Yang Xiu was a well-known figure in the Three Kingdoms period, people's understanding of Yang Xiu first began with "one he crisp" and "chicken ribs", although in the end Yang Xiu was killed by Cao Cao, but because he had many stories, so that this image was very three-dimensional, but not comprehensive.
It is precisely because Yang Xiu's allusions are very many, so that many people have a deviation in Yang Xiu's understanding, most people think that Yang Xiu is proud of things, will only play a little clever, and eventually be in a different place, this view is relatively one-sided, Cao Cao, as a person of great talent, will not be because of this little thing, Yang Xiu, the talent of the killer, Cao Cao although killed Yang Xiu, but did not kill Yang Xiu's father Yang Biao, and Yang Biao has always not supported Cao Cao. What's going on here? And what are the hidden secrets? Let's break it down one by one.
Death of Yang Xiu: I don't know the political measure
Yang Xiu was recruited by Cao Cao because of his talent, and became Cao Cao's master book, according to this trend, Cao Cao attaches great importance to Yang Xiu, otherwise he would not have given this position to Yang Xiu, and Yang Xiu should have shared the worries and difficulties for Cao Cao in this position, but he used his own cleverness to speculate on Cao Cao's intentions, speculation was just that, and he also said it out, which is politically not knowing the measure, nor does he know the depth of the court, and indeed there are some arrogant and arrogant things.
The direct cause of Yang Xiu's death is recorded in the Book of Later Han, Cao Cao was in a position to conquer Liu Bei, but he was in a predicament, he could not attack Liu Bei, and Ban Shi returned to the dynasty without face, so he fell into a dilemma, Cao Cao could not make up his mind to return to the dynasty, but only issued an order to the outside world: chicken ribs.
Cao Cao's generals didn't know what it meant, Yang Xiu began to pack his bags after hearing about it, and when other generals asked him why, he said the most impressive sentence: "If you eat chicken ribs, you will have nothing to eat, and if you abandon it, it is a pity." Cao Gong felt that this was not the way to go on, and would withdraw the army, and sure enough, it was not long before Cao Cao ordered the withdrawal of the army.
Such a thing happened many times, once Yang Xiu went out for a while, met Cao Cao to ask about government affairs, so Yang Xiu made an answer, and told his attendants, if Cao Gong asked, he replied according to the answer on the answer, Cao Cao could find the answer every time he asked the question, so after replying three times, Cao Cao was very strange why it was so quick, he sent someone to understand the situation, after knowing the real situation, he was very taboo about Yang Xiu, plus Yang Xiu was Yuan Shu's nephew, Cao Cao felt that Yang Xiu was a scourge, So find a reason to kill him.
Judging from this record, Yang Xiu was actually a little clever, every time he did not predict the prophet, making Cao Cao very passive, but also because Yang Xiu's eyes were low, but this was not enough for Cao Cao to kill Yang Xiu, because there were more talented people than Yang Xiu, like Jia Xu, that was the plan Zhang Xiu killed Cao Cao's favorite son Cao Ang, Cao Cao can ignore the previous suspicions, and has always trusted Jia Xu. Yang Xiu must have done something else to offend Cao Cao, making Cao Cao feel that this person could not be left behind.
The Western Jin Dynasty historian Sima Biao's Book of continuation of the Han Dynasty has this record:
"Bai Xiu and Marquis Zhi of Linzi were drunk and came out of Sima Men, slandering Marquis Zhang, and Taizu was furious when he heard this, so he took him and killed him. He was forty-five years old. ”
If this incident is true, it is more credible, and from this record, it is speculated that the relationship between Yang Xiu and Cao Zhi is very good, probably because the two people are literati and have similar intentions, or it is also possible that Yang Xiu is Cao Zhi's "military master" and helped Cao Zhi compete for the position of the son of the world. It was Cao Zhi who broke into Sima Men at night, causing Cao Zhi to completely lose the battle for the position of Shizi, which made Cao Cao very angry, because he liked Cao Zhi very much.
