Text: Knife and Pen (Author's Original Authorization)
During the Three Kingdoms period at the end of the Han Dynasty, the Langya Zhuge family emerged with many talents, and there were representative figures in the three kingdoms of Shu, Wu and Wei, and the "New Language of the World" said that at that time, it was "Shu de its dragon, Wu de its tiger, Wei de its dog". Needless to say, Zhuge Liang of the Shu Han Dynasty (Zhuge Liang and Zhuge Jin's brothers) of Cao Wei was defeated and killed when he rebelled against Sima Zhao in Huainan, but he was also quite heroic. Only Zhuge Jin of Eastern Wu behaved unashamedly, and did not seem to fit the evaluation of being called a "tiger".
The image of Zhuge Jin in the novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms is somewhat similar to that of an honest gentleman like Lu Su (Sun Quan also makes this evaluation of Zhuge Jin in the sixty-sixth time of the novel), and his trajectory is roughly concentrated in three stages:
The first stage was around the Battle of Chibi, when Zhuge Jin was not yet the main figure in Eastern Wu. During this period, he was entrusted by Zhou Yu to persuade Zhuge Liang to submit to Eastern Wu without success; he also warned Sun Quan and Tai Shi Ci, who wanted to sneak into Zhang Liao's camp at night, when Sun Quan attacked Hefei, not to rush forward, but without success.
The second stage was during Liu Bei's capture of Yizhou to the Battle of Yiling, at which time Zhuge Jin served as an envoy to Eastern Wu, mainly responsible for urging Jingzhou. During this period, Zhuge Jin had used the excuse that lao Xiao was detained by Sun Quan to ask Liu Bei, Zhuge Liang, and Guan Yu for Jingzhou, but failed (the plan was given by Zhang Zhao in the novel); he asked Guan Yu's daughter for Sun Quan's son, but failed; Guan Yu was trapped in Maicheng and went to surrender, but without success; Liu Bei attacked Wu on a large scale and went to advise Liu Bei to strike the army, but still failed. It should be said that Zhuge Jin at this stage was quite unsuccessful and nesty as an envoy, and the novel uses words such as "holding his head and scurrying" and "full of shame" to describe Zhuge Jin's repeated running.
The third stage was after the Battle of Yiling, and the number of Zhuge Jin appearances gradually decreased, and most of them were brushed over in the form of passers-by. During this period, Zhuge Jin was mainly responsible for leading troops out on expeditions, such as: Cao Pi took advantage of the opportunity to sneak into Eastern Wu in three ways after the Battle of Yiling, Zhuge Jin led his men and horses to attack the enemies Cao Zhen and Xiahou Shang all the way; for example, when Zhou Qu broke his hair to earn Cao Xiu, Zhuge Jin refused to defend Jiangling at the behest of Lu Xun to oppose Sima Yi; for example, Zhuge Liang left Qishan, Eastern Wu was invited to attack Cao Wei, and Zhuge Jin's troops took Xiangyang, but were eventually defeated by the Wei army. In the novel, Zhuge Jin's several suggestions were not accepted, he did not complete his mission as an emissary, and the leading army and horse only played a supporting role (the protagonist was basically Lu Xun) and rarely won, it can be said that his ability is not outstanding except for the reputation of an honest gentleman.
Is the historical Zhuge Jin as depicted in the novel?
First of all, Zhuge Jin's activities before and after the Battle of Chibi in the novel are not recorded in history. Historically, Zhuge Jin was not entrusted by Zhou Yu to persuade Zhuge Liang to submit to Eastern Wu, but Zhang Zhao had recommended Zhuge Liang to Sun Quan and tried to persuade Zhuge Liang to stay in Eastern Wu. Zhuge Jin also did not advise or give advice when Sun Quan attacked Hefei.
Second, Zhuge Jin's historical role as an emissary is more or less as awkward as in the novel. Historically, Zhuge Jin did participate in the jingzhou affairs, but there was no family in Eastern Wu who designed to detain Zhuge Jin. During this period, Sun and Liu's two families even met each other, and later because Cao Cao sent troops to Hanzhong, Liu Bei was worried about Yizhou's mistakes, and finally agreed with Sun Quan to divide Changsha, Jiangxia, and Guiyang in Jingzhou to belong to Sun Quan, and Zhuge Jin also made positive efforts to achieve this matter. Historically, Zhuge Jin did not propose to Guan Yu's daughter for Sun Quan's son (the matter of Eastern Wu's courtship is recorded in history, but its person is unknown). Historically, Zhuge Jin did not say that Guan Yu had been demoted in Maicheng. Historically, Zhuge Jin wrote a letter to Liu Bei before the Battle of Yiling to dissuade Liu Bei from striking a truce, which is slightly different from the novel's volunteering to go to Liu Bei's military camp to discourage him.
