Before Zhuge Liang died, Liu Chan dared to ask a question, making him sweat coldly: It turns out that you are pretending to be stupid
"Ah Dou who can't afford it" is what we usually describe as a relatively poor person, that is to say, "Ah Dou" is synonymous with relatively bad. Ah Dou was born in 207 AD, when Liu Bei just found Zhuge Liang, and since then changed Liu Bei's fate of displacement. From this point of view, Liu Chan is not only Liu Bei's lucky star, but also a witness to the friendship between Zhuge Liang and Liu Bei.
However, in the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", Liu Chan has always been a worst role. His most splendid appearance was the 41st time, when Zhao Yun led Liu Chan to fight with Cao Cao's army, but accidentally lost with Liu Chan and Liu Bei's wife. At this time, only thirty or forty cavalry followed Zhao Yun, but he was not afraid, and with a few people, he rushed into the countless Cao army on Changshanpo. Seven in and seven out is like entering no man's land, not only saving Ah Dou, but also setting a record of the craziest personal killing of the enemy:
"This one killing: Zhao Yun embraced the rear lord, went straight through the siege, cut down two sides of the banner, and captured three of them; stabbed the sword before and after, and killed more than fifty famous generals of Cao Ying."
However, here Ah Dou is used to set off Zhao Yun's bravery and loyalty. Then in the next chapter, Liu Chan missed another face - to his father Liu Bei as a foil. However, it is said that Zhao Yun rushed out of Cao Jun, got Zhang Fei to rescue him, and finally came to Liu Bei with Liu Chan. Zhao Yun was both remorseful and ashamed of not being able to protect Liu Bei's wife, and then carefully handed Ah Dou to Liu Bei, the only person he protected. Liu Bei staged a drama of love for talent here:
Xuan De took it and threw it to the ground: "For Ru's widow, I have damaged one of my generals!" Zhao Yun hurriedly hugged Ah Dou to the ground and wept and prayed: "Although Yun is devastated, he can't repay it!" ””
Regardless of whether Liu Bei's move was sincere or acting, Liu Chan once became a very disgraceful "supporting role" here, and even his father had to highlight his love for Zhao Yun by throwing him to the ground - fortunately, Liu Chan could not speak at that time, otherwise he really had to ask: "Father, am I your own child?" "Because of these two plots, everyone's sense of Liu Chan is very bad, and he seems to be a redundant supporting role."
As for Liu Chan's rise to power in the later period, his image is even worse in the book, such as spoiling traitors, obstructing Zhuge Liang's Northern Expedition, and the story of "Happy not thinking of Shu", all of which show the reader the image of Liu Chan who is faint and incompetent, and specializes in helping the Shu kingdom. Therefore, for Liu Chan's final surrender, everyone was not particularly sympathetic. Jiang Wei said after Liu Chan surrendered: "We are waiting for a death battle, why should we surrender first!" "It even pulled Liu Chan's image to the lowest point."
But is this really the case? In fact, historically, if an emperor is truly incompetent, no matter how virtuous and loyal the ministers who assist him, he will eventually be replaced. For example, Yi Yin was originally also a hero of the Shang Dynasty, but Shang Tang's grandson Taijia was too reckless and was later exiled by Yi Yin. And Zhuge Liang even accepted Liu Bei's direct orders from the White Emperor City:
"The king is ten times more talented than Cao Pi, and he will be able to settle the country and finally set great things." If the heir can be supplemented, then it is supplemented; if he is not talented, he may be the lord of Chengdu. ”
However, during the more than 10 years that Zhuge Liang assisted Liu Chan, he did not once reveal the intention of replacing Liu Chan, and even did not say a more sharp criticism of Liu Chan. From this point of view, at least Zhuge Liang felt that Liu Chan was worth assisting. As for Liu Chan's favoritism and adultery — in fact, this problem has existed in many dynasties, and it is not a special manifestation of Liu Chan. To stop the Northern Expedition, this is only a dispute over strategic lines, not a dispute between right and wrong, nor a dispute between good and evil.
In fact, before Zhuge Liang's death, Liu Chan's words made Zhuge Liang believe even more that Liu Chan was by no means a dimwitted monarch, and he even deliberately "pretended to be stupid"! When Zhuge Liang was seriously ill in Wuzhangyuan, Liu Chan specially sent people to greet and comfort Zhuge Liang. Among them, Liu Chan asked About Zhuge Liang's condition and asked who should be appointed to the Shu State in the future. But he also had the audacity to ask something that didn't seem particularly important: "After the death of the Prime Minister, what should be arranged for your heirs?" “
This question is actually not simple! First, he was considering how he could seamlessly connect with Zhuge Liang's powerful Shu state—first of all, he had to get the approval of Zhuge Liang's descendants; second, he was testing whether Zhuge Liang was ambitious and whether he should get rid of Zhuge Liang's descendants—if Zhuge Liang wanted a lot of rewards and power for his sons, then his sons were estimated to be in danger; and finally Liu Chan also used this incident to reflect his love for Zhuge Liang, in order to unite the people's hearts.
After Zhuge Liang listened, he suddenly woke up in a serious illness and said:
"The courtier's family in Chengdu has eight hundred mulberry trees, fifteen acres of thin fields, children and grandchildren have food and clothing, and they have their own surplus. When the subject is outside, there is no other dispatch, he is always clothed and fed, he looks up to the official, and does not rule the life to grow in size. On the day of the death of a subject, there shall be no surplus inside, but a surplus of wealth outside, so as to bear The Burden of His Majesty. ” ”
The two words "do not make" show Zhuge Liang's fear of Liu Chan - even if he has surplus wealth, he must dispose of it! Otherwise, I don't know what Liu Chan will do next!