Preface
During the Three Kingdoms period, Zhuge Liang was known as a genius through the ages, wise and brave, and was respected by later generations as a wise strategist. However, there is a mystery in his life, that is, why did he insist on getting rid of Wei Yan?
Wei Yan, as an important general of Shu Han, has a special position in the court and has a backer that cannot be ignored. Who is this backer? Why does Zhuge Liang insist that "if you don't get rid of it, you can't do it"?
Today, we're going to uncover this little-known story and delve into the implications of Zhuge Liang's decision against Wei Yan, as well as the political intrigues and power struggles hidden in it. Let's embark on this bewildering journey through history and unravel this dramatic mystery of the Three Kingdoms.
A ticking time bomb for the future
If you want to evaluate Wei Yan, the words "rigid and self-serving" are the most appropriate. In 219, in front of Liu Bei, the king of Hanzhong, Wei Yan, the general of Yamen, accepted an important appointment - to serve as the Taishou of Hanzhong.
This is counterintuitive. It stands to reason that this position should have belonged to Liu Bei's general Zhang Fei. Liu Bei promoted Wei Yan in this way with only one purpose, that is, to let him assist his son Liu Chan after his death.
Because in Liu Bei's eyes, Zhuge Liang, Zhao Yun and others are just "ministers from the dragon", and they are loyal to the orthodoxy of the Han family, not Liu Bei himself. In contrast, Wei Yan is like Liu Bei's brothers Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, who are only loyal to Liu Bei personally and are Liu Bei's most trusted people.
At this time, Liu Bei was already 60 years old, and he knew that the world was difficult to decide, and he had to consider the issue of inheritance of the country. If Zhuge Liang and the old ministers were allowed to help Liu Chan, Liu Bei was worried that they would only be loyal to the great cause of the Han dynasty and not necessarily to Liu Chan; What's more, Liu Bei was worried that Zhuge Liang would depose Liu Chan and become independent.
Therefore, he needs a loyal person like Wei Yan to provide backing for his son Liu Chan. Liu Bei's arrangement was reasonable at the time. But he didn't expect that over time, this time bomb would plant hidden dangers in Shuhan.
The general of Zhenbei who leans towards the government and the opposition
After Liu Bei's death, Wei Yan gained Liu Chan's trust and favor. Above the court, he is arrogant and domineering, and few people can control him. Even if there is a disagreement, he will force it.
What Wei Yan hated the most was Yang Yi, the long history who was in charge of the documents. Yang Yi not only contradicted him many times in military affairs, but also often shared Zhuge Liang's worries and dealt with those trivial logistics matters, which made Wei Yan very jealous and envious. As a result, he often used a knife to intimidate Yang Yi, hoping to buy or threaten him to comply.
Even though the two were incompatible, Zhuge Liang still tried his best to mediate in the middle. He understood Liu Bei's intentions, Wei Yan was the last barrier to protect Liu Chan, so he had to tolerate him.
However, Wei Yan's actions have begun to threaten the foundation of Shu Han. During the First Northern Expedition, he openly disobeyed Zhuge Liang's military orders, claiming to attack Chang'an from the Meridian Valley. This suggestion is rash and absurd, and it is overly optimistic in its judgment of the enemy's situation, and it is obviously whimsical.
After being vetoed, Wei Yan went around slandering Zhuge Liang for not daring to use troops. And Zhuge Liang still tolerated it again and again, and would rather be criticized by others, but also plan for the Liu family. But this time, Wei Yan completely angered Zhuge Liang.
The alarm bell rings for a long time, and the prevention is slight
In 234, Shu Han launched the Fifth Northern Expedition. In this battle, Zhuge Liang became ill from hard work and died of serious illness in the army. On his deathbed, he arranged for the army to remain a secret and wait for the reorganization to be done before retreating. Jiang Wei and Wei Yan were in charge of the break. He intended to test Wei Yan for the last time: if Wei Yan could still obey the military order, he would be appeased for the time being; If you disobey the order, then you can get rid of this big problem.
It's a pity that Wei Yan didn't let Zhuge Liang get his wish. When the generals decided to withdraw the army, he made his own decisions, not only led the army to retreat first, but also burned the plank road, leaving the other Shu troops exposed to the pursuit of the Wei army.
Fortunately, the Wei general Sima Yi did not fully believe the rumors that Zhuge Liang had died, and temporarily withdrew his troops, and Jiang Wei and others were able to escape. And Wei Yan realized that he had committed a big crime, and in order to preemptively strike, he planned to lead the army back to the capital Chengdu and eradicate Yang Yi and others.
