Wang Ping was illiterate, but without him, Shu Han was estimated to have perished more than ten years early.
There is an old saying, called "the wind knows the strength of the grass, the board knows the honest minister", which basically means that only after a severe test can you know who is really strong and loyal.
It is most appropriate to put this sentence on the body of Wang Ping, the general of the Shu Han Dynasty.
It can even be said that the appearance and existence of Wang Ping has changed the direction of the Three Kingdoms to a certain extent, and if it weren't for him, I'm afraid Shu Han would have been gone long ago.
So, what has Wang Ping done, and why is he so important?
Wang Ping can be known to future generations, and he has to thank Ma Jian who lost the street pavilion.
At the earliest, Wang Ping was originally a low-level officer under Cao Cao, after the outbreak of the Battle of Hanzhong, Wang Ping went out with Cao Wei's general Xu Huang, due to Cao Cao's defeat, Wang Ping chose to surrender to Liu Bei and became a Yamen general under Liu Bei.
The so-called Yamen General was actually just an unpopular military attache position at that time, which shows that Wang Ping was only a small role at that time.
After all, he was a general, and he was indeed unknown before he came.
And, according to historical records, Wang Ping didn't read any books, and he didn't know a few big characters, but no one expected that soon after, this little person, who can be called "illiterate", showed no less ability than a famous general.
In the sixth year of Jianxing (228 AD), Zhuge Liang organized the first Northern Expedition, because the main force was attacking the Longxi region, therefore, Zhuge Liang handed over the important task of defending the street pavilion and blocking Cao Wei's reinforcements to Ma Yan, who was in the army at that time.
According to Zhuge Liang's assumption, Jieting is the only way from Guanzhong to Longxi, so as long as you hold Jieting and wait until you take Longxi, then the Northern Expedition will be captured.
Moreover, the street pavilion is located in a dangerous position, as long as the fortifications are set up, Cao Wei's reinforcements will not be able to defeat for a while.
But the ideal is very plump, but the reality is very skinny, Zhuge Liang's idea is good, and the plan is no problem, but the bad is in Ma Yan, who is responsible for guarding the street pavilion.
After Ma Tan led the army to arrive at Jieting, he did not follow Zhuge Liang's deployment at all, but stationed his troops on the mountain, trying to defend Jieting condescendingly, ignoring the fatal flaw on the mountain far from the water source.
In the end, Zhang He, the general of Cao Wei, adopted the strategy of cutting off Ma Tan's water source, trapped Ma Tan in the mountains, and then attacked again, resulting in Ma Tan's defeat and Zhuge Liang's Northern Expedition plan was also bankrupt.
Afterwards, Zhuge Liang had to dispose of Ma Jian by military law, which is also the source of the allusion to "Tears and Cutting Ma Tan".
Before Ma Jian was defeated, Wang Ping, who went with him, had already realized that Ma Jian had a problem with his arrangement, and repeatedly admonished Ma Jian and asked him to change his strategy, but Ma Jian never listened.
Of course, it is not enough to say that Wang Ping is capable just by seeing the problem and admonishing him, and his most brilliant performance is after the fiasco of the street pavilion.
The loss of the street pavilion allowed Zhang He to lead the army to drive straight into Longxi, which caused Zhuge Liang to face the danger of being flanked from front to back, in order to avoid this danger, Zhuge Liang had to choose to withdraw his army and return to Hanzhong.
However, it will take time to withdraw the army, and if Zhang He catches up with Zhuge Liang at this time, then the Shu army will be in big trouble.
At this moment, Wang Ping stepped forward, first gathered the Shu army that fled in all directions after the defeat in the street pavilion, and then organized these people to beat the war drums to guard the camp.
In this way, Zhang He was confused, he thought that there were ambushes in front of him, so he did not dare to act rashly.
And his confusion gave Zhuge Liang extremely valuable time to retreat, and after that, not only the main force of the Shu army was able to return to Hanzhong, but also the soldiers who were scattered after the defeat of Jieting also returned to Hanzhong under Wang Ping's orderly reorganization.