This also exposed Yang Xiu's political immaturity, his literary temperament is too strong, not a good politician, even if he can control it, he will cause many incidents with a little cleverness, and the Three Kingdoms are originally an eventful autumn, internal unity is very important, Yang Xiu is an uncertain factor, and his father Yang Biao has always been loyal to the Han Dynasty, Yang Xiu is not an indispensable figure like Jia Xu and Xun Yu, under the balance, Cao Cao still killed Yang Xiu.
Yang Xiu's death, due to his little cleverness, and his lack of political sense of proportion, Cao Cao, as a warlord leader, even if he was open-minded, could not tolerate such a person who repeatedly destroyed his own plans, plus he had brought Cao Zhi to ruin, that is, the immortals could not save him.
Yang Biao's life: Occupy the moral high ground
Yang Biao, as Yang Xiu's father, was much more mature and sophisticated in politics, and it may also be because Yang Xiu's starting point was too high, which led to Yang Xiu having such a personality, when Yang Biao joined the world, the Eastern Han Dynasty had not yet reached the point of being irredeemable, which gave Yang Biao a lot of room to play.
It is said that Yang Biao is also a famous family, born from the Yang clan of Hongnong, and it is said that he is a descendant of Yang Xi, who followed the founding emperor of the Western Han Dynasty, Liu Bang, and the reward he received for finally killing Xiang Yu and cutting off one of his legs has continued to this day.
Yang Biao's family is well-off, because of the family's influence, he has read a lot of books, is also very learned, and has been promoted to filial piety and Maocai. When Yang Biao was serving as Jing Zhaoyin, he exposed the corrupt behavior of Wang Fu of the Yellow Gate And condemned him to death. Since then, he has been continuously promoted, and the three companies have all served as horses, Situ, and Sikong, which shows how high his official position is.
When Dong Zhuo entered Beijing and held real power and intended to move the capital, Yang Biao argued according to reason; when Emperor Xian of Han moved east, Yang Biao did his best to protect the lord and was loyal to the Eastern Han court, and because of this, Yang Biao became a thorn in Cao Cao's eye, because Yang Biao's energy and reputation were too great
Cao Cao held Emperor Xian of Han hostage in Xu County, the capital of Xu County, and framed Yang Biao as a relative of Yuan Shu and wanted to collude with Yuan Shu to depose Emperor Xian of Han, so he imprisoned him, and Cao Cao wanted to kill Yang Biao and put him into action. After Yang Biao was imprisoned, Kong Rong came to persuade and threatened to resign, even Cao Cao's cool official Man Yu came to persuade Cao Cao, Yang Biao's reputation is too big, if there is no conclusive evidence of his rebellion, killing him will affect Cao Cao's reputation, will greatly lose the hearts of the people, Cao Cao, who has just gained a firm foothold, can not be so reckless, can only release Yang Biao.
After Yang Biao was released, he saw that the Han Room was in decline, and he was powerless, so he called himself a soldier and never asked about the world again.
After Cao Pi became emperor, he wanted to make Yang Biao a lieutenant, but Yang Biao resolutely refused, on the grounds that I had been the third duke of the Han Dynasty, how could I be a lieutenant of the new dynasty, in fact, I was protecting my loyalty.
The reason why Yang Biao was able to live was to occupy the moral high ground, he was loyal to the Han Dynasty, and what he did did did not attack Cao Cao, as long as Cao Cao was still a minister of the Han Dynasty, he absolutely could not do anything to Yang Biao, otherwise he would lose his righteousness and lose the people's hearts.
Originally, Yang Biao let Yang Xiu throw himself into Cao Cao's door, but also thought that the eggs should not be placed in the same basket, who knew that Yang Xiu was clever and did not have a good grasp of political proportions, so that he was killed by Cao Cao, which was also the inevitable fate of Yang Xiu, even if Cao Cao did not kill, after Cao Pi took the throne, Yang Xiu, who had been Cao Zhi's "military master", would not live long, and if he really wanted to blame, he could only blame Yang Xiu himself.