Three Kingdoms Characters | The Mystery of Zhuge Liang's Abolition of Li Yan (Middle)

Last time, we laid out the whole process of Zhuge Liang's abolition of Li Yan, and this time, we dug up the details.

Li Yan was originally Liu Zhang's man, and when Liu Bei attacked Yizhou, Li Yan led the crowd to surrender, giving Liu Zhang a heavy blow, and it should be said that Liu Bei was very welcoming to Li Yan. After that, Liu Bei sent Li Yan with Liu Feng and Meng Da to attack Shangyong Commandery (Shangyong Commandery) (田家巴, southwest of Zhushan County, Hubei Province). After that, Li Yan appointed Qian as the taishou of the county (彭山山, Inc.), quelling two rebellions in succession, showing considerable military ability. According to the Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms and the Biography of Yi, Li Yan, Together with Zhuge Liang, Fazheng, Liu Ba, and Yi, five people, jointly formulated the laws and regulations of the Shu Han regime, indicating that Li Yan was a legal expert. Fa Zheng died in 220 AD, so Li Yan probably completed this matter part-time during his post as The Prince of Qianwei.

Before Liu Bei became emperor, Li Yan did something that made Liu Bei extremely sour. In 220 AD, Cao Pi forced The Han Emperor Liu Xiechan to make it, and Cao Pi declared himself emperor. Then, Liu Bei must claim that the emperor continues the Zhengshuo of the Han family. However, the title of emperor requires many conditions, one of the most important of which is that all kinds of auspicious rui are used to confirm the legitimacy of being called emperor, or to prove that the mandate of heaven is still surnamed Liu. A year before Cao Pi became emperor, a yellow dragon appeared in Wuyang County.

Where is Wuyang?

In Ganwei County.

Who is Ganwei Gun Taishou?

Li Yan.

Hahaha.

Yi Cilu said: You see, Li Yan, a person who can fight and govern, is still a legal expert, and can still send Xiangrui at a critical moment.

In addition, I personally have a view, perhaps Li Yan had foreseen that Cao Pi would be called emperor, so he sent Xiangrui to Liu Bei in advance. This Li Yan is really a talent!

According to the "Huayang Guozhi", since the rise of the Great Han Dynasty, Qianwei Juntaishou has not been promoted to a high position. And Li Yan broke this law.

In 222, Shang Shu Ling liu ba died, and Liu Bei summoned Li Yan as Shang Shu Ling.

In 223, before Liu Bei's death, he appointed two ministers, one zhuge liang and the other Li Yan. With Li Yan as the protector of the central capital, he unified the internal and external military forces and stayed in the town of Yong'an. Liu Bei's use of Li Yan as his lonely minister certainly had the need to balance the various political groups, but Liu Bei was bound to be quite satisfied with Li Yan's ability and quality.

However, Liu Bei couldn't control the affairs behind him.

After Liu Bei's death, the relationship between Zhuge and Li Yan was not so harmonious. Zhuge returned to Chengdu and presided over all affairs, and history said that "political affairs are not big or small, but salty is determined by liang" Li Yan continued to stay in Yong'an (fengjie county east of Chongqing, i.e., the White Emperor's City), on the grounds that he was guarding against eastern Wu's attack, but it also meant that Li Yan had memorized the name of an auxiliary chancellor, but he had not assumed the duties of an auxiliary chancellor for a second.

Of course, it's not that he doesn't want to take it, it's that he doesn't have a chance to.

Although Li Yan's political ambitions were not realized, he still had political capital, and in addition to his personal prestige and various connections, he also had a unit under his command, which should be more than 20,000 people, and this force could not be ignored.

In 226, Zhuge appointed Li Yan as a former general, and on the grounds that Li Yan "should be responsible for rear affairs", moved Tunjiang Prefecture (Chongqing City, the seat of the Ba County Government) and sent the escort Chen to garrison Yong'an and put it under Li Yan's command.

Who is Chen To?

