In the Three Kingdoms era, although the Shu Han clique was the weakest country, before Guan Yu lost Jingzhou, there were still many talents within the Shu state. After the Battle of Yiling, the talents of the Shu kingdom withered in large numbers; Zhuge Liang, the chancellor, was cautious in doing things, so he always had to do it himself after he had great power. Perhaps readers will wonder, is there really no talent in the Shu Kingdom?
Obviously not, there was also a buried wizard in the Shu Kingdom at that time, named Liao Li. To be fair, this man's strategy did have some bright spots, but no one recommended him; under the circumstances of Huai Cai's absence, Liao Li had to complain. Unexpectedly, Zhuge Liang used the excuse of slandering the former emperor to depose him and completely exclude him from the Shu court. Therefore, when Chen Shou made a biography for Liao Li, he was also juxtaposed with Liu Feng, Peng Xi and other criminal ministers. So the question is, why did this person who initially praised Zhuge Liang as a wizard end up in such a field?
By the time Liu Bei came to Jingzhou, Liao Li, a Wuling man, was already quite talented. Perhaps at this time, Liu Bei, who was eager for talent, had already met Liao Li. Thus the Romance of the Three Kingdoms? Liao Li's biography records that "the first lord led Jingzhou Mu, who was engaged in it, and was promoted to Changsha Taishou when he was not yet thirty years old." Liu Bei still attached great importance to Liao Li, and after he entered Shu, Sun Quan sent Lü Meng to attack the three counties of Jiangnan in Jingzhou (Changsha, Lingling, and Guiyang), but Liao Li was no match for the Wu army, and he abandoned the city and fled. But even so, Liu Bei still did not rebuke him: "The first lord treated him with knowledge, but did not deeply blame him, thinking that Ba County was too defensive." ”
Regarding Liao Li's ability, there is no clear record in the history books. But in Zhuge Liang's evaluation, Liao Li was an amazing person. At that time, it was Zhuge Liang and Guan Yu who were sitting in Jingzhou. Sun Quan of Jiangdong sent people to exchange feelings with Zhuge Liang, during which he asked Liu Bei what talents he had. Zhuge Liang replied: "Pang Tong, Liao Li, Chu Zhi Liangcai, when the praise of the world is also." "Pang Tong, who followed Liu Bei into Shu, his military talent was well known to everyone; he was a strategic talent under Liu Bei's command who was comparable to Fazheng. In terms of military ability, both of them are far superior to Zhuge Liang. But in Zhuge Liang's evaluation, Liao Li's ability can match Pang Tong's.
Throughout Liao Li's life, he lacked the opportunity to express himself, so posterity could not judge his talent level. In addition, Zhuge Liang praised Liao Li's thoughts, which was also very intriguing. On the one hand, Liu Bei valued Liao Li very much, so once Zhuge Liang belittled the latter, wouldn't that indirectly mean that Liu Bei had no vision? Therefore, when facing the talents that Liu Bei liked, Zhuge Liang generally supported them. For example, after Fa Zheng did the Shu Commandery Taishou, because of his personal grudge, Zhuge Liang did not pay much attention to him. On the other hand, Zhuge Liang did not "show off his muscles" to his allies, so that Sun Quan felt that there were really many talents within the Shu Han clique.
One thing is certain, regardless of whether Liao Li has the talent to learn, Zhuge Liang is not optimistic about him. This is also an important reason for Liao Li's tragedy, he prides himself on being a wizard, but he is not reused, and he will naturally complain over time. For example, when Pang Tong made the Laiyang County Order, he "did not rule in the county and dismissed officials", or Eastern Wu Lusu wrote a letter to Liu Bei, and then Zhuge Liang saw that Lu Su had expressed his position and began to echo it, and Pang Tong was reused by Liu Bei and became a military division alongside Zhuge Liang. Coincidentally, Jiang Huan also did not meet with Huai Cai, Liu Bei saw him drinking and mishandling, and even moved to kill; Zhuge Liang saw that his successor was in danger, so he quickly entered the speech, saying that Jiang Huan was a "talent of the society", which saved the latter's life.
Unlike Pang Tong and Jiang Huan, Zhuge Liang's attitude toward Liao Li was to suppress him. "Establishing his original intention, he claimed that his name should be Zhuge Liang's second son, and he wandered under Li Yan and others, often harboring pity." After Liu Bei's death, under Zhuge Liang's intentional or unintentional suppression, Liao Li never had the opportunity to show his talents, until one time, he began to "complain" about Liu Bei and others.
Let's take a look at Liao Li's evaluation, the main content is three aspects. The first is that "the former emperor did not take Hanzhong, went to fight with the Wu people for the three southern counties, died with the three counties and the Wu people, and worked in vain to serve the officials, and returned without benefit." It is not difficult to find that this is indeed a mistake in Liu Bei's strategic decision-making. Because Liu Bei did not attack Hanzhong in the first time after he captured Yizhou. Because of this, Zhang Lu surrendered to Cao Cao one step ahead of schedule, and the latter was also quick to send Zhang Gao, Xiahou Yuan, and others to transfer the most important strategic material, the population, to the interior. Liu Bei defeated Hanzhong, in fact, the loss was very large.
The second is that "Yu Yi is brave in his name, unable to be an army, and directly to his ears, so he has lost several people before and after." Liu Bei ordered Guan Yu to guard Jingzhou alone, which was obviously a mistake. Guan Yu is "rigid and self-conscious" and despises the scholar, so he does not know how to make friends with Sun Quan, but instead regards Jiangdong Haojie as a rat. In the end, due to the betrayal of the villain, he finally ended up in defeat.
The third is "such as Xiang Lang and Wen Gong, the ears of ordinary people." There is no discipline in the rule of Gong Zuo; Lang Used to worship the Brothers of Ma Liang, called saints, and now he is a long history, and he can be in harmony." Although Zhuge Liang later reduced Liao Li to a commoner and exiled him to the border, it was an excuse for Liao Li to desecrate the former emperor. But in the author's opinion, Liao Li told the truth, which made Zhuge Liang squeeze out of the center.
It is not difficult to find that these people evaluated by Liao Li, such as Xiang Lang, Wen Gong, Guo Youzhi, Wang Lian, and others, are all Zhuge Liang's confidants. But was Liao Li wrong? Judging from the performance of these people, they really don't have much talent. But they were all Zhuge Liang's henchmen, so their positions were also disdained by Liao Li. Before that, Liao Li had also complained a lot, but Zhuge Liang saw that he was the favored subject of the former emperor and did not make much calculations.
As soon as Liao Li said this, Zhuge Liang realized that Liao Li could not have been used for himself. Soon after, Zhuge Liang went to the stage to impeach Liao Li, giving him the charge of "slandering the former emperor and destroying the courtiers." In this way, Liao Li was completely expelled from the imperial court, "so he abolished the people and moved to Wenshan County."
Liao Li's last comment was sharp and pertinent. Unfortunately, he offended Zhuge Liang, who practiced "mountaintop doctrine." From Liao Li's tragedy, it can be seen that one of the fatal problems in the selection of talents in that era at that time was that under the cloak of "using people with meritocracy", it was wrapped in the narrow concept of "nepotism is use". Even Zhuge Liang, who is known as a sage, could not jump out of this circle. Thinking of Cao Cao's confidant generals, who were also generals with the same surname, it can be seen that there was a sad system under the seemingly prosperous society at that time.
Reference book: Romance of the Three Kingdoms