The General of the Four Expeditions, an important military position in ancient times, first appeared in the Han Dynasty. However, although the generals of the Four Expeditions in the Eastern Han Dynasty were famous, they belonged to the miscellaneous generals. Book of Song? The Hundred Officials Chronicle records: "Four Marches, Emperor Wu of Wei placed, ranked two thousand stones. Huang Junior High School, ranked third duke. The old Han Dynasty signs are the same as the partial miscellaneous signs. After Cao Cao monopolized power, he raised the status of the general of the Four Expeditions, making him a heavy general. Such as the General Xiahou Yuan of Zhengxi, the General of Zhengnan Cao Ren, and the General of Zhengdong Zhang Liao.
In the Shu Han Dynasty, the status of the General of the Four Expeditions was not as high as imagined. Liu Bei adhered to the Han system and still insisted on the General of the Four Expeditions as a miscellaneous general. However, judging from the famous generals who held this position, the generals of the Four Expeditions were equivalent to the talent reserve battalion of Shu Han, and many generals later became the mainstay of Shu Han. In addition, Shu Han did not have a general to conquer the East, perhaps because the only Eastern Expedition of Shu Han, or Liu Bei's personal conquest of Wu, did not need the position of General of the East.
1. General Zhengnan
In the history of the Shu Han Dynasty, there were three generals of Zhengnan, namely Zhao Yun, Liu Ba, and Jiang Wei. On the way to Liu Bei's southern conquest of the northern war, Zhao Yun has been following left and right, not afraid of labor. However, after Liu Bei was proclaimed emperor, his imperial heart became more and more revealed, and Zhao Yun was upright and gradually fell out of Liu Bei's favor. In the matter of the Eastern Crusade, Zhao Yun and Liu Bei sang against each other, which angered the latter and was "sent" to Jiangzhou to deploy. After Liu Bei's death, Liu Chan succeeded to the throne in the first year of the Shu Han Dynasty (223 AD), and Zhao Yuncai was re-employed by Zhuge Liang and moved to the general of Zhengnan.
Liu Ba was a famous scholar of Shu, and when Liu Bei entered Shu, it was only by this person's advice that he was able to stabilize the people of Shu. In addition, Liu Ba also came up with a bad idea of "straight hundred dollars", allowing Liu Bei to make up for the military expenses needed for the war by exploiting the people's financial income. When Liu Ba served as the general of Zhengnan is unknown in the historical records, but his role in the Shu Han Dynasty was more inclined to internal affairs. However, Liu Ba's ending is not very good. Because when Liu Bei was proclaimed emperor, Liu Ba had raised objections, and he was immediately suppressed, and finally disappeared from the crowd.
Similarly, Jiang Wei also served as the general of Zhengnan, which should be in the early days of Liu Chan's reign. Jiang Wei is resourceful and rigorous, and is deeply valued by Zhuge Liang. Therefore, Zhuge Liang, who was anxious to find a successor, finally made up his mind to cultivate Jiang Wei. Facts have proved that Jiang Wei did implement Zhuge Liang's Northern Expedition policy. However, it was a pity that Jiang Wei did not know how to restrain his troops, causing Shu Han to fall into the situation of exhausting his troops.
2. General Zhengxi
In the history of the Shu Han Dynasty, there were a total of six generals who conquered the west, namely Huang Zhong, Wei Yan, Zhang Yi, Zong Qian, Jiang Wei, and Chen Zhi. It is worth mentioning Huang Zhong, Wei Yan and Chen Zhi. As we all know, Huang Zhong became famous in his old age and gradually stood out after joining Liu Bei. During the Battle of Hanzhong, Huang Zhong defeated the Wei army and killed the enemy general Xiahou Yuan, thus gaining fame. Interestingly, Xiahou Yuan was the general of Zhengxi, and after Huang Zhong killed him, he was also promoted by Liu Bei to the general of Zhengxi.
After the middle of the Shu Han Dynasty, Wei Yan gradually replaced the Five Tiger Generals and became one of the top generals in the Shu Han Army. During Liu Bei's lifetime, Wei Yanzhen guarded Hanzhong for more than ten years, during which he withdrew countless enemies and was a rare and good general. After Liu Chan succeeded to the throne, Wei Yan continued to sit in Hanzhong, relying on favorable terrain several times to achieve impressive results. In the eighth year of Jianxing (230), Wei Yan defeated the famous Cao Wei general Guo Huai, and because of his merits, he was promoted to the marquis of The Pavilion and moved to the rank of general of Zhenxi, and Wei Yan's personal prestige also reached its peak.
Chen Zhi, there is no such person in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, because his life trajectory is very similar to Zhao Yun. Chen Shou said that he was "famous for being inferior to Zhao Yun and known for his loyalty and courage." Liu Bei fought in the north for many years, and was in danger many times, thanks to Chen Zhi's secret protection. In addition, Chen Zhi also commanded a mysterious elite army called the "White Soldiers". In his family letter to his brother Zhuge Jin, Zhuge Liang called this unit the "Western Soldiers." It can be seen from this that chen zhi's weight in Liu Bei's heart is not low.
3. General Zhengbei
The only general of the Shu Han Dynasty who conquered the North was named Shen Tan. This man came from a noble family and was also one of the princes of the late Han Dynasty. When the chaotic world came, Shen Yu relied on his family lineage to gain a foothold in Shangyong County, and immediately asked the imperial court for orders, and was appointed as Shangyong Taishou. After the Battle of Hanzhong, Liu Bei ordered Liu Feng and Meng Da to send troops from Zigui and occupy the three counties of Shangyong. Unable to resist, Shen Yu surrendered to Shu Han and sent his family to Chengdu as a hostage. Because of this, Liu Bei was appointed as the general of Zhengbei.
In the first year of the Huang Dynasty (220), the situation in Shangyong County underwent a sharp change. First, Meng Da was suppressed by Liu Feng and led his men and horses to surrender to Cao Wei; then Shen Yi, the younger brother of Shen Yan, led an army to rebel and drove Liu Feng out of Shangyong County. After Meng Da surrendered to the State of Wei, he sent people to retake Shangyong County. In this way, the two brothers Shen Tan and Shen Yi could only defect to the State of Wei. However, Shen Tan was not valued by the State of Wei, but was deprived of military power and moved to Nanyang for retirement.
Reference book: Romance of the Three Kingdoms