当时有一个叫司马直的人被任命为巨鹿太守，委任状一到，朝廷就伸手，拿钱来。司马直说，我哪儿有钱，我是个清官。朝廷说知道，你生活困难，减免三百万，你交。司马直说我实在交不起，这个官我不做了行不行？朝廷说那不行，你不能辞官啊！司马直没有办法，只好在上任的路上自杀，临终前写下一份遗书，痛斥朝廷卖官，实在是祸国殃民，是亡国的象征！
At that time, a person named Sima Zhi was appointed as the governor of the giant deer. As soon as the warrant arrived, the court reached out and took the money. Sima bluntly said, “Where am I rich? I’m a clean official.”. The court said it knows that you have difficulties in life, so you can deduct three million yuan and pay it. Sima bluntly said that I really can’t afford it. Can I stop being an official? The court said that’s not possible. You can’t resign! Sima Zhi had no choice but to commit suicide on his way to office. Before he died, he wrote a suicide note denouncing the imperial court for betraying officials. It was truly a disaster for the country and the people, and it was a symbol of national subjugation!
但是司马直我们现在看来是白死了，因为司马直死了以后朝廷卖官变本加厉。曹操的父亲曹嵩官居太尉，都是花钱买的，太尉是三公啊，地位崇高啊，所以很多人都想去过一把三公的瘾，其中就包括一个叫崔烈的。崔烈也是个清官，家庭素有清名，靠着自己的工作努力当了郡守，当了九卿，但是他总觉得我们崔家该出个三公。正好这个时候皇帝的一个保姆姓程，路程的程，程夫人跑来跟崔烈说，哎，我可以搞到内部优惠价。崔烈说，优惠价是多少。五折。崔烈想这五折还是合算哪，就交了五折的钱。交了以后，哎果然皇帝就开会，正式宣布任命崔烈为司徒。话说完了以后，你看皇帝昏到了什么程度，他说哎呀，你这才交了一半的钱啊，这个帝国做了一次赔本的买卖。他这个话音刚落程夫人不干了，程夫人马上跳出来说，崔大人是个好官，他的官怎么是花钱买的呢，是我帮他弄来的嘛。公卿哗然，说你这个崔烈靠女人弄个官来你还不如花钱买呢你，更没面子。
But Sima Zhi, we now seem to be dead in vain, because after Sima Zhi’s death, the court’s betrayal of officials has intensified. Cao Cao’s father, Cao Song, lived in the official residence of Tai Wei, all of whom were bought with money. Tai Wei is a third official and has a high status. Therefore, many people want to go to a third official’s addiction, including one named Cui Lie. Cui Lie is also a clean official with a well-known family name. He worked hard to become a prefect and a Jiuqing, but he always felt that our Cui family should have a third husband. At this very moment, one of the emperor’s nannies, surnamed Cheng, came to Cui Lie and said, “Hey, I can get an internal discount.”. Cui Lie said, what is the discount price. 50% off. Cui Lie thought that the 50% discount was still a good deal, so she paid the 50% discount. After handing it in, the emperor held a meeting and officially announced the appointment of Cui Lie as the Situ. After saying that, you can see how faint the emperor has become. He said, “Oh, you have only paid half of the money now. This empire has made a loss-making business.”. “Just after his remark, Mrs. Cheng stopped working. Mrs. Cheng immediately jumped out and said, ‘Mr. Cui is a good official. Why did he pay for his official? I helped him get it.'”. Gongqing exclaimed, saying that you, Cui Lie, rely on a woman to become an official. You might as well spend money to buy you, even more shameless.
在这种情况下，曹操把当时的官场和朝廷都看透了，他不再提意见，也不再担任任何官职。他觉得在这段时间自己应该好好地学习，提高自己的修养，为将来能够为国家尽忠尽力的时候做一个准备。等到曹操再次出山的时候，政局已经混乱不堪了。公元189年，汉灵帝驾崩，留下两个儿子，十四岁的刘辩，和九岁的刘协，再加上刘辩的母亲何皇后，孤儿寡母根本控制不了局面。以大将军何进为首的士人集团，与宦官集团展开了激烈的斗争和宫廷政变，两败俱伤。最后政权落到了西北军阀董卓的手里。
In this situation, Cao Cao had a thorough understanding of the officialdom and the court at that time, and he no longer raised opinions or held any official positions. He felt that during this period he should study hard, improve his self cultivation, and prepare for the time when he could devote himself to the country in the future. By the time Cao Cao emerged again, the political situation had become chaotic. In 189 AD, Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty died, leaving two sons, Liu Qian, 14, and Liu Xie, 9. Together with Liu Qian’s mother, Empress He, the orphaned and widowed mother couldn’t control the situation at all. The intelligentsia group headed by General He Jin waged a fierce struggle with the eunuch group and a court coup, both losing and hurting. Finally, the regime fell into the hands of Dong Zhuo, the northwest warlord.
董卓这一伙人在当时的士大夫看来，那简直就不是人。董卓是虎，吕布是狼，他们的手下是野狗。董卓进京以后干了什么？废立皇帝。他首先把在任的皇帝，就是那个十四岁的刘辩把他废掉，立那个九岁的陈留王刘协为皇帝，这是他一件事。第二，秽乱后宫，把先帝留下的女人全部收编了。第三，就是屠杀百官。据说当时董卓最大的兴趣就是大宴宾客，把朝中的文武百官都请来喝酒，他自己公然地当着百官的面搂着先帝留下的女人寻欢作乐，然后随机地从赴宴的大臣当中挑一个出去打死，或者是把反对他的人，被他抓来的那些反对他的人，当场拖过来挖眼睛，砍手，削鼻子，扔在这个汤锅里煮，听他们惨叫，这些人越是惨叫，他的食欲和性欲就越旺盛。他的手下则在洛阳城里烧杀掠抢，奸淫妇女，整个首都变成了惨绝人寰的重灾区。
In the eyes of the literati and doctors at that time, Dong Zhuo and his group were simply not human beings. Dong Zhuo is a tiger, Lv Bu is a wolf, and their subordinates are wild dogs. What did Dong Zhuo do after entering Beijing? Abolish the emperor. He first abolished the reigning emperor, the 14-year-old Liu Argument, and established the 9-year-old Chen Liu Wang Liu Xie as the emperor. This was one of his things. Secondly, it defiled the harem and included all the women left by the former emperor. The third is to slaughter all officials. It is said that Dong Zhuo’s greatest interest at that time was the banquet guests, who invited all the civil and military officials in the court to drink. He openly embraced the women left by the former emperor in front of the officials and had fun. Then he randomly selected one of the ministers attending the banquet to kill, or he arrested those who opposed him, dragged them over to dig their eyes, cut their hands, cut their noses, and cooked in this soup pot, listening to their screams, The more these people scream, the stronger their appetite and libido become. His subordinates burned, killed, looted, and raped women in Luoyang, turning the entire capital into a devastating disaster area.
