When Cao Cao was young, he was quick-witted, but he was willful, chivalrous, unruly, uneducated and unlearned. Therefore, no one in the society thinks he has any special talents, only Qiao Xuan of Liang thinks he is different. Qiao Xuan said to Cao Cao, "There will be chaos in the world, and people who are doomed can't help it. Who can live in peace? " He Qing of Nanyang said to him: "The Han Dynasty will die, and the person who lives in the world must be this person!" Cao Cao
Xu Shao, a word general, is famous for knowing people. He once said to Cao Cao, "You are a traitor and a hero in troubled times." According to "The History of the Three Kingdoms and Xu Shaochuan", it is "a capable minister who manages the world and a traitor in troubled times." Sun Sheng wrote in Similarities and Differences Miscellaneous Words and Romance of the Three Kingdoms that "Zi can rule the world, and traitors come out in troubled times." In A.D. 184, Cao Cao made his mark in the Yellow Scarf Uprising at the end of the Han Dynasty, and was later named as one of the eight captains of Xiyuan, and participated in the war of the world governors against Dong Zhuo. After Dong Zhuo's death, he developed his own power and fought in troubled times. He successively conquered Li Jue in Guanzhong, Lu Bu in Xuzhou and Yuan Shu in Huainan, and accepted Zhang Xiu's surrender.
In 10, Cao Cao defeated Yuan Shao with fewer victories and more defeats in Guandu (now northeast of zhongmou county, Henan). In 20 1 year, Yuan Shao's army was defeated again in Cangting (now northeast of guanxian). In February 65438+2007, the northern expedition to Wuhuan County completely eradicated the remnants of Yuan's family and basically unified the Central Plains. In 208 AD, Cao Cao became the prime minister of the Eastern Han Empire. In July, Cao Cao took Liu Biao south from Jingzhou. 12 February, he fought against Sun Liu's allied forces in Chibi (in Huanggang City, Hubei Province) and lost. 2 1 1 In July, Cao Cao led his troops to the western expedition and defeated the Guanzhong armies headed by Ma Chao, thus laying the foundation of Wei State. In 2 13, Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty sent Lv Chi to confer Cao Cao as Wang Wei, and Jizhou, Bingzhou and other ten counties as Wei fiefs. The Tongque Terrace in the Wei Palace is located in Yecheng, enjoying the imperial system and gaining the supreme power of "worshiping the unknown and riding a sword to the temple". In 2 15 AD, he captured Yangpingguan and defeated and surrendered to Zhang Lu in Hanzhong. In 2 16, Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty named Cao Cao Wang Wei. On March/0/5, 220 AD, Cao Cao died in Luoyang at the age of 66. Posthumous title "King of Wu" was buried in Gaoling. Cao Pi proclaimed himself emperor shortly after he ascended the throne, calling Cao Cao "Emperor Wu" and the temple name "Mao". Cao Cao reclaimed land in the north to build water conservancy projects, which solved the problem of insufficient rations and played a certain role in the recovery of agricultural production. Employ talents, attract the middle and lower classes of the landlord class, restrain the strongmen and strengthen centralization. The social economy of the ruling area has been restored and developed. The method of selecting a good soldier includes Sun Tzu's Art of War, The Art of War and Meng De's New Book. Good poems, such as "A Journey in the Great Miles" and "Watching the Sea", express political aspirations and reflect the tragic life of the people at the end of the Han Dynasty. They are magnificent, generous and sad. Prose is also neat. His works include Wei Wudi. Politically and militarily, Cao Cao eliminated many separatist forces, unified most of northern China, and implemented a series of policies to restore economic production and social order, which laid the foundation for the founding of Cao Wei. In terms of literature, under the impetus of Cao Cao and his son, Jian 'an literature represented by "Three Caos" (Cao Cao, Cao Pi and Cao Zhi) was formed, which was called "Jian 'an Style" in history. His poems are famous for their generosity and tragic, which left a glorious stroke in the history of literature. Cao Cao reclaimed land in the north to build water conservancy projects, which solved the problem of insufficient rations and played a certain role in the recovery of agricultural production. Employ people on their merits, break the concept of family status, attract the middle and lower classes of the landlord class, restrain the strongmen and strengthen centralization. The social economy of the ruling area has been restored and developed. He is good at the art of war, and has written books such as A Brief Explanation of Sun Tzu's Art of War, Sun Tzu's Art of War, and Meng De's New Book. Good poems, such as Travel Notes in Haoli, Watching the Sea and The Life of a Turtle, express his political ambitions and reflect the miserable life of the people in the late Han Dynasty. He is magnificent, generous and sad, and his achievements are extraordinary. Cao cao's positive role in unifying the north. As mentioned