曹操號叫孟德，有個小名叫阿瞞。他是東漢沛國譙郡的人。他很有狡才（就是有口才能狡辯），為人非常機警。早年征討「黃巾賊」立下大功，高人一等，立時名氣大振。董卓（漢獻帝朝中宰相，專橫跋扈）之亂過後，曹操把獻帝迎到許昌（在河南），從此以後，「大權獨攬」（就是：他獨自一人掌握政權），獻帝成為一個有名無實的傀儡。曹操採用「挾天子以令諸侯」（意思是：抓住天子，藉天子的名義來命令各小國的諸侯）的手段，削平了黃河流域「群雄割據」的勢力，於是獻帝封他為「魏公」。
黃河流域雖然被他統轄，可是江南一帶，東方有吳國，西方有蜀郡，還「鼎足而立」。（意思是：像鼎的三條腿，魏蜀吳三個國家分別獨立）。漢（魏）期沒有統一，於是他決心征蜀伐吳，發大軍到江南打仗；不幸的是，赤壁一戰，魏軍被吳蜀聯軍打得一敗塗地，紛紛「棄甲曳兵」。（就是丟掉鎧甲，拖著兵刃）而逃。曹操自己險些身喪火場，好不容易逃到一個叫「華容道」的地方，卻碰到蜀將關羽（字雲長）把守關口，曹營的殘兵敗將怎么能夠對付關雲長？曹操嚇得「魂飛魄散」，不知如何是好。幸虧他有狡才，而且早年曾善待過關羽，於是他向關羽苦苦哀求，放過他這一次。關羽本是個義人，知恩必報，於是放走曹操，曹操才僥倖逃回汴
梁。
後人把曹操稱做「一世奸雄」，「古今罕有」。曹操死後，他的兒子曹丕於是篡漢，建立魏朝，稱為文帝。他追謚父親（曹操）為魏武帝，三國鼎立的局面自此告終。 |
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Tsau Tsau had another name, Meng De, and his nickname was E Man. He was from Chan county in the country of Fei, in the time of Eastern Han. He was sharp and talented at debate. (That is to say, he was eloquent and could argue in his own defense.) In his youth, he established great merit for his country by subjugating the "Yellow-Turban Rebels". Because of this success, he became an outstanding person, and won a prominent reputation. After the calamity of "Dung Jwo" (a recalcitrant prime minister for the emperor Syan in the Han dynasty), Tsau Tsau invited emperor Syan to the city of Syu-Chang, in He Nan province. From then on, he took over power and monopolized the whole situation. Emperor Syan became the puppet of Tsau Tsau, in order to rule the whole nation because he was the Son of Heaven in name only, (which means he seized the Son of the Heaven, and issued commands in the Emperor's name to trick the leaders of the small countries.) In this way, he destroyed the power of other nations in the Yellow River Valley. Therefore Emperor Syan honored him as "Master Wei"
Although the Yellow River Valley was controlled by Tsau Tsau, the two countries to the south of the Yang Dz River had not yet been united. (At that time the country of Wu and the country of Shu were located on the east and west side around the Yang Dz River area.) He decided to attack the two countries of Wu and Shu by dispatching troops to the south of the Yang Dz River and wage war. Unluckily, in the Battle at Chr Bi, the army of Wei was totally defeated by the united army of Wu and Shu. Throwing down their armor and dropping their weapons, the soldiers of Wei escaped one by one. In this battle, Tsau Tsau almost lost his life in a fire. Escaping with difficulty to a place called "Hwa Rung Dau", he met General Gwang Yu of Shu guarding the gate. Facing Gwan Yu (whose other name was Gwan Yun Chang), how could the remnants of Tsau Tsau's defeated army deal with this situation? Tsau Tsau was scared to death, and did not know what to do. Luckily he kept his wits about him, and since he had treated Gwan Yu well in the past, this time he could plead with him to spare his life. Gwan Yu had a righteous character and knew to repay deeds of kindness, so he released Tsau Tsau, who then escaped back to Byan Liang.
Tsau Tsau was known as "the brave and cunning traitor of the age," and "an extraordinary individual in history." After he died, his son, Tsau Pei usurped the throne of Han and changed the dynasty's name to Wei. He became known as Emperor Wen. He gave his father a posthumous title, "Emperor Wu of Wei". Thus came to an end the episode of three independent countries standing on their own like the three legs of a tripod. |
