao Cao had nothing to do, and everything was as usual. So his father asked Cao Cao, “uncle said you had a stroke. Are you all right now?” Cao Cao said, “who had a stroke? No, maybe my uncle didn’t like me, so he cheated you.” So Cao Cao’s father began to doubt what Cao Cao’s uncle had said. Later, Cao Cao’s uncle would say something about Cao Cao to Cao Cao’s father, and Cao Cao’s father would no longer believe him. In this way, Cao Cao became even more unscrupulous.
Cao Cao was like this in front of his uncle, as well as in other places.
Cao Cao and Yuan Shao once watched the newlyweds together. As a result, they secretly entered the newlyweds’ garden. Suddenly in the middle of the night, they shouted, “there is a thief!” People rushed out to see that Cao Cao took the opportunity to enter the bride’s room, threatened the bride with a dagger, and then quickly escaped with Yuan Shao. As a result, the two lost their way and fell into thorns. Yuan Shao was trapped and could not move. Seeing this, Cao Cao suddenly shouted, “here is the thief!” Yuan Shao panicked and was so scared that he jumped up in a hurry and escaped from the thorns! It turned out that this was a trick used by Cao Cao. After Cao Cao’s call, they quickly left the land of right and wrong.
Cao Cao was also very brave. When he was ten years old, he took a bath in qiaoshui and met a dragon. Cao Cao fought hard and forced the dragon to dive into the water and escape. After that, Cao Cao continued to take a bath until he came home easily. Cao Cao didn’t tell anyone about it. Later, when someone saw the dragon, he was so scared that he ran quickly. However, Cao Cao smiled and called the dragon a snake, saying, “I was not afraid of being attacked by a big snake, but you were so scared by a snake!” Everyone hurried to ask him, only to know that he had such an experience. They were all surprised by Cao Cao’s actions.
On the surface, Cao Cao’s indulgence in chivalry and debauchery is a young Cao Cao’s prank or mischievous performance. However, it contains Cao Cao’s rebellious against tradition, the destruction of the secular world, the pursuit of freedom and the fearless thought of the environment. Cao Cao’s birth decided that he would not abide by the inherent rules of etiquette and law of Confucianism. It seemed that he did not understand the rules and did not respect the elders for his uncle’s behavior, which was actually his betrayal of the traditional thought of etiquette and law. It is a way to despise and destroy the secular world to watch people newly married but mischievously threaten the bride and find happiness in the fear of others. Deep in Cao Cao’s heart, the origin of eunuch ancestors was contrary to the secular moral standards, so he was unwilling to abide by these standards. He just wanted to live in the air free from these rules and enjoy a free breath. Therefore, in the face of these etiquette and moral standards, Cao Cao made a startling behavior and showed his courage to be fearless. All these should be regarded as the exposure of Cao Cao’s innermost feelings and psychology, which is a kind of potential ideology. In the future political and military career, this ideology plays a potential role all the time.
Cao Cao in people’s eyes
Although people didn’t pay more attention to Cao Cao, several people looked at him differently, one of them was Qiao Xuan of Liang state, the other was he Bing of Nanyang. Qiao Xuan said to Cao Cao, “the world is going to be in chaos. If you don’t have the ability to stabilize the society, you can’t save the society. Aren’t you the one who can stabilize the society?” They have high expectations of Cao Cao.
So, what kind of person is Qiao Xuan? How could he have unique insight into Cao Cao? Qiao Xuan also wrote about Qiao Xuan, with the word gongzu. He was born in Suiyang (now Shangqiu, Henan) of the state of Liang. At the time of Emperor Ling, he was a Taiwei. He was known for his decisiveness and ability. He was modest, never played favoritism, did things carefully and carefully, had great talents and was very good at observing the words, deeds and appearance of characters. Qiao Xuan was an honest and upright official. Although he was a top official, he was very poor. Even after his death, his family had no money to bury him! They are called famous ministers by the world. When Qiao Xuan saw Cao Cao, he felt that Cao Cao was extraordinary and said, “I have seen many famous people in the world, but there has never been one like you! The world will be in chaos, and heroes from all walks of life will fight against each other. I’m afraid it’s you who can wipe out the world in this chaotic world! I hope you can do it yourself. I’m old and can’t see your future. I hope you can entrust your wife and children to you.” Qiao Xuan’s words made Cao Cao’s reputation even higher.