Chen Zhizi is a native of Runan. When Liu Bei was serving as pastor of Yuzhou, Chen Zhi joined the revolution, and history said that he was "known as Zhao Yun of Changya, and was known as loyal and courageous." That is to say, Chen Zhi was an old man of the Jingzhou Group, and he was not in the same group as Li Yan, in other words, he was Zhuge Ren. Chen later became the governor of Yong'an and the general of Zhengxi, and was made the Marquis of Ting, proving that he was not implicated in Li Yan's case, further confirming that he was not Li Yan's person. Chen arrived at Yong'an, nominally a subordinate of Li Yan, but in fact received a part of his men and horses from Li Yan.

After Li Yan arrived in Jiangzhou, he showed a strong ability to govern local governments. According to the "Huayang Guozhi", as early as Li Yanren was too punctual, he excavated Tianshe Mountain, built roads along the river, repaired bridges, and established ferries (the original text is "Liang Sanjin", which is said to be the three rivers of the West River, Yangma River, and Jinma River), and the officials and the people were very happy. After arriving in Jiangzhou, Li Yan transformed and expanded the city of Jiangzhou, and the circumference of the city wall reached sixteen miles. And it is planned to penetrate the back mountain and connect the Wen river and the Ba river, so that Jiangzhou City is completely surrounded by water and becomes a water continent (this project is not too good to imagine). Later, because he was recruited to Hanzhong by Zhuge And the matter of crossing the mountain was not completed. According to some sources, Li Yan intended to cross the mountain, but Zhuge Liang did not approve it on the grounds that "working for the people and having no real benefits" was not approved. Zhuge did not support it, and Li Yan did it himself, because he was later transferred to Hanzhong, and the matter was abandoned.

Yi Zhilu said: Generally speaking, Li Yan is an official who wants to do things, can do things, and is good at doing things. Some materials believe that Li Yan is suspected of conspiracy to do so, which I think is a bit excessive. However, Li Yan did not listen to Kong Ming's greeting, which is probably a fact. How could Kong Ming ignore it? Li Yan demanded that bazhou be formed with five counties (Ba County, Pasir County, Badong County, Fuling County, and Jiangyang County) and become bazhou assassins. Is this too much to ask? Others may feel excessive, but Li Yan feels that it is not excessive. Because he and Kong Ming were both ministers of the Shu Han Empire, theoretically, zhuge under him, it was him. However, after Liu Bei's death, he was basically hung up, and it can be said that not only could he not talk about "unifying the internal and external military forces", but he also failed to assist the hou lord for a day. Li Yan inevitably thought, Kong Ming, you are too unique, right? We are both entrusted to the orphan, you are now in front of the minister, in front of the Yizhou pastor, but also the leader of the Shang Shu, the palace is all your decision, I as the number two person of the orphan, as a Bazhou assassin history, is this excessive? If Li Yan could pick up his tail and completely obey Zhuge Ge's orders, his fate might be different. However, one is that Li Yan's character is not allowed, and the other is that Li Yan's age does not allow it. Li Yan should have been older than Zhuge Yan, and when Liu Bei died, Zhuge was forty-three years old, in his prime, and Li Yan could not afford to survive. Since he could not stand it and did not obey, then the struggle against Zhuge was inevitable.

During Li Yan's stay in Jiangzhou, two things happened, one thing was very irritating to Kong Ming, and the other thing was very irritating to Li Yan.

Something that stimulates Kong Ming.

According to the "Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms and the Biography of Lü Qi", Zhuge Liang, the minister of the Three Kingdoms, sent troops to the counties for many years. Most of the counties were indifferent, and the Bashi County (Langzhong City, Sichuan Province) Taishou Lü Qi (read Ruyi) recruited five thousand people to send to the front, while pacifying, while strengthening management, these five thousand people, there is no escape. Later, Zhuge appointed Lü Qi as the Taishou of Hanzhong and concurrently served as the governor of agriculture to provide food for the successor army.

There is also a record in the same biography that after Zhuge Liang's death, Lü Qi also achieved the Taishou of Guanghan County (Guanghan City, Sichuan Province) and the Taishou of Shu County. There were many hukou in Shu County, and after Zhuge Died, soldiers fled, pretending to be each other, and produced various moths. After Lü Qi arrived at his post, on the one hand, he strictly investigated and on the other hand persuaded, and in a few years, more than 10,000 people were re-counted into the household registration.

