Text: Knife and Pen (Author's Original Authorization)
In the three kingdoms at the end of the Han Dynasty, the Cao clan and the Xiahou clan were closely related, and the Xiahou generals and their descendants were all called Cao's confidants, and they also witnessed the rise and fall of the Cao Wei regime. In the novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, after Sima Yi had attacked Cao Shuang, he suddenly found that Cao Shuang's relative Xiahou Xuanshang had led heavy troops to garrison Yongzhou and other places, and was worried that Xiahou Xuan would raise troops to attack, so he urgently sent Xiahou Xuan back to Beijing. Xiahou Xuan's uncle Xiahou Ba, upon hearing the news, rebelled and was suppressed by Guo Huai and Chen Tai, who had their hearts set on Sima Shi, Xiahou Ba, who had no idea, went into Sichuan alone to defect to Shu Han.
Xiahou Ba's image in the novel largely inherits the brave and martial style of Xiahou's generals. Regarding the plot of Xiahou Baben shu, the novel is only briefly described, while the historical record is more detailed. According to the Wei Luo [1], after Sima Yi attacked Cao Shuang, sima Yi immediately recruited Xiahou Xuan to return to Beijing because Xiahou Xuan was Cao Shuang's cousin and was then the general of Cao Wei Zhengxi and had heavy troops. As Xiahou Xuan's uncle (author's note: Xiahou Ba is xiahou yuan's son, Xiahou Xuan is xiahou shang's son, and Xiahou Shang is xiahou yuan's son, so Xiahou Ba's generation is Xiahou Xuan's uncle) is worried about being implicated, coupled with Guo Huai, who succeeded Xiahou Xuan as a general in the west, also has a heart for Sima Shi and has previously disagreed with Xiahou Ba, these factors have led to Xiahou Ba's inner uneasiness, and then the idea of abandoning Wei Benshu. In addition, according to the "Spring and Autumn of the Wei Dynasty"[2], Xiahou Ba invited Xiahou Xuan to run to Shu with him, but Xiahou Xuan was reluctant to defect to the enemy country and refused.
After Xiahou Ba's rebellion against Shu, according to the law, Xiahou Ba's relatives should be sentenced to clan punishment, but the Cao Wei court adopted the method of "discussing merits" against Xiahou Ba's son, and used Xiahou Yuan's old honor to pardon Xiahou Ba's son for the death penalty and move to Lelang County.[3] The so-called "discussion of merit" belongs to one of the "Eight Discussions", which originates from the "Eight Discussions" in the "Zhou Li", which means "if the relatives and nobles commit crimes, the big one must be discussed, and the small one must be pardoned", that is, the eight types of criminals stipulated in the Code must be personally decided by the emperor when committing crimes and the punishment should be mitigated according to the Code. The incorporation of the "Eight Discussions" into the law is an important measure of Cao Wei's law. Xiahou Yuan had enjoyed the Cao Wei temple court with merit in the fourth year of the first century (243 AD), so his grandson could avoid death because of his ancestor's old merits.
The so-called "Eight Deliberations" are actually a system of privileges and immunities of the bureaucratic nobility, but as far as the members of the Xiahou family are concerned, there are two different situations: the application of "deliberation" and the non-application of "deliberation". The example of "discussion of merit" is applied, that is, the son of Xiahou Ba mentioned above was saved from death because of his ancestor Xiahou Yuan's old xun, but the example of "discussion of merit" is not applicable, that is, xiahou Xuan, the nephew of Xiahou Ba, was not able to avoid death because of his father Xiahou Shang's old xun.
Xiahou Xuan's image in the novel is relatively vague, mainly manifested in the 109th time in the novel, with Zhongshu Ling Li Feng and Guanglu Dafu Zhang Ji conspiring to eliminate Sima Shi, who covered the sky with one hand, but due to the leakage of the plot, Xiahou Xuan and others were beheaded by Sima Shi in the city and exterminated the three tribes. Historically, Xiahou Xuan's image is more plump than that of novels, and the records are more detailed than those of his uncle Xiahou Ba. Different from Xiahou's consistent warrior image, Xiahou Xuan had the demeanor of a famous scholar and enjoyed a very high reputation among the famous people at that time. After Sima Yi attacked Cao Shuang, Xiahou Xuan was conscripted by Sima Shi as the Great Hongxu, and was transferred back to the Jing Division from the Yongliang front, losing his military power. After returning to Jingshi, Xiahou Xuan "did not pay for personnel and did not store Huayan", but even so, he was still involved in activities against Sima Shi. After Sima Yi's death, the leader xu Yun once said to Xiahou Xuan, "Now there is nothing to worry about! Xiahou Xuan sighed, "When Sima Yi was alive, he was able to treat me well with generational friendship (Xiahou Xuan's sister Xiahou Hui was the first wife of Sima Yi's eldest son Sima Shi), but Sima Shi and Sima Zhao could not tolerate me." [4] In the sixth year of Jiaping (254 CE), Zhongshu ordered Li Feng and the empress's father, Guanglu Dafu Zhang Ji, to prepare activities against Sima Shi in the courtroom, planning to depose Sima Shi and make Xiahou Xuan a general, but the plot was leaked, Li Feng was killed, and Xiahou Xuan was arrested and punished by the court lieutenants. According to the "World Language", after Xiahou Xuan was imprisoned, he did not admit his guilt and refused to write down the words of guilt, as for how to decide the case, Xiahou Xuan asked Zhong Yu, who was then a court lieutenant, to write it himself. Zhong Yu, on the other hand, was well aware that Sima Shi wanted to put Xiahou Xuan to death, and he made false accusations, ashamed of himself, and could not help but weep [5] (Author's note: Unlike the description in the novel, in history, Xiahou Xuan was more likely to be involved in activities against Sima Shi than actively participating in activities against Sima Shi). In the end, Xiahou Xuan was accused of rebellion and exterminated the three tribes, and the rest of his relatives migrated to Lelang County. In this case, However, Xiahou Xuan was not spared death by discussing the merits of his father Xiahou Shang (Xiahou Shang had also enjoyed the Cao Wei temple court with merit in the fourth year of the first four years of the reign). According to History, Xiahou Xuan was "unchanged in color, free in action, and aged forty-six" before his execution, and in later generations, Xiahou Shang's descendants [6] can confirm that All of Xiahou Shang's clans had been destroyed.
