Cao Cao and Liu Bei have always been the focus of the Three Kingdoms, one of them is a hero, the other is the righteousness of a benevolent monarch, and they have been on the opposite side for a long time, but there are still many similarities in the development of the two in the official history. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

In history, Cao Cao was mainly a rebel character, but it is undeniable that Cao Cao had a great affection for Liu Bei, just like Yuan Shao did to Cao Cao.

[Similar development route]

In the early days, Cao Cao and Liu Bei's development routes were very similar, both of them started from the official position of county lieutenant, and after the turmoil ~ chaos, they first served as county guards, and then became the lord of a state.

Cao Cao and Liu Bei were both good rangers when they were young, "Emperor Wu Ji" recorded that Cao Cao "let the heroes be debauched", and "The Biography of the Ancestors" recorded that Liu Bei "was good at befriending heroes and fighting for him when he was young". Cao Cao's first official position was the northern lieutenant of Luoyang, while Liu Bei was the lieutenant of An Xi.

After the chaos at the end of the Han Dynasty, Cao Cao was first under Zhang Miao, then switched to Yuan Shao, and then returned to Yanzhou, where he was recommended by Yuan Shao as the Taishou of Dongjun. Liu Bei, on the other hand, worked diligently under Gongsun Zhan and Tian Kai, and was appointed as the prime minister of the plains, with a position equivalent to that of the county guard, but he still lacked independence.

After the death of Liu Dai, the assassin of Yanzhou, Cao Cao took the opportunity to ascend to the throne and became the pastor of Yanzhou, officially becoming a great prince; After Liu Bei was left in Xuzhou by Tao Qian, he was listed as the assassin of Yuzhou, but this official position was mainly a false position, but after Tao Qian's death, Liu Bei inherited his position as the pastor of Xuzhou, at this time Liu Bei was the real lord of a state, at this time Liu Bei was able to get rid of the control of Gongsun Zhan, Tao Qian and others, and officially stepped on the stage of the princes.

During the Three Kingdoms period, Liu Bei's power was basically inferior to Cao Cao, but at the beginning of Liu Bei's becoming Xuzhou Mu, although Xuzhou suffered two large-scale invasions by Cao Cao and the threat of Yuan Shu and others, its power was no less than Cao Cao~, because after the chaos of the battle of Cao Lu Yanzhou and the attack of the locust plague, Yanzhou at that time was almost abolished.

Lü Bu once became the examiner of Cao Cao and Liu Bei during the Three Kingdoms period, both of them were attacked by Lü Bu when he was leading troops outside, although Cao Cao barely repelled Lü Bu with the help of foreign aid, but he finally won, while Liu Bei lost his lair and was forced to start a wandering career again, Cao Cao completely distanced himself from Liu Bei.

Although Cao Cao and Liu Bei's experiences are similar, it can still be seen that Liu Bei, as a descendant of the royal family, will be known as the role of the emperor's uncle in later generations, and his starting point and talents under his command are still far inferior to Cao Cao's.

There are too many descendants of the royal family in the Eastern Han Dynasty, and a declining royal status cannot be compared with Cao Cao, the children of these eunuchs, the eunuch power at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty can be said to have reached its peak, Cao Cao's adoptive grandfather Cao Teng was also the leader of the eunuch group that year, Cao Cao received a lot of care, Liu Bei desperately survived an An Xiwei, was casually dismissed by the superintendent, and Cao Cao killed Jian Shuo's uncle in Luoyang, and he was able to get out; During the Yellow Turban Rebellion, Liu Bei could be said to be self-made, while Cao Cao had directly become a cavalry captain; During the chaos at the end of the Han Dynasty, Dong Zhuo took Cao Cao as the captain of the cavalry, Cao Cao was also appointed by Yuan Shao as the acting general of Fenwu, and Liu Bei had just been attached to Gongsun Zhan.

These gaps in the network and the gap in status cannot be bridged at the beginning.

In terms of talents, Cao Cao became the Taishou of Dongjun, and Xun Yu and Chen Gong came to vote, Chen Gong pushed Cao Cao to the position of Yanzhou Mu, and Xun Yu helped Cao Cao defend the base camp Juancheng. And when Liu Bei faced Lu Bu's rebellion, he even lost the foundation of directly confronting Lu Bu by Zhang Fei, and Liu Bei didn't even have the opportunity to fight, but Zhang Fei was certainly responsible for the fall of Xiapi, but Xiahoudun's performance in the face of Lu Bu was not much better, and this gap was not in Xun Yu's civil servants.

