I will answer this question in two steps.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="9" > The first step: Liu had four sons, why did he pass the throne to Liu Chan? </h1>
In the second year of Zhang Wu, that is, in 222 AD, Liu Bei defeated Wu and was defeated by Lu Xun at Yiling. The following year, Liu Bei was seriously ill. Before his death, Liu Beituo was isolated from Zhuge Liang and Li Yan, and passed on his eldest son Liu Chan, and also warned Liu Chan to serve Zhuge Liang like his father.
Liu had four sons, namely Liu Feng, Liu Chan, Liu Yong, and Liu Li, so why didn't he pass the throne to his other sons? Let's analyze them one by one.
The first is Liu Feng. Liu Feng was not Liu Bei's biological son, he was only Liu Bei's righteous son, although he was older than Liu Chan, but when Liu Bei died, Liu Feng had already been given death.
Liu Feng was given death, the direct reason was that when Guan Yu launched the Battle of Xiangfan, Liu Feng did not rescue him, and he had bullied Meng Da before; but the fundamental reason was that Zhuge Liang felt that Liu Feng was too fierce, and if Liu Chan succeeded to the throne later, this righteous brother would probably be difficult to deal with.
(Liu) sealed to the end, the first lord blamed the invasion of the tomb (Meng) Da, but did not save (Guan) Yu. Zhuge Liang was worried about the fierceness of the seal, and it would be difficult to control the emperor after yi shi, so he persuaded the first lord to get rid of it. So he sealed himself and cut himself off.
It was 220 AD, and Liu Bei had not yet become emperor, but he had already become the king of Hanzhong, and he was only one step away from becoming emperor.
Of course, it can also be seen from here that even if Liu Feng did not die, Liu Bei could not pass the throne to him, after all, he was only a righteous son. Moreover, Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang had already cleared the obstacles for Liu Chan to succeed to the throne smoothly. This shows that as early as three years ago, Liu Chan was already regarded as the heir.
Liu Yong and Liu Li. At the time of Liu Bei's death, Liu Chan was only 16 years old, Liu Yong and Liu Li were younger, and the two of them were Shu Chu. They were young and still out of the woods, and according to the rules of the ancients, they were not qualified to be heirs.
Ancient emperors chose heirs, usually the eldest son, if they were old but not concubines, or concubines but not the eldest son, they could not be the heirs. During the Three Kingdoms period at the end of the Han Dynasty, some people did not abide by this rule, and as a result, they lost their families and died.
One was Yuan Shao, who liked his younger son Yuan Xi, wanted to pass the throne to Yuan Xi, and refused to set up the eldest son, Yuan Tan, as a result, after his death, the three brothers made a lot of trouble, and finally the territory was gone, the family property was gone, and the heads of the three brothers were also lost.
There was also Liu Biao, who was supposed to have the eldest son Liu Qi, but later because he loved his second son Liu Qi and listened to Lady Cai's words, he made Liu Qi the lord of Jingzhou. In the end, Liu Chun sacrificed Jingzhou, and Liu Biao's lifelong struggle was ruined.
Why is that? Because of this kind of rule, it can ensure that the monarch and the minister are single-minded, and the minister will think of assisting the eldest son and reducing unnecessary trouble.
If the emperor wanted to have other sons, the chancellor, in order to save his life or be promoted, would probably go to the emperor's favored son. In this way, the "battle for the wife" appeared.
If the emperor is among several sons, uncertain, and does not know who to choose as the heir, it will inevitably appear that "each government is independent and develops the power", the ministers are assigned, and the emperor hesitates, then it will be chaotic. At a smaller level, it may lead to cannibalism and involve family members; on a larger scale, it may cause havoc and even split the country.
For example, Cao Cao in the same period should establish Cao Pi according to the rules, but because he liked Cao Zhi, he was undecided, resulting in open and secret struggles between brothers. Later, Jia Xu took Yuan Shao and Liu Biao as counter-examples, and Cao Cao finally determined cao Pi as his heir.
