"At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, there were three kingdoms, and the flames continued endlessly." There have been many turbulent years in the ancient history of our country. In turbulent times, a large number of outstanding talents emerge. Or good at war, or good at politics. These talents generally had a huge impact on the society of the time and were recorded in the annals of history for future generations to evaluate.
Among the many turbulent years, the last year of the Eastern Han Dynasty is the most famous. As the second major turbulent era in China's ancient history after the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States. It is the most documented turbulent era in various annals of history and folk fiction.
In the last years of the Eastern Han Dynasty, due to the corruption and incompetence of the Han rulers, the various princely states that should have been ruled by the Han King rebelled one after another and got rid of the rule of the Han Dynasty. Hundreds of princely states, large and small, were formed, and wars arose between them for limited land and resources.
In the end, due to successive wars between the princely states, only three states remained. The State of Shu in the Bashu Region, the State of Wei in the Central Plains, and the State of Wu in the Eastern Coastal Region. At this time, the Han Dynasty collapsed and officially entered the era of the Three Kingdoms.
Among the three countries of Shu, Wei and Wu, because Liu Bei, the monarch of the Shu State, claimed to be a descendant of the Han Dynasty and developed under the banner of reviving the Han Dynasty, the Shu State was the most well-known. Today we are mainly talking about Guan Yu in the Shu Kingdom. Guan Yu was a long man with Liu Bei and Zhang Fei during the war. He ranked second among the three brothers, so posterity called him Guan Erye. Later, he followed Liu Bei on conquests for many years and made great military achievements.
After the establishment of the Shu state, he was named the head of the Five Tiger Generals, which shows the importance of Guan Yu to Liu Bei and even to the entire Shu state. In fact, Guan Yu had a great influence not only on the Shu Kingdom, but also on the entire Three Kingdoms era. Guan Yu was one of the best martial arts masters in the Three Kingdoms, and a Green Dragon Crescent Moon Sword struck an invincible hand all over the world. He was admired by the world, and later generations even ranked him as a "martial saint" and a "wensheng" Confucius. It can be seen that Guan Yu's status in people's hearts is high.
As strong as Guan Yu also has a fatal weakness, that is, conceit. When Guan Yu was stationed in Maicheng, he ignored the advice given by his subordinates to close the city and insist on going out of the city to fight. Unexpectedly, in the middle of the enemy's treacherous plan, Guan Yu was defeated and defeated maicheng. He was later captured by Sun Quan and beheaded after unsuccessful persuasion. A generation of heroes fell. But now we think, if Sun Quan had handed Guan Yu over to Cao Cao, what would have happened?
As we all know, when Guan Yu defeated Maicheng, it was already the end of the Three Kingdoms, and at this time, no one in the Three Kingdoms of Shu Wei and Wu had the strength to defeat any one country, so if they wanted to win, they could only unite. At that time, the alliance between Liu Bei and Cao Cao had already broken down, and if Sun Quan gave Guan Yu to Cao Cao, would it be conducive to Wu Wei's alliance and then annihilate the Shu state?
In fact, Cao Cao admired Guan Yu very much, because when Cao Cao was a small warlord, he had seen Guan Yu's majesty of "warm wine and huaxiong". Later, Guan Yu was captured by Cao Cao, and Cao Cao threatened to induce him, but Guan Yu was unmoved and eventually returned to his eldest brother Liu Beijun after "passing five levels and cutting six generals", which made Cao Cao appreciate Guan Yu even more.
However, although Cao Cao admired Guan Yu, the final result would certainly be unsatisfactory. Because Guan Yu walked the rivers and lakes, he relied on the word Zhongyi. Many wars broke out between the Wei and Shu states, occupying many of the shu states. As the xiandi brother of the King of Shu, he helped the enemies of the eldest brother to attack his country. This kind of thing will feel shameful to put on anyone. Not to mention Second Master Guan, who is famous for his loyalty.
Therefore, even if Sun Quan made a personal gesture to send Guan Yu to Cao Cao, the final result was only two. In the first case, Guan Yu would rather die and refuse to serve Cao Cao, and Cao Cao had no choice but to send him back to the Shu or Wu kingdoms; the second situation was that Cao Cao saw that Guan Yu was unwilling to serve himself, and he was worried that letting him return to Shu would affect his future crusades, so he could only execute him.
In fact, even if Cao Cao didn't kill him, Guan Yu would not be able to escape this fate. Releasing him back to the Shu kingdom would certainly arouse Liu Bei's suspicions, and even if Liu Bei did not suspect it, how would the soldiers of the Shu state look at this defeated general who had returned from the enemy country. Therefore, in the Shu kingdom, Guan Yu would not be reused again; in the Wu kingdom, it was even simpler, since Guan Yu did not serve the Wu state, it was naturally impossible to release the tiger back to the mountain, and he could only be executed.
Conclusion: Seeing that this may be some people will ask, in the vast world, there is no place for Guan Yu? And in that era of seizing the world by force, shouldn't a fierce general like Guan Yu be very useful? In fact, in that turbulent era, martial arts were indeed very important, but it did not mean that if you were strong in martial arts, you would definitely have a good end.
In the Battle of Tiger Prison Pass, Liu Guanzhang and the three of them fought together against Lü Bu, but they could not defeat it. It can be seen that Lü Bu's martial arts are superb, even far above Guan Yu, and in the end, he has not fallen into the reputation of a three-surnamed family slave and died tragically at the hands of others. From the above point of view, even if Sun Quan gave Cao Cao to Guan Yu, Guan Yu's fate would not be much better, perhaps, to this image of a loyal martyr killed on the battlefield is his best belonging.