At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, in a small town in Lingling (which belongs to Yongzhou, Hunan), a child was helpless, relying on the savings left by his ancestors, picking up lamps to read at night and studying the art of war. Later, he finally succeeded, served as a county official, and was able to eat "yellow grain". This man later became a fierce general, known to women and children. People know him because he was beaten once, this person's name is Huang Gai, and the person who hit him is named Zhou Yu.
"Zhou Yu beat Huang Gai" has become a famous allusion, when Sun Jian had 4 veteran generals, namely Cheng Pu, Huang Gai, Han Dang, and Zu Mao, and Huang Gai was beaten by Zhou Yu because he and Zhou Yu played a bitter meat trick, and then made a miracle. Since then, Huang Gai's fame has not only overpowered the other three, but also been praised in the folk. But in fact, readers have a hard time finding historical evidence that Huang Gai was beaten.
The earliest thing to say that Zhou Yu beat Huang Gai was Luo Guanzhong's "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", but the composition of this book is heavier and cannot be counted as historical materials. Let's start with Huang Gai's resume, according to the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms And Huang Gai's Biography":
Huang Gai characters are covered by gongfu, and the Lingling Quanling people are also. Sun Jian raised a volunteer soldier and covered it. Jian Xue, Gai Sui Zhi and Quan, Armor Circling, Slaughtering the City with Blades... The mountains are more and more unobtrusive, and there are counties of Kou Difficulty, and they use the cover as the chief of the guard.
Huang Gai was Sun Jian's old general, who followed Sun Jian in his early years, and after Sun Jian's death, Huang Gai followed Sun Ce and Sun Quan. Over the years, Sun Jian followed the three sons and sons of the Sun clan to the north and south, attacking the city strategically, and was regarded as a meritorious person. Huang Gai's ability was absolutely first-class at that time, when most of the Shanyue tribes did not obey Sun Jian's management, and if there was a place where thieves were prevalent, as long as Huang Gai was transferred to be a local official for a period of time, he could smoothly settle the situation. Therefore, Huang Gai was repeatedly used by The Father and Son of Jiangdong.
Huang Gai was born and died with Jiangdong's father and son, which was enough to be respected, and then, in the Battle of Chibi, Huang Gai offered a plan and personally led the troops to surrender, which was indispensable. The Romance of the Three Kingdoms records:
In Jian'an, with Zhou Yu rejecting Cao Gong at Chibi, Jian Ce attacked with fire, and the language was transmitted in Yu.
In the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Huang Gai suggested attacking with fire, and made a plan with Zhou Yu to surrender. As a canonical history, the Romance of the Three Kingdoms acknowledges that Huang Gai deceived Cao Cao, but does not write a "bitter meat plan", that is, the Romance of the Three Kingdoms does not say that Huang Gai was beaten by Zhou Yu.
Sima Guang, a great historian of the Northern Song Dynasty, when writing the Zizhi Tongjian, only said:
Yubu will cover Huang Gaiyi: "Now that the people are many and I am widowed, it is difficult and lasting." Operate the military company ships, end to end, can burn and go also. "Ten ships of the Meng Chong Dou warship were taken, carrying dry di and dry firewood, pouring oil into them, wrapping them in a curtain, building a flag on it, and preparing to take the ship, and tying it to its tail." First of all, with the book will be left behind, and the deception will fall.
Sima Guang said: Huang Gai wrote a book to deceive Cao Cao, nor did he say anything about Zhou Yu beating Huang Gai.
Huang Gai's tomb in Nanling County, Wuhu City, Anhui Province, its epitaph was once excavated, only recorded Huang Gai's life, the content is basically the same as the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms Huang Gai Biography", and did not write about his beating, it can be seen that "Zhou Yu hit Huang Gai" does not exist. Some scholars said: Let's not wrongfully accuse Zhou Yu anymore, he really did not give a cruel hand to a veteran.
While burning Cao Cao's warship, Huang Gai was hit by a stray arrow from Cao's army. Because the scene was very chaotic at that time, Huang Gai was wearing heavy armor, almost drowned in the water, and was later rescued, but the soldiers who saved Huang Gai did not know Huang Gai, but just arranged it on the "toilet bed". What is a "toilet bed"? It is a toilet in an ancient toilet. Huang Gai was dying, unable to speak, suddenly exerted all his strength, endured severe pain, and called out the name of his comrade-in-arms Han Dang, Han Dang rushed to arrive after hearing it, saw Huang Gai's appearance, couldn't help but cry, and quickly tore open Huang Gai's clothes to heal his wounds. Otherwise, Huang Gai may have died in the toilet.
Later, Huang Gai accompanied Sun Quan to fight in the four directions, quelled the rebellion many times, and was a veteran general with full prestige in Jiangdong. Therefore, some people say that although the four veterans of Jiangdong are headed by Cheng Pu, in fact, the most respected one is Huang Gai.
The author believes that Huang Gai was born and died with Jiangdong's father and son, which shows his courage; dedication to Cao Cao shows his wisdom. As a famous general of the Three Kingdoms, Huang Gai had courage and strategy, and was once considered to be "the only famous general in Chinese history who was famous for being beaten", and then nearly 2,000 years later, people could not find evidence of his beating in the historical data. The spirit of Huang Gai is worth carrying forward, but the true situation of Huang Gai should also be known by future generations, and do not believe in the interpretation.