【But not all celebrities are like this. For example, there was a celebrity named Wang Jun in Runan. He spoke highly of Cao Cao. He said that if the world was in chaos in the future, Cao Cao would definitely be the one who could stabilize the world.】

[Coincidentally, He Yong, a famous scholar from Nanyang, also said after meeting the young Cao Cao that the Han Dynasty would soon perish, and the one who could truly stabilize the world must be Cao Cao.]

[If it is possible that these celebrities said this because of the power of the Cao family, then we have another example, such as Qiao Xuan.]

[You should know that Qiao Xuan was once one of the Three Dukes. He was very good at observing others and was upright. He held an important position, but he was very honest.]

[This is a person of such character. After meeting Cao Cao, he came to the conclusion after some conversation that the world was about to be in chaos and that it was Cao Cao who was the only one who could stabilize the world. After that, he entrusted his wife and children to Cao Cao.]

[Qiao Xuan even said to Cao Cao, "I have seen many famous people in the world, but no one is like you, Cao Cao, so I am willing to entrust my family's lives to you."]

[Qiao Xuan is a man of integrity, honesty, never lies, and has lived a clean life.]

[His act of entrusting his entire family to Cao Cao can only show that Cao Cao was really outstanding at that time. Qiao Xuan also proved that he really thought highly of Cao Cao. Qiao Xuan felt that although his status was very high at that time, this comment was not strong enough, so he recommended Cao Cao to Xu Shao.]

……

"Not bad!"

Cao Cao said proudly in front of all his ministers: "Tianmu is right. Qiao Xuan said that I am a hero in troubled times and a traitor in peaceful times. He also entrusted his children to me."

Cao Cao raised his glass and said loudly: "This glass of wine is for Mr. Qiao!"

"I wish he had not misjudged me, Cao Cao!"

"Now that I have become the Prime Minister, it is enough to prove that he was right about me, Cao Cao!"

After saying this, in order to show that he had not let Qiao Xuan down, he did not forget to shout: "Mr. Qiao, I will take care of your wife and children, don't worry!"

……

【Who is Xu Shao? We said at the time that there was a trend of wine connoisseurs in the Han Dynasty, and Xu Shao and his cousin Xu Jing were among the best wine connoisseurs in the Han Dynasty. 】

[Both brothers of the Xu family were born into a famous family, and their elders were also officials. They were good at dealing with people, and had a very accurate eye for people. They were also very talented, so they were very prestigious among the people.]

[The Han Dynasty court invited the two brothers of the Xu family many times, hoping that they could become officials, but the two brothers thought they were noble and upright, so they refused repeatedly.]

[The two brothers can be said to be less interested in power struggles than in appreciation of others. In this case, any person who gets a positive evaluation from the two brothers will immediately have his or her value multiplied by a hundred times, and will be sought after by the court and society.]

[Generally speaking, the two brothers would invite famous reviewers of the time to gather together on the first day of each month, and then bring out the figures of the time to review and rank them. The people of Runan called this kind of review "Yuedan Review".]

[Qiao Xuan recommended Cao Cao to meet Xu Shao because he hoped Cao Cao could get a positive evaluation from Xu Shao. In this way, Cao Cao's political capital would be sufficient.]

[But the problem is that when Cao Cao took Qiao Xuan's recommendation letter to Xu Shao, he was rejected by Xu Shao. The reason is very simple. Xu Shao is a self-righteous person. You, Cao Cao, a descendant of a eunuch, also expect me to write a review for you. That is absolutely impossible! ]

[In this way, Cao Cao was rejected by Xu Shao, but Cao Cao was never a person who gave up easily. If you refuse today, I will come again tomorrow. If you refuse tomorrow, I will come again the day after tomorrow.]

[And every time Cao Cao came to visit, he was very polite, smiling, holding gifts, and visiting politely. He would not get angry if he was rejected, and would just come back tomorrow. ]

[This happened three times in a row, and Xu Shao didn't even open the door for Cao Cao, which was like visiting Cao Cao three times but still not seeing him.]

[Until one day, Xu Shao felt that Cao Cao was too persistent and decided to let him in for a chat.]

[This time, Cao Cao did not bring any gifts. When Cao Cao met Xu Shao, he did not say anything. He just asked Xu Shao directly, "Mr. Xu, what kind of person do you think I am?"

【Xu Shao smiled contemptuously and did not answer Cao Cao. At this time, Xu Shao had made up his mind not to write any comments about Cao Cao, so he naturally would not answer.】

[When Xu Shao smiled, Cao Cao also smiled. As he smiled, he said to Xu Shao, "Since you won't give me an answer, I will send you off." As he spoke, he even drew his sword.]

【Xu Shao had never seen such a comment before. At this time, his life was in the hands of the other party, so he had to say something. So he thought for a long time before giving that comment, saying that you, Cao Cao, are a capable minister in a peaceful era, and a treacherous hero in a chaotic era.】

[In the Book of the Later Han, the original sentence should actually be "A capable minister in a peaceful era, a hero in a chaotic era."]

[After receiving this comment, Cao Cao was very happy, and then he put away his knife and said goodbye to Xu Shao very politely. Cao Cao was only a teenager that year.]

[After receiving such comments from Xu Shao, Cao Cao became famous and was soon recommended as a filial and honest official. After being recommended as a filial and honest official, he was qualified to be an official.]

