Chen Gong, a native of Dongjun, has a strong personality and resourcefulness, and has always been regarded as the chief strategist under Lu Bu's account. However, at first, he was an assistant to Cao Cao.
So, why did he betray Cao Cao and choose to assist the mediocre Lu Bu?
Is there something hidden in this that few people know?
Zhuge Liang's Luck and Chen Gong's Tragedy The fates of Zhuge Liang and Chen Gong were very different.
Zhuge Liang received the grace of "three visits to the thatched house", was entrusted with the important task of military advisor, and his talent was able to be fully displayed, but Chen Gong had a short life, and successively took refuge in Cao Cao and Lu Bu, and finally died.
The tragedy of Chen Gong is not because he is not smart enough, but because he has a pursuit and persistence for ideals beyond his peers, and he has no talent but nowhere to display it, and he is the representative of the orthodox Confucian intellectuals among the strategists.
Therefore, if we want to avoid the tragedy of Chen Gong, we must not only pursue our own talents, but also need to find a stage where we can display our talents.
Chen Gong, an important figure in "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", his image is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. He appeared as the commander of Zhongmu County and performed a very dramatic "catch and release Cao".
Subsequently, he changed his identity to Dongjun and persuaded Cao Cao to stop the army of "washing Xuzhou", but he was unsuccessful, and finally defected to Zhang Miao and Lü Bu, and ended in failure.
No matter at what stage, Chen Gong is lamenting that "I am not a layman, but I have to meet his master", reflecting the influence of Confucianism's idea of joining the WTO. He is a man of insight, pursuing the realization of self-worth, and "governing the country and leveling the world" is his lifelong pursuit.
Therefore, even in the face of an opponent with a huge disparity in strength and a dangerous situation, he will resolutely choose the main thing and never back down.
He held fast to his faith in Cao Cao, even at the cost of his life. He was steadfast in his pursuit of what he believed in, no matter how life changed. "There is no ambition in life and death, how strong is the husband! ”
He walked tragically to the altar of fate. "Good birds choose trees to perch, and virtuous ministers choose their masters"Resourceful people are looking for the Master, but not everyone can do so.
Chen Gong, as the commander of Zhongmu County, faced Cao Cao, who assassinated Dong Zhuo and fled, he regarded him as a warrior loyal to the Han family and admired him. He let go of Cao Cao, who had been caught in his hands, and abandoned his old mother and wife, and followed him, saying: "Now I am grateful for your loyalty, and I am willing to give up an official position and flee with you." ”
He was Cao Cao's benefactor and the first wise man to take the initiative to follow him. Chen Gong was convinced that he had met the Ming Lord and could make great progress. However, on the way to escape, Cao Cao personally killed Lu Bohao's family of eight because of suspicion.
When Chen Gong saw the tied pig in the kitchen, he realized Cao Cao's suspicion and manslaughter. Despite the critical situation, Chen Gong forgave Cao Cao for his mistake. After they left, Chen Gong saw Lu Bohao coming back with wine and fruit.
Cao Cao used words to trick Lu Boyao into turning back, and then hacked him to death. After killing eight people, Cao Cao still did not repent, and even did not hesitate to make a mistake to the end, brutally killing an unsuspecting and kind old man.
Cao Cao's suspicious, selfish, treacherous, vicious, and cruel character was undoubtedly exposed in front of Chen Gong, destroying his image as a righteous man in Chen Gong's heart. Chen Gong said: "Killing knowingly is a great injustice." ”
Chen Gong's concept of loyalty and righteousness prompted him to re-examine Cao Cao. Cao Cao's slogan "Rather teach me to bear the world, stop teaching the world to bear me" shocked him deeply, because it ran counter to his idea of pursuing the Lord of Benevolence and Righteousness.
This made Chen Gong firm in his determination to choose again. Although he once wanted to kill Cao Cao with his own hands, after thinking about it, as an intellectual, he thought that killing was unjust, so it was better to abandon him.
He believed that Cao Cao's killing of Lü Bohao's family was an act of injustice, not ideological disloyalty. In his opinion, loyalty is higher than "righteousness", he abandoned his official position and followed Cao Cao for the sake of national interests, and if he killed a warrior loyal to the Han family, wouldn't he also become a rebel.
Chen Gong was a man who valued righteousness very much, so he resolutely decided to leave Dongjun and embark on a journey to seek the Maven. He gave up his family and position and threw himself into Cao Cao's command.
However, Cao Cao's unrighteous actions completely dashed Chen Gong's only hope, and the blow left his heart full of frustration and loneliness, which were especially evident under the sharp impact.
Chen Gong, a loyal man with wisdom, went through ups and downs in his search for the Ming Lord, and finally chose Lü Bu as his master.
