The eight "quasi-heroes" that Cao Cao and Liu Bei used to drink, who ruled the world and who were the heroes in troubled times?
At the moment when Liu Bei and Cao Cao drank green plum boiled wine, they mentioned eight high-profile "quasi-heroes": Yuan Shu of Huainan, Yuan Shao of Hebei, Liu Biao of Jingzhou, Sun Ce of Jiangdong, Liu Zhang of Yizhou, Zhang Xiu of Wancheng, Zhang Lu of Hanzhong, and Han Sui of Xiliang.
Liu Bei has always been like a river, and his words are mixed. When mentioning these eight "quasi-heroes", he may have fantasized about occupying the territory of these people in his heart, and he couldn't help but salivate a little in his thoughts: "How good it would be if these places could become my sphere of influence?"”
If these eight "quasi-heroes" meet Cao Cao and Liu Bei, they will undoubtedly be unlucky. However, if it were at different times, perhaps some of them would be able to become the next Dong Zhuo. Today's topic is to compare the strength of these eight figures, assuming that they are free from the suppression of Cao Cao and Liu Bei, and see who is likely to become a capable minister to govern a peaceful and prosperous world, and who may emerge in a chaotic era.
There are two interpretations of "governing the world", one refers to a peaceful and prosperous world, and the other refers to the management of the country and the handling of state affairs. There are also two interpretations of "troubled times", one refers to a period of chaos and turmoil, which corresponds to the first interpretation of "ruling the world", and the other refers to the use of action or object.
In many cases, it is clear that the first interpretation of "governing the world" and "troubled times" is more appropriate. For example, Zhuge Liang once said that he "lived in troubled times", and there is also a saying in "Yan's Family Motto Muxian" that "born in troubled times and grown up in Rongma". In today's topic, we will take the first interpretation as the prevailing one. Qiao Xuan once said that Cao Cao was "a hero in troubled times and a traitor who ruled the world", which seemed to point out that Cao Cao only had room for development in troubled times, and if he was born in a peaceful and prosperous era, he might just be a traitor.
Regardless of whether Cao Cao was a traitor or a traitor, a hero or a hero, he did not usurp the Han throne, so it does not seem accurate to call him a "Han thief". He may be more like a powerful minister similar to Huo Guang.
At the moment when Qingmei was cooking, Cao Cao had just successfully captured Lü Bu, Chen Gong, and Gao Shun, and at the same time subdued Zhang Liao, Zang Ba, Hou Cheng, Wei Xu and other heroic generals, and was looking forward to the future with satisfaction. He seems to have a sincere brotherly affection for Liu Bei, even though Cao Cao is six years older than Liu Bei. However, these eight candidate heroes did not attract his attention.
Facts have proved that Liu Bei did not regard these eight "quasi-heroes" as real heroes. He took the initiative to ask Ying, planning to go to block Yuan Shu, that is, the plan of "returning to the emperor to Yuan Shao": "If Shu defects to Shao, it will inevitably pass through Xuzhou, and I propose to send an army to intercept it halfway, and it will be easy to capture Shu." ”
Cao Cao's remarks do not seem to be groundless, because Liu Bei also did not regard these eight "quasi-heroes" as real heroes. It can be seen that what Cao Cao said, "Such a trivial villain, how can he worry about it!."Those who are heroes have great ambitions, good plans, opportunities to contain the universe, and those who have the ambition to swallow heaven and earth. Today's heroes, only the king and the ear!"Not without reason.
To some extent, Yuan Shu did lose at the hands of Liu Bei in the end. Therefore, when Liu Bei asked Yuan Shao for support, he may also be a little embarrassed in his heart: "Shao has no relationship with me, and I have just defeated his younger brother, will he be willing to help me?"”
