Zhuge Liang is a very glorious figure in the history of the Three Kingdoms, and he is also quite a card in the entire ancient history. Zhuge Liang's position in the Shu Han Dynasty was also close to that of Liu Chan, the lord of the Shu Han Dynasty, and even had a tendency to elevate Liu Chan. However, Zhuge Liang was able to "uphold the spirit of loyalty and chastity, and keep the truth of humility and retreat." For example, when Zhuge Liang lost the First Northern Expedition, he demoted himself to the third rank as punishment; Zhuge Liang's own marquis was only the Marquis of Wuxiang. However, some people have also questioned that even Wei Yan is a county marquis, how can Zhuge Liang be just a township marquis? Therefore, doubts about the Marquis of Zhuge Liang were derived. Let's talk about this matter.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > overview of the knighthood system and the Marquis of Southern Zheng and the Marquis of Wuxiang</h1>
The knighthood system was a very important system in ancient times. During the Qin Dynasty, the system of twenty-rank knights was formulated, and the Han Dynasty also continued this system. However, with the exception of the Marquis of Liehou and the Marquis of Kannai, some of the other marquises are not very familiar with them and are not within the scope of this article. The Marquis of Kannai is second to the First Rank of the Marquis, and the Marquis of The Twentieth Rank, that is, the highest status. Among the princes, there are different grades. According to the system of the Eastern Han Dynasty, there were five counties, township marquises, pavilion marquises, duxiang marquises, and duting marquises. According to the three administrative divisions of counties, townships, and pavilions, the number of food and yi varies from high to low.
Zhuge Liang was given the title of Marquis of Wuxiang, and from the name it seems that he should be a marquis. For example, Wei Yan, Wu Yi, and Wang Ping, the first, second, and third governors of Hanzhong in Shu Han, were all given county marquises. Wei Yan was given the title of Marquis of Nanzheng (南郑侯), which was the county seat of Hanzhong County; Wu Yi was given the title of Marquis of Jiyang (吉阳侯), a county of Chenliu County in Yanzhou; and Wang Ping (王平) was given the title of Marquis of Anhan (安汉侯), a county under the rule of Bashi County. In addition to Wei Yan, Wu Yi, and Wang Pingren, Shu Han also had some county princes, and the small editor will not repeat them one by one, only taking these three people as examples.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > controversy over Zhuge Liangwu's marquis</h1>
There has always been controversy over Zhuge Liang's Marquis of Wuxiang, not only now. This is clearly expressed in the Collected Interpretations of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. The historical materials that support Wuxiang Hou as a township marquis include the "Huanyu Record", "Reading the Minutes of Public Opinion of the History", and "Ten Dao Records", which of course are all quoted in the "Three Kingdoms Chronicles". It is mentioned that the Wuxiang Valley is thirty-one miles northeast of Nanzheng County, which is very clear and clearly indicates that this Wuxiang Valley is Zhuge Liang's fiefdom.
However, some people have questioned this matter. For example, Pan Mei believes that Zhuge Liang's status, merit, and influence are far higher than Wei Yan's, and Wei Yan can be made a county marquis, that is, the Marquis of Southern Zheng, and Zhuge Liang should not only be named a township marquis under the rule of Southern Zheng County. It should also be a county marquis. Pan Mei found that during the Western Han Dynasty, there was Wuxiang County in Langya, Xuzhou, although it was abolished during the Eastern Han Dynasty, it was likely to be restored in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, but it was not included in the historical data.
According to the custom of feudal lords in the Three Kingdoms period, they like to choose a fief from the hometown of the recipient, which is probably also a jinyi day trip. Pan Mei gave many examples, such as Cao Wei Zhang Guo and Xu Huang; Eastern Wu Wenqin, Puyang Xing, and others were all enfeoffed in a certain place in their hometown.
In fact, this can also be reflected in Wu Yi and Wang Ping. Wu Yi was a Native of ChenLiu, and the fiefdom of Jiyang was in Chenliu, even though ChenLiu was not under the control of Shu Han at all; Wang Ping was a Brazilian, and Anhan was in Bashi County. Zhuge Liang's hometown is Langya, Xuzhou, so Pan Mei believes that Zhuge Liang's situation is the same as Wu Yi's, which is also Yaoling Wuxiang County. Yun Yuding, Lu Bi and others also agreed with Pan Mei's views.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > Wuxiang marquis should be a township marquis</h1>
Various scholars have their own opinions on whether Wuxianghou is a county marquis or a township marquis. From the perspective of various factors, Zhuge Liang's Wuxiang Marquis should be a township marquis rather than a county marquis.
