What is amazing is that the ultimate victor in "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", the founder of the Western Jin Dynasty, left me with such a different impression.
Although his appearance is described in detail in the historical records: his eyes are as sharp as an eagle and looking back like a wolf, indicating an extraordinary temperament, his image seems blurred in my eyes. I couldn't believe that this seemingly dim-witted old man could have the sharp eyes of an eagle and the sensitive hearing of a wolf. I can't imagine that those seemingly cloudy eyes would suddenly radiate a sharp light, let alone his "wolf Gu" posture of "turning his head back without moving".
I understand that such an assessment is not fair to him. He, a figure who was regarded by Cao Cao as a great trouble and Zhuge Liang as a fierce rival, a wise man who collected the culmination of thick black science, and a wise man who laid the foundation for future generations, should have a deep and treacherous temperament. However, what he showed in front of me was that he pretended to be deaf and dumb again and again, pretending to be demented. Whenever I read about the appearance of this eternally taciturn, expressionless old man, I can't help but smile contemptuously with his political enemies, the corners of his mouth twitch slightly.
Yes, he is indeed a dull figure. Compared with those talented strategists and brave generals, he seems prosaic: there is no Cao Cao's domineering and wild, Zhuge Liang's freedom and wisdom, Zhou Yu's demeanor and calmness, Lu Bu's courage and domineering, and Sun Ce's passion and vitality...... In the whole book, the two main characters who are the most uninteresting, the least heroic, and the least popular are Uncle Liu Huang, who is always in trouble, and the other is the king of Sima Xuan.
However, it was precisely the most boring, unheroic, and unpopular Sima Yi who finally had the last laugh. Perhaps this is the joke of fate, those heroes who were once in the limelight, such as Cao Cao, Liu Bei, Zhuge Liang, Sun Quan, etc., their battles and competitions eventually paved the way to victory for Sima Yi. This can't help but make me sigh: "There are no heroes, and the shaft becomes famous." ”
Looking back on Sima Yi's path to success, I feel an indescribable absurdity. While he does have his own talents and abilities, he still seems inferior to those who are illustrious. He is not as good as Cao Cao in war, not as good as Zhuge Liang in governing the country, not as good as Liu Bei in knowing people, not as good as Guo Jia and Jia Xu in strategy, not as brave as Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, and not as charming as Sun Ce and Zhou Yu...... However, the main reason why he was able to become the final winner was his longevity. He lived 31 years longer than Cao Cao, 28 years longer than Liu Bei, 25 years longer than Cao Pi, 17 years longer than Zhuge Liang, 12 years longer than Cao Rong, died only one year earlier than Sun Quan, and lived until the age of 73. In the period when talents withered in the later period of the Three Kingdoms, he was able to laugh at the changes and eventually became the winner.
However, the price of longevity is also heavy. Sima Yi's life was full of ups and downs and setbacks. From the age of 29 to Cao Pi's proclamation as emperor, he was suppressed for more than 10 years; after Cao Cao and Cao Pi died one after another, he began to emerge but was soon deposed; although he was later reinstated, he was defeated by Zhuge Liang many times; he finally survived Zhuge Liang's era but was excluded by his political opponent Cao Shuang for 10 years...... Of these 73 long years of life, 44 years have been spent in official careers, and most of the time has been spent unsatisfactory, such a life is undoubtedly depressing and painful.
However, in the face of such an unfair and even cruel fate, Sima Yi showed amazing resilience and perseverance. He endured and hibernation for decades, hid his edge, concealed his brilliance, and even sacrificed his personality, whether he was in a high position or in the rivers and lakes, he always endured all kinds of blows and tests from opponents and fate. The life of mowing grass and feeding horses did not wear down his determination to pursue success; the suspicion and indifference of Cao's ancestors did not disintegrate his strength; the ups and downs of the Huan Sea did not drown him; the defeat on the battlefield did not crush him; and the suppression of political enemies did not shake his determination......
