He killed Hua Tuo for a crime which I don't think deserved death.
Towards the end he may have killed a lot of political opposition such as Xun Yu who arguably didn't deserve it. Like we're not talking about people like Kong Rong who were pretty much asking to have their heads lopped off
Crazedmongoose wrote:I think, in the situation he was exposed to, Cao Cao didn't act more harshly or cruelly or less reasonably than any of the other warlords and heroes of the time. He certainly wasn't worse than average like Dong Zhuo or Yuan Shu were. He was flawed, he made mistakes. But if there's any point to the story of Cao Cao, it's that, he's a human being. An incredibly talented and extraordinary human being, but a human being none the less. He is arguably more human than many of the great Emperors and heroes in Chinese history, because he didn't have history view him in a rose tinted glass, so we saw his triumphs and failures in equal measure and through that his humanity.
The classic Chinese phrase comes to mind, "we are not gods or saints, who has no regrets?"
Crazedmongoose wrote:Well, that was an exaggeration. It was when the guy joked about him having no facial hair. That's a pretty damn silly reason to kill someone. Cao Cao's ego was never that fragile. Look how he tolerated Mi Heng.
Crazedmongoose wrote:I think it's interesting that these people who historical records indicate as being quite in the wrong or at least not remotely likable become heroes in the anti-Cao Cao aftermath. Tao Qian, Mi Heng, Ma Teng, Hua Tuo, Zuo Ci etc.
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