We read all the lead to present a different history.
When it comes to Liu Yan, many readers may not hear his name or know it. Those with a slightly better memory may have heard of Liu Yan's name in the first episode of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. It is precisely because this person put on the list to recruit township soldiers, which has a long sigh from Liu Xuande in front of the list, which leads to the "Taoyuan Three Knots" that has been passed down through the ages. However, in history, Liu Yan is not such a low-key person. To some extent, Liu Yan was the first warlord of the late Han Dynasty, and Liu Zhang, the pastor of Yizhou, was his son. In addition, Liu Yan also offered a plan to the imperial court, who knew that as a result, the political pattern of the late Han Dynasty was completely changed, and the warlords in various places took the opportunity to sit on the throne, and then opened the prelude to the slaughter of various princes.
▲ "Taoyuan Three Knots of Righteousness" theme painting
Liu Yan (劉焉), courtesy name Junlang, was born in Jingling County, Jiangxia County (present-day Tianmen, Hubei Province), and was a descendant of Liu Yu, king of Lugong in the Western Han Dynasty. Because of his status as a relative of the Han Dynasty, Liu Yan was promoted to the position of Langzhong after he became an adult, and later served as Nanyang Taishou, Jizhou Assassin, and Taichang. In the fifth year of Zhongping (188 AD), Liu Yan witnessed all kinds of absurd things under the rule of Emperor Ling of Han during his official tenure, and gradually became disappointed with the imperial court. According to the "Later Han Shu Liu Yan Biography", "When the Ling Emperor was in decline and the four sides of the army were in decline, Yan thought that the assassination of Shi Wei was light, and could not be banned, and the use of non-people, and increased the riots, but it was suggested that mu bo be replaced, and the town of An Fangxia, and the selection of heavy ministers in order to occupy his duties." ”
▲Map of the thirteen states of the Eastern Han Dynasty
Here it needs to be explained that during the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, there were thirteen prefectures, each of which had a history of thorns (pin rank 600 stones), which was responsible for supervising local officials including the county taishou (pin rank 2,000 stones). It can be said that the purpose of the imperial court in setting up the history of the assassination was to achieve centralized power, strengthen local control, and facilitate the management of the imperial court. However, in Liu Yan's view, the limited authority of the assassin history was not conducive to maintaining local stability, so it was suggested that the imperial court should be changed to a state pastor, and at the same time, priority should be given to selecting incorruptible people to serve. After the assassination history was changed to a state pastor, not only did his status increase, but his authority was also expanded unprecedentedly, and he was able to control all the large and small affairs in his jurisdiction, and he could also recruit soldiers and garrison the city on his own. The original intention of this proposal was to suppress the peasant revolt, and who knows that in the end, the states developed into "independent kingdoms" that disobeyed the central orders, which laid the foundation for the demise of the Eastern Han Dynasty.
▲Stills of Liu Hong, Emperor of Hanling
On the other hand, Liu Yan felt that the situation was turbulent and planned to go to Jiaolan for refuge, but his aide Dong Fu tried to persuade Liu Yan to go to Yizhou. According to the Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms and the Biography of Liu Ermu, "Before the discussion was made, Dong Fu, the Guanghan of shizhong, privately said: 'The capital division will be chaotic, and the Yizhou division will have the spirit of heaven.' 'Yan Wen Fu Yan means more in Yizhou. At that time, Yizhou Thorn Shi Jian was an official position in the Thorn History bought by money, and after taking office, he wantonly levied on the people, which caused anger and resentment. As for the history of thorns in other places, they also attacked and killed each other for their own interests. Under these circumstances, the imperial court finally agreed to "change Mu Bo" at the local level, and Liu Yan also immediately served as an emissary to supervise the army, leading the Yizhou Mu and Fengyang Chenghou, responsible for going to Yizhou to arrest and punish Hao Jian.
▲ Stills of the Yellow Turban Uprising
Due to the impassable road, Liu Yan stayed for a while on the eastern border of Jingzhou. By the time Liu Yan entered Shu, the former Yizhou assassin Shi Xijian had already been killed by Ma Xiang, the leader of the Yellow Turban Army. Under the command of Yizhou Jialong, the rebels led by Ma Xiangsuo were quickly defeated by the local forces in Yizhou. Subsequently, Liu Yan successfully entered Shu. Next, Liu Yan successfully won the support of the people of Yizhou by virtue of his superior means, "to soothe the rebellion, to be lenient, and to plot differently." ”
▲Stills of the chancellor of the Eastern Han Dynasty
Soon after, rebellions broke out in Nanyang, Sanfu and other places. Affected by this, tens of thousands of refugees fled to Yizhou and were received by Liu Yan. The "Dongzhou Army", a private soldier under Liu Yan, was established on this basis. Since Liu Yan had the support of the Dongzhou Army, he began to rectify Yizhou. The so-called "Enwei and Shi", Liu Yan used armed means to forcibly suppress the local forces in Yizhou. According to the "Later Han Shu Liu Yan Biography", "Yan wanted to establish a powerful punishment with great self-respect, but he entrusted himself with a tuo affair, and killed more than ten powerful people in the state, and the soldiers and the people complained." Since then, the generals of the Dongzhou Army have gradually seized the power of Yizhou.
▲ Map of the situation of the division of the masses at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty
After quelling the interior of Yizhou, Liu Yan sent his subordinate Zhang Lu to Hanzhong and cut off contact with the imperial court, "(Zhang Lu) cut off the Valley of Xiegu and killed the emissaries." In this way, Liu Yan became a veritable emperor in Yizhou. Warlords everywhere followed suit, and some even established themselves as state pastors. As a result, the prototype of the warlord division at the end of the Han Dynasty was formally formed.
bibliography:
"Later Han Shu , Volume 75 , Liu Yan Yuan Shu Lü Bu Lie Biography " Romance of the Three Kingdoms • Volume 31 Shu Shu I • Biography of Liu Ermu "