During the whole process, Wang Ping showed a calm and high-quality military quality, and his performance was indeed no less than that of famous generals of the same era.
We all know that there is a saying on the battlefield called "defeat is like a mountain", which means that once defeated, the soldiers will scatter and flee for their lives, so it will also exacerbate the result of defeat.
At such times, it is difficult to organize a counteroffensive, even to gather them.
But Wang Ping did it, not only successfully gathered the rout, but also organized them, and put on a suspicious formation to confuse Zhang He.
It can be seen that Wang Ping is absolutely exemplary in governing the army on weekdays.
And afterwards, Wang Ping also became the only general who was praised by Zhuge Liang in the Battle of Jieting, not only was he worshiped as joining the army, Zhuge Liang also let him lead the Wudang Fei Army, and then promoted Wang Ping to the general of Kou and the Marquis of Ting.
Since then, Wang Ping has successfully transformed from a partial general to a general.
After that, Wang Ping performed well in the "Battle of the Southern Siege" and the Wei Yan Rebellion, and his most brilliant battle was the "Battle of Xingshi" that broke Cao Shuang.
Let's talk about the "Battle of Nanwei" first, in this battle, Wang Ping met his old opponent Zhang He again.
In the ninth year of Jianxing (231 AD), Zhuge Liang went out of Qishan for the fourth time, and this was also his fourth northern expedition.
After the start of the war, Zhuge Liang quickly marched to Shanggua and destroyed the wheat fields here, causing the Wei army to be desperately short of food and forced to transport grain from Guanzhong as supplies.
In this case, Zhang He proposed to Sima Yi that at this time, he should take advantage of the opportunity of the Shu army coming from afar, adopt a strategy of quick victory, outflank the Shu army with surprise soldiers, and cut off the back road of the Shu army, so as to win a quick victory.
But Sima Yi did not listen, and chose to stick to it, at that time, because of this incident, Sima Yi was also ridiculed by the army commander and soldiers for being "afraid of Shu like a tiger, why should the world laugh?"
After that, in order to win the fighter, Sima Yi led the main force to attack Zhuge Liang's main force, and at the same time sent Zhang He to attack Wang Ping, who was guarding the southern siege, in an attempt to form a clamp on Zhuge Liang after defeating Wang Ping.
If Wang Ping is defeated, and Zhang He and Sima Yi join forces at that time, then Zhuge Liang will be in danger.
However, Wang Ping successfully held the southern siege, and historical records record that Zhang He launched several attacks at that time, but Wang Ping held on, and finally let Zhang He return in vain.
In this way, Wang Ping solved the security of Zhuge Liang's flanks, and also smashed Sima Yi's plan to try to besiege, and it was precisely because Wang Ping relieved Zhuge Liang of his worries that Zhuge Liang was able to defeat the Wei army in the subsequent Battle of Lucheng, not only killing 3,000 Wei troops, but also obtaining rich booty.
It can be said that among the results of Zhuge Liang's Fourth Northern Expedition, Wang Ping occupied a lot of credit.
If it is said that in the battle of the Southern Siege, Wang Ping only made achievements by holding on to the ground, then in the Wei Yan Rebellion after Zhuge Liang's death, Wang Ping's performance can be called "turning the tide".
In the twelfth year of Jianxing (234 AD), Zhuge Liang died of illness in Wuzhangyuan, and before his death, he arranged for Yang Yi and others to retire, but after Zhuge Liang's death, Wei Yan was unwilling to listen to Yang Yi's dispatch, so conflicts broke out between the two sides.
After that, Wei Yan took the first step and led the army to rush ahead of Yang Yi, and he also burned all the plank roads where he passed, so as to stop Yang Yi.
In the end, Wei Yan first occupied Nangukou and used it as a defense to attack Yang Yi.
