(Picture says three kingdoms, talking about heaven and earth, No. 364 text/ impermanent FengTianyu Illustration / Oriental sleepless night)
At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the world was in chaos, the masses rose up, and the princes competed for hegemony, although in the end only Cao Cao, Liu Bei, and Sun Quan stood out, but before them, there were many powerful princes. For example, Yuan Shu, who was born in the family of the Fourth Emperor and Three Dukes and dared to call himself emperor; Yuan Shao, who escaped alone and made Dong Zhuo jealous. However, the two brothers, one claimed to be the emperor without authorization, and one was indecisive, and finally got out of the game in advance in the competition. The protagonist we want to talk about today is also a prince who is out of the game in advance, he once fought with Yuan Shao, and also protected Liu Bei, but he was defeated very quickly. Who is this person?
He was none other than Gongsun Zhan. Gongsun Juan (公孙瓒), also spelled Bo Jue, was a member of the Liaoxi clan, and because of his mother's low status, he was not valued in his own family. However, the child who is not valued by the family does not mean that he is incompetent, Gongsun Zhan "has a grooming, a loud voice", that is, a dignified appearance, so he is appreciated by Liu Jun, the Taishou, and becomes Liu Taishou's son-in-law. During this period, he not only studied under the famous scholar Lu Zhi, but also had the same brother as Liu Beiqing, and was regarded as a brother by Liu Bei. After that, he was promoted to filial piety and became the long history of the Liaodong vassal state, once during a border patrol, he only led dozens of horses, engaged hundreds of Xianbei cavalry, "killed and wounded dozens of people, and also killed half of his subordinates", that is to say, he lost half of his subordinates and killed half of the other side's subordinates. Although this is half for half, it is the difference between dozens of people and hundreds of people, which shows his courage.
From then on, he began to threaten Liaodong, not only formed an elite army, that is, the White Horse Yicong, specializing in fighting against foreign tribes, but also took Youzhou and became a prince of the party, Liu Bei had been sending him under the fence in the beginning. It is reasonable to say that such a brave figure, with territory, ability, and soldiers and horses, should be able to share a piece of the pie in the struggle for hegemony among the princes, but in 199 AD, when the three-legged world trend had not yet taken shape, he "knew that he would be defeated, and he killed his wife as much as he could, but committed suicide", and the defeat was very rapid. With so much capital, why did he fail so quickly? In this regard, Xiaobian has the following views.
First, there are not enough talents
Familiar with the history of the Three Kingdoms at the end of the Han Dynasty, it is not difficult for us to know that if any of the princes want to achieve things, they need the support of a large number of talents, and it is precisely because of this that Liu Bei is willing to take care of Maolu, Cao Cao advocates meritocracy, and Sun Quan will entrust a heavy responsibility to such a bully as Gan Ning and a rogue like Pan Zhang. It is precisely because of this that the men of these princes are like clouds and the strategists are like rain. However, under Gongsun Zhan's command, there were very few people available, the more famous generals were only Zhao Yun and Tian Yu, and the top strategists were even less, that is to say, although he had troops and territory, there was no one available. In this case, it is very difficult to achieve things.
Second, Gongsun Zhan did not know how to employ people
In fact, whether it is Tian Yu or Zhao Yun, they are both wise and courageous figures, if he can know people and do good job, he will not be defeated so quickly. After all, Zhao Yun's battle record at the Battle of Hanshui was eye-catching; Tian Yu defended northern Xinjiang for Cao Cao, which could shock the local area. However, Gongsun Zhan did not know the wisdom of people, and Zhao Yun and Tian Yu were basically equivalent to the pearl secretly cast - the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms And Zhao Yun Biography" records: "The first lord sent for Tian Kai to reject Yuan Shao, and Yun Sui followed, and rode for the first lord." That is to say, when Zhao Yun was under gongsun Zan, he was only responsible for controlling the cavalry, not even a general. However, Tian Yu had great talent, but Gongsun Zhan only let him serve as the Dongzhou Ling and buried him. In addition, the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" also mentions that after he was named a former general by the imperial court, he began to become arrogant, remembering only the faults of others, and forgetting the benefits of others, framing many people - "Zhao Sui was arrogant and reserved, remembered the good, and was harmed by many thieves." How could such a person, even if he had enough talent under his command, accomplish anything?
3. Enemies in the abdomen and on the back
In addition, there was another important reason for Gongsun Zhan's rapid defeat, that is, his territory Youzhou, near northern Xinjiang, had long been invaded by foreign tribes, and he did not know how to give and pacify the other side, but swore to die with foreign tribes, at the same time, Yuan Shao's forces also wanted to put him to death. Whether it was Xiao Yong's humble cavalry or the powerful Yuan Shao forces, they all dealt a serious blow to him, and in this situation of being attacked by the enemy on his belly, it was already difficult for him to survive, plus the above two reasons, how could he not be defeated?
Fourth, Yuan Shao's plan
Of course, the points mentioned above are some deep-rooted problems, and there are these problems, and his demise is inevitable, but all of this needs a fuse, and this fuse is Yuan Shaojun's plan. According to records, under the attack of Yuan Shao, he retreated to Yijing to hold firm. He ordered many trenches to be dug, and in the encirclement of the trenches heaped five or six inches high, built tall buildings on them, and hoarded a large amount of grain and grass in them. This stubborn strategy really resisted Yuan Shao for several years. Yuan Shao had no choice but to encircle.
At this time, Gongsun Zhan himself could not hold his breath, he first sent his son to find the Black Mountain Thief for help, and then wanted to break out. Later, under the persuasion of his subordinates, he chose to stay behind and sent a message to his son, hoping to join forces with the reinforcements. Because the letter stated the secret union and the time of the army, the letter fell into the hands of Yuan Shao, so Yuan Shao pretended to be reinforcements, lured Gongsun Zhan out of the city, and fought an ambush battle. Later, by digging tunnels, gongsun zhan destroyed gongsun zhan's defenses, so that gongsun zhan realized his inevitable defeat, so gongsun zhan killed his wife and committed suicide.
After the analysis of the whole article, it is not difficult for us to know that Gongsun Zhan was originally a prince of one side, who once threatened Liaodong, but he was out of the game early in the competition between the heroes and the masses, which is related to objective conditions, such as lack of talent, belly and back enemies, etc.; it is also related to his own character weaknesses, such as the inability to employ people. However, the direct cause of his eventual defeat was Yuan Jun's plan.
All the information in this article comes from books such as "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and "Notes on the Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms", and the editor guarantees the authenticity of the content, without any innuendo or politics.