这种处分对于崔琰这样的人来说是很重的。我前面讲过崔琰是一表人才，道德高尚，也很看重自己的形象和名誉的人。你把这样一个人把头发一剃掉，穿个破衣服去做苦工，对他是极大的羞辱。但是崔琰很坦然了，神色自若，没有任何或者说愤怒啊、或者说是抱怨啊、或者是悲哀、郁闷啊，都没有。那也就是说，“髡刑输徒”这个处分并没有打击了崔琰。于是曹操就派人去说了：是这样吗？三天以后，我们来听消息啊。三天以后，曹操派人跑去看，崔琰还是神色自若，没有任何异常表现。所以曹操就说了这么一句话，当然这不是正史里面的，这是裴注里面的，根据裴注里面的材料，当时曹操说了这么一句话：崔琰什么意思啊？难道还要本王亲自动手吗？马上就有人把这句话传给崔琰，崔琰听了以后点点头说：啊，这就是我的不对了，我没有想到曹公是有那个意思。好吧，自杀了，崔琰就自杀了。
This punishment is very heavy for people like Cui Yan. As I mentioned earlier, Cui Yan is a talented person with high moral standards, and he also values his own image and reputation. It would be a great shame for you to shave off such a person’s hair and wear rags to do hard work. But Cui Yan was very calm and calm, with a calm expression. There was no anger, complaint, sadness, or depression. That is to say, the punishment of “Kun Xing Losing the Apprentice” did not strike Cui Yan. So Cao Cao sent someone to say, Is that so? Three days from now, let’s listen to the news. Three days later, Cao Cao sent someone to take a look. Cui Yan remained calm and showed no abnormal behavior. So Cao Cao said this sentence. Of course, this is not from official history, but from Pei’s notes. According to the materials in Pei’s notes, Cao Cao said this sentence at that time: What does Cui Yan mean? Do you want me to do it myself? Someone immediately passed this sentence on to Cui Yan, who nodded and said, “Ah, this is my fault. I didn’t expect that Duke Cao meant that.”. Okay, I committed suicide, and Cui Yan committed suicide.
＊崔琰之死，再次显示了曹操的生性猜忌。而且，此时年龄已过六十的曹操，简直有些疑神疑鬼了。他将崔琰信中的“时乎时乎，会当有变之”这句话理解成变天的征兆，崔琰因此被冤杀。这句话，明明可以有不同的理解，但当时崔琰为什么没有申辩？曹操又为什么不去询问一下呢？曹操再怎么着也不至于神经错乱，难道他真的老糊涂了吗，还是另有隐情？历史上对崔琰的死因是怎么看的？易中天先生又是怎样分析的呢？
The death of Cui Yan once again showed Cao Cao’s natural suspicion. Moreover, at this time, Cao Cao, who was over sixty years old, was almost paranoid. He interpreted the phrase “when there is a time, there will be a change” in Cui Yan’s letter as a sign of change, and Cui Yan was wrongly killed. This sentence can clearly be understood differently, but why didn’t Cui Yan defend it at that time? Why didn’t Cao Cao go and ask? “No matter what Cao Cao does, he won’t be insane. Is he really old and confused, or does he have other secrets?”? What is the historical perspective on the cause of Cui Yan’s death? How did Mr. Yi Zhongtian analyze it?
这个事情不用分析，谁都明白这是一个大冤案。而且曹操的所作所为近乎歇斯底里。有人说曹操现在野心膨胀，权力也大了，为所欲为，想怎么着就怎么着，是有这个因素。但是曹操再怎么着还不至于神经错乱，还没到神经错乱的份上。那么他杀崔琰，总归会有他的原因。第二个，这个事情明明是冤枉的，刚才我讲过了对不对，那段话可以有两种解释的，崔琰为什么不答辩呢？他一句都不给自己申辩，这又是为什么呢？崔琰的死《三国志》是有结论的，陈寿给的结论是四个字叫做“恃旧不虔”。什么叫恃旧不虔？就是仗着自己是老朋友，态度不好，不虔诚。而且举了例子，比方说许攸，就是因为这个原因死的，比方说孔融，就是由于这个原因死的，这是陈寿的观点。但是我觉得，这个说法可以讨论。
There is no need to analyze this matter. Everyone understands that this is a major injustice. And what Cao Cao did was almost hysterical. Some people say that Cao Cao’s ambition is expanding and his power is also increasing. He can do whatever he wants, and he can do whatever he wants. This is due to this factor. However, Cao Cao is still not as insane as he can be. He has not yet reached the point of insanity. Then there will always be a reason why he killed Cui Yan. Secondly, this matter is clearly unjustified. Did I mention it just now? There are two explanations for that paragraph. Why didn’t Cui Yan answer? He didn’t defend himself at all, and why was that? “The Three Kingdoms Annals” of Cui Yan’s death has a conclusion, and Chen Shou’s conclusion is four words called “relying on the old and being impious.”. What is old impiety? It’s based on being an old friend, having a bad attitude, and not being religious. Moreover, for example, Xu You died for this reason, for example, Kong Rong died for this reason, which is Chen Shou’s view. But I think this statement can be discussed.
那么曹操为什么要杀崔琰呢？我认为有三种可能：第一种叫做神经过敏。因为你知道曹操从如萧何故事，到封魏公到晋魏王，他一步一步，不管他主观愿望如何，在大家看来他就是要篡汉的，这几乎是普遍的看法。而且持这种看法的人往往是那些道德高尚的正人君子，因为在当时的历史条件下，维护现任的皇帝，维护现王朝，这是所谓正人君子要坚守的道德；崔琰恰恰是一个道德高尚的人，所以曹操神经过敏，认为崔琰的那封信说的就是将来他曹某人要倒霉，他是这样的意见。那问题是崔琰为什么不答辩？他解释一下，我说的是支持你的，不就行了嘛，表个态就行了嘛，表个忠心不就行了吗。我觉得有两种可能，当然是猜测了，一种叫做不屑于，一种叫做用不着。什么叫不屑于啊？就是崔琰他因为是一个真正的正人君子，是一个地位也高，品德也高，人又漂亮的这样一个人，他可能就会想我堂堂男子汉大丈夫，要杀就杀呗，任杀任剐呗，我申辩什么啊？不申辩，这是一种可能。还有一种就是崔琰早就预料到曹操不会放过他，用不着申辩，申辩也没有用。
So why did Cao Cao kill Cui Yan? I think there are three possibilities: the first is called neuroticism. “Because you know that Cao Cao went from the story of Ru Xiaohe to the Duke of Wei to the King of Jin and Wei, step by step. Regardless of his subjective desires, it seems to everyone that he is trying to usurp the Han Dynasty, which is almost universally accepted.”. Moreover, those who hold this view tend to be virtuous gentlemen, because under the historical conditions of that time, upholding the current emperor and the current dynasty was the morality that a virtuous gentleman should adhere to; Cui Yan was precisely a person of noble morality, so Cao Cao was neurotic and thought that Cui Yan’s letter meant that someone else would have bad luck in the future. He had this opinion. The question is why Cui Yan didn’t answer? He explained that what I said was to support you, so it’s okay, just show your attitude, just show your loyalty. I think there are two possibilities, of course, speculation. One is called disdain, and the other is called unnecessary. What does disdain mean? It is Cui Yan who, because he is a true gentleman, a person with high status, high moral character, and beautiful personality, may think of me as a great man and a great husband. If you want to kill him, you can kill him. If you want to kill him, you can kill him. What am I arguing for? It is possible not to argue. Another is that Cui Yan had long expected that Cao Cao would not let him go, and there was no need to defend, and it was useless to defend.
