First: Kill people in your dreams to scare people around you.
There is such a description in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms: Cao Cao is suspicious by nature and is often afraid that others will secretly harm him, so he often says to his followers, "I am good at killing people in my dreams;" Whenever I fall asleep, don't go near. " One day, Cao Cao slept in his tent during the day. When he rolled over, the quilt fell to the ground. Just about to cover it, Cao Cao suddenly jumped up and drew his sword to kill it, and went to bed again. I woke up for a long time and was surprised. "Who killed my footman?" The other attendants told the truth, and Cao Cao wept bitterly and ordered a reburial. Everyone thought that Cao Cao was really dreaming of killing people, but the marching general Yang said, "The Prime Minister is not dreaming, you are dreaming."
It can be seen that Cao Cao pretended to sleep in order to prevent people around him from hurting him, and then killed the guards around him to achieve the purpose of intimidation. It is not surprising that Cao Cao is treacherous.
Second: there is not enough food to kill the grain officer and appease the soldiers.
Cao Cao led 1.7 million troops to fight against Yuan Shu, and the daily food consumption was very large. Moreover, many counties and counties have suffered from drought and famine, and there is no support for food and grass. Cao Cao wanted a quick victory, but Li Feng in Yuan Shu couldn't fight behind closed doors. So there was a stalemate for a long time, and the food was almost used up. So I asked Sun Ce to borrow food at that time, but it couldn't be delivered in a short time, so I asked the warehouse official Wang at that time. The grain situation, the grain was finished immediately, so Cao Cao asked the warehouse officer Wang? As a result, Cao Cao's camp is complaining that it will soon cause a mutiny.
So Cao Cao let the king go? Call your camp and say, "I want to borrow something from you."
King Guan Cang? He said, "What does the Prime Minister want to borrow?"
Cao Cao: "I want to show off your head."
King Guan Cang? : "I'm not guilty. Why did you kill me?"
Cao Cao: "I know, but if I don't kill you, the army will definitely defect."
After that, let the guards cut the warehouse officer Wang? Head, and then posted a post saying Wang? Deliberately using a small bowl to divide soup and embezzle official grain has been dealt with by military law. Then Cao Cao ordered the whole army not to break the enemy within three days and kill them all! I personally supervised the war and finally won.
Cao Cao was fearless in times of crisis and thought of such a way to turn the corner, sacrifice one person and win the whole war, which can be described as treachery and strategy. Not as good as ordinary people.
Third: looking at plums to quench thirst
When Cao Cao attacked Zhang Xiu in Wancheng, it was summer, the sun was shining, and there was no water around. The soldiers were sweating like a pig, thirsty, suffering from heatstroke, and almost collapsed, which seriously affected morale. At that time, Cao Cao was afraid of delaying the fighter plane, so he came up with a way, saying that there was a piece of Meilin ahead, and we would appreciate it when we arrived. So the men began to drool, and finally eased a little. They all cheered and hurried on. In fact, there is no Merlin in front. Fortunately, there is water, and Cao Cao also survived this.
I have to admire Cao for playing tricks on soldiers with children.
Fourth, the battle of Guandu burned trust and bought people's hearts.
In the fifth year of Jian 'an, Cao Cao and Yuan Shao fought in Guandu. Yuan Shao took 1 10000 people, while Cao Cao only had 20,000 people. After being repeatedly defeated by Yuan Shao in previous battles, Cao Cao finally decided not to play deep trenches and high bases. Cao Cao's side is not only demoralized, but also short of food and grass. Obviously, he can't beat Yuan Shao, but he is just insisting. So many people on Cao Cao's side include soldiers and military strategists. However, I didn't expect Yuan Shao to be defeated in the end. Later, I searched out many letters from Yuan Shao and gave them to Cao Cao.
But Cao Cao didn't read these letters, but ordered people to burn them all, and no longer investigated who and Yuan Shao passed them privately. Cao Cao said that Yuan Shao and I were too different in strength at that time, and it was also right for everyone to find their own way out. Don't blame anyone. Seeing that Cao Cao was so sincere, everyone was moved by his actions and followed him wholeheartedly.
As can be seen from the above four stories, Cao Cao's treachery is really fierce. No wonder Xu Shao commented on him like this. Besides treachery, we can also see Cao Cao's strategy and great wisdom. No wonder Cao Cao Can unified the north, almost the whole country.