In 260, Sima Zhao killed Emperor Cao. Admittedly, this was another blow to the Cao Wei Sect Chamber. However, the act of killing the monarch still made Sima Zhao criticized. Therefore, Sima Zhao hopes to resolve the criticism of the world by making meritorious achievements. For Sima Zhao, there were two choices in front of him, one was to use troops against Shu Han, and the other was to attack Eastern Wu. Because the overall strength of Eastern Wu was stronger than that of Shu Han, coupled with the need to destroy Eastern Wu, a large number of ships needed to be built, which prompted Sima Zhao to decide to use troops against Shu Han first. In 263, after relatively adequate preparations, Sima Zhao officially launched the Battle of Wei and Shu.
In this battle, Sima Zhao mobilized 180,000 troops and handed them over to deng ai, Zhuge Xu, and Zhong Hui. According to Sima Zhao's deployment, Deng Ai led the Western Route Army, with a strength of about 30,000 troops, with the goal of containing Jiang Wei in Tuntian, Puzhong. Zhuge Xu led the Zhonglu Army, with a strength of about 30,000 troops, and the task was to cut off Jiang Wei's retreat. From this, it is very obvious that neither Deng Ai nor Zhuge Xu led the main force, and the task was also biased towards a diversionary and auxiliary nature.
In this context, the remaining more than 100,000 soldiers and horses were led by Zhong Hui, the main general of the Eastern Route Army. For Zhong Hui, who set out from Chang'an, directly attacking the land of Hanzhong was also the gateway and throat of Shu Han. Therefore, Zhong Hui naturally undertook the task of attacking. So, the question is, after the fall of the Shu Han, what was the end of Zhong Hui, Deng Ai, and Zhuge Xu?
One
First, although Sima Zhao made a relatively careful plan, the plan could not catch up with the changes, and the encirclement of Deng Ai and Zhuge Xu still failed to stop Jiang Wei, who successfully retreated to the area around the Sword Pavilion, thus blocking Zhong Hui's army. In this regard, in the author's opinion, Jiang Wei's performance in the Battle of Wei and Shu was first-class. After the Sword Pavilion was blocked by Jiang Wei, Zhong Hui even had the intention to retreat, after all, the grain and grass supply of more than 100,000 troops was relatively large.
Of course, Deng Ai seized the opportunity of Jiang Wei and Zhong Hui's confrontation, smuggled across Yinping, crossed the 700-mile deserted area, chiseled the mountain and opened the way, and came to the hinterland of Shu Han. After defeating Zhuge Zhan, Deng Ai besieged Chengdu, forcing the later lord Liu Chan to give up resistance. As a result, the Shu Han Dynasty officially went to extinction in November 263. It is worth noting that after Liu Chan gave up his resistance, he also demanded that Jiang Wei and others also surrender to Cao Wei. After receiving the order, Jiang Wei chose to surrender to Zhong Hui. Therefore, Zhong Hui took Jiang Wei and others to Chengdu.
On the other hand, after learning the news of the demise of the Shu Han Dynasty, Sima Zhao made Deng Ai a lieutenant and Zhong Hui as a Situ. During the Three Kingdoms period, Taiwei, Situ, and Sikong were called the Three Dukes, and their status was very prominent. For example, Sima Zhao's father, Sima Yi, was once made a lieutenant by the Wei Ming Emperor Cao Rui. However, the Three Dukes were also an honorary official, which reflected Sima Zhao's precautions against Zhong Hui and Deng Ai. In this regard, in the author's opinion, Sima Zhao has not completely replaced Cao Wei, and now Zhong Hui and Deng Ai have made great contributions, which is already suspected of being a meritorious master.
Two
In this context, under the persuasion of Jiang Wei, Zhong Hui already had the ambition to divide Yizhou. Of course, Zhong Hui wants to rebel, and Deng Ai is an opponent who must be eliminated. Because Deng Ai had long resisted Jiang Wei's attacks in the Yongliang region, this contributed to his relatively high prestige among Cao Wei's generals. If Deng Ai zhen shouted, Zhong Hui would divide Yizhou and it would be a fool's dream. Therefore, Zhong Hui framed Deng Ai to Sima Zhao, meaning that Deng Ai had plans to rebel.
As far as Deng Ai was concerned, he was also proud of his achievements after the fall of Shu Han, such as arbitrarily naming Liu Chan as a general of the Hussars, and dividing the hundred officials of Shu Han, that is, Deng Ai did leave the handle of being attacked. Therefore, Sima Zhao asked Wei Ou to arrest Deng Ai and send him back to the capital Luoyang. Of course, Deng Ai did not wait to prove his innocence, and after the failure of the Zhong Hui rebellion, Wei Ou sent someone to kill Deng Ai.
