In 223, Liu Bei, who had been defeated in the Battle of Yiling, felt that his health was worse than a day, and he knew that his limit was approaching, so he sent someone to invite Zhuge Liang from Yizhou to Chengdu and begin his trust. At that time, Liu Bei said that Zhuge Liang's talent was ten times that of the Wei Emperor Cao Pi, a talent who governed the country and achieved great things, he entrusted Liu Chan to Zhuge Liang, in fact, he was ashamed in his heart, if Liu Chan could be reused and had the qualifications to become an emperor, he would bother Zhuge Liang to assist him wholeheartedly, if Liu Chan's ability was insufficient, Zhuge Liang could set up others as emperors, including Zhuge Liang himself. It can be said that Liu Bei had already given Zhuge Liang the greatest power at that time. After Zhuge Liang heard Liu Bei's words, his heart was very sad, and in order to live up to Liu Bei's heavy trust, he said that he would do his best to assist Liu Chan until he died.
At that time, in addition to being isolated from Zhuge Liang, Liu Bei was actually entrusted to Li Yan, who at that time held the internal affairs power in his hands, while Li Yan held the internal and external military power in his hands. Some people believe that Li Yan has no military talent, and that he can become a minister of entrustment and hold the military encyclopedia inside and outside his hands, which is actually stained with the light of Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, after all, if Guan Yu and Zhang Fei did not die, in terms of military ability, Li Yan was doomed to be a trusted minister who could not control the military. After all, when Cao Pi was alone, Cao Zhen was a great general who knew military well, and Li Yan's seniority in leading troops to conquest was far inferior to Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, so naturally he did not have this qualification. If Guan Yu and Zhang Fei did not die when Liu Bei was alone in the White Emperor's City, would Liu Bei still be alone with Li Yan?
In fact, whether it is Guan Yu or Zhang Fei, they are better at marching and fighting, for the two, the internal affairs are not very good at, after all, both of them have obvious defects in personality, such as Guan Yu has some arrogant talents, he looks down on the scholar, and Zhang Fei is grumpy, although he can put down his face for the scholar, but he often abuses his subordinates when he is sexually up, and such a figure, there is no way to become Shang Shu Ling, after all, after becoming a Shang Shu Ling, he must deal with the scholar all day, whether it is Guan Yu and Zhang Fei , should not be used to such a life.
Not to mention that the age difference between Liu Bei, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei is not much, even if Guan Yu did not die because of the defeat in the Battle of Fancheng, Zhang Fei was not assassinated by his subordinates, Liu Bei did not go through the Battle of Yiling, his mood was not affected by anything and he lived for a few more years, but he was afraid that when Liu Beituo was lonely, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei were already elderly, in such a situation, even if Liu Bei had the heart to be alone with Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, he also had to consider the ages of the two, in contrast, it was better to be alone than the younger generation. Otherwise, after Liu Bei's death, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei died one after another, only to be afraid that such a trust would lose its effect and significance.
The most crucial thing is that Liu Bei's political significance at that time was far greater than his personal ability, and it seems that Li Yan's ability to lead troops to conquest was indeed inferior to Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, but Li Yan already had enough prestige in Shuzhong, and Li Yan was still Liu Zhang's old man, a representative figure of the Dongzhou faction, so Li Yan could be reused by Liu Bei and make him an auxiliary chancellor. After all, using Zhuge Liang as a chancellor was to show favor to the figures of the old faction, that is, the people of the Jingzhou faction, and Liu Bei's reuse of Li Yan was to show goodwill to the native warriors of Yizhou. After all, after the great defeat, the native warriors of Yizhou were eager to move, and Liu Bei needed to make these warriors feel their sincerity by entrusting themselves to Li Yan. Guan Yu and Zhang Fei were the old people around Liu Bei, and in the case of reusing Zhuge Liang, Liu Bei would never use any of them again, even if Zhao Yun and Wei Yan, who were still alive at that time and had good ability to lead troops to conquest, could not become the ministers of the Orphans, which was also the reason.
The author believes that Liu Bei's choice of entrusting the minister to control the internal and external military power is not really to find someone with strong military ability, but to find someone who can make the native warriors in Yizhou recognize, so the choice of Li Yan at that time was the result of Liu Bei's careful consideration, even if Guan Yu and Zhang Fei were alive, they could not change Liu Bei's decision.