但是曹操又是一个报复心极强的人，但凡是得罪了曹操的人，几乎没有不报复的。当时有一位名士，叫做边让，边让是个大学问家，也是大文学家，文章著作写得非常好的，看不起曹操。因为曹操这个人出身不好，曹操的祖父是个太监，这个东汉朝代是叫太监给搞坏的，所以那些读书人、那些文化人、那些士大夫最看不起的、最痛恨的就是太监。那么曹操的父亲是太监的养子，曹操就等于是太监养子的儿子，他们看不起，边让也看不起他，很说了一些侮辱曹操的话。所以后来曹操过去把那个地方打下来以后，毫不留情地就把边让杀了，和边让一案的还同时有好几个文化人，有的就跑掉，跑掉以后又逃不掉，然后又回来自首。其中有一个叫桓邵的向曹操自首，跪下来求，磕头，痛哭流涕，求饶，曹操怎么说呢？哼哼，呵呵呵呵，哭了，怕了，下跪了，求饶了，下跪就不杀吗？求饶就不杀吗？拖出去，杀了。这件事情影响极坏，当时就引发了一场叛乱，就是你怎么可以这样对待文化人？你怎么可以这样对待以前得罪过你的人？
However, Cao Cao is also a person with a strong sense of revenge, and almost anyone who offends Cao Cao does not retaliate. At that time, there was a famous scholar named Bian Rang, who was a university scholar and a great literary scholar. He wrote very well and despised Cao Cao. “Because Cao Cao was from a bad family background, and his grandfather was a eunuch, the Eastern Han Dynasty was ruined by eunuchs. Therefore, the most despised and hated by scholars, intellectuals, and scholarly officials were eunuchs.”. “So Cao Cao’s father is the adopted son of the eunuch, and Cao Cao is equivalent to being the son of the adopted son of the eunuch. They despise him, even if they let him down, and they say some insults to Cao Cao.”. So later, after Cao Cao went to fight that place down, he mercilessly killed Bian Rang. Several cultural people were also involved in the Bian Rang case, some of whom ran away, but after running away, they couldn’t escape, and then returned to surrender. One of them, Huan Shao, turned himself in to Cao Cao, knelt down and begged, kowtowed, wept bitterly, and begged for mercy. What did Cao Cao say? Heh heh heh heh, crying, scared, kneeling down, begging for mercy, kneeling down and not killing? Don’t kill if you beg for mercy? Drag it out and kill it. The impact of this incident was extremely bad, and it triggered a rebellion at that time. How can you treat cultural people like this? How can you treat someone who has offended you before?
其中有一个叫陈宫的，就是由于这个原因离开了曹操，投奔了吕布。《三国演义》里面说，陈宫离开曹操是因为曹操杀了吕伯奢一家。不是，史实是曹操杀了边让、桓邵这些人陈宫看不下去，离开曹操，死心塌地地帮助吕布打曹操。后来吕布战败以后，陈宫做了俘虏，曹操还不想杀他，曹操跟陈宫说只要你投降，既往不咎。因为曹操这个时候他也觉得以前的做法不对了，他也觉得宰相肚里要撑船，将军额上跑马，应该有一些大将风度了，所以他也不杀陈宫。陈宫坚决不投降，曹操没办法，只好杀他，临杀他之前曹操问了这样的话，陈宫的字叫公台，他说公台啊公台，你要是死了，你的母亲可怎么办啊？陈宫说，我听说以孝治天下的人不会杀害他人的父母，我的母亲怎么样，就靠曹公你看着办。曹操说好，公台啊公台，你死了以后你的老婆孩子又怎么办？陈宫说，我听说以仁治天下的人不伤害人家的子女，我的老婆孩子如何，也请曹公你看着办。啊，曹操说好吧，那我送你上路。然后就开始哭，一边哭一边送陈宫上刑场去死，然后把陈宫的家人接到自己家里来，对待陈宫的家人比陈宫和他翻脸之前还好。
One of them, Chen Gong, left Cao Cao for this reason and defected to Lv Bu. “The Romance of the Three Kingdoms” says that Chen Gong left Cao Cao because Cao Cao killed the Lv Boshe family. No, it’s historical fact that Cao Cao killed Bian Rang and Huan Shao, and Chen Gong couldn’t bear to watch them. He left Cao Cao and resolutely helped Lv Bu fight against him. Later, after the defeat of Lv Bu, Chen Gong became a prisoner. Cao Cao didn’t want to kill him yet. Cao Cao told Chen Gong that as long as you surrender, let bygones be bygones. “At this time, Cao Cao also felt that the previous approach was wrong, and he also felt that the prime minister needed to support the boat in his belly, and the general should have some general demeanor on his forehead. Therefore, he did not kill Chen Gong.”