In front of the two armies, Wang Ping stood up and reprimanded Wei Yan's vanguard, and after some angry scolding, Wei Yan's soldiers were ashamed, which eventually led to Wei Yan's disheartened army and the soldiers scattered.
Ping Yan Xian said: "Gong (referring to Zhuge Liang) is dead, his body is not cold, how dare you dare to be Nair!" --- "Romance of the Three Kingdoms"
It was precisely because of Wang Ping's awe-inspiring righteousness and strict words that not only caused Wei Yan's army to be disheartened, but also made Wei Yan lose the capital to confront Yang Yi, and finally Wei Yan was beheaded.
And Wang Ping's move largely avoided the tragedy of the Shu army killing each other after Zhuge Liang's death, and it was also because of him that he ensured that the Shu Han Northern Expedition army could return to Shu completely.
If there is no Wang Ping's move, then Wei Yan and Yang Yi will inevitably have a battle, at that time, in addition to the cannibalism within the Shu army, more importantly, Shu Han will be hit hard because of this matter.
If this is the case, it will make it worse for Shu Han, who has just lost Zhuge Liang, and at the same time, it will also give Cao Wei a chance to attack.
In "Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms", Wang Ping is also credited to Wang Ping for the rapid pacification of the Wei Yan Rebellion, precisely because he used his own ability to prevent the situation from deteriorating further when Shu Han was alive and dead, so it is not an exaggeration to say that Wang Ping "turned the tide".
After this incident, Wang Ping was promoted, and by the sixth year of Yanxi (243 AD), Wang Ping had served as the former supervisor of the army and the general of Zhenbei, and was responsible for leading Hanzhong.
In the near future, Wang Ping will also usher in the highlight moment of his life.
In the seventh year of Yanxi (244 AD), Cao Wei was in power at the time of Cao Fang, and at that time, Sima Yi and the general Cao Shuang fought in secret, in order to suppress Sima Yi, Cao Shuang decided to recover some face from the battlefield.
Therefore, in March of that year, Cao Shuang led an army of 100,000 to attack Hanzhong, the gateway of Shu Han.
At this time, it was Wang Ping who guarded Hanzhong, but at that time, there were only less than 30,000 troops under his command, so after the news of Cao Shuang's attack came, many generals of Shu Han were frightened.
After all, the current situation is obviously that the enemy is strong and we are weak, and taking 30,000 defenders against Cao Wei's 100,000 army is undoubtedly hitting a stone with an egg.
Therefore, some people proposed to Wang Ping that it was better to give up the Yangping Pass, let the Wei army pass, and then retreat to Hancheng and Lecheng, so that after the reinforcements from Fucheng arrived, they would work together to recapture the pass.
This plan was not entirely unfeasible, but Wang Ping made it clear that he rejected it at that time.
In his opinion, firstly, Fucheng is as much as a thousand miles away from Hanzhong, and it will take time for reinforcements to come here, and secondly, if Yangping Pass is lost to the Wei army, then it will cause big trouble to the Shu army, and even if the reinforcements come, they may not be able to take it back.
Therefore, Wang Ping decided to take advantage of the terrain to first demoralize the Wei army, and at the same time buy time for reinforcements.
After that, Wang Ping ordered the battlefield to be pushed forward to Xingshi, and with the help of the dangerous terrain here, Cao Shuang's army was dragged here to death, so that it could not move forward.
In this way, Cao Shuang's side was unable to attack for a long time, which not only brought a heavy burden to the logistics supply, but also caused more and more morale to be discouraged because of the unfavorable division.
In the end, Wang Ping smoothly waited for reinforcements, and under the combined attack of Fei Yi and others, Cao Shuang was defeated, and after losing his armor, he fled in embarrassment.
After this battle, Wang Ping was able to be known as the "Three Marquis of Ping'an" of Shu Han together with Ma Zhong, who guarded Nanzhong, and Deng Zhi, who was stationed in Yong'an.
So, why is it said that Wang Ping changed the historical trend of the Three Kingdoms? In fact, the answer lies in every battle that Wang Ping experienced after he surrendered to Shu Han.