Finally, in history, Zhuge Jin did have few victories in military commanders. The situation depicted in the novel in which Zhuge Jin led his troops to fight several times is recorded in history, but there are no substantial results, and in the Nan County Blockade Battle mentioned in the novel, Cao Zhen and Xiahou Shang of Cao Wei were "ambushed by Lu Xun inside, Zhuge Jin ambushed the troops outside, and attacked inside and outside, so they were defeated", which was not the case in history. In fact, Zhuge Jin's men and horses did not have any substantial battle results, but only "took the whole division to protect the territory as a merit", and Pei Songzhi's note in the "Biography of Zhuge Jin in the Three Kingdoms" once pointed out that Zhuge Jin was "slow in nature, reasoning, planning, and relying on the technique of ambush without responding to the pawn", indicating that Zhuge Jin's military command ability was average. In the third year of Jiahe (234), Sun Wu's northern campaign against Xiangyang (in the novel, in order to cooperate with the Shu Han Dynasty to attack Cao Wei at Qishan), Zhuge Jin was even more panicked because Han Bian, who had sent a message to the imperial court, was captured by the Wei army, and hurriedly asked Lu Xun to retreat. As a result, under the calm command of Lu Xun, the Wu army was able to withdraw safely. In this battle, It was entirely Lu Xun who was leading the Wu army, and Zhuge Jin only assumed the responsibility of sitting in the fleet.
Although the historical Zhuge Jin did not have the embarrassment described in the novel in his appointment as an envoy, his ability to offer advice and advice and military commanders was indeed not outstanding, and even gave people an ordinary impression. However, in history, Sun Quan has always had a lot of trust in Zhuge Jin, and during the Battle of Yiling, some people expressed doubts about Zhuge Jin's loyalty, while Sun Quan said: "Orphans and Ziyu have an oath that it is not easy to live and die, Ziyu does not live up to orphans, and Yu Lonely does not live up to ZiYu." Moreover, Zhuge Jin's career in Eastern Wu also seemed to be smooth sailing, and after Sun Quan was proclaimed emperor, he was given the title of Grand General, Zuo Du Protector, and Led Yu Prefecture Pastor.
What is the shining point in Zhuge Jin that makes Sun Quan, who is "jealous of sex", always maintain a high degree of trust?
In the author's opinion, it is because Zhuge Jin is very wise in dealing with the world.
Here are three examples:
I. Wu Jun's taishou Zhu Zhi, who had recommended Sun Quan, had always respected Zhu Zhi very much, and even if he was dissatisfied, it was difficult to personally rebuke him, so the resentment in his heart could not be resolved. Zhuge Jin saw this, but did not say it openly, but asked to use Sun Quan's meaning to rebuke Zhu Zhi, so he wrote a letter in front of Sun Quan, extensively expounding the common sense of things, and using the topic to speculate and analyze Sun Quan's inner activities in a roundabout way. After writing it, he submitted the letter to Sun Quan, who was very happy after reading it.
Second, Sun Quan once harshly reprimanded the lieutenant Yin Mo, and wanted to be convicted of a very big crime, many people interceded for Yin Mo, Sun Quan was even more angry, and repeatedly argued with the intercessors, only Zhuge Jin was silent. Sun Quan asked, "Why doesn't Ziyu speak?" Zhuge Jin left his seat and said, "Yin Mo and I, because of the great chaos in the state, witnessed the destruction of lives, and then abandoned the ancestral graves, brought the old and the young, and came to obey the indoctrination of Shengming, and among the exiles, we were blessed with nurturing and growth, but we could not supervise each other, in order to repay one-tenth of the kindness, causing Yin Mo to live up to your favor and plunge himself into sin." It's too late for me to confess my guilt, and I really don't dare to say anything. Sun Quan was very sad after hearing this, so he said, "I will forgive him for you." ”
Third, Eastern Wu Yu was exiled because of his madness, and only Zhuge Jin interceded for him many times. So much so that Yu Feng said in a letter to his relatives: "Zhuge Jin Dun is kind and merciful, imitates the heavens to nurture living beings, and thanks to his righteous words, he preserves my reputation." But my sins are so deep and my jealousy is so deep that even if someone like Qi Xi saves me, but I don't have the virtue of the Yang Tongue Clan, it is difficult to have any hope of forgiveness. The above three historical examples are not included in the novel, but it can be seen that the art of Zhuge Jin's advice, Shi Zai, Zhuge Jin and Sun Quan talked or advised, never spoke fiercely, only slightly showed an attitude, generally explained the meaning of opinions, if you see Sun Quan has signs of non-acceptance, you will temporarily put it down and talk about other things, and slowly use other things to cause the previous topic, in order to seek Sun Quan's approval for the views of the same kind of things. This kind of soft advice to put yourself in the shoes of the place has really worked well. In addition, Zhuge Jin was cautious and good at handling colleague relations, especially after gaining Sun Quan's high trust, he could actively help his colleagues resolve the crisis, so he also gained a lot of popularity. In addition, although Zhuge Jin was a representative figure of the exiled Northern Soldiers in Sun Wu's camp, he could almost reach the realm of no party, and sun Wu gradually completed the localization of Jiangdong in the later period, and the important members of the literature and martial arts were all held by the Jiangdong clan, and eventually they could hold prominent positions, not only getting along with Zhang Cheng, Bu Qi, Yan Qi, and other exiled Northern soldiers who had made great contributions to Eastern Wu in the past, but also being recognized by the Jiangdong Shi clan. In this way, Zhuge Jin's lack of shame is actually his unique strength.