At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the world was in chaos, soldiers were like fire, life was fleeting, and human life was invincible to grass and trees. At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the population of the country had reached 40 to 50 million. After experiencing the struggle in the Three Kingdoms era, by the time of the unification of Emperor Wu of Jin, the population of the country was less than 10 million, and the average life expectancy in this period was less than 30 years.
Ancient people were not born short-lived, but because of war, hunger and plague, the living environment was extremely poor, so a large number of people died in their teens and twenties. However, few of the famous characters in the history books lived to be less than 30 years old, and there was no shortage of long-lived people, such as Sima Yi, who laughed to the end, who lived to be 72 years old, and that era was definitely a high lifespan. Zhuge Liang lived for 53 years, and he had already died prematurely.
It can be seen that as long as there is sufficient food, there is no sudden illness and military struggle, and it is natural to live to be over 50 years old.
However, in the position of governor of Eastern Wu, Zhou Yu, Lu Su and Lü Meng, judging from their performance in history, are all world-class wizards, but it is very strange that all of them died young. Among them, Zhou Yu died at the age of 36, Lu Su died at the age of 45, and Lü Meng died at the age of 42. When the three died, their respective positions in Eastern Wu reached a level of more than ten thousand people under one person. Naturally, they would not lack necessary information such as food, and they would also use the best medical treatment at that time.
Therefore, it is still very strange that the three heroes died at the peak of their lives:
Before Zhou Yu died: he had just won the battle of Chibi, which shined history, and personally led his troops to defeat Cao Cao's general Cao Ren. Soon after, Zhou Yu requested Sun Quan to attack Bashu and Hanzhong, and join forces with Ma Chao to seize the world. Sun Quan just promised Zhou Yu, and he died;
Before Lu Su's death: Lu Su once formulated a grand strategic phalanx similar to Zhuge Liang's "Longzhong Pair", also known as "Wuzhong Pair" or "Tatashang Strategy", for Sun Quan, which pointed out the direction for the development of Eastern Wu. After he succeeded Zhou Yu, the strength of the Shu state rapidly expanded, he proceeded from the actual situation, without a frontal war, recaptured the three counties of Changsha from the Shu state, and maintained an alliance with the Shu state, jointly against Cao Wei, Wu guo and Shu state entered a honeymoon period of cooperation, this stage when both sides had achievements in the fight against the Wei state, suddenly Lu Su died;
Before Lü Meng's death: Lü Meng's most brilliant stroke before his death was to cross the river in white clothes, force Guan Yu to take Maicheng and retake Jingzhou. However, after this battle, the two countries of Wu and Shu were no longer in common, Liu Bei was about to raise a large army to attack Eastern Wu, and when Eastern Wu was employing people, Sun Quan looked forward to Lü Meng presiding over the overall situation, and in infinite regret, Lü Meng also died.
The reason why the three governors of Eastern Wu were chosen here before their deaths was to let everyone see that their cooperation with Sun Quan before their deaths was in a very good state, and Eastern Wu was also employing people, so they had neither merit nor the possibility of supporting the army to stand on their own, Sun Quan absolutely had no motive to get rid of the three people, and there was no conspiracy theory for the death of the three people.
As for Zhou Yu's death by Zhuge Liang and Lü Meng's death by Guan Yu's possession, such statements are all interesting imaginations added by Luo Guanzhong to the novel "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", which is impossible in reality.
Is it some coincidence that three people died young in the same position, and what is the reason for this result?
In the Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms, Cao Cao, recalling the life of the great strategist Guo Jia, once mentioned that a sentence might answer this question:
Many people are afraid of disease, and there is an epidemic in the south, (Guo Jia) often says: If I go to the south, I will not survive.
It can be seen that during the Three Kingdoms period, the south, which had not yet been fully developed, was a dangerous place. Guo Jia even once told Cao Cao that if he went to the south to fight, he would not survive. Cao Cao also explained the reason, that is, people are afraid of diseases, and there are epidemics in the south.
As we all know, in the history of our country, there has always been the habit of degrading the out-of-favor ministers to the south, the more famous ones are Kou Zhun, Su Shi, and so on, and many people have also died because of the harsh natural conditions in the south. In the Song Dynasty where Kou Zhun and Su Shi were located, the development of the south had made great progress, and the environment was still very bad, not to mention the Three Kingdoms period.
Because of this, Cao Cao recalled that Guo Jia was often moved when he had to first conquer Jingzhou, believing that Guo Jia would spare his life for himself.
Later, in the Battle of Cao Cao's Chibi, before crossing the Yangtze River, the army was infected with the plague due to the disobedience of water and soil, and it is conceivable what would happen if he crossed the river, and if Guo Jia was still there, whether he could avoid the infection of the disease if he was weak.
Liu Sui, Tai Shi Ci and others also died in their forties, Ling Tong was only 29 years old when he died, and although Gan Ning did not know his age when he died, it was not yet the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty at that time, and it can also be determined that he died young and early.
On the other hand, Eastern Wu lived for a long time, usually zhang Zhao, who lived in Jianye for a long time and did not need to fight outside. Throughout the history books, only Ding Feng was the one who lived the longest among the Eastern Wu conscripts. In the entire "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", Lu Xun and Zhuge Liang are the only two non-monarchs who have been passed down separately, and the high historical status is inseparable from his "advanced age" of the final 62 years old, and a key reason for Lu Xun's health is that he is a Native of Jiangsu, has a good adaptability to the climate and environment, and the conquest of the southern region is much less than that of the three governors of Zhou Lulu.
Song Fang Spoon 'Po House Compilation' said
"The imperial court added a lot of money to the reward, and the officials often did not make up for it. He did not dare to stay in the line of office, or even to move the Wen Suo case to the boundary." This means that the imperial court gave a lot of Feng Lu, and no one used to be an official, and there were those who ran errands in the past, and they came back immediately after going there, and did not dare to stay.
Using today's natural knowledge to look at the death of the three governors of Eastern Wu and the plague that often spread in the south, there should be the following reasons:
1, the climate is hot and humid; 2, mosquitoes, snakes and beasts bite, plague spread; 3, miasma.
During the Three Kingdoms period, there were large tracts of primeval forest in the south, and large armies moved between various cities and pools, sometimes without even roads, and could only cross the forest. The early warriors who fought with Sun Jian were brought from Anhui, Zhejiang, Henan, Shandong and other places, the body did not adapt to the humid and hot weather, once sick, the medical conditions were poor, it was easy to die young; mosquitoes in the warm environment multiplied densely, it was easy to spread the disease, and even some mosquitoes themselves were poisonous; miasma was unique to the south, mainly formed by leaf rot, a large area of primitive forest existed for thousands of years, the leaves covered by the ground were layered, and the gas emitted after decay was easy to poison and get sick.
In summary, the hero's career is all arduous, and it should not be a coincidence that Zhou Yu, Lu Su and Lü Meng all died tragically in the same position.