1. Zhuge Liang's Marquis of Wuxiang was not promoted from beginning to end
Zhuge Liang's merits are greater than Wei Yan's, and this is an indisputable fact. However, Wei Yan's Southern Zheng Marquis did not succeed overnight, but also rose through military merit. In the first year of the Shu Han Dynasty (i.e., 223 AD), when Liu Chan had just ascended the throne, Wei Yan was only a Marquis of Duting, and did not enter the southern Zheng Marquis until the eighth year of Jianxing (i.e., 230 AD) after defeating Guo Huai and Fei Yao at Yangxi. Including Wu Yi and Wang Ping, who are used as examples. Wu Yi was made marquis of Gaoyang Township for his participation in the "Battle of Yangxi", and Wang Ping was awarded the title of Marquis of Ting for his performance in the "Battle of Jieting".
Zhuge Liang was given the title of Marquis of Wuxiang in the first year of Jianxing, and his starting point was already higher than that of Wei Yan, Wang Ping, Wu Yi and other county marquises. At that time, the only Shu Han courtiers who were higher in title than Zhuge Liang were Liu Bao, the Marquis of Yangquan, and Xiangju, the Marquis of Qingyi. The specific deeds of these two people are unknown, either because they persuaded Liu Bei to become emperor and were made marquises, or they were not sealed by Liu Bei at all. Li Yan, who was also an auxiliary chancellor with Zhuge Liang, was also only a marquis of Duxiang. Therefore, Zhuge Liang was given the title of Marquis of Wuxiang in the first year of Jianxing, and his title was already very high. And his title has not been promoted, and it is not incomprehensible that he is lower than Wei Yan.
2. Military merit is easier to enfeoff
Zhuge Liang's merits are very high, but military merit is easier to be knighted, and this is exactly what Zhuge Liang lacks. This was not the case with the Shu Han Dynasty, and during the Eastern Han Dynasty, Cao Cao, in order to win over Xun Yu, asked the imperial court to appoint Xun Yu as the Marquis of Banzai Pavilion. Xun Yu refused to be canonized on the grounds that "there is no field work". Wei Yan rose from Marquis of Duting to Marquis of Southern Zheng precisely because of his great military merits in the "Battle of Yangxi".
Let's look at the titles of the rulers of the Shu and Han dynasties, Zhuge Liang was the Marquis of Wuxiang; Jiang Huan was the Marquis of Anyangting; Fei Yi was the Marquis of Chengxiang, or was it because of his performance in intercepting Cao Shuang in the "Battle of Xingshi"; Chen Zhi did not have the title of Marquis; Zhuge Zhan was the Marquis of Wuxiang, who also inherited the title of Zhuge Liang; Dong Jie was the Marquis of Nanxiang; and Fan Jian was not a marquis. Only Jiang Wei was more special, and after Jiang Huan came to power, he was enfeoffed as the Marquis of Pingxiang, and his title was higher than that of Jiang Huan. Zhuge Liang, Jiang Huan and others had great weight and merit, but their titles were limited to township marquises. And Wei Yan and other warriors can be made county marquises, which shows the importance of military merit to knighthood.
3. Xuzhou in the "territory" of Eastern Wu
When Sun Quan was proclaimed emperor and Eastern Wu and Shu Han were "two emperors and respected", there was a plan to divide the world in the middle. Among them, Yuzhou, Qingzhou, Xuzhou and Youzhou belonged to Eastern Wu; Yanzhou, Jizhou, Hezhou and Liangzhou belonged to Shu Han. The two sides verbally divided Cao Wei.
In order to maintain the relationship between the two sides, when Eastern Wu and Shu Han yao led a certain state, they needed to conform to the plan of dividing the world into two countries. For example, the Eastern Wu general Zhu Ran, who had previously led Yanzhou Mu, was dismissed because Yanzhou was in the "territory" of Shu Han; the same was true for fiefdoms. For example, Liu Bei's two sons, Liu Yong and Liu Li, were originally given the titles of King of Lu and King of Liang. Because the states of Lu and Liang belonged to Yuzhou, and Yuzhou nominally belonged to Eastern Wu, it was renamed the King of Ganling and the King of Anping, and the fief was changed to the county state of Jizhou.
There are examples of fiefdoms in the Shu Han Dynasty, such as Wu Yi's fiefdom of Jiyang. Jiyang is in Yanzhou and is in line with the plan of dividing the world into middle divisions. If Zhuge Liang's fiefdom was Wuxiang County in Langya, Xuzhou, it would have undermined the plan to divide the world. For the needs of the Northern Expedition, Zhuge Liang himself was very supportive of the "Second Emperor and Zun" and united with Eastern Wu; after dividing the north, Zhuge Liang did not change his title like Liu Yong and Liu Li, which shows that this Wuxiang Marquis is indeed a township marquis of Nanzheng County.
References: Collected Interpretations of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Book of Han, Book of Later Han