Besides Qiaoxuan, Nanyang he Bing also had great determination and confidence in Cao Cao’s ability to stabilize the world. He Yu, born in Xiangyang, Nanyang, studied in Luoyang in his early years and became known as the Imperial College. When the party was imprisoned, he he tried every means to help many people, and then opened a lawsuit. During DongZhuo’s rebellion, DongZhuo used his power to force he Zhe to become a long history. He zhe refused to accept it. Instead, he zhe planned to kill DongZhuo together with Sikong xunshuang and situ Wangyun. However, xunshuang died when things failed. He zhe was also thrown into prison by DongZhuo for some reason. He zhe finally died of worry and anger. When he Jiu first saw Cao Cao, he sighed and said, “the Han family is about to perish. It must be this man who has settled the world.”
In fact, in addition to Qiao Xuan and he Bing, there is another person who also believes in Cao Cao’s ability. This person is Li Zan, the son of Li Ying, a famous “Party member” in the Eastern Han Dynasty. When Li Zan became an official in Dongping, in his early years, he felt that Cao Cao had extraordinary talents, and said to his son Li Xuan and others: “the times will be chaotic, and no hero in the world will surpass Cao Cao. Although zhangmengzhuo has a good relationship with me, and Yuan Benchu is your foreign relative, you should not rely on him, and eventually they will all belong to Cao.” The sons listened to him and were able to avoid suffering in troubled times.
In addition, Runan Wang Jun and Chen liuweizi were able to recognize Cao Cao’s extraordinary ability in his early years.
Wang Jun also wrote Wang Jun with Zi Wen. He was gentle in appearance but able to see everything in his heart. Cao Cao had a good relationship with Wang Jun in his early years. Wang Jun also believed that Cao Cao had the ability to govern the country. When Yuan Shao and his younger brother Yuanshu were buried in Runan at the funeral of their mother, Wang Jun and Cao Cao met two yuan together. At that time, as many as 30000 people met two yuan in Runan. Cao Cao secretly said to Wang Jun, “the world will be in chaos. The two brothers must be responsible for the chaos! If you want to calm the world and do something good for the people, you must get rid of the yuan brothers first, or the chaos will begin.” Wang Jun said, “you are right, but who else can help the world?” Cao Cao listened, and they smiled at each other. Wang Jun was recruited by the prefectures to serve in the three prefectures, but he did not want to go there and avoided living in Wuling. In Wuling, there are more than 100 people who come back from fame. After Emperor Xian moved his capital to Xuchang, he appointed him as the minister, but he still refused. Seeing that Yuan Shao was powerful, Liu Biao secretly colluded with Yuan Shao. When Wang Jun learned that Liu Biao was eager for quick success and instant benefit and short-sighted, he warned Liu Biao: “Cao Cao is the real hero in the world. In the future, he will be able to achieve hegemony and inherit the achievements of Emperor Wen. Now you are willing to give up the near and seek the far. In case of an accident, isn’t it too difficult for you to get the help of Yuan Shao in the remote northern desert?” Unfortunately, Liu Biao didn’t want to follow Wang Jun’s advice. Wang Jun died in Wuling at the age of 64. After hearing this, Cao Cao was very sad. Later, Jingzhou was pacified. Cao Cao went to Linjiang to welcome the funeral, buried Wang Jun in Jiangling, and took Wang Jun as a sage for later generations to follow.
Weizi, Zi Xu, was born in the Xiangyi town of Chenliu (now Shangqiu, Henan Province). He had a big festival. The imperial court appointed him the position of the third Duke. He resigned and refused. When Cao Cao came to Chen Liu in his early years, Weizi said, “he must be the one who can pacify the world in the future.” Cao Cao also felt that Weizi was very unusual, and the two talked about important things many times. Finally, Weizi followed Cao Cao to attack DongZhuo and died in the battle in bianshui, Xingyang. Later, Cao Cao sent people to sacrifice Weizi every time he passed by.
In his childhood, Cao Cao was indulged in debauchery and recklessness, but in the eyes of those who had unique insight, Cao Cao was a very great person. The evaluation of these people represented a very important factor in Cao Cao’s character and thought, that is, his independent personality, wild and uninhibited thought and fearless spirit. These factors laid a good foundation for Cao Cao’s future success.