When Liu Bei entered Sichuan, Wei Yan was promoted to the rank of general of Yamen because of his military merits, and Liu Bei attacked Hanzhong, and was promoted to the general of Zhenyuan and the Taishou of Hanzhong, becoming a general who was on his own side, and Zhen defended Hanzhong for ten years. After Liu Bei ascended the throne, he was the general of Bai Zhenbei. Along with Zhuge Liang's Northern Expedition, Bai Liang Prefecture Assassin History, Fengdu Tinghou, and Fei Yao and Guo Huai in Yangxi. After that, he planned to personally lead the soldiers and horses to attack Guanzhong from the Meridian Road, imitating Han Xin's story and meeting with Zhuge Liang to teach Tongguan.
However, Wei Yan's move was opposed by Zhuge Kongming, who had always been cautious. In the twelfth year of Jianxing (234), after Kong Ming died of illness, for some unknown reason, Wei Yan decided to take over the command of the main force of the Shu army. However, before Zhuge Liang died, he had already made follow-up arrangements, so that after his death, the main force of the Shu army was brought back to the Shu state by Yang Yi, and Wei Yan could not realize his plan.
Enraged, Wei Yan led his concubine troops to burn the trail, blocking the only way for the main force of the Shu army to pass, and intercepting Yang Yi. Wei Yan used Zhuge Kongming's funeral as an excuse to ask Yang Yixing about his guilt and further intensified the contradiction. Wei Yan's move angered the Shu generals, and during the conflict Ma Dai killed Wei Yan. After Wei Yan's death, his actions were characterized as rebellion, and according to the Shu law, his three tribes were exterminated.
The above is the record of chen shou's biography, the author of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, but according to Pei's note quoting the Wei Luo, it was Wei Yan who was entrusted with military power by Zhuge Liang, and Yang Yi was afraid that Wei Yan would take advantage of the opportunity to frame him, so he spread rumors that Wei Yan was going to go north to surrender to the enemy and send troops to attack him. However, the framed Wei Yan was deeply afraid that the battle would be innocent and difficult to snow, so he only escaped and could not fight, and finally was finally hunted down and killed.
Pei Songzhi believes that this claim is a rumor in Cao Wei, compared with Chen Shou's Romance of the Three Kingdoms of the Shu Han Dynasty. When I first read "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", this paragraph made me feel that there was a fog in the clouds. It is reasonable to say that the three tribes of Zhulian are a heinous crime, and since ancient times only usurpers of power and rebellion or cooperation with enemy countries have been sentenced to such capital punishment.
So, what crime did Wei Yan commit? Why is it widely believed that Wei Yan is an anti-thief?
Here, it must be stated that the back of the brain has a backbone is said in the novel, and there is no relevant record in the history. Whether Wei Yan is plotting rebellion or collaborating with the enemy, we can only deduce his position from some details. In Wei Yan's own view, after the death of The Minister, he became the pillar of the Shu army, and as the last barrier of the Shu kingdom, he should have all the military power.
However, Wei Yan never dreamed that arrangements had already been made before Cheng Xiang died, and the command of the Shu army was handed over to Yang Yi. What made Wei Yan even more difficult to accept was that he, who was not low in status, had actually become Yang Yi's "general after breaking". However, Wei Yan's behavior was very intriguing. If he was only unwilling to succumb to the rear of the people, there was no need to burn down the back road of the main force of the Shu army and block Yang Yi's inevitable path to ask for guilt.
In any case, although Wei Yan's move was directed against Yang Yi himself, he had already instigated the generals around him to disobey the order, which was already a "crime of rebellion" in ancient times. Just imagine, if Wei Yan's plan could be implemented, then Shu Han would probably lose not only Yang Yi alone, but even the main force of the Shu army would suffer heavy casualties, fortunately, Yang Yi had already made preparations.
When Wei Yan led his troops to burn the mountain road, Yang Yi had already begun to prepare to dig the mountain path, and Wei Yan had no chance to clash with Yang Yi. Therefore, the Shu army did not suffer damage in this civil unrest. Objectively speaking, whether Wei Yan instigated the soldiers under his command or blocked the marching route of the main force of the Shu army, these acts were enough to execute him by military law, which was unforgivable.
In other words, whether Wei Yan plotted rebellion or not, his actions had pushed him into a situation of no return. This was not directly related to whether Wei Yan targeted Yang Yi or not, because he had already affected the safety of Shu Han. An act like Wei Yan's act of using the interests of the state as a bargaining chip because of his own selfishness will not be forgiven in any dynasty or any regime.
What's more, at that time, rumors of Wei Yan's rebellion had spread throughout the Shu kingdom, and his behavior undoubtedly became evidence of the rumors. In terms of Wei Yan's military ability, it was not difficult to solve Yang Yi at all, but why did he still lose at the hands of Yang Yi?
That's the problem with his political sense of smell.
Wei Yan simply believed that his opponent was only Yang Yi, but ignored Jiang Wan, another minister who exercised power after Zhuge Liang. Secondly, after Zhuge Liang's death, Wei Yan did not mourn for Xiang Xiang and did not take this matter as a priority to solve. After all, Zhuge Liang's influence in the Shu Han was self-evident, and if he did not first let Xiang Xiang enter the soil for safety, Wei Yan was bound to lose the initiative.
Therefore, when Wei Yan confronted Yang Yi, Wang Ping only used one sentence to let Wei Yan's people scatter. Wang Ping said this: "The minister has just passed away, and the bones are not cold, how dare you do such a rebellious thing." A simple sentence had already made the soldiers who had been instigated by Wei Yan wake up. In this way, Wei Yan, who had lost his advance, was subject to people everywhere, and finally fell into the abyss of eternal disaster.
Wei Yan's military ability is worth acknowledging, and his credit to shu Han is indelible. Then, since he did not engage in the act of collaborating with the enemy and committing treason, is it a little cruel to exterminate such a meritorious man just because of violent conflicts with other ministers?
If you look at this matter in terms of modern human values, it is indeed so. However, we cannot measure our predecessors by today's standards. What Wei Yan did was of great significance to Shu Han. It can be said that Zhuge Liang's death and Wei Yan's rebellion occurred one after another, which caused a huge blow to the Shu kingdom, and the foundation created by Zhuge Liang and Liu Bei began to decline.
Rao is Zhuge Kongming's foresight, but after all, he does not have the ability to predict prophets. Thinking about it, after Zhuge Liang witnessed what happened to Shu Han under the Nine Springs, it must be difficult to see.
Resources:
【Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and "Romance of the Three Kingdoms"】