Although his opponents have their own strengths in character, they also have their own fatal weaknesses. Cao Cao was defeated by greed, and his excessive self-aggrandizement caused him to blindly underestimate the enemy, which led to the fiasco of the Battle of Chibi; Zhou Yu was defeated because of anger, and excessive jealousy caused him to die young, leaving a regret for the ages; Zhuge Liang was defeated because of ignorance, and his excessive pursuit of faith exhausted the fire of his life, and finally ran out of oil. The wild Cao Cao was defeated by the wild and passionate Zhou Yu, and the passionate Zhuge Liang was defeated by the persistent Zhuge Liang, and their distinctive characters made them and destroyed them. Sima Yi is different, he has almost no bright spots in his character, but therefore there are no flaws and flaws, which is his boring, his cleverness, and his terrible.
In the eyes of others, in the eyes of us readers, emotions such as joy, anger, sorrow, sorrow, and panic can easily affect a person's state of mind, but here Sima Yi does not work at all. He had no fear, even if the Assassin's blade was on his neck, he could remain calm and continue to sleep, he was not depressed, even if he was deposed again and again, he failed again and again, he did not lose heart, he did not lose heart, he collapsed.
He did not have joy, and even after all his brilliant achievements, he did not bask in the joy of victory for a long time, but continued to painstakingly plan the next step;
Of course, like many successful politicians in history, he also did not have mercy, and after defeating Cao Shuang, he was not swayed by any pleas, and completely demonstrated the determination of "being ruthless to the enemy, eliminating evil, no matter how old or young, no one is spared", and ruthlessly eradicated the other party's family;
The most important thing is that he lacks angry emotions, in the face of Zhuge Liang's humiliation, he can calmly put on women's clothes, and in the face of Cao Shuang's arrogance, he would rather lie sick in bed and pretend to be crazy;
……
The most terrifying thing is that this ability to endure seems to have reached its peak, and his emotions can be restricted almost as he pleases, completely subservient to the control of reason. At this point, in stark contrast to Sima Yi is Liu Bei. In "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", the two people who are the best at patience are undoubtedly them. Both of them are ambitious, equally endured humiliation, and equally suppressed themselves, but the biggest difference between the two makes them look alike but not look alike. Liu Bei, who came from the north, has a bit of Hu tenacity and blood, he is a temperamental person after all, otherwise after the death of Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, he would not be so grief-stricken, and he would not attack Dongwu impulsively, even if he paid all the costs. His repression is contrary to his ego nature, so his patience is filled with passive suffering. However, Sima Yi is completely different, his patience is completely out of the active choice of sober and calm, and he seems so calm and natural. I can't help but wonder if there is a kind of indifference and ruthlessness in his character, perhaps just as Lu Bu was born purely for fighting, and he was also born purely for playing with power? What kind of person is he? A ruthless person, a ruthless person, an unscrupulous person, a person who can hardly be called a human being, is simply an indifferent machine, with only precise calculations of situations and interests, without any ordinary human emotions.
For some reason, this character reminds me of Guan Hanqing's self-confession:
"I am a copper pea that cannot be steamed, cooked, hammered, fried, and ......"
Sima Yi is indeed a turtle, a long-lived turtle, although the turtle is long-lived, it is also a turtle with a shrunken head, a ninja turtle, an immortal among turtles.
But is he just blindly forbearing? Not really! Ambition cannot be achieved by forbearance alone! Retreat is for a more violent attack, defense is for a better breakthrough, and retraction of his fists is for a more powerful attack. Sima Yi's decades of patience were also for the sake of accumulating strength, for a violent outburst when the time was ripe. Exterminating Meng Da in a short period of time, pacifying Liaodong within 100 days, and completing the Gaopingling Incident within a few days, how can such a thunderous speed and such a devastating power be done by an old man who only promises?
"Whoever attacks an enemy must first choke his throat and smash his heart. "Sima Yi's means can really be said to be just if you don't make a move, and you will be hit if you make a shot.