What does this matter have to do with Li Yan?

On the surface, if you dig deeper, the relationship is not small.

First, it shows that Zhuge Liang has been using troops for many years, and many local officials do not support it, and if you want soldiers, I will not give them. Second, the common people voted with their feet on Zhuge Zhuge's successive years of military use. They don't do it, they flee. Third, Li Yan had at least 20,000 men and horses under his command, and Zhuge dispatched troops from various counties, but Li Yan did not give them! Therefore, Zhuge must take Li Yan's soldiers.

Yi Zhilu said: Actually, the year of the five thousand lü qi sect occurred, I am not sure, if it happened before 230 AD, my inference should be fine; if it happened after that, then my inference would not be valid. But I lean towards the former. Why? Because in the table where We talked about Zhuge Liang's abolition of Li Yan last time, there are a few sentences: Since I planned the Northern Expedition, I hope that Li Yan's soldiers can be transferred to the town to guard Hanzhong, but Li Yan is poor and difficult, that is, he does not come, but instead asks for the establishment of Bazhou with five counties, and he wants to be the assassin of Bazhou. Poverty and difficulty, probably to find various reasons, is not to give soldiers; horizontally, many experts and scholars discussed, thinking that it may be Li Yan contacting others to oppose Zhuge Ge. Then, when Lü Qi, the Taishou of Bashi County, sent five thousand soldiers to Zhuge And Li Yan, who had more than 20,000 people under his command, it was a high probability event. Thinking deeper, Zhuge "dispatched the counties and did not save each other", perhaps Li Yan had some kind of "vertical and horizontal" with them, and it is not known. Then again, the counties did not send troops, whether Li Yan had "vertical and horizontal" or not, if Zhuge thought that he was "vertical and horizontal", he would not be able to wash it away by jumping into the Yellow River. The liangzi between Zhuge and Li Yan, I think, has been knotted since Liu Bei died, and now it is a step deeper.

In 230, Zhuge promoted Li Yan to the rank of General of the Hussars. At that time, Cao Zhen, the Grand Sima of Cao Wei, planned to advance several large armies in parallel to attack the Shu state, and Zhuge Liang ordered Li Yan to lead 20,000 people to Hanzhong. Liu Chan, the lord of the post, appointed Li Yan's son Li Feng as the governor of Jiangzhou, responsible for the affairs of Li Yan after his departure.

The promotion of Li Yan to the rank of General of the Hussars was a fictitious post, with the aim of getting Li Yan's 20,000 men to Hanzhong and seizing Li Yan's military power.

However, Li Yan once again touched Zhuge 's moldy head — he proposed to open the palace.

If you don't talk about the causes and consequences, Li Yan is a bit excessive, Zhuge asked you to lead the army to the north, but you asked to open the government, do you still have a little bit of the spirit of national righteousness and dedication to the country?! You are bargaining, selfish, and you are an out-and-out, refined egoist!

However, when we consider it from Li Yan's point of view, we may feel different. Li Yan had always considered himself a chancellor, second only to Zhuge Liang. If we simply think that Li Yankaifu wants to fight with Zhuge Ge, it is a bit shallow. Zhuge asked Li Yan to lead his army to Hanzhong, and Li Yan suddenly found that he was already on the set, and there was no way to untie the set.

What is Kaifu?

To open the house is to set up its own office, to have its own set of teams, to put it bluntly, that is, there are its own people around, not the commander of the light pole. Staying with Jiangzhou, you can not open the palace, because Jiangzhou is Li Yan's territory, and his men are all his people. However, after Zhuge transferred him to Hanzhong, he "ordered Yan to take care of the affairs of the Zhongdu Protectorate", that is, to take care of the Xiangfu as the Protector of the Zhongdu, which was completely different. You see Zhuge Ge, Chengdu has a Liufu, there is a set of people and horses; Hanzhong also has a set of Xiangfu, there is also a set of people and horses. If Li Yan can open a government, he can take his own team to Hanzhong, have his own people around him, and handle various affairs much smoother. Li Yan was a hussar general, and he took care of the Xiangfu as a hussar general, which was somewhat awkward. Therefore, Kong Ming asked him to take care of the Xiangfu as a Zhongdu Protector, and the Zhongdu Protector was not qualified to open the palace.