Correspondingly, after Deng Ai was arrested, Zhong Hui decided to give it a go. On the sixteenth day of the first month of 264, Zhong Hui summoned the guards, county guards, and generals above the governor of Yamen, as well as the original officials of the Shu kingdom, to mourn the Wei Ming Emperor Guo's empress dowager at the Shu kingdom court, and under the pretext of her will, he raised an army to depose Sima Zhao.
Three
Zhong asked the generals to write down their consent on the plate as proof, and appointed his cronies to lead the various soldiers and horses. But the Wei generals did not follow. So Zhong Hui locked them all up in the various government offices of Yizhou and sent troops to guard them strictly. Zhong Hui had a heavy subordinate named Qiu Jian, who was an old subordinate of Hu Lie, and he said to Zhong Hui: A close associate should be sent to pour water for Hu Lie's food, and the doormen of the various teeth should also prepare a member of the attendants according to the routine.
Hu Lie took the opportunity to fabricate a lie that Zhong Hui had dug a big pit and wanted to kill the generals one by one and bury them in the pit. The soldiers of the tooth gatekeepers also spread this rumor by word of mouth, and overnight everyone heard about it, and people's hearts floated. Someone suggested to Zhong Hui: "All officials above the governor of the Yamen Should be killed." "The bell will hesitate, which is naturally more deadly.
At noon on the eighteenth day of the first month of 264 AD, Hu Lie's subordinates and Hu Lie's sons went out to beat drums, and all the soldiers and soldiers were not led, and they all rushed to the city gate. When The clock would just give Jiang Wei armor and weapons, and when he heard that there were soldiers outside, Zhong would ask Jiang Wei how he was good. Jiang Wei said, "But when the ear is struck." On the eighteenth day of the first month of the fifth year of Jing Yuan (264), Zhong Hui and Jiang Wei died in a mutiny at the age of forty.
From this, it is very obvious that zhong hui and Deng Ai both died after the fall of the Shu Han. As far as Zhuge Xu is concerned, he has obtained a good ending. According to the Records of the Three Kingdoms and other historical records, Zhuge Xu came from Langya County, Xuzhou, that is, he and Zhuge Liang came from the same family. However, there is no clear statement as to what the two have a generational relationship. After serving Cao Wei, Zhuge Xu first held the official position of Taishou and other officials, and later made military achievements because he resisted the attack of the Eastern Wu army, and Zhuge Xu was named the Assassin of Yongzhou by Sima Zhao, thus participating in the Battle of Wei and Shu that broke out in 263 AD.
Four
Finally, in the Battle of Wei and Shu, Zhuge Xu failed to complete the task of cutting off Jiang Wei's back road, resulting in Jiang Wei successfully returning to the Sword Pavilion, which is actually a more irresponsible place, if Jiang Wei successfully saved Shu Han, Zhuge Xu would obviously be punished by the imperial court. In this context, in order to expand his military power, Zhong Hui wrote directly to Sima Zhao, accusing Zhuge Xu.
For Sima Zhao, he also thought that Zhuge Xu was embarrassed and useful, so he simply transferred him back to the capital Luoyang. After Zhuge Xu was transferred back to Luoyang, the 30,000 soldiers and horses under his command also belonged to Zhong Hui. Coupled with the fact that Later Jiang Wei led tens of thousands of soldiers and horses to surrender to Zhong Hui, who theoretically commanded an army of 200,000 troops, this is undoubtedly the basis for Zhong Hui to rebel.
It was precisely because he left the front line that Zhuge Xu naturally could not share the fruits of victory, that is, he did not become a hero in the elimination of Shu Han. However, there is an old saying: "Sai Weng lost his horse, and he knew that it was not a blessing". After the fall of the Shu Han Dynasty, Zhuge Xu was not implicated in the Zhonghui Rebellion because he was thousands of miles away, and he was not wrongfully killed like Deng Ai. In 265, after Sima Zhao's death, Sima Yan took the throne and soon after replaced Cao Wei and established the Western Jin Dynasty.
In the early Western Jin Dynasty, Zhuge Xu held official positions such as Taichang and Wei Wei, and both Taichang and Wei wei belonged to one of the Nine Qings, which was also a prominent official position. Moreover, Zhuge Xu's granddaughter Zhuge Wan was also married to Sima Yan. Therefore, Zhuge Xu's descendants were highly valued by the Western Jin Dynasty. Therefore, for the three main generals of the Shu army, the lowest-key Zhuge Xu had the best ending.