In "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", Liu Bei had a bumpy life, but he was good at attracting talents, especially Wei Yan. However, Zhuge Liang decided to kill Wei Yan because Wei Yan had killed his former lord Han Xuan, showing his untrustworthy side.
However, the real Wei Yan in history is very different from the one in the novel, Wei Yan's death is not because he really has a backbone, but because he has a move that has buried the disaster.
So, what's the story? Let's talk about it today.
The reason why Liu Bei attaches importance to Wei Yan
In "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", in Liu Bei's view, talents are more precious than anything else, and he knows that only by having enough talents can he ensure the stability of his regime, and Wei Yan is a bright pearl in his eyes.
Wei Yan's strength should not be underestimated, not only is he brave and invincible on the battlefield, but he is also good at military strategy, which makes Liu Bei praise him. Liu Bei once personally selected Wei Yan to guard Hanzhong, and this important task also demonstrated Liu Bei's trust and importance to him.
In Liu Bei's view, Wei Yan is a talent who can be entrusted with important tasks, and a general who can make great achievements for the Shu State, and the stability of Hanzhong makes him feel at ease, all of which stems from the trust and reuse of Wei Yan.
Although Liu Bei had high hopes for Wei Yan, this trust led to subsequent tragedies.
Unlike Liu Bei, Zhuge Liang had a very different view of Wei Yan, and while he acknowledged Wei Yan's military talent, he was skeptical of his loyalty.
In Zhuge Liang's view, a military hero is not the same as a loyal courtier, and Wei Yan's actions made Zhuge Liang feel worried, and he did not agree with Liu Bei's blind trust in Wei Yan.
In particular, Wei Yan's behavior of killing the former lord Han Xuan made Zhuge Liang doubt his loyalty, although Wei Yan used this to show Liu Bei's merits, but in Zhuge Liang's eyes, this was just a short-sighted selfish behavior, exposing his inner selfishness and disloyalty.
Zhuge Liang knew that a general who could not be loyal would become a disaster for the country. Therefore, although he admired Wei Yan's military talents, he decided to get rid of him before he died to keep the country at peace.
Although this decision was difficult, it was out of consideration for Shu, Zhuge Liang knew that Shu was at a critical moment of life and death, and any disloyal general could pose a threat to the country's security.
Therefore, he had to make this difficult choice, sacrificing his personal feelings to protect national security.
Wei Yan's fate doomed him to tragedy with Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang, who was a brave and fearless general in Liu Bei's eyes and an untrustworthy traitor in Zhuge Liang's eyes who had to be removed to protect national security.
This kind of collision of character concepts eventually led to the tragedy, such a decision was not absolutely correct, but in the specific circumstances at the time, it was a helpless choice made by Zhuge Liang for the safety of Shu.
However, Wei Yan in history is very different from Wei Yan in Romance.
The real Wei Yan
The image of a famous general in the Wei Yan Shu Han period is significantly different from the official history in the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms". First of all, Wei Yan's origin and experience of joining Liu Bei are completely different from the description in "Romance of the Three Kingdoms".
Wei Yan was not a general, nor did he serve Han Xuan, he was a native of Xinye, and took the initiative to join Liu Bei during Liu Bei's stay in Xinye, and led his family to join Liu Bei's rebel army.
Zhuge Liang's reuse of Wei Yan is also a major feature in the official history, contrary to the description in "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", in fact, he relied on Wei Yan very much.
After Liu Bei's death, Zhuge Liang became the de facto leader of Shu Han, and Wei Yan often held important positions in many Northern Expeditions, and was even appointed as a pioneer or general many times, second only to several top generals of Shu Han.
Wei Yan was once named a marquis, awarded the Liangzhou Assassin History, and served as a former military advisor and prime minister Sima, all of which were high-ranking positions, which were enough to prove Zhuge Liang's trust and respect for him.
However, Wei Yan's final outcome was tragic, and his death involved many reasons, such as his straightforward personality and many enemies in the army, and the envy and political rejection of other generals due to his high power and prestige.
The third point is particularly crucial, after Zhuge Liang's death, his political stance and behavioral choices may seriously deviate from the expectations of those in power, and eventually lead to tragedy.
Wei Yan's death
As mentioned above, Wei Yan's military talent was recognized in Shu Han, and he participated in major battles as a chief general or important general on many occasions, and had extremely high tactical talent and keen insight into the battlefield.
Zhuge Liang became seriously ill and eventually died in Wuzhangyuan, and Wei Yan's behavior during the retirement process showed extreme independence. According to historical records, when Zhuge Liang informed his army that it was necessary to retreat back to Chengdu, Wei Yan proposed that he should continue the Northern Expedition and was unwilling to give up.
However, Wei Yan's persistence was not supported by his colleagues, and the proposal to continue the Northern Expedition was not adopted. As a result, Wei Yan burned bridges and blocked the roads of the rear army during his retreat, putting the entire army at risk.
This act quickly intensified his contradictions with other high-ranking Shu Han officials, causing his image in the army to deteriorate sharply, losing his last political support, and even being considered a rebellion against Shu.
When Wang Ping and Ma Dai led their troops to attack, Wei Yan failed to even get the support of his own subordinates, and was eventually tragically killed in the run.
To put it simply, Wei Yan's death was not in the hands of Zhuge Liang, nor in Zhuge Liang's conspiracy, but in the change of power.
After Zhuge Liang's death, he wanted to continue the crusade against Cao Wei and make meritorious contributions, but no one supported him, and he was angry and made wrong decisions, so that the generals around him turned their backs one after another.
If Wei Yan hadn't burned the plank road and didn't insist on continuing the crusade against Cao Wei, maybe he wouldn't have died at all, let alone been beheaded by Ma Dai.
Looking back at Wei Yan's life, he was always loyal to Shu Han and did not really rebel, but it is a pity that his behavior and character traits led to a tragic ending.
Of course, this is also related to Zhuge Liang's excessive indulgence of him, which contributes to Wei Yan's personality flaws to a certain extent, but this is also something that cannot be helped.
The sentence "There is no general in Shu, Liao Hua is a pioneer" reflects the situation of the lack of major generals in the late Shu Han Dynasty, who can Zhuge Liang reuse if Wei Yan is not reused?
To sum up, Wei Yan is a complex historical figure who is dramatized and simplified in "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", and at the same time, he is also smeared and scandalized by Luo Guanzhong to the greatest extent.
In fact, he was one of the core military figures in the middle of the Shu Han Dynasty, and his loyalty and ability were verified in many battles.
What do you think differently about this?