There is a saying that "there are no tigers in the mountains, but monkeys reign supreme", which means that a group lacks shrewd and capable people, so it has to let people of average ability take up important positions. Another sentence with a similar meaning is "There is no general in Shu, Liao Hua is the vanguard", which refers to the end of the Three Kingdoms period, the Shu Han talent shortage, had to use Liao Hua as the vanguard.
What kind of person is Liao Hua in history? Is he fit to be a pioneer?
The Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms does not record much about Liao Hua, and Liao Hua's biography is only a short one hundred and sixty words. In the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, the author plays more of him.
Liao Hua, ZiYuanjian, Xiangyang ren, his appearance is Guan Yu thousands of miles on the way to ride a single ride, pass five levels, and slash six generals. Liu Bei surrendered to Yuan Shao after the defeat of Xuzhou, Guan Yu escorted Liu Bei's two wives to surrender to Cao Cao, Guan Yu learned where Liu Bei was, hung up the golden seal, bid farewell to Cao Cao, and let the two sisters-in-law go first. Unexpectedly, Liu Bei's two wives were captured by the mountain thief Du Yuan, and he planned to divide them with Liao Hua.
At this time, Liao Hua and Du Yuan were the leaders of the two mountain thieves, and the two led the little minions to rob the house and commit adultery. However, Liao Hua had ideals in his heart, and he hoped to defect to Liu Bei and establish a career, rather than being a mountain thief all the time.
When Liao Hua learned that the two beauties captured by Du Yuan were Liu Bei's wives, he advised Du Yuan to join him in defecting to Liu Bei, but Du Yuan did not change his thief nature, so Liao Hua killed him and escorted Liu Bei's two wives down the mountain to join Guan Yu. Liao Hua hoped to follow the world-famous hero Guan Yu and make meritorious achievements under his command, but guan Yu thought that he had been a Yellow Turban Army and a mountain thief, and refused to take him in.
Later, Liu Bei occupied Yizhou, and Liao Hua took advantage of this opportunity to defect to the Shu Han camp. Liu Bei arranged for him to follow Guan Yu to defend Jingzhou, and Liao Hua finally followed his great hero as he wished. Later, when Guan Yu led xiongshi to attack Xiangyang, Liao Hua rushed forward and bravely killed the enemy.
Soon after, Lü Meng crossed the river in white clothes to capture Jingzhou, and Guan Yu's soldiers were defeated and killed. At this time, Liao Hua's deeds are recorded in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms and the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
The Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms records that Liao Hua was defeated and captured, and had to surrender to the State of Wu, but he was "in the heart of the Wu camp in Han", thinking about escaping to Shu Han day and night, and finally thought of a way two years later - to pretend to die and deceive all the Wu people at that time. Then he took his old mother and went to Shuhan day and night. From then on, it can be guessed that Liao Hua surrendered to a large extent to save his old mother, and if he had sworn to die, then his mother would have been killed nine times out of ten. The ancients attached great importance to filial piety, and the Han Dynasty and even the Three Kingdoms period were all filial piety and honesty. Liao Hua and his mother waded through mountains and rivers, crossed mountains and mountains, and finally came to Zigui, where they encountered Liu Bei's large army, who was revenge for Guan Yu and Zhang Fei in the Eastern Crusade.
In the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", Guan Yu was besieged, Liao Hua asked Miao to go to Shangyong to ask for help, he broke through the siege, hoping to get Liu Feng's assistance, but Liu Feng stood by and saw that death was not saved, and in a hurry, Liao Hua faced Liu Feng with "prostrating his head and bleeding, mourning and pleading", Liu Feng was still unmoved. In desperation, Liao Hua, with his worries about Guan Yu and his anger at Liu Feng's ruthlessness, went back to Western Shu alone to ask for help, but unfortunately Yuanshui could not save the near fire, and soon Guan Yu was defeated and maicheng, and his father and son were captured.
No matter how many elements of truth and fiction there are in Liao Hua's deeds, his loyalty to the Shu state is beyond doubt.
After Liu Bei met Liao Hua, he was touched by his sincerity. Liao Hua followed Liu Bei to conquer the State of Wu. As a result, everyone knows that in the Battle of Yiling, Liu Bei was defeated by Lu Xun's burning of the camp, and Liao Hua returned to Shuzhong with the defeated army. The main responsibility for this strategic mistake in the Battle of Yiling lies in the obstinate actions of the leader Liu Bei. As for Liao Hua, he could only carry out orders to do things correctly, and he did his part conscientiously, and there was nothing to be harsh about.
In 223 AD, Liu Bei died, Liu Chan succeeded to the throne, Zhuge Liang assumed the role of Chancellor, Liao Hua was entrusted by Zhuge Liang with a heavy responsibility, Ren Cheng Xiang joined the army, his ability was recognized by Zhuge Liang, it can be seen that Liao Hua's talent is not low.
In Zhuge Liang's Northern Expedition, Liao Hua first served as the leading envoy of the left army transporting grain, and then six Northern Expeditions, and the older generation of military generals fell one after another, but in the end Liao Hua persisted. In the battle of MuNiu Liuma when he was out of Qishan, he pursued Sima Yi, fell with a knife in his hand, and cut down a tree, although Sima Yi escaped, he captured the other party's helmet, so Zhuge Liang gave him a head merit.
After Zhuge Liang's death, Liao Hua followed Jiang Wei on the Northern Expedition and served as a pioneer several times, at this time Liao Hua was already in his seventies. "There are no generals in Shu, Liao Hua is a pioneer" refers to this period, the shu Han talent withered very seriously, the old batch of generals have passed away one after another, and the new generation of talents has not risen. The vanguard position, charging into battle, killing the enemy, attacking the city and plundering the ground, and defeating the enemy's vigor, should have been played by young people, but now it is necessary to let a seventy-year-old man fill it. In the embarrassing situation of the shortage of talents in the late Shu Han Dynasty, the Shu state had no generals to use, and it was really emotional to let Liao Hua, an old man with flower armor, fight on the battlefield.
What is the end of Liao Hua? In 263, Deng Ai and Zhong hui launched a general attack on Shu Han, and the building fell, although Liao Hua and Jiang Wei struggled to support them, Liu Chan surrendered, and the Shu state collapsed. In 264, Liao Hua was moved to Luoyang and died on the way.
Liao Huayi lived in his eighties, a rare figure who lived through the entire Three Kingdoms period, and he witnessed the turmoil of the entire Three Kingdoms period. His life witnessed Guan Yu's mighty huaxia and fall, witnessed Liu Bei's claim to the throne and Tuoguo, witnessed Zhuge Liang's "bowing down to exhaustion, and after death", witnessed the establishment of the Shu state to its demise. All his life he fought for the Shu kingdom he longed for, loyal and unswerving, until his death.