Jin Yong once listed several requirements for successful political leaders in Chinese history, the first of which is "forbearance", which contains three levels: one is the patience to restrain oneself, the second is the patience to tolerate others, and the third is the cruelty to deal with political opponents. Sima Yi fully met these requirements: decades of lurking were for self-restraint and patience, for the forbearance of forbearance in the empty city and death Zhuge in Zhongda, and in the south Meng Da, in the north to break Gongsun Yuan, and to destroy Cao Shuang in the internal to be cruel to the enemy. Li Zongwu once said that Liu Bei was thick-skinned, Cao Cao was ruthless, Sun Quan was inadequate, and Sima Yi was thick-skinned and ruthless.
What is even more surprising is that this conspirator, who is suspected of major usurpation, was also deeply influenced by Confucianism - he was born in a famous family of scholars who was born in a "ceremonial heirloom", and had close contacts with Cui Yan and other celebrities. However, after careful consideration, it is also reasonable, some people say that the real Confucianism is not necessarily all evil, but the wicked often regard themselves as Confucians, although the words are harsh, but not necessarily unreasonable: the most persistent pursuit of chastity archway, often those who are not chaste; the more evil in the heart, the more full of benevolence and morality. In this case, can Sima Yi be an exception? This may be regarded as "thick skin" in another sense, right?
According to Sima Yi's Confucian teachings since childhood, his life can be called the most successful. In the entire Three Kingdoms era, he was the only one who completely realized the ideal of "self-cultivation, family harmony, governing the country, and leveling the world": After so many years of forbearance and obscurity, can it be said that he did not cultivate himself? Can it be said that he did not have a Qi family because he cultivated Sima Shi and Sima Zhao, two sons who were meticulous and "possessed both ability and political integrity"? Can it be said that he did not have a Qi family? With a high position and a power tilted towards the government and the opposition, can it be said that he did not govern the country? After laying the foundation for the unification of his descendants, can it be said that he did not have a level in the world? Looking at Liu Bei, Zhuge Liang, and Zhuge Liang, who are respected as moral models in "Romance of the Three Kingdoms," Guan Yu, they have achieved the first two layers at most, Zhuge Liang has barely reached the third layer, compared with Sima Yi, it is really like a firefly and the sun and the moon competing for glory, "like a horse and a unicorn driving side by side, jackdaw and a phoenix flying together."
Despite this, I still can't hide my indifference to this figure who was revered as a leading figure in both internal and external cultivation during the Three Kingdoms period, and I also lack a deep yearning for the extraordinary deeds he has forged. Maybe I'm not a politician, but after self-reflection, I know that I can't emulate Sima Yi. I can't imagine that in order to achieve personal goals, a person can be so unscrupulous: every day he needs to suppress his emotions, hide his true self, speculate on the thoughts of others, constantly plan how to calculate others and guard against others' calculations, and spend most of his life in such a life, even sacrificing the happiness and joy of his life, and even his own personality and humanity...... When I read about his end in "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", I felt even more unbelievable: when Sima Yi endured the last ten years, finally eradicated Cao Shuang, and turned over in one fell swoop, he had entered his twilight years, and he was only three years away from the end of his life. Even so, he still did not choose to retire to the mountains and forests and enjoy his old age in peace, but exerted his power again in the last stage of his life and eliminated his last political enemy, Wang Ling. It's really a life of fighting, it's really "life is endless, fighting is not endless", it's really "fighting with people, it's endless fun"!
But was all this really necessary? What kind of accomplishment did he achieve in exchange for his life of such hard work? Was that goal really important enough to require him to make such a great sacrifice? Can the means of evil bring good fruits?
To these doubts, history gives its response:
In 262 AD, the Wei general Deng Ai broke through the defense line and successfully attacked Chengdu.
In 263 AD, Liu Chan, the queen of Shu Han, surrendered to Wei, and Shu Han perished, after two emperors, Bei and Chan, for a total of 42 years.
In 265 A.D., Sima Yan, the grandson of Sima Yi, forced the Wei lord Cao Huan to take the throne and deposed him as the king of Chenliu, and Cao Wei perished, and went through five emperors, Pi, Rong, Fang, Chao, and Huan, for a total of 45 years; He posthumously honored Sima Yi as Emperor Xuan, his uncle Sima Shi as Emperor Jing, and his father Sima Zhao as Emperor Wen.
