这话什么意思呢？就是说在天下大乱、诸侯并起的时候，除了曹操，没有一支军队有一个长远的打算。“饥则寇略”，肚子饿了就去抢老百姓的，“饱则弃馀”，吃饱了以后就把多余的粮食都扔了。最后是什么呢？最后是不攻自破，因为你如果断了粮你就没有战斗力了。实际上就在曹操的军队丰衣足食的时候，袁绍的军队在河北吃桑椹，袁术的军队在江南吃河蚌，没有桑椹和河蚌吃的，就吃人。我们去读《三国志》可以多处发现这样的字眼，大灾人相食，蝗虫起人相食，人饥相食，人吃人啊。那样的军队怎么可能会有战斗力呢？这样的人怎么可能和曹操争雄？和这样的人相比曹操又怎么可能不是英雄？
What does this mean? That is to say, in a time of chaos and the rise of princes, no army except Cao Cao had a long-term plan. “Hunger leads to banditry.” When hungry, they rob the people. “When full, they discard the surplus.” When full, they throw away all the surplus grain. What’s the last thing? Finally, it is self defeating, because if you cut off food, you will have no combat effectiveness. In fact, just when Cao Cao’s army was well fed, Yuan Shao’s army ate mulberry in Hebei, while Yuan Shu’s army ate river clams in Jiangnan. Without mulberry and river clams to eat, they ate humans. “When we read the Three Kingdoms Annals, we can find such words in many places: people who suffer from disasters eat each other, locusts rise and eat each other, people who suffer from hunger eat each other, and people eat each other.”. How could an army like that have combat effectiveness? How could such a person compete with Cao Cao? How could Cao Cao not be a hero compared to such a person?
从“首倡义兵”到“屯田备战”，曹操在战争中已经由一个血气方刚的青年将领成长为一个深谋远虑的政治高手。其他那些和他一起起兵的那些人却没有什么长进和出息，他们或者明哲保身、畏首畏尾，或者醉生梦死、得过且过，或者心怀鬼胎、混水摸鱼，或者争权夺利、自相残杀。那边西北军还在肆虐，这边关东军已经火并；先是兖州刺史刘岱杀死了东郡太守桥瑁，后是渤海太守袁绍干掉了冀州牧韩馥。那么这个事情闹完了以后，接下来就是袁绍和袁术兄弟两个开始窝里斗，当时袁绍在北方，袁术在南方，袁术怎么做呢？袁术联络更北方的公孙瓒来牵制袁绍；袁绍怎么办呢？袁绍联络更南方的刘表来对付袁术，兄弟两个都“沅交近攻”，祸起萧墙。不过实在地说起来，袁绍和袁术兄弟两个最大的问题还不是窝里斗，也不是不懂得备战备荒的道理，更重要的是他们兄弟两个，包括董卓，都在一个重大政治问题上犯了严重的错误，那么这个重大的政治问题是什么呢？他们是怎样犯错误的？曹操在这个问题上又怎样表现出自己的远见卓识呢？请看下集，一错再错。
From “advocating righteous soldiers” to “preparing for war in garrison areas,” Cao Cao has grown from a vigorous young general to a visionary political expert in the war. “The other people who joined him in the army did not make much progress or make any progress. They were either philosophical, timid, or dreamy, muddled along, or had evil intentions, fished in troubled waters, or competed for power and profit, or fought against each other.”. The Northwest Army over there is still raging, and the Kwantung Army over here has been merged; First, Liu Dai, the governor of Yanzhou, killed Qiaomao, the governor of Dongjun, and then Yuan Shao, the governor of Bohai Sea, killed Han Fu, the herdsman of Jizhou. After this incident was over, the next step was for Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu’s brothers to start fighting. At that time, Yuan Shao was in the north and Yuan Shu was in the south. What did Yuan Shu do? Yuan Shu contacted Gongsun Zan from the far north to contain Yuan Shao; What about Yuan Shao? Yuan Shao contacted Liu Biao, who was farther south, to deal with Yuan Shu. The two brothers both “made close contact with each other and attacked each other, causing havoc.”. To be honest, however, the two biggest problems of Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu’s brothers are not fighting in a tight corner, nor are they ignorant of the principles of preparing for war and famine. More importantly, both of their brothers, including Dong Zhuo, have made serious mistakes on a major political issue. So what is this major political issue? How did they make mistakes? How did Cao Cao demonstrate his foresight and sagacity on this issue? Please watch the next episode. Make mistakes again and again.