Before sending out the troops, Yuan Shao also had an ideological struggle in his heart: "Xuande attacked my brother, he shouldn't have helped;."But Zheng Shangshu (Zheng Xuan) entrusted the task, and I had no choice but to go to the rescue. ”
Judging from the actions of supporting Liu Bei, Yuan Shao is not a narrow-minded person, and sometimes he can clearly distinguish priorities. Of course, the "sometimes" here is because when Liu Bei asked for support for the second time, he seemed a little confused - due to the illness of his youngest son, Yuan Shao fell into a distraught, thinking that he did not have the energy to command the army to fight, so he just sent a message to Liu Bei: If you are cornered by Lao Cao, you can come to me.
However, Liu Bei did not wait for Yuan Shao's reinforcements, Xuzhou was lost, Guan Yu was captured, Zhang Fei was missing, and he could only defect to Yuan Shao. Yuan Shao personally left Yecheng (which was still Yuan Shao's "capital" at the time) to greet him, as if he was emulating the story of the Warring States monarch's daughter buying horse bones.
Yuan Shao's decisions were indeed a little unwise at times, but he was Cao Cao's most formidable opponent at that time. Whether it is in terms of territory or troops, he is far superior to Cao Cao, the only thing missing is that he can't coerce the Son of Heaven to order the princes, many things are not justified, and he can't be both in power and prestige like Cao Cao.
If Yuan Shao and Cao Cao were not contemporaries, they might have become the second Dong Zhuo on the stage of history. Just like Dong Zhuo's abolition of Liu Zhuo's argument and the establishment of Liu Xie, the entire government and the opposition remained silent, and only Yuan Shao bravely resisted.
Both Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu harbored ambitions to become emperors, but Yuan Shao's political talent was significantly higher than Yuan Shu's. If you want to choose the person who ** Dong Zhuo among the eight "quasi-heroes", the first choice is undoubtedly Yuan Shao - the leader of the Dong coalition army should be Yuan Shao, and Cao Cao was rewarded by Yuan Shao in the name of "General Xingfenwu". At that time, Liu Xie was still in the hands of Dong Zhuo, and Cao Cao longed for a new official position, but it was not recognized at the imperial level.
Yuan Shao is a real hero in troubled times, while Yuan Shu can only be regarded as a second-rate character. During the reign of the two brothers, it was difficult for them to become loyal ministers and good generals, and they were more like the second ancestor who only relied on their ancestors Yu Yin. If you engage in some monopoly business, you may be able to achieve great success - as for why Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu can succeed in business, I am afraid that it can only be explained by Kong Rong's words: "In today's degree, take it for granted." ”
Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu can only be called heroes in troubled times, and they can never become loyal ministers in the ruling world. Among the other six "quasi-heroes", there is one person who has performed quite well, if he was born in a peaceful and prosperous era, he is likely to become an outstanding loyal minister, he is Liu Jingsheng, who was considered by Cao Cao to be "unreal".
Liu Biao's problem was that he was born in a turbulent era, and he was not cunning enough compared to Cao Cao and Liu Bei. In fact, he himself was a very capable man: "He was more than eight feet long, and he had a gentle appearance. Together with Zhang Jian and others in the same county, it was discussed and called 'Eight Gu'. ”
Obviously, Liu Bei did not know enough about this "clan brother", and it would be inaccurate to call him "Bajun". There is a clear record in the "Book of the Later Han Dynasty: The Biography of the Party": "Bearing the intention of the Hou Lan of the Hope of the Constant Servant, I wrote to Jian Jian and 24 people from the same township to sign the number, and the party is the ministry, trying to endanger the society." Jian and Tan Bin, Chu Feng, Zhang Su, Xue Lan, Feng Xi, Wei Xuan, Xu Qian for the 'eight jun', Tian Lin, Zhang Yin, Liu Biao, Xue Yu, Wang Wan, Liu Xu, Xuan Jing, Gongxu Gong for the 'eight Gu', Zhu Kai, Tian Pan, Shu Tan, Xue Dun, Song Bu, Tang Long, Ying Zhi, Xuan Bao for the 'eight and', carved stone piers, a total of the party, and thrift for the leader. ”
The list of party officials was compiled by eunuchs, and Liu Biao was first listed as "Eight He", and then promoted to "Eight Gu", but it did not reach the level of "Eight Jun": "The likes of Hai Nei Xifeng were flaunted together, referring to the world's celebrities, and were titled." The upper said Sanjun (Dou Wu, Liu Shu, Chen Fan, the first generation of the Zong, that is, the model of the world), the second said Bajun (the Ying of the people), the second said the Eight Gu (can lead people with virtue), the second said Ba He (can guide people to chase the sect), the second said Eight Kitchens (can save people with wealth). ”
The list reveals Liu Biao's political prowess, but sadly, he was born in an era that didn't know enough about him.