Xiahou Ba and Xiahou Xuan both belonged to the outstanding talents of the Xiahou clan in the late Three Kingdoms period, but the final result was that Xiahou Ba fled and Xiahou Xuan was cursed, which was inevitably regrettable. However, the same Xiahou descendants, in the application of "discussion of merit", there are two diametrically opposed examples, before and after the difference, mostly because of the specific environment. In the former, Sima Shi slandered Cao Shuang, and out of the consideration of consolidating vested interests and buying people's hearts, he applied "discussion of merit" to Xiahou Ba's son and was spared the death penalty. By the time Sima Shi came to power, Cao's power was already completely inferior, and for such an influential figure as Xiahou Xuan, Sima Shi was trying to get rid of it quickly, so it was naturally not applicable to Xiahou Xuan to "discuss merit". This also largely reflects the uncertainty of privileges such as the "Eight Debates", which, from today's point of view, is also contrary to the fairness of the law.
[1] The Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms, The Biography of Xiahou Yuan, Pei Songzhi quotes Wei Luo: "... Shi Zhengxi's general Xiahou Xuan (夏侯玄), Yu Ba (于霸) was Consort Congzi, and Xuan Yu Cao Shuang (曹爽) was his younger brother. and Sima Xuanwang Cao Shuang summoned Xuan and Xuan Laidong. Cao Shuang was cursed and Xuan Youzheng, thinking that the disaster would turn around, and his heart was both fearful; and he was at odds with Guo Huai of Yongzhou, and The Huai Dynasty Xuan was in conflict with The Yongzhou Assassin Shi Guohuai, and the Huai Dynasty Xuan was marching west, and The hegemony was uneasy, so he ran to Shu. ”
[2] The Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms, The Biography of Xiahou Shang, with the Biography of Xiahou Xuan, pei Songzhi quotes the Spring and Autumn of the Wei Dynasty: "In the beginning, Xiahou Ba's general Ben Shu wanted to go with him. Xuan Yue: 'Am I not saving myself from Kou Yuhu?' So he returned the Kyoshi. ”
[3] The Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms, The Biography of Xiahou Yuan, Pei Songzhi quotes Wei Luo: "Ba, Zheng Shizhong was the right general of the Shu Protectorate Army, and was enfeoffed as the Marquis of Bochangting, who was known as Cao Shuang's favor. Smelling Shuang, self-doubting, and dying in Shu. Forgive the bully with the old xun and migrate to Lelang County. ”
[4] The Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms, The Biography of Xiahou Shang, with the Biography of Xiahou Xuan, pei Songzhi quotes the Spring and Autumn of the Wei Dynasty: "Taifu Xue, Xu Yun said of Xuan Yue: 'There is no need to worry about it. Xuan sighed, "Shi Zong, why don't you see anything?" This person can still meet me as a young man in the family, and Ziyuan and Zishang are not tolerant of me. ’”
[5] The Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms, The Biography of Xiahou Shang, with the Biography of Xiahou Xuan, pei Songzhi quotes the Shiyu: "Xuan Zhi Tingwei refused to resign. Ting Wei Zhong Yu ruled Xuan himself. Xuan Zheng se rebuked Yu Yu: 'What should I say?' Qing is to make Shi responsible for people, and Qing is to do it for me. 'Yu is a man of his name, and he is unyielding, and the prison is a good thing, and the night is a rhetoric, so that he is attached to the matter, and the drooling is a sign of Xuan. Metaphysical, jaw-dropping. ”
[6] The Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms, Xiahou Shang's Biography, appended to xiahou Xuan's biography: "In Zhengyuan Zhong, Shao Gongchen Shi, Feng Shang was made marquis of Changling Pavilion from Sun Ben, and three hundred households were enfeoffed to Feng Shanghou. ”