In the Wuhou Ancestral Hall in present-day Chengdu, Sichuan, in addition to the statue of Zhuge Liang, there are the remaining fourteen statues, all of whom were famous courtiers of the Shu and Han dynasties. The first person in the statue is Pang Tong, whose plot is equal to Zhuge Liang's, and second only to him is a man named Jian Yong.
During the Shu Han Dynasty, the famous courtiers included Zhuge Liang, Pang Tong, Fa Zheng and others, and after their deaths, there were Jiang Huan, Fei Yi, Dong Yun and others, among which Jian Yong could be described as nameless. So, how could Jian Yong be ranked second in the Statue of Wenchen Gallery?
It is said that Jian Yong's original surname was Geng, but the pronunciation of the Youzhou people read 耿 as 簡, so Geng Yong simply changed his surname to Jian Yong. Ancient names were accepted by their parents, especially surnames symbolized family inheritance, and could not be changed easily, but Jian Yong did not care, which showed the free and uninhibited character of his personality.
Jian Yong and Liu Bei are fellow countrymen, and the two of them grew up from a young age, which is considered to be small. Although Liu Bei claimed to be a relative of the Han Dynasty, by the time of his generation, he had fallen into exile and his family was very poor. However, Jian Yong never looked down on Liu Bei, and he always believed that Liu Bei was extraordinary and would definitely become a big thing in the future. Therefore, when Liu Bei raised his army, Jian Yong did not hesitate for a moment and followed Liu Bei.
From Liu Bei's army to the occupation of Yizhou, he experienced ups and downs, career ups and downs, and almost died several times in the middle. Jian Yong was a man who could speak eloquently and was good at diplomacy, and was a rare talent, and in the chaotic years of the late Eastern Han Dynasty, he could completely turn to others and mix with an official and a half-post, at least without having to follow Liu Bei's lungs.
However, Jian Yong did not do this, he and Liu Bei did not worship, but they were like brothers, so no matter how difficult the life was, Jian Yong never left Liu Bei and surrendered to others.
Among Liu Bei's advisers, Pang Tong and Fa Zheng were good at military affairs, Zhuge Liang was political and military all-powerful, and Jian Yong seemed to be a useless idler, but in fact, Jian Yong was not without outstanding contributions.
Jian Yong is equivalent to Zhang Yi, a zongheng family in the Warring States period, who represented Liu Bei and sent various forces to win over allies and expand Liu Bei's power. Do not underestimate the matter of lobbying, when the strength is strong, it is simple to send an envoy, because with national strength as a support, the other party does not dare not give face, the difficulty is that when it fails, it can also make others believe and increase investment.
When Liu Bei was beaten by others, he was also responsible for lobbying all the forces to make them believe that Liu Bei's failure was only temporary, and that as long as liu Bei invested in liu bei, there would be a return in the future.
Judging from the envoy to Yizhou, Jian Yong was a person with strong diplomatic skills. When Liu Bei was invited to Yizhou, he specially brought Jian Yong with him and put him in charge of diplomacy. As soon as Jian Yong met Liu Zhang, he talked cordially with him and demonstrated the benefits of Liu Bei's entry into Sichuan from all aspects, so that Liu Zhang believed Liu Bei. After Jian Yong's words, Liu Zhang was deceived and trusted Liu Bei, and he praised Jian Yong more than once.
Jian Yong made Liu Zhang mistakenly believe Liu Bei and neglected to take precautions, so that when Liu Bei attacked Chengdu, Liu Zhang did not make any preparations. However, Liu Zhang, after all, was the lord of Shu, and had great prestige here, and Liu Bei had nominally come to help Liu Zhang, and now that he was besieging Chengdu, it was not a strong attack, nor was it dragged down. Embarrassed, Liu Bei once again appointed Jian Yong and asked him to persuade Liu Zhang to surrender.
At the risk of killing his head, Jian Yong entered the city and took advantage of Liu Zhangxiao. Under the persuasion of Jian Yong, Liu Zhang agreed to surrender and went out of the city in a carriage with Jian Yong. Jian Yong's soldiers took Chengdu without bloodshed, the most important of which was naturally Liu Bei's military strength, but Jian Yong's diplomatic talent was also at a glance.
In addition to diplomacy, Jian Yong was also an excellent advisor. After Liu Bei pacified Hanzhong, his status became more and more respected, and his courtiers became more and more afraid of him, and few dared to be brazen in front of Liu Bei. But Jian Yong was an exception, he often sat cross-legged in front of Liu Bei, shaking his head and shaking his head, paying no attention to the etiquette of being a courtier.
If Liu Bei did something wrong, Jian Yong would speak bluntly and advise. For example, after Liu Bei occupied Hanzhong, there was a major drought one year, the harvest was not good, in order to save grain, Liu Bei issued a strict prohibition on alcohol, as long as it is winemaking will be guilty. As a result, officials searched the homes of the people for wine-making utensils, and it was suggested that they be punished along with the wine-brewers.
After Jian Yong knew, he met with Liu Bei and walked with him, and when he saw a man and a woman walking by, Jian Yong said to Liu Bei, "They want to commit adultery, why don't you arrest them?" Liu Bei did not know why he asked Jian Yong why he knew, and Jian Yong replied humorously: "They all have the tools for adultery, just like the wine-making utensils found in the homes of the people." ”
Speaking of this, how did Liu Bei not know what Jian Yong meant, he laughed and released the innocent people who had secretly hidden wine-making utensils.
Jian Yong is such a humorous and informal person, he has an arrogant personality, his behavior is debauched, no matter who talks to him, he will always lie on the bed or chair, only to be comfortable and never care about the other party's mood.
Of course, Jian Yong also has someone to be afraid of, that is, Zhuge Liang. I don't know whether he was afraid of Zhuge Liang's power or respected Zhuge Liang's personality, he dared to be brazen in front of Liu Bei, but he did not dare to be brazen with Zhuge Liang, as long as he was in front of Zhuge Liang, he would always restrain a lot.
However, Jian Yong's personality may have also ruined his political career, and within a few years of persuading Liu Zhang, there is no record of Jian Yong in the history books. This shows that Jian Yong did not enter the inner circle in the subsequent Shu Han regime, but became a marginal figure. For Jian Yong, who followed Liu Bei to fight the world at the beginning, this ending was slightly sad.