Sending Shen Zhongju into the Romance of the Three Kingdoms (Liu Guo)
Ten years of lead linden sideburns autumn, hugging into a book to travel around the world.
The people of the Three Kingdoms should have dreamed that a public case had begun again.
The character of Zhuge Jin is believed to be very familiar to everyone, and his younger brother is even more well known, that is, Zhuge Liang, the Shu Han Chancellor. Zhuge Liang had the record of quelling the rebellion in the south and the central region and the five Northern Expeditions, and his political achievements were even more prominent. In contrast, Zhuge Jin seems to have failed in doing anything, and when people think of him, the first thing that comes to mind is Zhuge Liang's brother. But at the same time, Zhuge Jin's position in Eastern Wu can also be said to be a high authority, and his final resume is that of Eastern Wu's great general, Zuo Duhu, and a virtual Leader Yuzhou Mu. In terms of rank, Zhuge Jin, a great general, was second only to Lu Xun's great general; in terms of military power, Zhuge Jin and Lu Xun were listed as the left and right capital protectors, which can be said to be highly powerful. So what kind of charm or ability does Zhuge Jin have to achieve such a status? Let's talk about this matter.
Zhuge Jin's eunuch career
Zhuge Jin and Zhuge Liang are brothers and are from Xuzhou. At that time, the war between Cao Cao and Tao Qian was too fierce, and the damage to Xuzhou was very large, Zhuge Jin went south to avoid chaos to Jiangdong, as for Zhuge Liang, he first followed his uncle Zhuge Xuan to Yuzhang County in Jiangdong, and later was expelled by Yuzhang Taishou Zhu Hao, so he went to Liu Biao and took deep root in Jingzhou. Through marriage, Zhuge Liang's network of contacts in the Jingxiang area is very developed and healthy, but Zhuge Jin does not have such an advantage. So how did Zhuge Jin get the favor of Sun Quan and thus enter the Jiangdong Group? It is due to Sun Quan's brother-in-law Hongzhi.
Zhuge Jin has studied in the "Book of Poetry", "Shang Shu", and "Zuo Zhuan", and has a certain attainment in Confucian classics, while Zhuge Jin's image is very good, "has the appearance and thinking", and has the style of a famous scholar. In the social context at that time, Baume & Mercier was very popular, and it was also a "business card" that some people had to shape to enter the career. At that time, Hongzhi came into contact with Zhuge Jin, was impressed by Zhuge Jin's style, and recommended him to Sun Quan. Zhuge Jin thus entered the Jiangdong Group.
Zhuge Jin served as Sun Quan's long history and middle sima to help Sun Quan deal with military and political affairs, and to deal with it; after Lü Meng's death, Sun Quan made Zhuge Jin the Taishou of Nan Commandery and stationed in the public security; in the first year of Huang Wu (that is, in 222 AD), Zhuge Jin moved from general Suinan to general Zuo and obtained the power of false festivals; in the first year of Huanglong (that is, 229 AD), Zhuge Jin moved to the rank of general and served as the protector of Zuo Du, reaching the peak of his career as a eunuch. The official position of the great general is second only to Lu Xun's great general, Lu Xun is after all the greatest merit, this can not be compared; and the two people in the real power are left capital protection and right capital protection, and the status is equal. It can be seen that Zhuge Jin was indeed a high-ranking authority in the Eastern Wu regime, although it could not be compared with Zhuge Liang, who commanded the military and political power of the Shu Han Dynasty, but it was also the top of the pyramid.
The failure of Zhuge Jin's harvest
Zhuge Jin's status in Eastern Wu was very high and famous in history, but he did not perform well in many battles or missions. Diplomatically, Zhuge Jin communicated with the Shu Han or Liu Bei clique twice, once in the twentieth year of Jian'an (that is, in 215 AD), Liu Bei had just taken Xichuan, and Sun Quan sent Zhuge Jin as an envoy, nominally to contact feelings, but the actual purpose was to ask for some counties in Jingzhou that had been lent out. Zhuge Jin showed selflessness and avoided meeting Zhuge Liang except for official affairs, but the ultimate goal was not achieved, and later the war between the two sides broke out, Lü Meng attacked the three counties of Jingnan, coupled with Cao Cao's threat in Hanzhong, which led to the establishment of the "Xiangshui Alliance"; the second time was Sun Quan took advantage of Guan Yu's northern expedition to take Jingzhou, and Liu Bei led an army to attack Wu. Zhuge Jin wrote a letter to Liu Bei to ask for peace, and the effect was also about equal to zero.
Of course, in the question of the ownership of Jingzhou and the consequences of the complete outbreak of the problem, it was mainly influenced by the will of the two regimes of Liu Bei and Sun Quan, and diplomatic means were difficult to solve. Therefore, it is not good to harshly criticize Zhuge Jin in this regard. However, in the battle against Cao Wei, Zhuge Jin's performance was not good. Zhuge Jin successively participated in the "Battle of Jiangling", "Battle of Shiyang", "Battle of Hefei", and "Battle of Fancheng in Qianpi", of which he was defeated by Xiahou Shang in the "Battle of Jiangling"; he was defeated by Sima Yi in the "Battle of Shiyang"; although he did not suffer a major defeat in the Fourth "Battle of Hefei", he even made a small gain, but it was the credit of Lu Xun; in the "Battle of Fancheng of Qianpi", he was sent away by Sima Yi along with Zhu Ran and others. In these battles, there was no dazzling performance of Zhuge Jin at all, but instead the stage for the performance of Eastern Wu generals such as Zhu Ran ("Battle of Jiangling", "Battle of Shiyang"), Lu Xun (Fourth "Battle of Hefei"), Zhu Yi, Zhang Xiu, and Gu Cheng ("Battle of Fancheng of Qianpi"). It can be said that Zhuge Jin's military deeds are also very few.
