【As for Cao Cao, he was born into such a family and, as the eldest son of the entire Cao family, he grew up in an environment where he could get whatever he wanted.】

[As we all know, there is a high probability that such a child will become a playboy when he grows up. In addition, Cao Cao was smart and had some tricks since he was young. He was naughty to an unbelievable degree when he was young.]

[The story of Cao Cao’s childhood is recorded in Shishuo Xinyu. It says that when Cao Cao was a child, he was good friends with Yuan Shao. The two of them were very dissolute. They rode horses all day long and did not do any serious work.]

[One day, the two of them were bored and saw a family getting married, so Yuan Shao and Cao Cao sneaked into the family’s yard.]

Cao Cao asked Yuan Shao to shout that someone was stealing something to attract the family’s attention, while he sneaked in quietly and tried to rob the bride with a knife.

[Of course, this matter was eventually discovered, and Cao Cao and his men had no choice but to jump over the wall and escape. After all, if they were caught doing this, they would probably have their legs broken.]

[However, during the escape, an accident occurred. Yuan Shao was accidentally entangled in a thorn bush. The people behind him were about to catch up. At this moment, the situation was extremely urgent for Yuan Shao, no less urgent than the subsequent Battle of Guandu. ]

[After all, if Yuan Shao had been killed at this time, there would be no Guandu. ]

……

“Hehe.” Cao Cao was watching with great pleasure.

Suddenly he realized that there was something wrong with the way Xun Yu, Jia Xu and others looked at him. Those strange looks seemed to be saying that his lord had this side, which made Cao Cao very uncomfortable.

“Impossible, absolutely impossible!”

Cao Cao’s face turned cold, and he said righteously: “How could I do such an unreasonable thing? Yuan Shao must have deliberately fabricated it to humiliate my reputation!”

……

[At this moment, Cao Cao thought of a clever idea and shouted, “The thief is right here. Come and catch him!”]

[Yuan Shao was shocked when he heard this, and struggled madly in desperation. Unexpectedly, he broke free from the thorn bush. The two of them ran all the way and avoided being beaten to death.]

[This is the image of Cao Cao when he was a child. You can imagine how much trouble Cao Cao’s family must have had.]

[For example, Cao Cao’s uncle was very worried. Cao Cao was so arrogant now, what would happen when he grew up and inherited the title?]

[So he told Cao Cao’s father that he must discipline Cao Cao strictly now, otherwise Cao Cao would definitely not be able to become a talented person when he grows up. Cao Cao’s father thought this made sense, so he sent someone to pick up Cao Cao who was playing on the street, scolded him, and disciplined him strictly from then on.]

[Cao Cao was resentful about this matter, so he wanted to punish his uncle.]

[One day Cao Cao met his uncle on the street. He came up with an idea and lay down on the ground. When his uncle saw Cao Cao fall, he hurried to see what was going on. When he saw Cao Cao’s face, it was really scary. Cao Cao’s muscles kept twitching and he was foaming at the mouth. It seemed that he was about to die.]

[When Cao Cao’s uncle saw this, he was shocked and went to find Cao Cao’s father, saying that his son had suffered a stroke. Upon hearing this, Cao Cao’s father hurried to check, but when he arrived at the scene, Cao Cao was standing there without any injuries.]

[Cao Cao’s father was very confused and asked Cao Cao, “Didn’t you have a stroke?”]

[In the end, Cao Cao said, whoever said I had a stroke was cursing me! ]

[Cao Cao’s father said that this is what your uncle said.]

【Cao Cao said, “Oh, it’s my uncle. My uncle has always hated me. Is it normal for him to say bad things about me behind my back? He said I had a stroke and he was probably just cursing me. I’m fine. 】

[If you were Cao Cao’s father, how would you react when you heard Cao Cao say this? ]

[Anyway, Cao Cao’s father got angry after hearing this, and felt that his brother was prejudiced against Cao Cao. So after that, no matter how his brother told him about Cao Cao’s naughtiness, he no longer took it to heart, and Cao Cao was free again.]

……

“puff……”

Liu Bang spat out a mouthful of wine, what a guy, he is even more extravagant than me!
There’s something about this Cao Cao!

… [Since then, Cao Cao has been living in this environment where he is the devil today and the Monkey King tomorrow. ]

[Although Cao Cao was very stubborn, he never gave up learning. Because Cao Cao’s family was at the center of power and had seen many corrupt things, Cao Cao still had some ambitions in his heart.]

[While Cao Cao was a playboy, he also took a lot of time to study poetry, classics, history, and law. It can be said that he read a lot of books. ]

[Even Cao Cao read military books, such as Sun Tzu’s Art of War, which Cao Cao often read.]

——Gao Qiqiang likes you.

——Read Sun Tzu’s Art of War and enjoy a stronger life.

……

“Gao Qiqiang? Who is this?”

“I don’t know, there is no such person in history books!”

“But since Tianmu mentioned this person, he must have great abilities. You and I need to record them first…”

Anyone who can be mentioned by Tianmu is definitely not an ordinary person.

Many people held this idea and secretly memorized the name Gao Qiqiang.

……

[Cao Cao even annotated Sun Tzu’s Art of War in his later life. In his life of studying and riding horses, Cao Cao quickly passed his youth and reached the age of officialdom.]

【Cao Cao during this period was very outstanding, and not just ordinary outstanding, but the kind of outstanding that is rarely seen in a century.】

[Why do I say this? Because in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, there was a very popular way of evaluating people, where famous people recognized by everyone at that time would write a comment on those young people.]

[Since the recommendation system was the main means of selecting talents at that time, this disguised recommendation model was also very popular among people at that time. If a famous scholar wrote a good comment about you, then you would definitely rise to prominence in the future.]

[But if you write a bad sentence, then you probably won’t have much future. ]

[This mode, similar to a card-drawing game, of betting on luck and competing with strength, attracted many scholars who were preparing to become officials at the time.]

[After all, if you get a very high comment, then your reputation will definitely spread far and wide, and Cao Cao at this time also had the same idea. ]

[And Cao Cao was a man of foresight. He had prepared for this matter before. He made many friends and paid great attention to his reputation among the celebrities. But the embarrassing thing was that Cao Cao was the descendant of a eunuch, so those celebrities who claimed to be noble often did not give Cao Cao face.]

……

“Those so-called celebrities are nothing but dogs who look down on others.”

Cao Cao recalled the past that he couldn’t bear to look back on, and couldn’t help but smile contemptuously: “I have long since stopped caring about those vulgar and common sense.”

“These people who call themselves gentlemen have all been defeated by a so-called traitor like me.”

Cao Cao looked at the civil and military officials in the court and said loudly: “Since ancient times, great treacherous people appear loyal, and great falsehood appears true. Loyalty and treachery cannot be seen from the surface.”

“Perhaps you misjudged me, Cao Cao, before, and you are wrong about me again now.”

“But I am still me!”

“I’ve never been afraid of people misjudging me!”

…(End of chapter)