In 279 A.D., the Jin Dynasty attacked Wu on a large scale, and more than 200,000 soldiers were divided into five roads to Jianye, Xiakou, Jiangling and other places. The Jin general Wang Jun led the naval army down the river from Bashu and approached Jianye.
In 280 A.D., the Jin general Wang Jun broke through Jianye, the Wu lord Sun Hao surrendered to the Jin Dynasty, Sun Wu perished, and went through four emperors of Quan, Liang, Xiu and Hao, a total of 58 years. Since then, after nearly a century of division and melee, China has been reunified again, and it is known as "three points to Jin".
But the story doesn't end there, this new dynasty that ended a long period of war does not show anything new, but is filled with unprecedented corruption and darkness from head to toe. After the reunification, the entire court was immersed in a drunken and lazy life, the emperor lived a life of extravagance, the ministers competed for extravagance and waste, and the lives of the common people were still precarious. The contradictions between the central court and the feudal kings of various regions, between the feudal kings of various regions, between the Han and ethnic minorities, between the scholars and the Shu people, and between the folk intellectuals and the official ideology, intensified. With the Rebellion of the Eight Kings and the Five Rebellions, this extremely corrupt dynasty quickly declined, and it lasted only 52 years before it perished. Its five emperors, who were also Sima Yi's descendants, one died of illness, two were poisoned, and the other two were killed because of the destruction of the country, and almost no one died well.
After the Jin Dynasty, China fell into a real turmoil that lasted for hundreds of years.
There is destruction, no construction. Although Sima Yi broke the old world order, his descendants failed to establish a new order, and the world he conquered was only one of the banners that were constantly changing in the troubled times. This pure teleologist, this thorough pragmatist, is only concerned with achieving the goal, achieving victory, and is indifferent to everything else. In the end, he succeeded, but the facts proved that the so-called success he had sacrificed everything in exchange was so pale, thin, and bleak, that it was just a dream bubble, which disappeared in the torrent of history in an instant, and was replaced by the troubled times that followed. If Sima Yi has a spirit in the sky, I don't know how he will feel?
The troubled times in history were sometimes battles between warriors and nobles, such as the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, and sometimes they were battles between scoundrels, such as the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms. The first half of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" belongs to the former, while the second half belongs to the latter. It begins with the romantic Taoyuan Three Knots, but ends with the most realistic three-point return. Therefore, this group of texts about the Three Kingdoms naturally starts with Liu Bei and ends with Sima Yi. Although the former does not have much heroism, he has a group of brothers and subordinates who are full of heroism, while the latter, from any point of view, is far from the word "hero". The era in which he was active was a post-heroic era, in which lofty ambitions, majestic wars, exciting legends, and generous and tragic deaths no longer existed, leaving only open and secret fighting, opportunism, deceit, and flies. Although this is the choice of the times, it undoubtedly reveals the ridicule and sentimentality of fate on the world.
Finally, let's end with the song "Linjiang Immortal" at the beginning of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms":
"Success or failure turns empty, the green mountains are still there, and the sunset is red several times. ”
Sima Yi's scheming skills are not inferior to Cao Cao, and his way of using troops is not inferior to Zhuge Liang, but his historical reputation and status in the hearts of ordinary people are far inferior to the two. This is mainly because his femininity and forbearance are often regarded by the Chinese as not bright enough, and he lacks the mighty and unyielding heroism of Cao Cao and the loyalty and tragic temperament of Zhuge Liang. However, his diverse qualities of Confucianism, Taoism, and power strategist may be a typical representative of the spirit of the Three Kingdoms era. Or it can be said that the one who can really represent the spirit of the Three Kingdoms era is Cao Cao, Zhuge Liang, and Sima Yi.
Comrade Sima Yi was too tolerant and consumed Zhuge Liang to death.
"So the biggest lesson I learned from him is that even if you're not as good as your opponent, at least you have to outlive them. "