In terms of politics, Cao Cao first eliminated many entrenched princes and maintained the general unity of the Han Dynasty; secondly, the Tuntian Movement was widely carried out and water conservancy was built, which played a certain role in the restoration of agricultural production at that time; In the end, Cao Cao employed people on the basis of meritocracy, broke the concept of the clan, suppressed the powerful and powerful, and restored and developed the social economy of the area under his rule.

In terms of culture, Cao Cao himself was one of the famous poets of the Three Kingdoms period, and later generations called Cao Cao and his two sons Cao Pi and Cao Zhi as the "Three Caos".

【Cao Cao's Political Achievements】

Cao Cao's greatest political achievement in the late Eastern Han Dynasty was to maintain the nominal unity of the Han Dynasty and eliminate most of the entrenched princes.

After Dong Zhuo, Li Guo and others rebelled, the majesty of the Han family has actually plummeted, which can be seen from the scale of the anti-Dong alliance and the anti-Li alliance.

The decline of the majesty of the Son of Heaven also made some princes begin to be delusional, ready to rebel, including Liu Yan, Yuan Shu, etc., have already had the intention and action of establishing themselves as kings and emperors, at this time Cao Cao moved the capital to Xuchang, revitalized the court, and appeased the princes from all walks of life. Cao Cao's "coercing the Son of Heaven and ordering the princes" did seek huge benefits for himself, but objectively he did maintain the nominal unity of the Han Dynasty.

After that, Cao Cao successively eliminated and recovered the princes entrenched in various places, including Yuan Shu, Yuan Shao, Lü Bu, Ma Chao and others, and reunified northern China in essence.

After the chaotic war of the princes, the Central Plains was also in ruins, at this time Cao Cao adopted the policy of tuntian, built water conservancy, and actively restored agricultural production.

Historically, Cao Cao's Tuntian policy can be said to be the coexistence of angels and demons, the biggest benefit of the Tuntian policy is that the state enforces it, and collects high taxes, how high is the tax ratio, reaching fifty to sixty percent, and this is only the official to collect, not counting the bottom officials withheld, that is to say, in fact, the people of Mintun can get the estimate of about thirty percent, at most barely to ensure their own life, Tuntian policy in Cao Wei brought huge benefits at the same time, but also means for the bottom of the people, the cruel exploitation of the people of Mintun, so the Mintun policy is actually very unpopular.

At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, what was lacking was people, not fields, so it often happened that the people of Mintun fled, and finally the control of Mintun became more and more strict, and the people of Mintun were not much different from serfs in the end. According to records, only the Cao Wei group carried out the Mintun policy on a large scale, and Sun Wu and Shu Han basically only carried out the military tun.

In the battle of Guandu, Cao Cao was weak and strong, Yuan Shao led a large army to come on an expedition, and Cao Cao was stationed in the homeland, but the result was that Cao Cao lacked supplies, and at that time Tuntian had been three or four years, and its effect was not as obvious as recorded in some sources.

Cao Cao was eclectic in employing people, meritocracy, and issued many "merit-seeking orders" to select and appoint some talented people. He used Wang Xiu, Sima Zhi, Yang Pei, Lu Qian, Man Chong, Jia Kui and other local officials to curb the lawless and powerful, implement the rule of law, and greatly changed the situation of the powerful and arrogant since the Eastern Han Dynasty, but relatively speaking, the status of the Cao clan is still higher.

【Cao Cao's Literary Achievements】

Cao Cao himself was not only accomplished in poetry and calligraphy, but as a monarch, he also paid attention to the protection and collection of books.

In the fifth year of Jian'an (200), after Cao Cao defeated Yuan Shao, he ordered "to collect all his treasures of books". After serving as the Duke of Wei, he set up officials in charge of the classics, and widely collected the official and private collections of the Eastern Han Dynasty that were scattered in the war, and hid them in the three pavilions and the secretary province at home and abroad. Cao Cao attached great importance to the cultural construction of the country and gradually established a national collection of books in the Wei state.

Cao Cao's literary achievements are also manifested in his constructive role in Jian'an literature, which can flourish in the context of long-term war and social devastation, which is inseparable from his attention and promotion. In fact, the main writers of the Jian'an period were all closely related to him. Cao Pi and Cao Zhi are his sons, and the "Seventh Son" and Cai Yan are also under his protection.

Cao Cao had a profound cultivation of literature, calligraphy, music, etc. His literary achievements are mainly reflected in modern poetry, and his prose is also very distinctive.

Later generations have compiled "Cao Cao's Collection", which contains most of the poems handed down by Cao Cao. Cao Cao's later generations are more famous poems such as "Artemisia Lixing", "Pickled Dew Xing", "Watching the Canghai", "Turtle Although Shou" and so on.

The content of Cao Cao's poems is roughly three: reflecting the reality of the late Han Dynasty, the ideal of unifying the world and the tenacious enterprising spirit, and expressing the unforgettable negative emotions of worry.

In the chaos at the end of the Han Dynasty, Cao Cao conquered the south and the north again, and the social aspect of contact was very broad, so there were many personal experiences and experiences, such as "Artemisia Lixing" said that the tragic scene of the war in the late Han Dynasty, seeing the misery of the people and seeing the poet's feelings of compassion when he was sad. Therefore, later generations called Cao Cao Yuefu "the record of the late Han Dynasty, and the history of true poetry".

Cao Cao was born in an official eunuch and had ambitions for the world, so he had a unified ambition, which can be proved by the fact that "Tanka Xing" is said to be "Zhou Gong vomits and feeds, and the world returns to the heart". His enterprising spirit can also be seen, such as "Turtle Although Shou" said that "the old man is in the bush, and his ambition is thousands of miles", although he still does not give up his ambition in his old age.

A generation of heroes, a lifetime of glory, there are also times when the stars fall and die. Cao Cao also felt powerless about this, so he could only write poems and sigh, helpless. For example, in "Short Song Xing", the sentimentality of "such as morning dew, the day is bitter", the low mood of "Autumn Hu Xing", and the negative emotions of Youxian works such as "Mo Shang Sang" can be seen in his negative emotions.

Cao Cao was able to break through the shackles of traditional literati prejudices, accept the influence of Han Yuefu folk songs, use the ancient themes of Yuefu to express real life and feelings, inherit and carry forward the realist spirit of Han Yuefu folk songs, and Kaiwen imitated the ancient Yuefu to create poems.

Cao Cao not only achieved a high degree in poetry, but he was also a generation of calligraphers, the Western Jin Dynasty writer Zhang Hua said in the "Naturalist": "In the Han Dynasty, Anping Cui Ming, Yuan Ziwei, Hongnong Zhang Zhi, Zhi Di Chang and good cursive, and Taizu Yazhi." However, Cao Cao's calligraphy works are few.

In addition to poetry and calligraphy, Cao Cao also wrote military works such as "The Essentials of the Military Letters" and "The Brief Explanation of Sun Tzu".

Cao Cao as the strongest prince in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, he has made achievements in military and politics, relatively speaking, Cao Cao's achievements in military are higher, in politics Cao Cao because he has been in the army for a long time, so he can not devote himself wholeheartedly, and for a long time Cao Cao handed over the internal affairs of the Cao Wei group to Xun Yu to deal with.

In addition, Cao Cao is not lagging behind in terms of culture, he himself is recognized as one of the great poets of the Three Kingdoms period, and Cao Cao has also made considerable contributions to cultural development.

In the Three Kingdoms era, Cao Cao can be said to be a rare all-round talent in civil and military affairs.

PS: Most of Cao Cao's cultural materials are compiled by me on the Internet, so let's explain them here.