Emperor Wen was a general of the five senses, and The Marquis of Linling was named Fang Sheng, each with a party and a proposal to seize the emperor... Taizu tasted the screen again, asking questions left and right, and it was not right... Xue Yue: "Si Yuan Benchu, Liu Jingsheng father and son also." Taizu laughed, so the prince decided.
This means that Cao Pi and Cao Zhi are in contention, and Cao Cao asks Jia Xu who he should choose. Jia Xu smiled and did not speak, Cao Cao asked him why he did not speak, Jia Xu said that he had just thought about the problem, so he did not reply. Cao Cao asked him again what he wanted, and Jia Xu said that he wanted Yuan Shao and Liu Biao.
Jia Xu's meaning is to remind Cao Cao that if you do not choose the eldest son, or continue to waver, you may end up like Yuan Shao's father and son and Liu Cousin's father and son.
In summary: Liu Feng is dead, Liu Yong and Liu Li are too young, or shu out, there is no inheritance qualification at all, so Liu Bei can only choose Liu Chan as the heir.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="5" > the second step: Is Liu Chan really a mediocre qualification? </h1>
Liu Chan had used eunuch Huang Hao and other traitors, causing Huang Hao to take power and participate in politics, squeezing Out Jiang Wei, who was fighting on the front line, so that Later Jiang Wei did not dare to return to Chengdu.
In 263 AD, Deng Ai's army smuggled across Yinping and defeated Zhuge Zhan's father and son at Mianzhu. Seeing that Deng Ai had hit the doorstep, Liu Chanyi did not resist, and liu Chan did not ask for help, and directly surrendered.
After the surrender, once Sima Zhao invited Liu Chan to a banquet, and specially let people perform Shudi music, and the ministers of the Shu state cried when they saw it. Sima Zhao asked Liu Chan if he missed the Shu kingdom. Liu Chan replied, "Here is the pleasure, do not think about Shu also."
After seeing this, many readers are quite angry, thinking that Liu Chan's qualifications are mediocre, or simply saying that he is a dimwitted king, and the mud cannot support the wall, and even Zhuge Liang cannot help him.
Now readers evaluate Liu Chan often very extremely, either saying that Liu Chan is faint and incompetent, or saying that Liu Chan is extremely intelligent.
But I think that Liu Chan is not actually mediocre in qualifications, he is the same as us normal people, or slightly smarter than normal people.
When zhuge liang, Dong Yun, and other sages assisted him, he would behave very well, understand the overall situation, and take the overall situation into consideration; when Zhuge Liang and others went to war, and Huang Hao and other traitors approached Liu Chan, Liu Chan was taken aside. When Zhuge Liang and Dong Yun gently pointed out Liu Chan's mistakes, Liu Chan could also correct them.
You will find that Liu Chan's "environment" has greatly affected him.
In life, most people are actually like this. If the teacher and parents keep a close eye, the child may make rapid progress, learn well, and the hobbies are normal; once the parents and teachers relax their vigilance, the child will regress, the score will decline, and even contract bad habits, such as smoking, playing games, and so on.
Therefore, I think That Liu Chan is not mediocre, he is neither faint to the extreme, nor is he extremely intelligent, he is a normal person, an ordinary person, just like you and me.
As for why Liu Chan surrendered, I think it was a wise move. After all, the Shu state was weak, and the gap with the Wei state was too big, and it was only a matter of time before it was destroyed, including Eastern Wu.
If Liu Chan resolutely did not surrender, stubbornly resisted, and when he was killed himself, he would not say that he would also have to affect his children, family members, and even none of Liu Bei's descendants would survive, and as for the people who were affected, it would certainly be even more numerous. Would such an outcome be better than surrender?
If you don't believe it, please see Wu Guosun Hao, and finally surrender, without swearing to die to resist, rather than surrender.
In the end, Liu Chan did indeed save himself. Therefore, Liu Chan is actually quite smart, and in that environment, he can do this, which is actually very good.