There is a description of Cao Mengde's assassination of Dong Zhuo in "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms". It is written that Cao Cao borrowed Situ Wang Yun's seven-star sword to assassinate Dong Zhuo. Unexpectedly, he was discovered. In desperation, he pretended to offer the sword, and then again Pretending to test the horse, he rode out of the city and escaped. This passage was thrilling to write, and later generations were amazed by Cao Cao's wit and bravery. But I don’t think Cao Cao’s assassination of Dong Zhuo is credible.

Because everyone knows that Cao Cao is known as a traitor. He is best at pretending to deceive others' trust and designs to get rid of people he hates, such as the murder in a dream and the killing of Yang Xiu by disturbing the morale of the army. Therefore, Cao Cao is by no means a reckless man who rises up and draws his sword. Moreover, he also knows that even if he kills Dong Zhuo, he will definitely die. As a traitor of the generation, naturally he will not be willing to become a pawn in other people's struggle for power, let alone become a pawn in others' struggle for power and profit. The cannon fodder of this struggle, on the contrary, he probably wanted to use the opportunity of assassinating Dong Zhuo to promote himself and make himself a famous celebrity in the world. He also stood on the side of justice, gained enough political capital, and established a good reputation for himself when he returned to his hometown to raise troops in the future. A banner of justice. There was a lot of talk at Wang Situ's birthday party, and everyone dared to complain when they were together. The most they could do was criticize Dong Zhuo, saying that Boss Dong was too boring. But Cao Cao stood up and said we might as well kill Boss Dong. Everyone present was not shocked. They all thought that this kid's head was broken. He wanted to kill Dong Zhuo and dared to be so high-profile. At Wang Situ's birthday party, Cao Cao threatened to assassinate Dong Zhuo and borrowed Wang Situ's seven-star sword. Just imagine if Cao Cao really wanted to assassinate Dong Zhuo, it would be a big deal. Would he dare to say it in front of so many people at the birthday banquet? Who can guarantee that there are no informants of Dong Zhuo among the people attending the birthday banquet?

Since it is an assassination, a sharp dagger or short knife is enough, why do you need Wang Situ's seven-star sword? So I think that Cao Cao had no intention to assassinate Dong Zhuo from the beginning. Instead, he actually offered his sword, fled the capital, returned to his hometown and threatened that he failed to assassinate Dong Zhuo, and then launched an army to attack Dong Zhuo. There will definitely be heroes from all over the world who come to surrender. , and at the same time mobilizing various princes to attack Dong Zhuo, they will also get responses from all princes, and with the support of his subordinate Yuan Shao, he will definitely succeed. He did so and achieved the results he expected. When he started the army, countless heroes from all over the world came to join him. He also received the support of local wealthy businessman Wei Hong (equivalent to today's venture capital). He spent all his family resources to buy clothes, armor, flags and flags, and countless people sent food from all directions. This shows how important this golden signboard is. The heroes Cao Cao recruited were better than anyone who raised an army, including Liu Bei, who claimed to be the emperor's uncle, and Yuan Shao, who had many old officials. Even a few decades later, Zhuge Liang, a man of great talent, lamented that when there was no one in Shu, Wei The country is still rich in talents. There was only one thing Cao Cao didn't expect. As soon as Cao Cao offered his treasured sword and escaped from the capital, Dong Zhuo's informant informed him of his plan to assassinate Dong Zhuo. Instead, it turned out to be true. Dong Zhuo believed that Cao Cao was really suspected of assassinating him and issued a wanted order in anger. , a heavy reward was offered to capture Cao Cao, which almost caused Cao Cao to lose his life. With Dong Zhuo's domineering temper, he would rather kill a thousand by mistake than let one go. Moreover, he also knew that there were many people in the world who wanted to kill him, and Wu Fu was already there to assassinate him, so he was convinced.

Why did Cao Cao turn against Dong Zhuo? Cao Cao originally followed He Jin and was not taken seriously by Boss He. On the contrary, when he was wiping out the eunuchs, Cao Cao proposed to capture only the leader of the thieves and let the others go. He Jin also laughed at the eunuch's grandson (Cao Cao's father was adopted by the eunuch). Cao Teng (who became the adopted son) could not bear to attack the eunuch. After He Jin's death, after Boss Dong came to Beijing to take power, he felt that Cao Cao was a talent and treated him highly. Cao Cao could freely enter and leave Dong Zhuo's house, and he had become Dong Zhuo's confidant. But Cao Cao, who has a keen sense of smell, has discovered that the powerful Dong Zhuo's power is in danger. Boss Dong himself has no ambitions, he only cares about spending time, drinking and having fun, and he is violent and moody. The senior executives below, such as Lu Bu and Li Ru, are all promiscuous and spendthrift. If this company had not relied on the background of Guozi and the monopoly industry status has long been bankrupt. Even if there are constant voices of opposition from all over the country, it will be a matter of time before the company closes down if this continues. Cao Cao has always had the urge to start a business in his heart, but he suffered from no funds, no technology, and no brand. Instead of Boss Dong's subordinates waiting to lose their jobs, it would be better for him to take advantage of the current management chaos, take away the company's golden brand name and core technology, run back to his hometown, set up his own company, and then seize Boss Dong's market. He knew that this state-owned monopoly, which was strong on the outside but managed on the inside, was vulnerable to competition and would soon collapse.

After Cao Cao succeeded, he fled back to his hometown and took out the well-known trademarks and core technologies he brought back, and received strong support from his father. The old man is also very great. He said: Since we have such a strong brand and technology, we have to go big. If it is not enough to invest all the assets of the family, then you can go to boss Wei Hongwei for some venture capital. In addition, We can issue some stocks, and anyone who supports us with some food can be counted as our small shareholder. With his father's support and Boss Wei's investment, the company developed rapidly. He also contacted his father Yuan Shao and asked him to contact private small and medium-sized enterprises in various places to form group companies to jointly fight against Dong Zhuo's large monopoly enterprises with the prefix "Guo". Under Cao Cao's careful planning and step-by-step implementation, Dong Zhuo eventually collapsed internally, and Cao Cao gradually gained control of the Tianxia Group.

Cao Cao's stabbing of Dong Zhuo with the seven-star sword was a well-planned stunt by himself. The successful operation of Cao's Group has also given us a lot of lessons for future generations.