In 219, Liu Bei appointed Wei Yan as the governor of Hanzhong and the Taishou of Hanzhong, and was promoted to the rank of general of Zhenyuan. This was the beginning of Wei Yan's town of Hanzhong, and it can be said that it was also the peak period of Wei Yan. During the fifteen years that Wei Yan was guarding Hanzhong, no one dared to commit a crime. Today, we will take a look at how powerful Wei Yanzhen is in defending Hanzhong, and why it is said that it is the peak period of Wei Yan.
Liu Bei defeated the Cao army in 219 AD and occupied Hanzhong. After Liu Bei occupied Hanzhong, he began to proclaim himself the King of Hanzhong, and then divided his subordinates. Among the people liu bei had divided into seals, there were five very conspicuous people, these five people were not the five tiger generals we were familiar with, but Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Huang Zhong, Ma Chao, and Wei Yan, and many people would think that the fifth person should be Zhao Yun, not Wei Yan. At this time, Liu Bei can be said to attach great importance to Wei Yan.
Let's take a look at what official positions the five people above have been given. Guan Yu, made a former general. Zhang Fei, Feng Right General. Ma Chao, General Zuo. Huang Zhong, a general of the Fenghou Dynasty. Wei Yan, General of Feng Zhenyuan. In the Eastern Han Dynasty, generals such as Xiang Che, Hun Riders, Former Generals, Rear Generals, Left Generals, and Right Generals were all major generals and all held great power. In later parlance, it was the Admiral. The other Zhenyuan generals, Zhenjun generals, escort generals, Bingzhong generals, An Han generals, and the like are all miscellaneous generals, although they are all generals, but compared with the previous generals, they are not a grade at all. The Zhenyuan general who was appointed by Wei Yan was also a member of the Miscellaneous Generals.
Although Wei Yan was a miscellaneous general, compared with Wei Yan's previous rank, his promotion was very fast. Wei Yan had only been a general of the Yamen before, and although this position was also a miscellaneous general. But most of the time he stayed in the rear, and it was basically impossible to lead the army into battle. Looking at it this way, Wei Yan's promotion speed was indeed relatively fast.
Of course, the reason why this was the peak period of Wei Yan, in addition to being the general of Zhenyuan, Wei Yan also had an extremely important official position, that is, Hanzhong Taishou. In fact, the official position of Taishou was not particularly high at that time, and at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, taishou was everywhere, but Wei Yan's Hanzhong Taishou was obviously different. Because Hanzhong was of vital importance to Liu Bei, once it was lost. Liu Bei's Xichuan was also in jeopardy. When this official position was awarded, everyone thought that Liu Bei would grant this official position to Zhang Fei. Because Guan Yu was in charge of Jingzhou at the time, according to the close relationship, Liu Bei would definitely give this important position to Zhang Fei. But Liu Bei's approach exceeded everyone's expectations.
At that time, Liu Bei only gave Zhang Fei other official positions, and gave the important Hanzhong to Wei Yan, which was really unexpected by everyone. In fact, according to the degree of closeness with Liu Bei, even if Zhang Fei was not given, it would not be Wei Yan's turn. Huang Zhong, Ma Chao, and Zhao Yun were all of higher rank than Wei Yan. This time, Liu Bei obviously crossed the rank to raise Wei Yan.
Now let's take a look at what Wei Yan did in Hanzhong, and why it is said that this is Wei Yan's peak period.
First of all, the general situation in Hanzhong, after reading it, you will know why Wei Yan has reached its peak, and why everyone thinks that Liu Bei will give Zhang Fei the position of Too Guard in Hanzhong.
First, let's look at hanzhong's demographic advantage. Hanzhong, in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, has always been Zhang Lu's territory. To the south of Hanzhong was Xichuan, ruled by Liu Yan and Liu Zhang' father and son. When Zhang Lu ruled Hanzhong, Hanzhong was still very peaceful and there was no fighting. It is said that there are 100,000 households here, and most of the population counted by the ancients was calculated according to households, and the population was rarely clearly calculated. Not to mention, there should be four or five hundred thousand people here. Later, because of Ma Chao's rebellion in Liangzhou and the continuous war in the Central Plains, many people migrated to Guanzhong, and the population of Guanzhong increased.
