In the author's view, although there are differences in degree, they are almost the same in essence. They all want to wait for others to soften, wait for themselves to harden, and thus escalate into adulterers, hold the world in their arms and rape, wait for the world to tremble and carry the sting again and again. Finally, a lucky adulterer got pregnant and gave birth to a new dynasty.
The earliest exposure of the derailment at the end of the Han Dynasty was Yuan's family in Runan. To be exact, it was a common Yuanfeng during the reign of Emperor Ling of Han Dynasty. Why did you say he was having an affair? Because the words he gave his son Yuan Shu were really weird. Yuan Shu, Zi Highway. During the Eastern Han Dynasty, the mysterious prophecy that "the generation of Han people should be promoted" was widely circulated in the society. Tu is the Tao, and both "Dangtu Gao" and "Highway" can be understood as "Road". Yuan Shu took the word as the crown gift at the age of 20, which was in the early days of Emperor Ling of Han Dynasty. At that time, although the country was corrupt, there was no Yellow Scarf Rebellion and Dong Zhuo Rebellion, and it was generally peaceful. And Yuan Jia, the fourth generation of Sangong, has already had the ambition to stand on his own feet on behalf of the Han Dynasty, which is really frightening. But the fact is that Yuan Shu believed this prophecy all his life. He turned against Yuan Shao, occupied Huainan, attacked Yangzhou, and later proclaimed himself emperor, and many other acts were directly related to "dangtu Gao". These are by no means impulsive by Yuan Shu, but come from long-term planning like "Great Chu Xing, Chen".
Another exposed, is Yuan Shu's head horse Sun Jian. Of course, to be exact, Sun Jian exposed only ambition, not infidelity. Because judging from the names he gave these four Di Zi, he should just want to make slips a vassal. Sun Jian has four sons: Sun Ce Fu Bo, Sun Zhongquan Mou, Sun Yishubi and Sun Kuangji Zuo. (Another illegitimate child is Sun Lang, a daughter of Sun Shi who married Liu Bei.)
Explain that the title granted by the emperor to his subordinates is a certificate to convey orders.
In this way, the expectations of Fu Ce, Machiavelli, Eby, Kuang Zuo and Sun Jian for their sons are very obvious.
However, Yuan Jia's ambition, no matter how big, and Sun Jia's ambition is obvious, are far less than Liu Bei! Influenced by the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Liu Bei's statement that he was a loyal minister of the Han Dynasty was deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. But in fact, Liu Bei is the most ambitious rebel separatist in China's history of the Three Kingdoms and even the dynasties, because he is the only one in China's history who made it clear that he wanted to change the dynasty when he was a teenager.
According to the biography of the Three Kingdoms:
When my ancestors were young, they played with the children of Zhongzong under the tree and said, "I must use this feather to build a car." Uncle and son respectfully said, "Don't talk nonsense and destroy our door!" " "Liu Bei had the ambition of regime change when he was young. This alone has already led the pack. You know, when his ancestor Liu Bang was young, he saw Qin Shihuang's car drive, but he just yelled, "Gentleman!" Show envy and jealousy. At that time, I was not eager to be an emperor. Another young hero, Xiang Yu, shouted "You can take his place" at this time, but obviously he just wanted to overthrow the tyranny of Qin, and he didn't want to be an emperor himself. In addition, Liu Xiu, the founding emperor of the Eastern Han Dynasty, only wanted to be Wu when he was young, and Cao Cao only wanted to be Hou of Western Cao when he was young.
What is even more frightening is that Liu Bei's ambition is not limited to changing the dynasty and becoming an emperor! He combined his eldest adopted son Feng and his youngest son Chen into Feng Chan. It can be seen that Liu Bei is determined not only to be an emperor, but also to worship Mount Tai and be a great emperor comparable to Hanwu in Qin Huang!
Finally, talk about Cao Cao's ambition. Cao Cao's ambition has always been obscure. Whether he is a loyal minister or a traitor, or whether he is loyal first and then traitors, is controversial. Cao Cao's explanation for this is that in the 15th year of Jian 'an (AD 2 10), "let the princess know the truth", but at this time, Cao Cao was in power, and it was difficult to win the trust of the world by saying these beautiful words, and Cao Cao was also very upset. He has a very obscure practice, which has always been ignored by historians, that is, what he said to his two sons at that time, Cao Pi and Cao Cao, combined to be "the ambition of Huan Wen". During the Spring and Autumn Period, Qi Huangong and Jin Wengong joined forces with the princes for many times to respect the king, which was an example that Cao Cao wanted to follow, so he never dared to be emperor, just didn't want to break his word and get fat!
Leave the country alone. I don't know how many people will be king and how many people will be king! Or people are lonely and strong, but they don't believe in fate. They are afraid of selfish comments. They are arrogant and considerate of each other. Qi Huan and Jin Wen are so famous today that they can still serve Zhou Shi with their great military potential! Whenever I read the books of two lonely and loyal ministers, Meng Tian and Le Yi, I feel sad. Orphan ancestors, fathers, and even lonely people are all important responsibilities. They can be described as believers, and the Huan Zi brothers are too old for three generations.
-Excerpt from Cao Cao's "Let the County Understand Books"
The translation is as follows:
If the country does not have me, I don't know how many people will be king and how many people will be king! Some people may think I'm powerful, don't believe in my destiny, and are afraid that I will talk privately and say that I have the ambition to usurp the throne. This kind of wild speculation often makes me restless. The fame of Qi Huangong and Jin Wengong has been spread to this day, and it is precisely because of their strong military potential that they can still respect the Zhou Emperor! Whenever I read a letter about Meng Tian and Le Yi, two wronged loyal ministers, I am moved to tears, because from my grandfather and father to me, I have always been a confidant of the son of heaven. After reading this letter, it has been more than three generations since I arrived at the Cao Pi brothers.