Why was Zhuge Jin able to become Sun Quan's confidant?
Zhuge Jin's military ability was insufficient, and he did not have a thick enough merit book, so how did he become Sun Quan's confidant and the chancellor of Eastern Wu? Xiaobian believes that there are several reasons.
First, Zhuge Jin's relationship with Sun Quan was profound
It has to be said that Zhuge Jin's ability to have such a smooth eunuch career has an absolute relationship with Sun Quan's personal will. Although Zhuge Jin's military ability was not enough and his diplomatic talent was not necessarily high, he had excellent emotional intelligence and was good at forging good relations with Sun Quan. This is very important. We look at Zhang Zhao, the great old chancellor of Eastern Wu, because he always had a temper and worked against Sun Quan, and in the end, the position of chancellor did not have his share; the equally grumpy Yu Tuan did not lie to Sun Quan, and let Sun Quan be exiled to the remote Jiaozhou. Communicating with the superior, a good courtier must maintain both integrity and sleek language art. Zhuge Jin did just that.
When Zhuge Jin and Sun Quan communicated, they were not as fierce as Zhang Zhao, and if the two people disagreed, Zhuge Jin would not cling to this disagreement, first using other topics to diverge, and then the atmosphere eased and then came back with a side knock. Outspokenness is a virtue, but it is often inferior to this way of bathing in the spring breeze. In this way, Zhuge Jin not only expressed his own opinions, but also strengthened his feelings with Sun Quan. Sun Quan also absolutely trusted Zhuge Jin. With this layer of relationship, Zhuge Jin's career path is naturally smooth.
Second, Zhuge Jin is a model of serving people with virtue
The superior can use his talent to control his subordinates, suppress his subordinates with merit, or he can use virtue to subdue his subordinates. Zhuge Jin is the latter. In the Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms, The Biography of Zhuge Jin alone records that Zhuge Jin asked for Zhu Zhi, Yin Mo, and Yu, who was so angry that Sun Quan wanted to cut people. It can be seen that he is a gentle person, and his interpersonal relationship with eastern Wu Qunchen is also very good. The same figure is the second "Chancellor" of the Shu Han Dynasty (Great Sima Lu Shangshushi) Jiang Huan. Jiang Huan's talent was not as good as Zhuge Liang's, but he was a virtuous person. Others ridiculed Jiang Huan, and Jiang Huan had no waves in his heart and spit on himself; when Jiang Huan was seriously ill, he was willing to cede power to Fei Yi in order to complete the next transfer of authority. Therefore, Jiang Huan was also recognized by posterity, and was listed as the "Four Phases of Shu" along with Zhuge Liang, Fei Yi, and Dong Yun.
In addition to interpersonal relations, Zhuge Jin's own morality is also flawless. The Book of Wu deliberately emphasizes: "Although the prudent talent is slightly inferior to the brother, the virtue is especially pure." "Whether the superior is more virtuous than talented or only more important than virtuous, this is not easy to say." But virtue and talent undoubtedly have their own advantages. A person of high moral character is more likely to be admired by scholars, and can also enable his subordinates to make more spontaneous norms of their own behavior. This is a big advantage for Zhuge Jin.
Third, Zhuge Jin is the representative figure of Huaisi Group
When it comes to the political landscape of Eastern Wu, there is a problem that cannot be avoided, that is, a potential competitive relationship between the Huaisi clique and the Jiangdong surnames that have come from other states and counties to settle in Jiangdong. Just as Liu Yan used the "Dongzhou Shi" to suppress the yizhou households; the Shu and Han dynasties were dominated by the Jingzhou clique, Sun Quan was also a figure who focused more on supporting the Huaisi clique in the early days. After all, they have no roots in Jiangdong, their relationship is simple, they are more willing to rely on Sun Quan, and they are easier to control. This kind of competitive relationship became more and more clear in the case of Sun Quan's repeated northern expeditions without results and having to be confined to Jiangnan.
With the passage of time, the characters of the Huaisi Group gradually withered away, and there was a lack of fresh blood supplementation, and Sun Quan had to gradually transition his focus to the surname of Jiangdong. Some scholars believe that Lu Xun's ability to ascend to the throne is also the result of this trend. But even so, Sun Quan also needed some "own people" from the Huaisi clique to balance the Surname of Jiangdong. Zhuge Jin's ability to rise step by step may also have a certain relationship with his own political stance.
Fourth, the relationship between Zhuge Jin and Zhuge Liang
Although on the Jingzhou issue, Sun Quan and Liu Bei made great moves and killed Guan Yu, an important figure in Liu Bei's clique. However, this is ultimately because the water conservancy occupied by Jingzhou poses a threat to Yangzhou, causing Sun Quan to feel strongly uneasy. After the arrival of Jingzhou, the contradictions between Eastern Wu and Shu Han were significantly weakened, and the two sides returned to the track of alliance. As Zhuge Jin's elder brother, although the two people tried their best to avoid suspicion, this relationship was real. Later, Zhuge Liang and Zhuge Jin often wrote together, and there were many major military and state events in the letters. Sun Quan's use of Zhuge Jin may also have had the effect of sending a friendly signal to shu Han. All in all, although Zhuge Jin's record is sloppy, he can rise all the way to the same level as Lu Xun, and there are actually many reasonable reasons behind this seemingly unreasonable personnel transfer.
References: Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Zhuge Liang's Collection