After Zhang Lu surrendered to Cao Cao, Cao Cao began to migrate a large number of people from Hanzhong. Cao Cao moved the population of Hanzhong to some places in Guanzhong, where the population was drastically reduced due to perennial wars. Overall, Cao Cao moved out of Hanzhong by about half of the population. But even so, There are about 200,000 people in Hanzhong, which is not much, but it is not much. The population of Hanzhong, which Liu Bei took from Cao Cao, was around 200,000.
The population of Hanzhong of 200,000 is not as large as before, but it is also quite a lot. Its population and wealth were second only to Liu Bei's xichuan and jingzhou. Liu Bei was still able to collect a large number of soldiers from here and collect many taxes.
Secondly, look at the geographical location of Hanzhong, this is the most important. If we look at the map now, we can see that Hanzhong is located in the northern part of the Chengdu Plain. The entire Chengdu Plain is a horse Flat River, and the entrance to the Chengdu Plain is in Hanzhong. Hanzhong is the only barrier to the Chengdu Plain, and as long as you control it, you can ensure the safety of the Chengdu Plain. Because of this, all those who ruled Shuzhong had to attack Hanzhong. Liu Bei asked Xiang Yu to want Hanzhong, and Liu Bei attacked Cao Cao after occupying Xichuan, which was the truth. If this place is controlled by others, it will be too much of a threat to the Chengdu Plain.
Moreover, Hanzhong is easy to defend and difficult to attack, and it is almost a place where soldiers and families must fight. Whoever occupies it can hold it with a small number of troops.
Imagine that Liu Bei just laid down Hanzhong, which is still unstable. And with its large population, geography is crucial. Therefore, Liu Bei should naturally send a confidant general to guard here. In other words, no matter who Liu Bei sent to guard here, it could be said that this person was Liu Bei's confidant general. Because of this, when Liu Bei sent Wei Yan to guard here, everyone was shocked.
After Liu Bei appointed Wei Yan as the Taishou of Hanzhong and the Governor of Hanzhong, he asked Wei Yan how you planned to guard this place. Wei Yan said directly, "If Cao Cao comes with the strength of the country, I ask to block him for the King, and if it is a general with an army of 100,000 to come, I ask to annex him for the King." Although this statement was arrogant, it could also show that Wei Yan still had this self-confidence. And Liu Bei was also very satisfied with Wei Yan's answer.
Of course, Wei Yan's words were not just as simple as talking. After defending Hanzhong, he built many defensive fortresses in the valleys outside Yangping Pass. This was used to stop Cao Wei's army. From here, Wei Yan intended to completely annihilate the Cao army that invaded Hanzhong. Unfortunately, Wei Yan had defended Hanzhong for 15 years, and The Cao army had never attacked Hanzhong from here. However, this does not mean that Wei Yan's approach was wrong, even when Zhuge Liang was in Hanzhong, he also built many defensive fortresses here. Later, Wang Ping, who was guarding the Han Dynasty, led several thousand people here to successfully resist the 100,000 Wei army. It can be seen from this that Wei Yan's approach at that time was not wrong.
Now I know why Zhen Shou Hanzhong was the peak of Wei Yan. Hanzhong's large population and geographical location were crucial, and Liu Bei gave such an important place to the unknown Wei Yan, which was enough to show that Wei Yan's strength was not ordinary. After Liu Bei's death, Liu Chan had just ascended the throne and made Wei Yan the Marquis of Duting. Wei Yan was also one of the earliest people to be crowned marquis.
It can be said that Wei Yan was the peak when Shu Han first started. However, Wei Yan's career was not particularly smooth, and he did not become a single general until his death.
Resources:
Romance of the Three Kingdoms