At any time, the key to deciding whether you are a protagonist or a supporting character is whether you have lofty ambitions or not. Napoleon once said, "A soldier who does not want to be a general is not a good soldier." And this sentence is especially prominent in the chaotic world. Everyone wants to show their strengths and achieve great things. However, it is always the minority who can laugh to the end, and most of the people almost fell on the road one after another, and the same was true of the division of the group at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty. In the end, Cao Cao, Liu Bei, and Sun Quan came to the end and divided the world into three parts, but this three-legged momentum was only maintained for more than 60 years before the balance was broken.
In the past 60 years, it seems to be relatively stable, but in fact, the three kingdoms of Wei, Shu and Wu have always faced each other in the horns. With the passage of time, the strength of its three kingdoms slowly opened up, and finally the Shu kingdom was the first to be out. Many people believe that the early destruction of the Shu state was due to internal friction, but if we talk about internal friction, the Wei and Wu states are more seriously consumed, so this is only one aspect, there are also strategies for dealing with emergencies, limited territory, etc., the most critical factor is that there is a problem in the way of employing people. In particular, this person, who was the best military wizard in the Shu Kingdom, was suppressed under Liu Bei and could not exert his true strength, and this person was Zhao Yun.
Everyone knows that Zhao Yun is known as the "Five Tiger Generals", but his status has never gone up. If we talk about meritorious ability, it is not nothing. For example, Changsakapo rescued Liu Chan, and the Biography of Zhao Yun in the Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms records: "And the ancestor lord was chased by Cao Gong to Dangyang Changsaka, abandoned his wife and left south, and yun held a weak son, that is, the later lord, and the defender of Lady Gan, that is, the queen mother, all of whom were spared." From this, it can be seen that he is brave and complete, and is not a reckless man with developed limbs, as described in the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms". Moreover, if we talk about comprehensive ability, I am afraid that he is slightly better than Guan Yu.
Just look at his strategic vision. Before Liu Bei launched the Battle of Yiling, Zhao Yun suggested that the overall situation should be the most important, and Wei should be destroyed first, and then Wu would submit to himself. Moreover, at that time, Cao Pi had just taken the throne, and the foundation was unstable, if Liu Bei attacked at this time, it was likely to be able to take Guanzhong in one fell swoop. However, Liu Bei insisted on turning his face with Wu, perhaps because Guan Yu's death hit him too hard, so that in the end, due to small losses, not only lost his troops, but also lost the perfect opportunity to advance into Guanzhong. It can be seen that Zhao Yun has a certain strategic vision. Guan Yu did have the ability to command the corps to fight, but due to his character shortcomings, he was used by Sun Quan and defeated Maicheng.
Not only that, but he is also a tactical expert in actual combat. For example, in the Battle of Hanzhong, he defended the camp alone, and the strength of the troops was insufficient, and he was besieged by the Cao army. Zhao Yun was calm and comfortable, and resolutely ordered the four doors to be opened, so that the opposite way made the Cao army dare not rush to attack, but instead retreated. Zhao Yun took the opportunity to make a contribution, killing Cao Jun and fleeing in a hurry.
As for his character, there is nothing to say, he understands the great righteousness, is loyal and courageous, and is impartial and selfless. In his life, whether it is to the lord or subordinates, he has played a good role, and from the beginning to the end, he will not betray others at will. Unlike Lü Bu, who was shaky. Perhaps it is precisely because of this that the victorious general will die of old age and die well. So since Zhao Yun is a general with such ability, why can't he always exert his true talent?
This brings us to the way leaders employ people.
Let's start with Liu Beiren
As we all know, Liu Bei is famous for respecting talents and being good at using people, especially when Sangu Maolu invited Zhuge Liang out of the mountain, which was rumored to be a beautiful talk through the ages. There are also his subordinates Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Pang Tong, Huang Zhong, Ma Liang and others also have extraordinary intelligence and courage, such as Guan Yu flooded the Seventh Army, Zhang Fei broke Zhang Gao, Wei Yan defeated Guo Huai, etc., all of which have made immortal merits, and those he does not take it seriously, such as Xu Feng, Xu Jing, Ma Chen, etc., are either selfish villains, or they are vain names, and the pattern is too small.
In this way, it seems that there is no problem with Liu Bei's employment, but there are always two sides to things. Liu Bei's main people are virtuous and virtuous, and they think of deeds with temperament. He is not like Cao Cao who uses people's meritocracy and uses power to control each other, nor is he like Sun Quan who is like-minded. For example, in dealing with lü Bu's matter, he wanted to subdue people with virtue, but as a result, Lü Bu pit Xuzhou, and also appointed Mi Fang as the Taishou of Nan County for a long time, which eventually led to Guan Yu's death on the battlefield. And his trust mainly comes from pragmatism, even a little bit of willfulness. But if a man is not a sage, who can be blameless? Even Zhuge Liang, the First Counselor of the Three Kingdoms, sometimes looked at the wrong person.
Speaking of this, it can be seen that Liu Bei's people focus on talent, fame, and morality, and for Zhao Yun, it is obviously because of morality. Coupled with the door valve system in the Three Kingdoms period, Liu Bei had to take care of the new upstarts and promote the old ministers, while Zhao Yun's identity could only be lower, and he did not even appear in the list of 180 people in the first seal. Moreover, Liu Bei trusted Zhao Yun, compared to Zhang Fei and others, Zhao Yun was more like a family, and the matter of charging into the front had other great futures to do, and it was most appropriate to put Zhao Yun in the position of personal guard.
Let's talk about Zhuge Liang's employment of people
Zhuge Liang employs and takes people "without limiting his side", and among the people he appoints, most of them are people of talent and integrity who have merged their moral integrity and have pure moral character, such as Jiang Huan, Yang Hong, Dong Yun, and so on. However, he also had a nepotistic side, such as Liu Bei's dying saying that Ma Chen's rumors were exaggerated and could not be of great use, but Zhuge Liang did not believe it, which eventually led to the defeat of the street pavilion. Therefore, for Zhao Yun, Zhuge Liang is valued, but he is not promoted, only serving as a suspect soldier.
Therefore, Zhao Yun in the Liu Chan period was only the role of a guard. However, whether it is Zhuge Liang or Liu Bei, the mistakes in employing people are only an isolated case, and they cannot erase their ability to know people and make good use of them, especially Liu Bei. Zhuge Liang has been praised for more than two thousand years, which is enough to prove Liu Bei's vision.
Finally, let's talk about Liu Chan
Not to mention Liu Chan, relying on Zhuge Liang to support the Shu state, after Zhuge Liang's death, he only coveted pleasure, and the power fell into the hands of Huang Hao and others. How could such a precarious Shu state reuse a veteran like Zhao Yun? What's more, Liu Chan didn't take this life-saving benefactor seriously at all.
brief summary
In fact, think about it, Zhao Yun's life is full of grievances and regrets, empty of talents, but failed to exert ambitions. There was no opportunity to go out alone, and those who were with him at the same time had already been crowned marquis and worshipped, and only he was stagnant. If he had been placed in the position of general, with his strategic wisdom, it would not have been possible that the Shu kingdom would not have been destroyed so early. However, although he failed to go to the front line, he spent his life in peace, relying on his own efforts to interpret the extraordinary in the ordinary, thus living to the age of about 70 years old.
Thousands of people, thousands of ideas, so what are your thoughts on this?