After this, we will find that whether or not we can open the house is too important for Li Yan. Of course, Li Yan also realized that as long as you arrive in Hanzhong and enter the xiangmen as deep as the sea, you can bring a few confidants with you, but these people are not organized, and can only come up with an idea as a private staff, and once it involves the handling of specific affairs, these people are not qualified to participate at all. That is to say, Li Yan was nominally the head of the XiangFu, but in fact, he was surrounded by Zhuge people. In other words, he was "under house arrest" in Xiangfu. Some people may think that I am talking nonsense, let's take an example, if Li Yan orders a certain cadre of the Xiangfu to do something, and this cadre refuses, what will Li Yan do? If Li Yan wanted to do something from Zhuge Liang, did he do it? If Li Yan and a certain cadre complained to Zhuge Liang at the same time about the other party's violation of law and discipline, who would Zhuge Liang listen to? ...... Taking care of the Xiang Mansion, Jiang Huan can, Li Yan can't. Because Jiang Huan was Zhuge s man, Li Yan was Zhuge s opponent.

Of course, if Li Yan followed Zhuge Chao with a dead heart, it was okay, but he was not undead, so he asked to open the house.

Many people say that Li Yan is again asking to be the history of Bazhou, and he is also asking to open a government, and the people's hearts are not enough to swallow the elephant. I can only say that some people read history and have not even figured out the basic conditions and processes for exercising power, and they are even more insensitive to the psychological logic of people fighting wits and fighting methods in power, but when they come to conclusions, they open their mouths and come, full of confidence, huh.

Of course, Kong Ming could not let Li Yan open the palace, so he categorically refused, and then reported Li Yan's son Li Feng as the governor of Jiangzhou, which was to give Li Yan a face:

Old Li, I gave you a face, do you want it?

At this time, if Li Yan did not come to Hanzhong, it would be to resist the will, and the imperial court could send troops to get you, and at the same time, Zhuge ordered your son to supervise Jiangzhou, at least on the surface, Jiangzhou is still yours, and if you refuse to go to Hanzhong, it is morally unreasonable. Li Yan really had no way, whether it was a smooth road or a trap in front, he could only go.

Last time we talked about Zhuge Ge's upper table, it was clearly stated that I asked Li Feng to supervise Jiangzhou in order to appease Li Yan. See, every step the two people take is an organ. Li Yan did not have the strength and courage to rebel, and could only take it step by step, from Yong'an to Jiangzhou and then to Hanzhong, and took care of the Xiangfu as the governor of the country.

Yi Zhilu said: The rise of the bright and the dark, and the reward of the light and the suppression of the dark, are the usual methods in political struggle. On the surface, it makes you very beautiful and becomes a hussar general; in fact, it gradually deprives you of the strength you rely on, and you have no way to oppose it. Once you object, countless brainless masses will jump out and say that you are an anti-thief, huh. We say that although the skinny camel is bigger than a horse, the phoenix with the plucked hair is not as good as the chicken, and Li Yan can only knock out his teeth and swallow blood.

Zhuge's political means are not covered.

Something that irritated Li Yan.

The Wei state of Xincheng Commandery was originally from the State of Shu, but later rebelled against Shu and returned to Wei. In 226 AD, Cao Pi died, Kong Ming planned to plot against Meng Da, so he wrote a letter to Meng Da, which was again reminiscing about the past and pulling, and the two sides were quite closely linked. Zhuge wrote a letter to Meng Da, in which he commented that Li Yan was "partly like a stream, tending to give up recklessness, and square nature." The square is Li Yan's word, which means that handling official affairs is flowing, solving problems is never delayed, Li Yan is so capable!

Li Yan used to have a good relationship with Meng Da, and also wrote to Meng Da, saying that Kong Ming and I were entrusted with trust, deeply worried and heavy, and thought of good companions. It means that Kong Ming and I are both entrusted with loneliness and heavy subjects, and now that the responsibility is heavy, you should hurry back and build a great cause with me.

