When the word spy is mentioned, most people probably think that it is a product of modern warfare. In fact, spies have a long history, and there were traces of espionage activities in Our country before the Xia Dynasty. The formation of espionage theory was in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, due to the frequent occurrence of wars, it would also be the peak of espionage activities.
For example, the apprentice of Ghost Guzi, Su Qin, a well-known zongheng family in the Warring States period, he also had the identity of a spy of the Yan Kingdom. According to the records in the "Book of the Zongheng Family", the reason why the State of Qi was destroyed by the State of Yan was because Su Qin destroyed the alliance between the State of Qi and the State of Zhao, and at the same time made the State of Qi "work in the west to the Song, and the south to fatigue chu", and after making enemies on all sides, it was difficult for the State of Qi not to weaken.
In the "Explanation of Words and Characters", it was said that "espionage, the military is also anti-between." In fact, as long as they can do the divisive function, they can be regarded as spies. It is also like Jiang Gan in the Battle of Chibi, although he was a lobbyist sent by Cao Cao to woo Zhou Yu. However, Zhou Yu took advantage of Jiang Gan's success in separating Cai Mao, Zhang Yun, and Cao Cao to turn Jiang Gan, a lobbyist, into his own spy.
However, to talk about the first undercover in the Three Kingdoms period, it must be a person named Mi Fang. He single-handedly killed the three brothers Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei, and even Zhuge Liang, the first army division of the Three Kingdoms, did not see through his identity. In a sense, the demise of the Shu kingdom has a deep relationship with Mi Fang.
So, how did Mi Fang run under Liu Bei's account? He had an older brother named Mi Zhu, who was the richest man in the Three Kingdoms period and served as a driver under Tao Qian in his early years. As we all know, Tao Qian once let Xuzhou yu Liu Bei three times, and Liu Bei finally took over Tao Qian's mantle. After Tao Qian's death, Mi Zhu also submitted to Liu Bei's command. Later, Mi Zhu's younger brother Mi Fang was made a general, and his sister became Liu Bei's wife.
Due to Mi Zhu's strong financial resources, Liu Bei did not help much when he was in his early years. Loving Wu and Wu, Liu Bei is also very important to the Mi family. However, although Mi Zhu was loyal to Liu Bei, his younger brother Mi Fang was most likely an undercover agent of Cao Wei.
Why? Shortly after Tao Qian's death, Cao Cao sent lobbyists to collect Mi Zhu's troops. However, Mi Zhu flatly refused at that time, vowing to follow Tao Qian's designated successor Liu Bei. However, the history books only mention that Mi Zhu refused, but did not mention Mi Fang. It is very likely that in this negotiation, Mi Fang has already rebelled against Cao Wei.
The various things that happened after that confirmed this possibility, such as in the Battle of Changshanpo, Liu Bei could only flee in the face of Cao Cao's army, and even lost his wife and children in the chaos. At that time, Zhao Yun thought of going back to rescue the lord's wife and children, and staged the classic bridge section of "seven in and seven out, full of guts".
When Zhao Yun rushed into Cao's army, many people at that time were worried that Zhao Yun would turn against him, but because Liu Bei trusted Zhao Yun very much, no one dared to say it. However, Mi Fang "spoke out in righteousness" and analyzed with Liu Bei that Zhao Yun might defect. Fortunately, Liu Bei did not believe it, and finally waited for Zhao Yun and his wife and children.
Looking at this example alone, it doesn't seem convincing. But then everything Mi Fang did to Guan Yu completely confirmed his identity as a spy. As we all know, the direct cause of Guan Yu's death was the defeat of Maicheng. When Guan Yu was stationed in Maicheng at that time, Mi Fang was in Shangyong, not far from him. However, in the face of Guan Yu's predicament, Mi Fang did not send a soldier to support, even if the two had a festival, it was impossible to do things so desperately.
It was also because of the fear that Liu Bei would pursue responsibility, after Guan Yu's death, Mi Fang simply defected directly to the State of Wu. Of course, perhaps Cao Cao wanted him to harm the State of Wu.
Guan Yu's death triggered a series of chain reactions, starting with Zhang Fei's anger and wanton corporal punishment of soldiers in the army. His subordinates Fan Jiang and Zhang Da rebelled and took Zhang Fei's first rank in the night.
The successive deaths of Guan Yu and Zhang Fei were undoubtedly a head-on blow for Liu Bei. He began to focus his strategy on Eastern Wu, determined to avenge his second and third brothers. Instead, Cao Wei, who needed the most vigilance, took the opportunity to take advantage of the situation and eventually destroyed the Shu state. And when the Shu kingdom fell, who could have imagined that this series of events was related to mi fang's death and not saving it?
Even Zhuge Liang, who was scheming and calculating, could not have imagined that this showed the concealment and harm of the spies. This is why intelligence warfare must precede before modern warfare begins.