All politicians want to have a capable offspring to inherit their cause, or to pass it on, or to carry it forward. In any case, it is enough not to let your own piece of hard work be wasted.
Liu Bei was no exception, fighting the world all his life, but he could not see the unification of the whole country with his own eyes. Originally, I wanted to pin my hopes on my son, but unfortunately, the more I wanted something, the less successful I would be.
Although Liu Bei had four sons in his lifetime, only three were born to him. Another adopted son was also dealt with by Liu Bei under military law for delaying the military plane. Even so, the candidate's strength is lacking. Why did Liu Bei, who had three sons, pass the throne to the mediocre Liu Chan?
Liu Bei fought on the battlefield all his life, and his wife was also captured on the battlefield, so there were few heirs left behind. He had only three biological sons, Liu Chan, Liu Yong, Liu Li, and Liu Feng (adopted son). Liu Chan was the eldest son of Concubine, born to Liu Bei's original wife, Lady Gan, but was cowardly by nature and coveted fun, and did not seek advancement.
Liu Yong is Liu Bei's son, and although he is intelligent and studious, his personality in handling things is quite tough. Liu Bei was known for cherishing talents and loving talents, which is why the Shu state, which had no money and no power and three geographical advantages, could form a situation of three divisions of the world with the eastern Wu and Wei states with good congenital conditions.
The Shu kingdom relied on the heroic battles of Zhuge Liang of Wolong, who "Wolong Phoenix, can get one of them to secure the world", Zhang Feiguanyu, Zhao Zilong, and several other heroic warriors under Liu Bei's account. Therefore, Liu Bei was very attached to the character of Corporal Li Xian, but Liu Yong often did the opposite, not only arbitrarily and arbitrarily, but also at odds with the military master Zhuge Liang.
This not only did not meet the standards of Liu Bei, but if Liu Yong was allowed to inherit his own position, it would also make the status of Western Shu in jeopardy. As for Liu Li, he was too young when Liu Bei was crown prince and did not show a skill.
If Liu Li, who did not expose his shortcomings, chose Liu Li because of the obvious shortcomings displayed by the first two sons, it would be unfair to other princes, and it may cause greater hidden dangers. Moreover, this third crown prince, Liu Li, had died prematurely long ago, and he had no chance to participate in the competition for the position of prince. Thus, the position of the prince was determined in this way.
Although the "moderate" Liu Chan is incompetent, he does not have particularly obvious shortcomings, and he is kind-hearted, and he is even more a "father" to zhuge liang to honor Zhuge Liang, and he is also obedient to Zhuge Liang's decisions and absolute obedience. Moreover, at this time, the Shu Kingdom still had a large number of talents, both civilian subjects and military generals.
Choosing Liu Chan as the heir is a relatively safe choice, and Liu Bei believes that there are so many available talents around him, Liu Chan will one day be able to wake up. Therefore, there was the scene of the White Emperor City entrusting the orphans, "The emperor is ten times cao pi, and he will be able to settle the country and finally determine the big things." If the heir can be supplemented, then it is supplemented; if he is not talented, he may be the lord of Chengdu.
This means that Zhuge Liang's talent is outstanding, and he will certainly be able to achieve great things, and if Liu Chan can assist him, he will ask Zhuge Liang to teach him and do his best to assist the Hou Lord. If Liu Chan was an unsupportable Ah Dou, then Zhuge Liang could also take over the Jiangshan in Liu Bei's hands and stand on his own.
Zhuge Liang listened and quickly refused, and his brothers and sisters were frightened out of a cold sweat and hurriedly explained, "Chen An dares to exhaust the strength of the humerus, do his best to be loyal to the festival, and then die!" It shows that Zhuge Liang will definitely do his best for Liu Chan, and there is no other second thought, and this is indeed the case.
After Liu Bei left, he wholeheartedly assisted Liu Chan, and after years of conquest and running outside, he went deep into the barren land many times, which can be described as bowing down and dying. In order to appease Liu Chan, who remained in Chengdu, he also specially wrote a famous passage throughout the ages, "The Table of Teachers" to warn Liu Chan that "it is not advisable to be vain and self-effacing" It is necessary to open up the way of speech, to be pro-virtuous, and to be far from small people, so as to make the country rich and strong.
Liu Chan may not be The best choice for Liu Bei, but indeed the safest choice. Many years after Liu Bei's death, under the leadership of Zhuge Liang, all the generals also performed their duties. Before the State of Shu was captured by the State of Wei, it had a long period of rule before it surrendered.
In ancient China, in order to reduce the power dispute and the mutual killing between brothers and sisters, a strict hierarchical system was deliberately formulated. This is the patriarchal system with the "primogeniture system" as the core, which has also been continued for thousands of years, is a set of conventional systems, and is also the iron law of the dynasty.
Liu Chan, as the eldest son of Liu Yuan, should inherit Liu Bei's throne, according to the system of succession of the eldest son, no matter how talented and knowledgeable the successor is, the succession of the eldest son is justified, otherwise it will trigger a bloody storm about the throne. Liu Bei was familiar with history and naturally understood the stakes.
For example, during the six months that Later Liang had fought for the throne between fathers and brothers and killed each other, two monarchs had died tragically under the sword during this period. After the Tang Dynasty, the succession of the throne was even worse, and the struggle between uncles and nephews and brothers never stopped, and continued until the end of the five generations, leaving a country broken and the family dying.
For example, Sima Zheng of the Jin Dynasty is a typical example. He insisted on passing the throne to the son of his favorite concubine, but this son eventually killed innocents, which eventually caused the "Rebellion of the Eight Kings" and finally died in the rebellion.
The lessons of history show that to break the norm, there is a certain price to be paid, which is difficult to achieve in peacetime, let alone in the "autumn of survival". So Liu Bei chose the most suitable Liu Chan to succeed to the throne. This not only avoids internal turmoil, but also allows Zhuge Liang to have room to play, and to be consistent with the outside world, why not enjoy it?
History has evaluated Liu Chan as a "unable to support Adou" but is this really the case? A careful look at the historical facts shows that it was only twenty-nine years after Zhuge Liang's departure that Liu Chan surrendered to the State of Wei. Even if Zhuge Liang, who was as smart as Zhuge Liang, could predict things like gods and predict the major events that would happen within three years after his death, he could not make everything properly arranged for Liu Chan.
In the face of the rising State of Wei, the war years of more than twenty years were already the limit of the Shu State's insistence. Because at this time, the old ministers who had followed Liu Bei to fight the world had already passed away one after another, and the talents who supported the Shu state had disappeared, and the Shu state naturally could not escape the fate of decline.
Liu Chan may have seen this, but due to his cowardly nature, he did not rise up and resist like his father and chose to go with the flow, surrendering to the State of Wei and spending his old age as a prisoner. This was already the wisest choice for Liu Chan, who was weak in strength.
Pan Shitong once sighed that "great power is returned to the eunuch, and the strong enemy asks the gods and witches." The Stone Army was indignant, and the Returning Heavens would be bold. The mountain head once learned to shoot, and there was no revenge. Perhaps Liu Chan had no intention of becoming the monarch of a country at all, but he was powerless to resist the arrangement of fate.
As a result, the Shu kingdom that carried Liu Bei's dream of hegemony finally came to naught. Countless literati and heroes lamented this, but from Liu Chan's point of view, this was also his relief. Man has no way to choose to be born, but he can choose to struggle.