But there are still some malicious people who distort Cao Cao's will. Luo Guanzhong, the author of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, said that before Cao Cao died, 72 suspected graves were set up outside Wujiang City in Zhangde area, so that future generations would not know where his body was buried, lest someone dig it. It was also his nonsense that led future generations to draw two conclusions about the location of Cao Cao's tomb. The first time was in the Xiyuan of Ximen Bao Temple, known as Gaoling; The second one is outside Wujiang in Zhangde area, where there are 72 suspected graves. Legend is still legend after all. If you want to know where Cao Cao's tomb is, you should start with his last decree. Lu Ji, a famous writer in the Western Jin Dynasty, stumbled upon this work in the secret palace. The full text is as follows:
Buried in ancient times, they will live in a barren land. The rule of Ximen Bao Temple is to guard the mausoleum in the west. Because of its height, it is not sealed or treeless. Zhou Li buried people in the cemetery. The princes are in the front and the Qing doctors are in the back. The Han system is also called the burial tomb. Those whose officials, ministers, and pillars will make contributions should be widely used and compatible when guarding the mausoleum.
These are the last words of Cao Cao mentioned above. He didn't bid and didn't build a mountain. At the end of the decree, Cao Cao also mentioned the bronze pagoda. He told his wives and concubines to put a six-foot big bed, hang a coffin and offer dried fruits in the copper tower courtyard of Yecheng, Linzhang, Handan. On the morning of the first and fifteenth day of each month, he plays music and dances in front of the coffin. At the same time, the imperial edict also enjoined his ministers to visit Tongquetai frequently and see the tomb of Xiling. Later generations searched for Cao Cao's mausoleum with Tongquetai as the center, but for various reasons, they never succeeded.
Although this legacy can't help people find the real tomb of Cao Cao, it solves one thing: it completely denies the existence of 72 suspected tombs. In this testamentary edict, Cao Cao clearly stipulated that his Shouling should be built on the West Garden of Ximen Bao Temple, because the height is the foundation, so it can't be sealed and trees can't be planted. In other words, the mausoleum must be built in a higher place, on which neither soil nor trees can be sealed, and there can be no marks. In this way, 72 suspected tombs in Linzhang and Cixian were artificially sealed. These tombs are tens of feet high and tens of feet big. From a distance, they look like mountains. One of them is called Tian Zi's Tomb in Shenzhuang Town. Its fence is 90 meters long, 80 meters wide and 40 meters high. This obviously does not conform to the shape stipulated by Cao Cao. The story of the 72 suspected graves has been circulated for thousands of years.
This is the story of Cao in Strange Tales from a Lonely Studio. This story is about a river outside Yecheng. The river is very urgent, and the place near the shore is particularly deep and dark. In midsummer, someone goes to the river to take a bath to cool off the heat. Suddenly, the sound of a knife and axe knocking came from the water, and the person who entered the water broke into two pieces and floated to the surface. Later, another person also went to take a bath in the river, and as a result, he was beheaded like the first person. This phenomenon has spread among the people, causing people's panic and doubts. When local officials heard about this incident, they sent many people to the upper reaches to cut off the river and let it dry up. So people found a deep cave under the cliff. A wheel was placed in the cave, and a sharp blade like frost was installed on the wheel. People removed the wheels and went into the cave. They found a small stone tablet engraved with the seal script of the Han Dynasty. After reading these articles carefully, I realized that this is Cao Cao's tomb. So people opened Cao Cao's coffin, scattered Cao Cao's bones all over the floor, and took away all the gold, silver and jewels buried with him.
The author Pu Songling finally concluded: "The sage said,' Dig 72 suspected graves, and there will be a burial place.' Better know it's outside the seventy-two graves? You are cheating! However, for thousands of years, what good is it to become a fake without bones? Alas, hidden wisdom is hidden stupidity! "
('seventy-two fake tombs have been dug, and there must be a tomb for Cao Cao's body, but how do you know that Cao Cao's body is not in the seventy-two tombs?' Cao Cao is treacherous! However, after thousands of years, the bones will not be preserved, so what's the use of these tricks? Alas! Cao Cao's wisdom is precisely Cao Cao's stupidity! Although the novelist's words are almost absurd, it is a historical fact that Cao Cao is suspicious by nature. According to legend, Cao Cao made careful arrangements to prevent future generations from digging his grave before his death. On the day of the funeral, all the gates of Yecheng were opened at the same time, and 72 coffins were carried out from four directions, southeast and northwest, and buried in the graves prepared in advance. As a result, future generations can no longer tell which is the real grave of Cao Cao and which is confusing.
This is the origin of the 72 suspected tombs. These legends were all fabricated by Luo Guanzhong in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Another legend is that Sima Shi usurped Cao Wei's world decades after Cao Caoli's seventy-two suspected tombs. The ministers who had enemies with Cao Cao in the DPRK joined forces to look for Cao Cao's real grave everywhere, trying to find his body and smash it to thank the world. But these people dug 72 graves of Cao Cao, but they didn't find the real body of Cao Cao. Finally, in desperation, these people issued a notice saying that as long as someone can find Cao Cao's real grave, they can get the position of prime minister.
The notice was posted for more than a month, and no one called. Just when these people almost lost confidence, a white-haired old man came to Luoyang, the capital, and said that he had a way to find the real tomb of Cao Cao. With a grain of salt, the officials sent 100 soldiers to follow the old man up the Luohe River not far from Beijing. Along the way, the old man looked left and right, and finally stopped at a place, pointing to a mound and saying, right here.
The soldiers began to dig, and sure enough, Cao Cao's body was dug out. The place pointed by the old man is located in the west of Luoyang, dug up from the levee and went deep into the river bed of Luoshui. The soldiers entered the grave and took away the gold and silver treasures; Cao Cao's body was taken out, chopped into pieces and thrown into the river to feed the tortoise. Finally, the officials ordered the white-haired old man to do it for other officials, but the old man disappeared, like a fairy without a trace.
Later, after many inquiries, officials realized that the old man knew where Cao Cao's grave was, because he was a descendant of Zhang Jiao, three brothers of the Yellow Scarf Uprising.
Cao Cao made his fortune by suppressing the yellow turban insurrectionary uprising. This year, Zhang Jiao died in Guangzong and the Yellow turban insurrectionary failed. In order to protect the bones of their leaders, the generals who took part in the Yellow turban insurrectionary buried many fake tombstones in neighboring counties and deceived government troops. The officers and men searched 300 miles in Fiona Fang and dug dozens of graves of Zhang Jiao. There was a great teacher there, but Zhang Jiao's body was not found.
Only Cao Cao refused to let it go. He learned the secret of Zhang Jiao's real grave from a traitor by carrot and stick. So, I personally led the soldiers and horses to Julu County, the hometown of Zhang Jiao, dug a hole on the Laozhang River to explore the tomb, and finally found Zhang Jiao's tomb under the deep riverbed. He ordered Zhang Jiao's head cut off and returned to Beijing with his head. Cao Cao was deeply inspired by this. Before he died, he secretly sent someone to build a tomb under the Luohe River, and killed all those who participated in the tomb repair in an attempt to escape the punishment of future generations. However, good and evil will eventually be rewarded, and the descendants of Zhang Jiao brothers guessed Cao Cao's trick and avenged their ancestors.