We can reasonably infer that Li Yan's letter to Meng Da was cooperating with Kong Ming's counter-offensive work.

Meng Da then agreed to return to the Shu kingdom.

Li Yan should really hope that Meng Da will come back, they are originally old comrades-in-arms, old brothers, there are not many people li Yan can see, Meng Da should be counted as one.

However, when Sima Yi sent troops to attack Meng Da, Kong Ming deliberately did not send troops to rescue him, resulting in the destruction of Meng Da City and his arrest.

Meng Da's death, I personally think, is a huge stimulus to Li Yan. Li Yan may have suddenly realized that Zhuge Cheng Xiang was not only a master of playing politics, but also, with a fierce hand, there was no ambiguity at all.

In the secret struggle between the two sides, Li Yan has always been in the ascendant.

About before going to Hanzhong, Li Yan made another move, he suggested that Zhuge Liang be crowned king and be subject to Jiu Xi.

This matter was said by Zhuge Liang, and there is the Book of Yan and Liang in the Zhuge Liang Collection, which means that Li Yan advised Zhuge Liang to accept the Nine Xi and become a king.

Zhuge replied:

Old Li, I have known you for a long time, and you still don't know me! I was originally just an ordinary scholar in the East, but I was accidentally favored by the former emperor, and now I am an extremely popular subject, and I have received as many as ten billion rewards. But now the thief has not succeeded, and he has not yet repaid the favor of the former emperor, but he wants to be a role like Qi Huan and Jin Wen, which is not a big righteousness. If the State of Wei is destroyed and Cao Rui is beheaded, and the emperor can return to the former residence of Luoyang, I will accept the reward with you, even if it is ten tin, let alone nine tin!

Yi Zhilu said: If this is true, it should be after Wei Yan broke Guo Huai, before Li Yan went to Hanzhong, because Zhuge said in his reply that he was "an extremely popular subject", which should be after he was restored to the post of chancellor, that is, in 230 AD or a little earlier.

I personally feel that Li Yan tried to test Zhuge Liang in the way of patting his ass to see what you were going to do. For ordinary people, it is also called king, but Kong Ming does not. I think that one is that Kong Ming's private morality is indeed much higher than that of ordinary people, and the other is that Kong Ming's identity is different from Cao Cao, Sun Quan, and Liu Bei, saying that Wang is suspected of trespassing. In the two Han Dynasties and four hundred years, except for Liu Bang, who initially made several kings with different surnames, and Lü Hou who made several sons of the Lü family kings, there was not a single king with a different surname. It was not until Cao Cao proclaimed himself King of Wei that this taboo was broken, and soon Cao replaced Liu. Therefore, the kingship can be seen as a prelude to rebellion. Li Yan persuaded Zhuge to be king, and I understand that on the one hand, he wanted to pat Zhuge on the ass, and on the other hand, he also wanted to put Kong Ming on the fire and roast it.

Many people think that this belief is not true, because Zhuge has been cautious all his life, how can he say such an arrogant word as "Jia Shi Xi"! I don't think so. At that time, the relationship between Zhuge and Li Yan was acceptable, and what he said in private had a joking tone, easily defusing Li Yan's "conspiracy". If Zhuge Yizheng rebuked Li Yan in words, or avoided answering and told the truth, it would not be as appropriate as this way of handling.

After that, Zhuge Liang transferred Li Yan to Hanzhong, most likely receiving Li Yan's troops of nearly 20,000 men (Li Yan should still have some men and horses in Jiangzhou). When Li Yan arrived in Hanzhong, he knew that he was indeed not Kong Ming's opponent, and he was even more jealous of Kong Ming.

Therefore, Li Yan changed his name to Li Ping.

I took it, can't I?

There is evidence that Li Yan's purity and arrogance are well-known (therefore, I think it is not very convincing to say that Li Yan is the bearer of the Dongzhou Group). A person with an arrogant heart can pretend to be a grandson for a while, but not a grandson for a lifetime.

If a strong man with character and ability does not deal with the boss, and this boss is a more capable and stronger person, then what kind of fate will await him?

【Picture from the network】