In 223 AD, Liu Bei died in the White Emperor's City. Before his death, Liu Bei entrusted his son Liu Chan and the entire country to Zhuge Liang, the chancellor, leaving behind the ancient story of "White Emperor Entrusting Orphans", and also pushing Zhuge Liang and Liu Bei's relationship with the monarch to the peak. Therefore, Zhuge Liang will emotionally write in the "Table of Teachers":
"The former emperor knew that the subjects were cautious, so he sent his subjects to the collapse of the emperor to do great things."
It can be said that Liu Bei's entrustment gave Zhuge Liang endless motivation. Even if he is exhausted, he must realize the dream of the former emperor reviving the Han Room.
But in fact, As a generation of tyrants, Liu Bei is by no means an emotional person. Throughout his life, he naturally understood that human nature is the most untestable. Even if he was as loyal as Zhuge Liang, it was difficult to guarantee that he would not learn from Cao Cao to monopolize power. After all, Cao Cao was also a loyal vassal of the Han Dynasty at the beginning. Therefore, Liu Used Two Means to Ensure That Zhuge Liang Would Not Be dongquan.
First, Liu Used Moral Means to "kidnap" Zhuge Liang. Before his sickbed, Liu Bei said to Zhuge Liang:
"The king is ten times more than Cao Pi, and he will be able to secure the country and finally set great things." If the heir can be supplemented, he shall be supplemented; if he is not talented, he may take it upon himself. ”
This sentence directly gave Zhuge Liang the name of legally seizing power. But in fact, Liu Bei's move was to retreat into advance, and used moral means to force Zhuge Liang to take a stand in front of Liu Bei, indicating that he would never seize power. Sure enough, Zhuge Liang replied in tears:
"The subject dares to exert all his strength to be loyal to the Festival of Chastity, and then die!"
Of course, "moral kidnapping" alone is also unreliable. Therefore, Liu Bei left a backhand in the system, and appointed Shang Shu ling Li Yan as an auxiliary chancellor of the same level as Zhuge Liang. Not only that, Liu Bei also gave Li Yan a huge power, that is, "unifying the internal and external military." That is to say, the military power of the Shu Han was controlled by Li Yan. A two-headed pattern was formed in which Zhuge Liang was in charge of political affairs and Li Yan was in charge of military affairs.
Before Liu Bei died, Zhuge Liang's power was actually quite terrible, and he was also a chancellor, a lieutenant, and a scrivener. Thus, during the years of Jian'an and Zhang Wu, whether before or after the first lord ascended the throne, and no matter how the situation changed, Zhuge Liang had been in essence firmly in control of the supreme power of the Shu Han center. If Zhuge Liang is allowed to grasp military power again, what is the difference between him and the emperor? Therefore, Liu Bei left a hand before his death, and handed over the military power to Li Yan to take charge, so as not to prevent Zhuge Liangwei from falling.
Compared with Zhuge Liang, Li Yan, who was born in the Dongzhou sect, had very shallow qualifications, and although the official worshiped Shang Shu Ling, the actual power was different from that of Zhuge Liang, who recorded Shang Shu. As a figure who had been an official but a county too guard and had only been a few months old for Shang Shu Ling, it was too abrupt to suddenly take charge of the national military. But Liu Bei gave Li Yan a reasonable reason, that is, to defend Eastern Wu.
After Lü Meng attacked Jingzhou, killed Guan Yu, and Lu Xun defeated Liu Bei at Yiling, Eastern Wu became the main enemy of Shu Han. The Wu people not only hoarded heavy troops to Yong'an, which was handed over to Wu Shu, but also stirred up trouble in the southern central region behind the Shu Han, resulting in the serious consequences of the rebellion of both Yi and Han. After the Battle of Yiling, Liu Bei personally stationed in Yong'an, which can be described as the Son of Heaven guarding the gate of the country.
Therefore, it was reasonable to promote Li Yan on the grounds of defending Eastern Wu. From the perspective of the balance of the three major factions of Jingzhou, Dongzhou, and Yizhou, Li Yan was listed as a minister of entrustment, which was also acceptable to everyone.
Although Liu Bei's strategy was perfect, the plan could not catch up with the changes. In the field of political struggle, Li Yan was so tender that he was defeated by Zhuge Liang in three strokes and five divisions. First, Zhuge Liang sent Deng Zhi to marry Eastern Wu and eliminate their threat. As a result, Li Yan's reason for stationing in Yong'an was no longer valid. Secondly, Zhuge Liang personally conquered Nanzhong, and Li Yan had no reason not to surrender troops. After coming and going, Li Yan's military power was quickly stripped away by Zhuge Liang. The so-called "unification of internal and external military affairs" has already existed in name only.
As a result, the Shu Han Dynasty transitioned from a two-headed politics to Zhuge Liang's monopoly of power. Even Liu Chan himself said: "Sacrifice is made by widows, and politics is by Ge's family."
Although Li Yan was deprived of military power by Zhuge Liang, his restraints and checks and balances on Zhuge Liang could not be ignored. Eight years after the "White Emperor Tou lonely" incident, that is, in 231 AD, Zhuge Liang launched the Fourth Northern Expedition. In this battle, Zhuge Liang won many battles and defeated Sima Yi's main force in the Battle of Halo City, and the situation in the Northern Expedition was very good.
However, at this moment, Li Yan recruited Zhuge Liang back on the grounds that the grain transportation was not good. At the same time, Li Yan also wrote to Liu Chan, saying that "the army has retreated in disguise, and wants to lure thieves into battle." Obviously, Li Yan wanted to use this clever means to frame Zhuge Liang and make him go north in the name of fear of the enemy and cowardice.
But how can Li Yan compare with Zhuge Liang in these two sons? After Zhuge Liang returned to Chengdu, he found that the military food was very plentiful, and soon realized that this was Li Yan's ruse. But Zhuge Liang had already made preparations, and he had left behind all the letters that Li Yan had sent to him. Before and after, it was found that Li Yan's words did not match before and after. In the face of ironclad evidence, Li Yan had nothing to say and could only obediently be deposed as a shuren.
Judging from Li Yan's various performances in the Fourth Northern Expedition, he seems to be the secret pile and tips that Liu Bei reserved to guard against Zhuge Liang's usurpation of power. In the Fourth Northern Expedition, Zhuge Liang marched forward in triumph, and if he was allowed to make military merits and accumulate prestige, it would be difficult to ensure that he would not plot to usurp power. Therefore, Li Yan would forge military orders and recall Zhuge Liang, so that the achievements of the Northern Expedition would be destroyed.
All in all, Liu Bei still underestimated Zhuge Liang's integrity too much, leaving Li Yan behind, and eventually ruining the excellent situation of the Northern Expedition.