Question: As an early figure in the Three Kingdoms era, Yuan Shao originally had a strong comprehensive strength, but he buried his family's future due to a series of decision-making mistakes. But Xun Yu, the strategist in Cao Cao's camp, had already judged that it would be difficult for this Hebei overlord to achieve great things! What is the specific basis for his remarks? Is the enemy like a god? Or is it for purely utilitarian purposes, pouring chicken soup for the soul of the fledgling lord?!
A:Because Xun Yu's position is completely different from Yuan Shao's. Although the two have similar births on the surface, and can even be counted into the same class, they have long embarked on diametrically opposite paths. One insisted on allegiance to the imperial power, while the other wanted to establish his own hegemony. This is the kind of fiery rhetoric that inevitably arises.
Both Xun Yu and Yuan Shao came from typical Kwantung aristocratic families
First of all, both of them came from families of scholars who had considerable weight in the officialdom of the Eastern Han Dynasty. The former originated from the famous Yingchuan Xun clan, and can be traced back to the Ji clan in the pre-Qin period, which belongs to the super tumbler who has experienced the transformation of aristocratic politics to a gate valve family. Although the latter's Runan Yuan clan does not have this ancient retrospective, it also has the glorious resume of the fourth and third dukes, and it is very close to the power center at that time. If it weren't for the Eastern Han Dynasty's unsustainable nature due to the Yellow Turban Rebellion, I am afraid that they would all move between the **court and the local government**. Considering that the grassroots ** authority at that time was larger, there was often no obvious civil and military hard stripping, so it would have more historical plasticity than many later generations of famous ministers.
The outbreak of the Yellow Turban Rebellion caused Xun Yu and Yuan Shao's fates to deviate rapidly
However, there was a clear difference in the development path of the two after the Yellow Turban Rebellion. Yuan Shao rose to prominence in the action of killing eunuchs, but he stayed away from Dong Zhuo in order to avoid Dong Zhuo, who entered Beijing to make trouble, and gradually evolved into a military commander centered on Yizhou. Since then, it has been based on the local area for a long time, and gradually grasped the entire north of the Yellow River. Especially the major victory over the Youzhou Gongsun clan, the style itself became well-deserved"King of the Northeast".
After defeating the Gongsun clan, Yuan Shao was already the undisputed king of the Northeast
In fact, this kind of Kwantung family has always had a high position in the power field of the Eastern Han Dynasty, so it seems that there was no big problem in the early days. But the decline of the Han Dynasty is a foregone conclusion, and Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty is not a Buddhist puppet who is willing to accept his fate. This is destined for him to have a gap with Yuan Shao floating in the north, and he is happy to see any new forces that exalt the righteousness of loyalty to the monarch to complete the necessary cleanup.
Emperor Xian of Han's unwillingness to compromise actually pushed Yuan Shao passively into the negative
Xun Yu, by contrast, was more conservative due to his slightly lower starting point, with the typical scholarly mentality of eager to trade allegiance to the imperial power for promotion. Lacking the military skills to organize large-scale armies, he had to switch back and forth between different camps as a staff member. In the end, he was able to find the most comfortable state under Cao Cao's command, which was not only to successfully win the necessary protection and preferential treatment, but also to cover the other party's range of activities. More importantly, Cao Cao's willingness to take the route of allegiance to Emperor Han Xian is tantamount to adding another piece to his career"Insurance".
In Xun Yu's view, Yuan Shao is a destabilizing factor that destroys certainty, and Cao Cao is the opposite
In other words, Xun Yu and Yuan Shao, who were both born in a big family, have a fundamental contradiction in their attitude towards the original imperial power. If the former follows the route of Confucius and Dong Zhongshu, then the latter must be closer to the Sanhuan doctor who weakened King Lu, and the new lord of Zhao Wei and Han who successfully carved up the hegemony of the Jin State:
Since Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty implemented Confucianism, many traditional scholars have entered the stage of transformation and development, becoming the main force of Confucianism who strive to monopolize the civil and official system. Although he is still committed to maintaining his family's one-third of an acre, he often needs to rely on the unrestricted protection of strong imperial power at a higher level. If the other side is weakened or the legitimacy crisis causes a chaotic situation, then the operating mechanism on which it relies will face the risk of being paralyzed. Even if you can rely on loyalty to a certain warlord to obtain Gou'an, it is easy to be compared to the big bosses who are better at leading troops in battle in actual status. It is even entirely possible that the protector will be liquidated after losing power, adding too much danger and uncertainty to life.
After Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty implemented the policy of exclusive respect for Confucianism
The behavior pattern of scholars also accelerated from Confucius to Xun Yu
Therefore, the advice given by Xun Yu when following Cao Cao was basically to use the power of warlords to reinvigorate the emperor's authority. Any unstable factors that may change must be completely extinguished as soon as possible. Among them, there is a proposal to hunt down and kill Yuan Shao's group, which is completely beyond the level of hegemony between ordinary local forces. Otherwise, Cao Cao might turn his gun after the victory in the Battle of Guandu and attack Liu Biao and other southern bigwigs who were weaker in strength and ambition in advance. If you are not careful, it is easy to balance the opponents of the four parties who join forces, and lose the necessary ability to rebuild and upgrade the authority of the court of Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty. It was only later that he could not face Cao Cao's own inflated ambitions, so he chose to end his life in depression. But before the problem was exposed, the choices he made were very much in line with his own positioning.
The victory in the Battle of Guandu is a typical case of Xun Yu's dedication to Cao Cao
On the other hand, Yuan Shao's behavioral logic is more in line with the traditional Shi line. Although these potential heroes show their admiration for Confucianism, they are privately more willing to rely on militarization to safeguard their core interests. As long as there are opportunities such as the Yellow Turban Army and Dong Zhuo, they can immediately tear themselves up"Peace camouflage". Therefore, in the eyes of many idealistic Confucian students, it is the main culprit who destroys the harmony of the world.
The group's local warlord nature determined that Yuan Shao's appeal to orthodox scholars was limited
Yuan Shao apparently had some awareness of this conflict, and at the same time generously recruited talent to consolidate his territory. However, after all, the group could not escape the joint attribute of martial arts and heroes, and it was impossible to promote Confucianism as an auxiliary manager to a higher position. Therefore, after losing the decisive battle with Cao Cao's group, it immediately attracted a collapse tilting effect. Because the other party is not an ordinary warlord who only has territory in his eyes, but a symbol who holds high the banner of reorganizing the emperor's might. Xun Yu's extreme negative attitude towards himself is undoubtedly only the tip of the iceberg of the whole ** storm.
Cao Cao, carefully screened by Xun Yu, was precisely an important driver of the complete demise of the Han Dynasty
Of course, many things are clear to the authorities and bystanders. Xun Yu insisted on being optimistic about Cao Cao after many attempts, but he couldn't expect that the other party was precisely the main promoter of a thorough understanding of the Eastern Han lineage. On the contrary, Yuan Shao, who seems to have obvious digging at the foot of the wall, is more satisfied with being ready to honor the Son of Heaven in his own territory. It is not difficult to see from this phenomenon that the mechanical worldview of Confucianism was basically fixed in the Han and Han dynasties. That fear of the unknown in a complex world is far more intense than Confucius's demand for the restoration of Zhou etiquette. What seems to be a higher moral requirement for the asylum is in fact nothing more than a compensatory mechanism for withdrawing from concrete things.
Xun Yu's life history is also a microcosm of the change in the behavior pattern of Confucian scholars
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