[At that time, Cao Cao's family was extremely powerful, Cao Cao himself was also very talented, and Xu Shao commented that he was a capable minister in times of peace and a hero in times of chaos. With all these blessings, Cao Cao became the Northern Lieutenant of Luoyang when he was 20 years old.]

[The Luoyang Northern Lieutenant was a position responsible for the public security of the entire northern part of Luoyang. This northern part was the same as the current certain district. It was like Cao Cao becoming the director of the Public Security Bureau of a certain district in Beijing at the age of 20. This starting point cannot be said to be very high, it can only be said that the young eagle was ready to take off.]

[But there are some realities that we have to talk about. That is, the Northern Commander of Luoyang is actually a semi-empty position. Because Luoyang is the capital, a large number of dignitaries live in the area under the emperor's feet. The young masters of these dignitaries are mostly dandy and often run rampant in the countryside.]

[And most people in the officialdom protect each other, so if something happens to these family members, no one dares to intervene. After all, everyone is afraid of offending people in the officialdom. Ordinary people generally don't make trouble, and those who do make trouble, you dare not intervene, so this position is basically no different from a nominal position. 】【People who get this position usually just eat and wait for death, work in this position for a few years, and then transfer. 】

【But Cao Cao is not like that. He just won’t do that. 】

[Cao Cao himself was once a dandy, and he knew all about this, so he was determined to make a career, so Cao Cao ordered his Duwei Yamen to be painted, and then made a stick and painted it in five colors. ]

[Then he spread the news that anyone who harassed the people at night would be banned from doing so. No matter if you were the uncle of the God of Heaven or the wife of the God of Earth, you would be beaten to death.]

[This news was released, but no one, whether common people or nobles, believed it.]

[In a place like the capital where there are many talented people, how can you, a mere captain and a lowly official, control anyone? ]

[It was under such circumstances that one night, an old man named Jian Tu, regardless of Cao Cao's newly issued decree, insisted on parading through the streets at night, making it impossible for the common people to sleep, and even forcibly robbed women in the middle of the night.]

[Cao Cao happened to know about this, and he immediately took people to arrest the man named Jian Tu.]

[It turned out that this man was not only not afraid of Cao Cao's soldiers, he was not afraid of Cao Cao either, because this old man named Jian Tu was the uncle of Jian Shuo, one of the Ten Eunuchs.]

[And who is this Ten Eunuchs Jian Shuo? ]

[This person was a eunuch who served the emperor for many years. His status was not much different from Cao Cao's grandfather Cao Teng. He also commanded the imperial guards in the capital. It is not an exaggeration to say that he had great power over the government and the country.]

【As Jian Shuo's uncle, Jian Tu has been acting tyrannically since his nephew became successful. He doesn't care about anyone. He naturally doesn't believe that a young man like Cao Cao dares to do anything to him.】

[The attendants around Cao Cao also advised Cao Cao to forget about it, because if they offended Jian Shuo, they would be in big trouble.]

[But Cao Cao had made up his mind that even if the king of heaven came today, he would be beaten to death if he broke the law, so Cao Cao ordered Jian Tu to be taken away. ]

[This news spread throughout the capital city by the next morning, shocking the city.]

[The next morning, there was a huge crowd in front of Cao Cao's office, everyone wanted to see how this farce would end.]

[How to end it? Cao Cao has his own way. 】

[In front of everyone, Cao Cao listed the crimes that Jian Tu had committed one by one, and told everyone at the scene what had happened and what Jian Tu had done.]

[After he finished speaking, Cao Cao beat Jian Tu, who was still shouting a second ago, to death in front of everyone.]

[What Cao Cao did was just like the laws he made. No matter if they were the Lord of Heaven or the Lord of Earth, if they broke the law, they would be beaten to death!]

……

"A true hero!"

Early Han Dynasty.

The period of Emperor Gaozu.

Liu Bang sighed. It was not unfair that the Han Dynasty perished at the hands of this man!
Zhang Liang also sighed, seeing the big picture from the small details, he could see that the young Cao Cao was still wholeheartedly devoted to serving his country!
Zhang Liang couldn't help feeling sad.

Has the Han Dynasty really reached such an irredeemable state that this ambitious man would become its gravedigger!

……

[After that, the news that Cao Cao, the Northern Commander of Luoyang, had killed Jian Tu spread quickly from one person to ten, and then to a hundred, and soon spread throughout the capital.]

[Jian Shuo was also very shocked when he learned that his uncle was beaten to death. He never thought that someone would dare to do such a thing.]

[However, since Cao Cao had already made his uncle's crimes public and even found people to testify, the evidence was irrefutable and it was difficult for Jian Shuo to overturn the verdict, so he did not take any action.]

[But he had a grudge against Cao Cao. Otherwise, where would he put his face? ]

[So he found a reason to dismiss Cao Cao from his post, drove him out of the capital, and made him a small county magistrate in Dunqiu.]

[This time Cao Cao seemed to have lost his position, but it also earned him a good reputation. When the bureaucratic group saw Cao Cao beating the relatives of the eunuch leader, they thought Cao Cao might be one of their own and helped him.]

【As for the common people, they think Cao Cao is a good official who works for the people. 】

[This time, Cao Cao gained both fame and fortune, and he was only 23 years old.] (End of this chapter)