This can also be seen from Liu Bei's achievements in aiding strategists and leading troops independently, Liu Bei's achievements in leading troops alone in history are rotten to the home, the city was broken by thieves, Guandu was defeated by Cao's army, and Yiling was beaten by Lu Xun; With the assistance of Zhuge Liang, Pang Tong, Fa Zheng and other strategists, Liu Bei pacified Jingzhou, captured Yizhou, and occupied Hanzhong, which was smooth sailing.

The same is true for Cao Cao, when he fought against Lu Bu in Yanzhou, when he surrounded Xiapi, and when he fought against Yuan Shao in Guandu, he could see the importance of strategists to Cao Cao, but Cao Cao's record was not bad even if he led the troops alone, at least much better than Liu Bei.

The gap between Liu Bei and Cao Cao is first of all backward at the starting point, and then Liu Bei is unattainable in terms of talents.

【Grace and Righteousness Cao Cao】

The relationship between Cao Cao and Liu Bei is similar to that between Yuan Shao and Cao Cao, both of which are that the former is good to the latter, and the latter is not appreciative.

Earlier, Liu Bei was driven out of Xuzhou by Lu Bu and took refuge in Cao Cao, when Cheng Yu persuaded Cao Cao to take the opportunity to remove Liu Bei, Cao Cao not only did not agree, but added officials to Liu Bei and gave Liu Bei additional soldiers and horses, which was a lot of gifts. After Liu Bei was attacked by Gao Shun, Cao Cao also sent Xiahou Yuan to rush to help, after the city was broken, Cao Cao personally led the troops to avenge Liu Bei, invaded Xuzhou, and eliminated Lu Bu, some sources believe that Cao Cao listened to Liu Bei's advice to execute Lu Bu.

After Liu Bei returned to Xuchang, Cao Cao did not care about the responsibility of Liu Bei's defeat, but let Liu Bei become the general of Zuo, and thought that Liu Bei and himself were the two heroes in the world, but Liu Bei did not accept Cao Cao's kindness, but took the opportunity to leave Cao Cao, attacked and killed Xuzhou Assassin Shi Che Zhou, raised an army and rebelled, after being defeated by Cao Cao, Liu Bei helped Cao Cao's enemy Yuan Shao, and Cao Cao went against Cao Cao, but Cao Cao let go of Liu Bei's general Guan Yu, which can be described as benevolent and righteous.

In the later period, Liu Bei and Sun Quan allied against Cao Cao, Cao Cao also helped Liu Bei's development a lot, Liu Bei was weak earlier, and Sun Quan was strong, if Cao Cao mobilized the main force in Jingzhou at that time, then Liu Bei could basically only protect himself and could not develop. However, Cao Cao transferred his army to Yangzhou to fight against Sun Quan, giving Liu Bei the opportunity to develop.

Not only that, Liu Bei was able to enter Shu thanks to Cao Cao, when Cao Cao sent Xiahou Yuan and others to crusade against Hanzhong, but before he sent troops, he had already forced the princes of Guanzhong to rebel, and Liu Zhang, because he was afraid of Cao Cao, led the wolf into the house under the persuasion of Zhang Song and others, giving Liu Bei a chance. After Liu Bei and Sun Quan almost broke up because of the matter of Jingzhou, at this critical juncture, it was Cao Cao who came to help, he captured Hanzhong, the army was approaching, but he did not get Long Wangshu, Liu Bei and Sun Quan also took this step to negotiate peace.

Then, Liu Bei not only did not appreciate it, but took revenge, and he sent troops north in Yizhou to seize Hanzhong from Cao Cao, and Guan Yu went north from Jingzhou to flood Cao Wei's Seventh Army.

Cao Cao basically had no good attitude towards other princes in his life, when Zhang Xiu asked to surrender, Cao Cao robbed his aunt, Liu Zhang sent three waves of messengers, Cao Cao disdained it, Yuan Shao was so good to Cao Cao, Cao Cao took revenge, but treated Liu Bei differently, but Liu Bei, a good old man, couldn't get along with Cao Cao, and did the right thing to the end.