First of all, let's talk about the book "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", which was written by a person named Luo Guanzhong at the end of the Yuan and the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, after continuous change, processing, and polishing in later generations, and finally reached the hands of Mao Zonggang of the Qing Dynasty for a comprehensive review, and then finally finalized, the current popular version is the Three Kingdoms approved by Mao Zonggang, commonly known as the Three Kingdoms of Mao Zonggang.
Both the Ming Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty adhered to loyalty and filial piety, and insisted on criticizing and denying this person who committed the rebellion, so the basic position of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms was to support Liu Bei and oppose Cao Cao. To support Liu Bei is to support the orthodox status of the Han family, and to oppose Cao Cao is to oppose those who rely on their power to commit rebellion.
Under the guidance of such a general principle, the writing and revision carried out insisted on flaunting loyalty, denouncing traitors, praising loyalty and righteousness, and criticizing surrender. Then let's look at Wei Yan's origins.
Wei Yan's first appearance was when Liu Bei called for a door under Jingzhou City, but the door did not open, and as a result, a red-faced man used a knife to split the officers and soldiers guarding the city, preparing to open the city gate to meet Liu Bei. As a result, a military general named Wen Ping fought with the red-faced man, and the red-faced man could not defeat Wen Ping and fled, and this person was Wei Yan.
Wei Yan surrendered to Changsha to defend Han Xuan, Guan Yunchang was ordered by Zhuge Liang to go forward to capture Changsha, not wanting the veteran general Huang Zhong to be very powerful, Guan Gong did not kill Huang Zhong when Huang Zhong's horse lost his front hooves and horses fell, and Huang Zhong did not shoot Guan Yu with an arrow. This aroused Han Xuan's suspicions and prepared to kill Huang Zhong, but Wei Yan once again killed Han Xuan, saved Huang Zhong, and sacrificed Changsha.
As soon as Zhuge Liang saw Wei Yan, he was going to kill him, saying that Wei Yan had a backbone behind his head. Wei Yan was a helmeted Zhuge Liang, how could he judge that he had a backbone behind his head? Zhuge Liang killed Wei Yan because he killed the leader Xianchengchi twice and failed the first time, so from the moral point of view of loyalty and filial piety and righteousness in feudal society, Wei Yan was a rebellious guy and could not stay.
Therefore, Zhuge Liang wants to kill him, which is also the main demand of the whole book, otherwise the moral advantage of Liu Bei's group will be gone, and the book will not stand. But the rest of Liu Bei's group wanted Wei Yan to survive and continue to contribute to the Revival of the Han Dynasty. So under the persuasion of the generals, Zhuge Liang released Wei Yan, but warned Wei Yan. This left a foreshadowing for the future killing of Wei Yan.
Luo Guanzhong and Mao Zonggang are both writers who adhere to feudal ethics and morality, and they cannot write a traitor who has repeatedly killed a leader as a big hero, so Wei Yan must be killed, and must be killed by the big hero in the book, in order to carry forward the spirit of loyalty and righteousness in the big hero.
Liu Bei was a generous man who could not kill Wei Yan, only a god-like figure like Zhuge Liang could kill Wei Yan, and he killed him after his death. This can not only prove that Zhuge Liang's judgment is correct, but also further reflect Zhuge Liang's miraculous calculations.
Therefore, Wei Yan must die, and it was after Zhuge Liang's death that the signs of rebellion began to appear, and then there was a rebellion, so killing Wei Yan was both justified—Wei Yan's rebellion, which was his usual manifestation, which was reasonable; and it was also advantageous—the chaotic courtiers and thieves were punished by everyone—to maintain feudal ethics and morality.
This is the author's intention, but also the ethical and moral requirements of feudal society, so this book writes Wei Yan as a chaotic thief, and finally gets the deserved end, which is the embodiment of the spiritual theme of the whole book in wei Yan, a specific figure. It can be seen that the structure of this book is precise, the storyline arrangement is exquisite, and the development and change of the fate of the characters are also traceable, not simply fabricated.