Who knows, Wei Yan's subordinates are not willing to follow a traitor at all. As a result, he had to flee to Hanzhong with his son, and was later killed by Ma Dai. Seeing this, Yang Yi angrily exterminated the three clans of Wei Yan's family.
Hide the snake and think deeply
The reason why Zhuge Liang finally killed Wei Yan was actually to prevent trouble. He was well aware of Wei Yan's arrogant and domineering character, and was afraid that after his death, Wei Yan would take advantage of the situation to control the government and government, and then threaten Liu Chan's position.
But considering Wei Yan's status in Liu Bei's mind, Zhuge Liang was reluctant to do it himself. Therefore, he used Wei Yan's mistakes to achieve the goal of getting rid of him, which is the essence of "borrowing a knife to kill". Getting rid of Wei Yan through Yang Yi's hands not only eradicated the hidden dangers for the Shu Han foundation, but also saved face for the Liu royal family.
This is the end of the story. However, we still have to ask: Is the fall of Shu Han unrelated to this "political legacy"? The root cause of Liu Bei's single-handedly planted bane is, after all, the greatest hidden danger of Shu Han's century-old national ancestry.
He wanted his son to sit firmly in the country, but he ignored the long-term development of the country. This is like a political earthquake before the eruption of the volcano, which brought destruction to the already precarious Shu Han national fortune like a landslide and a crack.
Elaborate on Wei Yan's arrogant performance
Wei Yan has a rigid personality and never thinks about the consequences when he acts. In the DPRK, he often went toe-to-toe with Yang Yi, and often used force to force him to suppress dissidents. Even so, Zhuge Liang tried his best to mediate, because he understood Wei Yan's status in Liu Bei's mind.
However, Wei Yan's actions have already begun to threaten the foundation of Shu Han. During the first Northern Expedition, he made an absurd suggestion. Wei Yan claimed to lead 5,000 elite troops to attack Chang'an from the Meridian Valley, but he would arrive in ten days.
This kind of suggestion is completely whimsical. The Meridian Valley is 330 kilometers long and has complex and rugged terrain. Five thousand infantry had to cross the Meridian Valley and reach Chang'an in ten days, and they needed to move more than thirty kilometers a day, which was simply impossible at that time.
Even if the raid is really successful, Xiahou Nan, who guards Chang'an, will never stand idly by. He is Cao Cao's son-in-law, not a person who is as easy to "get frightened" as Wei Yan said. Take 10,000 steps back and say, even if Xiahou Nan does not face the battle in person, he will adopt the strategy of closing the city and holding on. At that time, the reinforcements of the Wei army will soon annihilate all these 5,000 people.
Wei Yan's suggestion was completely a brute force, without the slightest strategy. But after being vetoed by Zhuge Liang, he still spread rumors everywhere in the army, slandering Zhuge Liang for being cowardly. This has already shown that his arrogance did not happen overnight, but was the embodiment of his true temperament.
If Wei Yan's actions during the first Northern Expedition were still tolerable, then Zhuge Liang's actions after his death were completely ruined his own life and Shu Han's life.
The most ruthless act of rebellion
In the winter of 234, Zhuge Liang, who was critically ill, still launched the Northern Expedition. Realizing that the end was near, he arranged for his generals to remain a secret after his death, and to withdraw his troops after he had been put in order. Jiang Wei and Wei Yan were responsible for the break.
And after he let Wei Yan break off, he actually gave him one last chance. If Wei Yan can still obey military orders, he can tolerate it for the time being; If you disobey the command and act recklessly, you will be the enemy of Shu Han.
As a result, Wei Yan still went his own way. After the news of Zhuge Liang's death spread, Jiang Wei and others discussed the secret withdrawal of the army according to the plan. Unexpectedly, at this time, Wei Yan made his own decisions and led his army to retreat first regardless of the overall situation.
What is even more odious is that after he left, he also ordered his men to burn down the retreating plank road! This exposed the main force of the retreating Shu army to the pursuit of the Wei army. If Sima Yi was convinced that the commander of the Shu army was dead at this time, and launched a general attack, the Shu army would have been destroyed.
Fortunately, Sima Yi did not fully believe the news of Zhuge Liang's death. Jiang Wei and others were ordered to use wooden statues to carry out suspicious tactics, which saved the army.
