In history, Cao Cao has always been regarded as a traitor, a careerist, and a conspiracy for the Han family, although in fact it is not wrong to evaluate Cao Cao in this way, but some things can not be changed by manpower.

In "The Story of Wei Wu", Cao Cao once said some of his inner words (Note 1).

[No orphan, I don't know how many people are called emperors, how many people are called kings]

According to the "Story of Wei Wu", Cao Cao ordered: "When I was first recommended as filial piety, I thought that I was not a well-known person who lived in seclusion in the mountains, and I was afraid that I would be regarded as mediocre and incompetent by the world. Because of this, I was jealous of the powerful and wealthy families, and I was afraid that I would bring disaster to my family, so I returned to my hometown under the pretext of illness. At that time, he was not very old, so he built a study fifty miles east of the county seat of Qiaoxian County, planning to study in autumn and summer, and hunt in winter and spring, planning to spend 20 years like this, and then come out to be an official after the world is stable. But I failed to do so, and was recruited by the imperial court as a military captain, so I changed my mind and wanted to make meritorious service for the country, so that the stone tablet of the tomb road could be inscribed 'The tomb of Cao Hou, the former general of the Han Dynasty's expedition to the west', which is my intention. Then I encountered Dong Zhuo's rebellion, and I raised rebels. Later, I served as the pastor of Yanzhou, defeated the Yellow Turban Army, and forced the 300,000 Yellow Turban Army to surrender; He also crusaded against Yuan Shu, so that he was cornered and died of poverty; defeated Yuan Shao and beheaded his two sons for public display; Eliminate Liu Biao again, so the world will be pacified. As a prime minister, I have reached the pinnacle of dignity as a courtier, and it has exceeded my wishes. Assuming that the country does not have me, I don't know how many people will be called emperors and how many people will be kings?

From this, we can see that Cao Cao was also an upright young man at the beginning, and he took it as his mission to restore the Han family and help the world. At the beginning, when Cao Cao entered politics, he was also an out-and-out good official, but the cost of being a good official was high, and Cao Cao had to resign. After Dong Zhuo's rebellion, Cao Cao refused to join the same stream, fled from Luoyang, the first rebel soldier, and later Cao Cao was also the first to send troops in the sour jujube camp, Cao Cao managed Yanzhou after Liu Dai's death, pacified 300,000 Yellow Turban thieves, defeated the invading Yuan Shu, and stabilized the party, which can be seen how Cao Cao's original intention was.

In the first year of Jian'an (196), after Cao Cao got the Son of Heaven and moved the capital to Xuchang, although it was true that he expanded his power and enhanced his prestige, it is undeniable that Cao Cao also greatly restored the authority of the imperial court by doing so. After the "Rebellion of the Ten Standing Servants", "The Rebellion of Dong Zhuo" and the "Rebellion of Li Guo", the Son of Heaven was no longer the supreme lord of a country, the world was also divided, and the authority of the imperial court fell to the lowest point since the Eastern Han Dynasty.

Among them, Liu Yan is the earliest one, he made more than 1,000 rides in the car, and discussed the theory of saints in Xihe; After Liu Biao's relationship with Cao Cao deteriorated, he even worshipped heaven and earth, and the etiquette intended to refer to the monarch; Yuan Shu was simply in Huainan, and his brother Yuan Shao also tested his subordinates. Therefore, Cao Cao said: "Let the country be lonely, and I don't know how many people will be called emperors and how many people will be kings." This is not a lie, but an obvious fact, most of the princes did not take the last step because of Cao Cao's existence and maintaining the dignity of the imperial court.

In this regard, Cao Cao is indeed a hero to the Han Dynasty.

[Forced by the situation, helpless]

After talking about his contribution to the Han Dynasty, Cao Cao also said: "Maybe some people see that I am powerful and do not believe in the destiny of heaven, I am afraid that they will speculate casually, saying that I have the ambition to usurp the throne, and every time I think of this, I feel uneasy in my heart." Therefore, these words are spoken to you from the bottom of my heart. However, it is impossible for me to abandon the army under my command in this way, return it to the authorities, and return to my fiefdom, the Marquis of Wuping. Why? I was indeed afraid that I would be murdered as soon as I left the army, both for the sake of my children and grandchildren, and because my defeat would bring the country to ruin, I could not seek fame and suffer actual calamity. However, my fiefdom consists of four counties, and I have the right to collect taxes from 30,000 households, how can my character be worthy? The world is not yet settled, and I cannot resign from office; As for the fiefdom, it is possible to retreat. Now, I have returned the 20,000 fiefdoms of Yangxia, Zhe, and Ku counties to the state, and only enjoy the taxes of 10,000 households in Wuping, so as to reduce the slander against me, and at the same time reduce my responsibility a little! ”

Cao Cao coerced the Son of Heaven and ordered the princes, after the rapid development, its own prestige continued to increase, and the power continued to expand, which also caused many people to be jealous, because at that time Cao Cao had replaced Emperor Han Xian and became the actual master of the court at that time, at this time the Son of Heaven has actually become an ornament, and the actual power is in Cao Cao's hands, similar to the Japanese shogunate, but China does not have a shogunate system, so in this way, Cao Cao was considered a usurper by Kong Rong and other defenders, and he was extremely slandered.

And in this case, Cao Cao couldn't retreat, because he couldn't retreat. Just said to Cao Cao, even if he retreats, will others let him go? No, because Cao Cao's threat still exists, as long as Cao Cao doesn't die, some people can't be at ease, so they will do everything they can to kill Cao Cao.

And at that time, the world was far from unified, the Gongsun clan of Liaodong in the north, Han Sui and Ma Chao in Guanzhong, Liu Zhang, Liu Bei, Sun Quan in the south, even if Cao Cao returned the power to Emperor Xian, would Emperor Xian of Han be able to do a good job, if Emperor Xian really had the ability, he would not be played by the princes as puppets.

In addition, after Cao Cao became bigger, there were indeed many people in the Xuchang court who still wanted the Son of Heaven, but more people were already supporters of Cao Cao, and their allegiance was no longer to the Son of Heaven, but to Cao Cao himself.

The decline of the Han family has been inevitable, after Cao Cao's rise, some things are no longer under his control, in the kind of environment at that time, Cao Cao has no way back, he can only move forward, even if he doesn't go, his subordinates will push him forward, so later Cao Cao became the Duke of Wei and became the king of Wei, but Cao Cao never took the last step.

Although there are other reasons for this, it can also be seen that he still has a lot of feelings for the Han Dynasty, and the desire to replace the Han family is not very strong, but Cao Cao is not stupid, and he will not give up power without being the emperor.

Note 1: The original text is relatively long, and only a part of the records recorded in the Zizhi Tongkan are translated here.

PS: The next chapter will enter the Western Liang chapter