In the past, when we talked about Liu Chan, the lord of the Shu Dynasty, we could not avoid two words:
"Can't stand up to Ah Dou" and "Happy not to think"
。 The former said that after Liu Bei's death, the later lord Liu Chan obeyed Zhuge Liang's words and did not have any opinions. The latter said that after the fall of the Shu Han, Liu Chan surrendered to Cao Wei, and after gaining some benefits, he began to "enjoy thinking about Shu", giving people the feeling of being a complete "Emperor of The Dark".
But the question is, is Liu Chan in the history really a dark lord? After the fall of the Shu Kingdom, was Liu Chan really stupid enough to "be happy and not think about Shu"?
On this question, we can draw the answer based on the research of historian Mr. Zhang Zhijun: the truth of history is not so, and it is exactly the opposite. In fact, we all misunderstood Liu Chan, in fact, he is truly wise and foolish. How to say it?
We know that after Zhuge Liang's death, the war situation between Shu and Wei changed, with the Shu state being defeated one after another and the Wei state winning successive victories. In this context, three different opinions arose within the Shu state:
The first is to propose to move the capital south; the second is to unite Wu and resist Cao; the third is to surrender.
Obviously, Liu Chan chose the third kind - surrender. This choice undoubtedly seems to be very awkward, how can the emperor of a country say that he surrendered and surrendered? Isn't that self-defeating?
But when you think about it, you will find that surrender is the least costly. Why?
First of all, if the capital is moved, it will not be able to escape the conquest of Cao Wei's army, and it will only be a matter of time before the country is destroyed. Secondly, at this time, the strength of Eastern Wu was not as great as before, and the effect of the joint Wu resistance against Cao was not great.
Therefore, Liu Chan pondered carefully, instead of being humiliated repeatedly, it was better to surrender directly, so as to ensure that the people of the Shu state would suffer less from war. Losing oneself and preserving the people of Shuzhong is a very good deal.
So in this way, Liu Chan surrendered to Cao Wei!
However, after Liu Chan surrendered, the emperor of Cao Wei was also quite polite to him, not only did not execute him, but also ate and drank well to entertain him, and later named him "Anle Gong", although such a title is a bit ironic, but in general, he took better care of his face.
However, Liu Chan was not stupid, he knew that at this time, the Cao Wei regime was not in the hands of the emperor, but in the hands of the powerful minister Sima Zhao. And Liu Chan also deeply felt that this Sima Zhao was not at ease with himself, and if he was not careful, he would be hit by him.
Once, Sima Zhao specially invited Liu Chan to a banquet, and deliberately let people perform programs in the Shu Kingdom, and from time to time he also engaged in some homesickness plots, the purpose of which was to see Liu Chan's reaction.
Liu Chan knew very well in his heart that this was a pit that Sima Zhao had specially dug for him, and he had to be vigilant, so he deliberately showed a look of great enjoyment. Sima Zhao asked Liu Chan, "Do you want to be in the Shu Kingdom?" Liu Chan replied, "This place is so good, what else do you want to do in the Shu Kingdom!" ”
Sima Zhao was more satisfied after hearing this, but Liu Chan's answer made an old Shu Han minister very dissatisfied at that time, so he suggested to Liu Chan: "If Sima Zhao asks you again if you want to shu, you must show that you are very sad, it is best to shed some tears, and then answer him affirmatively: I miss Shu guo very much." ”
A few days later, Sima Zhao asked Liu Chan if he wanted to shu again, and Liu Chan said it according to the old shu state. When Sima Zhao heard this, he felt strange and asked Liu Chan how his words were so similar to those of the old minister of the Shu Kingdom!
Therefore, from this point of view, these words taught to Liu Chan by the old minister of the Shu state were probably instructed by Sima Zhao. And Liu Chan could only calculate the plan and tell Sima Zhao: This is what that person told me!
From then on, Sima Zhao was completely relieved of Liu Chan, and at this time, Liu Chan was already a real "Peaceful Gong"!
Seeing this, we can't help but say that Liu Chan, as the emperor of the Shu Kingdom, was so faceless, skinless, and spineless; but if we think from the perspective of Liu Chan himself, what could he do at that time?
First of all, at the time of Liu Bei's death, the Shu state was already unstable, and the Shu army, which had just suffered a major defeat, was already the weakest of the three kingdoms. Later, Zhuge Liang led the Northern Expedition many times, which greatly depleted the national strength of the Shu state, so the responsibility for the subjugation of the country could not be fully calculated on him.
Secondly, as a king of the subjugated country, Liu Chan's treatment directly affected Cao Wei's policy toward the people of the Shu state, so it was the best strategy for him to pretend to be crazy and stupid, and to receive preferential treatment. In the words of the Qing dynasty historian Mr. Zhou Shouchang:
The numbness and cowardice that Liu Chan showed were nothing more than a means of self-preservation.
So if you look at it this way, do you still think that this "happy and restless" Liu Chan is a dimwitted king?