In Luo Guanzhong's novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Liu Chan appears entirely as a negative image.
He listened to the eunuch Huang Hao's words, indulged in wine, and alienated the sages; he would rather surrender than resist, and killed his son in anger; after surrendering to Cao Wei, he also left a famous saying: "Happy here, do not think about Shuye", giving people the feeling that Liu Chan is a complete fool.
Later, when I read the Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms, I realized that Liu Chan's image was seriously distorted by Mr. Luo Guanzhong. Luo Guanzhong is a fan of Zhuge Liang, who has great admiration for Zhuge Liang, and his Zhuge Liang is almost perfect, in order to highlight Zhuge Liang's perfection, it is necessary to find a negative model to compare. And the surrendered lord Liu Chan became the perfect villain.
In fact, Liu Chan was misunderstood by later generations for 1700 years because of the matter of not thinking about Shu. In fact, Liu Chan is not stupid, he is a very self-aware person, he is just willing to be mediocre, which is inseparable from the bumpy experience of his childhood.
Liu Chan has been a bitter little cabbage since he was born. When he was one year old, Liu Bei's army was defeated by Changsaka, and Liu Chan and his mother were lost in the rebel army, but fortunately Zhao Yun took Liu Chan into his arms and rescued him, but his mother Lady Gan died in the rebel army.
When Liu Bei was five years old, Sun Shangxiang, Liu Bei's wife, planned to take Liu Chan as a hostage when she returned to China after a conflict with Liu Bei, but it was Zhao Yun who led sailors to intercept the river and take him back.
Liu Chan lost his mother at a young age, suffered a chaotic life, stumbled to the age of 12 or 3, with Liu Feng's adopted son Liu Feng on the top and two younger brothers Liu Yong and Liu Li below, and the position of prince was seriously threatened.
Liu Feng fought for military merit, did not pay attention to Liu Chan at all, and had the intention of replacing him. However, Liu Feng disregarded the overall situation, did not save Guan Yu, and fought in the nest to force Meng Da, making Zhuge Liang feel that he was difficult to control, so he suggested that Liu Bei destroy Liu Feng.
As soon as Liu Feng died, the pressure on Liu Chan's body was suddenly alleviated a lot, and he was also grateful to Zhuge Liang.
In 223 AD, Liu Bei was critically ill and was orphaned in the White Emperor's trust, and personally entrusted the crown prince Liu Chan to Zhuge Liang. Liu Bei earnestly taught Liu Chan, hoping that Liu Chan and Zhuge Liang would be harmonious and keep the family business. At the same time, Liu Bei was worried about Liu Chan's ability, so he instructed Zhuge Liang to "if the heir can be supplemented, supplement it; if he is not talented, the king can take it himself."
In fact, Liu Bei's sentence is quite ambiguous, and different people have different understandings. I think that Liu Bei's intention in telling Zhuge Liang was not to say that if Liu Chan did not show up, he would kick Liu Chan off the throne and become emperor himself, but that if he felt that Liu Chan could not do it, he would choose another one from his sons to be emperor.
Regardless of what it means, anyway, Liu Chan, the emperor, should be a little trembling, always feeling that there are countless sharp eyes behind him staring at his seat.
So after ascending the throne, Liu Chan chose not to ask about political affairs, and lived leisurely every day, he was not demented, Zhuge Liang had great power, everything had to be asked, even if he was unwilling, he had no room to play.
Liu Chan himself had limited ability, and he should also know that he was only a mediocre monarch, so he watched the affairs of the imperial court from the sidelines. He went through zhuge liang, Jiang Huan, and Fei Yi, and ruled for more than thirty years, and the monarchs and subjects were at peace.
In fact, the dictatorship system in ancient China had many drawbacks, because the imperial power was supreme, so the quality of the monarch was extremely demanding. If the reign is a Lord of ZTE, then the world is at peace, and the soldiers are strong; if it is a faint lord who is in power, then the country will suffer.
For Liu Chan, who is not strong in ability, when he is the treasurer and gives the mess to the group of capable prime ministers, it is actually a better way to rule, which is somewhat similar to the rule of inaction.
After this group of good ministers fell one after another, there was a fault line in the Shu kingdom, and the older generation was led by the great general Jiang Wei. Liu Chan, who had begun to pro-government, reused the eunuch Huang Hao, and at this time, the government began to be chaotic, Huang Hao formed a party for personal gain, and all the ministers had to pass through his hand before they could be presented to Liu Chan.
Huang Hao and Jiang Wei were at odds. Jiang Wei asked to kill Huang Hao, the minister of political return, Liu Chan did not allow it, planning to let Huang Hao apologize to Jiang Wei, and the two of them turned the page over.