. Chen Gong resolutely refused to surrender, and Cao Cao had no choice but to kill him. Before he was about to kill him, Cao Cao asked, “Chen Gong’s character is Gongtai. He said Gongtai, Gongtai. If you die, what will your mother do?”? Chen Gong said, “I heard that people who rule the world with filial piety will not kill other people’s parents. How about my mother, it’s up to Cao Gong to decide.”. Cao Cao said, “Gongtai, Gongtai, what will your wife and children do after you die?”? Chen Gong said, “I heard that people who govern the world with benevolence do not harm other people’s children. How about my wife and children, please let Duke Cao see to it.”. Ah, Cao Cao said okay, then I’ll take you on your way. Then he began to cry, sending Chen Gong to death on the execution ground while crying, and then taking Chen Gong’s family to his own home. He treated Chen Gong’s family better than before Chen Gong turned against him.
所以曹操这个人是个很复杂的人，刚才我们已经讲到了他的方方面面，这还不是他性格的全部，是他性格的一部分。他既狡诈又老实，既温情又狠毒，既宽容又报复。如果你只看曹操的一个故事，只看曹操的一面，你得出的结论就是盲人摸象，是不全面的。那么在我们看来，曹操可能是中国历史上性格最复杂、形象最多样的一个人。他这个人聪明透顶，又愚不可及；狡猾奸诈，又坦率真诚；豁达大度，又疑神疑鬼；宽宏大量，又心胸狭窄。可以说是大家风范，小人嘴脸；英雄气概，儿女情怀；阎王脾气，菩萨心肠。他是这样的一个人，他身上好像长了很多的脸，一会儿出现的是这张脸，一会儿展示给我们的是另一张脸。但是大家注意一条，不管哪张脸，都是曹操的，不会认做是别人的。能够把这样一个复杂的性格统一于一个人，这本身就是了不起的事情。体现的是什么呢？体现的是曹操的大气。什么叫大气？海纳百川，有容乃大，曹操恰恰是一个能够容的，一个容量非常大的人，什么样的矛盾的东西到他这儿都统一了。
So Cao Cao is a very complex person. Just now, we have talked about all aspects of him. This is not all of his personality, but part of it. He is both cunning and honest, warm and vicious, tolerant and vindictive. If you only look at one story of Cao Cao and only look at his side, the conclusion you draw is that blind people touch elephants, which is not comprehensive. In our view, Cao Cao may be the most complex and diverse person in Chinese history. He is a man of extreme intelligence and stupidity; Cunning and cunning, yet frank and sincere; Open-minded and suspicious; Generous and narrow-minded. It can be said that it is the demeanor of a big family and the face of a small person; Heroic spirit, children’s feelings; The temper of the King of Hell and the heart of the Bodhisattva. He is a person who seems to have a lot of faces on his body, sometimes showing us this face and sometimes showing us another face. But everyone should note that no matter which face you have, it’s Cao Cao’s and you won’t recognize it as someone else’s. Being able to unify such a complex personality into one person is a great thing in itself. What does it reflect? It embodies the atmosphere of Cao Cao. What is atmosphere? “The sea embraces all rivers, and the capacity is great. Cao Cao is precisely a person who can accommodate, a person with a very large capacity, and all kinds of contradictions are unified here.”.