earlier, at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, due to political darkness, social production was seriously damaged, and people could not live, and finally a vigorous Yellow Scarf Uprising broke out. However, under the historical conditions at that time, the peasant uprising could not achieve the final victory, which was followed by the disintegration of the Eastern Han Dynasty and the warlord scuffle. In the scuffle, not only Dong Zhuo, Li Jue and other Liangzhou warlords slaughtered people and robbed property everywhere, but also the eastern generals under the banner of diligent king. Therefore, there is a bleak scene of "people eat people and the state is depressed". Apart from the reactionary rule in the Eastern Han Dynasty, it is unforgivable to suppress the peasant uprising and the warlords who destroyed social production. But relatively speaking, there are still differences between warlords. Take Cao Cao as an example. Although he suppressed the peasant uprising and killed innocent people, from his political, military and economic performance, he was better than the warlord he eliminated. For example, he reclaimed land, built water conservancy projects and implemented the system of selling salt and iron by officials, which played a positive role in social and economic recovery and economic rectification. As soon as Cao Cao embarked on his official career, he tried to use stricter laws to change the rampant situation of extravagance of powerful people at that time. However, because the curse lies in the central government, Cao did not dare to show his intentions. It was not until he came to power himself that the policy of restraining arrogance was fully implemented. He said: "the punishment of the husband is also the life of the people." The policy of bringing order out of chaos should put punishment first. He used Wang Xiu, Sima Zhi, Yang Pei, Lv Qian, Man Chong, Jia Kui and other local officials to curb the lawless strongmen. If we compare Yuan Shao's and Cao Cao's political skills in Jizhou, we can see two different situations: "At the end of the Han Dynasty, politics lost its breadth, and salt lost its breadth, so we didn't take it. "Under Yuan Shao's lenient policy," it is not enough to make the powerful and powerful arrogant, annex their relatives, make the people poor, pay taxes on behalf of the rent, and show off their wealth. "In this way, it is naturally impossible to do something like" the people are blind, and the soldiers are strong in Ma Zhuang ". "So Lombardi was defeated by Cao Cao, although he is big, with many soldiers and more food. After the war in Jizhou, he immediately "emphasized the method of merging and strengthening the country" to achieve the effect of "making the people happy". Sima Guang said that Cao Cao's "turning chaos into governance" was not groundless. Moreover, the use of people is not heavy. He chooses officials to "understand the law" and can govern the country according to law. Cao Cao also advocates honesty. He used Cui Yan and Mao Jie for the election. " The people he uses are honest and upright. Although he was famous at that time, he didn't do what he did, and he was finally admitted. "Thrift guides people, so people all over the world are motivated by honesty and thrift. Although I am a noble minister, I dare not go too far. " The social atmosphere has improved. Generally speaking, under Cao Cao's rule, the Yellow River Basin became politically clear to a certain extent, the economy gradually recovered, the class oppression was slightly alleviated, and the social atmosphere was improved. Therefore, some measures taken by Cao Cao in the name of Han Dynasty still have positive effects. Cao Cao has profound cultivation in literature, calligraphy and music. His literary achievements are mainly manifested in poetry and prose. There are less than 20 poems by Cao Cao, all of which are Yuefu poems. The content can be roughly divided into three categories. One is related to current affairs, the other is mainly to express ideals, and the other is poetry about immortals. For more than 30 years, Mao Yujun never gave up his books. During the day, you talk about martial arts, and at night, you think about classics. Climbing to the top must be given, and the strings of new poems make a movement. (Shu Wei) Although Shang Yahao was in the army, he couldn't put it down. Every time I decide to save, I calmly say: people who are less eager to learn will think professionally, and after a long time, they will forget; When I grow up, I can be a diligent scholar, just me and Yuan Boye. ("Canon on self-narration", Yuan Boye left his name and Yuan Shao was his brother. ) Cao Gong's old road is straight, and there is a sad saying. (Poems by Zhong Rong) Works related to current affairs include Autumn Dew, Good Li Xing, Bitter Cold, Walking Out of Xiamen, etc. Two songs, Autumn Journey and Good, were written in the early years of Jian 'an. The foregoing reflects that He Jinmou murdered eunuchs, and Dong Zhuo went to Luoyang for insurrection. The second article is about the states and counties in Kanto, each with its own ambitions, fighting