Liu Biao may not be a hero in the world, but his outstanding virtue and ability to persuade people to do good are really valuable. When seizing control of Jingzhou, Liu Biao showed his extraordinary courage by going to the meeting alone and starting from scratch: "He was appointed as the assassin of Jingzhou, when Jiangnan sects and thieves were rampant, and all sects were thieves. Due to Yuan Shu's obstruction of troops stationed in Luyang, Liu Biao could not reach it, so he rode into Yicheng ...... alonesent people to lure the leader of the sect and thieves, a total of fifteen people came, and all of them were beheaded, so as to seize the people, and Jiangnan was pacified. Liu Biao's prestige spread, and many of the orders were moved by the news, and they resigned from the official seal and ribbon one after another. Liu Biao then reorganized his troops in Xiangyang and watched the development of the situation. ”
Although Liu Biao was not keen on war, however, Sun Jian, the Jiangdong Tiger, was killed at the hands of Liu Biao's general, Huang Zu. When Liu Biao was still alive, Sun Ce could not set foot in Jingzhou, this is because Liu Biao has considerable appeal in the local area: "He is based in Hanchuan in the north, has a vast territory, has more than 100,000 elite soldiers, is good at recruiting talents, has a wide prestige, skillfully uses his power and strategy, pacifies the land of thousands of miles, and is grateful and obedient." Thousands of scholars from Guanxi, Yan, Henan and other places joined suit, and Liu Biao comforted and gave them relief, so that they could live and work in peace and contentment. He even founded schools and sought out Confucianists extensively, including Qi Muhong, Song Zhong and others. Liu Biao compiled the chapters and verses of the "Five Classics" and named it "Later Determination". He cared for the people, cultivated scholars, and maintained his position calmly. ”
In troubled times, Liu Biao's ideas did not seem to apply, but in times of peace and prosperity, he behaved like a "good shepherd". He is considered to be an outstanding courtier who governs the world, and I believe that the emperor of the Han Dynasty will also recognize him.
Yuan Shao was a hero in troubled times, while Liu Biao was a wise courtier who ruled the world. The other five princes, such as Yuan Shu, Liu Zhang, Zhang Xiu, Zhang Lu, and Han Sui, do not seem to possess outstanding intellect or good deeds. These local princes were fighting one side in the troubled times, and even without Cao Cao and Liu Bei, they were destined to be swallowed up or wiped out by others. If Liu Xie had abilities similar to Liu Che or Liu Xiu, then these princes would not be able to get away with it.
The only one who is a little difficult to evaluate is Sun Ce of Jiangdong, who seems to be good at fighting, but does not have much loyalty to the Han family. If he had not been assassinated prematurely, whether he would have been qualified to compete with Cao Cao, Liu Bei and others is indeed a difficult question to determine.
Cao Cao and Liu Bei are known as "heroes", but they are not like Dong Zhuo who only know how to be "domineering" and not know how to be gentle. This raises the question: are those eight "quasi-heroes" better suited to govern the world, or better suited to make a name for themselves in troubled times?Are these eight princes who were regarded by Cao Cao and Liu Bei as the people who drank wine the ministers of the world or the heroes of the troubled times, and is it possible for them to become the second Dong Zhuo?It's all a bewildering puzzle.