Zhao Yun is the most popular person among the heroes of the Three Kingdoms, he is not only strong in martial arts, but also rich in wisdom, known as an undefeated general, and what is even more valuable is his loyalty to Liu Bei, whether Liu Bei is in trouble or later becomes the overlord, Zhao Yun treats him as he first saw and is praised as a perfect person.
First, the real Zhao Yun, the deeds are not prominent
Zhao Yun
In the novel "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", the most impressive warrior is Zhao Yun, although he appeared late, but once he appeared, to the end of his death, Zhao Yun can be said to be the absolute protagonist, as long as there is a scene where Zhao Yun is there, the last winner must be him.
But in the real history of the Three Kingdoms, Zhao Yun is not as brilliant as in the novel. When Chen Shou wrote the Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms, Zhao Yun's deeds were only more than a hundred words, even if each word was brilliant and represented a period of history, in the Three Kingdoms period, it was not considered prominent.
At the same time, a careful examination of Zhao Yun's history shows that his historical status is far less noble than that of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
First of all, he was not a first-class general under Liu Bei, but served as Liu Bei's guard captain.
Although this position can be said to be Liu Bei's confidant, its responsibilities are limited, and it is only to ensure the safety of Liu Bei and his family, which is far from being comparable to Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, who can fight in battle.
Statue of Zhao Yun
Secondly, Zhao Yun did not have many deeds worth singing.
In the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, whenever Liu Bei encounters danger, or encounters any trouble, it is always Zhao Yun who comes to save him from danger.
Later, Zhuge Liang became Liu Bei's helper, and his favorite person to use was Zhao Yun, and all major events were assigned to Zhao Yun to complete, and Zhao Yun did not fail in his mission. However, when we study history, we find that the events in the novel are almost not recorded in the real history. Therefore, most of the deeds about Zhao Yun were choreographed by novelists and should not be true.
History records that Zhao Yun did not do much of the most brilliant things, one is that Changshanpo rescued Liu Bei's wife and infant son in the midst of heavy enemy siege.
But Changshanpo was originally an encounter, and it was not difficult for Zhao Yun to protect Liu Bei's wife and son from the tiger's mouth.
Another thing is that when fighting for Hanzhong, Zhao Yunqiao used a scheming to defeat Cao Cao's attack, which was a battle in which less won more, and it was Cao Cao who was defeated, which was enough to show that Zhao Yun was extraordinary.
The Three Kingdoms were an era of heroes, Cao Cao and Sun Quan both brought together many heroes at that time, in contrast, Liu Bei was the weakest and had the smallest number of talents, while Zhao Yun was not prominent among them, which showed that Zhao Yun in history may not have high ability, but could only be a dragon set role.
In the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Zhao Yun and Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Ma Chao, and Huang Zhong are combined into one volume, but these four all serve as generals before and after, and their status is respected, while Zhao Yun has been a miscellaneous general all his life and has never really assumed any important duties in the army.
More importantly, Liu Bei's men were all made marquises during or shortly after their deaths. However, many years after Zhao Yun's death, he was not given the title of Marquis, and only when shu Han was about to perish was he named Shunping Hou under the proposal of Jiang Wei and others many times.
From the title point of view, the title of Shunping does not explain Zhao Yun's deeds as a military general, on the contrary, it is like the nickname of a literati.
What is the reason for this? Could it be that in history, Zhao Yun was not a military general, but a civilian minister?
Second, Zhao Yun's experience is a mystery, perhaps borrowing the deeds of others to shape his image
In the Wuhou Ancestral Hall in Chengdu, there are statues of Zhao Yun and others, folklore, Zhao Yun is the Five Tiger General of the Shu Han Dynasty, is a mighty general, and the statues of Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Ma Chao, Huang Zhong and other statues in the Wuhou Ancestral Hall are all dressed as martial generals, which are consistent with the duties they have undertaken in history.
However, the statue of Zhao Yun in the Wuhou Ancestral Hall is completely dressed as a literati, with a soft robe and a soft scarf, and his body is emaciated, without a little of the prestige of a general, but like a scholar who writes.
What's going on here?
Statue of Wuhou Ci Zhao Yun
In fact, whether Zhao Yun has the ability or not can be seen from Liu Bei's attitude towards him.
When Zhao Yun defected to Liu Bei, it was the trough of Liu Bei's career, and he had nothing but Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and a few literati. At this time, Zhao Yun followed Liu Bei and did not abandon it, allowing Liu Bei to observe Zhao Yun's ability at close range.
Guan Yu and Zhang Fei were known at that time as the generals of Xiong Hu, with the ability to defeat tens of thousands of people, and Liu Bei's enemies all acknowledged this.
When they analyzed Liu Bei's strength, they always took Out Guan Yu and Zhang Fei to show that Liu Bei could not be underestimated. But zhao yun was never mentioned, which showed that even from the perspective of martial arts, Zhao Yun and Guan Zhang were not at the same level.
Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, as the first-class generals under Liu Bei, can often stand alone, Guan Yu needless to say, can be said to be the only golden oil under Liu Bei, the army, the water army can command, but also with a good belt, for Cao Cao, a powerful enemy, Guan Yu can cope.
Later, Guan Yu also defended Jingzhou alone, opposed Cao Cao and Sun Quan, and defeated Cao Cao's famous general Ban, forcing Cao Cao to almost move the capital; Zhang Fei, while helping Liu Bei to fight for Hanzhong, repeatedly led troops alone, defeated the famous general Zhang Gao, and achieved his own prestige.
Zhao Yun's hometown
What did Zhao Yun do when Liu Bei needed manpower the most in the world? Nothing was done, just liu bei was guarded around, which showed that Zhao Yun's ability to lead the army alone was insufficient, and Liu Bei never used him as the main force.
Therefore, it can be concluded that Zhao Yun's fame should be deduced by Luo Guanzhong, in real history, Zhao Yun should be a guard captain who has been on the battlefield, most likely Liu Bei was really no one at that time, so he sent him, and because his reputation is not obvious, so Cao Cao did not know him, so that he was carelessly defeated by Zhao Yun.
Zhao Yun Tomb
Although Zhao Yun held the position of captain of the guard, he had a cautious personality and never did anything against the order, such a person would not make a big mistake, but it was basically impossible to think of brilliance. You know, in the chaotic world of the Three Kingdoms, the two armies are opposed, and they must break the convention in order to win. At that time, whether it was Cao Cao or Sun Quan. Liu Bei's generals all won by surprise and breaking conventions. In contrast, because he has been the captain of the guard for a long time and is responsible for Liu Bei's safety, he cannot have the slightest carelessness, and it is really difficult for a strong man to break the convention.
Zhao Yun did have his own people in history, and he also established meritorious deeds, but his achievements were not great. And the reason why Zhao Yun, portrayed by Luo Guanzhong, is likely to be liked by placing the deeds of others on Zhao Yun, which makes Zhao Yun's experience colorful.