And Wei Yan realized that he had committed a heinous crime, and in order to divert his attention, he decided to take the opportunity to eradicate dissidents. So he led the remnants to retreat to Hanzhong, trying to return to the division to defeat Yang Yi. Who knows, his soldiers were not willing to follow a traitor commander at all, which led to him and his son being killed by Ma Dai.
Wei Yan's actions were already two times of flagrant disobedience to military orders and an attempt to rebel. He disregarded the army's life and fell on his own, almost causing the entire army of Shu to be annihilated. Such a rebellious move, although it was out of Wei Yan's usual arrogance, also became the best excuse for Zhuge Liang to get rid of him.
Hidden merit and fame, there has been an arrangement
The reason why Zhuge Liang finally killed Wei Yan was actually to prevent trouble. He was well aware of Wei Yan's arrogant and domineering character, and was afraid that after his death, Wei Yan would take advantage of the situation to control the government and government, and then threaten Liu Chan's position.
But considering Wei Yan's status in Liu Bei's mind, Zhuge Liang was reluctant to do it himself. Therefore, he had already arranged to use Wei Yan's mistakes to achieve the goal of getting rid of him, which is the essence of "killing people with a knife". Getting rid of Wei Yan through Yang Yi's hands not only eradicated the hidden dangers for the Shu Han foundation, but also saved face for the Liu royal family. As prime minister, he must be responsible for Liu Bei's will; As a loyal minister, he also has to plan for Shu Han's society.
At the last moment of his life, Zhuge Liang was a politician who cared about the world, even if he was already at the end of his crossbow, he was still trying to write the future for this sinking ship of Shu Han. I only complained about this contest of political wisdom, and finally ended up in a battle like a trapped beast.
A political storm hidden deep in the mountains
After the Wei Yan Rebellion was pacified, the crisis in Shu Han was temporarily lifted, and Liu Chan's position was also stabilized. However, all the signs in this political dispute are revealing the precarious existential crisis of Shu Han.
Wei Yan is not the first, and by no means the last, Shu Han can't afford to be a big trouble. Before him, there were precedents of Meng Da, Lu Kai and others; After him, the events of Jiang Chong and Li Yan also became a Shuhan-style political vicious circle.
These unbearable henchmen are precisely due to the political legacy planted by Liu Bei. In order for his son to sit firmly in the country, he installed henchmen to prevent Zhuge Liang's dictatorship, but it turned out to be a hidden danger for the foundation of Shu Han. It's like a snowstorm in the mountains, which seems to have passed, but when the snow melts, it can cause landslides and mudslides at any time.
As a scheming politician, Liu Bei's erroneous arrangement is really incredible. I have to say that this is a choice he made for the sake of the Liu family to sit firmly in the country for generations under the heart of Wang Ba. It's just that he didn't expect that this time bomb not only did not support his son, but instead became a dying Jedi poison for the century-old kingdom of Shu Han.
Zhuge Liang's helplessness and bitterness
Zhuge Liang is gentle and benevolent, he is not a cruel person. Therefore, in the face of Wei Yanbahu for many years, he still forgave and tolerated again and again. It wasn't until the last moment that Zhuge Liang chose to get rid of Wei Yan, which was really helpless.
First, Wei Yan has openly disobeyed military orders and disregarded military orders. If you don't get rid of him, it will only cause more chaos in the hearts of the army. Second, Wei Yan's intention to rebel is already obvious, and if it is not eliminated, it will only lead to an even greater political crisis.
Finally, considering Wei Yan's status in Liu Bei's mind, Zhuge Liang also sympathized with Liu's difficulties. Therefore, he used his mistake to get rid of him, which not only cleared the disaster, but also took care of Liu's face.
But even so, Zhuge Liang was still heartbroken after Wei Yan's death. Because of this chaos, it also means that he has accumulated a lot of work in the Northern Expedition, and the deadline is approaching. He had to arrange his future affairs in advance, and he insisted on withdrawing the Shu army.
And with his departure, the power of Shu Han has been declining. We have to ask, Zhuge Liang knew that the Northern Expedition would be difficult to succeed, why was he still tired of running for his life? He was just a bleak man in this era, and he was forced to play this absurd drama of scheming and wisdom to protect his life.
epilogue
Politics is cruel. The Three Kingdoms finally came to an end, and Zhuge Liang had tried his best to return to the sky. The sky abandons Shu Han, how can he support this crumbling country alone?