with each other, and keeping pace with each other in content. Poetry describes this historical process in concise language, so it is called "A Record of the Late Han Dynasty, an authentic work of poetry history" (Zhong Xing's Ancient Poems Return). What is particularly commendable is that in the poem "A Journey to Luxury", he wrote the profound sufferings of the broad masses of the people in the war in a sympathetic tone: "When a cockroach is born, everyone dies, and the bones are exposed in the wild, and there are no crows in a thousand miles. There are hundreds of people left behind, which makes people feel sad. " A Journey to Bitter Cold was written in the 11th year of Jian 'an. The poem describes the coldness, desolation and precipitousness of Taihang Mountain in winter, with vivid images, and also writes the poet's inner complex feelings. "Out of Xiamen" was written in the twelfth year of Jian 'an, and the five rings levied three counties. This poem includes "Yan" (prelude) and four explanations. Yan concentrated on the poet's complex mood when he went to war. Explain "Watching the Sea" and write the impressions when marching through Jieshi; Second, explain Winter in October. Third, write about what you saw and heard on your way home. Fourth, explain "although the tortoise lives long" and write about the ideological activities after winning this important battle. Among them, "Looking at the Sea" describes the seascape, "The autumn wind is bleak, the waves are rough, and the trip between the sun and the moon is unexpected; If the stars are brilliant, unexpected and magnificent, it embodies the poet's broad mind of embracing the universe and devouring the sun and the moon. "Although a turtle lives for a long time" expresses the poet's view on life and career with a series of vivid metaphors: "An old man riding on a horse, aiming at a thousand miles, a martyr died with great courage". This is the true confession of the poet's active and enterprising spirit all his life. The poems that mainly express ideals are Du Guan Shan, Duijiu, and Short Song. The political ideals of the first two poets. His vision of peace and prosperity is the politics of virtuous monarch and good minister, which combines Confucianism and law with kindness and prestige. This is undoubtedly of progressive significance under the realistic background of social destruction in the late Han Dynasty. The theme of "Short Song" is to be thirsty for talents. With poems such as "the mountain is not too high, the sea is not too deep, the duke of Zhou vomits and feeds, and the world returns to its heart", it expresses the mood of seeking talents and recruiting talents to achieve its great cause. In artistic style, Cao Cao's poems are unpretentious and unpretentious. They won with deep affection and charm. Poetically, it is characterized by generosity and sadness. Generosity and sadness, originally the keynote of Jian 'an literature, are the most typical and prominent in Cao Cao's poems. In terms of poetic genre, Cao Cao's Yuefu poems did not copy the rules of Han Yuefu, but developed. For example, Lu Luxing and Good Li Xing are both elegies in the Han Yuefu, but he used old topics to express brand-new contents. Cao Cao initiated the tradition of writing current affairs with Yuefu, which had far-reaching influence. A large number of Yuefu poems created by Jian 'an writers and many poets from the Southern and Northern Dynasties to the Tang Dynasty can be said to be the inheritance and development of this tradition. Cao Cao's achievements in literature are also reflected in his constructive role in Jian 'an literature (see Seven Children of Jian 'an). Jian 'an literature can flourish under the background of long-term war and social fragmentation, which is inseparable from his attention and promotion. When discussing the reasons for the prosperity of Jian 'an literature, Liu Xie once pointed out that "respecting the monarch and loving poetry and elegance" (the literary mind carves dragons). In fact, the main writers in Jian 'an period were closely related to him. Cao Pi and Cao Zhi are his sons, and the "seven sons" and Cai Yan are also sheltered by him. It can be said that "Ye Group" was formed on the basis of the material conditions he provided; And their creation is also under the influence of his advocacy. According to the textual research of Yao Zhenzong's Records of the Three Kingdoms of Qing Dynasty, Cao Cao's works include 30 volumes of Wei Wudi Collection, Sun Tzu's Art of War 1 Volume, 13 Volume and so on. There are more than ten kinds of works, but most of them have been lost, and the only one that exists is Sun Tzu's Note. 145 poems collected by Zhang Yan in Ming Dynasty were included in Wei Wudi Collection and 103 in Records of Han, Wei and Six Dynasties. Ding's Collection of Celebrities in the Han, Wei and Six Dynasties also includes Wei Wudi's Collection, which has slightly more works than Zhang Pu's Collection. 1959, according to Ding Ben, Zhonghua Book Company added Annotation to Sun Tzu, and attached the Ji of Emperor Wu and Chronology of Cao Cao. , and reprinted as "Cao Cao Ji".