First of all, in the battle of Jieting, Wang Ping had the style of Mount Tai collapsing in front of him and not changing his face, and after the defeat of the Shu army, he was able to quickly stabilize the situation, which not only gave Zhuge Liang's main force time to retreat, but also avoided the danger of Zhuge Liang's pursuit in the north.
Moreover, he also gathered the remnants of the rout and did not let the rout continue to intensify, which is particularly rare.
Those who are familiar with the Three Kingdoms know that there were many famous generals in the Three Kingdoms period, and there were many who could charge into battle and kill the enemy in the army, but there were not too many who could still be so calm when they were defeated, and at the same time they could collect the remnants in an orderly manner.
In particular, after collecting the remnants of the army, he can immediately organize a suspicious array, which is really commendable for his courage and resourcefulness.
If there was no Wang Ping at that time, then Zhang He would inevitably drive straight into pursuit of Zhuge Liang, and it was unknown whether Zhuge Liang could return to Shu safely at that time.
If Zhuge Liang was severely injured by Zhang He and returned to Shu after losing his troops, it would inevitably have an impact on his next Northern Expedition plan, and perhaps he might abandon the Northern Expedition.
Therefore, from this point of view, Wang Ping's performance in the Battle of Jieting did affect the situation afterwards.
Moreover, during Zhuge Liang's fourth Northern Expedition, Wang Ping's brilliant completion of the Battle of the Southern Siege is also the same as the above, it is precisely because Wang Ping completed the task assigned to him by Zhuge Liang with quality and quantity, which allowed Zhuge Liang to achieve the results of the Northern Expedition.
And the more critical is the Wei Yan Rebellion, it is no exaggeration to say that if it were not for Wang Ping, Shu Han would be in danger at that time.
As we all know, after Zhuge Liang's death, Shu Han was like losing his backbone, so Wei Yan would make such a move, but no matter why he did it, it is undeniable that his behavior brought a huge crisis to Shu Han at that time.
If Wei Yan and Yang Yi are allowed to merge, it is not Yang Yi and Wei Yan who will suffer in the end, but the entire Shu Han regime.
Moreover, at that time, Cao Wei's determination to eliminate the Shu Han regime was also becoming stronger and stronger, and they were very happy to see the internal friction of the Shu Han, because this would allow them to benefit from the fisherman.
At that time, Shu Han fell into internal chaos, and if Cao Wei sent troops at the right time, I am afraid that Shu Han would be terminated in advance.
But it was precisely because Wang Ping drank Wei Yan's soldiers that Wei Yan lost his strength to fight against Yang Yi, and also avoided the occurrence of internal friction in Shu Han, so naturally Cao Wei had no chance to reap the benefits of the fisherman.
Therefore, from this point of view, Wang Ping has indeed changed the direction of history.
In addition, there was the Battle of Xingshi, in which the Shu army won a great victory and the Wei army was defeated, which had a great impact on the overall situation later.
First of all, Cao Shuang's reputation was severely hit by the defeat in this battle, and his right to speak in the court was not as good as day by day, which laid the groundwork for him to be killed by Sima Yi in the Gaopingling Incident not long after.
If it is Cao Shuang's big victory this time, not to mention what will happen to Shu Han, just within Cao Wei, Cao Shuang's prestige will definitely reach a new height, then at that time, Sima Yi may not be able to get rid of him.
If Cao Shuang can't be eliminated, then the usurpation of power by the Sima family will become an empty talk, and in this way, maybe Cao Wei can continue.
In addition to Cao Wei's side, the victory of the Xingshi War also had a great impact on the internal Shu Han, and through this battle, Fei Yi was able to replace Jiang Wan on the throne and preside over the overall situation of Shu Han.
And it was under the auspices of Fei Yi that Shu Han got a stable development at that time, and gradually got on the right track, historical records record that Shu Han at that time can be described as "the border is safe, the state family and one", which shows Fei Yi's work.