He is so naïve, how complicated the political struggle is, is that something that can shake hands and make peace with an apology? Jiang Wei saw that Liu Chan was obviously biased toward Huang Hao, and took the initiative to request to go to Tuntian in Puzhong, far away from Chengdu, a place of right and wrong.
Before leaving, Jiang Wei withdrew tens of thousands of elite soldiers, leaving Hanzhong empty, and When Cao Wei learned of this, he immediately sent the general Zhong Hui to prepare to lead the army to cut down Shu.
Jiang Wei discovered the dangerous situation in advance and immediately wrote to Liu Chan to strengthen the defense of Yang'an Pass and Yinping Bridgehead. Such an important report was withheld by Huang Hao, who reported to the Lord of the Rear that the world was too peaceful and that no enemy had invaded it. By the time Wei Bing attacked en masse, Liu Chan had already missed the best defensive opportunity.
It is worth mentioning that Zhuge Liang's son Zhuge Zhan and his son Zhuge Shang father and son vigorously faced the Wei army, both father and son died in battle, and the Zhuge family served the Shu Han for three generations, full of loyal liang.
After the later lord Liu Chan learned of the defeat of Zhuge Zhan's army, he accepted the surrender proposal of Guanglu Dafu Zhou, drafted a surrender edict overnight, and sent it to the Wei army on the same day. Liu Chan's fifth son, Liu Chen, the King of Northern China, advocated a battle against the city and died for the country, but Liu Chan did not listen.
Liu Chen wept bitterly at the Temple of Zhaolie, then killed his wife and son first, and then committed suicide, which was a face for Liu Chan, who surrendered without a fight, and Liu Chan was ridiculed by the history books of successive dynasties because he became the king of the subjugated country.
In fact, sometimes it is easier to die than to live, to die is empty of everything, everything is carefree, and to live is to endure all kinds of disasters and tortures in the world.
In fact, when Deng Ai and Zhong Huibing approached Chengdu, Liu Chan took the initiative to surrender, which avoided Chengdu from becoming the main battlefield and also allowed the huge Liu clique to escape the disaster.
According to the city, the last drop of blood was shed for the Shu Han, although it was morally commendable, but it turned Chengdu into a hell, the people suffered, and the losses would be extremely heavy.
After Liu Chan surrendered, Sima Zhao, the chancellor of Cao Wei, invited Liu Chan to a banquet and deliberately played Shudi music and dance, which was actually a Hongmen banquet, and Sima Zhao had been secretly inspecting Liu Chan's expression.
Only to see that the people who followed Liu Chan were touched by the scene and secretly shed tears, while Liu Chan was laughing freely, Sima Zhao concluded that Liu Chan was a stupid melon, thinking that Zhuge Liang could not help him, and this guy was right to destroy the country.
Sima Zhao was accustomed to being suspicious, and a few days later he came to temptation, and he asked Liu Chan if he missed Shudi, and Liu Chan did not hesitate to say the famous idiom "Happy not to think of Shu".
As a result, the old minister who surrendered with Liu Chan really couldn't look down on his master's nest and instructed him: "You should say with tears: 'The grave of the ancestors is far away in the hometown of Longshu, and when you think of it, your heart aches, and you miss it all the time.' ”
Liu Chan agreed with a full mouth, and after a while, Sima Zhao asked Liu Chan again, "Do you want to miss Shudi?" Liu Chan answered Sima Zhao according to Hao Zheng's instructions, but his tone was stoic and his expression was very unnatural.
Sima Zhao asked suspiciously, "Your words seem to be the tone of Hao Zheng." Liu Chan said in surprise, "How do you know that it was exactly what Hao Zheng taught me?" When the people around them heard this, they all laughed.
Liu Chan's stupid behavior completely reassured Sima Zhao, and he was able to have enough food and clothing and a good death.
Of course, he is not unsound in his mind, pretending to be stupid also needs great wisdom and acting skills, ordinary people can't do it at all, in Tao Obscure Bao's body, Liu Chan and Liu Bei are no less than each other.
When he was the monarch of the Shu Kingdom, Liu Chan had many powerful subjects around him, including Huang Hao, who was favored by Liu Chan, Jiang Wei, who held military power, and Zhuge Zhan, the son of Zhuge Liang, who had a unique reputation, and they all looked at each other incorrectly, but they were at peace under Liu Chan's balancing technique.
Of course, if we talk about ability, Liu Chan is indeed not smart. Zhuge Liang told him every day that the Han Dynasty had died as a eunuch, and he didn't listen to it at all, he had no opinion, he needed to fight against such a major event as the State of Wei, and he couldn't make up his mind at all.
Overall, Liu Chan is not a fool, there is something smart about him, but the overall ability is not high, such a person in a chaotic world will inevitably become cannon fodder, if it is in the prosperous world, barely can still be a prince of shoucheng.
He was a mediocre prince who was rarely confused, and he was also a wise man who protected himself.