However, Lu Bu was not a master worthy of assistance, and after Chen Gong realized this, he wanted to leave Lu Bu, but he was afraid of being ridiculed, so he finally chose to stay by Lu Bu's side and try his best to help.
Chen Gong's fate is sad, he has excellent wisdom and firm faith, but he has never been able to find his master, if he chooses to surrender to the Cao regime like Jia Xu, he will definitely be able to be reused and use his talents.
However, Chen Gong always adhered to Confucian orthodoxy and refused to be used by Cao Cao, who was bent on reviving Han orthodoxy and did not want to spend his life in troubled times. In the end, after the capture of Baimenlou, he chose to be generous and righteous and defended human dignity with practical actions.
Fate can destroy the great and sublime, but it cannot destroy the great sublime of man. The tragedy of Chen Gong reminds us that we cannot give up the pursuit of justice and truth, even in difficult times.
After Chen Gong learned of the existence of fate, in the face of Lu Bu's incompetence and a group of mediocre talents around him who only wanted to protect themselves, he chose to move forward alone, although he did not have the support of his colleagues, and there was no trust between him and his master, especially the sycophancy of Chen Gong's father and son, and after being seen through by Chen Gong, he was even reprimanded by Lu Bu.
Lu Bu was obsessed with the opinions of his wife and concubine, ignoring Chen Gong's strategy, and thus missed the important opportunity. Chen Gong had a premonition of the fate of defeat, but he still insisted on fighting, and finally sighed before he died: "I hate this person for not obeying my words, if I follow my words, he may not be captured!" ”
Chen Gong's image is distinctively and arrogant, and his heart is full of loneliness and disappointment. In order to find the ideal human master, he once followed Cao Cao and Lu Bu, but in the end they were all disappointed.
Although he has been running between people and masters, he has few like-minded supporters, and unlike Liu Bei and Zhuge and Sun Quan and Lu Su, his lonely situation makes his path to self-realization difficult.
However, he did not bow to fate, and he took the initiative to abandon the darkness and turn to the light, which is an example of his struggle. His persistence and courage let us see a resilient and unyielding soul.
His life was full of twists and challenges, and no matter what kind of difficulties he faced, he was able to adjust his direction in time and strive to change his destiny. What's even more valuable is that he always looks at powerful opponents head-on, does not hide his emotions, and behaves in a consistent way, with clear love and hate.
Chen Gong adheres to his beliefs and does not change his position because of the strength of his opponent, no matter how strong Cao Cao is, he always sticks to his position and will not compromise because of anyone's pressure.
Chen Gong is a person with a strong sense of justice. When he heard that Cao Cao was going to kill all the people of Xuzhou in order to avenge his father, he decided to go to Cao Cao's camp and try to persuade him to stop this cruel act.
Chen Gong knew that Tao Qian was not killing for personal gain, and he told Cao Cao that his father's murder was Zhang Min's fault, not Tao Qian's sin. He dared to go to Cao Cao's camp alone when Cao Cao's anger was still down, which required a lot of courage.
Even in the face of the possibility of killing at any moment, he showed no fear. His bravery and determination showed the true nature of a warrior.
Cao Cao showed with his actions that he always insisted on attacking head-on and unreservedly displayed his strength, in stark contrast to the hypocritical attitude between Liu Bei and Cao Cao.
Although Liu Bei knew in his heart that he was the opposite of Cao Cao, on the surface, he pretended to be calm and hypocritically interacted with Cao Cao. In the face of Sun Wu, Liu Bei also used all means, using stratagem and marriage to seize Jingzhou.
Chen Gong is different, he acts resolutely and does not flinch in the face of a strong enemy. When Cao Cao captured Xuzhou, Chen Gong actively planned to attack Cao, but Lü Bu rejected Chen Gong's suggestion and missed the best opportunity to attack Cao.
Cao Cao went to the city to talk to Lü Bu, Lü Bu appeared timid, and Chen Gong cursed Cao Cao loudly beside Lü Bu, and even shot arrows to attack Cao Cao's banner, which made Cao Cao very angry.
In the face of the overlord's angry scolding and murderous intentions, Chen Gong did not flinch at all, but calmly analyzed the situation and responded calmly. His bravery and sincerity, without pretentiousness or hypocrisy, are particularly precious.
In that world of deceit and intrigue, a character like him is really rare. In the end, Chen Gong was captured by Cao Cao, but he remained proud and unyielding, and was deeply influenced by Confucianism"Kill the benevolent"，"Sacrifice your life for righteousness"ideological edification, seeing death as home, leading the neck to kill.
His performance, fearless and strong, fearless of death, clear distinction between good and evil, showed incomparable personality courage.
3.Conclusion: Chen Gong is lonely and persistent on the road of pursuing his ideals, and his spirit of perseverance and perseverance shines in the shadow of the sword. Although his failure is regrettable, his quality of daring to challenge authority and dare to fight for his ideals makes us full of respect for him.