During the Three Kingdoms period, most people's names were single characters, such as Liu Bei, Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun, Guan Yu, Ma Chao, Huang Zhong, and so on. On this basis, the situation of duplicate names is naturally difficult to avoid. For example, Eastern Wu and Shu Han both had a military general named Ma Zhong. Among them, Ma Zhong of Eastern Wu participated in the campaign to sneak attack Jingzhou in 219 AD and captured Guan Yu's father and son. Ma Zhong of the Shu Han Dynasty was highly respected by Liu Bei and held the southern central region of the Shu Han for a long time, thus providing a stable rear for Zhuge Liang and Jiang Wei's Northern Expedition.
Of course, for Liu Dai, who the author wants to talk about today, there is also a situation of the same name and surname. During the Three Kingdoms period at the end of the Han Dynasty, there were two historical figures named Liu Dai, one was a prince who divided Yanzhou, and the other was a subordinate of Cao Cao. Let's talk about these two historical figures together.
I. Liu Dai (Cao Cao's general)
On the one hand, as far as Cao Cao's subordinate Liu Dai was concerned. Because of the lack of historical records, there is no clear statement about liu dai's birth and death time. It is worth noting that Liu Dai was a native of Peiguo (沛国, in modern Northwestern Suixi, Anhui), while Cao Cao was a native of Peiguo County (沛国谯县, in modern Bozhou, Anhui). From this, Liu Dai can barely be said to be Cao Cao's compatriot. Further, Liu Dai probably followed Cao Cao in the last years of the Eastern Han Dynasty.
In 196 AD, Cao Cao welcomed Emperor Xian of Han and moved the capital to Xuchang. In the same year, Emperor Xian of Han created Cao Cao one of the Three Dukes. In this context, Cao Cao appointed Liu Dai as sikong changshi, that is, Liu Dai at this time, mainly to help Cao Cao deal with the affairs of Sikong Province. Later, because of his military merits, Liu Dai was rewarded with the title of Marquis.
"Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Chronicle of Emperor Wu" Pei Note: Emperor Xian's Spring and Autumn Period: Beizhi Dai and others: "Let the hundred people of Ru come, and they are nothing like me; Cao Gong came from himself, and he did not know the ear!" "Wei Wu Story: Dai Zi Gong Shan, Pei Guo ren. With the long history of Sikong from the conquest, he was awarded the title of Marquis.
In 199 AD, in order to get rid of Cao Cao, the powerful vassal, the Cheqi general Dong Cheng established the Yidaizhao clique at the request of Emperor Xian of Han. In this regard, Liu Bei, who was attached to Cao Cao at the time, also chose to join. In 200 AD, Cao Cao learned the secret of the Yidai Edict, so he immediately eliminated Dong Cheng and other imperial court ministers. Liu Bei was sent by Cao Cao to Xuzhou to intercept Yuan Shu, and was able to escape the disaster temporarily.
Of course, Cao Cao attached great importance to Liu Bei as an opponent, so he asked Liu Dai to lead an army to attack Xuzhou. However, Liu Dai was soon defeated by Liu Bei. It is worth noting that since being defeated by Liu Bei, there is no record of Liu Dai in historical materials such as the Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms, that is, the ending of Liu Dai, which obviously belongs to the situation where his whereabouts are unknown.
II. Liu Dai (Princes of the Late Han Dynasty)
On the other hand, for Liu Dai, a prince of the late Han Dynasty, like Liu Bei, Liu Zhang, Liu Biao, and others, they were all descendants of the Han Dynasty. At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Liu Dai's uncle Liu Pet served as a taiwei and other officials, while Liu Dai himself was crowned by the imperial court as the History of Yanzhou Assassination, and as for Liu Dai's younger brother Liu Sui, he served as an official in Yangzhou Thorn History and Yangzhou Mu. In this regard, in the author's opinion, compared with Liu Bei, who fell in the middle of the family road, Liu Dai's starting point is naturally relatively high.
In 189, after the death of Emperor Ling of Han, the general He Jin and the eunuchs were both defeated and injured, and Dong Zhuo took the opportunity to come to the capital Luoyang. In 190 AD, after Dong Zhuo deposed the emperor, Liu Dai and Yuan Shu, Cao Cao, Yuan Shao and others formed an alliance to fight against Dong Zhuo, who had usurped the power of the imperial court. However, because of the apparent separation between the princes of the Kwantung Region, this led to the coalition forces against Dong Zhuo, which were eventually disbanded. After this, Liu Dai, as the prince of Yanzhou, launched a fierce contest with the Yellow Turban Army.
In the Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms, it is recorded that millions of people in Qingzhou entered Yanzhou, killed Zheng Sui, the city minister, and transferred to Dongping. Liu Dai wanted to strike at it, and Bao Xin advised: "There are millions of thieves today, the people are terrified, and the soldiers have no fighting spirit and are invincible." The crowd of thieves followed each other, and the army had no weight, but only the money was slightly used, and now it was not as strong as the strength of the animals, and it was first to stick to it. He who wants to fight cannot fight, and he cannot attack, he is bound to disperse, and he will choose the elite in the rear, and according to his key points, he can break through it. "Dai did not obey, so he fought with it, and the result was killed."
In 192 AD, the Yellow Turban Army of Qingzhou attacked Yanzhou, and Liu Dai was ready to personally lead an army to meet the enemy. Upon hearing this news, Liu Dai's subordinate Bao Xin expressed his opposition, and in his opinion, although the Yellow Turban Army was numerous, it did not have sufficient food and grass supply. As long as we hold on, the other side will not be able to break through. However, it is a great pity that Liu Dai did not take Bao Xin's advice, or insisted on leading the army to meet the enemy, and as a result, he suffered defeat and lost his life.
After Liu Dai was killed, Bao Xin, Chen Gong, and other local Yanzhou warriors chose to welcome Cao Cao as Yanzhou Pastor. After taking control of Yanzhou, Cao Cao personally led a large army to attack the Yellow Turban Army in Qingzhou. In this battle, although Bao Xin was killed, Cao Cao successfully surrendered the Yellow Turban Army in Qingzhou by ambushing the other side and gained a foothold in Yanzhou.
Thus, it is very obvious that the death of Liu Dai in Yanzhou made Cao Cao the biggest winner, that is, the latter not only gained a foothold, but also created an elite army by subduing the Qingzhou Yellow Turban Army, which laid a good foundation for his southern conquest and northern war. From this point of view, the two Liu Dai in the Three Kingdoms period at the end of the Han Dynasty were both connected with Cao Cao. What do you think about that?