introduction
In the fourth year of Cao Wei Jingyuan (263 AD), Sima Zhao ordered Zhong Hui and Deng Ai to lead an army of 180,000 and attack Shu in three ways. In November of that year, Liu Chan led his army to surrender. In the spring of the following year, the Wei army slaughtered Chengdu, and the corpses were all over the field, and the blood flowed into a river. The Zizhi Tongjian Volume 78 says: "Killing prince Xuan of Han and his wife Jiang Wei, the army and the people are in a state of disarray." Some of the generals of Wei Ou are determined for a few days. ”
01
It is worth mentioning that in this slaughter of the city, the entire clan of guan Yu, the great general of the Shu Han Dynasty "Marquis Zhuang Miao", was slaughtered by the Wei army, while Zhang Fei's clan all escaped the disaster. The mastermind of this tragedy was the Marquis of Guannei of the State of Wei. But why did he do that? Why do you favor one over the other, and what is the hidden secret? All this has to start from the Battle of Xiangfan decades ago, the flooded Seventh Army.
▲Guan Yu stills
In the twenty-fourth year of Jian'an (219 AD), Liu Bei proclaimed himself the "King of Hanzhong" in Hanzhong, and worshiped Guan Yu as a former general, guarding Jingzhou. In the spring of the same year, Liu Bei ordered Guan Yu to lead an army to attack Fancheng. Fan Cheng's defender Cao Ren was defeated, and Cao Cao sent Yu Ban and Pound De to lead a 30,000-strong army to aid Cao Ren. Not wanting to encounter continuous heavy rain, the Han River soared, and the Seven Armies were flooded. Therefore, Guan Yu took advantage of the panic of the Wei army, led the water army to kill the four sides, yu ban surrendered, Pound was captured and preferred to die, and was finally killed by Guan Yu.
▲ Liu Bei called the emperor stills
In this battle, Guan Yu's name shocked Huaxia, and even Cao Cao wanted to move the capital to avoid Guan Yu's attack. But it was after this battle that completely changed the direction of the three countries. In the twenty-fourth year of Jian'an (219 AD), Cao Cao plotted against Sun Quan to take Jingzhou, and Sun Quan took advantage of the emptiness of Jingzhou to send the general Lü Meng to conquer Guan Yu, and the Jingzhou defenders and Mi Fang surrendered. Guan Yujun, who was fighting With Xu Huang, learned that Jingzhou had fallen, and they all had no intention of fighting and fled. In desperation, Guan Yu led his army to retreat to Maicheng and asked for help from Liu Feng Mengda, but was refused.
▲A recent photo of Liu Bei's mausoleum
In the twenty-fifth year of Jian'an (220 AD), the isolated Guan Yu failed to break through the siege and was killed in Linfeng. In the first year of the Shu Han Dynasty (221 AD), Liu Bei led a large army to attack the state of Wu to avenge Guan Yu, known in history as the "Battle of Yiling". This battle eventually ended with Liu Bei's great defeat, and after the defeat, Liu Bei killed his eldest son Liu Feng, and under the sadness, he could not afford to fall ill. Two years later, he died of illness in the White Emperor City.
The fall of Jingzhou greatly reduced the combat strength of the Shu water army and was so clamped down that it could not control the eastern front. The Battle of Yiling was even more depleting of the Shu state's national strength, making it difficult to organize large-scale battles, and since then the Three Kingdoms have become a strong position.
02
In the sixth year of Jingyao of the Shu Han Dynasty (263 AD), the later lord Liu Chan opened the door and surrendered, and the Shu Han fell. Jiang Wei, who was fighting on the front line, was indignant when he heard of Liu Chan's surrender, and was determined to drive out the Wei army and restore the Shu state. Therefore, Jiang Wei pretended to surrender, and currying favor with Zhong Hui, encouraging him to occupy the Shu state and establish himself as king. Zhong Hui was moved by this, so in the name of "Deng Ai's father and son want to rebel", he killed Deng Ai and his close associates and regained the military power. According to the Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms, "The generals who came from the north of the Uyghur Church died, Xu wanted to kill the society, pit Wei Bing, and restore Shu Zuo." ”
▲Stills of Liu Chan's surrender
However, due to the leak of information, the Wei army turned around and attacked Jiang Weizhong, and Jiang Weizhong would be killed. According to the Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms, Vol. 36, "The Pound's Sons, along with Zhong and Deng Fa Shu, broke through Shu and destroyed the Guan family. When Zhong Hui and Deng Ai were all dead and the dragons were leaderless, Hou Panghui of Guannei stood up and took advantage of the Wei army's slaughter of the city to lead the army into Guan Yu's mansion and slaughter guan Yu's entire clan, but Zhang Fei's clan survived.
▲ Ponton stills
As for why Pang Hui slaughtered Guan Yu Manmen, it was because this person was a descendant of Pang Tong, the wei general who flooded the Seventh Army. Because his father was killed by Guan Yu, he was eager for revenge, and in spite of his old age, he petitioned Sima Zhao to let him participate in the Shu Dynasty. In contrast, the treatment of Zhang Fei's descendants is much better than that of Guan Yu's descendants. Zhang Fei's wife Xiahou Shi was the niece of the famous Wei general Xiahou Yuan, that is to say, Zhang Fei's descendants were also emperors of the State of Wei, and because of this relationship, the Wei army not only did not harass Zhang Fei's descendants when slaughtering the city, but also treated him with courtesy.
▲Stills of Zhang Fei and Guan Yu
Throughout Guan Yu's life, there are ups and downs, and the waves are magnificent. Behead Yan Liang, Jie Wen Ugly, Relieve the Siege of The White Horse, Capture the Forbidden, Kill Pound, Flood the Seventh Army, and Shock Huaxia. He was canonized as a martial saint by later generations, righteous and thin, and respected by people.
However, Guan Yu was too arrogant. The main reason for the careless loss of Jingzhou was because he was too confident and proud, and he treated Shizu too harshly, which caused Shiren and Mi Fang to rebel. It is recorded in the Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms and the Book of Shu VI: "Ran Yu is rigid and self-effacing, violent and unkind, defeated by shortness, and often counted." Guan Yu just used himself, and Zhang Fei was cruel and cruel, which also led to Guan Yu's defeat in Maicheng in the end, and Zhang Fei was killed by his subordinates.
epilogue
"For the sake of the way, first cure the heart." A good general should be the main soldier, always care for them, sympathize with them, and make them feel careless, so that they will fight desperately for you. Even in modern society, this way of employing people is still useful, a company wants to make money all day long, but does not seek corresponding returns for its employees, then there will be contradictions between the two, and finally end up in a lose-lose situation.
Resources:
Romance of the Three Kingdoms
The Art of War of Sun Tzu
"Heart Technique"
Zizhi Tongjian